Chapter 31 – Old Gods II

D200/10 ABY

Ahsoka was staying back. It had taken some convincing and she was not happy with it. Worse still was Gabe and Skyla's reaction. His son had taken it silently, but his daughter had outright cried. She didn't understand why he was leaving again and Tarre felt worse. He had even tried to keep Asha from coming but that was one argument he had lost. Beside him was Fenrir, whom he had asked to come along.

Fenrir had protested but eventually agreed. The two of them were sitting in the pilot and co-pilot seats although JARVIS was doing all the piloting. The silence that was present in the room was awkward enough for Asha to slip out and go to the gym. Although she had made a sarcastic comment about it.

Tarre had changed into his beskar armour and given his Mark 82 armour to Fenrir, which had a few enchantments placed on it by Gabriel the first. This way Fenrir could bring unleash his wolf powers without any undue strain, but too much would destroy the armour…after all it wasn't made of Uru.

"So, what are we expecting?", Fenrir asked.

"I don't know. All I heard from Queen Ygritte was that my mother was being pursued by some people."

"This is the first time you have heard from her, yes?"

"Yes."

"And we are putting everything on hold to go see her", the sarcasm in Fenrir's voice was evident.

"She made Asha promise. I may not know her, but Asha does…a little."

"Sure. Let's drop everything for an old goddess who might be your mother."

"I do have Celestial blood my friend. As was proven in Plutus's auction."

"I still can't believe he had one of 'The Word'."

"It is in safe hands now. None of us expected it."

"Sir, we are reaching our destination.", JARVIS's voice rang out.

Tarre was about say something when he stopped as he sensed a familiar presence. He groaned and Fenrir spoke, "You must be really distracted if you didn't sense her presence…even through my cloaking."

"You did this?", Tarre angrily asked.

"Yes. Whatever happens today is not a mission for three people but four."

"What happens to her is on you", Tarre whispered the warning.

At that moment he and Fenrir got out of the cockpit and made their way out being greeted by a smirking Asha.

"You knew about this", Tarre spoke.

"I'm surprised you didn't", Asha replied.

"You two go on ahead of us", Tarre told them.

The two of them left Tarre behind who then sat down and said, "Your powers are increasing."

The response was a slap on his face as his wife – Ahsoka came out from behind him. "This was Fenrir's spell."

"You maintained for that long. I'm impressed", Tarre spoke.

"How could you leave me behind?"

"I worry about you", Tarre sighed.

"And I don't?"

"What do you want me to say? I'm sorry for not bringing you to what is most likely a life threating mission."

"I have been on life threatening missions before."

"And that makes it ok to be on one again?"

"What about you? You've barely recovered from the Fire Giant Siege."

"I am alright."

"So its ok for you but not for me."

"Is it so wrong to want my wife to be safe?"

"I could ask you the same thing", Ahsoka's voice was rising a bit, "Do you know what's it like feeling your 'death'?"

"All right. I'm sorry", he took Ahsoka's hand in his right one and smiled, "This is the second time you have slapped me. It still stings."

She sighed, "I too am sorry for slapping you."

"How're Gabe and Skyla?"

"Gabe is worried. I think he may have even had a vision. Skyla wouldn't talk to me anymore."

"Hang on…Gabe may have had a vision?"

"I'm not sure. We'll have to ask him more in detail when we get back."

"We also have to make up to Skyla. When we get back…it's going to be a long vacation. Just us four…no interruptions."

"Agreed. Now let's go. I think they are tired of waiting for us?"

With that Tarre and Ahsoka went out and were greeted by a most unusual sight. Fenrir and Asha sitting near a fireplace and a young girl tending to the flames. At least she looked like a young girl.


While her children and Fenrir were on their way…Hera the Celestial Queen was in her prison. Standing near her cage were three individuals – Perrikus of the Dark Gods, Nihilus the eternally hungry demonic spirit and a woman, who by her features and complexion seemed to be a citizen of Narcisson (home-world of the Dark Gods).

"Hello Mother", Nihilus spoke. He had previously possessed the body of Moff Gideon and was now possessing a dead body. His face and hair were hidden behind a mask, which looked a lot like the destroyed Manda'lor mask.

Nihilus reached out to try and steal some Hera's power, which was possible through the cage but was stopped by the woman. "No my love this is a meal meant for our lord."

Hearing this word 'love' Hera made retching sounds. The woman then looked at Perrikus who nodded.

"I apologize my lord. I could not resist her delicious power", Nihilus told Perrikus.

"Yelena speaks highly of you. Your own powers are unique. Soon you will be our champion…much like how accursed Aesir have her son as theirs."

"Yes…her son. I have longed to destroy him once and for all. Even though we have killed each other many times in the past."

"You…half spirit. Call me Mother again and I will show you true pain", Hera spoke.

"Empty threats, soon you will be nothing and your powers will be mine. You should have joined us when you had the chance", Perrikus spoke.

"My lord…I ask that she be kept alive only so she can experience her son's death", Nihilus requested with a snarl.

"My son is more powerful than you…half spirit. Once I get out of here, I will kill you Perrikus and turn this detestable thing into something truly horrendous. I will watch it beg for its measly life."


The four were sitting near the fireplace, where they Ygritte told Tarre to meet Hera (Celestial), the four were on guard against the young girl. She was busy prodding the fire and said, "Hello." She had mousy brown hair and was wearing a simple brown dress.

They greeted her back when Tarre asked, "Who are you?"

"Shouldn't you be introducing yourself first?", she asked him back with a smile. She could see the true power inside of Tarre and that only made her smile more.

"We are a traveling circus. We were supposed to meet a potential client here", Fenrir spoke up.

"It is not good to lie son of Loki and Angrboda", the young girl said.

"How do you know that?", Fenrir asked…his eyes narrowing slightly. He could feel that the young girl had the power of a god, and like the others he sensed no malice within her.

The girl then waved her hand and a picnic basket appeared at the edge of the fireplace with different dishes.

"I recognize you now", Tarre spoke.

"I was hoping you would. Last time you were in such a hurry, your master…she had to physically stop you from leaving", the girl said with a smile.

"Yes", Tarre whispered nostalgically, "You had told us your name is Vesta. Which I now assume is inaccurate."

"Vesta…", Fenrir thought out loud, "If I remember correctly, it was one of the names associated with Hestia."

"Correct", the girl beamed at them.

"Care to fill us in?", Ahsoka whispered to Tarre.

"Hestia is the Goddess of the Hearth…one of the Olympians. They were the Celestial Rulers", Fenrir said.

"I never saw myself as a ruler. I was always happy to fade in the background, while the mighty gods went off to fight and adventure. It was my duty to keep the home fires burning", the young girl – Hestia, Goddess of the Hearth said, "Now eat."

With that the four of them took the dishes and as Asha and Ahsoka were about to dig in, Tarre and Fenrir stopped them. The two of them then scooped a part of their meals into the fires, "To the Gods of Aesir and Olympus." Asha and Ahsoka followed their leads.

'Thor will whack us for sacrificing…even if it is food', Tarre and Fenrir thought to themselves.

"Thank you", Hestia whispered, "As tender of the flame I get a share of every sacrifice."

"I assume you know why we are here", Tarre said.

"To see your mother", Hestia smiled at Asha, Tarre and Ahsoka. But her smile was a tired one and for the first time that day she looked her age. "I would like to tell you a story of the Celestial Queen and King. A marriage that began with the wrong intentions and which ended in the King's death. I will not bore you with all the details, only the important ones."

"Do tell", Asha said.

"It was always a toxic relationship. Zeus our king…was a philanderer, he had even spread false rumours about the Titan King – Kronos. What he wanted, he got and always at the cost of others. It is one of the reasons why Buri and his archangels rebelled. He wanted Hera to be his wife and eventually she did become his wife. But as Zeus was a philanderer, Hera is vengeful. She did not have the power to make Zeus pay for his affairs…so she went after his mistresses, and the children he sired with them. This became an everyday incident, when eventually a few of the Olympians led by Hera and another rebelled and tied Zeus down. While they were deciding who would take the throne, a hundred handed one freed Zeus, after which all of the rebels begged for mercy. Zeus forgave them, but the same could not be said about Hera. As punishment for her attempt to overthrow him, Zeus seized Hera and hung her in the sky by golden chains. Hera wailed in pain all night, but no one would help her out of fear of Zeus. After getting no sleep that night, Zeus approached Hera the next morning and agreed to take her down off the chains if she promised that she would never go against him. Hera reluctantly had to agree to be released from the chains, but she continued to use her cleverness against Zeus any chance she got. A few years later, Zeus tired of Hera's constant interference made several artifacts that gave him absolute control over Hera. In order to further humiliate her, he gave distributed those artifacts among the rest of the Celestials, effectively making Hera a plaything."

"Plaything?", Ahsoka asked.

"Yes. After Zeus's death, Buri destroyed most of these devices. But some were hidden with spells so strong that even Buri couldn't find them. I and the other Celestials owe Buri a lot."

"Can we destroy them? These devices?", Tarre asked.

"Not the way you are. You would need an Archangel's power or more to destroy them. But we are digressing a bit. One of those artifacts came into the possession of a Celestial named Mortis…who I hear was also a temporary member of the Aesir", Hestia paused and looked at Ahsoka.

'So she knows about the daughter's spirit within me', Ahsoka thought to herself.

"The other came was found a group of mortal warriors led by a man named Sept Viszla", Hestia continued.

"That explains the mystery of why he would be associated with her", Tarre said.

"I always wondered why any woman would even want him", Asha said.

"Now you know why Hera kept her distance and why she seeks you out now", Hestia said.

"I understand why she kept her distance, but I don't understand why she reached out now", Tarre said.

"A safe time…or so she said. You will have to ask her more when you find her", Hestia said.

"You know where she is then?", Ahsoka asked.

"Yes. An enemy of the Aesir has imprisoned her, to my understanding he feeds on her power. I can only show you the way."

"Will you not fight with us?", Asha asked.

"No. I am not a fighter, I am a housekeeper", Hestia said.

"What is our mother to you?", Tarre asked.

"My younger sister", Hestia answered.

"I have one request. Can you let one of the Aesir gods…preferably someone like Heimdall or Gabriel know about this. If it is someone who can imprison a Celestial Goddess, we will need more firepower", Fenrir said.

"I can tell Gabriel. He was friendly with me. Now I will tell you where to go", Hestia said.