Chapter 11

War of the Gods Era

Gabrielle and Hope, along with the suspicious god Nergal, had now appeared at the outside of the palace-walls.

That meant of course they now had the perfect - or rather not quite perfect - chance to open the time-portal without being noticed by too many people.

The problem was that Nergal was here with them as well of course. But given the situation they had not been able to avoid it. After all it had been Nergal himself who had transported them outside for his own purposes in the first place.

Still they might not get a chance like this again to get away without the rest of the Sumerian God´s noticing. Since Nergal himself seemed to have little interest to keep them here...

... and the fact that they suspected that he was likely not even actually on the Assyrian God´s side. So he might be willing to let them escape.

"Well," he addressed them, "now that we are here, there are a few question that I have for you."

"Questions?" Gabrielle asked.

"Quite simple. If you don´t want to stay here, would you maybe be interested to join another group of gods?" he asked them.

"You mean the Olympians? Or maybe the Sumerian Gods?" Hope responded.

She was of course mentioning exactly the same two Pantheons the Assyrian Gods were currently fighting against, given their own suspicion that he was a spy.

Nergal showed them a thin smile. It was clear to them that they had been right.

"I see you have figured it out," he stated.

"So you want to bring us to them," Gabrielle said. "I fear we have to decline."

"I see," Nergal replied. "It seems you have no intention to join either of the Pantheons. Then maybe I could just force you to come," he stated.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Hope responded. "Me and mother might be more powerful than you think. And if we are caught here while we are fighting each other, it would also not be in your interest, right? After all you don´t want us in Assur´s hands."

Nergal seemed to consider for a moment.

But it was already too late.

In this moment Assur and Ninlil appeared a close distance next to them, having teleported outside the castle as well.

"What are you doing here?" Assur asked them. "Nergal? And you two?" he addressed his `fellow´ God and his two new `concubines´.

"I just discovered this two as they tried to leave without permission," Nergal lied to him.

"Of course," Nergal replied sardonically, obviously not believing him.

"Or were you maybe the one who was trying to get them away?" Ninlil suggested. "Like you couldn´t assist us against the Olympians as you brought them here in the first place?"

In truth she had been suspicious about his behavior for some time now.

"My Lady - what have I done to deserve this distrust?" Nergal responded.

"Yes - what? That is a good question," Assur said instead of his Queen. "There are actually a few of your actions that were quite questionable if you think about it."

"My Lord - have I not always been a valuable ally?" Nergal asked.

"Yes you were. and a powerful one," Assur admitted. "That is the only reason why I tolerated your eccentricities for so long. But my patience is running out," he stated.

"From now on no more `Extra Tours´. No more following orders only when you feel like it. And no more sudden disappearances."

It was obvious that Nergal´s absence in the battle yesterday was not his first one, Gabrielle thought.

And not the only incidents that caused the other Assyrian Gods to not fully trust him. That he had brought her and Hope here theday before, had served him as a convenient distraction from that.

But it seemed it was not enough anymore to keep Assur´s suspicions at bay.

"You will proof your loyalty," Assur told Nergal. "Or I will remind you that we gods are not always as immortal as we claim to be."

"I understand," Nergal relied.

xxxx

Maybe it was time to leave, Nergal thought to himself, and join the alliance between the Sumerian Gods and the Olympians openly. Assur and Ninlil had clearly both lost their trust in him.

And he had already delivered more than enough information to buy himself his welcome into either the Sumerian or the Olympian Realms if he wanted anyway.

And with that and the strength and power he possessed, both other Pantheons would be fools not to accept him.

So there was no need to stay and pretend to support his fellow Assyrian Gods and their megalomanic goals any longer.

Both Pantheons would accept him with open arms and allow him to merge himself with their Realm. I was not an undangerous process for a god to switch from one Realm to another. But if Zeus or El supported it, it should work out.

And it would be much better than staying here and being part of an insane war against the other gods. One that they could only loose in the long run.

The question was only if he from now on wanted to become a Olympian or a Sumerian God?

xxxx

"Ninlil - bring Hope and Gabrielle back inside," Assur ordered his Queen.

"Hope - now!" Gabrielle suddenly called out.

They had used the moments the three gods were occupied with each other, for Hope to channel her power.

Right in this moment she formed a portal right in front of herself and Gabrielle and they both jumped through it.

The three gods starred at the now empty spot where they had just been in astonishment.

Assur and Ninlil had not even known that Hope could do something like this.

And Nergal in truth did not actually cared that much if they escaped or not.

It would have been good if he could have brought these two along to his new allies, especially the supposed daughter of Ahriman. But it was not necessary either.

"No," Assur called out. "Go after them," he ordered.

They teleported away.

But not all of them with the same purpose.

xxx

But the portal that Hope and Gabrielle had just passed through was not one through space and time... not yet.

They had both agreed that opening one right in front of the Assyrian Gods would be too dangerous. The risk of them deciding to follow them into the future or for it to otherwise change the past, was too great.

So the portal was just one that send then to a place several hundred kilometers away. Out of the borders of the Assyrian God´s Realm and with that automatically far into the one of the Olympians instead.

From this place Hope would form yet another portal that would bring them back to their time.

As Dahak´s daughter, Hope was not bound by the borders of the Realms of the different Pantheons.

For the Assyrian Gods however...

xxx

Assur and Ninlil reappeared a short distance before the border. If they went any further their powers would start to dismish. And over some time vanish nearly entirely.

That was the reason in this war, the direct battles between the gods themselves were only taking place in exactly this border areas, where the members of both sides had still access to all or at least most of their power.

But Gabrielle and Hope were now far, at least a hundred miles, inside Olympian Territory.

While technically they would be able to follow them, their powers would start to wane nearly instantly and continue to fade the longer and the further away they were away from their own Realm. Not only would this make them easy pickings for the Olympians if they were caught, it was likely that they would not even be able to overpower Hope and Gabrielle themselves in such a weakened state.

To put it short, the risk was far too great.

"Damn it," Assur said.

"It seems your two new concubines have gotten away," Ninlil remarked. "And before you could even `try them out´ - too bad."

"You know perfectly well that it is more than that," Assur replied. "With Hope, I could have become the father of a new race of gods. One with that we could have been able to win the war."

Yes. But a race that she would not be the mother of, Ninlil thought. While maybe good for the ambitions of the Assyrians as a whole, this would be very bad for her own position.

She had never cared that much about her King´s other concubines. Most of them were just Mortals after all - or in a few cases a few of the other goddessess or half-goddesses from their own Pantheon, who were clearly below her in power and rank.

This Hope however was an actual threat to her own position. If she really was who she claimed, she could actually take her place as Queen.

Much to Ninlil´s luck however it seemed that she had no interest in it and rather prefered just to run away. Successfully as it seemed. Good - for them both, she thought.

"Where is Nergal by the way?" Ninlil questioned.

It was a good question.

They sensed his presence a moment later... far inside the Olympians territory.

Nearly as far as Hope and Gabrielle were.

But as far as they could tell his powers showed no signs of dismishing at all.

And that could only mean he had the blessing of Zeus or another high ranked Olympian to be in their Realm.

"Nergal," Assur said, even more enraged than before.

"I was right about him," Ninlil stated.

"It seems so my Queen," Assur replied coldly.

xxxxxxx

A few hundred miles away

"Are you okay?" Gabrielle asked Hope.

"I am," she replied. "Just exhausted."

"Maybe we should wait a little bit for you to recover," Gabrielle suggested. "We are out of their reach after all."

"No," Hope answered. "We are now in the territory of the Olympians," she reminded Gabrielle.

"And it is unlikely that they haven´t noticed our arrival. I don´t want to have to deal with them too here in the past. Our presence might have already caused enough damage as it is."

"That is true," Gabrielle admitted.

Hope formed the next and hopefully final portal for them. This time by using her power to move through time.

The portal that would hopefully bring them home.

And they walked through it and were gone from this time.

xxx

A short time later

Three figures appeared at the place where Gabrielle and Hope had been before.

The were the Olympians Ares and Athena, along with Nergal.

"It was here where we sensed the disturbance," Athena said. "Most likely the two immortal women you mentioned Nergal."

"Yes they were," he replied.

"But they are gone," Ares commented. "So your information about this two seems of little use."

"And if so, I have delivered more than enough otherwise," Nergal stated.

"Ares you know that both Zeus and Hera have given him their blessing to be here," Athena pointed out, "and you know how rare they two agree on something."

"You can say that," Ares responded.

"Besides - you feel the nature of the leftover of the power here?" Athena said.

"Time manipulation," Ares realized. "You want to tell me this two were actually from another time?" he called out. "But only gods have the ability."

"Yes - only gods," Athena repeated meaningful.

"Do you think we should try to find out where they came from?" Ares questioned.

"Maybe we shouldn´t do that," Athena replied. "Moving though time has great risks, even for us."

"But they have just done just that?" Ares remarked.

"Maybe it was not even on purpose," Nergal pointed out. "When I first found them, they seemed disoriented and didn´t even knew where they were."

"You mean they came here by accident?" Ares asked incredulous.

"Is that idea so unlikely?" Athena asked. "This war between gods that the Assyrian Pantheon had started is not only damaging the stability of our Realms, but slowly the balance of the world. This might be the reason they ended up here in the first place."

That is only be one reason more we should end it as quickly as possible," she stated.

"We should leave it like that, instead of blindly attempting to follow this two into another time," Athena argued. "But we should keep our eyes open, if they or any other `trespassers´ show up again."

"Alright," Ares gave in.

xxx

And things continued like they were meant to.

The war between the Pantheons continued. A few years later the Egyptian Gods joined the fighting at the side of the Olympians and the Sumerians.

And the Assyrian Gods lost, ultimately leaving Assur as the last survivor.

Nergal decided to join the Sumerian Gods, becoming their new God of the Underworld.

History played out like it was meant to... up to a point.

xxxxxxx

Young Hercules Era

They had arrived and were now standing in front of a temple of Aphrodite.

They all gave a short look to each other.

"We are here," Xena stated matter of factly.

"So this is it," Eve said. "Now it depends on how this times Aphrodite will react."

"If she even talks to us," the young Hercules suggested. "It is not as if the gods just appear whenever someone shows up in their temples and ask for them."

"Believe me," Xena replied, "going by who our group here consists of, she will for sure."

"Then maybe you should let the crazy goddess outside, what do you think?" Callisto said with more than a bit self-irony.

"As if that made any difference," Eve countered. "She can sense your presence easily anyway."

"I guess you are right," Callisto replied smirking.

They walked inside.

There, standing close to the altar, was was a trio of quite lightly clad priestesses greeting them.

"Welcome," the one who was obviously the head-priestess said. "Are you looking for Aphrodite´s blessing?"

"In a way," Xena told them.

"But we are not interested in talking to you. We want to speak to Aphrodite herself," Callisto said in a direct and more impolite manner than Xena had intended to.

"The gods don´t show themselves to just anyone," the head-priestess replied visible angered.

"Well - good that we are not `just anyone´," Callisto countered.

And demonstratedly dis- and reappeared inside the temple.

the three priestesses called out in surprise. Out of them, the head-priestess had actually met Aphrodite in person and seen this before.

"A goddess," she said. "Yes - I think you justify Lady Aphroddite´s attention."

"She is not the only one," Eve spoke up. She pointed to her left. "This is Hercules - son of Zeus and Aphrodites half-brother."

A moment later they got their wish, as Aphrodite appeared in the temple with them.

She looked exactly like the Aphrodite from their own time, despite being centuries younger. At least on the outside.

"Hercules - nice to see you again half-brother."

xxxxxxx

Another time and place

As Gabrielle and Hope stepped out of the portal, they were... somewhere else.

But obviously not where they had wanted to arrive.

The were standing on a green meadow, close to a small rural town. The closest houses were just a few hundred meters from them.

But that town was clearly not Mira. The landscape was different and they did not recognize any of the buildings.

That meant they were not back where their journey had begann.

"Hope - where are we? Did you not wanted to bring us right back to Mira?" Gabrielle asked.

"Yes - I tried to," she replied. "But obviously something went wrong. We are not just at the wrong place, but also in the wrong time. I can sense it."

Hope became visibly unsettled.

"I - I think I know where we are," she said. "Mother - we have to stay low and hide ourselves."

"What? Why? Where are we?" Gabrielle asked.

"We are in Hercules hometown," Hope answered. "A short time before his birth. Callisto - she is close. As you know she is here to kill his mother before he is born... at my order." Her voice actually sounded pained and regretful as she recalled the last part.

"Callisto," Gabrielle repeated. "But she... she is the reason we got send into the past in the first place. If we run into here here, there is no telling what this could do to the future."

"Exactly," Hope replied. "And Iolaus will stop her, unless our presence here does something to interrupt that."

They both knew if that happened, the entire timeline like they knew it could fall apart. (If it not already did.)

"We should get away from here as quickly as we can, as soon as I have recovered."

Gabrielle saw that Hope was breathing heavily and looking pale.

To the guest reviewer Evangeline: Thank you.