In the far corner of the Beast Forest stood a ruined temple. It was one of the three lost temples of Zeus, places where his presence had once been strong.
Time and conflict had reduced most of them to rubble. This one still had walls, though vines covered them and cracks ran through the stone.
The statue of Zeus that once stood in the center was broken. Only the cracked lower half remained, the waist and the feet. The upper body was fully gone, shattered long ago into pieces that had either been taken or buried under dirt and roots.
Doom!
A heavy impact shook the ground outside. Dust and broken stone flew into the air. From the cloud of debris, a figure stepped forward. It was Olivia’s body, but the one controlling it was the goddess, Athena.
Blood covered her clothes and skin. One of her feet left red prints on the stone as she walked into the temple.
She stopped in front of the broken statue. For a moment she only looked at it. Then she dropped to one knee, leaned forward, and pressed her lips to the stone foot. A few drops of her blood fell onto the toes of the statue.
"Father," she said.
Silence answered her. The wind moved through the broken roof, but nothing else.
She stood up. Her eyes were red, partly from blood that had run into them and partly from something else. "Father!"
Still nothing. Her mouth twitched once, then again. She started to call a third time.
"Fath-"
Thunder!
Thunder rolled across the sky and a bolt struck the statue dead center. More dust and stone exploded outward.
Athena stumbled back, coughing, waving a hand in front of her face. whens he felt it, Divinity poured out of the statue like heat from a forge. It pressed against her skin and made the air hard to breathe.
"Father?" she said again.
"Yes... daughter." The voice came from inside the remaining dust. A figure became visible through it, tall, shining, familiar. The shape of Zeus. The broken statue somewhat looking whole.
Athena did not waste time. "What games are you playing?"
There was a pause before he answered. "So you met him..."
She let out a long breath. For years she had tried to force a restart of the world. She had even worked with Hermes to steal the thunderbolt but in the end, The thunderbolt was gone and Zeus’s old power was gone with it.
"I smelled something on him," she said. "Something I used to smell on you."
"So you already know that... as well."
"Why?" Her voice rose. "He is weak. He is feeble. Why pass your power to a morral? I was more worthy than he ever was. Why!?"
Silence again.
She continued. "I wanted to kill him right there. But I saw his blue eyes and white hair. His face looked more like yours than Heracules’s ever did.
So, I stopped."
Still no answer.
"Father!" she called. "I stopped. I did not kill him, your so-called last son. So..."
Nothing.
"So free me from this flesh. Let me come back." She tried to push herself out of Olivia’s body. Something trying to vibrate out of her body, but it was stuck back.
Nothing happened. She was locked in place for reasons she did not understand.
"Oh, Athena," Zeus said. "You were wise once. But no longer. This child you possess, I cannot do anything about it. She is you, and you are her."
Athena’s face twisted. "What? What the fuck do you mean? I am a goddess. I am Athena the Wise, the goddess of war itself!" She shouted the words at the glowing figure.
The dust began to settle right after. The large shadow faded. The presence of Zeus thinned and then vanished, leaving only the broken lower half of the statue.
Athena stood there alone, breathing hard.
"Zeus!" she yelled.
There was no reply. The temple was quiet once more except for the wind and the distant sounds of the forest.
***
At the headquarters the situation was close to open fighting. Olivia’s remaining troops faced off against Chief Barry’s people in the main courtyard and the corridors leading to the resource stores. Voices shouted accusations. Weapons were half-drawn.
Two of Olivia’s mages stood near the supply vaults and made it clear they were ready to destroy everything inside if the argument continued.
Chief Barry moved between the groups, trying to keep them from crossing the final line. His orders were ignored more often than they were followed.
Inside one of the medical rooms, Ethan lay on a bed after extensive surgery. Most of the bones in his body had been broken. The healers had put him back together piece by piece.
Somehow he had lived through it.
Marcus and Karisa stood near the bed, watching him. Karisa looked at Marcus. "Was it your plan the whole time?"
Marcus shook his head. "I don’t know, but its done, he did his job. He got the hound out of the way."
Karisa’s jaw tightened. "Olivia might still come back. She’s alive. Anything can happen. Anything..."
Listening to their chatter, Ethan could no longer pretend to sleep, so he opened his eyes. His voice was rough but clear.
"She will not return..."
Karisa turned on him at once. "What the fuck is wrong with you? Why did you do it? Why did you strike the statue of Athena instead of Olivia? Why did you let her live?!"
Ethan did not answer right away. He stared at the ceiling for a few seconds. Then he said, "She’s gone now. You need to take the position of House Kin Athena. Like we planned. Like you planned."
Karisa stared at him. The anger in her face did not fade. She turned and walked out of the room without another word.
Thud!
The door closed harder than necessary behind her.
Marcus stayed. He looked at Ethan for a long moment. "So how was the fight with a literall goddess?"
Ethan did not reply immediately. He tested his arms and legs under the sheets. The pain was still there, but it was less than before.
"You can see..." Ethan said.
After a couple of hours, the recovery was faster than it should have been. So much so, he was able to walk, so he sat up.
Marcus helped him swing his legs over the side of the bed and he stood, unsteady at first, then steadier.
He walked out of the medical wing with slow but determined steps. The chaos around, reaching him as well.
He headed for Chief Barry’s office. The corridors were still tense. People watched him pass but did not speak. When he reached the outer door of the office, a guard stood in the way.
It was the same man who had spoken with him earlier, before the fight, before the temple, before everything happened..
Ethan stopped. "Hey...How are you?"
The guard looked at him with flat eyes with No recognition and No friendliness whatsoever, and simply ignored Ethan.
Ethan tried again. "...Hey."
The man frowned. "Huh? Who the fuck are you?"
Ethan blinked. "What?"
The guard’s expression hardened further. "I said who the fuck are you? And Fuck off."
Ethan stood there for a second longer. The guard did not move. There was no joke in his face, no sign that this was some kind of test. The man simply did not know him, or refused to.
What the fuck?