Vivi fidgeted in place. It was uncomfortable, incredibly so. Cramped, hot, dark, and boring. She’d had second thoughts the moment that Roth’s superior, Oliver Tombs, some graying-haired general who’d notably remained entirely human and rude, first showed up and promptly misgendered and deadnamed senator Gloria. Their bickering had exhausted even agent Roth, who quietly apologized to the group. Not long after the General had directed them to a few military trucks, breaking into groups, Vivi joined by Melody, Roth, and their respective goddesses, where they patiently sat for multiple hours as they began their campaign northeast toward the Rockies.
The soldiers accompanying them were different than she’d expected. There were of course a fair number of silent gruff men, the image of a soldier that haunted her mind whenever her classmates eagerly discussed their desires to join up and shoot people. Her parents’ critical stance on the military didn’t help her fears about them either. However, they were contrasted by a handful of more magical soldiers. Hybra, as Cheryl had called them, that seemed to shake off their conditioning and readily indulged in their emotions, much to General Tombs’s ire. Others, like the woman beside her, had a more complex vibe.
“Are you okay?” she asked the woman.
“Huh? Oh. I’m fine,” the woman stated. Vivi frowned, noticing the woman was hiding her clear discomfort.
“It’s okay. I won’t judge you or anything,” Vivi encouraged her.
The woman chuckled. “You’re a sweet girl,” she sighed. “Honestly, you shouldn’t be here. Good girls like you have no business being with the army.”
“Talking from experience?” Melody asked from the seat across from them.
“Oh, uh… no...” the woman shook her head. “I’m… no cute girl like either of you. I’m nowhere near as pleasant.”
Vivi stared at the woman intently and frowned. “You changed too, didn’t you?” The woman stared at her, shock and fright gripping her. “It’s okay. I changed too,” she looked to the side. “I can’t imagine how it must feel to be in your position. Living a life like this only to have yourself outed like that. Trying to hide who you want to be and feeling pressured to be someone you’re not. It must be miserable.”
“Gosh, you saw right through me, huh?” the woman chuckled. “It’s been hard, yeah. Honestly, if it weren’t for the fact that I have to finish my deployment, I’d probably have left this all behind. I never really wanted to be here. I just… felt I needed to, back when I was in high school. I had to be a strong manly guy and join the military,” she sighed. “It only wound up hurting me though.”
“I hope you get to finish soon, and then you can go home and live your life as a woman.” Vivi smiled.
“Yeah… I just hope everyone will accept who I am now.”
“Even if they don’t, I’m sure you’ll find plenty of people who will.”
“Thank you,” the soldier giggled.
There was a sudden bang coming from the front. “QUIT YOUR YAPPING!” the General’s muffled voice yelled, Vivi and the soldier cringing at his sudden screaming. A little further down, agent Roth sighed and rose from his seat, swiftly and carefully moving towards the front of the truck. He knocked on a slat dividing the front and the back. It slid open. “What is it, Roth?”
“We’re discussing our plans. We’re going to be a little noisy,” Roth stated. The General grumbled and closed the sliding door.
“Thank you, Agent,” the soldier said with a gentle smile.
“It’s no issue. Let me know if he starts harassing you. MID has been trying to pick up more agents, and one of my colleagues already has her eyes on you. We’ll get you transferred somewhere nice and comfortable when this is all over.”
“Wait, me? Really?”
“Of course. I’ve already been briefed about you private Elizabeth. You’ve been studying biology, correct? Those skills are becoming rather important.”
“Oh, uh. T-thank you,” Elizabeth stammered.
“Is this related to the stuff with hybra research?” Melody asked.
“It is,” Roth confirmed as he sat between Vivi and Athena.
“Sounds like you guys have really started making headway, haven’t you?” Tiamat asked as she leaned against Lilith.
“They really have,” Athena stated. “It’s been impressive watching it grow during our investigation and preparing for today.”
“Speaking of,” Lilith looked at the others. “We probably should actually go over everything again before we get there. Roth?”
“Roger,” he said with a nod. “Zeus is currently preparing to march on Fort Newton. Based on our intelligence, we suspect he’ll depart in the next few days, although we suspect our arrival may prompt him to leave sooner. His objective is to reach the fort and pass through the portal to Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi’s home world of Gaia. Our objective for this operation is to capture Zeus and the deities accompanying them before they can make it to Fort Newton and breach the portal.”
“Do we have any additional information on these other deities?” Melody asked.
“At the moment, we’ve identified a total of five divine energies, and received visual confirmation of three. Zeus, an older man we suspect to be Odin, and a younger woman who regularly wears battle armor and a flowing white dresses.” As Roth explained the information, Athena’s gaze began to sharpen at the mention of the woman’s clothes. “We have little intel when it comes to the other two. Although, there have been sightings of bloodied animal corpses in the area, so one of them may be a hunter god. Aside from that, we’ve identified a man we’ve learned you girls know, Gunther.”
“He’s here?” Melody questioned.
“Melody?” Tiamat looked at her concernedly.
“That’s the bastard I told you about. The one who stuck me in that tank,” she fumed.
“So, he’s the one?” Tiamat questioned. “Then I’ll just have to teach him a lesson when we meet up, huh?”
“It’s not too much longer now, is it?” Vivi asked.
“We still have some time before we get there though, be sure to rest up girls. We still have more than ten hours before we arrive.”
* * *
He looked out the window, his men scrambling about as they made preparations. He’d spent much of the day ordering them around and directing them to do this, that, and the other thing. At first, the power was thrilling. After so many years of being looked down upon and disrespected, he finally had a way to take power for himself. He was happy. He was…
“You holdin’ up, Gunth?” Ares asked as she entered his room.
“Oh, Ares. You’re back. You… are you okay?” he asked, noticing the blood dripping from her hand. The warrior goddess sighed.
“Don’t worry about it. It’ll heal up soon enough.”
“What did that?”
“Father ordered me to go prepare the beast, and they didn’t feel like cooperating.” She shrugged. “Got chewed on. Nothing too serious.”
“That sounds painful.” Gunther grimaced. “Do you gods feel pain differently?”
Ares frowned. “No… not really. Well… maybe a little. Still hurts a bunch, but my human self already had a bunch of pain tolerance, so it’s hard to tell.”
“Did you get hurt a lot before?”
“Not really. If anything, I tended to avoid stuff that would get me hurt until I transitioned.”
“Wait, you mean your human self was...”
Ares chuckled. “It’s funny, right? Like, I spent all that time and money to transition, and magic just finished it for me.”
“Kinda makes you wish you could’ve thought twice about it before, huh?” he chuckled nervously.
“Not really. It was hard and obnoxious, sure, but I was happy. Getting to cry for the first time or liking my reflection was worth it. And let me tell you, if I could’ve gotten rid of that shitty rod sooner, I still would have. Even with all the shitty doctors I had to appease, it was worth it. Got luckier with therapists at least, only took me a few tries on that one. Oh, if you ever want your shit actually worked out, cut the shit and get a social worker. They ain’t all perfect, and plenty of psychologists are great too, but there’s a lot of other shit therapists out there too. Too many of my friends got strung along by those kinds of assholes. Still, it was worth it for those few years of just getting to be a girly girl.”
“Girly girl, you?” Gunther looked at her in shock. Ares looked at him, speechless for a second, tears gathering in her eyes. She shut her mouth and shook her head, taking a sharp breath. “S-sorry...”
“No… it’s okay. It just… It sucks, y'know? I got to live life like I wanted for a few years. Being silly and cutesy. But you’re right. Me now… that’s kinda hard to believe. There’s nothing cute about me anymore. It was nice while it lasted though. I’m really going to miss it.”
“Ares…” Gunther watched her as she looked out the window, a pained look in her eye. The eyes of a gentle girl quietly suffering. It made him feel terrible. “Um… why did you choose this?”
“Huh?”
“I mean. Sure, you reincarnated, but… you didn’t have to be here. So, why?” Ares didn’t answer him. She simply looked at him and then away at the floor.
“I… don’t...” she whispered.
“Huh?”
Ares shook her head. “It’s nothing. What’s with all the questions? I didn’t take you for a bleeding heart or anything. What gives?”
“I… I’ve kinda always been like this actually,” he admitted.
“Really?”
“Yeah. Kinda embarrassing, right? Cool, strong guy with a weak heart. I got made fun of a lot for it when I was in school, back when I wasn’t as strong. Cried a lot back then too until I couldn’t anymore. Sure, some of the girls liked me a bit more back then, but it wasn’t worth being bullied, especially when they all moved on and took those bastards' side. Here I thought getting respect and confidence would help me overcome it, but… here I am, still needlessly worrying about others.”
“Gunth...” Ares winced. “You don’t...” she sighed again. “Gunther, if I was the old me, and I mean the old old me, I think I’d probably have encouraged that, but… truth is she… that version of me, she was wrong to believe that type of stuff. There’s nothing wrong with feeling emotional or attached like that. It’s the one most important difference between my two past selves. The old goddess version of myself buried herself in masculinity and denied what she cared about. She thought wielding and harnessing power was the only thing that mattered. That me, she thought it was the only value she had. It’s part of what made my life with the other gods so difficult, especially with Athena. I was so stuck in being jealous of them, and...” she took a deep breath. “I don’t know… it just made me so pissed. But the human version of me, she decided it was more important to hold onto my emotions. And she embraced who she really was. I kind of wish I was still her to be honest. Magic fixed things up nicely, but I liked who I was back then.”
“What exactly changed?”
“Only a handful of things. I don’t have to take HRT anymore, which is pretty nice. I was also between surgeries, so all of my scars healed, and I grew a labia, which, not gonna lie, really happy about that one.”
“Labia? Those are the folds, right?”
“Uh, kinda weird way to describe them, but yeah. To be honest, I’m kinda surprised you know that. Most guys don’t.”
“I thought it was important to learn it for when I got a girlfriend, you know? Make it pleasurable and all.”
“Gunther?”
“By the way, what was that thing you said? HRT?”
“Huh? Hormone replacement therapy. Basically it’s medicine that tells your body to start acting like your actual gender. It’s a bit more complicated than that, but HRT is what lets trans people change our bodies. Heck, these girls originally came from that.” She proudly tapped her boobs.
“Medicine can do that?”
“Yeah! Pretty cool, right?”
“I think so,” Gunther laughed, making a big smile. “It sounds nice.”
“That’s what I’m saying, being a girl’s great!” Ares giggled. She looked at Gunther, his lips curling into a bright smile. Her eyes widened as his words echoed in her head. “Gunther… you...”
“Hmm? What’s up Ares?”
“Hey, uh… this might be a little odd to ask, but...”
“Boy!” Odin called. “It is time. We gather in the hall now.”
“Guh, wait a minute you old jackass!” Ares snapped. “I’m coming!”
“Hey, Ares, wait a second,” Gunther called after her. She turned to face him. “I… why do you let them treat you like that? You’re a goddess. Surely you deserve more respect, right?”
She made a bitter smile. “I wish that were true.”
“Boy!” Odin’s voice boomed.
“I said I’m coming!” Ares answered. She looked back at Gunther for a moment then walked up to him.
“Ares?”
“I’d like to talk more later? So take care of yourself out there, okay?” she tapped his head, a warmth spreading through his body. “Stay safe out there, cutie.”
“C-cutie…?” Gunther repeated, the warmth nipping at his cheeks. “Ares, what do you…?” he tried to ask, but she was already gone.
He grumbled to himself, her words echoing in his mind. He looked back out his window again. He thought of the gentle-hearted boy that no longer was, and the cruel actions he’d committed since. The doubts had built up as the thrill fell away. He had power and the promise of luxury, yet it did little to avail himself of the aching hole that had once more formed within him.
“Just what am I doing here?”
* * *
“Ugh,” Annie groaned as she entered the tent. “It’s good to get out of that stupid truck.”
“I don’t care if it’s smoother, I’d take riding a horse over this any day,” Riri grumbled.
“Sorry things were so rough,” Ami apologized. “I hadn’t realized your transports would be so… painful.”
“They’re not that bad,” Roth commented.
“Roth, you’ve got to take a vacation,” Medusa interjected. “Your brain is being cooked from all of your crappy regiments. When we’re done here, you and us are going to live some luxury.”
“Um, so is everyone here?” Vivi asked as she looked around, counting her friends and allies.
“Seems like it,” Melody noted.
“Mel!” Annie rushed to her girlfriend’s side and kneeled down to hug her. “Was the trip comfortable?”
“As good as it could have been. There was this really sweet soldier with us. You’d like her.”
“Is that so?”
“Alright, is everyone ready for our last briefing?” Roth asked. As the group gathered around a large table.
“Uh, I have a question,” Carmen said, raising her hand. “Where’d that one guy go? The asshole you were with back when we first met? I haven’t seen him at all.”
“Oh, Mike? He got transferred after Athena stood up for Medi a little after joining up with us.”
“He should’ve been fired,” Athena grumbled, Medusa nodding to her side. “That aside, we should go over the plan again. To start with, we’ll be breaking into four groups. Roth, Medi, Cheryl, and part of the army will stay here and maintain this base of operations. It’s not much,” she glanced judiciously at the makeshift camp beyond the tent’s door, “but they should be able to formulate plans as things develop. Second, the bulk of the army here will go forth and engage Zeus’s mortal forces.”
“His mortal forces?” Ichika repeated. “They’re being led by that creep, Gunther, right?”
“That’s the jerk who tried to hurt Mama!” Wisp declared.
“Yes,” Athena confirmed. “He’s seemingly been put in charge of their mortal forces. From the intel we got as we arrived, they’ve seemingly all been granted some kind of tattoo earlier today. I suspect they’re runes granted to them by Odin. What do you think Riri?”
“Pops does like using runes, but it’s a little weird that he’d use them on mortals. I haven’t met him in his new form, but I remember him being rather picky about what mortals to grant his boon to. Sounds like he’s up to something.”
“Isn’t trickery your sibling’s thing?” Carmen asked.
“Yeah, but they learned a lot of it from Pops. He’s really wily when he wants to be.”
“Which is why, we’ll be watching over things from the sidelines,” Athena stated. “We deities may not want to get involved, but we’ll be here in case they go too far.” The various goddesses’ faces twisted in discomfort as each of them nodded, save Lilith who only looked at her granddaughter, only looking away as Vivi turned to look at her. “That brings me to the Prism Girls.” Vivi looked back at Athena. “They’ll take the distraction from the soldiers to advance on Fort Newton. Their objective will be to get there before Zeus and stop his advance. We’ll intervene when necessary, especially to restrain them,” she sighed. “I’m sorry we can’t help you all fight.”
“No, we all understand.” Annie grinned. “This world is ours. And we’re going to be the ones to protect it. As for getting there, most of us can fly now. Mel, Wisp, can you help Chi and Carm?”
“Of course!” Wisp cheered, Melody chuckling before nodding in agreement.
“By the way, do we have any more information on the other gods?” Roth shook his head. “Of course not. That would be too easy. Alright, I think it would be best it-”
“AGENT ROTH!” A soldier yelled as they ran into the tent.
“What is it?” Roth answered. “We’re in middle of-”
“Their forces have started to move and are advancing on our position,” the soldier declared. “And there’s more! Something strange seems to be happening to them!”