He sighed as he looked at his arm, ancient characters embedded upon his skin that he didn’t understand. Odin’s words rang through his mind. “When the time comes, these runes will grant you the power you desire,” he repeated the mantra. He couldn’t help but laugh at the farce of his actions. This was what he wanted. This is what he’d sought all this time. From that first moment when he’d first met Zeus and awakened to his magic, he’d sought a way to become stronger.
It was like a dream come true. After a lifetime of unending harassment and insults, he finally had a way to get back at all of them. He even went to his father’s grave to mock him for his shortsightedness. After all the ridicule for trying to be nice to people. After all the accusations of him manipulating his friends for relationships. After all the misery of being the weird fucked up boy, he was finally going to be the one on top. He was going to be the one with the power. He was going to be the one with the respect. All he had to do was just see this mission through.
It was worth it.
Even when he quietly resented his orders. Even when he stifled his heart, and hushed its outcry’s when he abducted the mermaid. Even when he personally hunted a woman he couldn’t find a legitimate insult for. Even as he forced a mask of smug superiority on.
It was going to be worth it.
Even as he began resenting his reflection even more than he had. Even as he hated how much like his abusive father he was becoming. Even as he felt what lingering joys in his life die out. Even as his few remaining friends were replaced by sycophants who offered only hollow praise. Even as he began to question if his performance had supplanted who he once was. Even as he began to wonder if he’d killed his childhood smile himself.
It was going to be worth it, right?
He never understood why people hated him. He never knew what he’d done wrong. His mother taught him to be kind to people. She’d encouraged him to be kind and friendly, and she complimented him when he’d made friends with the girls at school and said how proud she was of him for treating them well.
It had to be worth it, it just had to be.
His father had yelled at him time and again for being too effeminate. He threatened him a lot, telling him he’d better not be one of them. His father didn’t raise ‘a gay boy.’ Not that he understood that rationale in the first place. So he was in touch with his emotions, so what? He didn’t like being with other boys, and he certainly wasn’t attracted to their large sweaty bodies. But then those same sentiments started appearing at school, and even the girls he was friends with began to question and doubt him. And then he was alone. He felt so used. He couldn’t let himself get hurt like that again.
But what if it wasn’t worth it?
He tensed up and shook his head. Whatever these thoughts were, he had to stop thinking them. Zeus and Odin weren’t like them. They weren’t like his dad, who abused his mother to the point that she ran away and vanished from his life. They weren’t like those guys who were jealous of his friendships with the girls they liked. They wouldn’t betray his trust. Even if they were rather brutal at times, they didn’t betray people like that. They were gods after all.
But what about how they treat her?
His thoughts stopped as the pit in his stomach demanded his attention.
Why do they keep hurting her?
He didn’t understand why they both treated Ares the way they did. Maybe Zeus was too set in his ways as her father. Maybe Odin thought he was helping her in some impossible to understand way, only comprehended by his own wise mind. He couldn’t make sense of it. She was kind and helpful. She’d only been supportive since they’d met. He was so comfortable around her. Maybe that was the problem. He’d gotten too comfortable and relaxed, causing all of his insecurities to pop back up. Surely that made sense; more than questioning a god.
Why do they keep hurting the women around them?
He didn’t have an answer. He could only ignore the thought as it lingered at the back of his mind. He focused forward as his transport slowed to a stop.
“Luchi, why did you stop?” He questioned his foxy companion. The fox man exited the vehicle, Gunther following suit. “What are you doing? I didn’t tell you to-”
“We’re here...” Luchi said.
“Here?” he questioned as he looked around, observing all of his men exiting their vehicles. “We’re still several miles from...”
“This is where we start,” an old wizened voice echoed in Gunther’s mind. There was only one person that voice could belong to.
“Odin? What...”
“Awaken to my power!” Odin’s voice rang through his mind.
His head spun, pain splitting his mind in two. His arms trembled and his vision grew fuzzy as his breath grew heavy. He struggled to stay on his feet. He called out for help and looked at his men desperately. His eyes widened as fear began to grip him. His men were glowing. The runes on their bodies grew in size, new lines forming to connect them together, a sickly yellow light spewing out of them. They began to bulk up, growing larger and larger, their faces twisting with glee and excitement as their muscles swelled and bulged in repulsive ways. Magic began to fill him as well, the runes on his own body beginning to glow.
The pit in his stomach grew larger. His breath raced. Strength. It was giving them all strength and power, giving them bodies of vikings. It was the ideal masculine form. It was what his father always told him to work towards, and was the reward being dangled in front of him. His heart cried out in anguish. He didn’t want it. He didn’t want to be like that. He didn’t want to be like them. He didn’t want that kind of strength. It was disgusting and repulsive. The runes on his body began to recede and fade, his body seeming almost smaller than before, as if sapping him of his strength instead. He glanced up towards his men and trembled in fear. He felt so small compared to them now.
Why were they so big? They towered over him. Their muscles had become so large and rugged, it was actually off-putting. It was if their skin was stretching to fit upon their misshapen bodies. “L-Luchi,” he panted as he turned to his trusted assistant beside him only to notice something strange. His tail seemed wrong, as if the fur had become coated in some kind of crystal. “W-what…?”
“Grun-ker?” Luchi growled in a deeply unsettling tone, an unnatural grit drowning out his words.
“What happened to you?” Gunther asked, his voice meek and small as it trembled with fear.
“Gruh...ker…?” Luchi’s voice warbled as the runes on his body began to change color, taking on a more orange hue, much like his skin. “Grun… grr. GRAAA-RAAACK!” he bellowed, his voice becoming a monstrous roar.
“L-Luchi!?” his voice fell silent. And then he winced as his own runes began to glow once more. “O-Odin… he betrayed us!? He… He did this to all of you, and now...” He shook his head.
“Relent, Gunther,” Odin’s voice echoed in his mind. “Allow my power to course through you and take your place as the leader of my golem army.”
“G-golems?” Gunther repeated. “No! Leave me alone! I don’t want this! This isn’t what we agreed to.”
“I promised you power, and you will take it.”
“I don’t want your power! I don’t want to become some hideous mindless monster!” he whimpered. “Please… Help me...” The light from the runes grew brighter.
“That’s right, take in my power and-” Odin’s voice vanished, the light vanishing with it.
“H-huh?” Gunther’s body went limp, his body drenched in sweat. “What just...”
“It’s okay. I’m with you, cutie,” a kind woman’s voice echoed in his mind. One he recognized immediately.
“A-Ares…?” He looked around for her, only to be met by the numerous mutilated forms of his men, now fully turned into rock-like creatures, lumbering towards him. Panic gripped him. “P-please… help me...”
“I… can’t...” Ares’s voice lamented. “But, I can give you the strength to fight.” Her voice explained. A crimson spear appeared before him. “So, please. Don’t die out there, cutie.”
“I won’t, I promise,” he vowed as he took the spear. A golem slammed its fist down, their former leader whispering an apology under his breath as he thrust the spear forward, the rocky monster shattering. A thrum coursed through the spear and into him, the runes on his body vanishing entirely. He panted as he felt a strange weight vanish from him. He felt so small, and satisfyingly light. He chuckled from satisfaction. The spear seemed to resonate with something deep within, a giggle bubbling forth as he stood proudly against his opponents, the spirit of battle taking its hold. “I’ll survive!”
* * *
“They abandoned their vehicles?” Roth questioned as he and the others approached the camp’s makeshift gate. “What are they…?”
“GET DOWN!” Annie yelled as she ran in front of Roth, unclasping her locket. A jet of flame erupted from her chest, the locket melting away. The molten energy curled around her, burning up her clothes as flames quickly twisted around her body, refining into fiery fibers. Around her chest the fibers spun themselves into a tight blazing red bodice, embers squirmed up to her neck and wrapped around it to form a similarly searing red choker, ash gathering to form a silver jewel which tied the remaining embers together, thin straps connecting the choker and bodice. The heat prickled at her shoulders, forming a pair of billowing off the shoulder sleeves, a silvery chill next running along the ruffle, forming a sterner casing of puffed up silvery armor. The silvery chill fell upon her, catching the lingering flames, fanning them out around her forming a thin gauze like skirt which fell in segments, underneath, the silver coating her legs in shiny silver leggings, ending in a durable and stylish silver greaves. A final sputtering flame spat out from her hip, a deeper red skirt falling to her thigh in the front, and her shin in the back, fluttering behind her like a cape. Finally, the remnant flames coalesced to form a single dancing flame upon the silver jewel at her neck. As it alighted, a shimmering pair of silver wings erupted from her back, which ignited with a stunning silver flame.
With a swipe of her arm, a silver flame swept through the sky, a stone in the air exploding spectacularly from the assaulting flame. Roth stared at her gobsmacked as she took a deep breath, her wings stretching as she inhaled and the relaxing as she breathed out. “Is everyone okay?”
“What was that!?” Medi squeaked.
“Some kind of rock, it looks like. I’m not sure how, but...”
“Not that! This new form!”
“Oh, right, you missed that,” Annie chuckled.
“That’s thanks to all the power Mom and I gave her,” Hori stated proudly.
“I see.” Roth grinned. “No wonder you’re all so confident.”
“That’s one word for it,” Annie chuckled nervously. “Anyway, I’m not sure where that rock came from, but I suspect more will be coming soon. We have to figure out what that was.”
“I’m not familiar with it,” Isis stated. “It didn’t seem magical in and of itself, but...”
“It was from a golem,” Riri stated bluntly as she approached the gate.
“Riri, where are you going!?” Carmen chased after her.
“Dad… I can sense it from here.” She shivered. “All those people, their army, he used his runes to transform them into golems.”
“He what!?”
“He doesn’t respect human life, but… I didn’t think he’d go this far. I… I have to go after him!”
“Riri, wait!” Amaterasu called out. “What about our promise? We...”
“I’m sorry, but I have to do this!” she declared as she bolted out of the camp.
“Riri! Wait!” Carmen began running after her, only for Annie to grab her. “Annie, we can’t...”
“Just hold on a moment!” Annie snapped. “Let’s just take a moment. All of us running off half-cocked like that will only get us hurt.” Carmen frowned. “Roth, I’m going to take a guess and say that your soldiers will need time to figure out how to adapt?”
“I’m not sure we even can.” Roth grumbled. “We have no idea-”
“Don’t worry. I’ll help support you,” Isis stated. “I can at least enchant your weapons to help you. Golems are rock based automatons. With the right boons, you’ll be able to destroy them.”
“Wait, destroy!?” Wisp squeaked. “But wouldn’t that kill them?”
“Isis, surely there has to be...” Vivi tried to bargain with the goddess only for her to shake her head.
“I’m sure everyone else can feel it, right?” Isis looked at the other goddesses, each giving a forlorn look.
“What do you mean?”
“Sweetie. I don’t know how to tell you this, but that magic, it didn’t exactly transform them,” Lilith explained. “Rather, it used their bodies as ingredients to create the golems. Even if you were to find a way to revert their forms, their brains and consciousness were consumed to make them.”
“In other words, they’re already dead,” Tiamat stated. “Transformations into inorganic matter like this don’t have a way to reverse them. It’s a one-way deal. They died the moment they transformed.”
“No...” Vivi deflated.
“What a hideous thing to do,” Melody cringed. “I… I hated plenty among them, but to die like that...”
“Right now, we need to focus on protecting this area, and I’m willing to assist you with that, Agent Roth,” Isis reiterated.
“Very well,” Roth accepted. “I’ll take you to the armory. Annie, I’m putting you in charge now. Despite all of this, you all still need to go stop Zeus.”
“I understand.” Annie nodded, leaving the Prism Girls and their goddesses behind. “Seriously, what the hell? Well, I guess we need to get going then. If they’re pulling this, that probably means that Zeus is already heading for Fort Newton. To him this is probably just a distraction.”
“Treating human lives as just a distraction...” Vivi muttered to herself. “Okay. I’m with you. We can’t let him succeed, no matter what.” She looked at Melody and Wisp who both nodded confidently back, and then she looked at a frowning Ichika. “Chi?”
“Sorry,” Ichika apologized. “Before that… Carmen. You want to go after her, don’t you?”
Carmen looked at her and pumped her arms. “You better believe it! I’m not letting that dumbass go off on her own!” The other girls looked at each other concernedly. “Come on, are you really saying we should abandon her!?”
“I understand how you feel, but she’s a goddess, she can handle her herself,” Amaterasu commented. “I’m sure she’ll be fine until Isis gets the soldiers ready.”
“But what if Odin is out there!?” Carmen argued. “Even if she hates him, fighting someone like him… it’s a lot...”
“What are you talking about?”
“I...” Carmen looked at Vivi pleadingly. Vivi nodded.
“Annie. I trust Carmen’s judgment. Riri… she’s strong, but I don’t think any of us could fight worrying about her. But if she wasn’t alone...”
“Hold on, you can’t be serious,” Amaterasu argued back. “Zeus is the bigger threat here. We can’t forget about that.”
“I apologize, Ami, but I think they’re right. Besides, we’re a team. We don’t leave each other behind,” Melody stated.
“Yeah! And Miss Riri deserves help too!” Wisp added.
“Sue, please, help me explain to them why we need them to...” Amaterasu began asking her sister. Sue sighed, confusing the sun goddess.
“Sorry, sis, but I don’t think there’s a way to convince them otherwise. Besides, Riri isn’t just fighting golems or another god. Odin is her father, a man who thinks himself all wise and knowing. You know what that can mean.” Sue frowned. Amaterasu faltered.
“I… I see… Alright. You win. Just, be careful. And if you can...”
“Don’t worry, I’ll head bee-line my way to the others when we kick the geezers ass!” Carmen stated confidently.
“Not alone you’re not,” Ichika stated as she approached Carmen.
“Chi?” Vivi and the others looked at her confusedly.
“I may trust Carmen, but I think she might need a little ice to keep our hothead in check.”
“You’ll need to pull double duty! Riri’s an even bigger hothead than me!” Carmen laughed.
Annie chuckled. “That’s probably for the best. Neither of you can fly, but between the two of you, I bet you’ll find a way to catch up, right?”
“You got it boss lady!” Ichika giggled. “You ready, Carm.”
“Heck yeah! Let’s kick butt!” The two turned and ran out of the camp, their hand darting toward their lockets, a surge of light emerging from them.