A meeting of champions

Eret bounced excitedly in his chair, Thandar rubbed his head knowing he was going to be upset by something by the end of the day. Even he hadn’t foreseen that it would take all of five seconds. Locust showed up in the front door with four young and barely clothed women in tow behind him. They were all giggling and bubbly, waving toward Thandar and Eret playfully. Two of them had symbols of Aphrodite hanging around their necks.

Thandar stared in disbelief, “Please don’t tell me-”
“Relax they’re prostitutes. I figured Eret is almost thirteen now and-” Thandar interrupted by shouting at Locust, “Why in all the god’s names would you bring not just a prostitute, but four prostitutes to a twelve year old child?!” Locust didn’t seem particularly phased by the shouting. The girls behind him did though, cowering backward, some inching away not sure what to do now. The Senshi stated, “Well you never let him leave, so I thought I’d bring life’s experiences to him instead.” Kinzoku giggled, she found this kind of funny. Thandar shot her a glare, “Get those whores out of here. Eret will-”

“Will what?” It was Locust’s turn to interrupt. “Grow up, go outside, meet a nice girl? Go on a few dates, meet her parents, fall in love, have children? You have him surrounded by guards every hour of the day, you would scare off any woman that even came close to him for the rest of his life and any woman that wasn’t scared of the constant guards you definitely wouldn’t want him seeing in the first place. Even if you get past all of that, how the hell is he supposed to have a relationship? You’re wiping his memories every week or so so he doesn’t fall over dead. He’s getting older Thandar…he needs to grow up just as much as anyone else.”

Thandar just stared feeling a cross between blinding rage and depression at the same time. He muttered after a few moments, “Just…just get them out of here okay?” Eret was sitting in his chair staring at the floor while Thandar argued with Locust. There were some futures where he could stop the arguing, but none of them would end with Thandar understanding Locust as well as he was starting to, or Eret for that matter. The former viking of Ofrior was loyal, noble, and a good brother-like figure. But Locust was one of the few people in all of Sthan Thi who Eret could talk to that remembered Eret was a person too.

Locust turned and looked back at the girls who looked a bit frightened by the earlier yelling, “Go on for now, I doubt anyone’s going to be in the mood after that.” And so they left, Locust made his way toward the steps and climbed them to stand before Eret’s chair. An Aetas guard reflexively moved a spear in the way, unsure of what to make of this encounter that was going on. Locust’s horrifying maw opened and then chomped down on the spear without having to slow his stride at all. The Senshi pet Eret on the head, “Oh cheer up, I’ll get you laid by the time I leave here for sure. Even if I have to knock Thandar’s ass out.” Eret giggled and Thandar glared, “You can tr-” Eret ended that argument, “He’d win.”

Thandar blinked and just stared at Eret in disbelief. In truth, Eret knew Thandar could beat Locust because of his new powers, they specifically gave him an answer to Locust’s abilities and cheated past Locusts’ more advanced combat skills. But Eret also knew that Thandar didn’t need to know that.

“Where is Ryner? I thought he was here too.” Locust asked. Eret answered for him knowing Thandar was having an emotional crisis right now, “It is daytime, he is hiding from the sun, and my audience hall…” he glanced out over the room, “Has windows in it.” True enough there were streams of sunlight coming in to keep the place nicely lit. Locust rolled his shoulders, “Well then later tonight. We’re all champions now eh? We need to settle the-” Eret interrupted with prophecy once again, “Ryner wins.” It was Locust’s turn to be disappointed, even if he didn’t realize Eret had lied about him winning earlier. Eret just shrugged, “Sorry. If it makes you feel any better Machera beats Ryner so at least your boss could avenge you?”

Locust grumbled, “That bitch would trip and fall on the stick in her ass if she ever got into a fight.” he sighed and pat Eret on the head some more, “Come along then, I’d say today is a day off.” “Actually I already finished-” “Day off. Uncle Locust is here and wants noodles. Show me the kitchens!” Thandar was about to snap indignantly at Locust for making demands of the high prophet but Eret just giggled and hopped out of the chair and made his way down the nearby hall to the inner facility with Locust in tow.

Thandar knew he could trust Locust, if nothing else that man…thing would never let Eret be hurt. He debated just staying in the audience hall and getting some work done to avoid having to deal with Locust’s presence. Until Kinzoku asked, “Does Locust know about the back door?” Thandar shrugged, “I think so. Why?” “Those girls from earlier are walking through the gardens.” Thandar sprinted off down the hallway to catch up to Locust and Eret.

Thykenae Threatened

The week had been quiet. The empire of Thykenae was calm ever since the crusade, they’d been taking it easier. There had been a few issues here and there, and the border. The first sign that this was going to be a bad day came from a scouting party. One of its members sprinted into the garrison and ran straight to the captain, even out of breath managing to report before he was even told to. “An army is on the horizon!” The captain looked up with a jolt, “How many? Do they bear any flags?” The scout took a moment to take a deep breath, “A few hundred at most sir. It appears to be the Divus Inquisition.”
“Fuck.”

Runners had been dispatched towards the inquisitors, looking to question why they were there. It would be some time before they would return, and far ahead of the inquisitors a winged figure flew over the garrison. Over the walls, and over the city. Saint Naomi didn’t have time for this. Of all the seven paladins she had the second most bizarre wings, instead of white feathered and birdlike, hers were floating shards of polished stone only loosely close to each other in wing shape. Though they tapered similarly to feathers at least. She approached the temple of Aphrodite and hovered in the air above it. The people below gazed up in awe as her holy light radiated from those remarkable wings. She didn’t move, just stood there in mid air as if there was ground below her.

Her voice called out, her shout able to carry across perhaps the entire city as if empowered by her god, which was likely the case. “Your oracles deceive you, your pretend gods deceive you, and they have made heretics of every last one of you for it. The one true god can no longer tolerate this mockery. Ares has fallen to the black pantheon, Chronos has fallen to the black pantheon, the spartans have died to the black pantheon, Hades has died to the black pantheon, Hermes has died to the black pantheon, and Aphrodite…spread her legs to the black pantheon. Your oracles do not tell you, they do not wish you to know your gods die, your soldiers die, and worst of all they have made traitors and pagans of every last one of you.”

Her wings broke apart and the stone shards flew down toward the temple below. People screamed as dust and debris shot out of the structure, statues collapsed and in no time the wings made quick work of the place, reducing it to rubble in less then two minutes. Dust poured through the streets, undoubtedly some oracles inside must have died. Saint Naomi just watched from above as her wings reformed around her in their decorative positions. Her voice called out to them again, “To worship that whore is to worship the demons of the north. She cries out Lucifer himself’s name every night as she lays in his bed. Every temple is to fall, every oracle who lied to you is to die.” there was a pause as people watched from below, waiting for her to fly off or finish her statement. She ended very simply, “Bring me the oracles. Bring me the acolytes. Bring me the damned.” she didn’t need to put a threat at the end of that, people scurried to betray friend and family to the paladin without a moments hesitation.

By the time the inquisitors that supported her arrived in the city, they did not have to question very much at all, but they did anyways. They left every oracle, acolyte, and follower of Aphrodite crucified on every possible street corner they could fill. Several homes, pieces of art, and people were left destroyed in the city from Naomi’s purifying rampage. Men and women alike bled naked in the daylight for all to see. The inquisitors had spared their children though, taking them back home to Divus when they left. Some Thykenian hero had challenged Naomi, once they were known all throughout the land even as far as Ofrior Riki. The black mages they’d defeated, the monsters they’d slain, meant nothing. Naomi ended them without even seeming to notice they were anything more then a man.

Saint Zachariah flew over the city of Athens, each paladin had gone a different way but as first paladin it was his job to destroy the relics of Aphrodite in the Thykenae capital. The inquisition was moving through the land one city at a time, but Zachariah was going to strike at their heart long before the inquisition would reach it. He had no backup, no inquisitors, just a purpose and a message. Mount Olympus towered over the city, reaching into the clouds where he assumed the gods were hiding like cowards. Zachariah’s passing over the city was quite obvious, of all the paladins his wingspan was massive, easily fifty meters when he was in full flight. He cast an ominous shadow over the realm below him.

Zachariah found it, the biggest temple of Aphrodite in the whole land. He descended towards it, spotting a familiar face along the steps between two statues. He landed gracefully and as he folded in those massive wings they seemed to shrink down. The feathers were strangely long and matched his cloak, really Zachariah looked like just a mass of super long feathers with a helmet and shoulder plates popping out of it. He took the moment to humor his greeting party, “Stand aside Heracles.”

Hercules scowled, “This matter is not yours to deal with. It is ours, Divus has its own problems does it not?”
“Stand aside.”
“Do you know who you’re talking to paladin? I don’t even know your name, and you would think to -” he was interrupted quite rudely, the angelic paladin stepped calmly forward until he was right in Hercules’ face, armored helmet just barely away from touching the man’s nose. “I am Saint Zachariah, first paladin of the one true god’s holy light. Tell your father I bring a command from Jehovah. You will send your warriors north, you will send every man who can hold a sword and every woman who can boil a stew. You will repent for your heretical worship, and every false god and soldier you have will march. If those soldiers are not north by the next full moon, I will personally kill every last one of you pagans and leave this land to be claimed by the wilds. We will hone our skills on your people. We will kill every hero in your land, we will destroy every temple and every statue until you are all but forgotten. I am marching an army to fight a land that creates false gods which have beaten yours, do not think for even a moment I fear your pathetic pantheon. I will crush Zeus myself, we will crucify Gaia and leave her to dry in the sun. We will collapse the entirety of Mount Olympus from its very base and topple your pantheon into the ground so that they can look up from their hands and knees and see their true salvation that is the one true god. I will deliver them to the holy gates of his kingdom for judgement, and then when I have finished reducing your heretic world to ash – I will fly to the north to do what you could not. Now repent your defiance, turn around, walk into that temple, and bring me every heretic in there. Alive. Then you will nail them to the walls for all to see the punishment of their sins. Repent Heracles…or I will send you to his holy gates for judgement here and now.”

Hercules paused, it felt like those few seconds were an eternity as Zachariah stared him down. Finally he asked, “Where are they to meet your army?” To which Zachariah replied, “They will not. This is not a crusade, this is your nation’s penance. We forgave your failures, but this black worship can only have one atonement. Your nation will march and it will fight until it is dead to the very last man.”

“The people didn’t know, it is-”
“Their faith gives your gods their power, your false gods are constructs of its nation. It deceived itself, hid from the truth it knew to escape its sin. You can die fighting against your traitors and your enemies, you can die to let your redemption enter you into legend, or you can die to me here and now.”

At last, he wordlessly turned to enter the temple and began the solemn work of catching and crucifying his own people while the paladin and all of Athens watched. No other heroes stepped forward, no god descended Olympus to end this madness. Whether they were prophets, oracles, or just visitors – as people tried to flee the temple and get around Hercules the crowds that watched would catch them and shove them back toward the temple. Hercules had the humiliating task of chasing them down  as they tried to find a way out and dragging them back to be nailed against the wall. Zachariah simply stood there and watched while the whole city looked on in terror.

Desperation goes by another name.

Hercules and Perseus made their way through the wild lands tentatively. The oracles told them this is where they would find the help they needed. But it was only a general sense of location, there was still some rummaging to go through to figure out exactly where it was. A few monsters lay in their wake, it was of no concern to heroes such as themselves.

Eventually they found a small hut in the woods.  The door was ajar and the light of a fire poured out of the small crack. The sound of a woman humming could be faintly heard, a song which they did not recognize. The two exchanged a nervous glance, eventually Hercules took the lead. He was about to push the door open when he thought better of it. Instead clearing his throat and knocking politely. The humming stopped instantly.

Perseus spoke first, “Excuse me? We need help, we were-”
Before he finished the thought the door creaked open. A woman stood before them clad in tattered clothes that must have once been the luxurious fabrics of a court lady. She just stood there and seemed to be waiting for them to finish the thought. Perseus continued, “We know its strange. But still we would ask, what would it cost Thykenae to enlist your help miss…?”
“Sahar.”