Chapter 6: Help Incoming: Part Two
Joan had not been certain what to expect when she arrived, but it certainly was not what she actually found.
The Golem, the one that had broken her wings and nearly killed Adam, was now standing between him and Kali, its posture unquestioningly defensive and protective. The goddess was just climbing out of a shallow trench that she’d dug into the field in much the same way a crashing fighter plane might have done. That gave a clear indication of the sheer power with which she had been struck, but the clear battle lust in her eyes also made it clear that she had not been hurt in any meaningful way.
For his part Adam appeared to be mostly unhurt, bruised and dirtied certainly, but not seriously wounded. Confusion was etched on his face though, as his eyes darted from the golem to Kali and back again.
“What is this?”
The question came from Hadriel, who had appeared beside the resurrected soul. The angel was tense but had yet to draw her blades, apparently as unsure of the situation as Joan was.
“That is the golem that aided in the attack upon Adam’s Awakening.” The saint explained. “I thought it destroyed in the backlash of the ceremony, but now . . .”
She paused as the metal colossus shifted its stance, preparing itself as Kali finished climbing out of the crater, shaking dirt from her clothes in an oddly casual manner. The goddess’s head tilted slightly as she looked from Adam to the huge golem and back again, then glanced back to the crater, then back to the construct and the demigod.
“Okay, that was a good one, I wasn’t expecting to get blindsided like that.” Far from being angry Kali was grinning widely, looking at the golem in a way that reminded Joan of a hungry soldier seeing some freshly cooked bacon. “And this guy . . . nice. Really, really nice keeping him in reserve, then springing him on me when I get all riled up and get tunnel vision. You get a gold star for sneakiness and packing some oomph, well done!”
“. . . Thanks?” Her charge simply stared at the Hindu goddess, his face a bemused mixture of uncertainty and confusion. “No . . . wait, hold on!”
He shook his head and seemed to gather his thoughts, gesturing to the golem in an almost frantic manner.
“I don’t know what’s going on with this guy! He just showed up! I didn’t call him or anything!”
“I find that hard to believe. After all, the signature of your magic is written deeply upon its being.”
The calm response came from the side as the tall figure of Athena rounded the corner of the farmhouse and came into view. She was some distance from the fight and the two heavenly agents, yet her voice carried to them as clear as a bell despite that distance.
“What?”
Confusion returned to Adam’s face as he turned to face the Greek goddess. The golem also reacted to the new arrival by taking a step backwards, moving closer to the winged demigod and positioning itself to be able to react to any that might approach him. Athena seemed unconcerned though, as she strolled closer, admiring the great figure with detached attached interest.
“Yes. It clearly is acting to protect you. Do you think that to be simply a coincidence? This construct serves you because it is your magic granting it life. Be proud! This is a powerful creation, one old and potent. Whatever twist of fortune has led to it considering you as its master is quite the blessing. Now . . . instruct it that you are in no more danger before it chooses to attack one of us in an attempt to make an opening for you to flee.”
For a moment there was only the sound of the gentle breeze as Adam stared at her in incomprehension.
“What?”
Athena let out a sigh like an instructor being forced to deal with some dull-witted student.
“It seeks to protect you; do you not see? It does not know that we are not threats, so it seeks to protect you from all of us. From what I can tell it senses our power and knows that it is outmatched. As such it will most likely seek to grant you a chance to escape while sacrificing itself in some doomed charge. Unless you wish for it to waste itself in such a manner, I suggest you inform it that you are safe, do you understand?”
The young demigod stared at the goddess for a second, then looked back to the golem, then back to the goddess, then to the others, then back to the golem. Joan could almost see it as his mind sped up, catching up with the situation and working to fit Athena’s words into what he saw and understood.
“Hey! Hey . . . you, big stone and metal . . . guy! Look at me!”
There was a brief pause, and then, slowly and ponderously, the golem turned until its helmet-like face was pointed at Adam. Despite the distance that separated them Joan could not help but feel her throat tighten as she saw the burning ember eyes behind the visor. She could remember those eyes all too well from when she had failed to protect her charge. She could remember throwing all she could at the hulking form and being unable to do more than push it back. She could remember how she could not stop it, how it had broken her wings, how it came so close to killing Adam.
“Look . . . Kali isn’t a threat, okay? We were sparring, not fighting. You don’t need to protect me from her, or any of the others, understand? We’re all friends here, okay?”
There was another pause, then the metal head nodded slowly. Arms lowered and shoulders slumped slightly as the golem relaxed from its battle-ready stance and just stood there. For a moment there was only stillness as everyone watched, waiting to see if anything else was going to happen, then Adam spoke up once more.
“Okay . . . could you please go and wait over by the farmhouse? I think I’ve got some stuff to discuss.”
Another slow nod, then, with footsteps that sent small tremors through the ground, the huge figure moved towards the farmhouse, apparently having chosen the main entrance as its goal. An awkward silence filled the air as it left, only to be broken as Kali spoke up.
“Y’know, I’ve got no idea how that thing managed to sneak up on me. I mean, seriously, it’s about as subtle as an oncoming bulldozer, how’d I miss it?”
“We were making a lot of noise.” Adam offered, gesturing behind him to where the field had been torn up in quite a few spots.
“Yeah, but it was fun.” The goddess replied, a touch of the crazy slipping back into her grin for a moment, then fading away again.
“Your training was certainly . . . enthusiastic,” Athena agreed, now close enough that she had drawn level with Joan and Hadriel. “Still, I believe that the more pressing matter would be to understand how you came to be in command of such a powerful creation.”
“I don’t know,” Adam held out his arms in a show of incomprehension. “The last time I saw that thing it was a melted wreck. I’ve got no idea why it’s listening to me now.”
“I can confirm his words,” Hadriel commented. “When I first arrived, I inspected the remains of the golem to see if it posed any kind of threat. It was so damaged that I was certain it could no longer move. I could certainly not sense any power within it.”
“It is not impossible that such a powerful construct would be able to repair itself,” Athena commented. “Though I do not know much of the ways of golem creation I do know that the greatest works were every bit the equal of the creations of my brother Hephaestus. If he could create armour that healed when damaged, then I am certain that a construct able to strike such a blow to a goddess might have similar abilities.”
“Such is possible,” The warrior angel agreed. “But such healing requires power, and there was none in that thing’s hulk when I studied it. There was no spark of power, no remnant of energy that could be used to fuel such a process. It was dead, inert as a brick from some crumbled edifice.”
“Well, I can tell you it’s not dead now,” Kali commented, one hand coming up to rub the side of her jaw. “I’ve gone up against demon lords that didn’t hit me as hard as that guy did. That’s plenty of power to be packing, so where do you think it got it?”
“Adam,” Joan deliberately kept her tone soft, making sure not to seem accusatory. “Have you had any interaction with the remains of the golem? Any time that it might have been touched by your power?”
Adam’s brow furrowed slightly in thought, then he gave a slow nod.
“Yeah, just once. I went to take a look at it once, just to see how it was doing. I don’t remember anything happening though. Nothing that’s got anything to do with magic.”
“Are you certain?” The reborn saint questioned, trying to encourage him without applying pressure. “It need not have been something great, magic can be as subtle as it can be splendid. Do you recall anything, out of the ordinary?”
“No, nothing . . .” The winged demigod paused for a moment his eyes going distant as something seemed to occur to him. “There was a shock when I touched it. A static shock. I thought it was just because I was touching something metal, I’ve had a couple of other shocks like that before. My wings can build it up when it’s warm and dry.”
Behind him, his wings fluffed up in emphasis before smoothing out again. Joan smiled at the display, pleased at how much he had progressed in the use of his new appendages since he first got them.
“That could be it,” Athena spoke up first. “A small spark may not have been much, but it would have been enough to reignite a dormant furnace. It would also explain why it now seeks to protect and obey you. If your power suffuses it then it would only be natural for it to imprint upon you in the absence of any other influences.”
“Nice.” Kali practically purred the word as she sauntered closer to Adam as he walked over towards Joan and the others. “So now you’ve got a serious bruiser at your beck and call. Seriously, since me and greecy got here your firepower seems to be going up through the roof.”
“That is ‘greecy and I’,” Athena softly corrected.
“Gotcha, greecy.”
For just a moment Joan was sure that she saw the Greek goddess’s mask of calm control fracture as her cheek twitched ever so slightly. It would seem that even as temperate a goddess as Athena had her limits, and Kali was straying dangerously close to them. Eager to change the subject Joan spoke up.
“Just what were you and Adam doing that drew it to protect him?”
The playful smirk on the Hindu goddess’s face faded as she turned to the saint, replaced with a more serious expression.
“Sparring. I had to get a better idea of what he could do. I got a little overexcited, I think that’s what got the golem’s attention.”
Joan had to struggle to keep straight face as she heard that. It was a confirmation of her fears in regard to Kali, that her legendary bloodlust could be a problem. Yes, it had not gone too far this time but was that due to the intervention of the golem? Kali was bound by oath, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t make mistakes, pushing things too far without meaning to.
The saint knew she was going to have to manage this somehow, she just had no idea how. For now, though, there was another question she wanted answered.
“Adam.” The winged demigod turned from where he was still watching the unmoving form of the golem and looked at her. “Your training has left you . . . somewhat dirty. Please feel free to excuse yourself. Go and cleanse yourself. Once you are done could you come and join us? I believe you will benefit from an analysis of your match.”
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“Oh . . . kay?”
It was more of a question than a reply. Obviously, he saw that he was being all but dismissed, but chose not to comment on it. Looking down at himself he noticed that he was stained by grass and dirt, so he offered a weak smile and made his way back to the farmhouse.
There was a pause as the remaining women watched him go, only for it to be broken as Joan voiced the question she’d wanted answered.
“What do you think of him? How strong is he?”
A small smile returned to Kali’s face as her eyes brightened.
“There’s potential there, serious potential! He’s gotta good grounding in practically every element, and I can tell he’s starting to reach for the higher-tier stuff. I don’t think I’ve ever seen or even heard of a demigod that’s got such a wide array to call on. He’s lacking in the magical muscle at the moment though. He’s got loads of options but can’t put any major oomph into any of them. Not yet anyway.
“Physically he’s got plenty going on. He’s tough and he’s strong, but only so much. He’s gonna get stronger there too. I’m sure of it, but it’s all still building, not close to where he can be.”
Joan nodded, the Hindu deity’s words confirming her own thoughts.
“It must have been due to the interrupted Awakening ritual,” The words came out even as she thought them. “His potential was untouched, but his body never fully tapped into it. Dieu soit bon, his magic had not been properly sparked into life until he did so himself. He is having to struggle to reach a level that should have come to him naturally.”
“That would be in keeping with his training,” Honoured Hadriel agreed. “He began with little, but in the time since I arrived, his skill has progressed appreciably each day. This has been his first true taste of battle and it is clear that his power has grown from it.”
“Oui,” Joan agreed. “He is unquestionably stronger than he was, but he needs to be stronger still. Perhaps . . .”
She paused for a moment her eyes flicking to the three immortals before looking over to the farmhouse where the golem still stood.
“. . . Perhaps he has reached the limit of how far he can develop in this controlled environment.”
Hadriel was the first to respond, a slight frown on her face.
“There is still time left upon the Hallowed Sanctuary. Would it not be best to use that time to further his training?”
“I believe he has been here long enough,” Joan replied, gesturing to the area around them. “This was to be his shelter while he was defenceless. Now, he has power, he has tools, and he has us and that golem. Adam is not meant to hide away here, he is meant to be out in the world, such is his fate. Perhaps he could learn some minor lessons in the days remaining here, but I feel that he may learn greater lessons without, and he shall do greater good.”
The resurrected saint pointed to the farmhouse and then looked each of the immortals in the eyes.
“Honoured Hadriel has passed along my request for an oracle to one of the angels of the Choir of Principalities. My request was a simple one, merely to know where our charge may help the most. When it arrives and it will be time for us to depart, will you travel with us?”
Even as she asked the question Joan felt a knot of tension grow in her stomach. This was where some truths would be revealed. If either of the goddesses were here to act as more than what they claimed this might be the point that revealed them. A goddess meant to observe Adam and keep him out of the affairs of the world would be eager for him to remain in place longer. If that was true, if it came to a fight, could an empowered mortal and a warrior angel match a true divinity?
“I’ve got no problems with it,” Kali replied with an easy grin. “This place is good to hang out and relax for a few days, but if I had to spend too long here then I’d end up climbing the walls. If we’re gonna get out there and start doing something real, then you’ve got my vote.”
“Colourfully put, but not incorrect,” Athena agreed. “Adam is not meant to be some rare flower carefully maintained in a hothouse. He is to be . . . pivotal, a changer of fates. He cannot be such if he remains here.”
“Then you are in agreement,” Joan spoke it as a statement rather than a question. “Our time here has ended. As soon as the oracle arrives, we shall follow its directions and leave this place.”
The nods she received were all the confirmation she needed. As she strode towards the farmhouse, the French saint was already beginning to be drawn up plans for their departure.
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Athena remained in the field, watching as the others departed one by one. The angel said nothing, merely levitating into the sky until she was hovering almost a hundred feet above the farmhouse. Kali had been a bit more verbose, commenting that she wanted to make sure her motorcycle was ready for the coming journey before heading to where she had stored her vehicle.
For her part the Greek goddess instead chose to remain where she was, her grey eyes surveying the field where her charge and the Hindu goddess had clashed. She took in the torn-up earth, the craters, the cuts, the dents where the golem had walked. All of it was evaluated and stored in her mind as she read the battlefield as easily as a scholar might read the writing upon a page.
A small frown marred her forehead for a moment, then faded as she smoothed it away.
The demigod . . . had not been what she had expected. She had been expecting something more than the young man who had greeted her. A hero, a monster, a wise sage or a cunning schemer. Instead, she had been faced with a being that had the form of an angel and the mind of a young mortal.
In truth, Athena had not been completely immune to just how handsome her charge was. She doubted that he was even aware of the sheer beauty that his change had wrought upon him, given his present company. The angel might not be immune to lust, but she was a warrior, a soldier. If Hadriel had a weakness for any sin, then it was most likely to be wrath or bloodlust. As for Joan . . . she was an interesting being, one with the blessings of Lord of the High Heavens. Her will was strengthened beyond what was normally possible for a mortal, enough to resist the supernatural beauty of Adam.
Upon seeing him for the first time Athena thought of the likes of Adonis or Narcissus, though she had never personally met either of them. Even as covered in dirt and blood as he had been upon his arrival there had been nothing about him that had not been heart-achingly beautiful. Had some mortal maidens been the ones to see him arrive, rather than two goddesses and two agents of the High Heavens, then she was sure they would have had their hearts stolen upon first glance.
Athena was a goddess whose very nature was based upon intellect. She had been born from her father’s skull rather than the loins of her mother. She was a goddess of wisdom and strategy, of invention and action. She was also one of the three virgin goddesses of the Olympian pantheon, a goddess who had never taken a lover nor born a child. She could love, but her love was an intellectual one in keeping with her nature. She was loyal to her father, and had loved her students and half-siblings, but never had she sought out either man or woman to be her husband or partner.
So, when she had first set eyes upon Adam and she had felt a warm surge of something unfamiliar in her heart, Athena had been surprised. It had not been overwhelming, but that she had felt it at all had been a surprise. Faced with such a paragon of masculine perfection she had been expecting a personality to match, to feel as though she were addressing one of the commanders of the heavenly army. What else should she have expected? This was a descendant of one of the great archangels. His bloodline was tied to many powerful divinities and his fate already echoed across the world to those with the ears to hear it. How could he be anything but less than that?
As it turned out, quite easily.
Adam, at least in his character, was . . . ordinary. To his credit he was adapting, both due to his training and his experiences. He had power and the will to use it, but he was not . . . godly, heroic, not yet.
Well, that was hardly a bad thing, at least not for her. A small smile touched Athena’s lips as she turned away from the farmhouse and looked outward, towards the edges of the Hallowed Sanctuary. A mortal could not see the boundaries that defined the edges of the divine construct, but a goddess was not so limited.
Finding Adam to be as limited as he was meant that her father’s worst fears were unrealised as of yet. What he could be in the future was dangerous, but it was far off, not yet realised. As things stood, he was manageable . . . malleable enough that he could be directed to serve the interests of Olympus.
A grimace touched her face at that thought, an expression she would never have let show had she not been on her own. Her pantheon was powerful, but it was spread out. Many of her family had become part of Olympus Industries, but many others had chosen to go their own way. Artemis was in her forests, Dionysus was somewhere in Australia indulging in an endless bacchanalia, and no one was sure what either Hades or Persephone were up to. Others had not yet chosen to descend to the mortal plane, waiting to see how events played out before making their moves.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, there were the rumours that had reached her father. Whispers of hidden prophecies, of enemies moving in the dark, of betrayal and subterfuge. Everything that was needed to stoke the fires of his paranoia.
Zeus was a mighty god, a strong leader and was capable of being a wise ruler, but his weaknesses were just as evident. Her father was all but helpless in the face of his lust, far too often straying from the bed of his wife and siring many a bastard demigod. His pride was far too easily pricked, more often than not leading him to rash decisions. However, in her opinion, by far his worst weakness was his fear.
Zeus was anything but a coward. He could face monsters, giants, titans and fellow gods without flinching. Even when confronted with Typhon he had gathered his mettle and met the Last Titan in battle. He had his courage, but he also had his fears. The same fears that had consumed his own father.
Like father, like son. Zeus’s greatest fear was to be supplanted, just as he had defeated and supplanted Chronos, king of the Titans. That fear had driven Chronos to swallow his own children, to trap them within his belly so they could not rise against him. That fear had driven Zeus to swallow up Metis, Athena’s mother so that no son born of her could rise against him.
He had managed to temper his paranoia, his loyal children, such as Apollo, Ares, Dionysus and Artemis, had persuaded him that not all his progeny were out to dethrone him. However, that fear, that thought that someone sought to tear his kingdom out from under him and cast him down into the dirt, still gnawed at him. The rumours of an ancient bloodline awakening in this new world to lead a new Titanomachy against him had inflamed those old fears, and now her father prepared for war.
Athena was less convinced though. Asgard had their Ragnarök, the Abrahamic faiths had their apocalypse, the Hindu pantheon had the end of their cycle in the Kali Yuga, but the legends of Greece never spoke of some final end or battle. Yes, this new era had come with its own foretellings and warnings. Oracles and prophets from all factions had been empowered by the clash of fate caused when the bonds holding back the divine failed. With the Black Sun, as the mortals were calling it, what had once been fate had shattered, and new weavings of destiny and chaos had sprung into being in its place. Still, it seemed all too convenient that a dire threat of such a scale would rise now, just when Olympus was set to establish its power as never before.
Adam . . . well, Athena had not lied about his bloodline. There was some uncertainty as to his divine Greek progenitor, it was just far less uncertainty than she had implied. Both she and Zeus were all but convinced as to who he was descended from, and if they were right . . .
She was the goddess of wisdom, and it was fairly basic wisdom that trying to pre-emptively eliminate every potential threat that appeared would only lead to trouble in the future. Thankfully her father had listened to her council on this occasion, choosing to take a softer approach with the young demigod rather than immediately bringing down the hammer. Too much backlash could come of that, too many parties offended by the death of their distant kin.
That was why Athena was here as a teacher and an ally, to foster good relations and to watch and measure the new demigod that had garnered so much attention. Of course, she had not been expecting quite so many complications with her mission. The agents of the High Heavens had been a surprise, but the presence of another goddess, especially one as powerful and dangerous as Kali, had been an actual cause for concern.
Truthfully, Athena was not confident of her ability to defeat the goddess of destruction if it came to a battle between them. The Greek goddess was a deity of warfare, but it was in matters of strategy and tactics. She was a general, not a champion. To be sure, her martial skills were far from weak. Any mortal, even fellow gods, would do well to respect her skill with sword, shield and spear. Kali though . . . she was on another level entirely. The Hindu goddess had little in the way of strategy, tactic, or even martial skill in the final analysis, but that was mainly because she did not need them. What Kali possessed in abundance was raw brutal power and near unending ferocity, all that was needed for her to be a nigh unstoppable engine of destruction.
With a sigh Athena turned in place once more, her eyes taking in the fields, the distant woods. By necessity her mission was flexible in how it was to be carried out, almost all of it being left to her discretion. Additionally, she wasn’t on any sort of time limit either. All in all, she could take her time and make sure this matter was dealt with well, rather than with haste and carelessness. She could imagine how her siblings might have bungled the situation.
Hermes most likely would not have had the patience to devote any great time to watching Adam. He would most likely have made a hurried decision as soon as he became bored. Apollo, were he dragged away from Hollywood, might have made for an even worse option. Her half-brother tended to be almost as amorous as their mutual father, had he been here he would almost certainly have tried to seduce either the saint or the angel. Whether or not he would have succeeded would have been unimportant when compared to the strain it would place on the relationship between the Olympian pantheon and the High Heavens. Others, such as Hestia or Demeter, might have made for more diplomatic choices but would have been lacking in power in the event of conflict.
Athena could only wince as one scenario after another formed in her mind, either of diplomatic disaster or of her gentler relatives coming to harm. She had been the best choice, that was certain. That did not make her task any easier though.
Any further contemplation of her situation was cut off as she felt a sudden surge of divine power from behind her. The ‘flavour’ was clear to her own divine senses, the combination of sky, light, and purity an easy combination to recognise. As such it came as a small surprise to her when she turned and saw a brilliant ray of golden light lancing down from the sky and impacting the angel that had been hovering above the farmhouse.
For a brief moment, the goddess of war and wisdom tensed, wondering if this was an attack. Then she saw how the light was not striking the winged figure, rather it was connecting with her. The beam of light was not a lance, not a weapon, it was a link, a channel through which information and power could be transferred directly to the angel’s mind.
Athena relaxed as she started to make her way back to the farmhouse. By the look of things, it would seem that the oracle Hadriel had mentioned had just arrived. Which in turn meant that things would soon be in motion. It was somewhat sooner than she would have preferred. Ideally, she would have had a few more days to become more acquainted with Adam, and to understand his personality and temperament in greater detail in a controlled environment. With this, they would soon be moving out into the wider world, and she had little doubt that things would become . . . chaotic.
That might be for the best though, she mused. Seeing how her charge acted ‘out in the wild’, as it were, might be more revealing of his nature than observing him in the safety of the Sanctuary.
Yes, this could work.