Chapter 23: Night Sky Unceasing

Despite the delay we'd suffered while fighting the spider we still managed to make it out of the tunnel system before we felt tired enough to rest. Suddenly and without warning the tunnel ended and led out into brightness. At first I thought we'd screwed up and had just arrived back on the surface again but once we made it out of the tunnel it became clear that we hadn't messed up and had made it to our destination.

I'd known intellectually that the underworld wasn't some kind of dreary damp cave of the dead and damned but it was still my first time seeing it and it took my breath away.

The underworld was, essentially, a giant cave of utterly staggering proportions. The height of the ceiling varied, with some parts higher than others, but the only truly low parts were around the enormous stone pillars irregularly peppered around the place that supported the ceiling over the enormous area. And I knew that this was just one part of the underworld. Just underneath the Trismegistian kingdom there were at least five such caves, each one just as big as this.

The reason it was so bright out here was twofold. On the one hand there was the ceiling. Thousands upon thousands of glowing crystals were set into the rocky ceiling, each one sparkling like a star in the sky, giving the whole place a look of perpetual night time. On the other hand there were the light sources on the ground. Giant luminescent mushrooms the size of trees were bathing the area in soft blues, greens, pinks and purples, street lamps filled with light gems lined the large roads crisscrossing the entire place and irregularly dotted around the place were campfires, hinting at parties of adventurers even all the way down here.

Each of the large stone pillars holding up the cave had a village built around it and each of the villages had a river running near or through it.

From our cave entrance we were in the perfect place to see most of this section of the underworld and even the docks from which Charon the ferryman would ship souls over the Styx into Hades' realm was clearly visible to us. The vantage point also let us see that the ground wasn't just a rocky cave floor. It had some of that, sure, but it also had rolling meadows of moss, some of which was luminescent as well, lakes fed by the rivers running through the underworld and even forests. Sure, most of those forests were made up of mushrooms but I also saw trees among them, normal familiar trees that looked utterly incongruous in this alien landscape.

“It's beautiful," Alisha whispered reverently. The sight inspired that kind of tone.

Even Selene was awed by the sight. “It really is," she breathed.

“Should we find a place to rest?" Anna asked, looking around as if for a campsite.

“That's probably for the best," I said.

I did want to gawk at the scenery but I knew we'd be here just long enough to get used to it anyway. As we came out of the tunnel we had reached a slope down into a valley so once we started advancing our spectacular vista would fall away quite quickly. As such I at least wanted to look at where we would be going next, though I needn't have bothered. The path ahead was dead simple. The tributary of the Styx we'd followed down here would eventually join up with the rest of the river, which meant we could follow it all the way to where we needed to go. The journey would also take us through one of the villages constructed around the giant stalactites, so we'd be able to rest at an inn at least once before we reached Hades' realm.

But that was talk of the future. Right now we needed to find a place to rest. As we would be traveling by the river for the foreseeable future it was rather easy to pick out a nice spot for a camp just an hour's walk away from where we'd entered the underworld and we set off with that destination in mind.

Once we made it there I saw that we'd clearly not been the first people to consider this place an excellent campsite as there was a circle of rocks surrounding the remnants of a campfire that seemed to be days old to me. I had Yume burn it down to the last bit of ash before we stacked our own firewood in the circle and lit it up, then Yume and I sat down by the river to fish, though this time it was Athena joining us.

“Do you even know how to fish?" I asked her dubiously.

“Fuck you, Tailor," she said. “I know almost everything.”

I had to snort when she said the word 'almost' as a whisper so quiet I wouldn't have heard it without the mystic fruits from the Crystal Crown's dungeon sharpening my senses.

She admitted: “I just don't have any practical experience with this.”

And so we sat there and fished. Despite the fact that this was the same river we'd followed all the way down from the surface world the fish we caught were completely different to what we'd found in those tunnels. They were perfectly ordinary fish, nothing rare or special, just some trouts. That was fine by me. While the arapaima had been delicious I didn't think I had a refined enough palate to appreciate their flavor, as to me common fish weren't that much worse than insanely expensive ones. Alisha and Anna had been busy foraging for mushrooms, which was easy when they were basically everywhere. Selene had been chopping some onions, potatoes, carrots and garlic and once we had both fish and mushrooms Alisha used them to make a simple, comforting fish stew for us.

After dinner we once again decided on watch shifts and my shift once again just so happened to be right before Athena's. I wished I knew what the smug looks were about that Alisha kept shooting me but I shook it off.

When my shift came along I found myself talking to Syr and at least she decided not to talk about Athena for once.

“Any news from her?" I asked.

“A little," she said. “I felt a flash of annoyance and I think I heard her say 'can't possibly think he can fight back against us for long'.”

“He?" I asked. “Sure she said 'he'? Because that only really makes sense if she's talking about Athena.”

“Pretty sure," she said. “Either I misunderstood or there's at least one other god they still haven't captured yet.”

“I like the idea," I said. “Not only does it mean we have one free ally left in Olympus but also that she's probably too busy to send out anyone to try and stop us.”

“You think she hasn't already sent people out to stop us?”

“How would she even know where to send them?" I asked. “I mean, I could kind of see her trying to send some cultists to the capital to search for Athena. The capital has the biggest branch of the Adventurer's Guild after all. But no, I don't think she could have predicted that Athena would try to find allies, drag them down to the underworld and ask the Heroes of Elysium for help.”

“She has managed to stay three steps ahead of us despite me being able to listen in on her," Syr countered.

“She hasn't really," I said. “She's never outsmarted us, we just don't have the necessary intelligence to even guess at her next target. I don't think she's some genius tactician, it's just that we know too little of her actual plans.”

“You sure?" she asked.

“Pretty sure," I said. “Her first priority should be to amass power. Her plan to let that Dark Lord experiment was pretty much just that. But since then she's become erratic.”

“Corrupting that boss underneath the capital would have also let her amass an army," Syr said.

“True, but it was also incredibly visible," I said. “If I was her I'd be trying to keep as low a profile as possible until I was sure I was powerful enough to take on the whole world. But the crown is now very much aware of the threat. And from what little we've heard from those knights from Albion the cultists of the Black Goat over there have been just as unsubtle. And now? Now they've attacked Olympus. Athena's bush, it doesn't get more visible than that. So there's really only three options here.”

“Namely?" Syr asked.

“One, she already has all the power she needs and she's moving into the endgame.” Syr shuddered but I pressed on: “Two, she's a megalomaniac and sincerely thinks she's powerful enough when she clearly isn't. Or three, something outside of her influence has forced her hand, causing her to act before she was properly ready.”

“I really don't like that first option," Syr said.

“Me neither, but it's clearly the least likely," I said. “Let's say she wanted power. The easiest way to get that would be to open a gateway to the Outside and pull a bunch of Outsiders in to help. Except a portal big enough to let her bring those kinds of numbers would have attracted the attention of all the gods on this gods damned world. So the only ways she could be strong enough to pull off everything she wants would have made her even more visible even sooner. So unless it turns out that half this kingdom secretly worships the Black Goat and have been waiting for someone like her to show up I think we're safe for the time being.”

Syr considered that, then nodded. “That makes sense.”

“So that leaves options two and three," I said. “Which means she's either too stupid to plan ahead or dependent on someone else to be strong enough to get her way. I assume the latter. Maybe whatever god she's working with made this attack on Olympus a condition of their alliance.”

“That actually sounds pretty likely," Syr said. “It also gives us a motive for that god to join her.”

I nodded. “He or she must really hate the other Olympians to want to do this to them. Which, unfortunately, means that Prometheus has just become a suspect.”

“Do you think he still hates them if his torture only lasted for a day?" Syr asked.

“I'm not going to discount him just because I sympathize with him, is all I'm saying," I said.

“Fair," Syr said.

“Who are you talking to?" Athena asked from right behind me.

I almost jumped out of my skin.

“Nobody," I snapped. “Go back to bed. I'll wake you up in an hour.”

“I couldn't sleep," she said. She looked like she'd been crying.

I fucking hated my mind at that moment. I did not want to feel sympathy for this bitch.

“And you were clearly talking to someone," she added. “I know you aren't insane.”

I took a deep breath. Was I seriously considering this? “Can you use mind magic?”

“Mind magic?" she asked. “Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?”

“I'm considering whether or not I trust you enough to share this with you," I said.

“That's been the sticking point from the start, hasn't it?" she asked. “But remember, I trusted you enough to ask for your help.”

I sighed. “Yeah, and you helped us with that spider even though you didn't have to... Alright, fine. If you want to know who I've been talking to then use mind magic to link your mind to mine.”

She frowned. “That's invasive magic, you know?”

“Hurry up before I change my mind," I snapped.

She glared at me but then I saw streaks of off-white magic coming from Athena's third eye, her upper dantian, and connect to me. I felt the slightest stinging sensation when the magic touched me, telling me that this was far less gentle than when Yume did it with illusion magic.

Immediately Syr dropped to one knee and said: “I greet you, Athena of the Olympians.”

Athena blinked, looking from Syr to me and back again. “What's going on?”

I sighed. “Athena, this is Syr. She lives in my mind part-time.”

“How did that happen?" the goddess asked.

I shared a look with Syr and nodded for her to tell the story. “My body was stolen and I ended up a prisoner in my own body. Somehow when Felix fought a group of Outsider cultists and the Dark Young they were worshiping he ended up in the prison the body snatcher had constructed in my mind, where he promised to help save me. Eventually I learned how to project myself into his mind. This way at least I can enjoy a modicum of freedom.”

“I see," Athena said. “That was very... noble of him. But I don't see why you felt the need to hide this from me.”

I took a deep breath and said: “The reason I didn't want to tell you about Syr is because of the identity of the one who stole her body.” I swallowed the lump in my throat, knowing this might go horribly wrong. “You know that body snatcher as the Holy Maiden.”

Stunned silence followed.

“So you're saying you've known more about this Holy Maiden all along?”

“Not enough to prevent any of her plans," I said. “We've been one step behind everything she's done. I was just talking about this with Syr before you showed up.”

“So you are still opposed to her?" Athena asked.

I glared at her. “Obviously.”

“I want my body back," Syr said.

Athena flinched at Syr's comment.

“And that's the other reason I didn't want to tell you about this," I said. “I was... no, I AM worried that now that you know what the Holy Maiden looks like you won't hesitate to just kill her on sight even if it means killing Syr's body.”

Athena glared at me. “You're such a self-absorbed ass sometimes, Tailor.”

I blinked.

“Yes, some of us gods prefer extreme measures, but not all of us," she said. “If I'd known that this Holy Maiden was a body snatcher instead of a normal person I would have approached the entire situation differently. Killing a body snatcher's host body almost never solves the problem so of course I won't be harming her body. But it does mean I need to dig up exorcism rituals instead. This complicates matters immensely and it would have been much easier if you'd trusted me with this information from the start.”

“It's not as if you've given me very many reasons to trust you before," I growled.

She glared at me but then she averted her gaze. “I really haven't," she said quietly.

I blinked again. Her behavior felt completely off lately. She didn't seem like the haughty, superior and arrogant goddess I'd spent the last ten years hating anymore. Apparently everything that had happened had humbled her rather harshly.

“So, what were you talking about when I showed up?" she asked when it became clear that I wasn't going to refute her.

“I can sometimes look in on the Holy Maiden, see what she is doing," Syr said. Athena stared wide-eyed at her but Syr preempted her: “It's gotten rather unreliable as of late, which we assume is because she's in Olympus where I can't easily reach her.” Athena's expression fell a little. “But I just overheard her saying something that Felix and I believe means there's at least one god left in Olympus her troops haven't managed to capture yet.”

Athena swallowed. “That's the best news I've heard in quite a while. Do we have any idea who it might be?”

Syr shook her head. “Only that it's a 'he'.”

“Well, alright.”

“We've also been thinking of something else," I said and then shared our theory about how the Holy Maiden was likely forced into attacking Olympus by her divine ally.

“That makes sense," Athena said. “Even if she succeeds she only manages to inform the other pantheons that there is a threat to them out there. This is immensely useful intelligence. Thank you for sharing all of it with me.”

“It's the least I can do after you've told us you won't be trying to murder Syr's body," I said.

“Did you seriously think I would be that awful?" she asked almost meekly.

“Did I believe you would kill a person who, in your mind, just conquered and tortured the residents of Mount Olympus?" I asked. “Yes. Yes, I did.”

She winced as she heard me lay it out for her like this.

“Stop acting like this," I told her. “It's making it harder to hate you.”

That pulled her out of the dark thoughts plaguing her. “Fuck you, Tailor," she said but there was the tiniest smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

“I am very grateful for your understanding," Syr finally told Athena.

“You're welcome," Athena said. “See, Tailor? You could try being polite like her for once.”

“Fat chance," I said but internally I kept thinking back to all the snarky comments Syr had made about Athena and me.

As if on cue I heard Syr thinking at me: Kiss her you fool!

I turned to glare at her.

Thankfully Athena hadn't heard her and after watching me glare at Syr for a moment she asked: “Can I request you keep me in the loop from now on? You've given me a lot to think about.”

I closed my eyes to calm down, then opened them again and looked at Syr, who nodded at me.

“Of course," I told the goddess. “It will make it much easier if we keep you informed.”

“Thank you," she said, then paused. “Just to be sure, your other women know about..." she looked between Syr and me.

“Of course," I said, then yawned.

“Go to bed, Tailor," Athena said. “It's time for my shift.”

“Sure," I said and was about to head off when I heard her ask:

“Would it be alright if I keep talking to you while he rests?”

I turned back to see her talking to Syr.

“So far the connection has snapped every time he fell asleep," Syr said. “But maybe your mind magic is more stable than Yume's illusion magic.”

“I didn't mean if it was possible, I was asking if you would be willing," Athena gently prodded.

Syr gave me a slightly smug smile, then looked back at Athena. “It would be an honor.”

**

The next morning Alisha handed me a bowl of oatmeal and said quietly: “I heard you talking to Athena last night.” She had a smug look on her face and I had no idea what she was expecting me to say about it. We were the first to wake up, the others still fast asleep.

Thus, I had no hesitation to speak my mind and said: “She found out about Syr.”

I felt Alisha's hand grip my forearm tightly as her expression morphed from smugness to horror.

“Relax," I told her. “It's fine. She was upset that we left her out of the loop but she told us she has no intention of killing Syr's body.”

Alisha visibly relaxed. “Good.”

“Syr stayed up and talked to her when I went back to the tent," I said quietly.

The thought made me a bit uncomfortable. Syr clearly had some sort of delusion that I saw Athena as anything other than the bitch she was but when it had happened I'd been too tired to think much of it.

But instead of sharing my worry Alisha once again got that smug look on her face. “Good," she said again, this time in an entirely different tone of voice.

“How's Selene holding up?" I asked to change the subject.

“You mean after fighting a giant spider?" she asked.

“Yeah.”

“Very well," she said. “I felt her shiver against me once and that was it.”

I nodded. “Thank the gods. I'd been worried she'd break down once she was away from prying eyes.”

“She's strong," Alisha said, then added: “I'm just glad she had that pendant or that poison attack could have gone very badly.”

“Yeah," I said.

Just at that moment I heard one of the tents rustle and a moment later I felt Yume's warm breasts pressing into my back as one of her tails reached around to brush against my face.

“Morning love," I said.

“Good morning, lover," she said, then paused and looked up. “Well, morning isn't quite the right word, is it?”

“It is morning," I said. “It just doesn't look it. So, is the underworld as awful as you'd feared?”

“I'm pleasantly surprised," she said. “If I don't look too closely at the cave ceiling I can almost convince myself that we're under a starry sky.”

“You don't like that we're in a cave?" I asked.

“After weeks and weeks inside that dungeon?" she asked “Not particularly, no.”

“Yeah, that's fair," I said. “At least we won't be here for too long.”

“That depends a lot on Anna," Yume said and then I saw her point a tail over at the tent.

I followed the motion of the tail to see Anna coming out of the tent and after a quick wave at us she pulled out a sickle and started harvesting plants from all around us. I snorted.

“She'll stay here for a month picking mushrooms and mosses if we let her," Yume said.

“Can't really blame her," I said. “For an herbalist this must be paradise.” I felt a grin tug at the corners of my mouth as I said: “It's kinda like leaving Alisha next to a fruit stall.”

“I am not obsessed with fruit," Alisha said indignantly.

I was just about to pull a fruit out of my bag and tease her with it but before I could Yume stepped up beside me, pulled a blueberry from her own bag of holding and placed it between her teeth, then waggled her eyebrows.

Alisha was clearly trying to practice self-control because she hesitated for a whole two breaths before she shot up and mashed her lips against Yume's and I saw the fox woman slip her the berry with her tongue before they were too busy kissing each other.

“Gods above, if you keep this up I'll do something stupid," I muttered, their kissing starting to get me hard.

Thankfully the two of them broke apart when we heard another tent flap rustle and Athena stepped out, looking much better than last night. She looked like she'd actually slept well now.

“Good morning," she greeted.

I nodded in acknowledgment and then asked Syr: So, did you have a productive conversation?

Wouldn't you like to know?, she teased.

I do, that's why I'm asking, I told her, a bit annoyed.

After a lot of prodding she finally revealed her undying love for you, Syr said.

Hilarious, I said, my tone as flat as it could possibly be.

Spoilsport, she said. But seriously, she's kind of sweet.

She's vulnerable because of the circumstances, I said. Don't mistake that for her being a good person.

Have you always been so cynical?, she asked.

Ever since she ignored my pleas when I begged for her help, I answered dryly.

Alright, fine, Syr said. I can't really justify that.

At least we agree on that part, I said, then took a deep breath and admitted: I do feel sorry for her, you know? It just isn't enough for me to just forgive her.

I get it, she said. And you're not wrong. But you're not right, either.

What's that supposed to mean?, I asked.

I think you'll find out soon enough, she said cryptically.