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Chapter -17- The Beast and the Burden

Celestial Realm...

Tamamo drew her tessen and snapped the war fan open. In her left hand, palm up, she created a glowing flame that crackled with intense heat. The tall creatures filled either side of the courtroom, blocking both exits.

The kitsune grimaced, clinching her molars. "I am not afraid to die. I've done it before. Standing there does not intimidate me, especially now that I've killed two of you with ease. I'll give you all a moment to say your final words; your spirits will not go to the land of eternal battle."

At first she thought her words worked. No one spoke, nobody approached. She smirked.

All at once, both sides rushed her.

She used the war fan to deflect the first hand to near her. Their claws glanced off the metallic fan blades. She closed her free hand around the creature's wrist, burning away the flesh and cauterizing the wound cleanly. Her fingers curled around the bones of his forearm, cracking both. She leaned back on her heel and pivoted, swinging the grotesque being into the others.

Tamamo released the first being's arm and put her foot up on another giant's chest then kicked away from him. She hurtled back, her shoulders slamming into another, knocking several to the ground at once.

She got to her feet, took her sword from its sheath and thrust the blade down into one of the creature's head. The blade slipped through his eye and stopped at the base of his skull.

She released the blade and turned about. Tamamo popped the war fan shut and used it as a blunt object, striking the neck of another creature on his hands and knees. It broke his spine at the base of his skull.

Someone wrapped their arms around her from behind, pinning her arms to her sides. She felt herself lifted into the air, followed by the extreme discomfort of having her torso clenched by a powerful creature. Her ribs ached. Her hips and spine felt as though they were being crushed. Her wrists, trapped against her sides, locked up in pain.

Tamamo kicked her legs, trying to wiggle free but serving only to use up oxygen in her bloodstream. Her muscles cramped up.

One of the creatures approached. She glanced down along the swell of her bust, seeing the approaching creature. The kitsune's eyes widened, seeing it was the jotunn with her sword jutting from his face. He scowled; she grimaced in reply.

The kitsune tensed her body creating a wave of flame around herself , but the being holding her didn't let go. Tamamo arched a bit and craned her neck. The arms around her body were tinted in red.

She groaned in realization, ears flat in her stark vanilla hair. The flame giant, resistant to her fire, kept her in a death-grip.

Another of the red-skinned creatures grasped her legs and held them together, ankles crossed, tucking her calves between his arms and his torso. She flailed about but couldn't move.

"I may have underestimated you, but your leaders underestimate the humans I've spent the past seventy-five years preparing for this day! And they will deliver the heads of Surtr, Loki and Kiko Sigyn to the..." A red hand covered her mouth. The hand was so big she could see between his fingers.

The kitsune bit down on one of his fingers but couldn't break the skin. She felt her head tilted back by his grip, leaving her throat exposed. The sound of her sword being drawn from the eye of the injured jotunn caused her to flinch. Her nine tails bristled up.

"Wait," said one of them to the others, "before you take her head, I want her tails."

Another quipped, "Kill her first. There will be less blood on your new prized furs."

"No. I want the tails first. She will bleed more if we take them while she is alive. I want them drenched in her blood when I attach them to my belt."

Someone grasped one of her tails and pulled it taut. First she felt her kimono hiked in the back, exposing the hilt of her tails. She felt the cold katana blade, soaked with frigid frost giant blood, against her backside.

She was frustrated by the inability to curse these creatures with barbed words. She wanted her final moments defined with defiant retort, but the hand over her face made it impossible to speak. It was the final insult to injury.

Tamamo knew she was going to die now. Just like Konoe-tenno. Just like her short-term lover, the Greek deity, Pan. She would die without purpose just like Jules Guillot. She would die without mercy, like Sire St. Leonard. She would die without a happy ending, just like Marcus Howard. She would die too soon, like Peri Lynn Darken.

Tamamo-no-Mae knew her end was at hand, and she would die - just like so many others.

And with her second death at hand, she lamented how simple it was the first time. An arrow through the heart in 1156AD. Simple, clean, honorable. At least the hunter, Miura-no-suke, had too much honor to torture her or desecrate her body. She wished it could be that simple again. She wanted it to be elegant, and worthy of poem or prose. She wanted to simply sink to her knees on the Plain of Nasu, clutch the arrow in her heart, and die like a warrior.

Tamamo swallowed. Her eyes moistened with hot tears. She lamented that they would rob her of a worthy death. A death in battle. A death in combat. Her heart raced, terrified for what they would do to her, hacking her down piece by piece. Instead, they sought to violate her.

She was both heartbroken and outraged.

The sharpness of the blade glided across the hilt of her fourth tail of nine. She felt the sting as the sharp blade began to pierce the skin, followed by the intensity of the cold against the broken flesh. In her heart, she cursed them as dishonorable cowards.

"This sword isn't serrated," someone complained, adding, "Hold her steady, I'll have to chop it cleanly."

The cold blade drew away from her body. Whoever held her tail out now began to tug it hard. "Ready," said a deep voice. "Should I hold them all? We can simply sever the group from her spine. I'll clean the human flesh from the cluster. There are nine of us. We should each take one."

"I agree, there is no need to be selfish."

"No, they're _all_mine!"

Someone groaned in pain. She smiled against the finger, imagining one of the creatures attacking the other. Another blow caused her ears to flicker.

She pondered transitioning into her fox form and running. She needed only to take the diary. It was her final play.

Another loud blow landed on one of the creature's body. The sound caused Tamamo's ears to flicker with irritation and curiosity.

The kitsune felt her body shift slightly. Her tails were released from the forceful grip.

All at once Tamamo fell to the ground, landing unceremoniously upon her backside. She opened her eyes, dazed and confused. The head of a jotunn rolled into her lap, facing down. She reached for the hair and eased it back. It was the head of the man whose eye she took. Tamamo turned about, curious to the creature that attacked his fellows.

Her eyes widened with surprise at what she saw. A human woman stood over her, but with the face of a lioness.

Adorned in battle armor with Egyptian ankhs, the lioness reached for Tamamo, taking the kitsune's hand.

She felt the olive-skinned woman's palm, covered in callouses. The lioness woman single-handedly pulled the kitsune up with a surprisingly strong grip - as though Tamamo weighed nothing.

The kitsune opened her stance with surprise on her face. Such physical power was unexpected from the body of a woman with such an average physique. Tamamo fidgeted with the sash of her kimono. The fabric was hiked up and wrinkled. "Domo arigato gozaimasu."

"Japanese messenger, I am Sekhmet." The lioness placed her hand on Tamamo's shoulder and turned her about with the strength of a warrior.

Tamamo flinched, feeling a pinch against her backside.

And then ... the pain lessened. The intervertebral disc, where her tail met her spine, began to heal. The flesh mended where the fur began to protrude from the skin. Only the blood in the fur remained.

The kitsune offered a sigh of relief. The pain from the nerve stopped completely. "You have my gratitude. Forgive my limited knowledge of the Egyptian tongue - mutašakkir 'awi."

"You are most welcome. Forgive my own limited knowledge of Japanese phrasings - dou itashi mashite."

"I know little of you, Sekhmet. Only the name and your face. You are a warrior of the sun? How did you heal my tail?" She smoothed down the fabric, pushing the kimono back into place until it properly covered her body and legs. Tamamo quickly re-wrapped the lay and adjusted her sash.

"My followers' worship gives me the strength to fight. I am a goddess of healing and protector of Ma'at. I believe she met you in this very courtroom when you testified on behalf of the red-headed kitsune child. Ma'at spoke her belief that Kiko Sigyn was guilty. But the vote of seven ended five against two in Sigyn's favor."

Tamamo looked about at the bloody bodies on the tiled floor. "You are ferocious, lioness warrior."

A wan grin tugged at the deity's feline muzzle. Sekhmet folded her arms, standing with proud posture. "My ferocity culled the lands and formed the very deserts of Egypt. The most ancient of humans built a statue of a lioness in my honor."

"It seems you had no trouble with the jötnar," said Tamamo in a humble tone.

"These tall creatures cannot die easily, but they bend and break in my hands just as any foe I've met."

With a nod of appreciation, Tamamo glanced down at the bodies once more. They were alive but only barely. Spines broken, throats torn out, they laid in a chaotic mess. However, they were alive.

"They torture demigods, like yourself, Shinto messenger."

"I've never seen the entrails of a jotunn." Tamamo picked up her katana and slowly pushed the frosty end into the cheek of one of the fire creatures. She leaned down besides the man that had held her earlier. "You can tell Surtr," she trailed off but was unable to find appropriate words.

Instead, Tamamo came to realize that her confidence had been damaged. She licked her lips and frowned. "Tell him you failed. I will leave your tongue for that single purpose." The kitsune tightened her hand around the hilt then pulled the sword forward, dicing through his cheeks, connecting the wound with the opening of his mouth.

Sekhmet frowned. "He wished to take your tails as a souvenir of the battle. Perhaps it would be only fitting to take his tongue. Or, perhaps, take his thumbs. One does not realize their importance until they live without such."

Tamamo leaned closer to the injured jotunn. "I am not afraid to desecrate your body the way you wished to do to me." She withdrew her dagger and turned his head away then, with surprising efficiency and speed, she removed each of his eyes in an instant. Tamamo rubbed the dagger across his forehead, cleaning the blade, then she sheathed the small weapon. "He will never look upon another woman so long as he lives. That is his punishment for disrespecting a woman."

"Very well."

A sigh escaped the kitsune's lips. She glanced between the two door frames on either side of the room and said, "I must leave this realm. Can you guide me to the Hallway of Reflection? It is on the eastern plain of this realm, near to the Shinto quarter."

"You seek an escort?"

"I have learned a new lesson this day, Goddess Sekhmet. There is strength in numbers, and I cannot survive alone as I once thought. It ... is a difficult truth to swallow. So, please, would you escort me?"

The human-bodied lioness offered a curt nod. "Come." Sekhmet headed through the door in the direction that Hachiman's dove had retreated, earlier. Once alone in the hallway, the Egyptian goddess frowned, causing the fur of her face to contort somewhat. "There are very few left. Here and on Earth. My priests are the finest doctors and surgeons Egypt has to offer. But my priests and warriors are nearly gone."

"Who is left in this realm?"

"Not many, Japanese messenger. I reached out for Odin and Thor. However, I cannot reach distant Asguard. Their Bifröst is beyond my ability to reach at this time."

Tamamo fell into step with the feline-headed woman. Her tails flitted about, the brush tips dragging the tiled floor behind her. "The Shinto deities are locked away in a cavern. The way has been sealed off, making it difficult to reach. It is possible I may not be able to access the cavern unless I was in my fox form. Even then, it may be too tight a fit."

"I understand that if the Norse Æsir falls, that will mark the end of times. I fear Odin may have already been devoured by the son of Loki. The story of Ragnarök has been foretold by one of the greatest earthly oracles of all time. The war begins with them and the waves overcome the rest of our kind. I cannot locate my kind. I can only assume they have also been separated from us and sealed away."

Tamamo frowned. She nodded in understanding. "It appears this is Loki's method of operation. If the gods cannot help the humans, and Loki appears before them as a false Messiah, he will be worshipped and become reborn anew as the most powerful of deities, fueled by the faith of the survivors. Then he will outlaw knowledge of all deities and cultures. And when the rest of us are forgotten, we will cease to exist. Our bodies will become mortal. We will be prone, just as the children of the deities who were never protected or empowered by faith."

"Like Grand Chancellor Eiyuu Geroi," said Sekhmet in agreement. "With no worshipers, he stood no chance against the jötnar. It is ironic that a man unknown on Earth made such changes and progress in this realm. His loss is deserving of memorialization. I am saddened that no shrine will be erected in his name. He was an impressive being. Ma'at held him in great respect. I was told that Eiyuu was the modern face of justice, peace and law."

"It failed," Tamamo grumbled. "He agreed with Ma'at and the other woman, at the tribunal. Eiyuu-sama had the lawful right to overturn the vote and destroy Kiko Sigyn. He failed to act in the interest of preserving the system. He respected the votes. But he was lenient. Leniency only works on systems designed for small groups."

"I protect the deity of law and justice. However, I do not have the same passion for such things. I only fight, enforce and protect. And in my experience, leniency is taken advantage of. It begins small. And then it becomes problematic. Soon, all humans feel entitled to the thought that their lives are equal in worth. Before long, 'death for the greater good' is forgotten. The mortal world is overpopulated and unclean. War is the great truth. Norse warriors understood this. Soldiers have purpose. And when people have purpose, the world has purpose."

"War is dreadful."

"War is glorious. It brings progress, technological achievement, scientific research; it thins out the numbers and wipes away the old, making room for the new and the clean. It forwards agendas, gives people purpose, and completes the human soul. The metaphysical core of the human being is designed for conquest and advancement. Progress is built on the backs of thinkers and doers. It is created with muscle and bone. Peace can only be achieved and maintained with war and vigilance."

"Then you must have a great respect for the jötnar. It seems they are all warriors."

"Yes," said Sekhmet. "But not for the modern Earth. Human warriors are few and far between. Earth will be decimated by the jötnar. A jotunn is an impressive creature due to their will to survive against all odds."

"They are freaks."

"Some are, yes. Their worlds were ravaged by radiation in the distant past. Some of them grow up quite normal. Some are even beautiful. But many are disfigured and repulsive. I assure you, Shinto messenger, they can survive the great destructive weapons created by humans."

Tamamo came to an intersection and peered from left to right. It was clear. She continued forward. "Such bombs were used on Shinto worshippers. What do you think of these weapons?"

"Worthless. They are equally dangerous to their masters, making such weapons a double-edged sword, which cuts into the hand of the user."

"They offered only minute danger to the United States when detonated over Japan."

"They have evolved, and now such usage would sweep back across the vast ocean to the user. It is a worthless weapon, most dangerous in the hands of someone willing to bring harm to their self."

"Hai, Sekhmet-sama. And they are most dangerous to civilians."

"Agreed. The radiation weapons of mankind were designed as a metal-wrapped replacement for warriors and soldiers. Wars were meant to clear away the old to make room for the new. To bring about progress. However this human weapon, the Nuclear Bomb, brings disease the world. It renders the land uninhabitable. It ruins the food. It ruins the population, creating less future warriors. These weapons were designed for a single purpose: A deterrent against war. Ironically, they are so guarded, they are never used. Even in modern wars. If worlds refuse to use them, then their deterrence is non-existent. Their ability to deter is only perceived. But the only way to ensure no nation uses them is to make sure every mature nation is armed with them. They have become a paradox."

Tamamo nodded with a sigh. "Worthless, contaminated land is not worth fighting for. Should humans render the entire world into a worthless state, they will die off. And then we, the deities, will cease to exist. Perhaps you are right - traditional wars are better than weapons that cause such annihilation."

"I am glad we agree."

"Only that one is better for humanity than the alternative. At the end of the hall, the next intersection forked left and right. Tamamo turned left, recognizing the area. "The Hall of Reflection isn't far."

"I have few warriors left."

"Your worshippers were wise to pray to you, Sekhmet-sama." She nodded politely, adding, "My name is Tamamo-no-Mae. I am sorry I did not say such earlier. I ... I confess that I am still shaken up by those creatures. I underestimated them, and was ignorant to the fact they do not die very easily."

"My worshippers are very loyal. But they are not my warriors."

"I thought your priests were doctors and surgeons?"

"yes, but I also have warriors. They, like the werewolf race of Earth, stand as lions. They are born this way. I watch over them and call upon them as necessary. It has been many generations since last I called upon these lion people, who serve me."

"Are they as tough as you?" asked Tamamo with a wan smile.

"They are most impressive people. Only seven are alive, active, and prepared to fight at any one time. This ensures their numbers do not swell and become a burden to the world as I nearly once was. However, my seven are now three. Seven and three, Tamamo-no-Mae. The numbers are a bane to my existence. The others currently alive are children. Only three are currently left that will be of use to me. I fear to admit this, but two of the three have yet to manifest their power yet. Worst of all, the remaining lion warrior is not even Egyptian."

"May I ask why you have numbers that upset you?"

"Three, the beer used to trick me, soaked three hands into the ground. Seven - seven thousand barrels of red beer were used to trick my warriors out of killing. Seven barrels per hour, in seven evening hours were consumed by me, personally."

Tamamo quickly did the math in her head and frowned. "Forty-nine barrels of beer in a single evening? You ... really like beer, hmm?"

"I love beer the way Vikings loved mead. I live to fight, I live to heal, and I live to protect justice and law. But I also live to drink beer."

The kitsune sighed with a nod. "Battle and booze; they do seem to go hand in hand." She reached a hand out to stop Sekhmet from walking. "Did you hear that?"

"I heard a faint cry of anguish. It is to be expected during a time of battle."

"I have fought Jötnar. They grunt. They do not exclaim in pain. Which way did it come from?"

The faint sound happened again. The women looked at one another.

Sekhmet shook her head. "That was a mourning wail, Tamamo-no-Mae."

"Yes, I believe you are right." She approached the next intersection. Ahead was the gloomy Hallway of Reflection. Tamamo glanced left then turned right. "This way." She headed to the right and walked through the once-shimmering hallways, now dim and lifeless. The hallway opened into a beautiful field, with rolling hills and sporadic sections of trees.

The twilight sky hosted a blood-red sun, which sank into the horizon. A flash of lightning came from just over a hill. Tamamo glanced up but saw no clouds. She hurried through the grass and Sekhmet followed.

The lush green grass felt soft and welcome under Tamamo's feet. She withdrew her katana and held it inverted, so that the blade trailed out behind her. She made it to the crest of the hill and saw a group of jötnar, with pale blue skin, surrounding two people down in a forested clearing. Lightning flashed between the people in battle with one another.

The kitsune glanced back at the Egyptian goddess and frowned. "We should help them. I wish to return to Conner immediately but ... it would be an act of cowardice to ignore them."

"For now, we fight. Later, we drink." Sekhmet hurried down the hill first, with Tamamo in tow. Another flash of lightning illuminated the clearing.

As the two women headed down the far side of the hill, they could no longer see over the woods surrounding the clearing.

Once reaching the bottom of the hill, they hurried through the patch of forest, and emerged from the trees.

At the center of the clearing, the women saw a rather macho looking character with lengthy hair. His body was that of a man in his late thirties, but his face resembled a man in his early fifties. He received a lance, crafted from ice, through his lower torso and sank down to his right hip. The injured man crawled towards another man, lying face down, motionless, on the ground.

"Wait," Tamamo said, swallowing back emotions at the sight of the group of frost giants. "I think I know of that being - the one who was just impaled. If I'm right, he shouldn't have been easily overtaken."

"I recognize him," said Sekhmet. She dove towards the group, fangs bared. The lioness let out a ferocious roar, which rang throughout the clearing.

Tamamo withdrew her war fan in her right hand. She created a ball of fire in her left palm and approached the jötnar at a leisurely pace. None of them had red skin, giving her flames a tactical advantage. Combined with the fact she had a powerful warrior goddess at her side, Tamamo felt arrogant again. A confident grin came to her lips. "Thank the Sun - there are no red ones."

Meanwhile, Sekhmet sprinted for one of the creatures in the field, attacking from behind. She ran up his back, and closed her powerful feline joules around his throat. Her body flipped over his, but she kept her jaw tightly locked, pulling him down with her body weight.

The enormous beast went to the ground. Sekhmet kept her fangs clamped down, forcing the jotunn to submit to her attack. She thrust her nails into the giant blue soldier's torso, attacking pressure points and muscle structure that caused his arms to go limp. She dug her fingers in, breaking his ribs, and caving them down.

Tamamo thrust her war fan out, face to face with another frost giant. The creature stood thirteen feet tall. He reached for her.

The kitsune snapped her fan open, but at the last second, she popped it shut and sidestepped him. In the blink of an eye, she brought the closed-fan up then back down, striking his wrist twice. With both bones of his forearm broken, his right hand dropped limp.

The creature howled in pain and pivoted back towards Tamamo. She struck him in the ribs with her fan, which forced him to crumple forward.

Using her free hand, still burning with flame, she took him by the bicep and forced him to double over completely then brought the closed, weighty fan down against his neck, striking a pressure point.

The jotunn pivoted towards her, trying to protect his face with his remaining forearm. The spirit fox popped her fan and used the sharp blade tips to slice into his brachial artery. His arm opened up with ease, causing him to twist away in an attempt to favor his injuries.

Tamamo moved swiftly. She closed the fan and used the bottom to strike against his clavicle. He tucked his chin down, giving her better access to the back of his neck. Crushing the vertebra at the top of his spine brought him to the ground. The giant crashed on his stomach, motionless save for muscle spasms.

The kitsune looked up. Her eyes widened.

Standing over several bloody bodies, Sekhmet licked her fangs with a look of bloodlust in her gaze. She ripped the head from one of the bodies and opened her mouth as if to catch the blood spray.

Tamamo flinched, narrowing her gaze in disgust. It was beyond anything she'd seen. Even the bloody tortures performed by her Chinese husband, Di Xin, held no candle to the sight of Sekhmet drinking the blood of her foe.

The lioness threw the head to the ground and bellowed a fierce roar of victory.

"Be still, goddess of healing. I beg of you. We have won; it is over."

"Surely you've felt the exhilaration of bloodlust, Su Daji."

"How did you...?"

Sekhmet smirked. The blood on her lips and chin combined with the expression, gave her a fearsome, sardonic appearance. "I am the protector of Ma'at. She was at your tribunal. It did not take long to piece together the details, and now I know of you. You were the heart of a great many stories, fox spirit. Yet you've changed in three thousand years. What could have made you so tame?"

Tamamo glanced down at the two human-looking men in the grass. She eyed the ice lance that jutted from the mid-section of the older man. She slowly approached the men then paused to glance back at the lioness.

Sekhmet's forehead scrunched, awaiting an answer.

"Two thousand years after the death of Shang Zhou Xin, while living in Japan, I fell in love with a young Emperor. Fate gave me the perfect love, then took it from me as a lesson of humility. Instead of anger, I felt the heartbreak of truth. I learned I deserved the loss of my heart and the loss of my life. I lived as an angry spirit for many years until a Buddhist priest, Genno, showed me kindness and freed my spirit from the stone husk that once was my physical body."

"And did your lesson stick, messenger fox?"

"I never reached for retribution. A thousand years of humble servitude to Inari has shown me gratitude and wisdom. And now, fate has rewarded me with a love equal to what I felt with Konoe-tenno. Now you know my story." Tamamo dropped to her knees adjacent to the impaled man. She gestured Sekhmet close and asked, "Is this Zeus? Can you heal him?"

The lioness wiped her bloody face against a sleeve of her armor then approached the two men, human in appearance. "No, this is not Zeus. His face is slightly different, his body is similar however. I saw the lightning and assumed."

"As did I. But if he is not Zeus, then who is he?"

The man looked up at them. His eyes appeared weary and filled with pain. "You may call me Jove." His voice was cracking but modest and baritone. "God of the Roman sky. Keeper of lightning. Brother and husband of Juno."

Tamamo's astonishment melted into a look of challenge. "I thought the Romans simply renamed the Greek gods?"

Sekhmet folded her arms beneath her modest bust. "There were enough changes made that the Romans created a counterpart. This is Jupiter." She reached down and touched the frozen rod in his gut. "This will have to be removed. Melt it, Tamamo-no-Mae."

Tamamo nodded and placed her palms against the ice. It began to shrink, turning to water. The frozen pole dissolved, leaving a gaping hole in Jupiter's gut. She reached up and took the man's face. "How can you see that his face looks different than Zeus? It's all beard."

"He has younger eyes."

"Ah." Tamamo held the dying man's stare. "I've never beheld the gaze of Zeus." Her tone changed, addressing Jupiter. "Hold still. She will heal you, Jove-san."

"She cannot," said Jupiter. "I gave my spirit in trade to protect Juno. How fitting I was rescued by women warriors, as Juno is a protector who looks after women. This, to me, is a sign that Juno Regina is safe and I can die knowing she will live on."

Sekhmet looked up then back at the wound. "He is right. When there is no will to live, healing has little effect. The wound will not seal, the muscle will not mend. He has little time."

Tamamo glanced over at the other body then back to Jupiter. "Who is the other man?"

"My son, Mars. He was the great prince. God of war, human men, and courage. And without him, the chances for humanity's survival begins to diminish. He was the god of land war. All that survives of our might is my brother, Neptune. He and his counterpart, Poseidon, are all that stand in the way of Loki's war on the gods and on humanity."

Tamamo blinked. "How can two sea gods protect mankind?"

"Because the creature that stirs at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean is held back by the sea for the time. But it is only a matter of time before Loki emerges from that submerged temple. And when he does, he will dominate the land of the Earth. He will slaughter the people who do not bow in worship. He will do this to destroy us all." Jupiter coughed up blood. It matted down the locks of his beard, staining the grayish-white coloration.

Tamamo swallowed. "Do you not fear the end of existance?"

"Be not worried, little one," said Jupiter. "I wait for death, that I might see my brother, Pluto, in the underworld. And perhaps, for the first time in a great many years, I will see his wife - my daughter born outside of wedlock. How I miss the face of my little girl, Proserpina."

Sekhmet's gaze narrowed. "He's rambling. A sign that death is close."

Tamamo shook her head. "Perhaps, but I understood his reference. Loki is working through a human man named Aris Falcon, who has a fortress beneath the waves of the Atlantic Ocean." Tamamo glanced back down into the eyes of Jupiter. His pupils began to turn a milky coloration, as if cataracts formed in his gaze. "His gaze is turning cloudy."

"Aywa, his body is mighty to have lasted this long. However, he's given his will to live. A noble offer in protection of his sibling-spouse. It's only a matter of time."

Tamamo tightened her jaw, fighting back something she hadn't felt in a long time - sadness over the loss of another. "Are you sure you will live on in the underworld of Pluto?"

"I am, little spirit fox. The sooner the better," said Jupiter. "My son will welcome me when we arrive in the underworld. The family will be together again."

"Jove," Tamamo said, drawing his attention back to her. "Do you possess the power of lightning?"

"I do. It is all that holds my body together, now."

She nodded in understanding. The kitsune kept her palms upon his face. "I will find Juno. I will tell her that you died honorably. A death worthy of song and poem. I have only one favor to ask of you before the light disappears from your gaze."

"I will give you this favor, to the best of my dying ability, if you promise to speak to my wife for me. What is your request?"

Tamamo felt emotion boiling up in her chest. She took the man's death personally but couldn't understand why. Perhaps it was a personification of all the greatness stripped from the Celestial heavens because of this attack.

She didn't even know the man, but his dying wish to protect his wife was something she respected deeply. "You have my word, I will find Queen Juno. I will tell her of your noble sacrifice. I will bring her here, that she might give proper respect to both of your bodies. All I ask is that you send your lightning to a man on Earth. He sleeps in Paris. He is the embodiment of lightning, manifested in human form."

"I know of him," Jupiter said. "The Great Paradoxical Anomaly passed on his power to this young man. How is it that he sleeps? I learned that he disappeared beyond the realm of the living and the dead, as though erased from existence."

Tamamo frowned. "The man of Loki's will, who lives beneath the ocean, calls it cryogenic stasis. Someone close to Reno sought the rescue of his body. He is in a deep sleep - the humans call it a coma. His body grows frail from disuse, lying alone in a bed, beneath a residential palace in Paris, France. He needs you, Jove. He needs you to send your lightning ... with it he will survive to avenge us all. Please. His victory would ensure that your wife survives."

Jupiter leaned his head back in the grass. "There is a thin shell surrounding Earth. It is a protective barrier. I will send my lightning. It will ionize their upper atmosphere, and collect energy. When it reaches a strength greater than or equal to my own power level from before my injury, it will hone in on this man's electrical energy. It will find him, no matter how deep beneath the Parisian soil he sleeps."

"You have my gratitude, Jove-sama."

"Help me lift my arms, both of you."

Sekhmet knelt besides Jupiter. The two women each lifted one of his arms above his head. The great Roman king of the gods focused his ability and closed his eyes. All at once, a rush of unbridled electrical energy burst from his hands.

The enormous pillar of light threw both women back. The energy of his arms linked to the sky.

Both Tamamo and Sekhmet protected their eyes and ears from the awesome power unleashed by Jupiter. And as suddenly as it had started, it stopped. His arms dropped to the charred grass. His half-lidded eyes grew distant. His body, motionless.

Tamamo sat up, eyes wide.

Sekhmet got to her feet. "Courageous. He knew he had no followers to worship him back to life. He knew that a lack of faith-healing meant he would cease to exist."

"Wait, I thought he said he will go to the underworld to see his family?"

"He is remembered by historians and archeologists, Tamamo-no-Mae. Not by worshipers. Perhaps he thought you would worry. But he knew that by giving up his lightning, he would simply disappear forever from this realm. There will be nothing but oblivion for Jupiter and Mars. They will be remembered in name only."

"Then ... he sacrificed it all?" Tamamo grimaced.

"Indeed he has. I respect his courage. Most gods are driven to survive out of fear for their end. But he was brave. His final thoughts were of his wife, whose protection over women empowers us, as well as the women who unknowingly fight against Loki."

Tamamo knelt besides Jupiter's body. She closed his distant, cold eyes with her fingers.

Silence.

The kitsune sighed, mourning his loss and romanticizing Jupiter's greatness and sacrifice in her heart. She dipped her fingers in his blood and thumbed the Japanese lettering for 'hero' across his forehead, followed by, 'courageous.'

The lioness frowned. "The ancient stories of you failed to credit your sentimentality."

"It's something I learned with age. It's become apart of me in the past five hundred years." Tamamo looked up at the lioness then back down at the lifeless face of Jupiter. "At least mortal souls exist beyond death. This man does not have that comfort. But you are right - his dying wish was to protect his wife, who looks over women."

"Speaking of women who need to be watched by Juno, what of the ones you've drafted for this war? What are their names?"

The spirit fox looked up at Sekhmet with a glistening gaze. Tears dropped from her chin and landed upon Jupiter's face. "Perhaps he is not gone forever. Perhaps he is ... back in the atmosphere."

"I do not understand."

"Nevermind. It's an earth song about loss. It was ... relevant." She touched Jove's face gently, rubbing her tears from his heek. "These drops of Jupiter ... Perhaps he is back in the atmosphere. I fear I am becoming more like Sinopa now that conner is in my life."

"I do not follow your meaning, spirit fox. I had asked the names of your female Earth warriors."

"Nevermind." Tamamo sighed, wiped her face and answered Sekhmet's question. "My female warriors are growing in numbers but only three were unwittingly recruited by me, directly."

"I wish to know their names, that I might listen for tales of their greatness."

Tamamo offered a sad smile and stood up, back straight and head held high. "Sinopa Crevan, my goddaughter. Karla Howard, the succubus. And, the least powerful, yet the most driven of them all, Topaz Parker-Nevada - the mother of my mate. For Conner's sake and for my curiosity, I wonder what has become of her. She is missing, yet she is not dead. But if anyone is capable of surviving this nightmare on Earth ... it is Topaz. I do hope she is somehow safe. I find myself wondering where she could be."

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First Age Capital City Within the heart of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge ...

** Topaz Nevada stumbled.** She put her hands out to steady herself. The ground shook wildly and one of the buildings nearby swayed more than the others in the city. A cloud of dust waft out from its windows. The center dropped from within, due to a broken support pillar. The heart of the building collapsed but the outer walls remained standing.

The quake became incredibly intense. She eased down to her hands and knees and remained in the kneeling position while waiting out the shaking. The intensity persisted.

She looked around and decided the street intersection was far enough from tall buildings that she was safe for the time being. The quake became so intense, she couldn't stay on her hands and knees.

Against her better judgment, she eased down on her back and put her hands beneath her head, waiting for it to stop. Instead, the shaking intensified. Her eyes scanned the black rock above her. "All I need is for the place to collapse and the Atlantic Ocean to drown me. That'd suck." She could barely hear her voice over the ambiance noise. The quake continued to grow in intensity.

"Jesus. What the hell is going on now?" She canted her head a bit, watching the buildings that were further back from the paved footpath. Part of her wanted to hop into the empty canal but she wasn't sure if she would be able to get out.

She watched the nearest row of buildings, about a hundred feet away or more. The ones closest to the street were two story structures in this part of the city. She counted her blessings. "Boy for old buildings, they really hold up under all this nonsense." The rumbling drowned out her words.

Topaz withdrew her cellphone and started a new video. She shouted close to the microphone port on the case. "As you can see, this place is suddenly shaking like crazy. Don't know if this is going to make it harder to get back to my boys, but ... yeah." She stayed on her back on the wide lane and continued taping. She stopped the footage after two minutes, but the rumbling continued.

Again her eyes went straight up, watching for the possibility of falling rock from high above. The airshafts swayed back and forth, creating a Hollywood effect of spotlights waving about at random.

She secured her phone and put her hands behind her head again, waiting out the quake. All at once, her eyes widened with an epiphany. She got to her feet and hurried along the large canal system. Up ahead, there was a bridge that crossed over. Topaz, despite her better judgment and experience with California quakes, hurried across the bridge.

She hurried through the streets of another section of the city. A small building, up ahead lay splayed across the street. She looked up at the large central shaft hanging down to the center of the city. She saw tents up ahead with men security gear in the streets.

Again, she went against her better judgment. Topaz dipped between buildings and ran through an alley with the swaying five-story structures dancing above her head. She rushed through and out the other side, then glanced about herself, standing directly beneath one of the buildings.

Her eyes landed on the elevated hill at the center of the city, up ahead. She could just make out the gorgeous artistic pillars surrounding what looked like a temple perched atop the hill. The majestic building overlooked the rest of the city, and, in its courtyard, was the bottom of the largest, widest shaft coming from above.

"Dumbest shit I've ever done." She sprinted through the streets. Her feet, nimble and powerful, moved over the quivering ground with supernatural grace. Topaz dove through a window, cutting through a building to avoid the tents of soldiers on one of the streets. She placed her hands on another windowsill, hurdled it with ease and continued up through another section of town.

There was another bridge, which went over a small canal, circling the large hill at the center of the city. Topaz dashed across the gorgeous footbridge, which towered over an empty moat around the base of the enormous hill.

She stopped at the base of the small mountain-like structure and looked straight up. "Now all I need is a landslide on top of everything else. But hell, I've done every other thing I'm not supposed to do doing a quake, so why not mountain climb?" The ground shook relentlessly. She looked straight up then grimaced.

High above, she noticed something she hadn't seen earlier due to angle, and with buildings in the way. A large viaduct went through the open air above and came even with the top of the steep hilltop. She sighed in frustration. "Guess I should have found my way to wherever that leads and crossed it."

She wiped her palms on her pants leg then put her foot on a section of the precipice and hoisted herself up, despite the quake. Topaz ground her teeth in irritation and made her way up to the next small crack in the rock and continued up. She glanced over her shoulder, down at the empty moat beneath.

"Yeah, psicobloc works a lot better when there's water in the canal," she groused. She eased herself forward, scaling the wall slowly. She made twenty feet of progress then took a break and leaned in against the mountainside. The quake continued with only slightly reduced intensity from when it started. "God just cut it out already."

She continued up the side, little by little. "I've climbed the Aspire Tower in Qatar in fifty-nine minutes. This should be cake," she told herself. "I free-climbed the Burj Dubai in just over five hours. I'm only forty-nine years old. Forty-nine is the new thirty-five." Topaz hoisted herself up to the next section. "Why the hell am I doing this?"

Within fifteen minutes she made it up the sheer face of the cliff and rolled herself over the edge, onto flat ground. She lay there for a moment to revel in the fact it was over. Lying there on the ground she peered over the scar face and spit down the side then she eased up onto her elbow.

Across the viaduct, she saw that soldiers were hunkered down just across the way. Topaz silently praised herself for talking the difficult way across, because they never saw her. The quake continued. She sat up and rubbed her face then sighed and got to her feet.

Nevada pinched the bridge of her nose then made her way towards the palace, away from the encampment of soldiers across the viaduct. She looked up at the enormous shaft heading up into the gloom.

The courtyard in front of the beautiful palace hosted the end of the large duct and, upon closer inspection, was a flexible and powerful elevator for people and equipment. She smiled. "I knew it. I knew it was an elevator. And what do people not use during earthquakes? Elevators."

She stepped onto the lift platform, which had no gate to bar her access. She climbed over the railing on the side and wiggled behind the platform, into the shaft. With a grunt, unheard over the rumbling noise, Topaz hoisted herself up onto a ladder built into the material along the inside of the shaft. She gazed up then sighed. "It took four hours to climb down here. I'm sure it'll be much faster on a ladder. It's got to be. I did the Burj Dubai in just over five hours. And this isn't even hot to the touch," she said, remembering the sun-heated structure beneath her palms all those years ago.

Motivated by memories of her past achievements, she grasped the ladder in her hands and grinned as though about to overcome a simple challenge.

"Fox, Vincent, here I come." She put her feet in the rungs and began to ascend.

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Next chapter: https://www.sofurry.com/view/694833