Beyond The Impossible

Lampyria, 68,000 light-years from Earth

Under normal circumstances, a battle would already be ravaging the city of Eralal. Hundreds of Oracles have invaded the planet, and the Vanguard was ready to do anything in their power to stop their conquest… until Helen of Troy showed up.

Now the demigoddess is sitting comfortably on the chair of the First Chief, and the only commotion surrounding the Palace of the Government is the crowd of Lampyrians flying around the building to catch a glimpse of her beauty. Helen is not alone: sitting across the table are Vesta and Noriko Null, the latter protected from the planet’s toxic atmosphere by a dedicated forcefield.

As a demigoddess, Helen doesn’t have to worry about that; she’s just wearing a white skirt and a strophium that barely contains her breasts, as well as a golden necklace with the symbol of the Sun.

<So you really are Null. Executioner of the Celestial Dragon Tiamat, the slayer of Demeter, Hephaestus, Selene, Phobos, Deimos… and Artemis> Helen lists.

Noriko is looking at her with a vacant expression on her face, as if she was intoxicated. And instead of their usual silver, her eyes are brown.

<Please excuse her. She’s not exactly herself at the moment> Vesta tells Helen, shaking Noriko to get some kind of reaction from her.

<Oh! I’m sorry I was… what was the question again?>

<It’s alright, I’m used to having this effect on people. Perhaps I should demonstrate my good intentions; would you mind waiting here?> Helen asks, leaving the room. Noriko’s head moves to follow her, as if she was attracted by a magnet; Vesta has to snap her fingers in front of her face to get her attention.

<Come on, Nori, stay with me. Don’t let her get into your head.>

<She’s gorgeous. You didn’t tell me she was Asian.>

<She’s not, but every mortal sees her differently. Do you still have the Key?>

<The what?>

<The Key of Heaven, Noriko! The whole reason we’re even on this planet!>

<Oh, yeah, I think so. Can you wait a sec? I’m gonna go after Helen> Noriko says while standing up, immediately before Vesta physically restrains her on the chair.

<No you’re not. Snap out of it, you don’t even like women!>

<It’s not like that! I just wanna get another look. I mean, have you seen her!? She’s… she’s…> Noriko stops, and as if she was just hit with a bucket of cold water she shakes her head.

<What the hell am I doing here?> she asks herself, her eyes suddenly silver once more: they’re not as shiny as they usually are, but she looks like herself again.

<You agreed to let Helen take control of Lampyria during her stay and followed her to the seat of government> Vesta explains.

<I don’t remember any of that…>

<Helen does have that effect on any mortal, unfortunately.>

<I am not “any” mortal> Noriko answers, making her silver eyes shine for emphasis; something she’s very used doing, but this time she immediately winces and touches her forehead.

<Something’s wrong?> Vesta asks.

<I just had the worst migraine ever. My brain is still tired after using my golden eyes, however briefly; it even completely blocked me out of the Nexus for a while.>

<I still don’t get how you managed to get back on your feet after brain surgery. Even for you, that was an absurdly fast recovery.>

<I don’t fully understand it myself. The Nexus fixed the neurological damage, but I think I reprogrammed the ship’s teleporter to heal my wounds as well.>

<You “think”? That sounds way beyond even your technology.>

<Everything I did while I had golden eyes is still hazy. It’s a completely different level of consciousness, Vesta. Humbling and inspiring at the same time.>

<Are you sure you’re well enough to deal with-> Vesta tries to continue the conversation, but she’s interrupted by Helen returning to the room. She’s not alone: Torn and Kari are behind her, each one trying to stop the other from getting too close to Helen.

<Just leave her alone! Go find yourself a Demon woman!> Kari shouts at him, using the strength of her 10K Rise to rival his demonic power. Torn answers by creating a pair of energy swords.

<She’s too much Demon for you. Leave her alone.>

<How many Demons with blue hair do you know? She’s a Myridian!>

<Guys, let’s cool down, okay?> Quantum tells his teammates; he just appeared out of nowhere, placing his arm around Helen’s shoulders and pulling her closer.

<Get your hand off her if you don’t want to lose it> Torn threatens him.

<You’ve got to be kidding me> Quantum answers, raising his hand ready to shoot Torn.

<Now now, darlings, don’t fight over me. Maybe this will help.> Helen tells them, looking at the object she’s been carrying the entire time without anyone noticing: a carnival mask.

Once Helen puts it on, everyone feels like they were just doused with cold water. It’s just a white mask with the very simple design of a woman’s face. Once Helen’s real visage is hidden, it’s like seeing her for the first time.

<That was odd> Torn comments, making his weapons disappear; only now Quantum realizes he was just about to be stabbed in the back by one.

<“Odd”!? I was ready to kill the rest of you to be with her! She’s still a hot Myridian, but…>

<What are you talking about? She’s clearly black! I mean… aren’t you?> Quantum asks Helen.

<Every mortal sees me differently, darling. I apologize for what happened, but I don’t have control over my effect on other people> Helen says.

<Except when you’re wearing the mask> Noriko deduces. Helen nods and walks back to where the conversation first started, sitting on the chair of the First Chief.

<Indeed. Hephaestus made this mask for me, to dampen my powers. I’m still the most beautiful woman you’ll ever see, but at least you won’t try to murder each other in my presence.>

<Why would Hephaestus create something like that?> Vesta wonders.

<I asked him. Otherwise, it’s impossible for me to have a honest conversation with a mortal.>

<You could’ve easily forced the Vanguard to fight each other. Heck, if five minutes ago you had told me to jump off a cliff, I probably would’ve done it. You don’t really want to conquer this planet, right?> Noriko asks her.

<It’s complicated> Helen answers with a sigh, crossing her legs and carefully considering her next words. Even with the mask, Noriko can’t get her eyes off her; unlike Aphrodite, whose mere presence automatically sends her hormones into overdrive, it’s not sexual. There’s just something about Helen that completely overshadows everything else around her.

<Here’s the thing, darling: I don’t want you dead. In fact, I wish to thank you from the bottom of my heart for finally killing Artemis.>

<I thought you married Apollo. Wasn’t Artemis your sister-in-law?> Noriko asks.

<Yes. But that didn’t stop her from murdering nineteen of my daughters in cold blood, just because they didn’t… well, you know how Artemis acted around young girls.>

<Nineteen? How many children do you and Apollo have?> Vesta asks.

<Right now? I think five are still alive. Overall, we’ve had 297 daughters over the past 2000 years.>

<Damn. As the only person here to have given birth: ouch> Kari comments.

<Not to sound insensitive, but I guess this is bigger than just gratitude and revenge> Noriko says.

<It is. You see, darling, my husband is aware of what you did and sentenced you to die; the only reason Apollo didn’t kill you himself is that you’re currently beneath his notice.>

<Seriously? What do I have to do to get noticed at this point?>

<Uhm, Nori, maybe it’s not such a good idea to be noticed by the super-powerful god who wants you dead> Quantum suggests.

<Normally you’d be right, darling, but Apollo’s main concern right now is the disappearance of our father Zeus. You see, Apollo considers himself nothing less than the legitimate ruler of the Olympian Galaxy, and that puts him against Hera. Our marriage was arranged to appease her, but my inability to give birth to an immortal or even just a male heir has made me worthless in her eyes.>

<So you want to recruit me to fight her? Forget it; I’m no fan of Hera, but…>

<You misunderstand me, darling. Apollo is fully capable of defeating Hera by himself; I actually want to help you kill Apollo himself.>

<Why, so that you can take his place and rule the Galaxy?>

<I’ve never wanted to rule anyone, Slayer of Gods. I’ve been a pawn of someone else’s game for all my life, and I’ve had enough. If you kill Apollo, my first and last act as reigning Queen will be to disband the kingdom and grant freedom to my subjects, maybe joining the Mortal Republic.>

<It sounds too good to be true. I know your family, Helen, there’s always ulterior motives.>

<I’m only half Olympian, darling. I’m immortal, yes, but I’m human. If I just wanted to use you, I could just take off this mask and you would be putty in my hands.>

<How could she-> Torn starts to asks, but Kari shuts him up by placing her hand over his mouth: it’s not the best moment to explain idioms to him.

<Here’s the deal, darling. I’ll convince Apollo that you’re dead and feed you information about the location of his Oracles. In exchange, you will kill him at the first chance you get.>

<How do you plan to convince him? I know coming close to death is a regular thing from me, but I’m guessing he’ll want some kind of proof.>

<Give me some credit, darling. My power might not work on gods, but my feminine wiles do.>

<Yeah, right. Do your “feminine wiles” know how to evacuate an entire planet? Unless you were planning to have all the Lampyrians die when Apollo explodes their sun. It’s how he works, right?>

<I’m not heartless, believe me. I don’t have to contact Apollo right away. We have plenty of time; it’s not like anyone wants to inform Apollo.>

 

Delos, 78.000 light-years from Earth

Of the roughly seven thousand solar systems that harbor life in the Olympian Galaxy, Delos is by far the strangest. It’s even hard to call it a solar system in the first place: there is no star in its center.

In fact, the system is a massive hollow sphere of stellar plasma, providing heat to the hundreds of planetoids and asteroids inside it; they orbit around a temple the size of a small moon.

At the center of the temple there is a vast room covered in marble and gold, where a hundred bards sing hymns to their lord every waking hour, accompanied by the sound of lyres played by a hundred beautiful virgins. At the center of the room there is a golden throne, which makes it the exact center of the Delos system as well. And sitting on the throne there is the only thing that could create something as impossible as Delos: a god.

Everything else orbits around him: in the physical sense for this strange place, and in the metaphorical sense for the kingdom of which Delos is the official capital (even though the actual capital is spread across the asteroids).

The god looks like a handsome if a little androgynous man. He wears elegant white clothes that would not be out of place in a court in the late Middle Ages, while leaving most of his chest exposed. While he listens to the dozens of songs praising about his perfection, he’s barely aware of the prayers of his Oracles. Sharing a tiny fraction of his divine power, in theory they have a direct line to their personal god; in practice, Apollo rarely listens to them, if ever.

Even when a hundred of them disappeared together, a few hours ago, it was like someone hit one wrong note during an entire concert. But something finally manages to distract him from the constant and absolute adulation: a prayer from an Oracle called Shaina.

She’s begging him to reach her on planet Lampyria. Not to free her from the enemies that capture her, but to get his holy vengeance against the mortal who is guilty of killing his sister Artemis, and even more importantly, of defying the will of the one true Sun God.

<The Slayer of Gods, uh? I might as well see for myself what all the fuss is about> Apollo muses, disappearing in a flash of light.