Aquilia, 25,000 light-years from Earth
Religion has played a big part in the planet’s history, but at the same time it’s never been at the center of Aquilian life. Unlike the vast majority of the places in the Olympian Galaxy, the constant threat of invasion from an entire Pantheon was never a thing.
For the most part, the Aquilians have always been able to worship whoever they please, as long as they acknowledge the superiority of Hestia above others.
Which means that old temples are just abandoned and forgotten instead of blown up to bits.
Rhea is escorting Leiko Tanaka through one such temple. It’s unlike anything the mortal has ever seen: the entrance is hidden inside a dark cave, with fine decorations sculpted directly into the rock.
<I really should send someone to clean up the place.> Rhea says, as the cobwebs move on their own before they can touch her. The glow emanating from her body is the only source of light.
<Which god was worshiped here?> Leiko wonders.
<Good question. I’ve never been inside, Zeus didn’t want me to see what was inside here. This is so exciting!> Rhea giggles.
<It’s getting warmer.>
<Really? I hadn’t noticed. The rocks haven’t melted yet.>
<Something feels wrong. I don’t believe these are rocks at all.> Leiko comments, touching one of the stony walls.
She can feel rhythmic vibrations flowing through it, like it was a massive computer case.
<How long ago was this planet colonized?>
<I dunno.> Rhea shrugs.
<This is not a temple. This is a Lar installation, I’d recognize their vibrational cooling systems anywhere. We need to go much deeper.>
<The Lar are still around? I thought we exterminated them back when Kronos took power!>
<I am the Ice Queen of the Lar. You know that.>
<Oh, so that’s what you’re the queen of? I thought you ruled over ice!>
<Why would you… nevermind.> Leiko cuts herself off, limiting herself to rolling her eyes and envying her daughter’s power to kill gods.
The two unlikely allies don’t talk much during the rest of the journey, which takes far more time that Leiko had anticipated. The “temple” seems to be a never-ending labyrinth, possibly bigger than the mountain surrounding it considering the Lar dimensional shifting technology.
<This is ridiculous. We might be walking in circles for all we know.> Leiko complains, wiping the sweat off her forehead. It’s now unbearably hot for a human; if it wasn’t for the Vial of Destiny shielding her from some of it she would have fainted already. If this was built by the Lar, this was supposed to be the most inhospitable environment possible.
<Come to think of it, I have seen temples like these… Prometheus used to build them everywhere. Worshipers had to reach the end of a maze as part of the ritual, it was quite clever!>
<Why would the Lar build a temple to Prometheus? They don’t have a religion, at most they’ve only practiced ancestor worship.>
<There used to be sects before we killed everybody. I don’t think they went along with the rest of their empire. At least I think? We killed those too, so it’s hard to say.>
“You would be an invaluable source of information if only you weren’t a complete moron.” Leiko thinks, reaching the end of the maze: a massive triangular door.
There is no handle and no lock. Only several symbols etched on the surface, some of which Leiko recognizes as Lar numerals. Most of it is completely unintelligible to her.
<Can you read this?>
<I don’t do reading. I have people who do that for me. Oh, you know what we should do? We should get some of those Prometheus worshipers and have them open the door for us!>
<I thought you killed all of them.>
<Oh yeah, that’s right. Silly me!>
<This is going to take a long time to figure out. I’ll need to scout the rest of the planet to find more information on this language and…>
<Sounds boring. Here, let me open it for you!> Rhea volunteers, pushing the door with one hand.
The entire maze trembles, and she risks collapsing the entire cave system: the door is well anchored; opening it by force is the equivalent of moving the entire mountain.
Which means Rhea doesn’t break a sweat.
Before Leiko can rejoice, though, she instinctively covers herself as a burst of fire oozes through the open door. It completely misses her, not even burning her clothes: the fact that it purposefully avoided harming her confirms it’s not common fire, it’s of divine origin.
<Yeah, this is a Prometheus temple alright.> Rhea acknowledges.
N01-Ragnarok, in orbit above the planet
Noriko Null is reviewing the footage recorded by the ship, along with massive amounts of sensor data, of Gaea showing up a few days earlier.
<So that’s Vesta’s grandma. You know, I didn’t know she’d be green and absolutely huge, but I imagined she’d be green and absolutely huge.> Kari Zel comments.
<Readings are completely off the scale, even compared to what little information I was able to gather from Tiamat. The power needed to move a body of that size… even “astronomical” doesn’t cut it.> Noriko adds. It takes a lot to impress the Slayer of Gods, but the Primordial Gods continue to baffle any scientific explanation.
<Yeah, that too. I was more impressed by the size of her rack; my back hurts just looking at that.>
<Kari, would you be serious for a moment?>
<Just because it’s not a problem you’re ever going to have doesn’t mean it’s not an issue.>
<While you were busy ogling her… assets… I ran a deep analysis of the solar system. And I’ve caught a beam of neutrinos flowing towards the planet, followed by a trail of electroweak particles left behind by a portal made with Blood energy.>
<I didn’t know you had sensors capable of tracking the Blood, not at this distance.> Kari admits.
<I invented the technology last week.>
<So what’s the idea, Quantum and Torn are on the planet now?>
<That’s the only explanation, considering none of them has showed up since and are not answering any calls.>
<I hate to be that guy, but we just saw Gaea blow up a giant planet and re-create it. She might have killed them.> Kylon intervenes, joining the girls at the sensor’s console.
<What reason would she have to do something like that?> Noriko asks.
<Gods sometimes don’t need a reason for being cruel.> Kari responds, speaking from personal experience from the Demeter regime.
<No, I’m sure the guys are on the planet, just like Vesta. And at this point there can’t be any doubt that this planet is Aquilia.> Noriko insists.
<Then if Eros is right, it means that they are never going to leave.> Kylon replies.
<Yes they are. Because we’re going to rescue them.> Noriko declares, her silver eyes shining as a sign of her determination.
<That is a terrible idea.> both Kari and Kylon comment at once.
<How so?>
<What do you mean how!? We can’t land the ship! My duplicate tried using a shuttle and it was disintegrated before landing!> Kari objects.
<It’s too risky. The sensors can’t read anything from the surface: if you’re thinking about teleporting there, for all we know you could be surrounded by an entire army the second you materialize.> Kylon adds.
<I didn’t say anything about materializing.> Noriko answers, giving the sort of half smile that Kari recognizes immediately.
<You’re going to do something completely reckless that has a high chance of backfiring, isn’t it?>
Instead of answering, Noriko walks towards the captain’s chair and sits there, closing her eyes.
<Keep the Ragnarok out of orbit and stay close to me, this won’t work without an anchor.>
<An anchor for what?> Kari asks, but Noriko isn’t really there anymore: her head slumps over as if she just fell asleep, and Kari appears to faint as well.
Kylon grabs the Myridian before she falls to the ground, complaining:
<How does the Vanguard stand her never explaining her plans!?>
Inside the Prometheus cave
Leiko Tanaka walks through the wall of fire that isolates the inner part of the complex; even after thousands, perhaps millions of years, it’s still burning.
This is definitely more recognizable as a place of worship. Despite the fire, the circular room is kept several degrees below zero; Lar technology is nothing if not reliable.
<Talk about gloomy.> Rhea complains.
There are rows of seats for the worshipers, all in concentric circles centered on a rock; there are no symbols or writings anywhere, and the silence is palpable.
The only sign that there used to be life in this place is a skeleton, resting against the rock. Not only that, it’s rather obvious that before death this person was chained to the rock itself.
<I wonder how that human got inside.> Rhea says.
<This was a Lar.> Leiko corrects her. It should be obvious: there are 16 ribs instead of just 12, and the sternum is twice the width and thickness of a human’s.
<The Lar have bones!?> Rhea wonders.
Instead of focusing on the idiocy of the goddess, Leiko focuses on the only thing left on the skeleton other than the chains… a gold and silver bracelet on the left wrist.
She carefully removes it, more as a precaution against any defense mechanism than any form of respect for the dead.
<So this is what Zeus didn’t want anyone to have.> she says, putting on the bracelet and closing her eyes. She didn’t know what to expect, but she did expect something to happen.
<It’s not working. Why is it not working!?> she complains, losing her cool for a moment.
<I think it looks great on you.> Rhea says, completely missing the point.
“Of course, if this is Drylon technology it needs to be activated first.” Leiko then realizes, preferring to keep the information to herself.
<Thank you for helping me recover this heirloom, Rhea. You will get what you deserve in return.> the former Ice Queen declares, walking out of the room to begin her journey back to civilization… and back to power.
<Such a nice person. The ice is lucky to have her as queen.> the goddess tells herself.
On the surface
Kari Zel opens her eyes, except it’s not really Kari: her blue eyes have turned silver.
“It worked! I was hoping her duplicate managed to survive.” Noriko Null thinks. It takes a while to adjust her senses to her new reality: she’s using the mental projection technique she learned from Roxiana to temporarily transfer her consciousness inside the duplicate, thanks to the link shared with the Kari Zel on board the Ragnarok.
Her thoughts about how long she can keep this up are superseded by more urgent issues. Like the fact that she’s not wearing any clothes, or that she’s surrounded by naked people sleeping.
“Dammit Kari, couldn’t you keep your pants on this one time!?” she thinks, navigating through the bodies while carrying on several missions: not wake up anyone, cover herself as much as possible, find something to wear, and avoid touching anything embarrassing.
<I think you’re looking for this.> someone tells her, handing over a pink chiton. Noriko is too busy covering herself to pay attention to the man, looking at him only after she hurriedly dresses herself… and then immediately turning away once she realizes he’s naked.
<T-thank you. Would you mind wearing something?>
<What for? Wait… you’re not Kari anymore, isn’t it? I can always spot someone who’s never been to an orgy!>
<I don’t know what you’re talking about, I, uhm, I gotta go!> she excuses herself; her attempt to leave the room is stopped when the man grabs her arm.
<You’re some kind of genius possessing her, aren’t you? I’ve heard of such things!>
<Yeah, sure, let’s go with that, mister… uhm…>
<Sextus Aquilia Terastios, but please, call me Terastios. Welcome to Aquilia, fair genius! What brings you to the most beautiful place in the universe?>
<I’m looking for my friends. This won’t probably mean much to you, but they are…>
<Two very handsome men with strangely colored skin, one like mahogany and one like an apple? They left for the palace of Hestia, with another Kari.>
<Wow, that’s convenient. Listen, Terastios, I need two things from you… first, I need you to escort me to this palace.>
<Sure, no problem! What’s the second thing?>
<Please put on some pants.> she pleads, hoping he doesn’t realize she’s blushed brighter than Kari’s purple hair.
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