Beyond The Impossible

Klito, Aphrodite Sector

Kiros Zel has used a teleporter before, but he’s not used to the Portal Generator. The effect is not particularly different: a moment ago he was on Myridia, and after a brilliant light he finds himself facing Noriko Null on the other side of the Galaxy.

<Thank you for coming, Kiros. I really appreciate it.> she greets him, extending her arm.

<Don’t even mention it, I would’ve helped even if this wasn’t to save my wife. Where the Hades are we, anyway?> he asks, looking around while shaking her hand.

The sky is not helpful: with the exceptions of the planets that have visible moons, all the skies in the Olympian Galaxy look the same.

However the environment should’ve been a clue: they’re in front of the entrance to a cave, and the rocks surrounding it have been finely carved into thousands of pornographic images.

<One of Aphrodite’s planets. I’m hoping this place could be used as a backdoor to access Poseidon’s palace in the Aegian Galaxy and rescue the Vanguard.>

<What’s my role in this?>

<Well I, uhm, basically just need you to stay around. Aphrodite refused to grant me entrance if I didn’t bring a man with me.> she admits.

<Not that I’m not flattered, but why didn’t you ask your mate Kylon or your father?>

<You finally made it!!! And what a hunk you brought!!!> Aphrodite exclaims, appearing out nowhere surrounded by a cloud of rose petals and wasting no time wrapping herself around Kiros while unabashedly groping his crotch.

<I think I see why.> Kiros realizes.

<I held up my part of the bargain, Aphrodite. Now show me the Gate.>

<It’s not the only thing I could show you, if you learned to relax a bit more.> Aphrodite lewdly suggests.

If Noriko wasn’t wearing the Vial of Destiny underneath her shirt, being this close to Aphrodite would have sent her hormones into overdrive. But while the Drylon relic doesn’t entirely shield her from the goddess of sex, it makes resisting her presence far more tolerable.

<Focus, Aphrodite. I’m here for the Gate of Heaven.>

<You’re no fun. This way, if you insist on keeping your clothes on.> Aphrodite concedes.

The trio walks into the cave; from the outside, it doesn’t look like much. But as soon as she’s in, Noriko’s jaw literally drops.

<Oh my God.> she whispers witnessing the spectacle.

The inside of the cave is somehow larger than the entire mountain, housing a structure that glows in the dark with a mesmerizing golden hue.

It’s a gigantic circle, a sealed gate with no visible hinges that seems way too big to support its own weight considering it’s connected to the ground only by a much smaller staircase.

Small only by comparison: it’s the width of an interstate, and each step is taller than a house.

A subtle hum combined with what sounds like a solemn chorus can be heard resonating in the silence of the enormous cave.

<Neat, uh? The Lar used to make pilgrimages to this place before I changed the planet’s climate… it was too frigid for my tastes, just like the Lar.> Aphrodite explains.

<How is this bigger on the inside than the outside?> Kiros wonders.

<Hyperdimensional engineering. Some of the most advanced I’ve ever seen, and… this doesn’t feel like a Drylon device. Who built this? How long has it been here?> Noriko wonders.

<Who knows and who cares? I just think it looks pretty!> Aphrodite giggles.

<This is one of the most extraordinary finds in history, Aphrodite. Have you tried opening it?>

<What for?>

<This is one of the Gates of Heaven. Supposedly, they lead to the greatest power source in the universe!>

<I’m the goddess of sex, what else do I need from Heaven?> the goddess shrugs.

<Can you open it?> Kiros asks.

Noriko looks up at the majestic construction, and she has to admit to herself that she has no clue on where to start.

<This is going to take lots of work.> she replies.

 

Somewhere in the Aegian Galaxy

Rhodos nervously taps her foot, keeping her arms crossed as she stares at the hostage.

Kari Zel and Quantum are kept unconscious with heavy dose of sedatives, with their powers being additionally blocked with an Agony Ring and an anti-neutrino generator, in addition to being immobilized by heavy chains. The same method is used for Roxiana and Torn, although the chains for the Demon are made of Neutral Matter.

As are chains for Vesta, who being immune to any sedative imaginable is kept in a comatose state by a device fixed to her forehead.

And lastly there’s Skorpios, for which all methods are being used: the Neutral Matter chains, the sedatives, the brain scrambler, and magnetic field generator to disable her Drylon device.

<Why am I wasting my time looking over these losers?> Rhodos complains.

<Because these are some of the most dangerous beings in the Nine Galaxies, and Despoina has proven herself unreliable for the task.> Ulysses calmly explains.

The hostages are positioned in a circle, and he’s sitting in the middle with his legs in the lotus position, keeping his eyes closed.

<This is a job unfit for the eldest daughter of Poseidon! Why aren’t YOU watching over them!?>

<I am. Their souls can’t be confined through technological means, so I’m using my talents with Soul Control to keep guard against any tricks.>

<Well, you seem to have thought of everything. Nothing for me to worry about!>

<Like I said, Rhodos, these are dangerous people. Easily the most dangerous you will ever meet. Keep your eyes on them and trust my ability to plan for any eventuality.>

<I’ve already given you all the trust you deserve, Ulysses. You know how much my father will be furious if he discovers we are working with you? Unless we deliver him the prize you have promised my family…>

<I will. I know patience is often an alien concept for the gods, but believe me: it won’t take long before Null arrives to save her friends.>

<I’ll follow your plan, Ulysses. For now. But I will also be watching you.>

<That has also been accounted for.> Ulysses replies, earning a scoff from the goddess.

But as exceptional as his mind is, he’s still fundamentally human: even Ulysses can’t fully concentrate his efforts on every prisoner.

Out of all of them, Torn is the one he’s paying the least attention to. Ulysses has learned a lot about the Demons and how they utilize the Blood linked to their souls: any unusual activity from Torn’s soul would be a glaring signal to Ulysses.

His efforts are more concentrated on Roxiana, who is almost as proficient as him with Soul Control. Something that Torn, even in his weakened state, is aware of.

“He doesn’t seem to have noticed I’m conscious” the Demon thinks.

Of course Ulysses didn’t give him any normal sedative, but one specifically targeting the very nearly perfect Demonic immune system.

He didn’t anticipate that Torn would intentionally create microscopic Blood scalpels inside his own brain to cut off as many blood vessels as he could without killing himself, lowering the quantity of sedatives numbing his brain.

“My options are limited. I don’t have the strength to create a portal or to send a message through the Blood. Not without Ulysses noticing. I might kill him before he has the chance to defend himself, but the goddess would kill the others. The only chance is to send a signal to one of the others.> he thinks, sensing the souls of the other people in the room while taking extreme care not to alarm Ulysses.

“None of the other Vanguard can sense souls. Roxiana is under strict supervision, he will notice me immediately. That leaves Skorpios; I remember she defended herself against the Blood, Ulysses must have taught her something. Does she know enough?” he wonders.

Without other options, his soul slowly expands to touch another.

 

Nowhere

Whatever Torn expected to experience when coming into contact with Skorpios’ soul, it certainly wasn’t this. It’s a vision, and a very realistic one.

He doesn’t recognize the planet, but he’s in the shadow cast by an enormous complex of skyscrapers in a very technologically advanced world.

That’s a stark contrast to his immediate surroundings: it’s the unmistakable mixture of garbage and crushed dreams of a slum.

The last place where you would expect to find a young child with scars covering her entire body, who tries to cover herself with a blood-soaked rag while sitting on a pile of trash.

More disturbingly, she’s surrounded by half a dozen corpses: fully grown men whose bodies have been horrifically twisted into an extremely painful death.

Torn recognizes them from their militaristic black uniforms: Oracles of Troy. Presumably from when the planet was already annexed to Hera’s sector, if this is a memory from Skorpios.

<An impressive showing.> he hears Ulysses say. For a moment he’s worried he’s been found, but the voice is coming from the hooded man in the vision who is approaching the child.

<Go away. I don’t want to hurt you.> the child warns him.

<You don’t have anything to fear from me, little girl. I don’t work for them.>

<They turned me into a weapon. But I don’t know how to use the thing they gave me.> she admits; she would keep crying if she still had any tears left.

<I can teach you. You wouldn’t be the first Drylon host I mentor.>

<I don’t want to be a weapon.>

<What do you want then?>

<Nobody has ever asked me that.> the little girl realizes.

<I can imagine. I know what they did to you. The Manifold is one of the most difficult devices to master. They implanted it into your body and studied its effects… you were never expected to activate it. And once you did…>

<They cut me open. It hurt so much. It still does.>

<I can help make the pain go away, little girl?>

<Skorpios. My name is Skorpios.>

<And what do you want, little girl?>

<I want them to pay. I want to hurt them like they hurt me.>

<I get it.> Torn intervenes, interfering with the vision and sitting right next to the child.

<What are you doing? You weren’t there.> she tells him.

<I also didn’t want to be a weapon. But my father trained me to be one from when I was younger than you.>

<I never had a father. Or a mother. They picked me up from garbage and they made me an experiment. Their weapon.> Skorpios answers, with her body rapidly aging to her adult form; the vision seems stuck in place, with the Ulysses from the past immobilized.

<Ulysses said he was different, but I always knew he wanted me for my powers and nothing else. I didn’t mind as long as he pointed me at what I hated: the gods. And now he’s selling off to Poseidon. F##king Poseidon!!! He’s no better than the Vanguard.>

<We are nothing like him.> Torn argues.

<You deposed the gods to replace them with an Empress who rules with a different goddess, and you work with gods. You’re opportunists. And you’re also trying to use me as a weapon.>

<I am. A weapon for a good cause. What’s more important to you, Skorpios, your hatred against gods or revenge against Ulysses betraying your trust?>

<Ulysses has done the impossible: he just turned his most loyal weapon into his worst nightmare.>