Beyond The Impossible

Asgard Station, Null Zone

Noriko Null has had many unlikely allies over the years, from homicidal gods to her alternate personalities, not to mention her mother.

But a mermaid possessed by the soul her predecessor as a Nexus host is a new one.

<I don’t have a lot of time. Projecting my soul into another galaxy first and now into another dimension is not something I can keep up forever.> the mermaid says, breathing water through the mask provided by Noriko.

She approaches one of the consoles, floating a few inches off the ground thanks to the anti-gravity belt also courtesy of her host, and she begins writing lines of code.

<This is the access code to the Ithaca, it should give you complete control over its systems. Unless Ulysses has reprogrammed it to explode the second you input those, that’s a legit possibility.>

<You haven’t given me a lot of reasons to trust you, Roxiana.> Noriko reminds her.

<Hm, I suppose it’s true, but…> she starts to answer, but then she falters. If it wasn’t for the anti-gravity belt, she would’ve collapsed from exhaustion.

Noriko has little sympathy for her, but it’s hard to ignore how much she’s clearly in pain. She helps her stand up again, although the term is perhaps inappropriate considering she’s dealing with a mermaid with a fish tail instead of legs, but she stays on the topic.

<Is the Vanguard still in your base? How do I access it?>

<You don’t, it’s in a pocket dimension created by Skorpios. You’ll have to find your way in. Noriko, as much as I enjoy our little chats, you might have time only to ask one other question before I lose the connection to this body.>

<What does Ulysses want?>

<He’s going to offer me and your Vanguard friends as an offering to Poseidon. In exchange for what, I don’t… get away from me!!!> the mermaid shouts, pushing away Noriko and looking around in complete disorientation.

<Where am I? What is this ridiculous contraption? I demand that you release me at once!!!>

<Lemme guess. I’m not talking to Roxiana anymore.> Noriko realizes.

<I am a Siren of Poseidon and I demand that you…> she continues, right until Noriko activates her Sound Nullifier. Then the Siren finds herself unable to emit a single sound, and since her tail can’t touch water she’s effectively stuck in place in mid-air.

<Let’s make a few things clear. I am Noriko Null, Slayer of Gods and Mortal Co-Empress of Olympus. I assume that even in your galaxy you’ve heard about me?>

The Siren nods.

<Good. My friends are in danger and I have little patience for your temper tantrums. If you want to return to your galaxy instead of being turned into sushi, now you will tell me everything you know about Ulysses, the Zenith and Roxiana. Understood?> Noriko asks, her silver eyes shining.

The Siren has no idea of what sushi is, but she nods and tries not to give away how scared she is.

<Good. Now you may talk.>

<Ulysses is the most dangerous mortal in the universe; his very life is a crime against the gods. Lord Poseidon sentenced him to death millennia ago for murdering his beloved son Polyphemus, but Ulysses refuses to die. Some say he’s a clone, others that he sold his soul to Athena.>

<Spare me the propaganda. What does he want?>

<The abolition of divine rule, at any cost. It is said that to achieve this he founded the Zenith and Atlantis Uprising and that he might be… uhm…> she hesitates.

<Go on.> Noriko insists.

<Some say he is your father. Others that he’s your lover. Others… that he’s both.>

<First of all, eww. Second, that couldn’t be farther from the truth.>

<It is just something people say.> the Siren defends herself.

<I’ve heard the Zenith described as a terrorist organization. What do they do?>

<Destroy military shipyards, plant explosives at religious gatherings, murder Sirens indiscriminately. But they’re no longer the threat they used to be, at least not since the Angel of Death died.>

<What do you know about her?>

<She’s dead, thank Poseidon, what difference does it…>

Noriko’s eyes shining again are a clear signal she’s not interested in arguments.

<She started out as an ally to Ulysses. As far as we can tell, she left the Zenith right before unleashing her Liquid Death… hundreds of planets slaughtered, without leaving even the slightest speck of life on them.>

<Why would she do that? What’s in it for her?>

<I don’t know. It is forbidden for a Siren to even discuss this.>

<You’ve heard rumors about me and I’ve never even been in your galaxy. I refuse to believe you’ve never heard anything about someone causing that much damage to your realm.>

<She’s looking for something, but I swear I don’t know what. Immortality? Power? Drylon technology? Maybe she’s doing this for fun. She is a monster.>

“This is going nowhere. This woman probably wouldn’t know anything even if her mind wasn’t full of Poseidon’s propaganda like all Oracles.” Noriko thinks, which leads to a different strategy.

<And what does Poseidon want?>

<What? Poseidon is a god! He doesn’t need anything!>

<Please. I still haven’t met a god that isn’t obsessing over something. He’s still mad at Ulysses after thousands of years. Is there something Poseidon would desire more than his death?>

<It’s not my place to…> the Siren tries to argue, only to be slammed into the floor by the sudden increase of her belt. Instead of generating anti-gravity, it’s tripling her body weight.

<What does Poseidon want!?> Noriko yells.

<I don’t know! I don’t know! I’ve never even met him!>

<I know he’s allied himself with Ereshkigal. Why would he do that? Who are his enemies!?>

<A god has no…> the gravity increases to four times its normal value.

<You’re part of his army. You must know who his enemies are. Which one does he hate more than he hates Ulysses? Answer me!!!>

<Zeus.> the Siren admits, right before the gravity is set to increase fivefold; Noriko dials it back to twice the normal value.

<His brother? Seriously? Even for gods, that’s low.>

<Poseidon despises that his brother is considered the strongest son of Kronos. He would do anything to become more powerful than him.>

<More powerful. What could Ulysses offer him that could possibly… crap. That’s why he involved Roxiana in all of this. And he wouldn’t have done it if I hadn’t helped with her resurrection.> Noriko realizes, restoring the anti-gravity belt to the standard setting.

The Siren returns to floating to her height, out of breath and with an extremely sore back.

<He wants Heaven. According to the Demons, it’s an extraordinary source of power. If Poseidon gets it, he would probably become more powerful than Zeus… or maybe he wants to share the power with Ereshkigal.> Noriko thinks out loud.

<Heaven? But all the Gates are either destroyed or locked!> the Siren observes, immediately regretting her words.

<You know about the Gates of Heaven.> Noriko says.

<Sirens are not supposed to…>

A twitch of Noriko’s finger towards the controls of the belt is all the Siren needs to change what she was about to say.

<Poseidon destroyed the Gates of the Aegian Galaxy centuries ago, all except one. But even he doesn’t know how to open it!>

<Where is it?>

<His throne world, at the center of the galaxy. Atlantis.>

 

Zenith Base, somewhere across dimensions

Keri Zel regains her senses when someone pulls her hair to lift her head. Her first instinct is to create a duplicate to figure out what’s happening, but she can’t do that.

She rapidly understands why: there’s an Agony Ring around her neck, a souvenir from the Oracle regime on Myridia. And she’s been tied to a chair by some very heavy chains.

<You don’t have the luxury to sleep, air-breather. I want to speak to you.> the goddess with green hair pulling her hair tells her.

Nobody else in the room is awake. Skorpios is still frozen in place like a living statue; the rest of the Vanguard is immobilized in the same way of Kari, just with different technological contraptions to neutralize their powers and most importantly keeping them sedated.

The goddess doesn’t appreciate Kari being distracted, and painfully moves Kari’s head to look her in the eye.

<Pay attention to me. You’re from Myridia, aren’t you?>

<What do you know about my planet?>

<My mother used to talk about it. Not that I was ever allowed to visit.>

<I’m sorry, who are you again?>

<Who am I!? I am Despoina!!!> she yells.

<Never heard of you.>

<Daughter of Demeter and Poseidon!>

<What? Persephone is Demeter’s only daughter.>

<That w##re is my half-sister. She probably convinced my mother to lie about it! Everybody says that I’m crazy, but I KNOW Demeter was my mother! You were there when she died, weren’t you? Did she say anything about me?>

Kari has never heard of this goddess, but by the look in her eyes she might be genuinely insane.

<Look, I don’t know if Demeter was your mother or not, but you’re even crazier than she was if you think that kidnapping the Vanguard is going to do you any good.>

<You will think differently when Ulysses proves to everyone that Demeter was my mother.>

Kari just realized that dealing with an insane goddess might have its advantages. She can use her.

<Do the other vassals care about who your mother was?>

<No. They think I’m imagining things. But I’ll show them!>

<If they don’t care, why are they helping Ulysses? Unless they have other motives?>

<Of course they have. Not that I’m going to tell you.>

<Uhm. I should’ve guessed they wouldn’t trust the information to a goddess of, let’s say, dubious ancestry. Only a true daughter of Demeter could be made aware of their intentions.>

<But they did tell me! Are you saying they did because they believe me now!?>

<I don’t know. How can I trust that they told you? You might be making this up.>

It takes a while before Despoina responds. The way she struggles to keep her emotions under control reminds Kari of her daughters… when they were two years old.

<Rhodos wants her father to strip Calypso of her status as vassal and give it to her. Triton wants to rule a galaxy of his own. Ulysses promised him the Middle Galaxy.>

<That would mean either conquering or destroying both Hell and Lampyria, not to mention violating the rulings of the Nine Gods.>

<Poseidon will soon be above even the powers of the Nine Gods.>

<And what about…>

The security door to the room opens. The silhouette of an old man can be briefly seen before changing into a gorilla, which unceremoniously tosses the unconscious body of Roxiana.

<You WEre taLKinG abOUt mE?> it asks, changing into a crocodile in blink of an eye.

<Nobody can figure out Proteus.> Despoina admits.

<whAT’s so CoMpliCAted? I’m IN fOR tHe FuN oF It.> is the answer coming from the god who just turned himself into a lamp.