Beyond The Impossible

City-ship Naxos, edge of the Aegian Galaxy

Kari Zel makes the first move, moving forward to throw a punch. Her balance is off: moving while completely underwater is something new to her. The breathing mask supplies the necessary oxygen, but it takes a lot more strength than usual to do anything.

The merman in front of her very easily dodges her move, swimming upwards to attack her from above. That’s exactly what Kari expected: she jumps with everything she has, landing a solid uppercut on his jaw.

Normally she would use her momentum to evade the second merman swimming towards her, but she underestimated how much the water slows her down. The merman hits her by using his tail as a whip, and the impact is so powerful that she’s thrown back against the nearest wall.

By now her first opponent has recovered from the punch, and he regroups with the second merman to swim towards her. They stop when Kari raises her hand and calls:

<Time out!>

The two mermen stop, with one of them moving close to help her stand up again.

<That was quite the punch! How did you move that fast?> he asks.

<A trick I learned in zero-gravity fighting. I’d offer to teach you, but you’d need to have legs to pull it off… no offense.>

<None taken! I’ve never seen an air breather to move so easily without a tail.>

<Am I interrupting something?> Quantum asks, awkwardly swimming into the room. Normally he would’ve just passed through the door as radio waves, but transforming into energy underwater feels very weird.

<Not really, I’m just learning some underwater martial arts.>

<Why?>

<Why not?>

<Fair enough. Do you guys mind giving us a few minutes alone?>

<Not at all. It’s been a pleasure lady Zel, hopefully we’ll be able to continue.> one of the mermen tells her, then the duo swims away and close the door to the pool/gym behind them.

<Keeping busy I see.> Quantum comments.

<Not as much as I’d like to. Duplicating underwater makes me sick and I can’t even sleep around because everyone’s a fish!>

<We’re supposed to be on a mission, Kari.>

<So? That’s the best way to gather intel: interact with the locals. But even without sex, I think I’ve seen enough of Atlantis Rising to think they’re legit… they’re not all that different from the Myridian uprising. What do you think of their leaders, though?>

<Kestral knows more than he lets on. Apparently they found one of those “city-ships” on one of their worlds, and his mermaid friend… the one who talks to computers… was able to reprogram it to find all the others. Now they’re constantly on the move to avoid being caught by Poseidon.>

<But what does he want from us?>

<That’s what’s fishy about this… uhm, poor choice of words I guess… but he’s dodging the question. I don’t like how we’re technically still hostages.>

<Me neither. Let’s have Torn be ready to take us back with one of his portals if things get tricky.>

<That would mean leaving the Ragnarok behind.>

<I know. And I don’t like the idea of Kestral having access to its database. Normally I would trust Noriko’s programming to keep it safe, but… Myrrinha has a Drylon device. She might be able to get past any security measure, even Noriko’s.>

<We definitely need Nori to have a look at this.>

<But we are millions of light-years out of communications range. Plus we’re definitely under surveillance: if Torn were to go back to warn her, they’d find out pretty soon.>

<Maybe Noriko’s sister can find a way to boost the signal.> Quantum suggests.

<Nalani!? You can’t be serious!>

<Do you know anyone else who even knows how the communication system works!?>

<Ugh, fine. Just don’t tell my daughters I’m asking her for help…>

 

Themiscyra, 90,000 light-years from Earth

Vesta knows her way around a forge: not only she used to date Hephaestus, but as the goddess of fire she’s watched more mortals than she can remember harness the power of her element.

Still, there’s something peculiar in the forge of the Amazons. And not just because of the perfectly sterile environment curated by the androids: there’s no fire involved in any of their manufacturing.

She stares at Noriko as the mortal carefully examines the computer that handles the process: on the other side of a forcefield, an object is being forged my manipulating atoms one by one.

At the same time, the StarScourge sword is being disassembled at a molecular level.

<Not that I’m going to miss that thing, but do you really need to destroy the sword?> Vesta asks.

<I’m afraid so. Remember I used two of the Keys of Heaven to build it: I’m going to need them back, which unfortunately means getting rid of the sword.>

<I definitely won’t miss it. I can still hear the sound of Eris screaming while we killed her.> Vesta recalls, and judging by her voice it’s not a topic she brings up lightly.

<I thought you’d be happy to get rid of Eris. She caused you endless grief and you know she was past any possibility of redemption.> Noriko says.

<I guess. But please don’t make me go through something like that ever again.>

<I’d be lying if I said it’s completely off the table, but I’ll do my best to avoid it.>

There’s an uncomfortable silence following; Vesta is able to keep it up only for a couple of minutes, which are filled by the rhythmic humming of the atomic forge before she speaks again.

<So… if you don’t mind me asking… what are you doing, exactly?>

<When Teraph split the original Key of Heaven into three distinct pieces, he included a way to fuse them back together… but I had to disrupt that when I used two pieces to make the StarScourge. So I’m bypassing the program by physically merging them back together with the third piece.>

<Sounds… complicated.>

<You have no idea. The amount of raw computational power to achieve quark-level precision is absurd; it’d take me decades to do this anywhere else.>

<Wow. Is Amazon technology more advanced than your own by that much!?>

<Are you asking if the Amazons are smarter than me? No, they aren’t, I could definitely build something like this… if given enough time, which I don’t have. So as much as I hate doing this, I can swallow enough pride to prioritize.>

<Happy to hear that. The Amazons can be… difficult to work with, but if that’s any consolation they shouldn’t bother you anymore once you send their planet to another Galaxy. Speaking of which, have you considered a destination yet?>

<I’m tempted to send them into the Anubis galaxy. We made him give up his army of cybernetic corpses, maybe he’d like a replacement.>

<Noriko!>

<I’m joking, I’m joking. I’d rather not send them anywhere where they can bother anyone… they want to be left alone to begin with. Probably some uninhabited galaxy or better yet in intergalactic space. I’m still giving it some thought.>

<Better hurry up. The Amazons are running out of patience.>

<So am I, honestly. Vesta, I want to be honest here: I have a plan that should make Gaea change her mind, but… there’s a strong possibility we’re going to need to fight your grandmother.>

<You can’t be serious!>

<Do we have to do this song and dance every single time we’re up against a member of your family?> Noriko sighs, rolling her eyes.

<No it’s not… nobody “fights” Gaea. She’s a Primordial! And don’t bring up Tiamat.>

<Why shouldn’t I bring her up? It’s the same situation.>

<Tiamat had been asleep for a billion years. Gaea is the most powerful being in the universe!>

<So was your father.>

Another awkward pause, but this time it’s Noriko to break it.

<Sorry, that was out of line.> she apologizes.

<You can’t go around picking fights with every single god that antagonizes you, Noriko, not anymore. You may be the Slayer of Gods, but you’re also Co-Empress: everything you do reflects on your kingdom. You have to be more careful now.>

<I am being careful!>

<Really. What does your government think about your plan?> Vesta asks, crossing her arms.

<We haven’t discussed it.>

<Nori… do they even know you’re here!?>

<No. I’m handling the situation personally.>

<And let me guess: the general public has no idea of what’s going on?>

<They would freak out if they knew I’m up against Gaea. They know she’s involved… it’s kind hard to hide the news when a giant naked green woman shows up… but we’re focusing on helping the population survive the death of all plant life.>

<So let me get this straight: nobody knows what’s going on, their leader hasn’t given any signs that the situation is under control, and the only people seen to be doing anything are the bureaucrats. You see what’s going on there, Noriko?>

<I had no idea you had an interest on how to run a government.>

<Noriko, you’ve seen how the planets I used to rule turned out to be… I did everything I could to get as little involved as possible and let others do the day-to-day stuff. The planet just ended up doing what it wanted, without regards to what I thought would be the best way to handle things.>

<The Olympian Empire is not going to end up like Themiscyra or Aquilia, Vesta.>

<It is if you keep this up. Remember I’ve lived on Earth as a regular civilian for thousands of years… I’ve seen empires fall. It’s usually easier to notice when you’re among the common folk rather than in the palaces.>

<Oh come on, gimme a break: this empire is not even one year old! There’s plenty of time to iron out the kinks.>

<Every empire thinks that. Every single one.>

<So what would you want me to do, Vesta? Sit in my office and delegate stuff? There are things that only I can do. Call it arrogance if you want, but it’s a fact.>

<I’m not questioning that, but…>

The goddess is interrupted by a bright light emanating from behind the forcefield; Noriko has to cover her eyes to avoid burning her retinas, but Vesta can see a golden key shining as a star.

<Finally!> Noriko exclaims.

The light rapidly fades away, and once she deactivates the forcefield she can hold in her hand her prized possession: the fully reconstructed original Key of Heaven.

<It’s about damn time.> she says; the key emits a golden halo above her, which descends to make her disappear from this galaxy.

 

City-ship Naxos, edge of the Aegian Galaxy

The Vanguard has gathered in one of the few rooms where water has been replaced with air; the city-ships never gets any visitors, so Kestral had to personally transmute the environment.

Kari’s daughters are being kept in a different room, so Nalani Null is the only child facing three adults looking down at her.

<Well, I guess I could bounce off the signal against the nearest Shadow Network portal… they do have those in this galaxy, right?>

 

<The Ragnarok has a map of the portal network. You’d have to break into its database.> Kari says.

<That’s tricky, but I’ll give it a shot… but I have some conditions.

>

<You’re in no conditions to make demands, missy. You’re lucky you’re not my daughter or you’d be grounded until puberty!>

<I don’t think so. You guys need me: without my sister around I’m the smartest person in this galaxy! I’m gonna help you, but only if you promise to keep this a secret to my parents.> Nalani says. But just then, a bright halo of yellow light appears in the room… and as it descends, it materializes the Mortal Co-Empress and Vesta.

<Hey guys. Did I miss anything exciting?> Noriko Null asks.

<Spoilsport.> Nalani pouts.