Chapter 13: Athena Again
Chapter XII: Athena Again
I found myself in a familiar meadow, under the shadow of an umbrella. The last time I was here was when I died. Sure enough, the unnaturally beautiful woman sat across from me, sipping on an iced tea. "Hello, my champion."
"Athena." When I faced Set, I had chosen her, but that didn't mean I trusted the goddess. "Where am I?
"In my meadow. I'm sorry about that unpleasantness. Set took advantage of momentary laps and he made contact. I wasn't going to appear yet, but his visit has given me little choice."
"What just happened?"
"Set twisted your memories and put you in a dream world. It was going to get much worse, but I was able to pull you out before the dream progressed too far. That dream was going to become something awful."
"How did he get by you in the first place?" was my first question.
"I was speaking with Amaterasu and the whole of my being was required. When it became clear that Set made contact, I turned my attention back to you. It wouldn't do for him to poison you against me, but it seems I need not have worried."
"Is what he said true? Is he change? Are you stagnation?"
Athena shook her head. "If Set is change, then he is chaotic change. Civil war instead of a peaceful transition of power. Destruction of civilization instead of changing it. That is the kind of change he represents if he does so at all.
"I will allow your species to evolve as it always has been. Once I win, I will even undo the damage Set has done with the Titanic, though I will make allowances."
"What does that mean?"
Athena didn't answer me, instead, she pushed a glass of iced tea toward me. I didn't touch it.
"It's impolite to refuse."
I still didn't touch it.
"The championship that will decide the fate of this universe will take place in July of 2035, though this date might flux. As it stands now, everything is in a state of flux and how Set and I move against each other might influence this."
"Move against each other?"
"Yes. Our... Cheese board, for lack of a better term, on Earth is set. No pun intended. Now we move our pieces while allowing our champions to prepare."
"I thought the two of you couldn't take action?"
"Not directly. We can speak with other humans. Perhaps convince them we are God or do them a favor. We can both look into the future, after all. In return, these humans might do us a favor. Do not worry, we cannot send assassins after our champions. We cannot do anything that might affect our champions, so these games are between the two of us alone."
And the humans you dragged into it. "Then how does your... Game, change things?"
"Think of it like the butterfly effect. One small change can alter the course of history. One change has been made. The tournament will no longer be a solo-player event. You will need a team of five to compete and I have it on good authority that you have three people available."
"So I need a team?"
"Yes. That's the other reason I'm speaking with you. If anything else changes, I will visit you in your dreams, but as it is standard at this moment, you will need to consider putting effort into building a team."
"When I met Amos, Kanade, and Euphie for the first time... When we met at that school tour, was that just chance? Or did you arrange it?"
"It is not healthy to be so paranoid. Not every flip of the coin is secretly influenced by myself or Set. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. When you met those kids, the tournament was going to be for solo players. There was no point in me sending you friends. It worked out in my favor by random chance."
I wanted to believe her. I wanted to believe that my life wasn't being controlled by literal gods, but I couldn't get the image of a little, puppet me dancing to Athena's tune.
Athena chuckled. "I promise I'm not leading you around on puppet strings."
"Did you read my mind?"
"Yes."
"Get out of my head!"
"We can only speak now because I'm in your head."
"You damn well know what I mean."
"Of course. You do want your privacy. Very well. Now, we have one matter left to attend to."
"Matter? What matters?"
"When we shook heads, the contract wasn't signed. Think of it as a probationary period. To see if we can work together. I think our compatibility has been established, so I will finish the contract that will bind us together."
"How do we do that?"
"Just I need your consent. Do you agree to continue our contract? Yes or no will suffice."
"Yes."
She leaned over across the table and poked me in the head. It felt like magma was being painted across my skin by an invisible brush. I couldn't move or scream, I was trapped in that one moment, watching as black lines crisscrossed my line.
"Our contract will be written across your skin in the language of my people. While it may look like lines and symbols to you, it will mark you as mine. This contract is invisible to any mortal that is not contracted."
I woke up with a scream on my lips. I didn't yellow, but I looked down at my body, expecting to see lines covering every inch of me. There was only my skin. My unblemished skin. "Thank God."
An announcement came over the speaker, informing us that we would be landing in Paris within the hour. I went to the bathroom before we landed and that's when I caught sight of myself in the mirror.
My reflection was covered in black markings.
***
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