Cephalon's Champion Ch. 04

Ata tsked with mock disapproval. "None of that now. You'll need all the strength they can give you. The journey to Aeaea is a long journey over both land and sea."

Freya licked my vaginal juices off her face, letting my ass fall to the soft ground before rising to give me a kiss. "There will be more than that if you come back to me," she promised sultrily. I couldn't see it, but I could feel her fear and uncertainty in her soul. Helpless and clueless for a means to banish it, I could only pinch my lips as she sauntered from the room, utilizing her past as a hooker to give me a show as she went.

Vespal was more composed, a quiet sort of confidence flowing from her soul, her belief that I would succeed absolute. It helped steady me as she pulled me into a hug. "We will be waiting for you." Her wings twitched in time with the four otherwise stoic guardians that stood in the room with us. They had a strange way of fading into the background when I wasn't actively paying attention to my surroundings. "And, I feel a similar need to tease you with a reason to come back to us. Have you ever wanted to fly?"

My expanding pupils and the subtle change of my scent told her everything she needed to know. Tails lashed across the floor with my excitement.

Her laugh trilled across the room. "I thought so. When you come back I will show you how to ride along with a scout and experience the joy of the sky." Placing a delicate kiss on my cheek, her fingers trailed across my shoulders and the back of my neck as she went to leave.

"Vespal wait," I said, finding my voice. I rose and went to her as she stood in the threshold to the hallway. "Please take care of Freya while we're gone. She's new to..." I failed to find the word, waving my hand ineffectively. "All of this god business. I'll worry less with you watching over her."

"Of course. Your will is my desire, holiness." She ducked her head.

Pinching my lip, I let it slide.

"Also, if you run into any trouble, abandon this place. Deku can take care of himself and nothing here is worth any of you getting hurt. If the worst comes to worst, take Freya and Surt's heart and head west to Cephalon and find a woman called Selena. Tell her I sent you and she might be willing to help."

She nodded and bit her lip nervously.

"I don't foresee any trouble I just want to make sure you have an exit plan in case something unexpected happens." Pulling her into a hug I could feel her relax in my arms, returning it with a generous embrace. "Also..." Putting pressure on the jade, I willed her into her weapon form. She complied, however reluctantly. "Take Venonay, she can help protect you in my staid." I could feel her protest and begin to shift into her humanoid form.

No. Stay here. Please, I directed at her, stopping her from wasting any of her still meager energy stores. You are still weak after facing Surt's fire, and I would feel better with you here helping Vespal. Besides, this is a rescue mission, I don't think I'm going to need a lot of stabbing to be done. This last bit was slightly misleading considering the things I'd heard about Bacchus, he did seem the sort to use another orifice where his throat used to be.

Venonay reluctantly acquiesced, stopping her vibrating while I laid her in the bee-woman's hand.

Thank you.

She purred in my soul, basking in my praise of her, momentarily forgetting my imminent departure.

Vespal looked unnerved by the holding of a weapon.

"Veno knows what she's doing in a scrap. Let her guide you and she won't steer you wrong." I placed a kiss on her forehead and her wings fluttered in happiness.

So sweet. So eager to please, the both of them.

"I'd love to stay and comfort you both, but I really must be going now."

Vespal nodded, hugging the dagger to her chest while I left the room.

Destiny and Ata were already outside waiting on me. With my arrival, Destiny pressed a button on her arm and an otherwise transparent device on her arm shimmered, drawing my attention. Before I could focus on it, a rhythmic clanking and metallic grinding sound came from beyond the ridge. In front of my astonished eyes, a blackened steel contraption hoisted itself into sight. The body was a tenfoot slab of iron and welded onto the bottom were triple segmented legs capped with textured plates on the end. The entire contraption looked like it had been animated in a Frankensteinian ritual and set loose to terrorize the world. Legs whirling like a sprinting spider, the main body came to a halt five feet in front of Destiny, crouching down so she could climb over the rail like a well trained steed.

I eyed it nervously, something about the device struck me as unnatural and wrong. Ata didn't seem to feel the same reservation, hopping over the rail with ease. Kneeling, she ran her fingers along the grain of the steel before bringing them up under her nose for a sniff.

"A Daedalus design?" my golem asked.

"Yes. I'm surprised you can tell."

"Me and Athena used to hang out in his lab way back when. He makes the best taquitos." Shrugging off her melancholy, Ata rose. "He does good work. Solid for what it lacks in aesthetics."

"Hephaestus was always the one with the better taste. Ol' Steph here has been with me for awhile but she's still running like a dream."

Squaring up my shoulders I faced the menacing machine.

Why am I being so silly?

From a stand still, I leapt over the wall, landing all fours in a stance similar to that of a cat with it's hackles up. Nothing happened. I relaxed marginally but my tails displayed my distress as the poked ramrod straight out from my back.

"Everyone situated?" Destiny asked looking around.

I squinted my eyes, on edge and hypersensitive for any hint of sarcasm. Eventually I nodded, relaxing marginally, the deck remaining comfortingly solid.

Fiddling with the hidden device on her arm and the machine lurged up and began to stomp away, my claws scratching feebly at the metal floor.

Uh oh. I might be in trouble.

An hour later I was seriously recondsidering my decision making paradigms. "Ugghh," I groaned leaning off the side of the open-air walker, my stomach trying to crawl its way from my insides like a scared frog from a stork's gullet.

"There, there," Ata cooed, rubbing my back soothingly. "I suspected this might happen when I saw Destiny's transportation. Due to your bestial nature, more advanced technology will be anathema to your body and mind."

"Wait so... Urk." I swallowed over my rising gorge. "Technology will give me problems?"

"Yes. But you'll probably have good chemistry with mythical beasts. Also most forms of magic will probably have a hard time affecting you if you are this troubled by the walker."

"That's good to know," I said sullenly, laying my head onto my forearms where they draped across the railing.

"There are costs to everything. Even to the Gods. No one is invincible. Not even Achilles' although I've seen him walk through the mouth of a hydra and out the other end without a scratch, the Norns say that one day he will fall."

I snorted, shaking my head at the thought that the hero with one of the most famous weaknesses would be the one Ata went to when talking about invincibility. I'd emptied what felt like a full weeks of meals, including the foreseeable future ones but I felt like I was almost stabilized.

Although I've been thinking the same thing for the last fifteen minutes and I haven't felt a measurable improvement.

"Would it help if I passed the time with a story?" Destiny asked, approaching cautiously and looking guilty as a Cerberus meal.

"Couldn't hurt," I grumbled, feeling prickly.

"Alright then. This is the tale of a greedy dwarf named Fafnir and how he came to possess a magical lamp..."

What followed was an interesting mash-up of Norse mythology, Aladdin, with a splash of sexy Artemis scenery thrown in for good measure, her description of a fair maiden in the moonlight was especially detailed, and her bumbling brother Apollo scaring away the game with a magical sunlight lamp that kept him from getting lost in the woods brought a chuckle. It was at this point during her tale that I realized I'd found my equilibrium; the motion of the device not so upsetting. I was chuckling at a rather crude description of a donkey that wouldn't die taunting a draconic Fafnir when Destiny laid a casual hand on my arm. She almost had me fooled, but I could feel the tension sitting just below the surface; that, along with her sweaty palm, revealed the truth of her trepidation. Destiny wasn't a woman to let that stop her, she explored my musculature with a subtle caress during the withdrawal her hand. A toothy smile greeted her glance, alerting her that I'd noticed the stroke. It also had the side effect of dusting her cheeks with the natural rosiness of a lovely flustered blush. Tilting her head, she hid her eyes with the reflection of light off the calm seawater.

"Gag," Ata said teasingly, sticking her tongue out at my returning glare. "If you two are done batting your eyes at each other, I think it's about time that we start to discuss how we're going to actually defeat the walking shit-stain."

"Agreed." I paused. "Although I can't comment on whether or not the man actually resembles a walking brown-streak."

"Can confirm, Bacchus is in fact a walking shit-stain. Although he is rather pleasing to the eyes," Destiny admitted.

Ata looked like this minor concession was a personal affront. Then I could see her think about it, scrunching up her face while a swirl of foreign magic pulsed in her brain.

What the fuck. Motherfucking brainwashing.

Flexing my abs, I focused on the intruding cloud that was attacking Ata, willing my soul to swat it away like an annoying gnat. The magic was shredded under the hurricane of force I brought to bear against it. Her eyes cleared and she straightened her spine as if a great weight had been lifted.

"It... it's gone," she said in disbelief. "You made it go away." She looked at me reverently before throwing herself into my arms, peppering my face with kisses.

"What's happening here?" I asked Destiny. Ata wound her legs around my back, hooking her arms around my neck, whispering promises in my ear that would've made a nun blush.

"... Make you sit on my face... Shove your tails so far that they'll never... Won't be able to sit right for a..."

Wincing, Destiny looked out at the horizon, not wanting to intrude on my sister's affections. "Bacchus's wine doesn't only ensure loyalty and affection while it's active within the body. The effects... linger."

"What she means to say is that it's addictive. When Athena was fooled into being that man's slave she wasn't the only one that was hurt that day."

"You mean..."

"While that turd-gobbler decided to keep Athena, he decided I wasn't pretty enough and tossed me aside like week old leftovers. And yet, every time I thought about how much he hurt me. How much I'd suffered... There was a part of me that..." her voice cracked and trailed off.

Cradling the back of her head, I instinctively started to bounce her and murmur soothing appellations into her ear. "Sister. Sister, Sister, Sister. Everything'll be alright," I said, keeping my tone even and calm. "Everything's okay now. I'm here to protect you and we'll be just fine."

She clutched at me, letting her emotions flow as her gems flared orange yellow with streaks of purple.

It hurt to see such a normally joyful person reduced to such a downtrodden state and it only strengthened my resolve to give Bacchus exactly what was coming for him.

"What pains me most of all is that I... abandoned Athena to live like that. I was just so helpless and even now-" Her eyes darted around, refusing to meet mine. "- he still scares me," she whispered ashamedly.

"I can go it alone if you're not feeling up to it." I said, disliking my helplessness, my uselessness, at relieving Ata of this pain.

Her eyes finally met mine. "Don't you dare. If anything happened to you... I need to do this Bast." Fingers dug into my arms, gripping the crimson flesh desperately tight.

"Okay. So, then the question becomes, how do we do this?" I looked around at the two woman questioningly. "We are going into enemy territory, who has unknown numbers of enthralled women, with unknown, but probably significant, abilities. Looking at this realistically, what are our odds of success?"

"I don't know anymore. It's too closely linked with you." Destiny looked miffed and adrift at our lack of direction.

I get the feeling she's not used to lacking information.

"But you said that Athena wouldn't be enslaved forever," Ata accused sharply.

"Back when I could see her future. Yes. Now that we've embarked on this quest, the whole endeavor is shrouded in Bast's mantle."

"Is there any way for me to suppress it to give you a better look?" I asked.

Destiny fiddled with her glasses as she thought about it. "...Maybe... But it would take much more experience than you currently possess."

"What are you talking about?" I asked sarcastically. "I've been doing these for three whole days. I can even do this." Doing a half front flip, I landed smoothly on a single hand and started doing inverted pushups. "Tada."

Momentarily entranced, mostly by my bouncing naked breasts, Destiny had to swallow before speaking. "While impressive, physical abilities tend to come more naturally. Other things tend to take some training and experimentation to discover and develop."

"First things first, she cannot come with us," Ata said to me.

"Agreed," Destiny complied.

I pulled my head back at her unexpected compliance; although I did agree with the decision."Surprising. Normally shouldn't you try to make your case and then eventually come to realize the sensibility of staying behind?The brave scholar risking it all on the battlefield and all that?"

"That would be extremely foolish. Not only do I provide little to no benefit in the field of warfare, that would risk Bacchus getting his hands on my abilities. I shudder to think of what the world would become in that scenario."

"Cool cool. Then why did you come if you didn't intend to participate?"

"Pray tell, how else did you plan to get to such a remote island location in a reasonable time? Do you have a gryphon tucked between that fine derriere?"

Damn, she got me there.

"Right. Good point. So where does that leave us? Ata and I foraging in an unknown territory. Alone and outgunned. Outmaneuvering the odds in a risky ploy to save her long lost friend?''

"...I mean... Kinda. Yeah," Ata admitted sheepishly.

Nodding, I pushed off with my hand, vaulting back onto my feet. "Good. Just making sure we're on the same page."

"But when you say it like that... Don't you think it would be better to have more allies? Maybe some sort of backup?" Destiny asked while fiddling with the hem of her shift.

"Nah. I'm still riding high on punching a lava golem to submission. How bad can a bloviating sociopath be?"

"Pretty bad," Ata and Destiny said in unison.

We all went silent. Each of us contemplating our situation.

"Really? Bloviating?" Ata asked.

My smile stretched my cheeks and I snapped my fingers. "Damn. I thought I snuck that in. When else am I going to get a chance to us it? Bloviating. Blo-vi-at-ing. I rolls off the tongue with such satisfying cadence."

Ata ruffled my hair. "So... We doing this?"

"We're doing this," I thought about her poor friend. My soul ached at her circumstances. "What kind of goddess would I be if I can't help a woman in need?"

I can't let her wallow any longer now that I know what she's going through.

"So what can you tell me about Athena? From what you've said, I'll probably have to go through her to get to Bacchus."

"She has an unparalleled understanding of tactics, is skilled with abjuration magic, and a spear that allows her to siphon the strength and experience of her foes."

"So... a cakewalk?" I asked casually.

Ata snorted. "Hardly."

Our group lapsed into another uneasy silence. Resolved, we each of us mentally prepared for what was to come. On the horizon, a tiny speck of land appeared.

The walker slowed to a stop at the edge of a pristine beach, the mediterranean water lapping up against the shore in rhythmic waves.

"Finally," I said wearily, departing from the hellish contraption with a jump that vaguely resembled an out of control tumble. With feline agility, I righted myself mid air, tails twisting to accomplish the feat. Toes squished into the gloriously steady, heavenly fine sand. My minor nausea faded with remarkable swiftness. Squashing the urge to kiss the solid ground, I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with the crisp air. The place smelled like sipping a ridiculously named drink topped with an obnoxious fruit on the rim during a leisurely vacation. It made the animalistic part of me want to curl up and take a nap in the sun.

I didn't like it.

My growl rumbled out over the surf and I slapped myself, hard. I had a sneaking suspicion that I would need my killer edge before the day was done.

"Stay safe," Destiny called out, the walker already working its way from shore with jittery spider steps.

"Yes mom," I returned sarcastically, completing the look with an exaggerated roll of m7y eyes.

Destiny tittered but the worry remained in her eyes. Affecting a nasally tone, she said, "I'll be back in an hour. And remember, don't go messing around with no boys. You know how they can be."

She's got a sense of humor, that's a check for the pro column.

Facing inland, I cracked my knuckles and rolled my shoulders. "Boys are icky. Doesn't she know they have cooties and germs."

"I don't know," Ata thought to me, already encasing y body in her protective embrace. "The might be silly and crude at times, but I can think of a thing or two they might be good for."

"Am I not enough for you sis? I'm hurt."

"I can tell," she thought drily.

"Sarcasm doesn't suit you." My tails wiggled in excited anticipation of the coming hunt. Scanning my surroundings, I found little of note, no convenient neon signs pointing towards the despot's lair.

"Do you think it suits you?"

I could taste her incredulity. Smiling, I sniffed the air, but again found nothing to go on.

You'd think that a suitor who can see the future would give me better directions.

"Yes," I said confidently.

Ata paused for a moment of careful consideration before responding. "You're actually right. You have just enough reckless self-confidence and suicidal bravery that, when combined with your physique, makes for a potent combination."

"Awww. I'm blushing."

"No you aren't."

"I could be," I said defensively. "You don't know." Choosing a direction at random, I set off in a mile eating lope, ignoring her lovingly cutting reply. The sand was soft and squished through my toes, delightful on my skin and helpful by swallowing the majority of limited noise.

Maybe I'll build a vacation home here, the view is exquisite.

It didn't surprise me when Ata and I triggered a ward five minutes later, though I placed most of the blame on Ata for getting me into this situation. It was almost inevitable considering my lack of experience concerning the mystical arts. The rune flashed, a pulse racing out at the same time tendrils reached up and attempted to drill into my flesh, the energy tasting like...

Lightning.

I smacked my lips a couple of times, the magic unable to find any purchase, although it did make my molars tingle. It was like a sour candy from my childhood, whose name now eluded my grasp, but whose memory made my lips pucker up sympathetically. Before I could delve into the dark spaces of my brain to conjure up the specifics, a wooden structure was born towards us on the backs of four very literal angels. Wings straining the angels looked to have come from very different cultures, but they all possessed a singular stomach souring trait: glassy eyed stares that never really focused on anything.