Cephalon's Champion Ch. 04

Taking a moment to admire the artfully constructed method of conveyance, I watched as it set down maybe fifteen feet away. The angels crossed their arms in a salute and knelt down to the side in the sand, facing the throne that was perched on the platform.

I didn't know that anyone could get this pretentious.

"He takes great pride in his douchiness. It gives him delusions of class and sovereignty, even though the only thing that's unique about him came from an inherited jug," Ata sneered. "Thanks again for breaking the hold of his magic, it does the soul good to rip on him the way he deserves without the lingering regret."

No problem.

The man who I assumed to be Bacchus was, admittedly, a rather attractive man, fit with generous muscles and carelessly tousled hair that he pulled back into a short ebony tail. He had on a toga made of teal cloth laced with gold that hugged the right side of his chest. It was secured around his waist by a belt of woven gold rope. Dark leather sandals sported laces that crossed up his legs to the mid-calf level. He had a sort of movie star symmetricality to his face, with a prominent jawline that wouldn't be strange to see on a stereotypical oil portrait of a king. Standing tall from the throne he made a dismissive gesture to the woman to his right.

Athena was a vision, every inch a graceful paladin, with gleaming armor accented with red cloth. An ethereal glow followed her like a shadow, giving a weight to her actions. She was about my height with a similarly muscled build. Unadorned, her head was the only unarmored part of her body, allowing her metallic silver hair to flow behind her in an unfelt breeze. Her skin was a lovely bronze that bespoke of time spent in the sun, a tantalizing caramel topped with delicate pink strawberry lips. She had strong features that would be at home commanding a battlefield, but there was also a kindness lurking below the surface that would've softened the overall menace. As it was, there was little mercy of that to be seen when she faced me squarely, her forged steel irises focused directly on me.

Her words rang out into the distance, heralding for the man who held her reigns in a voice that was clear and strong. "Know that you are trespassing upon these lands. Bow your head to their rightful owner and he will let your accidental impertinence pass without punishment. After you leave appropriate tithing, of course."

"Wow," I said, in awe at far up his own ass he'd managed to burrow.

Smiling, the god misinterpreted my reaction. Leaning over, he whispered more instructions in Athena's ears.

"It's good to see the proper appreciation upon your first glimpse of his holiness's face. It's rare to see that kind of respect these days. My master would like to extend an invitation to join him for a revelry he is holding tonight. You would be his guest of honor."

I laughed. "Are you fucking serious?"

Again, Bacchus falsely attributed my incredulity. Smiling in anticipation of whatever debauchery his weasley mind could conjure.\

I decided to clarify. "I wouldn't touch you or your puny excuse for a manhood if it was crafted out of one hundred thousand karat gold."

"That doesn't make any sense. The scale of gold only goes up to-"

I was making a point I don't really care if it's scientifically correct. If he gets the point then that's good enough for me.

Judging by the sour-grape expression on his face it seemed like he did understand the sentiment I was trying to impart.

"Your communication skills remain unparalleled sister."

I know, right? It's good to see you recognize my magnificence.

Bacchus sneered and bent over to whisper something in her ear, before gesturing to his other attendants who hoisted up his palanquin and began to haul him away.

"Fine, if you will not bow before his holiness willingly, then I must carve the error of your ways into your monstrous flesh," Athena said, hopping to the sand before she was carried too far into the sky.

"Catch me if you can, bitch," I cried out mockingly, sprinting away. Athena gave chase, following me like a loyal hunting hound while I searched for a better arena in which to fight.

"Remember, we want her alive."

I know, I'm mad at that fucker not her. She's the victim and not responsible for her words, I thought toward Ata as I stumbled upon some more solid ground.

Perfect.

This terrain would allow me to use my greater athleticism more effectively. Spinning around, I faced Athena.

Let's see what she's got.

Without hesitation, she drove the tip of her spear forward with speed and precision, unerringly tracking toward my heart. Dancing to the side, my toes cut streaks into the earth, the dirt folding to the power I'd needed to dodge her strike. Following my motion, her weapon swept after me. My claws deflected her blade with a clatter, forcing it down as I backflipped away. Ata's frustration and anger were constant, wearing away at my focus. It was encouraging that the spear appeared to be non-magical, I'd been a little worried about that.

Sturdy as hell though. It needs to be to withstand our combined forces but it doesn't seem to hold a magical spell to cut through anything. Or an acid coating that's going to melt my flesh. Or a...

My body read the flow of combat as easily as it read the body of an eager woman, responding appropriately without interference from my brain, leaving it free to ponder just how the hell I was going to incapacitate her without seriously wounding her.

Maybe if I disarm her...?

Taking a calculated risk, I elbowed a slash down, leaving Athena in a depressed defensive stance.

Perfectly positioned.

Plated armor met solid wood, my knee blazing upward. Athena's glazed eyes widened, her weapon twisting, twirling free from her grasp. An ephemeral shimmering towershield, made of translucent magic and large enough to cover her entire body, interposed itself between me and her body. Taking a measured step to the right, she caught her spinning spear before it touched the ground, leveling the point at me determinedly.

We continued fighting in this way for a time; her trying her hardest to kill me, while I did my best to subdue her, neither of us making much headway. Everytime I found an opening, her magic would protect her; while everytime my agility failed me Ata was there to take the blow.

This is fucking useless. There's no way to get through her defenses.

Then a thought came to me.

Risky, dangerous, and with no experience to tell me if it would work or not.

But maybe...

"Bast, you can't! It's too risky. You could get lost. And even if you do manage it, how will you break his hold over her?"

Don't know. I'll do what I've always done and figure it out as I go.

Mid thrust, Athena's frosted eyes widened, astonishment replacing stoicism as I shunted Ata off behind me, exposing my naked crimson flesh. Shifting slightly, I positioned myself so that the spear would, hopefully, miss most of my vital organs. The tip drove deep, biting through flesh, droplets of blood blooming like a firework as it tunneled forward. Athena's weapon worked at my essence, siphoning my power inward to bolster her own, sipping at my strength. However, while this did make her stronger, it also created a crack in her defenses I meant to exploit. Pouring myself down her spear like jello through a straw, I slithered my way into her soul in a way that would make Venonay proud. Then... I was through. The barrier that kept her spiritual mass from the outside world unable to prevent my entry.

Woah...

I felt like a newborn turtle floating in the sea for the first time, awkward and gangly. Not quite sure how to move effectively but awed by my surroundings nonetheless. Her spirit had an ambiance that felt warm and inviting, a fresh breeze swirling around my body as I floated in the, for lack of a better word, air. Not sure what else to do, I decided to search around, moving by the simple mechanism of willing myself forward. I jetted off into the nothingness, following my gut as I moved toward what I felt to be the center.

There.

Shackled in formless wine-forged chains, disheveled but not broken, was the spirit of the warrior Athena. Head bowed, she was still glorious, a kindred warrior soul that'd been separated body, unwilling to concede defeat, even after all this time.

"What? Who's there?" Her voice came out low, the words melting together.

"You don't know me but I'm here to help."

"...How?"

"I'm still working on that." Vaguely I could sense the slow beat of my heart, steadily pumping out my lifeblood into the ground as her spear attempted to consume and digest my power. "You have any ideas?"

Around us flowed panes of glass that formed and dissolved, drifting from the aether with frozen images. I recognized one of Ata and I reached out and touch it. Freezing in space, the memory began to play. It wasn't long, just a short little thing where Ata gave Athena a nice massage after a long training session with Zeus.

"I don't even know what is keeping me here. Or how long I've been here. Or..." Her words slurring she let her head flop down again.

Suddenly I knew what to do.

I'm not gonna be able to free her without her help. This is nothing like the feeble enchantment affecting Ata. I need to galvanize her to action.

I pushed away from her core into the darker areas of her soul, searching for memories of a certain smug asshole. They were few and hard to find, obscured by a red mist of magic.

A magic with a very distinct smell.

Once I realized that, I used their tainted scent to track down all of them that I could, gathering them into a stack of unholy memories. I hurried, realizing that each moment spent here was payed with a drop of blood seeping into the dirt. Setting panes of memories into rows in front of the shackled goddess, I snapped my fingers, gathering her attention.

"I think you need to see this," I spoke through a throat of glass shards, having witnessed what was on them, not relishing the pain I was about to inflict on this poor woman.

What followed was a litany of suffering. Bacchus degrading and demeaning Athena. Taking her as she lay there, willing but uncomprehending, each vomit-inducing thrust like a knife wound thrust into my soul.

I'm gonna murder him, I thought, grinding my teeth so hard my fangs bit into my gums, sending trickles blood to fill my mouth with its coppery taste.

No. Murder is too good. I'm gonna find an eldritch horror and feed his severed limbs to it piece by piece as he watches.

The shallow and cruel acts slowly faded as Bacchus gradually grew bored of his new plaything. The display had worked, Athena rising from her stupor, rage blazing in her eyes as she realized what'd been done to her.

Well, I've woke her up, so that's good, I guess. But how do I help her? I have to do it now, while she's awake and rational from my reveal.

Reaching out, I touched the shackles, the magic bending away from me. Only to return the moment I removed my hand.

"What are you doing?" she asked, her voice no longer slurred but sharpened to a hard edge.

"Shush," I hushed her. An idea forming. "I'm working on something."

Acting on instinct, I reaching into the essence of my soul, searching until I found what I sought. There was a part of me that was linked to freedom, an animalistic part that railed against cages of any kind. Gritting my teeth, my claws enfolded that piece of me and tore it free without remorse but with a great deal of pain. Falling to my knees, I offered it to Athena like a supplicant before their god, although I would never willing bow my head to another. The pain was like a living thing tearing through my senses, shadowy bits of me dripping of to the floor where they dissolved into smoke. Her fingers twitched and strained, the anger in her eyes primal and raw. The chains stretched, just enough, allowing her to capture the power I held. If I'd thought it was bad holding it in my hand it got so much worse as Athena drew upon the chunk of soul for power. I lost my sense of time, feeling like my everything was drawn through a mile long straw filled with razor blades and salted lemon juice. No matter how much I wished it, I couldn't achieve blessed oblivion.

Nearby, unaware of my struggle, Athena began to recapture bits and pieces of her identity. The pale light that bled from my soul taken in and rendered down into a jagged blade she used to methodically sever the chains of magical inebriation that shackled her to Bacchus.

Standing tall and proud, her rage beat palpably against my naked back, a wonder to experience even without my sight.

"You're young and foolish," Athena said, kneeling over my prone form. Fingering the ball of soul she held in her hand. "With this I could take your power for my own. Become immune to any further enslavement."

The silence stretched, but I was so far into the throes of pain that I couldn't even muster the wherewithal to worry.

"I must admit the thought is quite tempting." She sighed, and placed a cool hand on my back. "Although that would be rather ungrateful of me after you went to all this trouble."

I could feel her lips as they pressed against the compressed energy of my soul.

She seemed to come to a realization and a determined, hungry look settled onto her features. "Thank you, stranger. For freeing me from this prison. I must apologize, for I need to keep this from you for a spell."

Twitching and jerking, my muscles spasmed as she took me into her arms, and carried me into the waking world.

A blazing sun overhead sent invisible razorblades to slice into my optic nerves, I groaned, curling over the wound in my chest. The gaping hole in my soul wasn't quite as debilitating, muted by my body's senses.

This is better. Marginally.

Athena's spear was still lodged in my body, which felt out of phase, like a hand squeezed into a glove one size to small.

"Sorry," the Grecian goddess said before easing the weapon from the wound.

Ata was on me in an instant. Blood leaking around her hands, pumping from me body with every beat of my labored heart. My claws scrabbled ineffectively at her obsidian flesh, my body lashing out at the nearest object in its damaged state.

"Athena get us out of here," she commanded, her attention firmly fixed upon my wound. "You stupid, silly, foolhardy woman," she muttered. "What did you do to yourself now? This is more than just physical, I can feel the ragged threads of your soul."

I coughed, a little blood leaking from the corner of my lips.

Might not have done the best at avoiding vital organs.

"Hey now," I said weakly. "I'm not entirely sure I deserve that."

She laughed but it was weak and strained. "I am." She stuck her tongue out at me, the forced mirth not reaching her eyes. "Athena? What are you doing back there?"

Athena had been stunned by the reality of her freedom, watching the way the sunlight played off of her arm. "Fuck you Bacchus," she whispered cautiously, waiting for the telltale constriction of his magic. When it didn't come she pumped her fist in celebration.

"Athena?" Ata asked again, looking over her shoulder at the wonder-struck goddess. "Hey. Bast needs help."

"Bast... So that's her name." Athena tasted the name thoughtfully on her lips for a moment. "I am not familiar with her lore but she has done me a great favor. Ata, be a dear and wait a moment, I have to take care of something."

"What?! Where are you going? She needs help! She saved you're ass and now you're just going to abandon her?"

Athena's only response was the muffled pounding of her feet into the sand that slowly grew more distant.

"Damn it!"

My hand trembled but I raised it to cradle my sister's cheek. "Ata, it's fine. She has her own demons to face."

"But-"

"It's fine," I said as firmly as I was capable of, but my confidence was slightly undermined by a racking wheeze that forced itself from my lungs and the way my blood seeped around her fingers which dutifully kept trying to staunch my wound. "She's got something she needs to do."

"What?"

"Fuck if I know," my eyelids grew heavy. "A nap sounds good right about now." My limbs grew cold and my breathing shallow.

"Bast. Don't you dare close your eyes," Ata called too late.

"It's fine. I'll be fine. I just need to rest..."

Darkness.

Cold.

Drifting.

A sudden shock ran through my chest, jolting me back awake. "I'm not dead!" I shouted uncertain about whether or not this statement was technically true.

"I should hope not. Otherwise I think Rainbow here might have killed me," Athena said withdrawing her hand from my chest and giving Ata a playful smack. "I'll give you two some alone time now that I've returned what you lent me." Athena walked over to where Destiny hovered and started up a conversation. The hole in my soul had been plugged, and I surmised was the impetus of my awakening.

"Shut up," Ata growled at the goddess as she went by, her eyes locked on me. Anger was her most prominent emotion, with fear and relief hovering just behind it like hulking bodyguards. Her foot moved forward as if under its own volition, then another before falling to her knees at my side. Hand shaking, she reached it out between us, like I was an illusion she was afraid of dispelling.

Taking it in my own steady but weak hands, I brought it to my lip for a kiss. In the time it took for me to blink she was on me, straddling my lap as I lay on the deck of Destiny's walker as it skittered across the ocean.

Her lips met mine in a kiss that reeked of desperation, affection, and need to prove that we were both still alive. After she'd had her fill of ravaging my lips, she separated, her face hovering at most an inch from my own.

"Don't you ever do something like that to me again," she admonished, holding my head securely on one side by the cheek and the other by a horn. "Got it?" she demanded with a small shake. My stomach lurched a little but it was more from blood loss than the constant rocking of the platform as it stomped on top of the surface of the sea.

Note to self: Unconsciousness is a good way to acclimate to motion sickness.

Hair curled over her fingers in delicate, loving pecks. A sad smile crossed my lips. "No."

Her eyes filled with sorrow and she colored a greyish orange. "Why?" she begged in a broken voice.

"Because," I covered her hand on my cheek with my own. "I know how much she meant to you."

Ata started, taking a moment to gather her words. "As much as I care for Athena, I care for you more."

"I'm fine-"

"But it easily could've gone wrong. You will promise to at least consult me before taking any crazy risks like that," she said in a tone that promised exquisite violence if I didn't comply.

"Fine," I grumbled. "But it did work."

She gave me a look that could've burned down a forest.

"What?! I'm just saying," I said, waving my arms weakly in the little space between our bodies.

Opening her mouth, she seemed ready to retort with something scathing before stopping. A sly smile crossed her face and she leaned in and nibbled at the top of my ear, pinching it with her teeth.

"Hey. Stop that," I said, pushing at her.

She didn't budge.

"Make me," she whispered half seriously.

Puzzled, I cocked my head to the side, reading her expression.

Smirking, she leaned in and nipped at the delicate cartilage.

I pressed at her with an accompanied yelp, but she was like a boulder, obstinate and unmoving.