8 November 2012
"Goddess..." I started and she smiled. "I am Athena but I am a Traveller, not a goddess." She replied. "It seems the truth has been perverted even here..." She added, deliberately approaching me. "I don't understand, the priests say that you are the goddess of this world." I replied. "Truly you don't understand, but the question of my divinity is irrelevant. Suffice it to say that I am a being like yourself, tasked with safeguarding creation; not a goddess." She replied with a smile and sat herself beside me.
"Why..." I started to ask. "Why am I here? Well I could as you the same." She replied my unsaid question. "Oh heroic Ezra, your path has been altered. You should not be here." She added. "What do you mean?" I asked. "First things first." She said and lightly touched my chains, which crumbled into nothing.
"Do you not find it strange that now after so many attempts the Drell finally captured your city?" She asked and I wondered. I hadn't considered that... I was more focused on vengeance and retribution, I left the politics and plots to those better suited for them, after all I am a soldier not a politician. "No. I hadn't considered that but now that you mention it, how did they get through our many fortifications?" I replied. "Did they develop some kind of new weapon?" I asked. "If that were so, then I wouldn't be here." She replied. "Alas, the truth is that your world has found itself in the midst of an eternal struggle. It saddens me to think that after all my efforts over the eons, Magets have found their way into this world, like many others in the Cosmos." She added and I looked to her dumbfounded, I didn't understand...
"On this world they have banded together under a name you know very well, they are those who sit separate from the rest of Aleia, pulling strings and deciding the fate of this world. The same ones the Knights of Order, your Order, persistently struggle against..." Athena explained. "Diogenes." I spat out their name with disgust. "The very same." She replied. "The Drell work under the direction of Kane, who works under the direction of the Diogenes. They have promised Aleia to the Drell, in exchange for resources in a war effort many leagues away, beyond the stars. This war that you have become a part of is greater than the fate of your planet alone..." She added.
"Forgive me for saying so Athena but that war doesn't concern me. I already have a task and that is to destroy Kane and his Drell. After that then I will find all the Magi survivors and rebuild the city of Pyre." I said. "Ah, but it does concern you because when the Diogenes are done with their war in the Sol System, they will no doubt turn to Aleia. But perhaps what is more important to you is the fact that Kane is no longer here." She said as she rose to her feet and I looked to her. "Where is he? Doam?" I growled. "No Ezra, the Diogenes built a starship for him and his army of Drell. They are on their way to the Sol System..." She replied. Coward, rather than face me he has fled, leaving me to rot in this cell, while he continues to stretch out the vile arm of his would-be Empire. I felt rage burn within me and I unsteadily rose to my feet. You can run but you can't hide Kane, no matter will you go, I will find you and I will kill you.
"Take me to him." I said leaning on the cell wall for support. "Unfortunately, it doesn't work like that. My brethren and I have rules that we must abide by, I can only show the way. The rest is up to you." She replied. "Show me." I said and she smiled. "I will brave Champion but first you will need your strength." She said with a smile. "How can I feed, there is nothing here..." I replied. "I am here and feeding you is something that I am permitted to do." She replied and my head snapped up to meet her eyes, as she placed her hand on my shoulder. Instantly, I felt the rush of logos infuse my being and I felt my prodigious strength return. As quickly as it had began the flow ended and I felt vitality rush through me like I had never felt before.
"You've refilled my reservoir, thank you. I have never felt so vibrant." I said. "Good you will need all your strength." She replied and the black vertical line reappeared, and the gateway reopened. "Go to the throne room and look behind the throne, you will find a hidden door, which will lead you to a gateway." She said as sigils began to glow in the air between us. "These sigils are the address to where you will find Kane, weave them as you would any other gate address and you will be transported to the Sol System, seek out one named Nexus, it is by his side that you will meet Kane." She said and I studied the sigils. "I have unlocked your cell door, the rest is up to you Ezra. Farewell." She added as she crossed the threshold and vanished into nothing, returning to my cell to darkness. (tbc...)
© 2012 by Pthasse Amadeus
Rise Of A Champion Pt. 6 • Opuss № I