Prologue

The trio had a distinctly unpleasant look, atypical of the many other heretics that she had encountered in recent years. It was a look that disgusted her as they wore the clothing and uniforms of Athenian civic and military officials. An alarming sight, to be sure, as this meant that the Broken Book Heresy had more influence than realized.

“So, as you can see, my fellow Republicans,” the Elysian prosecutor said as he strolled across the courtroom floor in his machine-sewn suit, his eyes gazing into those of the gathered assembly about him, only giving the judge fleeting glimpses and doing his best to ignore the presence of the goddess studying him. “These heretics conspired to undermine the authority of our government, sabotage our military efforts, and spread their blasphemous rhetoric in defiance of our Divine Benefactor’s generosity. There can be only one punishment,” the prosecutor said, his voice becoming more intense. “I do not need to remind you that their guilt has already been determined. This hearing is to discern their punishment. A punishment that must happen to reset the scales of justice. I said we abandon any notion of imprisonment... Justice demands their death!”

Athena smiled as the crowd erupted into polite clapping and light chatter. Capital punishment was rarely used in the Republic of Athens, and she usually would advise against its use, but she had no taste for heretics. No part of her heart could abide by their existence in Elysium. Their presence was a danger to her and her entire family, not to mention her entire species. There is chaos to consider as well. What should happen to this world if the gods descend from grace or are defied en masse? There would be anarchy, war, and tens of thousands dead.

It is better this way, Athena told herself. Mortals needed gods to lead and guide them. This was her purpose and the order of things. Justifying her actions had always come easy to Athena, as did many other things.

The prosecutor bowed his head as the judge’s gavel sounded three quick strikes. “Order,” the judge reminded the assembly after a moment had passed. “Prosecutor, are you finished?”

“I am, your honor,” said the prosecutor, leaving the floor to return to his chair.

“And the defense, do you have any closing statements?” the judge asked, looking over to the three guilty persons.

The three stood to the side of the courtroom in an enclosed platform across the floor from the assembly. Their placement allowed them to be seen by all in the courtroom.

“May you come to realize your ignorant mistakes before this false god leads you all to ruin,” said the shortest of the three as he threw his hand toward the goddess’ place in the gallery. The heretic then stood up, wearing a soiled gray military officer’s uniform, as he spat on the floor and offered a sneering glare toward the deity.

“Order,” the judge warned, pointing her gavel to the convicted heretic. “One more outburst like that and I will assume sentencing authority.”

“Merely a formality, don’t you think?” asked the tallest of the heretics, a dark-skinned man in what used to be an elegant, tailor-made wool suit but had now been tattered and torn from having spent the last three days incarcerated and never afforded a change of clothing. “We all know what the sentence will be.”

“Aye!” said the female heretic, dressed in the pilot’s uniform. She had an exotic look to her eyes, Theban, though her accent was more Corinthian. “Get it o’er with, why don’t you? Why waste our time?”

The judge’s gavel struck down hard. “I will not have you dictate terms in my courtroom. You are entitled to a fair trial and you shall-”

“As long as she is here, nothing is fair!” the shortest heretic called out, pointing both of his shackled hands toward where Athena sat in the assembly once more. “You hear that, false god? I defy your laws! I defy your lies! I defy you!” he said vehemently, with more spittle escaping his mouth.

This did not faze the goddess, who kept her composure like a genuine member of the Divinity should. From the corner of her eyes, Athena saw the judge looking at her to assess her reaction, waiting for an indication on how she should proceed. A slow sigh parted her lips as Athena shifted her eyes from the heretic trio to the judge. “Very well,” said the goddess, breaking her silence for the first time since the trial had begun, as she raised herself from her seated position on the bench.

Athena was wearing the trappings of a scholar or librarian, but she had made no effort to conceal her divine form during this trial. In fact, she rarely put on any glamour trappings while in Athens, as she prided herself on being available to her people. So, as she stood upright, Athena felt all the attention of everyone in the courtroom focus on her.

Strolling to the aisle and then navigating her way past the small gate that kept the assembly from the court floor, Athena let her eyes flit between the prosecutor, heretics, and finally to the judge. All of them were wondering what she might do. She stopped in the middle of the court with a smile and let her eyes finally rest on the heretics. “So be it. Defy me, call me a liar, call this court a mockery of justice; see how far it gets you. I’d wager you get no further than the end of the hangman’s noose.”

There was some light laughter at this comment. However, Athena didn’t linger on that moment very long, pressing forward.

“We have afforded you every opportunity to spare your lives,” she reminded them. “We asked for cooperation; you gave us nonsensical fervor. We offered mercy; you repaid it with crude gestures. We asked you to confess your crimes; you spit at us. Your fate is of your own choosing. We are simply here to do as you please.”

There was some light applause, even from the judge.

“As Goddess of Justice, appointed by the Six, and upheld by unanimous decision of the Divinity, it is within my full power to pardon you three… and you defy me?” she asked with a scoff. “Not wise. Not wise at all.”

The three were quiet, no doubt unsure of how to speak when directly confronted by a divine being.

“Judge Ariadne?” asked Athena, immediately catching the arbitrator’s full attention. “Proceed as you wish. I was here to see if these three were deserving of my mercy, but I see it not desired. I shall be leaving now.”

As Athena turned her back to the heretics, she saw the pale look on the assembled crowd’s faces. Athena did not smirk or emote in any fashion. Instead, she simply walked to the doors and pressed outward.

With the doors closing, Athena heard the judge call for a vote. “It will be their death,” Athena said to the waiting attendant in the hallway, a young temple pledge that Athena had grown quite fond of, deciding to groom her for public service and leadership once she was of age to qualify for an election. Eleca was her name.

“A deserving fate, your grace,” said Eleca as she gathered up the books she had been studying while awaiting the hearing’s end.

“What is next on my agenda?” Athena asked, despite knowing the answer. Her inquiry was meant to test her attendant’s schedule-keeping skills.

“Upstairs. Your presence has been requested in the War Minister’s chambers.”

Well, Athena had thought she knew what was next. “Pardon me? I believe that there was a festival pl-“

“Your grace, something was discovered while you in the hearing that requires your attention,” Eleca said, then realized she had interrupted the goddess, and the color drained from her face. “Your grace, my apology, I spoke out of turn.”

Athena smiled and shook her head. “No matter, my dear, if this matter is as urgent as you seem to suggest, then you have saved me both time and breath. Lead on.”

“If it pleases you,” said Eleca, before doing as instructed, walking a few steps ahead of Athena through the marble-floored government building and to the stairs located down the corridor. Together, they ascended several floors to the Ministry offices.

There were several uniformed Elysians, men and women alike, standing near the door of their destination. They all took notice of the goddess at once and parted a way for her passage. Just before the door, Eleca excused herself and allowed the goddess to enter first.

Athena did not knock or announce her presence, simply strolling in. The minister was in the middle of a meeting with two uniformed officers, one in the Aerial Fleet and another from the Strategy Corps. The minister herself was dressed in a woman’s suit with a ribbon tie and a jeweled owl-shaped brooch on her lapel.

“Do not bother with formalities,” said Athena as she bypassed their meeting around the minister’s desk and perched herself on the distant window sill, eyeing the courtyard below, focused explicitly on the gallows. A crowd gathered around the platform, but no bodies yet swung from the nooses. Sighing, Athena sat on the cushioned bench below the window and turned her attention to the minister, general, and admiral. “Now, what requires my attention?”

Eleca shut the door, excusing herself from the room as she was not ready to be privy to ministry-level discussions. Once the door was closed, the minister stood from her chair, resting one hand on her desk to offset her war-wounded leg’s limp.

“Your grace, we have received word that one of our airships was shot down over Sparta.”

“Sparta?” asked Athena. “What were they doing in Imperial airspace?”

“We don’t know,” said the admiral. “Nothing sanctioned by the Fleet Command, I assure you.”

“Likely a navigational error,” said the general. “There was storm two nights ago that may have blown them off-course more than they realized.”

“Hmm... That is not only possible but likely,” agreed the admiral.

“Are there survivors?” asked Athena.

“Unknown,” said the general when both the minister and admiral turned their focus to him. “We only today learned the ship was shot down.”

“When was it shot down?” asked Athena.

“Most likely yesterday,” said the admiral. “We lost pulse-click contact with them shortly after that storm. We assumed there was some damage caused to their communications array by the storm at the time, so we were not concerned.”

“Has there been contact with Sparta concerning the matter yet?” asked the goddess.

“They deny that any such ship was shot down,” said the minister.

“Then how are we certain this happened if Sparta hasn’t confirmed it?” asked the goddess.

“Spies,” said the general. “We first heard of it through our intelligence network. We sent a small scouting team to confirm, and we just received their pulse transmission. They found the wreckage and a Spartan battalion picking through it like Thracian vultures.”

Athena did not like this. Her half-brother, Ares, held Sparta in the same regard she held Athens. A conflict with Sparta meant a personal battle with Ares. Three times out of five, she could find a way to avoid violence with her brother, but she did not like those odds. The alternative meant thousands dead if she could not find a peaceful resolution. With a heavy sigh, Athena nodded. “I will need to speak with my father concerning this matter.”

“Your father?” asked the minister. “Certainly, this doesn’t need to alarm the Divine Monarch himself, does it?”

“If Ares is involved in this, then that means Hera will be involved. She will sink her claws into my father and manipulate him to Sparta’s favor, lest I get to him first.”

The mortals were not prepared to hear Athena speak of other divine beings in such a manner. Regardless of how often Athena had shown such candor in their presence before.

Athena stood up and glanced over her shoulder. The heretics were being led up the stairs of the gallows. A soft smile crossed her lips as she straightened her skirt. Athena had no need to remain near the window any longer. Justice was being served. Crossing the room to stand at the end of the desk, Athena continued. “Write me a report of all known details and rumors. Make it brief, but thorough. When it is prepared, I will take it before my father, and we shall have words concerning the matter.”

“As you wish,” said the minister with a nod. “But how would you like us to proceed with Sparta, your grace?”

“With caution,” she said and walked with purpose to the chamber’s doorway. “Prepare for war but make no hostile actions until you hear from me,” she said as she gripped the door’s handle and saw herself out.

## Characters

### Mortals

* Eleca
* The Broken Book - Heretics

## Notes and Trivia

* This is the first appearance of Gods.
* This chapter marks the first appearance of Athena, Ariadne, Eleca and Broken Book Heretics.

## Links and References

* NeOlympus Prologue

1. ↑ NeOlympus: Prologue