Odyssey: Immortal Revelry

File:OdysseyImmortalRevelry Logo.png
**Odyssey: Immortal Revelry** was part of SMITE's annual Odyssey event series made for the introduction of Maman Brigitte. The story for this event takes place right after the conclusion of Hope Reborn's story. It began on August 29, 2023 and ended on January 23, 2024.

## Welcome to the Odyssey: Immortal Revelry

Every time you purchase an item from the Odyssey Event you will also gain progress towards the Ultimate Odyssey Skins chest. By purchasing 9 new Odyssey skins and rolling the Odyssey Skins Chest 9 times for a combined total of 18 purchases, you can unlock the Ultimate Odyssey Skins chest and choose from the new Medusa Dragonshifter T5 skin or from four previous T5 Odyssey skins.

## Odyssey Bundles

All Exclusive Odyssey: Immortal Skins will be purchasable with  Gems.
Odyssey: Immortal Revelry Skins will release with an initial discount of 33% off for the first 2 weeks! Get each Bundle for 750  Gems at launch or pick it up later on at full price for 1200  Gems.

### Chapter 1

* Soulshroud
* Shadowcaster
* Sharpshooter

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### Chapter 2

* The Spectacular
* Spirit Dancer
* Bionic Bruiser

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### Chapter 3

* Infernal Warden
* Plague Minister
* Carnage

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## Odyssey Rewards

Unlock previous T5 skins from previous Odyssey events after you purchased every bundle from the event or rolled a Odyssey Chest 9 times!

* Toon Mania
* Eclipse Summoner
* Crow of Torment
* Stellar Demise

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## Final Reward

Unlock the new, unlimited T5 Dragonshifter Medusa skin by rolling a chest 9 times or buy every bundle from the Odyssey! In addition, you will INSTANTLY get the skin if you choose the BUY ALL! option!

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## Quests

Unlock exclusive content and Chest rolls by completing Quests or purchasing new Odyssey content. There will be 4 Quests released each week that must be completed in order on the Odyssey Quest page. All Odyssey Quests will expire on the last day of the Odyssey.

* Week 1
* Week 2
* Week 3

Get 60 Kills and Assists.
Reward
Play 3 Games.
Reward

Deal 60,000 Player Damage.
Reward
Play 3 Games.
Reward

Earn 80,000 Gold.
Reward
Play 3 Games.
Reward

Get 60 Kills and Assists.
Reward
Play 3 Games.
Reward

Play 3 Games.
Reward
Deal 60,000 Player Damage.
Reward

Play 3 Games.
Reward
Earn 80,000 Gold.
Reward

## Lore

#### ***Chapter 1: Celebration***

Phila selected an apple from the seller's cart and reached for her purse. He smiled broadly and waved aside her offer of payment. "No charge", he said, in heavily accented Greek. "No charge for soldiers."

"Thank you", Phila said, gratefully. She nodded to the apple-seller and continued on her way, munching on her snack. All around her, Aegina made itself ready for the festival of Anthesphoria; garlands of flowers hung from every post and lintel, and music spilled from the open doorways of the public houses. Everyone was in seeming good cheer, sharing drinks and food with passerby, or simply dancing in the streets.

Phila wasn't the only soldier on duty. She and her fellow patrolled the city, keeping an eye out for trouble, and not necessarily from the celebrants. Monsters had all but set Olympia ablaze just a few weeks ago. For a time, it had seemed the creatures might rampage across all of Greece uncontested, and there were reports of them making a nuisance of themselves in the wild places beyond the city walls.

But that was before the Battle of Areopagus. It was said that Ares himself had manifested there and met the monsters in battle, handing them their first real defeat. Phila wasn't sure whether it was true or not, though she had no doubt that the gods could appear where they wished. She had been rescued by a goddess once, during a sea battle at sea. A monster had been involved then, as well. Nor had that been the only time she'd faced such a beast and lived.

She paused, her fingers drifting to her newly-repaired cuirass. Though the marks of the manticore's claws had been fixed, she could still see the faint outline of where the beast had caught her a glancing blow. She'd been the only survivor of that expedition. Only good fortune had spared her life. Or maybe the goddess continued to watch out for her. It was a curious thing, the idea that a god might seek to protect her. Who was she, after all? Just one more anonymous soldier.

Phila took off her helmet and ran her hands through her newly-shorn hair. After the sea battle, she'd cut her tresses and laid them on the goddess' altar in gratitude. A small gesture, but one she hoped the goddess appreciated. "Bellona", she murmured, recalling the deity's name. A strange name. Not Greek; Roman. A foreign goddess, coming to the aid of a Greek soldier. Then, perhaps it wasn't that surprising.

As a port city, Aegina was full of foreigners and shrines to their deities. Every ship's crew was a polyglot assemblage of men and women blown to Greece by the four winds. Merchants from China brushed shoulders with travelers from India and the Baltic. Mercenaries from the lands of the Norse and the Rus guarded caravans bound of Egypt or even far islands on the other side of the world. And today, all of them were celebrating for the monsters had been driven back, however momentarily. If Ares was in the fight, maybe the other Olympians were as well. Maybe they had a chance.

Phila smiled and pulled her helmet back on. All too soon, the festival would be over, and it would be time for she and her fellows soldiers to go back out into the wilderness and face what lurked here. But for the moment, she could just eat her apple and enjoy the music.
She paused, the apple halfway to her mouth. Something had caught her eye; a flicker of shadow on the sunlit street. A bird flying overhead perhaps. There were always plenty of them about. But it had seemed too large to be a gull.

Then, a scream. Not just one, but many. Phila turned, her hand falling to her sword even as she dropped the apple. There was a crash from the direction she'd just come. She ran towards the sound, drawing her blade as she went. She spied the apple-seller's cart overturned, its contents spilled across the street. But not sign of the man himself. People were running in all directions. From above came a deep, guttural laughter and she looked up.

A familiar, winged form circled overhead, bloody jaws twisted in a savage smile. She stared at the monster in horror. For a moment, she was back in the cave, her companions unmoving as she fled the approach of their slayer. It had laughed then as well; as if she and her fellows had been nothing more than an amusing diversion.

"Martichoras..." she whispered. So the manticore had named itself. It had called himself a king, as if monsters could have such a thing. The creature continued to circle overhead, delighting in the panic its presence was causing. Phila spotted several of her fellow soldiers creeping forward, spears and bows in their hands. She caught the eye of one -- an older warrior named Georgios -- and he signaled for her to make ready. She nodded, tightening her grip on her word.

But their plan failed before it was even enacted. Martichoras wasn't alone. A flock of harpies suddenly boiled down from the sky and swooped aggressively towards the soldiers, distracting them. Martichoras took advantage of their arrival and dropped from the air onto the largest group of soldiers, including Georgios. Phila watched in horror as he was catapulted into the air by a blow from the monster's paw. She didn't see where he landed; she had her own problems. A harpy hurtled towards her, shrieking.

She drove the grotesque bird-woman with a sweep of her blade and called out for the others. If they could rally together, form a phalanx, they might be able to drive the beats off. But it was a vain hope -- the harpies' attack had scattered the others, and those not trying to fight off the creatures were falling to Martichoras. As she watched, the manticore slung out his tail, loosing a volley of spines into a group of soldiers, felling them instantly.

Martichoras turned, and his feral gaze fixed on her. "Well... there's a familiar scent," he rumbled. "The one who got away. I almost had you in the caves." He took a step towards her, crushing apples beneath his paw. "But you got away from me. That does not often happen, I must say. Normally, I catch what I hunt." His gaze narrowed, like that of a cat about to spring. His lips peeled back from his teeth. "You should rune no. It's more fun that way."

Phila almost did. She took a step back, her sword forgotten in her hand. The others were down, or had retreated. The harpies swooped and drove, hurling carts and water barrels through windows and doors, as if trying to flush out the people hiding inside. She heard roaring in the distance. Martichoras wasn't the only manticore in the city.

He took another step, his eyes gleaming with hunger. "Run", he growled. "What is the hunt, without the chase?" He lashed out and struck the remnants of a cart, sending it tumbling across the street towards her. She leapt aside, narrowly avoiding it. "Run", Martichoras hissed. Then, more loudly, "Run!"

Phila did -- but not away. Instead, she raised her sword and charged. It caught him by surprise and he jerked back with a querulous snarl, giving her an opening. Her sword struck one of his horns and glanced off, the impact of the blow numbing her arm. He tossed his head, knocking her sprawling. Then, he chuckled. "So... you have some courage after all.". His claws snapped out and caught her by the ankle. Before she could react, she was flying through the air.

She landed heavily, her sword jarred from her grip and her helmet rattling away. She looked around wildly, trying to find something to uses as a weapon, even as Martichoras prowled lazily towards her. He casually flicked aside the bodies of her fellow soldiers as he came, his tail crushing a nearby cart as an afterthought. "Get up", he taunted. "Show me your talons."

Phila snatched up a broken spear and lunged toward him. The wood shattered as it struck him, and he knocked her flat with an almost contemptuous blow. Then, with a chuckle, he pinned her to the street with his claw.

"Good. Good! I like prey that fight back." He looked down at her and showed his teeth in a hideous grin.

"It makes for a more satisfying meal..."

#### ***Chapter 2: Wild Party***

From her perch on the roof, Maman Brigitte expelled a perfect ring of smoke from her pursed lips. Then another, and another, until the air above her head was full of gently spinning rings. She waved them away with a gesture, sending them to all parts of the port city of Aegina. When one of the rings touched a lucky celebrant, that person was infused with a moment of pleasure, or a happy memory, or sometimes a sudden need for a strong drink. It was the least she could do for people who threw such a fine party.

And it was a party. The Greeks might call it a celebration, but she knew a party when she saw one. Flowers everywhere, good food, music -- definitely a party. And wherever there was a party, Maman Brigitte would be there. She regarded it as part of parcels of her divine duties as one of the Gede nanchon. She took a sip from her bottle of rum and chewed thoughtfully on a pepper as she watched the people of Aegina floods the streets in search of a good time. She peered about, searching for any of the locals. Bacchus usually made an appearance at these things, and he owed her a drink or twenty.

There was no sign of him, however, or any other divine revelers. She wondered if the Olympians had roped their Roman kin into the hunt of Surtr and his monsters. Zeus had demanded aid from the other pantheons; some few had agreed, Brigitte knew. Not the Lwa, of course. They knew better than to involve themselves in this sort of foolishness. She thought the monsters were owed some fun, herself. This was all because Zeus and Odin and their lot couldn't leave well enough alone. They'd caused this mess and were welcome to it, whatever busybodies like Ix Chel claimed.

Maman Brigitte leaned back and closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of the sun and the sounds coming from the street below. She took a slow drag on her cigar and thought about Ix Chel. The Maya goddess had stormed into the sacred cemetery of the Gede nanchon, looking for help in her self-appointed task to stop Surtr some weeks ago. Baron Samedi had sent her way with a flea in her ear. Though Brigitte had agreed with her consort at the time, she was beginning to wonder whether maybe there'd been something to Ix Chel's warning.

Or maybe she just felt a bit guilty. Word about what had happened at Olympia had spread through the pantheons like wildfire. Maui and Ix Chel had been ambushed and defeated by Surtr's monstrous followers. Nor where they the only ones.

Rumor had it that Surtr's influence was starting to spread outside of Greece. She'd heard that Kuzenbo was leading his kappa in attacks on the riverside shrines and villages in Japan; more, he'd apparently managed to defeat Susano with a little help of a new ally -- Charybdis. Scylla has been sighted as well, attacking villages along the Nile. She'd supposedly given Horus a hard time before Sobek and Bastet had joined the fray and put her to flight. It was as if monsters everywhere were responding to Surtr's escape. The only one that didn't seem interested in joining in was Tiamat.

"Thank Damballa for small favors", Brigitte murmured. She wondered if that was why the other pantheons were staying out of things -- a sort of unspoken agreement with Tiamat. She stayed in her lands and they stayed in theirs and they both left the fighting to those directly involved. Of course, the scope of 'directly involved' was starting to increase. Or so it seemed to her, at least.

Brigitte tried to push the though aside. She was here to enjoy the party, not worry about things that didn't concern her. She opened her eyes and sat up, reaching for her rum. Her hand halted inches from the bottle as screams echoed throughout the city. She blinked and saw a large, winged shape swoop down over the streets. "Hunh", she murmured. "Looks like someone decided to crash the party."

She pursed herself to her feet, knocked back a last swallow of rum, and ran lightly across the rooftops in pursuit of the winged Sharpe. She didn't like it when parties got interrupted. It was bad manners.

Below her, harpies swooped low over the streets, tearing apart flower garlands and destroying decorations as they pursed a group of fleeing soldiers. She paused, took another swallow of rum, swished it around her mouth and spewed a cone of fire towards the bird-women. Startled, the harpies scattered, their feathers more than slightly singed. She laughed loudly and continued on her way.

Brigitte spotted more monsters running through the streets. They seemed more inclined to destroy property than attack people, thankfully. As she passed by, a pair of satyrs hurled a vegetable cart at a building and brayed in triumph when it shattered. Elsewhere, a flock of harpies tore into the contents of bakery, gobbling down food with glee. A manticore prowled through a ruined building, searching for something -- or someone -- to eat.

This wouldn't do, not at all. But since there didn't seem to be anyone else around, she'd have to handle it herself. She grinned. "Well, what's a party without a fight or three?" she said to herself as she leapt across a gap between rooftops. She slid to a stop as she caught sight of her quarry -- a manticore -- crouched in a market square. And not just any manticore, but the biggest example of the breed that she'd even seen.
The creature was distracted, looking down at a soldier he'd pinned to the street with one great paw. The soldier was frightened, but defiant; her free hand groped for something to use as a weapon, even as the manticore's jaws drew near.

Maman Brigitte smiled thinly. "Brave woman", she murmured, as she stepped off the roof and dropped lightly to the street. She applauded loudly. "Bravo!'

The manticore paused and turned, eyes narrowing in surprise. "What--?" he growled. "Who dares interrupt Martichoras at his entertainment?"

Brigitte made a show of looking around. Then she took a drag on her cigar and blew a plume of smoke towards him. "I suppose that'd be me, he?"

"Ad who are you?" Martichoras released the mortal, shoving her aside even as he turned to face Brigitte. "A goddess? You must ben to face to me so bravely."

Brigitte laughed. "And who are you? Just a mangy alley cat, eh?"

Martichoras reared up. "I am Martichoras, king of all manticores", he roared.

"It that so? Well, here's what I think of kings." Brigitte stepped forward, took a pull from her bottle, and spit a cone of fire into his face. Startled, he flailed back, nearly tripping over his own tail. He roared again and pounced, narrowly missing her as she danced aside, laughing. "Clumsy kitty," she jeered. "Here -- chase this!"

She extended her arm, and the black snake tattooed there suddenly twitched and slithered free of her flesh. It dropped to the ground and shot swiftly towards Martichoras. True to his nature, he sprang towards it -- and it struck. A sickly green radiance rose up from where the serpent had been, enveloping the manticore. He staggered, suddenly, bleary-eyed and uncertain. Something that might have been a hiccup escaped him. "Wha -- what did you do?" he slurred, shaking his head as if to clear it.

"Gave you a taste of what you're missing", Brigitte said. "Bit of snakebite to make you think twice about continuing with this foolishness. If I was you, Id' fly on back to wherever you came and left these mortals get back to their party."

"I will -- hic -- I will devour you", Martichoras said. He took a step and his legs went in all the wrong directions. His tail coiled and stuck, missing her by a wide distance. The affects wouldn't last long, but while they did, he was little threat to her.

She spied the warrior getting to her feet, and motioned for the mortal to flee. The young woman hesitated, and Brigitte chuckled. Mortals could be brave and stupid all at once; it was why she loved them so. "Go on girl -- git. There're monsters aplenty in this city, if you want to play hero." She paused. "In fact, here come some of them now."

Satyrs charged into the square, some carrying spears, other wielding improvised weapons. They bleated in fury when they caught sight of Brigitte, and thundered towards her. The quickest of them nearly spitted itself on the knife's she'd been hiding up her sleeve. She slashed out, and the creatures fell over one another in their haste to get away from her. She laughed, but her amusement faded as more of the creatures charged into the square.

She reached for her bottle again, but found it empty. Cursing loudly, she slammed the bottle down and a crack of thunder sounded. The air rippled and the satyrs were hurled from their feet. The bottle sloshed nicely as she stood. "That's more like it", she said, taking a swig, spinning her dagger idly in her free hand and she did so.

"Look out", the young woman shouted. Brigitte whirled to see. Martichoras lurch drunkenly towards her, flapping his wings to keep from falling over. Nor he was the only threat. Harpies circled above, drawn by the commotion, and she could hear the roaring and bleating of other monsters as they converged on the sounds of battle.

The young warrior had retrieved her sword and she slashed at Martichoras, trying to distract him. He swatted her aside without even a sidelong glance and continued his awkward gallop towards Brigitte. "Fine", she said, darkly. "That the way you want it? So be it."

She flicked the remnant of her cigar towards Martichoras and rose slowly into the air. She stretched out her arms and felt the chill caress of the dead spirits that haunted every place where mortals resided. Generations of the been and gone rose up through the earth at her silent command as she raised her hands over the head, kneading the air like clay. The spirits swooped and swirled about her, their whispers, and moans like the notes of a song only she knew. The air became as molasses, the world slowing about her until the monsters looked as if they were statues than living things.

Maman Brigitte drew the strength of the numberless dead into her hands. She could see an expression of consternation pass slowly across Martichoras' brute features as he realized what was about to happen. But he could do nothing to stop it, or interrupt. Light, the cold light of death, flared between her fingertips. The, with a cry that was much a sound of joy as it was fur, she hurled the flickering ball of energy to the ground at her feet.

The impact resulted in a shuddery riptide of soul energy that washed across the square and every monster in it. Most were tossed about like leaves in a windstorm, hurled back against walls of through windows. The harpies were scattered across the air, their wings useless. Martichoras took the brunt of it and was sent rolling uncontrollably across the square and into the front of a merchant's stall, that obligingly collapsed atop him.

In the silence that followed, Brigitte sank to the ground, panting. She patted her clothes, searching for a new cigar. Martichoras lurched out of the rubble even as she found it, and glared at her. Brigitte lit her cigar and said "Boo."

The manticore roared in fury, but didn't take the bait. Instead, he leapt skyward and was gone with a single flap of his leathery wings. The other monsters retreated as well, slipping away with their tails between their legs. Brigitte turned to the mortal woman. "What's your name, then?", she asked, as she offered the woman her bottle of rum.

"Ph -- Phila, my lady", the mortal quavered. She took the bottle and, after a moment's hesitation, took a sip. Then doubled over, coughing. Brigitte sighed, reclaimed the bottle, and patted the mortal on the back. The living never could hold their drink.

"Well Phila, I have to say, your Greeks throw a heck of a party." She took a long pull from the bottle and grinned. "Let's go see if we can get that music going again. I feel like celebrating."

#### ***Chapter 3: Planning***

The ruins of temple of Zeus in Olympia rang with the sounds of monstrous frustration. Ymir bellowed, pulling against his captors as they tried to finish binding him. Ogres and trolls and satyrs were hurled un all direction by his struggles. "No! Ymir will be free", he roared, stamping his foot, cracking the stone floor beneath.

"Cease this foolishness", Fenrir snarled, dodging a wild blow from the frost giant. "If you would simply see sense..."

Ymir growled and made a lunge for the great wolf, but was dragged back by the monsters holding his chains. Fenrir turned and glanced at his brother, Jormungandr. The great serpent was coiled about the temple, his head resting in the shattered doorway, his eyes on Ymir. "You could help," Fenrir barked.

"I could," Jormungandr rumbled. "But I won't".

Fenrir snarled again, in annoyance this time, and turned back to the task at hand. Jormungandr left them to it, and pulled his head from the temple. "Those chains will not hold him," he said, glancing at Surtr, who sat on the steps below. The latter grunted.

"I helped forge them with my own fire. They will hold."

"Fine. But why?"

Surtr looked at him. "Why what?"

"Why hold him captive?"

"His service are required."

Jormungandr hissed and set his head down beside Surtr, so that ther could be eye-to-eye. "Do you know why I joined you?" he asked, after a moment. Surtr looked at him.

"Because we are old allies, you and I."

"No. Because the gods have tampered with the balance. They always do. I have come to understand that it is in their nature to do so. Once, I was the solution to their hubris. But I failed, and the world -- the cycle itself -- was irrevocably changed. In the last turn of the wheel, I found myself bereft of purpose. No longer guardian of the balance or even part of this cycle. Things changed Surtr."

Surtr looked at him, eyes simmering like coals. "What are you trying to say?"

"That perhaps this is unnecessary."

"Are you starting to doubt our cause, Jormungandr?" Arachne asked, appearing suddenly. She moved so silently that even Jormungandr hadn't heard her. The great serpent reared up and looked down at the spider-woman.

"I am merely sceptical that this is the right path," Jormungandr said. He looked at Surtr. "Do you truly think that Ymir can unleash the Fimbulvetr? Do you think he will? Or are you simply attempting to fulfil a function that is no longer necessary, even as I once did?"

"The gods must be taugh the errors of theur ways," Arachne said. "They have lost the right to rule this world and we will remake it in our image!"

Surtr said nothing. Nor did he look at them. Jormungandr knew him well enough to know that Ymir's imprisonment was weighing heavily on him. Surtr was a being driven by ineffable purpose; Jormungandr knew what it was like to have that purpose thwarted. To be cast aside and left adrift, as much a slave to fate as the gods you hated.

"A fin dream," Jormungandr said, to Arachne. "You are not the first to have it. Ask Tiamat what comes of such intentions."

"I would, were she here. But she is not. She refuses our call. Perhaps she is frightened." Arachne looked at Surtr. "But regardless, she is not important. I came to tell you that the Furies have returned from the underworld. They do not bring good news."

Surtr sighed and pushed himself to his feet. "You should not have sent them into the underworld. Provoking the gods of the dead at this juncture is unwise."

Arachne bowed. "I did as I thought you would wish," she protested. She hesitated. "Maui and Ix Chel have returned. Nor are they alone."
"Who is with them?"

"Charon. The Ferryman of the Stryx."

"Three..." Surtr said. He looked at Arachne. "Any word from Martichoras?" Surtr sent the King of the Manticores and several others, including Camazotz and Medusa, to raid near Athens, hoping to draw the eyes of the gods away from Olympia.

"No. Nor from the others. Why?"

"Surtr is not the only one stuck in a pattern," Jormungandr said, with satifaction. "The gods are assembling a group of five champions to rebind Surtr." He looked at the giant. "This may well all be for nothing."

"No," Surtr said. "No, I will not go back."

"Then show them you can be reasoned with," Jormungandr hissed. "Show them that there is another option, old friend. Else they will repeat the same mistakes -- as will you."

Surtr looked at him. "I have made no mistakes. I merely seek to do as I must. I though you, of all of them, would understand."

"I do," Jormungandr said. "Which is why I say these things."

Surtr was silent for long moments. Then, "And if I do not do these things? Will you abandon my cause as easily you apparently abandoned your own?"

Jormungandr rose up and up, until his shadow fell across the temple. It would be so easy to crush it -- to scatter the army Surtr had built -- to show him is folly. But instead, the great serpent and sighed and looked away.

"No, my friend. I will not abandon you. Monsters do not abandon their own."

The people of Aegina were in a celebratory mood when Charon's boat thudded against a mooring post. The chill mist which had carried the craft and its occupants from the underworld receded unnoticed across the waters, leaving blossoms of graves-lilies floating in its wake. Maui scrambled onto the docks as Charon helped Ix Chel disembark.

"Well, if that manticore was her, he's not now," Maui said, looking around. Hades and Persephone had sent to the last place Surtr's forces had attacked. Maui had been hoping to capture some of the monsters and get them to reveal Surtrs location. But it seemed that they' arrived too late.

"Maybe he was defeated," Charon said.

"By mortals?" Ix Chel asked.

"Mortals can be quite troublseome when they put their minds to it," Charon replied. "I should know, I see enough of them." He looked at Maui. "Why here? If Lady Persephone is correct, the answer to our quest lays somewhere in the far north."

Maui frowned. Persephone had implied that both force of arms and clever tricks would be useless against Surtr. That they needed an equal, opposing force to counter Surtr's inferno. The answer was obvious -- fight one giant with another.

Thankfully, he's always gotten along well with Ymir. The frost giant had a better sens of humor than most gods, and was always up for a bit of fun. But Maui was reluctant to involve him. Ymir wasn't a god; like Surtr, he was a monster. And there was every chance his sympathie might well lie with Surtr's cause.

Frankly, Maui's own sympathies lay with Surtr's, even after what had happened at Olympia. The geas Odin and the others had placed on Surtr had been unjust, whatever their reasons. And know the world might pay for their lack of compassion.

The fire giant had been badly used by the gods, and for all the danger he posed, Maui wasn't inclined to see him bound to a cycle of living death once more. Especially given that was what had cause the problem in the first place.

There had to be another way. A better way. Something that satisfied the honor of all parties, and ensured that the world continued to turn.

"Maui?" Ix Chel pressed, interrupting his thoughts. "Charon is right. We should go north. Find Ymir and confront Surtr. Time is of the essence."

Maui sighed. "You're probably right. I was hoping we might get some information first, though. I don't like not knowing where our enemies are." The idea of another ambush wasn't a pleasant one, though it was just as likely that Surtr thought they were no longer a concern. The fire giant probabltyhad his eyes on bigger prey -- the pantheon themselves, starting with the Greeks.

Maui had been turning it over in his mind since Olympia, trying to see the end game his opponent was playing toward. Building any army was all well and good, but it wouldn't mean anything against the forces that Ares and Athena could rouse, for instance. Surtr had gathered other monsters to his cause, but how long could he hold them together? They weren't the sort toe play well with others -- not in the long term, at least.

No, there was something else afoot. Maui knew a distraction when he saw one; that's all Surtr army was... a distraction. The fire giant was canny; a strategist. He had a plan, and the gods were doing exactly as he expected.

Maui looked at Charon. "Right... can that boat of yours carry us north?"

Charon nodded. "It can take us wherever we need to go."

Maui was about to reply when he heard a cork pop, and voice call out from behind them, "You"re a bit late to the party, Maui. You missed all the fun."

Maui turned and saw a familiar form saunter towards them. "Maman Brigitte! A sight for sore eyes," he said, laughing. "What are you doing here?"

"I was enjoying the festival, until a party crasher arrived."

"Let me guess -- big, hairy, stinger in his tail?"

Maman Brigitte took a swig from her bottle and nodded. "That's him. I taught him a lesson and he and his friends scuttled off. If you're looking for them, I think they headed west. Ymir be able to catch them, if you hurry." She looked at Ix Chel and Charon as she puffed on her cigar. "So, a psychopomp and a goddess of fertility -- opposite attract?"

Ix Chel and Charon looked at one another in bewilderment. Maui joined them, chuckling. "More like needs must," he said. Maman Brigitte eyed him.

"I heard Surtr sent you to the underworld," she said.

"We got a reprieve," Maui said, nodding towards Charon. "Need must, as I said. Surtr means to end the world and not wants that."

"Can't blame him for being made, though," Maman Brigitte said, taking another pull on her cigar. "Overreactions aside, he does have a legitimate grievance against Odin and Zeus and the others."

"If only he didn't intend to burn the world to a cinder in order to settle things," Maui said. "Though, I suppose our job is to convince him not to do that." He looked at Maman Brigitte. "I don't suppose you'd like to help?"

Ix Chel snorted. "I already asked. Before I came to Greece."

Maman Brigitte gave her a sly look. "Maybe I changed my mind."

"And have you?" Ix Chel challenged.

Maman Brigitte blew a puff of smoke int Ix Chel's face. "I'm still thinking about it."

"Quiet," Charon said, striking the ground with the bottom of his oar. He pointed into the sky. "Look. Those ravens have been circling the entire time we've been here. I believe they want to speak to someone."

Maui looked up even as the raves swooped down and perched on his shoulders. He recognized them immediately as Odin's messengers, Huginn and Muninn. "Odin's ravens... the Allfather must have sent them to tell us something," he began.

The birds cawed into his ears and his mind was flooded with images of things they'd seen and learned. He saw Ymir chained, and heard the word 'Fimbulvetr' and saw a world drowned in ice and snow, rather than flame. He knew that word -- every god did. The winter that would precede the fires of ending.

That, then, was Surtr's plan. While the gods were distracted, he intended to start Ragnarok, as he was fated to do. A moment later, message delivered, the ravens took flight, returning to their master.

Maui shook his head. "Wonderful", he grunted. "As if things weren't bad enough."

"What is it?" Ix Chel asked. "What did they tell you?"

Maui looked at the others. "We're too later. Surtr already has Ymir." He ran his hands through his hair, and felt a moment's regret that he'd ever answered Pele's call. Why him? Why not some other god? Then, as Odin had said, maybe Maui was the only one who could convince a primordial world-ender not to end the world. "We need to go."

"Where?" Charon asked.

"Back to Olympia." Maui hefted his look and set it across his shoulder. "We've got an apocalypse to stop."