Chapter Fourteen

## Fourteen

Asclepius was a skilled and dutiful surgeon, blessed with a divine arete focused on medicine. He was the son of Apollo and Koronis, a nymph. He had never known his mother. Artemis had killed the nymph for betraying Apollo by sharing his secrets with another lover of hers.

Neither Artemis nor Apollo realized that Koronis was pregnant at the time. This was left to Kheiron, the progenitor of the centaurs and inventor of medicine, to discover. He came upon Artemis pulling her arrow from the corpses, leaving Koronis and her lover to rot. Kheiron was not eager to interfere in the punitive measures of the gods, but his sharp senses heard a heartbeat and realized the woman was pregnant with a child that still lived. Using the dagger, the centaur surgeon cut Asclepius from the womb and raised him as his own.

Of course, Kheiron taught the godling the arts of medicine. When it was clear that he had an arete for the craft, Kheiron brought Asclepius home to the Haven atop Mount Olympus. The centaur introduced his foster son to the gods, including his father Apollo, who rejoiced to discover he had such an impressive son as Asclepius.

After having the boy demonstrate his medical skill, Kheiron requested that Zeus strip him of his essence as God of Medicine and bestow that honor upon Apollo's son. Zeus consented to the centaur god's request and used the Throne of Heaven to facilitate this.

Leaving Asclepius in the care of his actual father, Kheiron let that essence be his parting gift and bid his adopted son farewell. While Asclepius loved Apollo and was a dutiful son, he always honestly considered the great centaur his true father.

Asclepius now labored over his clinic's newest patient, his uncle Hermes. Removing the dagger in the god's back was not the least bit challenging; neither was stitching the god up with an adamantine needle and gossamer thread. However, the most tasking part of this rather pedestrian procedure for the Divine Surgeon was simply understanding half of what the god was rambling about as Asclepius tended to his injuries.

Most of that was probably owed to the medicated Nektar that Asclepius had the god drink to numb the pain. It had the effect of loosening lips and dulling the mind. But still, Hermes had rambled about a mission to save the world, spoke about infernal shades in the Underworld, and a conspiracy involving a heretical society.

It all sounded plausible, to be sure, considering the peculiar lives of the deities that dwelt under this same roof. However, Asclepius did not have much to say on the matter. Instead, he focused on his patient's care and less on the politics and current events surrounding him in this new world.

"Well, that should about do it," Asclepius said, finishing the stitching and giving Hermes a slap on the back that caused the patient to wince and the doctor to snicker.

"Was that necessary?" Hermes asked as he grabbed his shirt and prepared to dress. "What would your old mentor Hippocrates have to say about that?"

Asclepius smiled under the fabric mask covering his lower face. "I taught Hippocrates, not the other way around," said the godly doctor as he cleaned his instruments. "And I never swore a silly oath," he added as he pulled down his mask to expose the smirk sitting above his whiskered chin. He had grown the facial hair to emulate Kheiron. "Besides, I needed to see how close the medicine I gave you was to wearing off," he added soberly to adjusting his spectacles. "Oh, and you can help yourself to a shirt from the closet behind you," Asclepius added.

"Why?" asked Hermes before he lifted his shirt to see a gaping hole where his ichor had burned the garment into a pair of sleeves connected by strips of fabric. Letting out a groan, Hermes tossed his shirt into the same bin where Asclepius had cast disposable surgical instruments.

As Hermes searched through the closet pointed out to him, Asclepius picked up a tray of ichor-stained adamantine tools and handed them off to his nymph nurse, who vanished down a corridor to sterilize them.

"Might I ask how Apollo and Artemis are doing?" asked Hermes as he was buttoning up a blue and black striped shirt. Apparently, the nurse had told him of the attack while Asclepius was en route to the clinic.

"Quite well," said the doctor as he removed his thick apron and gloves, solely designed to resist the searing heat of freshly drawn ichor. "I gave them each a Nektar-enriched transfusion of fresh ichor and then ordered them to take a long warm Nektar bath."

"I overheard your nurse mention Artemis was poisoned," said Hermes.

Nodding, Asclepius smirked. "I figured as much," chuckled Asclepius.

Hermes let out a long sigh. "Can I see them?"

"Aye," said Asclepius as he tossed the apron and gloves into a wash basin and turned a valve to release a steaming vapor upon them. He then pulled down a cascading hatch over the basin and let the sterilization process do its work. "But let's let your medication wear off first. I don't need you face-planting it."

"No," said Hermes, shaking his head, likely still swimming from the concentrated Nektar cocktail he had consumed. "I am not Dionysus, but I am the God of Wits... I should be fine."

"Nevertheless, I should accompany you," Asclepius said as he strolled across the treatment room to a door near where Hermes stood. Opening the door, he motioned Hermes to follow him. In the corridor of his clinic, Asclepius bypassed the doors to the many other treatment rooms. He ignored them all and led Hermes to the door at the end of the corridor that would lead him to the throne room's antechamber.

As he opened that door, Asclepius reached into his tunic's pocket, produced a vial, and placed it in Hermes' hand with a quiet rattle. "Just in case that dagger was poisoned like the one that brought Artemis to me, take one of these ambrosia coated pills at the first sign of symptoms: loss of time, confusion, shortness of breath, anything else strange."

"You fashioned an antidote to it already?" Hermes asked, raising an eyebrow and flashing an impressed smile.

Asclepius chuckled and offered a sage nod. "I am the God of Medicine, dear uncle. Please, give me some credit."

Hermes raised the vial and shook it next to his head as he replied with a nod and grin. "You got it, doc!" he said as he then pivoted on his foot and strolled out into the main hallway, skipping his feet up to click his heels together and let out a triumphant laugh.

Scoffing and shaking his head at his eccentric uncle's antics, Asclepius shut the door and turned to see one of his nymph nurses needing a consult.

Having just strolled into the throne room, Hermes blinked in confusion. Then, as he turned around to return to the antechamber, Hestia appeared and blocked his path. "Excuse me," he said in protest as he tried to sidestep her, only to be met with a glare and a slow shake of her head. "Is there a problem?"

Hestia smiled and pointed Hermes in the direction of his throne.

"Huh," he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Hestia sighed, grabbed her nephew by his wrist, and escorted him across the chamber.

Hermes glanced briefly at Hestia over his shoulder. Then, his focus drifted to the thrones as he found them all occupied, except for two. "Huh," Hermes said, stumbling toward his empty throne. "I hope you weren't all waiting long," Hermes rolled his sore shoulders and headed toward his seat. "I took a quick trip to Sparta, and wouldn't you know it, I just couldn't leave without getting a wicked battle scar as a souvenir."

Few gods chuckled at Hermes' jest. Most had no reaction. Ares, though, glowered with disdain at his brother. Hermes smiled all the same as he climbed into his throne. Hermes' throne was made out of stone. The thick arms had been cut to resemble rams' heads, and there was a goatskin for the seat. Hermes let himself drop into his seat as Hebe leaned over the arm of his impressive chair to offer him a goblet filled with Nektar. Naturally, he took the offered drink and drank deep, finding the liquid to immediately cause near-instant relief to the burden of his injury.

"I am pleased to see you on your feet," Zeus said to his now seated son, and that is when Hermes took notice that Zeus was standing at the edge of the massive hearth in the middle of the room, his hands behind his back as he gazed into the white phantom flames which had obscured his location from detection. "I have called this meeting of the Twelve for a single purpose," he explained. "We are under attack from a truly insidious enemy with no respect for our traditions, worshipers, and especially no love for us."

Hestia and Hebe strolled to their seats on the small chairs by the hearth. Hermes took this moment to glance about the chamber; as he did, the mural's hidden door to the antechamber opened. Several high-ranking members of the Natural Order marched into the throne room. It was a vast collection of nymphs, satyrs, centaurs, and nature gods.

Seeing Pan bringing up the rear, struggling to pull the massive door closed behind him, did Hermes' heart good. When the satyr closed the door, he scampered quickly to catch up with the nymphs that now stood before the hearth that blazed with the white-hot heat of the Empyrean Flame.

Once Zeus gave her the signal, Hestia dipped her orichalcum torch into the hearth, and the celestial white flame disappeared, absorbed into the torch's apparatus. As the flame disappeared, Hebe opened a panel on the side of the hearth and pressed a button with her thumb, causing an essence projected display of Elysium to appear over the hearth.

The Chartis Kosmos could project the map of the world to which Haven was connected, and any other world likewise connected to Elysium. It also responded to Zeus' commands, conjuring images from his mind while he held the rail surrounding the hearth. Likewise, it could respond to the minds of any willing to place their hand on the hearth's rail and narrate what they wished to be shown. It was an excellent tool for presentation and could be used for scrying present events anywhere the user wished to see, provided that the location was under the open sky.

Averting his eyes from the Chartis Kosmos, Hermes looked at the nymphs and satyr as he sipped his Nektar. Furthest from Hermes was Peitho, the leader of the sea nymphs of the Nereid tribe and one of Hermes' many favorite consorts. Also present was Lampetia, the sea nymph Thetis, Hermes' Oread mother Maia, his cousin Despoina, Echo of the Dryads, and the small but frisky Pan.

Hermes stifled a chuckle and shook his head at the silly satyr sidling up to his favorite nymph Echo. Drowning his smile with Nektar, Hermes thought about how this was not even close to the entire delegation of the Natural Orders' leaders. Hermes idly wondered if these were simply the ones available or if these particular ones had some grievance they chose to bring before the Twelve.

"Show me Epimetheus," Zeus said aloud, to which the Chartis Kosmos responded by causing its essence to shift the sight of the circular planet to form instead to the shape of a wizened old man whose projected image was somewhat transparent and gently rotated at a steady pace, allowing all in the chamber to see all angles of the three-dimensional display. "This is who I suspect is the perpetrator."

It was hard to say whether it was the Nektar-laced medication or his imperfect memory, but Hermes was not sure if the guy looked familiar or not. However, he was sure he had heard the name before, though it had been quite some time. So, digging into the depths of his memories, Hermes opened up the recollections of a time long before he ever set foot on Elysium.

"For those of you uncertain who he is," Zeus began, "I have requested a special presenter to refresh our memories."

Hermes turned his eyes to find the Muse of History, Clio, waiting on Hebe's usual chair, seated in the shadow of Dionysus' throne beside the Nektar fountain. Wondering when the muse had a chance to sneak in, Hermes watched her as she approached the Chartis Kosmos. She took hold of the rail as Zeus released his grip. The image changed to a rotating two-dimensional sketch of a young Epimetheus. The projection appeared to be the muse's perfect recollection of a page from a book she had studied in the past—or, knowing her identity, she might have penned the page herself in times long ago.

An audible gasp from Artemis caught several gods' attention. "That is him," she said, nodding.

Clio did not react and began to speak, undaunted. "Epimetheus was the progeny of Iapetus, one of the primary Titans created by Gaia and Ouranos in the time of the primordials. After aiding Kronos in overthrowing Ouranos and imprisoning Gaia inside Tartarus, Iapetus was one of the first of the Titans to experiment with the Haven's capabilities. He became a scholar of essence manipulation and began to experiment on himself," Clio narrated as the Chartis Kosmos displayed images of the Titans, Iapetus himself, and sketches of Iapetus' early efforts and creations in the labs of the Haven.

"For what purpose?" asked Poseidon from the opposite corner of the chamber from Hermes' throne.

"What was the purpose of most Titans' experimentations?" asked Clio, no doubt smiling, though Hermes could not see her face to verify his assumption. "Titans were not made by Gaia with the capacity to reproduce. They all tried to correct this error in one manner or another."

Apollo leaned back on his throne, clearly still recovering from his assault. "If I recall this correctly, he was one of the more successful."

"He found a means to give himself the capacity to sire life. He was successful in impregnating his lovers, but rather than create a new lifeform, his experiments infected the womb of his lover with imperfect facsimiles of himself," Clio explained, as the Chartis Kosmos showed the four images of beings who closely resembled Iapetus.

Immediately Hermes recognized two of them: Prometheus and his own grandfather, the lesser Titan Atlas.

Clio continued. "All of them had an aspect of Iapetus that made them exceptional. Prometheus was wise and cunning, Atlas was strong and mighty, Menoetius was brave to a fault, and Epimetheus was charming, but they all also had serious faults. Prometheus was arrogant, Atlas was stubborn and close-minded, Menoetius was crazed beyond logic, and Epimetheus was dim-witted."

Clio paused to allow everyone a moment to view these pictures, all appearing as sketches taken from textbooks that Clio had studied intently. "In addition to all of that, some of Iapetus' brood were not immortal. Not truly. Iapetus' early studies in the field of essence manipulation and his unwillingness to work with the other Titans had left his 'sons' with a form of ichor that was... lacking," she explained, as the essence above her displayed a series of technical manuals on the properties of ichor.

"Iapetus' first three sons had exceptional physical and mental aptitudes to various degrees, and their bodies were possibly more resilient than even those of later Titanic creations, but they were not kept untouched by age. While they resisted it to a degree, they aged like a mortal human would, though at a far slower rate," explained Clio, displaying a timeline that projected that Epimetheus' lifespan was about one-hundred times longer than a mortal human from Earth at the time. "Only Atlas, his fourth son, was truly immortal."

Hermes' mother, the immortal Oread nymph, lowered her head and let her eyes drift to Hermes. She was not comfortable seeing the image of her cruel father displayed above. Yet, looking at her son gave her comfort. So, a second later, she drifted away from the nymphs. Finally, she stopped and stood at the side of her son's throne and placed her hand on his.

Hermes smiled back at her quietly. As her other hand came to his shoulder, he winced in pain. She raised her eyebrows in shock, then lowered them inquisitively. Hermes batted his eyes at her and gave a shaky grin.

"Due to these abilities, Kronos saw merit in using Iapetus and his sons to secure the borders of their territory in the west, leaving Iapetus to supervise those lands and his sons to lead the mortal soldiers into battle," said Clio as the essence shifted to detailed maps of ancient lands ruled by the Titans on Earth. "Then with Iapetus and his sons sent away, Kronos tasked Rhea with finding a way to use Iapetus' work to make their own lieutenants. Rhea did more than that, she improved on Iapetus' work and with the counsel of imprisoned Gaia created the process of Exaltation which you are quite familiar with, I am certain," she said with a hint of a smile as the Chartis Kosmos displayed sketches of the mortal versions of Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Hades, and Hestia. A moment later, the image flashed, displaying them again after undergoing the exaltation process.

"What is wrong, son?" whispered Maia.

Hermes closed his eyes, trying not to make a scene.

Young Epimetheus' picture returned as Clio continued her presentation. "Iapetus and his sons remained irrelevant for a time. If they had accomplished anything of significance in this time, it is lost to the annals of time," Clio said with a slight frown, "but they return to notability when it was discovered that Zeus was not imprisoned in Tartarus with his siblings," Clio said, showing a picture of Kronos' tearing the Rhea-created facsimile of Zeus to pieces upon discovering this deception.

Maia's hand pressed on her son's shoulder again, causing him to flinch and wince.

"Hey," he whispered back. "Easy there, mom... That really stings!"

"During Zeus' travels in this time, his first real risk of capture came from Epimetheus and his brothers. Time and again, Zeus outsmarted the Sons of Iapetus as they tried repeatedly to capture him whenever he had ventured to the western lands," Clio explained, showing sketches depicting Zeus' encounters with the sons of Iapetus. "During the usurpation of the Titans, Iapetus and his sons were too far away to participate in the final battle and by the time word of the Titans' fall had reached them, and they rallied their forces, the gods had ascended to control of Haven and even had relocated it to Olympus."

Maia pulled her son's shirt back at the collar to peer at his injury as he fruitlessly tried to stop her. When she saw the recovering wound, her nostrils flared. Then, leaning in close to her son, Maia quickly saw a rage in her eyes. "Who did this?" she asked with a hoarse whisper.

Hermes skittishly chuckled and slowly shrugged. But unfortunately, that answer did not please his mother, prompting her to glare across the throne room to Zeus, who was just noticing the commotion around Hermes' throne.

The image above the hearth was now of a scene familiar to Hermes. "As Iapetus and his sons surrounded Olympus to lay siege to it, the Titan called for a parlay. While Zeus and his throne guard met with Iapetus and two of his sons, Epimetheus and Prometheus infiltrated the Haven in the still of the night, using a secret entrance told to them by their father. They then attacked Hestia as she slept and while Prometheus took the Empyrean Flame from her chambers, Epimetheus took Hestia as their hostage, escaping from the same manner they had entered," Clio said, pausing to eye Hestia as the goddess stood up and dismissed herself from the throne chamber, exiting through the side door.

Hebe threw her father an inquisitive look, and with a permissive nod from the king, Hebe followed Hestia out of the chamber.

After Zeus gave Clio a nod, the muse continued. "Young Hermes had witnessed this," said the muse, prompting Hermes to sit up and take better stock of his surroundings. "Hermes quickly realized that without the Empyrean Flame powering the Haven that the gods were vulnerable to attack, and so he ran through the halls, alerting everyone to prepare for battle and when he was done with that, he grabbed the talaria from Hephaestus' workshop and leapt out into the mortal world, descending down the slopes of Mount Olympus to alert his father."

Hermes glanced to his right, where Hephaestus sat beside Hermes on his swiveling throne. The two gods shared a brief acknowledgment of the past event, and with a grin, Hermes tapped the talaria on his boots, and Hephaestus simply grinned in satisfaction before returning his eyes to the Chartis Kosmos and the presenting muse.

"Alerted to the ruse and Hestia's abduction, Zeus immediately struck Iapetus' son Menoetius with the Thunderbolt, smiting the Titan's son into countless particles scattered on the wind. Seconds later, the throne guard set upon Atlas but were overpowered. As Hermes and Zeus fell back to Olympus, Atlas and Iapetus gave chase but were beaten back by the arrival of Poseidon and Hades who had heard of the siege and brought forth their own armies to counter any assault. In the ensuing battle, Iapetus was beaten down by Zeus and Hades while Poseidon single-handedly fell Atlas who swore to give Poseidon control over his island paradise in the west if Poseidon spared his life," Clio stopped to eye the crowd who were mostly having events they had already lived recounted.

The muse awkwardly giggled and then went on. "While this mighty battle raged, Apollo and Artemis gave chase to Prometheus and Epimetheus, who saw the battle had been lost and attempted to disappear into the surrounding settlements and wilderness to keep the Empyrean Flame from Olympus. The brothers believed that if they could keep Olympus without its essential power, the gods would be unable to maintain control of their domain or possibly, they thought they could use the flame to access Tartarus and rescue their father and the other imprisoned Titans," Clio explained as the Chartis Kosmos displayed various sketches of these events.

"But the twins of Iapetus had not counted on the resourcefulness of the twins of Zeus," said Clio. "They tracked the brothers to a cottage near the closest entrance to the Underworld. As Artemis provided covering fire by raining adamantine arrows down upon their hideout, Apollo charged in and freed Hestia. Then as a fight broke out for the Empyrean Flame between Hestia and Prometheus, Apollo kicked Prometheus into Artemis' sight line, and she struck him in the chest, downing him at once," as Clio said this, Hermes leaned forward and looked over to where Apollo sat, tenderly massaging the site of his own recent arrow wound.

"Epimetheus fled, but this proved to be a fortunate thing for him as Artemis had used her last arrow on his brother. Leaving Epimetheus to the wilds, the twins returned to Olympus with the Empyrean Flame and its keeper... and another of Iapetus' sons to be imprisoned. At his trial, Prometheus provoked the gods and was given a most harsh sentence for his trespasses. No mercy was given," Clio explained.

"We know about Prometheus and Atlas," said Hermes' mother, Maia. The barefoot beauty with short black and brown hair and dark eyes strutted away from her son's throne. "By Hades' name, Atlas was my father... I don't need a lecture on him. Tell us about Epimetheus!"

Hermes smirked at his mother but glanced at Zeus to ensure he was not angered by her outburst.

Zeus gave a dismissive wave toward the muse. "Clio, if you would please get to those details."

Clio nodded and took a moment to gather her thoughts. Then, with a firm nod, she decided how to proceed and then did so. "Epimetheus fled into the lands far from Olympus and established himself as king, slowly building a new army to challenge the reign of the gods."

"Right," said Hephaestus with a grunt as he leaned forward on his throne. "But he didn't have a queen, and so we saw an opportunity," said the Divine Engineer.

Clio smiled at the god. "Indeed and so you, Prince Hephaestus, created the beautiful woman Pandora in your magnificent forge. The purpose of her was to seduce Epimetheus and sabotage his efforts from within his own home, and it worked until curious Pandora opened her chest to reveal her true nature," the muse detailed as pictures of Pandora gazing upon her own exposed clockwork heart and essence-fueled organs.

Witnessing this was Epimetheus' nephew, Deucalion, who struck Pandora down and pried her heart from her chest. After doing so, Deucalion showed his uncle that with the synthetic ichor that dripped from the heart when fed a spark of eldritch essence, they could corrupt their soldiers to become a new breed of monstrosity to challenge the Olympian reign," said Clio as the Chartis displayed images of Deucalion, who honestly just looked like a younger Epimetheus or Prometheus. Another series of images showed sketches of the corrupted soldiers, which looked like men with horns on their skin, fanged mouths, or elongated limbs.

"While Zeus was on one of his peaceful sojourns through the lands, he was struck by a poisoned arrow and set upon by Epimetheus, Deucalion, Deucalion's wife Pyrrha, and a battalion of monster-men. Too weakened by the poison, Zeus was unable to use his mighty powers and had to flee from them, diving into the bottom of a quarry created from a dammed lake. While the Titans' descendants and their monstrosities took the long way down the quarry, Zeus had time to treat his injuries and have a meal of Nektar and Ambrosia," said Clio as the Chartis Kosmos displayed the image of Zeus sitting on rocks enjoying a meal as he was surrounded by an army of vile inhuman beings.

"Then as Zeus finished his meal, he transformed into an eagle, snatched Pandora's heart from Deucalion's hand, and then flew to the top of the quarry. There he returned to the form of god and called down a lightning bolt to blast open the dam which held the river at bay, flooding the quarry and all therein," Clio said as the picture showed Zeus watching over the chaos happening in the quarry as the soldiers drowned.

"Deucalion and his wife managed to survive and ruled Epimetheus' kingdom afterward. Meanwhile, rumors persist that Epimetheus also survived to die as an old hermit, too afraid to come out of hiding for fear of Zeus' wrath," Clio said, concluding her presentation.

"But that didn't happen! He didn't die!" Artemis exclaimed. "That or Epimetheus came back from the dead to shoot my brother and poison me!"

"And this has nothing to do with the crash of the Advancer," Athena said with a scowl. "You promised Ares and I that this concerned the matter of our nations' current dilemma."

Ares shook his head as he eyed Athena. "Dilemma? You attacked us! Multiple times now!"

Hermes sighed, but he did have to agree with their complaint. However, he failed to see how any of this had to do with his investigation. This presentation had been nothing more than an enjoyable journey through history.

Taken back, Athena scoffed. "Excuse me? I understand the confusion with the Advancer but what happened in the temple was not me. If anything, I was attempting to capture the murderer of Athenian citizens."

Ares rolled his eyes as he leaned back on his throne. "We looked into your claims. Hogwash is what they amounted to. You probably stabbed our brother in the back and used that contraption on her heart yourself."

Narrowing her eyes, Athena glared at Ares with her jaw clenched.

Hermes had to wonder whose brilliant idea it was to have those two directly across from one another.

"Enough," Zeus said, not bothering to look at his quarreling children. "Thank you, Clio. You have done this council a great service today," he said with a thankful nod. He then waited for the Muse of History to see herself out. Once the mural door was closed, Zeus shot Athena and Ares a long, lingering glance before turning back toward the nymphs. "I wanted you to see Clio's presentation as I believe, based on evidence discovered by Demeter with the assistance of Artemis' aid in apprehending our suspect, that Epimetheus is the one responsible for the series of nymph and satyr attacks."

"Why?" asked Echo, the wood nymph leader of the Dryads. She had bark-colored skin and green hair, which sprouted flowers of beautiful colors. "I mean… Seriously? Why would he do that? What point is there? What did we do to him?" she asked rapidly, befitting of her reputation as a heavy talker.

"Easy," said her fellow Okeanid, the sea nymph Thetis. "Remember to be respectful, sisters. I am certain the king has a theory."

"The theory is mine, actually," said Demeter as she stood up. "Something that I have already shared the foundations of with Pan and Lampetia," she said as she stepped down and approached the heart. With her fingertips grazing the bar, she caused the Chartis Kosmos to display an orichalcum flask. "This was found on Epimetheus. It was filled with an alchemical cocktail which included Nektar and ichor," some of the nymphs and gods alike gasped to hear this revelation. "I believe that he has been hunting nymphs and satyrs in secret for thousands of years to sustain himself using this foul practice."

Dionysus chuckled. "Where did he learn to do this? I thought this guy was supposed to be a fool?" the god asked, following up by attempting to drink from his goblet and finding it empty. Then, frowning, he waved toward Hebe's back in a pointless attempt to get her attention.

"From Pandora's Heart," Hephaestus said with a gruff voice. "It converted ambient essence into synthetic ichor which gave Pandora the semblance of life and when the soldiers under Epimetheus' command ingested the essence-rich synthetic ichor of Pandora, they mutated into monstrous forms. It's possible that all Epimetheus did was drink enough of Pandora's ichor to cause himself to mutate into a form capable of drinking ichor to augment his own blood, giving him a semblance of immortality."

"But Zeus took back the Heart," said Aphrodite.

Hephaestus sighed. "Father gave me a brief of what to expect from this meeting. Before coming here, I checked our reliquary. Unfortunately, the Heart is not among the relics therein. Judging by the amount of dust accumulated in its place, it has been missing for some time."

The throne room turned into a chamber of gasps.

"Alas that is concerning, but," Zeus reached into his pocket and produced the necklace Artemis had taken from her attacker, "we have the Heart once more."

"How did he get it from our reliquary?" asked Aphrodite.

"He broke in here before using a method we never did ascertain," said Hephaestus. "Quite possibly he used the same means."

"Where is he now?" asked Peitho. "I would like to observe him being cast into the hearth and burned alive by the Empyrean Flame that he so desperately craved."

"He is en route to Tartarus by royal decree, awaiting his official trial," explained Zeus.

"I guess that works, too," said Peitho with a scowl.

"My apologies, father," said Hermes. "I was not present to deliver him to Tartarus for you… on account of being stabbed in the back."

"What happened to our son?!" exclaimed Maia, boldly approaching Zeus with an accusatory finger that got shoved in the King of the God's face. When the Throneguard appeared, she seemed poised to slap Zeus but was ushered a safe distance away.

"I am quite fine, mother," Hermes said, nervously chuckling. "From what I hear, Apollo and Artemis had it much worse than I."

"What I want to know is how does Epimetheus connect to the matter of the strange woman who stabbed Hermes and defiled the hearts of the dead?" asked Athena. "Or whoever caused the crash of the Advancer in Imperial territory?"

"I am ordering Asclepius to perform an autopsy on the crew of the Advancer," Zeus said, his eyes on Ares. "I trust he will be afforded the full cooperation of the imperial regime?"

Ares scoffed, rolled his eyes, and then finally nodded. "I will see that he does."

"And there will be no hostilities from either side until his investigation is concluded," Zeus added.

"Atlantis will see to that," Poseidon said, stroking his beard. "We have already blockaded the bay between the capital cities."

"No," said Zeus. "Withdraw your fleet, brother. I want your fleet to protect Atlantis..." he said before strolling closer to the representatives of the Natural Order. "I would ask all of you to take your tribes to Atlantis and seek sanctuary there. Then, alert all the tribes to do the same. That seems the only place without these killings of nymphs and satyrs."

"And for those without the means to do so?" asked Pan.

Zeus nodded. "Seek sanctuary among the Enclave of the Moon for now. I will place one of my throne guards there for added security and put forth a Divine Call for heroes to aid in this."

"If I may," said Lampetia, stepping up to the king, "I wish to point out that the recent rise of deceit seems to suggest more than a single murdering abomination. I would not want us to rule out the Broken Book as a culprit in this matter," she said, her eyes slowly drifting to Apollo. "With your leave, sir, I would like to personally investigate these heretics."

As Apollo parted his lips to speak, it was Zeus who answered. "Denied," he stated. "I have Hades assigned to this very task."

"And when can we expect a progress report?" asked Thetis.

"All in due time," Zeus assured her. "All in due time..."

## Characters

### Gods

* Asclepius
* Hermes
* Hestia
* Zeus
* Hebe
* Pan
* Despoina
* Hephaestus
* Athena
* Ares
* Demeter
* Apollo

### Nymphs

* Peitho
* Lampetia
* Thetis
* Maia
* Echo