27th October 2012
07:03 GMT +3
"His power comes from the titan Aether? Where is it?
" I mean, the only place-.
"Is it in Olympus itself? Because the realm of the gods isn't at the literal peak of the mountain.
"
"No. That was at the start of the war. Zeus had nothing like the power to bind a titan like Aether." She looks thoughtful. "How much contact have you had with gods not of Olympus?"
"Little to none.
"
"Mm. Pity. The gods of India found a fascinating way to deal with their titans, though I doubt that you'd appreciate it."
"Why not?
"
"Since they could not take the titans' power into themselves, they broke them down gradually to create a system. At one end, it is tethered by the titans. At the other, by the souls of mortal creatures, undergoing a constant cycle of life, death and rebirth. The gods would then draw power from the system, something
far easier than taking power from the Dream. And less likely to render the one doing it
malleable."
"Erebos allows reincarnation.
"
"It
pales in comparison. How many shades do you think had the wherewithal to actually
choose reincarnation? Besides, Erebos doesn't make value judgements about the moral quality of a person's life. Any shade being reincarnated would be reborn as a human, and the Waters of Lethe expunge all memory. It isn't part of the system and it wasn't planned."
"Okay, so..?
"
She rolls her eyes dismissively. "Zeus was able to steal
tiny amounts of Aether's power for himself, growing steadily stronger and stronger as Aether weakened. In the end, the conscious mind that was Aether collapsed back into the raw magic of the Dream, with Zeus having captured only a tiny fragment of him. But that was enough for him to rise in power and prominence."
"How did he work out how to do that? Zeus never struck me-
"
She gives me an unimpressed look.
"-as-.
You did it.
"
"There are limits to what the spell I devised can achieve. And I felt that having Zeus risk himself was better than taking the risk myself. He had the drive…"
I turn to Eris.
"So..?
"
She slumps. "No. I wasn't born until after it was all over, remember? Or I'd totally have mainlined a chaos titan."
"Who got the chaos titans? Or chaos titan?
"
"Chaos, duh. Punched a hole between parallel universes and made it their own
thing."
I frown, curiously.
"Why didn't you ever become a Lord of Chaos?
"
She shrugs awkwardly. "If you're not all about raw power, it's not all that great a deal. You have to give up a
lot, and there're a tonne of responsibilities…"
"You couldn't be bothered to put the work in.
"
"It didn't offer me anything I wanted! I actually kinda
like being a goddess, and there wasn't anything I wanted to do that needed more power."
"'Kinda' like?
"
"It's a lot less fun without worshippers, but that's
fixed now." She grins, reaching up to pat me on the head. "Good work, Chaos Prophet."
"Didn't you have no worshippers for about two thousand years? And assuming that you're about as old as Hephaestus, you're only four thousand years old.
"
Eris fidgets awkwardly. "
Three and a… Half. But I had other worshippers. There's always someone who wants to buck the system."
"Okay, so-
" I look back at Hecate and-. She's
ancient, paper-thin skin stretched across fragile bones, hair thin and dress just a sheet bound with a brooch.
"-that
was your maiden form.
"
"N-o, yo-u're assuming-"
I sigh, put my hands over my eyes and then turn in a circle. When I get back I'm looking at a child.
"-that I'm limited to a trinity of forms, when really I can look like anything I want."
"Lady Hecate, you can look like whoever you want. But if we return to the issue, Zeus…
Doesn't have a currently alive titan he's drawing power from in the way Hades does Erebos?
"
"No. He's got Metis stuck in his head. In theory she should give him wisdom."
"Is he just not listening, or..?
"
The tiny child-goddess rolls her eyes. "I don't know. I was already down here by the time
that happened."
"I see. That's why he's keeping the ones in Tartarus there, isn't it? So he can use their power in full.
"
"Not quite. He can't take power from Tartarus
quite as easily as Hades can Erebos. But that is almost certainly why they're there." She sniffs. "Not that he can
use all that power as things are."
I nod.
"So that's quite a lot of power.
"
"Quite a lot of power and quite a lot of different abilities he can use if he puts his mind to it." She sniffs. "Not that I expect that he
would. Still, I'm not sure where you'll find anyone who can fight him."
"No one comes to mind?
"
She makes an amused noise. "If I had to select the person with the greatest chance of defeating him in the entire Hellenic mythos…"
I wait a moment.
"Yes?
"
"I'd bet on you. But not with very much money."
"I assume that you still know the spell for stealing from or binding a titan?
"
"It's more complex than just casting a spell. They tend to fight back. But
yes, I do know it. Why?"
"Nothing yet. I'm just gathering information. Would you be willing to share it?
"
"It's an interesting spell to cast. If you could find a situation for it, I would cast it for a trivial price."
"I appreciate that, thank you. And there's no one in the mythos who could fight Zeus?
"
"Not presently. And if you're thinking about using the Tartarian prisoners to boost Hades or Melinoë, I will tell you now that Zeus will feel it and stop you."
"I expected, but thank you for confirming. Can-
"
I turn around, and-. Canis has taken jars, their contents and their shelving and arranged them to form the image of himself and Brut mid-leap.
"-is-?
"
"
This is art attack!"
But good luck getting that many cats to do anything together.
