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Diana looked to the other women in Alchemist's home, her eyes ringed in black with deep bruises she'd refused to have healed.
She'd earned her injuries, minor as they were. Alchemist's fists and blade had hurt, certainly, but he'd been unable to leave any deep wounds.
"I would like for us to go over our efforts in combat." Diana said, directly addressing Artemis. The goddess, looking down at her once-twisted ankle, shifted her head up and looked into Diana's eyes, her gaze inscrutable for a moment before dropping her head back down. "But I believe it would be best if we had a few more opinions as to what we'd done and what we may have missed. Jinx, Kary, would you two be willing to join us?"
"Sure." Jinx had been sitting at the dining room table when Diana had come in, practically dragging Artemis with her whilst Zagreus and Alchemist remained in the room with the entertainment center. His healing of the goddess had been quick, a simple snap of his fingers and her wounds set about mending in short order.
"I think I would enjoy a change of scenery." Kary agreed, a mug of something hot on the table in front of her.
"Can I come?" Billy asked, his legs swinging back and forth where he sat. Diana had barely noticed the boy, his presence so minor in comparison to his form as Captain Marvel.
"...No." Diana told him after a moment of consideration, remembering the culture the boy hailed from and its numerous taboos. "I was thinking that it may do well to have a sort of 'Girl's night out'. To help us all unwind from the stresses we've been dealing with and to ensure we're all on the same page."
Diana had been spending a lot of time thinking, recently. The fight had done wonders to clear her head and align her thoughts. There was just something about a good fight, the feeling of her blood pumping through her veins and the adrenalin, the simple and direct purpose. It seemed like it removed the unnecessary excess in her thoughts, cleared away the countless distractions and crystallized her focus.
"What do you mean?" Jinx asked, her pink hair flopping about her shoulder as she tilted her head in confusion. "Aren't we gonna talk about things here?"
"We will use the baths of Hades." Diana explained, waving an arm over her torso. "Artemis and I fought a potent spirit in the realms beyond and while it did us no serious harm, it was still a messy and stressful affair. We can talk as we cleanse ourselves and relax."
"I was unaware that bathing could be a communal event." Kary stood up from her seat, towering over everyone but Diana herself. "I believe I would like to try this."
"O...Kay?" Jinx, though, seemed less than sure. "I guess we're doing this?"
"Billy." Diana addressed the boy. "Perhaps you should see what Alchemist is doing?"
"Yeah, I think that sounds good." The boy stood up from his own seat and ambled out of the room. "...Just an excuse to talk about girl stuff, I bet."
Diana heard the boy grumbling as he left the room but chose not to comment.
"Gather whatever supplies you wish to use and come along." Diana told the room at large before heading downstairs to get her own things. She quickly returned with a small sack and a change of clothes to find that the other assembled women had gathered around the entryway to the house.
Alchemist and Billy watched on curiously from the living room as Zagreus entertained himself by pressing buttons on the remote to the television. They were not given an opportunity to ask questions before Diana and her own group departed.
The man had made his opinions clear during the spar. Whatever else he might wish to say, Diana imagined it would be some variant on the same thing.
The quartet made their way out the door of the demi-plane and into the House of Hades, a marvelous shortcut that Diana would have to find ways to utilize, and quickly found the bathing rooms with little real difficulty after asking for directions.
It was not a complicated affair, not at all. There was one central changing room that led to another room with a shallow basin set into the floor that was filled with scented water. Pomegranate, if Diana's nose was not mistaken. To the side were a few smaller rooms with small tubs that could be moved, meant for one to quickly cleanse themself.
Bruised and bloodied, Diana felt no shame as she divested herself of her armor. Nor did she wait upon the others before stepping into the waters.
The facilities in the House of Hades were different to those in Themyscira but... This was familiar.
"This is actually rather nice." Kary commented, the room darkening as she entered it. "What is the proper method to using this facility?"
"Just get into the water and relax." Diana told her, doing exactly as she said. The titan hissed as she got into the water, shallow cuts stinging as they sank below the surface. "While this is a place of cleansing, it is also used to socialize outside the normal limits of rank or station."
"I suppose exposing oneself so openly would encourage more frank discussion?" Diana leaned her back against the wall of the piscina as Kary got in.
"Somewhat, yes." Artemis said as the goddess stepped into the room. Diana didn't have to turn to face her to hear the hesitation in her voice. "More, this is meant to be a time of relaxation. A place to relieve oneself of thier physical and mental burdens in preparation for the next day."
The final member of their quartet, Jinx, was surprisingly less timid. The girl walked out of the changing room without shame and happily sank into the waters.
"Oh..." The teenager groaned, leaning back like Diana and spreading her arms wide as she reclined. "And I thought having a bathtub again was nice!"
The scented waters worked to relieve their aching muscles and soothe their bruises. For a long moment the quartet simply rest in the steaming bath.
"...The fight with Flamel." Diana began, opening her eyes and looking across the assembled women. "It was at something of a stalemate. At my best, I could fend him off and he could not land a telling blow, but neither could I penetrate whatever armor her wore beneath his shadowy shroud."
"Nor could my arrows pierce it." Artemis added her input, her voice drowsy. "I believe the most effect I had upon the battle was in disabling his blade."
"How'd you do that?" Jinx asked, cracking open one slitted pink eye to look at the goddess.
"It was filled with moonlight." Artemis explained, her body language relaxing slightly as she spoke. "Whilst I am not the premier goddess of the moon among Olympus, my words still hold sway. I demanded that the moon darken and it snuffed out the light within the blade. Were I Hecate, I could have likely stripped away the blessing entirely. As is, I sealed it for a night."
"And then I broke it." Diana completed, nodding to the green haired girl. "Which was less of a boon than expected as he had a replacement ready for us."
"A foul weapon." Artemis interrupted, leaning forward as she did so, her hair swishing in the water. "Whatever infernal darkness filled the blade, it felt as though it hungered for divine flesh. I'd never heard of so profane a tool before. We should see about recovering it before Flamel does, if he still lives."
"Given the wreckage that we left our battlefield in, and the ever-shifting nature of the Nether realm..." Diana trailed off, unsure if Alchemist had retrieved the weapon himself. She hadn't seen it but, if he'd stowed it in the inventory, she really wouldn't know.
"I suppose we'd best hope it doesn't find its way into the wrong hands." Artemis leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Did... Flamel say anything during the fight?" Jinx asked, idly twirling the tip of her pink ponytail in one hand.
"Quite a bit, actually." Diana admitted, trying to recall his words. Between the ringing in her ears and how readily Alchemist had struck at her face, much of the battle's details were lost in a mire of pain.
"It seemed he could not help but offer advice." Artemis answered to fill the silence created by Diana's search. "He was insistent that Diana use her domain, that it would avail her better than raw force would-"
"And he would be right." A new voice called, drawing four sets of eyes to the doorway as Nyx walked in. Her yellow eyes were hard as she gazed at the girls in the piscina before joining them. "I have been teaching you what it means to be a goddess, Diana. Knowing that you chose to limit yourself to brute force... I am disappointed."
"How do you know that?" Diana asked, shifting to the side to make room for the woman. "You certainly weren't there."
"I know all that occurs within this realm." Nyx declared, leaning forward and snapping her fingers to summon a servant to undo the bindings within her hair. "Watching as you all fumbled about throwing sticks and swinging metal clubs at each other- Reality is eager to bend to your whims and you choose to fight like mortals?"
"It is an honest form of combat!" Diana argued, crossing her arms. "What should I have done, then?"
"For what reason should I tell you?" Nyx's voice was cold, cold enough that it chilled the waters they were in and sent a shiver down everyone's spines. "Flamel was willing, eager, even, to tell you and was ignored."
"How about an example?" Jinx cut in, calmly interrupting what looked to be an explosive argument. "Telling her she can do all this stuff is neat and all but it doesn't really explain anything."
"...Very well." Nyx sighed and the temperature of the water began to rise back to normal.
"Diana, you have had your domain quite literally told to you." Nyx began to explain, her hands placed on her lap. Even without any of her regalia, Diana thought the woman cut an imposing figure. She demanded attention as much through her presence as anything else. "Truth. Not mere honesty, nothing so banal and limited as what a mortal could express in words. The Truth is the very essence of what something -Is-. The very most abstract concepts of reality rely upon this aspect and it is in your nature to wield it. As a weapon, as a tool, nothing else could ever hope to compare."
Nyx leaned back and turned her eyes upwards, gazing at something beyond the ceiling.
"Perhaps the two simplest expressions of the Truth are what is, and what is not. Perhaps you've noticed some awareness of lies or deception. A sixth sense as to illusions or misdirections?" Nyx shrugged, her attendants pausing briefly in their work on her hair before they continued. "A rejection of that which is not. This awareness could be further imposed upon reality itself, Diana. Look upon something which lies and demand it reveal whatever truth it has hidden."
The rest of the women looked on, eager to see if Nyx would offer any further input. Instead the woman simply stared at Diana's eyes and motioned for her to do something.
Looking across the others, the titan struggled for a moment to figure out whatever teachable moment Nyx intended for her before her eyes caught on something.
Jinx... Jinx had joined them in human form. The girl sat against the wall of the piscina, relaxed as could be while her long hair floated around her shoulders.
And... Diana knew, instinctively, that the girl was not human. That her form was, in truth, a deception. A lie.
"...Jinx." Diana hesitated but the girl in question raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "Reveal the terrible truth of your monstrous form."
There was no blink, no glowing lights or sudden shifts. Where Jinx had been sitting, now a dragon sat instead. She was still sitting back, her arms were still spread out but now her wings were as well and the end of her long, whip like tail was bobbing on the surface of the water.
"Wow." The dragon's mouth moved easily, Jinx's voice coming from its scaly lips. "Bitch move, Diana."
"Very good." Nyx said, her voice expressing that she was pleased. "This is the most basic aspect of your nature, Diana. Now, reverse it."
"...I'm sorry?" Diana asked, struggling to understand what she'd done. Struggling harder with the command that she do the opposite.
"You have forced our dragon friend here to reveal her true form." Nyx explained as Jinx yawned, exposing countless small, needle-like teeth. "And this is the most basic application of Truth. But a domain is made of more than just what they may seem. As we are all multi-faceted, so is your domain. Truth is just as often defined by what something is not, as it is by what something is."
"I think..." Diana hesitated at the demand. "That maybe I shouldn't experiment on my friends."
"Very well." Nyx snorted and shook her head, her midnight hair spraying water around herself. "We have no shortage of those more suitable for you to practice upon."
Diana appreciated that, she really did. But that wasn't the only reason she didn't want to experiment with her powers on Jinx.
No, she thought as the dragonness resumed her human form.
Diana had seen that Alchemist could, if not quite match her in physical prowess, he could stalemate her. She had no desire to make an enemy of a friend for the sake of pursuing power.
-----
Sitting on a recliner in Alchemist's living room, Billy was bored. Zagreus was fiddling with the television, so he couldn't pull up a video that he wanted to watch. Alchemist was sitting at the couch with a little dinner tray on his lap so he could work with a sewing needle and some fabric.
"Why are girls so weird?" Billy asked out loud, his legs kicking back and forth. "I mean, seriously? What's so great about taking a bath together? You're just sitting in everyone's nasty soup!"
"Different priority list." Alchemist answered him, his eyes locked on the fabric he was stitching. "The female dynamic has a strong focus on group think.
"What?" Billy asked, his legs stopping.
"I think I understood some of those words." Zagreus commented as he pressed fast forward through a fight scene in some movie called '300'.
"Get a large enough group of women together and, barring extreme neurological divergences, they'll spend a lot of time working out a pecking order." Alchemist continued to explain, his hands mechanically working needle and thread with surprising skill. "Don't ask me what all criteria they use to figure out who's winning, though."
"...Okay?" Billy wished he had the Wisdom of Solomon right now. He had no idea if Alchemist was serious or even right. "So what's that got to do with the whole bathing together thing?"
"Not sure. Could be a few different things. None of them judge people too much based on looks, so I don't think it'd be a case of seeing each other without makeup." Alchemist set the needle down for a moment and reached forward, to the coffee table.
He also ended up tilting the tray he was working over and knocking his stuff to the ground.
After several very, very bad words that Marvel wasn't allowed to repeat (In public), Alchemist had himself re-situated.
"Right, uh, communal bathing?" The man looked to Zagreus and then Billy, who nodded at him. "Might be a social grooming thing? Like... I think I read a while back that people used to groom each other as a way of checking on everyone's health? Nowadays it's kind of shifted to a social gathering where people get pampered at the spa. I think it might trigger the whole touch-bond thing but I never researched that part."
"Now, why would a dragon care to research how humans interact?" Zagreus asked, leaning back from his spot seated on the floor until he could see Alchemist and Billy. "I'd have figured it'd be beneath you."
"He wasn't always a dragon." Billy answered as Alchemist stared at the god blankly. "He... How did you become a dragon, actually?"
"I was offered the privilege of making my shapeshifting spell into my true form after 'winning' a fight with someone who used their soul as collateral in a Ponzi Scheme." The mage answered as he began to fold the sheet of golden velvet and begin stitching it into an actual shape. "I went half-way, though now it's more about two-thirds and I've been debating the pros and cons of finishing up."
"Anyway." Alchemist shook his head. "Back on topic. Ish. I used to be human and I didn't understand people very well. No natural social graces, you could say. I thought I could rectify that by learning the mechanics for how and why relationships work."
"And how'd that treat you?" Zagreus asked, leaning back forward and pressing 'Play'.
"Badly." Alchemist admitted. "Social calculus has too many variables and I'm not talented at manipulating them. Felt like a creep if I tried."
"Huh." That really did explain a lot for Billy. Like that one French villain, The Brain. They tried to boil everything down to numeric values, measuring any choice against a cost/benefit analysis and then taking whichever one gave them greater value. The genius didn't comprehend that people could accept some kind of 'Loss' if it meant they got something they wanted, even if it wasn't worth the costs. "But, I mean, you and Kary are dating? And Jinx is like your best friend?"
"Is my best friend." Alchemist softly corrected. "You don't need to be charming or witty to care about people, Billy. So long as you put some effort into being a friend? They'll do the same. Even people who are bad at it, they want to connect with other people."
"...Like Batman?" Billy sucked in one cheek as he thought on what Alchemist said. Batman and the mage got along really well, even if they didn't actually talk a whole lot.
"He's a very good example." Alchemist agreed. "He cares so much that it hurts. And if the people he loved were taken away? He wouldn't know what to do with himself. It'd be really bad, especially because he doesn't have many peers outside the League. And the League would do what he tells them to do, to back off, even though he'd need the opposite."
Billy couldn't imagine it. The gruff, severe Dark Knight sounded like a big softy the way Alchemist talked about him. Even the way Batman pushed his apprentice, Robin, seemed like it was too much.
"...So, uh, Jinx?" Billy asked, changing the subject awkwardly. Thinking about Batman being vulnerable didn't sit well with him. "How, uh, how'd you two meet?"
"You know, that's actually one of the wierdest stories because of just how mundane it is." Alchemist smiled as he began to recall the story for Billy. "I'm betting it had something to do with how her powers manipulate Luck and Chance, but we actually met in a laundromat in Gotham, back when I was still Leslie and struggling with the kids in the Apprentice League..."
-----
"...He makes me feel safe, okay?" Jinx answered, asked a rather similar question by Artemis about her relationship with the wizard. "He's fought to keep me safe, made enemies when people tried to hurt me. But... He's never taken advantage of that."
The pinkette leaned back in the tub, looking at the gilded ceiling instead of the faces of the women around her.
"The first time we met, I had a panic attack and threw up on him. He called Batman, -Batman-, to make sure I was taken care of. Did you know the guy has got, like, a live-in medic?" Jinx continued, memories working their way to the forefront of her mind.
"I am aware of Bat-Butler, yes." Diana agreed, sounding like she was trying to avoid laughing.
"Okay, well, that was back when he was still stuck in some thirteen year old kid's body after the previous resident killed himself." Jinx continued, pointedly not looking at Diana. "I was fifteen, he was thirteen. I know it's not too common for a girl to crush on someone younger, okay? But I didn't know he was older then. I just thought he was confident and, y'know, actually did stuff. He didn't talk about it but it was in how he acted."
"...I must admit, his willingness to act instead of speak is rather compelling." Kary agreed, probably nodding.
"Okay? But, like, I didn't know all that until we got stuck in this place called Bitterblack Island together. Back then, the demi-plane was only, like, four meters square? Maybe a bit smaller? I wouldn't have been surprised if he'd told me to sleep outside since, y'know, it was pretty cramped." Jinx wasn't even going to mention the outhouse. She refused. "Instead he set up a couple of cots and put up a screen. I... I mean, I was just skin and bones and he's always been pretty hefty. There's a lot of muscle under that. If he'd wanted... I mean, if he'd... And he didn't. Ever. Didn't even suggest anything."
Jinx sighed and sank deeper into the water until just her chin remained above the surface.
"He taught me how to defend myself when I asked. Taught me magic, the start of it anyway. He kept going into the depths of the island, full of hellhounds and ogres and, just, awful stuff. We were there for literally months and he never even asked me to help him. He didn't want to put me in danger." And she'd pushed back against even that restriction. Pushing him to take her along. Right into the face of the dragon that tried to twist her mind. "I figured, after we got out? Got things figured out? Maybe we could try and see where things went? I knew he was making his own body, he'd told me. I guess... I had some idea that we could run away together, or something?"
Honestly, how long ago that had been, Jinx didn't even remember at this point.
"I had a similar dream, once." Diana admitted, her voice wistful. "A man I'd met during the war. Steve Trevor. He... Chose to break things off. He said that he feared he'd break my heart when he grew old and died."
Jinx didn't look over but she made a consoling 'Aww' at the same time as Kary and Nyx did.
"I think... I think things have changed. I think I've changed." Jinx admitted, drawing attention back to herself. "I don't think so much about the whole boy-girl relationship thing. I... Especially when I'm in my real form, I just want to be close to him. I want to feel safe."
"...You're both young." Kary said, something hitching in her voice. "I... I think I actually feel guilty? Jinx, you're a Havoc Dragon. They are different from most others. Coming from the realm of Elysium, it's normal, it's natural that you would seek companionship. It's just so very strange, though. Alchemist's kind, they rarely handle others at all well."
"...Huh?" Jinx raised herself up a bit and actually looked at Kary. The fallen seemed... Actually she looked like she might be ashamed? Jinx had never seen that expression on the woman's face before.
"Sixteen years old, as a dragon? Jinx, you would barely be considered out of your early adolescence." Kary answered her, several sets of eyes on the statuesque woman. "It's quite likely that whatever romantic inclinations you once held have been... Subdued in favor of seeking a more stable companionship."
"...Wait?" Jinx fully stood up, water dripping down her body. "Does this mean I have to go through dragon puberty?"
"...Yes." Kary answered her, shame slowly giving way to mischief. "Yes it does."
-----
Alchemist kept a careful eye on the embroidery he was working into the cloth in his hands. Converting a spell into a scroll was... An interesting process. Translating comprehension directly into words and layering it with just enough magic to nudge it along to completion once it was started was hard enough.
Making it into a permanent object instead of one that would be immediately destroyed by the unleashed magic was worse.
Finding the appropriate combination of thread and fabric that could withstand those forces? He'd burnt a significant amount of money trying to get that figured out.
"I'm beginning to feel unwell." Zagreus spoke up as the credits of the movie he'd watched began to roll. "I believe it's best I retire to my home for the night."
"Probably a good idea." Alchemist agreed. "I have something for you but it can wait. If I'm not in the House tomorrow, come find me."
"Very well. Until then, Billy, Alchemist." Zagreus placed two fingers against his temple and then used them to wave at the two. The god stumbled on his first step but quickly righted himself and departed.
"I'm getting kind of tired, too." Billy started to get up as well.
"Actually?" Alchemist looked up, catching the boy's attention. "If you don't mind, I'd like to talk. We haven't exactly had a chance like this."
"...Okay?" Billy sat back down and placed his hands on his lap. "Am... Am I in trouble?"
"No." Alchemist answered the boy simply. "I'd appreciate it if you stopped giving the dogs table scraps-"
With practiced ease, the mage ignored the shrill cry of 'No~!' that came from the kitchen where the dogs had been eating from a bowl of dry food.
"-but I actually wanted to talk to you about what you've been working on and ask if there's something in particular you'd like to learn?" Alchemist looked back down at his project as Billy let out a relieved sigh.
Crafting a construct was a fairly involved process. At its most basic, Animate Object could be cast on something and then fixed into place with Permanence. A more complicated affair could involve hidden compartments or spells worked into the construct so that they could be cast a limited number of times per day.
Homonculi, a different but deeply related branch, could have potions worked into them to allow them the same effect, albeit slightly more limited. There was an upper limit on what kind of spell could be converted into a potion, capping out at sixth level spells.
The mage fondly remembered a campaign as an Artificer that involved the creation of such creatures. One of which he'd literally named 'Finishing Touch' as the creature had been imbued with potions that allowed it to cast Fox's Cunning, to boost intelligence. Crafter's Fortune, a buff spell that would end upon its use but would offer a significant bonus to a craft check. Finally, the homonculus had a third spell infused into it, True Skill, which would offer another buff to the skill of the caster's choice equal to half the caster's level.
All in all it totaled up to a very nice nine point bonus to any one crafting check made per day. A good deal below the potential maximum bonus but it was functionally free to use once a day upon command.
"...I don't really know." Billy admitted after several long minutes spent thinking. "Can I think about it?"
"Of course you can." Alchemist agreed easily. He had no desire to press the issue more than necessary. "Do you mind if I ask what Nyx has been teaching you?"
"A lot of stuff about what it means to be a god?" The boy said, uncertainty in his voice. "I mean, as Captain Marvel I'm pretty strong? But that's kind of..."
"It is a bit premature." Alchemist said, agreeing with the boy. To a degree. "But you can channel the power of six different divine and legendary figures. That will change you- That -is- changing you."
It wasn't a standard ascension but then, there really wasn't such a thing. Usually, though, such an event came about when a person was pushed beyond their limit and they somehow broke through the barriers that kept the soul and the world separate.
Billy Batson, instead, was being spoon-fed a diet of divine power. Slowly overfilling and stretching him in a metaphysical sense.
An artificial champion, the keys to which were held tightly in the fist of a man gone senile.
Alchemist pursed his lips in thought. It might be a good idea to check on Jebediah, see if the man had any luck with the seeds he'd been given.
"Billy." Alchemist set the tray of sewing materials aside and stood up to stretch. "You've got a long way to go before you become the God of Gods. If things keep going forward at the rate they've been moving, you'll be drawing on more and more power, more strength, just to match what's coming."
Which would be... Wasteful. Billy could withstand the pressure but there would be no shortage of betrayal in his future if nothing changed.
"So... What should I do about it?" The boy asked, still tired but now decidedly focused.
"Come on outside and we'll test a few things." Alchemist had a few ideas, things that could be helpful. He hoped.
The man held a shop window open as they walked, navigating to something he hadn't touched in a very long time. The shops associated with Final Fantasy Two.
Five thousand GP later and he had five bottles of Ether in hand. Small potions that would restore a decent amount of magic. They weren't the most efficient use of money but they were small enough that Billy could drink all five without feeling full.
"So, what are you thinking?" Billy asked as they made for a clear spot, next to the training dummy Kary had been using recently.
"Your power, Captain Marvel." Alchemist leaned down to sit on the grass, crossing his legs. "The power of six great figures. Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles and Mercury. Each of these figures have offered you a blessing."
"You know, I've never told that to anyone? It's kinda creepy how you know that." Billy told him as he sat down across from the mage.
"That's what I do." Alchemist said, a grin on his lips. "I know things and I'm creepy."
The mage cleared his throat before schooling his features.
"Each one has volunteered to let their essence empower you." Alchemist explained again in a slightly different way. "That doesn't really go away just because you have or haven't shouted the Wizard's name. It should just be less active, waiting to be called upon."
"You mean, like, a switch or something?" Billy rocked back and forth, a look of concentration on his face. "But, like, how would I do anything with that? Do you think I could turn them off and on? One by one?"
"I think it's possible." Alchemist told the boy, holding out the first of the five crystal phials he'd bought. "Zeus offers you power. Power, healing and magic- Except, everyone has magic Billy. Black Canary and Green Arrow could both use magic, if they wanted to exercise it enough to matter. So that means that the parts that Zeus is really offering you are power and healing. Power enough to keep all of those blessings active... And healing, so that you aren't overwhelmed by having so much power all at once."
Billy took the phial and held it up in the air, looking at the strange green liquid within.
"That's a potion that will offer you a small amount of magic- Well, small for us." Alchemist corrected himself. "It will restore about twice as much magic as the average person has. I can get as many of those as I want, so here's what I'm thinking. We'll practice trying to draw out the power of one blessing at a time. See how it goes, see if you can actually do that."
Billy nodded, his face fixed with a look of determination.
"I'll be right here if anything goes wrong. We'll have as many Ethers, the magic potion, as you need." Billy closed his eyes as Alchemist continued speaking, his fists clenched over his knees. "Just take it slow. Remember how it feels to transform, try to remember if there was ever anything specific that felt different and-"
"S-----!" Billy shouted, interrupting Alchemist mid-sentence. Light exploded from the boy, blinding Alchemist for a moment. The man blinked spots out of his eyes until everything turned green and then details started coming back.
Billy... Didn't look any different.
"You okay?" Alchemist asked, leaning forward.
The boy looked up, his eyes sharper than they'd been a moment before, and then he nodded. Billy's mouth split open wide in a grin.
"I'm better than okay!" The boy shouted, jumping forward to wrap his arms around Alchemist in an awkward hug. "It's not everything, just one power but... But I was worried I wouldn't be able to use any of them! And now- You know that's the Wisdom of Solomon? I can understand things better! I can understand my power better!"
Alchemist awkwardly patted the boy's back. He'd honestly been expecting that to fail the first time around... But then, Billy had been chosen for a reason.
"That's great, Billy." Alchemist didn't force the boy to let go but he was a bit out of his depth of what to do. Offering hugs to people that were hurting, he understood that. This, though, was a bit... Much.
"And... Okay." Billy let Alchemist go and leaned back, closing his eyes and scrunching up his face. "I can't keep it up all the time. Not... Yet? But I could definitely use this power a lot longer than the entire transformation!"
"That's good, Billy. Fantastic, even." Alchemist leaned over and picked up the bottle that Billy had dropped in his excitement. "Now, let's get a notebook and write things down."
"And then what?" Billy asked, exhaustion forgotten in the face of exploring new facets of his power.
"And then we test your other boons." Alchemist explained as he got up. "And then we see what, if any, can be combined safely."
"Okay!" Billy shouted, zooming back towards the house. "Come on! I can't wait to see what else I can do!"
Alchemist shook his head and chuckled as he followed the boy. He missed having that kind of energy.
-----
The next day dawned dark and early, far too much so for Artemis. Normally, the goddess was a morning person. Often awake before the first morning light and preparing for her day, masking her scent and off on the the trail to hunt down her prey.
Today, however... There were tasks that needed done which she had no desire to do.
Her eyes lingered for an especially long time on the fragments of her bow, her lips pursed in frustration. Fingering the handle of her knife, she felt more exposed than she had truly been the night before as she bathed with the other women.
The cyclopes had made that for her. A well-bent bow and a quiver of arrows both straight and true. Their craftsmanship was almost without compare, delving into arts arcane and mystic. It was they who gave Zeus his lightning, a gift in return for his freeing them from the very realm that Artemis was residing in today.
Or perhaps it had been the hundred-handed Hecatoncheires? It was rare that her father spoke of those days and, when he did, he was well into his cups of Ambrosia. The stories he spoke of the Titanomachia oft seemed more akin to confused ramblings.
The journey had been a mistake. She'd gotten her answers, yes, but they were useless. It had only cost her time, dignity and her most beloved weapon.
The woman rolled over on the uncomfortably luxurious bed, turning her gaze to the window that led out to the wildly unkept garden. The man that brought about the whole issue was outside, his back to her as he did something with one of the pomegranate trees. Artemis watched, barely curious, as one of the fruits turned the color of gold and dropped on his head.
Artemis turned away and began to muster the strength she needed to get up. Upon doing so, she dressed herself appropriately, slung the tattered remains of her bow upon her back and made for the exit Zagreus seemed fond of using to escape the House of Hades.
Avoiding the denizens about the darkness was child's play. The monstrous souls barely used any sense but sight, something she was most adept at avoiding.
Finding what she was looking for? That took a bit more doing. What she sought was not found within the darkness of Tartarus.
Avoiding the winged Fury that guarded the gates out to Asphodel was perhaps a bit more difficult. The angry, serious woman that guarded the doorway did not seem initially inclined to leave her post.
Artemis quickly found an answer, one as old as time. Silently, she collected a fallen stone from underfoot and then simply tossed it over the woman's head and into the darkness opposite of where Artemis had hidden herself. The white haired woman turned to the side to seek out the source of the noise, giving the goddess ample time to slip behind her.
Into Asphodel, Artemis finally found that which she sought. A glowing orb, a window bearing the mark of Zeus. Her father.
Her mother's rapist.
Husband to Hera, the goddess that would have seen Leto suffer unduly for the actions of Zeus, who would have seen Artemis and her brother Apollo rot within Leto's womb.
To Artemis, Zeus was generous. Kind, even, if such a word could be applied to the crafty, manipulative man.
Artemis feared the day he would demand payment for such care, such consideration. Already he'd been making plans, speculating as to which gods would be best suited to fathering her children. His attempts to sway Zagreus to his side using her were not the first, just the most recent of such attempts.
"Father." Artemis called, the orb warping and twisting to show her Olympus. The scene was... Unflattering. The orb was looking up at Zeus, offering her a fantastic view of his chin, his beard and the inside of his nose.
"Artemis." Zeus called back. "I'm gladdened to see that you've arrived safely. It's been many long years since I braved those treacherous depths."
"Yes. My journey was without note." Artemis agreed, wondering what her father saw as he gazed back through the flimsy window connecting the realms. "Charon and Hermes both are well acquainted with the route, it seems."
"They would be." Zeus nodded, his beard flowing. Artemis remembered trying to grab at the great, cloudy mass when she'd been but a child. Presented before him for the first time by Leto. "Have you yet found your quarry?"
"I have." Artemis answered him immediately. "He is currently in the employ of Hades, however. I fear that showing this soul your retribution may be unwise at the moment."
"...Of course." Her father's nostrils flared widely, his voice deepening with anger. "This marks yet another soul hiding within my brother's realm, too frightened to properly face my wrath."
Artemis waited, fearing to breathe as lightning trailed along the elder god's body, sparking between the hairs of his great beard.
"...Absconding with a soul, after all of the guards placed along the way by Nyx and my brother would be most difficult. Such a task is beyond you." The certainty in Zeus's voice hurt, carving far more deeply than Flamel had. "Trickery is not your forte, daughter, but I would bid you try. Perhaps offer yourself to this mortal, feed him some honeyed words of such promises should he join you in leaving the realm of Hades."
The way her father spoke, it was not a mere suggestion.
"As you say, father." Artemis felt her stomach hollow out at the very notion.
"I do." Zeus nodded again, his affable air long gone. "You are a vision of loveliness, Artemis. Even with your mannerisms, no mortal would dare spurn you. I shall see you upon your return with your quarry."
The window disappeared and, with it, whatever hopes Artemis had of leaving this realm.
"...Pleasant as I remember." A new voice, flat and cold, startled the huntress. She turned wildly, drawing her knife as she frantically looked to the source.
She found a shadow leaning against the nearest wall. Its arms were crossed, its head tilted to look into her eyes.
For a moment, just one, Artemis was convinced she saw a pair of burning yellow orbs gazing back at her.
"Flamel!" The goddess shouted, holding her knife before her. It would avail her little, she knew, but she would not be left defenseless! "So, you survived!"
"If Diana could not kill me, what makes you think some lizard could do me in?" The shadow asked before it kicked off the wall and approached her. "Calm yourself, Artemis. If I wanted to harm you, I'd have already done so."
If the words were meant to soothe her, they failed terribly.
"You... What is it that you want?" Artemis asked, her brown eyes locked onto him.
"To congratulate you, I suppose." The man admitted, stopping several steps away from her. A swirling, dark vortex appeared before him that he reached into, extracting-
The sword of moonlight, whole and unblemished. Even her curse upon the weapon had faded away.
"Of the three, you are the only one to have at least attempted to properly fight me." The shadow's head tilted to the side, reminding Artemis of the rare lynx she'd hunted. "The others need to learn such conviction. Zagreus's enthusiasm and Diana's strength will see them far. However, it will not be far enough."
The man held his hand over the vortex, returning his beautiful blade to it before reaching in even deeper than before. This time, he came back with a bow as long as Artemis was tall. It was a wicked weapon, oiled with rancid fat and tempered with the leavings of the undead.
It was beautiful, in its own way. Corruption had been carefully used to eat away at anything but the concept of 'Harm'. The weapon was a hunter's weapon, a Ranger's weapon. Made for hunting man and terrible, horrible beasts.
Artemis could make out the echoes of those it had slain. Evil, winged beasts and giant manhunting ogres. Dragons, an unknowable number that screamed in fury and pain as they assaulted Flamel with fire, frost, lightning and poison.
A great beast. A demon. A... Daemon. Once man, cursed eternal to suffer.
"I've little enough use for this weapon, now." The shadow offered it to her, still far enough away that Artemis would need to approach him if she wished to accept it. "The Revenant Wail would serve you well, should you wish to take it."
Artemis hesitated. The weapon, the beautiful weapon, it was tempered in hatred and dragonflame. She could almost imagine the draw if she would pull the string, almost hear the howl as arrows from it split the world in twain.
Rather than seem insulted, Flamel's other hand reached into the void before returning with a quiver of arrows, wrapped in white cloth.
Artemis's eyes locked on to it. The golden fletching- The arrows were, like the sword he'd wielded, full of Moonlight.
She swallowed slowly, her gaze carefully sliding from the gifts and to the beast offering them.
"Why?" Artemis asked, licking her dry lips as she struggled to understand what was being offered. "What... What do you expect, Flamel? If I take these, what demands would you make of me?"
"Nothing." His voice carried a trace of something. Some kind of sadness, she thought.
"You've nothing I want." He continued as she hesitantly took a step towards him. "And I gain nothing in giving these to you. A gift is not a gift, Artemis, if one expects payment in return."
AN/ I'm starting to get caught up, at least a little bit, so here's the next chapter a bit ahead of schedule.
