A rumbling voice calls out to Athena in an unfamiliar place. A place filled like a garden, lit by a white glow and full of life with the perfect weather and balance of any form of life. A place that can only be described as paradise. "The Great Creator wants a favor of you" this voice, Metatron, calls out. Athena steps through a gate into this paradise as a glowing white figure turns to face her. As he turns, beneath a white hooded cloak, she could see long and curly black hair, and white eyes without any iris nor pupil.
"He called... for me?" Athena asks in confusion. "What's stopping the mighty warriors of heaven from doing his work?".
Metatron faces down towards Athena with distaste. "Though I am blind" he says, "I am the voice of God. The Great Father and King of All Creation. It'd be wise to choose your words carefully".
"Or what?" Athena snarks. "You'll duel me?".
Metatron waits for a moment before he lets out an unenthusiastic "Hm..." and then continues to say "His task he wants handed down to you is, he wants you to remove all those in the human realm whom threaten to tilt the balance. All godly and otherworldly presence must be removed. The order of peace is threatened".
"And where is he now?" Athena asks. "God, I mean".
"He is missing" Metatron says.
"Missing!?" Athena panics.
"Well, yes and no, actually" Metatron says. "The Great Creator is still maintaining all life. He is a father first, after all. His power is infinite- but...".
"But it's just you who doesn't know where he is" Athena says.
"... Me and many others" Metatron says. "That is correct".
"To be fair" Athena says, "isn't he usually like this?".
"He has always been a father first" Metatron says.
"Exactly..." Athena says. "Not to be the rain on your parade, no eyes, but isn't this kinda... expected?".
"... Elaborate" Metatron demands.
"Well, he created everything" Athena says, "and he loves all that he made. Any good father wouldn't want harm to come to their children and their passion. But...".
"But?" Metatron asks.
"Isn't everything... everyone just... hurting him more?" Athena says. "He can't fight back and stop his children by killing them, so his children will always be fighting his other children. Don't you think he's missing because he's hurting?".
"That is an oddly reasonable observation from your kind..." Metatron says. "True, even we may be guilty of bringing suffering to our brothers, as well as your kind. The ones who named themselves gods. You fight and fight and fight. Then there's the humans...".
"Don't say it like that..." Athena says. "Sure, the gods are assholes, that's a given. But the humans are-".
"Are his most prized creation" Metatron says. "I'm aware. And he wants you to keep them alive. You are to go to the humans realms in pursuit of none other than your father, and his band of fellow gods".
"Zeus..." Athena says. "What is he up to now?".
"I do not know" Metatron says. "I speak for God, I do not know it all".
"Simple enough" Athena says as she prepares her shield and spear. However, without hesitation, Metatron took her spear from her hands. "Even though you asked me of this task, you still don't trust me?".
"Even the strongest of hearts can fall victim to fear and emotion" Metatron says. "You know this as well as I. You are no fool, Athena, you have proven that. You must not kill, you may only restrain".
"Jokes on you" Athena says as she turns her back to Metatron. "My shield is my weapon, and my spear is my protection!".
"Though your shield is but a symbol, a representation of your own evil, is it not?" Metatron asks.
"What do you mean?" Athena asks.
"The face of that girl your shield is comprised of" Metatron says. "Was it justified to give that woman death?".
Athena clenches her fists in anger and says "What I gave her was her freedom!". Athena kept her back turned to Metatron as she continues to say "and not some twisted fate like killing her off to save her from suffering! I gave her a new form! One that would turn to stone that of any man whom tried to force their own evil onto her! People assaulted and raped her! She wanted to be free of it, and that's what I gave her! Medusa was a free woman!".
"Did she feel that way?" Metatron asks.
"She did..." Athena says with a quiver in her voice. "One day, when she was fatally ill, she came to me. She knew her death was nigh. She came to return the gift I gave her. She returned her serpent form. I separated the two and kept her other form as my shield in her memory. In the memory of a great woman. She lived a full life, I never gave her death!".
"How does a god within your domain have the ability to use shapeshift magic?" Metatron asks.
"Did you forget?" Athena asks as she peeks over her shoulder at Metatron. "I'm still part Titan. Titans naturally have the ability to adjust their physical form in accordance with their brutish strength".
"Then that must be why he asked for you..." Metatron says. "It's been a great learning experience with you. I'm sorry in advance for asking one to defy their own father".
"Don't apologize" Athena says. "Zeus is no father...".
As Athena opens her eyes, waking up from reliving this memory of hers in her sleep, she finds herself in a locked room with only her and Shelby in it. Upon waking up, she sees Shelby sitting on her knees, her head hung low from her tiredness, staring directly at Athena. "Who are you?" Shelby asks.
"I'm Athena" Athena says. Shelby stares at Athena in confusion. "Charmed, I'm sure" Athena says sarcastically.
"Why are you here?" Shelby asks.
"Long story" Athena says as she raises one hand. She knocks twice on the wall and then says "What's more important here is that my shift is over. I only agreed to be here so I could find somewhere solitary to sleep.
Suddenly, Demetri opens a door next to Athena and asks "Is she awake?".
"All yours" Athena says as she stands up and stretches.
"Demetri" Shelby snarls.
"I know you are not fan of me" Demetri says. "But I would really like to ask some questions".
"Tch" Shelby scoffs "I have nothing else to say to you".
"Your friends are safe" Demetri says. "We have not hurt anybody".
"I don't want to hear it from you!" Shelby yells.
"I'm... sorry" Demetri says. Shelby freezes as she sees Demetri's eyes swell up with tears. "I have dreamed, many years now, of seeing Sergei again. I tried to look him up when war was over, but could not find a thing about my friend... I wish I was there".
"Then why..." Shelby says in a low voice. "Why did you leave him?".
"It was not plan to lose him" Demetri says. "We were supposed to hide and live quiet life... I'm glad he at least met someone who loved him".
Shelby looks down at her feet and scoffs. "What do you know?" She snarls.
"I know that people do not go through such lengths to fight for people they don't love" Demetri says. "I assume he was much like father to you".
"More like a grandpa" Shelby says with a quiet laugh. "He was... pretty old".
"We are not that old" Demetri protests with a slight smile.
"Well, he loved telling stories" Shelby says. "Only old people tell so many stories... he even shared a story of his good luck charm... ha ha... that stupid old man...".
"He told you about good luck charm?" Demetri says with a shock. "I knew he had it, but he never told people about good luck charm! Where is it now?".
Shelby was silent for a moment, and the seconds drew on in Demetri's mind as Shelby tried to find the right words to say. "His good luck charm..." Shelby says, "was a solid gold coin. Made of pure gold, but it was so small... barely worth anything. But he was obsessed about it. Or, at least, the way he talked about it in his stories".
"He lost his charm?" Demetri asks.
Shelby shakes her head no, then says "He used it... on my spine".
"He did what?" Demetri asks.
"The gold was a good conductor for both electricity and endo" Shelby says. "When he saved my life and gave me a new spine... he melted it down and used it to save... me. When I finally asked him what his good luck charm looks like, and where it is, he told me that he had used it on me... and I began to cry. But... but he told me..." Shelby began to say behind tears "he said to me that... good luck charms only work once... and that when he had used it, it was then nothing more than a simple stupid gold coin".
Shelby lightly sobbed as Demetri looks down. "You were his good luck" Demetri says. "When he felt lost, he found you. You were his good luck. And now he lives on through you...". Demetri begins to walk over to Shelby and untie her hands and help her up. However, when she stood up, with tears in her eyes, she took a small knife from her ankle and stabbed Demetri in the stomach. To her surprise though, Demetri did not flinch. Instead, he grabbed her arm and pulled the knife deeper into his stomach. "I may not have been strong enough to save Sergei..." Demetri says with a smile, "but I will still protect his legacy".
Shelby let go of the knife and backed away slowly in shock. "I'm... I'm...".
"I'm sorry" Demetri says as he pulls the knife out slowly and takes a cloth and covers the wound quickly. Luckily for him, it didn't hit any major arteries, and the wound was clean. He quickly patched it up and wiped off the blade and put it in Shelby's hands again. This time, clenching her finger around the knife himself and holding onto her hand.
"How!?" Shelby screams in agony. "How can you forgive me!?".
"I am not very smart man" Demetri says. "But I still have learned much from my old age. Sometimes people are evil or full of ill intent. But you... you are scared... and that's okay. We all get scared. If you don't want to see me again, I will understand. But, just know that through all of this, I don't think revenge is why Sergei saved you. He saw something else in you. That's what I'm trying to protect".
Shelby spent a while crying as Demetri sat by her side. Eventually, Demetri asked "So, why do you need knife if you have sharp tail?".
Shelby wipes her eyes and says "It's a family heirloom... I guess you could say it's my good luck charm. It's the only thing I have left of my family that passed the night the gang wars reached our neighborhood". Shelby paused, then said "I have no photo, no good memory of them... just this blade".
"Then keep it very safe" Demetri says. "Good luck charms only work once. You may need it someday".
Demetri tried standing up, but fell back down. Shelby reached down and grabbed his arm to pull him back up. "I'm sorry... you must've lost plenty of blood because of me" she says. "Let me at least help you".
The two of them left the room together, and The Sic Gun crew nearly jumped at the surprise of seeing Shelby untied and holding Demetri up. "What's going on?" Siran asks. "What happened".
"I-" Shelby begins to say but Demetri interrupts her. "It's a long story" he says. "I'll fill you in later. First, fine me drink".
Meanwhile, outside, Athena was leaning against the large front doors of this run down castle. Suddenly, Loki runs up to her in a panic. "What's up?" Athena asks.
"Not good" Loki says. "I sensed something big hitting the earth. It must be them!".
"B-but I can't sense them!" Athena panics. "How could they be here so soon!? And without me knowing!?".
"It likely didn't feel like soon to them" Loki says. "The time between the universes isn't lined up. Each universe is in a different time. To them it must've felt like years, but only about a week here. And with the power they're holding onto, I'd assume Dolos would be able to suppress their presence. It's time we move. We have no choice but to get the humans together now!".
"But-" Athena says.
"No buts" Loki interrupts. "We have no choice! Get Ishmael and his bandits together, we're heading out now!".