Maitho knew that he was supposed to be surprised. But after seeing an undead army, fighting a powerful Guardian, and even catching a glimpse of an ancient serpent, he realized that the idea of breaking into a maximum security prison did not startle him all that much. He found that in the grand scheme of things, it was just another plan he had to work on with his two, and only, allies.
Despite that, it felt as though he was jumping from one action to another without any understanding of the situation. He still had no clear idea why he was important or what the Norse pantheon intended to do. They had hinted at trying to go against the Gods. That was all the information he had on them. How would they accomplish their feat? Maitho had no idea. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that everything he was doing was pointless. His powers weren't all that special, as least that's what he believed. Sure, there could be a way that it might serve an important purpose. But that did not mean it could be used to challenge the Gods themselves. "Before we do anything drastic, I think it's time we try to find out exactly why we need to worry about whatever Raiden and his team are up to. What are they going to do that threatens the Gods and Goddesses?"
"You can collectively call them Devas, my dear," said Quinn.
"Right," said Maitho. "How can mere Guardians challenge Devas?"
"Hou are we gaun'ae find that oot?" said Epona.
"The only way we can," said Maitho. "We speak to the enemy." He noticed her confused expression, but rather than explain, he spoke to Quinn. "Can you reach out to Raiden?"
"Are ye seriously considerin meetin him?" said Epona, not even bothering to hide her surprise.
"I am, but on my terms. We cannot blindly start breaking into prisons without knowing why." He noticed that Epona was not convinced. Even Quinn's silence wasn't exactly comforting. Yet he understood their skepticism. He had suggested that they talk to someone who had nearly destroyed their home and completely annihilated his. "I'm not asking him to justify his actions or explain the benefits of his plan. I just need him to tell us what he intends to do."
"Ye think he will juist tell ye?" Epona crossed her legs, meeting Maitho's eyes. She wasn't challenging him. Rather, it seemed as though she wanted to know if he believed in what he was saying.
"I believe he is more than likely to do that," said Maitho. "If there is one thing I know, it is that he wants to make us think that he is always telling the truth. He thinks that I am more likely to go to his side because of his honesty."
It was a long shot. Maitho had no idea whether he would receive the truth or Raiden would try to force his hand. Yet at this point, he didn't want to walk in the dark anymore.
"In that case," said Quinn. "What do you want to do?"
"First. We return to our world."
The patch of grass in the shape of a square depressed into the ground, as though it was sinking into the earth. It then slid sideways, revealing a hole. Maitho looked through it to see the interior of Quinn's car below. He allowed Epona to climb down into the car first and then joined her when she moved aside to offer him space.
"Alright, let's call him," said Maitho.
The sound of a phone ringing broke through Quinn's speakers. It was better that Maitho had the call with everyone listening. He might need their input as well.
Raiden picked up the call after just two rings. His usual patronizing voice broke through the phone, already deciding that it wasn't worth having conversation with whoever was on the line. "If this is Brigid, I have nothing more to say to you. If you are Charon, then why don't you jump into the deepest part of Hades and stay there? But if you are Maitho, hello my friend."
"I need you to be alone right now," said Maitho. "No one else hears this conversation. Let me know when you are not with anyone."
There was movement on the other end of the line. "Why, that is good news. Did she say anything else?" said Raiden. For a moment, Maitho was confused about the response. Then he realized that perhaps there was someone else there with the descendant of Thor. Raiden was trying to sound like he was talking to someone he knew. Maitho heard a woman's voice. "Something the matter?" she asked. That was, without a doubt, Adahlia.
"Depends on the response," said Raiden, speaking to the woman. "Give me a moment." For the next few breaths, all Maitho heard was the sound of footsteps and a few doors opening. Eventually, he heard a clicking sound. That only meant that Raiden had closed a door. When he next spoke, there was a faint echo. He might be in a small room. "How can I enlighten you, my friend?"
"What are you planning?" said Maitho, cutting straight to the matter at hand. "How are you going to challenge the Devas?"
There was a whistle on the other end of the phone. "You're not messing around."
"You said you preferred the truth."
"I do. If you are worried that I will lie to you, then I assure you that it won't happen. But to answer your question, I need to ask you one of mine. Do you know what the trolley problem is?"
Maitho knew. It was something he had read in passing. The fact that Raiden would ask him that question meant that whatever the Norse pantheon was planning, there involved sacrifices. "It's a thought experiment. One figures out whether they are capable of sacrificing the lives of the few for the benefit of the many."
"Precisely," said Raiden. "Would you do something like that?"
"Raiden, I don't have time for riddles."
"It's a simple question. You are asking me for the truth, so I need to know if you are ready for the truth."
Maitho sighed. He shared a look with Epona, who frowned. Outside the car's window, the sun was almost at its zenith, which made him wonder how long he had been sleeping in the other dimension. They were still near the abandoned factory. Quinn was still looking like an old car. "I'm not sure if I can make that decision if I don't know whose lives I am sacrificing. Who are the few and who are the many?"
Quinn began to transform. The interior changed from one that was filled with holes, mold, and broken parts, to one that looked like it was made for luxury. He was now an expensive sedan with a body that gleamed the color of a polished pearl.
"The few are the Guardians," said Raiden.
With those few words, Maitho's world was flipped upside down. A simple fact tried to worm its way into his mind. But he didn't want to listen to it. He couldn't bear to recognize it. He did the only thing he thought was acceptable at that moment. He asked a question, pretending that he was clueless about what Raiden was saying. When he looked at Epona, her eyes had widened. She must have been going through a similar set of emotions. "What do you mean by that?" said Maitho, his voice barely managing to sound controlled.
"Here is the truth that you wanted to know. Erik has been here for a thousand years. But during that time, the Devas had never visited Earth. Not once. There is no way to talk to them. No way to convince them to stop using humans for their personal goals. Even Charon won't help us in that regard because he too can do little to reach out to them. Why? Because the Devas have Guardians to do their work. We are their tools, Maitho. Because they have us, they could care less about trying to talk to us. It's time someone took away their tools."
Maitho didn't want to hear any further. Despite everything that had happened, he wanted to believe that Raiden and his team weren't truly monsters.
Raiden continued. "The truth is, we are going to kill all the Guardians. Every single one of them. By doing so, the Devas won't have any power over humans."
The shock that coursed through Maitho's body was like an avalanche. It destroyed every semblance of rational thought that he was holding onto. All the responses that he wanted to offer seemed to turn into smoke. Every single thought became meaningless. He sat back against the door. His thumb and forefinger pressed against his forehead.
"I think you might need time to process all of this. I'll leave you to it, my friend." Raiden was about to cut the call, but was interrupted.
"Are ye oot o yer mind?" Epona's voice was filled with a combination of disbelief and anger. "This is madness."
"Nice to hear from you too, Epona. And though you may call it madness, it is the only way we can put a stop to things."
"By killin thousands?"
"To save billions." Raiden laughed.
"Are you going to kill us as well?" said Maitho. It was a weak question, making him sound defensive.
Raiden paused. When he spoke, it sounded as though he held some degree of sadness in his voice. "I meant what I said. Every single Guardian will die. That is the only way. The only reason the Devas are able to control humans is because we exist. They cannot influence humans directly. Even Erik does not know why, even though he has been searching for the answer all his life. But we know one thing. We have to do this."
"And who are you to make that decision for all the Guardians?" said Maitho. He couldn't help some venom from creeping into his voice.
"That's our burden to bear."
The phone clicked off. In the span of the next minute, Maitho contemplated asking Quinn to drive them away from the city, probably somewhere no one could find them. Then he realized what an absurd idea that was. At which point, he thought about confronting Raiden at Cray's home, again coming to the conclusion that he was an idiot for even thinking that. Finally, he thought of giving himself up to Brigid, hoping that it might solve the problem. Eventually, he stopped the flow of ideas. They were all either useless or obviously stupid.
"I guess we know what we have to do now," said Maitho. He looked at Epona. "We are going to break a Guardian out of prison. Then we are going to stop Raiden and the entire Norse pantheon."