As they closed in upon the Hyperionite ship, Falco could only wonder if this was truly where it would end. If that was the case then how many would they lose? They might save Rowena and the rest of the captives, but who would never return home to Aether? Would he be one of the Aethereans to die here upon the sea? How was he to know? What would happen would happen, that much he...
Within the blink of an eye, a fog enveloped the Aetherean trireme. Confused by the fog's sudden appearance, Falco looked to the rest of his party.
"Achilles, have you any idea where this fog could have come from so quickly?" Falco inquired, hoping his mentor could tell him what the cause was.
"Either a spell or some god's work, Falco." Answered the old man.
Sighing, Falco could only nod. He had thought the fog could have been either of those, but he had hoped that Achilles would have known for certain. However, he might have known that in a case such as this, the most a person could do was guess.
Still, Achilles' answer raised more questions than answers and Falco knew this to be true. Even when thinking of what the fog could have been he knew this to be so. If it was a spell then who was casting it? Acinonyx had no clergymen, healers or druids in his company and to his knowledge, no member of the Royal Family of Hyperion had ever been a member of the clergy. Furthermore, where would the spellcaster have even been located? There was no land in sight. It had to be a deity, but the question was which one?
"It must be the Wine Ram's work!" exclaimed Taurus, clenching his free hand into a fist and shaking it melodramatically. Seeing that only caused Falco to roll his eyes. "He is the patron deity of Hyperion!"
"Is he?" inquired Scholastica. "I heard your Twin and Shadow referred to as Hyperion's patron deity just as much as he is Aether's."
Scholastica was sixteen twelvemonths old and stood at a height of five feet and three and a half inches. She was slim and fair-skinned with brown eyes and long light brown hair that she kept in a ponytail with a golden clasp. Much like Rowena, she wore a breastband and a perizoma yet her attire was green in colour. She had some jewellery upon her body such as a golden arm ring on each arm and a golden anklet on each ankle.
How long had Scholastica and her brother Alboin been in exile since the Commodian Republic had conquered Leto? Sixteen twelvemonths. Scholastica had been born in exile, during the final twelvemonth of the reign of Menes, the Commoner who had become the Divine Deucalion of Aether. She had never known Leto and Alboin could only remember a little bit of it, after all he had only been five twelvemonths old when he and his pregnant mother had gone into exile. Their mother had died in childbirth leaving the two without any parents, though they did have parental figures in their life. Conall, Menes' successor and Falco's paternal grandfather, had given Alboin and Scholastica as much attention as he did his own grandchildren and Tigris and Oda, Falco's parents, had treated the two as if they had been their own children as well, yet had never officially adopted them. Alfred, Rowena's father, had treated them similarly, though like Tigris and Oda he never adopted the two. As for Achilles, while the others had been warm towards the two, he had been cold and distant towards them, showing annoyance whenever the young Alboin would start following him around for whatever reason. Falco did not necessarily view Alboin as a brother nor did he view Scholastica as a sister, they were friends only, but close friends nonetheless.
"The Earth Bull a patron of a mainland kingdom?" Taurus incredulously inquired. "Why that is the most scandalous thing I have ever heard!"
"Enough!" Falco exclaimed. "We don't have time for this discussion, we need to just get out of this fog!"
"Out of this fog?" asked Itzcoatl, the hunchback dwarf staring in amazement. "My Deucalion, we have been moving and the more we do the more we stay in this fog."
Itzcoatl was two and thirty-twelvemonths of age and stood at a height of four feet and four inches. The adoptive son of immigrants, he was of the native Aetherean populace. He had a small curve in his spine, not the huge hump that most would expect of a hunchback. Such a thing probably would not have been noticeable, if not for the fact that for some reason, Itzcoatl's spine was pointing towards his right shoulder, resulting in a very strange look.
Well, that was just terrific. Running a hand through his hair, Falco started to think. There was no doubt that abandoning ship would result in something similar, only ending when they could swim no more. Perhaps using magic would help to get rid of the fog. That was an idea worth doing, but with Minos struggling with even the simplest of spells that left Achilles, Taurus, Sarpedon and Falco himself to work together and even then, Falco was not sure how well this would work. He himself could only use hand magic, while Achilles and Taurus had advanced all the way to thought magic and Sarpedon? Falco was not sure what level of magic Sarpedon was capable of. Being a clergyman, Sarpedon no doubt knew magic, but as Minos struggled with the simplest of spells, this only caused Falco to wonder how sufficient Sarpedon was in magic period.
"Sarpedon!"
"Yes, Falco?"
"What level of magic are you skilled in?"
"Hand magic."
So, that had two magic users capable of thought magic and two users capable of hand magic. By all logic, something like this should have been left to Achilles and Taurus, two lesser magic users like Sarpedon and himself would hinder them.
When Falco brought forth the idea to Achilles and Taurus, both got to work immediately, but to Falco's astonishment and that of the rest, the dispersing of the fog was slow. By the time it was all gone, the sun was beginning to set.
Sighing in defeat, Falco sat down before the mast of the trireme. They had been so close to rescuing Rowena, Eithne, Pasiphae and the others. If not for that fog sent by whichever deity favoured Acinonyx, they would have. Which deity had even--?
"Look!" Falco looked up at Xe-tian to see her pointing out to sea. Standing up he saw what she was pointing at. Leaping out of the water, was a dolphin and it was that moment that Falco realized who had sent the fog.
The Goddess of Love had sent it! Had a dove, a sparrow or a swan landed upon the deck, Falco would have just as much realized it, as those animals were the symbols of the Cow-horned Goddess of Love.Wherefore did the Goddess of Love favour Acinonyx? Falco only just realized the reason. On the day of his father's funeral, Acinonyx had attempted to seduce Rowena in the presence of Falco and the rest of the royal family. He had spoken of a dream he'd had, where the Ibis-Headed Messenger of the Gods came to him and brought the Mother Goddess, the Goddess of Wisdom and the Goddess of Love to be judged the fairest. After telling of the bribes of the first two goddesses, Acinonyx then spoke of the Goddess of Love's bribe, offering the fairest woman in the world as his bride. When Acinonyx had asked who this was,the Goddess of Love had answered: Rowena of Aether. After that, Acinonyx had named the Goddess of Love the fairest. Falco, Rowena and everyone else had dismissed this as something Acinonyx had made up, but now Falco was not so sure.