Rebirth and Second Chances

Chapter 262: Book 1 Chapter 1

I had a few misgivings about meeting with Athena and Loki. Each was a member of a Pantheon of Gods that had dealt harshly with the Tuatha de Danann. The Gods of my people were forced into [Sleep] because of the ravings of Oracles and the Fates.

The Tuatha de Danann had agreed to the Faustian bargain instead of ushering in Ragnarok. In exchange, the Sidhe were supposed to be ignored. We were supposed to be allowed to grow and expand without intervention.

The Tuatha de Danann had barely entered [Sleep] before Olympus and Asgard had orchestrated events to leave our people trapped and isolated on our home planet. The promises of unfettered freedom and expansion ignored, or limited to our world.

My court had tried to talk me out of attending the meeting that Athena and Loki had requested, but I was adamant in my decision. I would meet with them and find out what it was they wanted. I would agree to nothing, make no deals, sign no treaties. But I would listen and consider what they said and how the Sidhe could take advantage of it.

I felt a slew of barriers snapping into place as I entered the conference room Athena had reserved. Sight barriers, sound barriers, and magic barriers. Each more than their name suggested. The ability to scry, spy, or use foresight to see what happened behind these barriers was all but assured.

Those protections becoming even more when three different sources of the Divine bolstered those protections. It would be possible to circumvent the barriers that had formed, but not without notifying those of us that had gathered.

I wasn't surprised to find Athena and Loki waiting; they had both been signatures on the invitation I'd received. I was surprised to find that Set and Coyote were also in attendance. At first glance, these four would seem to have nothing in common, but I had subsumed myself in each of their Pantheons over the years, determined to know my enemy. I knew the commonality that connected them.

Metis, the mother of Athena, was fated to give birth to a twin, a brother prophesied by the Fates to usurp Zeus's throne and rule all of creation. Zeus responded once they warned him, by swallowing Metis giving birth to Athena himself, circumventing that prophecy with a technicality only available to a God. He gave birth, Athena springing full born geared in her iconic armor from his head. Her brother was never born.

Zeus remained in power, and there was no change in leadership.

Set was a God of War, his Domain often confusing. His followers often creating love charms inscribed with his name. He was considered a benevolent God, despite His dominion over war. He is purported to protect Ra when the evil serpent Apophis tries to stop the sun's journey each night. His benevolence extended to the afterlife, and he was honored for protecting the dead as well as the living.

He was the first murderer, killing his brother Osiris in a failed attempt to reign and rule over all of creation. His attempt thwarted the change in rulership fell to Osiris's son Horus.

Loki was powerful in magic, illusion, and shape-shifting. He was the father of Hel, the Goddess of Death, Fenrir, and Jormungand. He was a trickster God, and his fellow Gods could never be certain if his offers of aid were benevolent or malicious. His parentage was looked down upon, his father a Jotunn. He straddled the line between good and evil and was fated to die with most of the other Asgardians during Ragnarok.

His attempts to steal Odin's throne were always stymied at the last moment, and there was never a change in leadership.

If there was one God that was comparable with Loki for trickery, it was Coyote. But he was originally credited as the Creator and empowered with the Domain of creation. He is worshiped as a focus of good, using his tricks for outsmarting evil and protecting the People. He can be killed, but his power of creation allows him to be reborn soon after.

His was the spark that gave life to all Creation, but his authority was usurped, and leadership of the Gods changed.

To rule over their prospective Pantheons bound each of them together. That common thread existed. They were either fated to rule or precluded from gaining a position they coveted. Whether by prophecy, failed coup attempts, or usurpation of the position, they had all been denied a chance to lead their Pantheons.

Athena watched as I calculated what the presence of these four Gods might mean. Her Divine Aura resonated with intellect and wisdom, a Domain that allowed her to almost read my mind as I processed what those gathered together might mean. What was foremost in my thoughts was one of rebellion. Each of these Gods wanted to rule or were fated to rule at one time.

Athena, Loki, Set, Coyote.

Olympus, Asgard, Egypt, The People.

Four of the most powerful Pantheons. Four of the most powerful Gods.

I wasn't sure what they wanted with a member of a much-reduced Pantheon. But one thing was clear. Whatever was discussed and decided here today may have far-reaching repercussions. And I intended to leverage this discussion to Tuatha de Danaan's advantage.

"A Universe is dying," Athena said without preamble once the barriers were erected and no force in existence could pry within the confines of this room. Even Fate, themselves, would have no way of opening the weft and weave of focused energies that had snapped into place without alerting the four deities that had joined together to shield this room from prying eyes.

"A Universe is always dying," Set interjected dismissively. "That is the inevitable conclusion of life."

His perspective as a God of the Afterlife would put him at odds with the urgency of Athena's pronouncement. His Domain would embrace a Universe's death. To see them as allies for whatever this was meant that there was something problematic about this Universe dying.

"Truth," Loki agreed, "but not the reason for our concern." Hel, his daughter, was the Goddess of a version of the afterlife, so Loki was often neutral in matters of life and death. He walked both paths and was able to balance along both of those paths adroitly. He gave birth to monsters that were fated to precipitate Ragnarok and a daughter that would collect the souls of all that perished during that cataclysmic event.

"It is how and why this Universe is dying that concerns each of our Pantheons and peoples," Coyote added trying to shape the direction of the narrative. That shaping was also understandable, changing shape was how he fathered so many of the People. His many shapes gave breadth to his Divinity.

"Ragnarok has begun in this version of the multi-verse. The tides of time and fate have reached their end, and soon this Universe will join an infinite number of other Universes where the last spark of creation has faded, and where the flame that burns, to fuel the life-giving energy of the stars has flickered and failed," Athena continued as if none of the others existed or had spoken. She had agreed to partner with Loki, Set, and Coyote, but it was obvious she didn't want to.

"Normally, the death of a universe would cause minor fluctuations across the multi-verse. Those incarnations of our Godhood that faded would continue to exist as part of the myriad incarnations of each other linked by our common Divinity."

"What she is trying to say," Loki interjected, "is that there are countless instances of each of us, scattered across the multi-verse. As Gods, we are linked, after a fashion. What one knows, each of us knows. And as a Universe dies, the multitude that still exists absorbs that Divine aspect."

"But that pattern has been cleaved," Set boomed in anger. "Zeus and Odin have usurped the loom and scissors of Fate."

"They have managed the greatest theft across all of creation," Coyote explained. "The weft and weave, the very tapestry the Fates have created has been stolen, and as Ragnarok rages and God after God perishes in that war, they have found a way to collect the Divine mandate of those that fall, and make it their own."

"Their actions will reverberate across the multi-verse," Athena continued, her voice laced with warning. "Their Power will grow, while the other Gods, no matter their Pantheon, will grow weaker until only the two of them exist to battle for sole dominion.

"We have consulted Fate over this matter, but they see this as inevitable, an inevitability that cannot be stopped or stemmed. But the Oracles offer a different opinion. Oracles, each of us have sought out, risking Zeus's and Odin's fury in order to find a solution to their actions."

"Death is inevitable," Set affirmed, "but what they would do is more than death, it is the eradication of even the memories of who and what we are. Death is transitive, a second in time, a brief respite between each cycle of life. They would destroy the wheel of reincarnation, the cycle of rebirth, and stand supreme on the ashes of dead worlds and dying Universes."

"Cassandra.

"The Oracle of Delphi.

"Dodona.

"Mimir.

"Ashareera vani.

"The I Ching.

"The Agbala Oracle.

"All oracles of great power, each have been consulted, and all have responded with the same prophecy," Loki said.

"Seek the Son of Sun and the Sun of Ice,

for he has the Power to Call the Hunt.

The Power to open the path,

and walk the road betwixt and between.

One will become two,

and that which has been hidden will be set free.

He will free his people, unleash their fury,

and restore balance, and the divine to its proper course."

"Most of the second stanza remains confusing, there are forces obfuscating and hiding the meaning behind that passage," Athena admitted, "but the first stanza directly references you.

"You style yourself de Beleros y Cyronax. Son of Beleros the God of Sun and Cyronax the God of Ice. Only the Sidhe have the ability to call the Hunt, and only the Huntsman can negotiate with Fairy to open a road that will allow you to travel to the Universe in question.

"We believe the second part of the prophecy was significant and personal, a message for you. A Divine promise that your actions will see a change in Sidhe fortune."

It was. At least if I was reading it correctly. It seemed to be saying that Caraid would no longer be ensouled, that he would be given a body and freed to live his own life. As for the second part of the prophecy, I could only guess what I would need to do for the Sidhe of that Universe as I had for this one.

I had freed them from the yoke of oppression that Olympus and Asgard had mandated when I gained a seat in the Senate for Talahm. I had reunited and restored the balance between Seelie and Unseelie when I'd created the Tuatha de Danaan. It seemed I was being tasked with repeating those accomplishments.

"The second passage gave us insight into what we might offer to gain your cooperation," Set said.

"We will see one of your Gods freed from Sleep if you are successful," Loki offered.

"We will restore at least part of the Tuatha de Danann and set in motion the means to free them all," Athena agreed, her voice resonating with [Oath].

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