Missing

Chapter Fourteen: Transversive Trivials

"I would like a moment of your time, dear Timmy," played a harmonious voice from all around.

"Presence?" the young man asked aloud.

"Indeed," the god of dreams confirmed in a twinkle of strings.

"Sure thing," and not a moment after agreeing the star filled deity appeared beside Timmy, the fabric of the matter around him slightly warped to emphasize his presence.

"My gratitude in answering this sudden inquiry," he resonated to the dreaming youth, "I wish to bring to your attention a matter of much concern to the undergoing quest of revival."

"Oh, um, okay," Timmy said in surprise, "But wait, why not tell Vicky instead? She is more capable than me at fixing problems."

"She is a very capable champion," Presence concurred, "Though so are you, especially in this case. As to answer your question, I am currently unable to reach her. She is not asleep and I do not currently possess the strength necessary to appear in the waking world."

"I see," the young man supposed aloud, "So then, how may I help you?"

"You shall see," and with a gesture of his beautifully sculpted arms, the scene around the pair wavered into a padded white holding cell, "A young woman whom you are familiar with will soon end her own life in your native time frame," on the floor, in a tightly bound straightjacket, lay a hunched figure: small, thin, and pathetic. She had wispy gold hair which fell in flat, deflated spools around her head. Oh, and about her head, it had some contraption belted to it, keeping in place an item clogging her mouth, "Her name is Veronica, with light honey hair and sea blue eyes. A poor creature who has been both blessed and cursed since birth, much like your companion. I believe she has a potential role to play in restoring Olympus to its former glory. If she is lost, then her departure from the living presents a score of setbacks."

"Veronica?!" Timmy shouted, now bending over the girl to get a better look at her face, "But I thought she already killed herself!"

"She has been attempting to commit that very act since the last you two were together; however, she was found out that same night and given the proper medical attention. She is now under constant surveillance with in a mental ward, held to a regiment of mind altering medication."

"And she is going to somehow find a way, through all of that, to kill herself?!" He could see her eyes held no recognition that a familiar face was staring right at her. Then the young man remembered he was being shown a vision through his dream.

"Precisely."

Timmy could only shake his head in response. Yes, of course he would love to intercede, but he was under time arrest. Vicky would only allow him to travel between his native world and the alternate one he currently resided in if accompanied by, well, herself. This meant the one way Veronica could live was if he could somehow convince Vicky to not only go back on her decision to have the girl kill herself, but also to save her from her current fate. Not exactly an easy feat in either scenario. Besides, even if they did bust her out, where would she go? And how would she recover? Timmy looked to the beautiful deity and voiced his concerns.

In a fluent rigor the ancient being responded, "Finding your way to her will come natural to you, and you already know in your heart what must be done once you find the poor creature."

"I was afraid you were going to say something like that," Timmy sighed, somewhat dejected, "But… if you feel it must be done, then there is no helping it. I will do my best, so wish me luck I guess."

"My blessing will have to suffice then, for Gods may not pray to mortals, and wishing is the most ancient form of prayer."

"I think I like it better in the Astral, you always seem so much more… evened out there."

"That would be because I am of dreams, and I have visited your dream to speak with you. Thus, my essence absorbs some of your qualities. As for now, I must implore you to awaken."

"Right, that would make sense," he peered down at the pathetic form beneath him one last time, then released a resigned sigh, "Well, let me just concentrate…" and as he focused on awakening, his body began to lighten, the world around him grew bright, and his sense of self shifted into place.

Heavy eyelids lifted, slow, the blurry swirl of shapes and colors gently coalescing into the Overlord's chambers. Timmy turned to his left, only to find a distinct absence of Vicky. Sitting up and rubbing his eyes for a moment, he scanned the massive room until her loose wildfire hair caught his attention.

His captor's silhouette leaning against the massive window-doors reflected a heavily occupied mind. She had not slept again, and this caused concern in Timmy. He knew she liked to peer over her great city in times of intense introspective thought, or even pace back and forth on their immense, incredibly sculpted balcony. She had become uncomfortably quiet as of late, only speaking when necessary, and it felt so… unnatural. This meant he would have to keep prodding her with questions and comments, and the longer that kept up, the greater chance she had of detecting an ulterior motive. Yet he had no choice, since there was obviously several subjects weighing heavy on her mind, and he would not only have to get her past these dilemmas, but also make her feel better with each hurdle cleared… or at least with most of them and land on a high note. Once he got through all that, then he stood a chance of steering her mind toward rescuing Veronica.

Timmy rolled his head around his shoulders, cracking the fluid of his bones in the process, and then stretched his slightly toned arms to a painful length. Now loosened up, he kicked his legs over the side of the bed and headed toward his ruler with tired determination. Part of him wanted to make haste and rush to be by her side, to scream and shout about his dream and demand they save Veronica right then and there! But the now specially trained, tactical part of his mind behest calm. This needed to be approached the correct way, and she had to come to the conclusion herself, or at least partly herself. Then it would be her idea, not his; and be something she felt she wanted to do for him, not what he wished of her.

Vicky didn't acknowledge his presence, but he knew she would have noticed him by now, so he spoke gently to her, "Another sleepless night then?"

"For the most part," she allowed, still staring harshly at the city lights, "I don't remember falling asleep,"

"If something is keeping you up, then I'll always be free for you. You know… in case-"

"Yeah, I know," she cut him off shortly.

"Alright… If I'm bothering you then I'm sorry. I'll just leave yo-"

"No, you aren't. I'm just thinking everything through. Me being Athena changes everything, you know. Well, some big aspects at least."

"I bet… I've been trying to figure this all out too."

She turned to him slightly, somehow crushing her brows together even closer than before, "What do you have to figure out? You aren't the one trying to realize her Godly potential."

"I mean trying to find a way to help you, Vicky."

"Oh…" her shoulders relaxed some, "Well, that's sweet and all, but kind of a waste of brainpower on your part."

"A waste?... Wait, does that mean-?"

"That I might have figured out a way? I think so. It needs a field test or two first, which I'm not too stoked about, but since I'm the subject it's better to be safe than sorry."

Timmy couldn't help but look amazed, give Vicky enough time and she could always figure out something impressive, and time was the one thing she had the most of, "Oh wow, I guess I was wasting my time."

"For the most part, but I do appreciate the gesture. Very cute, seeing you worry about me," She gave him what he assumed to be a warm smirk, though the bags under her eyes sort of killed the expression, "But yeah," she now refocused on her vast city, polluted with electric lights, "going over everything has been a pain, I had to really narrow down what I knew as fact and fill in a lot of dead space with speculation. Lucky for me I have some firsthand accounts, but it only helps so much, and I can't always call on that reference. Still, I think I know where to go from here, which feels a hell of a lot better than where I have been the last few months."

"Where you've been? But it's only been… oh, wait…"

"Yeah," the redhead sounded both amused and slightly irritated, "Try not to forget that a couple days to you could be a few weeks or months to me. I have a shitload to do in both running this place and realigning our native time line back to this one."

"Sorry, it slips my mind because I'm not always with you when you go, and sometimes to me it's like you never left," they have had this conversation in the past, but neither ever seemed irked at explaining it from time to time. It helped keep them in perspective.

"I know, I'm not mad at you, just a little frustrated at everything. And I realized something last time I was out which didn't make me all too pleased."

"Oh?"

"Heh, you used to avoid this sort of conversation. I know I shouldn't dwell on the past, but I think I'm starting to miss the old you… I'm rambling, uh, oh yeah! Doing the math, my body is getting close to thirty! You are practically half my age now! And I can't demand to be made younger again, or else Anti-Cosmo might figure something is up."

"Really?!"

"Really…"

"Whoa… I hadn't noticed, or even thought about that. Well, I'll be honest with you, it doesn't show. No, really, I mean it. You do look kinda tired, but otherwise pretty much the same… though, well…"

"Hm?" now she began sounding irritated.

"Well, you said Anti-Cosmo might get suspicious, how come?"

"You aren't an idiot, stop being lazy and figure it out."

"Uhh, huh… He already knows you are going back to our time and making changes, that's a given. And that you have to watch events unfold then backtrack if they don't go according to plan and make tweaks. So he knows it takes time. But you think… err, know he would get suspicious if you ask to be given back a couple of years. Umm… He doesn't know about you coming back here, using your resources to find possible god artifacts or reincarnates, and collecting them in the past. Does that part take a long time?"

"Bingo," she confirmed with a nod, "about as long as it takes for me to tweak the past. So I'm aging twice as fast as I should. If I demand back the years I was supposed to have spent time traveling, he will notice that I would appear older than I should. And if I make the demand vague, then it will seem out of character, raising suspicion. Basically, at this rate, I'm going to lose the youthful appearance I love so much…" Her voice almost cracked, and she had to make an effort to keep composed.

Timmy exhaled slowly, lips tightening as he processed the situation. This was obviously one of the matters taxing his companion's mind, so he had to find a way to remedy it and get her to move onto the next issue, or back to the previous one. But what to say? What to do? If he still had his Fairy Godparents to rely on then the answer would have been so simple… or was that the answer?

"Umm, Vicky? If I may… well, let's say everything goes according to plan and we do revive the gods and overthrow Anti-Cosmo, giving me back my Cosmo and Wanda. Since by then our timeline and this one should be aligned, and the laws of this land would be the ones standing; then I should have my fairy godparents for a very long time, right? Well, why don't I just wish you back to the age you want to be then?"

Vicky's eye grew wide before trying to blink the facial slip away, "You… you mean that? Honestly?" She sounded as if she couldn't believe what he just said.

"Of course I mean it! If it means that much to you then I would be happy to help."

"Timmy…" her arms fell to her sides for a moment before she lifted them up and beckoned him to come to her. He obeyed, and in a few steps she encircled his body to her own, placing her temple to his, "That is very sweet of you, and it does mean a lot to me," she spoke softly into his ear, sending shrill shivers down his neck. Though still slightly shocking at the get go, he was now enjoying her embraces. He smiled some and returned the hug before disentangling himself.

"But one thing does seem kinda off," he confessed.

"And that would be?" she inquired.

"Well, if you are going to become Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom and Warfare, then wouldn't your appearance not be that big a deal once you change?"

"Ah, I thought about that before. At first it seems you might be right. But after really dwelling on it I came to the conclusion that the body I have when I ascend, might be the body I have for all eternity. There isn't any way to know what will really happen though, not until we make another ascend, but it's still a possibility. And something else came to mind, that different Gods have been portrayed in different stages of life. I don't want my seat as Athena to be portrayed as an old woman! No… So I will have to hold off my ascension until we have a better understanding of the matter. My beauty is that important to me, after all."

"Speaking of which," Timmy said in what he hoped was a tired but honest tone, "how exactly do you extract a dormant God?"

Her response to his question was what he expected it to be, a silent but telling look, which said in no verbal terms that he should have figured this out by now too, and wanted him to answer his own question.

"Uh," Timmy stuttered slightly under her intense gaze, "I-I mean I get the basics, faith is needed and all, but we have most of the world worshiping in the old ways, and you have said before that isn't enough. So... well, what else is needed?"

Vicky sighed gently and looked back to her cityscape for a moment, seemingly gathering her thoughts, "It has to do with the host, they need to realize their true potential," she turned her gaze to him again before elaborating, "I got this insight from Cupid a while ago, though it felt like guess work from him, I feel it has merit."

"Mind if I ask what realizing their true potential entails?" He asked with a soft smile, which sometimes proved infectious to her, this time being no exception.

"I guess not," she said with a touch of amusement, "Basically, the way I see it for reincarnations, it means accomplishing great feats relating to what that specific god was a patron of, and then truly believing themselves to be a host to that god. Belief is key here, for faith is what gives a god their power."

The young man could tell she was getting into one of her diatribes, and since she loved to go on and on about how she felt the world around her should be, he made a mental note not to interrupt, unless beckoned. Besides, he had to appear the inquisitive student, after all. So he looked on in wonder, urging her to let loose on his mind. She was all too eager to oblige

"Also, at least two other sentient mortals must believe them to be the reincarnation of a god as well, that way when the mortal body is relinquished, the power of faith can give the god's soul power to form a new body right away, like how we saw with Morpheus! This is key, because if no one else believes they are a god when their body is exonerated, then the soul will go on inhabiting the next mortal shell.

"Oh, and while I'm on the subject about transferring from host to host I realized something when looking into my own past. Since I figured out I was a host, I needed to see what was so special about me versus all those other potentials I had a list of, that way I would have a better idea what to look for! Well, something did strike me as peculiar, having to do with my birth," she stopped to take a long breath, seeming to have fell upon a touchy subject.

"When I was born, probably no one ever told you, but..." she bit her lower lip for a second, peered out into the metropolitan array of lights, steadied her breathing, and looked Timmy right in the eyes, "I was a still born."

He understood instantly why this was hard for her to admit; to her, it must seem like a form of weakness. He didn't say anything, only nodded slowly, showing that he understood and did not judge her for this. Which in turn allowed her to make a slender sigh of relief before she continued.

"Well... when I looked over all of the other women's profiles that I lined up to be a possible match for Athena, that was the only major difference. So I knew it had to mean something. And dwelling with intent on that subject I formed a hypothesis: that the soul of the original host must first vacate the body before a god's soul may take over. I was pronounced dead on arrival, something went wrong! But yet I lived, I was somehow brought back from the dead. Well, I had to see this for myself. So I went back in time to the moment I was born, and sure enough everything played out pretty much how I was always told.

"Heh, you remember my mother, right? Well, she was insatiable! And erratic... and desperate... She was raising hell when I was pronounced dead. Got every damn expert and extra hand in the hospital to try and 'Bring my baby back!' as she put it. They worked on my limp little body for what must have been half an hour, before the head doctor said it was time to turn the machines off. This pissed my mom off, as you know, and she was shouting and thrashing and terrible to behold.

"Then something odd happened. While all eyes were on my mother, my infantile body did a strange shudder. A very small one, as if something unpleasant had passed my new mind. Then, quite suddenly, after tensing up a little too unnaturally, the baby screamed! I knew then what I had witnessed, Athena's soul had passed from her last host, and into the next available body that had potential for greatness."

"Wow..." Timmy said before he could stop himself.

"I know, right? Pretty fucking amazing if I do say so myself. It's strange though, seeing it happen let me realize something; I have always been Athena. Umm... let me explain what I mean by that. I am Athena. This mind I have is hers, this attitude is hers! Maybe the way the brain is wired had some initial influence, but pretty much if you every wanted to talk to the Goddess of Wisdom, then you always have! And another thing! I pretty much look like she did too. Because when I thought about it, if I were to reincarnate, I would want to be in a body that resembled my own. And since my thinking is Athena's thinking, then I realized that I must actually have her likeness too! Isn't that amazing?!" Vicky looked ecstatic then, as if she was ready to wring the world's neck with this happy news.

Timmy nodded enthusiastically, a sincere smile spreading across his features. Then something she had mentioned earlier passed his mind, 'at least two other sentient mortals must believe them to be the reincarnation of a god.' He was one mortal who believed in her divinity, then that must mean... "Say, Vicky? We have to keep your being Athena an absolute secret, right?"

Vicky beamed at him, "Very good! Yeah, and I bet you could tell me why then?" she urged.

"Because if just one more sentient mortal realizes who you actually are, and truly believes in it, then you could ascend prematurely."

"Exactly! So only keep this between you and me, got it?"

"Understood," he nodded obediently. Well, one subject off of her mind, but he had work yet to do it seemed before bringing up Veronica. "So..."

"Hm?" she was overlooking the mass of lights below again.

"Well, how come? I know you want to keep it under wraps, and you have a preferred age you would want to be," Timmy noticed Vicky's rose pink eyes shift back to him, "but is there another reason for it? Like an advantage?"

"Not much gets past you these days, huh?" the Overlord said with pride, causing her student to smile slightly, "I guess I can tell you, no real harm since this will be staying between us, right?"

"I promise."

"Good. So here's the deal; I'm not exactly sure what will happen when I ascend to godhood. There is a chance I would just be infused with power and have an immortal body, which would be ideal. But, and this is just as likely, I might lose my mortal self. Where the Vicky you know is dead, gone, forever lost. And in her place stands Athena, with all of her memories and power restored. I can't promise we will be exactly one in the same. Again, I mentioned how the brain this body came with could have some influence on my personality, just as much as my soul.

"So that has me wondering, what if Athena has some other agenda? And she feels my mortal plans are frivolous? I can't risk it. So... it got me to thinking, I should find another god to resurrect. One who is also residing in a human host. I mean, I do have quite a list of candidates, but I will have to narrow it down with what I learned about my own birth."

"That would be a problem," Timmy said while looking to the side. This wasn't exactly a high note to end on though, so he had to push forward. See what else was concerning her and make sure she felt happy about it all in the end, "I see why you're being kept awake at night now."

"Huh? Oh, no, that isn't nearly half of it," Vicky waved her hand back and forth dismissively.

"You mean, there's more?" the student asked of his fearsome teacher.

"Plenty, but I can see I'm boring you, so feel-"

"Not at all!" Timmy shouted, not wanting to be dismissed just yet, "I mean, forgive me, but I'm very invested now. Please, let me know what else is left to do."

She eyed him now suspiciously but was seeming to bite back any forming negativities, at least for the moment. "Okay..." she began slowly, "Well, I am also going to need more than just Cupid and Morpheus to back me up after I become Athena. Some real might and influence, and the more I have, the better."

"So..." Timmy thought aloud, "Like Neptune? Oh! Or perhaps Zeus?!"

Vicky laughed then, a dismissive, cruel, and somehow ironic laugh, "Zeus?! ZUES?! Absolutely not! Haven't you been reading up on your history and mythology? Timmy, Zeus is the absolute last deity I want to come face to face with. Wow, you look confused. Okay, okay... damn, no way around it. Fine, follow me, we should sit down for this."

His companion led the boy to the large ornate couch in their chambers, Timmy had become fond of this resting place, it was so plush and the pair had shared many conversations while upon it. After they had both made themselves comfortable, Vicky continued conveying her views.

"Where to begin," she great dictator mumbled to herself, "Where to begin?... I guess we should start with the Titans. So Cronus, Zeus' father, he came to power when he destroyed his own father. Then it was predicted that he would have a child that would do the same to him. Thus, Cronus devoured all of his offspring save one, Zeus, who was hidden away. Then Zeus grew up and disemboweled his own dad, freeing his brothers and sister and starting the war between the Gods and the Titans. The Gods of curse win out in the end and start producing more little gods to help with the hefty workload of running the Earth.

"Then a new prophecy is told, predicting that Zeus will fall to one of his offspring, just like each of his forefathers. Only this time it's to be a woman, more cunning than any being before. This was to be Athena, and when Zeus learned of her conception, he buried the unborn child into his head, I'm sure in some crazy attempt to impose his will on her. Doesn't work though, and one day she spills forth from his skull, fully grown, and proclaims something to the effect of, 'Behold, I am Athena, wisest of the Gods, greatest of all warriors!'

"Zeus is so impressed with her he immediately makes her his favorite child. Didn't matter that she was destined to overthrow him and rule the Gods, she was too damn awesome not to like! Oh, and before I continue, that was part of the reason I wanted to establish Athena's awakening so early in the revival, so she would be the undisputed leader of the pack. But as we both know, fate showed her faces and decided to mix things up a bit for us," Vicky then became absorbed in the words she just spoke, some silent scenario seeming to play behind her eyes.

Timmy gave her a moment before feeling he should try to get her back on track, "So... does that mean Zeus would have to be awoken last?"

Vicky bit her lip trying not to laugh, but couldn't hold it in for very long and outright loses her composure. Her joy was high with amusement, and spiced with a pinch of insult. Some things never change. After regaining her wits, smiling broadly while rubbing her eyes, she sits up and faces her ward, "No, Timmy, we won't need to revive him at all, that would be impossible."

"Impossible?"

"Yeah, for the same reason why you can't make water wet, or you can't make the sun bright. We can't awaken that which never fell dormant."

"You mean... he's still around? But... but I thought you said they all went away? Or most of them... Most of them..."

"If we may continue? Zeus never fell dormant, but instead adapted with the times. I don't blame you for being surprised, hell, I had to do a lot of thinking on the matter, ever since my first meeting with Cupid, but I have come up with a fitting theory. I guess saying he adapted to the times would be inaccurate. No... I should instead say he changed the times.

"Okay, now in our story we are going to fast forward some, after Rome had established itself as the center of the civilized world. As Jupiter in ancient Rome, the king of the gods was able to keep tabs on many of the on goings of mortal affairs. He had always held favoritism with mortals, knowing their true worth and beauty. Hell, he fucked them enough and bred plenty. During his time as Jupiter, he took a particular interest in the Hebrew denizens of the Western Kingdoms. They had been around since before ancient Greece, and were able to overcome discrimination after persecution after war and so on and so on. They were very crafty, very tenacious, and he was excluded from their eyes.

"Well, one does not simply exclude the king of the gods. He wanted their faith, and the powers it would bestow upon him, for they were exceedingly devote, all of them, and far more so than the typical citizens of the Roman Empire. There was something else too. Athena was gaining favor among the mortals, as was Apollo, and together they might have had more devoted worshipers than himself alone. Praying to the entire Pantheon was falling out of favor amongst the Empire too, and instead sects following a specific god were gaining in popularity. With the words of Athena's prophecy echoing through his mind, Zeus decided then, while he was still in the lead, to do something unheard of.

"He secretly split from the gods of Olympus and disguised himself as the God of Abraham. Then, pulling inspiration from an old Egyptian legend, he reenacted almost verbatim the life of Horus. He came to a Virgin Hebrew girl he took a liking to named Mariah in the form of one of her angels, told her that she would be impregnated by her god to form the vessel of his humanly form to walk on earth as a mortal, and then did the deed with her. If you think about it, the immaculate birth has Zeus written all over it. As a divine being in a mortal form, and still receiving praise as Jupiter from the citizens of the empire, Zeus as Jesus... hell, even the names are similar! Anyway, he performed miracles, gained followers, formed a new religion and philosophy and theology that focused on praising God by helping yourself and your fellow man. Again, he always found mortals favorable.

"And yes, since he was Zeus he did enjoy the pleasures of a woman, and food, and love of his fellow man. He did have a run in with the devil too. But that wasn't exactly who the bible says he was. It was Pluto, or Hades, whom confronted Jesus in the dessert. He knew all too well the antics of his younger brother and demanded to know what Zeus was up to. Zeus merely said he was bored and wanted to see what life would be like as a mortal for once. Hades remained suspicious though, and threatened to ruin the mortal life Zeus had built around himself. For you see, Hades had always felt it was his place to rule over the gods, not Zeus, since he was in fact the eldest brother, making it his birthright.

"Knowing that he couldn't shed his mortal form just yet, Zeus decided to portray the workings of his brother as the antics of the Devil, the fallen angel Lucifer. He also forged on with his plan to martyr himself, seeing it as the best way to gather the greatest number of new followers. Since his character's name was Jesus Christ, he dubbed his new followers Christians, or they might have been given that name by others, or themselves... either way Zeus didn't object.

"The rest is rather straight forward, just follow the events as they unfolded in the bible. Only know that he was now gaining both Christian and Pagan worship power alike. Meanwhile Hades tried to warn his family on Olympus of what was going on, but none cared to listen. Poor Hades was always seen as just a jealous older brother to his peers. And this is very much like the story of the boy who called wolf. Besides, things were comfortable, new religions started and fell all the time, but the true pantheon never fell. And even so, so what? All of the gods now had their individual worshipers forming sects, but the Pantheon was unbroken.

"However, becoming so lax worked against the gods. They were no longer performing miracles and the faith was waning. People were worshiping more out of observation of tradition and the law, rather than truly believing. This made the faith each god received diluted, and thus affected their powers and influence, which made them more lax, more lazy, and caring less for the ongoing mortal affairs. The only one who cared to hear was Saturn, or Cronus. Father of Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, and Hera. Bet you didn't know that the Romans reinstated the Titan as part of the worshiped. Well, they had, and since he represented wealth, his faith was just a little stronger, giving him enough drive to care. He was not allowed to be ruler, of course, but he still resented his youngest son for usurping him. Since Hades and Cronus lived in similar styles, forced so by Zeus, they had actually bonded as Father and son. Thus, Saturn gave heed to Hades warning, and actually wanted to help disrupt the Christian plans.

"As time passed, so did Zeus' plan. After the crucifixion the Christians had become persecuted, because they refused to pay their taxes. Back then a religion could not be practiced nor be seen as legal unless they paid their taxes to Rome. This was all forwarded by Saturn's influence. However, making something forbidden can usually backfire. It became cool to be a Christian back then. It was more free form than traditional Hebrew worship, had an air of mystery since it was forbidden, and the lore was influenced by Egyptian myths, so it seemed exotic. Plus, being part of a religion that kept its money couldn't hurt either. Oh, and because it was literally an underground religion... where do you think the term came from? Well, that also helped with its appeal. Not to mention Zeus was still performing miracles for the Christians, and the other gods were nowhere to be found when prayed to.

"More time passed, the gods became more lax, and Christianity got a patron saint in the form of Constantine, whom Zeus, as Jesus, came to in a dream and promised glory and power. He delivered, of course, and thus Christianity sky rocketed. It took over Rome. And then the Mighty's will be done, all other forms of worship were snuffed. They were not seen as faithful any longer, but instead as pagans. But who could contend with a god who was actually present? Delivering miracles? In a matter of decades almost all of the old worship had been eliminated, and a few centuries later, pretty much nonexistent.

Timmy just sat there, taking it all in. Rolling her words around in him mind. So Zeus was Jesus, now God? Meaning God-God? The same God some of his classmates from a lifetime ago had worshiped on Sundays? The same God who seemed the source of all the conflict in the Middle East? The same God who was being referenced whenever he said "God damn!" or "Damn it to hell!" That God? He turned to Vicky for a short reiteration, but kept his mouth shut when he found her studying him with intent eyes.

"A lot to take in, eh Twerp?" she said with a tired smirk.

"You don't say," he responded in a mild laugh.

"Well, out with it then, you have to have some questions."

He thought for a couple moments, before coming to a point she made earlier in her tale, "What of Hades?"

"Ah, glad you brought him up. I was thinking about him just before you woke up. The way I see it, I think he must have existed on for a time as the Christian devil, but had little influence. You know, since even though he was being believed in, it was not through prayer or faith, but fear. For many centuries he tried to undermine his younger brother, but was steadily losing power, and eventually fell dormant too. Anything else?"

"Yeah... Um, what about the great artifacts? Like the lightning bolt, the helmet of invisibility, and the trident?"

"I suspect they all reside with Zeus now."

"No way!"

"Yep, something as powerful as one of those wouldn't just be left behind and forgotten, not when Zeus was making himself to be the all-powerful. And about those relics, they make Zeus near undefeatable if attacked head on. Even with his dwindling amount of worshipers in the Middle East, he is still dangerous to approach. Oh! I almost forgot! It was him who created the Muslim belief too! As a sort of backup! And I have an itching feeling he somehow hoodwinked those of the Hebrew faith that their God was in fact himself.

"This is why I'm purging monotheism off the face of the planet, so once he is out of believers I, as Athena, backed by the power of an angry and reinvigorated Olympus, can overthrow my Father!" She stood straight up as she shouted this, her eyes ablaze with wrath, overflowing with purpose. Timmy couldn't help but shrink from her presence. How powerful she seemed then, and absolutely fearsome.

Her breathing was rapt, harsh, and exuberant; as if several angry bulls had filled the room. Perhaps sensing his scanning eyes, she turned her irrepressible gaze upon him. For the first time in a long time, Timmy felt his innards tighten with anticipation. She did not speak for a moment, obviously delighting in the rampage of his huddled form with her silent consideration. Then, all of a sudden, she beamed at him.

"Too much for you to take in all at once?" The dictator asked with but a spice of cruelty.

"N-No, it's just a lot to swallow. But I believe, uh… You know, that you are probably right, and that another incarnation needs to be found soon, that way you can test if she keeps her appearance or not."

"She?" Vicky repeated suspiciously.

"Err, yeah, or did you have a guy in mind?"

"You were so gung-ho over having Poseidon and Zeus on our side just a bit ago, why are you changing to a girl now?

Shit! She had caught him in the act! Why did he let his mind wander back to Veronica? Had something about her fill this need? The woman with the burning eyes was examining her ward intensely now, causing him to gulp dry air. No point in lying, she would know. Well then, if that was the case then he might as well spill the beans, he just had to be careful.

"Because I was thinking of a girl just now…" Timmy admitted, gazing at his feet and absent mindedly wondering why he could never get used to their shape.

"Who?" his Overlord demanded.

"'Why' would be the better question, in this case."

Her eye narrowed dangerously, so he cut the sass, "Morpheus came to me in my sleep just now."

"You kept that quiet!" She exclaimed with both dismay and excited, "What did he say?!"

"He had to show me something, um… bring it to my attention. Because he couldn't reach you, and wanted me to pass on the message."

"Which was?"

"Well, first he showed me a padded room. And in it was a girl with a ball gag stuck in her mouth and a straitjacket holding her together. She had the emptiest eyes I have ever seen, and looked so frail. He said she had a similar past to yours, and was an important figure in reviving the pantheon. And that she was about to kill herself in our native time line."

"Did he give you a name?" She asked seriously.

"He didn't have to, we both know her."

"…Who?"

Timmy inhaled a bit of courage before answering, "It was Veronica."

What had he expected her response to be? To scoff? To yell at him? Hurt him? All of the above? But she did none of that. Her face fell back to a contemplative state, she stood to her feet, and proceeded to her massive closet without saying a word to him. He knew she was preparing to leave again within moments and approached her.

"It wasn't my intention to-"

"Doesn't matter why you talked to me, I have a new mission to do."

"Vicky, I really meant everything I said, I promise."

She stopped gathering her clothing for a moment and seemed to process his words, "I… I know you were sincere, Timmy. I just don't like how you went about it. You should have told me up front."

"I wanted to, but I just couldn't. Not with the way you looked. I wanted to help before telling you about another issue that popped up. And… Well, I thought you would be angry if I said we had to save Veronica out of the blue."

"Oh, I'm not happy about it, but this isn't your plan. This feels like fate is fucking with me again. And they probably are, the three aspects of fate that is. Doesn't matter, I have to save the little twit now before she offs herself… Morpheus told you she was finally about to commit suicide I'm guessing, after the state we left her in."

"Yeah, he said as much."

"Figured. Well, I shouldn't be too long this time… I had to pick up your birthday gift anyway, so it's not like I wasn't going to take the plunge today anyway." She stripped then, and promptly dressed into a casual t-shirt and jacket with dark jeans and steel-toed boots, "I want you to try and get some rest before daybreak, if you can. Toots is scheduled to go over your birthday arrangements today, and I want your full attention on the matter.

"Vicky…"

"No, you are not coming with me. Maybe another time. I'm in a shitty mood right now and-"

"Thank you."

"Huh? Oh…" She shrugged then and turned for the balcony with determined, frustrated strides.

"I'll help you relax when you get back, if that makes you feel any better."

"Just go to sleep, Timmy," She huffed while the lights around them extinguished.

By the time Timmy had crawled back into the large four poster bed and got under the covers, he knew if he looked out toward the balcony that his companion would no longer be there. Sure enough, as his gaze passes the large window-doors, the redhead was nowhere to be seen. He sighed heavily then, both relieved that a friend he thought long dead was going to be saved, and worried for Vicky's state of mind. He then curled into the fetal position and outstretched an arm to the empty side of the bed.

On nights like this, when he was alone with his overburdened thoughts, he often tried to imagine what his life would be like I he had never gone missing. What would Dimsdale High be like? Would he have been in a relationship? Had an ex? What sort of friends would he have? The same old ones? New ones? Would he still have Cosmo and Wanda? Still making havoc and fixing it before the day was out? What stupid antics would his parents be getting into? How he missed everyone… Maybe after all of this is over, after Vicky becomes Athena, revives the Pantheon, and overthrows Zeus… and restores power back to Fairy World… Maybe he can ask to simply be returned to his old life. And then watch in horror as the world around him descends into the one he now resides over.