Where The Dead Ones Go Book 4 -Union-

Chapter 6

"Athena: Pallas Impalers!"

With all the strength that I can muster, I supercharged the spear my mother has gifted to me and threw it at the middle of the incoming horde.

The moment it struck the ground, thousands upon thousands of silver spikes appeared from the ground and skewered the first wave of the incoming horde.

It did damage them but the effect is much less than what I expected.

I chuckled as Asher tried to shore up our defenses by creating a wall of rageful winds from his hoarse howl that only managed to confuse the monsters that hit it and not destroy as the desired effect intended.

"We are getting nowhere, my nephew, if we want to make a difference, we must be prepared to sacrifice it all like the rest of our comrades!"

My steed closed his eyes for a few seconds before opening it with renewed rage and conviction as he nodded in agreement.

"I don't even know if this will work but as Eonia always say, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained!"

He let out a howl of defiance as I summoned back my spear and the falling apart shield of my mother to me and raised them in the air as an offering.

"In the name of the Feral Goddess of Rage, Lytta, I summon her powers in the name of her son, Asher! May you help my mother, the Grey Goddess of Strategy to the end we have envisioned!"

As if to answer my call, the fallen goddesses filled mine and Asher's body with a last power of energy as we began to burn our very own life forces in a red and grey aura as the two of us are filled with their very own immortal powers.

"Athena: Lyttas' Rage!"

The moment I shouted those invocations, Asher let out a powerful, earth-trembling roar that blasted all monsters away, and in front of us appeared the giant forms of our mothers mimicking our every position right now.

The fully armored goddess of war with her shield and spear at the ready as she prepared to charge towards our enemies riding the goddess of rabies' gigantic feral form howling in mad feral rage.

I pointed at the incoming horde and the visions of our mothers began their assault in earnest, destroying any monsters who even dare to come near them.

This is the power of strategy and rage combined.

A war machine that even Ares himself will be proud of, my patron God.

"Lord Ares, this may be the first and final offering that I can give in your name. Praise be your will..."

Asher and I both lose our consciousness at the same time and the last thing we ever saw is the visage of our mothers trying to ward off the incoming monsters but is about to be overwhelmed by their sheer numbers.

-0-

"Now, now, Gala, Asher, this is not the time for sleeping. I can't just simply ward all these things that you brought here on my own, no matter how powerful and awesome I am," a familiar and irritatingly confident voice called me out of the darkness I thought was death itself as I feel a warm familiar hand touching my face, "Am I right, Avesa, Sir Galleon?"

A blinding light burst out of the darkness and when I opened my eyes, I saw my father made of hope's light touching my face fondly as Avesa's form is helping Asher stand up.

"Father?"

The man nodded and I hugged him as quickly as I can.

"I'm sorry I can't be there when you needed me the most! I'm so sorry..."

But he just shook his head slowly as he lifted me up like he always did and filled my body with his life force that healed and recharged my reserves completely.

Asher barked happily as Avesa patted his head kindly before walking towards me and inclining her head.

"I know, right, sister?" a voice in front of us said and when my canine companion and I looked at the source, we saw the familiar back of our seemingly already lost friend standing tall and proud against the incoming horde with utmost trust in himself, "Gala destroyed Morris' doors several times because he is always tardy often in the morning and now she is the one who woke up late. Thankfully there are no doors here and our appointment with the demiurge of death will have to wait for quite a while. But make no mistakes, I will report this to him personally."

"Zenith..."

He glanced back and I cried when I saw his familiar smile of confidence and the lights are back in his sky blue eyes, "Who else, vice president? Your resident Heran High Priest reporting for duty. Now, I know you two just recovered your strength after that seriously kickass combination of Lady Athena and Lady Lytta so please, allow me to redeem myself not just to you two but also to the children I left to their own devices and the fallen parents and guardians for a promise not kept. A promise to defend their last, sister, if you please?"

Avesa's fading body made of light nodded as she willed her lotus staff made of light towards her brother and it suddenly materialized into a real one that Zenith caught and seemed to fill him with more power that can rival our demiurge comrades themselves.

"Gotta borrow this for a while Ave," Zenith said lovingly as she raised the staff on his head to prepare for something, "Hug Rei for me, will you?"

Hera's daughter nodded as she waved us goodbye and together with my father, began to fade away completely.

"Father!"

He gave me one last hug before shoving me and Asher towards the son of Zeus who is now summoning violent winds and thunderclouds as we speak as if to say that we have him now in our journey.

"I'll never leave them until the very end, Sir Galleon, that much I can promise," Zenith vowed to my father that gave him a double thumbs-up before completely vanishing with Avesa into thousand upon thousands of dust motes made of light.

"Now, I will never be outshined by the two of you, not after that impressive display earlier so sit back, watch and let me show you how the son of Zeus and champion of Hera do things in this part of this gloomy world," our High Priest friend ordered the two of us pointedly as we just nodded at him when he began lifting his body with the help of majestic winds, "Hear me monsters of Typhon! What you experienced earlier is nothing but the appetizer! I am Zenith Mycenae, the son of the Heavenly King and Champion of the Heavenly Queen! High Priest of the Heran Temple and a member of Auxiliary Class! This "is" what we are made of!"

He then waved Avesa's staff and a mighty whiplash of wind appeared to push away the monsters trying to break our frontlines without any incantations or invocations at all.

So this is the real power of a High Priest.

"Zeus: Lightning Hurricane!"

The gigantic storm clouds above us move towards the incoming hoard and with the anger of the angry lightning god himself, it smites any and all monsters on its way without mercy.

"Zeus: Hera's Wrath!"

And from the staff came a powerful tornado that ravages all monsters that managed to survive the electric onslaught.

"Behold! The power of the Majestic Olympian Monarchs!"

From the clouds appeared the cloudly giant visage of Zeus and we can see the faint windy form of Hera inside the tornado before disappearing together with the entirety of the monster horde as we heard the loud cheering of the children back at the settlement.

"And that is how the priests and priestesses of Hera disposed of monsters."

Asher barked happily as Zenith descended proudly and with swag next to him as he gave our canine friend a hug in the neck.

"How I missed your furry head, Asher! I will deal with you later! How can you just dump me there unceremoniously?!" he said irritably before bowing in front of me, "And how could I not expect you to charge head-on with nothing but your very life at stake. That is just so you, Gala."

I shrugged my shoulders as he just grabbed me and cried on my neck loudly, "Even in this dying world of ours, I guess old habits die hard, eh, High Priest Zenith?"

"Gala, I..."

"Or is it, "His Eminence", now?" I joked a little as he howled out loud that made Asher look at our friend's back sadly, "Just kidding, Zenith. It looks like it's not just me and Asher who paid the price to get this far, eh?"

-0-

"So we have enough canned food to last for more than a decade?"

"Yes, Your Eminence! Everything is all accounted for and not including the emergency provision the First Magistrate has set up for us and the ones that the viceroyalty have in their own stashes."

"While I don't want to spend another year under these irritating bloody skies, knowing that there is enough food to supply everyone comfortably should the need arises is very good news indeed."

"Indeed it is, Your Eminence."

"And I guess that's it for now. You go ahead and tell the soldiers to take a well-deserved rest. Dismissed, Volker."

"By your leave, Your Eminence."

The young heritor left me and Asher with the High Priest as he sank on his tattered leather chair after dealing with the paperwork and orders he needs to finish after the battle.

"You didn't inherit Her Honor's gift for bureaucracy, Zenith," I said pointedly that made him laugh a little as he looked out of the window and into the necropolis where we just learned that the First and Second Magistrate gave up their lives a little over the year after the Second Fall to defend the settlement.

"I didn't, but mother knows it full well. On her last breath, she just instructed me to "keep it together" for as long as I can," he chuckled as I am surprised he can discuss it without a hint of pain nor grief in his face or eyes, "You know what she and Estelle's father said before they peace out, Gala, Asher?"

The son of Lytta barked in an answer as the High Priest nodded slowly, "They said that they believe that we will all meet again. All of us in the near future. That death is nothing more than a long sleep until that day comes. That everything will be fine."

"Zenith..."

He shook his head angrily as he stood up to get a better look of the necropolis, "Easy for them to say. For all of them. The parents, the guardians, the demigods, Boris, his sisters. They all believed in hope until the very end, that I should do as well? But for what? I am trying. Trying as hard as I can, I just can't. With them leaving me behind to handle the kids while I can't barely keep myself alive? Hope? It is all my fault why this place has fallen to such a state, it can barely support the children I am supposed to keep safe!"

"Don't blame yourself, you did what you can, Zenith," I said firmly as I stood up and together with Asher, we stood side by side with him as we look down on our fallen countrymates, "You did more than what I ever did. You and Asher protected the people, the children, around you. While I stayed asleep for three whole years being the one protected."

I bit my lip as I touched the wedding ring of my husband lovingly.

"Your rival left me behind after he pushed me into a marriage hours after I woke around," I chuckled sadly that made Asher and Zenith look at me in pity, "A widow not even more than an hour after tying the knot. He set me out on a journey to find what was left in our class with nothing but Rebie's gift to him full of the things he prepared for my travels and the feather that was given by Vivet to him for safekeeping."

Both of us looked outside the windows once more as we saw a heartbreaking scene when the feather's power began to wane and the briefly reunited parents and friends have to part once more after the short reunion given to them by its wondrous powers.

"I think I will have to give him a punch in the face when we meet again, Gala," Zenith said with a smile on his face as he put his arm on my shoulder before giving it a small shake, "As his rival and supposedly best man, damn him wherever he is. It is my duty to keep you breathing long enough for the two of us to physically give him our loving greetings, eh, Gala?"

It's Asher who barked happily but the High Priest just gave him the stink eye, "No one asked you, you mutt!"

"That's rude, Zenith," I exclaimed when he gives a sharp blow to the head of our furry friend who just howled playfully, "Why are you angry with him anyway? What did he do to you?"

The son of Zeus dangerously released bolts of electricity unconsciously from his hands that made me dodge the last minute, "Why?! I'll tell you why Gala! This mongrel is supposedly tasked with evacuating me but what did he do?! He dumped me at the necropolis right where Avesa, Mother, and Sir Galleon were buried in the snow!"

I suddenly remembered the empty wheelchair at the entrance of the necropolis and bit my lip as I shook my head at the two who are playfully wrestling each other on the floor.

"Now, now Asher, that's not the proper way to take care of a person with a disability," I began warning him sternly but I burst out laughing when he bit playfully the feet of Zenith and unceremoniously throw him at the corner of the room.

Zenith laughed and shook his head, "That's exactly what he did to me earlier! The next thing I know, my mother's apparition made of golden light is slowly giving me back my mind. Avesa and Sir Galleon lead to where you are and as they said, the rest is history."

The golden feather outside let out a pulse of bright light before fading as the children cheered and thanked it for giving them the chance to meet again their departed loved ones even for a few moments.

It then entered the room and hovered first in front of Asher who nose-bumped it towards Zenith who bowed his head gratefully.

"I shouldn't have given up on you, I'm sorry," he said apologetically and as if to answer the feather glowed a little before hovering again in front of my chest and disappearing inside my heart.

I can feel that my father, Avesa, and all the people that were lost were somewhere there, sleeping, waiting for a chance to be one with their beloved once more.