Absently nodding in response to Alexander, Kyronai wanders outside, past the broken castle doors and unconscious guards.
Don't the legends tell that Apollo drives his chariot, which is the sun, across the sky each day? The new deity looks around for such a vehicle. If he cannot find one, he'll "pray" to Athena again.
Lady Athena. Apollo came to kill us, but he has been slain instead. Like what happened to my brother and Aikaterine, Apollo's divine essence has settled into me.
The moment you begin to think about the sun chariot, it seemingly dives from the heavens gently landing right before you. Pulled by a pair of divine steeds, both white as snow with long flowing manes. They fly along the clouds themselves without wings. Golden shoes forged by Hephaestus himself adorn their hooves. They look at you with a bit of hesitation before standing at attention waiting to be given orders.
Kyronai blinks in surprise, but then turns to a servant or whomever to ask them to retrieve Daphne and Bástya.
While he waits for them, he approaches the front of the horses. If they'll let him, he'll gently pet their noses and explain the situation (in favorable terms to himself) in a soothing voice. He doesn't know if they understand him, but he hopes that talking to them will settle any unease they have.
The servant nods his head and rushes to get your allies. The horses are receptive to your attention. While they do not reply, they do seem to understand your words. One even nuzzles your hand trying to hog the attention.
Daphne arrives on the scene, and her widen. "Oh my gosh. Well, that's... one way to travel, I guess." She shifts in place. "A very high-up way to travel. Fun. Great job, Kyro."
Daphne arrives on the scene, and her widen. "Oh my gosh. Well, that's... one way to travel, I guess." She shifts in place. "A very high-up way to travel. Fun. Great job, Kyro."
"Thank you. And agreed. We should be able to return to Athens without threat from Poseidon. Hopefully.
"I'd still like to leave immediately, and I still believe the two of you should come with me. Are you ready?"
The party steps onto Kyronai's new chariot and are whisked across the sky. King Alexander gives a wave as you all leave. The ride is rather intense compared to what everyone is probably used to. The pair of celestial steeds pull the chariot with speed beyond any mortal animal. What would take hours to traverse takes mere minutes. As you land in Athens, you immediately notice how quiet the city is. The streets are bare and the only sounds are of occasional birds.
Daphne stays very far from the sides of the chariot during the ride, doing her best to keep herself occupied. By the time the party lands, she's downright jumpy, and the empty streets don't help this.
"I haven't, um, been to Athens in a long time," she says quietly, "but you know what really sticks in my head about it? The noise."
Kyronai turns to Daphne to better hear her.
"I understand that changes happening very fast for you right now. I wish that I could give you some reassurances, but until we talk directly to the gods, I can't do that.
"The best thing to do is to get inside and talk to Zeus as soon as possible, before they can send another attacker."
If there's no protest, Kyronai leads the trio inside, making their way to Zeus' throne room. If that's not viable, he'll try to head to Athena's office. Failing that, Kyronai will seek out Callie.
As you walk through the city, there are still no signs of non-animal life. There are signs of an immediate evacuation. Dropped items litter the streets, doors are left open.
You notice 2 sets of glowing eyes watching you from a nearby alleyway.
"They abandoned the entire city..." Kyronai murmurs as they walk towards their destination. "Why?"
Suddenly he stops and turns toward a nearby alleyway.
"I can see you. Please come out and talk to us."
"We would but we don't want to be seen. And if you had any sense, you wouldn't either. We couldn't hurt ya if we tried. If you mortals wanna help, come here." An odd inhuman voice echoes inside your head.
Kyronai holds his hand up to the others to let them know to wait while he does... something.
"This sounds like a poorly thought out ambush, to be honest. Who are you? Why is the city abandoned?"
If speaking in his mind doesn't work, Kyronai will repeat his thoughts out loud.
You sense no deception from the voice.
"Because it's not safe in the city anymore. Not since aqua-jerk took over. But have it your way. I guess we can say we told you so in Tartarus."
Out of a nearby alleyway, a pair of small shadows fly out before they turn into their true forms: a pair of tiny imps, one a dark blue and the other a deep red. "Happy now? I'm Pain and this is Panic." The red one explains pointing to his opposite colored partner. "Do you trust us now or do we need to stand out here in the open until miss never-smiles finds us?"
Kyronai looks at Daphne and Bástya.
"What do you think? This might be a good opportunity to get information."
Daphne's solid rosy eyes glitter in the sunlight. "Why's everything so quiet around here? Where is everyone?"
"Because they left when the dick of the seas took over and ousted Zeus. Their fight destroyed the capital building. When everyone saw two of the most powerful gods fighting, they did the smart thing and ran. Anyone left after that was taken by good old Nemesis. Only reason we're here is because boss man told us to wait here to look for you. "
"Do you mean Zeus? What did he tell you to wait for us for? How many days ago was their fight?"
Since Pain and Panic are being cooperative and seemingly not ambushing the group, Kyronai urges everyone back into the shadowy alley.
"Zeus?" Pain asks while turning to his compatriot. "Is this guy for real? No we work for Hades, Lord of the Underworld. You know, the third brother in all this. The fight was last night I think. It was a short one though." Pain and Panic follow the group into the alley. "Listen, we're here to take you to our boss so he can talk to ya. He's got a plan to fix this and to stop his idiot kid."
"Hmm. Where is Zeus and those who follow him?"
He turns to Daphne and Bástya. "What do you think?"
"The Big Man is locked away somewhere. The other gods who didn't want to play ball, they scattered once they figured they were losing."
Daphne purses her lips. "Well. Yeah, okay. Let's go meet 'the boss'."
Kyronai urges the imps to lead the way.
Pain nods his head before turning around. He waves his tiny arms in a circular motion and a dark portal appears. Stepping through you are transported into a dark room. As soon as the last person steps through, the portal closes. In this room is a single throne flanked by a pair of braziers. Atop the throne sits a lone figure. Though he looks mostly the same from the last time the party saw him, his demeanor is vastly different. His normally fiery temperament is much more subdued. "I'm glad you took my offer though I'm surprised it took you this long to contact me. Regardless, we need to stop my son first. As much as I feel for his plight, he can't be allowed to continue. Unfortunately, as you may know, he is collecting powerful allies. He has tried to recruit the mighty minotaur. He has already recruited among others, the legendary Hercules. You can either stop him from collecting more allies or collect allies of your own to counter them. These are the only options."
"Lord Hades. Hello.
"Events are moving very quickly, and we don't have the same information that you have, so we have been acting very cautiously.
"But perhaps you could help with that: Who is allied with Zagreus? Who is allied against him? Who is unallied?"