Chapter 512 The Disgruntled & The Damned
The sound of Thea and her brother’s footsteps echoed across the hallway floor in tandem as they headed toward the front door where everyone should have been waiting.
Even before the two of them had reached the foyer, they already heard the sound of arguing and grimaced.
“Shit…”
“Damn it, what is the point of issuing a gag order if people weren’t going to stay quiet..”
Disgruntled, Thea pushed open the doors to the hall and caught the end of a rather heated conversation.
Darius: “… we aren’t children, lads and lassies! Your father had no right to keep these missions a secret from us!”
Kirina: “What is the point of raising an army if he is just going to sideline us at the first sign of trouble?”
Hakon: “The fact that my god has such little faith in our ability is indeed a tough pill to swallow…”
The rest of the Tathamet siblings looked to be dealing wit the brunt of this argument, but as soon as the two eldest walked in, that all changed
Thea and Apophis were immediately swarmed by all of their father’s remaining generals who, by his design, knew nothing of the missions that were about to be undertaken.
“My grandchildren, I must insist that you take us on this mission you are about to go on today, wherever it may be.” Hajun said as respectfully as possible.
At his side, their grandmother Kirina nodded in agreement. “Certainly, you children will need all of the help you can get.”
Surprisingly, even Belphegor chirped up. “It might not seem like it, but my legion trains tirelessly in anticipation of their first war. We won’t be dead weight.”
Steno’s brothers, Hakon and Absalom, also had words to say. “Prince, Princess, we humbly beg you to consider our plea.”
Darius folded his arms, clearly the least pleased of all.
“If your old man doesn’t think we’re up to snuff, he should tell us himself! I had no idea that he thought so little of us!”
Feeling exhausted, Thea sighed and placed a hand over her head.
She could already feel that her brother wasn’t intending to say anything, leaving her to deal with this whole mess herself.
Perhaps because of what was said, she decided to address Darius’ complains first.
“Look, Uncle D, the reason why dad didn’t tell you all about his traveling to Tehom is because he knew that this would be the result.
You have no idea just how dangerous the enemy he went to fight against is, and you can not possibly understand how guilty he would feel if any of you died because of his vendetta.”
“My darling grandchild, we are all soldiers.” Hajun emphasized.
“That you are, but your reformed armies are still young, only a few months old. The reason that the Scarlet and Black Legions were chosen is because they have the lowest chance of receiving fatalities. We’re bringing only essential personnel.”
Absalom lowered his head. “This feels like a roundabout way of saying that we aren’t good enough…”
Finally, Thea giggled. “No, just that our father values you all too much to risk losing you.”
Her words seemed to strike a chord with everyone there, and most of them relented.
However, Darius shot a glance at the door, where Tiamat and Jasmine waited, clad in full armor and standing as still as statues.
“You mean to say those two are better than us? I’d be hard pressed to believe it.”
At this, Tiamat and Jasmine glared angrily as if they were about to kill him.
Dark blue flames flickered to life along Jasmine’s feet and yellow lightning ran along Tiamat’s physique.
“…You’re lucky that I just ate and don’t feel like over exherting myself.” Darius muttered as he turned away.
The girls snorted and went back to standing at attention like statues.
For some reason, Thea and Apophis felt an odd sense of pride.
They were used to seeing their wives be cute, sexy, or sometimes a little slow.
It was kind of hot to see them in a more serious setting.
‘We have to go to war, we have to go to war we have to go to war…’
‘Don’t be like dad, don’t be like dad, don’t be like dad…’
Somehow, the two siblings were able to control their lusts and remember exactly what was important.
“What will the rest of your wives be doing while you’re gone?” Kirina asked curiously.
“Ah… they have the most important job of all.”
–
Claire : “Do you want to read another book?”
“…No.”
Nita: “What about going to the park? We can take the pets, and even have a picnic.”
“…Not hungry.”
The girls looked at each other anxiously, and it seemed like they were running out of options.
Stheno grabbed a tablet off of the bed and held it out in front of the little dragon while putting on her best smile.
“Want some extra T.V time? I promise I won’t tell your parents.”
Straga looked up at all of the young women in his room with teary eyes.
“Why is everybody leaving Straga…? Am I bad..?”
Inadvertently, all four women felt like their hearts were simultaneously pierced and broken.
“N-No!”
“Of course not!”
“You are the goodest boy of all!”
Straga stared down at his feet, not really feeling much better one way or the other.
The girls were all running out of ideas when suddenly there was a knock at the bedroom door.
Confused, they opened it and were massively surprised to see Monica standing there, wearing her normal clothes and decidedly not a suit of armor.
“I heard we were all having a sleepover! Why didn’t I get an invite?”
Almost immediately, Straga’s face lit up like a brand new billboard.
“Mon-Mon!”
–
With Thea and her brother breaking past the barricade of concerned generals, Thea and Apophis finally reached their siblings, who were already waiting by the door.
With the exception of Gabbrielle, everyone else wore armor and held a newly sharpened weapon.
It wasn’t that she wasn’t planning on going, but she wasn’t the kind of fighter to get her hands dirty and with the way her magic worked, no one could touch her anyway.
Each of them had serious looks on their faces, and seemed to be totally ready for whatever would come their way.
Thea made no speeches, but she did pull every one of her siblings in for a group hug that would have crushed the bodies of lesser beings.
“Take care of each other, yea? I don’t want to see any of you get injured.”
Once she received six different nods of confirmation, the seven of them set out the door.
When they were outside, they were greeted by the sight of numerous red dragons hovering in the air, their eyes burning with a potent excitement.
Waiting patiently at the front gates to the Tathamet home was their newest pet / wayfarer; Camazotz.
The bat god was looking back and forth between every dragon in the sky witch clear traces of envy on his face.
‘One day.. I too shall be this big!’
Unsurprisingly, Mira came running up without restraint and landed right on top of the back of her second pet.
“Morning, Cama! Are you ready to take us to the doit??”
“Du’at, miss…”
“Huh? What’d you do?”
“No, Camazotz was saying… Yes, yes Camazotz is ready to take you.”
“Great!”
The rest of the Tathamet siblings climbed on top of the back of the large bat and made sure that they were all secure.
“Ah…Eldest princess is heavier than normal.” Camazotz noted.
“The hell is that supposed to mean, furball?!”
“Nothing! Nothing! It is just an observation, promise!”
“Whatever… Bell, hide the troops.”
Belloc held out his hands and the entire sky seemed to be dyed black.
The bodies of all of the dragons in the sky were swallowed up by his shadows, and he promptly closed his hands to store them safely.
Finally, Thea dug into Camazotz’ side with her heel as a signal that it was time to go.
Feeling important, Camazotz dove headfirst off of the floating castle without wasting another second.
‘Camazotz will surely be rewarded for this! The god blood will be plentiful!”
–
The Du’at are the Egyptian dead lands that are said to be among the most beautiful in mythology.
Once one traverses through the River of Night, they arrive at the land of the dead.
This land takes the appearance of a desert of white sand underneath a dark sky filled with bright white stars.
Here, dead souls travel to reach the god of the dead who is entrusted to act as their guide to the afterlife, and the domain of the one and only Osiris.
Inside of a temple made from a strange obsidian-like stone, there is a line of spirits standing in front of a large staircase.
At the top, the jackal headed god Anubis judges those who come to him, using the scales that seem to hold the power of the past in its metal.
Normally, the god would be hard at work right now.
But there was a problem.
Lately, his realm has been hosting certain… visitors.
And unlike those who are supposed to be here, they are anything but peaceful.
As Anubis stared at the army crowding the space outside his temple, he couldn’t help but snarl once again.
‘I despise Greeks…’