Pantheon Book 2: The Way of the Tao

Who Cast the First Stone

        "The Shinto?" Melody repeats, blinking at Ra. "No - er, my Pharaoh," She adds quickly. "It was Marcus - Loki - that broke the treaty."

"Loki may have sparked the rebellion, that much is true," Ra confirms. "But the old treaty had a loophole, I'm afraid. It forbid gods from fighting and harming those from other Pantheons, but it did not extend to monsters or apprentices attacking each other." He explains, shaking his head. "Loki only became a god after the conflict was over, so technically, as the old treaty was worded, he did no wrong."

"Did no wrong-!?" Melody hisses, catching herself quickly. She presses her hand to her heart, forcing back her own feelings. She takes a deep breath, meeting Ra's eye. "If I could ask, how are the Shinto to blame, then?"

"Don't misunderstand, the Aesir are taking their fair share of the blame," Ra says.

"As they should," Horus rumbles.

"But the treaty did not break until Tsukuyomi struck the apprentice Hades that night. That was when the old treaty was officially unraveled." Melody's shoulders drop, guilt building in the pit of her stomach.

Your fault. It's all your fault. You caused this. She forces the guilt back, focusing on the moment.

"I understand," She says softly, glancing at Oliver. He gives a small nod, and she straightens. "We were planning to go to the Shinto anyway - we'll go there soon."

"I'd go there next," Horus says firmly. "Somebody needs to check on them, and you're the only one who can do it," He adds, turning to Oliver.

"C-Check on them?" Oliver says. "What do you mean?"

"I'm afraid we don't know," Ra says solemnly. "Nobody has heard from the Shinto since the night of the rebellion. It's like they've disappeared completely." Oliver's hands slip off of Caduceus, and he stumbles in place. Melody wobbles on her feet, the guilt drawing her back into her mind. Your fault. Your fault. Your fault.

"What do you mean, they disappeared?" Oliver gasps, his eyes wide. "B-but, Akari - and - what about-?" Anubis sighs, shaking his head.

"I take it that means you haven't been there lately, either?" He says. Oliver nods quickly.

"I-I've mostly been going between Mount Olympus, here, and Asgard," He says, looking between the three of them. "Akari is a sun god, haven't you...?" He tries. His head almost falls off his neck when Ra shakes his head.

"As a fellow sun god, I can sense her distress, even from here," He says. "But I haven't heard from her at all. Apollo and I have been covering for her as the sun ever since, so nobody would notice the disturbance."

"But Julien didn't say anything about-" He breaths.

"Of course he didn't," Horus grunts. "Think about it - everyone blames them for breaking the treaty. We're technically free to attack each other right now. What do you think would happen if they found out that their head goddess is missing?" Oliver whimpers, pulling Caduceus close to his chest.

"Things will get bad pretty fast," Anubis confirms with a nod. "So we discussed it with Apollo and decided to keep it quiet until we knew more. Of course...we don't actually know what's going on." He shrugs, gritting his teeth. "It's possible that...someone already got to them."

"N-No," Melody says, hugging herself to try to stop her whole body from trembling. "No, they weren't attacked. W-We would have heard if a whole Pantheon fell." You caused this. This is your fault. Anything that happened to them is because of you.

"We're keeping an ear out, just to be safe," Horus confirms. "But we can't actually go over there without drawing attention. It's possible that they've just hunkered down to prepare for an attack. But if that's the case, us showing up on their doorstep might make things worse."

"We'll go there next," Oliver says, looking at Melody. She shivers, gripping her elbows tightly. This isn't how it was supposed to go, she thinks. She chews her lip until it goes raw, but it does nothing to distract her from the guilt.

"C-can we stay the night here?" She says, looking up to Ra hopefully. "I promise, we'll go to the Shinto as soon as we can. But...there's somewhere else we have to go first." She gives Oliver an apologetic look, feeling her heart break when he doesn't meet her eye. "Please, we just have to-"

"We can organize rooms for both of you," Ra confirms. Oliver and Melody jump when he claps his hands. "Take the night to think. We need to prepare the treaty and enchant it with the magic of the Ennead before you can leave anyway." Oliver nods, letting out a slow breath. Melody's eyes sink, and she stares down at herself.

I just need some sleep, she decides. It's been a stressful day. I'll feel better in the morning. But no matter how much she reassures herself, she's drowned out by the voice of the guilt, clawing its way through her like a monster from the depths of Tartarus.

Every second you waste, someone could die. He's being punished right now, even though it wasn't his idea. It was you all along.