Chương 970: Day Nine Hundred And Sixty-Eight

Dear Diary, At some point, possibly in the very near future, someone is going to rub me exactly the wrong way, and I am going to snap. If I were still a potato with no super powers, this would likely wind up with a trip to the ER, maybe some property damage. Shit, if I were still just a prodigy of pain at the Academy, it might wind up with very little more than that.

But last time I really lost my temper was just after Yule, and I deliberately desecrated a bitch's corpse while not letting her die, followed by yet again deliberately giving someone hope before snuffing it out, just to desecrate their innermost Soul while I was at it. If my Dark Fatass self had any volition of its own, I'd worry about her having some kind of coprophagia, given how much I obviously enjoy the flavor of folks who've given in to despair.

Honestly, at this point, I'm so pissed off at what the Spartans have done, especially the fact that they've prevented Revival of the folks they killed, which leaves me without the ability to give them a choice of Reviving or delivery to an afterlife, that I don't think I'd feel very guilty about performing the kind of counter-atrocity like I did to Lyssa. Which is in and of itself part of the problem that I'm worried about, because that's the whole thing. Atrocity is atrocious.

Doesn't matter how bad the target was, there's some stuff where you just gotta... Well, fuck. I was gonna fall back on platitudes from back in the day just there, specifically that whole 'let go and let god' one that some of the old heads used to pull out when some asshole pulled some shit that deserved something bad happening to them, but nobody could do shit because the perpetrator was connected, or rich, or so six eff the Rohirrim ride to their aid every time they go to the beach.

But here and now, I'm the god who's supposed to be taking care of shit. You are, and you have, and you will, Daughter. Thanks, Dad. You're the best. I know. I guess it's nice knowing Dad has my back, has confidence in me, even when I don't have it in myself. Thing is, even though I am the person who brings the consequences, there's certain shit I ought not be doing.

Like, there's behaviors that are so bad that anything approaching 'justice' would be atrocious in and of itself, the kind of thing that I couldn't forget doing. Against a Deity like Diana or The Morrigan I can maybe excuse going overboard a little, because not only are they tougher than normal, able to take so much more punishment than any Mortal, they're also older, and have racked up so much red in their ledger that even at pennies on the dollar they still require some awful shit happening to them.

Gotta remember to go check on her. Not really worried that she's escaped, but I ought to check just in case, and also maybe see if she'd rather I just killed her or something. I did offer her that option, after all. I want to be a merciful Goddess, but sometimes death is the merciful option. Which really ought to be the option with the Spartans. Kill 'em quick, then maybe nab their souls and do something unfortunate with them.

Tartarus isn't an option, but a stay in Niflhel might convince them to try something better if they reincarnate. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Of course, if they discover they've harmed even one single more kid I'm gonna be hard pressed not to turn them into a Human centipede and then ouroboros that fucker. Exactly what I mean by I'm close to snapping.

So after Panther told me we'd closed things to three days, thus showing that if we're ignoring all the traps and the cold and the dark and running twenty four hours a day we can actually catch up to the assholes, I topped everybody off, very carefully did not top Marie or Lemmy or anybody else because with that whole fuckin' Bloodlust thing incandescent rage and wanton horniness aren't just kissing cousins or next door neighbors, they're wearing the same fuckin' lingerie.

Yeah, wasn't tracking super well, but well enough to tag Saffron before we started moving again. We're going through the night again. Panther says they're only three days ahead of us. Be careful, love. We're all Blended and armored to a fare thee well. She almost thought something back, paused, then thought, Cold Iron may cut through any Mana based defenses. But Blend should still hide your non-combatants. Tell us when you find them. Before you engage if you can.

We'll observe and be ready to move in and assist as needed. K. Hitting the road. I love you, Goof. Love you too, Kitten. Then we were off, running through the night again. Up a hill, down a hill, turn sideways midway down, parallel to the ridge and stream for a while, then down through the stream and back up the other side. Turn the other way and run almost back to where they turned the first time.

Up and down, back and forth we jogged, ran, and every now and then walked when the trackers couldn't find the next track. The sun rose on a group who looked like ghosts. I'd never realized just how much my skin paled when I leaned on that Jotnar cold immunity. It didn't show as much on Ryan and Mackenzie, but Chloros did not look good like that. She and the hunters all looked kinda ashy, like their skin had frozen. I Assessed them, no such issue, but still wasn't pleasant to look at.

Around lunch, when I handed out snacks snagged from the kitchen, mostly more crackers and jerky, Karen pinged me. Goddess? Alexandra wishes to speak with you. I think I grunted something in reply, but I can't even be sure. I Co-Located straight to the room I'd last seen Alexandra in, the one where I'd spoken with Alexandra. The sock puppet sat there on the bed, back leaned against the wall, her head kind of propped up between her shoulder and the wall.

"What do you want. I'm busy." I felt Aphrodite surging, and didn't think, I just pushed something like a Divine Ward into existence. She recoiled, and I said, "no. We've spent too much time and effort keeping what's left of Alexandra alive, stop fucking her up." Alexandra blinked. Her lips moved, but no sound came out. After a few seconds, she coughed, then said, "my lady asks if you intend to keep me from her forever?"

"Only until you're healthy and strong enough to survive. Or until she finds a fuckin' cutout so she doesn't hurt you. Or until she tells me what you did that deserves the kind of erasure she wants to do to you." She winced.

"My lady... My lady does not wish my erasure." I might have imagined the emphasis on the word 'my'.

"If she cannot use me, may she have safe passage?"

"She... She wants to come here?" Alexandra nodded.

"Fuck. I'm not gonna be here. She waits on the M-Space side until I'm ready to fucking deal with her."

"Em Space?" she muttered, confused.

"The land of the Gods. She can come here, to Phileo, to the Temple, but she stays on the other side until I come to get her."

"She... She will die." I put something that might charitably have been called a smile on my face.

"Yeah, well. Not by my hand. Or tentacle. If she's polite and follows directions, not by any action of mine or my people." She nodded, breathed out, "thank you," then toppled over onto the bed. I Stabilized her, Smited her, and Assessed her. Exhausted. Soul burned. A bunch of other stuff that basically amounted to 'used up'. I thought, Karen, take care of her, and let me know if you can tell when Aphrodite arrives? I've got Spartans to catch. May it be so. Ran for the rest of the day.

No Spartans, but we wound up only one day behind.