Chapter 18

Her eyes widened in surprise and then she rushed out of the room, only to return a few minutes later with the document holding our quest.

“Well I am happy to hear it,” she stated excitedly. “Did you bring what is needed to confirm the completion.”

I nodded, “We have a signed document from the village leader, confirming that we have indeed completed the task.” I glanced at Cassandra who pulled out the eye and placed it on the table. “This is the eye of the hive queen. I am sure you will be able to verify it, but there were strange deformities occurring in the hive, along with splicing of different insects.”

Cassandra pulled out the red crystal and placed it on the table, shocking Esmerelda at its appearance.

“There is something different about this crystal,” I explained, pulling her attention back to me. “There were none of the usual effects that I have seen in the past. Instead I believe this is what was creating the weird cross breeding and deformities. I will be giving this to Tyr, but I wanted you to see what we have been coming across.”

“So this is what that group has been using to make changes within the tower,” Esmerelda muttered as she looked at the crystal more closely. “I can understand why they are worried, since it has an ominous feeling about it.”

I nodded, “Draco and Saphira said the same thing when they showed it to us. It was deep in the Hive, situated in the hatchery.”

“Oh you were able to call in their help,” Esmerelda exclaimed excitedly. “I was wondering when you would do that. I know that they had to be eager to help you, as most bonded creatures are. Even Theresa’s partners will be anxious to help her and fight alongside her. Now to the reward.”

She pulled out a small crystal and placed it over the eye. Muttering an incantation, a soft beam of light emitted from the tip of the crystal and enveloped the eye. A small display appeared and after a few minutes turned green.

“This is confirmed to be the remains of a Greater Giant Ant Queen,” Esmerelda stated as she stored the crystal. “You were right that there were deformations, even in the eye itself. Still we could confirm that it was the proof needed. Normally these things are found on the fifteenth floor. Instead this was weakened to meet the floor requirements, and the effect caused deformities. So there were eight of you today. That is eighty thousand gold, plus fifty thousand for the queen’s eye. Since you made the criteria for the special conditions, that means you wracked in two hundred and sixty thousand gold. If you have any other drops to hand in, I can take them to process while I collect your reward.”

We handed over the orbs and gems that we had collected from the fight and walked away with roughly ninety thousand more. The queen’s drop was over twelve thousand on its own. We collected the three hundred and fifty thousand gold, as well as the red crystal and left to return home. We popped into the armory to get rid of our gear and once back in our room, the others started to get dinner ready while I went to talk to Tyr. As I neared his door, he bade me to enter, and I quickly told him of what I had seen when we had dealt with the hive. I handed him the red crystal and I could see him lock his steely gaze on it.

“I don’t know what their end game is,” He muttered in frustration. “Every time we think we have an idea of what they are doing, they change things. This is just another curve ball they have thrown us.”

I nodded, “I know, which is why I made sure to come here as soon as I got back. This is just another step I think, but their goal still seems clear.”

His gaze moved from the crystal to me, so I continued. “They seemed to be trying to circumvent parts of the dungeon. You said that when we kill creatures they spawn out in the real world, but that isn’t always true. Every creature I have killed that has been changed from the red crystal’s would be too dangerous to be sent out into the world.”

Tyr nodded, “They have been designated anomalies and were wiped from existence, but why would that matter?”

“Perhaps they are changing things to try and get these creatures out into the real world,” I replied, causing a surprised look on Tyr’s face. “They could then have beasts out in Eden under their complete control, as opposed to the free will they have now, how limited that may be.”

“What do you mean, Pathios?” Tyr asked, cocking his head to one side. “What makes you think we limit their free will?”

I shrugged, “It is less that you limit their free will, as you do their access to the people of the world. If they had true free will and reign, we would hear of dragon attacks or these more obscure beasts causing issues around the world. Instead you let them roam within hidden barriers where they can attack other animals and creatures.

Tyr nodded, with a smile of approval, “Yes, you are right, Pathios. The Council wanted to have the actions seem humane but didn’t want there to be a threat to the people here. Mind you, Eden is far larger than Earth, and how we have structured things there is plenty of room without risk at this time of them harming people.”

“For now at least,” I replied. “The sheer number of creatures we had to face was alarming, as even the Arachni queen hadn’t created as many broods as this thing did. Plus they were cross breeding giant scorpions, giant ants, and even giant mantis with giant bees. Not to mention Esmeralda confirmed that the Queen we killed was from ten floors above us, scaled down to be able to be on the fifth floor. This level decrease caused mutations and deformation in the queen.”

“More things to tell the council which will frustrate them,” Tyr muttered as he placed the crystal on a table beside him. “Ra and Odin are getting irritated with the organizational skills of this group. It could only mean that they had been around for a while, but that meant they hid under their noses and that is the biggest issue. They are supposed to be the all-knowing council and to have members of their pantheons as the enemy, working for years or even centuries towards this is a big deal. Thank you for bringing all of this to my attention, I will inform the others and if we have anything for you, I will relay it.”

I wished him a good night and left to return to our room. Dinner was well underway, and I had some time to relax, so I grabbed some things for the bath and headed to have a soak after our long day.

I let out a content sigh as the hot water of the onsen bath enveloped my body, easing the sore muscles from today’s embarkation into the dungeon. I was happy that it worked out as it had, given that it could have been a lot worse, but once again the scales had been tipped in my favor. I let my mind wander as I allowed the heat and warmth to soothe my body. Allowing all that happened to drift through my thoughts, both bad and good. I don’t know how long I had been relaxing, when all those thoughts suddenly became crystal clear. I got out of the bath and rushed to get dressed. I stormed out of the dorm, startling the others and returned to Tyr’s quarters.

“Please, come in, Pathios,” Tyr called out from inside his room. “I wasn’t expecting you to return so soon.”

I entered the room and immediately stood before Tyr and was greeted with his usual impassive glare.

“Who is the one that has made sure that these gifts keep coming?” I asked. “First it was Entivala during my first task. Then a spell book that was just what she needed. Yes, there have been issues, threats, and setbacks, but there have also been a lot of advantages that have been given to me.”

Tyr let out a sigh and then raised his hand, snapping his fingers. A moment later we were in Freyja’s quarters, to the surprise of myself and my goddess lover.

“I am surprised to see you here,” Freyja exclaimed. “I wish that you had given me a heads up, so I could be able to prepare accordingly.”

“Now is not the time for pleasantries,” Tyr replied, causing worry to appear on Freyja’s face. “Pathios came to me to ask why he seems to be getting an unfair advantage during his time here.”

Freyja’s eyes widened and I could see that that statement made her extremely uncomfortable. That made my suspicions only grow and for the first time since I had met her, I was questioning her actions. She glanced at me, and I could tell she saw the growing doubt on my face. She rushed over and pulled me into a fierce embrace, kissing my face repeatedly. I was shocked, as she didn’t want to make it too public what was going on between us.

“Please don’t think that my love,” she pleaded with tears in her eyes. “You have no reason to ever doubt me or anything I have ever said to you!”

“How can I believe that?” I asked, with a bit more anger in my voice than I meant to show. “You have hidden things from me and now I am questioning everything that I have done or accomplished!”

She flinched at my anger, but replied, “I know you’re angry, but please let me explain. It may not ease your anger entirely, but perhaps you will be able to forgive me?”

I looked into her eyes and saw her sincerity, though the lingering doubt still sat in the back of my mind. I gave her a curt nod and she guided us to the nearby table. I had expected Tyr to head back, but he joined us at the table, and I could see he wasn’t exactly comfortable about the situation.

“You are right that you have been given some advantages that aren’t very common,” Freyja admitted, causing me to scoff in reply. “You need to understand why. I was warned by the oracle that we were to face an unprecedented threat that would require someone special to deal with. When I met you, during your choice to come here or go to purgatory, I did a reading of you. Not just of how you spoke to me, but due to the task that I perform for Eden, I can read into the very soul of the person I am judging. I was shocked at the man I saw there, as well as the potential that you had. I was so happy that you accepted, because I knew that I had found someone that the oracle was calling for. I was in awe of the care and compassion that lay in your heart and the urge to fight for those who you deem important to you. You showed the characteristics of the great heroes of your legends. When I met with the oracle, after you had been sent to Tyr, she said she was worried about the coming threat.

“She knew that it would be unlike anything that had come before, because prior to that there were just minor unexpected changes that occurred. An unexpected evolution creating a monster or creature that we never expected, and thus new solutions would be involved. This would be on a scale that could not be imagined in our world, but that would be reminiscent of the things that had happened in your world. She was worried that you wouldn’t have enough help with just Amenthia, so I intervened. I met with Tyr and suggested that he send you another potential supporter. I had to tell him of the discussions with the oracle in order for him to agree to do as I asked. He wanted to tell the council right away, but I explained that even the oracle was uncertain about what was happening.

“We came across Entivala, and I remembered her connection to Amenthia, and it was then I came across the tie she had to you. I called the fates, who appeared, and I confronted them about the fact your name appeared on that tablet before you ever came to this world. They confirmed that you were always meant to come here, and that they knew of the coming threat, but it didn’t concern them. They did say that they were concerned that there would be changes coming to the world, but they weren’t certain of the source, for it somehow eluded them. With that in play, we sent her, and I looked into the beast in question. Tyr had been given older information and hadn’t realized the full danger that Trethraz posed, so I may have made sure a high-level book was right where you were going to be. It would only appear if you or your party opened the chest, otherwise a regular item for that area would have been inside.

“What we learned about the dragon and Jonta is why the Oracle was replaced. At that time we had to tell the council and that led to Jupiter’s animosity towards you as he felt you were being given an unfair advantage. The council grilled the Oracle, and she told them everything that she knew. Everything that happened with Kat’ilth’ana was of your own doing, with nothing to do with me. The egg was a gift from me for accepting me as your lover and mate, but also because the threats seemed to be becoming more and more dangerous. Cassandra was just circumstances working out, as was meeting Darius and his group. The connection and friendships you have made have been all your doing I swear. At first it was to ensure your victories so that you could be able to deal with the coming threat that we now know as a shadow group, but it grew into needing to keep the man I love safe. Aphrodite was smitten with you seeing how happy you make me and curious, but I never influenced any of that. You impressed her with your deeds and actions, as they have matched your words. Please forgive me, but I only wanted to help.”