Chapter 10: The Party of Nowhere

“Oh, there she is!” yelled Taweret as she clapped her hands. She stood up from her seat and ran down the massive room to the other side. Gary and Fumi watched the hippo leave from them as Adnoartina gave an annoyed look. He clenched his fist as Pakhet put her hand to his arm to calm him down.

“I had more to tell!” Adnoartina yelled. He shrugged as he looked at his empty cup. He then took the cup and slammed it into the wall next to him as it shattered to pieces.

“That was an interesting story at least,” Gary told him.

“It was a wonderful story...” Fumi said. There were some inflections from her face that Gary noticed that she was somewhat entertained but disturbed.

“Ugh... , “ the gecko god said as he went and slammed his head to the table. His eyes closed as if he seemed to have little else to say.

“Did he just?...” Gary asked, pointing at him.

Pakhet turned her head to look at his face. She used her furry fingers and began snapping them near his ears. He seemed unresponsive to the sounds around him. She nodded her head. “Yep ... he is out.”

Gary could feel Fumi’s hand grip his as they turned to look at the hippo goddess from a distance. She was talking and laughing with a minotaur woman of some sort. She was the same height as the towering hippo, but she had two very long horns that protruded from her head. She had a light tan fur color to her body and had a cheerful look on her face as she waved her four-digit hand at Taweret as they talked. This minotaur wore a white tunic on her body that covered her large breasts, stomach, and lower extremities. Her tail was similar to a bovine she was. She had a long snout and protruding bovine ears from her head.

“Who is she?” Gary asked.

“I was told to read the books, and I know that she is a minotaur,” Fumi informed him.

“She is waving us to come to them,” Fumi said. She patted her husband to get off the chair. They both stood up and proceeded down the large room.

There were so many individuals of different sizes, personalities, and characters all interacting with each other. They didn’t pay too much attention to the rat and human couple. There were humans of different ages that were talking with and associating with others.

Gary and Fumi reached the tall minotaur as she waved and looked down at them. Gary again was awestruck at how tall these gods were. Even he had to admit that he was curious to what each of these mythics was.

“Oh, look at what we have here,” the minotaur said in an Egyptian accent similar to Taweret’s. “Looks like we got ourselves a cute little rat woman and a ... rather handsome human. Oh...” She stifled a laugh as she looked at the rat woman’s pregnant belly. “Looks like you have been busy. Oh! Is that child his?” she put her hands to her hips.

Fumi nodded her head to her. She was practically looking up almost straight up as the minotaur stood eight feet, not including her horns.

“Oh, I am getting so caught up in the moment that I haven’t even introduced myself yet.” “My name is Hathor. I am an Egyptian goddess just like my dear friend Taweret.”

Taweret replied in kind as she wrapped her arm around Hathor’s fur-covered arm. They both looked down at the couple with a smile.

“My name is Gary Lee, and this is my wife Fumi Yuki,” he introduced himself. “A pleasure to meet you, Hathor.”

“The pleasure is about the party,” Hathor said, waving her free hand. “Welcome to the Party of Nowhere.”

“Yeah, you can say that again. You guys have this in the United States? A bunch of gods comes to party?”

“This place does not occur in the United States or any other place on Earth. This place we are in is between worlds. You are in a realm that is in a realm. I found this place a long, long time ago and decided that it would be a great place to be able to party away from human mortals as they populate more and more of Earth. We get to be away from the mortals naturally and it allows us to control who comes and goes.”

“As much as I like to take credit for the morale for the other mythics,” Taweret explained. “I am only a part of that. Hathor is the one that deserves the credit for starting these get-togethers.”

Hathor pulled her arm free of Taweret as she took a knee to be height level with Fumi. She wanted to be eye level with her.

“You must be the new guests or possible candidates for our collection of mythics,” Hathor explained. “You are the race of rat people.”

“More of a family rather than a race,” Fumi commented. “We never looked at ourselves as a race since we are all children descended from one.”

“Makes sense. I never truly call myself a minotaur even though others always claim that I am. The Greeks just like to call me that.”

“Then what do you call yourself?” Gary asked.

“I am the great goddess of Egypt. Some may consider me as one of the Great Ones, a subgroup of powerful deities among deities. I was married to Horus and could find boundaries between realms.”

“A great one of what?”

“Parties...” Taweret joked.

Hathor chuckled and elbowed the hippo goddess. “I am a sun goddess. Mess with me or my friends and you will see how much light you will face. But I certainly like to party more than anything else.”

“If there is anything that Hathor is known for is how good her ... festivities go.”

“I also can affect how you feel... , or at least a little bit.”

“She has plenty of drugs, the best kind,” Taweret played around. She then lifted her hand and whispered to Gary. “Plus, she is awesome when it comes to sex.”

Hathor slapped the hippo goddess’s side, almost as if she heard it. She then turned and looked at Fumi.

“Looks like Gary has been busy with you,” Hathor said, pointing her hand to the distended belly of Fumi.

Fumi patted her pregnant belly. “He is terrific. He already gave me a pup before.”

“A pup!” Hathor giggled. “Oh, I might need to have some recommendations from you when it comes to human men. Right now, we are a little bit short of supply when it comes to mythics. There aren’t that many of us, and if there is one thing we need right now,” she said as she poked Fumi’s distended stomach. “We need more like you. Besides ... I might just ask Gary to my bed chambers if you feel like accompanying me?”

Hathor said her words almost in a blurred joke and a line of seriousness to it that it had Gary second-guessing at what she was trying to mean. Fumi seemed diplomatic virtually as if she was placating the Egyptian goddess.

“Perhaps we might, but I am afraid that will have to wait great Egyptian goddess,” Fumi explained. “I am sure Taweret just explained everything to you of what is happening.”

Hathor’s face got serious as her smile faded. “Of course. Your family wishes to become a part of us, but...” She waved her finger to her. “There is something that you rats have a history of. I am afraid that we know you quite well...”

Gary and Fumi looked at each other firmly in question as they looked back at the Egyptian goddess.

“I don’t understand,” Gary said. “How do you happen to know about us?”

Hathor seemed to hesitate in answering that question. “Perhaps ... it is best that you talk to somebody else on that. Taweret was chosen to represent us. Maybe it is best to ask her on this.”

Fumi had her finger to her chin as she thought about those words. Gary turned to ask Taweret the question, but she saw another person, and she decided to grab them to take with her.

“I want you guys to meet some of the others around here,” Taweret joyfully told them. “Obviously, you won’t get a chance to meet all of them yet, but it doesn’t mean that we can’t get started yet.”

“Don’t worry about me, you two,” Hathor told them as they were being taken away. “If you are still interested, my bed chambers are yours.”

“Wow... , “ Gary replied.

They were taken to one of the many tables in the large open bar. In one table, they noticed a few individuals that were talking to each other. There were three sets of individuals all at one table with six in total. One couple was an older middle-aged man that appeared to be European or possibly Russian. He sat beside a dragon that was female by her appearance and looks. She had a deep purple colored scales that covered her body. She wore a white tunic that covered her breasts and lower portions of her body. She sat on the chair comfortably with a large scorpion tail that rested comfortably from her back and away from anyone that may touch it by accident. She, like the others, stood at about an 8-foot range. Her wings stretched and touched the man she sat near.

Another couple consisted of another minotaur that was female as well. She wore a green tunic and had brown fur that covered her body. The one big difference was that she had much shorter horns than Hathor’s were. She had her arm around an older man that appeared to be around his eighties or nineties. The man had facial features that made him look like he might have been Native American.

The last couple they saw was another dragon that looked similar to the purple dragon but this one had green scales instead. It was way more likely male due to the apparent lack of breasts. He had a stoic look even as he sat next to an older woman who appeared to be Chinese in looks. She seemed to be around the same age as the Native American was and had gray hair that flowed down her head.

“I want you two to meet some of the other couples around here,” Taweret pointed to each couple. She pointed to the purple dragon and the human. “Here is Drakaina and Yaromir. They met in WW2.” She pointed at the minotaur. “Here is Ariadne and Toha, and the other two are Daiyu and Sárkány. Guys,” she addressed to all of them. “This is Gary and Fumi. They are new guests to join the Coalition.”

“Welcome, welcome,” Daiyu, the Chinese woman, called out first. “Fresh new blood to come and enjoy with us. And from what I can tell, it looks like a mother ready to pop anytime now. Congratulations.”

“Thank you, Daiyu,” Fumi replied to her. “I am so happy to get a chance to meet so many new individuals.”

“It is the greatest honor to meet a respectable woman such as yourself, Lady Fumi!” Sárkány replied in such a dynamic and robust volume that even Fumi pulled back in surprise.

“Oh, don’t mind is volume range,” Daiyu waved her hand at her. “He is a perfect guy to be with.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Gary and Fumi,” Ariadne told them. “You haven’t had anything to drink yet, haven’t you?”

“No, we haven’t,” Gary said in almost surprise. “We pretty much just got here.”

Ariadne stretched her arms out to them as she held her hands open. Smoke pillared from her hands as she waved them around and gripped the materializing smoke. In each hand, a clear glass of red wine appeared.

“Complements of me the Goddess of Wine to make your stay pleasant,” Ariadne told them as she handed each one a cup.

Fumi put her hand to her mouth in surprise. Gary went and took the first cup as Fumi started clapping her hands. “Well done, Goddess Ariadne. That is beautiful,” she said as she took the cup for her and took a sip of it. She licked her lips and nodded. “This tastes so good!”

“What do you expect from the Goddess of Wine?” Toha asked them.

“You guys seem to have been together for a long time,” Gary commented.

“It is the one thing that will be happening to you two,” Daiyu replied. “Don’t try to deny it. I can tell that you two will be together for the rest of your lives. One thing that we all have to be ready for is how old we will get. Soon enough, I will be so wrinkled I will look like a dried-up oil painting. Poor Sárkány will have to carry me everywhere I go. But,” she smacked the table. “I won’t let that stop me and nor should you. Fumi, you better be good to Gary no matter how old he gets you hear me!”

“Don’t worry, Lady Daiyu,” Fumi said, wrapping her arm around Gary’s. “I love him, and I promise to be with him till death do us part.”

Daiyu elbowed Ariadne. “Looks like Sárkány’s words are getting spread around too much. Soon Fumi will be narrating her great adventures like she is in a book.”

Taweret looked over to Drakaina. “How are you two doing?”

Drakaina seemed to be the type of dragoness that seemed bored but responsive. “I am ok, and so is Yaromir.”

“Zdravstvuyte comrade Gary and Fumi,” Yaromir greeted them. His voice and accent were Russian by his choice of words that he made.

“Hello, Yaromir,” Gary greeted him.

“How are your children doing, Drakaina?” Taweret asked her.

“Zitiraas and Cirrynth are fine as usual. They are on a mission in the Soviet-Afghan War.”

“And Annika and Glauria? I know you two were busy for a while,” Taweret said, pointing to both Drakaina andYaromir.

“Annika is spunky as she normally is. She has gotten really good with the rifle lately. You should talk to her, she is...” The dragon turned to look around. “I guess she hasn’t arrived yet. She should be here soon, along with her sister. I know they had some errand they were doing.”

“I look forward to seeing them again,” Taweret said with a smile. “And you Yaromir. Stay cool. I know that things haven’t been easy with Russia right now.”

Yaromir shook his head as he spoke in his thick Russian accent. “I left the Soviet Union awhile back. This war will be the death of us. It will be no different than the Vietnam War was to the United States. Besides... , “ he looked at Drakaina. “I won’t leave her. I love Annika and Glauria. They have been our perfect daughters.”

“Taweret,” Ariadne tried to get her attention. “Theoxenia wanted to get a hold of you. Apparently, she and her new girlfriend wanted to have a baby together.”