Chapter Fifty
Yes, yes, it was.
Before Styxx could comment, Sin turned to Savitar. "I have two gods and a demigod requesting permission to enter your home and join our powwow."
Savitar gave him a look that questioned his sanity. "Who?"
"My brother, Seth, and your least favorite god of all time."
"Noir?"
"Second least favorite," Sin quickly amended.
Savitar made a sound of supreme disgust. "I thought that bastard was dead."
"Apparently not."
A tic started in Savitar's jaw. "Why?"
Sin shrugged. "They say they can help with this."
Hands on his hips, Savitar glared at Acheron and then Kat. "Apollymi owes me. Big. And so do you." He he looked back at Sin and gave a curt nod.
Styxx was even more confused than before, especially when Set appeared beside Acheron with a man identical in looks to Sin-only with longer hair. The other newcomer bore a remarkable resemblance to the man Styxx had rescued in the desert.
Just what the hell was going on?
The Sin lookalike laughed and nudged Set to look at Styxx. "Now there's a photo op expression if ever there was one."
With a wry grin, Set transformed into the redheaded man Styxx had saved a few months back in the desert and Zakar into his "brother" then they quickly returned to their immortal appearances.
"Over four thousand years ago," Set explained, "Apollo and his whore mother used my son Seth," he indicated the red-haired man with them, "to trap me in the desert without his knowledge of what was being done to him and why, and restricted my powers so that the Greeks could take over my pantheon and hand my son over to my bitterest enemy. But for you, Styxx, I'd still be there, chained in the desert, fighting off vultures-human and animal." He glanced to his son and his gaze softened instantly. "And my son would still be hating me for something I tried my best to spare him."
Styxx's scowl deepened. "Why didn't you tell me it was you when I freed you?"
"You were in enough anguish over Bet. I didn't want to make it worse on you when I didn't think I could do anything to fix it or help you. Especially after you did me such a massive favor." Set inclined his head to Sin's brother. "Zakar and I were allies back in the day, which was why I had you take me to his place to recuperate. Since you left, we've been trying to find a way to revive my daughter without awakening the other Atlanteans."
The more they talked, the less clear all of this became. Why would they worry about another pantheon? "But Bethany was Egyptian, not Atlantean."
"From me, yes. Her mother is Symfora."
Styxx's stomach churned as an image of that cold-blooded bitch went through him and he had perfect clarity as to his wife's real name. "Bethany's Bet'anya Agriosa?"
Set nodded. "For an obvious reason, she was scared to tell you the truth. She was so afraid you couldn't forgive her for what they did to you without her knowledge or approval, that she was planning to give up her godhood entirely, in both pantheons, to live a mortal life with you in Didymos. Her aunt had already mixed the serum that would have stripped her of everything so she could be with you and not hurt you."
Tears clouded his vision as Styxx remembered Bethany telling him the truth after she'd freed him in Atlantis, and his steadfast. In his mind, he hadn't seemed feasible at the time. Now ...
"I wouldn't have cared." At least not after he'd had a chance to aborb it all.
"Good. Because if you want her back, you're going to have to bleed Apollo and battle the worst of the Atlantean gods for her."
"And you're not going to fight without us." Maahes and Ma'at flashed into the room, next to Savitar.
Savitar growled. "Anyone else you want to bring to the party?"
Maahes grinned insolently. "Mother, may I?"
The look on Savitar's face said that Maahes was barely a step away from becoming a lion throw rug on Savitar's floor.
Ma'at stood up on her tiptoes to place a kiss to Savitar's cheek. "Remember, you like me."
"I don't like anyone who barges into my home uninvited, Mennie."
"You'll get over it." She turned her attention to the group. "All right, children. Where are we?"
"From what I'm hearing ... screwed." Styxx crossed his arms over his chest as he considered everything they'd told him. "I'm going to be dense for a moment because I'm having trouble wrapping my head around this.... Bethany can be brought back. Yes?"
Ma'at and Set nodded.
Pain exploded inside him at the news. All these needless centuries he'd been forced to live without her.... He glared his fury at Acheron. "Why didn't anyone tell me this before?"
His brother held his hands up in surrender. "I had no idea your Bethany was Bet'anya or that she was in my basement garden of statues. That's the truth. I was a little distraught and disoriented eleven thousand years ago when my mother took me to Katateros the first time. After I teleported their statues to the basement, I locked the door and never went near that area again."
Even so, it took everything Styxx had not to punch Acheron where he stood. Had his brother ever bothered to meet her and speak to Styxx for five heartbeats this could have been resolved centuries ago.
You stupid bastard....
He looked at Set and Ma'at. Why hadn't they told him?
"Sugar, every one of us thought she was dead," Ma'at said gently. "Believe me, had we known she was frozen in Katateros, we'd have freed her for all of our sakes."
"Well, we would have tried." Set sighed. "Probably would have failed. It was the alignment on the twenty-first that made this possible ... that and the demon." He turned his gaze to Simi.
Simi flashed a happy smile at Styxx that melted him on the spot. How something so lethal and cold could be so adorable and cute defied his best attempts to explain. Yet she succeeded. "I told you wishes can come true, and not just at Disney World. The real world does a good job, too, sometimes."
Acheron scowled at Simi's familiarity with him. "When did you two become friends?"
She wrinkled her nose. "On your birthdays, akri. Did you know akri-Styxx don't gots no one to spend his special day with? He all alone on it and so the Simi went to apologize and make him her friend, too, so he won't be alone on his special days anymore. But he done broke my heart so now he my other akri-baby like Baby Bas and akra-Kat. The Simi has officially adapted him ... no ... adopted him." She grinned so wide, her fangs flashed.
Instead of being angry, Acheron laughed and kissed her cheek. "All right, Styxx. Your show. How do we do this?"
Styxx glanced around at the gods and demons. "Still the sole human in the room. I don't know what we're up against or who we're fighting. I need more details."
Acheron spread his hands out and a schematic of his temple on Katateros appeared on the wall that showed the basement and the statues housed there. As he spoke, the animation illustrated his words. "A dozen gods woke up while Simi was in the basement with Xirena, looking for Bet'anya. Since I was in Vegas with Sin and Katra fighting off Ren's nightmare, and Tory was with my mother in Kalosis, the two demons were alone to create well-intentioned mischief. As soon as the gods began to stir, Xirena ran to tell Alexion and Danger. The three of them grabbed Simi and escaped here to Savitar to let him know what had happened."
"That's when they called me in Minnesota," Urian said. "And told me not to come home for a few days as we had ancient interlopers in Katateros who most likely would not host me a Welcome Back party."
Acheron sighed. "We're also flying blind." He motioned to his wall decoration. "We have that tidbit based on Simi's recollection. After Simi and crew vacated the premises, Archon and the others have blocked out our sforas. None of us can see where they are or anything inside the main temple."
Styxx nodded as he absorbed it all. "Do we know who we're up against?"
Acheron glanced to Simi before he answered. "We're not one hundred percent sure. Because Simi was an infant when they ruled, she's a little iffy on some of their identities and she was the only one who got a look at them. Best we can figure, it's..." He again turned to the images on the wall-one of which looked more like Wreck-It Ralph than an actual god ... go Simi. "Dikastis, Ilos, Isorro, Asteros, Epithymia, Diafonia, Nyktos, Paidi, Teros, Phanen, Demonbrean, and we know for a fact Archon is with them as he's the one we've been talking to. And of course everyone's favorite dickhead, Apollo."
"Beautiful." Styxx ground his teeth as old memories churned. "My ideal guest list ... for a fete in hell." The Who's Who of the gods who had personal grudges against him and who'd gone out of their way to leave a scar on his soul. The Fates were definitely mocking him with this.
Letting out an exasperated sigh, Styxx went over them for the others so that they'd know who they were fighting. Unlike Simi, he knew the names and faces of every one of them ... even Wreck-It Ralph aka Demonbrean. They were forever seared into his memories.