Vol.6 Ch.4.1 – Treasury Of Olympus I
Chapter 4: Treasury Of Olympus
“So, where is this treasury?” I asked Athena.
We'd been walking for a while already and Olympus wasn't that big. In fact, I was pretty sure we'd passed some of the same places twice. Under any other circumstances, with any other guide but Athena, I would have assumed we were being tailed and she was trying to either shake our tail or catch them. But she wasn't making even the slightest effort to see what was behind us and she'd had several opportunities already. And, for the record, I hadn't noticed anyone following us, either.
“We are almost there,” Athena said, sounding preoccupied. I was starting to form a theory on what was happening but for now I decided to simply trust her.
Trusting Athena now, are you?, Syr asked in my mind.
I groaned inwardly. What else am I supposed to do?
In response she just tittered.
I could have been more annoyed at that. I should have been, really. But any bit of levity that could distract Syr from the situation was a good thing.
Syr currently existed as a disembodied spirit inside my mind, after she had been cast out of her own body. And that body was now in the hands of the so-called Holy Maiden, the woman we had sought for so long, the leader of the Outsider cult we had been hunting. Except when we had met her here in Olympus she had revealed herself as the Black Goat herself, an Outer God inhabiting a vessel that had been specifically prepared for her. Syr had been understandably horrified. Not only had one of the most inhuman and monstrous creatures in the world taken over her body, she was that monster's daughter.
And then, of course, there was the problem that we hadn't managed to defeat the Black Goat. I had just barely bluffed my way into making her run away in terror but she had taken Syr's body with her. She had told us she'd return in two years and until then I needed a way to permanently exorcise her from Syr's body. I even knew exactly how to do it. I just didn't know how to get that power.
During that final battle I had discovered – or perhaps been given – the ability to see the threads of fate and thanks to that I had been able to see a pulsing red tendril on the back of the Holy Maiden's neck that I knew connected Syr's body to the Black Goat. If only I could sever that tendril I could free her. But while I could see the threads, I had no way of interacting with them. And as far as I was concerned, the only beings in this world who could were the Fates.
I would have to either find a way to cut those threads myself or beg the Fates to give me their power. Yes. I, Felix Tailor, the Godsforsaken, was willing to beg gods for help if it meant saving Syr.
But that was neither here nor there. Right now we would visit the treasury of Olympus, to pick out our reward for saving the Olympians. Now if only Athena could hurry up and bring us there.
Finally, finally, Athena paused in front of a little shrine. It was a tholos, though not one of the large ones the Olympians used as residences but a regular one. A circular structure ringed with marble columns that held a domed roof aloft. And inside of that structure stood a mirror. Or at least it had been a mirror the last three times we'd walked past it.
I was generally fairly good with directions and so I was sure we'd passed this little tholos three times already. Athena had led us in circles, or more precisely in a spiral. And somewhere along the way the world had shifted almost imperceptibly. Some of the reliefs around Olympus had changed shape, for example. But the biggest change was that instead of a mirror this tholos now held a door. A door with no wall surrounding it, simply standing tall on its own.
It would appear my suspicion had been correct. The path Athena had taken had somehow functioned exactly like the gateway that had led us here from the capital, shifting us almost imperceptibly from one plane to another.
And so I was not surprised at all that when Athena opened this door, instead of simply showing the rest of the tholos behind it, it opened to an entirely new area. She led us all through it and only then did she speak up.
“Thank you all for your patience. We made the way to the treasury a little too obtuse.”
“What did you do there?” Selene asked. “I'm sure we passed some places a couple of times.”
“It's a gateway,” I said, “right? The path you took was a gateway. We're in a different realm right now, aren't we?”
Athena moved her head in a so-so gesture. “This isn't quite a different realm, more of a pocket realm inside Olympus. But yes, the path we took acts as a gateway.”
“I've never even heard of such a thing,” I said.
“I have,” Alisha said, causing everyone to look at her. “Almost all the paths that lead to Tír na nÓg are like this.”
I blinked. “Really?”
“Yes,” she said, as if this was the most normal thing in the world. “Fairy rings and sacred groves, traversed just so, lead to the Land of Eternal Summer. We make up nursery rhymes and lullabies to teach the ways of travel.”
“So those lullabies you sometimes sing...” I began and she finished:
“Are how you turn the clearings near our village into gateways, yes.” And to prove it she sang: “Round the oaks and up the stream, once and twice and thrice. Pass the hawthorn and the yew, once then twice then thrice...”
“I had no idea this technique was so common for you,” Athena said. “I had thought this method quite ingenious.”
“It still is,” Alisha said. “Even if you know a path like this exists, you need to know it by heart to use it.”
“Couldn't you just keep trying until you get it right?” Selene asked.
“A single misstep fouls up the entire process,” Alisha said. “The path we just took was much more lenient than the ones I know as I saw some of you make a few missteps and yet we all arrived.”
That actually sounded somewhat concerning. “What kind of 'fouling up' are we talking about here?”
“Usually you just end up back in the realm you started, all the effort wasted,” Alisha said, then looked a bit uncomfortable.
“And unusually?” I asked.
“There are ways to introduce countermeasures,” Alisha said, “to send those who misstep into another place entirely, maybe one that's a lot more hostile.”
“And then there is the other problem with travel between realms,” Athena added. “Different realms are like bubbles. They touch. They rub up against each other. And sometimes, the space between two such bubbles treads close to other bubbles. Exiting the path at the wrong point might cause you to enter a bubble you were not supposed to.”
“Could any of that have happened here?” I asked.
“If it could have, I would have warned you beforehand,” Athena said, then looked directly at me. “And besides, even if you didn't know the path, there was a chance you might have found it entirely by accident.”
My eyes widened. Was she serious?
“It has happened on occasion,” Alisha said, having read my expression. “There have been times that mortals unexpectedly showed up in Tír na nÓg. And if it's at all possible then yes, you probably would have.”
“Are we just going to talk about realm walking or can we maybe talk about that?” Melinoe asked as she pointed at the space we were situated in. That was what looked like miles upon miles of pedestals holding magical items underneath a starry sky.
“It's a bit overwhelming,” Selene said.
“Yeah,” Anna said.
“I do think I've kept you long enough,” Athena said.
“Are the items organized in any way?” I asked.
“In theory, yes,” Athena said. “But in practice the placements are a bit haphazard.”
“Well, I only have the one appraiser's loupe,” I said. The appraiser's loupe was a magical monocle that let me see the effects of other magical items and materials. It was beyond useful but it would mean that we'd have to browse in one big group as, unlike the royal palace's treasury, the items here didn't have plaques that clearly described what the item did.
“That would take far too long,” Athena said, then intoned: “May your eyes be blessed, True Sight.”
My vision went hazy for a moment, then it felt like I was seeing three images at once and then my vision resolved itself. Now, wherever I looked, I saw floating text describing whatever item I looked at.
“That is more than a little disorienting,” Alisha said.
“You can will it away until you need it,” Athena said. “The miracle will last until you exit this pocket realm, so feel free to browse at your leisure.”
“You're just going to trust us not to ransack this place?” I asked.
She looked into my eyes and said very clearly: “Yes, I trust you.”
I had to swallow at the sincerity in her words. “Alright.”
“Besides,” she said, “I still need to find that one item I want you to pick.”
She had told me she had a mythic item in mind for me and I was very curious to see what she'd thought was so enticing for me. I doubted they just had a way to cut the threads of fate lying around here but other than that I wasn't sure what mythic tier item I was going to want.
“Alright,” I said, “then let's go browse.”
Everyone turned around to start looking for items. Everyone except Selene.
“Um, Athena?” she asked.
“What is it?”
“I was thinking...”
I decided to walk away and let the two of them talk. I was curious what Selene had thought up but I wanted to let everyone choose on their own and so I didn't interfere. And besides, the moment I had started looking I'd found an item to catch my interest. Stupid Luck stat, taking all the fun out of browsing.
Anyway, the item I had seen was a cloak. It was a very nice riding cloak, made of the finest fabric and dyed a very dark green. It looked both unassuming and regal and I had a feeling it would look great with the thin armor I'd gotten from the royal treasury. But the looks weren't what had caught my eye. The item was a legendary cloak of invisibility.
For almost a decade I'd been using a minor cloak of invisibility. It provided ten seconds of perfect invisibility and then had to recharge for a full day before it could be used again. It was incredibly powerful if used correctly but also incredibly limiting. On top of that the cloak was fragile, the invisibility activated by pulling up the cloak's hood so the thing was useless as a cloak and the fit was all wrong besides.
This cloak, however, was different. The invisibility would charge by twenty seconds every day and it could store up to two minutes of invisibility if it went unused. The enchantment activated by thought rather than by pulling up the cloak. The thing had a legendary durability enchantment on it. And finally, what cinched it, the inside of the cloak was lined with pockets, each of which was a very limited bag of holding, a pouch of holding, I supposed. This meant I could wear it every day without fear of it tearing or using up the invisibility by pulling up the hood and it meant I could store all my throwing knives and other tools inside it without it weighing me down. I was unlikely to find another legendary item that fit me this well, I was sure.
One down, two to go. At least for me. The others could also pick three legendary items each.
I looked around to see what the others were looking at. Alisha was eyeing something so small I couldn't even see what it was. Anna was holding a short bow, which I found weird, considering she seemed pretty happy with her longbow. Selene was still talking to Athena. Yume seemed to be lost in thought, walking past the pedestals without a clear goal in mind. And Melinoe was eyeing a brooch.
Melinoe... I still hadn't given her a necklace, had I? All my girls wore necklaces to which I wore the twin. All of them except for Athena and Melinoe. Something inside me still balked at the idea of wearing matching necklaces with Athena, never mind the fact that she likely wouldn't want to be seen with something that identified her as one of my women. But I'd staked a claim on Melinoe. She wanted to stay with us. I had to find a necklace for her.
Back with Anna I'd agonized over what necklace to get her because she was a princess. A gift for a demigoddess should have been an even more difficult decision but... if there was anywhere to find a gift befitting of a demigoddess it would be this place, wouldn't it?