Chapter 26: The Athanatoi I

The golden woman leapt down from her tiger and circled Solomon as if she were the only predator in the room.

“You are smaller than I thought you would be. And more fragile.”

She poked at the numerous scars across Solomon’s body with a light of amusement in her glowing eyes.

“What have we here? A destroyed core? My, my, aren’t we overzealous-”

Solomon smacked the woman’s hand away.

She seemed appalled, but not offended. It was as if it had been so long since someone behaved so audaciously in front of her that she wasn’t sure how to process it.

“…Fiery, aren’t you? Well, it isn’t as if I couldn’t tell by what you have done to yourself.”

As quickly as the first arrived, another figure appeared in the room just as fast.

A dense fog appeared over one of the thrones, gradually taking the shape of a man.

When he solidified, Solomon could see a lithe figure in bone white armor.

Unlike himself and the snake-haired woman, the new man’s mask helmet only covered half of his face.

From the cheek up, his ashen white skin was brightened by his glowing white eyes and long golden hair.

His voice was dry and raspy. Solomon was tempted to offer him a glass of water.

“Gorgon. Why is the new one wearing a bedsheet?”

The golden woman shrugged. “As if I would know the answer to that.”

Solomon swallowed as he tried to speak for the first time.

“I woke up in this place with no clothes… If you all were going to kidnap me then you could have at least left me with something to wear.”

The woman called Gorgon looked at him with eyes full of non-understanding.

A look that was shared by the new man on the throne.

“You wish to… cover your form? Are you ashamed of it?”

“The hell?! No, I just don’t want to be naked!”

“The body is the temple. A divine structure through which carbon-based life forms draw in the prana of the great beyond and venerate themselves and others around them as equals on the path to enlightenment. Fulfilling the grand vision seen by their maker at the birth of their creation. Hiding it holds no purpose.”

“The Griever speaks true.” Gorgon levitated off the ground and took a seat on her throne.

The tiger she had arrived on leapt up to the platform at her feet and lay down like an oversized house cat.

“I don’t see either of you walking around with your business out.” Solomon sneered.

The man called Griever placed a hand over his armor. “The Yaksha is the body. The body is the Yaksha. Through our armaments, we touch an enlightenment lost to civilizations for a billion years.”

“You waste time explaining it to him.” A new voice said.

Suddenly, a ray of living green light flew into the room.

It whisked past Solomon’s face and occupied another of the previously empty thrones.

The light took the shape of a woman wrapped in emerald and silver armor. Looking at her immediately reminded Solomon of the automaton he had just met outside.

She wore a gleaming mask with a hood pulled over her head. Like the Gorgon, there were breaks in her armor that revealed a bit of her flesh.

Solomon was surprised to see it was emerald colored. He began to wonder if he was the only human here, or if the armor had changed them all in some sort of way…

“Why would you bother explaining our ways to someone who cannot even grasp a fraction of our words? This is the one who is supposed to found the house of Ares. He needs not think, only hit. And I’m not convinced he is even worthy of that simple responsibility…”

“The Yaksha chose him. Fate smiled upon him.” Griever defended.

“Fate is nothing more than an imperfect technology.” The Alchemist flicked her wrist dismissively as she stared into the blue depths.

Her glowing white eyes were incredibly bored and undeniably cold. Solomon hadn’t said two words to the woman, but he hated her enough that he felt his soul burn.

The room began to shake with the sound of heavy footsteps.

Without warning, the door came flying open and another man came rushing in.

He was the tallest so far aside from Solomon, reaching a height of 7’2.

The man was wrapped from head to toe in royal purple armor.

Solomon immediately noticed the four identical arms that swung at his sides.

Centuries of cross-species breeding have given rise to humans with unnatural physiques.

Some have horns or are at least eight feet tall. Others may have wings or even a prehensile tail. These enhanced humanoids are known as Titan-Bloods.

Reproduction with fae brings the most surprising outcomes, making them a popular commodity for sex traffickers. Everyone wants bigger and better soldiers.

However, Solomon has never seen or heard of a person possessing multiple limbs.

“Exemplary… glorious…!”

The purple armored man strode up to Solomon and clasped him on the shoulders as if he was sizing him up.

“Yes… Yes, you’ll do nicely. A general should be this scarred! He should have this sort of…”

The purple-armed man looked down at the fabric covering Solomon’s business.

“…What the fuck is this?”

The knight ripped away the fabric covering Solomon’s body.

“There! That’s the Disaster I envisioned! A general should hold his head high and-”

Solomon slammed his head into the man’s helmet as hard as he possibly could.

A cut appeared in the middle of his forehead. Blood ran down his temple and reminded him of the fact that anger had consequences.

The cut only took a few seconds to stitch itself back up. Something Solomon couldn’t have possibly ignored even if he was angry.

While he was reeling from the shock of feeling his body heal itself without the use of a potion, the man he had struck was utterly unfazed. Though admittedly he was confused.

“You’re angry? Why? Has your stay here not been hospitable?”

“Kinslayer.” Gorgon called from her throne. “The new one has some sort of complex about his uncovered form.”

“What does that mean?”

“He doesn’t like to be naked.”

“Why?”

“Some of you have been up here for too long. Human society prioritizes modesty now.”

“How foolish. The body is the temple, and-”

“We said that.”

“Did you try to explain to him that we are also naked?”

“Yes, yes, we tried to explain it all to him. He didn’t seem to care.” The Gorgon sighed.

Solomon covered his dignity with his hands. His teeth were gnashed together as a faint steam began to roll off his body.

“Getting real short on patience here… Somebody better start answering my questions before I-”

“Please, do not aggravate yourself any further. We wouldn’t want a repeat of what happened on that little island, would we?” A new voice asked.

Solomon faltered. “The… the island..?”

To protect itself, Solomon’s brain had been blocking out the memories of everything that had happened the last time he was awake.

But with someone actually referring to everything that had occurred in conversation, Solomon’s safeguards were breached, and the floodgates of his grief were thrown open.

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