Chapter 9

Home Base for the Relief Force turned out to be some sorta Temple. The statues of Myrmidons and a specific, helmeted, spear-wielding, Goddess said the whole shebang was a Temple of Athena, but Jackie ain't sure what a temple to the Goddess of Strategy'd be doing on the First Level of Olympus. This whole place seemed to be one giant market, so it don't make a shit ton of sense to have a War Goddess' temple here. That was till it was pointed out that Athena was also a patron of Craftsmen under her mantle of Athena Ergane. Then Jackie understood.

"I guess some folks just ain't down to worship Hephaestus, huh?" He questioned.

"Hephaestus is a Patron of Smiths, Leatherworkers, and Weavers. The crafts you would need to forge a blade or craft a suit of armor. Athena, on the other hand, tends to patronize woodworkers, potters, and masons. It is similar to how Lord Poseidon patronizes shipwrights or how Lady Demeter patronizes Vintners. Different gods patronize different crafts." Informed Princess Diana.

"Huh. Guess it takes all kinds. So, what's gonna happen to the two Fuckboys we brought in? Deimos' kid looks like he's gonna croak from all the black magic flowing through his veins." Queried Jackie.

As he asked that question, a buncha Celestial Bronze-armored Minotaurs made their way past Jackie and Princess Diana carrying around Tyler Benn, who was still knocked the fuck out, and the snarling, still-frozen, form of Yuri Raatko. Yuri tried biting one of the Minotaurs, but from his icy prison, he ain't able to do shit. Asshole still wasn't gonna be any use to anyone trying to pump him for intel, though. Asshole was too hopped up on dark magic and rageohol.

"He'll have to have it flushed from his system and his anger calmed before he can be interrogated." Admitted Princess Diana.

"Too bad we ain't got no one who can do that, huh?" Asked Jackie.

"Ideally, we'd have Lord Apollo or Lord Asclepius to do that. Both are Gods of Medicine and either might be able to do it." Hedged Princess Diana.

"I ain't seeing any Sun Gods or nothing standing about." Pointed out Jackie.

"That's actually a misnomer. Helios is the God of the Sun, not Apollo, even though the Golden Boy would very much like to get his hands on that mantle." Chuckled Aeolus, making his way into the temple finally.

"Where were you?" Questioned Princess Diana.

"Yeah, you fucked off early on in the trip. It's kinda suspicious you turning up now." Added Jackie.

"Have you never heard of Synchronicity?" Retorted Aeolus.

"Don't you mention that shit. Fucking John Constantine loves spouting that shit as a reason he gets to be a pain in the ass. I ain't having it." Grumbled Jackie.

"Hmm, sounds like an interesting fellow. Perhaps I'll pay him a visit when this is all over with?" Mused Aeolus.

"I. . .don't know if that's wise, Lord Aeolus. John Constantine can be a bit of. . ." Trailed off Princess Diana, looking for a good way to phrase it.

"A fucking cunt." Supplied Jackie.

"Language!" Hissed Princess Diana.

"What? He's the God of the Wind, yeah? He probably hears worse shit than that all the fucking time!" Protested Jackie.

"Your mostly mortal Companion is quite right about that. Fortunately, that wasn't the only thing he was right about. I did have a specific reason I 'fucked off' as he put it. Would you like to know what it was?" Grinned Aeolus.

"It was me." Came a Voice from the doorway.

Jackie turned and spotted an Ashen-skinned, raven-haired, Goddess walk outta an alcove Jackie'd been sure'd been empty previously like it ain't shit. Aeolus' grin faded into a grimace as the Goddess walked outta her hiding spot.

"Way to ruin my grand reveal." Groused Aeolus.

"You were taking far too long, cousin. Time is of the essence." Insisted the Goddess.

"Spoilsport." Sighed Aeolus.

Princess Diana on the other hand, bowed deep at the waist. Jackie figured if she was showing that kinda respect, he oughtta do likewise. Jackie aped Princess Diana's deep bow and she gave him a small smile from the Goddess in return.

"Please. There is no need for such basements between cousins. The spark of Divinity within you has strengthened significantly, as I foresaw it. You are still mostly mortal, but the spark within your blood has been strengthened to effectively override thirty-three percent of that mortality. Your magic has been strengthened as well. It is enough for me to consider you a cousin. A distant one, but even so." Intoned the Goddess.

Jackie straightened up and saw Princess Diana had some sorta look on her face like she was reconsidering how to treat him. Jackie ain't about to have any of that shit. He turned to Princess Diana and told her so to her face.

"Oh no, I ain't having you treat me different just cause I found some Peach Wine of Immortality to supercharge my ass. Wipe that look offa your face." Demanded Jackie.

"Still, that effectively makes you one-third divine. Lady Hecate is calling you a cousin." Pointed out Princess Diana.

"Fuck that shit, I'm still me." Pressed Jackie.

"Indeed. You of all people should know that there are ways to become divine. Have you not looked into your origins?" Queried the Goddess, Hecate.

"Mother molded me from clay and imbued me with divine magics. I know the tale." Answered Princess Diana.

"Yet it seems you did not look further into the process. Diana, you are a living embodiment of the Divine Magic used to breathe life into you. The magic has long since settled by now, but your very being contains embers of divinity which may be fanned back into a raging inferno using the proper rituals." Informed Hecate.

"Become a Goddess? But what of the Earth? Would I not have to take up residence here on Olympus?" Frowned Princess Diana.

"Times are changing swiftly. The dawn of a Second Age of Heroes has come and I would expect the rules to be changed shortly. That is a topic for another time, however. For now, I shall see to Deimos' son and perhaps I will be able to undo the damage my Grandaughter's magic has done to the boy." Responded Hecate.

The Goddess made her way further into the temple and Jackie went to go find a spot to sit down and maybe get some kinda grub in him. He made his way through statue-lined halls with a buncha different altars and shit in rooms branching offa the corridors. This place was bigger than it had any right to be, and Jackie figured there ain't no way that the inside matched the outside. Too many branching paths woulda wound up outside the walls. Someone must've done a bit of enchanting to this place.

Eventually, he found his way to a mess hall via going through a buncha different rooms till he found one that connected to a corridor that he could smell food in. Pork, Beef, some kinda vegetable, and a buncha wine, unless he missed his guess. Sure enough, following his nose led him to a hall with a buncha trestle tables and benches. One table in particular was currently piled high with all kindsa dishes, amphorae, and the like. It was also occupied by Jackie's Sifu and Older Brothers.

"Brother Drinky! We thought for certain you would take longer to make your way back to us!" Called out Brother Sandy.

"You did get hit pretty hard." Admitted Brother Piggsy.

"Take a load off, Kid. Come have some food with your Sifu and Older Brothers." Grinned Sun Wukong before going back to gnawing on what looked like some sorta ham hock covered in a dark sauce.

Jackie broke out into a giant smile on seeing them all OK and made his way over to the table. As he sat down, Jackie's stomach decided it was gonna be an asshole and let out a giant rumble, causing the others to grin at him. Nonplussed, Jackie grabbed a hunk of bread, tore it in half, and dunked it in a dish that seemed specifically for that sorta thing, as it had a mix of olive oil and crumbled feta cheese in it. He bit into his bread and chewed slowly, glancing over at Sun Wukong before swallowing.

"Ain't eating pork near Brother Piggsy kinda a dick move?" He asked.

"Piggsy's used to it." Shrugged Sun Wukong.

"It's true. Brother Monkey has inured me to such things. Besides, it's only Caniballism if I eat Ham." Sighed Brother Piggsy before popping a piece of beef dripping in onion gravy into his mouth.

"Really, you should have seen back before Erlang Shen and I stopped trying to get Brother Monkey to become vegetarian. He started ordering meat bloody just to spite us." Huffed Brother Sandy, spooning vegetable soup into his mouth.

"You're vegetarian?" Questioned Jackie, taking another bite of bread before snatching some of that onion gravy beef Brother Piggsy was eating. Shit looked and smelled delicious.

"He bought into the whole enlightenment schtick way more than Piggsy or I ever did." Snorted Sun Wukong.

"I suppose when your primary position is as Heaven's Gardener, that can happen." Added Brother Piggsy.

"Honestly, you two." Huffed Brother Sandy.

"I figured that sorta stuff was only for mortals." Mused Jackie before taking a bite of the beef. It was just as tasty as it looked and smelled and practically fell offa the bone as he bit into it.

"Normally it is. Mortals are the ones who tend to need the spiritual cleansing that a vegetarian diet offers." Agreed Brother Piggsy.

"We were Demons, Brother Piggsy, a bit of spiritual cleansing couldn't be a bad thing." Scoffed Brother Sandy.

"Anyway, Kid. We saw you bring in those two Demigods. Nice work on that, by the way. Plus, I can tell you strengthened yourself somehow. You smell a lot more divine than you did when we set out, and I think I can see your magic's gotten more potent too. Care to fill us in on what you've been up to?" Queried Sun Wukong.

So in between bites of food and drinks of wine, Jackie told the story. How he fought and killed the Colchian Dragon, the treasures he took from its hoard, what he had to leave behind 'cause Zeus is a dick, how he drank its blood to boost his magic. Getting knocked the fuck out by Deimos before waking up in Hestia's resistance base, how he drunk the Peach Wine of Immortality to give him what he needed to fuck up Tyler Benn and Yuri Raatko, and how the fight with the two Rebel Demigods went.

By the time he was done, Sun Wukon scrunched up his nose and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they were some sorta blazing reddish color that ain't quite red but ain't quite orange neither. It was unsettling to look at, as those reddish-orange eyes stared through him like he was looking through Jackie's fucking soul. Sun Wukong closed his eyes and when he opened them back up, the fiery gaze was gone.

"All right, you look like you're about a third divine right now. That's the level most Taoist Immortals get to when they gain their agelessness. I'd put you at Boddhisatva-level Cultivation, though obviously, you don't have the techniques that such a level would normally grant you. Magic-wise, I've seen archmages with similar reserves of magical power, so I'd put you at that level too. If we had time, I'd want to throw you into another round of intensive training." Summarized Sun Wukong.

"But we're in the middle of a war." Stated Jackie.

"Yeah. The good news for you is, Power-Wise, you should be able to slug it out with Little Miss Warrior Princess with no problem now." Grinned Sun Wukong.

"Little Miss Warrior Princess?" Questioned Jackie.

"He means Princess Diana. Brother Monkey likes giving annoying nicknames to women who turn him down for attempted courtship." Smirked Brother Piggsy.

"She didn't say no!" Defended Sun Wukong.

"She slapped you, Brother Monkey. We all saw it." Pointed out Brother Sandy.

"Slapping me isn't saying no. Not technically." Insisted Sun Wukong.

"It kinda is, Sifu." Retorted Jackie.

From there, the conversation broke down into what was a refusal and what ain't. Sun Wukong was pretty fucking insistent that a slap ain't a no, while Jackie and the others kept trying to tell him it absolutely was. After another hour of eating, drinking, and arguing, they finally got Sun Wukong to agree not to try again. Jackie was pretty sure if he did, Princess Diana'd do a lot worse than slap him. Amazons had a reputation, after all, and if Brother Monkey wanted to keep his berries attached to his twig, he might wanna not give her a reason to go trimming, if you caught his drift.

By that point, however, night'd fallen and Jackie was ready to turn in. Word'd come down from on-high that they'd be spending the night consolidating their hold over the first layer of Olympus and extracting information from the prisoners before they hit the second level of Olympus in the morning. Jackie turned in, more that happy with that plan, laying down on a spare cot in one of the rooms that had a buncha beds in 'em.

He'd barely been asleep two hours when he got his ass kicked outta bed by the roar of an explosion. . .

XXXX

Aoife MacDougal liked to think she was a patient lass, not prone to bouts of anger that might cloud her judgment. At least, that's what she thought most of the time. Every now and then, though, a flash of annoyance would creep up on her and break through the handle she had on her negative emotions to turn into genuine anger. That's what was happening now.

Oh sure, Yuri was a treacherous son of a bitch. He thought he should be in charge of their little group and he wasn't shy about trying to take Aoife's spot at the top of the chain of command. She'd had to smack him down once already when he got a little too big-headed for his own good, but this? Being captured by a single person, one who was mostly mortal, no less? That was intolerable where Yuri's attempted coup hadn't been.

Mind you, Aofie'd done her homework. She knew exactly what the Scion of Lady Thunder was capable of. She knew that he was a Cultivator and an Accomplished Sorcerer, and she'd had Amanda do a bit of discreet spying before this whole ordeal to check his capabilities. His being a third divine was an unpleasant surprise, but that was still only moderately stronger than her half-brother Deimos was currently. With her, Amanda, and Deimos to face him, this should have been easy enough.

He was asleep as well, which was double fortunate. A bit of spellwork from Amanda and the entire Compound would remain sleeping. That's when a second spike of annoyance happened that broke through Aoife's control.

"No! I want to see the life drain from his eyes! He will be awake when we kill him, or else!" Snarled Deimos.

"I would have to weaken the Spell of Slumbering Dragons for that. The chance is that a strong physical shock would wake any of the more powerful gods affected if I weaken it enough for you to have your way." Cautioned Amanda.

"Perhaps it might be best if you let this one go, Brother?" Offered Aoife, trying to get her Brother to see reason.

"No! He stole my son, your nephew! He needs to pay and I need him to know why!" Spat Deimos.

There wasn't anything that Aoife could do against stupidity that was so entrenched with rage. If she denied Deimos, he'd just charge in ahead of Amanda casting the spell and that would spell doom for them all. The incompetence of her brother and the compromise in the plan that would have to result from it was finally enough to fan the annoyance into genuine anger.

"Fine! But I will be letting Father know exactly who was responsible for our defeat if this turns out poorly." Spat Aoife as she struggled to rein in her anger.

"I am not afraid of our Father, Sister. He cannot do to me anything more than inflict pain. He needs me to obtain the Throne of Olympus and he needs the Throne of Olympus to inflict a fate worse than death on another God. I can handle pain." Scoffed Deimos.

"You may not be as invaluable as you believe, Brother." Warned Aoife.

It was even true if what Amanda had told her about Circe's plans was correct. Apparently, there was a ritual to free Cronus from Tartarus and steal his power in the works. It would take a little over a full day to set up, but if it worked, then Ares would have no need of any of them to throw Zeus off his throne. With the power of both a Titan and a God at his command, it would take a supreme effort to keep him from attaining control of Olympus, and that wasn't anything that could be achieved by an Olympus torn into factions and worn down by fighting.

 "Feh, I didn't take you for a coward, Sister. You, Circe's Get, cast your spell, and let's get on with this." Sneered Deimos, turning toward Amanda for the second part of the sentence.

Amanda frowned but began her casting all the same. She was chanting in that strange mix of Classical Chinese and Ancient Greek that she always used, a blend of Circe's style of sorcery with the sorcery of her Birth Mother's Family. Aoife had to admit, the combination was usually greater than the sum of its parts, something she knew confounded Circe to no end. If only Amanda realized how close Circe was to simply snuffing her life out like a candle flame at times. The Goddess of Dark Magic brooked no rivals, even from her daughter, after all. Still, Circe needed them for the revolt, so Amanda was safe, at least for the time being.

That calculus could change if Ares' Plan worked out, however. Aoife herself planned to be a good little soldier for her father so he wouldn't turn on her once he had all of Cronus' power added to his own. It was the only way forward she could see working out for her. The Loyalists certainly wouldn't help her when she'd been an enemy so recently, after all.

Five minutes later, Amanda finished her casting. A purplish haze erupted forth from the fire she'd made for the spell, drifting into the Temple of Athena Ergane and being breathed in by the various troops, refugees, and Gods that were using the temple as a base. Only the Scion of Lady Thunder was still able to be awoken without a strong physical shock. Now they could commence the main part of this little operation. Killing the Scion of Lady Thunder and retrieving Yuri.

"Finally! It's about time!" Snapped Deimos.

Then her brother leaped down from the hillside they had set up in, crashing through the wall of the Temple in a loud explosion announcing his presence to all who cared to listen. It was just fortunate that he didn't manage to shock anyone awake with that. Aoife didn't know why she expected anything different, though.

It wasn't as if Deimos' competence levels had been particularly high this whole time, after all. . .

XXXX

Jackie's been having a pretty nice fucking dream about Princess Diana, Babs, Madame Xanadu, and a swimming pool full of jello when he'd been shocked awake by some kinda explosion. As the temple shook from whatever'd caused the boom, Jackie was flipped outta his cot from the motion. With a growl, he stood up and used one of the spells from the Phantom Stranger's Book on City Magic to armor himself in a fucking hurry.

Schneller Knappe'd been invented by a German Mercenary who'd had a bit of magical talent. He found that sometimes, they'd be contracted to garrison a town and then the town'd come under siege while he was sleeping with no time to put on any of his gear outside of maybe a helmet and his boots. Schneller Knappe'd been his answer. It magically teleported your armor and equipment onto your body with a bit of magic and a mystic incantation.

Jackie'd gone from practically naked to geared up in an eyeblink 'cause of it. Now he was ready to scrap with whoever felt like throwing down. Oddly, as Jackie stalked through the corridors of the temple toward the source of the noise, he found that the hallways were filled with some sorta pale purple mist. He could tell with his Third Eye that the mist was some sorta dark, powerful, enchantment magic, but he ain't got the time to figure out how to break it.

"Least that answers why folks are still sleeping while the Temple's fucking being attacked." Muttered Jackie as he passed by a buncha Minotaur Hoplites asleep in their cots.

As he passed through another corridor, he looked into the command post to find Erland Shen, Guandi, and Poseidon all zonked out. Erlang Shen was even slumped over the Godsdamned map table like he'd called asleep mid-planning session. That settled it. It was definitely the mist doing that to everyone.

"Question is, why am I not sawing logs with the others?" Frowned Jackie as he passed through the corridors.

As he came to the Entrance Hall of the Temple, Jackie got his answer to that question. Part of the front of the temple'd been literally punched in with the wall half-collapsed. Standing in the middle of the entrance hall were three people. Deimos, who had just stomped the skull of a sleeping Minotaur Hoplite into red paste. Across from him was a Chick about his age with short, white hair that was shaved on the sides and a skull-like pattern in black and white on her face as if it'd been tattooed there. She was withdrawing a Xiphos blade from the neck of a sleeping Myrmidon Guard. Finally, there was a Chinese Chick in a long, Chinese Style, coat that was covered in wood and jade talismans that glowed with mystic power who'd just used a Necromantic Spell to suck the life out of a sleeping Satyr Militiaman.

All three had a spark of divinity within them, but only the Chinese Chick had any kinda sorcerous power. These had to be Amanda Lau and Aoife MacDougal, likely here to help Deimos after Jackie'd kicked Yuri's shit in.

"So, lemme guess. You're here to steal Yuri Back?" Queried Jackie.

"I'm here to rip your throat out, you pompous little shit!" Growled Deimos.

"You really shouldn't have gotten involved. My brother seems to have something of a grudge against you for beating Yuri." Offered the Short-haired Chick, Aoife MacDougal.

"Once you're dead, then we'll take Yuri back. Sorry, but this is how it has to be." Apologized the Chinese Chick, Amanda.

"Enough talk! Let's kill him!" Snarled Deimos.

Jackie drew his Butterfly Swords, took up a stance, and engaged all his power-ups and buffs. Then he settled in to wait for the enemy to make the first move. He wouldn't have to wait very long, either.

 Demos slammed his gauntleted fists together like a boxer banging his gloves, let out a battle cry, and charged him. Aoife MacDougal ain't far behind. Jackie was forced to Parry Deimos' incoming punch and duck a flying tackle from Aoife at the same time. He popped up to his feet only to haveta leap away from a bolt of lightning cast at him by Amanda that burned a hole into the stone of the Temple Floor.

As Jackie landed he lashed out with a whirling kick that slammed into Deimos's side, sending the Son of Ares stumbling away only to get picked up and dashed through the wall by a sonic blast from Aoife MacDougal. Fortunately, the interior walls ain't as thick as the exterior walls and he was wearing armor, a mask, and a helmet that blunted the blow and sonic scream somewhat, but it still hurt and gave him a fucking nosebleed from pressure. He was still able to roll away from the net of crackling energy that Amanda Lau sent through the hole in the wall that woulda burned him and held him in place.

As Jackie skipped up to his feet he let off a Lion's Fiery Roar that seared into Amanda as she looked through the hole to see if she'd got him. Amanda Lau caught a faceful of Chi-powered flames and sonic energy before one of her talismans flashed and the flames winked out leaving superficial burns on her scalp and a pair of burst eardrums, but nothing fight-ending. Deimos leaped through the hole as Amanda fell back and slammed a punch into Jackie's mask that smashed his nose crooked, busted his lip, and bruised his orbital bone. Jackie was sent skidding away and turned his skid into a controlled tumble just in time to dodge Aoife, who flew in and smashed into where he'd just been sent skidding with both fists, pulverizing the stone of the floor and sending up all kindsa rock dust.

Jackie lunged for her with his blades, but she must've been able to use some kinda radar sense, cause she popped off a scream as the dust cloud went up which somehow let her Duck Jackie's scything Butterfly Swords. A double slash that woulda taken her head off managed to just cut some of the hair offa the top of her head. Fortunately, these ain't no ordinary blades, and Jackie activated the power of the storm bound into 'em.

Bolts of lightning arced down into Aoife from above and she momentarily seized as thunderbolts smashed into her head, blood gushing from her nose and ears. It was enough for Jackie to hit her with a front thrust kick powered by the Qirin's Retributive Hoof Kick, Iron Thrust, Head of Copper, Limbs of Iron, Basic Chi Enhancement, Wave Step, Strong-Maned Boar Stomps the Ground, and Quicksilver Stepping Method. All of those techniques combined to smash Aoife back, through multiple walls, out the front of the Temple, and into one of the Myrmidon Statues outside, which broke in half and collapsed on top of her.

"Next!" Taunted Jackie, cockily.

He probably shouldn't've done that, 'cause he got blasted back through another pair of walls by a crackling ball of dark magic fired at him from Amanda Lau, bruising a pair of ribs and sizzling into his chest under his goddamn armor. He landed hard on the stone floor of a guard room, struggling to his feet in time for Deimos to surge in and hammer him with a knee strike that cracked one of his bruised ribs and sent him hurtling back through another wall. Getting up again, Jackie threw himself to the side in time to avoid a black, sizzling, beam of Necromantic Energy cast at him by Amanda which struck one of the Minotaur Guards that'd been slumped against the armory wall asleep. The Minotaur took a sharp inhale and then rattled out a last breath as the Necromantic beam killed him.

Jackie fired off a sharp icicle with General Elementalism back at Amanda, who conjured a mystic shield of flame that melted it before it got to her. The water sloshed against her feet as she sent the flames at Jackie in the form of a ball of fire. Jackie, who was already dodging away fired a bolt of mystic lightning that Amanda dodged away from, only for the water at her feet to conduct it into her and she fell back screaming. Jackie smirked only for Deimos to smash him in the side with a kick that knocked him through another pair of walls and bruised his floating ribs.

Jackie grumbled as he stood up, shaking himself off. Any one of these assholes he could take on his own easy, but three at once was wearing him down with a death of a thousand cuts. He'd haveta do something fast, or he was gonna get fucked, even if Aoife stayed down after being kicked across the street with enough force that it shoulda smashed a buncha her ribs to pieces. As he looked around, he saw that Deimos was advancing on him through the hole in the wall. He also saw that the last kick had knocked him into a room where Brother Piggsy was snoring away with a wine Amphora clutched in his hand. Maybe if he could wake up Brother Piggsy, it'd even the odds?

It was worth a shot, at least. Jackie just had to survive the next exchange to get to him. Jackie cut out at Deimos as the God advanced on him, forcing the Asshole to back away. Jackie punched the knuckle guard of his right-hand Butterfly Sword into Deimos' mouth, cracking a few of Deimos' teeth, only to get blasted back by a purple lightning bolt from Amanda. She'd shaken off her electrocution and looked pissed. Blood gushed outta Jackie's nose and ears as the dark magic lightning coursed through his body. He weathered the pain and the damage even as he smashed through several amphorae of wine, convulsing on the floor.

By the time he got hold of his twitching muscles, Deimos was standing back up, spitting out three broken teeth. He was pissed and so was Amanda. Jackie was spent. Fighting a God and Two Strong Demigods at once was too much for him.

"A Valiant Effort, but for naught. You would've been better off not even trying. Now, we'll kill you slowly." Intoned Deimos, lisping somewhat.

Jackie struggled to his hands and knees as Deimos' shadow fell over him. Down came Deimos' boot, and it was all Jackie could do to put both hands up and catch the stomping foot. For a couple moments, they were locked like that, Deimos trying to power through Jackie's grab and Jackie not having the strength to turn the grab into a submission hold. The whole damn time they were like that, Amanda was getting a couple implements out so she'd be able to cast some kinda magic that'd fry Jackie and leave Deimos alone.

Then, suddenly, the pressure on Jackie's grab slacked off as Deimos was punched through a wall. Jackie looked up and spotted Brother Piggsy standing over him, hand outstretched in a punching motion. Brother Piggsy retracted his arm into a stance and looked down at Jackie.

"Brother Drinky, are these two bothering you?" He asked.

"Yeah. There was a third one, but I kicked her ass." Nodded Jackie.

"Very well, I'll help you. It's my duty as your Senior Brother." Smirked Brother Piggsy.

Jackie grunted, reaching for his pill chute and popping one of his precious healing pills. It fixed the worst of the damage, but his floating ribs still hurt and his orbital bone was still bruised. He'd haveta deal with that though. As he took up a stance next to Brother Piggsy, Deimos made his way back into the room, sporting a cut on his scalp where Brother Piggsy'd busted him open and a bruised orbital bone, but still ready to fight. Amanda Lau took up a position a few steps behind.

"Watch out for the Girl, She's a sorceress and her shit packs a punch." Cautioned Jackie.

"Very well. Do you remember what I taught you about the Strong-Maned Pig Charges the Boar Hunter?" Questioned Brother Piggsy.

"Oh yeah. You wanna do that?" Queried Jackie.

"I think we should, yes." Nodded Brother Piggsy.

"Shut up and fight!" Demanded Deimos.

"As you wish." Grinned Brother Piggsy.

Then, with a shout and a twist of Chi, the fight began anew. . .

XXXX

AN: So, Aoife is technically slightly weaker than Jackie is, but Jackie's got a few advantages she doesn't. The fact that she didn't know his butterfly swords had weather-based enchantments on them allowed him to temporarily paralyze her with mystical thunderbolts, which allowed him to get in a single hit with everything he had while she was unguarded. If she gets away, don't expect her to make the same mistake twice.

That's actually kind of a thing. Jackie could take any of these three one-on-one, but all together, they've managed to wear him down. Fortunately, Deimos' incompetence has now allowed Jackie to get Brother Piggsy in for Backup so now the odds are back in his favor. it's not a question of if he wins anymore, it's a question of how long it takes and if he'll need to use another of his precious Healing Pills. After all, he's only got two more of them and he still has battles on the second level to go through and that's without Ares, Circe, and their ritual to steal Cronus' power.

At any rate, the next chapter will be the second part of the fight, along with learning about the Ritual to Steal Cronus' Power.

Stay tuned. . .