Interlude: Elsewhere on Olympus (Day One)

Zeus was concerned. The King of Olympus had returned from battle with Ares and Circe last night practically ensconced in a litter. His son and the Goddess of the Dark Arts had somehow managed to convince Dionysos to quit the field of battle and with Dionysos having withdrawn from the Conflict, Pan was also close to withdrawing. If Pan withdrew, the Satyr Militia that Zeus had been bolstering the ranks of his Minotaurs and Myrmidons with would also leave.

The whole situation was a shambles. Nobody had expected such rebelliousness from within would occur from the likes of Ares. Even Circe was not normally this brazen, and frankly, foolish in her schemes. If they were scared of Darkseid and his Ilk's pending invasion, surely they also could have realized that this would do naught but weaken Olympus ahead of such an event. Their actions boggled the mind and Zeus had been forced to reach out to some of the other, still-surviving Pantheons for aid.

Unfortunately, Odin and Thor could not be found, as they had gone so deep into the Dreaming to found their New Asgard as to be functionally cut off from the rest of the Sphere of the Gods. The same held true for the remnant of the Tuatha de Denaan, who had built their new Tir Na Nog deep within Fairy and were now more Fae than God after so many centuries of intermarriage between their people and the Sidhe.

At the same time, the Devas were unconcerned with the plight of Olympus. Unlike the Aesir or the Celestial Bureaucracy, the Devas of India were more like he and his fellow Olympians or the Pesedjet down in Heliopolis in that they required Worship to sustain their power. Unlike either of them, the Devas yet had multitudes of worshippers. Over a billion at last count and rising, in fact. They cared little for the plight of Olympus. The Amatsukami of Japan likewise refused to help, as Olympus was not within their sphere of responsibility. The Pesedjet meanwhile, was stuck in one of their endless debates over whether or not to intervene that not even the judgment of Osiris would easily sort out. There would be no help from that quarter any time soon.

The Sky Lord, Orishas, Apu, Manidoog, and Akua all had no love lost for Pantheons they considered to be inherent to the peoples that had conquered or colonized their worshippers, which had left only a single place to turn to for help. Mount Meru and the Celestial Bureaucracy had agreed that something had to be done. They had put together an expeditionary force that should arrive any time now.

As Zeus sat pondering over how his decisions during his long reign seemed to have left him bereft of allies save for a single other pantheon, a messenger arrived. One of the Potomoi that Hermes had ferrying messages between their territory on the top four levels of Olympus and his brother, Poseidon. The Blue Skinned River Guardian strode into Zeus' Throne room and knelt in front of the marble dias. The King of Olympus didn't move, his wounds from last night's battle were still not yet fully healed, after all. Instead, he had Ganymede take the parchment with the message for him.

"You may rise. What news of my Brother and the Xian?" Questioned Zeus.

"Lord Poseidon says the Jade Emperor has sent a force to aid us. They will arrive shortly to begin the attack." Answered Ganymede reading off the parchment.

"Who do they have leading such a force?" Queried Zeus.

"They sent both Sun Wukong and Erlang Shen, so it could go either way. They can both be quite stubborn and quarrelsome about respect." Frowned Ganymede.

"How many Gods did the Jade Emperor send in total?" Asked Zeus.

"Ten, though of those ten, three appear to be non-combatants meant to allow a headquarters to be set up while a fourth seems to be largely relegated to the scouting role. That's still six Gods capable of fighting, more than we had after the loss of the lower two levels. Sun Wukong, Erlang Shen, Guandi, Zhu Baije, Sha Wujing, Chang'e, Wenchang Wang, Caishen, Zhurong, and some Mortal with Divine Blood named Jackie Yuen. Apparently, he is of a similar level of power to Princess Diana of the Themysciran Amazons." Responded Ganymede.

"They sent a Mortal? How many generations removed from divine blood is he?" Pressed Zeus.

"Ten Apparently. Their first head was a mortal hero who married into the bloodline of Leigong, their God of Thunder. Mind you, the power of the Xian can vary wildly depending on a number of factors beyond simple bloodline." Cautioned Ganymede.

"Yes, yes, they're just so damnably inconsistent." Sighed Zeus.

Looking back to the Potomoi Messenger, Zeus nodded at the Blue-Skinned River Guardian, saying, "I forgot you were there. Dismissed."

The Potamoi stood up, tossed off a salute, and then headed out of Zeus' Palace. He would likely stop at one of the innumerable wine sinks that surrounded the top levels of Olympus and serve beverages that would delight the senses of Gods and favored courtiers alike. So long as the man picked up his shield and trident to fight on the line afterward, Zeus didn't much care about such things. Not as some Gods might, at any rate.

It was then that another unexpected sight occurred. The Ashen-skinned, raven-haired, Goddess of Divination, Abjuration, Spiritualism, and Necromancy arrived, though, thankfully she hadn't brought one of the half-dozen black hounds she kept in her kennels out of habit. The last time she had done so, the mangy glorified coat had pissed in the corner and they couldn't get the stink out for weeks. Still, best not to show such ire now. Hecate was, if anything, even more dangerous magically than Circe. After all, Hecate had taught Circe all she knew before Circe went rogue, and Zeus knew for a fact that Hecate had not taught Circe everything.

That seemed largely because of the fact that Circe's mother, the Demigoddess Medea, was Hecate's Daughter, making Circe Hecate's granddaughter. The Rituals Circe had undergone since had fortified and then fully awakened the divine blood in her veins, promoting Circe to full godhood. Unfortunately, that was a gift that Hecate could not take back from her rebellious granddaughter. If she could, this whole war would be going much smoother. Still, Hecate had taken the field twice so far and each time it had resulted in victory for Olympus over the Rebels.

Indeed, it was only Hecate's insistence that she not fight Circe to the death that allowed the witch to maintain her presence on any battlefield that Hecate was on the opposite side of. Zeus could sympathize with the dilemma, but he couldn't say he would make the same decision that Hecate had. After all, Zeus had killed his own Grandsons before, had they attempted to overthrow his rule. None of that mattered at the moment, however.

"Hecate, this is a surprise." Greeted Zeus.

"Not a pleasant one, I'm afraid. As we speak Achilles and Herakles are about to be forced to withdraw from the field of battle. Eris and Nemesis launched a surprise attack on their position west of Dionysos' Vineyard. When they withdraw, it will expose Apollo and Pan's Flank to attack." Intoned Hecate.

"Nemesis has joined the Rebels?" Frowned Ganymede.

"She has. Why are you surprised? This was always going to happen. Nemesis is a Goddess of vengeance, and that sort of mantle can drive its bearer mad in normal times, however, with the increased scale of conflicts in the mortal world, the hundreds of thousands of deaths going unavenged has driven her a bit more insane than most. With my Grandaughter's skill at manipulation, it is likely that Nemesis now believes that throwing her lot in with the Rebels is the best path toward achieving the fulfillment of so many grudges left unanswered." Pointed out Hecate.

"How does she think that such a thing would happen?" Questioned Zeus.

"Why, by scouring the earth clean of life in the areas of the world for which her mantle is responsible, of course. As I said, she has been driven quite mad." Answered Hecate.

"How do you know this? How can we be sure this isn't some ploy? There are over seventy-five-million mortals that she would have to kill for that to happen. Surely even someone as far gone as you claim could see such a task is infeasible without interference from other powers?" Scoffed Ganymede.

"I am the Goddess of Divination. I have divined Nemesis' intentions. Do you require more of an answer than that, or may I continue?" Queried Hecate.

"Apologies. I meant no offense." Nodded Ganymede, curtly, face draining of color at the subtle hint of menace in Hecate's voice.

Ganymede even took a step back away from the clearly angry Goddess of Necromancy. The wrath of one of the three Olympian Goddesses that oversaw aspects of Magic itself within the Pantheon was not one to engender idly, after all.

"If what you are saying is true, this could threaten to undo our entire primary line of defense on the third level. Can we stop it from occurring?" Asked Zeus. As he did so, the Mountain shook with a tremor.

"It is too late for us to reinforce the line. It is happening as we speak. You may wish to send a messenger to pull our forces back to the secondary line of defense around the Spice Fields. The Garden of Demeter will still be defended, if only just." Advised Hecate, the mountain shaking again.

"They will not be able to withdraw again from those positions without exposing the Garden of Demeter to attack." Warned Ganymede.

"Worry not, they will not be in those positions for long." Smirked Hecate, the Mountain undergoing yet another tremor as she spoke.

"What do you mean? And what is that tremor? Has Medea's Pet finally slipped its leash after all these years?" Demanded Zeus.

"That is the sound of Medea's Pet being slain. Princess Diana and the Godblooded Mortal from Mount Meru have used Ganymede's old tunnels to steal a march on Ares. By this time tomorrow morning, the Rebels will have been wiped off the face of the First Level of Olympus and forced to abandon any gains they have made today to shore up their rear." Grinned Hecate.

"Finally, it seems like the tide may be about to turn in our favor. I wish our forces to be prepared to exploit this wrongfooting of the Rebels. Ganymede, what reserves are in fighting condition?" Questioned Zeus.

"I believe Hermes' Assault Chiliarchy had been pulled off the line after being mauled during the Fall of the Divine Agora. After the battles that decimated Lady Demeter and Lady Persephone's Chilliarchies as well, there should be around a Chiliarchy's worth of troops that just need to be organized and re-equipped before they can be sent back to the front under a new commander." Informed Ganymede.

"Not Hermes. He can keep doing what he's doing and coordinating dispatches and reports. Send them my Brother to Command them. I know that Hades has been meaning to return to his dingy little Netherealm, but that can wait if the tide of battle is about to shift." Commanded Zeus.

"Not too much longer. Running the Underworld is an important and time-intensive job. You would not want anything to slip through the cracks there." Advised Hecate.

"Very well. Not Hades either. Ganymede, you will lead them. By the Styx, we will have this counterattack in place by the time that Hecate's Prophesied relief comes, so says Zeus!" Exclaimed Zeus.

As he vowed that, the sounds of battle erupted from lower down on the mountain on the First Level of Olympus. That made Zeus grimace and he glared over at Ganymede. Suddenly, the sleepy look that the youth always seemed to have faded away as Ganymede stood up ramrod straight, saluted, and then headed off to go gear up for battle.

If he did not want to make his King an oathbreaker, he would have to act quickly, after all. . .

XXXX

Athena read the message recently delivered by the Potomoi Messenger that had come straight from the top level of Olympus. Zeus was ordering them to pull back to the secondary lines near the spice fields. It made little sense unless part of the line was about to be overrun. If that happened, then falling back to their secondary positions just seemed like good sense. Mind you, her section of the line had barely seen any action for several hours. The last attempt by the enemy to assault had been last night, perhaps three hours after the sun had set.

Her troops had been rested for a full eight hours, fed, and even had a bit of downtime, and still, Athena had seen nothing but a few skirmishing Beastmen who had thrown their javelins at the Minotaur Hoplites of Athena's Assault Chilliarchy to no effect before quite literally turning tail and running. However, she was stationed at the extreme right of the defensive line. It could be that Herakles was having trouble over on the left near Dionysus' Vineyard.

She needed information, and she had the perfect scout with which to obtain it. Glauce, her little owl companion, was always by Athena's side in peace or war. He had long since been made immortal, a sort of God amongst owls. Athena found his grumpy expressions quite adorable, and his utility as a source of information and a scout could not be overstated.

"Glauca, be a dear and scout out along our line for me, would you?" Commanded Athena.

"Hoo?" Queried Glauca.

"These orders don't make sense unless we're about to be overrun in part of the line. I have a sneaking suspicion that my father doesn't quite realize how easily a withdrawal can turn into a rout under pressure. If these orders are correct, that means part of our line is about to be overrun, and that means that their attempt to withdraw under pressure poses a serious risk of a rout. I want to know where I have to intervene to buy time for a withdrawal to complete and who I need to save." Explained Athena.

Glauca bobbed his owly head, which Athena recognized as him agreeing with her request, before taking off on a quick two-minute overflight along their defensive lines in the Third Level of Olympus. Thankfully, Glauca being a God amongst Owls, meant that he was quite capable of flight at speeds that were unheard of for mortal owls. He returned swiftly, alighted on Athena's outstretched hand, then began frantically hooting and gesturing with his wingtips.

"Hoo Hoo Hohoo! Hoo Ho Hoo Hoohohoo!" Hooted Glauca.

"I see, Nemesis has joined the Rebels and she and Eris have hit the section between Herakles and Achilles' Chilliarchies with overwhelming force. That sounds like we might need to head out and buy time for them to regroup at the Secondary lines." Nodded Athena, translating from Owl.

Within the next few minutes, Athena had her Assault Chilliarchy up and running toward the Rebel Breakthrough. Fortunately, as the Goddess of Defensive Warfare, Athena was quite capable of bolstering the physical capabilities of her forces, provided they were on the defensive, whilst as the Goddess of Strategy, Athena was capable of increasing the strategic movement of her troops by leagues at a time.

Her Assault Chiliarchy of Minotaur Hoplites, Myrmidons, and Satyr Militia, managed to smash into the flank of the assaulting Beastmen being led by Nemesis and Eris. Athena Herself engaged the twin Goddesses of Vengeance and Discord with spear and shield. Two-on-one wasn't entirely fair, but Athena was more powerful than either Nemesis or Eris, at least in terms of raw physical power.

Athena smashed her shield into Nemesis', smashing the Goddess of Vengeance back into the press of charging beastmen. As she did that, she lashed out at Eris, who was forced to duck aside from the stabbing spear of Athena and retaliate with a golden ball of swirling, chaotic, power. Athena took cover behind her shield as the power exploded on it, blowing Athena backward into a pair of her Minotaurs that had isolated a Lion-headed Beastman.

The trio went down in a tumble, allowing the Lion-Headed Beastman to stab one of Athena's Minotaurs to death with his spear before drawing his Xiphos and running off as Athena conjured a bolt of power at him. Eris's blasts always had knock-on effects that caused their target ill fortune, part of her purview as the Goddess of Discord, unfortunately.

Athena extricated herself in time to block a sword stroke from a returning Nemesis on her shield, the point of Nemesis' Xiphos skidding off the Orichalcum even as Nemesis stomped hard on Athena's sandaled instep, smashing her foot and opening Athena up for a strike that was aimed for the armpit of her breastplate. However, Athena brought the haft of her spear around and swiped it into the side of Nemesis' knee. The Goddess of Vengeance fell to one knee as Athena switched to an underhand grip on her spear.

"You should have stayed on the sidelines, Sister." Huffed Athena, raising her spear tip.

"No! The Voices demand Justice! I cannot give them it as things are!" Insisted Nemesis.

"Put down your blade, Sister! Come with me and perhaps we can help you!" Pled Athena.

"No. There's only one way to help me! I must drown the voices in so much blood they'll never demand my attention again!" Snapped Nemesis, lashing out with a sweep that took Athena's legs out from under her.

Athena had the good sense to roll with the momentum since the logical strategy for Nemesis would be to plunge that Xiphos into her throat while she was prone. Fortunately, that was exactly what Nemesis tried. Athena's roll saved her immortal life as Nemesis' Xiphos plunged into Olympian Marble and sank into the stone to the hilt. Athena grabbed her spear from where it had fallen after the leg sweep.

"I am sorry it had to end like this, Sister." Intoned Athena, advancing on the now weaponless Nemesis.

"No!" Shouted Nemesis, wings unfurling and taking his into the sky as Athena attempted to run her through with her spear. Athena's spear hit empty air beneath Nemesis as she flew up, missing the Goddess of Vengeance by an inch. In response, Nemesis called upon the fires of vengeance she kept stoked within her and spewed forth flames hot enough to melt adamant at Athena. Athena moved out of the way of the plume of divinely-empowered flame, which turned the dirt and marble of the roadway they were fighting on to glass.

No sooner had Athena dodged, however, than a ball of chaotic, golden, energy from Eris flew forth at her from the side. Instead of blocking this one, however, Athena used her shield as a parrying glove, batting the ball away from her to avoid secondary effects. However, Discord always has its due. The Ball of Power exploded the wall of a storage building containing amphorae of olive oil. The building and the amphorae inside were demolished in the blast, sending chunks of stone flying and causing a massive puddle of slippery oil to spread.

One of those stone chunks smashed into Athena's head with enough force that were she not a Goddess, it would have at the least cracked her skull. In this case, it only knocked her down, but as Athena attempted to rise and parry the incoming cut of Nemesis' now free, blade, her grip on her spear slipped from the oil, resulting in an awkward dodge and the last-second avoidance of being gutted with that thrust. Unfortunately, Athena had to take a cut to the inside of her sword arm to avoid the finishing blow.

With a hiss, Athena brought her arm back in close to her and stepped back away from Nemesis, just barely getting her shield up in time to block another plume of Divinely-empowered Flame Breath. The fires of vengeance burned hot enough within Nemesis that even Orichalcum such as Athena's shield was made of glowed white hot, burning Athena's arm and forcing her to pull her Xiphos and cut the straps of the shield to avoid taking severe damage.

Fortunately, before the enemy could press her further, there was a six-foot mass of muscle charging Nemesis from the side, even as an armored warrior attacked Eris. Achilles and Herakles had arrived to help out. Herakles smashed his fist into Nemesis' jaw and literally punched her through a row of buildings while Achilles used his Godly Fighting Skills and Physical Abilities to force Eris to keep retreating, never giving her time to conjure more blasts.

Athena let out a sigh of relief as she saw that her Chilliarchy had likewise forced the enemy Beastmen to withdraw. As Eris finally withdrew far enough away from Achilles to withdraw, she grabbed the currently unconscious Nemesis by the back of the breastplate and ran. Athena nodded at both Achilles and Herakles gratefully.

"No need for that, Sister. We both know this is the least I could do after what I did in my younger, more foolish days to your favored champion." Waved off Herakles.

"You are atoning well. Who knows, perhaps Hippolyta might even forgive you in another few centuries." Smirked Athena.

"It's not about forgiveness, it's about making amends." Pointed out Herakles.

"We can do this later. If I know Eris, she won't be running for long. We should head to the secondary lines before she regroups." Cut-in Achilles.

And with that, they got to work corralling Athena's Chilliarchy and heading for the secondary lines around the Spice Fields. True to form, Eris did manage to regroup, wake up Nemesis, and recollect their forces swiftly. After a few hours, the Enemy had managed to advance all the way up to the new defensive line. They weren't pressing hard yet, more like skirmishing. Sending testing assaults of Beastmen against the barricades, or harassing the Olympian Troops with a shower of Javelins before scampering away back to their lines. This continued for a few hours longer.

Then, just as the sun was beginning to set, the enemy simply packed up and withdrew. The reason behind such a move seemed illogical to Athena. As the Goddess of Strategy, she naturally had an encyclopedic knowledge of strategic maneuvers and so if she said the withdrawal made no sense, then she was the expert. It wouldn't be until the messengers came through the next morning that the information that contextualized the move filtered in. The enemy was consolidating their territory after having been attacked by the relief force from Mount Meru. By that point, Ganymede had a Chilliarchy of reorganized assault troops and was in place to lead a counterattack.

And Athena would be attacking with him. . .

XXXX

Ares was not happy. About the only thing that had gone as planned today was the eradication of the main base of Hestia's little resistance movement underneath the Gymnasium of Herakles. Oh, certainly, a few of the rats had managed to escape, Melponine, the Muse of Tragedy and one of Hestia's primary Lieutenants, among them, but the overwhelming majority of the resistance's fighting strength had been wiped out in the attack.

Ares had believed that it would be a simple matter to finish the Job, wipe out the remaining fighters of the Resistance, capture the civilians they had been 'protecting', and then make an example of Hestia that would intimidate more of Zeus' flunkies into abandoning him. Unfortunately, it seems the Demigods he sent to perform that task were not as up to the Challenge as he would have liked.

His Grandson, the swordsman, had returned with his tail between his legs like he was some sort of whipped cur rather than a warrior with the blood of Ares in his veins. It was pathetic, and his father was disciplining the boy as he ruminated. That still left them in something of a conundrum, as both his other Grandson and Eris' Son had been captured in the fight. A fight that was supposed to be a one-sided massacre in their favor.

"Let me deal with the Boy, Father! I will grind his bones to powder and free my son along with that of Eris." Insisted Deimos.

"You scarcely managed to defeat the Boy in your last encounter. You will require help if you are going to do what you're saying you will." Smirked Circe as she lounged on a Klinai-style couch.

The pose matched her personality. Circe always seemed to take everything less seriously than the situation would call for unless it personally affronted her. Mind you, you shouldn't mistake that lack of seriousness for softness or you would be quick to find yourself polymorphed into one of her many Beastial Minions. Circe always paid attention to things going on around her, even if she didn't appear to be doing so.

"I need no advice from you on how to retrieve my son." Growled Deimos.

"Silence! Circe is correct, you will need help. You will take your sister with you. She accomplished her mission successfully and will help you to take your vengeance." Ordered Ares.

"He may need to take my Daughter as well. The Boy is an accomplished sorcerer and he will likely be in the company of my old friend Diana. Better to be safe than sorry, yes?" Grinned Circe.

"Fine. And what will you be doing in the meantime?" Demanded Deimos.

"I will be shoring up our lines on the Third Level of Olympus. Apparently, Eris and Nemesis cannot handle doing such a simple task without my direct oversight." Scowled Ares.

"Your brother has recently recovered from the wounds inflicted on him. He will be leading our delaying action in the Second Level of Olympus while you and the Kids ambush the Yuen Boy and Dear Diana." Added Circe.

"Delaying action? Delaying for what?" Frowned Deimos.

"That is none of your concern." Rumbled Ares.

"As you say, father." Ground out Deimos.

Then Deimos turned on his heel and left his Father's War Room. Honestly, it was more of a study in a mansion in the wealthier section of the residential Second Level of Olympus that Ares had commandeered and moved a giant marble statue of himself into. Deimos figured that his father simply enjoyed seeing an idealized representation of himself in his day-to-day life. Ares always did have an ego on him. Most gods did.

As Deimos left, muttering about egotistic Gods, he didn't see Circe unroll the weathered parchments detailing a pair of rituals, the first would pluck Cronus out of Tartarus, while the second would drain the King of the Titan's power into a philter, which would imbue said powers into the drinker. It was a mad plan, made half-in desperation and with no small amount of fear. It was, however, potentially the only chance they now had at succeeding in this coup. And Ares would succeed in this coup by any means he could. He refused to fail.

The consequences for the Earth if he failed to take command of Olympus and lead the Pantheons of the Sphere of the Gods against Darkseid were simply too great. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here we get a bit about what Zeus, Ares, and the Front Lines were like during the first day of the Intervention into the Olympian Civil War. We also get to see what Ares' next plan to win this is, and it might be time to start asking if Ares finding out that Darkseid was coming back might not have driven him a little more insane than usual. After all, even Ares doesn't tend to advocate for bringing Cronus out of Tartarus, even if its to drain his power into himself.

As for Nemesis, Canon DCU Nemesis actually did go insane from so many unavenged deaths. Granted that didn't happen until just before Flashpoint rebooted the universe, which meant it got thrown out with everything else interesting in the DCU in favor of the New Fifty-Two, but I'm not beholden to that sort of editorial BS with this fic.

In this fic, Nemesis went crazy because of the sheer scale of things like the Holocaust, Japanese War Crimes in China, the Killing Fields of Cambodia, and the Ongoing Genocide in the Balkans against Bosniaks drove her mad. Remember, it's the nineties in-story right now, so the Serbs are currently murdering their way through Bosnia. That proved to be the last straw for Nemesis. She cracked and Circe was easily able to manipulate her shattered psyche into joining the Rebels.

At any rate, in the next chapter, we'll be back with Jackie.

Stay tuned. . .