“I have so many questions.” Eli said after a long silence.

  “I thought you might.” Athena smiled. “Come. Bring your retinue. We have much to discuss.”

  “Is it safe here?” Eli asked before moving. “The last time we spoke, you said you were in danger.”

  “Yes, for now.” Athena replied. “Unlike some other places, the wards protecting this realm are still strong.”

  “Alright then.” Eli said, waving his group on. “Lead the way.”

  The assorted delegation moved quickly, falling in behind him in a loose formation. Athena’s followers parted for them as they moved up the street, either going back to their homes or taking up protective positions behind and around them. Eli saw the elven woman from before and offered an apologetic smile and a wave – one that she returned before catching a glimpse of Isla’s draconic form and skittering away.

  With the logistics dealt with, Eli decided he couldn’t wait to get where they were going before he started asking questions. “So, you’re a Royal Blood.”

  “Yes. As is Ares.” Athena answered.

  “How many of us are there?” Eli asked.

  “12, including you and I.”

  “Who are they? Are they here?” Eli pressed, excitement creeping into his voice.

  “Not all of us are here at this moment, but all of us call this place home. You’ll likely meet the others in due course. Artemis is waiting for us in the main hall, along with Aphrodite and Apollo. Demeter, Dionysus, and Hephastus are in their workshop – it’s not far, and I can take you there another day if you like. Hera, Hermes, and Poseidon are in another realm right now. I suspect Ares is on his way to join them. Each of us has a different specialty, and all of us are important to the continued functioning of our society.”

  Eli nodded as she listed them off. “I see you really bought into the whole ‘Greek god’ theme here.”

  She grinned at him before nodding. “I think you mean that the Greeks took our names and deified them.”

  Eli blinked several times. “What?”

  “You have much to learn.” She chuckled before looking at Aria, then Aratessa. “I hope that one of you taught him at least some magical history?”

  “Yes.” Aria answered defiantly. “But there is precious little information about Royal Bloods.”

  “That is by design.” Athena said. “We purged many of our own records from that time, both from Earth and the magical realms.”

  “Why?” Aria asked.

  “That is…a complicated answer. One which requires context.” She said before looking back at Eli. “To answer your original question, when elves first visited Earth they awakened the first Royal Bloods. To early humans, our powers appeared godlike. They told stories about us – stories which became the basis of several religions, including Greek.”

  Eli furrowed his brow. “But that would have been thousands of years ago. There’s no way you…” He trailed off, realizing what he was saying.

  “No way that I’m that old?” She answered with a wry grin. “An astute observation. Even though mana extends my life to equal that of an elf or even a dragon, I was not one of those original Royal Bloods.”

  “But you’re still named Athena.” Aratessa protested.

  “Yes. The first Athena – along with the rest of the original Royal Bloods – found this place thousands of years ago, taking many of their followers with them. It has become custom that every time a new Royal Blood reaches this place they adopt one of the names of those original Royal Bloods as an honorary title.”

  “Ah.” Eli nodded in understanding. “Do you mind if I ask what your name was before you came here then?”

  “I was born Princess Sophia Augusta Frederica of Anhalt-Zerbst.”

  “Princess…” Aria trailed off, furrowing her brow as the gently ascending road turned into more of a switchback mountain climb.

  Clearly having overheard the conversation, Freya piped in. “You’re Catherine the Great!”

  Athena flinched slightly before nodding. “Yes, though I despise that title.”

  Eli cast a questioning glance back at Freya. “I lived in Russia for a short time.” She reminded him before turning to the elder Royal Blood. “They still have statues of you there.”

  “Right.” Eli recalled, grateful to have her there. “So you were Catherine the Great. I remember Aria mentioning that you were Royal Blooded when I first awakened.” He paused for a second, furrowing his brow. “But…she…well, you…died.”

  “Once I’d discovered the path to Olympus, it was a simple thing to fake my death so that I might journey here with my bond mates.”

  As she explained this, Eli saw what was easily recognizable as a barracks with soldiers milling about – the sight of which prompted him to ask another question. “Who are they training to fight? Who is this mysterious threat?”

  She exhaled and closed her eyes for a moment before answering. “The Titans.”

  Oh so we’re really going all in on the whole Greek mythology thing. Eli thought to himself as soon as she said it.

  “Who?” Aratessa asked. “I’ve never heard of such a race.”

  “Nor have I.” Aria added.

  “And there is a very good reason for that.” Athena replied. “Thousands of years ago, the first Royal Bloods travelled across the realms, discovering new races and civilizations. Their travels were extensive – far more than that of any other race, including the elves.”

  Aria harumphed at that comment, but allowed Athena to continue. “As they travelled, their influence grew. They were seen as gods to many – a notion they did little to dissuade. They taught magic to the people of some of these worlds, and in exchange those worlds gave them whatever they wanted – food, resources, bond mates.” She paused, looking at Aria. “I suppose they were not so different from the ancient elves in that way.”

  “I see the resemblance.” Aria admitted.

  “During this golden age of discovery, other magical races started to assert themselves on Earth. Those first Royal Bloods fought them, rallying their followers and eventually overthrowing and killing those who had installed themselves in positions of power.”

  “This is well-documented history.” Aratessa nodded.

  “What is not well documented is that after those battles, the first Royal Bloods became paranoid. They moved thousands of their followers here, establishing this as a haven for them. They then destroyed all records on Earth relating to this realm, ensuring the elves couldn’t follow them back. That left the first Royal Bloods as the only ones who could go back and forth.”

  “A clever strategy.” Aratessa said. “So what happened next?”

  “They continued their explorations from here, travelling to new worlds. For every civilization they came across they offered protection and magical knowledge.”

  “In exchange for what?” Eli asked.

  Athena nodded approvingly. “Another astute question. In some cases it was a steady supply of bond mates. In others it was manual labour. Sometimes it was resources, or the finer amenities of life.” She said, gesturing to the marble temple-like buildings that surrounded them before seeing the concerned look on Eli’s face. “Whatever you think of the deal, it was a popular one. Every world they visited accepted the deal.”

  “Of their own accord?” Eli pressed.

  “Most of the time.” Athena admitted.

  “I see.” Eli replied through clenched teeth.

  “Eli.” Aria said softly. “Human history – or at least human history on Earth – is no different. Discovery, colonialism, trade, and war are often inexorably linked.”

  “Right.” Eli replied, taking a deep breath.

  “There is a question I have with your story though.” Aria said, addressing Athena. “You said that the first Royal Bloods continued exploring from here? Meaning that they didn’t go back to Earth first, then travel to new worlds?”

  “Yes.” Athena confirmed. “This realm is a nexus, like Earth. You can travel to other magical realms from here. I’d be happy to demonstrate later. I’d ask that you not try it right now though, nor attempt to return to your own worlds for the moment – for reasons that will become apparent soon.”

  Aria whistled lowly. “This is incredible.”

  As she considered the implications of this revelation, Eli brought the conversation back to his original question. “So I’m guessing that during that period of exploration the first Royal Bloods met the Titans?”

  “No.” Athena shook her head. “The Titans found them. They stumbled onto one of the realms under Royal Blooded protection, killing thousands and demanding fealty. The residents of that realm demanded that the Royal Bloods honor their pact, so they left Olympus to defend the realm.” She paused for a moment. “In order to understand what happened next, you need to understand the true nature of the Titans.”

  “What does that mean?” Eli asked.

  She looked Eli dead in the eye before replying. “The Titans are beings of pure mana. Immensely powerful, destructive, megalomaniacal beings.”

  “A mana based life form?” Aratessa said incredulously.

  “Talaedra’s head would probably explode by now if she were here.” Eli chuckled.

  Athena looked at him questioningly before continuing. “They can control mana in unfathomable ways. There is no delineation between schools of magic for them – it’s all just mana. One moment they could be lighter than air, the next moment they could be made of stone. One moment they’re throwing lightning, the next it’s ice, then fire. The have a near-limitless supply of mana, they require no words of power to cast spells, and they can shape mana into whatever form they can dream of.”

  “Well that sounds…terrifying.” Eli said.

  “The population of the realm under the Royal Blood’s protection thought so too. They’d nearly given up until the Zeus discovered how to kill them.”

  “How?” Aratessa demanded to know. “How can you kill a being of pure energy?”

  Athena arched one eyebrow at her before her eyes flicked back to Eli. “I can see you’ve already guessed. Tell her.”

  Eli’s eyes went wide as the realization washed over him. “We can absorb mana.” He said slowly.

  “Precisely.” Athena nodded. “And if a being is made of pure mana…” She trailed off.

  “We can absorb Titans?” Eli finished her statement. “And that would kill them?”

  “Yes.” Athena allowed her shoulders to slump slightly. “We learned that day that absorbing a Titan will kill them, but it comes at a great cost.”

  “There’s always a catch.” Eli muttered.

  “Absorbing a Titan corrupts our powers. We’re not completely sure how it works, but we think it overloads the biological mechanisms our bodies have for containing mana. The process spills through our connection to our bond mates, killing them.” She paused for a moment to let Eli absorb this information before continuing. “It also prevents us from forming new bonds and limits our abilities such that we can only use our instinctive magic. It hollows us out from the inside, making us invincible while driving us mad. Everything about us changes, from the way we look to the color of our magic.”

  “Shit.” Eli swore as he looked around at his bond mates. “So that option is off the table for me.”

  “Eli-” Aria started.

  “No.” Eli shut it down immediately. “I refuse to do something that will result in any of you dying. That’s not negotiable for me.”

  “I wasn’t going to suggest that.” Athena assured him. “There may be another option that doesn’t require sacrifice - one which you are uniquely suited to. But it too requires the context in this story to understand.”

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “Alright.” Eli said. “I guess you’d better keep going then.”

  “The Titans were thrown into disarray. Apparently none of them had ever died before, so they were understandably upset about the concept of their own mortality. Not only that, but our very existence was antithetical to them – they are beings of mana, and we are beings that absorb mana. That fact alone immediately made us their biggest threat.” She shook her head sadly for a moment. “What happened next was entirely predictable. They sent wave after wave of conscripts into the realm, overwhelming the defenses with sheer numbers. The Royal Bloods were forced to retreat, withdrawing as many forces as they could back to Olympus before unleashing a newly designed weapon into the realm: a magical plague.”

  “They used biological warfare?” Eli asked.

  “Yes. It was a last resort – one that left the realm barren of all life in a matter of months. They hoped that would be the end of the Titans but…some years later during a routine exploration of a new realm, they ran across Titan forces once more. Rather than engaging though, they observed. They quietly watched from the shadows as the Titans conquered the realm, enslaving the civilizations who lived there before forcing them to build monuments to them. They watched as the Titans installed sympathetic leaders before moving onto the next world, repeating the process over and over again.”

  “Their populations didn’t rebel as soon as the Titans were gone?” Aratessa asked.

  “No. The Titans often returned to the worlds they conquered, staying just long enough to perform enough mass executions to keep the public in line, or to conscript more forces into their armies – ones that they used to conquer yet more worlds. In more than one case they destroyed entire cities just to remind the rest of the realm what the price of rebellion was.”

  “Ah.” Aratessa nodded.

  Eli noted distantly that they’d reached a large building and began climbing the stairs. “I’m guessing ‘observation’ turned into conflict again eventually?”

  “Yes. It was the second time in our history that a Royal Blood killed a titan. Zeus’ brother Hades knew the consequences, and yet he still chose to sacrifice himself to save untold thousands.” She paused for a moment, seeing the look on Eli’s face. “You’ve met him.”

  “I mean…I met someone.” Eli said slowly. “Or at least, he spoke to me in the same way you do – directly to my mind. And he said his name was Hades, and that he knew you.” Eli paused. “That would make him thousands of years old though.”

  “Yes. The original Hades still lives. We suspect the process of absorbing a titan extended his lifespan far beyond what even a Royal Blooded human would normally have.” She pursed her lips. “I would be interested to hear the story another time, but I take it you now understand what I mean by corrupted magic and madness?”

  “Understatement of the fucking year.” Eli agreed.

  They paused in an open foyer, bringing the entire group to a halt. As they did the rest of Eli’s bond mates moved closer, clearly having heard at least parts of the conversation up until that point. Eli allowed them to crowd around him, making sure everyone had room before he indicated to Athena that she should continue.

  “After Hades made his sacrifice, the remaining Royal Bloods forced him to leave before the madness consumed his mind completely. They then spent considerable time fortifying Olympus, casting all manner of spells to make it difficult for the Titans to stumble across this world or the other worlds under their protection. For many years no more Titans were seen or heard of, and they began to believe the problem solved. They returned to Earth sporadically, casting those same protections, gathering followers, and subtly awakening new Royal Bloods before bringing them back here to train them. They spread word about the Titans amongst the human populations at this time, but at that period of history and in that part of the world there were very few elves – so it went unnoticed by them.”

  “That would explain why none of us have heard of them.” Zee surmised.

  “Exactly.” Athena nodded as another figure entered the room.

  The second figure wore a white toga not that dissimilar from Athena’s. Her long black hair had been tied back into a bun, and across her back she had slung a quiver full of arrows and a shining golden bow. Her golden sandals padded softly against the marble floor of the large foyer.

  “Hello.” She said, her eyes locking on Eli. “You must be our new Royal Blood.”

  “This is Artemis.” Athena said, gesturing to her. “Artemis, I was just educating Eli on several thousand years of history.”

  “Oh, good.” She said. “Have we reached the point where you tell him why we need him?”

  “Not yet.” Athena shook her head.

  “I’d like to get to that point sooner rather than later.” Eli interjected.

  Athena looked back at Eli. “Very well. For the sake of brevity, I will skip over several thousand years of history, Royal Blooded awakenings, and exploration. I do recommend you take some time in our library to catch up on that history though.” She said, stopping for a moment when Minerva began to squirm with excitement. “The most important part is this: the Titans did not forget. They spent much of the intervening time chipping away at the enchantments cast by the first Royal Bloods in ways we could not detect. Several centuries ago they were able to break through, finding one of our worlds and resuming their attack on us. We have managed to keep them to a stalemate since then, but every time they’ve discovered another one of our worlds they open a new front of battle – one which we are spread too thinly to defend properly.”

  “You’re losing.” Zee summarized. “And your entire strategy is basically to play cat-and-mouse with them.”

  “We do not have the forces to be everywhere at once.” Artemis confirmed. “Our forces number in the tens of thousands. Theirs number in the untold billions.”

  “All is not lost though.” Athena interjected, seeing the looks on their faces. “During this period, something quite unexpected happened. A Titan defected to our side. He told us he was sick of the way the Titans enslaved others, the way that they used sapient beings as nothing more than tools. We came to call him Prometheus, and he taught us much about how to defend against the other Titans.” She paused for a moment, furrowing her brow. “He also taught us exactly how Titans can sense our magic. His teachings were instrumental in augmenting our wards to ensure the Titans wouldn’t find us.”

  “They can…sense it?” Eli asked. “How? And how do the protections work?”

  “Imagine a powerful sense of smell, like that of a hound.” Athena explained. “They can smell far better than most other creatures. Moreover, if a hound is given a sample of a specific smell to track – like that from someone’s clothing, perhaps – they can track that smell back to the source. The Titan’s senses work similarly, but for our magic.” She paused to make sure he was keeping up. “Using the same analogy, if someone didn’t want to be tracked, they might surround themselves with stronger odors to mask their own scent. The underlying scent will always be there though, and if they spent enough time focusing on sorting through the various scents they will find us.”

  “That…explains a lot, actually.” Eli said, making the connections in his mind. “Like why you couldn’t just come to Earth and get me.”

  “Yes, exactly.” Athena smiled sadly. “The wards protecting Earth are weakening due to the Titan’s influence. My returning to Earth would undoubtedly boost the ‘scent’ enough that the Titans would find it. Even you, nascent as your powers are, would eventually lead them to Earth if you stayed there too long. That’s why we developed the path to Olympus – the hints and clues you followed to get here. It’s also why we ask that you not return until you’ve mastered the spell required to bolster the wards.”

  “I’m amazed it’s stayed intact this long.” Aria said.

  “We have followers on Earth and across the magical realms who watch for new Royal Bloods and keep the path intact.” Artemis revealed. “None of them know they’re following our orders. Your vaunted portal detection system and sensors to detect new Royal Bloods are actually part of our design. We just allowed you to develop and implement them.”

  “And the fact that new Royal Bloods are imprisoned by the magical council?” Eli pressed. “Was that part of your design as well?”

  “If they’re weak enough to be caught and contained by that council of fools, they’re not worthy of travelling to Olympus.” Artemis said far too casually.

  Athena saw Eli’s rising anger and cut him off. “You may not agree with our methods, but they are required to keep Earth safe. Without it, there would be no new Royal Bloods. No way to replenish our numbers, ever. The Royal Blooded mutation emerges only once every hundred years or so, and requires a diverse population from which to do so – something we do not have here.”

  “Alright fine.” Eli said. “So how do I play into all of this?”

  “Prometheus designed a weapon. One that would allow a Royal Blood to drain a Titan without any of the side effects. The problem is that he will only give it to someone he deems worthy. A ‘true leader’ – someone with the will to protect others, the ability to make wise choices, and the humility to admit when they’re wrong.”

  Eli nodded. “I get it.”

  “You…do?” Artemis said, furrowing her brow.

  “Sure.” Eli nodded. “Outside of the Titans, have either of you run across or heard about any other beings which would give you pause? That would seriously threaten you, your bond mates, Olympus, or Earth?”

  “No.” Artemis said.

  “No.” Athena added.

  “So whoever he gives this weapon to is going to by default become the most powerful being in the known magical universe. Someone who can beat anyone.” Eli continued. “Add to that the fact that the whole reason he left the Titans in the first place was because he objected to the way they did things. He probably doesn’t want to give that kind of power to someone who’s just going to repeat the same actions – something that the original Royal Bloods were definitely doing, by the way – what with the subjugating worlds and using them for resources and all.”

  Athena grinned at Artemis as she shifted uncomfortably. “See? I told you.” She then turned back to Eli. “I believe you possess the qualities that Prometheus seeks, and that he will give you the weapon.”

  “Oh.” Eli said, suddenly realizing the gravity of the situation.

  “My original plan was for you to take the Crown of Command and rally humanity behind you.” Athena continued. “Then, you were supposed to come here and retrieve the weapon. Finally, with a united human army at your command, you were supposed to push back the Titans until they confronted you in open battle – at which point you would kill the remaining Titans.”

  “The Crown of… oh, you mean the artifact that controlled humans that we destroyed?” Aria asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Oops.” Naz said awkwardly.

  Eli turned all this information over in his mind for several long moments before locking eyes with Athena. “If you want my help…and I’m not saying yes to this yet, mind you… I’m going to need some proof.”

  “I thought you might say that."