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Earlier

Thirty in favor of aiding Athena and her allies, thirty in favor of aiding Moloch. Artemis wanted to rip her hair out. Cowards, she thought.

Poseidon looked smug. “It appears we have an even tie.”

“I’m perfectly capable of counting, Poseidon,” Artemis growled.

“Then that means we take no action.”

Artemis could feel her hands shake with poorly suppressed rage. “You were counting on this,” she said quietly, leaning in so only Poseidon could hear her. “You knew that even in a tie, things would go your way. What did Moloch promise you? What did it take to get you to sell out our people?”

Poseidon glanced around to make sure they weren’t being overheard before leaning back in. “I would have vetoed anyway. Same as you would have vetoed me. Deadlock was guaranteed, with no third veto to break the tie.” His eyes flashed with anger. “But don’t you dare call me a traitor, archer. I did this to save us. Moloch just wanted the right battlefield to fight the others. He didn’t give a damn about us.”

“You’re a fool if you believe that,” Artemis said, shaking her head. “You’re a bigger fool than I ever could have imagined. Once Moloch wins, he’ll turn whatever monsters he makes from them against us.”

“And we will win if he does,” Poseidon said with a shrug.

” He has an entire pantheon’s worth of monsters out there, Poseidon! We will die.”

“It doesn’t matter, Artemis.” Poseidon reached out and clapped her on the shoulder. “You fought well. I didn’t expect it to be this close. But you’ve lost.”

Artemis took a deep breath, hoping against hope she wasn’t wrong. “No, I haven’t.”

Poseidon frowned as Artemis turned back to the assembled gods. “I invoke Eumenides,” she said in a clear voice to carry over the muttering.

Every head whipped towards her. No one had invoked Eumenides since…well, since Athena was banished. But it was one of their oldest laws. In the event of a divine deadlock, if even the veto powers could not reach an accommodation, the tie would be broken by a single vote.

“What madness is this?” Poseidon demanded. “You cannot invoke Eumenides. The Furies are not here, they are in Hades’s realm.”

Artemis nodded. “Yes, they are. Which means the vote falls upon the god or goddess of wisdom.”

Poseidon scoffed. “There has not been a goddess of wisdom since Athena was exiled.”

“Correct. However, I do not recall Athena ever being stripped of that title,” Artemis said cooly, looking around the room as she did. “Can anyone prove me wrong?”

Silence. Slowly, eyes started to turn towards Poseidon.

The gods of Olympus were a quarrelsome lot, but one thing they agreed on were their Laws. No one had said Athena was no longer the goddess of wisdom, nor had a new one been appointed.

“I deny it,” Poseidon growled.

“You cannot,” Artemis said. “Eumenides cannot be overruled by veto.”

Poseidon gnashed his teeth. Artemis started to grin. I didn’t know if I remembered the laws correctly, she thought.

“It’s impossible,” Poseidon spat, “she is outside our barrier. To go to her would be tantamount to declaring war on Moloch!”

Artemis shook her head. “Then I’ll go alone. You can deny me as a traitor if things go poorly. But I will get to Athena, and I will get her vote.”

“We all know what she’ll vote!” Heracles shouted from the back. “Let her vote happen without her, and let us go to her aid!”

“Our laws forbid assuming votes,” Poseidon said, clinging to the last hope he had left.

Artemis nodded. “He’s right. Do not worry, Heracles. I’ll get her vote.”

“I’ll not allow anyone to go with you,” Poseidon muttered.

With a gesture, Artemis’s arrows flew from where she’d shot them back to her quiver.

“You won’t need to. I’ll report back with her vote soon.”

Poseidon could do nothing more than stare at her in silent fury as Artemis left.

—–

Now

Artemis rose to her feet, coughing up blood. Ishtar was staring blankly at the statue that had been Moloch.

The saber tooth tiger that was standing over the Eschaton shifted into the form of a young woman. “Did we just win?”

Artemis hissed in pain. “There’s still a war on. Where’s Athena?”

The shapeshifter pointed towards a crater. “Wait, I thought you gods could heal from anything? Won’t Moloch be turning back to flesh soon?”

“He would anywhere else,” Artemis said, hobbling over towards the depression that held Athena. “What Medusa does to people is a manifestation of Athena’s power. It would take minutes, maybe, for that twist to fade on Earth. But we are in Tartarus. Changes to reality are permanent here.”

“So…”

“So now his army has no commander, and we are sitting in the middle of the largest brawl of monsters I’ve ever witnessed. We’re dead unless I get to Athena. Talking makes that harder.”

“Okay then,” the woman said, turning back to the Eschaton. “Hey, Ryan, we won. Or. I think we’re winning?”

Weakly, Ryan raised a hand from the ground to give the woman a thumbs up.

Artemis ignored the rest of their conversation, leaning over the edge of the crater. “Pallas Athena,” she said.

Athena looked up. “Artemis. Olympus is finally fighting?”

Artemis carefully sat on the edge of the crater. “No. Just me. There’s a tie in the Elysian Rest. I invoked Eumenides. We need your vote.”

A sly grin crept over Athena’s face. “You were paying attention.”

“Sometimes,” Artemis granted. “Your vote, then? Should we aid Moloch’s monsters or should we aid you and your allies?”

“I vote you all get off your asses and help us.” Athena said.

“Figured you might say that.” Artemis twisted to amplify her voice. “Athena has voted to fight the monsters of Moloch! Eumenides is fulfilled! Olympus, the time for inaction has passed!”

At first, nothing happened. Artemis began to worry that Poseidon had done something terrible, broken their laws to force people to stay within.

Then Heracles came flying out of the Rest, holding a sword as long as he was tall, and threw himself into the mass of monsters. One by one, the gods of Olympus came charging into the disorganized mess. Had Moloch still commanded them, they could have rallied against the gods, even posed a threat. Without their master, most of them were just beasts.

Artemis looked back down in the crater to see Athena’s frowning face. “Artemis, wait. Only one who holds a veto can invoke Eumenides. How did you-”

Artemis stepped into the crater, offering Athena a hand. “You and your allies have been beaten bloody, old friend. Perhaps we should get you to safety before I fill you in on the last millennia of Olympian politics?”

Athena laughed, and the two women clasped hands. “Fair enough. Let’s gather the others, then. I have…many questions.”

“Of course you do,” Artemis said with a roll of her eyes. “Safety first. Questions later.”

To Artemis’s surprise and relief, Athena nodded in agreement.

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