Night mode

Athena had shifted her lower body more fully than before, forgoing feet entirely to merge her legs into a single scaled fluke, just like a dolphin’s. She’d shortened her hair to reduce drag, and a wedge-shaped dorsal fin jutted from her back. Her hands were still hands, her arms still arms, but a pair of pectoral fins emerged from her ribcage just below her arms. She’d need her hands to twist reality, to fight – but every other part of this plan depended on her being able to outswim a water elemental, and for that, she needed as much agility as she could manage.

It wouldn’t be enough for long. She’d adapted herself as much as possible to the water. The elemental was the ocean, a maelstrom of hatred given unholy life and a hatred for everything organic. It was not a guided missile. It was a tornado unleashed and set in her general direction. There was a reason that, even against Enki, she’d never considered creating such a creature. Even Moloch, in the depths of his madness, would not risk making something so uncontrolled. It was an act of desperation. It was the actions of a cornered wolf, snarling and frightened.

Of course, in this case, the wolf had fangs that could savage the very fabric of reality.

Athena swam as hard as she could, steering herself directly towards the elemental. It was currently tearing apart a group of Arae and Erinyes, crushing them into a paste in its vortex arms. The moment Athena entered the rage of its senses, the water elemental whirled to face her, ignoring the prey directly in front of it. Come on, you monstrosity. Come on.

With a roar like a crashing tide, the water elemental surged in her direction. Athena turned on a dime, kicking herself away from the approaching horror.

For a brief, wild, and useless moment, she wished that Isabel was here. Her ability to actually take on the true form of animals, gaining their instincts and skills along with their shape, would make her even better suited for this part of the mission. Of course, the water elemental wouldn’t be coaxed into chasing her. Athena had to do this herself.

The group of sea gods pointed at her approach. Poseidon was laughing at the futility of her attempt to escape. The water elemental was faster than her. It was gaining on her. The other oceanic gods seemed equally amused at her plight. They were grinning, laughing. All except for Eurybia, who was looking at Athena with a concerned frown.

Arrows streaked by Athena from around both sides of the water elemental. Demeter and Artemis. One of the arrows found its home in the distracted eye socked of Eurybia before she could warn the others of what she had seen, and the other caught Nerites in the throat before he could shout more commands to his troops.

Then the subtle weavings Arachne had woven onto the arrowheads detonated in a surge of Air and Flame. A tiny tornado of fire engulfed where they had struck, and Eurybia’s and Nerites’ headless corpses sunk to the bottom of the ocean floor.

That got the sea gods attention. Immediately they began erecting barriers they had neglected, wrapping themselves in a bubble of seawater that caught the next two arrows before they could pierce the skull of another of the sea gods. Two down, Athena thought with a fierce grin. Already the odds were evening, and so far, Poseidon and his minions were acting exactly as Athena had hoped.

Just as the water elemental was closing the distance between it and Athena, four more Athenas appeared, each one swimming in a different direction as Athena turned as hard as she could. The overall effect made the water elemental hesitate, trying to pick the real target.

Arrows still flew through the ocean, keeping the pressure on the sea gods as they detonated against their solid dome of seawater. Hera joined in the assault against their defenses, sending razor blades of stone breaking away from the seafloor and sticking into their barrier. Throughout it all, Arachne wove bands of Fire and Air onto the projectiles, turning them into explosive missiles.

They merely created ripples on the barriers that were protecting the sea gods. The intense pressure of their barrier was more than enough to hold back the assault without difficulty.

The intense pressure the sea gods were commanding would hold back this assault without problem. That was fine.

The plan just called for them to be distracted.

Athena risked a glance back over her shoulder. With their divine support distracted, with the water elemental focused on Athena, the Nereids and Icytocentuars were without support.

It left Hades, Persephone, and Charon unopposed as they began their slaughter. Green fire flew from the fingers of the underworld deities, flames that burned despite the water around them, searing wounds in the sea monsters Poseidon had arranged against them. The remaining Arae and Erinyes surged forward with their king and queen, tearing into the ones that managed to avoid the hadesfire that was being hurled among them.

Athena tore her eyes off the spectacle and surged forward, kicking her fins straight for the sea god’s barrier. Anansi saw her change course and dropped the illusions, once again giving the water elemental a clear target to pursue. It roared and surged after Athena.

Athena flicked her tail, sweeping down low directly over the sea gods and their barrier. Poseidon glared up at her, pointing a finger and shouting something to his companions. She couldn’t make it out through the press of water surrounding them – it was too heavily distorted.

The instant afterward, Athena’s muscles seized up from a sudden surge of electricity filling the water around her. Her jaw clamped shut so hard she swore her teeth would break. Her fingers dug into her palms so tightly, blood began to spill from them into the water around her. Sheer momentum carried her out of the lethal electricity field before it could stop her heart.

That…wasn’t part of the plan. Athena thought, getting control of herself again. Stars of Olympus, that had hurt! She flicked her tail hair, driving herself away from the secondary attack, water blades flying from the barrier and leaving trails of bubbles that barely passed her as they sliced through the area she had vacated.

It was close. She couldn’t avoid their assault for long. She certainly didn’t have the power to stand up to Triton, Poseidon, Ceto, and Thalassa all at once.

Then the blades of water stopped, and Athena glanced back with a fierce grin.

The water elemental had struck the barrier. The barrier the sea gods had woven out of pure water. A barrier the water elemental could tear apart in an instant as it absorbed the increased pressure into its own mass.

An elemental was something you set loose in a general direction, with a single target. It didn’t care who or what you put in its way.

Even its former masters.