Then Menrva touched her arm and continued speaking.
“I am ashamed to admit it, but before this boy’s new power, I am nothing but dead weight. And if he truly is the king of Tula, as so many have said, then I am certain his power will be absolutely overwhelming,” she said.
“It’s not that big a deal, Menrva. I just... got a little bit stronger,” the young man said shyly.
So he goes right back to being timid and insecure the moment he loses that state, Menrva thought, disappointed by Rodrigo’s attitude.
At that moment, Rodrigo felt Ana’s hand touch his, and he turned to look at her.
“You promised you’d become stronger than me so you could protect us... and you did it in record time. Congrats!” the goddess said with a huge smile.
“Stronger than you, Menrva, but not stronger than me,” Tania declared excitedly with a satisfied smile.
“Well,” Rodrigo interrupted, “I’d like us to get back to the point about Tula.”
“So you agree that we should leave Epona here to finish her treatment while the rest of us continue on to Tula?” the Etruscan goddess asked.
“I’m sorry, but I’m staying here with Epona,” Rodrigo said.
Menrva rose angrily, visibly agitated.
“Rodrigo,” she said, “do you understand that while we remain here, we still have no idea where Athena is?!”
“I understand,” Rodrigo said, a little nervous, but annoyed all the same.
“But I’m not going to leave Epona here alone, and I don’t want any of you staying behind for it either. I want to be the first person she sees when the ritual ends,” he added.
“Your obligations come first!” Menrva shouted angrily.
“My obligations?!” Rodrigo asked.
“Doesn’t Athena have an army to defend her? Epona only has us!” the young tannin protested.
“I’m worried about Athena, and I’m grateful for everything she did for us on Mars,” Rodrigo continued, now more firmly and with growing irritation.
“But my responsibilities toward the people I love come first. Is that all I am to you?! A tool?! Do you only care that I grow stronger so I can serve Athena?!” Rodrigo shot back angrily.
Menrva sprang up in fury and grabbed the young man by the front of his clothes, lifting him.
“Have you forgotten that Athena entrusted this mission to you?!” she said with a threatening glare.
Before she could see it coming, the Etruscan goddess took a powerful blow to the cheek that sent her flying into the wall of the room.
It was Ana, furious beyond restraint.
“Rui isn’t a tool!” the Irish goddess shouted furiously. “I’m worried about my master too! You’re not the only one, Menrva!”
“If we’ve come this far, it’s because we trusted each other and supported one another in the hardest moments,” Tania said with a serious expression, while Menrva got back up, spitting a little blood from her mouth.
“I once tried to kill Rodrigo because I put my own selfish concerns ahead of the friendship he offered me,” Tania continued. “For that reason, I will not abandon Epona. We still don’t know whether the ritual will succeed, and she will need our support completely.”
Tul was stunned by Tania’s words. Though the mention of the crime Tania once tried to commit frightened her, she also understood that it was part of the growth of the gentle, caring goddess she had come to know in prison.
“There’s no need to fight,” Anpiel said, trying to calm everyone down. “None of us has rested in a month, and I doubt five days will greatly alter Palas’s fate.”
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“As I see it, if Palas was invaded after we left, what difference will five more days make, when we have already wandered for more than two months since leaving Asgard?” Anpiel continued.
Menrva understood the angel’s words and accepted defeat.
“You’re right. Forgive me for going too far,” she said.
“Menrva-san, why dost thou not return to Asgard to learn of Athena-sama's whereabouts?” Susanoo asked very seriously.
“Rodrigo-dono doth worry for Epona-chan, just as thou dost worry for Athena-sama,” he added.
Menrva fell silent for a moment and lowered her head.
“As tempting as that is, my duty is to protect all of you,” she said. “Besides... I think I’ve grown rather attached to every one of you.”
“Sorry for hitting you, Menrva,” Ana apologized, somewhat embarrassed for having acted on impulse.
“No, I deserved it... forgive me, Rodrigo,” the Etruscan goddess said.
“Don’t worry about it, Menrva. I’m worried too, just like you are. Epona saved your life, didn’t she?” the young man said with a smile.
Menrva realized that she had only been trying to act tough, and sat down again.
“All right. We’ll rest in this city for five days, and pray that Epona recovers within that time,” Menrva said.
Just then, Freyja leapt in through the hole in the ceiling and landed gracefully on the floor. She was carrying a communication crystal in her hand.
“Listen up, y'all, I got something I gotta talk over with you,” she said.
“Is Asgard safe?” Tania asked.
“Yes and no,” Freyja replied. “Anat keeps tryin' over and over to bust through the dimensional shields that got her locked up. At first she could shatter five at a time, but now she's done managed to break fifty at once—though they fix themselves right back up quick. Heimdal figures it's just a matter of time 'fore that goddess busts out by sheer brute force.”
“Then... there’s been no contact with Lel?” Menrva asked in confusion.
“It is impossible even for her to communicate from inside the prison, and since she came alone, it is possible that Lel still doesn’t even know where she is,” Freyja answered.
“But keeping her there is like a battering ram that does not cease pounding on the door,” Loki interjected.
“It is. So Father contacted Heimdal and gave the order to evacuate all of Yggdrasil,” Freyja said, her chest full of anguish and tears nearly spilling from her eyes, though she struggled to remain strong.
“They haven’t even been able to recover Thor’s body from the prison,” she said in an almost broken voice.
All of Yggdrasil was going to abandon the place. Thousands of years of culture, lost because of one monster imprisoned within it. It was such a tragic and unbelievable thought that it was difficult to process.
“Damn Lel,” Loki muttered, lowering his head in frustration.
“On the other hand, Father had already sent Vidar to investigate Athena’s whereabouts, but since Palas is a hidden planet, he’s been unable to gather any information,” the Norse goddess continued gloomily.
“That’s right. I forgot that little detail,” Ana said.
“But... it seems that three months ago, a gigantic army mobilized out of Olympus,” Freyja continued.
“You mean that... it was the gods of Olympus who likely attacked Palas?” Menrva asked in astonishment.
“If the conjectures are correct, then yes,” the Norse goddess replied.
“Just when things couldn’t get any worse,” Ana said in frustration.
“Who are the gods of Olympus?” Rodrigo asked.
“They are the strongest gods serving Lel, assigned to what is now called the Eastern Roman Empire. My master was part of that pantheon,” Ana answered.
“Well, I think it’s time to assume she’s dead. That monster called Heracles among their ranks is known as the strongest god in the universe,” Loki said cynically.
“Not stronger than Melqart, one of Lel’s eloah,” Tania said. “But yes, I have heard stories of that god’s raw power. He was already as strong as his father while still a demigod, but once he became a full god, his power rose hundreds, perhaps even thousands of times over.”
“Wait, how strong are we talking about?” Rodrigo asked.
Menrva then began to laugh.
“What’s wrong, Menrva?” Ana asked.
“I get it now. Athena knew Olympus would attack her, and that’s why she needed Rodrigo at his maximum power,” the goddess said. “Only he will be able to defeat Heracles if he uses all the hidden power within him.”
“Me? How powerful is he?” the young tannin asked.
“We have no idea. But he is the guardian of Olympus’s entrance, and if Athena wants you to defeat him, then she must have known we would have to rescue her in that world,” Menrva said.
“Rescue her? Are you implying Athena is now a prisoner in Olympus?” Anpiel asked.
“I’m almost certain of it. She is the most dangerous criminal in the universe. Even so, I fear for the other inhabitants of Palas,” the Etruscan goddess replied.
Menrva then stood and looked at all her companions.
“Athena didn’t just send me to protect you. She wanted all of us, me included, to become stronger so that we could face Olympus and even defeat Zeus himself,” she said, now with greater confidence.
“And the best training is to break the limits of this anti-divinity barrier, just as Rodrigo and Tania have done,” the goddess added.
“Break the barrier... thou meanest, fly?” Susanoo asked.
“Not just fly. I assume that’s only the most basic level we can achieve here, and that’s why the most difficult trial is about to come before us: the kingdom of Tula,” Menrva said.
Then she smiled and shouted, “Let’s grow stronger and save Athena when the time comes!”
Everyone nodded.
“Even me?” Tul asked nervously.
“With us, you’ll become so powerful that no one in your kingdom will even recognize you,” Tania said encouragingly.
Freyja smiled then and shouted, “And I'm comin' along with y'all too!”
Everyone laughed together.
The gods kept talking all through the night because everyone except Loki had slept enough to stay awake.