Tania, Ana, and Epona, flying and still carrying the rest of the group, finally crossed the mountains beyond the desert. Tania, who had Menrva cradled in one arm, saw the dreamcatcher hanging from the Etruscan goddess’s neck begin to react. The goddess understood at once that, indeed, Coyote could pursue them no farther.
“We’ve crossed the barrier!” Tania shouted to the other two goddesses, who also saw Menrva’s amulet reacting. The three goddesses landed atop the mountains, laid their companions down on a patch of ground they deemed flat enough, and then collapsed to the earth, losing their transformations. They had used more manna than their bodies could bear.
“You don’t mind sleeping on the ground, do you?” Ana asked just as she lost consciousness.
The gods remained asleep upon the mountains south of the Samalayucan Desert.
Hours later, Menrva shook Tania awake, for the Punic goddess had lost the most manna in the battle. Tania awoke with a face full of exhaustion.
“Are you all right, Tania? I’m glad,” the Etruscan goddess said as she watched Tania sit up, trying to understand what had happened.
The landscape was bleak. The sky was blue but cloudless, though some kind of veil of sand floated in the air, bathing everything in an ochre hue. The gods found themselves upon a mountain with little vegetation on its slopes.
All of them looked downcast. Epona sat beside Rodrigo, who looked even more depressed than usual, while Susanoo sat in his lotus position beside Anpiel, whose face too carried an air of melancholy.
But the one in the worst condition was Freyja. Ana sat beside the Norse goddess trying to encourage her, but Freyja seemed lost in a world of her own.
Tul, who had remained near Tania using aromatic herbs to wake her, asked whether Tania herself had not been affected by Coyote’s nightmares.
“No. It’s the second time they’ve tried the same trick on me, and once that happens, it begins to lose its force,” Tania replied, and Tul smiled.
“Did it affect you, Tul?” Tania asked with a maternal look.
“Don’t worry, ch’úupal,” the rabbit goddess said with a smile. “Attacks like those mean nothing to me.”
Tania then turned to Menrva and asked how she was feeling.
“Quite well,” the goddess said. “It seems some of us are stronger than others, but what Freyja saw completely devastated her.”
“Chan Rodrigo’s in a really bad state too,” Tul added. “I think the best thing would be for us to rest nearby until their spirits recover.”
Tania rose and looked toward Loki, who was still lying on the ground unable to move, though the god was now awake.
“You said you were going to keep that barrier up during the night, but you did nothing,” Tania said, standing over him. “Do you have any excuse?”
“I have none,” Loki replied. “The bastard deceived me, and I allowed myself to be carried away. Whatever happened to Freyja is entirely my fault.”
“How did he deceive you, the one who calls himself ‘the god of lies’?” Tania asked angrily.
“Well, he didn’t exactly deceive me. He simply... well... turned into a woman and seduced me,” Loki said in a foul mood.
Furious, Tania tried to strike Loki, but Ana stopped her.
“That’s enough, Tania. Violence won’t fix anything!” the Irish goddess said.
“You damned lecher. Can you not keep your filthy cock in your trousers?!” Tania shouted furiously, but then Epona joined in to stop the Punic goddess’s charge.
“Not everyone can walk through the world without feeling sexual desire the way you do, Tania,” Epona snapped.
“Coyote knew our weaknesses and our fears,” Ana said, trying to calm the goddess. “What I saw... was also tied to sex.”
Epona then understood what Ana’s dream had been about. She remembered that in it, she and Rodrigo had appeared, and she lowered her head.
Tania breathed deeply and looked at Loki more calmly.
“I already told you, Tania. I have no excuses for what I did,” Loki continued. “I put the lives of my companions at risk because of my own lust.”
“Don’t let it happen again!” Tania said, and walked away.
The Punic goddess then sat upon a rock and looked over the whole group.
“I am going to say something that may trouble many of you,” she said, “but if we truly wish to be a group, then we must know each other’s weaknesses, so that together we may fight to overcome them.”
All turned to look at Tania, whose face was serious and exhausted.
“What I mean is this: the weaknesses and doubts among us make us weaker, and creatures like this so-called Coyote used them to try to break our will to fight, or to divide us against each other,” the Punic goddess continued.
“Do you expect us to tell you what we dreamed?” Menrva asked in surprise.
“It would be best, so that we may know one another better and understand how we can help each other,” Tania said, then rose to her feet.
“As many of you know, the name my parents gave me was Tannit,” Tania continued. “I am the patron goddess of the now-vanished city of Carthage.”
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“Its people made human sacrifices, especially of children, in my name, and in a fit of rage I allowed my city to be razed by Rome and its citizens slaughtered or enslaved. That is my sin, and the sin I shall carry until the day I die,” she concluded.
They all stared at Tania in astonishment. Ana, Epona, and Anpiel, who already knew her past, were surprised that the goddess was willing to speak of it so openly. The others were shaken by what she had done in the past. Rodrigo had learned only fragments, and had never known the full story.
“Nor do I wish to conceal the fact that my father is the god El, though I have never known him. Nor do I wish to conceal that, through my dreams, my sister Baalat forced me to choose between my present city, Ibiza, and Rodrigo; and I selfishly chose my city, which nearly led me to murder one of my dearest friends. That too is my sin,” Tania continued, touching the scar on her cheek.
Tania looked at them all, and they watched her with uncertainty and nervousness.
“I understand if you cannot speak of your past before the group at once, but I ask you, please, to think upon it,” Tania said, then sat down again.
“My full name is Tu’ul-Uj,” Tul said, rising to her feet.
“I’m one of the rabbits of the goddess Ixchel in Mayapán, and that has been my whole life. I am certain my kaansaj has already replaced me. And that was what I dreamed—that the new rabbit of my teacher devoured me.” After explaining that, the rabbit goddess sat back down.
“My full name is Susanoo-no-Mikoto, and I was cast out of my kingdom, Takama-no-hara, for indecent conduct,” Susanoo said as he stood.
“That is why I have not drunk alcohol during my time upon the earth. In my dream, my onee-san, sister, urged me to murder Rodrigo in his sleep and bring his tannin head back to my kingdom, yet I opposed her,” the eastern god said, and sat again.
Ana then remembered what courage truly was, and that she was meant to love all her companions. The goddess stood up and swallowed hard.
“I... my... well, my name is Anand, and I am the daughter of Ernmas. I am in truth one of triplets,” Ana said awkwardly, rubbing her right arm with her left hand, her face as red as a cherry.
“Ana, you do not need to speak of that yet if you do not wish to,” Tania said.
“I must! We are a great brotherhood now, and everyone deserves to know what I have lived through, even if they judge me!” Ana said, raising her voice as she straightened herself and continued.
Ana told them everything without omission: her life with her sisters, how she met the hero Cú Chulainn, the war against the Fomorians, and what happened with her sisters and Dagda. The goddess was completely ashamed as she spoke of what she had endured beside Dagda. Those words echoed deeply within Freyja.
“I am telling all this because I want to build a true brotherhood among all of us. I... I love every one of you for having become part of my life and my dreams, and I know I can entrust my future to you,” Ana said.
Then the gods began applauding Ana’s words, and she felt immense relief in that moment, for she had expected to be judged.
“What I dreamed was about...” Ana began, but Epona interrupted her.
“Keep that part secret, Ana,” the Celtic goddess said.
“But I must say it, Epona,” Ana insisted timidly.
“Ana, we all already know. We all know that you love Rodrigo a little more than you love the rest of us,” Epona continued.
Rodrigo was startled by those words and blushed as well.
“But... that is something I would rather speak with you about in private,” Epona added, looking at Ana with an expression the Irish goddess could not tell whether it was shame, pity, or sadness. Yet Ana understood the message and apologized before sitting back down.
“Tania, forgive me, but... I would rather speak of my past another time,” Menrva said.
“You all already know that I killed Odin’s son and spent a thousand years in prison,” Loki said, still unable to move.
Freyja then rose. Her eyes were red from crying, though the goddess denied it.
“I... I used to be an easy girl in Asgard, and I loved my hedonistic life,” Freyja said. “My husband Odr traveled often, and I always held that sort of feast in my palace. Coyote... Coyote mocked and raped me in my dream, and though I know it was only an illusion, my body was still left harmed by it, and I would ask... that you grant me a few days of rest so I may recover both physically and mentally.”
All could see that Freyja was not well at all. Her body trembled and her face was flushed. Such mannerisms were unlike the Norse goddess, who had been the most devastated by Coyote’s illusions. She had always concealed her weakness and pressed onward, even when her totema had been broken, refusing to yield. But for the first time, she appeared broken and asked for help.
“Of course, Freyja. We shall rest in the next town we reach. We will not depart again until you have recovered,” Tania said with a conciliatory look.
Tul, Ana, and Epona embraced the Norse goddess, who kept thanking them, until at last she broke down in tears.
“Thank you to all who spoke openly,” Tania said, rising once more.
“The reason I am doing this is because, from our struggle against Coyote and all we have learned upon this journey, it seems that this universe is alive,” she said.
“Is that what the Talking God meant about the god Tawa?” Menrva asked in confusion.
“Yes. Coyote said that Ana, Epona, and I had awakened something of Tawa’s power—in other words, the universe itself,” Tania replied.
“But it seems the conditions are still unknown. Perhaps helping humans as fellow people matters, but I also believe that our brotherhood and trust may create a union... a union like the one with the universe itself,” she explained.
“You’ve become awfully mystical, Tania,” Epona said with a laugh.
“Forgive me, but... it is what I believe at this moment, and I would like to test my hypothesis,” Tania added.
“Yes, I agree,” Tul replied, leaping up with renewed energy.
“I believe we are all moved by your words, Tania,” Anpiel interrupted. “But I think our first priority must be finding a place where we can rest, now that Ana’s cabin, together with our supplies, has been destroyed.”
Ana lowered her head at the thought of her cabin having been destroyed. The goddess had bought it in the British lands after saving money for a long time, back when she had first begun working for Lel.
In order to fit into Irish society after being named grigori of Ireland, Ana had taken lessons in blacksmithing and later worked in a workshop forging and repairing armor and weapons.
Yet when suspicions began to spread that the only female blacksmith in town was not aging, the goddess would fake her death and move to another city in the kingdom. She had lived that way for more than three hundred years.
“Crow, can you not simply build another one, the way you make those weapons you use?” Epona asked, stepping closer.
“I know nothing of architecture. To learn how to replicate weapons, I had to study smithing,” the Irish goddess replied mournfully.
It was not only the house and its resources. It was also the memories the cabin carried for her.
“Do not worry, Ana. Soon you will be able to buy another house, and that one shall hold far happier memories, with all of us inside it,” Anpiel said, encouraging the Irish goddess.
“Well, the ambrosia Tul prepared was stored in my pocket dimension, so we still have nine jars left,” Ana said, which brought relief to many of them. Still, only nine vessels left for unknown lands that might shelter monsters as strong as Coyote was deeply troubling.
“Well then, let us try to find a village in this desert, and pray that no evil god attacks us for the moment,” Tania said, transforming into her manticore form so she could fly.
“Excuse me, Tania,” Epona said, stepping closer to the Punic goddess and speaking softly. “Rodrigo still is not well, so I do not think he can fly. But I will gladly take charge of him.”
“Of course, Epona,” Tania replied.
Tania, Ana, and Epona raised their powers in order to fly, and between the three of them, they lifted the other gods and soared over the land, searching for some village where they might rest.