Tania and Menrva appeared outside the island of Ibiza, as if repelled by an invisible barrier, and fell headfirst into the sea.
Swimming, the Punic goddess took Menrva by the waist and pulled her out of the sea as she headed toward a small islet. Although Menrva no longer felt as if she were drowning like she had in Vinland, they did not want to draw attention by showing that she could emerge from the sea without knowing how to swim.
Tania climbed onto a rock facing the city of Ibiza and realized that there was a protective shield around it, preventing any divine being from entering. The Etruscan goddess was worried that there might be an enemy inside that place.
“No,” Tania said while drying her long hair. “This must be Nabu’s work. He stayed inside the city and has been protecting it since that day.”
Menrva then looked at Ibiza with disdain and scratched her head.
“How the hell are we supposed to get in, then?”
Then she looked carefully at the city and saw that there was no activity in it. No ships were leaving or entering, while the narrow streets were completely empty.
Since they were in a different time zone from Italy, dusk was only just beginning in the city. However, despite the hour, Tania knew there should still be activity in the city, and a negative hunch pressed down on her chest.
“We would draw even more attention if we tried to cross casually and the shield stopped us,” Menrva added.
“That is true. We will not be able to enter by walking or swimming, much less on a ship,” Tania replied, frustrated, while sitting on the islet and hugging her legs.
Both goddesses’ dresses were completely soaked. Tania looked sadly at the beautiful princess outfit the Etruscan goddess was wearing, now wet with salt water. It was possible it would be damaged.
“Can you communicate telepathically with that man?” Menrva asked, confused.
Tania shook her head.
“This shield is preventing me from doing so,” she said.
Menrva sighed and shook her head.
“It would be better for us to withdraw for now,” the goddess said, but then she remembered how easily Lel had tracked her from Pallas, and she tried to make sure they were alone.
Then the two goddesses saw a small fishing boat approaching. In the tiny vessel, a completely hooded man was rowing slowly as he approached the small islet.
“That person… is a deity… or at least a malak,” Menrva said, worried, as she felt the fisherman’s presence.
The goddess quickly took hold of her totema to use it, but Tania stopped her.
“That presence… feels familiar to me,” Tania said.
“Familiar?” Menrva asked, confused. “Good, bad?”
Tania shook her head.
“I do not know, but we cannot draw attention here by starting a fight,” Tania said. “That would be like telling our enemies we are here.”
The small boat stopped at the islet, and the man stood. The rags with which he covered his entire body were brown, while his face was covered by a mask that seemed to be made of silver. The mask had no openings for the eyes, so the two goddesses could not know who he was.
“Who are you?” Tania asked threateningly as she stood.
But the man did not answer. Then he extended his hand toward the goddesses. Both of them could tell that his hands were completely bandaged.
The man then gave a discreet bow.
“I am only Nabu’s assistant,” the man said. “I have come to help you enter Ibiza, since my lord was waiting for you.”
Menrva and Tania looked at one another for a moment to decide what to do. Both nodded and decided to accept the mysterious man’s offer.
The two goddesses climbed into the small vessel and remained standing while the man began rowing toward Ibiza.
“What has happened in Ibiza?” Tania asked, confused, seeing there was no movement in the city.
“I am deeply sorry, Lady Tania,” the man said. “A plague has struck the city, and many of the sick have ended up in the cavern where you lived.”
Tania and Menrva were horrified upon hearing that.
“How many have died?” Tania asked nervously.
“There have been several casualties, yes,” the man said without ceasing to row. “Unfortunately, Nabu has done what he could with his knowledge of human medicine.”
Tania’s heart began to beat rapidly, and anxiety started to take over her mind. Inside, the goddess blamed herself for not having been able to care for the city and her loved ones while she was in Vinland.
Seeing her friend’s afflicted face, Menrva took her hand.
“Calm yourself, Tania,” she said. “We have arrived in time for you to treat them.”
Tania shook her head.
“I studied to be a doctor, but I must admit Tul surpasses me by far. I think even Epona knows more medicine than I do,” the goddess confessed. “I should have brought them with me.”
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“Would it be possible for me to teleport from inside Ibiza and return?” the Etruscan goddess asked the man.
He nodded.
“Once you speak with Nabu, he will surely give you an entrance and exit pass,” the mysterious man explained.
Something about that man’s voice made Tania uncomfortable, but she tried not to think about it. The mere fact that people from Ibiza had died was far more important to her.
When the raft approached Ibiza’s port, the man took a medallion with a five-pointed star from within his garments. The medallion seemed to be made of bronze. With it, the man continued rowing, entering the port without trouble.
Indeed, the pier was completely deserted. The many fish markets that characterized the city were closed and abandoned. The few ships at the pier had no passengers or crew. It was like seeing a ghost town.
Tania jumped from the raft and apologized to the man and her friend, but she had to go ahead. Running, Tania left the ports of the small town and headed toward the cavern where she lived.
The goddess only saw beggars in the streets she crossed. Since she lived on the outskirts of the city, there was truly little of the town she had to pass through before reaching the group of rocky mountains near the other shore of the island. There, she reached her cavern and opened the door forcefully.
What she saw reminded her of war. Dozens of men and women lay on sheets throughout the entire cavern. All of them had skin as white as snow, while painful bulbs protruded from their skin. The goddess understood that an epidemic of leprosy had occurred in Ibiza.
“That is why that man was wearing a mask. It was a leprosy mask,” Tania thought at that moment.
When the people saw Tania arrive, they recognized her immediately, even though she was wearing her former white dress and did not look Muslim. The sick knew her reddish hair and beautiful honey-colored eyes very well. They quickly began crying out for her to help them.
Tania bent down to look at one of the patients and touched his hand.
“Do not worry. You will be well soon,” she told him.
The Punic goddess tried to console the people she found along the way. She apologized for not having been with them for so long, but said she would stay there to care for them.
At that moment, Menrva, accompanied by the mysterious man, arrived as well. Menrva’s face, unaccustomed to scenes like that, nearly vomited from the shock, but she managed to maintain her composure.
“I am glad you came, Tania,” a voice was heard in the distance.
The Punic goddess quickly turned toward one of the dark passages of her cavern and found Nabu there with a tray of water.
The god still had his short beard and was wearing Muslim attire, with a white turban while his body was covered by a black tunic.
“Lord Nabu, I brought Tania to you, as you entrusted me to do,” the mysterious man said. “If you will excuse me now, I shall continue attending to the patients.”
Nabu nodded and asked Tania to speak with him in private.
Tania then turned to look at Menrva to tell her to go find Epona and Tul, but the goddess was so dizzy and lacking composure that she ran out of the cavern to vomit. Never in her life had she seen a scene of that kind, despite being a goddess of war.
“Do not worry, Lady Tania. I shall inform your friend and give her my medallion so she may return,” the man said. “Go speak with Nabu while I attend to the patients here.”
Tania thanked the mysterious man and ran to meet with Nabu.
The two gods entered Tania’s room, where the god had also stayed in order to use it as his personal chamber.
“Tania, first of all, I ask your forgiveness for using your home to treat the sick,” the god said. “But the pool in this cavern functions as thermal waters, very effective for treating this disease.”
Tania shook her head.
“It is the least I could do while I was absent,” she said.
Then Tania stared fixedly at the Babylonian god and asked him what had happened.
Nabu placed his hand on his chin and stroked his beard.
“I assume it was Lel’s work, attempting to strike at you in order to force you to return to them,” Nabu said, and then the god made a silver arrow with a golden tip appear.
“What is that? An arrow?” Tania asked.
Nabu then put the arrow back into his pocket dimension.
“It is an arrow that, I assume, was fired by Apollo near Ibiza,” Nabu replied. “That god can cause plagues using his poisonous shafts, and since he could not enter because of the barrier, he poisoned the marine life nearby, causing the disaster in which we now find ourselves.”
Tania lowered her head while pressing her temple.
“I am going to kill them all, miserable genocidal bastards!” the Punic goddess shouted furiously as her eyes became bloodshot with rage.
“Tania, please, I ask you to control your emotions,” Nabu pleaded.
That had some effect on the goddess, who calmed slightly.
The red-haired goddess then sat on her bed and lowered her head.
“I could not protect them, and I abandoned them to their fate. I am guilty of this,” she said, ashamed.
“You are not guilty of this, Tania. This would have happened with or without your presence from the moment you decided to fight against Lel. You knew there would be consequences,” the Babylonian god reproached energetically.
Tania had to accept things, but it was difficult for her.
“Listen, Tania,” Nabu continued explaining. “I did not bring you here to speak to you about this epidemic. I want you to know what has happened while you were in Vinland.”
“Menrva went to Pallas and found it destroyed,” the goddess replied, to which Nabu nodded.
“Lel somehow deciphered the code of Athena’s labrys and entered the planet only a few days after you departed,” Nabu said. “Our Lady Athena sent you to Vinland so you could escape this invasion and become stronger.”
“We know that. Menrva told us,” Tania replied.
Just then, someone knocked on the door that connected Tania’s room to the rest of the cavern. When it opened, Epona and Tul appeared with worried expressions.
“We arrived with Menrva’s help, and we have come to assist with the epidemic,” Epona said nervously while seeing Tania seated on her bed, speaking with Nabu, who was standing before the goddess.
“Before you go, please, all three of you stay, and tell Menrva to come as well,” Nabu said.
The two goddesses looked each other in the eyes with concern.
“I do not think she will be able to come. She is outside vomiting,” Epona replied.
“That is true. For someone unaccustomed to this, it is a very difficult image to witness,” the Babylonian god replied. “Even so, tell her to make an effort to enter. It concerns her teacher, Athena.”
“I will go,” Epona said, and left, leaving Tul in the room.
The Maya goddess was very nervous and frightened, while at the same time surprised to see the cavern Tania had told her was her home.
“She is from Vinland. Her name is Tul, and she is a healer,” Tania said, introducing the rabbit goddess.
Tul quickly bowed and greeted the man.
“You must be Nabu. Tania told me a lot about you,” the rabbit goddess said in Arabic, which surprised the god.
“Have you been teaching this young child Arabic?” the Babylonian god asked the Punic goddess.
“No, not me. It was Anpiel,” Tania replied.
Nabu smiled at Tul, who remained in a bowed position, though she was very nervous and worried.
“Do not worry, Tul. You may speak with me here in the divine language, but your learning of Arabic will be quite useful in attending to the patients,” the god of Mesopotamia concluded.
At that moment, the door opened again. Epona was holding Menrva against her shoulder, while the goddess’s face was completely pale and her mouth was dirty from vomiting.
“Menrva, dear. Please, eat this,” the god of Babylon said to the Etruscan goddess while bringing a peach closer to her. “This will calm your discomfort.”
Epona and Tania recognized that fruit. It was what Rodrigo had been eating throughout his entire voyage by ship to Vinland in order not to vomit.
Menrva, still disgusted, bit into it, and quickly began to feel better. Tul immediately looked at the fruit with curiosity and amazement.
“Forgive me for being so weak in the face of this,” Menrva said, embarrassed. “I truly had never seen anything like it… and it affected me too much.”
Nabu shook his head.
“It is all right, Menrva. Do not worry.”
The god of Mesopotamia then put on a serious expression and said:
“Girls, I want to tell you what happened in Pallas after you left, and what we can do to counterattack Lel.”
The four goddesses nodded.