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“Fenyx?! Athena?! No, not again…”
“Ash? Ash?!”
Fenyx looked helplessly down at the scrying pool, watching as Ash was mercilessly battered by freezing cold winds, and there was absolutely nothing she could do to help. After battling Typhon and going on an adventure of her own all alone, it was awful to have to sit back and watch someone else trek across the monster-infested land of Greece, especially when she couldn’t even aid them because some god decided to make the winds of his mountain as deafening as possible.
“Ash? Ash, are you there?”
“Fenyx?”
Fenyx froze, her fingers clamping tightly around the golden edge of the scrying pool, knuckles going white. Then, slowly, she turned around to face her father with the least suspicious smile possible. The passing king of gods raised an eyebrow at her.
“Hello, Zeus! I mean— Father! I mean— Mr. King!”
Zeus gave a chuckle. “I said you can call me ‘Father,’ Fenyx,” he said while strolling over, much to Fenyx’s dismay. She quickly changed the scene in the scrying pool just before Zeus could see Ash in it. “What are you doing? Why were you yelling? Who is Ash?”
Fenyx couldn’t let her cover be blown. She and Athena were just barely able to convince Demeter to not mention Ash when she returned; she wasn’t about to let her champion’s hard work go down the drain.
“Oh! Ash is the name of this…owl…” Fenyx blinked at the owl displayed on the scrying pool. It was rolling around in a puddle as though it were a hound.
It was Athena.
Fenyx bit her cheek to keep from cackling. She hadn’t meant to start spying on her older sister, but she didn’t mind this scene the scrying pool decided to show her.
“Phosphor is still gone, so I’ve been having to improvise a bird companion,” Fenyx went on. “I named this one Ash. It may not be able to turn into actual ash, but it’s close enough.”
“Ah, so that’s why you’ve been hanging around the scrying pool for the past week,” Zeus said. He patted her on the shoulder, which nearly knocked her over. “Don’t worry, Fenyx, your strange fire bird will come home, I’m sure. In the meantime…” He squinted at the pool. “Your owl looks like it’s choking.”
Fenyx looked, too. Owl Athena was trying to scarf down a mouse whole. She looked like she was having some difficulty.
“It does that.”
Successfully warded away, Zeus left after a few more passing words. Fenyx breathed out a sigh of relief, then instantly switched back to viewing Ash.
Her champion wasn’t doing well.
The monsters she faced while ascending the mountain might have been immune to the frost, but she wasn’t. Clumps of ice were frozen to Ash’s armor. Her skin was taking on a worrying shade of blue and she was shaking terribly. She could barely even hold her sword while she was trying to keep herself from being flayed alive.
“She’s going to get frostbite,” Fenyx whispered to herself worriedly. Already Ash’s fingers were fading to bluish-purple. Who knew how much more her extremities could take.
She had to do something, but she couldn’t leave Olympos…
Her champion—her friend—was going to die.
Fenyx clenched her fingers around the edge of the scrying pool, remembering her own climb up King’s Peak, back before she knew of her immortality. But even with her godly blood, it had been excruciating. She was already so battered from rescuing the four gods, the blizzard of the mountain was just one extra beating for her to get pummeled by.
The intense burning in her hands and feet, how every breath was ice-thick and as sharp as her sword, the tears that froze to her cheeks, how she wanted so badly to just stop, to just rest for one moment, to just close her eyes and get a second of sleep after everything, surely she deserved it…
Fenyx shook her head viciously, pulling herself out of that blizzard of terrifying memories. Even more terrifying, however, was the image of Ash doubled over in the deep snow on the scrying pool, looking so ready to give up and succumb to the cold.
Fenyx refused to lose her.
She couldn’t do anything, but Athena could.
“Athena?” she called out, keeping her voice down. “Are you there?”
No answer.
“Oh, I see. I guess a mouse is better than your own champion. Okay. I’ll just go be the champion for Hephaestus instead.”
She turned, and a very angry owl flashed into view.
“You will not go to that creep!” Owl Athena squawked, beating her sterling wings in Fenyx’s face. “I will not allow it!”
Fenyx managed a smile, despite the gnawing dread in the pit of her stomach. “There you are.”
“Oh. Oh. You tricked me,” Athena narrowed her beady birdy eyes at Fenyx. “You foul beast.”
“Yup, that’s me,” Fenyx said as she held an arm out for Athena to land on. Despite her glare, her sister’s sharp talons were gentle when touching her skin, not wanting to hurt her. “Fenyx: goddess of unity, hero of Greece, and the foulest of beast.”
Athena rolled her eyes. “Yes, we all have epithets,” she said. “What do you need? And how do you know about the mouse?”
“I saw you eating it,” Fenyx said. “And you have to go to Ash.”
“Oh, has she found Boreas already?” The feathers above Athena’s bright eyes raised. “Hm. Maybe she isn’t that bad of a champion after all.”
“She’s a great champion,” Fenyx said. “And no. She hasn’t. She’s stuck on the mountain.”
“Then why would I possibly need to go to her? She’s a big girl. She can climb on her own.”
“I don’t think she’s even an adult yet. And she’s really freaking out. She needs some help.”
“Help with what? I am not flying her all the way to Boreas.”
“Comfort, Athena. She needs comfort. It isn’t a new concept.”
Athena went silent at that. She hooted and ruffled her feathers, then said, “Isn’t that more your thing?”
Exasperatedly, Fenyx answered, “I would do it myself if I could, believe me.” As she was speaking, Athena hopped along her arm, to her shoulder, and began preening her short red hair with her beak. “But I can’t. I can’t leave Olympos. But you…”
Athena tugged sharply on a strand of hair, making Fenyx yelp in pain and clap a hand to her head. “Oh. Oh no. I don’t comfort. I give wisdom. I kill.”
“Please don’t do that,” Fenyx grunted, rubbing her tender scalp. “And that isn’t true, you know. Remember when I came back completely battered from the Forgelands, crying in pain because that giant robot threw me into a furnace and hot coals went down my armor? Who helped me wash off the burns in the river with her eyes closed the entire time so she wouldn’t make me uncomfortable?”
“Well, that’s—”
“And who was the one who cradled my head in her lap and told me about her godly adventures to distract me from the pain of Ares removing an arrow from my side?”
“Okay, that was—”
“And remind me, who was it that told me about her fear of spiders to make me feel less ashamed when I was scared about becoming a goddess?”
“Okay, okay!” Athena hooted, flapping her wings in Fenyx’s face. “That’s enough! I get it!”
Fenyx giggled, even as a few feathers filled her mouth.
Athena sighed. She flew over to the scrying pool and landed on the edge, peering into it. Ash was no longer standing up straight and she stumbled several times, occasionally falling forward into the snow. Her sniffles and whimpers were heard even over the howling wind.
Another owlish sigh. Athena pressed a wing to her head as if it were a hand. “If it means that much to you…”
Fenyx perked up, smiling. “Thank you, Athena. I owe you.”
“Yes, you do,” Athena nodded.
“I’ll have a mouse waiting for you when you get back.”
Athena faltered as she was spreading her wings. She blustered at Fenyx. “Hush up.”
With a flash, she was gone.
Fenyx laughed softly, but the worry was starting to make itself known again. She looked nervously into the scrying pool, watching as Ash dredged her hypothermic body into a cave, and hoped Athena would make it on time.
“Take care of her, Athena…”
It was cold. It was so cold. How could anyone stand this?
Athena grumbled to herself as she pumped her wings furiously against Boreas’ unforgiving winds. Several times she was almost knocked straight out of the sky, and once she flew right into a snow-covered tree when she wasn’t able to right herself. She was about to turn around and find a new champion for Fenyx, but then she heard a whimper on her wind, caught only because of her heightened godly senses.
Swooping low, Athena aimed for a cave along the mountains. A sudden burst of frosted wind punched her forward and she landed in a heap on the chilled stone, hooting in shock. Luckily, she was saved from embarrassment, as the only other residence in the cave didn’t seem very cognizant of her surroundings.
Ash was curled up in the far corner of the cave, all small and feeble, reminding Athena of a baby hedgehog. Her exposed ears and hands were flushed bright red, but her fingers were a distinct bluish-white color, the hue of onset frostbite. Her face, barely visible beneath locks of storm-blown silver hair, was windburned and pale, lips purpling and teeth clattering. She didn’t even react when Athena pecked her in the head.
“Come on, dumdums, it’s time to get up,” Athena said, shifting from foot to foot. Even with the warming owl feathers on her legs, it was still freezing.
And if it was this cold for her, then for Ash…
Athena shook her head.
No. Ash was fine! A little chill never hurt anyone!
Though, she did remember how awful Fenyx looked when she was climbing King’s Peak… And how she got so hypothermic she tried to take off her clothes to get cool… And how she nearly froze to death…
Athena looked worriedly down at Ash, and it was only then that she noticed the blood on the stone. Ash was bleeding from her hands, the cold of this hellish place drying out her skin so much that it split open all along her palms. Athena winced.
Nibbling gently at Ash’s ear, Athena said, “Champion? Are you alright? Can you hear me?”
Nothing.
“Ash?”
Only wheezing breaths that came out white.
Athena hopped back, ruffling her feathers in worry.
This was…not good. Not one bit. The fact that Ash wasn’t responding made it even worse; if she slipped away any further, then she might…
“Oh dear.”
Fenyx would be devastated if Ash died. She had really gotten close to the mortal, happy to finally have someone her age to talk to. There was a sort of kinship between the two of them. Not to mention that Athena enjoyed seeing Fenyx smiling so much; her younger sister had recently been telling her all about the things she and Ash talked about, since she couldn’t share it with anyone else, and she always had the brightest expression on her face. And, perhaps, Athena herself had gotten slightly attached to the girl, too, and was now worrying her talons over her succumbing to hypothermia. But only a little!
She decided to summon a fire. It was always risky to use her powers under the watchful eye of Zeus, but let her father be damned if he caught her. Ash needed warmth or she would die. If Zeus had a problem with Athena doing the right thing, Athena would not back down against him. And she would throw up owl pellets in his wine.
“Look, fire,” Athena said, opening one wing towards the golden flames. Already the cave was becoming much warmer. “Are you feeling a little better?”
Ash still did not answer. Athena would chew her fingernails in nervousness if she didn’t have feathers. And she didn’t think she could contort her body enough to reach her talons.
“Alright,” Athena said to herself. “Time for plan B.”
Plan B would get her taunted by Ares for years, but she found that she didn’t even care when her champion’s champion was potentially dying.
Athena laid down in the space between Ash’s head and shoulder, fluffing her soft feathers for maximum warmth. Ash’s neck was colder than ice against her own body, which only made her press closer.
“It’ll be alright, champion,” Athena said softly as the storm outside continued to blow. “It’ll be alright…”
Eventually, Ash stirred.
Athena didn’t know how much time had passed, but she snapped out of the half-sleep she had drifted into when Ash twitched. She peered close to the girl’s face.
“Champion?” she said. “Ash?”
Ash twitched again. Then, her eyelids fluttered and cracked open slowly. Eyes like amethysts met Athena’s.
“…‘thena?” Ash croaked.
Athena breathed out a huge sigh of relief. “Oh, thank Gaia you’re alright,” she said. “How are you feeling?”
“Dizzy,” Ash mumbled. “What…what happened?”
“Boreas beat you into a frozen pulp,” Athena told her. “Like how I am going to beat him when he gets back to Olympos. You must have crawled into this cave and then passed out. You weren’t responding. Do you have any idea how worried Fenyx and I— I mean, Fenyx was? She made me fly all the way up here to make sure you didn’t die!”
“‘m sorry,” Ash rasped. Then, smiling drowsily, “You were worried about me…”
Athena pecked her in the head.
“Ow!” Ash yelped, then coughed, then whimpered. Athena, in a flash of worry, rubbed the area she had pecked with her beak to try and make it feel better.
“I was not worried about you,” Athena said as she fussed over Ash. “I was worried about us. The gods. It is so hard to find a good champion these days.”
Athena wasn’t trying to be funny, but Ash still giggled softly, and it was a relieving sound to hear indeed.
“‘m sorry for making you come get me,” Ash said. “I thought I was okay, but then I got all dizzy, and it was so cold it hurt, and I couldn’t hear Fenyx anymore…” She sniffled, tears brimming in her lower lashes. “I don’t like being alone.”
Athena frowned. She nuzzled one of Ash’s ears with a gentle coo. “Alright, how about this?” she said. “We’ll stay here until you feel better, and then we go find Boreas together. That way nobody has to be worried about anybody anymore. How does that sound?”
Ash nodded. “I like that plan.”
“Very good. Then it is decided. For now, continue to rest. You’re still cold. You can’t go back out there until you’re at peak body temperature. In the meantime…” Athena laid back down in her spot against Ash’s neck, fluffing her feathers and tucking her beak into her own warm plumage. “I will be getting some shuteye of my own. Being a goddess is hard work, you know? Alright. Goodnight.”
“Please don’t leave me,” Ash begged softly.
Athena nuzzled her face. “I won’t. Now, goodnight, Ash.”
“Goodnight, ‘thena…”
Silence filled the cave, only interrupted by the howl of wind outside. And then, there was a different noise. A soothing, rumbling kind of noise. One that was usually linked with cats.
“Are you purring?”
“You will say nothing of this. Especially to Ares. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight. Thank you, ‘thena.”
“Mhm. Sleep well, Ash. I won’t leave your side. I promise.”