Holding Cells

*Athena was a traitor.*

Dark sat against the wall in her dank cell, trying to make sense of what she'd seen. Her mind dragged through the meeting for the millionth time, ignoring Poseidon's swearing and pacing. Ignoring the nagging drip of water in the corner, ignoring the cold rock of bread left just inside the bars. This place didn't matter. She could shred the bars. She could free herself whenever she wanted. What mattered was trying to figure this place out before she did.

And again she replayed the meeting with Athena in her mind.

*Athena was working with Asteria.*

It had been Dark's first thought upon seeing the goddess sitting in that small but imposing room off the main floor. She wasn't necessarily sure why she felt that way but she trusted her instincts enough not to reveal her true self even when faced with a supposed ally. Whoever she thought she might see behind that door, Athena was certainly not it. Aphrodite? Perhaps. Especially in the land of the loveless. But not the goddess of wisdom.

Dark had only seen Athena in passing a time or two since returning to hell and before then... maybe once at the involution. Before everything went to shit of course. But at least she'd seen her enough to know her on sight and to know she was supposed to be a trusted member of the war counsel.

The goddess was supposedly on their side but no one had mentioned anything about this place to Dark. She would remember being told about a world of hopeless romantics. Then again, she hadn't sat in on a single war meeting yet. But Poseidon didn't know this place either based on their brief interaction in the inn. He, at least, had been hand in hand with the war plans over these last months. He would've known. This wasn't something of theirs.

Suddenly this visit seemed even more like espionage than she'd originally thought. Spying on Asteria was one thing. Spying on a traitor was another entirely. And it required a bit more acting that she'd intended.

She could feel Poseidon's tension at her back but Dark couldn't tell the exact reason and he'd stopped whispering in her ear the minute the door opened. She'd have to decide what course of action to take all on her own.

The goddess sat at a wide, oval table that seemed to reach from end to end of the small room. A workspace, Dark realized. Athena was pouring over a text, clenching a glass of wine in one hand and a pen in the other. The scroll she read lay unrolled beneath her and was held in place by two metal figurines. Books and scrolls were piled haphazardly around the workspace along with scraps of paper distinctly covered in elegant, rushed script.

Pillars of gold went from floor to ceiling, etched in some ancient tongue Dark didn't know. Even in this modern era, with all the advanced technology they used in all other facets of their world, scrolls and ancient pillars and dusty books, that's what Athena used. They were Athena's notes, Dark understood. But what was she studying?

Athena snapped her eyes up, sighting on Imeros and then Dark's glamoured figure. She waved her hand and in a burst of light, the room had emptied to only hold a small gold tea table and two chairs. She growled something fierce at Imeros, cutting him with the edge of her eyes, "I thought I said to announce yourself before entering." A voice like a blade. Imeros seemed to ignore her, losing all the slight familiarity he'd had with Dark on the way here. Athena's tone barely softened to add, "Even if you did bring me a gift..."

"Step inside human," she called, not bothering to turn her head from the god. Imeros gently nudged Dark forward, Poseidon still clutched to her back. *Bow deeply* Imeros had said. *Appeal to her with truth*. What was Imeros trying to show her? As Dark looked around, she found nothing disturbing or relevant anywhere. Even before Athena used her powers to hide her private room.

Dark took two steps inside the room and bowed her head deeply, "I am unworthy of standing in your presence, goddess." She held the position, ignoring the pressure on her neck and throat from where Poseidon still gripped.

She ignored the press of her backside into his groin as she bent at the waist. Her throat felt like fire. He was going to need to move... soon. As if reading her mind, Poseidon slid his hands down from her neck to her waist, sliding his feet fully to the floor. Instantly she took a deep breath. He tried to adjust himself at the waist yet only succeeded in digging closer. The feel of his hands tightening on her hips told her he wasn't planning to try again.

"Yes, you are unworthy... unworthy even of breathing the same air as one of us," she drawled, still not bothering to break her concentration, "And yet, perhaps I shall let you live anyway. Perhaps I shall even give you a gift. If you prove worthy of it, that is. Why are you here?"

Now what the hell was she supposed to say back to that? Why *was* she there? Why did anyone go there? Imeros explained the land to her, but Dark had a gut feeling that was far from what was happening in this specific place. What was Imeros' role here? What was he expected to bring to Athena as a gift? What gift was Athena trying to bestow?

"Why does anyone venture here? I am no different than the others," Dark held her breath, still holding her bow, praying that her answer made sense. She didn't have any other idea what to say. Dark continued to hold, till tamping down her power so she could appear more human. Still suppressing Poseidon's power under invisibility.

"Rise," irritation dripping from her throat as Athena waved her hand impassively, "And yet I am asking you... could you find *no one* to love you? Even here where there are only the loveless? Surely you are not so unpleasant on the eyes?"

What did that mean? Dark began to pick apart her words, trying to find a meaning in them. Trying to find something to say that would be true and yet make sense as well... *no one to love you*... Perhaps it was Imeros' role to bring Athena recruits? People who had nothing and no one. People whose lives were empty and hopeless? She would have to tread delicately, the goddess of wisdom was anything but a fool. Already Dark could see the disbelief ringing in those golden eyes.

"It is easy to find someone to love me. There are people who do love me," Dark started, choosing her words so carefully it was as if she were walking on glass. Tell only the truth, "It is my problem. I suppose I am not capable of the emotion..."

Athena's eyes lit and simmered, seemingly happy with whatever she'd heard, "You flatter me with truth. I appreciate that human. Tell me, do you desire love?"

"I cannot desire something I do not know. I desire... power."

"Then you shall have it."

___________________

That had been days ago.

*Athena was a traitor and she was most likely building Asteria's army.*

That was not a fact that surprised Dark in the least. Partly because she didn't know the goddess well, aside from a few glances in passing as Angel and a few moments in the same room since Dark's return to hell. Those moments were not enough to have convinced her that Athena was a good god, she most likely wasn't. Even the ones who felt good, were not, at one point or another in their long lives. Angel may have been good to an extent, but Dark herself wasn't good. Not at all.

Athena being a traitor was also not a fact that upset Dark at all. In fact, she really felt nothing about the situation. It was hard to feel betrayed when she never let herself grow close to anyone. So, as she sat in the dank holding cell beneath that warehouse, yet another place she couldn't portal from, Dark found herself rather *un*shocked at the series of events.

Poseidon, on the other hand, was another matter altogether. He was a sight to behold when he was angry. Dark had lifted the invisibility as soon as she saw there were no cameras. He'd been cursing and spitting, nearly foaming at the mouth when they arrived in the cell. Wild currents of power swelling and sweeping through them both. She found that beneath that haughty exterior, he was just as vengeful as the sea.

She watched his fury unravel. Not only because neither of them could portal out, but because unlike Dark, he *did* think he knew Athena. Dark could see the notes of betrayal in his eyes as he calmed himself until they sat side by side on the filthy pallet. Waiting.

"The second we can portal we leave," he growled.

"No."

"No?! What the hell do you mean no? Athena is clearly working with Asteria. This place reeks of the fate. We have to get back to the others and warn them."

"We have to do exactly nothing. We have no idea what Athena is doing. We have suspicions, as reasonable as they are, and nothing more. We wait until I see the rest. We could easily leave, Poseidon. I could break those bars into crumbs. We don't leave before I'm ready."

Athena had promised her power but she'd made no attempt to explain how. Perhaps it wasn't something she thought a human could understand. Perhaps it was something she kept guarded. But either way, Athena had one of the men escort Dark to a cell to wait for further instruction. Imeros was already gone when she'd turned to follow the guard, Poseidon once again digging into her neck.

"So we wait until they do whatever it is they plan on doing to you?!" He was incensed. Furious. Dark sighed, settling herself into a better position against the wall.

"I am powerful. My powers still work, as do yours. It is only portaling that's blocked. Calm your damn nerves, we'll both be fine. I'm not nearly as fragile as this body looks." Her pointed stare was enough to quiet him.

She could feel his stare on the profile of her face. Studying whatever silent things he found there. He didn't offer anything for a minute or two, silence stretching tightly between them before he finally said, "Take off the glamour."