Chapter 6
Gillian woke with a start. She was no longer at Miss Mumford's. She was in some other space. She took a deep breath. She could still breathe, there was enough oxygen that she would be fine, but she did not feel as though she were on Earth anymore. She was surrounded in darkness, and yet she was not falling, or rising, even though nothing was supporting her body in any way. She called out, and her voice did not make a sound. She began screaming telepathically, hoping that Loki, or someone, would hear her and come, at the very least, explain where she was and give her an option to leave. Just as she believed she would go hoarse, Loki appeared. He looked bedraggled, tired but not at all insane. Gillian was shocked at the change in him. "Loki," she began telepathically, "I don't have Stockholm Syndrome, although I believe you would quite enjoy it if I did... Are you okay? You look awful."
Loki smiled at Gillian in a way that looked pained. "Everything is going to plan, Little Gillian. This is just the part that hurts," he said with a wince.
"Where is Miss Mumford's? I believed from how you spoke of it, you were quite attached to the place."
"I could not maintain it, and continue to exist in all the places that my plans demand. Athena has decided to try to reassemble all of me into one place: a cell of her choosing. I could not leave you here alone, so I am fighting that until you have all of your questions answered. Then, I can complete this portion of my plan, and go home for a while to rest."
"Loki," Gillian said cautiously, "you're not actually insane, are you?"
Loki smiled at her. "I do hope that Athena does not destroy you and turn you into less than you are, Gillian Gillian. You could be quite interesting for a very, very long time. Do you have any questions that you wanted answered about gods and goddesses, 101 Pemberley Place, Amon, or yourself? I have run out of time, and while I would love it if you chose to stay to further open your mind, I do not believe I have given you enough reasons to do so."
"Why does Athena want me to work for her so badly?" Gillian asked.
"There is a prophecy, that within your lifetime, all of the gods and goddesses will fade out of existence. There will be a force created by the humans, or another equally annoying slightly intelligent species, that will wipe us out, completely and permanently. It will take over, and this universe and the source will be in for the fight of its life. You, Gillian, child of the gods, are to be integral in this fight, and if you choose to partake in it, the side you choose will win. I am here to inform you that you have a choice. Athena's wishes are not your only option, or the best option, in my opinion. Athena has a very narrow view of the world, and he option is probably too short sighted to actually solve the problem and save us from whatever this force will be."
"Loki, will your plan help keep the gods and goddesses in existence, including yourself? Is your plan selfish?" Gillian asked.
Loki smiled. "My plans are always selfish, but this one does have the long view at its heart. I never lied to you about wanting to bring you here for an education. Because Athena was all too eager to do exactly what I wanted her to do, I will be unable to provide the majority of your education. However," Loki continued, his eyes getting a far off look in them, "I believe your future life experiences will provide an equally valuable education, and allow you to make the best decision at the crucial moment."
Loki's appearance began to disintegrate, as though he was being pulled by a very strong force, atom by atom. "Loki," Gillian shouted, "what if I want to stay with you? You have been more honest with me than anyone at 101 Pemberley Place. I want that education, if I am poised to have to know what to do to save so many beings."
"You will have it," Loki said with a smile as he disappeared. "Take the job. Become Athena's transcriber. I will manipulate your path so that you learn everything you require to make the best decision when it is time. You have done the impossible, Gillian: I now believe in you too."
As Loki disappeared, Gillian felt herself materializing somewhere, however, it was much farther than she had ever materialized on her own. She closed her eyes, and manifested a rocket launcher, as she had no idea where Loki would send her. If it was to be an education to know how to save all of those beings, it was bound to be difficult. She also doubted Loki would start her at Level 1, when Level 57 could be more entertaining, for him. She opened her eyes as she was 90 percent materialized, and found herself in Athena's office. She put the rocket launcher away, and attempted to fix her hair so it was somewhat presentable.
"Gillian!" Athena shouted, as Gillian appeared before her. "I was worried sick! Are you sound? Do you want to kill me? What did Loki do to you? Tell me everything!" Athena bounded across the room, and was quickly scanning Gillian for any injuries, physical or otherwise.
"I am fine, Athena," Gillian said, holding Athena's hands.
Athena looked into Gillian's eyes. She blinked. "Apparently, you are. How in the hell did you pull that off? When Amon returned from Loki..."
"Loki explained to me that his purpose with Amon was very different from his purpose with me. Therefore, unlike Amon, I am just fine. He told me about the prophecy, and that I should accept the position here, which I am happy to do so, as soon as I am certain Amon is all right. He did not answer when I was dreaming about him. I'm a bit worried."
"Amon," Athena began, then dropped Gillian's hands. "Amon was working very hard with the rest of us to find you. He will be at the spa for the next three weeks. You can go see him, if you like."
Just as Athena finished speaking, a messenger rushed into her office. "Goddess!" the messenger shouted out of breath. "The prisoners... They have..."
"They have... what!?" Athena growled.
"They have escaped! All of them! The entire dungeon is empty, and the singularity you put in Loki's cell is closed. I do not know how he managed it, but the good news is: he did not harm anyone or this facility in his escape."
"I will harm you for his escape!" Athena threatened, picking up the messenger by the neck. Then, she realized Gillian was still standing there wide-eyed at Athena's display of violence. Athena slowly set the messenger down. "I must speak to the sister agencies. They need to be warned. This... this is a horrible failure on my part! I should have never put him in the dungeons with everyone else, when he was so easy to capture. He wanted to be captured. Oh gods!"
"How can I help?" Gillian asked, figuring this was exactly the education Loki was talking about.
"You can not get captured by one of the lunatics that just escaped my dungeon!" Athena shouted. Then, she realized she was shouting, and continued at her normal speaking volume, "I apologize, Gillian. This has been a stressful couple of days. You," she continued pointing at the messenger. The messenger cowered. "Find Red and tell him that I require a dragon security guard for this office and all others. Only dragons will be able to easily withstand an attack from all of those criminals. Also, send me six more from your ranks. I will have jobs for each of them. Now, go! I am not paying you to stand there and stare at me."
"Yes, Goddess," the messenger squeaked, and disappeared.
"Athena, why is Amon in the spa?" Gillian asked.
Athena plopped into her desk chair, and fell back against it. She looked exhausted. "Amon chose to help be part of the task force to find you. He had to be sedated to amplify the connection between the two of you while you were dreaming about him. He was already ill at that point, so the sedation and procedure, unfortunately, made him weaker. I am assured he will be all right in three weeks time. You are more than welcome to take three weeks at the spa as well. Although you seem quite secure in the fact that you are fine now, spending time with Loki is not safe for any human. I am not certain why he kidnapped you to send you back 'fine.' Loki generally finds fine to be boring."
"He acted as though he had taken a liking to me once I figured out he was everyone at Miss Mumford's Home for the Insufferably Insane. I am not certain how much of anything he did was an act, and how much was actually him, except for this morning. I believe he was entirely straight up with me then. Were you torturing him?"
Athena double blinked. "The fact that you can ask me that in such a nonchalant manner makes me believe that you are definitely not fine, Gillian," she answered, not answering the question. "Please go down to the spa with Amon. I will send a team to help you sort out your experience with Loki."
"I promise, it's not necessary," Gillian said, slightly frustrated with Athena's dismissal. "It was clear something was happening to him, because Miss Mumford's disappeared. Then, Loki vanished. If you were not torturing him, I would like another explanation of why this morning occurred. I believe it will help me better serve in whatever capacity it is that I am required to fill."
Athena sighed. Loki had succeeded with whatever education he wished to provide Gillian with. She no longer flinched at the idea of torture. Nor was her reaction to what had happened to her necessarily human. In a way, she was thrilled, because the lack of panic in her manner would make working with her much easier. However, she was terrified what had caused this change in Gillian, this quickly. She did not need another human time bomb in her employ. "I had him chained in a cell with a singularity. It was to stress him to the point that all versions of him he currently had in play would have to reassemble. I believed with Loki all in one place, if the procedure the dreamweavers were performing on Amon was not successful, I could find out where you were through interrogation."
"Would that be considered torture?" Gillian asked. "I have not worked with a black hole, yet."
Athena double blinked again, and sighed. "I don't know. Loki finds a lot of things that humans would find torture, pleasurable. Being that close to a singularity, I simply believed would tire him out. I did not intend to torture him from that proximity, but I can tell you at the moment I decided to do so, I did not care. My sole intention was to recover you, and not find you broken, like I found Amon."
"Is that why Amon is ill? Did he have flashbacks because I was captured by Loki?" Gillian asked, suddenly extremely concerned about Amon.
"Not exactly," Athena said. As she said that, the six messengers she had summoned arrived. "I have a lot of work to do, Gillian. You are dismissed. Please go see Amon, or not. I really don't care. Just, please, don't leave the premises, if you know what's good for you. These escaped lunatics are extremely dangerous. You are not prepared to face any of them at this time."
"Will I be in the future?" Gillian asked.
Athena sighed. "I don't know," she said. "That, I believe, is entirely up to you."
Gillian smiled. "Loki," she thought, "If this is your education, please fulfill your promise. I want to be ready."
Gillian heard in her head. "You got it, but please, Gillian, start by going to see Amon. The more you learn about him, the more prepared you will be for everything else. Wasn't my escape epic? I love being me!"
Gillian laughed, and materialized into the spa.
Once Gillian had fully materialized, she determined the spa was definitely not what she had pictured in her mind. She was in a perfectly white space with a receptionist at a desk, and doctors rushing every which way, most of whom did not appear to be human or humanoid at all. Gillian walked up to the receptionist, and introduced herself, asking if she could be directed to go see Amon.
"Hello, Gillian," the receptionist said, not looking up from her writing. "I am Catherine of Alexandria. I am the managing secretary of this facility. Athena has informed me that you would be arriving to see Amon. However, before doing so, I would like to ask if you would enjoy any of our many services. You have been exposed to Loki's influence, and often, to fully understand what you have experienced, healing must occur. Athena has placed most of the facility not already attending to urgent cases at your disposal. Would you like a brochure of our services to peruse and decide if any of them might be helpful?" She placed a brochure on the top of the counter before Gillian could answer. "Please just sit in the waiting room until you have decided, dear. If you decide none of the services are useful at this time, I will alert you when Amon is ready to have a visitor. He is currently having a procedure. Once he is finished and comfortably back in his room, I will alert you."
"Thank you," Gillian said, taking the brochure and walking over to sit in the waiting room. It was pleasant enough, and she really did not have anything else to do until she could go see Amon. She looked at the brochure. It was blank. She tapped on it. Nothing happened. She opened the brochure, and thought, "Services available in the spa." Suddenly, the brochure was full of information about the spa and its services. Gillian began reading. The spa was full-service in the broadest sense of that description. From plastic surgery, recovery from all sorts of ailments, healing from any sort of physical, emotional, psychological, magical, or spiritual injury, wellness services to promote continued good health, longevity services to promote long life, reassembly services to help those who frequently existed in more than one time or place, and all sorts of other things that Gillian did not understand yet. Gillian decided, since reading the brochure had taken at least an hour and the receptionist had not summoned her yet, she would happily have a service that the staff deemed useful, if she could first receive an explanation of what the services did. She walked back up to the receptionist and asked, "Ma'am, I have read the brochure, and while it is extremely thorough, I have never been to a spa before. Which services would you recommend for a twenty-something human?"
Catherine looked up with a smile. "I would recommend our detoxification package. It has a little bit of everything, and is recommended to all of 101 Pemberley Place's employees after a tour on Earth. Since you still have a lot of Earth in you, being a human and all, it will be the milder version of the package, but will allow you to feel much more at home here, in this dimension, and in other dimensions, if your work here takes you there as well. You realize that where Loki had you was not on Earth, correct?" Gillian's face went blank. "Oh, you didn't..." Catherine continued, "Okay, well, this package will help your body not come to any ill effects from being in three different dimensions since you arrived here."
"Who is going to pay for my services here?" Gillian asked. "I do not have any money, nor have I done any work here to be paid."
Catherine smiled again. "Oh, this is part of your health benefits of working here. Your being kidnapped did not prevent the paperwork from going through to start your benefits. Athena is very particular about her anyone in her employ being healthy. It's one of her pet peeves about anything dealing with Earth. She feels most companies do not take adequate care of their employees, and thus, lead them to an early grave. She decided to not be a hypocrite, she would do the exact opposite. Many of her employees are quite sick of their spa visits, and are quite nasty to me as a result. However, I am well compensated for their bad attitudes, so it does not bother me in the least."
"Well compensated?" Gillian asked, confused. "We get paid to work here?"
Catherine laughed. "Oh, honey, you didn't think we worked here for free, did you? Yes, everyone here is sympathetic to Athena's aims, and none of us want to disappear. However, we wouldn't do all this work for free. That would be crazier than Loki," she finished with a wink.
"Are we compensated in money?" Gillian asked, hoping that if she ever did leave, her financial worries would be over.
"If that is what you desire," Catherine said. "Athena is pretty flexible on how each of us is paid. It all depends on what we desire. I wanted a villa in Tuscany, a godlike boyfriend, and to never worry about being massacred again, and well, Athena delivered. Plus, a god with a bad attitude is never as horrible to deal with as a human with one. God's generally don't project their bad moods, as they know what they are doing, and many of them know Karma personally. So, it's just angry words, not a perpetual negative energy. I am more than capable of handling that."
"Do I have enough time for the detoxification package before Amon's procedure is done?" Gillian asked.
"Oh, definitely," Catherine said, looking at her wrist. Gillian was confused as there was no watch there, but it obviously told Catherine what she needed to know. "Amon will not be finished with his first procedure for 6 hours. Your procedure, with ample rest afterwards, will be done around the same time. So, have you decided?"
"Yes," Gillian said. "I would like the detoxification package. Will it mess with my head?"
"Only by removing toxins that should not be there for normal functioning of your brain," Catherine responded. "Any human who has had this procedure done generally feels happier and less burdened by negative conditioning directly afterwards. Otherwise, this procedure will not adjust anything else about you. It is purely physical and energetic. Your personality and psychology will not be affected in the least. If you are interested, please sign here," Catherine finished, pushing a large stack of papers and a pen towards Gillian, with a large red arrow near a line for her to sign.
Gillian attempted to read the page, but it was in a language she did not understand. "What does this say?" Gillian asked.
"It says that you have agreed to have this procedure to the best of your knowledge, and that if there are any negative side effects caused by it, you will work with the physicians here to reduce or remove them completely."
Gillian signed the paper. "All right, now what?" she asked.
Catherine smiled. "Thank you for trusting us to help with your well-being. You will be transported to your quarters presently."
As Catherine said this, Gillian felt herself being materialized by the spa. She reappeared in a quiet room, full of stone walls, a large hot tub, a shower, and a massage table on one side, and a bed with tons of pillows on the other. As soon as she had fully materialized, a large handsome man walked into the room, dressed in white. "Hello," he said, "I am John the Evangelist. I will be taking care of you during your procedure. Please disrobe and put this on," he continued, handing Gillian a thick plush robe, very much like the one she had manifested in her apartment. "I will be back in 15 minutes." With that John left the room, leaving Gillian alone.
Gillian looked around the room for a place to put her clothes. As suddenly as she thought of such a thing, a panel on the wall marked "laundry" appeared. Gillian smiled, and dropped her clothes down the chute. She tied the robe about her waist. It felt so good to wear clean clothing. As soon as she had finished, John returned. He had a clipboard. "When did you last eat, Gillian?" he asked.
"A few days ago," Gillian said. "I was kidnapped by Loki for a few days, I believe. How long was I gone?"
"36 hours," John responded, "give or take. When did you last drink?"
"I am not sure. Probably about the same," Gillian said.
John handed her a large glass of water. "Drink this please," he said. "The detoxification process will be more successful if you are well hydrated. Not having eaten in a while will also help, as your body does not have anything in it we further need to purge that you ate recently. If you start to feel weak, however, please let me know immediately. I will give you a nutrient shake to drink, that while not particularly satisfying, will provide all the vitamins, minerals, proteins, fats, and carbohydrates your body requires to function well."
Gillian smiled. "Amon told me about those," she said. "He was very impressed when I made him Toad in the Hole."
John looked confused. "I am not sure what that is," he said. "However, whatever you fed him helped him withstand the procedure the dreamweavers put him through. It was very high in protein."
"Yes, well, he ate eight of them," Gillian said, with a chuckle. "That's a lot of eggs."
John smiled. "Eggs," he said, "I remember eggs. It was a very long time ago now. If you would please, Gillian," John continued, pointing to the massage table, "lie down on that table, face towards the ground, I will begin your procedure."
Gillian did as she was told. John followed behind her, and placed his hands on her shoulders on top of the robe. "Will this hurt?" Gillian asked, suddenly a bit concerned what she had signed up for.
"No," John said, concern in his voice, "no part of this procedure should hurt. If anything does, please let me know immediately. It means that part of your body needs greater healing than this basic procedure provides, and I will have to alert a specialist."
"When will the procedure begin?" Gillian asked, now less nervous that John had explained nothing should hurt.
"I already have," John explained. "Now, as I know all humans are different, what would help you best relax: my explaining everything I am doing, something warm, some light music, general conversation about anything you would like to talk about, or something else?"
"Light music and something warm would be heavenly," Gillian said, adjusting slightly on the table. The robe was very comfortable, but she was not used to lying on her stomach for any length of time. She felt John place something warm on top of her robe, and before she heard any of the music, Gillian was asleep.
Gillian was not certain how much later it was, but John was shaking her shoulder so she would wake up. She looked up at him. "I feel so relaxed," she said. "Is the procedure completed?"
"The portion of the procedure that takes place on this table is," John said. "Once you fell asleep, everything was extremely easy to adjust. It is unusual for a human to be so flexible. I think it will make your time here much easier, seeing that you already have that in your character."
"Well, everyone likes good news," Gillian said, sitting up slowly. "What is next?"
"Next, I will leave you alone for a while, and it is customary for you to enjoy the bath. I have already added various herbs and potions to help further the detoxification process. You should find it as relaxing or more relaxing than the portion of the procedure on the table."
"That may make it slightly dangerous, as I may fall asleep," Gillian said, thinking how easily she had fallen asleep during the first portion of the procedure.
"Oh, don't worry about that," John said, bending down to check the temperature of the water. "I will be leaving you alone, but we really don't leave anyone here unattended. If you fall asleep, the pool will adapt to hold you floating above the surface until the procedure is complete. Then, you will be dressed, and placed in bed. As I am certain Catherine told you at the front desk, detoxification is a very standard procedure here. We have it down to a science. Many of the gods and goddesses who frequently work on Earth sleep through the entire thing. Earth is stressful, and it is the least we can do, we who live here full time, to give back for their work in such an environment."
"It is certainly nothing like I imagined it would be," Gillian said, standing beside the table. "I can see myself spending time here quite regularly."
"All of us enjoy when employees make use of our services regularly," John said with a smile. "None of us enjoy seeing any of you in pain from prolonged neglect of your well being. Humans generally are not trained in how to take care of their bodies, so we see a lot of horrible things here, whenever it pertains to earth. The gods and goddesses, however, have no excuse. Athena sends them to wellness classes on semi-regular basis. They understand and choose not to take advantage of our services. So, it will be really great if you can come regularly for check ups and minor services. Of course, we are more than happy to provide more major services here as well, but let's just hope you do not require any of those."
Gillian began to walk over to the hot tub. It looked so very inviting.
"I will leave you to your bath," John said, picking up the warm towel, a clipboard, and leaving the room.
Gillian dropped her robe on the ground, and walked into the tub. She closed her eyes. It was as if the water was embracing her as she entered it. She smiled, and walked to the opposite side where there was a seat and jets that she could enjoy. She sat on the seat, and enjoyed the sensation of the water flowing up and down her spine, relaxing and warming her, inside and out.
Gillian woke hours later, in bed. It was exactly as John had described: she was dressed in comfortable pajamas and placed in bed. She felt... cleaner, that was perhaps the best word for it, yes, cleaner. She stretched, and sat up. She found Catherine appearing before her as she did so. "Good morning, Gillian," Catherine said. "I wanted to inform you that Amon is ready to see you now. He was informed that you are here, and well, and he is very happy for both of those things. He is in room 337. Your room, room 426, will be held for you for the next three weeks. You are more than welcome to request any other services that I have outlined on a pamphlet for you and left on your bedside table. Do you require anything else before I return to my desk?"
Gillian stood, and said, "Yes, I require clean clothing, and someone to show me where Amon's room is once I am dressed."
Catherine blinked. Gillian was immediately dressed in a clean sundress and both of them were in Amon's room. "Anything else?" Catherine asked.
"No, that is all I require at the moment," Gillian said. "Thank you."
"You are most welcome," Catherine said, and disappeared.
Gillian walked over to Amon's bedside, and sat next to him on the bed. He looked horrible. His skin was ashen, and he looked emaciated. Gillian placed a hand on his forehead: yes, he was indeed feverish. "What in the hell had Athena agreed to for this mystery procedure for Amon to help find me?" Gillian thought.
"I'm so happy you are home safely," Amon murmured. "I was very worried about you, Gillian. Loki... Loki can really damage a person. I am very happy that he chose not to harm you in anyway. Do you like the spa?"
"Yes," Gillian said, stroking Amon's hair. "What did you agree to, Amon? Is this one of the spa's procedures I should avoid at all costs?"
Amon opened his eyes, laughed, and then began coughing. "No," he said, once he had caught his breath. "Athena took my memories away of my time with Loki. She had to give them back for me to help find you."
Gillian double blinked. "Athena did... what!?"
Amon sighed. "It's okay, Gillian. I wanted to help find you. I asked Athena what I could do to help, and this was what she described. Apparently, Loki broke me completely. I am not certain, as I have had my memories wiped of that time, but I know that when I returned, I hurt, horribly. What Athena did took the pain away. I constantly feel a bit empty inside now, but it is much better than the pain. I am happy that you cannot understand from experience, or that Athena was forced to perform a similar procedure on you, upon your return. You seem... well; more whole than when you left, in fact. I am very happy for you."
"Amon," Gillian said, watching him close his eyes and push his head into wherever she was touching his head. She decided grilling Amon about his relationship with Athena was really not fair right now considering how destroyed he looked from "helping" find her. Sadly, she did not believe anything Amon did actually helped, as Loki had returned her to Athena's office before any of the 101 Pemberley Place employees found her. However, he had tried, and it was nice to know he cared. "What hurts now?" she said, deciding that was the best question to ask.
Amon pushed his head into her hand again. "Everything," he said, "but your touch is doing a marvelous job of distracting me from that. Please don't stop."
"Will a hug help?" Gillian asked, not certain of exactly how injured Amon was.
"Most definitely," Amon said, slowly shifting his position on the bed so Gillian had plenty of room to lie beside him. As soon as Amon was finished shifting, Gillian laid down, and wrapped her arms around Amon. Amon sighed. "That is much better. Thank you," he said, closing his eyes.
"Do you want to talk more, or are you ready to fall asleep?" Gillian asked, listening to his ragged breathing and quickly becoming very worried about her new friend.
"I am more than happy to talk more. I cannot sleep until an attendant arrives with a sleeping draught. I am in just enough pain, even now, that it keeps me awake. Talking and hugging will help greatly."
"What procedure were they performing when I returned that I could not see you?" Gillian asked.
"Athena believes that my higher self is causing my current illness. It wishes to escape, and it is causing me to become ill. Athena believes it is doing this because it doesn't have full information on its current state, which makes perfect sense because it hasn't been awake in a very, very long time. My higher self is much safer, sleeping, inside me, for now."
"And why is that?" Gillian asked, pulling her head back to look Amon in the eyes.
Amon looked incredibly sad. "Because I was one of the first affected by what you are coming to stop," he said. "My higher self... he began to disappear... I began to disappear. It was terrifying. The timing of the baby being dropped off on the steps was incredibly fortunate, because I was able to be placed in a body for safe keeping until there was a way to reverse the process." Amon looked at Gillian with wild eyes, which then calmed and became scared. "I don't think I am supposed to remember that," he finished quietly.
"How was Athena able to just place you inside a baby?" Gillian asked, confused, and wondering just how barbaric Athena was.
"The baby was dead," Amon said, again sounding not himself. "It was only a few minutes dead, so it had not begun any of the procedures that would have made the body impossible to use. Here, we easily have the capability of using such a body. As the intended spirit has already departed, there is no harm in such a thing. Athena, however, in this case, had to create a spirit of sorts, to operate the body while I slept. Otherwise, it would not grow to adult size, which would be critical, if I ever woke. A child's body would not be capable of sustaining my energy, and would simply die with me inside. If I did not immediately remember everything when that happened, I could get trapped in all sorts of places where a half disintegrated god does not want to be."
"You're a god!?" Gillian asked, looking surprised, and letting go of Amon. She shifted backwards just a bit too far away from Amon, and quickly fell off of the bed.
"Gillian, are you all right!?" Amon asked, trying to sit up, and failing.
Gillian stood, and rubbed her butt. She was fine, just embarrassed. "I'm fine," she said. "Amon, I just... you're a human... how can you be a god too?"
"I don't understand what you're talking about, Gillian," Amon said. "I fell asleep. You did the impossible, I suppose. What's wrong? You are acting like you have seen a ghost."
"Amon, when did you fall asleep?" Gillian asked.
"The last thing I said was explaining to you about what Athena had told me about my higher self," Amon said. "Then, I fell asleep. Did I say something in my sleep?"
"You said a lot in your sleep!" Gillian said, beginning to pace. "Amon, did Loki find this out about you? Does he know that you're a god?"
"Gillian, that's absurd..." Amon began, then his eyes changed again, and a very different voice said, "Yes, Loki knows. He discovered all of this through torture. I woke to protect Athena's construct and the body I reside in. Loki was thrilled to meet me, as he had not in his varied travels, and we talked at length about this great problem. Needless to say, Loki seeing me taking a human body put him in the proper perspective to take the situation seriously. It is difficult to do that in most cases. It seems you have impressed him, as he did not leave a mark on you. Did he torture you at all?"
"No," Gillian said, "he just zapped me once, and had me in fuzzy handcuffs for a while. Once Athena put him near the black hole, he told me that he believed in me too. What could he have meant by that?"
Amon smiled in an old wise way Gillian remembered from their first meeting. "It means that you have secured a very useful ally," Amon said. "Loki is a chaos god, to be sure, but his sympathies can be bought, or in your case, won. Once they are, he will fight ardently for his cause, whatever it is, with the most innovative means possible. It is great, because you enemy never knows what is coming next with Loki."
"Athena needs to know you are mostly awake, doesn't she?" Gillian said, worried about all of this. "Are you going to kill Amon to get out?"
"No," Amon, the god, laughed. "It just feels that way to the body because it is such an intense transition. The procedure they were performing when you arrived was to keep the body comfortable and alive as I awoke. I do not need to be present for every little human interaction, Gillian. As such, I will probably go back to sleep for a while as the body heals, and you will have time to spend with Amon, the human. He is a very gentle soul, and the time he spent with Loki damaged him greatly. If you can find a way to help him heal those wounds, without actually recalling the memories, because that would make speaking to him about anything rationally practically impossible, you will have a loyal friend for years."
"How old is Amon?" Gillian asked.
"I'm not sure. I know I have been asleep a long time by the crick in my neck, but other than that, I don't have a clue. Ah, and there is Athena... Hello, old friend, and aren't you looking stunning today?"
"Amon, you have awoken," Athena said, with a small bow. "How has the spa been treating you? Are you sound?" Athena walked over to the bed, and held Amon's hand.
"Your quick thinking has saved me for the time being," Amon said, squeezing Athena's hand. "The little spirit inside this body is so very confused by this transition. Is Gillian available to simply keep him calm for the next few weeks? Her presence helps him greatly."
"I drew Gillian here for her transcription abilities, but she does not need to begin at any particular time. I am more than happy to have her stay here with you, if you feel she will be safe here. She was indeed captured by Loki..."
"No harm came to her at Loki's hands," Amon interjected. "She passed his tests and has gained his loyalty, something you were never capable of doing. Jealous, much?"
Athena spat. "She is a daughter of the Source. I'm not surprised, but yeah, jealous, definitely. Fucking chosen one."
"Is Amon going to be okay?" Gillian asked, realizing that they were talking about her, and not really caring what they were saying at the moment.
Athena looked at Gillian with a scowl, then brightened slightly. "He will be just fine, Gillian," she said. "His higher self is now awake and can aid in the transition. He can also help with healing the wounds Loki inflicted on Amon."
"Why didn't you tell me Amon was a god!?" Gillian said, slightly angry.
Athena laughed. "But I warned you, didn't I? I told you never to underestimate Amon. I believe that covers everything."
Gillian scowled at Athena, and manifested a chair for her to sit in and stew. She did not like being told these things with beings she was interacting with so far past when she would have liked to know them. She would have to work on finding things out faster than Athena was generally willing to divulge them. Then she smiled, maybe, just maybe she knew someone who would help her...
Amon laughed. "You have a little fireball there! You're going to have to be careful, Athena, or you're going to get burned. Ah, the little spirit wishes to speak with you. I am going to go back to his unconscious until he is well. Perhaps do some serious work on his experience with torture. It was very nice meeting you, Gillian, and Athena, thank you." With that, Amon fell asleep, and Athena disappeared.
Gillian stood and rushed back over to the bed. She placed her hand on Amon's forehead. He was no longer feverish and was sleeping peacefully. Gillian laid back down beside him and wrapped her arms around him. She didn't know what to think about Amon having a god inside of him, but she felt awful that everyone was treating him like a pawn. She wanted to help him somehow... but Amon was warm, and Gillian was still exhausted from her time with Loki, so she quickly fell asleep.
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