Thoth grimaced. “They are knowledge, but to me, they represent decision-making. If I were to label their magic, I'd call it Analyze.”
I nodded. “And Hephaestus?”
“My core is power. Simple. It supplies energy.” Hephaestus looked at Athena as if he needed confirmation.
Athena nodded.
I rolled my eyes. “Ereshkigal?”
Ereshkigal frowned. “My keys open the gates of the underworld, but to me, they represent judgment. The gates open only for the worthy.”
“Good. Focus on judgment. And that brings us to Amy.” I looked at Amaterasu.
Amy inclined her head. “The mirror holds the magic of Transformation. I will focus on that.”
“Great, we've got that settled,” Shango said. “Can we go get our stuff back now?”
I looked at Torrent. “You ready?”
“Sure.” Torr looked around. “Form a line and stay close together. Do not gaze upon the Aether for more than a few seconds.”
I took the spot behind Torrent, and then my husbands and Fenrir lined up behind me. When the other gods had formed a curving line over the balcony, I nodded at Torrent.
The sounds of Moonshine muted as Torrent led us past the Family Room door and down the stairs to the bottom-floor corridor. We formed a line before the tracing wall while Torr formed a vein of Internet around us. Suddenly, the glowing lines of the Inter Realm came into sight, each line a different color depending on its content, and binary code zipping through them. There were so many more of them on Earth, even in that little corridor. But those lines vanished as Torrent led us into the Aether.
Instead of lines of information, it was images of people and things wavering around us in the dark. I ignored them, especially now that I'd seen what looking could do to you. Thejewel glowed in Torrent's hand, guiding our way through the dark as it tugged him along. The gods behind my husbands had gone silent, some of them seeing the Aether for the first time. We all traveled it, but those traces were over in seconds. This was the only way to view the realm. At least, this was the only way I knew of. Agwusi had another way.
“Don't look too long,” I reminded them. “It's what made the trickster insane.”
Heads spun to face forward, and expressions hardened. It was easy to forget Torrent's warning when snippets of lives danced by and spells manifested beside you. I'd have to keep reminding them.
“There it is,” Torrent said. Then he whispered to me, “It's open.”
“Thank goodness,” I whispered back.
We entered the same strange world we'd seen earlier that day, but Torrent didn't release the vein of Internet this time. He kept walking us across the territory unseen, the jewel leading us on. We passed souls wandering the vastness, but there was no sign of Agwusi or Ty.
“Are you going to let us out?” Shango growled.
“We're invisible as long as we stay in the Inter Realm,” Odin explained. It's better to stay here as long as possible.”
Everyone went silent after that. We left the souls behind and entered a half-formed landscape with a palace that looked suspiciously like Pride Palace—the new version, not the original. The only things missing were the statues of dragons on either side of the steps. Torrent glanced back at me with wide eyesand then took us into the palace, walking up the front stairs and across the drawbridge veranda.
Inside, the layout was similar enough to tell me Agwusi had not only wandered through my home, but she'd also taken notes. Maybe pictures. My hands clenched into fists when we passed the central stairs and gilded cage elevator. Had the woman no creativity at all? We headed down a hallway, passed the side kitchen entrance, and several bedrooms. At last, we entered a large room at the back of the palace.
It was empty except for a massive monster of a machine, golden and shiny. There were the normal bits and bobs you expected to find in a computer workstation—sheets of metal, wires, blinking lights, and even a speaker. But within that normality—if you can call a giant gold machine normal—god relics sat in glass cases. Wires ran through the cases, connecting the items to the machine.
Torrent released the Internet, and the tube vanished.
“My axe!” Shango growled.
Through the glass case containing Amaterasu’s mirror, I saw a portion of his axe, set deep in the machine. I held a hand out to wave him back.
“Where's my core?” Hephaestus stalked around the machine, hand outstretched.
“It must be inside it,” Athena said.
“Everyone, stick to the plan,” I said. “Feel for the main magic within your items.”
