“I don't know where my item is,” Hephaestus snarled.
“Just feel for it,” Athena said. “You don't have to see it to connect to it. It's your magic that made it.”
The gods, who had been robbed, stood around the machine and closed their eyes. Glowing hands stretched forward. The machine, whirring softly, stuttered. Lights brightened. The whirring became higher in pitch. Suddenly, the sound of breaking glass drowned out everything else.
I looked toward Amaterasu just as her mirror broke free of its wires and launched into her hand. She made a sound of joy and clasped it to her chest. The other gods focused more intently on their items. More cracking came, and the machine shuddered.
“Wait!” I cried out.
Then Amy screamed.
Everyone turned toward her. Her hands were open before her, dripping blood. The mirror was on the floor, shattered into tiny pieces. Even the frame had been broken.
The other gods immediately dropped their hands.
The machine whirred down, but it still sounded wrong. Smoke filled the broken case that had held the mirror, the wires on fire. I looked from it to Amaterasu's hands. They were already healing, but her mirror wouldn’t heal.
“No,” Amaterasu whispered and knelt over the remains. “My mirror.”
“I'm so sorry,” I whispered.
“Vervain!” Odin snapped.
I looked up. His gaze was on the machine. The mirror's case had melted, leaving a glass seal over the wound. Was the machine healing itself?
“Time to go!” Torrent said. “Form a line!”
Hachiman helped Amaterasu to her feet and eased her in line behind me. My husbands gathered the others, and Torrent formed a tube around us. Just in time too. Before we could leave, Agwusi ran into the room with Ty beside her.
Torrent started to walk away.
“Wait!” Odin whispered. “I want to hear this.”
Invisible to them, we waited in the Internet, watching as Agwusi fussed with the machine.
“How did this happen?” Agwusi got to the empty case. “No!”
“What is it?” Ty joined her.
“The mirror's gone!” She spun, looking around the room as if searching for us. Then she spotted the glass on the floor. Agwusi knelt over the mirror pieces. “They were here!”
“Maybe this is for the best,” Ty said. “That machine is unstable.”
“It was working just fine,” Agwusi growled. “Until they interfered.”
“Can't you just replace the mirror?”
“Yes, but it will take time to find something with the same Transformation Magic, and the machine will need to berepaired.” She made a frustrated sound. “Just look at this damage! Why would they do this?”
“Because they wanted their relics back.”
Agwusi straightened and fisted her hands. “This is to help them! It will make everything better.”
Ty looked like he wanted to dispute that, but he only asked, “Why does the machine need Transformation Magic?”
“Transformation is integral to bringing a soul to its afterlife.” Agwusi waved at the empty case. “Souls transform from incorporeal spirits to something more substantial that can be contained.”
“Contained?”
