Warriors of Poseidon 04 - Atlantis Unmasked

her head toward the door and Alexios shot down the hall toward her, both of them nearly to the door when a thunderclap of force boomed through the hall and forced them, almost against their wills, to stop and see what had happened.
     
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    Behind her, almost too faintly to be seen, a silvery female form fired arrow after arrow from her own phantom bow into the vampire goddess, who was screaming and shouting vile curses.
     
    “It‟s Diana,” Grace whispered, and for an instant, the silvery goddess seemed to meet her eyes. But then Anubisa screamed and the moment was broken. Grace and Alexios ran out of the building and into the moonlight, followed by a river of people escaping the titanic struggle between goddesses going on inside. Another thunderclap boomed through the air, and then the mansion shook and imploded, collapsing into itself, hopefully burying Anubisa for all time.
     
    “It‟s too much to hope for,” Alexios said in response to her unspoken wish.
     
    “I know, but so were you,” she said, throwing her arms around him and knowing she would never, ever let him go. “So were you.”
     
    They stood together for a long time, well after the sun had set and the moon rode high in the night sky, watching the pile of rubble for signs of disturbance. The firefighters, police, and EMTs had come and mostly gone, although there would be flashing lights and investigators around long into the night and in the days to come. She and Alexios had even answered a few questions, professing a complete lack of knowledge about the cause of the explosion.
     
    After all, it‟s not like they could tell the police that a clash between the vampire goddess and the moon goddess had blown up Primator Vonos‟s mansion. Even P Ops would have had a tough time with that one.
     
    “Should we go?” Alexios finally asked.
     
    “Go where?” she replied, dull with exhaustion. “Home? I don‟t even have a home.”
     
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    He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. “Your home is with me. I think it‟s time you see Atlantis.”
     
    “I think not,” whispered a voice that shimmered with light and rang with the music of a thousand symphonies. “Rather it is time that my descendant met her ancestress.”
     
    Grace froze, then slowly pulled away from Alexios and turned. A woman stood between them and the sea, her feet in the water and her hair whipping in the cool sea breeze.
     
    But, on taking a second look, Grace quickly realized that this was no woman, but the goddess. Power sparkled around her, crackling and sparkling in the long, waving strands of her hair, and the silver gleam of the moon itself shone from her eyes.
     
    Grace dropped to her knees. “My lady.”
     
    Diana, for it must be she, laughed and the sea tides crashed on the shore and splashed a fine mist on Grace at the sound. She dared to look up only to find Diana untouched and completely dry in the center of the swirling waves.
     
    “You have served me well, my daughter,” Diana said. “You have earned a rest and are welcome to visit our allies under the waves. But beware: I will not stand for you to pledge yourself to Poseidon. I am a jealous goddess.”
     
    “How about if she pledges herself to me?” Alexios asked. “As I do to her?”
     
    Grace gasped and yanked at his arm to get him to kneel beside her before Diana crushed him for his daring, but the goddess only laughed again.
     
    “Yes, you have pledged yourself to her, have you not? And a worthy companion you are,” Diana said. “Shall I gift you the removal of those scars. I wonder?”
     
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    Grace gasped again, but then stood up, not wanting to be on her knees for this discussion. Alexios looked into her eyes. “What do you say, Grace? Would I be more appealing to you without the scars?”
     
    She smiled and then raised up on her toes to press a kiss on his scarred face. “It‟s not possible. I will love you no matter what happens to your face.”
     
    He caught her hands in his and gazed intently down at her. “And so you understand why your concern about aging and wrinkles is so unimportant. I will love you until the last waters fade from the oceans of this world.”
     
    “That is lovely and poetic beyond the telling of it, but I must away to other matters.
    Decide now,” Diana commanded, and