New Goal

Theoric who just made it out of the secret tunnel found everyone in Athena's temple gathered around Zeus's statue praying which was unusual, to say the least.

Lydia- "Hm? What's going on? Why is everyone around that statue?" she asked, not missing the strangeness of the situation even with her lack of knowledge of many things.

Theoric taking note of it didn't let it stop him,- "Don't know, don't care, we have other things to worry about, I don't want to leave them as statues longer than I have to."

However, when he stepped outside and saw the rainless thunder clouds above, he started to get an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Looking around he saw a crowd gathering at the entrance of the private section blocked by priestesses claiming that the area was off-limits until further noticed and decided to make a small detour to find out what was going on.

It wasn't long before he heard them talking about how Zeus was here and to let them through so they could meet him. He even saw the lords of the city gathering below and making their way up after receiving the news.

Theoric grabbed a random person,- "I seem to be out of the loop friend, could you tell me what's going on?"

The excited fellow exclaimed,- "Zeus is what's going on! He's here! He's here, I saw it myself! I saw him coming down from the thunder clouds as one big lightning bolt, landing up above in the privileged area!"

Theoric paled a little along with Sigyn.

"Sigyn, I have to go and check on them," he said forming his orange energy shield before jumping up strongly and flying as fast as he could to Athena's temple above, shocking those around him.

Sigyn telepathically responded as he was on his way,- 'Stay safe, I'm right behind you.' she said readying some seeds to boost her up.

Theoric quickly responded telepathically,- 'NO! Sigyn if this turns into a fight, I don't want you anywhere near here, take the girls back to Grani and keep them safe there.'

Sigyn hesitated before taking a stand for the first time in her life,- 'No, I also want to protect Io and Anna.' she said dropping the seeds.

Theoric eyes widened as he reached the temple's entrance,- 'Sigyn Stop! Under no circumstance are you to use your powers unless absolutely necessary... Sigyn please this is important, I don't want you to be a target, I'm sure someone with the world tree's power will be a target of interest, if you wish to help, you'll have to learn to train and use your powers efficiently, no more slacking around all day without a care in the world, are you ready for that?... Sigyn please tell me you haven't already used your powers here.'

Sigyn who was ready to use the seeds only made them grow a little before she was told to stop,- 'Only a little, I was ready to boost myself up until you yelled at me to stop'

Theoric sighed as he entered the temple looking around cautiously,- 'Did you hear the rest of what I said?'

Sigyn- 'Yesssss, I won't use my powers, and I will start training more seriously... But I'm still coming, so you just go and make sure Io and Anna are safe until I get there, Hmph!' she said with conviction as she headed back the way they came, back to the secret entrance.

Lydia and Nina were left completely in the dark as Holland watched Sigyn just standing around before heading back to the temple,- "Sigyn! What are you doing? Where are you going now?" She asked while dragging Nina along who was still blindfolded.

Theoric meanwhile was nervously looking around for any signs of Zeus or anyone really, the place was a ghost town. Taking only a minute to check around he decided to stop wasting time and head straight for the burial chambers.

Heading down he arrived just in time to see the tail end of Zeus's lightning bolt zapping away.

Athena turned shocked to see him,- "What are you doing here? Do you realize how close you just came to death if Zeus saw you, your lucky his focus was entirely on me."

Theoric didn't hear a word she said as he brushed past her towards the broken piece of Io, dropping to his knees as he gathered a few up,- "Io." his voice croaked as he tried to hold back the sadness all over again, just after finding hope, it was swiftly taken from them.

Athena grew stoic knowing this wasn't going to go well for her after just promising in not so many words to protect her.

Without looking away he asked,- "Is Anna okay?"

Athena seized her chance to explain,- "I didn't have time to..."

In no mood for games, Theoric angrily interrupted her,- "IS ANNA OKAY?!"

Athena not appreciating being yelled out, let it be considering the circumstance,- "She's fine, I was able to save her in time."

Theoric still not looking, asked,- "And why didn't you save Io as you promised?"

Athena- "Because he was here for her, I didn't realize in time that her protection bracelet which was protecting her from Zeus's sight was also destroyed when she was turned to stone."

Theoric gently placed the pieces down before standing up with tightly clenched fists,- "Tell me, Athena, will you stand against me when I go after him?"

Athena- "I only do what I have to."

Theoric swiftly turned to her with fury etched on his face,- "What does that mean? Can you really defend him after this, after everything, why would you?"

Athena unemotionally responded yet again,- "I only do what I have to."

Theoric knowing he can't fight Athena tried to forcibly calm himself as he took a deep breath, unclenching his hands, and exhaled,- "Only what you have to. huh?" he asked squinting his eyes at her.

Athena stared back unresponsive.

Theoric then turned and swept his energy out collecting all the pieces of Io and began the process of putting her back together.

Athena moved by his effort spoke,- "That won't work."

Theoric grunted- "Don't stop talking on my account, tell me why."

Athena sighed- "When they're turned they've effectively been killed, yes? But this isn't exactly accurate either, to put it simply, their souls are trapped in the stone, but now that the stone was broken the soul has passed on, Hades would have claimed her by now."

Theoric- "Hades huh, I can work that." he said continuing to piece Io back together.

Athena not seeing this end well, tried to dissuade him,- "Look I know you're angry and want revenge, but going against Zeus and the rest will only get you killed, even your king Odin knew better, don't throw your life away pursuing this, you have so much more to live for, I know my daughter would be terribly sad if you were to die, not to mention your other wives."

Theoric flared up,- "Don't you speak about them so easily! Care to take a guess how Anna's going to react knowing you left Io to die."

Athena furrowed her brows but remained silent knowing there was nothing more to say as she watched him focusing on all the pieces floating around making sure he put it back right.

A while later Sigyn and the girls appeared where they discovered the terrible news, shedding more tears, and finding an unresponsive Theoric trying to put her back together. Thinking this was his way of grieving they left him alone, choosing to believe Athena that Io was as good as dead now since they couldn't speak to Theoric.

Theoric single-mindedly kept to the task at hand, shutting out all outside influence. The last thing he wanted to do was put something back in the wrong spot and screw everything up. He not only had to make sure all the big pieces fit perfectly, but he also took into account the tiniest pieces, the microscopic pieces.

Sigyn and the rest waited patiently off to the side with Athena who kept taking glances at Nina wondering what to do about her father's order/threat.