Sarah POV :

Audrey just shouted, distracting Sarah from her notes.

“Well, of course. It’s not something easily done, but most major gods have powers of that kind.”

Hermes answered her with calm. For him, it didn’t seem to be a problem, or he hid it well.

Sarah wasn’t really surprised, a lot of mythologies mentioned gods getting killed, hell, there was even a video game serie with this notion at it’s core.

“So, I have some questions. Mylord.” Audrey apparently decided to brush over it, and ask her questions to her new patron.

Hermes had a small playful smile as the silvery gale made him slowly rotate, his eyes kept on Audrey.

“By all means, ask. I’ll be glad to answer.”

“Both my ‘Doctor’ and ‘Domineering champion’ titles have some kind of rank affiliated with it, what does it mean?”

“Both those titles depend on the perception of other people. So they’re ranked depending on the quantity and quality of the people granting you that title. After all, you can be acclaimed as a doctor in a stone age tribe just knowing how to do bandages, or the champion of ball playing by a group of children. It would be quite unfair if people like those were put on the same rank as true champions, standing atop their world, wouldn’t it?”

Their world? It seems there’s several worlds, or at least gods think so.I’ll have to ask after.

“Hm, yeah, it makes sense. And, uh, do you have any advice on how to spend my free stats points?”

“Thought I have some ideas, I think it would be detrimental if I was to help you on that issue.”

“Detrimental?”

“Nothing is more harmful than an advice based on old informations. Thought I have seen countless heroes rise and fall, it was in another time, with different troubles and challenges. My advices would probably not be adequate.”

Audrey seemed disappointed, and pondered her next question for a time. Sarah decided to use that to ask her question.

“Hermes, is there other worlds that gods or other people can access?”

“Of course there is, Sotiras. Hells are one for example. Each pantheon has it’s own worlds, more or less accessible depending on who you are.”

Sarah was starting to be unnerved by Hermes perpetual smile. He never seemed serious, but that wasn’t the worse. The worse was that you couldn’t read him. Loki was always smiling too, but it seemed quite genuine, he smiled because he was fucking with you, he knew it, you knew it, and he found it hilarious. Hermes had a commercial smile, that seemed warm and welcoming, but it was only a front. His eyes were unreadable, hiding his thoughts. And he keeps calling me that greek word for Liberator even after I asked him not to.

Audrey chose this time to come back into the conversation.

“Mylord, I have another question. When I looked at my titles, I saw some that come from a long time ago, and one of them seems, well, incorrect at least. How does the Will of the World decides those kind of things?”

“An excellent question! We don’t know. Especially when active and passive interactions come into play. I mean, almost every god has the ‘Child killer’ perk, because we didn’t save children when we could have. But it’s clearly not active. So, some of us are still trying to understand how it works. The others stopped caring about it long ago.”

His bored face seemed to clearly indicate he was of the latter kind.

“I remember studying Hippocrates in school. I don’t know if I remember well, but I think he lived long after the moment you were imprisoned, which was, like in 1000 B.C. Sarah?”

Audrey’s interjection came in reaction to the heavy slap sound heard behind her.

I’m so stupid! I should have noticed it, of course it doesn’t make sense! As Sarah was admonishing herself, and massaging her forehead to relieve the pain from the far too strong facepalm she did before, Hermes decided to answer.

“We’re not totally sure, but Athena told me that the world apparently fell in a state of chaos after our… disappearance. It seems a lot of real history and rumors were mixed together, and a lot of dates were changed. The knowledge gods are still trying to pinpoint the exact moment we disappeared, and what really happened before, and after. It’s pretty hard too, I was supposed to help, but it’s boring, so I took my chance to skip.”

So history is a mumble jumble, and everything I learned from the antic history is probably wrong, great.

“Two last things Mylord, how can I distribute my free points, and would it be possible to you to send us back to Atlantis?”

“Just think it, the Will of the World is very responsive. And I’ll grant you too the Gift of Hermes. Oh, I gotta go, the haughty daughter is searching for me.”

With a wave of his hand, Hermes dispersed in small silvery lights that quickly faded, leaving the two girls alone.

You received the Gift of Hermes.

You can fly at divine speed, just like the fastest of the Greek gods!

Duration : 48 hours.

Sarah dismissed the new window, and looked over Audrey.

“Are we going back?”

“Since we have some time before the Gift fade off, I would like to go see an old friend, if you agree? I think he can give us some informations, or at least find the people with those informations.”

It’s not like we’re pressed by time.

“Sure, where are we going?”

Audrey had a faint smile, like she was remembering some old memories.

“To France.”