I realized after a few seconds of waiting that the utterance "On the River Styx" was supposed to have some sort of significance, but I had absolutely no idea what swearing on a river had to do with bargains between gods. And so I sent a mental message to the Parthenon, figuring it'd know better than anyone what, if any, significance that'd have.

[What is so important about this river that Athena's vestige just brought up?] I asked, curiously. I kept my gaze neutral and my eyes locked on Athena's own. I noticed, unhappily, that each passing second increased the amount of impatience present within her steel-colored gaze. Thankfully I didn't have to wait long to be told what Athena's oath meant.

[By swearing an oath 'On the River Styx' the vestige is promising to uphold her end of the bargain. The River Styx was a sacred location in the underworld and afterlives of those who worshiped the Olympians. Its goddess was one of the first to join Zeus when he vowed to overthrow the Titans, as a reward for her loyalty Zeus made her the deity who enforced all oaths, even ones he made. The Olympians took nothing more seriously than their oaths. But now... we suppose this is meant to signify her seriousness?] The Parthenon revealed, its voice losing certainty at the end of its remarks.

Now armed with the knowledge to move forward intelligently I readied myself and then began to speak to Athena's vestige. As I began to speak I hoped that my words wouldn't be perceived as disrespect or offensive to the ancient and intimidating vestige, out of a healthy urge for self-preservation more than any actual desire to be culturally sensitive.

"Forgive my ignorance Athena, but how will our bargain proceed? I am willing and able to bargain if you seek my help, but I do not want to offend you or your customs." I told her, suffusing my voice with respect, which was more genuine than not since I did respect her power. She appraised me for a second, a conflicted look on her face as she weighed her options for recovery and for the retrieval of that which is lost to her.

After a tense few seconds, her desire for that which she knew she was deprived of but didn't fully understand seemed to win out and she gave me a look of kindly exhaustion before beginning to speak. "We will declare our intentions to swear on the River Styx first. And then we will state what we will services we will perform. Now is the time to negotiate so we are clear on what we are doing and what will be given as payment for services rendered." Athena declared.

"According to the Parthenon itself, I am in need of healing. It is... admittedly a bit unusual for me to be told I am in need of healing from a condition affecting me with no symptoms that I can perceive, but I trust the Parthenon and I am willing to entertain the idea that I might be suffering from something that weakens my ability to recall memories." The vestige told me, her voice trembling in what might well have been fear as she spoke.

"I am aware that mortals often suffer from maladies that have no visible symptoms and whose direness is often misunderstood by them as a result of that. I will not make that mistake. I would like to ask you to perform one service for me first and then, depending on what the first service yields there may be more work in store for you." Athena's remnant said to me, her voice quiet. I study her for a second and consider nodding my consent to work for her, but I stay my hand for one more moment.

"I would like to help you. After all, despite our differences, we share a foe, and we are both divine beings. There's an extent to which it would be wise for us to stick together." I say, simply. I pause to feign taking a breath at this point before continuing to speak.

"But what am I getting in exchange? I am asking because I am not just a god. I am also a devil. A creature of deals, bargains, trades, and oaths. Both of these aspects of myself are important. And as a devil I want to make honest, fair deals that exchange services and payments of equal value." I told the vestige quite confidently. She laughed at my declaration and then closed her eyes in contemplation.

After a few moments of quiet consideration, she spoke once again. "As payment for the first service I am going to ask you to perform for me I will give you the lowest tier of influence over two of the following domains or subdomains: Artifice, Civilization, Purity, Emotions, and War. In exchange for that, I would ask you to use your powers to ascertain what, if anything is wrong with me." She told me, a glint in her eyes.

I looked at her with some interest, before speaking. "Can you not use your powers on yourself? You and I both have access to the knowledge, healing, and medicine domains." I asked, curiously. She shook her head and quickly replied to me.

"I cannot actually. As a vestige, even one that supposedly has memory problems, I know that my ability to use divine powers are exceedingly limited. Frustratingly enough I could actually use my abilities on other creatures but I cannot use them on myself." She confessed, her tone suggesting that the frustration she said she felt was genuine.

I pretended to mull over her offer for a few moments, before speaking to her. Athena's vestige is the honest sort... I wonder if we'll change the future by being nice and feigning impreciseness with the language of this oath. I thought, before deciding to take a risk and see if being kind here worked for me in the future.

"Athena, I will accept your offer. If you grant me the lowest tiers of influence over the domains of civilization and war I will do my best to perform the service you're asking me too." I told her, my eyes gleaming at the thoughts of the rewards I was seconds away from. And then I prepared myself to recite the oath she had told me about earlier.

"I swear by the River Styx that I will use the assorted powers at my disposal to determine if you, Athena, are indeed suffering from memory problems and tell you the results of my search." I told her, and for a second I felt a strange stirring in my heart. It was as if I had just signed a dastardly contract, one with potentially life-threatening consequences. Athena's vestige smiled at me, visibly delighted, and then she began to speak.

"I swear by the River Styx that I will grant you, Althos, the lowest tier of influence over the domains of war and civilization if you use your powers to determine if I am indeed suffering from memory problems and inform me of the results of your search." She told me, a thin smile playing at her lips, teasing them upwards wily. I nodded at her, and then immediately began my search to see what sort of maladies plagued her through a usage of Identify.

[Name: Athena

Class: Paladin Level 30, Holy Defender Fighter Level 30, Crusader

Species: Vestige

Faction: The Olympians

Alignment: Lawful Good

Source of Law: The Edicts of Olympus

Personal Vice: Pride

Status: Fractured memories, owning to damage inflicted on Athena's soul when the Parthenon was taken from one universe to another. The damages are in fact healable, but to heal a vestige a god must be the healer.

Innate Magical Ability: Immense. As a vestige, Athena's magical powers are at least equal to your own at the moment. She has a basic level of mastery over all twenty schools of magic.

Class Suitability: As the vestige of a goddess Athena is already equipped with the classes most suitable to her skills and personality.

Magic Suitability: Healing magic.]

After I reread the window that had just filled my vision I began to smile. So it's true then... and it's because of damage to her soul, of all things... I mused, momentarily lost in the joy I felt at being able to not only see the problem Athena was suffering from, but also know its cause and that it was healable. I willed away the notification with a smile and then refocused my gaze at Athena.

"Athena, I have very good news," I said happily. Athena's eyes brightened considerably, as she waited for me to expand on the news I had just promised her. "I have discovered the truth of your condition. And that it is healable." I told her, and then at once, I felt several kilograms lighter, as if declaring that had just lightened the load of my soul.

"You are indeed suffering from a fractured memory. It is as the Parthenon suspected. During the moments in which the Parthenon was taken from Greece to its current resting place in Inferninus, the land of devils in an alternative universe, you suffered soul damage. Fortunately, the damage you suffered is damage that can be healed. That I can heal." I told her, speaking in the tone of a bearer of good, maybe even excellent news.

Athena's facial expression suddenly went from one intense emotion to the next over the course of a few seconds, and I couldn't say that I blamed her for feeling a lot at that moment. After all, my words revealed the terrible truth to her: she was in another universe's lawful evil dimension, not the world of her birth. But the next voice to speak was that of the Parthenon.

[You can heal her? Oh thank goodness! We... hoped that you could and that you would, but we didn't dare hope that we'd be correct. For if our hopes were raised, only to be dashed... it'd be devastating even to one as ancient as us.] The Parthenon told me, its voice exploding throughout its interior. Athena and I both smiled at that.

Athena waited a few seconds, to be sure her friend and protector was done speaking. I studied her face and judging from the relief and joy that was painted across it she had regained any trust and faith in her ally that may have been lost or strained due to the incredible success she perceived my actions as granting her. And when Athena was sure the Parthenon was done speaking, she turned her gaze to me.

Athena sighed. It was an odd sort of sigh, but it communicated so many different things at once. It communicated gratitude aimed at me and my willingness to heal her, surprise and grief that she had been suffering from something she was blind too, and a number of other emotions that were harder to succinctly summarize.

"Thank you Althos. Regardless of anything else that happens from this point on, you have done me a service that I hope I won't forget anytime soon. I shall now grant you your reward. You have earned it." And then the goddess' vestige rose a hand in my direction and expelled some of her divine energy out of it. The energy turned the air around us a color that was a fusion of yellow and gray and flowed into me.

I fell to my knees as I felt the energies of war and civilization surge into me. It was an exhilarating rush of power, and I could actually feel the system composing the notification that was seconds from surging into my brain. The potent powers of both civilization and war raced into me, and my mind was assailed by alien images that entertained, delighted, and inspired me.

In the depths of my mind I watched countless images surge into my consciousness. Some of these images were of houses, of temples, of grand cities. And others were of battlefields, past and present.

The battlefields were home to all manner of warriors. Some of the warriors were human, others were monstrous. I could clearly see animals in the air, in the ground, and on the ground in these images. I could also see all manner of technological implements being used by and against humans.

Other creatures clashed in these images as well. I could see demons, minotaurs, devils, pain-mongers, angels, and all manner of fey engaged in all sorts of warfare, from open warfare on massive plains to more subtle fighting in crowded alleyways or inside of tall buildings. It was an exciting sight, one that would have made my heart pound recklessly in my chest, if I had a heart. And that was when I received a notification.

[Domain-Centric Alert:

Athena's vestige has traded you some of her influence over the domains of war and civilization in exchange for your assistance in determining the truth behind the conditions of her memories. In exchange for the role you played in defeating the vestige's ignorance of her own condition you have been granted the lowest tiers of influence over war and civilization.

Civilization:

The domain of civilization is one of the greater domains. It is possibly the least of the greater domains because it's true power can only be displayed by the worshipers of a god who has it, but it is an absolutely essential one to any deity who aspires to be a transcendent being or a god-emperor.

Civilization domain powers:

This domain, when coupled with the domain of minds, allows for the creation of hive-minds in all manner of intelligent beings, not just ones affected by the domain of fungi.

This domain, when coupled with the domain of law, allows someone to begin to gain influence over the domain of justice.

This domain and the domain of knowledge allow for deities with influence over both to identify different types of culture and learn about them, through usages of Identify. The aforementioned skill can now target abstract concepts.

Mixing the domains of knowledge and civilizations also causes creatures created by you to retroactively gain an innate awareness of and appreciation for their cultures as they exist in the world you came to life in.

This domain, the domain of minds, and the subdomain of necromancy mixing together empower all undead creatures created by or in the name of Althos and automatically grants them true humanoid level intelligence, as well as urging them to seek to create unique civilizations and societies.

This domain, the domain of fungi, and the domain of minds mixing together instill all fungal folk and other greater fungi who serve Althos with a powerful urge to create new and greater fungal societies.

This domain mixes with various other domains to allow for the creation of buildings that revolve around communal needs. For instance, the domains of civilization and faith allow for the idle creation of temples. The domains of war and civilization allow for the creation of barracks and guard towers. The domains of earth and civilization allow for the creation of mines. The domain of dreams allows for the creation of houses. Those are just some examples accessible to you.

Blessing creatures with the power of the civilization domain infuses with a desire to settle spaces you designate. When you first bless a creature with this domain you will be asked to determine their priorities, which will influence how they go about creating a community.

War:

The domain of war is one of those domains that straddles the line between a greater domain and a regular domain. In the past, it was considered one of the social domains, a domain that like the domain of faith is a key domain in building one's religion.

Due to the way you were first awarded access to the domain of war your war-related powers are more defensive in nature. When you gain more influence over the domain on your own, or if you gain influence via transference from a vestige of Ares or another, offense-oriented god of war, you'll gain offense-oriented powers. And then in subsequent gains of influence, you'll receive a balance of offensive and defensive powers and traits.

War domain powers:

You can sense war-oriented monsters once they are within a certain range of yourself and you can use your influence over the mind domain to make contact with them remotely. You also receive notifications if an enemy is either declaring war on you or is about to do so.

The domain of war mixes with the domain of magic and magical subdomains in interesting ways. Athena's defensive usage of the war domain causes every community with a temple to you to gain a defensive barrier that surrounds and protects the city, though unless reinforced by you these barriers are not very strong. The healing subdomain also mixes with the war domain in that it increases the potency of any battlefield healer or battlefield healing done by your worshipers who are clashing in a war meant to expand your influence.

The domains and subdomains of lies, trickery, and falsehoods can be channeled actively alongside the domain of war to create a series of sensory tricks that misdirect enemies engaged in offensive combat with you or your forces.

The subdomain of necromancy has a small chance of creating an unholy miracle if your settlements are ever attacked in which the dead throughout the settlements spontaneously arise as undead to defend your settlement. This increases in likelihood as you increase the influence you exert over the subdomain of necromancy. The undead created by this miracle would also increase in power as you increase your influence over the subdomain.

The domains and subdomains of nature, earth plants, and animals and war mixed together also create an opportunity for an unholy miracle involving the forces of nature coming together to harry forces at war with your servants. As the subdomains of air, liquid, and fire, fall under your influence the chances of this particular miracle happening increase.

If you bless someone with the powers of defensive war they gain strength, their reflexes are improved, and their abilities are improved upon for a time, provided they are defending a community. There are ways this power could be used to ensure that enemies that you seek to capture survive a conflict. Though with your powers they could just as easily be kidnapped during a fight without empowering the enemy.]

That's... a lot. I thought, reading it in an instant, before beginning my customary second read-through. It was on the second read-through that a certain part of it really stuck out to me. And in response to it I looked straight at Athena, my eyes widening in shock.

"According to the system... you gave me your influence over the domains in exchange for the service I just performed." I said, my voice quiet as I considered the act of... what felt like kindness Athena's vestige had just performed. The vestige looked at me with eyes filled with joy, as she listened to my reaction. When I was done speaking she let silence fill the temple for a moment, before nodding at me and beginning to speak.

"Yes, I did. And I plan on giving you more before the night is done. But in exchange for my influence, there's one more oath we need to make. One more service I need you to perform." She said, her voice calm. And then the Parthenon spoke once more.

[Althos, you are steps away from gaining the next tiers of influence over the domains of law, knowledge, and faith. These are steps you must take to have any hopes of defeating Paimon, who even in the days when we first arrived here was among this realm's most powerful inhabitants. And who even now is gaining strength.] The Parthenon whispered, urgently.

And at that moment I received a sudden notification perfectly timed to drive home the temporary nature of the humiliation I heaped upon Paimon.

[War domain alert:

Paimon has returned to Infernius. The overlord of Bastille is readying a declaration of war against your forces.]

I chuckled at the notification, keenly aware that just hours ago I slew one of Paimon's generals. The newest domain I had gained influence over also filled me with confidence, and I looked at Athena's vestige and began to speak.

"Would you like me to heal you?" I asked, keenly aware of the likelihood that that was what the vestige was going to ask me for. She had a curious look in her eyes as she next opened her mouth to speak.