“And why would we agree?” Apollimi asked, her question almost hesitant, her bearing more defeated than defiant. The vitriol and arrogance she had released earlier were missing, as the loss of worshipers was already having an effect on her and her Pantheon.

“I thought I already made that clear,” the [System Administrator] replied. “There is no place for you in this Universe anymore. The humans that worship you are much more technologically and psychically advanced than the rest of the world, but there are not enough remaining to make a difference.

“Those that have survived are merchants, servants, or slaves. Every technician, scientist, expert, and person of rank has died. The few people left will not have the knowledge to breathe life into a new Atlantis.”

“Why make this offer?” Apollimi wondered, “The System may not exist in this Universe, but I have Avatars in others where it does. In none of those Universes does the System act altruistically. What is the catch? The reason you are willing to make such an offer.

“How are you even able to act within the framework of [Law ] for this Universe to manifest as a [System Administrator] and offer my Pantheon this chance to escape our doom?”

“Normally, I wouldn’t be able to,” the Administrator admitted, “but Teigh, God of [Illusion and Glamour], has made the impossible possible. Something he has done before.

“The events that have happened here, the freeing of the Titans and the sinking of Atlantis, would not have occurred in this manner if not for his actions. And because his actions were the result of a [System Quest], the System can act.

“His actions were not without purpose. He acted as an [Agent of Change], even if he wasn’t aware of it. But his actions were accomplished using the rules of this Universe. There has been no breach to the membrane of reality that separates this Universe from another, so there is no aperture the System can bypass and begin an integration.

“The System used the connection that the Quest created to open a temporary window.”

“You broke the rules that bind the System,” Apollimi said in disbelief.

“Skirted, Maybe. Fudged, definitely. But no [Law] was broken.”

“As for a reason? Why is the System willing to skirt those rules and make this offer? It is because of Teigh. This is not the first time Teigh has worked as an [Agent of Change]. His actions helped close a rift between Universes that had formed when the people on another world, another version of Urd, played with forces beyond their understanding.

“They made a mistake playing with particle acceleration, which culminated in a dungeon forming and giving the System an entry into a Universe that had never known magic, cultivation, or the System.

“The System’s proposal will move you and your Pantheon to that newly integrated world. It will give your Pantheon and your people a fresh start. A blank state to make the most of this opportunity.”

“Atlantis must not exist in this other world, or there would already be Avatars for me and mine to help our people deal with change. If there is no Atlantis there, how will that world be any different from this one?

“Without the faithful for us to guide and bless, we will fade just as assuredly there as we will if we remain here.”

“Atlantis will rise on Earth, the name of that other world,” the System Administrator promised.

“Gaea will restore what had been sunk, and as part of the integration process, any person with even the smallest genetic connection to Atlantis will be offered a race change and a chance to claim the inheritance that Atlantis offers.

“And the System will allow you to gather those few Atlanteans that survive on this world, to offer them the chance to immigrate to Earth, and if they accept, they will gain the same benefits of System integration and will be offered the chance to serve as instructors, priests, and leaders for these new Atlanteans.

“That is if they are flexible enough to take advantage of what the System offers. And strong enough, and smart enough to choose classes to level that suit their temperament and abilities.”

Apollimi lost focus for a few seconds as she searched the world for the remnants of her people, the few remaining souls that had been far enough from Atlantis when it sunk to survive. There were less than a thousand, mostly slaves owned by Egyptians or Romans, a few merchant and ship captains, and their crews that had been away on trading voyages.

I saw the grief that passed across Apollimi’s face when she realized exactly how few of her people remained. It was perhaps ironic that the Goddess of Death, the Destroyer, could mourn the loss of life.

But she was also the Goddess of Life, and even if she was known as the Destroyer, that moniker was an affectation forced upon her by the Fates of Greece. They had meddled with the tapestry of life to create the enmity that existed between Olympus and Atlantis. They had devised and manipulated Fate to weave a fictitious narrative that was made true as each generation of the treads of life was added.

Apollimi was Fated to be the instrument of the fall of Olympus. Her people revered her as wise and compassionate. But it would not be Apollimi that served that function. Nyx had ensured that the Titans and Olympus’s own stupidity would be the fight, but there was still something she could do. One last gift and blessing she could make that would ensure Olympus’s destruction.

“We agree,” Apollimi finally said, making the decision for her Pantheon and people. “We accept the terms set by the System and will follow Gwyn ap Nudd through the currents of time and the permutations of reality to return with Teigh, God of [Illusion and Glamour], to the future.

“To this Earth, you have mentioned.

“But before we go, I will fulfill the prophecy the Fates have made and fulfill my role as Destroyer. I cede to the Titans a spark of Divine Justice. Those that were instrumental in destroying Atlantis will take up the [Mantle of Authority] we divest by leaving. The [Mantle of Destruction] that the Fates forged and forced our Pantheon to shoulder.

“I gift Typhon, Father of Monsters, the lingering threads of Karmic Fate that will remain with our passing, those ties that bind my [Authority] to that of the Destroyer. Let him take on that mantle. I allow the title of [Destroyer] to pass. Let him free his children so they can contend with Olympus.

“I make my final gift to Typhon and the final blessing of Atlantis in this Universe to subvert the will of Fate and unleash Typhon’s children to fulfill the prophecy the Fates have demanded. So, mote it be,” Apollimi finished, joining with her entire Pantheon to unleash her will.

The ripple of change that echoed throughout the chamber grew as each word left Apollimi’s mouth. Her gift and curse a hurricane of Divine energies whirling across the chamber with the eye of the storm centering around Typhon. Her blessing grew with each word empowering Typhon and allowing him to assume the [Authority] that Apollimi had forsaken.

The Fates had woven the weft, the pattern of destruction that had bound Olmpus as tightly to that future as it had Apollimi.