Page 10 of Tidal Creatures

There’s a certain coldness that comes to the stronger gods, the ones who don’t need to worry as much about their mortal halves. Diana has the power to make sure Professor Williams will never want for anything, to keep her safe and comfortable for as long as she serves as vessel to the goddess. So she forgets, sometimes, how fragile mortal lives and mortal relationships can be.

“Someone might,” says Chang’e.

“That’s their problem,” says Diana. “He was still leaking divinity when he was consigned to the deeps. There was no way to give him to a human coroner without raising more questions than we have the ability to answer—or attracting the attention of the alchemists. Do you really think that would have been better for any human relations who might have come looking, to know the body of their cousin was stolen from the morgue? At least this way, he just disappeared. They may never know what happened, but that leaves them with the possibility of hope.”

“I suppose,” says Chang’e.

“I’m more concerned about the fact that Aske was found inside the gate. Who handled the hand-off when she went to shine over the City?”

“Um,” says Chang’e. “It wasn’t me. I don’t … I don’t actually know who escorted her to the gate. I’m sorry, Diana.”

“You should know.”

Should I? wonders Judy. She’s not in charge of the Lunars of the area, has authority over them only in that she’s a naturally pushy person and has organized them, to a degree, to her own liking. But she isn’t responsible for them and can’t actually tell them what to do. They listen because it’s easier than arguing, not because she’s their superior. It sounds like she’s trying to blame us for her responsibilities not getting handled. Don’t let her put this on us.

“You’re right.”

Coward.

Chang’e straightens, trying to ignore the small, angry voice of her mortal half. She wishes she could keep Judy pushed down as long as she needs to, give the woman time to calm … but it’s hard to explain the glowing when she’s not locked away with another goddess who glows even brighter than she does.

“Find out. We may have a traitor in our midst.”

Chang’e stands a little straighter, eyes widening. “Are there any gods in common between the impacted communities?”

They don’t discuss it often, but no single mortal manifestation can contain the full scope of a god. They would die for their hubris if they even attempted it. There are a dozen Dianas in the world right now, a dozen Artemises, and probably as many Chang’es. The big European gods may try to ignore her prominence, but the Mid-Autumn Festival in China celebrates her and the Chinese space program is named after her. She’s an important goddess in her own right.

Manifestations of the same god tend to avoid each other when possible. There’s a terrible dissonance inherent in sharing space with yourself, and the addition of their mortal aspects can make it endlessly confusing. Chang’e can probably get along with herself no matter what, but can Judy get along with whoever that other Chang’e also is? Dianas coexist better than most, in part because the core Greek myths they pull their belief from are so fragmented and varied. They’re all different people, even as they’re the same. That’s one of the reasons they tend to wind up in charge of the regional groups, even when other, equally powerful manifestations are present.

Diana glances away, not immediately answering, and Chang’e frowns. It wasn’t an inappropriate question. If there are concerns about traitors, looking for commonalities is what makes the most sense.

“No clear ones,” says Diana. “You say Máni found the body? Is there any chance he moved it before he brought it to you?”

Chang’e’s frown deepens as she sees the trap lurking below the question. Diana’s asking whether Máni could have killed the other god, then moved her into the everything. She shakes her head. “No. I walked him to the gate. He already had the key from the previous night’s hand-off…” She trails off. That’s not possible if Aske never came out of the everything. Aske was the Moon over the Impossible City the night before, and if she died in the everything, Máni can’t have had the key. It would have been with Aske.

Diana nods. “There, you see? He could have killed her as she stepped up, hidden the body, and come back later to move it into the everything.”

“But that would have meant abandoning his post. The moonlight over the City would have faded or even failed, depending on how many gods were at their own windows, and we’d have heard about it by now.”

“Would we? It’s never happened in my knowledge. We all just assume that if something happened to interfere with the moonlight, the City would get us a message, but what does that look like, exactly? Is there a newsletter we don’t normally receive that you think would show up in our inboxes?”

Chang’e’s cheeks burn red with embarrassment. “Then I suppose it’s possible for him to have ducked away.”

“Were you at the gate all night?”

“No. It’s not part of the duty. You see the ascendant Moon to the gate, watch them walk into the everything, and close the gate from the human side of things. It disappears until the Moon begins their return journey across the City sky, and you can go do whatever you need to.”

She doesn’t mention that she didn’t see him to the gate. In Judy’s case, after missing the hand-off, “whatever she needed to do” had been asserting herself long enough to finish a paper that was due at the end of the week, drink two peach wine coolers, and flirt with brief, drunken abandon with a cute history major she’d run into on her way back to campus. Nothing special; nothing out of the ordinary or that Diana needed to know about.

Diana nods again, looking smugger. “Aske is dead, and that’s a tragedy. Máni has some questions to answer, I think.”

“He looked terrified.”

“I would be too, if I had just betrayed the pantheon.”

This doesn’t feel right. Chang’e hasn’t been a goddess as long as Diana has, doesn’t know as many of the rules, but she doesn’t feel like this is the time to argue, not with the air sparkling silver and Diana looking at her, so confident that she understands the situation better than Chang’e does. Still, she has to try one more time, and so she asks:

“Is there currently a Máni in either of the other communities?”