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Minerva hesitated for only a moment, allowing Jupiter’s staff to charge up with lightning.
‘A new era begins today.’
She plunged the staff into her father’s chest as he roared in celestial pain and fury.
As Jupiter hit the ground, his body broke apart into pure white-hot energy as the world throbbed and tilted. A forceful aftershock moved through the city, toppling several more buildings.
The sun wept red tears.
The sky over Rome turned scarlet, bathing every dome and spire in the imperial red of a god’s blood.
Jupiter’s chariots fell to earth like cannons, too, spewing up plumes of black smoke. His archers went down firing. The thundering, ground-shaking booms grew louder and the sky spectacle became more frenetic as the remaining chariots burned up. The rest of the chariots descended or disappeared, fading into the daylight sky until they became the glare of the sun.
As the dust settled, Claudia gazed around, and an unsettling fact came to the front of her mind.
Jupiter was dead.
The war was won.
But Gia was no longer standing at her side.
23. IRREVERSIBLE
Though peace had been called by Minerva, bringing an end to the conflict, the city of Rome was littered with the bodies of hundreds of soldiers, most of whom had served Marcellus and General Aquinas. Claudia recalled that Gia had been dressed as one of them, fearing that she may have been mistaken for the enemy in the commotion.
Shouting her name, she ran through the streets in a heart-pounding, gut-dropping daze that blanked her mind. She moved from body to body, both living and dead, turning them round or over in hysteria, checking their faces before moving on to the next.
She came across Livia and Dido, both tending to their injuries as the leafy-haired goddess Meditrina healed the wounded nearby, attracting a large crowd of devotees.
‘Have you seen Gia?’ Claudia cried, her voice high and shaky with panic. ‘I cannot find her.’
Livia sprang to action immediately. ‘Not for a while.’
‘She was with Diana,’ said Dido.
‘We’ll help you search for her,’ said Livia.
They continued moving through the crowd of panicked citizens, who looked to her for guidance, and while she tried to comfort and reassure them, she was consumed by her own fear.
Where was Gia?
She saw Darius and Cassius, standing by the Pantheon. Athena was there too with the dog Viatrix, and Pliny and Rectina, all marvelling over a particularly beautiful Pegasus.
When Claudia saw Diana and Venus, she ran towards them as the entire group turned to greet her joyfully.
‘Gia,’ she panted, before they could speak. ‘Where is she?’
‘Gia?’ said Cassius, already fraught. ‘What’s happened?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Claudia. ‘She isn’t here.’
‘Last I saw, she was fighting the good fight alongside my other warriors,’ said Diana. ‘She cannot be far.’
‘We shall help,’ said Venus, putting her arm around Claudia. ‘Do not worry, we will find her.’
They picked up Dom and Celadus along the way, forming a strange party of mixed mortals and divinities. They continued turning over bodies, allowing Venus to heal all those she could.
Athena was already crying. ‘I have a bad feeling,’ she said.
