Apostles of Doom

“Given what happened last time, I believe that I should be stationed here to ensure the operation of Doom continues,” Völund said, looking to Phaestus, “and that you should be in the Nysegard Doom to ensure it is not sabotaged like at Etterdam.”

“Agreed,” Phaestus said. “Between us and the heavy guards both here and at the Doomalogue, we should be able to stop Lilith, or at worst, delay her long enough for retreat.”

“One thing that concerns me,” Tom said, and the others looked to him. “There are avatars there; do we have any idea if one is Sentir Fallon? If this is another trap, I would have no idea how to recognize him.”

“Good point,” Phaestus agreed.

“Actually, that reminds me,” Tom said, looking around. “Erestofanes was going to deliver Orcus’s Memory Mirror. I asked him if we had any paintings of Tiernon, and he suggested that Orcus may have had a mirroring of him.”

Phaestus sighed. “Yes, there will be a mirroring or two of Tiernon on the Memory Mirror.”

Tom looked at him oddly. “Why did you sigh when you said that?”

Völund snorted. “Because it’s going to complicate the situation for you, and raise all sorts of questions that the Citadel doesn’t have time to deal with.”

“Okay, now you’ve really got me curious,” Tom said.

“Me too,” Tamarin agreed.

Phaestus simply shook his head and frowned. “I assume he would have put it back in its original location.” He gestured towards the door to Tom’s bedroom.

Tom went and opened the door and peered in. Sure enough, there was a large, gold-framed mirror on the wall opposite the balcony. Tom entered his bedroom, gesturing for the others to follow, which they did.

Tom walked over to the mirror. “How do you use this?” he asked.

Phaestus sighed yet again. He was really not enthusiastic about this. “You hold the Rod, concentrate on the mirror and tell it what you want to see. In this case, I would suggest a particular image.”

“Which one?” Tom asked.

“It is one that Orcus referred to as ‘The Wedding Party,’ ” Phaestus said.

“The wedding party? Tiernon was at a wedding?” Tom asked, puzzled. Why would Orcus have a mirroring of a wedding that Tiernon was at? That would have to be a spy in a very high place.

“Quite a few important people you probably want to know about there,” Völund said somewhat sarcastically.

“So how do I do this?” Tom asked.

Phaestus moved closer. “Like with any magic mirror on a wall, you say ‘Mirror, mirror, on the wall, show me the wedding party, from one to all.’ That will bring up all the images of the wedding party, starting with the first.”

Tom nodded his head and turned to address the mirror. “Mirror, mirror on the wall, show me the wedding party, from one to all.”

The mirror blurred for a moment, and then revealed exactly what might have been expected. It was a wedding party after a wedding. There was a bride and groom, a very large bearded older man and a pale, almost Goth-like bride with a rather odd smile. On the groom’s side stood three men of varying ages and two women. On the bride’s side there were three people.

Tom blinked at the three. The first was himself — or rather, the human version of Orcus that looked like an older, bearded version of Edwyrd. The second was a younger man who looked very much like Rupert in his human form. The third was Phaestus.

Tom shook his head in puzzlement. “Whose wedding is this? I thought you said that Tiernon would be there. I see Orcus and you, and someone who looks a lot like Rupert in his human form.”

Völund chuckled. Phaestus glared at him.

“The man next to the groom is Tiernon. Next is Namora, then Torean, Krinna and Hendel; the Five Siblings in their most common, casual forms.” Phaestus said.

There was a clanking noise as Talarius took his helmet off and stared at the image. “Are you telling me that Tiernon and Orcus were at a wedding together?”

“Not exactly. What you are looking at is the wedding party — as in the bride, groom and attending family members.” Phaestus said calmly.

“The two families?” Tom asked. Talarius, Tamarin and Tom were all staring at Phaestus in shock.

“The groom is Aetherus All Father, the father of the Five Siblings,” Phaestus said.

“You mean one of the people Tiernon had us lock up in Tartarus?” Tom asked in surprise.

“The same,” Phaestus said.

“So is the bride Eris? Your sister?” Tamarin asked.

Phaestus nodded. “Daughter of Zeus and Hera, also known as Discordia.”

Tom shook his head, trying to clear it and make sense of this image. “Okay, so I know why you are in the wedding party, but why is Orcus there, next to her?”

“Because Orcus is the son of Eris,” Völund said as if it were the most obvious thing the world.

Tom felt as if he’d suddenly been struck by lightning. This made so little sense. Orcus was actually a god? “So you are…” Tom trailed off, looking at Phaestus.