[center][h1][color=7ea7d8]APATE[/color][/h1]

Hermes’ first stop and delivery was not too far from Olympus proper. Moments after teleporting away from the scene of Zeus’ death and turning off all the unnecessary flare that normally accompanied the action, Hermes anticlimactically bled into view in a storage room to retrieve a small handheld device from his cloak. It was an old throwback device similar in nature to a pager. By pressing the only button available on its surface, he triggered the diminutive LED light on its partner, which likewise possessed a similar button linked to his own.

It was the compromise he and the Goddess of Deceit had reached for signaling each other whenever they needed to meet. She was simply far too caught up in her own divine role to have any of her preferences and options for IRIS enabled - meaning she was one of the few deities Hermes could not effortlessly pinpoint at every hour of the day. Likewise, Hermes had similarly rendered himself difficult to locate using IRIS just in case the former Zeus ever decided to try and use the Kerykeion - the [i]real[/i] Kerykeion, not the glorified prop that Hermes carried with him - to locate him.

The arrangement between the two deities was simple. After pressing the button, Hermes then waited for the led on his device to blink twice rapidly, pause, and then blink three times rapidly. That was the signal indicating that the Goddess of Deceit had noticed and was available to meet at the predetermined location.

The site in question was the atrium of a waypoint temple on the road leading up to Mt. Olympus. The shrine was barely maintained, with no interior camera coverage. Eschewing any fanfare, Hermes promptly teleported directly there, his form bleeding out of existence upon Olympus and bleeding into the largely abandoned, ran-down atrium like water seeping into sand, with no dramatic sounds or lights accompanying the transition.

Apate was in her temple when she noticed the beeping of the crude device. She had held it in her hand for a few minutes, expecting the inevitable call that would come. A sigh escaped her lips as she slid the device into one of her pockets, away from view. She knew what this meeting was for, as did everyone in her inner circle. That did not stop reality from slamming into her all the same. Zeus was dead, and no one was any the wiser as to who murdered him. Apate had a feeling that much of the blame for his death would fall on her shoulders for failing to spot the threat ahead of time, and not spotting the assailant as they were in the act or fleeing. Apate knew she could not dwell on that and instead she and her acolytes would need to focus and find any clue that could point the High Pantheon in the direction of their enemy.  Her role in that search would have to wait, Apate knew, and she set off out the temple doors after signaling to Hermes she was on her way.

Apate walked through the alleys, back roads, and even through a tunnel or two, as she made her way to the atrium temple.  The path she walked, as she always did, was one that would keep her from the sight of both mortals and gods alike.  She was a blight on the otherwise perfect appeal of most who resided in Olympus.  Her dark black, halter-top dress flowed down to her ankles and stood in stark contrast to her pale skin and the holy glow of the capital city.  She knew this, but still, she wore what she normally would help mask any knowledge she may have of what may have happened.  Eventually, she found her way to the Waypoint Temple and stopped just short of entering the door.  With a deep breath, she mustered her wit and walked in.  

[color=7ea7d8]“I really hate what you’ve done with the place. Really, they say a man’s temple is a reflection of who they really are, and [i]this[/i],”[/color] Apate motioned around to the destroyed pillars, and the rubble-covered floors, [color=7ea7d8]“Actually, this really does fit you forget I said anything.  Pray to tell, Hermes, what prompted you to call for me this time?”[/color]

“I designed and tidied the place with you in mind.” Hermes quipped as he nonchalantly tossed the Kerykeion to the side to clatter against the ground. Both he and Apate knew it to be a mere prop rather than the true article - keeping up appearances here was pointless. “Though I must say, I would have had more time to make it [i]truly[/i] miserable had you been the one to contact me. How long have you known Zeus was dead? You should have signaled me the moment you learned rather than waiting for the reverse.”

[color=7ea7d8]“Mere moments,”[/color] Apate responded as she moved to the side, [color=7ea7d8]“if you had only waited a minute or so long you would have got my message.”[/color] Apate paused her step and stared into her counterpart’s faceted visor for a brief moment before she tore them away and continued her steps. She once again gazed at the room around her, letting her eyes linger for a moment too long on the stone and dust that adorned the place. [color=7ea7d8]“You have outdone yourself, this place is a stunning rendition of myself.”[/color] Apate paused as her eyes darted around the room.  [color=7ea7d8]“Cold, dark, and with more spiders than either of us care to admit.”[/color] She shifted her focus back onto the visor once more. [color=7ea7d8]“I ask again.  What prompted you to call for me?”[/color]

“Oh, Zeus’ first official order as King of the Gods was to instruct me to deliver these invitations along with verbal notice that all of the High Pantheon and their scions are to attend him upon Mt. Olympus at the stated place and time.” Hermes rattled off, flicking his wrist and producing a black letter with gold filigree from thin air. With a flourish, he sent it drifting through the air like a leaf on the unseen wind towards Apate. “It is strange - despite his vow that the perpetrator of Zeus murder shall be found, he has yet to even think of contacting you. I suppose he has other more pressing concerns and people on his mind.”

Apate chuckled as she caught the letter and opened it.  She read the instructions briefly before she put them back together. [color=7ea7d8]“You’re right. He has you hand delivering these messages and yet I have yet to hear from our father. If I was a weaker goddess I may just weep at the thought of being left out.”[/color] She paused as she feigned a feint by throwing one hand up high and leaning back. [color=7ea7d8]“Zeus does have more pressing concerns and people on his mind, and yet not one of them is me. It is almost as if he is not concerned with me nor my ability to deliver for him.” [/color]

“Not concerned, or not convinced?” Hermes shot back with a lazy tone as he sidled over to a nearby pillar to lean against it irreverently. “Or, if we are being [i]honest[/i] for a moment here, something I think we both know he is not interested in.” 

[color=7ea7d8]“And yet he keeps you around and you keep yourself around him. Are you hoping that one day he may forget who and what you are? That he would get careless with his grip around your precious [i]Key[/i]?”[/color] Apate paused as she leaned her back against a pillar. [color=7ea7d8]“If we’re being [i]honest[/i], I don’t know if I should be flattered or offended that this mail dog found his bite.” [/color]

“I knew I should not have used the word [i]honest[/i], it always triggers you so.” Hermes tutted. “Read my lips:” He gestured to his completely inscrutable, faceted visor with both hands. “What I meant to imply is that I do not think we should expect a culprit to be identified anytime soon.” 

[color=7ea7d8]“Neither do I,”[/color] Apate spoke honestly once again, [color=7ea7d8]“whoever killed Zeus did so with no warning and did so without being seen by any guards, servants, or by any of my spiders.”[/color]  Apate pulled herself from the pillar and began pacing the room. [color=7ea7d8] “Not many can manage that feat and then they had the power to take down our father. They are either incredibly strong or incredibly connected.”[/color]  She paused as she let out a deep breath and locked eyes with the visor once more. [color=7ea7d8]“I wonder which option scares you more, more powerful than Zeus or more connected than Apate?” [/color]

“Do I sound scared to you?” Hermes actually laughed then, an echoing titter that echoed throughout the atrium. “If this hypothetical assailant was either, they would have no need for duplicity.”

[color=7ea7d8]“So be it,”[/color] Apate sighed. Speaking to Hermes always tested her patience and this time was no different. [color=7ea7d8] “I will return to my temple and prepare myself for tomorrow's journey to Mt. Olympus. Thank you for the timely delivery of this message and for your conversational skills, wit, and[/color]” she paused as she jestered across the dilapidated room [color=7ea7d8]“this stunning rendition of me.”[/color]

“As decrepit and hoary as it was the last time we met here.” Hermes quipped. He then stared expectantly at Apate for several long moments, a heavy silence filling the air between them. Eventually, he stooped low and retrieved the Kerykeion replica, and teleported away once more without any accompanying fanfare - simply seeming to seep out of existence like water dribbling away in sand.

It was but a moment later that Apate realized the letter Hermes had given to her - which she had never read - was missing. 

[color=7ea7d8]“Awww Hermes, is my presence not enough of a gift for your services,”[/color] Apate asked the sky with a sly grin.  She had known that Zeus instructed Hermes to deliver these messages to each member of the high pantheon instructing them to arrive the following afternoon to swear their fealty to the newly crowned father of all. Apate wondered what Hermes would do with the invitation with her name on it.  Regardless, Apate had work to do and she would begin her search at once for the culprit behind the murder.  She would also begin her work molding the new Zeus to better serve her station.  She set off towards home.  Apate had work to do.  When she arrived back she was first greeted by Eris.  

[color=f6989d]“What news did Hermes bring?”[/color]

[color=7ea7d8]“Nothing we did not already know,”[/color] Apate paused, “[color=7ea7d8]I am requested to attend the coronation of our new lord tomorrow.  I want to have something, [i]anything[/i], that I can deliver.”[/color]

[color=f6989d]“Nemesis and Moros are running down leads as we speak.  Nemesis is combing through the web of information from the mortal empires and Moros is doing the same through the godly ones.”
[/color]

[color=7ea7d8]“And S.I.H.T?”[/color]

[color=f6989d]“Obscured.”[/color]

Apate walked over to a console attached to a large holo-table and typed in a command. After a few flickers, the table projected out a reconstruction of the terrace and showed Zeus.  A moment later an unnatural fog had descended over and obscured the view.  After it dissipated, Zeus was seen on the ground rapidly decaying as the nanites dissolved his flesh and bone.  A few moments later the servant girl entered the scene, screamed, and ran to alert the guards.  

[color=7ea7d8]“I see two possibilities, both equally hard to prove.  Either another god, with the knowledge to hack into the city's weather control systems, killed Zeus and used the weather to hide it and their involvement from sight or the old man killed himself and his final act was to rob us of the pleasure of ever witnessing his suffering.”[/color]  Apate paused as she rubbed her chin.  [color=7ea7d8]“Keep trying to locate any possible witness, pay close attention to the interrogators and what their captives say, and tell Nemesis and Moros to double their efforts.”[/color]

[color=f6989d]“Yes, Goddess.”[/color]

[color=7ea7d8]“Have the servants prepare my wardrobe, I wish to make a statement at the coronation tomorrow.”[/color][/center]