Along the way, Lucian kept thinking about whether to go to the pantheons in the south of Heaven or the ones in the west.
Heaven had his father as the Great King and Emperor, but that didn't mean there weren't other kings under him.
"We're going to the west first, then the south," Lucian finally decided after hours of thought.
"Why? You promised we would go to the Centre of Creations," the scholar asked, confused.
"Yeah, but have you ever tasted ambrosia? It's something I've always wanted to try," Lucian replied, turning the hoverbike toward the west.
"You really want to die. Zeus will skin you alive, even if your father is the Emperor."
"Nah, he won't. No one's ever caught me," Lucian said proudly.
The scholar wanted to argue but stayed silent. He knew Lucian, nicknamed the God of Mischief, had tricks up his sleeve. The problem was, he didn't.
"What about me? After causing problems in Olympus, what happens to me?"
Lucian thought for a moment. Not everyone could run from consequences like him.
"Just take the hoverbike. It's faster than any other in Heaven thanks to its modifications. You should be able to escape."
"What about you?"
"You know my red knight? She's super protective. She might even be around."
The scholar paled. The Red Knight was feared across Heaven. Unlike the Emperor, who required proof to punish, the Red Knight only needed suspicion.
"I'm coming down," the scholar declared.
"No way. We're student and teacher. We should share everything together. Besides, it's not like Olympus could catch me. She only shows up if things get out of hand."
"Will she be fast enough to help?"
"Master, seems I've taught you more than you've taught me," Lucian said with a smirk.
"Master, you do know no Otaenian would pride themselves as gods, right?"
"Why? As far as I know, the Otaenians have divinity," the scholar replied.
"The purebloods do, because mortals forced divinity upon them through worship. Warborn don't have divinity. They are worshipped not as gods, but as the originators of martial and magical power."
"That I never knew," the scholar said, jotting it down in his divinity-linked book.
"We call ourselves the Beings of Origin. We were created directly by the Mother, the closest thing to Origin. Each of us is linked. We can sense if one is in danger and respond and besides, the divinity you thought we all have is not ever present, we just have a special energy that makes us able to mimick any other, we call it essence.
" An Otaenian can chose to mimick any energy they wish to use" Lucian said.
" What about that of mortals? As far as I know, even the Otaenians are banned from stepping foot in the primordial realm, if they could mimick that of mortals, they wouldn't be banned would they? " The scholar asked.
" Only I am privileged to do that, I can hide my energy to the extent that I would look like a mortal, but it's not good for the long term, the longer I stay there, the more I become mortal, and returning would be a problem even for me" Lucian replied
"Isn't this too much of a secret to tell me?"
"Not really. We just rarely get the chance to say it."
"But everyone knows your red knight is a Fey, a being born from the flames of war during the battle between Origin and the Void Being."
"Exactly. Doesn't that make her the closest thing to an Otaenian?"
The scholar nodded slowly. She truly was the closest.
"She was born from Origin's flames. We performed a ritual using a clone of the Mother, who remolded her into a Warborn."
"You can do that? People would give anything to be Otaenian!"
"Only the Mother can. And she said there won't be a second after my Red Knight."
Lucian slowed the hoverbike as they reached Mount Olympus.
Unlike mortal belief that Olympus stretched from the Primordial Realm to Heaven, it was simply a mountain in Heaven chosen by Zeus.
"Such extravagance. Even the entrance to Orton isn't this splendid," Lucian marveled, eyeing the golden gates.
"I'm not sure the Horae will let you in," the scholar warned.
"If I visit as the Imperial Prince of Heaven, they wouldn't dare stop me."
They may be pantheon leaders, but to the Otaenians, they were simply governors under the Empire.
"That's smart. Everyone knows there is only one true ruler of Heaven: Origin. And your father is the only one who can hear from him."
"Wrong," Lucian corrected with a smirk. "The Mother of all Otaenians, Orton, rules Heaven. My father only sits in her place while she defends the universe."
The scholar blinked, stunned. Every correction Lucian gave chipped away at the image of a mischievous troublemaker. He was cunning. Wise. And wasn't he supposed to be the teacher?
"Besides," Lucian added, eyes glinting with mischief, "what's the fun in going in as a prince? They'd only give us a cup of ambrosia. But if we steal it, we could take more to the Primordial Realm."
"Even if you manage that, the Horae still have to open the gates."
Lucian just grinned.
The scholar shivered.
The only secret Lucian didn't tell the scholar was the one extremely hidden, the one that must never be uttered outside, the fact that Otaenians could kill gods with the energy called 'Ether' the energy which Origin truly used.
This was going to be a long day.