Chapter 7

Throttle jerked upright from his meditation stance, red eyes opening wide behind his shades. Every hair on his body stood on end, tiny arcs of electricity dancing along the tips. He slowly rose from the mat on the polished wood floor, listening intently. Somethings wrong. But what? The young god sent out his senses, trying to identify what had set off the wards he had placed around the temple grounds.

Earlier, as Charlene had set out for the springs, Throttle had been busy checking the temple's wards and charms. Wards were protective rings of holy or magical energy that could be used like a force-field to keep things out. They could also be spelled to keep only certain things out, like demons or those with ill-intent, or to keep things in, like precious or holy objects. He had taken a long walk around the perimeter of the temple, checking the wards for cracks or outright failures and to his surprise only found a few faults. Most of the ancient enchantments and charms were still in place. That certainly explained the state of the temple's disrepair.

One of the many charms of protection on the temple was one to keep people from noticing it if the physical defences were in disrepair. In the ancient days of its construction, this would have allowed the temple's defenders time to repair the fortifications without an enemy noticing the building's weakness, since the temple had often doubled as a fortress in times of war. With the temple deteriorating, the charm had been activated, and had kept vandals and other defilers away. It had also seemed to have backfired a bit, as without anyone noticing the temple's problems, no one had thought to help. Most seemed to have actually forgotten the holy place was even there!

For the sake of avoiding any hassle, he'd modified that particular charm to keep people from the temple indefinitely.

He had strengthened the wards with some of his very limited supply of power, and had constructed new wards to make living there easier for the two new occupants. These new wards would help with the growth of healthy plants for the garden, while prohibiting mold, mildew, fungus and algae from corrupting the walls or even worse, the water supply. They would muffle the sounds of any magic done inside them, and would eventually help to charge his own reserves of magic if it should deplete. The last new ward was to help protect his lady. Humans, for all their medical advancements and technology, were still vulnerable to certain strains of Martian diseases. His girl would not fall ill on his watch, not with a very powerful, very draining, ward of Healing around the temple grounds.

Now something had set off the internal wards, telling him that something had just arrived deep in the temple grounds. But nothing had set off the external wards, so soemthing had either flown in, or...someone had teleported in. In the sacred springs. Where Charley was!

He immediately started running, his feet pounding against the wood floors as he crossed the complex in seconds. He threw open the sliding doors to the spring, stopping so fast his tail nearly smacked against the door frame. All his hair bristled, the sparks of electricity glowing brighter and bigger along his tan fur as his lips pulled back over suddenly sharper teeth. Every muscle tensed, his fists clenched as his tail began to twist and writhe in agitation.

All this, from the blurred vision of a strange male Mouse carrying the limp form of his naked, unconscious Terran, his Charley-girl, from the holy waters and into the main worship hall. Throttle took two steps and was instantly through the door, his vision going red as he saw the male slowly put the unconscious girl on the low stone altar at the front of the room. . The Martian god's voice was a barely recognizable growl as he bit out, "Get. Away. From. Her. Now."

The male didn't even startle at the sight of him as he put on a full set of intricate platinum armor. "And what do we have here? I thought this young lovely was alone."

A thin one-sided sword of black metal slowly formed over the Nuk-Knuks of his right hand, a deft twist of his wrist slipping its hilt into his grip. The arcs of lightning from his fur concentrated on his sword, the god lifting it into a battle stance. "She is not your 'lovely.' She is my contractor, my lady, and you will not touch her again."

"Someone's awfully touchy. Been a while since you've gotten any?" The older Mouse asked in some concern as he casually spread his long red cape over the now sleeping girl. "You know, if she is your lady, you really should ask her to help you with that little problem."

Throttle's eyes glowed red as he finally recognized the intruder. "Stoker, I don't care if you're descended from the Almighty Himself, if you don't get away from her and stop talking about her like that, I will disembowel you where you stand!"

Stoker de Thraxus slowly straightened to his full height as he turned his full attention to the younger god, the links of his metal tail clinking as he looked Throttle. "Is that how it is? You really think you can take me on here, in my own temple?"

"It doesn't matter where we are," Throttle snapped. "I'll make you get away from her if I have too."

The brown furred Mouse slowly stepped down to the main floor, the benches and chairs of the hall yanking themselves out of the way. A long double-edged sword appeared in front of the god, and he took it with an easy grip. "She's got you wrapped around her little finger, doesn't she?"

"I am to protect her from all harm, no matter from who," Throttle answered.

"Ah, but I think there's a little more at work here than that," Stoker said casually, just as he brought the great sword down in a deadly strike.

*&*&*&*&*&*&

Charley woke to the sounds of metal ringing on metal, shouts and bodies crashing into either walls or the floor adding to the noise. She slowly sat up, blinking against the light and gasping as she felt a warm cloth fall away from her body. Her very naked body! She immediately clutched the cloth back to cover herself as she looked around. The girl gawked at the sheer damage done to the room. "What the hell happened in here?"

Smoking holes were torn in the walls, deep gouges were in the floor and even some of the roof's support beams. She slowly stood up, careful of where her feet went to avoid broken stone and splinters. She tucked the cloth--(a cape, she was stunned to see)--around her body, using the clasp to pin it over one shoulder as the rest fell in a toga-shape. She could jsut barely hear any of the earlier noise now, and wondered where the source of all this destruction had come from. And where it was now, truth be told.

Just as she stepped off the main platform, the stones beneath her feet glowed white in the shape of circle filled with strange runes. She passed over them in awe, the light feeling like a warm breeze on her skin. What was that? she wondered. Was that magic?

Suddenly a huge mass crashed through the roof, sending out a huge cloud of debris and dirt. She threw up her hands to deflect some of it, crying out in shock. As more of the dust cleared she could see two Mice were locked in combat. Its the naked guy from before! But with armor on now and--Throttle!! Throttle and the other Mouse were straining to keep their grip as the two swords they carried were locked over Throttle's throat. But the other Mouse was in a better position and was slowly but surely pressing his sword down, the edge grazing Throttle's neck and thin line of blood appeared--

"Just what the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Both Martians startled badly, whipping their gazes around to the human girl. Their eyes widened at the sight of her, hands on her hips and glaring like she could kill them with a look. "You," she pointed at Stoker, "get off my god now! And you!" she glared down at Throttle, ignoring the look of unholy glee on the elder Martian's face. "Is he, or is he not, Stoker de Thraxus?"

"..He..H-he is," Throttle said, finally finding his tongue.

"So this is his temple, right?"

"Yes."

"So quit threatening to kill the guy who owns the place!" she scolded. "And you stop laughing!" she said, shaking her finger at the now positively guffawing Stoker. His armor melted away, leaving him a white t-shirt, black jean, and a dust brown Army vest. A well-worn pair of brown leather boots were on his feet, and several tattoos of unknown languages and design faded onto his fur. "Did you really have to go and pick a fight with Throttle?"

"Aw, now I'm hurt. How do you know he didn't pick a fight with me?" Stoker asked in a mildly mocking voice.

"Because Throttle's cool like that," Charley said matter-of-factly. But on catching the growing blush on the young god's face, her eyebrows went up in surprise. "What? You started this?"

"I thought he had attacked you!"

"Hey!" Stoker protested. "I don't need to knock a girl out to have a good time!"

"She was perfectly fine walking in the springs by herself, and then I saw you were carrying her out of the springs, naked and unconscious!" Throttle protested. "What was I supposed to think?"

"How about using that brain that you're famous for and asking me what was going on?" Stoker snapped.

A loud sigh interrupted their bickering. "Children, please. Throttle, I was walking into the spring when I saw Stoker was already in there," she blushed, "naked as the day he was born. I fainted, okay? Now Stoker, would you be so kind as to fill in the rest?"

"Of course, dear lady," the elder god replied. "When you passed out, I carried you here to the hall and put you on the altar to keep you safe while I contacted your contractor."

She frowned in confusion. "My what?"

"Your contractor, or the god that holds the contract of your Wish. That mark on your right hipbone, that's a sealing mark. Its proof that you're under contract with your chosen god. Speaking of which," Stoker leaned towards her in avid curiosity, "just how exactly did you con him into granting you a Prayer?"

Before Charley could protest, Throttle broke in, "Its not a Prayer, Stoker. Its a Blessing, authorized by the Almighty Himself."

Stoker froze, slowly turning from the girl to fully face Throttle. "A divine Blessing of Heaven's Grace? Are you serious?"

He nodded.

"Incredible," Stoker marvelled. "There hasn't been a Wish made in almost five hundred years. So just what did you Wish for, my lady?" he asked her.

She opened her mouth to answer, but a harsh choking sensation startled her into stopping. She cleared her throat and tried again, but this time she began to cough furiously. Both gods immediately moved to help her, sitting her back on the altar and materializing a glass of water for her to drink. "Thanks guys, I appreciate it," she said hoarsely. She made to try again to expain, but Stoker stopped her.

"Just stop while you're ahead, my lady. Whatever your Wish is, it must be filed in the System as Special Access. That's why you're coughing and choking like that."

"Special Access?"

"It means that only certain people, in certain positions, and only in certain situations, can access the file that details your Wish," Throttle explained. "Its to prevent any Demon Hackers from finding out about it, and will stop any other gods from tampering in it."

"Why would any of the gods mess with it?" She asked in confusion. "If the Almighty cleared it, they can't do anything about it, right?"

"Somewhat," Stoker said. "See, you can't negate the contract by subtracting the original deal. But you can state that certain things can or can't be done, via a qualifying clause, or you can add things to a contract to include certain rite and rituals. Other gods might want whatever it is you wished for to work in their favor, or to serve them outright."

"That's terrible," Charley said in horror. She looked over to the tan mouse, "Oh Throttle, I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry about it," he said with a shrug. "With the Special Access only order, the only ones that can attempt to alter the contract are those directly under the Almighty, and they're beyond trustworthy."

"Good to know," she said softly, stretching her arms as she yawned. The girl twisted to stretch further and froze in place. "Uh-oh."

"What?" Both gods turned to face where she looked and froze as well. "Uh-oh."

"Merciful Mother of Mars," Abbot Meridian breathed from just inside the main doors.