Chapter 29

Maximus joined the others and went down to the dining hall again. Ajax was already waiting for them with a drink in his hand. When they came in Ajax offered them some. Maximus was surprised to see that it was the drink 'ox toxin'. This was an alcoholic drink that was specifically made for Minotaurs. Humans usually didn't drink it and for good reason. The thing tasted disgusting and you needed a stomach made of iron to hold it in. But somehow Minotaurs loved it. Maximus had actually tried it once on a dare from Rex. But he puked it out immediately, and for two days after. Rex on the other hand was happy to see his favourite drink. "Don't mind if I do" he said, and grabbed a bottle from Ajax and took a seat. Achilles seemed saner than those two though, he said, "I don't know how you guys can drink that sludge. Don't you have something else like scotch or whiskey maybe?" On his command, a butler-bot poured out a glass of scotch with ice and brought it to his seat. Since both Maximus and Hedger didn't drink liquor, they settled for some cola.

"So I checked out that truck of yours and it's pretty bad. But luckily I'm an expert on salvaging vehicles. Still it's going to take at least a week," Ajax said, opening another bottle of 'ox toxin'. He didn't use a bottle opener either just his hands. In fact he was wearing a sleeveless T-shirt now, and Maximus could see that his arms had more muscles on them than most people had in their entire bodies. He also noticed that Ajax had a tattoo on his left arm under the shoulder. It looked like a symbol of some sort, but he had never seen it before.

"Anyway, you guys are welcome to stay here as long as you like," Ajax added. "That's fine. Now that we got Daedalus out we don't have to rush. But still it would be wise to leave as soon as possible. I'm sure Empress Athena will have a lot to discuss with her personal advisor regarding the war," Achilles said.

Ajax took another sip and said "So did you send a message to Athens that you got old Daedalus back?"

Achilles nodded, "Yes, I sent a mirror message when I got here and explained our situation, even telling them to locate the antidote for his potion. I'm sure nobody got it in Athens".

Mirror messages were a magical form of communication. Unlike telephones, one could not only hear, but also see the person who sent the message, although it was for messages and not conversations. This meant that once the message was sent the receiver had to send another message as a reply. They couldn't just talk like they did on telephones. But Maximus was confused, it sounded like Achilles said that nobody had got his message, he was sure he meant to say somebody did.

They were still talking and waiting for Daedalus and Hephaestus to join them for dinner when suddenly Rex, who had been silent for a while, shouted "That's it!"

Everyone looked at him now and he was pointing at Ajax. "What's it?" Hedger asked, somewhat worried that Rex had a bit too much to drink.

"That tattoo on your shoulder," Rex said looking at Ajax. "I just remembered what it stood for. It's the mark of the Omega seven."

Maximus was sure he had heard the name before, but he just couldn't remember what it was. "Omega seven, what are they, some sort of rock band or something?" Hedger asked.

"What, no," Rex said. "The Omega seven consisted of the seven most powerful warriors on the Greek side. They were formed during the war, or at least that's what the rumours say. There was no official record of its existence. Only a symbol, The Greek letter Omega with a seven running through it."

Maximus looked at Ajax's tattoo and realised it was the same symbol Rex was talking about. Rex continued "That tattoo is proof that the Omega seven existed and that you were a member."

Ajax laughed and said, "It looks like you got all the facts right. But you shouldn't be so surprised. In fact Achilles here is a member too. "Achilles rolled up his sleeve to show an identical tattoo on his arm as well.

"So being part of the seven is a big deal?" Hedger asked.

Maximus nodded and said, "Yeah, actually. I've heard this story too. It meant that they were the most powerful soldiers the Greeks had to offer. They say that even the unflinching walls of Troy trembled when all seven of them entered the battlefield."

Ajax and Achilles shared a smile. It seemed the topic had made them nostalgic. "Those were the days, right Achilles?" Ajax said.

"So are you guys still active?" Rex asked.

"Well, we are all still alive if that's what you meant. But we are all scattered across the world now. I haven't actually seen a few of them in a long time." Achilles finished off his scotch and said, "You might be lucky enough to meet one more of us. Nobody will be there in Athens."

Achilles and Ajax laughed at the confused look on the faces of the other three. Maximus felt it was some sort of inside joke between the old friends. They were about to ask more when the doors opened and Daedalus walked in.

"Good to see you all this evening gentlemen," Daedalus said. Daedalus seemed to have cleaned up. His full grey hair was cut and neatly combed and his beard had been trimmed. He was also wearing a fresh blue set of robes and he really did look the part of a great inventor now. "Well, you're looking much better Daedalus," Hedger said.

"Thank you my friend. And it's all thanks to these magnificent automatons," Daedalus said looking at the butler-bots.

"Oh, I was supposed to send word to Hephaestus when you arrived," Ajax said. Then he called one of the butler-bots and typed something on its monitor. The robot sped away out the door, probably to fetch the smith god. Daedalus also took a seat among the others.

Achilles informed Daedalus that they would be staying for another week. "That is a fine decision. I must say I have actually begun to enjoy the time I have in my head. It gives me so much time to think and I have already thought of at least twenty new experiments to try when I get back. I might begin to drink the potion to get away from my busy schedule from now," Daedalus said.

"My only worry is about the soldiers chasing us," Rex said. Ajax gave a loud laugh and said "Those stiffs are not going to dare enter the city. You see the truth is they can't afford to piss off the Vulcan Empire."

Maximus wasn't quite sure about that. Ares was the kind of guy who would gladly go to war for less. Hedger said what Maximus had been thinking "I don't know Ajax, Ares is the god of war because he enjoys the war more than the victory. He has no trouble picking fights."

"Well all that is true, but he still won't make a move against Vulcan," Ajax said taking a sip. "Let me explain. You see Vulcan provides weapons and ammunition to both Mars and Minerva now. If Mars was to attack us then Athena would instantly come to our support. Then the supply of weapons to Mars would stop and we would completely side with Athena. This would definitely turn the tides of war against them. In fact, if it wasn't for this I personally think Ares would have attacked us long back."

"If you don't trust Ares, why don't you just side with Athena already?" Achilles asked. Just then the doors opened again and a man came in, and he said, "Because I have no interest in their bloody politics".