The 4th Gate

There really isn't much to say.

We've reached the fourth gate.  I suspect this place is beginning to grind down on Hal, he's not normally this doom and gloom.  As long as we can keep it together for the rest of the trip, we'll be fine once we're free of Duat.  Looking around, I keep half-suspecting that R'lyeh is going to rise from the black waters and Cthulu is going to jump out and yell surprise at us before we're devoured.  I certainly wouldn't be surprised at this point, given the bloody snake in Helheim.

But we're here.  Hurt but unbroken.

I've...well, taken my spot at this point as the stand in for Isis.  As I've said, I'm not happy about it, but it is what it is.  Fate is going to keep pushing me this way, then fine, let it.  I'm not going to be the McKenzie who decided to go home when things got a bit dicey.  When we're free of Duat and Imhotep has whatever his plans are in place, then we can get back on track.  I'm starting to understand a bit more just how big the stakes are, too.  If Zeus is so desperate as to go through a titan to get what he regards as his, he'll make mistakes.

I just need to play my own cards right.  Which means finding a way to keep Aphrodite from just snapping her fingers, given her absurd levels of being able to twist people to her will.  I need to figure out where Athena stands as well.  The most I'm going to hope for there is neutrality, though.  With her out of the war, Zeus loses the last of the bulk of his military thinking.  Sure, there will be his children and other Dodek scions who side with Olympus, but I'm confident enough that without Ares or Athena, he can't, in the end, win through force of arms.

I just hope he has the bloody sense to see it himself.

Boat's moving again.  Need to cut this short so I can help guide us through.