“You know about my magics?” I lifted a brow.
“A god in hiding is not as cut-off from the world as a human would be.” Krishna shrugged. “I leave when I like; I'm just careful to not draw attention to myself. And Karni Mata brings me lots of stories to entertain me.”
Teharon cleared his throat.
“Yes, she's told me all about you as well, Teharon,” Krishna said with a smile. “I find it fascinating that she gravitates toward compassionate men. It says a lot about her.”
“Like attracts like,” I noted.
“Yes; but they also say that opposites attract.” Krishna held his hands out to his sides. “The heart cannot be fathomed; it goes where it will.”
“So true,” I whispered with a look toward my husbands.
“But you are not here to socialize,” Krishna said. “Karni has told me you would like to speak to me about Dvārakā.”
“Yes, we believe that someone is trying to either raise the city or raid it for magical devices,” Thor said. “We'd like to put a stop to that.”
“Who is doing this?” Krishna asked with horror.
“We don't know,” Odin said grimly. “But they've found the hydraulic lifts beneath the city's foundation.”
“No!” Krishna stood angrily. “I hid them so well.”
“We have just come from the city; where we walked through the cavern of metal lifts,” I said gently. “It's true; someone has found the foundation. We were hoping that you would tell us where the Control Room is so we could disable the lifts.”
Krishna sat back heavily and lowered his gaze to the floor. We gave him a moment to process everything; just waiting patiently for his response.
“No,” he finally said.
“No?” Thor asked in confusion. “Why not?”
“One thing I love to do is watch movies.” Krishna smiled softly. “And I can't help but apply this situation to similar ones I've seen in films. The villains are after some elusive prize, and the heroes must find the treasure to protect it. Whenever I watch these movies, it becomes apparent to me that had the heroes done nothing, the treasure would have remained safe. It is always the intercession of well-meaning people that put the item into danger, and often, into the very hands of the worst sort of people.”
“Harry Potter,” I whispered.
“Yes!” Krishna pointed to me. “If the children had left the Philosopher's Stone alone, Voldemort would never have been able to touch it. He would have gotten all the way to the mirror, and then failed. They went through all of that for nothing, and in fact, ruined a perfectly good hiding place.”
“Fair enough,” I agreed. “But here's the thing, Krishna; you thought that no one could find the foundation, and they did. What makes you so certain that they won't find the Control Room?”
Krishna smiled wickedly. “Trust me, Lady Vervain; even if they do find the room, they will not be able to access it. Only someone with the ability to see the truth can enter the room.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Macaria huffed. “We're gods; we all see the truth.”
“No, you don't,” Krishna said smugly. “Gods are the worst at seeing truth. We live in a world of falsehoods; the greatest of which is our divinity. We have spent so much time and effort convincing humans of our godhood, that now we believe our own lies. We took sacrifice as gods and then we used it to weave our magic throughout the realms and live in the false existence it created.” He paused to consider us. “How many of you have transformed items in your territory?”
We looked warily at each other.
“But when I transform items, they actually become the thing I change it into,” I reasoned.
“Oh, yes; they seem to, don't they?” Krishna asked cheerfully. “But are they really?”
“So, you're saying that if I change a spoon into an Xbox, no matter how many games that Xbox plays, it's still a spoon?” I asked dubiously.
“No, Godhunter,” Krishna said gravely. “I'm saying that it was never a spoon to begin with. It is all an illusion.”
My jaw dropped. Macaria made an exploding motion with her fingers around her head as she made the accompanying sound of explosion; mind blown. Yeah; no kidding.
“There is no spoon,” I whispered.
Krishna laughed uproariously and slapped his blue thigh. “Just so, Godhunter; just so. We are going to get along famously.”
“So, you've laid god-traps in the Control Room,” Hades murmured. “But what if they're not after the controls?”
“What else would they be after?” Krishna asked in surprise.
“Machinery,” Thor said. “Powerful equipment.”
“I left no machines in Dvārakā,” Krishna assured us. “The city itself was the only piece of Atlantean technology that I couldn't remove. It has weapons built into it, but they cannot be taken. I assure you; there is no technology to steal and the weaponry is useless beneath the ocean.”
“And what if you're wrong?” Horus asked. “What if they are able to see true and raise the city?”
“Then the human world will have one hell of a wake-up call.” Krishna smirked. “Dvārakā was so grand that I couldn't hide it completely; I had to mask it beneath an illusion of ruins. But if the controls were accessed, and the city lifted, the illusion would fall away, and the true city would be revealed.”
“Again with the illusions,” I noted.
“The ruin-mask was a solution our pantheon came up with,” Brahma said.
“I simply took inspiration from it to protect the Control Room,” Krishna added.
“Let's hope that your illusions are stronger than those that inspired you,” Thor rumbled.
“If they're not, the Earth shall know the grandeur of the gods once again,” Krishna said softly.
Chapter Eleven
We decided to give Krishna and his illusions a
