"Why," Tao put on a snake's smile, "an alliance of course. Sparta has alliances with city-states under the Peloponnesian league, correct? It could work just like that. Mutual benefit for Persians and Spartans alike."
Doris' squeezed her father's hand again, visibly making Tao uncomfortable. Demaratus asked, "so if you join the league, will you promise to send soldiers to aid Sparta when we ask?"
Tao frowned, suddenly realizing the tables were reversed. "Well, we can certainly aid Sparta when needed. But that would require... For Spartans to aid Persia when needed as well."
The council suddenly calmed itself, going quiet at Tao's proposal.
"Needed for what?" Cleomenes said with added skepticism in his tone. "Just what sort of aid would Persia expect from Sparta?"
Tao swallowed, "we can discuss the details another time. For now, I highly recommend you help us conquer Athens so that you'll at least have the king's favor."
"The king's favor?" Demaratus said calmly, "and why would Spartans need a barbarian king's favor?"
Demaratus put a hand on his sword, tapping it irritatingly for Tao to see. Tao swallowed, "what I mean is, uh-"
Cleomenes said, "what does Persia want from Sparta? What future does Persia demand from Sparta?"
From the stadium, Cleomenes' daughter yelled at the king's, "slavery!" She sowed the seeds of distrust among her people. The citizen body raised up from their seats and yelled blasphemy.
Cleomenes pointed a finger at Tao. "Answer, Persian. Or else this might be your last stand."
Tao's eyes frowned, "don't threaten a messenger. Persian and Greek alike, doing so brings omens to all."
"What do the Persians want from Sparta?" Cleomenes repeated.
"We can negotiate after, at the very least, won't you help us campaign against Athens?"
"Answer the question," both kings ordered. Demaratus said it again, "what does Persia plan with Sparta?"
"Subjugation," the little girl yelled, knowing full well that the Persians were their enemies.
Ezra and Shida glanced over at each other. Suddenly worried for Tao's safety, neither of them felt safe around the maddening crowd.
The assembly was now shouting at Tao, calling him an animal from where he stood. Tao looked across the Spartan people and finally realized what Lindos was trying to tell him: Mad men. Men so accustomed to power and self-righteousness, that they refused to see the rest of the world for what it was.
Realizing at that moment that Spartans weren't fit for being a part of the Persian empire, either as an ally or an adopted territory, Tao told them the truth. With a flattened, stoic expression across his face, Tao said, "For your people to bow beneath the feet of my king, like the wicked animals you lot are."
Cleomenes unsheathed his sword. He stepped forward and pointed the daggers at Tao's head. Ezra stepped closer to Tao, her palm on her own sword ready to defend Tao.
"Don't," Shida ordered standing behind them. Tao also waved a hand at them both, signaling for them to back off.
Demaratus said, "do you really think two lowly women can stand up to Spartan kings?"
Shida answered, "We'll stand against Gods if you make us."
The two kings held still in their places, and made quick glances at each other. Demaratus ordered, "Put your weapon down, Cleomenes. The Persian is right, killing a messenger would anger the Gods."
Cleomenes held still for a moment, and lowered his sword while shaking his head. He said to Tao, "You step on Greek soil, ask us to be your cattle, and threaten us all with conquest and slavery."
"Think, Omens, Cleomenes," Tao spoke calmly. Despite being unarmed, he said it like he had all the power in the world.
Cleomenes glared at him, "You insult a king before his fellow men, and you talk to me about omens?"
"Honor," Ezra said to him, "think of your honor. Spartans don't attack unarmed men."
Cleomenes stared at the girl for a long while. Now a woman was telling him how to be honorable. Such an insult wasn't something he could tolerate. He stared down at Tao and said, "this, is, for honor."
Cleomenes' foot coiled back, and his leg kicked Tao in the gut. The force was so strong that Tao's body flung behind him, pushing him into the well.
Time began to slow for all of them. What seemed like a quick movement suddenly devolved into an assault on the Persians. Demaratus unsheathed his sword, guards raised their weapons to surround the remaining girls.
The girls glared at the Spartan men with disgust in their eyes. So disgusted that their eyes began to glower. A light streamed across their bodies as energy pulsated around their skin, a light aurora glow escaped their bodies like rays of sunlight.
They flared like the sun. The Spartan man jolted back in terror as the blinding light overtook them. In a quick instance, Ezra's body transformed into a stream of light consciousness. Disappearing from her place and flowing as a lightstream into the well.
Shida's body devolved into rock and dirt. Deconstructed into sand, Shida's stream of controlled particles bursted out of her as a whirlwind. It covered the stadium and filled the air of the Spartan councilmen and soldiers. Men coughed and choked, blinded by the sandstorm. Her sand remained active, swirling around the vicinity as though the wrath of Gods had befallen all of them.
Ezra's lightstream swiveled up the well again, this time carrying Tao as though he were floating on a cloud. Tao dropped to the floor, and Ezra returned to her natural form next to him.
Ezra launched herself at Cleomenes. Shifting from light to human to thrust her body at him, and pummeling him to the ground in a single instance. Cleomenes dropped his sword as he fell, allowing for Ezra to unsheathe her own sword to point at the king's neck.
The whirlwind of sand dissipated slowly. The people around them were panicked and frenzied even as the wind came to a gradual halt. By the time Shida's sand form returned to her true human form, the councilmen and guardsman were stunned to find Cleomenes with his back on the ground, with a sword pointed at his face.
"Give me the order," Ezra said glaring down at Cleomenes. "I'll kill this savage by where he stands."
"Don't you dare," Tao said coughing. Tao took a long moment to stand back up, not at all comfortable from his near-death experience. He observed the men around him, satisfied by the looks of horror across all of their faces.
You've angered the Gods, Tao wanted to say, because their expressions implied precisely that.
"Demons," Cleomenes coughed from the ground.
"Deviants, actually," Ezra said to him smiling.
"What magic was that?" Demaratus demanded an answer.
"The wills of Gods." Tao announced confidently. The men across the stadium stared in horror and resolve. Whereas before they saw the girls as weak, now they seemed like beings of mythos. Tao said, "Persia is a uniting force of the world. King Darius has the blessings of all peoples, and the will of all gods of the universe. By attacking me, you've not only angered the Persian people, but all the Gods that represent the people within the Persian empire."
Tao pointed a finger directly at Cleomenes, "Persian or Greek, killing diplomats is not humane. Your king has not just insulted Darius, but also the very laws of man and nature." Tao pointed around at the council, "children of Sparta, you've unleashed the wraiths of the world upon yourselves today. Not for refusing Dariu's call to arms, but for breaking the laws of humankind. King Darius will raze Sparta to the ground for this."
Ezra and Shida's eyes glowered again, confirming the idea that they were both demonic. Tao gestured at the girls, "The Gods from Egypt to Babylon will unleash their fury. Persia's armies stretch across the world, and the forces of humanity have just united against your wretched kind. Our soldiers will shake the land at which they walk, drink the seas as they pass, and block out the sun underneath their arrows. " Tao pointed down at Cleomenes who still laid on the ground, "and you only have yourselves and your mad king to blame."
Cleomenes looked up at Ezra atop of him, her eyes glowed like some supernatural force. For the first time in his life, Cleomenes was afraid. Not at the sword pointed at his head, but at the horrible fate he might've bestowed onto Sparta.
Demaratus walked forward at Tao in menacing stride. He looked down at the man with the fortitude of pure stoicism. "We don't bow down to Persian kings."
"You can't stand against the universe," Tao's voice was serene, calm in confidence. "Your Gods have abandoned you for this crime. Can you really hold your ground, against the whole world?"
"Yes we can," Demaratus said, "because only Sparta breeds true warriors. Now leave, your presence is trash to our city."
Ironic, the three Persians thought. But they all stayed quiet. Ezra stood up and walked away from Cleomenes. She took a step next to Tao, and began gesturing her hands in a circular motion. Shida stepped next to Tao as well, copying Ezra's movements but also not keeping her eyes off the little girl that spoke out.
The little girl was being held by Gorgos, the princess of Sparta. Gorgos gave all three of them a glare of death, promising them punishment in a silent way. But what disturbed Shida the most was the look on Doris' face. The little girl wasn't afraid or disturbed by the display of power, but angered by it. The little girl stared at all of them like insects that needed to be crushed. A child corrupted at the core, and the sight of that made Shida shutter.
Shida and Ezra's eyes glowed bright, and streams of light began surrounding the three of them while they motioned. Tao repeated the word, "the wraths of Gods have befallen you, pray that your honor may be restored by the deaths of all you. As of today, the world declares war on Sparta, and never forget that your arrogance was your own undoing."
Demaratus refused to let him have the final word, "then don't forget this, Persian. Today is the day Sparta stands against all the Gods of the east. Pray for your own mercy, for history will remember the time when Sparta never yielded."
The glow became brighter, and encased the trio into a ball of light. "We'll see," Tao responded. And with that, the ball of light dissipated, with the Persian emissaries disappeared from the city.
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