A/N: So, I decided to start a story that's a bit different than the other ones I've done thus far. Namely, make one in the universe of a franchise that has virtually no story elements already established beyond the original myths and smite god reveal videos, so everything's pretty much my idea. That being said, I'm not sure how much people will like this one, so once I finish the pure Smite portion, which will be several chapters, I'll let you all have the decision of whether or not I continue it to make it a mass x-over. Either way, the ending I have planned for the Smite portion will be sufficient to either move on to a new arc or ending the story there. Now, there is something you all should be aware of. This story will be a mass harem story. I realize this bothers some people, so I am warning you now: If you do not like mass harems, do NOT read this story!
Anywho, please, remember to review with any comments, question, concerns, or constructive criticism that you might have.
Chapter 1: Entering the Battlefield of the Gods
Footsteps echoed through the empty stone corridors as Damon Eterson made his way through the empty tunnels of a temple he discovered. A scholar by trade, he was fascinated by the stories of a strange temple in the middle of the desert. For months, he sought help to find some way of getting to it, but no one was willing. Everyone he spoke to was too afraid to go anywhere near it, but his curiosity would not be abated until he found this temple and learned its secrets. Eventually he found someone willing to give him a map leading to the temple and that is when he decided that if no one was going to help him, then he was going to search the temple himself! After all, he was more than capable of defending himself, having been trained in hand-to-hand combat and swordsmanship on top of his scholastic teachings..
Once he found the temple, after several days of riding on horseback, he had to admit there did seem to be an aura of foreboding around the temple, but his fascination with his findings thus far overwhelmed any fear he might have had. He was astonished to find that the temple showed markings and statues of not just one religion or pantheon like he thought he'd find, but instead of multiple religions. He found images of the likes of Thor, Poseidon, Neith, Susanno'o, and many others! Damon knew right away the significance of such a thing. It hinted that perhaps the religions so many still worshiped to this day were not always so separate as they were in modern day.
Damon's awe only increased when he reached the main chamber at the center of the temple and found what appeared to be a circular pedestal with two curved spikes on either side.
"Fascinating," he muttered, running his hand through his black hair, "Some kind of altar, perhaps?" He noticed there was writing along the steps up to the altar, "Huh, there's a mix of languages here," he said, "Greek letters, Egyptian heirogliphs, Norse runes, Mayan heirogliphs, Chinese characters, Japanese kanji. This is astonishing! Let me see if I can read this. When the throne sits empty, the one who fills it shall rule all. The divine ones bound to the mortal plane shall use the gate to reach the battlefield," he read aloud as he followed the words up the stairs to the platform, where he sat down to think, "Hmm, divine ones bound to the mortal plane. There are a few myths of deities being stuck on Earth, so it's probably in reference to that, but throne? What could that be referring to? Also, what is this gate? And is it really talking about a battle between gods? Between pantheons?"
He leaned back to relax and try to think, not noticing where he placed his hands as when they both touched specific symbols on the floor, they lit up with a dark blue energy, which spread over the platform and up the spikes.
"What the?" Damon said, standing up in surprise as the energy spread throughout the platform, surrounding it, and connected the two spikes via a beam of energy. Out of the center of the beam, a bubble formed, growing to contain the entire platform and Damon, despite him backing up, to try and avoid it. Damon tried to pull himself out of the bubble, but he found it as hard as steel even as it enveloped him. Once he was fully inside the bubble, the room became so bright that he couldn't see a thing before it felt like every molecule was being ripped apart. Damon, at that point, did the only thing he could: scream until he passed out.
Damon didn't know how long he was unconscious, but the next thing he knew, he could hear faint muffled voices, like hearing people talk through glass. He could feel the ground beneath him. It wasn't the cool stone of the platform beneath his body, but rather dirt or sand.
The voices became clearer and one, clearly male, said, "His eyes moved. He's beginning to awaken."
Damon opened his eyes and, after a few seconds, his vision cleared and found he was looking up at two men. One had long blonde hair with a beard and mustache, was dressed in armor, and carried a massive hammer. The other man had a long black beard and was dressed in green. The man in green carried a large guandao.
"Are you alright?" the man in green asked.
"What happened?" Damon groaned as he sat up to see that he was no longer in the temple, but instead in a field surrounded by ruins.
"I found you unconscious in the middle of a very dangerous area, so I brought you here," said an angelic sounding female voice behind Damon.
He looked behind him to see the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her long blonde hair was tied in a pair of ponytails overlapping each other. Her light blue outfit barely covered any of her flawless skin.
"'Tis most curious to find a mortal here," the blonde man said, leaning his hammer on his shoulder, "I did not think it was possible."
"We can worry about that later," the woman said, kneeling next Damon, "How are you feeling?"
"Fine, I gu-urk!" Damon grunted as it suddenly felt like something had grabbed his heart and squeezed hard.
"What's happening!?" the woman shouted.
"Mortals aren't meant to be here!" the man in green said, "Who knows how his body would react to this place! It is permeated with energy of the gods of multiple pantheons."
As he said this, dark blue energy covered his body and cracks grew up his arms and down from his eyes and down his cheeks. He writhed in pain as the cracks grew across his body and the energy radiated from his body.
Noticing the pulses of energy were speeding up, the man in green grabbed the woman by her arm and pulled her behind some cover with the blonde man following behind them. Seconds later, the energy erupted from his body in a massive explosion. After waiting a few seconds, the man in green looked up from behind cover to see Damon lying on the ground again, panting from the pain. The cracks on his arms and face were still releasing the energy, but it appeared to be stabilized.
Groaning, Damon stood up, his legs wobbly as he got his balance. He turned to look at them the three, who were surprised to see Damon's eyes now looking as if they were burning with dark blue fire.
"I-It's okay," he groaned as he clenched and unclenched his hands, "I-I think it's done. Now, please tell me where am I? Who are you? What happened to me?"
"You are in a world different from the world of mortals," the man in green said, "This is the world where the gods go to do battle with one another. We are each members of different pantheons. I am Guan Yu. I have been called the Saint of War."
"I am the Norse god of thunder, Thor!" the blonde man said, smiling confidently, "I am pleased that thou did not explode!"
"I am Aphrodite," the beautiful woman said, "I am the Greek goddess of beauty and love."
"You'reā¦gods," Damon said, his brain having trouble accepting what they were saying.
"Yes," Guan Yu said, firmly.
"Huh," Damon said, numbly, before saying, "Excuse me, uh, Guan Yu, can I borrow that?"
Frowning with confusion as to the strange request, the Saint of War handed his weapon to Damon, who held it with his right hand at the base of the blade before placing the blade against his left palm and sliced into his flesh. Damon hissed with pain as the three gods moved to grab the weapon. Guan Yu pulled the weapon from Damon's grasp while Aphrodite pulled a ribbon from her hair to wrap it around his hand to stanch the blood.
"That hurt," he said, dumbly, "You can't get hurt in a dream."
"You aren't in a dream," Guan Yu said, "This is very real."
Damon looked at the other two, who nodded in agreement. He then looked at his hands noticing the cracks on his arms. "Any idea what happened to me?"
"Thou seems to have absorbed the energy of this plane," Thor said, "Thou shouldst be cautious. We do not know what it could have done to you."
"Sounds like a good idea," Damon said, "Do you know how to get back to the, uh, mortal world?"
"I don't think so," Aphrodite said, "As far as I know, the only one that can send anyone from this world to the land of mortals is king of the gods."
"So, where can I find him?" Damon said.
"Unfortunately, that is the cause of the war currently happening between the gods," Guan Yu said, "Before now, the Christian god, the leader of the largest religion, has controlled the throne, but he and all those involved in that religion have disappeared, leaving his throne open to whomever can take it, so many gods and goddesses are fighting each other in order to take the throne and become the dominant ruler over the mortals as well."
"So, is that what you all are trying to do as well?" Damon asked, his curiosity getting the better of him again.
"I don't really have any interest in that," Aphrodite said, "I, um, just have my own reasons for joining the war."
"I have no interest either. In fact, most of those from the Chinese pantheon do not," Guan Yu said, "But I do wish to find someone worth serving to help them onto the throne."
"I wish to see my father on the throne," Thor said, smiling, "I have yet to find one who would be better suited!"
"Well, I hope whoever wins will be good to the mortals," Damon said, gaining looks of curiosity from the three deities, "So many gods have been known to be cruel and petty towards mortals for even the slightest of reasons. Not letting the gods bed them, making a minor comment against a deity, siding with one god over another, breaking the head god's rules even when the same god doesn't follow them, or just because they could. Hopefully, it'll be someone worthy of the throne."
"Quite right," Thor agreed, "Though I am not certain such a god exists. Even my father, as noble and honorable as he is, has his flaws, though I still feel he is the best choice."
"Your loyalty to your father does you credit," Guan Yu said, "A son should always support his father."
"What about you, Aphrodite?" Damon asked, "What's a goddess of beauty and love doing involving herself in a war between gods? Man, I still have trouble believing all of this."
She gave him a beautiful smile and, brushing a strand of golden hair behind her ear, said, "It's, um, a little personal. I'd rather not say it."
"Okay, that's fair," Damon said, nodding, "While I'm not exactly a slouch when it comes to fighting, I'm not sure I'm cut out for getting involved in a war between gods, no matter how strange I look now. Is there a safe place I can hide out to avoid being caught in the middle?"
Damon felt a little embarrassed about seeming so cowardly. He truly did want to help, but what could a single mortal do in a war between gods? Sure, the trio of deities before him didn't seem to be too upset or disappointed, but that didn't make him feel any better. Guan Yu and Thor seemed to be pretty nice peo-er, gods and Damon didn't like the idea of lowering himself in terms of their level of respect, but the one that he was most worried about disappointing was Aphrodite. It wasn't because he was attracted to her, though there was a bit of that, after all she was very attractive. It was because she seemed so different than he thought she'd be like from the myths he'd always heard. Sure, she had the natural sensuality and beauty he'd expect, but he could almost see something else, something she kept hidden beneath the surface, especially when the topic of why she was involved in the war came up. Whatever that something was, it was the main reason Damon didn't want to disappoint her.
"Unfortunately not," Guan Yu said, answering Damon's question, "This entire plane is divided into different areas and any one of them could become the site of a new battle."
"Great," Damon sighed, rubbing his head in frustration, "Guess I'll have to find something."
"You could stay with us for a time," Aphrodite said, "We could help you."
When she said that, Damon felt like a great load was taken off of him, so looking at Thor and Guan Yu and seeing they weren't bothered by the offer, said, "Okay, then. Thank you very much."
Before anyone could respond, something big and furry slammed into Guan Yu and tried to bite his face off. The Warrior Saint managed to block just in the nick of time sticking the shaft of his guando in between the jaws of what looked to Damon like a human-wolf hybrid.
"Fenrir!?" Thor said, in shock as Guan Yu pushed the beast away from him. Thor then bashed away a snake with the head of a wolf, but as soon as he did, three more attacked him. As he bashed them away, the giggling of a little girl was heard.
"We thought we smelled some tasty morsels over here," said a girl who appeared to have the wolf-snakes coming out of her dress, "Good. We were getting very hungry."
"I might have known Fenrir would ally with a beast such as yourself, Scylla!" Thor said as he made another powerful swing to bash away another pair of wolf-heads.
"Not just your nephew, Thor," the horror of the sea giggled.
Their attention was drawn away from Scylla to Aphrodite, who cried out in fear and surprise.
Damon looked over to the goddess to see she was using her staff to barely hold off a creature that he'd never see before. It was humanoid in appearance with spikes all over its body and its entire torso was opening to reveal it was another massive mouth lines with dagger-like teeth.
"Bakasura there was so impatient about getting a snack that it was hard to get him to wait until your guard was down," Scylla giggled. Then, the female monster noticed Damon standing back from the fight. "Well, well, I don't recognize you. Not that it matters, I'm sure you'll taste just as yummy as these three."
Damon was frozen with fear as he watched the three gods fight some of the most fearsome and bloodthirsty monsters in history. He wanted to run, but he couldn't. He wanted to fight, but he couldn't. He could do nothing, but stand and watch as the gods barely held off the savage monsters. His immobility only lasted a few more seconds when he heard Aphrodite cry out as Bakasura knocked her to the ground and dove at her, both of its mouths opened wide to dig into her soft, flawless flesh. Damon moved, the dark blue energy flaring around his arms, without even meaning to and socked Bakasura in the side of its head, sending it flying into the humanoid body of Scylla. They both crashed into a wall.
"Woah," Damon said in awe as he looked at his arms, "Guess I can help after all."
Using the opening, Thor moved and hit Fenrir in the side, sending it crashing into the other monsters.
"Are you alright?" Damon asked Aphrodite, holding a hand out to help her up.
"Thank you," she said, standing up with his help.
"Die!" Scylla shouted as she sent all of the wolf-heads at Damon, who hit them with a roundhouse kick to knock them into each other. Thor, Guan Yu, and Aphrodite moved to stand by Damon, all squaring off against the monsters.
Bakasura hissed and Fenrir growled at the humanoid beings while Scylla snarled at them, "This isn't over!"
With that, the three monsters ran off, leaving the quartet to take a sigh of relief.
"I, uh, guess I'm not so helpless after all," Damon laughed uncomfortably.
"So, it would appear," Guan Yu said, "Will you get involved in the war then?"
"Guess so," Damon said, shrugging, "If I do, maybe I can find a god that could rule well."
"There is another possibility," Guan Yu said, gaining Damon's curiosity, "You could give it a try."
"M-Me?" Damon asked incredulously, "I-I'm not a god. I'm just a human! A human with powers I don't fully comprehend yet, sure, but still human! I can't be king of the gods!"
"I don't see why not," Aphrodite said, "You just fought with us against those three beasts. While that might not be much compared to fighting real gods, it's a good start. Besides, these powers of yours don't appear to be much different than those of a gods."
"I don't know," Damon said, uncertain, "Why don't we just try to find some more allies and see where it goes?"
"'Tis an acceptable idea," Thor said, nodding, "Perhaps the warriors of Asgard can join our cause!"
"And I'm sure a few Greeks can be persuaded," Aphrodite said, smiling that gorgeous smile.
"Well, then," Damon said, "Where should we go? I mean, what's the worst that could happen?"
A/N: And there's chapter 1! Please, remember to review with any comments, question, concerns, or constructive criticism that you might have.
