Authors Note: Hey everyone! I'm really happy that my first chapter was received positively :D. Thanks to everyone who left a review and all. So yeah, without further ado, lets dive into the depths of the second chapter.
Chapter 2: The Fates go on a whamming spree.
Below the large cavernous dome of the Underworld where Hades ruled supreme, there is another area, much larger and dangerous than any other place in both the mortal and immortal world. A place that actually houses an entity, a primordial to be exact who is very much alive. This being and the subsequent area is called Tartarus. A land where monsters and immortals dwell when they are slain only for them to remain here if they are unlucky to reach a certain set of doors. And unknown to many monsters, that was what was going to happen, albeit, in a much painful way.
In a flash of grey, the three Fates appeared, wearing rusted pieces of armor and carrying their infamous spiked clubs. And while they looked laughable, it was their head aching aura that shut many beings up, if they weren't already killed that is.
"Well how about that! No one to greet us? A shame really, a real shame." sighed Lachesis.
"Be happy fool, like this we won't get interrupted on our…quest." Clotho replied, frowning at the last word. "It's ironic really, us actually going on a quest. Oh, how the tables have turned." She lamented.
"This better be the only time Chaos." muttered Atropos, though even she wasn't sure if it was her (or him?) who sent the vision. Though when in doubt, it's always best to assume a higher power. And the fact that none of them can actually see ahead through 'fates flow' really agitated them. And the power loss they were now experiencing due to being in the pit. They may be all powerful but going to different primordial realms can take a toll on an immortal unless they were attuned to it. All they got was the vision and a premonition with the damned black and blue string which they could not even weave a fate for. Hopefully that wasn't the case later on. They really did like their fateful duties.
"Let's not waste anymore time, now Clotho, where is that place we saw again? If I recall correctly, we saw high cliffs overlooking a massive stretch of darkness, right?" Atropos asked.
"That is correct sister, the end of Tartarus to be exact. As for the stretch of darkness, there were some flashes seen as well. That is no doubt the realm of Night." Clotho replied.
Lachesis snorted "The one who everyone thinks is our mother? Though I don't blame them, we do more or less fit the criteria as children of the Night. Now Hemera on the other hand, she's definitely an oddball."
"To be fair, all of us have oddballs in our extended immortal family. Heck, we are oddballs as well!" cried Clotho.
"Oh, stop yapping" said Atropos, who was massaging her temples. "But before we move forward, Clotho, when are those twins going to come around? We need our prophecy God as soon as possible."
"It will take a while sister" Clotho said, sighing. "Even I'm impatient but Zeus has not even set his sights on Leto yet. I'll say give it a year or two." She replied.
"Very well, let us move then." Atropos said.
With a hard gleam in their eyes, The Morai marched forward from their location, trudging across the hellish land. It was quite an eventful journey, them bashing every monster coming their way and a snide remark when they reached a private area of Tartarus. It was definitely hilarious though when the Chimera showed up and all it took was the fates each knocking a head on its body senseless. Though that didn't stop a Titan from showing up.
"So, this is the out-wordly presence that has graced these infested lands." said Koios, the Titan of prophecy. "Now, taste the steel of- wait, who are you thr- Fates?!"
WHAM!
"You know, for a Titan of Prophecy, I'm surprised he didn't know we were visiting" Lachesis said, as she poked her club at the broken form of the Titan.
"Sister, stop pretending to be so naïve" Atropos said, shaking her head. "We are the Fates, we are obviously out of his Sight!"
"Look! We reached the edge!" Clotho shouted. The three sisters quickly advanced and soon, they were overlooking the realm of Night. But something peculiar was happening. Flashes could be seen everywhere and what looked like greek fire coming from a monument.
"Is there…a battle going on? Lachesis asked." she now hated the fact that neither od them have their 'flow' even more. They could have easily prepared for this.
Suddenly, the flapping of wings was heard. The Fates looked up and saw a group of Arai, the demons of curses, heaving a box which for some reason pulsed with an eerie purple light towards them. However, there seemed to be a volley of arrows that were coming their way as well. Atropos quickly raised a shield to deflect the arrows, but the Arai were not so lucky, every single one disintegrated except for two from the group though it didn't look like they were going to make it either.
"Here, take it…the cradle…" the first arai said while coughing what looked like black ink. "The mistress knew you would come…". The arai then disintegrated as well. The Morai then turned to the second one who was still standing, though it looked like she wasn't faring any better as well. "Take it to the surface, to Mount Oly-" but as she was speaking, she stopped abruptly as she clutched her shoulder, wincing in pain. She then began to speak again. "You were not the only ones given the vision, the omnipotent one also- "
She was cut off however by Clotho who this time tried to raise a shield to deflect the second volley of arrows, this time burning with a peculiar white fire. She was not successful though as all four were hit by one or two of those arrows and fell down in pain. They watched with widened eyes however as the arai, who was now covered with the burning arrows, shrieked in agony.
"Its name is Lykófos! It needs to be taken…far away…hurry." The arai then disintegrated into white colored ash.
"Di immortals, were those arrows burning with Hellfire?!" Clotho said, shocked.
"You do realize what that implies, right?" Atropos said, who was now staring at the battle taking place.
"Tartarus. This definitely does not bode well seeing that he's attacking Nyx at her own realm not to mention. This…box, or whatever those Arai called it, cradle? We have to get it out of here as soon as possible. Can we flash out of here now only or do we have to go back from where we started?" Lachesis asked.
"Back to where we came from. The only reason we flashed over there was because we were at a relatively unknown part of the pit, nowhere near any hotspots. And this is a BIG hotspot seeing that we are right on the borders of two primordial realms. So we have to move, NOW!" Atropos explained, who was already brandishing her club and shuffling away from the battle. The other two sisters quickly joined her as well.
And while there weren't any interruptions so far, the Fates weren't taking any chances in moving leisurely. This also answered a question that had been lingering in their minds for a while now.
"No wonder he didn't show up when we appeared in his own realm, since we are the Fates and all. He should have showed up." muttered Clotho "He was too busy with that battle of his, but once he knows that we have the thing he potentially wants, he's going to come after us!"
"Oh don't tell me you're scared of HIM" Lachesis said, who was staring at her sister incredulously. "We're the Fates! Does that not ring any bells?"
"Yes, but he's a primordial, who will be even more powerful cause we're taking a lovely stroll through him!" cried Clotho.
WHAM!
WHAM!
"For Chaos and my sake, shut your traps!" Atropos shouted, who was now staring at both her sisters, clutching their heads and groaning. "Now you know how it feels listening to you two bickering everyday for almost a century." She muttered.
"Well, well, well. Is this not something you don't see every day, hmmm." A voice said.
All three of them whipped their heads to the source of the voice.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the mighty Echidna." drawled Atropos. "How's your son?"
Echidna, the mother of all (well most) monsters narrowed her eyes. "He is recovering yes. It'll take another fifty or so years but he'll recover. But speaking of my sonny…" she said, pointing a scaly finger at them. "Allow me, to exact his vengeance and my revenge on you all!" Giving a battle cry. She charged at them while her hands started to drip with poison.
The three fates scattered, with each of them trying to get a rise of the monster. Whenever Echidna tried to approach a fate, she would then be barraged with clubs, energy beams and insults. But amongst the chaos, the black box was left unattended.
"Gah! I have had ENOUGH! Echidna cried as she delivered what looked like a fatal slash on Lachesis but it only resulted with her armor melting.
"That was my favorite set! Lachesis exclaimed. "You wait, I'm going to make sure that the mortals name some random animal after you. That is how they are going to remember you're name from now on." she said, grinning.
"You dare! I am Echidna! Mother of all- "However before she could finish her rant, she was smacked on both sides of the head by the other two sisters. "Yeah, yeah, we know." said Clotho. Though that only managed to disorient her momentarily, and she quickly got hold of her bearings.
Echidna then raised her hands and started spewing poison everywhere, leaving the Fates to take cover, once again forgetting about the box. However, someone did notice it.
"What…do we have here?" said Echidna who picked up the box which was now covered with poison and pulsing brightly with the same purple light. "I noticed you three carrying this but I didn't think of it to be important." she said, while examining it.
"Put. That. Down." the three Fates said together, raising their glowing hands at the monster.
"No. I don't think I will." replied Echidna, who was now grinning maliciously. "There doesn't seem to be a lock, oh well, might as well just break it." She said and started to apply pressure on the box from her hands.
Atropos brandished her club, while still keeping her raised hand steady "Echidna, you put that down right now or else I will make sure you don't regenerate for another ten cent…" she threatened but slowly trailed of when she saw the box pulsing and shaking.
Echidna was dumbly staring at the box when she tried to get a hold of herself and the situation. "What the- wait what is happening?!" she cried but before she can get a non-existing answer, the box released a black and red wave of energy that disintegrated her within seconds. It could have seriously injured the Fates as well but before that could happen, the red colored energy turned into a sky-blue color and instantly healed them.
"Wha-that power, it-it was of an Olympian level." stammered Lachesis. "But way more powerful, like more powerful than the Big Three." She finished, eyeing the box wearily.
"It changed the nature of its power within seconds. This thing is much more powerful and dangerous than we anticipated it to be. I doubt Zeus is going to be happy" Clotho said.
"Happy? He's going to simultaneously soil, shit and puke a little once he knows about this. He will rather throw it into the abyss of Chaos before thinking of the repercussions." Atropos exclaimed. "But its not like its some being who could overthrow him. It's just a big box…right? She finished nervously.
"Well…the Arai did call it a cradle…" Lachesis said nervously. "You don't think they meant that kind of cradle?"
"It doesn't matter, this thing is important, regardless of what it is." Clotho said. "We need to get out of here fast though, I think we're close."
The other two sisters while still apprehensive, nodded, and continued their journey. The box continued to pulse with the same purple light, and occasionally formed geometric patterns which rose wasn't long before the Fates reached their destination and quickly left the pit and flashed to a well hidden cave, somewhere in Greece, where they reside.
However, back in the pit, inside a huge castle made of obsidian, a malevolent being was being informed on the progress of an ongoing battle by a cyclops.
"Our archers managed to get the Arai, but they didn't take into account that the box may be picked up by someone…which happened." The cyclops said, nervously.
"Continue…"
"Um, our spy managed to see what they looked like however. The intel says that it was three old women, like really old, wearing some kind of rusted armor and carrying some kind of metal clubs."
The being continued to stare at the cyclops when he suddenly got up, and clenched his fists.
"The Morai themselves? In my realm? the being questioned as he started to pace in the rather large room. "I knew I should have done something, that energy signature was too powerful for me to ignore. Alas, I had my priorities set elsewhere but even that did not lead me to fruition. Though that would be something, eh cyclops. Who do you think would have won, me or the Morai?"
"I-I don't kn-know, my lord." The cyclops stammered.
"Hmm, smart answer. It would be interesting though, really interesting. After all, I Tartarus, will be stronger in my own realm of course." The being now known to be Tartarus answered. "And they, will of course have the significant power cut. But regardless what happened has happened with the box. And to be fair, that was just a backup plan, an insurance really. My main act, will definitely be something much grander. And I will tell you cyclops, for you have faithfully served me for decades, even when I gave offers to return back into the mortal world."
"Oh, that's very kind of you my lord." The cyclops replied.
"Yes, so my grand act is something that involves…Gaia."
The cyclops eye bulged. "The Earth Mother?! But isn't she asleep?
"Actually she's more like, dozing really." Tartarus replied off-handedly. "But she has given me an offer I just…cannot refuse for a number of reasons. And what may be a revenge campaign for her, will be a campaign of conquest for me, with those Olympians groveling at our feet."
"But, all in due time yes, all in due time…"
Well, that's the second chapter for you guys. And I did say a new chapter will come out this week so…here you go! But please don't expect a new chapter every two days or so, I'm still figuring out a schedule. The only reason I've posted a chapter is cause my mind was bursting with ideas and I had to write them down, but then I felt guilty for keeping them just there so yeah second chapter. And who knew the Fates can be more than just three old fate ending grannies huh :D. And if you guys do have any questions, they'll be answered. But all in due time, yes. All in due time…\/.