Reviews:
Harbringer27:
Really? It was nine pages long. Not what I'd call short, but either way, I'm glad you're enjoying it.
bmanbeast57:
Yeah, Aphrodite's no doubt getting tired of it.
Rub37:
Glad you like it.
Guest (Mar.30):
Yeah, when I was reading the myths as a kid, her actions just never seemed to fit for her. Sure, the Greek gods tended to be petty, but it seemed odd when she'd fly off the handle over people claiming to be better looking or when she got so much as a scratch when she's been shown time and again to be without equal in the looks department. It always struck me as signs of an inferiority complex rather than the typical arrogance that the other gods seemed to have. Also, I'm not sure about possessive. Never really got that impression from the myths and as for this version, well, I recommend you reread chapter 5.
A/N: So, I felt like doing a pair of chapters of two of my favorite stories, so surprise! Another chapter for this one already! Please remember to review with any comments, question, concerns, or constructive criticism that you might have.
Chapter 7:
Battle of the Egyptian Pantheon
While Damon was speaking with Aphrodite, Thor, Cupid, and Guan Yu was patrolling the border with Horus, Anhur, and Serqet.
"Guan Yu, my impressively bearded comrade, doth thou bethink our friends shall settleth their issues soon?" Thor asked.
"I assume you're referring to Aphrodite and Damon," Guan Yu said, stroking his long beard.
"I'm sure it will work out," Cupid said, "Mom's not gonna let him go that easily."
"Wait, there's something in the distance," Horus said, his gaze looking away from their borders, "I recognize some of them as Greek gods, but I don't recognize all of them."
"What are they doing?" Guan Yu asked.
"They seem to be gathering their numbers around one of the ones I don't recognize," Horus said.
"We should prepare to defend ourselves," Serqet said.
"You can practically smell the battle to come!" Anhur growled.
"He seems to be opening portals," Horus said, "They're going through them. I think we're under attack."
"Good guess!" a voice shouted out behind them.
They looked just in time to dodge a flurry of fireballs fired from a portal. A man with an arrogant smirk on his face walked out of the portal. He was followed soon by a man that was practically solid muscle, the infamous three-headed dog, a woman with short black hair and heavy armor, and a man with golden hair and matching armor. Athena was the last one out of the portal.
"Apollo, Heracles, Cerberus, Bellona, Achilles, and Athena," Cupid said, naming each of the newcomers.
"Even with this number, you will not stand a chance against us!" Anhur growled.
"You foolish beast," Athena said, "You assume that we're the only ones attacking. Each group has their own duty."
"Yeah, my sister's no doubt enjoying her special job of hunting down her "number one target," Apollo said which earned him a slap on the arm from Athena.
"Regardless, our forces will overwhelm yours, so your two options are to surrender or foolishly resist," Athena said.
"Well, we're not going to surrender," Anhur growled as he and those with him prepared to fight.
"I figured you'd say that," Athena said.
The two groups charged each other.
Back with Damon who was now facing the Greek god of Time and the Greek goddess of the hunt alongside Chiron, Osiris, Isis, and Neith.
"So, you two still wanna do this?" Damon asked the two enemy deities.
"Your time must end and the pieces must be scattered. No cost is too great to achieve this," Chronos said.
"I don't know what that means, but I will not return to my father a failure," Artemis said, "That is why as any good huntress would, I brought a back-up plan."
Damon was hit with what felt like an oncoming truck and sent flying backwards. He looked up to see Mercury and a pair of gods that he didn't recognize. One was a woman dressed in white and purple clothes and a helmet covering her eyes. The other was a black jackal-shaped humanoid being dressed in more Egyptian garb.
"Set, I might have known you would help with this," Osiris said.
"Well, they wanted that little mortal with you and I wanted to rule our people," Set said with no shame, "Seemed like more than a fair deal."
"You have committed a number of transgressions and I am here to wreak vengeance upon you," the new woman said.
"Guess that makes you Nemesis, Greek goddess of vengeance," Damon said.
"That is correct and you will suffer righteous vengeance for your crimes," she said.
"Make that the goddess of hypocrites," Damon said.
"You dare insult me like that?" she snarled.
"You punish people for slights against the gods, but what of the crimes the gods themselves have committed?" Damon shot back, "Your pantheon alone has killed hundreds if not thousands of innocent people, but you don't care about that. You say you seek righteous vengeance for crimes, but really you're nothing more than an eager attack dog using a veil of righteousness to excuse your own hypocrisy."
With Damon's searing words ringing in her ears, Nemesis was fuming at the insults. "Die!" she shouted as she charged at Damon, her sword drawn.
"Nemesis, remember we need to take him in alive!" Artemis said, firing a few arrows at Damon's group to cover her charging ally.
Chronos, seeing an opening, attacked Artemis before charging at Damon himself. Damon used his powers to block Nemesis's furious blows, though it was all he could do to defend against them which was made even harder by Mercury using his speed to circle around to hit him from the sides and back. Osiris and Set, two brothers long at odds, charged and clashed with one another. Chiron and Isis used their mix of arrows and magic to defend their allies. Neith leapt into the fight as well, managing to use her archery skills to distract both Artemis and Chronos from their intended target.
"You will meet your fate now!" Nemesis growled, "Your petty insults only speed your fate along."
"Are you mad at me for what I said or are you mad because what I said is the truth?" Damon shot back, "Aphrodite, Cupid and Chiron are the only ones among your pantheon that have recognized that obvious fact!"
Mercury then sent Damon sprawling by hitting him with a superspeed shoulder tackle.
"Back off!" Damon shouted as he fired an energy beam at Mercury, who easily dodged it.
While he was distracted, Nemesis drove her sword towards Damon, but before she could drive it into his torso, a flock of doves knocked her back.
"Hands off my man!" Aphrodite said, "I plan on having him in tiptop shape at least until I finally have my fun with him!"
"Nice to know your priorities are in order," Damon grumbled.
"Hush, you! If you didn't let them keep interrupting us, my priorities would be just fine!" she said.
"Should have known the traitorous whore would show up," Artemis growled.
"I'll accept traitor, but I've never been paid for my time with anyone in my life!" Aphrodite said with pride, "Damon certainly won't need to pay for anything we do."
"Well, that's good to know I suppose," Damon said.
"You disgust me," Artemis snarled, "The fact that you'd be so eager to sleep with a mortal and a male one at that is so loathsome. You have no shame at all!"
"Says the daddy's girl," Damon said.
"What?" Artemis asked as the battles raged around them.
"You do whatever your daddy tells you and yet you talk about your disgust of all things male," Damon said, "Personally, I think you're overcompensating for something."
Artemis blushed darkly, whether it was from embarrassment or anger, Damon didn't know or care as he pushed forward, "Kinda funny that the man-hater will do anything to try and impress the guy who will literally sleep with any woman he comes across whether they want to or not, except his own daughters. Maybe you're just mad that that's one line your precious daddy won't cross."
Aphrodite giggled, "That actually explains a few things. It never did make sense with the way she acted."
"I'm going to kill you both!" Artemis roared as she started firing again. Nemesis, having recovered from Aphrodite's attack, charged as well.
Chronos used his power to blast Damon back. While Damon recovered, Nemesis swung her sword at him, which Damon ducked under the attack before delivering an energy-powered uppercut to her chin to knock her into the air. Aphrodite followed up with hitting her with another flock of doves.
Chiron and Neith distracted Artemis with their archery skills while Damon and Aphrodite continued to face Chronos and Nemesis. Osiris clashed swords with his jackal-faced brother over and over while Isis used her circle of protection to keep her husband defended from the oncoming attacks.
Damon slammed his fists to the ground to send a wave of energy to knock them off their feet. Aphrodite used her doves to circle the two attackers, having them peck and scratch at them. Chronos and Nemesis tried to swipe the birds away while Damon used his energy attacks to cause a beam of energy blast them from below.
Damon's attack dispersed Aphrodite's doves while sand was kicked up, blocking their view of the attacking gods. Damon panted as he waited to see if they were defeated by the attack. Chiron, Neith, Isis, and Osiris rejoined Damon's side while they waited to see if the attack defeated their enemies. Set looked uncertain as to whether he should retreat and Mercury waited as well.
Artemis prepared for another attack while the sand started to settle from Damon's attack. Suddenly, Nemesis and Chronos burst out of the cloud and charged at Damon before any of the defenders were prepared. The two attackers stabbed their weapons at the off-balance Damon and he was sure that he was about to meet his end.
Just before the attacks connected, a pillar burst out of the ground and fired fireballs at the Nemesis and Chronos, hitting them hard and sending them and Damon flying back from the shockwave. Then, out of nowhere, a woman with metal claws attached to her gauntlets jumped into the fray, slashing at Mercury and Artemis while the pillar continued firing at them.
"I don't know who you are, but you'll regret getting in our way!" Artemis snarled at the new attacker.
"The time has passed. I need to retreat, lest the sands run out," Chronos said before he disappeared in a flourish of energy.
"Artemis, we need to leave," Mercury said, "The odds are turning against us."
"Fine," Artemis said firing an arrow into the air, seconds before a portal opened behind her. Artemis and her allies dove through the portal, which closed behind them.
The mysterious helper let the enemies go before turning to Damon and that was when he got his first good look at her as he sat up from where he'd landed. She had long dark hair tied up on top of her head and she wore a red, gold, and green leather armor. The part that caught Damon's attention was the fact that the mysterious woman had tails. Nine vulpine tails.
Damon's allies prepared to defend themselves against her, but she ignored them and walked to Damon before gently but firmly putting both hands to his cheeks.
"Soon, Great One, soon you'll reawaken and take your rightful place and your true followers will serve you," she said before separating from him and disappearing in a burst of flame.
"Uh, who was that?" Damon asked the other gods.
"I don't know," Aphrodite said.
"I'm not familiar with them either," Osiris said, "I assumed you knew her. She seemed to know you."
"I'm not so sure she did," Damon said, "I'm mean she was calling me 'Great One' whatever that means."
"We should check on the others," Chiron said, drawing their attention, "I doubt they only attacked us here."
"Good point," Damon said, "Chiron, you, Isis, and Osiris, head for the border and see if the group patrolling there needs help. Aphrodite, Neith, and I will head for Ra and the center of town."
"A good plan," Chiron said, "Let's move out!"
Damon and his group headed towards the center of town where Ra was last seen. They arrived to find the leader of the Egyptian gods, clutching a bleeding arm and covered in dirt while Thoth, Khepri, Freya, and Sobek were in a similar state.
"Are you all alright?" Damon asked.
"We could be worse," Ra said, "They sent Zeus, Nike, Hades, and Poseidon to attack us. They suddenly retreated. I guess they sensed the fights were going against them. Didn't happen too soon. We were barely holding them off on our own."
"Well, I'm glad you guys are okay," Damon said.
"Art thou well too?" Freya asked, moving to Damon.
"Yeah, we're all pretty good," Damon said, "Some scratches, nothing too major." He then turned to the god of knowledge, "Hey, Thoth, could I speak to you?"
"Clearly, but I take it you're meaning you wish to speak to me about something specific," Thoth said.
"During the attack, Chronos, the Greek god of time, attacked as well," Damon said.
"I don't see why that is so odd," Thoth said.
"He wasn't attacking as a part of the rest of the pantheon," Damon said, "He seemed to be separate from them and coming after me for other reasons than Zeus's vendetta."
"Hmm, while it's not surprising that their pantheon isn't completely unified, one that is separate from them attacking you regardless? That is odd. Do you have some past with him?"
"Never met him before," Damon said, "He seemed to think taking me out would stop something in motion, but he didn't make any sense."
"I see. Did he give any clue as to what this was?" Thoth asked.
"He said that if he didn't take me out, the Beginning will be the end of us all. He also mentioned something about need to scatter the pieces of something. He didn't say what. He also said that time would cease if he failed," Damon explained.
"The Beginning? The Beginning of what?" Thoth asked, "Also, these pieces he mentioned. Did he give any idea what these meant?"
"Not really," Damon said, "Do you have any idea?"
"Yes…and no," Thoth said, cryptically.
"What does that mean?"
"I have the feeling that the memory is somewhere up here," he said, gesturing to his head, "But I can't get it. The same thing happened when I tried to explain what was happening to you. They must be connected somehow."
"Makes sense," Damon said.
"What about that woman?" Aphrodite asked, inserting herself into the conversation.
"What woman?" Thoth asked.
"Oh, yeah, some woman just appeared out of nowhere and helped us," Damon said, "She looked like she was from the Chinese pantheon and had nine vulpine tails."
"Interesting, that sounds like it might be Da Ji," Thoth said, "She is an infamous fox spirit that is well-known for her cruelty and malice. She supposedly enjoys the cries of agony of the innocent the same way most enjoy music."
"Great, so probably didn't do it out of the kindness of her heart," Damon said.
"The stories about her suggest she doesn't have one," Thoth said.
"What? A sense of kindness or a heart?" Damon asked.
"Yes," Thoth said simply, "That said, it sounds like she's the only that might be able and willing to tell you what is happening with you."
"Great, so the only way to find out what's going on is the homicidal sociopath that's going to have no reason to tell the truth until it suits her," Damon said.
"She's also well known for being hard to track down," Thoth added.
"Terrific," Damon sighed, "So we need to find some way of tracking her down." Then, a thought occurred to him, "We'll need to get someone that can send spies to track down anything, who also has someone who can see anything across all of the Realms."
"You're speaking of Odin and Heimdall," Thoth said, simply.
"Yup," he said.
"It is quite a decent plan," Thoth said, with a mild surprised tone.
"Don't have to sound so surprised that I can come up with that," Damon said.
"If you say so," Thoth said, "When do you plan to leave?"
"I'll talk to the others, but as soon as possible," Damon said.
"Before you go," Ra said, "I would like you to take Osiris, Isis, and Neith. I think they will be a great help to you."
"Are you sure? You won't be as defended if we take them with us," Damon said.
"True, but the Greeks won't have a reason to attack us," Ra said, "Besides that actually brings me to my next point. As the leader of the Egyptian pantheon, I am giving you my support, should you wish to take the Throne of the King of Gods."
That earned surprised gasps from everyone present, even the almost all-knowing Thoth.
"Wait, what? Why?"
"Are you certain, Lord Ra?" Neith asked.
"Yes, I am," Ra said, "From what I've heard of your actions and what I've seen of your personality while here, you clearly are deserving of it. I personally have no interest in it, so you are the best choice I've seen."
"W-well, um, thanks," Damon said, "But I'm not sure I can even take the throne or if I want it."
"All the more reason why you are a good choice," Ra said, "As one who doesn't seek power, you might be the one to respect it."
"W-Well, I'll think about it," Damon said.
"As you wish," Ra said, "But the time may be coming quickly that you will need to make a choice."
"Yeah, Neith, Aph, Freya, let's go meet up with the others," Damon said before he and the two goddesses head for the border where the rest of their friends were supposed to be.
Meanwhile, with the Greeks, the attackers gathered together, frustrated over not achieving their goals.
"What happened to your task?" Zeus asked Nemesis and Artemis, "You two were supposed to bring that mortal to me."
"We failed, father," Artemis said with her head bowed, "Chronos involved himself in our fight. He seemed to want the mortal dead before we could capture him."
"Time-Guard never gets involved," Zeus said, "Perhaps we can work with him to deal with the mortal. Then, perhaps you won't disappoint me."
With that, the leader of the Greeks walked away with a majority of his allies, leaving Artemis to fume silently.
Athena approached her, "What's wrong? Is it because our father is upset with you?"
"It's not just that," Artemis said, "It's that mortal. He not only killed our brother, but he said some things that just angered me. Far more than I think they should."
"Oh? What did he say?" Athena asked and after Artemis repeated Damon's word, "I see why that would upset you, but would you mind if I ask you something?"
"Sure?" Artemis asked.
"Are you mad at him because he accused you of hiding incestuous feelings behind your anger towards the male gender or because some part of what he said is true?" she asked.
"What!? H-How dare you!?" Artemis demanded.
"I am the goddess of wisdom. My purpose is to spread that wisdom, so I merely ask that you consider my words," she said.
"I am not interested in our father like that!"
"I merely suggested that some part of it was true, not all of it," she said.
"I-I don't know what you mean," she said.
"If you say so," Athena said, "I merely recommend that you consider why exactly the words angered you so."
With that, Athena left to follow after Zeus, leaving the fuming and confused Artemis, not realizing there were two others that had received harsh words from Damon as well listening and taking Athena's advice into consideration.
A/N: And there's chapter 7! Please remember to review with any comments, question, concerns, or constructive criticism that you might have.