Author's Note: Here's Chapter 2. Now, I have to put this out here firmly: there is no pairing planned for Jean at this moment in time. She will not be in Kusanagi's Harem. Enough said about that.
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Disclaimer: I do not own Campione!
"Godō" - Regular Speech
'My Everyday life…!' - Thoughts
"God Slayer!" - Heretic God/Powered Up Campione speech
"Fire!" - Magic/Authority Use
Chapter 2: Heretic God Poseidon
Jean Campbell's House
The two young women looked out the living room window and saw nothing but pitch-black storm clouds in the sky. Lightening crisscrossed the horizon and the rumble of thunder was prominent.
"Shit." Rebecca muttered, "This is not good. This is soooo not good."
"I think I get that part." Jean said dryly, "Any chance you could use the phone here to call your organisation to get help?"
"I'll try." the Hearth Witch said doubtfully. She picked up the phone and held it to her ear. "No dialling tone."
"My mobile has no signal either." Jean said as she checked her phone, "Dammit. What now?"
"Poseidon will eventually find the location of the three Grimoires and come for them." Rebecca said, "We have to get them away from human habitation."
"Away from Baile Mór then." Jean muttered, "This is where most people live on Iona. Where will the Sea God have manifested?"
"Depends." Rebecca frowned in thought, "We're surrounded by the ocean, so theoretically he could appear anywhere on the coast, even in the harbour. Is there anywhere on Iona that has a connection to any of Poseidon's other sphere's of influence?"
Jean had to think about that for a moment. "Well…there's Eilean Annraidh to the north…that means 'Isle of Storms' in Gaelic."
"That's where he'll be then." the witch said uneasily, "We should assume that he retains his other two Authorities."
"Shouldn't he have more than that? He is one of the most powerful gods in Greek mythology." Jean pointed out.
"The box contains one Authority, with two other Grimoires within it, plus the space for two more." Rebecca pointed out, "We have his Earthshaker Authority, his Trident Authority and his Horse Authority. Taking the numerous legends about him into consideration, that leaves Storm and Ocean."
"Great. Well, let's get the box and get to an isolated part of the island." Jean sighed, "Maybe we can convince him to go away by giving them back to him…"
"ARE YOU MAD!?" Rebecca screamed, "Give him his Authorities back?! When the Campione of Britain isn't here?! Are you insane?!"
"When the what isn't here?" Jean asked, wincing at the level of the witch's voice.
Rebecca deflated at that. "I…suppose I had better fill you in on that subject." she said, "A Campione is someone who has slain a Heretic God and usurped that God's Authorities for themselves, although no ordinary Mage can survive an encounter like that."
"Eh?" Jean was surprised here, "But…how can they still be dealing with Heretic Gods if they died doing it in the first place?"
"It's a forbidden rite." Rebecca said softly, "It requires someone to sacrifice their life in order to defeat a Heretic God, with the assistance of a Witch. They are then reborn as God Slayers. Campione are known as 'Bastard Children of Epimetheus' as it is the Titan God of Afterthought and his wife, Pandora, who are thought to have created the process. As well as the fact that Campione are infamous for doing, then thinking about it after the fact."
"You…really dislike Campione, don't you?" Jean noted.
"The thought of being near one terrifies me." the Hearth Witch replied with a shudder, "All of them are tyrannical men and women who do as they please! Yes, they are the only ones who can kill Heretic Gods, but still, they rule over the area where they base themselves with an iron fist."
"Uh-huh." Jean said as she hefted the box that was the focus of all this trouble, "So, to summarise, they are despots who are a necessary evil and are presumably just as unassailable as Heretic Gods are to normal Mages?"
"Yes." Rebecca replied, "Even Great Knights of Militant Mage Organisations stand no chance against them."
"I thought we were talking about mages." Jean replied in confusion.
"Nowadays, combat mages are referred to as 'Knights'." Rebecca told the Scottish girl, "Following on from that, the most powerful combat mage in any organisation is generally referred to as a 'Great Knight', while the leader of the Organisation is referred to as the 'Paladin'."
"So an Archmage then." Jean translated, "This is one hell of a SNAFU that we're in."
"SNAFU?" Rebecca asked in confusion.
"Situation Normal: All Fucked Up." Jean translated absently, "It's military slang used when things go downhill."
"A crude, but apt, summation of our current circumstances." Rebecca sighed, "We're cut off from mundane communication, isolated on an island by a sea god and utterly alone."
"Do you have any magical communication methods?" jean asked.
"No, none." Rebecca snorted, "I'm a Hearth Witch, Jean. Inside the place I call home, I have power above what most regular mages possess; outside of my home, I am a fairly weak witch. I know basic Librarian magic and a couple of self defence spells from the School of Hermetic Magic, but nothing that could concern a Heretic God or communicate with London."
"So we can't run, we can't hide, we can't contact someone for help and we can't defend ourselves." Jean growled, "I hate this situation."
"Join the club." Rebecca muttered, "Anyway, let's head to the north-west of the island. That area should be uninhabited, right?"
"Aye, it should be." Jean nodded, "I haven't been on Iona for a decade though, so there might be something new up there."
"From what little I recall from the guide books I have read, past the Macleod Centre, the only places people might go to is either the Hermit's Cell or the Well of Eternal Youth near Dun I." Rebecca thought aloud.
"That's what I remember as well." Jean confirmed, "Well, we'd better head out. The sooner we get this box away from civilisation, the better."
The two women raided the small cloakroom and grabbed coats that had belonged to Jean's mother in order to protect themselves from the storm. Jean also slipped the box into a rucksack that her father had used for camping.
As they headed out, Jean grimaced at the storm clouds that were swirling around the island before she noticed something.
"There's no wind…" she muttered, "A storm almost always has wind, so why is there none?"
"This isn't a natural storm, remember?" her companion reminded her, "Poseidon has the ability to create storms at sea out of nothing. Half of the storms in the Iliad were supposedly sent by the sea god out of nowhere."
"His powers are so broken." Jean groused, "And Campione have access to them? No wonder no one can go against them."
"They do have restrictions on their powers." Rebecca replied as they made their way up the road, "From what I have read, the Authorities shape themselves to fit the individual Campione that they belong to. They gain restrictions on them that the Heretic God they came from never had to deal with."
"That…sounds a lot fairer." Jean conceded, "How many Campione are there anyway?"
"Seven." Rebecca replied as it started to rain. They both pulled their hoods up as she continued, "Five males and two females. The one we look to in Britain is known as The Black Prince Alec."
"Black Prince? Seriously?" Jean asked in mild disbelief, "Sounds like the title of a gigolo or something."
Rebecca laughed at that before looking around warily, as if Alec might be around to hear her. "That…is a point." she said at last, "Anyway, he pretends to not be like other Campione, but he is most definitely a tyrant. If he finds something that interests him, he steals it and leaves a note to tell the owner who did it and why."
"So he's a glorified thief with the nickname of a gigolo." Jean said dryly, "Joy. And why isn't he in Britain again?"
"He went off to the Orient for some reason." the Witenagemot member replied with a shrug, "Probably to fight the new Campione, Kusanagi something-or-other. He's the worst of the lot."
"Oh?"
"He's an infamous womaniser!" Rebecca ranted, "He's seduced two female Great Knights, two powerful Hime-Miko and even Lucretia Zola, the most powerful Earth Witch in the world!"
"What the heck are Hime-Miko?" Jean asked, "It sounds Japanese."
"The term is Japanese." Rebecca replied as she calmed down, "The translation is 'Princess Shrine Maiden' and they are the descendants of fallen Mother Earth Goddesses. They are powerful priestesses who possess various abilities that we witches do not have that allow them to touch the divine."
"Wow…" Jean was unsure what to say to this. Descendents of fallen goddesses? Touching the divine? This was so out of her depth that it wasn't even funny.
The two flinched as a bolt of lightening streaked across the sky, swiftly followed by the roar of thunder. Rebecca stopped dead in her tracks and pointed a shaking hand to the north. Jean peered in that direction and her jaw dropped.
A large, humanoid figure stood in the distant north, arms folded across its chest. Illuminated by the constant lightening bolts, the man was clad in classic Greek hoplite armour and a cape. Jean felt a chill go up her spine as she saw the figure's dark, broody face lock on to her even from that distance.
"I think he knows where we are." Jean said hoarsely.
"Crap." was all Rebecca said as the distant figure of the Heretic God Poseidon started to advance towards them in slow, purposeful strides. He had to be the size of the Scott Monument in Edinburgh, at least 200 feet high and almost as broad. His bearded and weatherworn face was a stark contrast to the finely crafted armour that he wore. Every step he took made the ground tremble and it took this realisation to get Jean to snap out of her petrifaction.
"Rebecca! Let's run!" she called to the witch.
"R-right!" she responded shakily.
The two went over a fence and started running across the fields in an effort to get away from the approaching deity. Rebecca, clearly not used to all this exercise business, started panting and slowing down after a very short sprint.
"I'm…a…damn…librarian!" she panted out, "Why…the…hell…am I…running around…like this?!"
"Shut up and run!" Jean barked, "If you have the breath to bitch, you have the breath to run!"
"Easy…for you…to say!" Rebecca shot back. It was true. Jean was barely winded.
"I keep in shape, not sit on my ass all day!" the redhead retorted, "Now shut it and MOVE!"
They were shocked when they heard the Sea God speak in a rough voice that resonated across the entire Isle of Iona.
"Halt, mortals!" Poseidon boomed, "Thou art trapped on this isle by my mere presence. None shall leave 'til I hast seized what belongs to me!"
The two girls were shaken by this flat proclamation, to the point that they stopped running.
"Harken unto me, for twas' two millennia ago that I was last in this mortal plane." the Sea God said as he approached, "I was most brutally assailed by a God Slayer of frightening power and ambition. Yea, our battle was fierce, to the point that I was sundered of my power not once, not twice, but thrice! Yet I triumphed over my foe and most soundly defeated him. It was then that I struck up on an idea. I sealed my three sundered powers into the guise that ye have concealed on your person, ye woman of red hair."
"The Grimoires…" Jean whispered.
"Aye, that is what ye mortals refer to them as." Evidently, Poseidon had excellent hearing, "By sealing my powers in such a fashion and ensuring that they were concealed behind the most cunning spells, I was guaranteed to revive myself when someone of the blood of mages, who yet had no skill in mage craft, undid the seal. To ensure that it would be undisturbed by the God Slayer's of that time, I commanded a powerful witch who dwelled in Athens to bind it so it would be unnoticed for at least a millennia."
"Why…why would you do such a thing, Lord Poseidon?" Rebecca shouted in confusion, "Why would you allow yourself to be so weakened?"
"I am one of the strongest Sons of Kronos!" Poseidon replied, stating a fact, "Even bereft of three of my avatars, I am still more powerful than any mere God Slayer or any other God or Goddess who has manifested in the mortal realm, then or now. Sadly, I was overwhelmed by two God Slayers working in concert not three days after mine powers were sealed. But now I am back and ready to reabsorb all that is me once again."
"What will you do if I hand them over to you?" Jean asked, turning to face the Heretic God and stare him in the eyes.
"I shall chase down all of the God Slayers of this era and smite them!" Poseidon declared, "To a God, the God Slayers are an unnatural occurrence that must be slain for the good of the world. Now then, woman, hand over my avatars!"
"No." Jean said firmly.
The grizzled face above her took on an expression of astonishment at being refused by a mortal. Rebecca looked as if she might be on the verge of a heart attack herself.
Then, Poseidon did something that neither of the girls expected; he started to laugh uproariously.
"Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" the Sea God seemed to be more than slightly amused by this turn of events, "I can tell, mortal that you dislike being constrained by others. Your eyes declare your strength of spirit. Very well then. If thy will not hand over what is mine willingly, I shall take them by force! Do you accept my challenge, wench?"
"Aye." Jean nodded, "I don't seem to have much choice in the matter."
"Excellent! It has been an age since I have had any entertainment!" Poseidon declared, "As the challenger, I set the time and place. I choose yonder small isle in one hour's time. As the challenged party, ye would normally set the weapons, but I see thou hast none. As I am well known for my generosity, here!"
At a gesture, a pair of swords appeared in front of them that looked like Leonidas's Spartans at the Battle of Thermopylae might have once wielded them.
"Appear at the northern shore an hour hence and I shall bear ye across to our battleground." the Sea God declared before he faded to nothing.
Jean wobbled and fell to her knees, all of the tension leaving her all at once now that Poseidon had left.
"What were you thinking?" Rebecca asked her in a trembling voice, "You've just condemned us to be killed by a Heretic God!"
"I condemned myself to being killed by a Heretic God." Jean corrected, "He challenged me, not you. Hell, he barely acknowledged that you were here."
Rebecca snorted in a very unladylike way. "If you seriously think I'm going to let you fight alone, you have another thing coming." she said with a humourless chuckle, "Now let's see these swords…"
The witch pulled one from the ground and examined it. "Hmmm…a Kopis." she mused, "that other one is a Xiphos."
"It's not as heavy as I'd expect." Jean remarked as she drew it from the ground. The Xiphos was a double-edged blade just under two feet long, forged from Damascus steel, judging by the distinctive ripple pattern on the blade.
"It would be stupid to have a sword that you can't wield easily." Rebecca pointed out, "Most blades forged nowadays are cheap replicas and display weapons; these are the real deal, forged to kill."
The curved blade in Rebecca's hand was slightly longer than Jean's weapon and the lightening flashing off it made it look deadly.
"This sucks." Rebecca bemoaned, "Mortal weapons have no hope of harming a God! Why did that irresponsible idiot Alec have to gallivant around the world now of all times? We're going to die!"
"Even if we did win, you or I would become a Campione." Joan pointed out, "And I doubt you'd like that."
"I really don't want to die, so I think I could handle you being a Campione." the brunette replied dryly, "You certainly are a child of Epimetheus though; you challenged Poseidon without thinking about it, didn't you?"
"I…suppose so." Jean said hesitantly, "I just hated the way he spoke down to me, like I was so far beneath his consideration that I was a farm animal or something."
"Generally, Heretic Gods regard mages as useful tools at best and irritating nuisances at worst." Rebecca told her with a shrug, "That is one of the only advantages we mages have against them, their hubris. Of course, that advantage is lost once they determine that a mage is actually a threat."
Jean chuckled. "Then we'd better come up with a plan to make him take us seriously." she said, "If I'm going to die, it's going to be from a serious attack, not him treating it like a game."
One Hour Later…
The Northern Shore of Iona
Jean and Rebecca stood on the shore and watched the waves crash against the craggy rocks that made up the 'beach' on the northern side of Iona.
Eilean Annraidh, the Isle of Storms, was a fairly small island that sat a short distance away from Iona. The outer edge of the small island was rocky and rough, while what little earth that the isle had was covered in thin, stubborn grass that refused to die.
"An arena." Rebecca muttered, "That's what it is, an arena."
"Likely." Jean agreed, "He'll have to shrink down to our size to fight us because there isn't much room to manoeuvre on the island."
The redhead planted the sword's point into the rock lightly and waited for the Sea God to appear. She was calm on the outside, but internally, she was wondering if she was insane. Here she was, an ordinary girl who had only just discovered the world of magic that had been hidden from view, about to step up and fight a god.
'Insane or not…this ought to be interesting.' she thought as the tumultuous water abruptly flowed to one side, revealing the sea floor.
"I think we're being invited across." Rebecca remarked.
"Well then, let's not be rude." Jean picked up her sword and led the way. Over the rocks they went and then through the newly made path through the sea. It reeked of old seaweed and damp, but it was also fascinating to see the water rippling like this. It was almost like that time she was at the Sea Life Centre, watching the sea life swim from the other side of glass.
As the two girls reached the small island that was their destination, the sea rushed back to fill the corridor that had given them passage to the island.
"You could have just given me the other sword and left." Jean observed to Rebecca, "You still had time to do that before we walked through the passage."
"Like I could let a novice who can't even cast a simple candle-lighting cantrip fight a Heretic God alone." the witch scoffed, "Get ready…I think-"
Before Rebecca could finish her warning, the sea on the opposite side of the island parted with a roar and a massive throne made of red sea coral rose from the opening. Lounged on the throne was Poseidon, in all his glory.
"Greetings, mortals." the god rumbled, "I am glad to see that you have the courage to face me."
"I am a woman of my word." Jean said evenly, "Now then, shall we start the challenge?"
"Firstly, there must be proof that ye can truly fight." the Sea God said and waved his hand. Two blurs leapt from the ocean and landed on the island.
"These are Tritons, descendents of my son and Herald, Triton." Poseidon explained airily, "Ordinarily, they disdain walking upon Mother Gaia, but I have given them orders to engage in combat with ye, so they have taken full human form to do battle with ye."
The pair of Tritons regarded Jean and Rebecca disdainfully. Their hair looked like long strands of sea-green kelp, with skin like that of sharks. Their legs, which they were clearly not comfortable with, looked like the separated halves of a dolphin's tail.
Their weapons did not really come as much of a surprise to the women. Clasped in their hands were tridents, the symbol of their progenitor. Made of what looked like sea coral, the tri-points of the polearm weapons looked as sharp as any metal one could be, if not more so.
"So we have to fight these two before you, Lord Poseidon?" Rebecca asked.
"Indeed. Fight them and survive for a mere five minutes and you will have earned the right to face me in combat and die by my hand." Poseidon confirmed. He spoke as if he was telling them that if they woke up in the morning, the sun would rise. He had absolutely no doubts about what would happen if he fought the two women. It made Jean really pissed when she thought about it.
"Fine then." she growled angrily, "If I'm going to be killed this day, it will not be by the hands of a pair of flunkeys like these!"
"How spirited." one of the Tritons rasped out, "Human women have become very uppity in the past two millennia, haven't they?"
"Quite." the other agreed with a watery chuckle, "Time to show them their place, wouldn't you agree?"
Jean wasn't happy with the chauvinistic comments but restrained herself from pre-emptively striking at them. The watching deity might not like his entertainment spoiled.
"Are these guys mortal or immortal?" she muttered to Rebecca.
"They should only be mortal." the witch replied, "But they are trained warriors. They have experience and reach over us."
"Prepare thyself, fledgling mage and witch of Home and Hearth, for combat!" Poseidon declared.
The two raised their blades warily in a guard position, whereas the Tritons merely looked bored, like the two girls were not worth their time.
If Jean was honest, she knew that even if the odds were two on one in their favour, they were not a match for the Sons of Triton. Even as completely inexperienced in combat as she was, she could tell that the two had the aura of experienced soldiers.
Still, she wasn't going to roll over and die just because of that. She was Jean Campbell, damn it!
"Let the combat commence!" Poseidon declared.
"Time to spank the bad girls." the first Triton remarked to the other one.
"Yep." the second one agreed…then they both moved, at such a speed Jean could barely keep up with them. One executed a strong stab at Rebecca, while the second swiped at Jean, aiming to use blunt force trauma to lay her low.
Knowing that her opponent was likely far stronger than her, Jean dropped low, feeling the coral trident graze her hair as it passed over her head, before launching a clumsy stab at the fish man's abdomen.
"Whoa!" he yelped as he dodged to one side, "What kind of mage are you?!"
"One who has only used her powers once!" Jean snarled as she slashed at the Triton with the Xiphos, forcing him to block it with the haft of his three-pronged spear.
Rebecca was having a bit more of a problem as she had been nicked by one of the prongs on her opponent's weapon. Moving violently was not an option as it made her side feel like someone was rubbing salt into the wound, so she tried to use absolute economy of movement, avoiding the increasingly rapid thrusts of the Triton at the last second. She was now thankful her mother had given in to her grandmother's urging and signed her up for ballet lessons as a child.
She had only attended for four years, but it was still rather amusing to see the look of utter frustration on her opponent's face as she pirouetted away from his attack and scratched his skin with the Kopis was worth every moment of practice.
"What kind of wenches are you?!" the one fighting Jean was shouting as he fended off another sword slash that was aimed at disembowelling him.
"Modern women, you Bronze Age chauvinistic pig!" Jean snarled.
"Hoi! I need that!" he yelped as the next sword slash came very close to making him the world's first fishman eunuch, "Crazy bitch!"
"Crazy? Ohhhhhh, now you're in for it!"
On the other side of the island, Rebecca was getting tired, while the Triton seemed to become more frustrated with every stab of his trident.
"Stay still!"
"Hell no!" the brunette snapped back, "You stay still!"
The Triton lazily batted away another swipe of her Kopis with his own weapon. "I don't need to move. You're so unskilled with the blade that all I need do is block."
Rebecca narrowed her eyes at this and she drew her wand in a threatening manner that made the Triton eye her nervously.
"Disciples of Artemis, bestow upon me a worthy spear that I may smite my foes!" she incanted as she pointed her wand at the foe in question.
A Greek hoplite spear, a Doru, made of light appeared before her and hurtled at the fishman at a mild gesture from Rebecca's wand. The Triton leapt to pone side, but with another gesture of the witch's wand, the spear flipped around and shot at him again.
"Screw this!" the fishman growled and thrust his trident at the glowing leaf-bladed spear. In the collision, his weapon dissolved into shattered fragments of coral, much to his disbelief.
"Surrender." Rebecca said as she halted the spear a hair's breadth from his throat.
He raised his hands in the universal gesture of surrender. "You got me, jeez! I'm gone."
Jean grinned as she saw the Triton that Rebecca just beat leap back into the sea with a hurried leap and back flip.
"Just you left!" she grinned at the lone fishman, who was, ironically enough, gaping like a landed mackerel at the sight of his friend's weapon being broken and his surrender.
"You…you have to be kidding me!" the Triton said in disbelief, "Our tridents are created by Lord Triton himself!"
"And my spear was created with the blessing of the Goddess of the Hunt." Rebecca said as she dismissed the spear with a tired wave of her wand, "The entirety of the spear is made from magic and blessed by Artemis, which easily beats the shred of power that your tridents possess. Jean, hurry up and beat him already."
"If I must, I must." Jean sighed dramatically as she lunged at the fishman, who caught her blade between the prongs of his trident and attempted to disarm her. A moment later, he wheezed in pure masculine agony as the redhead's knee smashed into his family jewels…at least, where they would be on a human.
"Huh…looks like when you're in human form, your equipment is external like a human's is." Rebecca noted in a clinical fashion as Jean knocked the swearing Triton's weapon from his hand and levelled the Xiphos at his throat.
"Surrender." Jean's voice was implacable.
"Go have sex with a horse, wench." the Triton sneered at her.
"How rude." Jean muttered as she slammed the flat of her blade on the side of the fish man's head, knocking him out.
"Hmmm…very well done." Poseidon murmured, "It would seem that the world hath changed greatly in these long years if mere girls such as yourselves have such potential in combat."
"I was on a sports team in High School." Jean shrugged.
"Four years of ballet lessons. Horrible." Rebecca added with a shudder.
The Sea God looked intrigued as he dismissed the Triton with a shake of his hand, the fishman turning to water and seeping into the ground.
"Thou hast proven thy capabilities in battle." Poseidon declared as he slowly stood from his throne, "Thou art worthy to face me in battle and die by my hand. But first…"
With another gesture, the box containing Poseidon's sealed powers in Grimoire form appeared before him, seemingly teleported from the bag on Jean's back.
"…I shall reclaim all of my powers!"
With that declaration, the Sea God grasped the box in his hands and, in a flash of light; the Heretic God Poseidon once more possessed all of his Divine Authorities.
"Hahahahaha! To be whole once more is a heady thing!" Poseidon guffawed heartily, "For too long, I have been sundered. Now I am whole once again, the God Slayers of this era shall fall before me like wheat before a scythe!"
"Damn it!" Rebecca hissed.
"As it would be most unsporting of me to face ye in my great form, I shall equal ye in height." the Sea God proclaimed. He glowed a pale yellow light before shrinking to the size of a well-built grown man, which was probably as small as he could go.
"Well, that makes it a great deal more fair." Jean sighed, "What about a weapon? Or are we so far beneath your contempt that you do not require one?"
"You are not worthy to face my true Tríaina, so a simple trident will suffice." the Sea God replied. He reached into empty space and then his hand briefly disappeared. He seemed to rummage around for a moment before drawing his hand back with a simple steel trident clasped within it, the kind fishermen would use back during the days of the Greek city-states.
"…Joy." The girls deadpanned in unison.
"Let the combat begin!"
With that shout, Poseidon charged at them even faster than the Tritons had, the steel trident aimed towards Jean, who idly noted that the triple-pointed spear's points were definitely razor sharp as they drew ever closer to her.
"Rebecca, now!" she yelled as she started to run forwards to counter-charge Poseidon.
"Disciples of Hephaestus, bestow upon me a worth shield to guard me from mine foes!" the Hearth Witch incanted, sweat beading her bow as she used quite a bit of her magic for this spell. It was unlikely to do more than slow the Sea God down, but it was the best defensive spell in her, admittedly limited, repertoire.
In front of the Sea God, a large circular shield materialised. Made of enamelled bronze and embossed with the hammer symbol of the crippled Smith God, it floated between the two opposing sides as if to bar the Heretic God access to his opponents.
"Such a low-level spell will not stop me!" Poseidon bellowed as he drew the trident he wielded back and then thrust it at the shield.
In a flash of light, the shield shattered and dissolved into nothing, the minor defence spell proving utterly ineffective against the God of the Seas.
"[Tríaina!]" Jean bellowed in a voice full of pain. A golden trident shot out from her and impaled Poseidon in the stomach. The sharp gasp of shock, surprise and pain from the god signified that he had been taken completely off-guard.
"H…how…?" he growled as he slowly reached for his trident.
"Do you…really think…that I'd keep…all of the Grimoires in…the same place?" Jean rasped as she staggered towards Poseidon. She grabbed the haft of the Divine Authority before the God could and pulled it out in a spray of golden Ichor, the divine blood of the gods and immortals, "An hour ago…not long after…you left, I…removed the Grimoire that bore…the symbol of the trident…and gave it to Rebecca."
"I then bound it with some very subtle spells to conceal it from your sight." the brunette witch continued as she walked next to Jean and helped steady her with one hand, "Individually; none of them were especially powerful. Even together, they would not conceal the location of the Grimoire if you really set your mind to finding it. What most of them did was conceal the existence of the Grimoire, rather than your ability to find it. You were so arrogant that you never even tried to determine if the box held all of your Authorities. This fight is your loss."
"I…am…a GOD!" Poseidon roared, making the island shake with his rage, "Return my…Tríaina…at once!"
"No…" Jean rasped. Her body was in agony from that sole use of the Grimoire. Rebecca had told her that in order to use a Grimoire, you had to have magic and you to know which Authority it contained and what that Authority did.
Knowing the name of that Authority allowed you to use it, rather than simply blast it at the opponent once.
To know what the Authority did was to know the details of what the powers accomplished once unleashed. To know the name of the Authority granted you the right to use it so long as it was bound to the Grimoire.
Rebecca had warned her that the Grimoire was only a container-type, not actually intended to be used as a medium to unleash the Authority it contained. There was every chance that the use of it would backfire and kill her without harming Poseidon, and they didn't even know the name of the Authority to begin with.
Tríaina. The Greek word for trident, which was the main symbol of Poseidon's power. When Poseidon had uttered that name, Jean had felt the Grimoire shake in her back pocket, where she had hidden it after Rebecca returned it to her.
The two girls had gambled everything on this plan and it seemed to have paid off. Poseidon had halted to deal with what he perceived as their last-ditch defence, when it was merely to obscure his sight of Jean while she drew out the Grimoire and invoked its power.
"You dare to refuse a GOD!?" Poseidon roared, "You stand no chance against me, even with my Tríaina! I cannot be defeated by one of my own Authorities!"
"Incorrect." Rebecca replied with a smirk, "The latest Campione of this time, Kusanagi Godō, slew the Persian God of War, Verethragna, with his own Authority, the [Golden Sword]. Granted, that blade had the ability to cut through the divinity of another God, but your [Tríaina] is an incredibly powerful weapon in its own right. I would say that it can end you...especially once I do this."
She turned Jean's head around and kissed her full on the lips, the magic of the teaching spell whirling around them as the glow from the golden trident redoubled in intensity. She poured every scrap of knowledge that she had on Poseidon in general, and the trident he bore in particular, into Jean's mind.
"NOOOOOOO!" Poseidon roared angrily. He would not have his divinity usurped! He would not be banished to the Realm of Divinity like a beaten dog! Not after he had just re-acquired most of his powers!
He charged towards the two girls, his steel trident drawn back and ready to rend the life from them in a single stab. He could feel the golden ichor seep from the wound in his stomach that refused to close. This added considerable weight to the brown-haired one's claims that he could be slain by his own weapon.
"Die, Mortals!" he roared, "Return to nothing!"
Jean raised the [Tríaina] with one hand. Before Rebecca had passed her the lore of Poseidon, it had felt like she was trying to lift a length of granite. Now, the golden weapon felt like she was wielding a piece of balsa wood in her hands, it was so light!
"I…I will not lose to you!" Jean roared back as she stabbed at the charging Sea God with all of her remaining strength with the divine trident, which was met in midair by the Sea God's steel trident as he counterattacked.
The pressure Jean was under was immense. Every cell in her body was on fire, every muscle was screaming for it to end. Judging from the look of surprise and strain on Poseidon's face, he wasn't having an easy time of it either.
A smirk crawled its way across her face as she forced herself to push more against the Sea God's attack. Poseidon noticed her smile and was not pleased.
"You dare sneer so at me? I am a god! You are a mere human! The rules of the world declare that I am the winner!" the Sea God roared.
The Scottish girl's eyes narrowed at that statement. "In which case…I reject that rule!" she shrieked as she put every last once of her being into one, final, effort to defeat Poseidon.
The [Tríaina] blazed with golden light as it broke the steel trident in Poseidon's hands, shattering it into scrap metal.
"Impossible!" was all Poseidon could say as, with a sickening sucking sound, all three prongs of his own Divine Trident pierced through his armoured chest with ease, the tips emerging from the skin in his back and the armour there with ease.
"…Gah…ahhh…not…possible…" wheezed the Sea God as he slumped to his knees, "I…am a God…one of the strongest three Gods of Ancient Greece…how can a mere human…defeat me…with my own Authority…?"
"I…refuse…to be bound…by rules." Jean croaked. She was dying. She could feel her body shutting down from using the Tríaina Grimoire twice, as well as putting most of her life force into that last attack. She would tell this god why he lost before she died, though!
"For…most of my life…I have been alone…my parents died…my aunt died…and the rules of this country tried to bind me…strip me of all that was mine…" Jean continued, "…I fought back…and refused to allow them to do so…and I refuse to die…to let the law that I must die when confronted with a god…come to pass."
"Heh…" Poseidon chuckled wetly, "You truly are…like the sea…like me…the sea despises being bound…being forced to assume one shape…it is only right that you defeat me…I would say."
The body of the Sea God glowed blue as he continued to speak, "So be it. Mortal, I leave to you all that I am! Let nothing bind you ever again, until the day comes that I return to this world and challenge you as one King to Another!"
In an explosion of light, the Heretic God Poseidon's body vanished, throwing both Jean and Rebecca onto their backs. The Witenagemot witch groaned as she pushed herself to her knees.
"Ouch, that smarted." she hissed, then looked over towards the unmoving body of Jean Campbell. Floating above her newfound friend's body was the trident of Poseidon, as well as four circles containing the symbols of Poseidon's power; a horse, a crack in the earth, waves of the sea and storm clouds.
"All…all of them?!" Rebecca whispered incredulously. Jean had obtained the entirety of Poseidon's power? The only time this had happened before was when Kusanagi Godō had obtained all of Verethragna's power. It had been debated heatedly within the Witenagemot whether it was because he had such an accepting personality or if it was because all ten Avatars of Verethragna were in fact all a single Authority.
The five emblems of power vanished into Jean's body and made an ethereal golden glow play across it. The healing process that marked the start of all Campione's new lives was beginning.
Rebecca settled in to wait for Jean to awaken. She just wished that she wasn't on such a cold island to do so. Unfortunately, until Jean awakened, she was stuck here. What a day.
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Unknown Location
Jean groaned. Her body felt like she had just tried to pull a lorry with its handbrake on
"Hello there!" a bubbly voice chirped, making the redhead wince.
"Please…not so loud." she begged, "My head is aching…"
"Oh, I'm sorry." the voice apologised, "You really were reckless, though. There was barely anything of you left to bring here."
"Where…is 'here', exactly?" Jean asked. She cracked an eye open, saw only a bright white light and sighed, "Great, I'm having a whiteout for some reason."
"Nope." the bubbly voice replied cheerfully, "This is the Netherworld. You are a Campione now, so you aren't supposed to be here. That's why you can't see anything. The Netherworld is concealing itself from you."
"…it actually worked?" Jean asked, "I…didn't actually think it would."
"Uh-huh. It worked." the voice said softly, "And I have to thank you for doing what you did. You saved my seven children from being hurt or killed by Poseidon."
Feeling much better, Jean opened her eyes fully. In direct line of sight was a young girl with green eyes, purple hair in a twin tails style, pointed ears with round red earrings and an old-fashioned dress.
"Your…children?" Jean asked, "Who…are you?"
"I am Pandora, the All-Knowing Woman." the girl introduced herself, "And I am now your mother, Jean."
"…mother?" Jean asked, her head still feeling sluggish.
"Yup. I adopt every single Campione who is born." Pandora said with a slight pout, "But none of them ever call me 'Mama' or even acknowledge themselves as my children!"
'Yikes, she looks like she's about to cry.' Jean thought mildly.
Aloud, she said, "It's been a decade since I've had a mother. It…would be nice to have one again…if you'll have me."
"…Of course I will!" the purple-haired goddess wailed happily and hugged her new daughter strongly. After Pandora had recovered herself sufficiently, she explained to Jean the common powers of a Campione; enhanced longevity, enhanced spiritual senses, magic resistance, superhuman stamina and durability, ability to learn languages very quickly, ludicrously high reserves of magic and predator-class night vision.
"Jeez, I sound like a regular monster." Jean remarked after her new mother had finished explaining things to her.
"You are no more a monster than Poseidon; you merely are what you are." Pandora remonstrated her firmly, "As my daughter, you must not think of yourself like that, alright?"
"Yes mother." Jean answered dutifully and had to smile at the sheer joy her adoptive mother showed whenever she called her that.
"When you return to your body, be careful with your Hearth Witch friend." Pandora cautioned Jean as the new Campione began to fade away, signalling that their time was at an end, "You will be stronger than her by a considerable margin and you might hurt her, so treat her like fine china."
"Got it." Jean nodded, "Do…do you have anything you would like me to do? As your daughter that is."
"Hmm…well, another Heretic God is due to appear in Southern France." Pandora mused, "You are the best person to face it, so if you could deal with it before anything happens, I'd like that. It'll also mean we can see each other again!"
"So every time I kill a Heretic God, I get to see you?" jean asked. At Pandora's nod, she smiled grimly, "It will be my pleasure to slay the Heretic God, Mother Pandora."
"Good girl!" Pandora patted her on the head with a smile before Jean faded away, leaving the Netherworld completely.
"Finally…!" Pandora was weeping happy tears, "A child of mine that actually acknowledges me as her mother…!"
"Hahahahaha! You sound happy, Pandora-san." a loud voice boomed boisterously. The small demigoddess turned around to see two beings standing where they had not been a second before.
One was a man with wild grey hair in a white kimono. His physique would put most bodybuilders to shame. The other being was a female wearing an old-fashioned and beautiful kimono, with brown hair and eyes as clear as glass.
"Susano'o, Princess with Glass Eyes." Pandora greeted them, "What brings you to my area of the Netherworld?"
"We felt the birth of your newest child." the woman replied, "From the fact you seem so overjoyed, might I ask if this one has finally fulfilled your long-held wish?"
"Yup!" Pandora's smile could have replaced the sun at this point, "Now all I have to do is work on making my youngest son more aware of his position and things will be going along nicely."
"Not likely to happen." the Tempestuous God of Storms and Valour snorted, "He's got his head so firmly entrenched in the sand that I'm amazed he eats anything apart from sandwiches."
The Princess smacked Susano'o on the arm. "He is merely unassuming about his power. I see no reason why he should be forced to assume his responsibilities when he is still a child."
"Because HE is going to awaken soon." Pandora said seriously.
The other two deities exchanged looks. The King Who Manifests at World's End, Rama, awoke once every thousand years and usually wiped out every God Slayer in the world before returning to his slumber. The Divine Ancestor Guinevere had been searching for a way to revive him for centuries now.
"That pain-in-the-ass lazybones." Susano'o grumbled. He had been forced into the Netherworld the last time Rama had gone on his self-proclaimed 'peacekeeping' tour of the world.
"I see…" the Ancestress of all Hime-Miko whispered, "I will concede that that is a reasonable justification for beating some sense into your wayward son. What will you do?"
"My youngest daughter is a dutiful child." Pandora replied with a proud set to her body as she talked about Jean, "She will seek out Heretic Gods in order to see me; I saw that much of her before she left. Once she has acquired a few Authorities, I will send her to 'educate' Godō. I will not lose my children to Rama again!"
The determination in the demigoddess's voice was palpable, making Susano'o chuckle.
"Yeah, well I owe the bastard one for forcing me to live here for the last millennia, so you can count me in." he said.
"And it wouldn't happen to have anything to do with the fact that your adopted granddaughter will likely be killed if the boy doesn't do anything?" The Princess with Glass Eyes asked slyly, making the god huff and ignore her.
"My three strongest descendents are gathered near Kusanagi-kun." the Ancestress said to Pandora seriously, "Ena-chan, Yuri-chan and Hikari-chan. If you instruct your daughter not to harm them, I will give my blessing to this plan."
"Do you really think those three will just sit back and let my children fight?" Pandora asked rhetorically, "No, they won't. I will not have my daughter hamstrung by such a restriction. As a compromise, Susano'o can take them to his section of the Netherworld, along with my sons other two mistresses, for the duration of the fight. Is this acceptable?"
"Very well." the Princess replied, "Now then…who do you think your son will father children with first?"
The serious talk over, the three deities began to gossip.
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Across the world, seven individuals looked up sharply as a feeling of power was born into the world once again.
An elderly man with glowing green eyes gave a wolf-like smile as a new prey appeared to alleviate his boredom.
A black haired-beauty atop a mountain sensed a new opponent.
Stumbling out of a portal, a middle-eastern woman looked up in surprise before she was drawn through another portal.
Speeding from an island, a black-haired youth frowned as he felt someone powerful in his domain.
Sitting at a café, a young woman almost dropped her coffee as her head swivelled to the east.
A blond-haired young man who was fishing merely smiled joyfully as he sensed someone he could spar with appear.
Finally, a black-haired Japanese boy sat up in shock. His eyes were wide and he didn't understand what he was feeling.
"A…Campione…" he whispered, "Another Campione has been born."
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Next Chapter: Alec, the Black Prince
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