IT'S A START

Damocles has had few instances of sheer surprise or anger. All those who had made those instances were either dead by his hand or were on the other side of the world he now found himself on. For example one instance of surprise was as he was watching the western kingdoms in another power struggle and two warriors from either nation approached each other to have a battle with acts and power that could only be described as mythical in his old world.

But when he heard Discordia, that put a mark on the rage chart. Faster than an eye could track he spun in place to face the voice… only to see it wasn't Discordia before him. It was a woman obviously only…. She was massive. In all sense from size to muscle mass. She gave Hercules a run for his money in the size department, but whereas Hercules looked ready to burst from his size she looked well proportioned in every way. Her most distinguishing feature was the look she gave off. She was dressed in a sort of plate armor with some sort of metal headband at the forehead; with combat skirt and greaves but no shoes or sleeves. The armor obviously showed off in every way, but it looked to be made of some strange alloy, it gave off a sort of rainbowish look. She had no weapon on her but with her size he doubts she needs one. But nothing took away from her face. The only way to describe her was that of a loving mother. Her hair was brown like chocolate and cut around her neck. While her eyes shone like emerald being shown light for the first time.

"But for now I would like to introduce you to the goddess of this world, Novae Terrae. The sister if you will, of Mother Earth" Discordia said appearing over the shoulder now made apparent goddess. "But I think she prefers Nova?" she asked, looking to the now named Nova. She only got a smile and a nod for an answer. Nova then proceeded to walk up to Damocles.

Upon closer inspection she was really tall. Easily over nine feet tall, definitely taller than his average five foot eight. And all she was doing was looking down upon him with a critical and quizzical look on her face. She was looking at him like someone just dropped a package at her door and she was trying to figure out who it was from without touching it.

"Uh. Can I help you?" Asked Damocles, taking a step back with obvious apprehension on his face. If what Discordia said was true then she was the Goddess of this world. She was a Primordial. Something far older than the gods themselves. The Greeks called them Titans but even that was wrong for a Primordial. They are far, far older than the Titans.

Terra Mater was the Goddess of Earth. It was for her to say what lived and what died on her. She literally kicked god, demon, mortal, anything off her chunk of livable rock if she felt inclined to do so. Most were either the sun, moon, or that random in between deity but that's beside the point. And here before him was her Sister?

And just like that his thought came to a crashing halt when she was actively crushing him in a rock smashing bearhug. "YES! She likes you!" Was all Damocles heard before passing out from a lack of both oxygen and functioning organs.

*Line Break*

"Uhh my head." Muttered a barely conscious Damocles. He looked around to see he was in his home again. He was in his bed. And Nova was standing at the foot of his bed with a look of absolute guilt and embarrassment. "Wha.. What happened?" He asked focusing on Nova who only gave him a sheepish smile in return before pointing to his left.

He turned to look only to scream upon seeing Discordia with her arms wrapped around his still passed out. "Mmmm. Five more days." she muttered in return. Okay only slightly passed out. This caused Damocles to freeze. He looked to Nova only to see her walking out with a sly smile on her face.

"Ahem. Discordia? Did you say days?" He asked, shaking her. If someone like Mercury had been there he could have easily taken a drawing of the look of absolute shock and fear on Discordia's face when she finally realized who had been talking. "WHAT?! Did I say days I meant uhh ... Minutes yeah minutes." she said literally shooting up off his bed on wings of magic still holding onto his sheets for cover. "You weren't out for six days or anything like that." She chuckled nervously before disappearing from sight in a bluish purple cloud.

"Six days!" He shouted up at her. "What happened that caused me to be out for six days and why am I naked again!?" He finished looking around before coming to himself and covering himself with a pillow.

*Line Break*

After some time Damocles finally came out of his room dressed in full kit minus his helmet. If he was going to have to be near two goddesses, one that caused him a lot of pain and the other that more than likely broke his spine, he was going to be a little paranoid. He proceeded to search every inch of his home only to find nothing. No sign of life anywhere on his property. So he spent a solid three seconds searching the entire island to look for them.

Only to be abruptly halted with the proceeding sound of thunder hitting metal.

"Uhhh." Damocles sputtered looking up to see he had run right into Nova. She looked hardly phased aside from some dust on her from the cloud he carried along his run. All she was doing was smiling down at him. "I'm sorry. I had thought you and Discordia would be at one of the training grounds around the island." He said standing and dusting himself off. She merely only continued to smile at him before drawing his attention eastward with her arms in a 'Look at that gesture'. He did only to see the same open plains.

"Yes I crashed. Yes there is a trench made from my crash. Yes it's the east side of the island. Why?" Damocles started sounding slightly annoyed at the fact he was looking at one of his few mistakes in this world so far. 'Granted it wasn't even really my fault' … before his thoughts were abruptly halted with Nova snapping his hand in front of his face. He looked at her and confused. She merely rolled her eyes before putting her hands in front of her and popped her knuckles. She then took a squatting stance and brought her hand to her sides like she was posing as Atlas.

"What are you doing?" He asked, walking in front of her. All he got in return was a savage grin before the earth around them erupted. Magma and water shot in every direction around them for who knows how long. Damocles didn't because the second it started he dove to the ground and covered himself as best he could. All he felt was the scorching heat in the air and the freezing cold of the water. When it finally stopped all he did was stay in that position for another few seconds until he felt some hands on his shoulders and he was suddenly standing again.

And what he saw was astonishing. The entire island was changed. The east was a massive forest the likes of which he had never seen before. The trees reached higher and higher than anything he had seen. The north was dotted with ruins. Some looked like they would crumble to a heavy breeze while others looked ancient but not ready to fall. The west was nothing but mountains and a volcano in the very center that looks like it just erupted with all the lava and smoke coming out of it. And the south was probably the most normal aside from some new rock formations here and there. The entire land mass looked completely different now. Hercules had him spend days memorizing every mile of the land to the point he could get anywhere with a picture perfect memory.

And looking at Nova all there was, was a smug look. The look someone has when they just finished a task and it turned out better than they even anticipated. He knew that look too well because he had to hide that look when Nero saw his statue crying tears of blood.

"Why do this?" He asked, still looking in awe at his new surroundings before finally stopping at Nova. Again all she did was smile.

"Because I asked her too." A new voice said behind Damocles. He spun around in a combative stance because he knew all too well who else was probable still here. "Oh put that thing away silly. It can't hurt us." Discordia said sauntering over and stopping just outside of his reach. Damocles made no move other than stealing his gaze.

"Uhh. Fine." She said dejectedly. She tossed a pouch over to Nova whose smile only grew bigger. "I guess I do have to prove a point. I seriously thought Hercules would have told you this." She muttered before reaching out and grabbing his gladius by the blade and snapping it between her fingers. Damocles only looked slightly miffed at the sight of his blade broken.

There was then a sigh behind him as a pouch was then tossed passed his head and right into Discordia's other hand. "Told you he wouldn't flinch." She said, looking past him with a devilish smirk. "Anyways all bets aside. I asked my dear baby Nova here to make your place a little more… lively? Let's go with deadly." she said flying past Damocles and patted Nova on the head. She then swatted her out of the air right into Damocles with an angry huff. Thanks to Hercules he actually caught her with no problem other than adopting a more annoyed and maybe confused look.

"Deadly. Why? Isn't this place supposed to be the birth of this world's new Rome?" He asked looking down at Discordia who seemed more busy trying to snuggle into him than answer his question. When he looked to Nova she only gave him a shrug. "Can you even talk?" He asked with exasperation finally getting tired of Discordia and just dropping her.

"Omff. Hey! I was enjoying that thank you very much. And yes she can talk. But she only does when she thinks it's necessary." Discodia stated still on the ground with her arms crossed and a pout upon her face. This caused Damocles to look at Nova who only smiled and nodded. He then looked back down at Discordia who was still pouting and had somehow turned away from him even though he knew she hadn't moved an inch since she was still in his field of vision. "If I carry you back to my home will you explain what in the name of Morta is going on?" He asked only for Discordia to fly up and cover his mouth with a look of pure fear on her face. When he looked at Nova she too had a look of fear but more of an unease than of overwhelming 'we are all gonna die' fear. "Don't say her name." Discordia whispered. "Why? And why are we whispering?" he asked. "Because the Parcae never lost their strength when Rome fell and worshippers went on to other pantheons." She answered while looking all around. "Remember Marius we may be Gods but we can still die. It is a lot more complicated for us but death is a certainty of everything that lives." she finished stopping and looking eastward. If one looked carefully they could see a crow on one of the new trees. Nova could see it and all she did was scowl before raising her hand and making a fist.

*Line Break*

"Okay so why did you make this place quote unquote deadly?" asked Damocles. They were back in his home in the wing that is his study but now with everything Nova did it now looked all too ancient. The pristine marble had yellowed and chipped in places and the wood looked replaced and not as professionally done as they had before. They were all seated around a table with a map he had made of the island after a full hour of running and drawing. It was obviously poor in design but who was going to complain he's not a cartographer.

"Okay so. The jungle is full of man eating plants." Discordia said, pointing to the giant forest which took up to 50⁓ish percent of the whole land mass now. "Why?" Damocles all but shouted in alarm. "Because you and I both know that when someone has something there are those out there who would take it for themselves by unpleasant means." she finished looking to the map and motioning toward the segment that held the ruins. "So you gonna have a story for when the mortals show up?" she asked.

Damocles leaned back in his chair and hummed. "I was thinking along the line of a curse. Maybe from a forgotten war or 'By the Gods themselves', still haven't thought it over." He said making a theater pose and causing Nova to giggle at the display.

"Well you better hurry up cause my clone is getting close." She said looking westward. "Wait clone?" He asked leaning forward. "Oh please honey. You didn't think Hercules is the only one invested in your little new empire? Funnily enough they are on the same ship." she said, muttering the last part. "That reminds me. Hey Nova, would you be a dear and go check up on Hercules and Janus. I hope my little surprise for them hasn't kept them too long." Nova merely nodded before getting up off the ground and making some hand motions before disappearing just like Hercules did. "Surprise?" Damocles asked, looking to Discordia.

"Oh it was nothing. Just a little time loop so they've been doing the same day over and over when Hercules arrived. It won't affect Nova because she is the literal world and I only made it for a place not a person." she said standing and walking out. Damocles stood and followed because there was no way he was going to let Discordia out of his sight.

"What?" He asked; matching pace, more invested in the conversation than the destination.

"Magic is a funny thing you see. If cast on a person it has limited properties. When cast on an object it is bound. When cast on a place it is locked. So for example if I were to cast an illusion on a person it would last for however long. If I cast it on a thing like a cloak then it is affected but nothing else. If I cast it on a place then everything there is affected from the people to the things there." she said floating down the hall in a reclined position facing Damocles where she was basically flying backwards. When she finished her little explanation the arrived at a door Damocles was certain was never in his home before. 'I've seen this door. Where is it from?' he thought before a memory flashed in his head. The second brother. This was the door to his little church. So why was it in his home?

"Open it." Discordia whispered in his ear. While in his thoughts she had led him right to the cusp of the door without him even realizing it. With nothing to go off of he did what she said and for the second time that day the sight took his breath away.

Before him was a massive arena. Just like the Colosseum but more colored. Rich blue and purple was everywhere, with gold highlights in between, from the walls to the very sky. It was obvious who made this just by the colors alone.

"What is this place?" he asked, walking into the arena. The place was amazing. Simple in design but also elegant and beautiful in its own way.

"This is where you will learn my powers." Discordia said from the bleachers. "My power revolves around illusion and evocation. So you'll be learning how to truly mess with someone." she stated, floating down from her position to meet him in the center.

"So Damocles. How would you like to learn some magic?"