"Too slow…"

Astro caught Lacerta's fist, stopping the young titan dead in his tracks. The redhead growled, sending flames bursting out of his fist to try and overpower him. Astro held his ground however, and smiled as she slowly began pushing him back. "You're getting stronger. And your firepower has increased. Trying to keep up with Bergljot?" he asked.

Lacerta growled before spinning around and sending a kick at him. Astro once again blocked it, along with the rest of the next few punches and kicks he sent his way. Astro had made it look easy, but anyone watching could feel the sheer force behind each one of the blows. He caught his fist once more, and a shockwave went through the courtyard.

Before Lacerta could even think about pulling himself loose or sending a wave of fire at him, Astro grabbed his ankle and then swung him around before throwing him. He went flying off, only for his brother to come rushing in next. Dorado jabbed his sword Frostburn at his father's chest, but Astro backed away, forming a blade of ice in his hand.

He reinforced it with dark magic before using it to parry the oncoming attacks. The two stood off against another, their weapons clashing and sending sparks through the air. Astro noted just how flawless his son's form was. When it came to sheer swordsmanship, he wasn't afraid to admit that his son was well above his own skill set at that age. Just as Lacerta was stronger and tougher then he'd been at sixteen too.

Maybe it had been because he'd hide to suppress his titan genes so early in his life, as compared to them who'd had been allowed to train and flesh out their full abilities from the start. Or maybe they were just naturally more talented. Either way, he felt proud at seeing how far both of them had progressed.

Dorado flicked his hand, and suddenly another sword appeared in his hand. He swung both Frostburn and Firebite at his father, and Astro was actually forced to step back. It didn't take long for him to find an opening however, and he jabbed towards Doraod who… had suddenly vanished. For just a fraction of a second, he'd lost track of his son.

But then he ducked just before both blades managed to strike at his head. "The Springing Crescent Strike. Who taught you that?" Astro asked, amused.

"I've been visiting master Scab."

Before Astro could comment on it, Lacerta came flying in again. He kicked at the king, who raised his arm and managed to block it. Lacerta smirked as flames shot out from his entire body. "Stop chatting and pay attention old man! If you think I'm not gonna hit you when you're guard id down, you're dead wrong!"

"I'd be disappointed if you didn't…"

Dorado frowned. "I wasn't finished with my attack! It was still my turn!"

"Well you looked finished to me! Shouldn't have let up!" Lacerta yelled back.

Astro sighed. "You know, you two wouldn't have this problem if you just worked together instead of taking turns. You might actually start making me break a sweat," he said.

Lars narrowed his eyes. "I don't need to work with him."

"Likewise," Dorado said, readying his blades.

"Is that right?"

Astro threw Lacerta back towards his brother, who leapt out of the way to avoid him. In that quick moment however, Astro seemed to have vanished. "Wait, where did-?!" Dorado was knocked from the air from behind, and Astro aimed his hand down towards Lacerta. The redhead tried to make a move, but Astro blasted him with a massive ice spike. Lacerta began to tried and head up his body, to melt it away, only to be buried by another wave of ice and snow.

"Raw firepower isn't everything Lacerta. You have to learn to use your magic just as quickly and instinctively as you do your fists. That's why you keep getting outmaneuvered by Scent all the time." Astro lectured. He then glanced to the side just as Dorado approached, his sword raised to strike. Astro turned around and swung at him, aiming right at his face.

Dorado hesitated for a moment. He had expected his father to dodge or block it, but he was just swinging at him. Dorado managed to cut Astro right across the chest, and Astro landed a blow right to his face. From the way Dorado went flying, it was clear he had taken the worst of the exchange.

Astro cracked his neck and then wiped some of the blood from his chest. "And you're the opposite. You should have around the same raw power as Lacerta's. But you seem to hold back. You shouldn't have to cut something more than once to kill it," he instructed. Dorado pushed himself up to his feet and wiped the blood from his nose.

Lacerta suddenly busted out of the ice and roared. "You don't have time to lecture us old man!" he shouted, charging in at him. Dorado was also moving in again. Neither one of them were planning on stopping anytime soon.

Their father smirked. "Sure I can."

He prepared to fight the both of them off again, but right as they were about to reach him they suddenly seemed to crash into something. Astro looked confused as he watched his sons bounce off of the barrier around him. Dorado and Lacerta landed on their feet, and then looked up, equally confused.

"Okay dum-dums, roughhousing time is over." They all looked over and saw Aqua making her way over towards them. "Daddy, you said we were going to have lunch today, remember?"

Astro hummed and lowered his guard. "Oh, right. I'm so sorry, I nearly forgot," he said, rubbing the back of his head. He got so wrapped up in training at times he tended to lose himself in it. It was the same for the boys too.

"Hey! Reschedule your little tea time for later! Can't you see we're in the middle of training here! Go off and-" Astro smacked Lacerta in the back of the head, and the redhead scowled and glared at him. "What the hell?!"

Astro smirked down at him. "I didn't know you were so desperate to spend some quality father son time together. I'm honestly touched. But don't you think you're being a bit selfish trying to hog me all to yourself?" he asked.

Lacerta blushed and narrowed his eyes. "That's not it you old fart! I just don't want to stop in the middle of training! I'm only just getting warmed up!"

"You can keep sparring with your brother. Or if you want you can go find your grandfather. I'm sure he's up for another fight," Astro said as Aqua grabbed his hand and began leading him away.

Lacerta and Dorado watched as he walked off, both of them feeling a little disappointed their training was cut short. But they knew they weren't going to be able to do anything about it. Their father always tried to spread his time equally among them all, and Aqua in particular could be clingy when it was her turn.

"Ugh, whatever. I'm going to Gramp's place," Lacerta said as he spread his wings and got ready to take off. If his dad really wanted to spend time sipping tea with his sister then all power to him. His gramps was pretty much just as good a sparring partner anyway. "You coming? Or you gonna go dance around with Margo and Scab some more?"

Dorado sheathed his blade, Firebite vanishing from his side into thin air. "No, I'm going somewhere else. I… need to rethink some things." Something his father said had bothered him. If his father had traded blows with Lacerta instead of him earlier, he was sure he would have done a lot more damage.

Lacerta looked at him curiously, but shrugged and then took off. He didn't know what was going through his brother's head, and he was too riled up to bother trying to figure it out right now.

"You know, your mother would have an issue with you eating so many sweets before bed, don't you?" Astro asked as he took a sip of tea.

Aqua looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Well, if you want I can put the cakes away and save them all for myself later," she said before taking another forkful of her dessert. Tea and sweets just went together in her book. Why bother having one without the other?

"I didn't say that now." Astro took a bite out of his own desert and glanced around her room. It seemed like there were always new objects and little trinkets on display. He recognized most of them, but there were a few he hadn't seen before. She must have been extra busy on her little scavenger hunts lately.

He noticed there was a horn from one creature. One that looked familiar. "That's from the creature that slipped through the boundary in Tartarus," Aqua explained, noticing her father's interest in it. "I was hoping you would notice it. I wanted to talk to you about it anyway."

Astro hummed. "Is that right?" he asked. "And what about? Did you want me to bring you more samples of them? I can't make any promises." A lot of the creatures seemed to have high speed regeneration, so he had to completely destroy them. He had honestly been iffy about letting her keep the samples she had.

"No, that's not it. I mean I would always appreciate more samples if at all possible, but it's something else," she said leaning on one of her hands. "It's about Tartarus itself. I wanted to ask about what you've found there."

She knew her father had been going there during some of his free time and trying to find the possible cause of the weakening boundary. So far he had seemed to come up empty, but he hadn't given out many details about what he had actually seen there.

He rubbed his chin. "So that's what you're after huh? Well, to be honest, I haven't really found much of anything. I've told you all before that dimension is a barren wasteland, and no matter how far I seem to go I can't find anything but just that. Well, that and the creatures roaming around it," he said. "Why the sudden interest?"

Aqua took another bite of her cake and then dapped her face with her napkin. "I read something interesting in one of the old Earth history books that mom brought back one time. About the Greek Pantheon," she said.

Astro's expression immediately changed. "Aqua, you're not poking around the Greek Pantheon are you? You know how I feel about you and the others getting too close to them." He knew Aqua was smart, and had the most common sense among her siblings next to Dorado. But even he had his limits when it came to letting her poke around certain subjects.

Makaria and Pandae were the only exceptions when it came to the Greek Pantheon. He didn't want to risk any of his kids being around the others. Not even Hera.

"I know, I'm not going near them. But I was just doing research and… did you know that Tartarus isn't just a place in their mythology?" she asked. Astro looked at her intrigued. He had a feeling he knew where this was going, but he wanted to know in detail what she was talking about. She was a smart one, and her opinion might have given him some insight on this issue.

She took his silence as a cue to go on. "It's said that some of the most infamous enemies of their pantheons were locked there. Traitors, titans, haughty humans. They were all dropped there when they crossed them. Don't you think it's weird you haven't seen any of them there?" she asked.

Astro looked down in thought. "Maybe. I did hear something about that before, but some of the information humans have on the gods is shifty at best, so I thought maybe it might just be a mistake on their part," he said.

"It could be a mistake. But… it could also just be you not coming across it yet. It's a big dimension right? It's entirely possible that you just haven't found anyone who's supposed to be serving their eternal sentence there."

Astro grunted. "It's certainly possible, but… I've searched that place high and low. I've covered quite a lot of distance. If there was anything other than creatures there, than I would have at least found signs of it," he reasoned.

"Not unless Tartarus didn't want you to."

Now he was really intrigued. "Go on?"

She nodded, eager to explain her theory. "Tartarus is more than just a prison too. It's also considered a god. A primordial being." The moment the word primordial left her mouth, Astro's eyes narrowed once more.

The primordials were… well, they were said to be gods. But most considered them so much more. It was said they existed before and created titans, gods and just about everything else. And that they were so powerful that they didn't even have physical forms. In his younger days he had pegged them as nothing more than myths. Nonsense that the gods spread around. But then he'd gotten his hands on Caliburn, and there wasn't really any denying it anymore.

"So you think Tartarus, the dimension itself, is keeping things hidden from me? You think that's why all I can find is just wasteland and creatures?" he asked.

Aqua shrugged. "I'm just theorizing. But it would make sense. I remember you saying that primordials didn't have real typical physical forms. Would it be weird if it really took that of an entire dimension?" she asked.

Astro leaned on his hand and began to think. If what she was saying was true, it would mean that yet another of the primordials was making moves. But… why? "You might be onto something. I may have to make a trip to earth and have a talk with your aunt Nia and Oberon," he said.

"Let me come too!"

Astro looked down and saw that she was smiling at him. She must have guessed this was coming, and had been biding her time for a chance to get in on his investigation. She was so excited she was letting her teeth show, and her tail had even poked out and was waving back and forth.

He was hesitant however. He had no doubt her knowledge and input would be useful, but if the primordials were involved it could get dangerous. They were mysterious, and you could never tell what their intentions were. Even now he still had no idea just what any of them wanted.

"You'll need me. I'll be able to deduce things those dummy gods can't. And I can't pass up a chance to learn more about the primordials. There's little to no info on them. Not even granny Rosetta was able to get any real data on them," she said. "I'll be careful daddy, I promise. Just let me tag along wherever you go."

Astro sighed and sat back. "Maria is going to kill me… I'll let you come along, but you have to promise not to stray too far on your own. I know how obsessive you can get over things like this," he said.

Aqua's smile grew even wider. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I can't wait to find out what's going on! We'll crack whatever is happening wide open!"

To anyone else the row of razor sharp teeth on full display would have almost been described as devil-like. But Astro thought his daughter looked absolutely cute. He reached over and patted her on the head. "I'm sure we will… you're drooling though," he said before wiping her mouth.

"Oh, sorry…"

"It's fine."

Sometimes Astro thought it really was scary how much Aqua took after his mother. She had inherited his sweet tooth, and she was very territorial when it came to her snacks and deserts. But the thing she always seemed to be constantly starving for more than anything was knowledge.

And he had no doubt that she would literally freeze hell over to get it.

Still, he couldn't help but feel weary about all of this. After this he was going to go outside and pick up Caliburn. He was sure that it wouldn't talk to him again. It hadn't for nearly a year. But if it really was the primordials, then he didn't see what choice he had. There were no other leads after all.

"What is it that you and yours want, Chaos…?"

A/N: Some more future AU content! Someone wanted to see a fic with Astro and Aqua. With him exploring Tartarus and getting into all his adventures you know she would always want to be in the loop. I also just think it's funny Astro's willing to admit he could use her help. He has a vague interest in research but nothing like Rosetta or Aqua. I also thought a funny little quirk to add that Rosetta will go into her full monster form whenever she gets too excited. It's way she tries to keep herself in check all the time.

Also, this is sort of the idea I have for the Primodials. That they're just so dumb strong they don't even have physical forms. I'll get into more later since I have an idea for a few AU arc down the line. (After Nia's arc in the story)