Anything you recognise isn't mine.
A transportation-circle opened up on top of an unassuming-looking apartment building in Queens, New York, with Imogen Belial stretching as she came out of it. As soon as the cold city air hit her, she pulled her jacket (which she had casually tied around her waist before jumping through the transport-circle) out from around her waist and slung it on herself, hissing slightly from the cold.
She hadn't stayed to the end of Roxas' Rating Game against Rudiger Rosenkreutz. Though she'd enjoyed watching his peerage members throwing down against Rudiger's, with wins and losses on both sides, she was 99.9% sure of the outcome once Roxas himself took the field. She'd seen and heard enough to be absolutely certain that, once he came out to play against Rudiger's remaining peerage members, that he'd sweep the entire peerage and win. And with that in mind, Imogen didn't see much point in sticking around. She'd probably be able to track down the highlights of that final battle online, and figured on popping over to Roxas' place herself to offer her own congratulations on his inevitable victory.
Well, that and she'd received a call from her Familiar about a... new development, that she'd been having her keep an eye on for a while now. She hadn't been told WHAT she had been called for, but the Belial Heiress could only assume that it was some pretty crazy shit, given that her Familiar thought it was important enough to warrent notifying her and asking her to come and see for herself... which was just what she was doing.
As her Familiar wasn't at the spot they'd agreed to meet at, for whatever reason, Imogen zipped up her jacket and shoved her hands in her pockets, idly tapping her foot for all of fifteen seconds before she felt a familiar presence coming towards her from her east, and turned to see her Familiar, Tiki, flying towards her on two dragonic wings.
Tiki, an attractive young woman with green hair done up into a back-length ponytai, matching green eyes and pointed ears, lightly touched down several feet away from Imogen, pulling out a couple of cans from within a magic-circle.
"Want one?" She held out one of the cans to Imogen. "I found a shop that sells these while on the watches you've had me doing here, and it's so good~"
"Sure." Imogen shrugged, holding out her hand and opening the can after Tiki deposited it into her hand. She took a swig of its contents, shrugged as what she felt running down her throat certainly didn't taste bad (quite the opposite), and casually passed the can between her hands as she fixed her familiar with a neutral look. "So, what's this 'new development' that you want me to see? Because I'm telling you Tiki, this had better be good."
Tiki flicked her eyes over to Imogen, in acknowledgement that she had heard her master's remark, though she was presently occupied with downing the contents of her can. Imogen raised both her eyebrows as her Familiar managed to finish off the contents of the whole can in one go, before crushing it in her hand and tossing it aside.
"Oh, believe me." Tiki suppressed a burp. "It will be, Imo. It will be." She walked to one of the edges of the apartment building and sniffed a couple of times. She leant over the edge and continued to sniff as, Imogen presumed, she attempted to get a better metaphorical handle on whatever scent she was trying to pick up. As a full-blooded Dragon, Tiki's sense of smell (as well as her other senses) was far, far, FAR more acute than anything a Devil could hope to achieve with their eyes, nose, ears, hands or mouth, with half-blooded Dragons (like Imogen herself) only getting a fraction of such sensory capabilities.
"Yeah, he went this way." Tiki muttered, turning back to Imogen. "Come on, Imo."
Imogen was quick to cast a camouflage spell over both herself and Tiki as Tiki jumped off the apartment building, spreading her wings and flying off, before she herself took a running jump off the building, spread her own wings and followed her familiar. The two flew over the road that passed by the building, over the building directly across the road from the one they'd just jumped off of, between a pair of apartment buildings, and further into the centre of New York City.
The route that Tiki took in following the scent was somewhat erratic: she made slight deviations in her direction and altitude every few seconds, sometimes getting uncomfortably close to a building, or to the ground where cars, trucks and other vehicles lined the streets, though she at least had the good sense to stay out of any immediate danger. Imogen, however, stayed at a constant altitude and followed her Familiar with her eyes, only changing course when Tiki made a big enough change in direction or altitude to warrent such a change: like if she'd gone down a different street or decided to fly to the top of a building, for example.
Imogen and Tiki's journey through New York wasn't a long one, nor was it particularly eventful. It took only taking three or four minutes before Tiki turned around and motioned for Imogen to catch up with her, which she did. And without her even needing to point it out to her, Imogen had picked out what she had, presumably, called her to see.
A young figure, dressed head to toe in a red and blue outfit... if it could even be called that. It just looked like a blue onesie with a red hoodie (Imogen spied a spider-design on the front of the hoodie) over it, red socks that almost went up to knee-length, and red fingerless gloves. She also noticed the mask and goggles that the person was wearing, as well as the white stuff that he seemed to be shooting out of his wrists. The stuff the person shot stuck to walls, allowing him to pull himself through the air at a higher speed than if he just walked. Upon a quick fly over to the nearest strand of white stuff that the person had shot at a nearby wall, Imogen easily identified it to be something similar to a... spider's webbing.
It was then that things clicked into place in her mind, and she let out a low whistle.
"Fuck me, that's the same kid, isn't it?" she muttered.
"Yeah." Tiki replied. "16 years old, from the Midtown School of Science and Technology, and... unassuming as hell. He went out in that costume a couple of nights ago, hung around one of the more-frequented streets, and ended up stopping a robbery. And, well, he's come out again."
"You and your nose identified that, well enough." Imogen remarked, with a nod. She and Tiki entered the warehouse that the two of them, as well as the kid (Imogen vaguely remembered the kid's name as Peter Parker, or something like that) that they'd been trailing for the past few minutes, had been heading towards. Imogen noticed that Parker went through an air duct on one side of the building, while she and Cana slipped in through the open front door of the warehouse, which was dimly-lit on the inside.
"That I did." Tiki replied, with a hint of pride in her hushed voice as she and Imogen headed away from the warehouse's entrance. "And by the way, I believe Roxas has the whole fucking you-thing down." She added, with a smirk.
"Ha, ha." Imogen rolled her eyes, turning her attention to the movement going on in the depths of the warehouse. Several men with guns were gathered, and judging by their conversation, seemed to be discussing the logistics of possible robberies to carry out in the future. During their conversation, Peter joined them in the warehouse, the closest thing to silent that he could be, though Imogen and Tiki both easily spotted him thanks to their respectively enhanced vision, as well as Tiki's enhanced hearing.
"What do you want to do, Imogen?" Tiki asked, in the same hushed tone she had used before, her eyes following Peter as he crawled along the warehouse's ceiling, until he was directly above the discussing men, who had still not noticed him yet.
"Nothing, yet." Imogen replied, a small smile on her face. "I want to see where this-"
A metal slab that served as part of the ceiling Peter was crawling on came loose as he crawled over it, and dropped almost directly onto the head of one of the discussing men. However, he was pushed aside by one of his fellow criminals, who immediately pointed his gun up at the ceiling.
"Who's there?!" he shouted. "You better not be a cop!"
"...goes." Imogen finished, somewhat lamely as Peter's reply to the guy came in the form of a shot of web to the mouth, sealing his mouth shut almost instantly.
More shots of web followed, some missing their intended mark but most sticking the man's arms and legs together, not allowing him any resistance as Peter attatched a longer strand of web to him and pulled him up to a more secure part of the ceiling, where he hung lamely. Imogen snickered at the sight as Peter jumped down from the ceiling, springing off the face of one of the biggest thugs in the warehouse as the others opened fire on him with their guns. He span through the air and descended, but just as one of the thugs prepared to open fire on the spot on the floor where he was going to land, Peter shot some webbing towards the ceiling and pulled on it, pulling himself up into the air and away from the gunfire.
Parker flipped over in mid-air and sprang off the nearest wall, aiming at the gun of the guy who shot at him with one hand and firing a shot of web at it. Peter scored a direct hit on the thug's gun, pulled it directly out of his hand, swung it around on the end of his web and used it as a flail against the guy in question, knocking him out cold.
"What the hell is that Spider-Boy-Thing doing here?!" one of the burlier thugs shouted as Peter jumped down, firing several webs at the thug in question and scoring a direct hit on his mouth, muffling him.
"It's Spider-MAN!" Peter replied, sounding annoyed as he rolled under the next volley of bullets fired at him by the remaining thugs. Though in spite of his insistance that he was a man, as opposed to a boy-thing, his voice cracked just as he called out the 'man' part of his nickname, which really didn't help his case for being more a man than a boy-thing, in Imogen's opinion. Most of the thugs in the room didn't seem to think so either, as they all semi-simultaneously burst out in peels of laughter at Peter's voice-crack. Though they weren't laughing for long, as Peter shot out two webs at once, hitting two of the smaller gun-wielding thugs. He then pulled the two thugs he'd grabbed towards him via the webs he'd fired, with the webs being strong enough to not break while being pulled.
The thug that was stuck to the right web Peter fired ended up reaching Peter first, and in a fit of panic, he attempted to swing at him with the butt of his gun, but Peter casually leant back to dodge the swing and returned in kind with a kick to the man's head, knocking him out instantly. The left thug, having a bit more sense than his now-knocked-out comrade, tried to shoot Peter from point-blank range, but Peter dodged that and clocked the man in the face with his free right fist. The thug staggered back, dazed, but didn't get a chance to shoot again as Peter followed up with a kick. The thug was sent sprawling to the ground by Peter's kick, too dazed to fight any further.
"This Spider-Boy-Man-Thing isn't bad in a fight." Tiki remarked, under the enchantment that Imogen had put on her. Imogen nodded in agreement at Peter shot a web at the ceiling, and using it to swing over to the remaining thugs. He landed in front of the only unarmed thug out of the remaining group in front of him and delivered a powerful uppercut to said thug, which was powerful enough to send him flying up into the air. Peter then jumped up into the air, far higher than any regular human would be able to jump from a standstill, and delivered a mid-air kick to the man he'd just uppercutted into the air, sending him flying towards his fellow thugs, who scattered and all began firing on Peter.
Any regular human would have been turned into Swiss cheese by all the bullets that were being fired at them, but any notion that Peter Parker was a regular human anymore probably died around the time he started swinging around New York City on webs in a onesie and hoodie. He fired another web at the ceiling and swung down on it, dodging most of the gunfire that came his way, and got in a solid kick against another burly thug before he could load a shotgun and attempt to blast his head off from close-range. The burly thug dropped his gun in the aftermath of being kicked in the head, giving Peter a golden opportunity to web him up and attach him to the ceiling, just like the one earlier thug he'd fucked up at the start of the fight.
Imogen and Tiki now counted only five thugs left, with Imogen seriously appreciating her earlier decision to not step in, given the entertainment she was witnessing. That, and the fact that stepping in and frying all the thugs alive would be a massive hypothetical headache that the Belial Heiress REALLY didn't want to deal with.
Peter landed around the spot where the burly thug he'd just webbed up was standing earlier, and only had a single second to take in the pain of one of the bullets fired at him catching his side, as well as the sight of blood-stains already appearing around that area on his red hoodie. At least he had the sense to wear red to somewhat hide the blood, Imogen thought.
Either way, Peter clearly wasn't letting the pain of being shot in the side get to him as he jumped back towards the thugs, firing a web at the gun of the nearest one, pulling it out of his hand and landing in front of the now-disarmed man, delivering a sweep-kick that sent him off his feet and following up with a punch to the face that sent the thug sprawling on the ground, just like several of his fellow thugs. Imogen also heard a pretty unpleasant cracking sound coming from the thug's face as Peter punched it.
Four thugs left now. Having seemingly cottoned onto the ineffectiveness of gunfire against the Spider-Boy-Man-Thing, the now-nearest thug to Peter threw his gun at the boy (which was neatly dodged) and tried to throw a punch at him. Though in realising the ineffectiveness of gunfire, the thug failed to take into account that the effectiveness of bare-knuckle fisticuffs against Peter was even less effective, judging by how Peter easily slid under the thug's legs as he threw his punch, jumped back up and delivered a couple of kicks to the thug's back, sending him to the ground where he hit his head against the hard concrete, where he moved no more.
The three remaining thugs all attempted to come at Peter at once, with one (the biggest and meanest-looking out of the three that still stood) directly running at him, and the other two approaching at a slower pace, guns drawn against him. Peter made to run at the thug that approached him, but paused for a second and then retreated, rolling to the side as the big thug attempted to grab him in his giant arms (the thickest portions of which being almost as thick as Peter's entire body) and going for the gun-wielding thug to his direct left.
Moving into a sliding motion, Peter aimed one of his hands at the gun and fired a web at it (it was then that Imogen noticed that Peter had been pressing the middle and ring fingers of his hands onto some wrist-mounted gadget that shot his web-like substance), but unfortunately missed. Peter then had to contort himself into a very uncomfortable-looking position to dodge the thug's attempts to shoot him from point-blank range before jumping back to his feet and reaching for the gun in question, forgoing the use of webs entirely. Peter managed to grab the gun and move it away from him before he was fired at again, crushing the barrel in his hand and tossing it aside a second later before jumping out of the way of the burly thug, who had turned around and attempted to grab him again.
Peter then secured the thug who he'd just disarmed in a web and pulled him into the path of the burly thug who was attempting to grab him, indirectly making the burly thug grab the now-disarmed one. In their second of vulnerability, Peter took the opportunity to web the two thugs together, and lift them up into the air, leaving only one thug left. Said thug seemed to now realise that there really was no point in trying to fight Peter anymore, and simply threw down his weapon before allowing himself to be webbed up, just like his comrades.
'A rather anti-climactic end to that battle,' Imogen thought, 'but whatever. Fight was still entertaining.' She and Tiki quietly made their exit as they heard police cars arriving outside the warehouse, and watched as, a few minutes later, Peter swung away, out of the warehouse and further into New York, with neither familiar or master following him.
"So, what do you think, Imogen?" Tiki asked. "Was it good, like you wanted?"
"Oh, yeah." Imogen replied, with a short giggle and a nod. "Definitely good. Though it's somewhat odd that the kid picked a spider-motif. Maybe the Stray Devil that I killed did something to Parker that I didn't notice?" she rested her head in her hand for a second. "That's the only explanation I can think of. Fuck..."
"What do you want to do now?" Tiki asked. "Regarding, you know..." she jerked her head in the direction that she could detect Peter's scent going in, which was slowly fading away in the air.
"Nothing, for now." Imogen replied, fiddling with a fraying bit of her jacket. "Keep observing the kid, but don't make yourself known to him. Not until I can figure out the next move."
"Understood." Tiki replied, inclining her head to Vritra's wielder. "See you, then."
"Yeah." Imogen nodded back at her familiar, and turned around, hearing Tiki spreading her wings and taking off, presumably to follow Parker's scent. Imogen opened a transportation-circle back to the Belial residence in the Underworld, fancying a nap in her vastly-more-comfortable bed in the Belial Mansion than in her Manhattan apartment, and stepped through it, the thought of contacting Wanda Maximoff entering her mind as she did so.
The first thing that Roxas recognised, when he returned to consciousness, was that he seemed to be lying on a bed of some sort, given the softness of what he lay on. His eyes flickered open a couple of seconds later, with his suspicions confirmed: he was lying in a bed.
Most likely a hospital bed, if the room (which was extremely similar to the room that he remembered Ingvild being held in when he and Valian had gone back to see her, way back when) he now lay in was anything to go by. The only other person in the room with him was Valian, who slept lightly in an armchair pulled up next to the bed that Roxas currently lay in. The clothes that Roxas remembered having gone to the Rating Game in had been removed from his body, and he now wore a basic hospital gown on his body.
Roxas lifted one hand up, wincing slightly from pain that suddenly shot through his body as he did so, reached out to his sleeping Queen and gently prodded her in the arm, before retracting his hand back to the bed as Valian stirred.
"Hnngh, do I have to?" she mumbled to herself. "Five more minutes... please, Roxas." she blinked a couple of times before blearily opening her eyes. It took the Divine Dividing wielder all of two seconds to visually acknowledge that Roxas was awake in front of her. "Roxas?"
"Yea, I'm awake." Roxas replied, yawning as Valian span her chair around to face him better. "The hell happened? I remember Hera, Diana and Ares showing up, Ares fighting you- wait, are you okay?"
"I'm adequate." Valian replied. "I've certainly felt better, but as people who the Greek God of War's tried to beat on go, I'm probably the best that I could ever be. Given that I'm, you know, alive."
"You are." Roxas confirmed, smiling. "And thank fuck for that."
Valian just smiled, and adjusted her position on the chair that she'd just moved.
"Is... anyone else here?" Roxas asked, adjusting his own position on the bed (and wincing slightly from the stab of pain that came as he tried to move himself). "Or is it just you?"
"Sirzechs and Grayfia were here a few minutes ago." Valian replied. "But they went to get something to eat. They should be back any minute now, though."
"Fair, fair." Roxas nodded. "Wait, how long has it actually been since the Rating Game? And what's happening with that whole thing?"
"It's been a few hours since you dropped." Valian replied. She opened her mouth to continue talking, but the door to the room that she and Roxas were in opened, and Sirzechs and Grayfia walked in, with Rias following beside them.
"Roxas!" Rias was the first to call out, dashing over to her nephew. "You're awake!"
"Yea, I know I am." Roxas replied, smiling as Rias gently snuck her arms around him in a hug, and gingerly hugging back for a couple of seconds before Rias pulled back. "Hey, Dad, Mom."
"Great to see you awake, Roxas." Sirzechs greeted Roxas. "Millicas'll be overjoyed at the fact that his badass big brother hasn't bit the bucket yet."
"I believe the term is 'kick the bucket'." Roxas replied. "Nice attempt at alliteration, though. And good about Millicas."
"Very." Grayfia affirmed, with a nod. "He was practically in hysterics when he saw you getting... you know, on live TV. Moving on from that, though," she continued, shifting her tone back into a more regular one. "It's been decided that you and Rudiger will have a rematch. You'll both have to meet and negotiate when to have that rematch, though."
"Fair enough." Roxas replied. "I'll ask Venelana to remind me to do that, once I'm out of here."
"Way ahead of you, Roxas." Valian spoke up again. "I got her to make a note of that while you were out. After she calmed down over you getting fucked up by a pair of God-Class beings on live TV, that is."
"Right. Thanks, Valian." Roxas nodded and smiled. "Speaking of... what the hell was Hera going after me for?"
"No idea, but the entire Christian Pantheon's in uproar over it." Sirzechs replied. "Especially the Devils, for hopefully-obvious reasons. A few Clan Heads have been calling for... retaliation, against the Greek Pantheon."
"They're asking for war?" Valian asked.
"That's what they're asking for, yeah." Grayfia replied. "Though Zeus said, pretty much instantly after Hera's attack, that he wasn't involved with what his wife did."
"And was he?" Roxas now asked. "I don't know the guy all that well, so do you think he'd be the kind of guy to do that?"
"I very much doubt it." Sirzechs replied. "Doubly so when it was Fianna and Serafall that got that statement out of him. I doubt it was too hard for her, given how Zeus is."
"Yeah." Roxas nodded, knowing Zeus' reputation as a pervert (to put it in the lightest way possible). "So... are we gonna go to war with the Greek Pantheon over this?"
"No. Almost certainly not." Sirzechs shook his head. "It takes the approval of more than half the top leaders of all the Factions that are part of the Pantheon to officially declare war, and after Zeus' statement, I'm pretty sure that no-one will be declaring war on the Pantheon as a whole. Hera herself, however," a dark look crossed his face for a few seconds. "Is another matter entirely."
"Indeed." Grayfia nodded, a similar dark look crossing her own face. Roxas felt a shiver down his spine from the matching dark looks from both his parents, even though he knew they weren't directed at him.
After a couple of seconds of tense silence, Roxas spoke up again.
"So, am I going to be able to leave here soon?"
"Oh, yeah." Sirzechs replied. "Someone'll be around to give you a quick physical check-up, and after that, you'll basically be free to go. Though I don't think you need a doctor to tell you that you should take it easy for a bit for a few days, at least."
"Yeah." Roxas nodded, moving himself back into a more comfortable position on the bed. "I'm not stupid, Dad."
Sirzechs let out a short snort, and made to reply, before a magic-circle appeared by his ear. Offering a quick apology to Grayfia, Valian and Roxas, he stood up and touched the circle by his ear, answering the call and making to walk out of the room in case that was necessary. Roxas, Grayfia and Valian all heard smatterings of what was being said on the other end of Sirzechs' call as he walked, but not nearly enough to completely figure out what was being said. Though how Roxas' father replied to what was being said definitely gave them all a good idea.
"Hello? ...Nice. That's good. ...I'm at the medical facility in Bitru. Sitri territory... Yeah, he's awake. You want to speak to him? One second."
Muting the call, Sirzechs turned around.
"You okay with speaking with Zeus, Roxas? Serafall and Fianna are there too."
"Sure." Roxas replied, moving himself again. Sirzechs nodded and, after a couple of call-adjustment spells, a magical screen was set up in front of Roxas, Valian and Grayfia, with Zeus, Serafall and Fianna looking back at him. Thankfully, Zeus had had the decency to have a shirt on for this call, as well as whatever he was doing with Serafall and Fianna prior to the call.
"Roxas!" Zeus greeted him, a grin on his face. "It's been a while. Great to see you up and well!"
"Out of altruistic reasons, I'm sure." Roxas replied, dryly. "But you're right, it has been a while. Hey Sera, Fianna."
"Hi, Roxas!" Serafall replied, winking cheerfully at her boyfriend. "What Zeus said, it's amazing to see you up. I'm sure Sona will be so happy~"
"Ditto." Fianna remarked, casting her eyes over at Serafall before flashing Roxas another smile. Zeus cleared his throat and spoke up again, his tone uncharacteristically serious.
"On behalf of the Olympic Pantheon, Roxas, I'd like to sincerely apologize for what Hera, Ares and Diana did to you." the Chief God of Olympus spoke, inclining his head to the silver-haired Nephalem in front of him. "You have my word that the actions she carried out were absolutely not what I, or the rest of the Olympians, wished for. For such an act, she and Ares have both been removed from the Olympians, and the other nine out of the now-Ten Olympians are working to find replacements for Hera and Ares as we speak."
"He's also planning to divorce her." Fianna added, the smile on her face widening as Roxas took in that information, looking slightly taken aback by it.
"Damn, really?" he asked. "All over me?"
"More over the fact that she tried to have the direct family of the most powerful leader among possibly the strongest Pantheon in the world right now than over you, specifically." Zeus replied. "That and her reactions to things she doesn't like tend to be... bad, to say the least. Up until now, she's just kept it to within the Pantheon, where her issues can be sorted out without the risk of kicking up a stink within multiple pantheons, but what she's done and had done now... well, it's beyond the pale. She and those allied with her need to go, both for the safety of my Pantheon, and for the supernatural world as a whole."
"The fact that she's working with the Khaos Brigade probably doesn't help her case much, either." Roxas remarked. "Double points against her for the fact that, if Cao Cao is telling the truth, she's leading those guys."
"Indeed." Zeus replied, nodding. "After Azazel passed that knowledge onto me, I actually wanted to talk to Hera and try to reason her away from the Brigade. But she had completely left Olympus before I could even try and find her. No-one, not even Hermes, saw her from then up until a couple of hours ago, where she, my oldest son with her, and my strongest daughter tried to kill you and your Queen on live television."
"Yeah." Roxas remarked. "And as you said, you're going to go kick their asses, right?"
"A crude way of putting it, but yes." Zeus replied. "And that leads us decently well into what I wanted to talk to you about. The operation to bring Hera, Ares and Diana down. As well as the Khaos Brigade themselves, if possible."
"You going to try and keep me from it, for my own safety?" Roxas asked. "Please don't tell me that's what you're going to try and convince me to do, because fuck that. Hera got me fucked up, I'm down to fuck her up in return."
"I..." Zeus paused for a second as he took in all that Roxas said. "That... wasn't quite what I had in mind to tell you. I was going to say that, if you want to help us out, I won't stop you. In fact, I support it. More the merrier, and all that. Though I would like to formally request assistance from the Christian Pantheon at large, for this." he continued, looking over at Sirzechs. "If Hera really is working with the Khaos Brigade, then there's a good chance that forces from them will appear to defend their leader. Should that happen, and we end up fighting the full remaining might of the Khaos Brigade, more... diverse, forces will be needed."
"That and the more powerful fighters on your side against Hera and whatever forces she's got via the Khaos Brigade, the less chance you have of losing more powerful and influential leaders within your Pantheon than you already have, Zeus." Fianna remarked. "Which, you know, is fair."
"The other Satans and I'll have to talk to the leaders of the other three Factions before we come to a definitive answer for you, Zeus." Sirzechs replied. "Which we can do within the day, I can promise you that much."
"I look forward to your formal answer, then." Zeus replied, inclining his head to Sirzechs again before looking over at Roxas. "I also look forward to working with you on 'fucking Hera up', as you put it, Roxas."
Roxas just smirked in reply as the magical screen in front of him disappeared, with the feed of Zeus, Serafall and Fianna disappearing from the room as well.
"Hopefully I'll be ready to fight again by the time Zeus is ready to fuck Hera up." Roxas remarked. "I'm free to go after a check-up, right?"
"That's what I said." Sirzechs replied, nodding. "And I'm sure it won't be too long before you're back to peak performance, Roxas. I'm sure all the women you surround yourself with will be happy with that."
"You know it, Dad." Roxas nodded, grinning at both him and Grayfia. He shifted himself into a more upright sitting position on the bed as the door opened again, revealing Palutena behind it. She quickly moved into the room, knelt down and wrapped her arms around Roxas, who leant over and returned the gesture.
"I'm sorry, Roxas..." Palutena whispered, tightening her grip on her husband for a second or two as she hugged him. "I'm so sorry...!"
"Hey, it wasn't your fault, love." Roxas whispered back, tightening his grip on her for a second or two in return, before pulling back. "Not even close. Not even fucking close."
"I don't think it was anyone's fault." another female voice said, coming from the door. "Maybe Hera's just... insane."
Roxas looked past Palutena and raised an eyebrow as Scathach, not in her regular skin-tight battle suit but instead wearing a black double-breasted skirt coat, black tights and black knee-high boots, stepped through the door. A couple of seconds later, Dr. Strange also appeared through the door, also wearing casual clothes like Scathach (a simple jacket, plain t-shirt and jeans).
"Chances are you're right, Scathach." Roxas replied, as Palutena retracted her hug and pulled back, standing beside her husband. "Also, hey. How much did you both hear and what're you doing here?"
"We might be work-colleagues, Roxas, but that doesn't mean I can't check up on you when you almost got killed by a fellow SSPCH member." Strange replied. "That aside, I'm glad to see you're alright."
"Same." Scathach nodded, conjuring up a chair out of magic with a wave of her hand and sitting down on it. She conjured a similar chair for Palutena after a second or two, as Strange continued.
"Or rather, former member. Safe to say she's getting kicked out of the SSPCH, after allying with Hera." Strange continued. "By the way, we heard everything from you saying that you're 'down to fuck Hera up in return', presumably for what she had done to you."
"Right." Roxas replied. "Well, I stand by that. That a problem?"
"Absolutely not." Scathach replied. "Strange and I want to help. And I'm pretty sure a few more of us will want to help. Gondul, Kali, Wukong, just to name a few."
"Indeed." Strange replied, stepping forward and nodding. "And before you ask, Roxas, no. This isn't up for negotiation. Hera didn't just attack you, a member of the SSPCH, but another one of us helped her in attacking you. Though it might not exactly have been what we created the SSPCH for, strictly speaking, this is a matter that I feel we should assist in dealing with, along with the Christian Pantheon." he looked over at Sirzechs and inclined his head to the Crimson Satan.
"Oh, I'm not gonna try and negotiate with you about this, Doc." Roxas replied. "Or even object, because I'm on your side. Join in if you want, no objections from me. More the merrier, and all that."
"Good." Strange replied. "I'll go inform the other members of this. Hope to see you soon." he flashed Roxas a temporary smile before turning on his heel and leaving the room, with Scathach following a couple of seconds later, dispelling the chair she had conjured for herself as she did so. She flashed Roxas a slightly longer-lasting, slightly warmer smile before leaving the room as well, with the quiet whooshing sound of two transportation-circles forming telling Roxas (and everyone else in the room) that Strange and Scathach had warped away.
Roxas settled down from his sitting position in the bed as silence reigned over the hospital room for all of five seconds, after which the door opened again to reveal one of the many nurses of the hospital that they were in. Knowing what this meant, Sirzechs, Grayfia, Valian and Palutena all got up and filed out of the room as Roxas' check-up began.
The check-up didn't last very long. Aside from a general recommendation for him to take it easy for a few days, Roxas was discharged, given his regular clothes back, and allowed to return home, which he did alongside Valian and Palutena. Sirzechs and Grayfia only wished him well and remained in the city that the medical facility was in, with Sirzechs citing affairs that required his attention as Satan Lucifer as the reason.
Roxas, Palutena and Valian touched down in the living-room of Roxas' home villa a few minutes after the former's discharging. The portal that Palutena had cast for the three of them dispelled as soon as they all touched down on the other side of it, with Valian heading off upstairs almost immediately, leaving Roxas and his first wife alone together. Stretching himself slightly, Roxas headed over to the kitchen, feeling the pangs of hunger kicking in for him. He hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast that morning, and after the Rating Game, getting the shit beaten out of him and a stint in hospital, he needed something in his stomach.
Settling on just heating up some leftovers from the meal that Asia and Akeno had put together for him the night before, Roxas piled some food onto the plate and stuck said plate in the microwave oven, turning it on and turning around as he heard the door to the kitchen opening, and Palutena making her way in. The expression on her face as she walked in was... hard to read, to say the least, Roxas thought.
"What's up, Palutena?" Roxas asked, fully turning around and leaning against the counter that the microwave sat on, the hum of said microwave serving as background noise.
"I was thinking, since the hospital... or before that, really." Palutena replied, sitting down on the nearest chair, only a couple of paces away from Roxas. "It's about you wanting to... fuck up my mother in return for what she's done to you."
"Right..." Roxas replied, trying his hardest to not raise an eyebrow. "What about that? Want to talk me out of it?"
"No way!" Palutena answered, probably slightly quicker and in a louder tone than she most likely intended to answer. She paused for a second, looking up at her husband, whose expression and posture hadn't changed from her answer. He only moved to scratch an itch that had randomly formed on his head, before speaking again.
"Alright, then. What about Hera, then?"
Palutena licked her lips, looking slightly nervous in anticipation of what she was about to say.
"Palutena?"
"I..." Palutena spoke, swallowing and pausing for a second, before fully committing to saying what was on her mind. "I want to help. In taking Hera down."
The microwave beeped, indicating that the food that Roxas had taken and heated up had finished heating up, but Roxas didn't move to take the food out. He was still focused on his wife, in the aftermath of what she'd just said.
"What?" Was Roxas' first response to his wife's declaration. "No way." came a couple of seconds later. "Why would you want to do that?"
"Because I know why Hera went for you." Palutena replied, leaning slightly closer to her husband. "I know why. It's because of me, Roxas, she wants to get to me."
Upon reflex, a hard response to Palutena's declaration that Hera coming for him was because of her formed in Roxas' mind. The Nephalem had full intention to let that response out, and let his wife know that that couldn't be further from the truth, that she shouldn't have to worry about why Hera wanted him dead. But at the second half of her statement, the response came to a screeching halt in Roxas' throat. He swallowed it down, and relaxed himself, keeping his eyes focused on Palutena.
"Alright, I'll bite. Why do you think Hera wants to get to you?"
"I don't think it, I know it." Palutena replied. "Ever since we met up with her, way back when, Hera's wanted me out of her life in every possible definition of the term. She hates any reminder of the fact that she's not the perfect figure of goddessly womanhood that she's had a reputation for being ever since she married Zeus. Ever since Aphrodite visited for the first time after we moved into this place, I had a feeling that she would try something, but... this?!"
Palutena's breath quickened as she spoke, and Roxas shifted off of the counter that he'd been leaning against, concerned.
"It's all my fault... it's all my fault...!" Palutena continued, her voice a choked whisper. "That she went for you, instead of me."
"Palu, stop it." Roxas spoke, cutting through her near-tearful ramblings in a firm tone as he walked over to her, and knelt down in front of her. "This isn't your fault."
"But-"
"Shut up and let me finish." Roxas cut across Palutena. "Palu. This isn't, in any way, your fault. It's Hera's, for being enough of a cunt to join and now lead the Khaos Brigade, as well as for being enough of a bitch to attack me in the middle of a Rating Game. If anyone else should get any share of the blame for Hera attacking me, it's me. I was the one who picked this place for us all to move into back in April, wasn't I?"
"T-true." Palutena replied, sniffing. "But Hera would've probably come after us sooner or later, no matter where we moved. Or even if we'd just stayed in Menorca-"
"Not my point." Roxas cut across her again. "Don't ever let her poison you into thinking that any of this is your fault, Palu. It's wrong, it's stupid, and it'll just drag you down. Please..." he looked up at her, and as Palutena looked back, she recognised the unseen intensity in Roxas' eyes that came around when he was being serious with something.
"Plus, I don't think 'goddessly' is even a word." Roxas added, half-jokingly as he stood up.
"It should be!" Palutena replied, giggling as she relaxed a bit in her chair. She always loved how Roxas seemed to know exactly what he needed to say to get her laughing again, no matter what mood she was in. Even if she was close to tears like she had just been.
"Right?" Roxas chuckled himself for a second, before taking a breath. "Debates about whether certain words are real or not aside, I still don't think you should help out with taking down Hera. Never mind the fact that, if Hera really wants you gone from her life, you'd just be asking her to take a direct shot at me if you went anywhere near her. Plus, you know..." Roxas bent down slightly and rested his hands on Palutena's stomach for a couple of seconds. "I know I've said I'm scared out of my mind about having a child on multiple occasions, but you know what scares me more, Palu? The idea of losing the woman who brought me out of the dark place I'd been in before we met, the one who taught me how to live again... as well as what we made together."
Palutena, almost instantly, went back to being close to tears from Roxas' words. She held her hands over her mouth in an attempt to stifle the sobs that began coming. But once they began coming, in spite of her attempts to stifle them, she wasn't able to stop them. Roxas instantly stood up and pulled Palutena into a hug, tightening his grip on her as she wrapped her arms around him in return, and allowing her to rest her head on his shoulder so she could cry on it.
It took about a minute for Palutena to finish her cries, at which point she pulled away from her husband. Her eyes were still teary, but a genuine smile had undeniably returned to her face... which was all Roxas needed to see.
"Feel better?" He asked. At Palutena's nod, he let out a breath. "Good. Now, I think I need to go and shower before having the food I heated. Maybe change my clothes, too. You did kind of stain my shirt by crying on it for the past minute, after all."
Palutena let out another weak giggle and nodded. Summoning her staff, it took but one quick wave of said staff for her clothes to change from her usual jewellery-bedecked white dress to a simple large shirt and jeans, and another wave to summon a tub of ice-cream from the freezer. She levitated said tub in mid-air as she walked out of the kitchen, making her way to the living room. From where he was stood in the kitchen, Roxas could see her settling down on the sofa and turning on the TV.
Stretching again, Roxas made his way out of the kitchen as well, and made a beeline for the stairs. Though before he could fully get there, he noticed Jeanne, Elsha and Valian (the latter two had both changed clothes since the end of the Rating Game) standing near the stairs, all looking at him with varying degrees of pleased expressions on their face. Guessing the reason for said pleased expressions, Roxas sighed, more amused than annoyed.
"How much did you hear?" Roxas asked, quietly as so not to disturb Palutena as she switched to their shared Disney+ account and began watching something.
"Enough to know, for sure, that you really have the soul of an Angel, Roxas." Jeanne replied, beaming as she looked from Roxas to Palutena and back again, before clasping her hands together. "Every day, I'm happier that the Lord guided me to you."
"Ditto." Elsha replied. "But replace the stuff about the Lord guiding me to you with me giving you a second chance, Roxas. You keep proving that it was the more and more the right choice for me to make."
"Glad to hear it, both of you." Roxas replied. "Valian?"
"Jeanne and Elsha summed what I was going to say up pretty well, so I don't think I'll repeat it." Valian replied. "That aside, figured I'd tell you that Venelana, Palutena and I've been preparing a little something for you, ever since you came back from your Kyoto trip with the second-year Kuoh brats. It's almost ready, but it needs a bit more time to get fully prepared before you can... experience, it."
"Nice." Roxas grinned. "Can't wait, Val." he manoeuvred himself past her, not even bothering to resist the urge to grab at Valian's ass as he made his way upstairs, with full intent to shower and change clothes.
Valian didn't even blush at Roxas' groping, given that he'd done so much more intense shit to her. And she could only hope that, with what she, Venelana and Palutena were planning, he'd do much more intense shit with her in the near future as well.
Meanwhile, in a small town known as Olympia, located in the southwest region of Elis, Greece, an average-looking woman with slightly curly black hair, green eyes and glasses walked towards the ruins of the temple of Heraion. It used to be the most respected temple in all of Greece. It was originally built as a joint temple to worship Hera and Zeus at, but after Zeus had his own temple built for him somewhere else, it became a temple for solely Hera.
Well, there wasn't much left of it now. Not as far as most of humanity were aware, at least. The woman who walked forward, however, knew better.
As she crossed over a certain point, the image of Heraion's ruins, a mere illusion, faded from the woman's sight, giving way to a grand, absolutely not ruined, masterpiece of a temple. It looked truly like a place worthy of a Goddess, and in particular, one of the most well-known and important goddesses in the entire supernatural world. The woman walking towards the temple knew that well, and smirked as the glamour around her disintegrated, revealing the emerald-haired brown-eyed dress-wearing Hera underneath.
Hera didn't even break stride as she walked through the temple's front entrance and into the main hall, where two of her loyal followers awaited: Diana and Pyrrha. Hera couldn't hear their conversation from her position at the temple's entrance, but judging by their body language, it was clear that they were having an intense conversation with one another. She cleared her throat, and upon hearing said cleared throat, Diana and Pyrrha turned around. Upon noticing their leader, Diana and Pyrrha instantly dropped into low bows, with the fact that Pyrrha going down a half-second later than Diana did seemingly going unnoticed by Hera.
"Report, Diana." Hera spoke, her voice as cold and authoritative as ever as Diana and Pyrrha stood up. Having disregarded Diana's apprentice, who was practically shaking in her boots in front of her, she focused entirely on the daughter of Zeus and Hippolyta, as said demigoddess/Amazon Hybrid spoke up in reply to her order.
"I was able to convince Enyo, Hebe, Eris, Circe, Deimos and Phobos to join your cause as ordered, Lady Hera." Diana replied. "Some were... easier to convince, than others, but they've all promised to aid you in your ambitions. They'll be sure to arrive when you call."
"And Ares?" Hera asked, inwardly pleased that Diana had carried out her orders so well. Enyo and Circe were the main two minor Goddesses that she wanted on her side: Enyo for her bloodlust, that only rivalled her husband Ares, and Circe for her magical capabilities, that would absolutely help in blessing the Nilrem Magicians that were loyal to her via her leadership of the Khaos Brigade. All the other gods and goddesses among those that Diana had listed were just bonuses.
Hera raised her eyebrow as Diana didn't answer immediately.
"He... hasn't responded yet." Diana replied, after a short pause. "I think he's still busy with the Cyclopes and Giants."
"Yes, I guess he would be." Hera replied. "No matter, though." she remarked, more to herself than Diana, as she sent out a mental call to all the Gods and Goddesses that Diana had mentioned earlier, and ordering them to come to her temple. "He'll be back when he's done. Then we can get to preparing for what comes next."
Diana nodded and stood back, pulling Pyrrha along with her, as Hera walked past the pair of them. As she did, six transportation-circles opened in the entrance to the temple. Pyrrha turned to look at the opening circles in question, which faded away a few seconds after they had opened, revealing the Gods and Goddesses within: Enyo, Hebe, Eris, Circe, Deimos and Phobos.
Enyo, one of Zeus and Hera's many children and the Goddess of War, was a slim young-looking woman with short silver hair, and the same brown eyes as her mother. Dressed in form-fitting armour and with a slightly-deranged grin on her face, she certainly looked the part of one who was ready to fight, in spite of how she probably didn't care who she had to throw a punch at in order to get one.
Hebe, another of Zeus and Hera's many children and the Goddess of Youth, looked around the same age as Pyrrha, even though all present knew that she was a lot older. She had long, white hair that went down to just below her hips, and light lilac eyes. She only wore a white dress with red trim, nothing too fancy, and fidgeted slightly nervously on the spot as Hera regarded her with a somewhat sympathetic eye.
Eris, a daughter of Nyx and Erebus and the Goddess of Discord, had violet eyes, a slender voluptuous body, and long silky black hair that went down to her hips. Her attire consisted of a short black dress with a small light purple jacket on top, and her eyes constantly darted between everyone who stood around her, as if sizing everyone else up.
Circe, the daughter of Helios and Perse and the Goddess of Magic, was arguably the most beautiful woman that had just shown up (she would've been the most beautiful in the whole room, but Diana had her beat in that area). She possessed long, flowing purple hair that she tied at the very end and matching eyes that outwardly conveyed compassion for all around her. Her exceptionally gorgeous and voluptuous body was concealed by a kind of tight bodysuit, with a piece of cloth draped over her chest. There were also several accessories dotted around the bodysuit, which only seemed to add to her mystique.
Deimos, one of the sons of Ares and Aphrodite and the God of Terror, had his mother's blond hair that seemed to dance around his head in the same way that his father's white hair did, and Ares' brown eyes. He wore a brown, sleeveless tunic, similar to Ares', and he was very much slimmer than his father, but still muscly.
Phobos, another of Ares and Aphrodite's sons and the God of Fear, was almost Deimos' exact twin in terms of appearance. He possessed the same physique and attire, and even the same facial structure. The only difference between him and Deimos was that he had his father's white hair, and his mother's violet eyes, as opposed to Deimos possessing his mother's hair and father's eyes.
Before any of the other Gods could comment on their Queen having summoned the lot of them at such short notice, Ares himself appeared through a transportation-circle of his own, right next to Hera. If any of the Gods and Goddesses present weren't tense before, they absolutely were now, with the God of War himself, one of the most powerful Gods of the entire Greek Pantheon (or rather, just in the world in general), in their midst.
"News?" Hera asked. Ares gave off a smile, the scariness of which was only matched by Enyo's only-slightly-deranged grin, as he spoke.
"The Cyclopes and Giants are at your command, Mother." he replied. "I apologize for taking so long, I got... carried away."
"Well, so long as they're loyal, it doesn't matter." Hera replied. "The more, the merrier, as they say." A smile of her own crossed her face as Ares moved to join the other Gods and Goddesses that had just arrived, with Diana and Pyrrha moving with him. She stepped in front of the group of nine, an intense look growing on her face.
"This is for a better future." Hera began. "For the entire Greek Pantheon, and potentially the entire supernatural world. My husband, in openly co-operating with lesser pantheons and factions, has flouted the values that we've stood for millennia on, and the fact that none of our fellow Gods had the courage to step up and challenge him on this sickens me to my divine core. With the support of powerful allies that share my ambitions, we must move against the traitors, drive them out of Olympus, and set our pantheon back on its intended path! With I, the firstborn child of Kronos and Rhea, as its rightful Queen, the Olympic Pantheon will return to a golden age!"
The eight Gods and Goddesses out of the nine beings stood in front of Hera burst into applause: Ares being the most enthusiastic and everyone else being varying degrees of enthusiastic to nervous. Pyrrha also applauded, but very clearly didn't look comfortable with it at all. Nervous or not, the sound of people applauding her words was enough to satisfy Hera, as she smirked before turning on her heel.
"Ares and Diana will let the rest of you know your roles in what's to come." Hera stated to the other Gods and Goddesses, without even looking at them. We'll reconvene in three days." and with that, she left through a transportation-circle of her own, returning to her bedchambers. A place where she could be alone with her own thoughts... or so she thought.
"Ahh, sis. I always loved hearing your speeches."
Hera whirled around, summoning a lance of divine light and pointing it at Hades, who casually leant against the door to her bedchambers, a casual grin on his face.
"Hades." Hera greeted the death god, narrowing her eyes. "What're you doing here?"
"What, a bro can't drop in on his sister?" Hades asked, in a mock-offended tone. "How sad, I wish I'd gotten the memo on that earlier. I even went to the trouble of getting information that you, specifically, would like to hear, and everything~"
"I'm... listening." Hera replied, dispelling the light-lance and backing away from Hades, remaining on-guard. It was always wise to remain as such around the God of the Realm of the Dead, which Hera knew more than anyone.
"A little Thanypoo told me that Zeus and the rest of the supposedly traitorous Greek Pantheon are gearing up to take you down." Hades remarked. "With the help of certain members of that little society that your son-in-law and the Sorcerer Supreme run. Oh, you failed to kill your son in law, by the way. Well done. Brilliant job." he added, his voice dripping with sarcastic glee as an ugly, annoyed look returned to Hera's face as she balled her hands up into fists.
"Damn it!" she muttered. "Fucking... aagh!" she wrung her hands for a couple of seconds, before turning back to Hades. "Thanks for telling me this, but why even tell me in the first place?" she asked, making eye-contact with him for the first time since he'd made his appearance known. "What do you get out of this?"
"Entertainment." Hades replied, simply. "Hanging around in my realm and overseeing all the souls of the dead can get awfully boring, you know. By the way, want me to unseal him from Tartarus for you? To help with your little movement against our brother and the rest?"
"Huh?" Legitimately caught off-guard, Hera took another step back. "Are you talking about who I think you're talking about?"
"Sure am!" Hades replied, winking and smirking at Hera in an incredibly creepy manner. "You can't deny that you'd need all the help you can get, given who you're going up against. Oh, tell you what, I'll throw in a few extra creatures for free. And a little boost to all your followers as well."
"For free?" Hera repeated.
"For free." Hades affirmed. "Pro bono, on the house, or whatever expression the humans use. What, gonna turn down a gift from your dear little brother?"
Hera paused for a second, knowing in the pit of her divine stomach that what Hades had said, about how she would need all the help she could get, given what (or who) she was potentially going up against, was absolutely correct. Saner beings than her would have figured at this point that trying to brute-force her wishes into reality would just result in unneeded bloodshed, but as far as she was concerned, Hera was far too deep in with what she was doing to pull out now.
"No." the mother of Palutena replied, fixing Hades with another look. "I won't turn you down. In fact, I accept."
And that's Chapter 57 of Nephalem, and 8 left to go for its first stint! Featuring the debut of everyone's favourite webhead, and the return of Hades, and some lovely Roxas-related moments in between, this was a fun chapter to write. Sorry that I couldn't get it out for the end of August: I would've, but I got my second Covid vaccine jab and... it hit me pretty hard. But whatever, I'm alright now, and I can keep writing.
Also, for anyone that needs reminding, the version of Hades I'm using is the one from Kid Icarus: Uprising. The best version of him, BY FAR.
I also started my newest DxD fic, Of Alliances and Assimilation, which is on this site, AO3 and even on Webnovel. If you haven't checked that fic out already, I really hope you'll do so, since that'll be my main focus DxD-wise once I've hit my stopping point with Nephalem.
Anyway, I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. Whether you did or you didn't, please leave a review and let me know, because I really do love hearing feedback, of any kind. If you fancy letting me know about some possible ideas you might have for later in the story, or just have questions for me (because I'll be happy to answer them), let me know in a review, drop me a PM or hit me up on Discord (my name for it is on my profile), Either method works for me!
Also, the next instalment of the Nephalem Lemon Series will be coming out in the next week or so. So stay tuned for that!
Next Time: The Gift, Operation Divorce
Seeya!