Chapter 7.
(The Underworld: Late at night)
On the edge of Tartarus, a hand shot up over the pit and clamped down on the hard rock and dirt. Kratos pulled himself over the edge and fell on his back, pulling lungs full of air untill they felt like bursting. He closed his eyes and focused on pulling air into his lungs and slowly releasing. A slight hum started around him and a soft hand touched his cheek. "Welcome back to the world of the living, my beloved." Kratos opened his eyes to see Aphrodite smiling.
Kratos put his hand over hers and breathed out a sigh of relief. "Finaly after a thousand years I have escaped my own hell." he said under his breath. Aphrodite helped him sit up and kneeled next to him. "Your son has acomplished much Kratos. Would like to see?" Kratos looked at her. "My son." he said. This was the first he had heard that his child was even a boy. "Sow me." he said. Aphrodite gently placed both of her hands next to his ears. Images flashed into Kratos's mind, showing a boy wearing Spartan armor battling and killing monsters over his youth. It finaly should him weilding the Blades of Fate killing Charybdis and the gaint camp on Nassu Island.
"Ikelik is now waiting for the Nemian Lion pelt to be woven into a cloak by Arachne on the island of Nassu." Kratos actually felt himself tear up, he had even felt moisture under his eyes in years. "Is something wrong Kratos?" his lover asked. Kratos wiped his eye and stood. "I am proud of my son. That is all." Aphrodite smiled, she felt proud of her son as well, just not as Kratos felt. Kratos looked around, the underworld had changed. The river Styx was a black muck filled junk he did not recognize. "Does Hades still rul here?" he asked. Aphrodite nodded and pointed south. His castle stood out in a dark blue and black glow.
"Return to Olympus and gather any one who will listen, I will deal with Hades." Aphrodite nodded. "As you wish, Lord Kratos." Aphrodite snapped her fingers and vanished in a pink mist. Kratos looked at the castle and started walking off. It took him awhile untill he reached a farry dock where a person was leaning against the wood, a pole in his hand and his foot hanging off the dock. Kratos walked up to him and grabbed him by his cloak. "You! Take meto Hades' palace!" The figure, or rather skeleton, jumped as he made eye contact with him. "Kratos? How did you- How did you get out of Tartarus?" Kratos shoved the frerryman into the boat and jumped in himself.
Kratos pulled out his Blades of Exile and put one to the man's neck. "Take me to Hades' palce now!" The ferryman jumped up and ran to the back of the boat and started to row. Kratos stood and watched as the boat crawled further across the river. He clenched his fingers as the boat hit the shore, he stepped off and swung his blades backwards, cutting the ferryman's head clean off his shoulders. The grass, when there was some, was knarled and tried grabbing at his legs. He stormed up to the amin door, cutting down 2 skeletons holding spears and greek armor gaurding the door.
When he knocked the doors down, a group of skeletons were massing in the hallway. On the otherside of the army was a women. "Persephone." Kratos said under his breath. The queen of the underworld pointed at Kratos. "Kill him!" she then turned and ran as door slammed shut behind her. The skeletons all charged at Kratos readying their weapons. Kratos readied his blades and let out a war cry. "Aaaaaaaarrrrrrgggghhhhh!" Hacked his way throught the army of the undead, hacking bones apart, breaking them into small shards, and seperated the strand conecting them together.
When all of the skeletons littered the damp dark floor, he crossed to the door and looekd at it. It opened from the ground or pulled up from by a chain link system. Kratos dug his fingers under the door and tried pulling it up. After a minute, he pulled his fingers out from under the door and looked closer at it. A skeleton had wedged it's arm into the gears of the mechanism that opened the door before he had killed it. He pulled the bone out and trued again. Putting his fingers under the edge of the door, he lifted it up from the door way and threw it up into ceiling.
Persephone was in the throne room, talking with an Iris image of Hades. "You have to hurry Hades! Kratos has rissen from Tartarus, he has killed Charon and has breached the palace!" "Calm yourself, Persephone. Kratos will not be able to fight his way through my army." Kratos walked down a set of stairs. "Maybe you couldn't Hades, but I have." Kratos said. Persephone turned, her face wracked with fear. "Hades, please help." she said. She then waved her hand through the image. "You could not stand against the first time we fought Persephone. What makes you think you'll be able to win against me this time?"
Persephone walked away from where the image was and went to her throne. "I have been meaning to use my new weapon. But I did not expect to use it against you." She went up the steps to her throne and pulled an obsidian long sword from behind it. She walked down and stood 4ft. away from Kratos. She unsheathed the sword and watched as Kratos unsheathed his Exile blades. They just stood for a few seconds, looking directly into each other's souls. Kratos moved first, dashing forward and swinging his blades without throwing them. Persephone blocked each blow for blow, catching both of Kratos's blades on her sword.
Persephone jumped back wards and pulled a chunk of the earth out and threw it at Kratos. The Spartan swung his blades and cut the rock in half. Persephone jumped up from behind the rock and thrust her sword at Kratos. Kratos parried the blade and slashed at the goddess's face. The queen of the underworld threw herself backwards only to avoid the blow but ended up getting a nasty cut across her face. Golden ichor trailed down her face and into her right eye. "You are resliant Spartan, but I will personaly send you back to the lowest point of Tartarus!" With that she sprouted wings from her back, glowing a green aura.
"Our battle has just began Ghost of Sparta!" She readied her blade and waved for him. Kratos charged and and lowered his blades to the ground, drawing sparks from the obsidian rock. He jumped into the air and brought his blades down on Persephone's sword. The goddess buckled a bit on the second hit, almost falling onto her back. When Kratos dropped back down to the ground he pulled every ounce of his rage from his core and unleashed it. "Feel the rage of Sparta!" he said, rapidly striking Persephone's gaurd making her retreat backwards deeper into the throne room. He focused most of heavy blows on her gaurd and striked with light attacks on her ungaurded areas.
Persephone jumped backwards into the air floating above Kratos. "Do you see goddess? I will not simply wait for my fate to be handed to me!" Kratos said. Persephone grinned, despite that she was bleeding onto the floor. "Foolish mortal, you do not possess the power to kill me." Kratos walked up the steps to Hades throne. "You only think I cannot kill you. Much has changed since our last meeting." Persephone hovered opposite of Kratos as he climbed the stairs. "My husband told me you used my coffin as a means to kill me. I will make sure your toture will be worse than that of Prometheus."
Persephone dive bombed at Kratos, trying to take his head. Kratos jumped over the goddess and hooked his blades into her side and swinging her into coloumns lineing the walls. The goddess struggled to her feet and was able to raise her sword by the time Kratos had ran up to her and stabbed her in the gut with his right blade. He pressed her into the wall and slammed her into the floor. Persephone gasped for air as Kratos's blade ripped her lungs to shreds, golden ichor pooling out from the blades. "You are but the first death in my war against the gods." Picking her up by her hair, she flung her into Hades' throne. He picked Persephone's obsidian sword watching as it turned into a black form of the Blade of Olympus, a dark aura surronding the blade.
Persephone tried to focused on trying to have her regenitive powers to work. Kratos walked up the steps and thrusted the blade through her abdomen. She grunted in pain as the blade turned her organs into ribbons. "A new age is coming to earth, one where the Olympians will be a stain in the past." He twisted the blade and tore Persephone in half . Her remains turned into wheat and then into a golden aura that was abosrobed by Kratos. "The powers of a god, I have not felt it's strength in so long." With that, he left the palace of Hades behind.
Ikelik bolted up from his bed, cold sweat running down his chest from his nightmare. He sat up and slowed his breathing, focusing on pulling the images back to his mind. First he saw Gaia reaching out for him, Kratos falling down a dark pit with several sword wounds, and Jessica being slowly tortued by a goddess. He got up from his bed and paced a bit, untill there was a knock on the door. He crossed the room and opened the door to see Jessica patiently waiting in the door way. "Jessica? Something wrong?" he asked. Jessica shrugged. "I don't know really, can I come in?" she asked. Ikelik nodded and let her in.
Jessica walked in and sat down across from Ikelik. "Can I ask a question?" Ikelik propped his feet on the desk and shrugged. "Sure, whats on your mind?" Jessica looked down at her hands. "Do all children of Aphrodite have an aura that attract mortals and demigods?" she asked. Ikelik almost stumlbed out of his chair. "What? I mean, uh, yeah normal children of Aphrodite do. But I don't think it count's when both of my parents are gods, I think." Jessica looked up. "How would you know?" she asked, her curiosity peeked.
Ikelik put his feet down and thought. "Well, I grew up around all sorts of women on Olympus. When I reached 16 none of them seemed to be attraced to me so I just guessed I didn'y have my mother's 'gift.'" Jessica seemed to let go a breath of air she was holding. "Okay, well that was all I wanted to know." she said getting up. "Actually," Ikelik said. "I had a few questions I wanted to ask you." 'Shit!' Jessica thought. She sat back down again. "You said when we met about a camp of demi-gods. Mind telling me about it a little?" he asked. 'Phew.' she thought once more.
"Well, it's pretty much the way as it sounds. Gods still have children with mortals, and when the mortals can't take care of them they go there." Ikelik nodded and jotted a few things into a notebook. "What happens there? " he simply asked. "Well, a half-blood's godly parent usually claims their child on the first day. When a child isn't claimed, their sent to the Hermes cabin. Since he's the god of travel, he takes in all the unclaimed." Ikelik nodded. "So how did you know you were a child of Apollo?" Jessica shrugged and closed her eyes. "The camp instructor, a centaur named Chiron, told me that when I was a baby Apollo dropped me off at camp Half-Blood because he couldn't raise me on Olympus."
Ikelik shook his head. "A parent who wouldn't even raise their child." was all he said. Jessica shrugged. "Yeah, it didn't exactly put me on good terms with my dad." Ikelik nodded. "Well, thanks Jess. I mean Jessica, sorry." Jessica stood from her chair. "No, it's alright. I like Jess. it sure is alot easier to say." Ikelik chuckled. "Guess so. Well good night." Jessica opened the door of the cabin. "Thanks, good night." And then she left. After waiting a few seconds, Ikelik punched himself in the arm. "Stupidstupidstupid! Focus you moron! Yo don't have time for this kind of thinking!" "You need to relax, my son." he turned to see Aphrodite perched on the edge of his bed.
"Mother! When did you get here?" he asked. Aphrodite pursed her lips. "About 2 seconds ago. But what we're really talking about here is you." Ikelik shook his head. "My feelings don't matter here mother." Aphrodite rolled her eyes and sighed. "You are so like your father. Why don't your feelings matter? That girl is probably the only one who can understand your loneliness. Not to mention she ain't exactly to bad to look at either." Ikelik turned to his mother, his face beet red. "Mother!" "And why don't you call me mom? Why the hell are you always so formal." Aphrodite asked. Ikelik looked down at the maps sprawled on his desk. "A Spartan should always be polite and respectable on duty." he said, hiding his face.
Aphrodite blew a strand of blonde hair out of her face. "One, you made that up. And two, whose children did the Spartan soldiers sleep with when they were away from their wives or girlfriends? Oh! That's right, mine. Your own sisters." Ikelik turned, embarrsed was not the word to be used. "Mothe- Mom, please for me sake will you stop talking like this in my prescense!" Aphrodite smiled. "Hey just trying to be a mom! And I guess I succeded." Ikelik ducked his head again. "All joking aside ikelik, it's all right to imbrace your feelings, even when it's about other women. Alright honey?" Ikelik looked into his mother's eyes, she was smileing and her green eyes were kind and full of love.
"Do you always asume that form when you talk to me?" he asked. Aphrodite laughed and hugged her son. "When you were born I was feeling like this that day, so everytime I was around you I always asumed this form. It was the one you fell in love with me as your mother after all." Ikelik held her close and smiled. "Yeah, guess your right."
(5 minutes earlier)
Jessica closed the door behind her, keeping the smile on her lips untill the door was fully closed. Then her smile dropped into a sad frown. 'Stupidstupistupid!' she yelled at herself. 'The way his life has gone he doesn't have time for those kind of feelings!' She walked down to the cabin that Ikelik had given to her. "Gods I am such and idiot!" she said after her door closed after her. She walked over to her bed and collapsed onto the flufy mattress. "Why, why did I have to develope a crush for him?" she said into her pillow. "I mean, he's only tall, handsome, kind, and those green eyes..." she sat up and slapped herself across the face. "Idiot! Quick, get him out of your head!"
Unfortuantly for her, she couldn't. "I can't think of him this way," she said after calming herself down. "He's my captain, my friend, and the son of my god." She lowered herself down and looked up at the wood ceiling. The calm rock of the boat on the water acted like a rocking cradle and she slowly dirfted off into sleep. When she opened her eyes, she was standing in a large throne room, dressed in Greek armor. She looked around and saw Ikelik standing at the other end near a throne. She walked toward him and they simply looed at each other.
Ikelik offered his hand and she took it. He pulled her closer and hugged her. "It's finaly over Jess. Now we can be together, forever." Jess closed her eyes and squeezed him closer to her.