Well! That escalated quickly!
Enjoy!
THE GAME OF DIVINITY
CHAPTER 23: Interlude: Reactions, Reflections and Spilled Blood
(Point Of View - Ares)
After my talk with the super-brat I felt a great weight leave my shoulders. Now that she was informed of Zeus schemes, she would make sure neither her nor her siblings would join that murder-trial masquerading as a viable challenge for demigods. I am tired of watching my children dying as it is, I will not have them throw their lives away just because Zeus is a paranoid fuck.
Sitting on my throne I listened to the King spout about the new 'tradition' he wanted to establish and I observed Alexandra giving a death glare at every one of my brats, making them straighten up in fear at what would happen to them if they even think of joining this charade. I smirked in satisfaction.
For far too long had my demigods been acting like thugs and I can admit my appearance and behavior when I met them might have played a part to it but it is good to see them so disciplined. I don't like the Romans (no Greek truly does) but admittedly there is a beautiful thing watching legions of soldiers moving and fighting in one rhythm with absolute precision in their every actions and not like a band of bandits that my brats had been behaving like until my super-brat read them the riot act.
Now they fight as a team and they actually think before going into action. I am the God of War, not of suicide bombers and my sprogs should reflect that. They had gotten strong as well and most of them are a few days away from truly awakening their magic, with Clarisse actually managing to do a half-assed mana imbuement on her spare spear. I wasn't surprised, women as a rule have always been known to grasp magic in its earlier stages faster and have finer control of their mana. Men more often than not excel in more mana-heavy expressions of magic with a few exceptions once in a while.
Alexandra excels in both but it would do a disservice to 99% of all demigods if I compared them to her. She has leaped above the titles of prodigy and genius and is somewhere along the lines of force of nature. Not even Theseus has managed to reach such level of control over his magic and by the end he was a man that to this day is exalted by both Athena and Hecate as the most talented demigod to live magic wise. But not anymore, my super-brat had thoroughly won that title and she is barely a teenager by this point.
"Shit" swore Aphrodite from beside me and I was about to tease her about her 'inelegant language that should never be used by a lady' but her serious look prompted me to focus on the demigods and what I saw made me want to groan because of course that Athena brat was going to ruin everything. If there was one major weakness my daughter had, was that she got attached to others very easily and that owl-spawn had truly dug her claws in her heart.
Seeing the self satisfied look Corpse Breath was sending my daughter, it seems he knew it too and now there was no way she was getting out of this. I never wished it more in my life to kick that ungrateful fucks teeth in. After everything my daughter did for him (Athena had informed some of us secretly about what she learned from Freyja), this is how he repays her just because his ego was bruised. Even I who am considered by almost everyone would never dare to treat some that I owed such a great debt to with anything less than curt respect. If it wasn't for Dite I would have destroyed my throne in my rage at the sheer disgracefulness of their schemes.
The only good thing about this whole situation is that I will get to see the crushed faces of these fuckers when my child emerges victorious, and it is a matter of when not if. I had watched as she fought in Muspelheim and the honestly ingenious use of Gradation Mist and Warfyre Napalm and something tells me that those are only the tip of the iceberg.
Her youthful appearance had made them forget that she spent 10 Earth years in the Norse Realm being trained by both Freyja and the Valkyrie Order as well as fighting in a war and they are going to really regret that lapse in judgment. Their disappointment is going to be delicious. This I am going to relish.
(End of POV - Ares)
(POV Pallas Athena)
Watching Alexandra stepping through the Astral Gate I couldn't help but feel a stab of guilt about my part in forcing her to participate in that atrocity of a challenge. I should have known that Annabeth would have tried to participate and discouraged her from it.
Her fatal flaw (as is many of my children) is her pride and the chance to prove herself before the whole pantheon is too great a temptation. The rest of my children had seen the writing on the wall and kept themselves from joining, but they were older and more experienced than my youngest whose youthful impulsiveness unknowingly sent her idol into the jaws of the beast.
The only thing that is giving me some hope is the knowledge of how truly competent the daughter of war is both in battle prowess as well in cunning. If there is one demigod capable of prevailing this House of Horror it is her.
The question here is if we are ready to deal with the consequences either in her victory or her defeat because no matter the outcome it would be foolish to believe that there won't be repercussions for this travesty.
In their arrogance, the two brothers had forgotten that Alexandra had made a lot of powerful friends since her introduction to the Divine World. Friends that would not be happy when they learn that Zeus practically strong armed her into basically walking to her death and I can only hope that his small-mindedness won't lead us to war.
If the worse happens then my top priority would be to protect my children first and foremost. I will not allow my sons and daughters to fight in a war and more than likely die for the capriciousness of a King that would murder them in cold blood the moment they showed any potential. Even if it means I have to raise my spear against my own Father I will protect them and any other demigod I can. This I swear!
(End POV - Pallas Athena)
(POV - Thalia Grace)
I never liked my father. No, dislike is a weak word to describe the sheer loathing I felt towards my sperm donor. I remember being just 6 years old when he walked into mine and my deadbeat mother's house for the first time since I had been conceived. Until that point I had only heard Beryl's drunken ramblings about the handsome, charismatic 'man' that was my absentee father, but the only thing I saw in his cold, so very cold eyes as he looked at me for the first time was condescension.
You would expect that after seeing me for the first time he would have spared me a smile or a compliment or Hades even a pat at the head but the only thing he did was look me up and down for a moment and then he led my ecstatic mother into her bedroom where he fucked her for hours while I had to hear her screams and moans of pleasure until the next morning. Both of them being completely uncaring about the too young child that was forced to stay awake all night hearing their filth.
Thinking of that incident still brings bile of disgust in my throat to this day and the only good thing that came from it was my little brother Jason. Even then I had to raise him practically on my own for a whole 2 years because my mother was too depressed with Zeus abandoning her again to care about the 'brats'. I mean lady how stupid can you be? Had you not learned from the first time?
Whatever familial attachment I still had for him crushed and burned after he let his bitch of a wife Hera to kill my baby brother to appease her. I couldn't stand to live in that house for even a minute longer, it was too much. The same night, after Beryl drunkenly passed out in her 'grief', I stole every single dollar she had stashed in the house, packed a small bag of clothes and other essentials and left, after of course throwing everything that could constitute as alcoholic down the drain. Never let it be said that even in such a tender age I wasn't a vindictive bitch.
For a whole year I got by alone before I met with Luke who like me suffered from 'deadbeat father syndrome'. We joined together to better defend against the monsters who hunted us constantly, saving each other's lives and becoming friends. A year after our meeting, we stumbled into an alley containing a very intense and dangerous 9 year old looking girl with a fascination for guns and an overprotection streak a mile wide for her even younger charge that painfully reminded me of my relationship with my now dead brother.
For months we traveled together through the West coast, killing monsters by the droves and becoming a family of choice instead of one of blood (though we were blood related in a sense) and for a little time I was truly happy. Until that accursed night when my wretched heritage showed its ugly face and ruined everything that is.
It was the only instance I remember as I was sitting on the ground, exhausted by summoning lightning for the first time, seeing Alex's face take an expression of fear and after explaining the situation I couldn't fault her either, but when the rest of us panicked not knowing what to do, she didn't falter.
Acting quickly, she led us to that nymph grove, stood face to face with a Goddess and her lieutenant without even flinching and even got acknowledged from her as the strongest demigod alive, which to be truthful made me extremely jealous at the time and after that led us safely all the way to Camp and to my shame even taking my place in standing alone up against a literal army of monsters even though they had come for me. To add insult to injury, where I would have been barely capable of giving a token of resistance, she took them all to the grave with her. Or so we had thought back then.
For five years we had mourned her and I vowed to never lose another member of my family again so I trained. I trained and trained and then trained some more until my hands bled and I could barely stumble in my bed at night in order to be strong enough to keep my promise. It was Luke who snapped me slightly out of my funk with his stupid smile and kind words and it was at this point that I started to like him as more than just a friend or sibling.
Day by day we all started to heal. Annabeth while more mature than a kid her age actually smiled and started to have fun (though she always said that Alex was not dead), Luke became more serious and while he still acts like a goof from time to time he became a big brother for everyone and a role model for most of the younger kids. Lastly, I rose to be the strongest demigod in Camp and the unofficial leader as well as becoming a couple with Luke and before we knew it five years had passed.
Seeing her sitting at the head table, I didn't recognize her. She was older and more confident, her hair a light blonde instead of her previous black and as beautiful as Artemis. Not that she was meek before or anything but before she had the confidence of someone that fought alone against impossible odds for too fucking long. She was weary. Now though, she looked like someone that was at peace with themselves. She had a quiet confidence that made you want to follow her knowing that she would lead you through a thousand battles and emerge victorious every time. She had the bearing of a Queen, no. A King .
Seeing her walk through the Gate to what is quite obvious a scheme from my sperm donor to kill her (I may be impulsive but I am not stupid, I noticed her byplay with Hades very clearly) and giving reassuring looks to both me and the others, she didn't have the look of resignation of someone walking to their deaths, not like she had back then against the monster army. She was almost bored, like having two of the strongest Gods of the whole pantheon vying for your blood was just another Tuesday, all the while making sure that those she cherished remained safe. It was as maddening as it was awe-inspiring and I promised to myself that no matter what, I will become strong enough to stand by her side and help share some of the burden. To not need to be saved and protected by her anymore. To be someone she can rely on to have her back. This I vow.
(End POV - Thalia Grace)
(POV - Clarisse La Rue)
Watching Alex walking through the Gate gave me a bad feeling. I didn't understand what exactly happened between Hades and my older sister but I didn't like it. The moment the counselor of our cabin finishes with this thing, I am going to sit her down and force her into filling me in on what is going on. Decision made I focused on the huge screen that showed the trials while glaring into submission some of the more rowdy of my siblings that were calling Alex a gloryhog and a cheater because she didn't let them compete while see did.
First was a riddle from a sphinx and if the comments of the Gods are accurate, then it is not a run of the mill one either but the original and strongest of them all. My siblings hearing that little tidbit of information paled and I smirked in satisfaction. That's what they get for grumbling against big sister's orders. That beast is way above our weight class and none are smart enough to solve the riddle it gave. If any of them had actually been chosen they would already be dead, bringing great shame to our cabin. Unlike them though, our badass oldest sibling had more than enough brainpower to pass the challenge without a scratch.
After that she went inside a gate that apparently there only strength mattered and I knew she had it in the bag. If there is one thing that Alex is the best at, it's the strength department. I had seen her lift a two ton boulder over her head with barely any effort. I had to rub my eyes a couple of times and even then if I hadn't witnessed it with my own eyes I wouldn't have believed it.
" Due to the special conditions of the Earth Gate, all external mana based abilities are negated." showed on top of the screen as Alex was entering.
"WHAT THE FUCK! THIS WASN'T IN THE AGREEMENT! WHAT GAMES ARE YOU PLAYING ZEUS?" screamed my furious father as he leapt on his feet and getting held back by Aphrodite and Athena. The pressure actually brought all of us demigods in our knees. It is one thing to hear about the great power of the Gods and another to experience it firsthand.
"Sit back down boy and keep silent. If it was any other demigod then there would not have been any restrictions but Alexandra Bellum is exceptionally powerful. These trials are meant to show the challenger's skills not just a demigod smashing through her enemies as if made by paper after all." answered Zeus in loud voice full of authority getting nods from many other Gods but I couldn't help but notice that none of the Olympians agreed with him.
"It matters not if she is stronger than the other demigods Father. These trials were designed by the Council as a whole and its parameters where something we had to vote on. Now when the time comes to put them into use we learn with no prior warning that you have done at least one alteration. Are you saying that our words and votes don't matter to you as a King? That we are redundant?" spoke Athena in a chilling tone that had my hair stand on edge. Where my father's rage was explosive and hot, capable of turning you to ashes, Athena's was like taking a dive in the Arctic. It felt cold and ruthless, like you were already dead but didn't know it yet and for the first time I felt my respect rising for Cabin 6 if they were capable of even a smidgen of what their mother could do.
The minor Gods started murmuring and sending weary looks at the Council members and something tells me that what is happening tonight is not the usual arguing between the Gods that Chiron always jokes about. Something is going on behind the scenes and I am afraid my sister is in the middle of it.
Zeus face was starting to get a golden tinge and he griped his Master Bolt tighter but before he could reply to his daughter's words Hestia intervened.
"SILENCE! What Zeus did is unacceptable!" she said sending a chilling glare at the King "but now is not the time for this discussion that we WILL have later. For now we will watch my grand-niece battle and if I have to, I will personally intervene should she be in danger of dying. Faux-pas or not." finished the Goddess of the Hearth and you could see that her words brought smiles to all the demigods here. It was nice to know that there was actually someone amongst the Gods that cared about our lives as more than just a symbol of their pride or as pawns. It was liberating in a sense.
Once there was order again, the camera was unpaused and we were able to see the monster that my big sis had to fight and by the Gods it didn't disappoint. The story of Theseus and the Minotaur was one of the classics and one every self-respecting Greek demigod ought to know so we all had an idea in our heads about it on how fearsome the high-class monster was, but this. This armored behemoth would make mince meat on even the most experienced of our warriors. If he was naked as depicted in the stories then Thalia for sure and I, now that I had been trained better could have dealt with it but like it is now we would need a dozen of our best warriors and even then more than a few of us would have probably died.
So watching my force of nature of a sister not even blinking when up against this juggernaut was more than a little disheartening. Just how far would we have to go to reach her levels of strength? This was a question that all of us demigods watching her jump from boulder to boulder flinging arrows and tricking the Minotaur into crushing itself on them wondered.
"Impressive! Her archery is exceptionally good and her mobility is commendable as well. She has truly flourished and fights with a grace of a true hunter, fast and decisive. As expected of a maiden of Alexandra's caliber." praised Artemis, a smile on her face with her twin nodding along acknowledging her skill with a bow and I had to really try to keep a happy smile form appearing to my face. I was extremely proud of my big sis but I had a reputation as the (second) badest bitch to keep.
A few moments later she hid behind some boulders and started making weird squiggles on the ground drawing confused looks from the mortals and curious one from the Gods. The moment she punched the squiggles and the results caused exclamations of surprise from everyone. What kind of bullshit is that?
"A sympathetic and amplifying scheme. And so quickly too. If she hadn't already been named a Sorceress I would have given her the title myself after such a showing of Runic magic." complimented Hecate, her gaze never leaving the screen.
"Is it an advanced array?" asked Athena, always eager to know more.
"All runic magic is advanced and complicated. This particular one though, while obscure to be sure, is not a high level array. The impressive thing is that she managed to cast it using Norse Runes."
"How so? I heard that Norse runes are usually the easiest for a prospective mage to learn compared to other runic languages."
"These kinds of spells have been made by Hindu practitioners and later Egyptians and all such arrays are in these respective Runic languages as a result, Sanscrit and Hieroglyphs respectively. I know for a fact that the Norse had never made something like this before, so even if it isn't an original idea, the fact that she managed to recreate it in a completely different Runic language from scratch is momentous and the fact that she did it on the fly and mid-battle even more so. She must truly be a savant in the magical arts. I can't wait to meet her and discuss some magical theory with her. It would be illuminating for sure."
"Sure it is impressive. Until she makes a mistake and blows herself and half the state with her. There is a reason we had forbid the knowledge of most magics from the mortals." grumbled Zeus.
"With all due respect King Zeus, but all pantheons have been teaching plenty of mortal magic users for thousands of years and none has blown up a country to this day. The whole Egyptian pantheon in particular is filled to with almost exclusively of mortal magic users and -"exclaimed the Goddess of Magic in indignation, causing many to nod with her in agreement but she was interrupted.
"And where have the Egyptians been for the last 2 millennia? Exiled in their duat by the same mortals they taught and forbidden to emerge to the world." seethed the Sky God. "So no, Goddess of Magic, I will not allow the mortals the knowledge on how to wield such a power when it has been proven that they can't be responsible with it." finished the King and ending the discussion there by causing a crackle of thunder, filling the whole room with the smell of ozone and making everyone submit to his order, but I couldn't help but feel insulted and wronged. How many of our fellow demigods would have been alive today if they were capable of using some magic? How many died because Zeus was too paranoid to let us reach our full potential? I couldn't help but wonder and I am pretty sure I am not the only one either.
Watching the strongest demigod kick a divine made armor with enough force to leave the shape of her foot on it and cripple at the same time one of the most fearsome monsters in the world reinforced my decision to learn magic Zeus be damned. Even if I have to go through Alex's hellish training a thousand times I am not going to back down. This is a promise.
(End POV - Clarisse La Rue)
(POV- Annabeth Chase)
Alex is the coolest ever. Since the day in that alley she had proved again and again that she above the other demigods, both in the brain and the brawn department. She is also very kind and heroic even if she refuses to call herself a hero. She chose to stay behind and fight a literal monster army from Hades alone just to keep us safe after all and while Thalia and Luke believed her dead I never did. I always knew that she would come back one day and I was proven right in the end. Ha it showed those two idiots that they shouldn't have doubted me. You only have to look at the way she practically dismantled the Minotaur to understand how exceptional she truly is. From the beginning she moved him to her desires so he can ultimately walk to his death and with so many restrictions to boot. Seeing her walk away without even a scratch on her body was incredibly awe-inspiring and I couldn't wait for her to show me some of her moves later.
As she was walking through the swamp and grimacing at the mud that was dirtying her armor I couldn't help but giggle. Trust Alex to walk toward what is quite possibly a terrifying monster and her greatest issue to be the mud on her clothes.
Seeing that humongous Hydra emerge from the lake gave me goosebumps and I kicked myself for thinking I was strong enough to actually compete in such a challenge. Hades I doubt I would have managed to even defeat the Minotaur and watching Alex practically play around with the beast that even Herakles needed help to deal with showed how far behind I am from becoming a great Hero and warrior.
Though seeing an almost dead Hydra get transformed into a dragon while acting like an overeager puppy was so far into the realms of surreal that many of the observers had to rub their eyes (me amongst them) to make sure we were not hallucinating. Lord Hermes actually dropped his phone in surprise and the War God was guffawing while smacking his throne. Lord Zeus furious sparking was quite strange though. Well it was, until Lady Hecate explained to us that what Alex did was practically taking ownership of the transformed monster as her familiar and I understood. Gods are possessive after all and Alex practically stole one of his monsters even if unknowingly. I hope the King won't be too angry with her after he calmed down a little. Additionally I made a mental note to badger Alex into taking me flying on her dragon. After all how many demigods have ridden a genuine dragon and lived to tell the tale? None that I know of. This is going to be so awesome.
(End POV - Annabeth Chase)
(POV - Hades Aidoneus)
I can see the scornful and hateful looks that many in the Council are sending me believing they are discreet but they are not. My actions towards Alexandra are not one of hate or of a bruised ego as many would like to think but of once more being bound by my youngest 'brothers' cruelty. This time though the chains are not ones that bind my power but something that I can freely admit is even more important than even my domain. I am talking of course of my beloved Persephone.
That monster Zeus seeing that he could no longer keep me under his thumb with brute force, he gave me an ultimatum. Either I play by his rules or Persephone would have an accident serious enough to send her to Tartarus in order to reform. To make sure I don't have any funny ideas I was also promised that the moment she descents to Tartarus Hera (willingly or not) will annul my marriage through her domain breaking my bond with my wife and making me unable to track her.
As a result, I won't be able to rescue her myself and considering that she is just a Goddess of Spring with no martial ability aside from her nature magic then it's highly unlikely for her to manage to escape the horrors that roam the plains of that accursed Pit on her own. Though even if she could have, I would never be able to put her in such a predicament.
I am unable to keep her safe in the Underworld both because of that thrice-damned agreement with Demeter as well as the fact that her domains make it necessary for her to go to the surface for spring to come. So I gritted once more my teeth and bowed to my brother's ruthlessness that even his own children are not exempt from.
The only satisfaction I got from the current situation was watching Alexandra smash through the challenges and making Zeus's eyebrow to twitch in aggravation with every success. Her antics in the Fire dungeon are a prime example of how amusingly impertinent that girl is. Shattering Hephaestus favorite bulls and looting them produced a great deal of laugher with Hermes the loudest of them all and then created ploughs into the ground by practically hitting it into compliance with Aphrodite commenting that after these actions Jason became 'so last year' making Hera glare at her and the demigods to start cheering.
These feats brought impressed whistles into the room and comments about Herakles not being as strong as her when he was still a demigod, causing Artemis and Ares to gain smug grins of triumph for probably different reasons and Zeus to start slightly sparking in frustration which increased by a magnitude of two when the demigoddess proved how knowledgeable she was of the magical arts and instead of putting herself into a perilous dead end, she actually acquired 6 Spartoi as minions. Though the cheeky comments were not all that much appreciated but I let it go. She had many reasons to be salty with me, I can't really blame her.
As Alexandra was walking through the Gate of the next challenge I hoped she would be strong to overcome the challenges ahead because from this point on things became serious. In the case though of her dying, I will make sure she directly goes to the Isles of the Blessed. Someone who has helped me so much deserves nothing less. This is my solemn oath and I intend to keep it.
(End POV - Hades Aidoneous)
(POV - Phoebus Artemis)
I am filled with conflicting emotions. On one hand I am both proud and elated watching how much Alexandra has flourished and improved since her disappearance 5 years ago. On the other hand, I am despondent and furious watching this travesty of a challenge and yes I know I have barely interacted with the girl but as a patron of all maidens I am wroth to have to watch her walk into what is practically a death sentence because the King (I haven't called Zeus as father for the last few millennia) has lost what was left of his senses and sees enemies everywhere he looks.
Up until this point was the 'easy' part and by easy I mean that if even my precious Hunters had braved this 'dungeon' together, more than half of them would be dead by this point and I am being generous. While they had encountered both the Minotaur and hydras into the past, they had to deal with an unarmed and unarmored stupid monster and with younger, weaker hydras that even them had cost me more than a few of my sisters-in-arms.
The ones Alexandra had to fight were unbelievably more powerful and deadly and she had to fight them all alone. The true nature of how much of a parody this event is, was easily shown when she had to grow and fight the Spartoi. If she wasn't as knowledgeable in the lore of their creation and their hidden characteristics then she would have died no questions asked and I am saying this with the knowledge that even my whole Hunt would have fallen to them even if they were fresh and worked together. No matter how skilled they are, it is impossible to win against an opponent that never tires, heals nigh instantly and fights easily through wounds that would make even a God pause. So when she managed to create them under her thrall and mocked the Lord of the Dead at the same time, my smile was more than a little vindictive and satisfied.
Unfortunately my happiness didn't last for long because the aforementioned 'easy' part was over and now as she was walking through the Air Gate she was no longer the hunter but the prey.
Zeus sacred eagle was powerful enough to destroy whole towns from the face of the map through the storms created by the flapping of its wings and its sheer speed in the air and the air currents it creates as it flies would make even my most experienced Hunters hard pressed to even scratch it with their arrows.
The only chance I think Alexandra has is for her to use her Valkyrie wings to charge the eagle as fast as possible and deal a debilitating hit on one of its wings before it starts taking her seriously (except of his elemental ability, Zeus had given the stupid bird a lot of his arrogance as well).
Of course the daughter of Ares has chosen to surpass all expectations by creating a CAT 4 hurricane according to a gawking Poseidon and gobsmacked audience by the use of a runic array complex and powerful enough that if I didn't know better I would have said that the stoic Hecate was giving the image of the demigoddess the same look I has seen my reprobate of a brother give towards beautiful women but I am sure I was mistaken. I hope I was mistaken at least.
As Alex was walking towards the eagle with her spear in her hand I felt more than a little relieved that one more danger has passed and I was sharing an amused smile with Athena about the way out of character behavior of Ares who spent his time alternating between being deathly pale and smugly smirking towards Zeus throughout the whole 'show' until this point but it seems I talked too soon.
That girl is just too much like her father when it comes to pissing off people and today she decided to achieve something not even Ares had managed to do throughout his whole immortal life. Many from the audience actually turned their heads so they didn't watch the gruesome sight while more than a few of the demigods actually started throwing up on the floor (and boy was Hera pissed at the dirtying of her expensive and extremely rare Persian carpet that had actually been plundered and then sacrificed to her by some of her worshipers during Alexander the Greats conquest ironically enough.) As she ripped the still beating hand of the bird out of its chest with her bare hands and then started devouring it and taking its power for her own Zeus face had started turning from its normal Caucasian color to gold, then to glowing gold which was the highest 'score' up until this point and deepened all the way to deer droppings brown (Aphrodite's words not mine).
We watched with morbid fascination that rapid change of coloration and if it wasn't for Poseidon, Hestia and surprisingly enough Hades that held the King down, then all states east of Kansas would have been razed to a wasteland. They had to actually use sealing magic on him to restrain his power for a moment before he managed to strike down all airborne bodies from Hawaii to Spain.
"LET ME GO! I AM GOING TO KILL THE LITTLE BITCH! SHE WILL SUFFER SUCH HORROR THAT PROMETHEUS TORMENT WILL LOOK LIKE A VACATION!
"GET BACK TO YOUR SENSES ZEUS. YOUR RAGE WILL DESTROY THE FUCKING COUNTRY! said Poseidon trying for once to be the voice of reason.
"YES ZEUS. DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH MONEY I WILL HAVE TO PAY ON OVERTIMES FOR EXPANSION AND PROCESSING IF YOU CONTINUE THIS? BY US I WILL FUCKING MAKE YOU PAY FOR THE COSTS IF YOU DON'T CEASE RIGHT THIS MOMENT! added the Lord of the Dead and we didn't know we should laugh or cry at his comment because we weren't actually sure if he was being serious or just making fun of Zeus.
I together with Hermes, Athena, Apollo and a few minor Gods had to stand in front of the children and create a barrier to prevent them from getting crushed from the full force of the Big Three going supernova.
The more efficient of all was Hestia though. Seeing that it was impossible to calm him down with words she raised her hands and set him on fire using the 'grey flames'. According to rumors from the oldest Gods, when the original six were celebrating their victory over the Titans, Hestia disliking the revelry sat some distance away underneath a tree to find some peace and quiet and she fell asleep. There Priapus a lecher even by Divine standards tried to defile her and it was by the braying of a nearby donkey (who after this incident became the Goddesses sacred animal) that she was woken up.
In her rage and fear at what nearly happened to her the Goddess used for the first and last time these 'grey flames' that while they don't do any actual physical damage on the victim, the pain they cause as they touch you is so intense that after 1 day Priapus actually faded, unable to withstand the torment any longer. After this day not even the most moronic of Gods (read: Zeus) would ever think of trying to be anything but courteous towards the eldest Olympian.
As anyone can understand the moment the flames hit the King between his legs (Hestia later would claim that she accidentally hit him there in her panic to make him stop but the black color of the usual orange flames in her eyes betrayed her. Not that there was anyone brave enough to call her out on it.) She let him scream in agony and humiliation for 5 minutes in front of the whole pantheon before she judged him 'calm' enough to act according to her words 'like a King instead of a rabid animal'.
After everyone calmed down and took their seats again, we watched the very impertinent maiden walk through the Nature Gate and I shared a sigh of exasperation with my twin at the drama that occurred barely half-way through the challenge and we both exchanged a look that showed our true feelings. This was only the beginning.
(End POV - Phoebus Artemis)
(POV - Phoebus Apollo)
Finally chilling on my throne as I watched the girl Little sis' has been so enamoured with (in a platonic way) fight her way through the quite obviously murder attempts in the form of challenges, I can't help but think that she is going to be capital T Trouble. More trouble than she had already caused with the whole heart eating thing *shudder*. I have mostly focused in healing and some curse magic personally but I have read on more than a few magical branches but aside from Necromancy, Rituals always gave me the hibbie jibbies and after seeing the demigoddesses little heart-to-stomach moment with father's familiar didn't dislike them any less that's for sure, but let's get back to the source of the trouble herself.
Aside from the fact that she is unbelievably powerful for a demigod (one so young to boot) and her connections with Asgard, she is also mind numbingly beautiful, even by divine standards. Something that all the Gods I had talked with have mentioned, even if it is as an afterthought for now. While yes, at this point she is barely a teenager and I am not such a creep as to make moves on such a young girl (Artemis would probably castrate me with a rusty dull spoon and then feed me my balls raw if I did), it doesn't erase the fact that in a few years she going to be turning heads and dropping jaws like nobody's business.
There are few things that can cause greater discord between a bunch of Gods than fighting over a beautiful lady's attention. Poseidon's and Zeus's actions towards Demeter or even the almost 'battle' for Thetis until that pesky prophecy came about to ruin their plans are prime enough examples and let's not even mention Aphrodite. Hades, Helen of Troy caused millions of deaths and the destruction of a whole city-state and Alexandra is obvious that with the exception of the Goddess of Love, she will be more beautiful than all the other ladies mentioned.
If she was just a pretty face things would have been manageable but this woman seems to have gotten the whole package of brains, brawns and beauty and that makes her as desirable as she is dangerous. Watching her astride a freaking dragon (who is also her familiar) creating a firestorm big enough to erase a sizeable army from the face of the map is proof enough of the power she wields.
The demigods and some of the more warlike of the Gods were cheering for the spectacular sight but the cheers died in their throats as the Forest Guardian used an unbelievably potent ability for his species and extinguished the flames while incapacitating the dragon and crushing more than half the skeleton of the demigoddess. The cheers turned to screams with some of the demigods actually starting to cry. It seems they have finally understood the seriousness of the situation. This is not a new tradition meant to honor our mortal children. This is an execution 'platform' made to satiate our King's all-consuming paranoia.
"This is not your Forest Guardian." said Ares to Zeus, his whole eyes a complete crimson color and his voice steady and cold as ice. This was alarming on many levels. The War God was always a hothead, his fury burned with emotion and when he became truly angry the whole world knew it but this was a different rage, a cold rage, silent and insidious more akin to Athena than Ares and the Sky God didn't help matters.
"Of course it is my Forest Guardian boy it is not my fault if your child proved not be good enough to overcome it." his uncaring voice made more than just a few who heard him grit their teeth in rage and Athena spoke once more.
"A Forest Guardian is made by the willing sacrifice of a tree nymph and the blessing of a deity with an ability to command nature. Their power increases the longer they live and their potential depends on how connected the creator deity is to nature. You may have some minor chlorokinesis Father just strong enough to make a Forest Guardian but creating one so powerful is beyond you. What I would like to know is why you deceived us like this? You had assured us that the challenge would have one of YOUR Forest Guardian's as an adversary, not this juggernaut." as she was talking her eyes never left Zeus's and if I was a betting God I would say that this moment the King lost whatever loyalty and trust the Wisdom Goddess had left for him and she is not the only one either.
"Your accusations strike deep daughter and I would normally be furious with them but it is better if I clear away your misconception."
"Misconceptions?" asked Athena indignantly and her cracking grip on her throne showed that she was more than a little angry for being talked to like a naïve child who couldn't understand what her father was trying to teach her.
"When we were creating the challenge I said that I would put one of my Forest Guardians as one of the obstacles. I never said though that I was the one that had created it. You see, this particular one I had found in the Ancient Lands, Thessaly to be exact, a few years ago and its creator deity had abandoned ownership of it and not wanting it to go to waste I claimed it for my own. So as you can see I never lied. This Guardian IS my own. When I proposed to include it in the challenge you all were more than happy to agree. It is not my fault that one of our nature deities among the council didn't bother to check on it. I am not a Nature God as you said and it had been a while since I had seen one of those. It just didn't occur to me that it would be so strong. Oh well, I guess next time we will have to be more careful." said the smug asshole.
I can't help - watching the furious face of all the demigods that saw one of their own get killed in front of them while the King they swore to serve completely disregarded her life- but wonder of what repercussions these shameful actions will cause.
"I don't think you will need to worry Your Majesty. It seems your grand-daughter has everything well in hand." said a cackling Nemesis prompting everyone to focus on the screen once again and what we saw astounded me
The previous half dead girl was now completely healthy riding astride one of Ares' horses galloping through the whole forest while carving runes on the barks of trees. We were distracted from the astounding sight by Hecate whose laughter echoed in the room.
"Oh this genius girl. This is going to be a treat for all of us. You better not miss a single detail young demigods, this is a great example of how ingenuity and cunning can topple even the sturdiest mountains." said the Goddess of Magic, a dangerous gleam in her eyes and I could see the Athena send a frankly terrifying smile to our father who had his throne on a vice grip and then the fun started.
Fire, hungry and all consuming engulfed the whole forest burning away everything in its path and drawing horrified looks from Demeter and my sister who had a very complicated expression watching this. I couldn't fault her either. On one hand this mortal was destroying whole acres of the Wild, a part of her domain but on the other hand, this young maiden used what she had in her disposal as Hecate so poetically said to prevail over insurmountable odds. Are her actions distasteful? Most definitely but can you really blame her? She was between a rock and a hard place. She could attack the overpowered Guardian futilely head on and die or she could destroy the whole forest and survive while dooming a whole ecosystem.
Not everyone saw it that way though. Demeter was apoplectic in her rage and I was afraid that we may have had to intervene before she did something stupid (our aunt was never the most reasonable or rational of individuals) but Alexandra saved herself with her actions. And what a sight it was.
"Beautiful." I said in awe barely above a whisper completely amazed by her voice. My music domain was tingling in happiness at me witnessing such an exceptional performance that would make even Euterpe, the Muse of Music, Song and Poetry green with envy.
She sacrificed one of the twelve Zodiac armors and enough divine metal to arm a small team of demigods to the gills and used a ritual that was fuelled by her own lifeforce and enhancing it with her melodic voice to repent for the damage she caused. Such selflessness is a rare sight and if the grudgingly respectful look Demeter sported as well as the happy grin of my twin (is that a small blush I am seeing on your face Arty? How interesting.), then I am sure she won't have a problem with the nature deities after all. Though the prayer to Freyja, a foreign Goddess, made more than a few slightly annoyed but I am not surprised. Children of Ares come in many flavors, from cruel monsters to honorable soldiers and even kind if-you-squint charismatic leaders once every few centuries and everything else in between but the thing every single one of them never failed to possess is their capacity to piss people off, mortal and immortal alike. So seeing her spurn the Greek Gods and asking for the blessing of a foreign Goddess was not something that gave me much of a pause.
What will happen if there comes a day when someone pushes her too far? Zeus may be a vicious cunt and an extremist but he has a small point. The Gods are regulated by both Ancient and Divine Laws keeping them from going too far and those few who try to ignore them are made an example to remind everyone else where the line is and what the consequences of forgetting it are. Demigods have no such balances and even with their lack of strength compared to the Gods, had made over the millennia more than a few waves big enough to draw our attention more than it should be. While Alexandra Bellum has shown a great capacity for kindness and love, if a bit rough around the ages, history has proven that the most loving people are capable of creating the greatest atrocities and I only wonder if the now kind demigoddess that has still not reached her peak would be a force of good for the future or another calamity that will leave a bloodstained earth behind her. This is going to be troublesome.
(End POV - Phoebus Apollo)
(POV - Queen Hera)
I am tired and have been so for millennia. Spending my days trapped inside the gilded cage that is Olympus is a torture I could never get used to. The white marble halls, the beautiful buildings and the spectacular gardens only served to bring me nausea and make me feel claustrophobic.
I used to be powerful once, vibrant, confident and full of life and curiosity but after my 'marriage', Zeus made sure to destroy every bit of myself that I could be proud of and only a bitter Goddess angry at the world remained that punished everyone around her in order to distract her from the fact of how broken she was and still is.
By all that is good, I remember the countless mortal women and children I had given terrible fates to and instead of the satisfaction I used to feel at punishing the 'sluts' and 'bastards' only self-loathing and horror stares back. Back then it was so easy to see them as just women that desired to steal my 'husband' from me, trying to replace me but looking at it with a more cynical mind and a now wider perspective they were nothing more than victims of my 'Lord Husbands' lusts.
How can a simple mortal, powerless and fragile dare to deny the 'King of the Gods' what he desired if the result would be most likely a fate worse than death. They couldn't rely on the Goddess of Women to protect them because even I was nothing but a plaything and status symbol before the might of the King and so they gave in, pretending to actually welcome his advances hoping desperately that he would get bored and forget about them. Unfortunately when he predictably did move on, I in my blindness punished the innocent for the crimes of the guilty and as the centuries went by so did my power wane bit by bit. I had betrayed my own domains and duty and as a result I was punished in return by them.
Now I am a pale imitation of my former self. A caricature of the Goddess that stood against Titans unflinchingly, all the hate and rage and fury completely extinguished and I can't help but sometimes, when I lie alone on my bed late at night, to wish for the end. Heh, you wouldn't think that an 'all-powerful', immortal Goddess would ever contemplate dying but at this point I would welcome it with open arms. The feeling of release finally after all these years, to be free and away from the monster I am forced to sleep besides. To finally rest.
Watching the daughter of my son Ares (another disappointment, though in the recent years he started to change from what he was before but I had been let down too much to dare to hope) fight her way through what would be considered for a demigod insurmountable odds and rising above them was quite a shock. I had long ago given up on the notion of 'Heroes' and of underdogs actually managing to rise above their station, victorious and whole so I could be forgiven when I was left gapping like one of my second oldest brother's creatures watching this mortal devouring without a care in the world the heart of my greatest tormentor's familiar and it didn't end there either.
Even after suffering a devastating blow from a Forest Guardian powerful enough to stand against a weak Titan and coming at the edge between life and death she somehow managed to recover and emerge the winner, bringing an alien feeling inside my chest.
After Zeus was calmed down enough to not do anything more foolish than normal, I watched, now very intrigued, the girl no Alexandra as she rode on one of her father's horses her Valkyrie wings spread wide (and wasn't that a surprise? A Greek demigod actually blessed by that snake Odin of all people and let go as well with no repercussions) as she commanded a whole army of fire demons to devour their undead allies while in her own right decimating more than a few of them.
The important note of this situation was that she declared herself a Queen and that would not be much of problem initially, after all plenty of people called themselves Kings and Queens but just because they did so, didn't actually give them any authority. The peculiarity of the situation is that a 50 thousand strong army of fire demons declared her their Queen of Fire all the while she was wearing one of the royal crowns of Muspelheim. Many may have not made the connection yet, but these kinds of artifacts would never be able to be worn by anyone if they hadn't acknowledged them as rightful owners.
Hades, if someone tried to wear my own crown even as weak as I am, they would only meet death and suffering because they would try to usurp a rightful authority of a divine being. Suffice to say their death would be neither slow nor merciful. So it is more than a little astonishing that a mortal no matter how exceptional was capable of wearing such a crown made by one of the most powerful entities in the Cosmos without turning to ashes. There is much more than meets the eye on my grand-daughter and as I tried to carve her image in my mind I had finally indentified that foreign feeling in my chest. This feeling was hope.
(End POV - Queen Hera)
(POV - Poseidon, King of Atlantis)
Power, cunning, skill, tenacity, the most important tenants of a good warrior and this mortal girl has them all, along with a restless spirit that refuses to bow down and seeks to carve her own way. She reminds me of the tides of a stormy sea, ever moving and unrelenting, capable of devastating and swallowing all that try to tame them in a watery grave and making even the unyielding earth falter and retreat. All these significant characteristics had been combined inside an extremely beautiful package that in a few years would make even the most self-controlled men hot under their collars and this is a terribly dangerous combination. Especially in recent times.
If she had appeared even a couple of centuries back, while there would have been squabbles between the Gods both wanting to bed her or take her under their wing, at the end of the day it would have been business as usual with the girl either married off to someone, a concubine either as an immortal hero or a minor Goddess or dead.
The problem now though is that conflict is imminent. Oceanus who up until this point I had good if a bit formal relations with, being married to his daughter, has gone completely off the grid while old and powerful sea monsters that had been either killed or caged thousands of years ago are once again swimming in the seas causing death and destruction both to the human populations and the sea life. In addition, there are rumors and hints whispered amongst the old sea spirits that monsters are mobilizing in great numbers but no matter how hard both me and other Gods that had already started seeing the signs tried to locate them, we came up with nothing but dead ends.
That means that one or more powerful entities are actively hiding them from our sight and there is only one use someone can have for so many monsters. War.
Unfortunately, Zeus refuses to see reason and his paranoia had instead focused stubbornly in the exceptional daughter of his son, with his behavior becoming more erratic and idiotic by the day. In the recent 100 years he had made more political blunders than all his tenure combined and he has alienated almost every minor God in our pantheon and many others both major and minor foreign ones.
His last shenanigan though had been a devastating blow to the unity of the Council. I, more than anyone can understand how much a parent can love their child. Immortal or not, monstrous or beautiful, a proper parent will always hold their children in their hearts. Even if they prove rebellious or even act directly against them, you can't truly hate them, so I can understand the fury of both Ares and many others when they see their demigod children who are born to a tragic and difficult life as it is get murdered by their King, either directly or through intermediaries just because they show some promise.
The very thought of my little brother actually harming even a hair from Perseus head (my secret demigod child and the first of my demigods being born in near a century) brings the apocalyptic fury that I had for so many years caged to the deepest parts of my being almost back to the surface. Zeus actions have divided us too much and even a half decent general can see that we are practically ripe for the picking. Even if we emerge victorious once again through whatever comes for our throats, the victory will be neither easy nor bloodless. By the time we are done the funeral pyres will be bright enough to turn night into day and I will try my very best so that Percy will not be inside one of those pyres. Prophecy be damned.
Alexandra Bellum, would serve as the perfect person to prepare and unite our demigods into becoming warriors strong enough to withstand the coming storm, her transformation of the Ares Cabin have been more than enough proof of her usefulness. But my idiotic brothers have seen fit to alienate her the best they can.
Her, a one in a thousand years prodigy with enough charisma to metaphorically (now literally) raise the dead and powerful enough that even without reaching her prime she can most likely prevail against weak minor Gods and instead of making use of her, they try to kill her. I can't help but wonder if all his critical thinking had completely been absorbed by the Owl Goddess while inside her father's head and now Zeus is left without.
Their whole 'genius' plan had even backfired spectacularly. Instead of the ignoble death of the overpowered Heroine that would shatter the morale of the demigods they wished for, they revealed to the whole pantheon an unstoppable force that would tear apart everything in her way to emerge victorious. They created a symbol of hope for the demigods that there was actually a way for them to flourish and showed them that their current stagnation was not an unchanging situation but just another hurdle to overcome. In simpler words she lit a fire under their asses and now change is inevitable. For good or worse still remains to be seen.
On the other hand to the Gods she reminded them that they were not as invisible as they thought they were and that the demigods are not just little more special mortals that they could do whatever they want without repercussions. After showing all of us her cunning and adaptability throughout the dungeon her fight against the final boss was more than enough to emphasize this point further.
At the beginning she showed how much she struggled against such a powerful foe but even then, through sheer ingenuity and adaptability, she managed to stay alive and relatively unharmed where others (and I am putting even some immortals to that category) would have been dinner by now proving her skill and tenacity. Then she revealed the true extent of her powers and the world was rendered speechless at her true form showing all the true extent of her power.
When the Blessing of Ares was unleashed, her body matured at least half a decade revealing how heartstoppingly beautiful she was to become in a few years. A crimson aura surrounded her from head to toe while the whole of her eyes glowed with her signature color. The icy hurricane was completely extinguished by the pressure of her might and the snowflakes froze on the air unmoving as if afraid that if they move they would be devoured by the monster that appeared inside their world. The Ice Queen Spider that was until this point playing with her prey started showing signs of terror as she came face to face with the true predator. A few beats after that, Alexandra let out a battle cry that shattered the walls of the arena to rubble sending the Boss monster flying and burying her underneath the broken stones just by the force of the sonic pulse, but she wasn't done yet.
Sending a devastating punch at the location where the spider was buried, she turned the rubble to dust and pulverized the 2 hind most legs of the beast causing it to scream. Gripping it from its face with one hand and lifting it above her head flailing, a feat that caused everyone to gawk at the sheer strength that the demigoddess possessed, she smacked it to the ground again and again causing spider shaped indentions to the floor.
Tired with this she then ripped the rest of her legs from her body and piked it to the ground with them, bringing shrieks of pain from the arachnid and retching from the more weak-willed of the audience and then for the coup de grace she painfully ripped the two fangs from her enemies face and jumping high in the sky she came down like a glowing red meteor on top of her dying foe creating a blinding explosion of crimson War Flames that completely erased the monster from existence. After the light show was over with and we could see the arena again, the only thing remaining was the two glowing fangs that were imbedded to the floor and an unmoving but still living demigoddess that was slowly coming to consciousness.
One beat. Two beats. Three beats and suddenly the whole throne room was filled with the shouts of mortals and immortals alike screaming in adulation at such a glorious performance and I could see both the relief and sheer satisfaction of Ares as well as many others from the Council as well as Hades scowl of disappointment. The only one that wasn't reacting as he should was Zeus, something aside from me only Athena noticed and alarm bells blared in our ears. The King should have been furious at such a display of power from a mortal and at his failure of killing her but instead he was smiling and at this moment there was only one thing in my mind. This is going to bite us on the ass.
(End POV - Poseidon, King of Atlantis)
(POV - ?)
All throughout this new distasteful spectacle, I watched with the rest of my fellow demigods while despairing at the power shown by Alexandra Bellum, daughter of Ares.
When she first appeared in camp, showing her prodigious skill all the while being such an easy going person (when you were not part of her cabin because then she turned into the devil himself) I had hoped I could draw her to my point of view. I hoped to show her how cruel and faithless the Gods truly are and have her join me and Lord Kronos into overthrowing our uncaring parents and building something new, something better.
After some subtle attempts to fish some information of her opinions however I clearly came to the understanding that while she was no fan of Zeus and a few other Gods and if they fell she wouldn't shed a tear for them, she actually hated the Titans and would actively fight against them with everything she had if they tried to rise again, calling them 'barbaric mad dogs that must be put down for the good of the world'.
So watching her smash through challenges that an army of demigods would have been slaughtered against and emerging victorious with only exhaustion and a few superficial wounds was more than a little chilling. How could we fight against such a foe when she was capable of ripping apart even monsters strong enough to kill Gods? How could we topple Olympus for our Lord when the Gods had such a terrifying guard dog obstructing our path? How can demigods even chose the correct path when that freak of nature gave them hope that they could become better in that accursed camp and denying the right side, the Titans the demigod army they were awaiting?
I was beginning to truly despair hearing many of my fellow half-bloods, some that were more than a little receptive of my recruiting attempts talking about asking the daughter of Ares for instructions and whispering about truly flourishing with their help. Thankfully, the treacherous nature of the Gods showed its ugly face and as a smiling Zeus opened the Gate a sound like the shattering of countless glasses was heard and the Gate was devoured by a terrifying tear of space akin to a black hole sending everyone to the ground.
When we could finally see again, where the Dungeon Gate was previously positioned only a crater remained ridding the world from one of my greatest obstacles. The Gods were speechless looking at each other and probably trying to understand what the Hades happened but it seems the War God came to the conclusion that Zeus was the responsible for what was clearly some serious foul play (not that I could exactly blame him, after all, the King's behavior from the beginning to the end clearly showed his opinion for the demigoddess) and with something that was between a scream of grief and battlecry he shouted "KIN-SLAYER" and after getting engulfed in those red flames that were identical to his daughter he attacked Zeus with his great sword creating a burning diagonal slash from shoulder to hip, sending him crashing to the wall behind the thrones.
After that chaos ensued. The more peaceful of minor Gods as well as that coward Dionysus flashed away instantly to escape and as a result 8 demigods turned to ashes because they had the misfortune to look directly in their direction. Seeing this, Chiron quickly shouted for everyone to run away from the throne room but we were unable to open the Gates. Some of the Gods, like Aphrodite, Hermes and surprisingly enough Hera jumped in front of us creating a barrier with their power, Apollo and Athena were barely managing to subdue the raging War God and Poseidon together with Hades and Demeter were preparing to check out on the King and maybe even try to keep him from causing a massacre in his rage but it proved futile because Zeus recovered too fast and didn't take such a bow to his pride silently.
With an incoherent scream he chucked his Master Bolt charged with enough power to erase New York (the state) from the face of the map towards the still screaming and thrashing Ares uncaring about killing his other children that where holding him in place but it seems his wound made him miss and as a result barely grazed the Gods. The unfortunate part of this though, was that instead of striking a trio of Gods, the lightning bolt hit the barrier that was protecting us and our Guardians being unprepared of defending against such a force were not able to contain the full might of it.
The result?
From the 50 demigods that came here today, 1 died by treachery inside the Dungeon and 8 because of uncaring cowardly Gods that were too concerned with their lives to care about us, bringing the number to 41. After Zeus diminished lightning bolt struck the number fell all the way to what was probably less than a dozen and shattering the previous closed doors to smithereens.
More than 40 demigods were snuffed in a second because the Gods were unable to act like the responsible deities they were supposed to be, their smoking blackened corpses lying on the ground silent screams in their faces and if I had even a smidgen of doubt about my decisions to join the Titan Lord before, it has now completely disappeared.
Wincing at the numerous burn marks that were littering my body, I picked up the Master Bolt that was on the ground and after putting it in its sheath that I had managed to steal a few hours back I put on an invisibility ring that my Lord had gifted me and hightailed out of it before the smoke was extinguished. The original plan was for me to stay at camp for a little while longer in order to recruit more demigods to our side but after this fiasco? They would come sprinting to join the Titan army all of their own just with a single prompt.
As I was running away from Olympus the last thing I heard was the bloodcurdling scream of Thalia shouting Luke's name.
After I managed to reach beyond New Jersey a few hours later and chose to rest for a moment to regain my breath I couldn't help the smirk of triumph from taking over my face while my Lord was whispering congratulations of my success inside my mind and Olympus beginning of the end. This is going to be glorious.
(End POV - ?, Herald of the Golden Age)
~ChildeOfWar