Memories flashed through Valen's mind, for a moment he could see the endless expanse of the universe and the first five beings that came into existence from the remains of Chaos. He saw how time began moving and the first vestiges of mortal life arose on Earth. He saw how the age of the Titans passed and how the age of the gods began. He saw a war between the gods and beings similar to the Titans, yet fundamentally different.

The view shattered and the tether of darkness connecting him to Erebus severed. He fell down on all fours and dry retched on the ground. His mind was still spinning from the visions. He felt warm blood trickle down his nose and wiped it off.

"What," he gasped, "just happened?"

"I…" Erebus began, "did not expect it could go this bad. An oversight on my part, my apologies."

"Were those," he pushed himself up, his legs still trembling, "your memories?"

Erebus nodded, "Yes. It is extremely dangerous to view the raw memories of a primordial, with enough exposure a lesser god would be driven mad."

Valen blinked once, "I'm not going to go mad if I host you, am I?"

"No," he shook his head. "I will have to guard my mind from yours so that our memories and personalities do not mesh into one."

"Just out of sheer morbid curiosity, what would happen if our minds did mesh?" Valen asked.

"The two of us stop to exist, and a different entity arises from our conjoining. It would hold all the qualities and memories of the two of us, but it would still be a different being." he said, rubbing his chin. "Now that I think about it, the two of us might still keep existing as a single soul inside that entity."

Valen gulped nervously, "Yeah, let's make sure that never happens."

Erebus nodded. "It would be bad for both of us," he sighed. "I had wanted to spare you the pain from the traditional method, but it is our only option now."

"I can handle it," Valen said. "Probably," He added at the end.

"Well then," Erebus said, his form growing ethereal, "prepare yourself for some of the worst pain you will ever experience in your life."

And then, they merged, and Valen almost passed out from the pain. It felt as if his blood was boiling in his veins, every single one of his muscles was cramped and his bones grated against his flesh like shards of glass.

For once he was glad there was no one in the castle to listen to his harrowing screams of agony. After what seemed like an eternity, but in reality was only a few minutes, sudden clarity assaulted Valen for a split second before his body was thrown away as the two beings were forced to separate.

"Ack!" He wheezed as he hit the wall at the far end of the room. He groaned as he pushed himself up. "I don't suppose you have some nectar and ambrosia on you?"

Erebus waved an arm past him, and a wave of energy passed through him, erasing all his aches instantly.

Valen sighed as the pain left him, "So, why did that happen?"

"There is still a long way before you can properly host me," he said, shrugging. "You will get used to the pain."

"What?"

"I was joking," he deadpanned. "You can use this opportunity to practice how to realign your body mid-air to land in a favorable position. I am certain you will have your fair share of being blown away."

"That's…oddly specific?"

"Come, we have no time to waste." he said, changing the topic as a tether formed between them again. Valen sighed mentally bracing himself for the pain.

Every time they fused, that window of clarity increased a little. By the end of the week, Valen could host Erebus for a few minutes before being split apart. In that time he had managed to learn how to maneuver his body in a way where he wouldn't take much damage, rolling to reduce the impact as much as he could.

It took the major part of a month for him to be able to host Erebus. His body had adapted to a level where it no longer felt like he was moving in tar. Something had clicked into him the moment Erebus fused with him like a mental switch being turned on. It felt surreal, to move as fast and flexibly as he did. His vision had never been clearer, he could see every little detail from the texture of the walls to the cracks he had imparted on them. A veil slid over his vision and he could see the individual motes of mana in the surrounding. He could hear everyone in the castle, every time a shade took a step—no matter how silent; he would hear it.

His skin tingled with anticipation, and a grin split his face, he felt like he could do anything His body was brimming with power, so much that he feared he would destroy the room if he wasn't careful.

You will destroy more than just this room if you are not careful, Dominant of mine.

"WHAT IN THE-?!" Valen jumped in surprise. "Erebus?"

Yes.

"You can talk to me telepathically?" he asked.

We are one in all but mind, does this really surprise you so?

"Well, I guess when you put it like that it makes sense." he muttered.

He felt a slight jerk as Erebus split out of his body. He blinked and shook his head, as his senses returned to normal.

"Now, it is time to reclaim your other selves," he said. "It should be clear where they are from your prophecy."

Valen furrowed his brows as the two lines echoed through his mind. "In the unknown lies the core, in the heart lies the crown." He repeated, "I assume that line refers to them?"

He nodded, "Yes, the unknown would generally refer to my realm. But there is only one you in here at this time."

Valen shrugged, "Well, one of my powers are from the norse pantheon, it could be that its in the norse equivalent of your realm."

"Hmm, it is not unfounded for it to be there."

"It makes sense when you think about it, if the core refers to the power i got from Thor, the crown would be the powers I got from my father, it's fitting."

"That it is," he agreed, "I shall send you to the nexus of the norse pantheon, Boston. After that, it is up to you."

"Wait, before that, what is the norse equivalent of your realm?" he interrupted.

"Is it not obvious?" Erebus paused for a moment, then continued, "The gap between the realms, look for that."

Before Valen could ask what he meant, he waved his arm at him and the darkness clouded his vision.

When his vision returned to him again, he found himself in the streets of Boston. He sighed to himself, he guessed he was by himself.

The first thing he did was find Fadlan's Falafels, the store he had left the Norse demigod last time.

"Is Abdel here?" he asked the guy at the register, who looked uncannily similar to the old man.

"My father? He's on a different branch today. What can I do for you?"

Valen blinked, that made sense. "Uh, did he tell you about the special circumstances regarding Ma-Jimmy?"

"The homeless kid? Yeah. Wait a minute, you look similar to what my pops described the guy who brought Jimmy here."

"Yeah, about that. I am that guy."

He blinked, "You are? Huh, could've sworn he said you had black hair not silver."

"Oh this?" he said, grabbing a lock of his hair. "I had to dye it for…reasons."

He chuckled, "Lost a bet did you?"

Valen grinned sheepishly, "You could say that."

"So, what can I do for you? Do you want to order anything?"

Valen shook his head, "No, I just wanted to know how Jimmy's doing."

"He's doing fine, at least as fine as a homeless kid can. He's a good kid, a shame what happened to him."

"Yeah," Valen nodded and sighed. "Well, pass him my regards then."

"I will, you stay safe too."

"I'll try," he replied as he walked out, "but I make no promises."

With nothing else in his way, he made a beeline to the Boston Public Garden and knelt beside the nine ducks.

"Erebus said it was the gap between the realms, but how am I supposed to enter the gaping void?" He muttered to himself as he touched the lead duck again. His perception shifted, and once more he was back in the branches of the ash tree.

Summoning his sword, he kept his guard up, that squirrel could come at any time. He looked outside the branches and into the mist that clung tightly over Ginnungagap. He did not have Aricia to carve a path for him this time, he didn't even have his own powers to help him this time.

He sighed, even if he could enter the void, he did not know where to start. It was a massive place, it would be like finding a needle in a country-sized haystack. He idly wondered if he should ask one of the Norse gods for help.

It was then that the distinct yark of Ratatosk screeched through the branches. Valen flinched and covered his ears, it sounded pissed. He could see the branches moving above him as the squirrel made its way down to him.

He gulped and began jumping down the branches, but he knew it was hopeless to try and outrun it. Within minutes it had caught up to it and Valen covered his ears again, barely muffling its bark. Yet, he could not completely cut it off. He felt numb as its words registered, it was worse than the last time, and he hadn't even tried to block it out that time. He shuddered to think what would have happened if he had heard it clearly.

You would probably have thrown yourself off the edge of the tree.

"Erebus?" he whispered, he could still talk to him?

Who else would be contacting you like this?

"I could use a little help here." He said.

You cannot prime here, with both Yggdrasil and Ginnungagap nearby. They will notice my presence and an inter-pantheon war is the last thing we need right now.

"Prime?" he asked, and shook his head. "Can't you help a little bit? Like blocking off my hearing or something?"

Why do you think you haven't heard the rodents bark again?

Valen blinked and brought his arms down, it was true, he could not hear it. Although he could clearly see it yelling at him. He brought up a finger and poked at his ear, a thick veil had slid itself into position over his earbuds.

He grinned, "Thanks."

Erebus didn't reply, and Valen continued his way downwards, completely ignoring Ratatosk's bark. When he was near the roots of the tree, the squirrel backed off, seemingly growling at him, before running back up.

"Why did it run away?" He asked no one in particular. His question, however, was answered when the veil over his ears dissolved and he heard the faint roar of a dragon, and the crackling of electricity. His heart began beating faster, and his sword began vibrating.

"He's here." he whispered as he continued his descent. As he got closer, he could feel the unmistakable roar of thunder vibrating through him, and the sound of a dragon roaring in annoyance.

"What the hell is he doing?" he muttered as they finally came into vision. His Norse self looked exactly like him if he had red hair and a battle-thirsty grin. The dragon, on the other hand, looked menacing, as a dragon should be. It was more of a serpent than an actual dragon, with a snake-like body covered in smoky black scales. It had jagged green spikes running down its spine. Its eyes were pupil less and full of malice. Its teeth numbered in the hundreds, and its horns were reminiscent of the branches of a tree.

That is Nidhogg, the amalgamation of chaos and evil in the Norse pantheon. Do not even think of fighting it.

"I'm not going to, it will kill me within seconds." Just as he said that, the dragon lunged and took a bite out of his other self, tearing off most of its torso and legs, leaving him with only a single arm, half of his chest, and a somehow unscathed head.

"Just to be clear, what happens if he dies?"

He cannot die, as an incarnation of your godly parts, he is essentially a god himself. Which is why he hasn't been devoured by Nidhogg yet.

"That's good to know," he said. Now, how do I get his attention? I can't go near him, Nidhogg would tear me apart.

He watched as he regenerated his body like it was nothing and continued his assault on the dragon. His sword vibrated again and the thunder within it crackled, garnering Valen's attention. He looked down at it and an idea began forming in his head.

He held his arm up, and the lightning stored in its core began flowing out and unto his palm. Hoping that his aim was right, he hurled the sword at his other self, and thunder exploded from his hand, propelling the blade ever forward.

The blade hit true, lodging itself into his torso, forcing his attention away from the dragon. He looked down at the tip of the stygian iron blade sticking out of his abdomen. Pulling it out, he looked back to find the culprit. His eyes swept across the roots until it met Valen's and he froze. An instinct welled up inside him, and he knew it was time to return. He looked down at the dragon snarling at him and snapped his fingers, lightning arced between them, a bolt so bright it momentarily blinded the dragon.

In that moment of confusion and blindness, he jumped off the branch and shot forward at Valen. He did not have the time to react as he collided with him and the two beings merged.

Valen knelt down, immobilized as a portion of his powers returned to him. Crimson bled into his silver hair and his eyes gained a brilliant shade of blue. He could feel the lightning flowing through his veins, the wind howling in his ears.

And while he was aware of the dragon recovering and turning its gaze on him, he could not respond, even as it slithered closer and closer.

'Run.' The voice of his other self whispered inside his mind before its consciousness faded away.

With great effort, Valen pushed himself to his feet, and leaped off, grabbing branch after branch to get as far away from the dragon as he could. His muscles still ached as if he had been running for days, but his sense of self-preservation overrode his pain.

Once he was certain the dragon would not follow, he laid down on a branch and relaxed. It took a moment for his body to calm down and the adrenaline to fade off, and once it did the pain hit him again.

He lay there in silence for a few moments before getting up again, he'd need to move before the squirrel came again. But he was faced with another issue. He did not know how to get out of the world tree, only how to get on it.

The portal to the realms appears at the end of each branch, you need to find your way to one connected to Earth, or Midgard for them.

And how exactly do I know which one is Earth?

Just keep your nose open for the smell of pollution and you will find it.

"Of course, you can hear my thoughts," he grumbled as he began his search. The first branch he went to smelled like burning coal and ash. Muspelheim. The next one smelled like rain and mud with a distinct hint of pine. Alfheim. The ones after that were either Jotunheim, Helheim, or Vanaheim.

He sighed, At this rate, it will take me hours.

He got onto another branch and etched closer to its edge when the smell of blood and steel assaulted his nostrils. He stumbled and almost fell from the branch because of the smell. Valhalla, there was no other realm as bloody as it. Besides Midgard, probably.

He felt a tug at his core and something compelled him to walk forward, he felt a connection in there, someone whose comforting presence he had almost forgotten.

"Mother," he whispered, his eyes glistening. If he just walked into the realm, maybe he could reunite with her again.

Snap out of it. Erebus' voice startled him, and this time he did fall. He did not have the time to react before he slammed down on another branch.

Groaning, he got up, What was that for?

Do you even need to ask?

What's wrong with meeting her once? I'd have returned after reuniting.

You and I both know that is a lie.

Valen remained silent, he did not have an answer to that. Still miffed despite his interruption, he walked to the edge of the branch and was repulsed when the smell of smoke and garbage reached his nose.

Yep, that's my realm all right. He sighed and jumped off the edge of the branch, and his vision swam with colors until he was back in the garden. He got up and dusted his clothes, thankfully no one seemed to notice his sudden existence.

"Well?" he asked, looking up. "Are you going to take me back or not?"

He heard a resounding snap, and all of a sudden he was in Erebus' castle. It had happened instantly, with nothing to warn him about it. It took him a few seconds to realize where he was.

"So, where's the other half of my power?" he asked, looking up at Erebus.

"Before we go through with that, I want you to give me a demonstration of how you use your powers," he said instead. "I need to be sure of something."

Valen shrugged and held his arm out, a bolt of lightning shot out of it, arcing in every direction until it hit the wall. With his other arm he flicked his fingers and pulled up, and the air under him lifted him up, allowing him to levitate in the middle of the room.

"..." Erebus stared silently at him, as if he had seen something he didn't particularly like. He sighed, "I will be honest, your control is absolutely horrendous."

"What?" Valen set himself down, his control over wind and lightning wasn't that bad.

"I'm not talking about your control over the element," Erebus said as if reading his mind. "It's how you use the mana. You use an ungodly amount of it for your simplest spells, for instance the bolt of lightning you threw; with the amount of mana you used you could have done that half a dozen more times. Yet you wasted it all on one bolt."

"I did?" Valen asked, was he really wasting that much mana?

Erebus nodded, "Allow me to show you."

Valen barely felt anything as they fused again. His senses dialed up again, and the sudden increase disoriented him. He took a few minutes to regain his composure before trying the spell again. He saw how mana coalesced over his palm in the size of a basketball, before exploding outwards. While most of it spread apart from the spell, the little that was left made up the bolt.

To put it into perspective, Erebus said, taking control of Valen's body. This time the mana condensed into the size of a baseball, and when it was released, none of it was lost and all of it composed the thunderbolt that flew out.

Erebus split apart from his body as Valen watched slack jawed, he really was wasting a lot of it. He shook his head, "What do we do then? You said we had a month and a half before the war when I first came here."

He nodded, "And now you have only three days left."

"I don't suppose I can learn to use mana more efficiently in that time?" he asked, although he already knew the answer.

"Not in the traditional manner, no," Erebus nodded. "But there is another way."

"There is?"

He nodded, walking up to him. "This might be a little disorienting for you." he said, tapping his forehead with his index and middle fingers.

Valen's eyes rolled back and his body slumped down. A moment later, he found himself back at Camp Half-Blood, in the Hermes cabin. He looked around confused, something was very wrong. He felt weaker, both physically and magically. When he stood up, he did not see the world from the same height as before.

He rushed into the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror. His heart fell and he felt like a pit had formed in his stomach. He looked like he was supposed to, with the heterochromatic eyes and two toned hair, that was not the issue, however.

He was younger, far younger. He felt dread claw at his insides as he stared at the fourteen year old reflection of himself.

.

.

.

Theron awoke in the middle of the night, amidst the snoring in the Hermes cabin. He looked to his side and found Aricia already up, and carefully fishing out her duffel bag from under an asleep demigod.

Their eyes met, and Theron nodded, pushing himself up. Careful not to make any noise, he managed to pull out his own bag from nearby and headed out with Aricia. It was when they were passing by Cabin Thirteen that someone caught them.

"Where are you going?"

They froze hearing the voice, turning slowly to come face to face with Bianca di Angelo standing at the door of the Hades cabin.

Theron tried coming up with a lie, "We're just-"

"We're going to look for Valen." Aricia said, cutting him off, ignoring the look of betrayal he gave her.

"You won't find him, our father already talked to us about it." Bianca said, sighing.

"We won't give u-"

"But that doesn't mean you cannot try." Bianca said. "I'll go with you, just give me a moment."

As Bianca went back inside, Theron slumped down, "Why is everyone talking over me today?"

Aricia shrugged, "Tough luck."

A few minutes later Bianca walked out with a backpack of her own, "Let's go."

Anastasia watched from beside the pine tree as the trio walked out of the camp border. She narrowed her eyes, with the strongest demigods in the camp gone, her job would be that much easier. She took one last glance at them before walking back to the Hermes cabin.

.

.

.

"You want me to what?!" Nico almost yelled at Hades' proposition. For the lord of the dead to so blatantly break his own rules…it was absurd!

"You heard me," he said. "She was born too early, and died even earlier. But fate demands she come back one last time."

"Why?" He demanded, "I understand she is your daughter, but it's unlike you to make exceptions."

"She is one of the seven," Hades said. "I am sure of it."

Nico crossed his arms, "Alright, let's say I do agree to do as you said. How am I supposed to bring her to the world of the living with Thanatos watching for any escaped souls?"

"Ah, but Thanatos is rather occupied right now." Hades said, leaning forward in his throne, "Death has been captured, and his doors are lost."

Nico's jaw fell to the floor, "And you're only telling me this now? You don't even seem worried about it!"

He shrugged, "Knowing how the Fates operate, I'm sure there will be a quest to free him. But until then, any monster or mortal who dies can return to the world of the living through force of will alone."

"That can have catastrophic consequences, how are you not worried about it?!"

"As I said, there will be a quest for his retrieval soon enough," Hades said. "If not, one of us will have to interfere, like last time."

"Last time?" Nico repeated.

"We have drifted off topic, will you do it?" Hades said, switching the conversation back.

Nico sighed, "Fine, but what about a body? She can't go back to her old body, it's bound to be nothing but dust by now."

"You don't need to worry about that, I have…an agreement with someone who can help."

"Who?" Nico asked.

"Not anyone you need to be concerned about, yet." Hades said, "Her soul is in Asphodel. It should be easy enough for you to find her."

He got up from his seat as misty shadows passed over him, adorning him in a brilliant black tuxedo, "Now, if you'll excuse me."

He walked past Nico, "After you find her, bring her back here and wait for me to come back."

Nico nodded as he watched his father disappear into the darkness. He sighed, walking out of the palace and looked down at the fields of Asphodel. How was he supposed to find a single soul in the millions that wandered it?

A/N : It's a bit late, I know. I should have uploaded this a week ago. But I was facing some burn out and couldn't get myself to write much, so I took a short break. Other than that, I'm thinking that I no longer follow a schedule. I will update whenever I'm finished with the chapter. With the schedule of updating every weekend, it's become more of a chore, something I have to do, instead of something I want to. Hence I will no longer be doing that. This means that while some weeks might go without a chapter, there will also be weeks with multiple chapters.

Til next time.