The ocean's water went back and forth, as they always did. Their sound was the only company Gael and Petre had. Granted Petre was used to long periods of silence like anyone else, but this was getting awkward, "So...what is your name?" Asked Petre slowly. The man never told him his name, nor did he say anything at all when they had set sail. All he did was stare at the sea.
The giant replied in an accent that Petre only now noticed. That accent itself sounding strange to his ears, "Gael."
Gael? That was a first to him, then again a lot of this guy was a first to him. Never had he seen someone as tall as him that was not mamono. Nor did anyone carry around such equipment. Everything about the man was foreign straight down to his accent. In fact, he was tempted to ask where he was from, or who taught him their language.
Wanting to keep the conversation going, Petre decided to speak up, "Petre, that's my name. My father wanted me to be a priest like him, so he named me that."
The giant turned to look at him, Petre still unable to see his face, "You do not seem to be a priest."
Petre scoffed at that, "Oh, he got himself a priest... just to the wrong god," there was silence again for a few seconds. Right when Gael was about to ask what god, Petre stopped him, "Anyway, doesn't matter, how about we change the subject. Why in the chief god's name do you want to go to Zipangu?"
Gael looked back to the sea, "Doesn't matter."
"Touche," Replied Petre with a slight chuckle. Seemed they both had things they did not want to share. Speaking of things not wanting to be shared...Petre looked about as he kept course. It was about to get dark but..."Strange. Thought she'd be here by now..."
"Who?"
He took a deep sigh of relief, they weren't following him. That was another first and another actually lucky thing for him. "No one important, just... let's just call em a stalker of sorts," Either it being boredom or his inability to find common ground, Petre wanted to change the subject again,"Well on a different subject, "When we get to Zipangu, there is a treasure on this ship that I found, which will sell for a pretty coin. Excluding the wine of course, but I'm keeping that for myself."
Gael didn't say anything at that. Seemed the man didn't care too much for treasure or wine, just what was this guy after? Fame? Or something else entirely? Now that he looked at him, he looked familiar. Petre could faintly remember hearing about someone that matches his description. He needed to know. "So, where are..." Walls of water suddenly rose from the ground and surrounded the boat, "you...from... Oh great..."
The ship stopped, the water around it freezing in place. Directly in front of the ship a pillar of water rose, before the upper body of a tall blue-haired woman appeared from the top of the pillar. In one hand was a golden trident with emeralds, diamonds, and jewels all over it, and radiating with power as the light of the sun reflected off of it. In fact, she almost seemed as tall as Gael, her trident almost as long as Gael's own blade.
"Your time is at an end, Red Hooded Beast. For too long you have slaughtered innocent mamono, even wiping entire regions clean of life. Your judgment is at hand," Spoke the woman, her voice sounded almost like a scolding mother. But Gael could sense there was more to it. Suddenly Petre spoke up.
"Hey sort to interrupt but, kinda in the potential crossfire here."
The woman turned to look at Petre, "Do not fear, Bacchus chosen, you will be brought to land where your god will come for you."
Then out of nowhere, Gael grabbed Petre by the neck. The cold edge of the crossbow's barrel pressing up against him. A cold sweat went down Petre's head as he realized how quickly Gael was willing to use him as bate. "Let us both go to land, and he will live," Spoke Gael, his voice alone showing that he was not bluffing. The woman was not amused, not one bit.
"Are you not aware of the danger you are in?" Gael did not reply to that, "I am the god of the ocean, the seas, and of all water," Poseidon stretched out four of her fingers, "No matter what. form. it takes," As she spoke each part of that sentence, something appeared over each finger. One was water, another steam, another ice, and another blood, "You are in my element, there is no hope of victory for you."
"Even still, I cannot stop now." Spoke Gael abruptly, slightly pressing the crossbow harder on Petre.
With a snap of her finger, the waters stretched over the harbor and tore Petre from Gael's grip, and into the ocean. Gael could only watch as the waters drifted Petre at a rapid pace away from the battlefield, and beyond the walls of water. "Hey, wait a minute- '' Yelled Petre before going through the wall of water. Immediately after Petre went through, the walls of water became walls of ice.
A gentle drizzle of rain came down on the battlefield, the silent tension growing as both sides glared at each other. "I see you have made your choice," Poseidon raised her trident and pointed it at Gael as she muttered, "Forgive me."
Then in a flash, a pillar of water rose from the sea, made a 90-degree turn, and sped straight towards Gael. Reacting as fast as he could, Gael dashed out of the way, causing the pillar of water to tear through the mast of the ship.
More and more pillars of water rose and did the same thing, all of them aiming for Gael. He managed to dodge most of them, except for one. Raising his blade, Gael used it as a makeshift shield as the water rammed him into the captain's cabin of the ship. Not wanting to give Poseidon another chance to attack, Gael quickly drew out his crossbow and unloaded it on her.
This however failed, as Poseidon raised her hand and in turn, a wall of water rose. The bolts merely sunk into the water before they could reach their target.
Motioning her hands in a turning fashion, the bolts in the water turned towards Gael. Then with a push of Poseidon's hand, the arrow flew out and towards Gael. He barely had time as he lept upward and onto the helm, the bolts thunking into the destroyed wall and door of the captain's cabin. Pain slightly throbbed in Gael's legs.
He did not have the dark helping him, nor was it providing support. No, he was alone in this fight. But even still, he would not yield. No matter what he had to get to zipangu.
Clenching her fist, the wall of water transformed into an orb of water. Then with another push of her hand, the orb was sent flying towards Gael with an arc. Gael moved out of the way as the orb flew by, enveloped the ship's wheel. In the brief moment, the orb enveloped it, the wheel was instantly crushed from massive pressure in less than a second.
Gael knew what was about to happen next, and he mentally prepared himself as now both pillars of water and orbs of water rose. It was like the days when they had to attack archers in his days of military service, except with more than just a simple arrow lodged into you. It was almost like a dance as Gael tried to avoid the series of attacks, bit by bit the ship being torn apart.
The more attacks Gael avoided, the less ground he had. He needed to find an opening- Gael screamed in agony as an orb of water enveloped his left hand. Even with the curse numbing the pain, he still felt every bone in his arm suddenly break in several areas.
Poseidon raised her trident with both hands, her eyes showing hesitation. That hesitation was what Gael needed. As Poseidon charged to finish him off, Gael moved a little to the side, avoiding the thrust of the trident. Then with one hand, Gael swung his blade at Poseidon.
Her eyes widened as she realized what was happening, beginning to stop in her tracks and back away. However she was not fast enough, Gael's blade reached the right end of her mouth and tearing it open. Poseidon roared in pain as she collapsed onto the deck of the ship, her hand over her cut open and bleeding mouth.
"I see now, to think you could wound a god. You are a greater threat than I thought," Muttered Poseidon, Gael noticed the water below began to boil as steam started to form and the rain ceased. A blue aura surrounded Poseidon, her blue hair turning pure white, and her eyes turning from steel blue to bright red, "I hate killing, more than anything else. But, if it is for the good of all life, then I have no choice," Poseidon rose, water reforming around her lower body. Her face now not showing any form of hesitation, fear, or regret, "Countless lives were destroyed by you, monster. You are an evil that will bring this world to ruin if let be. Therefore, I, Poseidon, shall end your tyranny!"
Gael looked up and saw a giant glacier coming down at him. Leaping forward, Gael swung his blade down on Poseidon, but she dodged out of the way and flung her own blood at Gael. The blood was not meant to blind him, instead, as it touched Gael's skin it burned him before bearing into him. Creating deep, burning holes in him that bled profusely. Gael however ignored it as the ship was cut in half by the giant glacier.
Then another glacier formed from above and came directly down at him. Being forced to move, with nowhere to go, Gael leaped into the air. Desperately Gael scanned the area for somewhere to land that was not the boiling water. But there was none, leaving him no choice but to use magic. However before Gael could reform, Poseidon pointed her trident at Gael before tugging it back.
Instantly, large quantities of his blood left his body through the holes Poseidon's own blood made. He could feel a great deal of his strength leaving him the moment that happened, his vision beginning to get blurry as he fell face first. He wasn't able to concentrate fast enough as he began to descend. The steam suddenly formed into orbs of water that flew directly at him.
Gael watched as the orbs got closer to him, his face almost touching the edge of the water. However, Gael managed to regain focus in time. Quickly, Gael forced himself to reform on the top of one of the glaciers. Gael grunting in pain as he reformed due to the Dark not helping him by dulling the pain.
He fell to his knees, almost all of his strength gone. His left arm was broken, most of his blood was drained, and he had no options as the glacier began to melt from the boiling water. Shakily Gael looked up above, only to see a massive orb of water above him, hovering in place. Gael now realized what she was doing.
Poseidon was forcing the clouds to pour down their rain, while also causing the steam, and then using it. That was how she created the glaciers and the orb above him. Gael eventually spotted Poseidon high above, looking down at him before pointing her trident again at him. But instead of pulling back, she thrust her trident forward.
The walls of ice became water once again, moving in on Gael at an alarming rate. Then the very glacier he was on, began to turn into water. It was a pincer attack. Death from above, death from below, and death on all sides. Death was all around him. But, he had one last idea.
As his legs sunk into the water, Gael roared in pain as he heaved his sword at Poseidon. She merely moved out of the way as it flew by into the sky. This, however, was not the end of Gael's idea.
Concentrating hard, Gael looked at the side of his blade. It was just enough! The summon sign formed on the side of the blade, causing Gael to deform and reform before the glacier completely disappeared.
Poseidon looked around, confused as Gael appeared above her. Grabbing his sword, and focusing on his broken arm, Gael began to descend towards Poseidon. Knowing that it would be faster, Gael flung his ruined arm, sending out a corona disk towards Poseidon, wobbling a little as it did so.
Gael did not have the best of luck though, as Poseidon turned to see Gael above her and the disc of light coming at her. Once again Posiedon moved to the side, avoiding another attack. At this point, Gael was out of options. Raised his blade, Gael thrust his sword at Poseidon, who dodged at the last second.
As Gael began to descend, Gael turned mid-air towards Poseidon. Forcing himself once again, Gael sent another corona disc at Poseidon who dodged the attack as she flew down at him.
In a last-ditch effort, Gael swung his blade at Poseidon. Just like all of his other attacks, they were too slow as Poseidon thrust her weapon forward. Her trident sank deep into Gael's throat as he crashed into the boiling water.
Then silence. Neither side came out as the water where they had crashed into turned red with blood. The two discs of light Gael had cast came flying down towards the ocean, until they dissipated suddenly before reaching the water.
Gael rose out of the water, but... he was merely floating there in the water. Then Poseidon rose, a scowl on her face as the saltwater burned her slit mouth. The Red Hooded beast had been slain, his crimes against mamono brought to an end. Poseidon took a deep breath, trying to hold her tears back as her anger and hatred disappeared.
Poseidon had done it, the thing she swore herself that she would never do again. She had killed again, and at the orders of another god. Was history repeating itself?
Out of nowhere, Poseidon's trident began to glow with a dark aura as loud ringing came out of it. The waters began to become chaotic, the sky began to rumble. Poseidon quickly realized the divine gift was going haywire. Trying hard to keep control over it, Poseidon placed both hands around it and was practically wrestling it for dominance.
Then once again, silence as the trident suddenly calmed down. She managed to stop another disaster from happening, or so she thought.
...
...
Deep below the ocean, into the abyss of the sea, countless runes shined as bright as individual suns. Their power radiating, before suddenly bursting in a flash of light. And just like that, the seals that kept them at bay were undone.
From the darkness, they rose, eldritch gods of old. Their time of vengeance was at hand, and they would have it. For too long they have let Poseidon rule the sea, but now they will claim what is rightfully theirs. They would claim their birthright.
...
...
Poseidon could sense them, feel them. "Impossible! The seals-!" Bursted from the water, eldritch horrors rose from the sea. Each one of them being unique in their appearance. One a mass of tentacles with wings, another a giant serpent made of faces, another an orb covered with eyes and many more. These were the gods Poseidon, with the help of the other gods, waged war and sealed away.
They looked exactly the same, that is until she spotted more feminine parts of them. Some of them had a woman at their centre, or what Poseidon assumed to be their mouth, and some had the upper body of a woman on the very top of their form. Seems the rumours were true, they were affected by the current demon lord.
"At last our time has come, Poseidon. We shall have our revenge for locking us away. We will rule the oceans of the world once and for all, and without you in our way," Spoke all the eldritch horrors in unison. From the waters, mind flayers and night gaunts rose.
Poseidon's grip around her trident tightened. She was outnumbered, but these things... if they had rule over the sea, it would mean nothing but pain and suffering. Even in their current state, their goals and desires have not changed that much. No matter what she would stand against them, even if alone.
"Mamono of the oceans! To me!" Yelled Poseidon. As fast as she called them her sea bishops, mersharks, mermaids, krakens, sea slimes, and even nereids rose from the waters on Poseidon's side. Then Poseidon noticed a different type of mamono she didn't expect. A single aspara was looking directly at her.
With a wink, a few more of them appeared, and that's when they appeared. Each and every one of the gods appeared, their own armies with them. Hel with her banshees, The fallen god with her dark valkyries, Eros with her cupids and asparas, Eres with her war valkyries, Hephaestus on the shoulder of his giant soldier of steel and metal named Talos, Bastet on her throne carried by winged cat mamono as she licked her paw. And then Bacchus... who did not have anyone else with her.
"What are you doing here Bacchus? Thought you would be going after Petre."
"Well I wash, but he ain't where ya said he'd be!" Bacchus turned to look at the eldritch gods, "Besides, I ain't gonna let these rotten, disgusting, fishy abominations have the chance to steal my drinking buddy!"
Suddenly a beam of light came from the sky and all the gods looked up as a group of Valkyries of the chief god arrived. "Our lord believes it is best for a temporary truce," Spoke the leader of the Valkyrie, whose armour and equipment was different. Even their body was different with far more wings than the valkyries. It was a seraphim, one of the chief god's elites of the elite. And the only servant of the chief god who did not have a mamono verient.
"Hey, where's ya boss!" Blurted out, Bacchus.
The seraphim looked at Bacchus, "She is still in no condition to fight, therefore she sent us as a backup."
"Enough! We have a war to fight!" Yelled Eres. Both sides roared at each other with their battle cries, and just like that, the battle began. The most bloody conflict in the known world's history commencing.
However as the battle began to rage on, the gods forgot about Gael. His lifeless corpse slowly drifted straight towards Zipangu alongside two wooden containers from the wrecked ship.
A/N.
Didn't expect that did you?
If you do not understand why Gael lost in the first place, just pm me. There were reasons for his second defeat in this story here.
(Edit: realised I had misspelt Zipangu in this chapter and have not noticed for the past 2 or so weeks. man I am dumb)