Doomsday Clock Strikes to Ten
Finale
8 MINUTES EARLIER…
"Southern Gate neutralized. Six hostiles down!" said one of the comms attached to Tesla's coat while he and Margaret escorted a group of confused scholars and government officials safely toward the nearest exit.
It had been a smooth process so far, but Margaret could still hear the tremors and the sounds of various powers being thrown out and about within the campus. She looked at the civilians that she was trying to safely move as she ushered them out before turning back to Tesla who seemed very focused with the overall evacuation through his comms.
Despite having had a fair amount of trust in the man due to how much he's done for her so far, she knew that Tesla was keeping her away. Most of it was due to factors on her account and the large possibility that this was probably a Vought-related sabotage.
She was appreciative of his efforts to protect her both from herself and what other people would think should she go in, guns blazing, but she also wanted to help as best as she could.
It was the only thing she could do to pay these people back.
If only for him, making her realize that she had more to meaningfully uphold outside of the tired and exhausted caricature that was Queen Maeve. Admittedly, it was humiliating being reminded finally this time by a person that she previously had no association with compared to the many people in her life that she knew more.
Perhaps that was part of the foolish punishment that fate was giving her. That she couldn't see her way forward despite there being a path that existed.
Regardless, if she wanted to do the right thing, of her own accord, she would have to do her best to help the people around her. Even if sentiment against her was still low.
"Please move along swiftly, we don't know the degree of the danger present as of yet." She calmly said to the elderly politicians who were looking at her in a strange manner. Many of the scholars or staff of the school paid no attention to it, but anybody else looked and reacted at her with varying degrees of emotion.
Some, were part of the demonstration outside angrily yelling at her for causing this while some thanked her despite the hesitation.
She shielded herself mentally away from the more negative connotations as another tremor shook near them. It made some people panic until Tesla manifested his electric gauntlet…
KRASSZSHACKKK!
… as he blasted an arc of electricity into the middle of the crowd where she saw one of the civilians was about to transform into ice. His electric arcs quickly electrocuted the target and forced them into stasis (as wild as the implications of that were).
"Have no fear… we have an Enhanced Terrorist in our midst. Keep away from the arcs. They are not as dangerous to the target but for caution, keep away." He shouted as he continued to bark orders to two of Olympia's security personnel who quickly took hold of the Supe that was about to wreak havoc.
Margaret was stunned at how quickly he ascertained and acted within that moment despite the fear in the civilians. She wasn't even aware that one of them was a threat as she watched him then calmly move the people along as they were now all incentivized to leave.
"How many?" She asked as she walked to his side.
"We don't know. Our asset has told us that there's a lot of money involved with this, so we have to assume there's a decent number of them hidden around us."
"Anything I can do to help?"
"Lead this last group out and we'll join you. Some of them are trying to mix with the civilians, hoping to deal some damage." He commanded as she nodded at his orders.
"Right… how can I contact you?"
BRACSKAZASSCHLKK!
She nearly ducked in surprise as he cast another bolt again where a person further back, coming out of nowhere was about to pull out an assault rifle. He was immediately put into stasis with a less harmful bolt while his security detail took care of it.
With how confident and good he was at his job, Margaret wondered if the man was a veteran in this kind of profession. Which was strange, given Olympia was in service barely a year ago.
"Herman, give her one of the watches." He commanded as he rescinded his bolt and caught the device that his comrade threw. He then lent it to her as the device surprisingly clung to her wrist as if it had a mind of its own.
Before she could even marvel at the device he felt his arm placed on her shoulder.
"Get them out, safely." He said.
She nodded without another word as she went away, leading the last group of people leaving the campus while she looked back, watching Tesla fire another bolt of lightning against the enemy.
She refocused back as she heard the chatter and somehow whether the device had a neural link or something, it produced images that allowed her full awareness of what was happening in the other zones. One of the images flashed in her mind like a memory showing her a diminutive, young woman shorter than her significantly controlling the entire situation mostly by her lonesome.
Flashes of her UFO-looking devices flew around the combat zone as various Supes of different powers tried to take her down, only to be put into instant stasis by the beams of light emitted by her technology. A floating book hovered in front of her as like a wizard in fiction she spouted a spell and chains rushed forward to an elastic hostile Supe who was about to trap her into his enlarged arms. Multiple books manifested behind her as well, the ease and complete ability of this little lady vastly eclipsing even her experience as Margaret watched her finish the fight in mere minutes.
"Hoplites, Main Lobby, thirteen hostiles. I need containment units now!" the woman said as various other voices responded back in affirmation. Multiple images of various seemingly normal security units under Olympia taking down other hostile Supes with so much coordination and training that they felt and acted like superhumans.
Given their enhanced strength, Margaret wouldn't be surprised.
However, she was in fact slightly horrified, intimidated, and scared at how effective of a unit Olympia's entire command chain was. Even towards their more mortal assets, they seemed to be so unbeatable just from the glimpses Margaret was having.
Vought never had a chance. Even when they tried to make the event in this entire campus being hosted by the public domain, instead of Olympia. They knew that they had no chance should it have been an Olympia-fostered event.
"Physics Lab hostiles, eliminated." A new voice said, surprising Margaret as she saw glimpses of a Japanese woman wielding a Katana behead a trio of gun-wielding hostiles about to raise their weapons in a flash. She was accompanied by a group of individuals that she had no context as to who with a civilian-looking woman holding a knife while wearing a top hat.
It was strange, but she refocused back to reality knowing that she still had a job to do.
"Move along people!" she said with a heightened tone as they heeded her orders. Most of her group consisted of teenagers and some adults as they hurried along the hallways. The campus was large compared to the many she'd been to, but thankfully there were placards guiding them towards the exits. As she walked along with her group, she kept getting glimpses of Tesla talking to some of the local police entering the premises from the other entrance as they were now locking down everything.
She alternated her focus between the two until she noticed that one of the people in her group, the tall man wearing a suit kept looking at her in sneaking glances.
Margaret paid no attention to it at first until he suddenly stopped in place, pulled out a syringe from his coat, and looked at her.
"Everybody, run!" she yelled as she lunged forward with her entire body towards the man.
BRWWHOUSH!
They slammed against a wall, the brick and mortar covering her entire vision while she heard the panicked cries and feet of the group she led running away from the scene. She coughed as she felt the man under her was still cognizant. Her eyes then rapidly focused on the syringe filled with blue liquid just a few meters away from them cradled under lab equipment.
She tried reaching it before…
"lilqadiati!" he yelled as he kicked her away with enough force to surprise her.
He then scrambled to get the syringe, only for Margaret to grab his leg. She then pulled at him as they met eyes. He yelled again in Arabic, its context and meaning lost to her, but despite that, she understood the emotion behind it.
She gritted her teeth, gripping the man's leg so much that she was now digging her fingers as he yelled in pain. He then looked at her and began to roar with his voice rising to a fever pitch.
His eyes glowed brightly with his body, and before Margaret could pull further…
BRWOUM!
The man exploded with such intensity and power that she was blown away.
His power broke most of the ceiling and a large part of the room she was on the side of while debris and rock rained down on her. She lost consciousness the moment she landed on the floor and felt more debris cover her back.
…
"MARGARET!" a voice yelled to her. A familiar voice.
Her body gasping for air that it was deprived of as her eyes slowly opened. They were blurry to the point that she couldn't see anything. Even her ears could only hear faint echoes. Yet…
Images, memories perhaps, started filling her mind as she saw in her mind's eye a nude man injecting himself with a syringe before yelling atop his lungs in a language she did not know. His body glowed in a bright red-orange color before a bolt of lightning struck him.
He was rendered as nothing but a burnt corpse afterward before other people came running in. Her memory couldn't place who these people were, and her eyes were still blurry as the one familiar voice called her name.
She found herself smiling, even if her lips no longer functioned as such.
They started pulling something out, a body. Wounded and burnt out of the debris as they scrambled to get it out. Margaret felt no such sensations on her body as her mind continued to hear the faint voice whisper to her that she would be alright…
That… she did good.
That… she saved a lot of people.
Wait… who was she again?
Oh.
She remembered now. How she ran without hesitation when she saved those kids on the bus. How when her own arm was mangled to a bloody mess, she pushed forward, so that they would all live. There was no hesitation there, no hope for a reward. She saved those kids even as her own life was on the line.
She was proud of it. She was happy about it.
All because she believed in the cause. She believed in doing good.
"You're going to be fine… you're going to be alright." The voice said.
Yes… she believed in doing good… and that thought would set her free…
Her consciousness drifted again into nothing but elation and a lighter feeling in her heart.
"Everybody made it out alright," Caenis said as she heard the flurry of conversations in the network that she, her master, and their comrades shared. She then turned around; her spear ready to materialize at any second as she looked at the other occupant in the room.
"Oh, thank God… it would have been horrible should something bad happen there." The blonde idiot said as he sat on her couch a good distance away from her position. If it was down to her she would have already killed him on the spot but…
He was being cooperative. He gave intel that he admitted with enough honesty and confirmation about what was to occur on the campus Tesla funded. She was doubtful at first, and was still doubtful now with his 'friendliness' but he had not lied at anything… yet.
Plus, her comrade, the kunoichi was manifested standing by the side, watching him like a hawk as she sipped the tea that Caenis made for both of them. She was an expert lie detector and if he so much as said anything out of place, she would skewer him instantly, her master's orders be damned.
"Yeah… horrible. It's mighty convenient that you're here now… relaying to us this information at this very moment, when you could have warned us about it earlier. Where the possibility of harm against innocents would have been reduced to nothing." She said with a slight sarcastic grin as she crossed her arms against her chest.
She watched him strangely looking directly into her face, focused without issue, when the last few encounters had him openly leering at her femininity.
It's not that she wasn't proud of her form, she was past that already, but it was very odd that this man who openly lusted for her was becoming formally respectful and reasonable with their interactions thus far. She even gestured through the link for the kunoichi to confirm if he was doing anything untoward, only for her to get a response that he was… normal.
"I admit some fault with that, mostly because I was out of the loop with the things my… former comrades were doing behind the scenes. I've been very busy and it's only through recent affairs that I was able to find out about their dealings."
"Dealings?" Caenis asked with an eyebrow raised as he looked honestly guilty with that. She urged the kunoichi for a response again for confirmation.
"There is slight deception in his response, but I believe the probability of his claim of being informed about this incident just now is… correct, Caenis-sama."
"Yes, it's come to my knowledge that A-Train, in particular, was trying to ruin your image, that of Olympia in some form. Sadly, he's always been… an interesting person that Vought, back when it was still functional always kept tabs on him, and due to how recently busy I am as well, I couldn't coral most of the Seven, at least what's left of them." He said as he tried looking away in shame like a child not wanting to displease a parent.
"Yeah, I bet," Caenis said, she didn't need the kunoichi to tell that some of the shit he said was bull. She smiled however though, a disarming smile that made the idiot blush for some reason.
He then sighed. "Look, I'm aware that you don't trust me."
"Why'd you think that is… huh?" Caenis challenged.
"I can think of many reasons… but, believe me, when I say that I want to help, I'll cooperate with every fiber of my being. A promise, that I can both do publicly and even personally… to you," he stated with a straight face, the last few words in particular, as if he had difficulty saying it. Not because of ego, but because he was embarrassed at himself.
Of course, Caenis rolled her eyes at how this man was acting when she was near him.
It's strange for her to admit in some way, that the Sea God acted far better than him in his attempts to 'court' her favor.
Yet at the same time, she looked at the Blonde Idiot and saw that he looked like he was begging. Begging not to her master's favor, but for hers.
"I don't think trust can be measured with just a promise. We all know how much that's worth to some people and even then, I'm very much concerned why you're not even asking about what happened to your fellow Seven member. Who was she again, Queen Maeve, right?"
"And why would I? Mind you, I am concerned for her, but I know that she's innocent, and at the same time, she's in good hands. If you trust your comrades as much as I think you do, then I know she will be fine." Caenis watched him say those words while she gestured for the kunoichi to abbreviate.
"There's a lie hidden in his words. I believe he doesn't care for this, Queen Maeve, Caenis-sama." As expected, her prediction and assessment of this was correct.
To her surprise instead of trying to defend himself, he understood the tension and aura within the room. So much so that he looked at her with a serious face and sighed.
"I am trying here you know. I've come to you, undefended, delivering an olive branch knowing full well that Olympia since its inception has been systematically trying to bring down everything that Vought's built over the span of many, many decades."
"And?" Caenis said, unphased, much to him visibly reacting at her clear mistrust.
"…I know that you can do something to my name, my reputation, and everything I stand for with just a whisk of your CEO's hand. I can be public enemy number one, tomorrow, today, or sometime in the future, with you and Olympia happily taking off its most fearsome competitor just like that." He then narrowed his eyes.
"…so why would I come here, other than the fact that I legitimately want to help, knowing full well that I'm as vulnerable as a normal man within your abode?"
The silence almost made his argument convincing, except for Caenis having heard such things before, both in her time with the Argonauts and with her short rule as a tyrant after.
"Maybe you're just done caring about things? When a man sees that he's done everything to take back what he's lost, he becomes desperate. He would no longer care if the world saw him as the enemy. He would no longer care to hold back against his enemies." She challenged with a slight smile at his way. Only to be disappointed when he smiled back.
"Now isn't that a pretty thought, huh? If it was down to me, I would have… done so many things if I was pushed to that point. Some of it is because Vought only treated me as what they always envisioned me as… their greatest product. If I was a less reasonable man, I would have been the enemy that you so described me as."
Caenis looked at the kunoichi who confirmed to her that he was completely telling the truth with those words. It surprised her much as she returned her gaze to the man as he seemed to read the room again. She was surprised at how observant he was and how clever enough he was to be reasonable with how he spoke.
A far cry from the way he conversed with her the last two times they interacted in the same room.
"Why exactly are you here, Homelander? You've talked about an olive branch, and you asked me specifically for help on something. What are you expecting out of this, because if you know what we're doing, I expect someone like you to fully commit to challenging us, whether by actual account or in the face of the public."
"I'm not really expecting much, given I know how most of you mistrust Vought, understandably. But…" he started as he looked straight into her eyes despite the distance between them. "…I just want to see my son."
"He speaks the truth, Caenis-sama."
"Would telling you that he doesn't want to see you, at all, be enough?" Caenis taunted.
He stared at her for a moment before she saw his lips quiver, his eyes about to tear up before he stopped himself and tried to hold his emotions back. She almost felt pity for him.
"Of course, they pushed him to that point… of course… if I… if I was there for him before Vought could do any of their bullshit, I could have…" he stopped as he sniffed, trying to stop himself from tearing up before painfully smiling in guilt.
"…could you at least tell him, that I'm sorry?" he then suddenly said to her. Without even needing to get the assessment from her comrade, Caenis could already see the pain in his eyes. How it disturbed her that he was genuinely asking this of her.
"…that I wasn't there. That from that, I failed him as a father." He finished as he didn't even wipe the tear that trickled down his face. Caenis remained unphased but she visibly sighed at his act.
"I'll pass your words along…" she conceded while looking away.
His elation was palpable as she heard him whisper a grateful 'thank you' under his breath.
"But you haven't convinced me, yet. What exactly are you offering to me? To Olympia?" Caenis stated, having nearly arrived at the end of her patience with this man as he started to calm down.
"As you're aware, Stan Edgar is out of the picture. I respected that man and very much understood that under his leadership, Vought was mostly, intact."
"…and?" Caenis asked, wishing for him to get to the point.
"…and now that he's gone. It's been a tug-of-war within the leadership. With the whole debacle at the convention and many of the things that Olympia is aware of, Vought is left with no one to lead it, except for one."
"You?" Caenis said, raising her tone in understanding and annoyance.
"Yes… and I believe, instead of working against each other. With Vought now under my thumb, we can work together." He gleefully, but innocently said with a smile.
There's that annoying smile again…
"Asclepius told me that you'll be able to walk by tomorrow," Tesla said as he sat on the chair next to the hospital bed Margaret was in who smiled back at his presence. "How do you feel?"
"Better… I haven't slept this peacefully in months." She admitted as she looked in genuine surprise still at her regrown arms after most of her limbs were reduced to stumps days ago. She was nearly healed at this point thanks to Olympia's medical technology, but at the same time, she still had so much to recover from, both physically and emotionally.
She thanked God that Tesla promised her that he would take care of both.
With the crazy, angry doctor working on the former, and an onboard Psychologist that she could talk to for the latter. She still wasn't there yet, nor was she confident to return back to the world but at the very least she was content…
"It's like a dream…" she whispered.
… and happy to a point.
"You remember the girl that asked for your autograph?" Tesla asked as Margaret looked at him. He then pulled out a paper bag from behind him and set it down on her lap. She then happily pulled out a picture frame where the two shared a selfie with a letter attached to it. The penmanship was reminiscent of the little girl who was so happy to meet her.
Margaret could not thank him enough for giving this to her.
"She made me promise that you read it yourself, without me." He joked as she managed a small giggle from the interaction. She then set both on the bedside table on her right as she refocused back on him.
"I don't know… how I can repay you." She stated.
"And you don't need to. I only saw someone who's lost their way like me once… and I would do the same to another again if it meant that they would find a way out of their grief."
She smiled at his words.
"Thank you." She said to him.
He smiled back as he nodded at her. He then stood up and before he could leave, he stopped, having forgotten one other thing.
"Oh, there's someone else that wanted to see you."
Margaret widened her eyes at him, fully understanding who it was. She then looked fearful and scared for a moment, only to see the trust in Tesla's eyes.
"There's no need to fear, Margaret."
"I know…" she said with a shaky voice as he chuckled.
"I trust you to know what to do." He said as he left the room and greeted the person waiting behind the sliding door. Margaret tried to calm herself, her eyes drifting away from the door as she heard new footsteps entering.
Silence loomed within the peaceful room until Margaret Shaw closed her eyes and trusted herself to no longer run away.
Opening them, the only thing she saw…
"Margaret," Elena said with an apprehensive but elated expression.
…was the most beautiful thing in the world.
"We should have taken another picture by the mountain, Father… the view behind it was exquisite," Mordred said with excitement as they leaned against the balcony of the villa that the Finnish government had lent them.
It's been more than a day since Artoria's conversation with Vellamo and the country was hospitable and loving to their presence ever since, despite the initial mistrust.
Artoria for the most part was allowed to negotiate with the local government while Vellamo watched as an overseer. It seemed she was now fixed on her role not as an overall leader of the country but more so as the guardian of it like her father before her.
A role that Artoria trusted her to be effective in, given her empathy and newly created belief in herself. However, since then she was not able to speak with the godling again and was relegated to bonding with her son ever since.
A feat that made Artoria enjoy the trip further compared to what she expected.
"And we can try again tomorrow, son. We have a few more days to do it before we're called back to London."
"Oh! We can probably catch the Northern Lights tomorrow. I'm sure it would look amazing on film." She excitedly said beside her as Artoria hummed in agreement.
They continued to stare into the beautiful night sky while Mordred continued to speak about what they could do together until Artoria felt a familiar presence suddenly manifest behind them.
CRRACKSH!
Mordred instantly manifested Clarent into her hand until Artoria belayed her to stop.
"-But Father, she's-
"I will be fine, son, for I believe our host wishes to speak to me."
"But…"
Artoria placed a hand on her son's shoulder. "I will be fine. Trust me." She said with a smile as Mordred relented and glared at the godling as she walked away back into the villa.
Now left to their lonesome, Artoria watched the godling stand beside her by the railing.
The moonlight bathed her form in such a way that she looked angelic.
"Thy son loves thee most. Watching thee reminds me of mine own Mother. Tis… a pleasant feeling." Vellamo started.
"Yes…" Artoria admitted without doubt shading her ire.
"I cannot accept thy master's proposal…" Vellamo said much to Artoria's surprise, but before she could speak further, the godling laid out her hand where a necklace made out of a rare divine fish's bone was presented to her. "…but understand, if Olympia needs mine assistance, then I shall be there in haste."
Artoria then took the necklace into her hands as she looked at the godling.
"I wish to protect mine homeland full-time. Mine focus is to lead the legacy of mine Father with the guidance and grace that thou had taught me in such short time. Tis why I cannot accept thine proposal, for it, means that I will be away from mine people who need me most."
Artoria nodded at her words with a smile.
"…and if thee needs assistance, or someone to talk to, dear Vellamo, then I shall respond."
The godling smiled at her before losing some of it with a bit of worry.
"We must all be ready for it, Miekankantaja… the Enemy to my knowledge hath yet to succumb to their wounds." She suddenly said, making Artoria concerned.
"The White Titan, still breathes?"
Vellamo didn't look her way.
"I am not sure. All I know is that Man as it is now, is but a failed experiment of trying to recuperate power to end the Enemy."
"And who is to blame for such a blunder?" Artoria asked.
"It pleases me greatly, my son that you took the time to see me these past days."
Heracles watched as this lanky version of his father prepared a feeble meal for both. It consisted of some painfully, nearly dried-up olives against some eggs and bread. A typical meal that a lowly Grecian family would consume back in his time.
The cave around them made the atmosphere of the entire meal pleasant yet strange as the King of the Gods, the most powerful Olympian was reduced to such a state. It was so odd that not even the Dioscuri, who were primarily loyal and vehemently supportive of their father were quiet with the entire affair, reduced to only watching from the sidelines as Zeus' temporary guardians while they shifted time and time again.
"The twins, much as I appreciate their love, they don't seem to like me, haha." The old man chuckled with a wheeze as Heracles stared at his father consuming the rest of his meal in awkward silence. Heracles tasted it a bit, the bread was hoarse, and the eggs seemed rotten slightly.
He didn't want to disrespect him, however, for the man was still his father, regardless of his feelings for him.
A part of Heracles that wished he could change in some way.
"What about you? I bet it's been a long time since we both last met, father and son, one to one. I believe my counterpart would have been very proud seeing the man you became along with the legacy you left upon our people."
Heracles looked at his father and stared deeply into his eyes.
The silence was deafening as Zeus finally understood.
"I see. I wish I had asked about it with Her-I mean, Europa."
Heracles' eyebrow was raised from the remark. He had no true apprehension against the sweet woman for how much good she was able to do, but the lingering presence and smell of a certain goddess had forced him away, despite knowing why Hera did the things she did against him.
It still stopped him from forming any such connection with her, for even without past grudges, the scars left by Hera were still deeply rooted.
"Still, I am happy my son, that you are here. I may not be the father that you knew, but be assured that in some form, I will be one should you wish it of me." Zeus said with the friendly, genuine smile of an old man who wished to right his wrongs.
His feeble, but blossoming aura made Heracles sigh.
"I will try father. What I merely ask is that you keep strong for all our sakes."
Zeus began laughing while he slapped his knee in glee.
"I have never survived this long, son by being weak…" he then let his elation simmer out as he looked at him. "…but my power has dwindled for so much, that even with the hope that you bring to this world of mine is not enough for me to return to my full strength."
"…do our actions not sustain you for so much, Father?"
Zeus suddenly became quiet, until he scratched his long, bushy beard and looked directly into his son's eyes. "…belief can only sustain so much son. More so when said belief is diluted to you and your master and these men, these people I have fashioned from the memory of those long gone, do not have the same vitality, soul, and belief that men used to have."
"What do you mean?" Heracles asked, interested.
"Are you aware of Yahweh? Nice fellow, a good listener between us old folk… he disappeared despite being what Men used to believe the most."
Zeus then looked downwards to the ground where he stared at his fingers, old and covered and wrinkled to the very extent as he let old memories flow.
"The men of this world quickly lost their faith and the soul that makes them one. I saw in the memories of your master of this Will of Humanity, that the concept of it, doesn't exist here for reasons I cannot ascertain, and whatever faith these people have could not sustain an existence like Yahweh, whose soul concept was created by Man."
"Their faith, their belief is unsustainable, Father? But what of now? What of this power that you gather with each action my master partakes in?"
"I do not know, son. Perhaps introducing something outside of the box was able to resuscitate what was long gone, or perhaps your master introduced a new form of belief into these people. One that those of us, the Old Guard cannot tap into fully."
Heracles frowned.
"Understand, son… that it is to my observation, given what sight I can still see and of Yahweh's own words, is that people may believe in something as conceptual as a God. People may hear, feel, and even think that their presence is there, but it cannot change the factual reality that Men as they exist now, only believe it through convenience. They use the name, they use the scriptures and many things associated with their faith, but the essence, the understanding of what it all meant is lost." Zeus explained as Heracles listened.
"…they only serve and believe merely a part of the whole thing. Not the soul of it." Heracles said as Zeus nodded.
"Yes, and furthermore, they only use it and associate it by name. No longer what it once stood for. A corruption, perhaps by cynicism and the fact that Men can only believe what they see is reality. This is why these enhanced, artificial Gods are created and the circle of cynicism is wound back again. An eternal cycle of disbelief and stagnation that with the collapse of Mystery and the loss of those who practiced anything related to the past, magic or otherwise, my world was forced into a degrading stasis."
Heracles then had an epiphany.
"…and if the degradation continued on, with the loss of your life, father… the White Titan would be awakened, and this world would be pruned from the World Tree without the World needing to shed any effort to speed its completion."
"By the Stars, you are truly my greatest child," Zeus said in admiration as Heracles nearly smiled with the compliment.
"Though yes… you are correct to assume that son, and hopefully with your master's deeds re-introducing that lost part back into the world, we may yet have hope to keep this world moving along."
ONE WEEK LATER…
A cracking sound was heard amidst the darkness. The rock was chipped away as instruments started to dig through it.
ESCHUUUUUUSSSSSSSS!
Smoke began to bellow as a contraption was opened suddenly. Its glass doors slid on its size as the individuals who watched it dissipate could only widen their eyes in shock.
"Get the medics!" Theseus shouted as a scrambling of feet could be heard from his order.
"By God, I did not consider this possibility at all…" Edison said as he turned on his scanner.
"Is she alive?" Theseus asked as they gently approached the 'pod'.
"By these scans… yes. She is alive, but Theseus, we have an issue."
"What sort?"
The two heroes of Olympia looked at the opened pod and saw a pale-skinned woman, almost bordering on white as she lay nude inside while two respective vitals pinged into existence when scanned by Edison's device.
"Oh," Theseus remarked.
AN: Work, sleep deprivation, and quite a lot more has finally paid off with the completion of this chapter. Oh my God did this took so long hahahahahahha.
Interlude Arc begins next time with a BB chap and a little bit of wholesome bout with Kimiko.