Chapter 17
The Lotus and The Round Table (Part 1)
As the result for round 2 was announced with another victory for the gods, humanity gave a collective groan as they hung their heads. They had lost the round, Jason may have been a hateful homicidal maniac, but he still was fighting for their side and had come oh so close to victory. But once again the gods had taken the first two victories in Ragnarok, five more victories and they all would be annihilated.
On the other side, the Boreads mourned the loss of their former friend, Zetes who was the more emotional of the two had broken down in tears whilst Calais patted his brother on the back as a way of comforting him.
Besides them, Athena lay deep in thought with her fingers on her lips as she observed the exhausted Hel make her way out of the arena while still waving her hands to acknowledge the gods cheering for her, "That… Thing, that being that Hel turned into towards the end of the fight. Were it not for that, Jason may have very well taken victory from our grasp considering how far he managed to push the Queen of Helheim back into the corner."
Calais nodded in agreement, "Indeed Lady Athena, Jason's transformation into the God Butcher was a most formidable foe for even the might of the Midgard Serpent and the Apocalyptic Wolf. But then Hel pulled out that monstrosity and it was all over. What even WAS that thing!"
"I... Do not know, Calais." Athena admitted," Just like you, I too wish to know what that thing Hel transformed into was. But unfortunately, even I am not all-knowing."
"Ymir..." A monotone voice suddenly said, immediately all heads close by turned to the source of the voice. Sitting by the side spectating the match with them was the Priest of Gluttony himself, Beezlebub. The former fighter of the first Ragnarok had evidently been watching the entire match so silently that no one had noticed him till now.
"What was that you said, Beezlebub?" Athena inquired as other gods sitting around her and the Boreads all began to shift themselves farther away from the God of Darkness now that they knew he was here.
"You wanted to know what that thing was, did you not Athena?" Beezlebub answered, "That giant was a Jotun, but not just any ordinary Jotun, that was undoubtedly the primordial giant who spawned the entire Jotun race, Ymir."
"You don't mean the SAME Ymir Odin and his brothers killed all those millenia ago? Shouldn't he be DEAD then? Why the hell did he suddenly appear out of nowhere fused together with the Queen of Helheim?" Calais replied incredulously.
"There are rumors," Beezlebub replied in a bored voice," That after Odin and his brother Villi and Ve killed Ymir and used his corpse to create Asgard. The giant's primordial soul was not absorbed into the dark void of Niflheim, and instead spent the next few centuries wandering the realm of Jotunheim, filled with resentment towards the Asgardians who felled him. It seems... Those rumors were true, but what they did not mention was that Ymir's soul eventually managed to find refuge within a certain young Goddess of death, who held the necessary talents of soul manipulation that allowed him to lay dormant within her body for many years. Granting her the abilities and might of the mighty frost Jotun.
With that revelation, Beezlebub simply got up from his seat and made his way out of the arena. The battle had most certainly brought his attention to Hel and the incredible potential that she held inside of her, her winning the Tournament of Helheim had certainly interested him, but now after seeing the true extent of her power, the new Queen of Helheim may perhaps be the one who might finally be able to kill him. Beezlebub thought as he journeyed back to his laboratory.
Back in the arena, Calais shivered slightly as he watched the Priest of Gluttony take his leave, "That guy is nothing short of creepy!" The Boread commented as he turned his attention back to his brother and Athena.
By his side, Zetes wiped away tears from his bleary eyes, "So after all that, Jason really did end up losing himself to his hatred and dying as a monster, huh? And here I was foolishly believing that he would somehow redeem himself in the end, guess I was wrong."
Athena sighed, "Take as much time as you need to mourn your friend's death, sons of Boreas. However, we must let Jason's story be a grim reminder to all of us, to never allow ourselves to be so deeply consumed by hatred and vengeance, that we end up losing ourselves altogether."
Up in the god's VIP section, Izanami breathed a huge sigh of relief seeing her friend and queen managing to make a comeback from certain doom and claim victory for the gods.
"Well!" The Underworld Lord said regaining her cheerful tone, "I suppose that is that then! I'll be the first to admit that Hel's performance wasn't flawless. But I think I speak for all of us when I say that we all underestimated her prowess and potential, wouldn't you agree, Lord Ra?" Izanami said this while turning to look at the Egyptian God with a slight smirk on her face.
Ra yawned as he inspected his nails with a look of indifference, "I suppose so, the Queen of Helheim has certainly shown herself to be a formidable foe when she is driven in a corner, but there is still much left to be desired from her."
Izanami's eyes narrowed at the Sun God's comment, before she turned to leave the room, "Well I must be off now, I better go check up on how Hel is doing after that rough match of hers! A 'pleasure' seeing you as always Lord Ra. I wish you all the best for your round when it comes up Amy dearie! Mommy and your siblings will all be cheering for you by the sidelines!'' She cooed at the embarrassed Shinto Goddess whose face turned as red as a tomato.
"Thanks, mom…" Amaterasu grumbled as she gave a snickering Huitzilopochtli a hard pinch on the arm, prompting the Aztec God to stop laughing at her expense. Izanami giggled slightly at this before she made her way to the Valhalla Arena infirmary to check up on how Hel was doing.
After Izanami had taken her leave, Ra reached for his tablet that contained the list of fighters for the gods that would participate in Ragnarok No.2 and began looking it over.
"Uh, so Lord Ra, who are you planning on sending out next after Hel?" Huitzilopochtli asked while rubbing the small bruise on his forearm after getting pinched by Amaterasu.
The list of gods Ra was reading from was as follows,
The Representatives of the Gods
. Nezha
. Dapeng Jingchi Mingwang
. Huitzilopochtli
. Amaterasu
. Izanagi
. Hel (X)
. Typhon
. Set
. Sobek (X)
. Ra
. Raphael
. Kali
Ra wore a thoughtful expression upon his face as he pondered on which god he should send out next, a part of him was half tempted to send out one of his two attendants for the third round. Both Amaterasu and Huitzilopochtli were skilled and powerful fighters to say the least, seeing as they were both Chief Gods. And if one of them were to actually lose and die, well at least the Egyptian God could finally get some peace and quiet from all their bickering with one another.
However, as Ra continued surveying his list of fighters, his eyes settled on another particular god who was just as likely to bring them victory.
"Let me ask the both of you," the Egyptian God said suddenly to his two attendants, "Would you agree with me that the roster of gods for the first Ragnarok was, shall I say, rather LACKING in diversity? After all, out of the 13 gods selected, eight of them were from either the Greek or Norse Pantheons."
"Oh yeah, that is kinda true now that I think about it," Huitzilopochtli replied as he scratched his head," Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Apollo and Heracles were all Greek Gods, and Thor, Loki and Odin from the Norse Pantheon. Other pantheons either had one god representing them or none at all, like your brother Susanoo for example Amy."
"True enough Huitzy," Amaterasu replied," But what are you trying to convey by saying this Lord Ra?" The Sun Goddess asked curiously.
Ra smirked as he simply pointed to the first name at the top of the list and selected that god to be their next fighter before showing it off to the two Sun Gods peering over his shoulders to see who he had chosen.
"Well, I say it is time to allow some of the other pantheons who didn't have the opportunity to show off their own gods in the first Ragnarok to have some time in the spotlight, don't you two agree? And I think HE should be quite up to the task."
"NEZHA, THIRD LOTUS PRINCE"
The two gods' eyes widened as they saw who Ra had selected, "Oh yeah, that guy's one HELL of a fighter! Pretty solid choice there Lord Ra." Huitzilopochtli said enthusiastically.
Ra smirked as he got out of his throne and started to leave the room, "Well then, glad to see that the both of you agree with my decision. I will send a messenger to the Jade Palace at once to inform them of our decision, unlike Hel, I am much more assured when it comes to his abilities in battle. the Third Lotus Prince will CRUSH whichever foolish human Prometheus and Göll chooses to send out next."
...
Pandora groaned, seeing their fighter defeated, "No, we lost the second round as well, this is terrible." Pandora said in a dejected manner as she fell to her hands and knees.
"Chin up Pandora!" Göll replied, patting the girl on the back, "We may have lost the last two rounds, but the important thing is to look towards the future rather than dwell on past losses! We need to make sure that we are able to take this next round for our side to hold up humanity's morale." Hearing the Valkyries' words, Pandora wiped her eyes as she got up to her feet and nodded slightly.
Strangely, Hera on the other hand, who everyone was expecting to see raging and cursing in anger after her chosen warrior failed to avenge her husband by beating Ra's. Was instead, silently watching the last remnants of Jason's soul float into the sky.
Once the last few shards of Jason's soul had finally dissolved into thin air, the Queen of Olympus gave a shaky breath and began to make her way out of the room.
"Gee, Grandmother must be on a whole NEW level of upset at Jason for losing against Hel, usually she kicks up a huge fuss and tantrum when things don't go her way but I've never seen her become so mad that she goes COMPLETELY silent." Pandora commented quietly as she watched Hera leave the room.
Raphael chuckled sadly, "Hera does have a nasty temper, made worse by the fact that her little revenge plot was foiled. Although humanity losing the round is a great misfortune to all of us here, I cannot deny there is a small part of me that feels alleviated now that Camael, Jophiel and Zadkiel have finally been avenged." The Archangel paused before quickly adding, "Apologies if I come off as rubbing salt in your wounds, seeing humanity losing a round still is something I consider tragic, and I really hope that you all may succeed in future rounds."
Göll sighed, "It's alright Raphael, I get why you would find some small satisfaction in Jason losing, don't worry we won't hold it against you."
Raphael nodded slightly in gratitude, "Thank you for your understanding Göll and thank you for allowing me to spectate the match with you all, but I'm afraid I must take my leave now. Goodbye, and I wish you all the best for the next round, though a life will surely be lost, I sincerely hope that it will not be one of humanity's fighters."
With that Raphael waved a final goodbye and exited the room, leaving only Prometheus, Göll and Pandora inside.
While Göll and Pandora were prepared to leave the arena and return to the Akashic records to choose their next fighter. Prometheus on the other hand, had other manners he wished to attend to first, "Göll, can you and Pandora head down to the Akashic Records first and wait for me there? I need to go and inquire about something with Lady Hera."
"Uhm, okay Prometheus, but just be careful. My dad told me that when dealing with Grandmother Hera when one of her schemes is foiled, it's best to play it extremely safe around her." Pandora said with a worried look, before she and Göll made their way to Akashic Records.
Prometheus smiled slightly at Pandora's concern, before marching down the hallway to catch up with Hera.
"You WANTED Jason to lose didn't you?" The Titan said simply as he made his way next to the Queen of Olympus," That was the real reason you signed him up for Ragnarok, not because you wanted him to avenge your husband, but because you wanted him to die in battle."
"Is it wrong for a goddess to put her champion out of his misery?" Hera said somberly, "Perhaps if I had done my job as his patron all those years ago… had I not abandoned him… Maybe all this death and hatred could have been avoided, maybe he would have been fine."
Prometheus sighed, "I can't say your plan was particularly well thought out nor executed... But you did have good intentions, in a way. It honestly surprised me, I never knew the cold and cocky Queen of Olympus would ever feel REMORSE for any of her actions."
Hera gave a sad laugh," I suppose so, I'm sorry too by the way, Prometheus. For costing you three the second round of Ragnarok with my own agenda."
Prometheus shook his head, amazed that Hera would ever apologize to him," I won't hold our loss against you Lady Hera, Jason did come very close to victory against Hel after all. Hence you are more than welcome to offer your help in our quest to save humanity, so long as you do so out of the goodness of your heart, rather than for any other ulterior motives." He said, to which the Queen of Olympus mouthed a silent thank you.
With that, the Titan gave a polite bow, before leaving for the Akashic Records, allowing Hera to finally be alone to properly mourn her fallen champion.
The Jade Palace
The Jade Palace's audience chamber was wide and sprawling with columns upon columns with intricate dragon sculptures chiseled from the stone that look so realistic, they looked as though ready to pounce, supporting the roof from whence a massive gold chandelier hung. On the left and right of the room were hundreds of seats for the various deities of the Celestial Pantheon during special occasions held inside the room such as the Legendary Peach Banquet that was held every 3000 years by the Queen Mother of the West. And at the very end of the room, in the midst of it all was a magnificent throne adorned with dragonic motifs, all made from gold and jade. This was where the Jade Emperor himself sat during parties, or when he had to meet with important guests, surrounded by hundreds of his loyal godly subjects.
Today however, the throne room was mostly empty, save for the palace guards standing at attention by the columns on either side, and the two deities who were currently engaged in a game of Xiangqi (Chinese Chess) on a table in between the Jade Emperor's throne and a chair that had been placed next to it.
The first of these two gods was the Jade Emperor himself, who took on the form of a middle aged man well in his forties or fifties, filled with wisdom and experience. He was seated on his throne and dressed in his full imperial costume, a long dragon-embroidered robe and on his head he wore his mien with thirteen pearl-strung tassels hanging over his face. He fashioned a long black mustache that grew downwards, extending past his jaws, as well as a long goatee of the same color.
The second god also shared the look of an older man, though looking slightly younger than the Jade Emperor himself, he was dressed in Chinese ceremonial armor with a sash that flowed unnaturally around his body, a trademark piece of attire that was most associated with the Celestial Pantheon. Whilst he used his left hand to move his pieces on the board, his right carried a miniature pagoda, one that was feared greatly by many beings, for though it looked small, the pagoda was capable of catching spirits, demons and even gods. This was the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li, or Li JIng.
"JIANG JUN! (checkmate) My dear Li JIng!" The Jade Emperor declared triumphantly as he moved one of his pieces to win the game, "I believe that means the final score is 4-3 with me as the victor, I dare say, you're getting a tad bit rusty my friend!"
Li chuckled as he conceded defeat, "As sharp as ever Yu Huang! I see that your skills have not deteriorated in the slightest since we last played. Do not fret, I will be sure to win next time we play!"
As the two men began to pack up their pieces, a guard entered the throne room, followed by a female Archangel dressed in a white robe similar to Raphael's, save for the red being replaced by dark blue. Her long flowing hair was of a similar color and behind her back she also had a pair of beautiful white wings with golden tips at the end.
"Your excellency!" The guard called as he fell to his knees and bowed, "The Messenger Archangel Gabriel has arrived here, bearing urgent orders from Lord Ra himself that are to be carried out immediately!"
The Jade Emperor nodded and waved his hand, motioning for the guard to stand up, before he addressed the Archangel who stood behind them.
"Ah! Gabriel! How nice to see you again! How are things in your pantheon these days?" He said in a jolly tone.
Gabriel, who often acted as messengers for various gods, bowed politely before replying in her upbeat and friendly voice, "A pleasure seeing you again as well Yu Huang, me and my brothers have been doing quite well these past few centuries."
"Good to hear!" The Jade Emperor said, "Now tell me, what urgent message does Ra wish to have you deliver to me? Does he want to have another rematch with me in Senet? I thought the old bird would be too preoccupied with Ragnarok to care about petty board game feuds, especially ones thousand of years old." He said in a joking manner.
Gabriel smiled sadly, "If only that were the case Yu Huang. Unfortunately, the subject of Lord Ra's orders is not regarding board games, rather it has to do with those horrid death matches between the gods and mankind that me and my siblings so strongly oppose, Ragnarok."
Immediately the Jade Emperor's face darkened, "I see... Well what does Ra wish from us? I do not recall at any point of time where he requested gods from MY pantheon to join his roster, so why is he calling us for this matter?"
Gabriel now wore a confused look after hearing the Jade Emperor's reply, "Uhm... Well because Lord Ra has requested that the Third Lotus Prince, who IS on his roster, to be the god's representative in the third round of Ragnarok... From what I heard he volunteered to be a part of the roster willingly all by himself."
The Jade Emperor's eyes bulged in shock and fury as he heard this, a jade green aura surrounded his body as he leapt out of his seat and yelled, "WHAT?" He shouted before wheeling around to face Li JIng, who just so happened to be Nezha's father, "LI JING! IS THIS TRUE? DId your son actually volunteer to be a part of Ra's ridiculous battle against humanity? Tell me that Gabriel is mistaken!"
Li Jing sighed as he rubbed his eyebrows, "Unfortunately Yu Huang, Gabriel speaks the truth, my son did indeed volunteer himself to be a part of Ragnarok to the Sun God. He chose not to inform you so as to ensure that you would not worry for his safety or object to his decision."
Yu Huang growled, "If you knew about this, then WHY did you not PREVENT him from making such a foolhardy decision! As his FATHER you should have been horrified! Your son isn't entering some FRIENDLY sparring match that should be taken lightly! Ragnarok is a HORRIFIC death match that is to decide humanity's ultimate fate! STRONGER gods, goodness, even CHIEF GODS, have lost their lives participating in it! Why in heaven would you allow him to do such a thing?"
"With all due respect, Yu Huang," Replied Li Jing in a tired voice, "When has the Third Lotus Prince EVER listened to me as his father? I did indeed tell him about the dangers of entering this tournament, but he simply shrugged all my warnings off without a care. He seems dead set on entering Ragnarok and winning his round for the gods."
Meanwhile, Gabriel leaned over to the guard next to her, "Daddy issues?" She inquired softly, after hearing Li Jing's response and seemingly strained relationship with his son.
The Guard chuckled while nodding his head slightly in response to the Archangel, "You have NO idea..." He sighed.
The Jade Emperor finally calmed down and sat back on his throne with a sigh, "That lad and his antics... VERY WELL THEN!" He boomed, "Seeing as we cannot refute Lord Ra's orders with Nezha himself volunteering for the match, our pantheon has no choice but to send out the Third Lotus Prince to fight for the god's behalf against humanity. Li Jing, Go and inform your son of his upcoming match! The rest of us will be hoping for his safe return."
The Pagoda-Bearing King nodded in response, "Right away my liege, I will inform him of your well wishes." He replied before bowing to both the emperor and the Archangel, and teleporting out of the throne room to go and find his son, with the last thing he heard being the Jade Emperor offering Gabriel some tea before she left as well.
The Akashic Records
"Sorry I took a while," Prometheus called out to his two companions as he entered the Akashic Records, "me and Hera were engaged in a rather riveting conversation. Anyways, did I miss anything?
"Nothing much Prometheus, me and Pandora have been going over the list to see which of our fighters would be the most reliable to count on in case your informant is unable to assist us like in the second round." Göll said as she and Pandora reviewed their list.
"Good thinking Göll," Prometheus replied," So who do you think we should send next?" The titan asked whilst peering over their shoulders to see their list of fighters.
Representatives of Humanity
. Orpheus
. Jason (X)
. Prometheus
. Vladimir Lenin (X)
. Maui
. Napoleon Bonaparte
. Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus
. Ramesses II
. Arthur Pendragon
. Grettir
. Joan of Arc
"Well, I don't really know... I'm personally leaning towards Grettir, I've heard he's super strong! So he should be able to handle whatever god Ra sends our way."
"Maybe we could send in Joan of Arc?" Pandora chimed in," She fought in the Hundred Years' War when she was alive and even defeated the Demon Lord of Sloth Belphegor when she ascended to Valhalla! Plus, I know Joan personally, and she's really dedicated to protecting humanity, so maybe that strength and tenacity could give us the edge in combat!"
Prometheus nodded, quite impressed with his two companion's choices, "Not bad picks you two have chosen! If my informant isn't able to provide us with information in time again, I say we..."
Before the Titan could finish his sentence, a sparrow suddenly flew speedily into the room, huffing and puffing before it landed straight on Prometheus' shoulder to catch its breath, "Prometheus! Ra's sending Nezha out next!" The Bird yelped in a man's voice, surprising Göll and Pandora who squealed in shock.
"A TALKING BIRD?" The two girls yelped simultaneously as their jaws dropped.
Prometheus chuckled, "While I can understand Pandora's shock, The idea of a talking bird shouldn't shock you that much Göll, haven't you already met Odin's ravens before? Regardless, Maui, if you would be so kind enough to greet our friends here?"
"YEAH, YEAH!" The bird answered in an irritated voice,"Just let me catch my breath first. Nearly thought those Sun Gods saw me spying on them! I rushed over here so fast I thought my limbs were about to pop off!"
As he said this, the sparrow hopped off Prometheus' shoulder and landed on the floor in a blinding flash of green light. When Göll and Pandora opened their eyes again, they saw a muscular man with chocolate brown skin,that was covered in black and green tattoos, with dreadlock hair tied in a manbun and eyes as blue as the ocean. He seemed to be dressed exclusively in leaves, with a green skirt made of leaves and bracers covered in the stuff as well. Besides the leaves, the man wore woven sandals on his feet, a necklace with various teeth and bones hanging off it, and earrings seemingly also made of bones. In his left hand he held a bunch of ropes tied to his wrist, which were connected to the giant fish hook he had draped behind his shoulder and on his back, that also seemed to be made out of bone."
"Sup? Nice to properly meet you two girls for the first time," He said whilst rotating his arms in circles one by one to alleviate the strain on them, "Names Maui! You probably heard of me as that one trickster demigod from Polynesian, or as one of the fighter dudes you have on your list. Kinda bummed none of you thought I was reliable enough to send out for round 3 but oh well!"
"Oh! Uh sorry about that..." Göll said, looking slightly abashed, to which the demigod laughed good naturedly.
"Nah I'm just messin with ya! I don't really mind all that, don't worry!" He said, giving the Valkyrie a thumbs up.
"Wait, So you've been the one giving Prometheus inside information on what the god's are planning all this time?" Pandora interrupted as she continued gaping at what had just occurred in front of her.
Yes siree!" Maui answered cheerfully, "My old buddy Prometheus asked me to do a bit of snooping on the enemy, So I've been using my good old shapeshifting abilities to spy on old Ra and his attendants and bring back any useful info to help out our side. They haven't caught me yet, nor know I'm spying on them... at least I HOPE they don't."
"Wow, thanks so much! That's really brave of you!" Pandora said admiringly.
"Haha! You're welcome kid! Just repaying a favor for old Prometheus over here. He and I go WAY back." Maui smiled as he gave Pandora a pat on the head
"Anyway," Maui turned to Prometheus behind him, "If that bird brain Ra is sending Nezha out to fight in round 3, we're gonna need someone tough to match his skill!"
"I've heard of him," Göll commented in a worried tone, "Nezha the Third Lotus Prince, the warrior child god of the Chinese Pantheon, they say he's got a myriad of Divine Weapons at his disposal, and has gone toe to toe with the Monkey King himself! If any of these rumors are true, we could be facing a huge problem!"
"Indeed," Prometheus agreed, "Which is why I have decided that this man shall be our next representative for Ragnarok. After all..." He said as he selected a name from the list and displayed it for everyone else in the room to see, "What is a god, to one of THE GREATEST KINGS OF ALL TIME!"
Göll and Pandora gasped as they read the name displayed while Maui simply whistled in appreciation, for the name displayed on the screen in front of them was none other than...
"ARTHUR PENDRAGON, KING OF CAMELOT"
