Icarus stares up at the gigantic man who just entered his room, fire blazing in his eyes. "Hephaestus," He tilts his head. "What do you think you're doing here!?" He springs forward, flapping his wing to kick Hephaestus straight in the head.

Hephaestus clenches his fist, gently raises it. "You made my daughter cry. That is why I am here," He says and strikes forward with his enormous fist, Icarus taking it head on, getting sent slamming into the ground.

Icarus bounces off the floor, into a full spring roll back to his feet. "You're here to KILL ME!? I wonder what Ra would have to say to that," He notes how light that hit was. No way that was ALL the strength in this god!

Hephaestus takes a deep breath. "I am not here to kill you. That's not the kind of god I am anymore."

Icarus clenches his fists as well. "Yeah!? And why should I believe that!? That's BULL and you know it, Hephaestus! GET OUT OF MY FACE YOU MONSTER!" He leaps at him again, however this time Hephaestus simply closes his eyes.

"I refuse to leave without saying what I want to say," He says, Icarus striking him right in the face, sending the giant man tumbling back against the door he just entered from. "But if anger is truly how you express your dissatisfaction then so be it. Strike me to your heart's content. I have already struck you for all I need," He mutters, getting back up, not even touching his hammer.

Icarus jumps again and hits him again. "You think I won't KILL you!? Or that I CAN'T!?" He hits him again with full force, flapping his wing to spin in the opposite direction, hitting the giant forge god again.

"No. You are perfectly capable of taking my life, Icarus. But before you decide whether to do so, please listen to me," Hephaestus takes every hit Icarus can throw at him, getting knocked down and getting right back up, his nose bleeding.

Icarus leaps again, spinning, and making his metallic front feathers cut at the god. "Why should I listen to you!? You're just here to talk about that traitor Pandora!" Icarus angrily declares.

At this Hephaestus raises his fist and strikes the floor hard enough to cleanly dig his fist into it. "Traitor? MY daughter is no traitor! You anger-blinded FOOL!" He glares at Icarus. "I understand your anger towards me! I do. I feel it towards myself as well. Not a day goes by when I wish I could do more for your father! But DO NOT!" Icarus leaps at him again, aiming for his face, Hephaestus reaching out with his free hand and pinning Icarus to the floor with it. "DO NOT take your anger out on Pandora!" He angrily yells, standing again.

"W-what… the hell is your problem!? You think I'll just FORGIVE you for what you did cause you said 'Sorry'!? FAT CHANCE!"

Hephaestus sits himself down. "Icarus. I understand that nothing I could say or do would change anything. After spending such a long time obsessing over proving your father wrong… my authority was diminished. I cannot release your father from Crete. I cannot betray the gods directly or else they may kill Pandora to punish me. All I can do is ensure your father has what he needs in his tower,"

Icarus pauses his assault seeing the giant man suddenly looking quite small. "Ensure… he has what he needs?" He says remember Daedalus' smile, talking about the endless supply of metal scraps for him to tinker with. "You? You're the one who keeps leaving all of that metal for him?!"

Hephaestus nods. "Yes. I tell them to use Crete as my 'scrapyard'. I wish I could do more."

"But… YOU put him there! That's still NOT alright!"

"I am well aware. I do not blame you for hating me. Hate me forever, I do not care. But my daughter came to me, not because she wished harm on you. But you, Icarus. You were her first human friend she has ever had. And you called her a betrayer. You walked out on her in her hardest time."

"I SAW HER! With Lucifer! The DEVIL! She made Michael a Fallen Angel!"

Hephaestus shakes his head. "And yet, if she truly wished for humanity's destruction… why risk her own life, when doing nothing would suffice? Icarus. Allow me to show you something," He reaches into his satchel, picking out a small disc with a crystal ball in the middle. Small to him, the size of a small table to Icarus and he places it down. "This is the same technology humans use to observe their descendants on Earth," He pokes the tablet with his finger and the crystal ball shoots into the arena from above directly into the hallway where Pandora is walking. Pandora is walking down the hall, suddenly grasping at her heart and needing to lean against the wall.

"Ngh…" She pants as she tries to stand but falls.

"What… is happening?"

Hephaestus closes his eyes. "Pandora's Box is not meant to be used this much. In order to create the keys, and turn them from pure chaos to physical form it drains her life force, slowly but surely. I created Pandora to be 'flawless'. She does not age, she does not get hungry, tired, she is never sick, she cannot even perceive bad smells. However with each use of the box to create weapons she becomes weaker, more fragile… more human, so to speak."

"W-what!? Why would you do that to her!?"

"I would not. That was all we could do on such short notice. 500 years ago she decided to help with Ragnarok. And I modified her body to the best of my abilities in such a short time. But Icarus. My Pandora did it happily. She spends her free time reading about human history. She LOVES humanity,"

Icarus clenches his fist. "You're… lying. You HAVE to be!"

Hephaestus stands and strains himself a little. "It really is all in your hands. I am not your father. But your deal with Ra, Icarus. I do not like it. I cannot force your hand. But I can ask you this…" He steps out of the room and takes one last glance back. "How do you wish to be remembered by those you hold dear?"

Icarus stands back in the room staring at the crystal ball seeing Pandora slumping down inside the Akashic records room and she starts silently sobbing to herself.

"Michael… Icarus… I'm so sorry… I wish… I wish I was better…" She sniffs and Icarus grabs the ball and hurls it at the wall, gritting his teeth.

"I… I don't…" He sits back, looking up at the ceiling. "How do I want to be remembered…?"

Icarus soon finds himself at the giant door leading to Crete and steps through it, taking a deep breath. As he steps onto the island, walking into the town he sees the giant boulder come plowing towards him straight through the main street and he smirks, leaping over it, beginning his sprint after it, just as Sisyphus comes running beside him. "Icarus!? Greetings young man! What brings you back here again!? It's rare for you to visit and now we get TWO visits in just as many days?!" He says as they catch the boulder, which has stopped against the same wall it always does.

Icarus sheepishly puts his hand against the boulder as Sysiphus starts to push it again. "It's… complicated."

Sisyphus smirks as he pushes the boulder up with Icarus. "Well… I have plenty of time to listen, if you wish. But things are rarely as complicated as one thinks. I have spent many many years with nothing but my boulder and my thoughts thinking about all the things I did wrong to get here. Counting up every sin I ever committed as king. But in the end, it was too complex, when the simple answer was right in my face. I was a bad person. Cruel. Unjust. Selfish. And that's why I'm here. Allow old Sisyphus to impart some wisdom on you. You are overcomplicating things, Icarus," He pauses the pushing, reaching over and ruffling Icarus' hair. "Ya stupid kid."

Icarus smiles a little more confidently. "Heh. Thanks Sisyphus," He smacks the giant man's arm away. "But I'm not stupid! You are!" He smacks him on the arm and runs off Sisyphus smirking.

"Ha! I will not deny it!"

Icarus walks through the town, greeting everyone. "Hey Icarus!" "Icaruuuuus! Long time no see!"

"That's a lie! I was here yesterday!"

"Damn… only been a day?" "There's our favorite free bird!" "I think your dad's still in the tower."

"Where else would he be!?" Icarus yells back with a toothy grin. He leaps up into his dad's tower, the bright atmosphere of Crete quickly fades away as he steps into the dimly lit room. Icarus smiles somberly at the frail and small silhouette in the shadows scribbling on the wall. "Hey dad."

Daedalus spins on his heel. "ICARUS!?" He rushes forward to hug him, Icarus smiling and hugging him back. "You're still okay! Why are you here again so soon?! Is it… your turn?"

Icarus shakes his head. "Not to my knowledge… I just… thought maybe we could spend some time together? I have something to tell you… it's about Ragnarok."

Daedalus nods and sits Icarus down gently rubbing his thumb over Icarus' hands. "Of course. I am here to listen. I can't promise my advice will be useful, but I will do my best."

-Heaven's Healing pods-

Yu Huang walks down the hallway, a couple of dragonlings on his shoulders, and one in his hands. A small blue body that widens out around the neck, revealing nine different heads. On his shoulders sit two small drakes, calmly yet proudly huffing smoke. He looks into the various rooms, seeing them all vacant, All except the final one, seeing someone standing outside. It's Noah. He pauses outside the room. "Greetings, Noah," One of the dragonlings jumps onto the human's shoulder and starts crawling around on him.

Noah flinches slightly but quickly gets a hold of it, rubbing its head in just the right spot. "Hey. He's awake and doing fine," The two share a look. "Yeah. He's not fine. But what the hell was I supposed to do? Let him die?" He says placing the dragon back on Yu Huang's shoulder.

Yu Huang sighs and grabs the door. "No. You did what you thought was right. That is your right as a living being. I hope you won't live to regret it," He steps inside the room as Noah grabs the bridge of his nose, rubbing it.

"Gah… got some shit in my eye…" He says wiping away a tear as he walks off.

Yu Huang nods after him as he steps into the room, Michael being hooked up to the healing pod. "Why is it not HEALING ME!?" He says grabbing hold of the nurse there to help him and Yu Huang clears his throat, the three dragons doing the same.

"Michael. Calm yourself."

Michael almost seems to realize what he's doing, letting go of the nurse and lying back on the bedding. "I… am sorry. I'm just… I do not understand."

"Angels rarely understand. It is healing all of your injuries. However, it is cannot heal your mind. And your mind is what is keeping you in this form, Michael," He says flicking his coat as he sits down next to Michael, placing the nine-headed dragon onto Michael's lap. It crawls up his body slowly but surely, Michael almost afraid to touch it.

"Yu Huang. Please help me get out of this. Help me back to normal!" He calls out, the two drakes on Yu Huang's shoulders snarling at him.

Yu Huang frowns a little, placing a hand on Michael's shoulder. "I will try. However there is no 'cure'. This is something you must overcome yourself. All anyone, myself included, can do is be here for you. It pains me to see you like this. The humans must pay for this."

Michael grinds his teeth. "They do. But… I do not wish them harm. What do we… do, Yu Huang?"

Yu Huang stands again and puts a hand on Michael's head giving him a gentle kiss on the forehead. "I'm afraid that this is not something that can be solved without violence. Thus is the nature of Ragnarok. I have left my ego behind, long ago. There are many gods more suited to battle in my place, as I have told Ra many times. However, I cannot forgive them for all they have done now."

"What are you saying…?"

Yu Huang steps towards the door, holding his hands behind his back, looking over his shoulder, the two dragonlings suddenly dropping their postures and raising the scales on their back, spitting fire around the jade emperor. "I am saying that I will not sit idly by and wait for that young kid, to declare it 'my turn'. I have decided that I will be taking my turn… now."