Olympus
Throne Room of the Twelve
Two Days After The Wedding
Zeus sat at the end of a large round marble table, reading a scroll, while a small group of Gods walked in. Leading the group was an older Goddess in white robes with a deep purple long-sleeve shirt underneath, her deep black hair, and a few strands of silver near her brow tied in a long ponytail. Her sharp red pointed straight at the G.F.O.C.
Hera
Queen Of Olympus
Second of the Olympian Twelve
Matriarch of the Greeks
Goddess of Lawful Marriage, Family, and Retribution
Godmother of the Cosmos (G.M.O.C.)
Behind her were Poseidon, Hermes, Hades, and a young Goddess in a white toga under a green vest with her hazelnut-brown hair in a short bob cut, her green eyes slowly taking in the room.
Demeter
Fourth of the Olympian Twelve
Goddess of Agriculture
"Riots, looting, rampaging, murder and the likes…" Zeus muttered as they walked in. "Did not think they would react as quickly as they did."
"Humans are far more susceptible to weapons that corrupt the soul," Hera said in a low alto. "Ever since they departed Eden, they have lost the Divine protection it afforded. But that's not the problem." She sat next to Zeus as the rest of the Gods, save for Hermes, sat on their thrones.
"Quite," Hermes chimed in solemnly. "We are dealing with several unanswered questions and a growing crisis."
"Hermes, give us the rundown."
Hermes bowed, then straightened back up. "First, based on the investigations I conducted alongside the Choirs, I created a sequence of events that likely led to the Sin Cluster's release." He cleared his throat. "Two days prior to the wedding." A vein popped up on Hera's forehead. No one saw it except for Zeus and Hermes. "Prometheus was caught at the venue, claiming he was delivering a gift from you two." A cold aura began to flow from Hera. "He was forced to leave the gift and depart. Gabriel and I investigated the gift and confirmed it was a harmless cornucopia." His brow furrowed. "We failed to realize it was the same one that you two ordered for them."
"How did Prometheus get his hands on it and the Cluster?" Demeter asked. "Last I tracked, the instructions to make it and the remaining clusters were locked away under Hades' castle in Helheim."
Hades leaned forward, his fingers steepled. "We cannot rule out the possibility that he received help. What you said is true. Poseidon and I checked the vault. All the clusters were accounted for. Metatron had the angels do diagnostics on them. He confirmed they all were genuine."
"So where did this one come from?" Hera asked.
"Speaking with the Choir's Special Investigations Unit lead Camael, we determined the only possible way for Prometheus to get another cluster is to make one, and the only person who knew how to make them from scratch is locked up in the Circles."
Hera sighed. "Eris…"
"Yes, Ma'am. However, any contact with someone outside the Circles is regulated. Only the Warden and a few Chief Gods are permitted entrance."
"We are forgetting one other possibility," Zeus added. "There is someone who can access that knowledge without ever even looking at one. Someone who can look at the past in its entirety." All the Gods turned to look at Zeus. Hera's glare intensified while the others looked bewildered or annoyed. Zeus smiled wryly. "Good. We're all on the same page. We need to move quickly, but we must ensure that we establish Epimetheus had nothing to do with this." Hera's gaze softened. "Pandora and Hephaestus are going through enough right now, and the last thing we need is to add more to it."
Hermes nodded. Guess I should make sure Hera's at more meetings. He covered his mouth with his hand, hiding a soft smile. He's only focused like this if she's around.
"Hermes, continue."
"Yes. Somehow, before the wedding, Prometheus swapped the Cluster and the cornucopia. Rather than discard it, he kept the cornucopia and crashed the wedding to make us focus on him. At the time, none of us considered that the switch had happened before the gifts arrived."
"Sounds needlessly complicated." Demeter chimed in.
"Yes, but necessary." Poseidon scowled at Hermes' response. "Sin Clusters, by design, require a primer to open them. The primer's soul then gets devoured by the jar, acting as the fuel source for the released miasma."
"It's why during the Gigantomachy War, we tricked the Giants into opening it. Fewer casualties on our side." Hades said.
"Not how I wanted to end it, but so it goes…" Zeus said, leaning to his right and resting his chin on his right hand.
"Necessary actions," Hera added. "Since the war was spilling outside of our territory. The last thing we needed was looking weak to the other Pantheons, especially Dagda, Ra-Horakhty, and Odin." She looked at Hermes. "Any word on Prometheus' location?"
"None. The choirs continue to search for him, and their best trackers lead the effort, but it seems the trail is cold at the moment."
"Damn it…" Her aura continued to flow out.
"No point in wondering where he is," Poseidon interjected, his bored expression unchanging. "We need to do something about the humans."
"Like what?" Demeter asked.
"Drowning."
"Are…you suggesting a cull?" Demeter asked, incredulous.
"Yes."
Zeus sighed. "I support it," Zeus said. The others turned to him. "Poseidon's right. Leaving them unchecked cannot be tolerated. They're just humans, but if they're allowed to continue, they will cause untold destruction across Midgard, unlike anything before. Midgard, despite being their home, is ours to rule." He stood up. "Hermes, notify the other Chief Gods of our decision, commission every Storm God available to create a cloud cover across all of Midgard, and send orders to Michael and Metatron to recall the Heavenly Choir from the search."
"Why the cover?" Hera asked.
Zeus looked over to Hera. "The rest of the Gods don't deserve to see what's going on below." He looked back at Hermes. "If any have an issue with it, tell me."
"So you can ignore them?"
"So I can ignore them." Hermes smiled.
Zeus looked over to his older brother. "Poseidon, I give you free rein, but wait until I give you the word." Poseidon rose slowly, inhaled deeply, and walked out. "Hermes."
"Sir?"
"Where are Hephaestus and Pandora?"
"Mount Aetna. Pandora is…"
"I don't need to know more. Tell them first what we intend to do. They take priority." A massive, heavy aura flowed out of Zeus' shriveled frame. The remaining Gods felt chills run down their spines. "The Greeks have been made fools of. Our pride sullied." His voice went low and soft. His sunken eyes went wide and filled with fury. "I want him alive."
Hermes bowed and departed, moving quicker than normal.
Mount Aetna
"She's not comin' out of her room…" Hephaestus said as he sat at his work desk. Behind him, Metatron sat in a wooden chair, his eyes shifting from Pandora's bedroom door to Hephaestus' back, then back to the door.
"I cannot blame her…I…did not think Prometheus was capable of such depravity," Metatron said softly. He heard his tablet buzz on the table next to him. I will check it later. He thought. "To think he'd go as far as to try and kill Pandora."
The heat around Hephaestus erupted for a brief moment. His body heaved slowly as the heat slammed into Metatron. "He was tryin' to kill my baby girl?"
"It is the only idea that makes sense to me." The heat enveloped Metatron. He sighed and opened his left palm. A small sphere appeared and released a soft blue glow. The air around him cooled instantly. The sphere then shrank and vanished. "Epimetheus and he were at odds, but he would never kill him."
"Didn't think he cared that much." The vitriol and sarcasm drenched his words.
"It is nothing of the sort. Were it not for their awful luck to be twins, I doubt Prometheus would honestly give two thoughts to his brother."
"The hell does that have to do with anythin'?" Hephaestus reached for one of his small tubs of screws and pulled out a few.
Pandora's door swung open slowly. The two immediately looked towards it as Pandora walked out. Her hair was in disarray. Strands pointing in several directions. Her once-lively red eyes were devoid of light and now rested above bags. She was still wearing her wedding toga. She stopped a few meters from the two, her lifeless gaze shifting between them.
"A lot…" She said. Hephaestus' head cocked to the side. "They're twins. Their powers are tied to each other. If one's dead, the other can't do their past or future-thing. If Prometheus was trying to kill his brother, he'd be giving up the one thing he held over everyone, the son-of-a-bitch…"
"Pandora…" Hephaestus jumped off his stool.
She raised her left hand. "Stop." Hephaestus froze. "I'm getting something from the kitchen." She walked past the two into another room. "And tell Hilde to stop trying to contact me!" She yelled.
Both looked towards the kitchen, then at each other. Metatron slightly nodded and stood up. "I should go. My men are continuing to look for Prometheus, and I need to talk to Hilde." Hephaestus nodded. "We will find him."
"Do me a favor. Don't bring him back alive."
"Do not plan to." The two heard a knock at the workshop's entrance.
"Son-of-a-bitch, who's that? Hephaestus groaned. He opened the door, revealing Hermes. "The fuck you want?"
"Zeus is planning on annihilating Humanity." He said, nonplussed. "He wanted me to make sure you knew before anyone. Also, hello."
"Wait…what?" Metatron whispered.
"Oh, Metatron. Guess the cat's out of the bag…yes." Hermes paused for a moment. "Zeus told Poseidon to be ready to flood Midgard on his command. I'm sorry you're finding out about it like this."
"A-are you serious? Why!?" Metatron shouted. He took a few steps forward.
"The Sin Cluster's effect is spreading through Humanity at an unprecedented rate. It won't be long before it engulfs all of Midgard. If Humanity is allowed to run rampant, there's no telling what they will do. There's also the issue with Prometheus."
"What issue!?" A heavy aura slammed down on Hermes and Hephaestus. Several tools fell off the walls in a loud cacophony. Hephaestus heard plates shatter in the kitchen and Pandora yell. "HERMES, ANSWER ME!" Metatron's voice reverberated. The floor beneath them began to shake. Hephaestus and Hermes fell to the ground.
"Prometheus is still missing!" Hermes yelled. "They wouldn't be rushing this if we had him! If he could find a way to build a Sin Cluster, what else could he do!? What if he can build other Divine Weapons? What if he arms Humanity with them and sends them after the Gods!?"
Metatron paused. The aura vanished immediately. Hephaestus jumped up and ran to the kitchen. "He…built it?"
Hermes rose, breathing heavily. He adjusted his coat and dusted himself off. "The ones in Helheim are all accounted for. Unless we failed to gather them all after the Gigantomachy War, the only possibility we have is that Prometheus made one or had someone make it."
"But Eris is-"
"Yes. She's still in the Circles. We're still trying to figure out what happened-"
"I need to go." Metatron walked briskly through the doorway and past Hermes.
"Metatron. You can't stop this."
He stopped. Metatron stared down at the floor for a brief moment as he started hyperventilating. He furiously shook his head. "I have to try." He walked down the stone staircase, leaving Hermes alone. Hephaestus came into the room, followed by an unharmed Pandora.
"Where's he going?" Hephaestus asked. Hermes looked back at his brother and just shook his head.
Olympus
The top of the mountain came into focus as Metatron flew over the clouds. The air rushed around his body as he soared, and his ears were deafened as he cut through. Damn it, this is not supposed to happen! They're better than this! Why are they panicking!? They are just Humans! What could they do? They have yet to discover or invent any technology that could even tickle the Gods! The clouds over Olympus began to darken. Metatron's clear white wings began to glow brighter and brighter as his heart raced. Are you serious!? Does he even have a consensus? Why!? Damn it, Zeus! He kicked off the air and blasted forward, the sound barrier tearing away as he flew.
On the mountain top, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades looked out over the horizon, seeing the high-speed blur heading their way.
"Metatron?" Zeus asked nonchalantly.
"Seems to be." Hades said. Poseidon continued staring in silence
Zeus rubbed the back of his head with his left hand. "Well, this is going to cause issues." His body began to swell up with muscle. "Give me a moment."
Metatron landed with a heavy crash, sending dust, dirt, and rock everywhere. The wind picked up and blew the dust away as Metatron walked over to the three. "Are you out of your damn mind!?" Metatron yelled. "Prometheus pulls a fast one on you, and you all throw bratty tantrums because your godforsaken egos get bruised!? This is how we do things!?" Poseidon shifted his gaze toward Metatron and squinted. He tightened his grip on the trident as Metatron pointed a finger at him while still eyeing Zeus. "Down." Metatron's voice reverberated. Poseidon's body crashed into the ground, the stone under him cracking. "I do not have time for you!" Metatron walked towards Zeus. Zeus met his stride in kind, and the two stood near eye-to-eye. "You are better than this! You don't need to exterminate them! They are just humans!"
"Prometheus is still free."
"And he scares you that much!?"
"Metatron-" Hades interjected. The pressure crashed down on him.
"I will deal with you in a minute, enabler!" His gaze never shifted from Zeus'. "I will not allow this."
"I know," Zeus said solemnly. "But once you see it, you will understand." Zeus stepped to the side and swiped his hand out behind him. "You probably didn't see or hear since you flew so high." The clouds below the mountain top cleared. "Take a look." Metatron eyed Zeus and squinted. He walked past him towards the cliffside. As he got closer, he began hearing it. The shouting, the screams of terror, and things breaking and falling. His blood ran cold the closer he got to the edge. As he passed Hades and Poseidon, the pressure he exuded waned. The two got up, cautiously watching him. He reached the edge and looked down towards Midgard, his senses firing up to see far down below. He fell to his knees.
"You are an old soul," Hades said as Zeus' muscles shrank. "In times of peace, old souls become relaxed and mild. Especially after they've seen the things you saw all those millions of years ago." He followed the path Metatron treaded over to the cliffside, stopping just behind him. "You value that peace. You feel as if no one would ever dare trample on it in fear of the consequences." He placed his left hand softly on Metatron's right shoulder. "Then someone does, and they do it so blatantly and so callously it's almost petty." He looked over at Metatron's face. His face softened instinctively, and he bit his lip.
Horror. Empty, brutal, heartless horror. Metatron's mind went blank. He could not unsee what he saw. Unhear what he heard. He saw war. One long war after the next. He saw peace. This…he could not fathom it. His heartbeat slowed to a near stop. He saw everything all over Midgard. What Humanity was doing to itself.
"Is…" He whispered.
"Hmmm?" Hades muttered.
"Is this why there is a cloud cover below us? So the other Gods do not see this?"
"Yes. Zeus commissioned the Storm Gods across the cosmos to create this cloud cover. Did you not receive word about this?"
Metatron's memory flashed back to the workshop. Where his tablet still is. "I did not check my tablet." He said softly. "I was talking to Hephaestus when Hermes showed up. It is still back there."
"So that's how you found out." Hades sighed. "I'm sorry, old man."
"Just…just get it over with…"
Hades looked back at his brothers and nodded. Poseidon made a glance at Metatron before walking over to the cliff's edge. Hades saw for a brief moment a small tinge of sadness in his younger brother's eyes. Poseidon looked up at the dark clouds overhead and raised his trident. He twisted it ninety degrees counter-clockwise, then sixty degrees clockwise, then one hundred fifty degrees counter-clockwise. A heavy thud echoed in the air, and something clicked. Poseidon saw the first few drops fall, followed by the deluge, then at last the massive columns of surging rainwater poured down onto Midgard. The water pierced through the cloud cover, but it held firm and continued to obstruct the carnage below. The small patch Metatron looked through closed just as the water crashed down on the surface below.
Mount Aetna
"Dad…are you seeing this?" Pandora asked, looking outside and watching the flood as Hephaestus stood next to her.
"I am…and good riddance."
"Dad!" Pandora shouted.
"What?" He whispered.
"This isn't Humanity's fault! Prometheus did this! Why does Humanity have to die, too!?"
"You're right. It is Prometheus' fault. All of it. Humanity was caught in the crossfire and had to drown with him. It's not the best answer, but it's the one we had to make."
"But that's…"
"Wrong. I know, but choices like this are the only ones we can make at times like this."
Pandora closed her eyes and shook her head. "Fuck…" She walked back towards the cliffside and through the workshop's steel door.
Hephaestus looked out to the horizon and watched the flood continue to fall. "I hope you're happy, bastard. Had to fix another screw up of yours."
Inside the shop, Pandora rushed back into her room, failing to notice the tablet vibrating on the table, Brünhilde's image and name showing on the screen.
Far away, on a large wooden vessel, a blonde-haired young man and his brunette wife sat as the boat shook and turned as the waves crashed against its hull.
"You still okay?" The young man sat on a large pile of hay with his wife.
Deucalion and Pyrrha
(Greek)
"I'm okay. A bit roughed up, but okay." Pyrrha answered
Deucalion looked behind himself. "Are you okay, Dad?"
Leaning on the ship's hull and sitting on top of some hay sat a large shape enshrouded in darkness, but he could still make out the glow of his adoptive father's orange eyes. "Doing fine. Just glad we made it in time!" He said.
"I'm glad you warned us about all this," He continued. "Had you not warned us, we'd be down in the ocean with everyone else! Thank Heavens!"
"Thank the Heavens, indeed!" The being said joyfully. Well, this was not my best work. Epimetheus is sealed away in the jar, that nepotist Pandora is still alive, and worse, my foresight is gone. It's a good thing I planned this out ages ago. Deucalion turned around and continued talking with his wife. The being's gaze lingered on his back. I never thought I'd see the day I'd meet Humans immune to the Sin Cluster. Better keep that little tidbit of info hidden, just in case. Never thought I'd say this, but I'm not sure what to do next. He leaned back and exhaled through his nose. His eyes suddenly flashed open and began darting from side to side. Oh, that…that might work… He got up and walked over to his son. "Hey, I need to talk with you about something."
"What is it, Dad?" He asked.
"I just received a vision from the Heavens. Tell me, have you ever heard of Pandora's box?"
Tartarus
During Round Eight
Far below the Prison's main entrance, Set walked down one of the cell-filled halls. Cells to his left and right were full of emaciated souls, their eyes empty of any life. Set looked at each of them as he passed. This place is still depressing. He pulled out his tablet and tapped on the screen. It lit up and showed a picture of Pandora, Brünhilde, and the other eleven Valkyries bundled together in their wedding togas. He could still see Skalmöld smiling as she pulled on the arm of someone out of shot. He sighed. I missed a lot because of what I did. He thought. His eyes darted from Mist to Thrud, Göndul, and then Randgriz. And I never got to apologize to you four. He tapped on one of the icons near the screen's bottom. A list of calls appeared on-screen, several in red letters from Brünhilde, and the call dates showed millennia. He stopped and stared at the screen before tapping a button on the side and putting it back in his coat pocket. "I wonder what Sieg is up to."
Valhalla Arena
"Leo, the final pieces of equipment are ready." Hrist Alpha said.
"Hmmm," Leo responded. He stared straight ahead.
"Oy, Leo." Hrist One said. He began nodding. His eyes darted left, right, up, down, and to the left, then right again as his nodding formed a steady rhythm.
"He's not listening."
"For the love of- hey, Leo!" She shouted. Leo turned his attention to her, his eyes focused.
"What's up?" He asked.
"You're spacing out on me! We need you here, focused on what's going on!" All three heard Heimdall's commentary through the roof. "We barely got a minute left to set everything up!"
"It's all we need right now." He said calmly.
"You sure about that?" She grabbed a rectangular piece of metal and attached a pointed cone to the end. She clipped it to his right side before walking back to the worktable to Leo's right. She grabbed two golden gauntlets and walked back to Leo. She looked down at his hands and saw them shaking. "Christ, how bad is it?"
"I can still see and hear well. It's just…a bit of a fog upstairs and the occasional bout of nausea." He said, smiling. "I can keep going, though, as long as we can still use the autopilot function."
"Yeah, about that. Scans show your blood pressure has skyrocketed since the match started. Further scans of your brain show you're about a minute or two away from a damn aneurysm! At this rate, you have a better chance than Hephaestus of killing you!"
"Probably."
"Probably?"
"If I die here, then it's just another failure to add to the pile. Someone will take what I did and do it better."
"There's not going to be someone after you if you die!"
Leo walked past her to the same table and reached over to the last piece of equipment he needed. It was a long rifle, silver in color. He pulled out the magazine loaded on the bottom just in front of the trigger. Six shots. It's four more than you had, Hohenheim, and I'll make them work, too. Leo thought. Thank you for yesterday and the days before. I'm not coming yet, so be patient. "Hrist."
Hrist Alpha stood silent for a moment. Her shoulders then slouched, and she sighed. "What?"
Leo looked over the magazine. Light barely shone off its dull frame. "There will always be someone after us. There will always be new mistakes made. We can't be afraid to make them. If we don't make them, the next generation will make them instead and fall behind. We need to make them now so the future won't suffer from them."
"Lord, I get it." She and Hrist One both sighed.
"Of course you do. You're the second oldest. You watch Brünhilde try all day long to be strong and tough. Hurts her to hell and back." Both Hrists went still. "That's why you want to be strong, too." He walked back over to her, sliding the magazine back in. He placed the rifle under his left arm and stuck out his hands. "Gauntlets and helmet, please."
Hrist Alpha glared at Leo but moved quickly. She slid the gauntlets on and locked them into place over his biceps. She reached up into the shoulder pads and pulled out a set of wires from each side. She threaded them down and connected them to the gauntlets. Hrist One slid the helmet over Leo's head and face. She tapped a small switch on the helmet's interior just above the back of Leo's neck. "Vitruvian Full Custom, completed." She said.
"All systems are showing full function." Hrist One added. She looked up at the clock by the stairs. "Thirty seconds."
"Guess we're going. Ready?"
"Hell yeah." Both said. Hrist One
Leo ascended the stairs, the rifle held firmly in both hands with his index finger off the trigger. Tadakatsu, you left your world to us, He thought. But he's fighting because his world may already be broken. Would you have done the same if it happened to you? What if Komatsuhime and your boys suffered the same fate? He felt a slight twinge in his heart. I don't like this. He's not a God right now. He's a grieving father. He reached the top of the stairs just as the partition lowered. He walked out into the arena, taking in the last few moments before the chaos resumed. It feels like I'm fighting you. There's nothing more dangerous than a parent seeking vengeance. Hephaestus' partition started lowering.
A Few Months Prior
Tadakatsu stood over Leo's collapsed and heaving body, the wooden pole in his right hand beginning to crack from the blow that felled his friend. Pain enveloped his whole torso while he tried to catch his breath. "Uh…Leo? I think we should call it good." He said.
"S…sure." Leo rasped out. He sat up and exhaled, feeling the pressure leave his chest and let air back in. "Damn. That wasn't even your full strength!"
"If it were, you'd be dead. Why are we doing this?" Tadakatsu reached his right hand down. Leo reached up and grabbed it, and Tadakatsu lifted him effortlessly.
"I have to study you all…" He said as his breathing returned to normal. "Brünhilde picked us all for some reason or another, and we have to capitalize on those things." He twisted his back left and right, letting out a few popping sounds. "Man, it's weird being young again."
"Tell me about it. I'm just a few years older than my kids here!"
"About that. What's it like? Having kids, I mean?"
Tadakatsu pondered on the question. He snapped his fingers. "Easy." He looked at Leo and then smiled the widest smile he could. Then frowned, scowled, looked like he was about to cry, started to look drowsy, furious beyond reckoning, then horrified. "That's it."
"Huh?"
"What I just did kind of runs the whole thing. They're annoying, tiresome, amazing, infuriating, and loving, and everything they do can fill you with untold pride or shame. Sometimes, anything involving them can fill you with the greatest fear or rage a soul can muster. There were times when, for a moment, I was filled with such raw emotion that I wanted to break the world and everything in it. I could barely contain it."
Leo's sweat-covered body felt a slight chill. "You probably could. What stopped you?"
Tadakatsu looked up at the lightly clouded sky. The sun was just about overhead; it was a late morning much like the day before. "I realized those feelings were not their pain. They're mine. And if I acted on them poorly, I was being selfish." He looked back at Leo and smiled, but his eyes betrayed his sadness. "I could lash out, I could hate…But I would be nothing more than a monster and fail them. I could only do right by them if I stayed strong and helped them become strong. Strong enough that when such things happened, they could weather it without me. They had to. I'd be a bad father if I didn't."
Leo stood there for a moment. He took it in Tadakatsu's words and could not understand why, but he teared up. That's…damn what do you call this?
Valhalla Arena
Love. Leo thought. That's what it was. The partition was gone, now meshed with the floor. Hephaestus walked out covered in sharp red armor from head to toe, adorned with a series of ridges on the helmet, looking eerily like bone. The air around the heads of the Bident and Trident sizzled. Over his plated chest was another silver belt, the Argetlam resting comfortably on his back. It came to life and activated the small gold tube in its hand, summoning a small spear of surging electric energy. The helmet's eyes roared to life with a furious yellow. And this is also love. Love so powerful it turned you into a demon.
"Everyone! Both Fighters are now back on the stage, fully decked out, and ready for more!" Heimdall shouted. "Leo came prepared with some weird-looking armor and a rifle, but Hephaestus…" Dread slammed into his soul as he gazed at the armor. He shook it off as best he could. "Hephaestus counters with an armor of his own, along with every weapon he's brought to the field!" Many on the Gods' side of the arena went silent. All of them stared in horror and awe.
"That…armor…" A three-headed God said.
"It looks like…" A Goddess to his right that looked like an Oni continued.
Mount Aetna
"Zagreus…" Dionysus said, his eyes wide and glued to the monitor. Apollo, Heracles, and Pandora glanced at him. Pandora reached her right hand over to Dionysus' left and gripped it softly. "I'm good…yeah, I'm good…just worried for Hephaestus right now." Don't look away. He thought. I must see this. It's what he'd say.
Valhalla Arena
"Zagreus Panoplía." Hephaestus' voice echoed out. He twirled the Bident and the Trident. "Ichor Hephaistos." The Spearheads began to glow bright orange. Good luck, Leonardo. You sentimental shit. I almost regret bringing this out to kill you, but I can't dawdle.
"This is what you're love turned you into!?" Leo shouted.
Hephaestus flinched. "This is what I have to be!"
Leo raised the rifle and aimed it at Hephaestus. "You're better than this! Your daughter is stronger than this! I know there's no way someone like you would raise such a weak-willed woman!"
"It doesn't matter."
"Yes, it does! You're a good father!" Tadakatsu appeared in his mind again. "What good father wouldn't want to destroy what made their child cry! The fact you feel this way means you tried with all your might to do right by her!"
"And I will keep doing it. Starting with killing you."
Leo gritted his teeth. He bit down so hard he drew blood. "Damn it, Hephaestus! Don't make me do this anymore!"
The klaxon roared to life, and Hephaestus rushed forward. He raised the Bident as Leo pulled the trigger. There was no boom, no gunpowder. Leo knew not to aim for the head, contrary to popular opinion. Arash and Tadakatsu taught him and Hohenheim better. The moment he pulled the trigger, a stream of clear liquid fired out as the rifle's buttstock pushed against Leo's body.
Fuckin' water!? Hephaestus thought. That won't do a damn thing to this armor- Hephaestus felt his right side go light and he nearly fell over. He heard a loud clunk behind him as he lost all sensation in his right arm.
Five shots left. "We are the results of the past failures becoming successes!" Leo shouted as he jumped to the left, landed in a crouch, and aimed the rifle square at Hephaestus' chest. He pulled the trigger again and dragged the rifle to the left. Hephaestus jumped back, barely dodging the stream. He saw the liquid fly past his eyes and strike the arena wall. The liquid cut clean through the metal, leaving a large slash in the pristine walls. Hephaestus looked to his right, and just a meter away, he saw his severed arm lying on the ground, still holding the Bident. "Universal Solvent: Undine's Sorrow Mark Two! Solvent Cutter!" He aimed the rifle at Hephaestus again. Hephaestus stabbed the Trident into the ground and raced to his arm. Leo fired a third shot at the arm, but Hephaestus snatched it up in time for the solvent to cut through the arena floor. He placed the severed parts next to each other as he ran back towards them. Leo squinted, saw dozens of hooks grow out of the armor, and reconnected his arm to his torso. So it can heal itself!? Damn it, it's just like Round One all over again! The arm fidgeted to life, and Hephaestus continued his charge.
Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon looked on as the fight continued. "Well, what do you know?" Zeus said.
"He finally finished it." Hades added. "The God-killing armor. Is this the first time he's using it?"
"I think so. Last I heard, he was trying to figure out how to make Dionysus' adaptive ability work, but it seems he managed to pull it off."
"Why'd he build such a thing in the first place?"
"I'm sure he had his reasons." Zeus hunched over, his eyes focusing on his son. Looks like you were getting ready for war. The question is, was it going to be here, Helheim, or Midgard?
Tartarus
Set stood in a large stone cell, the barred door closed behind him for insurance. Dozens of chains hung overhead, and the place smelled of molding wood and wet dirt. In front of him stood a tall cross, bearing a light-haired young Demigod shackled across his torso and limbs. The only piece of clothing he wore was a loincloth. "Man! Didn't think I'd see you back here so soon!" That being said, joyfully.
Siegfried
The Dragonslayer
(Norse)
"I am sorry," Set answered solemnly. "It has been a rough time as of late."
"No harm, no foul."
"Has Michel Nostradamus been taking care of you as instructed?"
"Better than I expected, honestly. The guy was nutty to destroy the Bifrost, but when it comes to medicine, he's up there!"
"I am glad. I had to convince Zeus and Odin to free him for that very reason."
"You didn't have to. Didn't expect you to since…you know…the human-hating thing."
Set nodded. "I did. Despite my issues with him, he is more useful out of Tartarus than in it. I doubt this place could hold him."
Both chuckled. "You're not wrong. Hilde even considered him for Ragnarök."
"Surely, she is not that reckless."
"Heh, you'd know better than anyone."
Both chuckled again. "Ha…I miss those days. Back when things were simple."
"Me too." Siegfried looked to his left and right. "Is he still trying to talk you out of meeting with me?"
"He is, but I know better. The past few days, I have tuned him out. Set is strong, but planning is not his forte."
Fuck you both. The voice in Set's head whispered.
"On that note, things are slowly coming together. I have found the location of the Dodecahedron and am meeting with an associate who can retrieve it, hopefully."
"Vidarr?"
"Good guess. Despite his time in the Circles, he is still faithful to the cause and ready to take action. The hard part was convincing Yama to let him out and recruit him into Cerberus." He turned around. "Anyways, I have meetings to attend and such. It was nice chatting with you, Sieg. I will be back once my trip down is done."
"Be safe, old man." Set walked towards the door and phased through it. He made a ninety-degree turn and departed, his footsteps fading as he went. "Man, like father, like daughter. Both always pushing themselves too hard." Siegfried heard more footsteps entering the hall. "Huh, wonder who that is?"