"So you're saying that there might be prime companion material waiting back on my earth, just raring to put a lengthy spike of bone up Zeus' backside? Heck yeah, let's rescue some titans!"
Just reminded me of the 'I eat pieces of shit like you for breakfast.' 'You eat pieces of shit for breakfast?' back and forth. Someone that is creative can always find an advantage in someone else's threats.
So... Could Alchemist "stumble" upon the chained titans and bring the ones still alive back with him to the DC'verse? Because that sounds like something that would happen in this story...
Or, if they're just 'too evil' or whatever, some of them are just skeletons at the moment. Sure, they're immortal, but at the moment they're dead, technically. So couldn't they use the skeletons as an item world?
why not a spell to drain zeus of his powers to feed into another greek god in exchange for zeus? give another god the position of king and its responsibility in exchange for them handing over zeus to face justice, i mean technically it should have been possible since there was the recurssion infinite growth exploit at least before it was patched just now
OK in dc there has been times when shinto/ eastern mythologies came up (when slade manipulates the 2 elementals or something). I mean the reason why Greeks are so mainstream is because of 2 superheroes. Wonder woman and Shazam.
They literally bring attention and people believe that the Greek god are real. I also would think media would affect this. Disney movies (or any movie really) mostly goes pretty heavy on the Greek mythos. Mostly cause it' a solid mythos that can be pretty entertaining. Plus they have the most record compared to say the norse.
I mean if I was to say hercules, a minor god, how many people would at least know what I'm talking about. Plus the achilles heel thing. They are the most well known religion.
Other religions couldn't get invlolved (silver City tends to stay away from humans since the whole crusade business). Other simply don't care about them. I mean hades is away of his other self and his 'oversoul', other would be and not many gods would care about one particular reality (Except the Greeks cause zeus need validation)
A problem with developing a Zeus-killing weapon is that even if one doesn't use it, and merely employs it as a threat, it means that one is now known as a person who can develop a Zeus-killing weapon.
Suddenly a lot of people - gods, mortals, supernaturals, entities from beyond space and time - are going to be taking an interest in you. Even if you are a nice guy, and clearly only developed, let alone used, the weapon because someone close to you was unjustly attacked. Because . . . well, they now have this uncomfortable feeling of potential mortality. Or they see all sorts of possible things that they could do with such a weapon.
I can understand why Alchemist wants to keep things under his hat until he has a workable solution, and why he's not shopping around for "enemies of Zeus who'd like to contribute, sign up here".
Because if he can pull this off, while there are a lot of sensible entities who will think "this individual delivered a smackdown to Zeus, we will not be foolish enough to mess with him", there are also a lot of entities out there who are not sensible.
Not to mention the perfectly reasonable strategy of, "Let's not give Zeus any possible intel through security leaks," including the ability to simply listen in to conversations regarding him due to his deific portfolio sense.
Isn't their relationship in game actually better than how its normally depicted? I think I remember Aphrodite complaining about how busy her husband is and wishing the two of them could spend more time together.
I think one of the big proble.s when facing zeus is that I believe he might be drawing power from the imprisoned titains. (Though this was taken by the fanfic 'With This Ring'). It would make sense, as they weaken zeus would get stronger.
I don't think alchemist should kill zeus. You'd pretty much make all the gods your enemy, if nor complete neutral to you. Plus them may just want to get rid of you, I mean there's a reason zeus doesn't kill any traitors or titains. Because then people would think 'What's stopping me from dying to his hand'.
He doesn't plan on it, because Hades would just let him walk out of Tartarus anytime he wanted to.
What he does plan on is entrapping what passes for his soul for eternity, imprisoned in a place he can't escape from, forever.
Best done if nobody knows who did it, or how.
Diana (and possibly Billy) will know about it, but it's best if THAT secret wasn't one he was keeping from Wonder Woman, since She has vays of makink him talk.
He doesn't plan on it, because Hades would just let him walk out of Tartarus anytime he wanted to.
What he does plan on is entrapping what passes for his soul for eternity, imprisoned in a place he can't escape from, forever.
Best done if nobody knows who did it, or how.
Diana (and possibly Billy) will know about it, but it's best if THAT secret wasn't one he was keeping from Wonder Woman, since She has vays of makink him talk.
Ah, when I meant kill I should have spent Ifield faded (more accurate?). I mean actually destroy his avatar in this universe. (Similar to how darkseid was destroyed in the justice league universe before then coming back).
The only way zeus would come back would be some sort of ritual or something. Now that you mention it, I wonder if zeus does get killed if he'll become a thrall to hades. Like ares did once Diana killed him in Wonder woman 2009.
Yeah. As other people are saying the Greeks are by far the strongest pantheon so they can't fight Zues... except technically Darksied and his crew are gods, and so are the new gods... but we don't really want them to come in and deal with Zues... that's just inviting more problems.
Now for some reason I'm picturing Alchemist learning "Summon BiggerFish" and casting it on Zeus, only for Darkseid to promptly open a boom tube and use his Omega Beams on Zeus. Followed by many more boom tubes opening up and discharging an invading army.
A problem with developing a Zeus-killing weapon is that even if one doesn't use it, and merely employs it as a threat, it means that one is now known as a person who can develop a Zeus-killing weapon.
Suddenly a lot of people - gods, mortals, supernaturals, entities from beyond space and time - are going to be taking an interest in you. Even if you are a nice guy, and clearly only developed, let alone used, the weapon because someone close to you was unjustly attacked. Because . . . well, they now have this uncomfortable feeling of potential mortality. Or they see all sorts of possible things that they could do with such a weapon.
Also the ones who know he has a weapon that can harm Zeus, and will think "While facing him in open combat would be foolish, if I'm smart, cleaver, and sneaky I can STEAL that weapon for myself without facing Alchemist in a fight."
Also the classic "take his loved ones hostage and offer to exchange them for the weapon".
Now for some reason I'm picturing Alchemist learning "Summon BiggerFish" and casting it on Zeus, only for Darkseid to promptly open a boom tube and use his Omega Beams on Zeus. Followed by many more boom tubes opening up and discharging an invading army.
Also the ones who know he has a weapon that can harm Zeus, and will think "While facing him in open combat would be foolish, if I'm smart, cleaver, and sneaky I can STEAL that weapon for myself without facing Alchemist in a fight."
Also the classic "take his loved ones hostage and offer to exchange them for the weapon".
See I really don't see the benefit of taking a loved one hostage against an extremely dangerous foe. Like what's going through their head.
OK so you either brought the full ire of your enemies, definitely gonna be killed if not violent maimed and crippled, or you extended your time alive until your enemy eventually kills you.
Because there's no way that you can live if you take hostage of alchemist's friends. Because your knly shield is the hostage and everyone knows it. You might as well of killed the person instead. At least then you could cause some damage (alchemist is likely to 'let the dead rest'). Though others would revive them.
Injustice Joker did it right. He knew there's no way you could keep Lois from the justice league and when he did it, he was gonna die.so he went out with a bang.
Edit: Also why the he'll would you take hostage of a guy that could build zeus (major god) killing weapons. He could kit out some guy (merc or friend) in gear that make the he'll bat look tame and kick your ass and bang your wife while doing it. Or just do it himself.
Also why the he'll would you take hostage of a guy that could build zeus (major god) killing weapons. He could kit out some guy (merc or friend) in gear that make the he'll bat look tame and kick your ass and bang your wife while doing it. Or just do it himself.
Because DC is full of idiots that think they're smart. Also the kinds of people that think everyone else is an idiot. "Oh clearly this do gooder will be too worried about his friend to do anything. My plan is foolproof muahaha"
I really enjoy this but why hasn't he gone foe any easy power ups? He even mentioned one of the best ones, the kyrptonian pill. I'm not sure if it's a limit to his system or what but the character focuses so much on items that I think he's forgotten that in DC the most dangerous beings are just as dangerous from their physical abilities rather than items. I just think he should at this point have stats on Par with wonder woman, if not at least 3/4.
I really enjoy this but why hasn't he gone foe any easy power ups? He even mentioned one of the best ones, the kyrptonian pill. I'm not sure if it's a limit to his system or what but the character focuses so much on items that I think he's forgotten that in DC the most dangerous beings are just as dangerous from their physical abilities rather than items. I just think he should at this point have stats on Par with wonder woman, if not at least 3/4.
Because the easy ups are all in worlds that are hyper dangerous. Injustice is not a good world to visit, and the weaknesses alone from that pill are not worth it.
More to the point, he is looking for upgrades that deal with actual Gods. Yes, Big-G Gods. He is focused on the Anti Monitor, Darkside, Zues, enemies of the Endless, Multiple other threats that hide themselves in DC. DC has multipe GALACTIC level threats, even Universe level threats.
Prometheus looked down from the skyscraper at the city as mortals walked about, and pride grew in his chest watching the species he so adored advanced to a level in which let the average man live like a king.
It had been a few days since the Alchemist defeated Zeus and freed him from his eternal punishment.
The the side of him a projection of Atlas formed, he choose this skyscraper, the daily planet as the symbolism made Atlas's Projection smoother and easier.
"I almost didn't think you'd come brother"
With a soft chuckle atlas sat besides him, feet dangling off the edge.
"It's been far.. far too long and with Zeus's Defeat the supernatural world in is turmoil."
"Are you thinking of another Coup?"
Atlas shrugged
"Not really, holding up the world… it gives me all the time in the world to think, most of us who sized with Krónos did it out of misguided loyalty, fear, or perhaps something else."
"Then what will you do?" Prometheus looked down and saw the Xenos save a kitten from a tree
"We- I… don't really know. The world it's completely different then how we remember it, some want to change it back to when we were the rulers, when mortals shook in fear of our very names. Yet…"
"Yet what?"
"They don't need us, they never did. Even now, should war break out they'd win, pyrrhic their victory might be."
"A God humbled what a day I never expected" Prometheus snarked
"I wouldn't call it humility, you and Hestia were humble, or atleast as humble as a divinity can be. Me? It's trauma and self reflection."
Prometheus leaned over and hugged Atlas
"I know, when I close my eyes… I can still feel that damnable bird eating out my liver, Zeus as much as I hate him isn't our problem anymore. It's time we moved on, learn from our mistakes and advance"
"Like your new domain, technology? Hephaestus won't be pleased when he finds out"
"Heh quite the opposite after all competition breeds innovation and he hasn't had anyone to challenge him bar other pantheons, but that always comes down to inter-pantheon politics."
With a comfortable silence forming atlas laid back and stretched his right arm out to the stars
"I think… it would be best for us to leave, create a new world a new home far from earth and start again."
"So what? One of the planets orbiting the sun? A moon orbiting a planet? Or are you talking further away?"
"I don't know, though I do want to be close to grandma."
"Hey! I'm not some old hag! Don't call me 'Grandma' it makes me sound older than I actually am! I am in the prime of my life!" A third young and childish voice that one wouldn't expect from a THE Mother Earth Goddess spoke in an almost whiny tone.
"uh sorry gran- uh Gaia?"
"It's Terra-Tan to you! Wahhh" Gaia proceeded to flail her arms at Atlas crying at being called old
"Hey Prometheus some help here?" Atlas spoke only to turn and see Prometheus had already left and a note where he was once
'Dear Brother did you forget I am the Supreme Trickster of our pantheon? Think of this as a prank and not me running away from grandma, love your brother Prometheus'
"what does that note say!?" Gaia shrieked out
"The note says Prometheus thinks you're an old woman moments away from her deathbed" with a smirk Atlas lied, and the ringing in his ears was totally worth it.
He had since the day he'd found the babe, cradled in the shallows of the Styx.
His son.
Her... Son.
He'd lost count of the years that he'd struggled with the knowledge that Zagreus was... Not alive, no. His son was very much so a resident of the Netherworld. It's miasma filled his very bones.
But he'd seen the boy grow. He'd seen his child love, he'd seen him hurt.
He'd... Been the one to do much of the hurting.
"Sometimes..." Hades whispered, his deep voice hoarse. "Sometimes I wish he had never returned."
The Temple of Styx remained silent, its patron absent. Trapped, whatever few pieces of her remained, deep in the heart of Tartarus. Beneath his home, buried ever further below the titans
"He reminds me so much of his mother." But the opportunities for him to reflect, to air his thoughts that filled him with such soul-rending guilt were rare. "She would have known how to raise him. How to care for him. I... My father..."
How was he to know how to raise a child? His youth had been spent in violence and pain. He'd warred against his forebears, ripped apart his own flesh to give rise to such monsters that even now remained sealed within the Earth, edict and chain holding fast to spare the mortals from their unending wrath.
When Zagreus, broken hearted after Megaera grew tired of his mewling affections, spurned him? What was Hades to do?
He didn't know how to comfort the boy!
Hades had never known such simple kindness. How was he to offer it to his own child?
"I think you would have liked him, truly." Hades closed his eyes and sighed, the chill of Demeter's grief biting at his exposed flesh. "He takes after her so much. He's so... Positive. Wilful."
He knew what his counterpart had conscripted the strange man-dragon for. He'd claimed otherwise, done his best to seem stern and unyielding... But for all of his shortcomings, all the downfalls that he shared with his siblings, Hades knew Duty. Across the great divide, in worlds far beyond and untouched by mortal hand that facet remained true.
Far behind him, he could hear the sounds of Theseus taunting and doing battle with Zagreus. The boy had progressed far, grown so much more than Hades had expected.
Had ever thought possible.
"It hurts to look upon him." Hades admitted to the still air. The placid waters. "I see so much of her within him. I see her looking back at me from his eye. I know I've disappointed her. I do."
There was a thunderous crash from the distant arena, like as not the beast that Theseus had befriended. Zagreus, Hades could feel, had been reclaimed by the Styx.
There would be no grand battle betwixt father and son. Not today, at least.
"He hates me, you know?" Hades reached behind himself and unlatched his spear, looking upon the craftsmanship. It was not one of the toys forged by the cripple in Olympus. It predated the poor creature. "And I cannot blame him. I tried, so often. Failed so many times to make him powerful. To make him strong. It frustrated me to see him fail. To see him frail. I- We lost him, once, and I wished to never feel such pain, such failure."
Hades sighed once more and turned around, away from the shattered altar to the Goddess of Oaths.
"I never let myself love him." Hades admitted as he began to walk away. "I blamed him, I think. For driving her away. For the crime of sleeping through his birth. In my grief, in my despair..."
He placed one massive hand upon the archway that led back down, away from the sweet air of the world above.
"I truly am no greater than my father."
-----
Medusa actually enjoyed her work. It was difficult, given her situation, but that meant that she focused more of herself into it and didn't have to give any special focus to her situation or the people around her.
She hadn't really gotten over her existence. She didn't dwell on it, tried not to think about it but the fact of the matter was she just couldn't get ahead in life. Or death.
Hah!
Dusa nearly dropped her duster when the serpents making up her hair started chuckling at her internal monologue.
Her situation wasn't that bad. Not really. It was difficult, sure, but it could also be a lot worse. Nyx would assign her with whatever tasks specifically needed tending to and other than that her job was to keep the common areas clean.
"Dusa." A deep, deep voice rumbled from overhead (hah!), startling her so bad she nearly dropped her duster. "You've a new task of utmost importance to accomplish."
Her head rotated around and looked up, deep into a magnificent beard.
"Master Hades!" Dusa cried in shock. "Of course, right away! I'll get right to it!"
She zoomed off down the hall for a solid two seconds before realizing that she didn't know what the task actually was. She slowly turned around and abashedly floated back to the glowering form of the lord of the House.
"Sorry, sir." Dusa mumbled. "What, uh, what do you need me to do?"
"...My niece, Artemis, shall be visiting for however long it takes her to hunt down a mortal soul that offended her." The dark rumblings from deep within the god's chest, Dusa knew Hades was furious about something. She didn't know if it was the presumptuousness of the goddess daring to intrude on his domain or something else, though. "You will prepare a room for her. You may instruct the House Contractor to bill the changes against me."
"Of course, Sir! Right away..." Hades turned away from Dusa, stomping off towards his office with a sheaf of crumpled parchment held in his massive hands. "...sir."
She watched the back of Hades as the man disappeared, running her thin tongue across her fangs. The demand sounded simple enough, it really did, but simple and easy were extremely different things.
If her body wasn't still alive and bleeding on the surface, she would at least be able to give herself a hand!
Chewing on her lip, Dusa quickly ran down a mental checklist of what needed doing and how she could do it. The hall still needed swept, laundry needed tending to, the tables in the mess hall needed a good scrubbing-
And she was supposed to find the time to clean and renovate an entire room?!
"Oh no!" She mumbled frantically as she rushed to accomplish her standard tasks. "Oh no, oh no, oh no!"
Well, she would have rushed to accomplish her standard tasks. More immediately, she was a bit busy rushing down the halls of an unused wing and panicking.
"Which room?!" She asked nobody, ripping open a door using the serpents on her head.
Storage. Unusable.
"Which room?!" She repeated, forcing open another door.
A sitting room with a window that opened out to the master's ruined garden.
Maybe?
She was busy taking stock of what was in the room and what would need to be altered when someone caught sight of her. The visitor that lived inside the strange door next to Hypnos's couch was in the master's garden. Looking at the overgrown and untended Pomegranate trees.
Dusa was nearly jolted out of her panic by the sound of tapping against the glass. Whipping around so hard it left her serpents reeling, she saw the man wave at her briefly before snapping his fingers and appearing right in front of her.
Dusa's first instinct was to fight or flee and she was too busy to flee. One of the serpents atop her scalp lashed out, biting into the man's arm.
"...Ow?" The man had flinched harshly at the assault but he didn't seem too offended. "I... Didn't mean to startle you? Uh, sorry about that."
"No!" Dusa cried, another problem piling up on her plate. "I'm so sorry! I just- And you- I need- I- I- I!"
"How about we take a deep breath?" The man asked calmly as he carefully extracted the venomous fangs from his left arm. A small part of Dusa was appreciative that he wasn't ripping it out, that would hurt so much if she had to regrow another serpent. "You looked like you were struggling. Do you need some help?"
The bodiless gorgon sighed helplessly and then did as instructed, taking a long, deep breath that escaped the bottom of her neck and did nothing to help.
"Alright. I'm guessing you need to clean this room?" The man asked her, waving about the air with his bleeding arm. She nodded glumly, afraid to make things worse if she opened her mouth.
The man snapped his fingers and a chunk of space was cleaned, dust destroyed and surfaces polished.
It looked as good as if she'd done it herself!
He repeated the action, cleaning the room in squares at a rate far faster than she could've done.
"So fast!" Dusa exclaimed, her eyes wide at the casual use of magic before her. She was familiar with some of the mysterious workings but she didn't know there were such spells as that! "This would've taken me hours to do!"
"I do love that spell myself." The man admitted, looking at the cleaned furniture. Rugs lined the floor, shelves covered the walls with ancient, ruined scrolls of parchment and next to the window was an old table with two chairs. "I don't mind doing some cleaning the normal way but Prestidigitation is great when I'm in a hurry."
"...Thank you." Dusa sighed and looked around the room. It would need some more work, absolutely, but it was well situated and offered the only view of nature in Tartarus. Something Artemis would... Probably not even think about, really, but then Dusa never really understood the minds of her distant cousins. "I wouldn't have so much trouble if the rest of me was here..."
It was ugly and twisted, ruined by the 'Blessing' of Athena but it was still hers.
As it was, Dusa didn't have hands to hold things with. A stomach to properly enjoy the foods found in the halls on the opposite end of the estate.
The smells alone felt like they were driving her mad, most days. She could taste things, certainly, but it just made even more of a mess for her to clean up.
And... Zagreus had been giving her gifts, recently. Rare delights that she simply couldn't enjoy.
"...Why is that, anyway?" The sorcerer asked her, looking around the room as she did. "I thought the Styx restored those of divine blood?"
"It does, in a fashion." Dusa sighed wistfully, remembering her murder. Remembering when her head was used to imbue the false Aegis of Athena and she'd finally died. "It's a matter of having to die, first, and my body has not. Someday, maybe, it might finish bleeding out and I'll be whole again... But it hasn't happened yet."
She didn't want to voice her fear that it may never happen at all.
Even in death, she needed to have some kind of Hope.
-----
Jinx actually liked reading from the Nether Scrolls. Sometimes she'd look away for a moment and find the words on the strange, metallic material had changed, shifting to something that seemed to have a bit more nuance and insight than what she could swear she'd just read.
It had weirded her out at first but she'd learned to appreciate the effect. Her spellcasting, when she would do it without any of Alchemist's cheat gear, had gotten a lot more efficient because she actually knew what she was doing. She knew how to twist the spells in just the right way to get the desired effect rather than just firing off the whole thing, now.
Kachink-kachink-kachink-kachink-br-r-r-r-r-r
Jinx looked away from her scroll in frustration, glaring at the constant source of noise that had been going on and on for more than an hour.
"Is your printer ever going to run out of ink?" She asked Alchemist, the former sitting at the dining table and watching as stack after was spat out of his old, failing printer.
"I've been wondering about that for a month." The man admitted, taking a long sip of his cocoa. "It's been complaining about being low on ink since I found the thing."
"...You didn't enchant that thing, did you?" Jinx asked, now watching suspiciously as the printer spat out another sheet.
"I've already checked. No enchantments. No curses." Alchemist picked up the stack and checked the number of sheets it had printed. "It just never stops."
"...You think you might've picked up a perk that's messing with it?" She asked, setting aside her scroll and getting up to look at it herself.
"I must have." He admitted to her. "I just don't remember which one."
"...So why don't you check?" She leaned over his shoulder to look at what he had printed off.
The translated spell-craft for Dark Blade?
"Because that would be the intelligent thing to do." The man admitted, tapping the papers against the table and grabbing a hole-punch. "But I'm afraid that if I check, I'll break it."
"...Seriously?" Jinx sighed, rolling her eyes. Alchemist could be so weird sometimes. "You know that's not how it works, right?"
"You might be surprised." He disagreed, binding the papers together with some twine. "Higher magic can, for the conjuration and transmutation schools, be impacted by quantum super-position shenanigans. If illusion is lying to reality in a way that it believes you, those two schools convince reality that its belief in itself is wrong."
Alchemist set the loose-bound booklet aside and reached for the next set of pages from the printer.
"It's basically gas-lighting reality." And then he took his cool explanation and ruined it.
"You make magic sound so abusive!" Jinx whined, leaning on his shoulder while she watched him work on binding a copy of the Cure spell. "Like, we can use it to heal people or fix things, that's not a bad thing! ...Is it?"
"...Kind of?" Alchemist stopped for a moment to wave his hand back and forth in a so-so gesture. "Things are supposed to happen with a sensible chain of cause and effect. With magic, we interrupt that. Which can, if we take it too far, cause a breakdown in the natural order of things."
"...How far is too far?" Kary asked as she stepped out of the kitchen, several greasy smears on the pink apron that Alchemist usually wore.
"Mass resurrections are usually a bad thing." Alchemist explained as he watched more papers coming from his printer. "Interrupting the natural cycle of life and death can have some big magical consequences. One reality out there, these mortals were being hunted by the restless spirits of the dead so they figured out how to erase those souls. Except it supposedly threatened the balance keeping everything from breaking apart."
Alchemist shrugged as Jinx rest her chin atop his head.
"Except the people saying that were feudal Japanese nobility that had basically turned the afterlife into an egalitarian Hell." Alchemist said while Kary sat down in the seat adjacent to his as he waited for the next spellbook to finish printing. "That bullshit aside, reversing the flow of souls can crack open the doorway for unintended resurrections or partial undeath. So it's best to keep the number of people brought back to life on the low-end, for the sake of safety."
Jinx nodded into Alchemist's hair. That tracked with what she'd understood... Well, sort of. It was definitely in-line with what she'd been reading, at least.
The Nether Scroll she was currently working on talked about more advanced theory. Specifically about why certain spells could be done, sure, but really shouldn't be done.
Necromancy was talked about in-depth because it imbued things with artificial life. And sometimes, even after the spell had ended, those things remembered. Corpses or objects, both could become permanently 'alive' if exposed to enough animating magic.
"Okay. Zombie apocalypse aside." Jinx really wanted to change the subject. That was way too heavy for the moment. "What are you working on?"
"I'm thinking about taking a trip up to the surface." Alchemist explained as he began to bind another book together. Dark Edge, a spell that, if Jinx was reading it correctly, would briefly conjure a sword empowered by Mortal Darkness to quickly slash with before it would fade away. It sounded similar to Alchemist's Lifehunt Scythe spell. "One of the goddesses up there is throwing a temper tantrum and, while I could deal with it myself, I'm thinking I'll drop these off at whatever cities are left before finishing up my own business."
"...You'll upset whatever order they've established if you do that." Kary warned, reaching over to grab at one of the books he'd already bound. "Healing magic not tethered to the gods would already be a terrible upset. What else are you working on?"
"He's printing off spells that can empower normal weapons enough to hurt the gods." Jinx tattled. It did nothing to stop Alchemist's work. "Pretty sure that's a bad idea."
"Pretty sure you're right." The man agreed, even as he organized another series of pages. "But that temper tantrum has been causing an unending winter for decades, longer than Zagreus has been alive, and people are dying off. If what's-her-name won't get her shit together? Some random hero will probably do it for her."
"...Does Hades know you're up to this?" Kary asked, setting down the loose-bound booklet she'd looked over.
"I'm sure he'll figure it out." Alchemist shrugged, jostling Jinx. "Probably around the time his Mother-in-law washes up in the Styx."
-----
Zagreus had a feeling his forays further and further away from home would be rather curtailed in the coming future.
He'd taken the news of a cousin visiting rather well, he thought. It had never happened before so he really had no idea what was expected of him. He'd tried asking Nyx after his father's departure but she seemed rather perplexed by the whole thing, really.
She'd told him he was likely expected to act as her guide, having the most familiarity with the surroundings due to his constant attempts to escape.
It seemed rather like a great waste of time, truly. Whatever offense Alchemist offered in exposing the truth, Zagreus really didn't understand it. If Artemis had no desire to be paired off, forcing the issue really couldn't be healthy. Not for her, not for the relationship she had with her father.
Zagreus would know. He was the expert on dysfunctional relationships with one's father.
Well, he didn't particularly want to be stuck at Artemis's beck and call. Not when he'd yet to accomplish his own goals.
Perhaps rushing back out to Tartaus within a few short days of his last defeat was foolhardy of him. Zagreus saw no reason to argue with such a fact. But he would argue that the sheer joy in chasing his freedom was exhilarating, a magic all its own.
Dancing steel and clashing blades served well to focus his thoughts. Lumbering brutes and fleeing mages provided a clear purpose, tempering his frustration. His Aegis had yet to be repaired and Zagreus wanted something with a bit more reach, opting to take his spear and Alchemist's shield into battle.
The combination served him well. Perhaps a bit too well, really, given the helpless frustration on Megaera's face when Zagreus finally, finally succeeded at beating her by himself...
The sheer feeling of success he felt at besting her, after so many failures... It was sweeter than any nectar or ambrosia that could be found.
Asphodel was more of a struggle, as expected. The various souls and guards placed throughout the realm were not so degraded, so broken and faded as those in Tartarus. They demanded more effort, greater strength to subdue.
A challenge he met, the training offered to him by Diana helping to ensure his strikes and thrusts pierced through to the heart of the matter with the greatest ease. That the blows they landed in turn glanced off the shield strapped to his offhand and did the least damage to him that they could.
It felt good, truly, to be able to blitz through the defenders his father had placed in his way. To cut them down and fight through such grand powers as the remnants of the Hydra as though such forces could do little to stand against him.
He was midway into Elysium when he came across a rather unexpected surprise. The shadowy specter of Flamel, holding a strange weapon equally wreathed in shadows that quietly barked fire and readily felled his foes.
"Well now!" Zagreus greeted the man jovially. "This is quite the sight! Here I'd thought you did little but wait for me in the halls of Tartarus."
"...I've more goals-" The man moved, just a little, and the long rod in his hands belched flamed and Ker-chunked near his hand. The Exalted Souls bearing down on them were felled one by one, Flamel moving not a single step. "-than hounding you alone."
"But how am I to know them?" Zagreus asked, rather pleased that he wasn't on the receiving end of whatever Flamel's wicked weapon was. "You hardly linger long enough to talk."
"Fair." The spirit admitted, slinging his massive weapon around so that it rested upon his back. "Come. We shall speak as we travel."
"Very well." Zagreus readily agreed, falling into step alongside the man. "I must wonder. You speak of goals beyond myself. What is it that you pursue in these hallowed halls?"
"A brief reprieve from this gloombound place." Flamel's flat voice betrayed nothing of his thoughts. Zagreus truly found it rather odd. "I've business upon the surface that demands my attention."
"...Might I ask what you still need to accomplish?" Zagreus hadn't expected such an answer. Alchemist seemed quite content to play at being some mad scholar.
"There is one that lingers upon the cusp of death. They are, however, beyond the reach of Thanatos." The next chamber was filled with ever more Exalted Warriors. Each one tasked with keeping the dead from escaping.
Flamel swung his weapon around and Zagreus watched carefully as he made ready to use it. The strap of the weapon, not quite visible but still rather obvious, was wrapped around the man's left arm such that it crossed his chest. His right hand was near the back of the weapon, situated before the piece that rested against his shoulder whilst his left was much further forward, holding it steady.
There was another brief Ker-chunk noise, drawing the attention of the guardian spirits, before a brief burst of light escaped from the end and something ripped through the shield -and body- of the first fallen warrior to charge upon them.
Zagreus held his spear at the ready but had little to use it upon. The approaching souls barely had time enough to cross half the length of the chamber before the last one was felled.
"Such a monstrous weapon." Zagreus observed, returning his own tools to a more relaxed position. "I notice that it is not one that you've used upon me."
"...The purpose of our conflict, Zagreus, is to see to your education." Flamel did something, drawing out that heavy, mechanical Ker-chunk and a large brass tube was ejected from the side of the contraption. "There is but one lesson to learn on the receiving end of this weapon. Do not be in front of it."
"...I believe I've gathered that, yes." And it was a lesson that he hadn't even needed to learn first-hand. "Following your advice has seen to quite a bit of improvement for me. Is there aught else I should learn?"
The shadows surrounding the spirit stilled for a moment, his head turning to regard Zagreus with a seriousness he had only truly come to expect from his father. It felt judging, measuring his worth. Or perhaps his capabilities.
"A god is at their strongest when they utilize the forces of their domain." Alchemist began to explain as he opened a shadowy vortex before him. "Zeus has stripped his brothers of their godly strength as punishment in the past. For your father, death does not equal defeat. For you, Zagreus, god of blood and life... How have you connected to such facets of the world? How are you empowered by these gifts?"
"I... Do not know." Zagreus admitted slowly, trying to think if he had ever done something that related to such ideas. He was coming up with a startling blank. "I hadn't ever quite thought about it, truthfully."
"I'd thought as much." Flamel's flat tone was not judging, nor did his words carry some form of rebuke within them. "I can offer you this book. Within it, you will find a spell that may open many doors for you."
From the swirling black pit, Flamel did indeed extract a thin booklet. Zagreus accepted it with both hands, Flamel's claws leaving not a scratch upon the surface. He watched as the foreign script upon the surface rearranged itself into simple Greek.
Drain.
"What is this spell to do?" Zagreus asked, flipping open the cover to glance at the contents.
"You are a god of life and blood." Flamel reiterated, forcing Zagreus to look up. The god flinched at the intense, burning yellow orbs that were only just visible for a moment before being covered by shadows. "This spell shall allow you to steal the very life from the blood of your foes. It will knit flesh and mend bone, but only yours. Such a tool... This is not a gift, Zagreus."
Flamel turned away, some note of melancholy creeping into the flat tones of his voice.
"This is a weapon. A burden. A cruelty that I've given to you so that it may be inflicted on others." The mage began to walk away, leaving Zagreus holding the book and staring after his back. "I can but hope, someday, you might forgive me."
The door of the next chamber slammed shut behind Alchemist, leaving Zagreus alone amongst the broken shades of the fading spirits.
Zagreus debated the book for a long moment before shaking his head and sitting down. Hopefully, the spirit was just being dramatic. He opened the book once more and began reading, setting aside the comparison that came to mind of such things like leeches or ticks.
Hopefully...
The god decided he would track down Thanatos and ask his opinion, next time he was in the House of Hades.
-----
Alchemist was of two minds on things as he left Zagreus behind.
One piece was the gamer in him. Irritated and frustrated because, while Drain would be a fantastic spell, it wasn't optimal. If he could just find a way to get a skill card for the ability Life Drain from the Shin Megami Tensei series, that would be significantly more thematic and have the benefit of restoring Zagreus's magic at the same time.
The other...
The other...
Alchemist set a hand against a wall and listed to the side, his left hand pressed against his burning stomach. Eating an Attribute Plus Materia left him poisoned, his gut churning, but it wasn't what bothered him. Not really.
He'd been hamming it up, absolutely, but he hadn't been lying when he told Zagreus that Drain was a burden. All black magic was and that was even deeper beyond, one of the most beloved spells used by mages that was outright called Dark Magic. Those spells would do more than just eat the life of the target. They could strip away their strength, their magic and their minds to empower the user.
Temporarily.
Alchemist specifically did not think about the fact that Lock would likely make it permanent. He didn't need those spells. He'd already seen what would happen if someone were drained down to the minimum of Wisdom. Doing that to every other attribute, all while permanently benefiting off of it...
It would lead to a power spiral, of sorts. Exactly what he'd explained to Player One, a self-reinforcing upgrade pattern. Just, at the direct expense of whoever was targeted.
Alchemist choked down the Mako in his gut and pressed onwards. He did have a goal in mind and stopping to contemplate the things he couldn't trust himself with wasn't on the list.
Feeling sick always made him introspective and not in a good way.
Pressing further on, the opposition really wasn't worth notice. Compared to the echoes of Shinra's Finest that he and Kary had fought in the depths of the DownFall's item world, the opposition just didn't compare. It really was not long at all before he found his way to the end of Elysium.
"Hoh?" A masked man riding a horseless chariot greeted Alchemist at the end, guarding the doorway beyond. "And what is this? A new challenger joins the Arena! Are you not excited, Asterius?!"
Theseus. An idiot that couldn't follow directions.
Clever, though. And worse, lucky.
Alchemist tilted his head to the side, his laconic gaze locking on to the minotaur.
Asterius. Half man, half bull. One of the fun little pranks the gods played on a belligerent human, born to a queen made to lust after farm animals. Sealed away in the Labyrinth after his birth and then slain by another plucky hero after he'd been used to kill off many, many people.
Both were charged with the duty of guarding the gates beyond Elysium. Stopping one from reaching the temple of Styx. The border between life and death.
"A shadow stands before me, barely armed!" Theseus shouted out to the crowd of ghosts, watching the spectacle. "Such courage, such bravery! It's a shame that his journey shall be cut short, isn't it?"
Asterius snorted, steam billowing from his bovine nostrils.
"What say you, specter! Shall you stand and fight, to earn whatever accolades and glory you might deserve as I, Theseus, cut you down?" The hero lowered his arms, revealing the bandoliers of golden bullets crossing his chest. The two miniguns he sported rested on the edge of the chariot facing Alchemist. "Or will you cower and beg, dying like a dog before a king?"
Alchemist tilted his head back to the other side, his eyes sliding over Theseus from Asterius.
"I think..." Alchemist held his hand to the side and called his staff to it, leaving his gun upon his back. "That if you'd spent your time wasting your breath upon your sails, you'd have never needed a bag of divine winds."
"How shameful!" The dead man shouted, his mouth fixed in a bloodthirsty grin. "To know my legend and still be so disrespectful? Clearly you learned much and understood nothing!"
Alchemist inhaled deeply as Theseus lifted his guns. He cast Lifehunt Scythe, the spectral weapon taking form overtop the Chatoyant Staff.
Asterius leaned down to charge and Alchemist began his own assault. The mage disappeared as illusionary fog filled the arena, blocking everything from sight-
From most sight.
"What cowardly arts are these?!" Theseus shouted, his guns firing wildly around him. Asterius grunted in pain when one bullet was flattened against his arm. "Such trickery is unbecoming of one that would fight a king! Come out and face me like a man!"
"No." Alchemist's voice said from deep within the fog. Asterius turned around to face the direction it came from before he squealed in pain and fury as Theseus unloaded his guns into Asterius's back. "A man-child that settled for the bull when his beloved wife wouldn't join him? What do I care if you call yourself a king?"
Alchemist's steps were silent as he approached from behind the chariot, Soulsucker grasping hungrily in his hand.
"After all-" His hand struck out, grabbing Theseus by the back of his neck. "-killing a king means so little when you've already slain a god."
He slammed forward, throwing the weakened man into the furious, raging Asterius.
Alchemist stepped to the side as the two brawled, keeping the both of them in sight as blood flowed.
"That- Whoreson!" Theseus shouted, pulling away from Asterius with a blackened eye and bruised ribs. "Such base treachery! You will be punished for these actions!"
"You think yourself man enough to judge me?" Alchemist's voice asked from a spot five meters to his left. "Please. You'll never find me here. You couldn't find your way out of a room with one door, either. Not without some golden thread to lead you out."
"I will not be mocked!" Theseus shouted, struggling to hold both guns steady as he fired in the direction Alchemist voice seemed to come from.
"You will. Relentlessly." Alchemist disagreed, his voice now coming from the opposite end of the arena. "You know, I do wonder something. Ariadne, your former queen? The one that helped you kill her brother? Was she really, truly human...?"
Alchemist lifted a stone and threw it, hitting Asterius in the side of his head before he teleported back to the entrance.
"Or did she have a pair of udders?" Ghostly voices continued to taunt, working Asterius into a proper frenzy. "Did she moo? Oh, you probably never found out. I'm sure that, like her mother, she had certain preferences that you just... Didn't measure up to."
"How dare you!" Theseus shouted, finally relenting and dropping one of the miniguns that he was too weak to properly hold. "Is there no low that you will not sink to?!"
"For you? I'm sure we'll find out." Alchemist watched as Asterius lifted his head and sniffed at the air, trying to find him through the blinding fog.
With a snap of his fingers, right next to Theseus's ear, the mage cast Prestidigitation. Altering Theseus's scent into the wizard's own.
As the king turned wildly and Alchemist continued to walk around the duo, he simply picked up another piece of rubble and threw it at Asterius. This time, the masonry hit the beast in the groin.
With a furious bleat, Asterius lowered his head and charged towards the strongest scent he was unfamiliar with.
"Asterius?!" Theseus shouted, hearing the thundering hooves closing in on him. "No, wai-"
The king released a bloodcurdling cry of agony as Asterius's horns punched through his bullet-covered chest and through. The beast roared, fury and satisfaction alike in his voice as he raised himself up with Theseus gored upon his horns.
Alchemist took the opportunity to grab one of Theseus's guns before he canceled the Twilight Haze he'd cast through Wish.
"Aster-ius." Theseus gurgled, blood pouring from his wounds. Leaking from his lips.
"Theseus?!" Asterius finally articulated, his brown eyes wide in horror at seeing his friend and comrade in such a state.
"Flamel." Alchemist said from his spot near the exit, minigun in hand as he aimed at the explosive canisters strapped to Theseus's chest. The divine weapon roared in fury as the barrels rotated and it fired with accuracy and ease that Theseus himself had never been able to muster.
The explosion from the makeshift grenades, directly overtop Theseus's bandoliers, was more than enough to activate whatever fuel the bullets used.
Chaos reigned as divine lead and brass exploded in a cloud of fury and pain.
Alchemist dropped the gaudy, ugly weapon and turned around. Leaving the corpses of Theseus and Asterius to be claimed by the Styx.
-----
Alchemist found the Temple of Styx to be a quiet, solemn place. The spirits that he knew should have been in the way were absent. The guardians missing.
It was... Nice. The silence allowed Alchemist's headache to subside.
It was a bit of an issue, too, since it gave him time to think.
Quest to quest to quest- He felt like he didn't have the time to live. The results were more tangible than a nine to five job but the drudgery really just felt the same. Go there, do that, follow these orders...
Alchemist ran his tongue across his bottom teeth and shook his head.
He needed to take some time for himself. He needed to do something that didn't involve powers, gods, magic or heroes.
No quests. He wasn't even sure if he should take Jinx or Kary wherever he ended up going. Whatever he ended up doing.
Probably. They probably needed something more mundane, too.
Walking through ever more empty halls, Alchemist shook his head and tried to think of something else. His drifting mind and drifting eyes eventually found their way down to the psypher in his right gauntlet.
A valuable tool. A valuable weapon, really. Cycling magic through it would forcibly corporealize a wandering spirit. Something which had proven incredibly useful.
Once.
Its interactions with the demon shards of Bloodstained readily mimicked how Miriam did so... Which was, in a lot of ways, incredibly limited.
Alchemist stopped before a ruined mural, the depiction of a man in a toga holding a jug in one hand while stabbing some great giant with a knife in his other. From the wound, several arms were extended.
Cronus killing Uranus? Or the moment history repeated and Zeus killed Cronus?
Athena was meant to be the one doing the same to Zeus... But, really, there was nothing that said Zeus didn't have another child born of his union with Metis swimming around in his guts.
Alchemist held up his phone and worked through several filters for a moment before snapping a picture and dropping the item into his inventory. He planned to email that to a few universities when he got back home.
He pursed his lips in thought as he looked at the ludicrous list of items. That needed paring down but he didn't feel that he could trust extract clones with such a tedious task. He didn't want to do it which meant they didn't want to do it.
He didn't like it but he couldn't really blame them.
He was also going to have to see about the Library of Alexandria when he got to the surface. There had to be a method of duplicating documents instead of just stealing them...
On the other hand, the library was supposed to burn down. History wouldn't know the difference, would it?
Alchemist paused, hovering over a Standstill shard. Arguably the most useful ability in terms of combat utility. Retrieved from the vampire, Orlok Dracule. O.D.
O.D.
D.O.
Stand.
Alchemist chuckled quietly just thinking about it. That was a fantastic reference. If he wore a hat, he'd be tipping it to Iga.
He'd retrieved the shards from the duplicate Stopwatches that had been made. They...
Well, they didn't really serve much purpose. He'd pestered Kary until she ate one but she didn't seem to have much use for the ability to stop time.
Alchemist... Extracted the shard and then closed the inventory, checking his list of skills instead.
Devour was a skill that had been included part and parcel with the summon, Eden. Something that he'd not yet been able to call upon at all because the damned thing was the size of a skyscraper.
Normally, Devour worked by allowing the user to consume monsters. The results varied by species but it was one of several methods that could be used to improve one's attributes in Final Fantasy Eight.
It made a reappearance in Nine as a way to give the most useless character access to Blue Magic.
Alchemist held the shard up, roughly the length of a finger and it tapered, forming a sharp diamond shape, and held it against his lips.
"This... Is a really bad idea." Alchemist said aloud, his voice echoing distantly. "I can't believe I'm even thinking of this, but..."
Alchemist activated Devour and his body moved of its own accord, slipping the blue crystal past his teeth before they chomped down-
The crystal shattered.
"Shit!" Alchemist tried to say, crystalline splinters filling his mouth. Stabbing into his gums, piercing his tongue. It came out rather muffled.
"Thit! Gawd!" Blood poured from countless tiny lacerations, Alchemist's mouth burned with the unholy magics untethered from their crystalline prison. Devour continued against his will, however, and the foul mixture of blood and magic slowly trickled down his throat.
~~ You have obtained: ~~
~~ Spell: Standstill ~~
~~ Level 1 ~~
~~ Cost: 120 MP/Second ~~
~~ Effect: Stop time around the user. The spell ends either at will or when MP is too low to continue. Higher levels can even stop those immune to standard time magics. ~~
"I don't care!" Alchemist shouted, his wounds healing. "I'm not doing that again! Jesus Christ, what the hell was I thinking?!"
That was the stupidest thing he'd done today! If it had worked without the absurd pain or bleeding, he'd considered doing the same thing with Tis Rozain or Void Ray but he was not torturing himself like that again just so he could have free access to magical beams!
He'd just throw a box of the damned shards in the ward room, where the Dark Elemental was powering the obscuring spells hiding his Demi-Plane from prying eyes.
His mood thoroughly soured, Alchemist pushed on.
It did not take him long to reach the guardian of the temple.
"Who'sh a good boy!" Which was Cerberus. All three heads perked up, their ears going straight at seeing Alchemist nearby. The great dog stood up, making ready to charge but was thoroughly confused when Alchemist ran at him instead. "Cerberus is a good boy, yes they are!"
And pulled the giant dog's head down to rub his ears.
The guard dog, obviously put in place for the sake of keeping Zagreus from the exit, did not seem to know what to make of things.
His wagging tail, however, suggested that confusion was not enough to stop Cerberus from enjoying the attention.
"Yeah, who's a great big guard dog!" Alchemist asked, pushing at the dog's shoulder as he continued petting the great beast. "Who wants some treats!"
All three heads barked, its lone tail wagging furiously. Alchemist wasted no time in extracting a trio of dog treats from the inventory, tossing one to each head. He waited until the hound had nearly finished before extracting a fourth treat.
"Alright, Cerberus!" Alchemist waved the treat overhead. "Go get it!"
And threw it down the hall. Cerberus stood up, tail wagging and all three heads barking as it abandoned its post to chase the treat.
Alchemist walked through the door, wholly unopposed.
He loved dogs. He really did.
"You've come sooner than expected, Zagreus." Hades's deep voice rumbled from the snowy grounds that Alchemist found beyond the guarded doorway. "Your recent growth is beyond anything I'd thought possible."
Alchemist looked behind himself but he did not see Zagreus.
Keeping silent, he began to slowly walk around Hades instead.
"You seek your freedom." Hades continued, still facing away from the door. "I understand. I've been... Too harsh on you, these years you've spent under my roof. I did not wish to put you through the heartache and pain that the surface will give you. I did not think..."
The god finally turned around and found Alchemist, nearly at the exit instead of his son.
"...You are not Zagreus." Hades dumbly stated, his hard red eyes wide in confusion. "It should not be- You cannot be here!"
"...Yeah, sorry about that." Alchemist dispelled his illusionary disguise and walked towards the god, specifically not raising his weapon. "I passed him in Elysium."
Hades glowered down at him, literally growling for a moment before huffing and seeming to deflate. The god said nothing as Alchemist stopped next to him, looking out over the snowfields Hades had been watching just moments before.
"...He will get here." Alchemist spoke up, quietly, as Hades turned around to look back out over the barren fields beyond the Temple. "It's just a matter of time."
"...I know." Hades sighed. "I worry for the day, when it comes. Zagreus is of Hades. The surface will not be kind to him."
For a long moment the two stood in silence. The gentle breeze that caressed the both of them carried the chill of endless winter.
"...Why do you pursue power, mage?" Hades eventually asked. "For what purpose are you aiming towards?"
"...Freedom. Security." Alchemist answered slowly, his mind drifting to the various tools he'd built, the spells he'd hunted after. "I've had one immortal mage attempt to recruit me. They did so by harming the innocent. We fought and I abandoned them on a dying world, courtesy of the gift Gaia has burdened me with. However much a monster they were, they were among the least of my fears."
Alchemist inhaled, the bitter chill seeping into his bones as Hades grunted at him to continue.
"There are gods playing upon my world. Preying upon my world. Born from under a different sky, they respect nothing but strength. They have no honor, no integrity. One, a wicked woman, her dominion is the harm of children." Alchemist's fists clenched, his nails digging into his palms. "Another is a god of lies. Misconceptions and half truths. His purpose is to fracture my world, to turn brother against brother, father against son. They're just the start, the scouts for their lord. The god of tyranny."
Alchemist's eyes gazed into the distance. He could almost imagine a speck of green, hidden far away. A shining jewel against the stark winter, tended to by a hard but devoted woman whose heart had been shattered with grief.
"...I don't know what I'll do when the battles start. When they tire of playing their games. Hopefully it's in some distant future, hopefully..." But Alchemist wouldn't let it get that far, not if he could help it. Hiding away from a problem, leaving it for the children of tomorrow...
There wasn't enough fear in Alchemist's heart to turn him into such a coward. His blood boiled at the idea of it.
"I can't defend anything if I don't have the strength to stand for myself." ...He was going to have to try and figure out how to use Devour properly. If not in the guise of a human, then he would try it again as a dragon. There were at least two more shards he specifically wanted to ensure were tethered to him and not his gauntlet.
"...It makes my own problems seem so very small." Hades rumbled quietly. "Will your gods not aid you in your plight?"
"Some will." Alchemist nodded. "Some won't. Some are already prepared to join the other side. It makes for a grand and bloody war. There are some that are eager for such an event, regardless of what comes afterwards."
Ares... Alchemist didn't know if the Ares of his world was preparing to aid the darkness hungering after Earth. Some aspects of him had. Some had not.
Alchemist wouldn't be surprised to discover that the man planned to join them just to spite him should the wizard's plans against Zeus bear fruit.
"This... Will demand much consideration." Hades sighed and turned around, making to leave. "You plan to visit the surface for some purpose, yes?"
"I do." Alchemist admitted. "There are some things that have been left to linger which shouldn't have. I'll take care of them and try to hurry back."
"You are not among my dead. I cannot truly keep you." Hades shook his head, his great beard flowing with the action. "But if you would, could you gather a jar of honey for me? Per- My wi-... Honey cakes were a beloved food to someone important to me. The flavor, she used to say, was better than any ambrosia..."
Hades turned back around, his red eyes growing soft as he remembered something.
"...I miss them."
"...Yeah." Alchemist quietly agreed. He knew who the god was referring to. He knew that he probably wasn't talking about the cakes. "I'll make it my first stop."
---Alternate Ending!---
"You've come sooner than expected, Zagreus." Hades's deep voice rumbled from the snowy grounds that Alchemist found beyond the guarded doorway. "Your recent growth is beyond anything I'd thought possible."
Alchemist looked behind himself but he did not see Zagreus.
Keeping silent, he began to slowly walk around Hades instead.
"You seek your freedom." Hades continued, still facing away from the door. "I understand. I've been... Too harsh on you, these years you've spent under my roof. I did not wish to put you through the heartache and pain that the surface will give you. I did not think..."
The god finally turned around and found Alchemist, nearly at the exit instead of his son.
"...You are not Zagreus." Hades dumbly stated, his hard red eyes wide in confusion. "It should not be- You cannot be here!"
"...Alright." Flamel responded, turning towards the exit. "I'll simply take my leave, then."
"No!" Hades roared, confusion quickly giving way to anger. "None may escape from my realm!"
"I see." Alchemist stated through Ghost Sound, the voice lacking inflection. As he did so, Hades drew his bident and readied it. "Then I will just- Zagreus, now!"
Hades turned around, towards the entrance from the temple and readied his spear.
Alchemist...
Activated Accelerator and made a mad dash for the exit.
He'd had his fill of fighting for the day.
-----
Hades glared at the empty door, the gateway through which he had expected his son to journey through.
Instead the portal remained empty.
Turning back around, he could only just barely make out a blue speck fading in the distance. Whatever shadowy specter had been haunting the halls making its escape with a measure of speed and alacrity that even Hermes would appreciate.
Resting the butt of his spear in the trampled snow, Hades growled low and deep in his throat before raising a hand and rubbing at his nose, just in between his eyes.
"Zeus..." Hades could feel a migraine coming on. "Zeus must never learn of this."
"Or did she have a pair of udders?" Ghostly voices continued to taunt, working Asterius into a proper frenzy. "Did she moo? Oh, you probably never found out. I'm sure that, like her mother, she had certain preferences that you just... Didn't measure up to."
Hades glared at the empty door, the gateway through which he had expected his son to journey through.
Instead the portal remained empty.
Turning back around, he could only just barely make out a blue speck fading in the distance. Whatever shadowy specter had been haunting the halls making its escape with a measure of speed and alacrity that even Hermes would appreciate.
Resting the butt of his spear in the trampled snow, Hades growled low and deep in his throat before raising a hand and rubbing at his nose, just in between his eyes.
"Zeus..." Hades could feel a migraine coming on. "Zeus must never learn of this."
