Chapter Two 

Where Am I

 

 

Ash awoke in a hot sweat, gripping his heart in anguish and fatigue. Feeling up where the wound should be, it healed completely leaving a hole in his clothing. Looking around to set his eyes on a familiar place, The Underworld, not realizing he was sitting on the throne of his father Hades. Rubbing his eyes in stress the giant doors slowly slide open, Ash notices the pain in his eyes has vanished. 

Ash shouts: "Who's there!"

A woman dressed in green: "Who sits upon Hades' throne."

Her voice was commanding but smooth, Ash recognized her right off the bat.

Ash: "Well if it isn't Persephone, how was your trip to the overworld."

Persephone: "What are you doing here God Killer."

Ash: "I do not know, I have no memory of anything, besides killing Hades. But, there is something a little hazy that I can't put my finger on it."

Persephone: "I would love to stay and chat and all but you see, the underworld is in disarray."

Ash: "I am not here to apologize for what that monster did. I am glad he is still dead."

Persephone: "Whatever, just don't make a mess of the place, I have some ordering to do."

Walking to the left to a room that has a fireplace the size of doors. Ash is left with nothing, his memories seem to be wiped all the way til meeting Astrid. Ash walked the halls to the right coming upon the room where the torture was done. Unlatching the locks of the door and lifting the wooden log, a stench looms in the room that no amount of cleaning or magic could remove. Ash gagged, holding his shirt over his nose he powers through the stink. Four operating tables lined up, clean but stained with the blood of his brothers and sister. Puts both hands on the table and hangs his head thinking to himself. A wave of sudden anger emerges from within him, his hands glow red as does the metal table underneath his hands. The operating table melts under his hand, dripping to the foul floor holding more disease than modern medicine can cure. Tossing the table at the wall, he marched out of the room. 

Getting a breather before trashing the place, the pissed demigod makes his way outside. The second time he pushes open those doors, a group of demigods sits in a circle around a fire pit. One of them is that kid Ash met when he defeated Hades. They were playing a card game as the kid roasted a marshmallow over the fire dangling his legs off the boulder he was sitting on. The kid has short shaggy blond hair that is just long enough to cover his eyes. Their armor was put together from scrap and dead carcasses, the only piece that stood out was the kid's glaive, the blade contained pieces of unrefined demonite which gave it a cracked look of light blue and white. He looked up to swing his hair out of the way, spotting Ash on the top of the steps he throws his marshmallow and grabs his Glaive. He trips over his own feet as he rushes to stop Ash. Regaining his footing after almost eating dirt, the boy points his Glaive at Ash.

Boy: "Halt! Wait a minute, aren't you Ash."

Ash: "Why do you ask."

Boy: "Well I was asking because I can."

Ash: "Don't you attitude."

Boy: "I am not the one at the steps of the mansion of the underworld."

Ash: "Yes I am Ash."

Boy: "Good, So did you come back to take the throne."

Ash: "Ha! Like I would take my father's punishment!"

The other demigods walked back to the fire pit to resume their card game, the boy took his blade away from Ash's face.

Boy: "If you are not here to take the throne, then why are you here?"

Ash: "..."

Ash: "I don't know why I am here?"

Boy: "Where is that small fry that was with you."

Ash: "?"

Ash: "First of all, you can't call anyone small fry when you are the same height as a six-year-old. Second, I don't remember traveling with anyone."

Boy: "Yeah, she was I guess a teen with pigtails and two daggers shaped like fangs on her behind."

The image clicked in his head, his left eye flickered to life. The yellow took the brown in his eye, eating away the color and replacing it with beautiful yellow and dancing runes moving in a circle. The pain singed into his eye, grabbing at his eye, ripping the tattered blindfold off, and scratching at his eye to relieve the pain. Ash laid his back against the doors, the kid rushed to his aid.

Boy: "What do I do!"

Ash hyperventilating: "It hurts! Please make it stop! I can't, HANDLE IT!"

Ash trips sliding his back, down the doors as he holds his eye. Spotting the blindfold with his other eye, reaching for it desperately and failing. The boy grabs it quickly after realizing that was what he was after, the boy ties the blindfold around Ash's head giving him quick relief while slouching into a relaxed state. His breaths were strong and long, tilting his head back letting it rest on the doors at that moment the memories of Isabel come into mind. 

Letting a small smile sneak in from his discomfort look, his left eye kept a fire burning the way an itch you can never satisfy feels. Rubbing the left eye to soothe the sensation only to make it burn more in irritation. Ash slowly taps his head against the door in frustration.

Boy: "What was that."

Ash expiration: "A gift from my father."

Boy letting an almost cheerful tune: "No wonder why you killed him."

Ash: "That I did, and almost regret not savoring it."

Boy: "Wow, that's messed up."

Ash: "If you think that's messed up then you have no clue how twisted the gods can be."

Ash regains his foot, seemingly concealing his pain as if it never happened. Taking a look at the hellish landscape, feeling the hot air burn his lungs while he breathes it in. A cold feeling runs down his back almost instinctively shivers. He couldn't get a grip on the feeling before it disappeared.

Ash: "Hey boy."

Boy: "It is Chris, not boy."

Ash: "Hey boy."

Chris rolls his eyes: "What."

Ash: "Was I accompanied by anyone else?"

Chris skips down the steps giving him an answer before returning to the others: "No!"

 

 

#

 

 

 

Deep voice: "Have you located his body."

A spirit of the dark kneels before the deep voice hiding in the shadows of the room tapping a metallic tap in a rhythm. The spirit is only gas as its body sways around in one place being held together by its soul. 

A soft voice: "It seems Ash's body is being guarded at the Thunderous kingdom by the queen herself and his friends."

A deep grunt comes from the voice seconds after readjusting its body to a more comfortable position. The movement made metallic scraping against a chair made out of some metal material, the sounds got a reaction out of the gas. It jolted around a little before coming back to its original position. 

Deep metallic voice: "Send my phantom to retrieve his body."

The spirit bows its smoke-shaped head just as it glides away, seeping through the door. The silence felt eerie to the metallic being, it began to lift itself off the chair making an awful sound of popping and locking. In the darkness, two red beams of light burned through the night, emitting a small portion of light, a small glips of a bone jaw relining itself back into place.

The voice sounded sore but kept the pitch of a deep rumble as it spoke: "It seems master is in a pickle again, I just hope I don't have to kill his allies."

 

 

#

 

 

 

The crew settles in the kingdom holding the fort at the time Astrid works herself to the bone looking for a spell to undo level six-tier magic. She has kept herself cooped up in her room searching her collection of books about spells, even risking reading the tomes of forbidden books that hold many taboo spells. Days upon days of searching only came up empty, infuriating her to no end. Everyone besides her and Sophia had fun staying in a kingdom that didn't want their head. Relaxing never was King's strong suit, staying in a single place drove him crazy to the point he woke up Isabel in the middle of the night to spar. 

And so King and the half-awake Isabel make their way to the training facility for the soldiers, they had access to everything which they used frequently to get all they could hope for. Upon sneaking into the facility/coliseum, Sophia has beaten them to it. Striking mercilessly at a training dummy until she had to replace it with another one. 

Isabel waves her over: "Hey Sophia!"

She looks over her shoulder, spotting the energetic duo hoping their way to her, their expressions hold a cheerful ignorance of Sophia's feelings. She took a breath to gain the right mind to control her emotions.

Sophia wearing a smile: "Hey you two, what are you guys doing out so late."

King stretches: "What do you think we are doing?! We are going to fight!!"

His energy only empowered Isabel just as she pats Sophia a little too hard on the back.

Isabel smacked Sophia's back: "So what is it going to be, are you going to spar with us?"

Her undershirt showed spots of sweat, clearly tired of taking it all out on the dummy. Her mind was failing her, she couldn't keep a happy facade for too long.

Sophia: "No I'll pass, maybe next time though."

Isabel: "Well okay, uhh maybe tomorrow!"

Sophia didn't answer just leaving the coliseum in silence; the big city was bustling through the night. People of all cultures come to the city trying to make a living, the sound of laughter and smell of street vendors selling their delicious food from around the world felt a little empty to Sophia. A part of her was missing, she could enjoy it to the fullest. Someone caught her eye, Ash's crazy ex, and her baby. She cradled her around while picking a pastry from a charming old lady. 

Sophia: "Hey Sam, how's the baby."

Sam had her mouth full: "Oh fffine, *Swallows* she does get a little cranky sitting in the castle though."

The baby gurgled holding onto Sophia's finger, she wore a little eyepatch with a thousand runes etched into it, mostly pain reduction runes and power inhibitors. 

Sophia: "So how are you and Astrid getting along."

Sam walks to the next vendor: "Do you need to ask, do you think I will honestly share him with anyone? The only reason she is still breathing is she might have the answers on how to bring back Ash."

Sophia changes topics in a flash: "So does she have a name yet?"

Sam snatches a meat kabob from the vendor, paying the middle-aged man two silver coins as she continues her way through the wide selection of food.

Sam: "I figured when Ash comes back we can come up with a name together."

Sophia: "How about a name to the caller by for now."

Sam spends a second thinking: "Well my mind is blank."

Sophia: "Well she is a princess, look at her, she looks like she is going to rule the grandest kingdom someday."

Sam with a clenched fist in the air: "She will rule with an iron fist!"

Sophia: "Right, I think Sadie."

Sam's eyes lit up: "It's perfect!"

Sophia stays to chat for a few more minutes before saying goodbye and moving on to the castle. Walking up the six million steps, her mind was swirling with bad thoughts during which her legs felt sore from kicking the poor dummy. 

To herself: "So tired."

The guards at the door greeted her: "Had a nice evening mam?"

Sophia: "More like an exhausting day, how about you two."

The guard on the left opened the door while the one on the right spoke: "A normal uneventful day."

Sophia: "The things I go through, you should be glad it's uneventful."

Guard on the left: "Mam, the Queen asked if you can join her in the studied hall."

Sophia: "Okay I will."

The two nodded as Sophia sluggishly made her way inside, dragging her feet through the elegant halls. The pearly white pillars looked more for show than actual stability, nevertheless, they lined the grand hall all the way to the garden on the other end of the room. Taking the third door on the right side of the long hallway revealed a massive library filled with rows upon rows of bookcases lettered a to z. Each bookshelf stood high, towering even Rich if he was there. 

In the middle of all this knowledge is Astrid flipping through pages of a tome, beside her stood eight other books stacked on top of each other. Her pointy ears were much lower than her normal state the second after slamming the book shut, sliding it off the table forcefully. Moving on to the next book she fails to notice Sophia approaching her, Sophia reads the name of some of the books, all have a common word in them; 'resurrection'.

Sophia takes a good long look at Astrid, her eyes held bags under, but her eyes, narrowed down at the pages like she was furious.

Sophia was disheartened by Astrid's facial expressions: "Heeeeeyy Astrid."

Astrid waved her hand, answering her quickly: "Hey Sophia."

Sophia flips through a few pages of the book she tossed: "So the guards told me you wanted to talk? *raising her eyebrow* Do you know some of these say you need a human sacrifice."

Astrid slams her hands on the table: "Damnit! Not a single book has what I am looking for!"

The tired elf sits on a chair leaning back on it, her posture exhibiting fatigue being as how she stayed up countless nights and days without rest. Astrid laid her arm over her baggy eyes blocking the magic light that resembled the moon. 

Sophia built up the courage to talk to her: "Um Astrid, *she waits for a response*, maybe you should take a break."

Astrid doesn't say anything, just a room filled with unnerving silence.

Sophia taps Astrid's shoulder: "Hey Astrid?"

A small snore escaped from Astrid as she woke herself up, jolting upright from the chair.

Astrid delirious: "Hey Sophia, when did you get here."

Sophia gives a hand, lifting her to her feet: "Let's go lay you down."

Before Astrid can protest Sophia dragged her over her shoulders, leaving the quiet library. 

Astrid murmurs: "Thanks, Sophia."

Sophia kept walking to the bedrooms holding the queen over her shoulders. She opened the bedroom door to where she sleeps, it made the guest rooms look like peasants' houses. Her bed doubled the size of a king-sized bed. A wall window has the grandest view of the kingdom and beyond it; on the right wall as soon as you walk into the room held weapons of all kinds. Two other rooms are connected to her room, one is the bathroom the other is most likely the closest. Sophia made her way to the oversized bed, laying Astrid down. She quickly and quietly left the room closing it behind her.

Sophia wiped the sweat off her brow: "Oh boy, I am tired."

The entrance came into view, the grand hall where the roof was blown up still held even after Ash visited it. Walking to the left side of the hall, something caught Sophia's eye. A black mist covers the ground to a room, the room Ash's body lays. Sophia investigates, pulling a small dagger from her hip while closing in on the door.

Whispering spells: "Pain reduction level five. Unbreakable body level five. Iron arms level five."

Her body glows a shiny white, giving herself a count down, she holds the doorknob: "One, two, three."

Swinging the door open wide, to nothing. 

Sophia: "I think I am going crazy."

She closes the door, walking a few steps away, inside the mist forms out of the dark corners of the room. A gargantuan suit of dark purple armor forms from the mist, towering over Ash's body. Shading him from the light above, the phantom gently lifts Ash up and over his shoulders. His body seeped through the phantom's shoulder, the level six magic blades bled into the phantom's body making it easier to carry him.

Sophia can't help but feel like something is off: "Detection magic."

Her eyes glowed a blue glint just as she turns on the spell, peering over her shoulder to Ash's resting place; a blue ball can be seen through the wall, a second one forms. Sophia runs at breakneck speed bashing open the door. A monster stood before her, it cast a shadow over Ash's resting place as it stood there waiting for Sophia to make her move. The silence felt like hours as both stood in place, the silence broke just after Sophia moved her hand, the phantom sent a ghostly white blade to her knee. She sent her dagger down deflecting the blade with ease. The phantom rushes her, slamming its ghostly weight into her. Sophia recoiled back taking the fight into the grand hall giving her room to dodge. 

Sophia barks: "Give him bACK YOU MONSTER!"

The door guards burst through the front doors from the commotion.

Guard one: "What is that!"

Guard two: "How did it even get in!"

Sophia shouts while keeping her eyes locked on the monster: "Go get King and Isabel from the coliseum!"

The two left the moment the orders were given, leaving Sophia and the phantom to duke it out. 

Sophia: "What do you want with Ash!"

It didn't budge, the phantom's dark knight helmet seemed hollow, just a gas holding it all together. Instead of talking and giving valuable information, the ghost charged her; Sophia raced to meet it head-on. Using her arms to ram against the hulking dark knight, the two clashed, holding their ground against each other. Sophia shoved back the armor sending it a foot back for retaliation, cocking her arm back and setting her foot right she throws a haymaker full force into the chest plate leaving a sizeable dent in the lower abdomen.

The being down to one knee leaves it open for attack, Sophia obliges, getting a running start; building up speed. Running to the armored phantom she leaps, landing her knee straight in the visor. The armor of the phantom goes flying in all directions, leaving Ash's body on his side with the blade stuck in him. A black mist swept the area dissipating shortly after. Sophia attended to Ash's body, his body felt warm to the touch. The others showed, searching the area for clues to who led an attack. 

King: "What did the person look like."

Sophia: 'That is the crazy part, it was a spirit, a mist-controlled armor of high stature."

King: "Nothing rings any bells for me."

Isabel prods the chest plate, flipping it over with her dagger, a ghostly blade laid inside the plate. She tried to pick it up but it just fazed pasted her hand.

Isabel: "Hey guys!"

Isabel kicked the chest plate to the center of the group.

Isabel: "I couldn't pick it up."

King examined the blade, an idea flashed in his mind.

King: "I got it! Sophia can you go get your gauntlet."

Sam rested Ash's head on her thighs, and Sophia hustled off to the room she stayed in. King played around with the blade, trying to grip it and kick it around. Sophia arrives shortly after with her gauntlet on. 

Sophia: "I got the gauntlet on, what now."

King slides the chest plate with the blade in it: "If that gauntlet can pick up the heaviest weapons, then can it pick up the lightest ones too."

Sophia realizes what King is getting at: "Here goes nothing."

Gripping the blade, she picks it up like any other blade. Once she feels up the dagger, the paladin begins playing with it.

Sophia: "Huh, it worked, it feels like any other weapon I carried, even though it seems to be dead, nothing different about it."

King asks a random question: "How do you kill a blade."

Isabel: "I don't think that is important right now. The right question is where did it come from."

Sam gently swipes Sadie's hair to the side, her wings flutter outwards like a stretch of your arms.

Sam yawned: "I don't know about you but I think Sadie and I want to go to sleep. Isn't that right my little ruler!"

Sam departs from the scene cradling her gurgling baby, Isabel races after her, skipping around her while getting a look at Sadie. Sophia holds far too many bags under her eyes, King takes notice of her sluggish movements.

King: "Hey Sophia."

Sophia: "Yeah?"

King: "Why don't you leave the rest to me, you are starting to look like Astrid."

Sophia: "Har de har har, very funny, thanks, King."

Keeping the dagger in her hand, she lifelessly trudges her way down the hall and out of sight leaving King and Ash. The cold night wind swept through the open hall, King picks up his brother in both arms. His usual smile vanished as soon as the other left. 

King: "Brother, it seems your pupil comes to your rescue once again. *Sigh* They are going to hate me for this."

Pulling a small scroll from an abyss portal of his own, laying Ash down once again, spreading the scroll out on the floor. King lights a flame from his finger, drawing a burning circle around them; the scroll comes to life. Red words flow out of the scroll forming around the flame circle, King begins to build sweat on his brow. A red firey portal emerges from thin air, whooshing hot humid air into King's face blowing his hair back. Through the portal is a mansion on a cylinder mountain, made from magic as the building is above the clouds. 

King: "So that is where you been hiding all this time, and here I thought you would make your home in an underground catacomb."

The fire portal fades out of existence, burning away the scroll as its time has been used up. King now has a new mission that he will accomplish even if it kills him. Picks up his brother and leaves through the open doors. Two small blue-green eyes peer from the other side of the hall watching what has conspired here. He walks down the insane amount of stairs to the city avoiding the prying eyes of the citizens of the Thunderous Kingdom. reaching the gate of this grand kingdom, he is halted by soldiers at the gate walls.

Soldier: "Mr. King, where are you going with Ash."

King: "I am taking him somewhere safe."

Soldier whispers in one ear of the guard, the guard races off: "I don't think my queen will be too please with you taking her man away."

King: "She said I can. Go ask her if you want."

The soldier stands his ground, his reinforcements arrive surrounding King in a flash.

King smiles: "I know I shouldn't smile but killing all of you will be a waste of time. VAIN!"

A snake of considerable size bursts through the gate, rumbling the ground they stand on, a gust of debris washes over the crouching soldiers. King hops on Vain's back, riding away before the others arrive. King sets off on his journey to find the mansion on top of the mountain, against his friends once more, covering his tracks is going to be hard when his friends are more powerful than some of the gods. Not to forget the oracle that can see where he goes next. 

 

 

#

 

 

 

The phantom without his armor appears before his lord, his gaseous form floats before him while his lord rests on his throne.

Phantom deep ghostly voice: "Sorry master, I have failed you."

The lord of the mansion: "It is fine phantom, my plan has worked, Ash's brother looks for us."

Phantom: "Master, do you mean I was supposed to fail."

The lord tapped the throne with metal taps: "No, but if you would have failed, I made sure he knew who sent you."

Phantom: "Master why can't we just ask them to bring Ash to us, wouldn't they do it if you knew Ash."

The dead lord: "Maybe, but the ritual costs two souls, one is his soul, the other is his brother's, Sin."

The lord sits up: "Have all of your questions been answered."

Phantom: "Yes master."

A metal pop comes from the lord: "Good, now go to my laboratory, we need to get you a new set of armor."

Phantom: "Right ah away master."

The gas zooms down the hall, zig-zagging through the hallway, finding the permanent portal set up as a way to transfer to each floor.