Chapter Six A God's Folly

 

 

Ash sprints around the library gathering books created by his father. Many are his journals dating back to the first experiment he did on his kids. It went into excruciating detail, recording every motion the kid made only to not get any experiment done as the kid passed away. "Fram, Heilda, Gran, Xavier, Cron, Krieg. They were the first ones, none of them survived the first trial."

Flipping through the pages, "Fram went through a heart transplant, awake. She died before the elemental heart could be transplanted. Hades wrote down how he cut open Fram's chest and proceeded to use healing magic to harvest a few organs from her just to replenish said organs after. Despicable."

Ash begrudgingly read through some more books, cringing the more pages he flipped through. Every word singed into mind and heart, the details of his family suffering under one man. His baby brothers, and baby sisters, were all plagued by a malicious father trying to accomplish his twisted fantasies. Hades documented his excitement in his work, how it was a blessing to be experimented on. That he did them a favor. That their deaths are part of the process. 

Ash gritted his teeth: "I wish I could kill you a thousand times over, that would be a smidge of justice for my siblings." 

Time passed, knots in Ash's stomach washed over. Ripping a handful of pages from various books and launching them at the wall before taking his leave. 

 

 

"Vex, if you can hear me, buddy, just wanted to say I love you. There is no way to predict the end of all of this. All I have is a handful of hope and my determination to see it through. If this is it, then I regret nothing. I would have done it all over again just to spend more time with you."

 

 

Ash stands tall, taking a deep spicy breath: "Alright, you ready Chris?"

Chris nods in response: "Yes!"

Chris channels his mana: "Gate."

A murky portal takes form, the purple portal resembles swamp water. 

Ash grows ecstatic: "Way to go, Chris! Now hold it! Great, that's the perfect size! Hold it! Hold it! Let go!"

Chris opens his eyes, stumbling back a few steps. The portal balances its shape and substance. Vex and Lavina watch in awe, giving cheers to Chris. 

Chris catches his breath: "Hey, Ash, why is the portal not showing the destination?"

Ash stands beside him: "For experienced gate users, they can hide the location from prying eyes, but in your case, you need to see the places to be able to teleport. Let us say you want to teleport to the other end of the underworld, past the river Styx, you will need to have been there to teleport there."

Chris nods: "So what happens if we go through an empty one?"

Ash touches the portal: "Nothing."

The portal wobbles but holds strong against Ash's hand, repelling it from entering. Ash instructs Chris on how to close the portal, repeating the process. 

 

 

 

 

Astrid's kingdom

 

 

A loud boom rang through the arena: "COME ON! IS THAT ALL YOU GOT!"

Jax shouts across the Colosseum to Isabel. Sophia spars with King, swinging her longsword with speed an precision. Her swings use momentum to keep the swings fluent. King is left on defense, dodging and deflecting the swings.

King: "Defense is not my forte. *Clanging of swords* You don't mind if I go offense do you?"

Sophia gets close, interlocking their swords together: "So you were the second strongest demigod, looks like I am going to take that title."

King laughs heartily: "Go ahead and try little one, *King pushes off* I still got a lot more fight in me!"

King lunges forward, gladius in hand. Sophia matches his pace, Sophia throws a wide side swing. King plants a leg forward and pushes himself off it into the air. King kicks his legs back, propelling himself forward and over Sophia, planting a heel to the back of Sophia's cranium. Knocking her to the floor grasping at the lump at the back of her head. Her sword goes flying outta her hand. King lands the front flip with a perfect ten. "Maybe I went too far with that move."

King crouches beside her: "How do you like Ash's move, he used that on me once."

Sophia sucks air, failing to hold tears in: "Y-you didn't n-need to use A-Ash's move!"

Holding her hands above the bruise: "M-Minor he-healing."

The pain recedes as her tears diminish to a sniffling: "You, Ass! That could've killed me!"

King dismisses the allegations: "You still alive aren't cha! You got a hard head on those shoulders, that kick knocked me out cold." 

Astrid joins the conversation: "Probably because he is Ash and you are you."

Sophia treks to her sword still rubbing her head: "When is the trip to the forest of bloom?"

Astrid flexes her ears: "Tomorrow~ Sam and I are going, the rest will stay and recuperate."

Both in unison: "WHAT!"

King sheathes his sword: "We licked our wounds long enough! It's time for action!"

Sophia gets a second burst of wind just to argue: "We can't sit on our arses and do nothing!"

Isabel and Jax jog their way to the group. 

Isabel: "What's all the commotion?"

Sophia: "Astrid said we are staying here while she and Sam go investigate the forest."

Isabel objects: "Astrid WHY?! That's unfair!"

Astrid speaks over the protest: "We don't need a group to ask a few questions. There is no telling what will happen if Sin knows we are gone. He might just raze my kingdom to the ground. I can't let that happen, my sister lives here! That is not an option, GET ME."

The rest agree reluctantly, keeping their comments to themselves.

Astrid: "Don't worry, I'll be back with answers."

King Pops his neck: "Be safe Asrid, Ash doesn't need any more heartache."

Sophia still rubbing the pain away: "Tell Sam I'll watch Sadie for her."

Astrid: "I will relay the message but I doubt she'd give her to anyone besides Ash."

The Queen exits the coliseum. 

King ends the awkward silence: "Let's take a break for today. Drinks are on me." 

They walked down the streets of the kingdom evening poked its head. Citizens of the Thunderous Kingdom converse with each other, some speak to the group. Two kids catch Jax's eye.

Jax calls them over: "Hey kiddos!"

The two siblings look over their shoulders, spotting Jax and King who were buying a few grapes from a vendor. 

King pops a grape into his mouth: "Hey it's the little cuties!"

Two smiles creep onto their faces for a moment, before dissolving into frowns. The kids run off down the street to their homes. 

Jax: "What was that?"

King flings a grape in the air: "No clue."

He eats the grape. The four head to the Singing Barstool for a night of fun. 

King calls out: "Hey two mead!"

Barmaid: "Right away!"

Jax holds a table for them, Sophia heads to the bar for a nonalcoholic beverage to her dismay the bartender shakes his head. Isabel swerves through the crowd to get a look at the woman singing on stage aided by her band playing an Eastern melody.

King sits down across from Jax: "What a life~"

Jax nods: "I know what you mean. After everything is said and done, I am looking forward to retirement."

King: "If only I could retire."

The barmaid delivers two pints topped off with mead.

Jax pulls one close: "Why don't you?"

King down the pint in one go: "Ah~ Why don't I do what?"

Jax sips his at a measured pace: "Retire."

King lifts his up in the air as a barmaid takes it off his hands: "Demigods don't retire, or at least not for long."

The rowdy customers dance to the new tune playing by the band as the bard sings her heart out.

King sways his arms in an open gesture: "Besides~ I am not a content man, I can't hold myself down, sure as hell no woman or man can hold me."

Jax grins at the response: "Quite the bachelor."

Sophia arrives: "Can't get a decent drink around here."

Jax bumps Sophia: "Blame Astrid."

Jax directs Sophia with his eyebrows. A plaque nailed to the wall states the rules.

Sophia slams the table in outrage: "No mead for eighteen and under! What kind of law is that?! Isabel and I have been drinking since fifteen!!" (It was ancient times and the drinking age hadn't been established yet.)

King: "More for me!"

Sophia blows raspberries. Isabel giggly sits down, out of breath from dancing her soul out.

Isabel wipes the sweat from her brow: "Feew~ didn't guess I get a workout dancing!"

Sophia pouts: "Yeah, they sure are having fun. Especially because of all the alcohol they drank."

She rests her head on the table.

King finishes his second mug: "Hey stop being a downer, Ash never drank when he was your age. Well, when he was your age there weren't a lot of options for drinks."

Isabel was intrigued: "What was Ash like when he was our age?"

Jax stands up: "Excuse me, got to use the restroom."

The barmaid already replaces King's mug with a newly filled one.

King: "He~ was innocent to say the least."

Isabel felt a little let down: "That wasn't very descriptive."

Sophia defends the answer: "It doesn't have to be, Ash will always be the Ash we know. We don't need to know about the past to love him now."

Isabel added about the fact he is not here: "I guess your right. Doesn't make it any less difficult that he isn't here."

King slams the mug to the table: "Alright enough with the sad cramp! We'll get Ash back no matter what! AND, he wouldn't want the two of yea to be saddened about him."

The two clear their mind of negative thoughts: "Okay."

Sophia gets a stray thought: "Hey King, do you know how strong Sin is?"

Isabel adds to the question: "Is Ash stronger than Sin?"

King taps the table: "Well I am no genius when it comes to ranging how powerful someone is."

King has a long hard thought before answering: "If you were to put mana into numbers, Ash would have roughly about one hundred million. Which is an insane amount compared to an average person's ten thousand. *sigh* But nothing compares to Sin, Sin's mana count, let's say about two billion, and growing rapidly. See the point is, Sin drains mana from the dead, anyone dead or is dying, he absorbs into his ever-growing power."

Isabel: "Even Ash?"

King gives a quick finger gun to Isabel: "Yup! That one hundred million goes straight to Sin. Even worse, Gods regenerate mana and body parts that aren't dissolved or turned to ashes. Sin grows more powerful the longer Ash stays in limbo."

King grabs a mug overfilled with meed: "No one beats death, He wins eventually. Besides! Sin has toyed with us during our first meeting, it speaks volumes that he hasn't killed us yet. Sin is having a hard time mentally, Ash must've told him something. Or it was what's left of his humanity."

Isabel: "That's a scary thought."

Sophia: "I always thought no one could beat Ash. Didn't realize we were the underdogs by massive proportions."

Back in a rut of depressing thoughts - Sarah comes to the rescue accompanied by Grim in flashy new gear. His attire came off as sleek and vulnerable compared to wear an tear samurai armor he previously wore. Nothing compared to the style of his clothes, buttons were layering his shirt from top to bottom. Long sleeves that had cuffs. It was oddly modern. 

Sarah barges between two lovebirds: "Don't mind me!"

She yoinks two unoccupied chairs from their tables. 

Grim sits down: "Why the gloom faces?"

King slows down on the alcohol intake: "We were on the topic of Sin's power and how incredibly outmatched we are."

Sophia: "The thought of someone stronger than Ash is beyond me. He can do anything!"

Sarah waves over a barmaid: "Yeah, that's a scary thought to digest. *Sigh* BUT, If Ash is Sin's mentor, that must mean Ash is better than him in some way."

Isabel bounces to her feet: "Come on guys! We can't rely on Ash for everything! I may not be nearly as strong as Ash or Sin, or have the experience to best them in any way, doesn't mean we have to fight alone using our own strength."

Sophia perks up: "Working as a team is our greatest chance to succeed."

Sarah gets her well-deserved beverage, Isabel drags Sophia to dance to the music. 

Jax fixes his sheath: "Hey you two, when did you guys arrive."

Grim: "Not that long ago."

Jax: "Well don't mean to be a party pooper but I got to go."

King already three sheets to the wind: "*Hick* Wha~ where you *Burp* go-going!"

Jax pats him on the back: "I'll be back to pick you up, buddy."

King raises his pint: "Don't be gone for too long! WOO~"

Jax shakes his head, smirking as he takes his leave. 

King slurs his words: "S-so~ whats with the g-get up?"

Grim takes a quick glance at his attire: "Oh this? Yeah, I'm thinking of switching my profession. You are looking at Grim the merchant!"

Snoring interrupts Grim's boasting.

Sarah: "And~ he's out."

 

 

 

#

 

 

Astrid ties her boots: "Ready?"

Sam readies a small cradle for Sadie who's fast asleep. 

Sam is clad in sporty and flexible clothing that allows for ease of movement, but regrettably, it provides no defense against physical assaults. Her deep olive green short dress is secured to her body by a tightly cinched corset. Her dark brown pants and steel-toed boots seamlessly complement her ensemble. Her black hair gradually changes color, beginning at the roots and extending downward til her old holy white hair comes back. Though her beauty is captivating, it quickly fades when she speaks. Her carefree and optimistic demeanor falters, even if only slightly. While she grins, it pales in comparison to the one she displays when she's with Ash. Sam inevitably finds herself lost in thoughts of what the future holds.

Sam haphazardly flings her potions into storage, quite a few don't make it into the black murky storage and smash into the wall shattering into bits and pieces. 

Sadie is still undisturbed by the ruckus going on.

Astrid worries: "Are you gonna be okay?"

Sam breathes in, a bit irritable: "*Sigh* No need to worry that pretty little head of yours. I can handle myself."

Astrid gathers Sam's small gadgets: "That wasn't my question Sam."

She dumps them into the storage. 

Sam snaps at Astrid: "Your worries are wasted! So drop it!"

She shuts the storage down and stomps out of the room. 

Astrid sighs a long exhausted moan: "This is going to be a long~ journey."

The Cradle hovers out of the room, following Sam.

 

#

 

 

Rose's Humble Abode

 

 

Rich barks an order: "Again!"

A man swings down a shattered sword - an aura of white envelops him. A hint of blue fades into the white. 

Rich holds out a hand: "Fire blast level one."

A blast of flames exudes from his hand, consuming the semi-naked man. Flames continue for a short time before dispersing. The man stood in a stance as the aura protected him from the flames.

Rich grunts: "Congrats Creed. You mastered aura dispersal. It only took you eighty failed attempts, thirteen of those almost ended in your death."

Creed's state - appalling he is even standing. His arms, legs, and body are showing signs of skin peeling from multiple failed attempts. 

No one living there knew healing magic to restore Creed to stable health. The upper half of his armor got burnt off leaving him bare-chested. Creed let go - dropping to the ground with a thud. 

Creed's chest heaved: "Give me- a minute to catch my breath. Then we can move on to the next, lesson."

Rich opens the door to the seemingly small cabin: "Your next lesson is resting."

He shuts the door behind him.

"I am beat. I don't think I can move my legs."

The trees sway in the gentle breeze, causing the leaves to rustle together. Birds chirp and sing their sweet melodies, adding to the peaceful ambiance of the forest. Unfortunately, the grass beneath him has withered away, leaving behind scorched marks on the lifeless ground. However, the sounds of the animals in the forest bring a sense of tranquility to his mind. With his arms spread out, his palms pressing against the rough soil, Creed remains still, unfazed even in the face of calamity. Suddenly, Kage emerges from the shade of the trees, lies down beside Creed, and lets out a contented huff. 

Creed murmured: "Hey bud, how was Rose's teaching?"

Kage let out a small growl.

Creed smiles: "That bad huh."

They stay silent for the rest of the time they stay there, eventually falling asleep.

 

 

Rich opens a door to an expansive training room - tray in hand, he serves Rose lemonade on a small table away from the continuous blasts. Rose teleports around leaving hundreds of afterimages in her place. Big gusts of wind lash the stone walls ripping chunks out of the flooring and walls. 

Rich places a hand against the walls closest to the door and imbues magic into it, seemingly repairing the damage caused by Rose.

Rich voices from across the room: "I have upgraded these walls and floors several times now, but you somehow manage to break them anyway."

Rose keeps up the mirages, upping the ante until the afterimages look identical to the real thing. It wasn't enough for Rose, her greatest strength is speed. That was all she had to combat against anyone. 

The afterimages fade away - Rose sat against the wall, her breathing labored.

Rose taking in quick breaths: "It's not enough Rich. I can't save Ash."

Rich sits beside her, his huge stature compared to her slim figure is night and day. He stares at nothing, just waiting for Rose to get her breathing under control.

Rich finally speaks after a minute of silence: "You can't save everyone."

Rose shakes her head: "I am not trying to save everyone. Just my little brother."

They stay quiet for some time. 

Rich turns to her: "Anything you lack, I'll make up for it."

He raises a fist. She bumps it.

Rose chuckles softly: "The hammer and dagger."

 

 

 

Death Shows No Mercy

 

 

Silence lingered in the air. The fierce winds outside contributed to the pacifying atmosphere. No matter how soothing the atmosphere is outside the mansion, inside held such tension in the air, it was visible. Light failed to enter the throne room, not that it tried, it was just too thick. Like a spell was cast. The throne room harbored no life, but a being still sat there, resting in the dark. 

Rain started pelting the rooftop in a relaxing rhythm. A cold draft flowed through the room. Still, nothing comes close to the cold eating away the room's temperature. The being let out a misty sigh. 

"There are two sides to a book, it's up to you to choose which side you start on. Master, which side did I start on?"

Death stands from their throne, taking one step forward breaks the frost forming at his legs. Sin gently pushes the grand doors ajar. The winds roar at him, threatening to knock death over. Death walks forward, unfazed by the wind's feeble threats. The flames in his eye sockets stay stationary, no movement, like the wind, is not even there. It not there, it was just the mind playing tricks.

The clouds show their ugly gray self, thundering around his home. Bothering someone it knows not to bother. Sin slowly reaches for the air and closes his hands into a ball, then pulls his hands into his chest. The clouds disappear, gone without a trace. Were there any clouds in the first place? Was it just an illusionary spell? The sun shined bright, unshackled by the cloud's tyranny. 

In Sin's hand boomed the rebellious cloud. Thundering, bellowing in Sin's hand. Sin's hand started freezing the poor cloud, he quickly blew a black mist into it. Black smoke started seeping into the cloud, contorting the cloud's form. Sin lightly tossed the cloud into the air letting it take form. Death's gaze moved on, to the obnoxious sun. 

The cloud baked in the mist's influence over its form. 

A mass of mist leaked out of Sin's arms and legs. Pointing his sharp talons at the sun, the mist forms a blanket to catch the sun's rays. After a minute of basking in the sun, it closes the blanket into a ball. The mist brings Sin's catch. Inside laid a ball, a small sun in his hands. The pain of holding it could be unmeasurable, except Sin doesn't share a human's feelings. Doing the same with the mini sun, Sin breathes life into the sun. Forming a body for the small sun as it grew. The mist mold laid on the ground as Sin melted the mini sun into the mold. 

"You no longer have any use to me." 

Sin slowly pointed at the sun with the index and middle finger, and lowered the sun. Putting it to sleep until Sin felt like it was time for it to be day. In its place, the moon sat there, observing Sin's actions.

"You will be living under my roof now."

A little bright bundle of sunshine arose from the mold, she was just a child. Her eyes analyzed Sin, skeptical about this big scary low-spoken kid napper. 

Little girl: "Where are momma and pappa?"

Sin's faucalized voice didn't help sway the little girl: "Sleeping."

Frighten little girl cowered in the mold: "Please take me back home! I'm scared!"

Sin takes a sharp breath: "There is no need, that's a useless emotion. Ask yourself, how can I defeat him, how can I get home using my own strength?"

Sin pauses for a few seconds, waiting for a response: "Fine."

The cloud has stopped its squirming. The moonlight seemed to have calmed the erratic cloud. 

Death outstretched his claws and gripped the moon. Yanking it out of the sky. Sin held the Moon close to the cloud. The cloud absorbed the Moon's essence, defining the cloud's shape into a little body, a medium body, and one normal adult body. All three clashed into one being of smoke until they decided on one form, the adult form. 

"The concentrated power of the moon can make many forms for one being while a fraction of the sun's rays can make only one small body. Is the moon altering the sun's light or is that I just over did it? Questions for later."

Sin addressed both of them: "You will now be Sun and Moon. Both will work for me without questions or hesitation."

Sun weakly asked: "What is your name? Sir."

Sin snapped attention to Sun and her question before relenting: "Sin."

Moon was too busy admiring her body to take notice of his name. Her body formed its own clothes, resembling the night sky and its stars.

Sun had clothes that looked like boys' clothes, but her hair flowed freely like she was submerged in water.

Moon sifted through her abyss-black hair, at the root of her hair appeared normal until the end of it which bore a resemblance to the mist coming off the ends of her dress. Her skin was as pale as the moon.

Sun's skin is bright orange along with her hair with some exceptions near the roots, which have a more yellow appearance. 

Sin gives them a moment to situate themselves: "Sun, Moon, you will follow my order and MINE alone. Kill anyone who says otherwise. Disobey my orders and be killed, that is your only choice till you grow stronger."

Sin leaves them, strutting back inside waiting for the results of the attack on the Thunderous Kingdom.

After all that, the sun and moon were merely resources for Death's experiments.

 

 

 

An abnormally tall harpy kneels before Sin: "You called me sir?"

Sin sat on his golden throne contemplating what to do.

Sin finds his question: "Rez, how is the Ether Kingdom doing?"

She lifts her head: "They grow fearful of inevitable war between gods and death."

Sin swiftly asks another: "Where do their loyalties lie?"

Before she can answer Sin raised his hand to stop her: "Please, Rez, answer truthfully, no harm will come to the harpies."

Rez answers with class: "They wish to stay neutral, we will still intervene if the war lasts longer."

Sin huff in acceptance: "I will honor their wishes."

Rez adds one more thing: "Master, indeed the majority wish to stay out, but the queen's assassins desire to stay by her side."

Four harpies gracefully flutter down from the dark ceiling. Each harpy has markings on its face, each one has its wings colored black to resemble their queen. The highest honor for a harpy. 

Harpy one kneels before them: "It will be our honor to work under our queen's master."

The rest follow suit. 

Sin chuckles: "Asmodeus was right eh Rez?"

Rez stood up soaking the praise: "If he was here to see us grow now."

Sin dismisses them: "You'll follow Rez's orders, she is my closest ally and I trust her judgment."

One of Rez's feathers glows astral white: "We may have an uninvited guess."

Sin rested his head on his hand: "Gate."

The portal was a clear window to the outside. A different version of the murky purple gate he created to use against Astrid's group. It was like looking through a window, a woman with a golden bow accompanied by nymphs and dogs in a dark forest.

The harpies left in a flash leaving a few feathers as a reminder they were there. "Let the hunt begin"

 

 

 

Artemis's Pride

 

 

The woods shifted from a safe haven for the creatures of the forest to the hunting grounds for the most dangerous animals of the forest. The sun was put to sleep by unnatural means- It only works in her favor. The night gave the best cover for the best hunter, the goddess of the hunt to be exact. But this prey has never had a predator before. 

 

Shuffling through the woods barely audible to even the best ears, she sculks through the foliage. Her company slithered along the trees giving them a natural camouflage. A flock of birds cawed alerting the huntress, they all froze, waiting for a sign of an ambush. A minute passes still no movement - they relax for a moment regrouping. The auburn-haired girl straightened her tunic-organizing knives wrapped around her forearm and legs, she prepared the squad of nymphs and dogs. 

Artemis: "Our prey sits on his throne on top of that circular mountain. Be wary, this place could be booby-trapped at every step." 

A nymph: "What kind of person is he? We might be able to put our charms on him."

Artemis sends three dogs to scout the forest ahead for any creatures of the night.

Artemis: "I wouldn't consider them a person anymore. They are part of the circle of life."

Nymph two: "So are they feral?"

Artemis and the other nymphs gather sticks.

Artemis: "It's a living nonliving thing, it's death. If it was a guy before he surely wouldn't care about romantic or sexual attachments."

The taller nymph out of the three grows a few berries on a bush. The shortest one grabs the berries.

Taller nymph: "If charms won't work, what will? Is he some kind of genius? Or master strategist?"

Artemis kneels over the small bundle of sticks, she uses fire magic to ignite the small campfire.

Artemis blows on the fire: "His previous life is unbeknownst to me, he may have well have been the kindest person in the world. That's the past, now it's only death."

One nymph whispers to another: "How can we beat death?! Shouldn't we be bowing our heads to them instead?"

The taller nymph jabs her in the side. 

Tallest nymph: "Why is it that you are hunting death?"

Artemis smirks: "They will be the biggest prey no one could hunt besides me."

The dogs stationed at their rear start to growl sending everyone on high alert. Artemis draws her bow, her heart starts to race at the thought of seeing death. A rush of adrenaline pumps through her veins like never before. 

The nymphs take hidden positions inside the ground waiting for the right time to spring out and wrap up their foe. 

Small ruffling grows louder as branches snap and shrubs get stomped on. Artemis holds her breath, waiting for the perfect shot to present itself. A hand pushes a branch out of the way.

Artemis lets an arrow fly.

In a blink of an eye, a silver arrow connects with the gold arrow deflecting each other. A bright golden bow illuminates the holder's face, Apollo stands there holding the string of his bow ready to release another. 

Artemis breathes: "You imbecile! I could have killed you!"

Apollo relaxes the string: "Not in a million years sister."

Artemis plops her butt on the ground: "Why are you here!"

Apollo pets the dogs: "Athena wanted me to stop you from doing anything stupid. I can see her worries were well warranted."

The arrow zooms back to her hand: "Oh shut it."

She brushed a rebellious hair behind her ear: "I can take care of myself."

Apollo just shakes his head, not saying a word.

She continues to fight for her case: "We are gods! There is nothing that can touch us!"

Apollo stares at the dark forest: "Nothing you know of, and now that you found a monster who scares the likes of Zeus, you still think nothing can touch us. No Artemis, Gods are arrogant but not stupid enough to know they are outmatched."

Artemis can't help but chuckle: "What about Hades?"

Apollo's answer died in his throat - a whine sent jolts through the two's spine. 

Artemis whistles: "Come here, boy! It's okay, it's only-"

Her words caught. The dog was missing half its face, its ribcage was visible as it limped towards them. Apollo readies his bow about to send another arrow.

Artemis stops him: "Wait, brother!"

She shushes the dog crouching closer to it.

She uses her best caring voice: "It's okay little guy, it's okay."

Apollo felt rubbed the wrong way: "Artemis, we need to get out of here."

: "And go where."

The siblings stand back to back. 

Artemis shouts: "Who goes there!"

Limping back into the darkness, it was a ruse to lead the siblings into the dark.

A charming giggle circles them: "Oh would you like to know!"

Both sister and brother sidestep slowly to the exit of the forest.

: "Leaving so soon~"

Their shoulders encounter an invisible barrier. 

Apollo feels up the barrier: "How is this possible, I just came through here!"

The dogs snarl at the darkness and their undead companion. They run after the darkness in the forest barking and snarling. 

Three whines cut off as soon as they leave the light of the campfire.

A serious toned voice hissed in the darkness: "What did you expect when you entered death's domain? That your little bow would take down the Warden of Tartarus."

Artemis lets an arrow fly through the dark: "Brother, I am sorry it's come to this. I was blinded by my pride."

Apollo follows suit: "I don't think this is the right time."

Artemis: "This might be the only chance I get to say sorry."

Apollo charges two arrows laced with holy light: "Apologize to me when we get out of here."

One plan pops into Artemis's brain: "Nymphs where are you?! I need your aid!"

Her call is left unanswered: "Damnit where are they!"

The voice had a weighty tone to it: "They are not coming."

A benevolent harpy descends before them, her wingspan towers both their width and height. A crown of gold fitted with three gorgeous gems. 

Apollo releases the holy arrows her way. Both silver arrows snap in half from two feather projectiles, embedding themselves into the ground.

Rez graciously provides them orders to follow: "Kneel."

She wraps her wings around her body, using them as a coat.

Rez: "Did I not clarify my order enough? I said KNEEL."

Artemis Draws another arrow: "Where are my companions! What did you do to them?!"

Rez steps out of the way. Her smile is ominous yet caring. She looks quite young for a queen but that's how most harpies look. Still, her height is above the average male human's.

A portal of a dark swampy purple formed in the dark. Barely able to make it out from the other side of the campfire, Apollo's palms started sweating. 

A creak came from the portal as a head encased in the darkest steel emerged from the portal. Sin has finally come face to face with the two trespassing gods. Following in tow are the three nymphs holding their head low. But another presence still hasn't shown their face. Sin planted his sword into the ground, no decay or frost was spreading from it. 

Sin stands tall: "Dryad, you may reveal yourself."

One of the trees close to the campfire dissolves away. Vines wrapping around an awestriking woman. Her bright green hair glows as it lays over her shoulder. The dryad's vines don't leave much to the imagination but she is refined in the way she presents herself.

Sin's gravelly voice echoed out of his helm: "This is what the gods send to take me down. Then I shall send two skeletons back."

Sin wasted no time deciding their fate: "Skin them. Leave the bones for my experiments."

"I haven't experimented on Gods before."

Rez bowed to Sin as he departed - the nymphs lowered their heads as they followed Dryad into the forest. 

A sadistic smile warped the queen of harpies' refined face.

Artemis pleaded to the queen: "Please spare my brother! HE DONE NOTHING WRONG!"

The look of desperation crossed her features - Rez did not care. Artemis's eyes welled up.

Artemis's voice barely above a whisper: "Please let my brother go. It is all my fault."

Apollo sprung three arrows toward the queen: "Artemis! We will get out of this! I'll protect you while you figure a way out of here! UNderstand?!"

His hands were trembling, they felt like the heaviest things in the world but he persevered. Apollo moved two steps forward giving Artemis space to think.

Rez batted away the arrows like they were nothing. She stood there waiting for her quarry to make a move.

Artemis stifled her whimpers: "O-okay Apollo." 

Getting a grip on the reality of the situation Artemis feels up the wall while Apollo tries to hold off anything that comes their way.

Rez flings a feather - Apollo deflects the feather but destroys the arrow in the process. Apollo grabs an arrow from Artemis's quiver and aims, waiting for Rez to send more feathers their way. 

Artemis punches the wall, testing its strength. It holds up. Grabbing an arrow and jabbing into the wall is ineffective. Artemis slings her bow to her back and places both palms against the wall.

Artemis: "Holy Blast!"

An Eye searing light blasts the wall spreading in all directions. After the magic died down, a small glimmer of hope sprouted. A small crack in the wall appeared.

Artemis huffed with newfound hope: "Apollo! We can do this! Apollo?"

She turned around to a dreadful sight. Her breath caught, she couldn't breathe. Tears flowed down her cheek like a waterfall, but not a sound came out. Her heart has stopped from shock. Her body hit the wall lifelessly as she slumped to the floor in disbelief. The pain started arising in her body, unbearable amounts of pain, but still nothing came from her, not a single peep. A cold sweat overtook her - nothing could prepare her from the sight of her brother skinned. Strung up by trees as his body, lifelessly suspended by branches. A harpy carved into his body - his throat was sliced open leaking out gold liquid. Apollo's body tried regenerating back all that it lost, only for him to suffer it all over again. His screams for help were muddled by the golden igor coming out of his throat.

Artemis's pupils dilate at the sight. 

Artemis worded her worries through a hollow voice: "I am sorry Apollo."

Feathers pierced her heart and head in quick succession.

 

 

 

A war started by one selfish Goddess.