THEOS

“Hey, you limbless little bitch. Surrender now, and Blinky won’t eat your corpse.” A familiar voice echoed out from the deck of the ship.

“Rex…” Jason admonished, and shaking his head, he flew over the Argo’s railing, already encased in a protective talisman. Seemingly embarrassed, he smiled apologetically. Upon some unseen and unsaid command, the demon shifted its mass just enough so that he could be seen through its writing flesh. “Sorry about him, he lacks both restraint and decorum, but if you could kindly do as he says, I’ll make sure your corpse isn’t fed to his pet… thing. We have some pigs that would be much more fitting for the occasion.”

This guy… Luke shook his head in amusement. Taking more pleasure than he probably should have as fifty different shades of anger flashed across the Rebel’s face.

“Jason?” Heracles frowned, and ending his barrage on the barrier, flew towards him. “What are you doing here, who’s powering the teleportation altars in the capital?”

“I came to help, you didn’t think I would leave you alone now did you? As for the teleportation altars… they’re all taken care of.” He said dismissively. “What’s Luke doing inside?”

“Oh.. that.” Heracles looked between both Luke and Jason nervously. “it… Just kind of happened. I was supposed to be there with him but…” Their voices petered away.

Activating another talisman, Luke strained his ears to hear the rest of their conversation, while the Empress looked nervously at the abomination blotting out most of the sky and the ship above it.

Blinky’s getting really big, really fast. She’s already bigger than her mom was, and that’s… actually insane. She hatched what, a day ago? Is it a demon thing, or is Rex just feeding her really well? He thought to himself, tearing his eyes away from the dreadglare’s headache inducing form. A task that proved to be futile, as the creature spread even more, and encompassed the rest of the barrier. Artificially creating night, in their small part of the world, leaving only the soft golden glow of the barrier to give them light.

“WHAT ARE YOU FOOLS WAITING FOR. KILL THE DEMON!” The Rebel barked, and Luke winced, as on cue the Skyscar warriors unleashed a devastating number of attacks.

Blinky just blinked, as one arrow after another destroyed her eyes, and explosions sent bits of her scattering through the sky. Like her mother, she appeared entirely unconcerned by the damage being done to her.

Luke eyed the Rebel, as she muttered curses under her breath and floated away from him. On cue, two warriors touched down in front of him.

“Don’t let him escape, he has my storage ring, once his bubble bursts, I expect it to be delivered back to me.” She said to them, and disappeared and emerged next to the man dressed in golden armor.

Giving Luke some much needed time to think.

The arrival of the Argonauts was welcome, but introduced another variable to the conflict. The battle was sure to get more chaotic, and Luke didn’t know if that would end in his favor or not.

I gotta step up my act, and fast, but how?

He tightened his grip on his sword, and discarded one bad idea after another.

Attacking wildly would get him nowhere, but dead.

Using a Hero-tier explosive might give him the impetus he needed to sneak in an attack, but it would also fling him around, and do more damage than he felt was acceptable. At the very least, it would kill the majority of people in the castle who didn’t have a Hero-tier talisman of their own. Which as far as he knew, may well be everybody. The one person it wouldn’t kill however, was the Rebel.

His quest required that he kill her specifically with his sword, and while the arrival of the allies was reassuring in that it increased his odds of making it back to the Capital alive, it also increased the odds of someone that wasn’t him landing the precious last blow.

He was confident in his strength, but he also recognized that if Heracles had his chance with her, he would be hard pressed not to get in the way, let alone find the opportunity to finish his own mission. Jason was also bound to be substantially stronger than the current him, and the rest of the Argonauts didn’t seem like pushovers either.

He had his Technique, but there was no chance that some of the older warriors didn’t have ones of their own. Adding any potential bloodlines, or artifacts that were also now present on the battlefield, made the dilemma even harder to solve.

No. I have to kill her before they find a way in, but how? They probably won’t blow this place to bits considering I’m still inside, and once they find out about the kids somewhere in here, the chances of that go down even more, so I have some time… but.

Danger Detected.

Every thought in his head ground down to a halt.

“You're in quite the bind, huh.” One of the two warrior’s guarding him said casually. Forcibly keeping his expression neutral, he turned to the cheerfully smiling woman next to him. She was bald, like every other Skyscar Clan member, and wearing the same type of robes every cultivator who wasn’t an Argonaut seemed to wear. Hers were the traditional red of a warrior, but with bronze armor plated on top.

“It was Luke, wasn’t it? It’s good to meet you.”

“Is it?” He said carefully. “What’s your name?”

In response, her face changed. Rapidly shifting from one form to another. Everything from an old man, to a bearded and scarred warrior, a little kid, Luke’s own face, and a dozen more.

“I’m whoever I want to be. That doesn’t answer your question though…” She tapped her chin with her index finger. “You can address me as Cybele.”

Yeah, I have no idea who the fuck that is.

Luke felt his heart thump nervously in his chest. Avoiding panicking as best as he could, he glanced at the other warrior guarding him. Only to see him dumbly staring off into space. Oblivious to what was happening right next to him.

“Oh my!” Her face settled back into the form of the woman she was earlier, but this time with a head full of scarlet hair. “No need to worry about him. So long as I desire it, not one of those gathered here today will hear or see anything other than what I want them to, and I like to keep a low profile. Most people assume I’m dead, and I prefer to keep it that way.”

“What do you want?”

She shrugged. “Truthfully, I don’t want much of anything these days. I was on a walk, felt some moron make a breach in the fabric of reality and open a path through the Aether, and now I’m here. Originally I just wanted to make sure nothing came over from the other side, the last thing we need is another infestation.”

What. The. Fuck.

“I uh. Sorry? I’ll make sure we don’t do that again.”

“Oh no. Don’t you worry about that. Honestly, I feel quite lucky to have stumbled upon this little kerfuffle. My, I can practically feel the ebbs and flow of fate gathering into a storm. Then again, I guess, I shouldn’t be surprised. Cursed land does tend to produce the most fascinating stories.”

“Oh.” Luke shifted in his bubble, and activated another talisman. Slightly, just slightly, more at ease, now that he knew what it was that had drawn her to him. Or more importantly, what hadn’t drawn her to him.

Unless she’s lying… but, what can I even do about that? Even if she’s not a god, she’s not someone I can do anything about. Fuck.

She smiled mysteriously.

“Let’s see.” She said, turning away from Luke, her gaze locked onto the Rebel. “She’s quite the mystery. I never imagined I’d find the last living inheritors of Ouranos’s bloodline unwillingly enslaved by one of their own waging a war against some nobody emperor and losing for that matter. Then again, if you knew Ouranos, you’d know it’s exactly the type of thing he’d do, so… hmm. Still quite strange. I thought his line had been purged eons ago. I know quite a few people who would be interested to know what hole they crawled out of.”

Ouranos? That was the original sky guy right? That’s who the Rebel’s descended from? Damn, I thought I had it bad.

Turning toward the barrier, she stared at something past it. “The Son of Zeus is rather interesting, but they have a tendency to show up no matter where you go in this world nowadays. A tame demon isn't quite as common, but considering that Epimetheus seems to have spread his seed on this island…” she shrugged, “not entirely unexpected. He’ll get a kick out of this kid if he shows his face again some time this millenia. Even this island… I’d almost forgotten about it. The last time I was here, it was naught but charred rock. It has quite the story, in fact. Did you know, it was here that Ouranos once imprisoned his Queen?”

“I can’t say that I did.”

“Mhm.” She wrinkled her nose. “I suppose that’s not unexpected. Not many who remember the Ancients still remain on Theos. Now, where was I?”

She grinned, and her hand sank into Luke’s protective bubble without so much as a ripple.

“Wh–”

Faster than he could react, she reached into his pocket and pulled out the Rebel’s storage ring. Turning it between her fingers, it flashed briefly, and an unassuming circlet made of twine and roses appeared in her hands.

“–at ”

“You can have the rest.” She said, and flicked the ring back through his barrier, and into his hands. “This however… hmm. It would be quite funny if I let you have it, but I'm not quite that irresponsible. Now, it was nice talking to you. You’re rather slow for one who carries Prometheus’s blood, but not every child can live up to expectations. Hmm… ” She tilted her head to the side, reached out, grabbed his chin, and turned his head around. “You do look an awful lot like Poseidon though. If you have any of him in you, then it’s only to be expected.”

Releasing him, she patted him on the back, and began to slowly, deliberately inch away.

Does she want me to–

“Wait…” Luke called after her.

She smiled. “Yes?”

“Um–”

She clapped, and the circlet vanished from her hand. “Of course! You need to be paid. I’m not a thief, I’ll have you know. What is it that you want for selling it to me?”

“I c–”

“Oh nevermind.” She cut him off the second he opened his mouth. “You kids never know what’s best for you. I’ll decide.” She said impatiently. Her eyes raked across his form.

Feeling naked under her gaze, as if his every secret and every thought was laid bare, he shifted uncomfortably.

Finally, her eyes landed on his sword. Revealing a row of pristine white teeth, she held her hand out, the blade ripped itself free from Luke’s hand, passed through his protective bubble, and landed in her hands.

“Oh my? This is quite the find you have here. It’s…” She closed her eyes, and the sword lit up a brilliant blue, “been funneling mana into you hasn’t it?”

“It has.” Luke said, his mouth suddenly feeling very dry.

“I don’t know who’s or how long ago, but I can feel the traces of a higher beings mana… Well, higher than you. You lot came here to kill Tyrisa, yes?”

“We did.”

“Good. Very good.” She let go of the blade, and it flew from her hand, and back to Luke. “This blade, he thirsts for death, and death I shall give you the means to deliver. Eat this.”

A single pomegranate seed appeared inches in front of Luke. Inadvertently, his mouth began to water, and hunger, unlike any he had ever experienced, suffused his being. Every cell in his body came to life, and began throbbing in desire. Swallowing the spit in his now too wet mouth, he defied every instinct he had, and turned away from it.

“What will this do?” He asked.

“Where’s the fun in telling? Eat it and you’ll find out, or don’t and stay here until the demon chews through the shield, and your friends come and rescue you. Either way,” the circlet once again appeared in her hands, “we’re even.”