"So, when you say see Prometheus, I'm assuming you mean his grave?" Ares say as the two travel to the far east. "Is there something there that will point us in the right direction?"
"You lack imagination, Ares." Dolos replies. "Prometheus was an enemy of Zeus as is Chronos. An enemy of an enemy is a friend. So it's likely we shall find our first clue of our mutual friend through a friend."
"In other words, you're just hoping." Ares says.
"I'm saying," Dolos argues, "that it's the best chance we have. Unless you happen to know where Chronos is right now?" Ares was silent as he thought to himself. "I understand the fear of death. Humans are lucky. We, however, aren't as fortunate. If it means discarding trash, even if that trash was other gods, for our survival... well, obviously it would be the best route. Believe me, I will help you the best I can."
"Why?" Ares asks.
"Well, I'm particularly interested." Dolos answers. "I tend to take a liking to people who are very talented with the arts of deception such as yourself. I can see your hatred in your eyes. Your hatred for war, for other gods... for yourself." Ares remained silent as Dolos continued to say "Besides, I have a score to settle with Zeus. It's not as if I'm gaining nothing from it."
"Then you are using me?" Ares asks unsurprised.
"Just as much as you are using me, Ares." Dolos responds. After weeks of traveling around the Black Sea to the Caucasus Mountains, the two of them appeared where Prometheus once stood before he were chained to the mountains as punishment by Zeus. "Here is where he suffered his punishment." Dolos says. "His punishment for nothing more than giving back to humanity for stealing fire from Olympus and giving it to the humans for survival."
"Seems you have more than an invested interest in me." Ares says. "You want vengeance."
"I want more than vengeance." Dolos says. "I want them removed, I want them punished, I want them to feel that they are not justice itself. Olympus shall one day fall, that I promise."
"Then how do I, an Olympian god, fit into all of this?" Ares asks.
"You have a gift." Dolos says. "A rare magic type for an important domain, natural affinity for deception, you're close to Zeus. Who could be more perfect to achieve these goals?"
"And what of your former master?" Ares asks.
"By now, he's likely been fully eaten by Zeus's pet eagle." Dolos answers. "That, or what was left of his titanic remains melded into the stone of the mountain itself."
"And this clue?" Ares asks.
"We may have found yet a better lead." Dolos says as he points towards the foot of the mountain. There, by the rocks, was a short and slender woman with jet black hair. As they got closer, they could see she had black sclera and glowing crystal-like white irises, and golden pupils. "It's not often you show your face to anyone, let alone the grave of a fallen titan, Nyx."
"Dolos, former understudy of the late and rebellious Prometheus." Nyx says as she slowly changes her gaze to look directly in the eyes of Dolos. "And Ares, son of Zeus. What a strange pair. For what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Well, we simply came to visit the old man's grave." Dolos says. "But it's with great honor and fortune that we see you here." Dolos then bows and says "Any chance to meet one of the primordial gods is an honor."
Nyx lazily changes her piercing gaze to Ares and says to Dolos as she stares at Ares "Do not lie to me, wretch." Dolos leans back up slowly as she continues to say "I am not so easily deceived. The two of you came to see Prometheus? When was the last time I've ever heard of Ares lifting a finger to honor another? Can you recall one? Then there is you. You may have been close to Prometheus, but I don't believe you are the sort to have the posture to show honor. Now, I came here, because I am gathering my own information of the recent goings on of the gods, particularly the Olympians. If your honors are finished, I may very well be on my way."
"And what of Chronos?" Ares asks.
"Pardon?" Nyx asks in disbelief.
"I know he is not without blame." Ares says. "Where can I find him? I do not wish to fight him, which is why I am without Zeus. However, there are things even I wish to know."
"So you came to a grave to find answers on Chronos?" Nyx asks in disbelief.
"Where else could I have looked that I would know about?" Ares asks with a straight face.
Nyx squints in disbelief at Ares and maintains eye contact with him for several minutes. "Lately, he seems to be meddling with our sister's scattered shards, Gaia. Gaea, as you now know her. I wanted to piece my sister together myself, but I have a job to do, unlike the rest of you mindless and violent whelps. Now, I don't know nor like what Chronos may be planning, but if it's Gaia, I'm sure she will find a way to balance the situation out herself. Go find him, likely near Foloi Oak Forest. A place Gaia's recent kin once called home. I'm sure there won't be much to gain anyways, from a man like Chronos. That man is the devil."
Returning to Greece, to find Foloi Oak Forest, the two traveled around the Black Sea once again, narrowly escaping conflict with Nyx. While traveling through, they both heard that Ishmael had returned from the east and was looking for the shards of Gaia as well. One thing became clear to Ares and Dolos. They had to find Chronos first, before Ishmael became a new obstacle. Running, and looking everywhere they could, they eventually found him. Chronos, in the size of a man, slender shape with black sclera, golden irises and white pupils, like the reverse of Nyx. This man had several of the shards of Gaia in his hand, and was as calm as he was curious of the situation between these two gods. Dolos took a sigh of relief at the thought that they had reached Chronos before Ishmael did. "We're glad we found you!" Dolos says.
"You were looking for me?" Chronos asks with a smile. "Well, here I am. What does a trickster and an Olympian want with me?"
"I have a request." Ares says. "I have been forewarned of my incoming demise by the Moirai. If I am running out of time, then time is what I need."
"So you came to me to expand the life of a silly little god?" Chronos chuckles. "The answer is no."
"I came" Ares interrupts, "to ask for a change of fate. To change who I am, who I work with, what I do... to avoid my fate. I don't care if it means throwing Olympus away, or if it means discarding who I was, I hate war, I hate living in fear, I hate me!"
Ares takes a few deeps breaths to calm down as Chronos thinks. "Borrowed time isn't always better than no time at all, Ares." Chronos says, then slowly extends a hand with a smile for a handshake. "But tenacity like that doesn't come twice. Are you sure about this? You'll be my subordinate. Do as I say, live as I want, die when I choose. Of course, I'll walk you through your steps to defy God himself. You'll live, but only under me. Understand?" Without saying a word, Ares reaches out and shakes Chronos's hand. "Good. Then let me give the both of you a warm welcome. An introduction is in order. Many of us primordial and primeval gods have several names for we are taken from several origins. I have the power to control time. I am less limited than most, for my origins are heaven itself. Nice to meet you, I am Chronos, also known as Saturnus or Satanael. I am Lucifer. Nice to meet you."
After several hours of explaining the story of Inari and of Zia to everyone in the room, the room fell silent around Zia. "I know it's a lot, and I am still sure there are memories I am still missing. But that is everything I can explain right now. I'm sorry, you probably have the hardest time coming to terms with everything, Silas. I didn't know Gaia had planned this."
"A-ah.. I'm okay." Silas says. "I'm more worried about you and dad."
"I'm more worried about those two." Athena says as she points at Felicia and Henry.
"But... gods!?" Felicia asks.
"Are you still on that?" Athena asks.
"How the hell am I supposed to get past this?" Felicia asks. "I thought we were crazy for believing that our own governments recruit unstable children to commit mass shootings, but this? This is even further out there!"
"Hold on, your government recruits children to commit mass shootings?" Athena asks. "What the hell is wrong with humans?"
"Look, let's not get into hypotheticals and conspiracies right now." Henry says. "We need to focus on what is right in front of us. So we have two gods, a reincarnation, a... laibah! What else do we need to know?"
"I think that's about all I can tell you." Zia says. "You know as much as I do."
"So, these laibah that Silas is..." Dana says as she thinks "used to be common?"
"Not common." Zia says. "At least, not in any ways I can remember. "There were small adn went extinct, usually by the hands of humans."
"In some universes," Athena adds, "they are actually competing for dominance with humans, or have found some way to coexist. Though, the coexisting is rare and often times unstable."
"Then Gaia wanted me to protect laibah then?" Silas asks. "I guess that makes sense with what all she told me before she died. That I need to herald in my race safely and protect them. But I refuse to kill people too! I will not be associated with murder."
"That's good then, Silas." Zia says with a proud but slight and tired smile. "You're on the right path."
"Then, what's next?" Felicia asks.
"That's a good question." Athena says. "We didn't expect to run into Zia. We had been looking for months for both Zia and ways to close these streams around the world."
"Recently, Silas closed one." Dana adds.
"You did!?" Zia asks.
"Well, he began to close it." Athena adds. "The rips in the seal was healing. Silas needs more time to practice sealing magic. However, I'm not sure we have that time."
"If we can get just one to close, we'd have more time." Dana adds. "The more we try to fix this problem, the more time we will buy ourselves."
"While that is true, I'm worried we'll not be able to reach that goal before damages become irreversible." Athena says.
"What if you teach me sealing magic along with my son?" Zia asks.
"We can't chance it." Athena replies. "You'd be starting all over with the lessons, and your capacity might be too limited."
"Mahina clan members tend to learn magic faster than anyone, and she is one." Dana adds. "Both her and Silas should be able to pick up quicker learning it together because they can adapt quickly by seeing each other perform the magic. Worse comes to worst, we'd have to use a machine to drain endo-poisoning from Zia but not from Silas. I'd say it's worth the shot."
"If you say she can learn magic that fast, then we will continue to teach it to Silas and she can pick up where he left off." Thor says. "We can't backtrack any. We would risk wasting time to do so. Hopefully this pays off, because I am sure this is the last solution we have until things become too far out of control."
"G-glad to hear that you guys are on our side after all." Felicia says to Zia. "Will the black skies incident really end soon?"
"It'll be over soon, I promise." Zia replies. "The Six Guns, and the rest of us, will do all that we can to ensure that."
"Just one more thing." Felicia says, then pulls out a pen and tears some paper off of an old newspaper. She hands the paper to Zia and it has contact information and a few numbers for Zia to contact. "Burner numbers, and other forms of contact like frequencies we use with shortwave radios. We'll only use code on radio so, we will make sure to deliver you a translation key if we are to contact by radio. Keep that on you and keep us up to date. We will do the same, and keep you informed on anything worth knowing."
"Thanks, Felicia." Zia says as she puts the paper in her pocket. "And thanks again for all the help you two gave me. good luck in starting your family too. I'll be in touch."
As the group walks away, Carl asks "Are you sure she isn't crazy?"
"I'm sure." Zia says.
"But what if she is crazy?" Carl asks.
"Don't be rude." Zia argues. "Those two saved my life. Show some respect for their kindness."
"I'm just saying!" Carl argues. "They used to be FBI SWAT agents! You know who we were just kidnapped by!? The FBI SWAT!"
"They did help us get out." Dana adds.
"Did they though!?" Carl asks. "I'm pretty sure that was all one-hundred percent Silas's mom!"
"Look, some of the things they said were concerning." Dana adds. "Sure, I get it. But we now have an informant! One with insider knowledge on one of our many direct enemies! That's a valuable asset. She's valuable, even if she is crazy. Leave it at that."
"She's not crazy!" Zia argues.