"So you want me to remove the poison because you don't know when it will be activated..."
"You're the only one I think could help, especially after hearing what happened to you from Nyx," replied Athena.
Kisuke reclined on his seat and said, "Might as well tell us how you met her... when she had supposedly died."
Athena nodded, "I met Nyx soon after I reached Kuoh Town in hopes of finding some clues to your whereabouts and to contact Serafall Leviathan who seemed to be staying at your place." Athena then looked towards Nyx before continuing, "When I met her, she was not in a very good condition..."
Understanding her cue, Nyx gulped in nervousness and opened her cloak for everyone to see. While Kisuke is still making a poker face, Serafall's face was that of a shock, "Y-your arm and leg are prosthetics?"
In the Human world, getting prosthetics if you lost your limbs was normal, but in the Supernatural world, that option is only available if one can't afford the limb regrowth treatment or if one is an eccentric that wanted mechanical prosthetics for its various functions like Azazel.
From what Serafall could tell, Nyx's prosthetics were just the most basic that allowed her to move unhindered but someone like her shouldn't have any trouble getting treatment.
Guessing what she's thinking about, Kisuke explained, "It's because normal treatment can't fix her issue."
Serafall looked at her and asked, "Why is that?"
Nyx and Athena also looked at him silently, waiting for his answer. The two of them tried to find a way to return her arm and leg to normal, but they could only figure out the cause of it.
"It's because the attack that hit her doesn't only destroy the flesh, but also reduces the spiritual body into its elementary particles. Which means, her soul right now doesn't have an arm and a leg. The reason why she can't get the treatment is that the limbs won't regenerate properly and would only become something akin to a cancer tumor."
"And the reason why she only has the basic of the basic prosthetics is that's the only way to make a moving limb. My guess is that the prosthetics are made to be very complex to circumvent the problem with the soul and any additional feature would only make it fail."
"As you might have guessed, the only way to fix this is to fix the soul itself. However, you don't really have to worry about that one. Unlike normal souls, a God's soul is resilient and as long as it's in its proper vessel, it'll recover naturally."
Nyx gathered her courage and asked, "...H-how long before I fully recover?"
"It depends on one's natural capabilities. For some individuals, it may only take a few weeks or months, but if your recovery rate is unnaturally low, it may even take centuries. Adding to the fact that my attack last time was a bit special, you can multiply that time by ten or upwards," answered Kisuke properly.
"Is there a way to accelerate her recovery?" implored Athena.
Kisuke immediately nodded, "Of course there is. With my help, she'll be able to return to normal within just a few days."
Nyx and Athena's expressions change to that of delight, however, before they could say anything else, Kisuke added, "But then again, I don't have any obligation to that, do I? In the first place, I'm the one who caused this to my enemy and shouldn't even have any reason to explain this to you."
Their expression froze. Thinking about it, Kisuke is indeed right. He didn't have any reason to do them a favor.
"Then again, it's not like I can't really help, so I'm giving you an option. In exchange for the information you have, you can have me cure your infliction instead of helping Athena getting rid of the poison. The decision is on you."
Athena became nervous at Kisuke's offer. Since he already figured out that most of her information came from Nyx, Kisuke made this offer, 'Did I make a mistake bringing Nyx with me?'
However, as soon as that thought came into her mind, she shook her head, 'No... It was Nyx's information and she's the one who has the right to make a deal.' Athena looked forward and waited for Nyx's answer without saying anything to sway her decision.
Kisuke admired Athena's stance and looked towards Nyx who's now making various expressions as she tried to come up with a decision. She also looked towards Athena but the latter didn't even face her and didn't do anything to interject at Kisuke's offer so she knew that she had her blessing to ask for a cure.
But after a few minutes of contemplation, Nyx smiled wryly and shook her head, "...Please go on with the original agreement."
Athena's eyes widened at her decision but it was Kisuke who asked her, "Why?"
Seemingly getting over her fear, Nyx answered clearly, "Although I'm not a good person, I still pride myself as one of the primordial Goddesses. I can't possibly betray the one who helped me in my trying times. Besides, her situation is more urgent."
"...Nyx..." Athena muttered her name.
"But didn't you just betray Hades?" Kisuke continued asking.
"That's indeed the case. But the relation between me and Hades is purely for the sake of our mutual goal."
"Goal?"
Nyx then looked straight into Kisuke's eyes, "Before I say anything else, will you promise to get rid of the poison within Athena's body?"
Kisuke sighed, "...Fine. I promise I'll remove the poison, but only Hades's poison."
Nyx smiled and nodded, "That's fine. That's why we came here."
Nyx then proceeded to tell them Hades and Apollo's real goal.
While Hades wanted the whole Underworld for himself and that isn't something new, Serafall was shocked to hear that Apollo wanted Heaven.
The real reason why Nyx cooperated with them is that she, along with those two, knew the threat that the God of the Bible left behind, the Sacred Gear System. More specifically, the Longinus users as they are people who could reach the Gods without becoming one themselves.
When the God of the Bible was still around, he was the one maintaining the Sacred Gear System. However, Nyx theorized that he was instead limiting the system rather than maintaining it.
One point of evidence of this is after he died, the Sacred Gear System continued to grow, and right now, not only the Longinus but also normal Sacred Gears are attaining Balance Breakers like it was nothing.
"Balance Breakers could only happen when one was able to break away from the limiting system of the Sacred Gears. In the past, only Longinus users could attain this because of the potential and strength of the Sacred Gear itself. Now, not only are the Longinus users getting stronger in a strange manner, but also the normal Sacred Gears are catching up to them. One of these days, I wouldn't be surprised if a Sacred Gear was suddenly classified as a Longinus."
"Let's say that this is true, but how is the Sacred Gear system a threat to you?" asked Serafall.
"Simple answer... Because the Sacred Gear system is for the Humans."
"Now I see your point." Kisuke nodded, "If it's the Humans who can attain strength enough to go against the Gods, it's only a matter of time before they declare war on other mythologies."
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Editors:
28th00: Oh, that's what Apollo wanted, huh? Hero Faction is an example of the Sacred Gear's, even if mind control, enslavement and the poison jar method was used enmasse on like 99% of them. Seriously, screw those guys.
Staz Irvine