- ??? -
The cloaked man that had been cheering on Lucifer during the coliseum match walked around one of the lower cities of Olympus until he was stopped by a woman.
"What do you want?"
The woman in question was Aphrodite. Her long fuchsia hair was tied into a ponytail. She folded one arm under her breasts and grabbed the man by his collar, lowering his hood.
"The fuck do you think you were doing rooting for that fallen?!" she nearly spat.
The man gripped his hand around her wrist. "Don't touch me, whore."
Aphrodite's eyes went so wide they looked as if they were going to pop out. She threw the man into the wall of a nearby store, drawing the attention of the nearby citizens. Aphrodite whipped her head around, warning every onlooker with her stare that they better leave now. Her hair started to glow slightly along with her eyes. She looked down at the man, ready to strike.
The man looked up at her and smiled. "Ares would be so~ proud of you."
As Aphrodite took a step forward the man launched himself into the sky with a pillar of stone. He was picked up by a demon with forward-facing horns. He looked down at Aphrodite and gave a quick wave goodbye.
The ground shook under Aphrodite's foot as she screamed, "GET BACK HERE!"
The demon carrying the man spoke, "You should be more careful, Julius."
Julius smiled. "I know what I'm doing. That's one down, let's hope Salim's side went well."
- Salim -
A slim-framed man with medium-length black hair was being chased by a large group of minotaurs. The white cloth around his body fluttered as he outran his pursuers. He turned back to them and jeered.
"Come on! Even an oni could run faster!"
The moment the pursuing minotaurs heard that their strides got far more aggressive, to the point where they were pushing each other out of the way.
- Poseidon and Zeus -
Zeus was sitting on a bed with a group of women wrapped around his body. Some were feeding him, some were offering wine, and the rest were on his crotch. Poseidon's sudden arrival in the room got everyone's immediate attention.
"Brother, we have a problem!" Poseidon shouted.
The women scattered as Zeus got out of bed and dressed. "This must be serious for you to interrupt me."
Poseidon spoke firmly, "It is. There appear to be riots in the lower cities."
Zeus sighed. "Get the soldiers to handle it then. Surely you know better than to bring this kind of problem to me."
"There's an eldritch involved!" Poseidon said.
Zeus's face scrunched with anger. "Is it "that" one?"
Poseidon shook his head. "I don't know but given how much damage is being done, it might be safe to assume. It was spotted in Aspída."
Zeus clenched his fist. "Figures it would start with the farthest city, that coward!"
Poseidon motioned to the door. "Hades was already informed of this. Lucky for us that the Rider is here."
Zeus clicked his tongue. "I don't want him interfering with this. This is OUR territory's problem. I'll teach that eldritch piece of shit that he should have stayed in his nightmare."
Zeus ran past Poseidon. The edges of Poseidon's mouth slowly lifted into a grin.
- Hades, Death, Persephone -
Lucifer decided he would go back to his team for now while Death looks around for any suspicious guards. Lucifer told Death that the voices he had heard didn't sound normal, as if he wasn't hearing the actual voice of the beings that were speaking. Death started searching around the palace but was quickly stopped by a tap on his shoulder by Persephone. Persephone was with Hades, and both were looking at Death with worry.
"What's the matter?" Persephone asked.
Death tried his best to lie, "Something's been feeling off to me."
Persephone started playing with her hair. "W-what do you mean?"
Persephone's reaction made Death instantly suspicious. As he went to speak, his body language was more aggressive than he meant, which made Hades step in.
"What's going on?" Hades interrupted. "I feel like you're both hiding something from me."
Death and Persephone looked at each other and then at Hades. Persephone was hesitant. She wasn't going to say anything until Hades asked her a question.
"Ever since you spoke with Lucifer in the kitchen something's been wrong," Hades looked worried. "What's going on?"
Persephone could lie to Death without issue, but the feeling in her stomach of continuing to lie to Hades was too much for her.
"Sorry, Lucifer..." Persephone mumbled to herself.
"What?" Hades and Death both asked.
Persephone stopped playing with her hair. "During the coliseum match with Poseidon.." She took a breath. "Poseidon almost killed Lucifer."
Persephone had expected Hades to get mad and ask her why she would hide such a thing. What she didn't expect was the feeling she had gotten from Death, which immediately made her feel as if she had made some grave mistake.
Hades wanted to ask Persephone why she would hide something like that until he felt an ominous aura from Death that told him all he needed to know. He held in a shudder as he looked at the black smoke in front of him. He stepped in front of Persphone.
"I know how-"
"Poseidon..." Death's voice seemed to chill the air as he interrupted Hades. "I guess your brother didn't tell you..."
"Hear Lucifer's side first!" Persephone made sure to be loud.
Persephone's face was serious. She pushed Hades out of the way and spoke into the black smoke of Death's face.
"Lucifer hid this for a reason! He obviously knew this is how you would respond and he didn't want that! So go listen to his side before you run off to fight my satyr's-anus of a step-brother!"
"Dear, think of his position," Hades said quietly.
Persephone turned her head to Hades and glared. "He's an asshole! Whatever he's been dealing with lately doesn't excuse his behavior."
"Right..." Hades sighed as he looked at Death. "Please, go speak with Lucifer first."
Death walked away from the two of them. The moment he was out of earshot the two made a deep sigh of relief.
Persephone shook her head. "I had heard the stories of that form but never experienced it in person."
Hades laughed nervously. "Yeah, it's something most gods that have experienced know to avoid at all costs," He turned to Persephone. "I'm still upset that you hid that from me. You could have told me in private."
Persephone looked away from Hades. "I just thought that you had enough to deal with recently. First Thanatos, now this? I was going to wait until after they left."
At the mention of Thanatos's name, Hades's face scrunched a little. "Don't remind me of that slacker. He better be dead after how long he's been gone."
- Death, Lucifer, Lucifer's team -
Lucifer was exchanging fireballs with Peter when he noticed Death approaching in hunter form. He knew there were two possibilities. He walked up to Death and bet on the first possibility.
"Did you find the guards?"
"Poseidon," Death responded.
'Shit,' Lucifer thought to himself. "I'll explain."
The team was now all staring at Death and Lucifer. Lucifer looked back at them and gave a look that said "Really?" before turning back to Death.
"I knew how you would react and I figured it wasn't worth the trouble. It's not like you can march up to Olympus and kill Poseidon for what he did, not that I would even want you to. I'm alive, and that's all that matters."
"The fuck it is!" Peter shouted.
'Read the room, Peter!' Lucifer shouted in his head.
"I have an idea," Peter continued. "How about Death has a match with Poseidon, where he "almost" kills the trident-wieldin' cunt, and then let's see how Zeus reacts to that."
"He makes a good point," Death said.
"No, he doesn't," Lucifer turned and glared at Peter. "The best thing for us to do is just let this slide without adding any more fuel to the fire," He sighed. "How about we wait until our trip is over before doing anything? You can have a conversation with Poseidon and Zeus about this AFTERWARD. I don't want to cause any further damage to what is supposed to be a vacation."
Death left his hunter form. "Fine."
"Good," Lucifer made a sigh of relief.
Death went to rejoin Hades and Persephone while Lucifer stayed and continued training with his team.
'I'm helping the god that tried to kill me...' Lucifer thought to himself.