- Julius and Aphrodite -
Aphrodite was still injured. Julius had told her that he wasn't allowing her to be healed as insurance should she go back on her betrayal of Olympus. Her mind raced between what she should be saying to Julius to keep herself safe right now, and what she could say to Zeus should he show up and ask her what's she doing with the enemies.
Julius was giving commands to the various cloaked figures, "I'll stay up here and deal with any more reinforcements," He pointed at the green-cloaked figure. "Go to the Underworld. You know your priority targets. Don't engage Death unless you're certain you have the shot."
The cloaked figure nodded and left in a burst of wind.
Julius turned his sights to Aphrodite. "You have two options: one, you can help us and secure a better position in our organization once this coup is over, or two, you can go and hide and stay out of our way for now."
"Is the latter option a trick?" Aphrodite said with a small amount of defiance in her voice.
Julius cracked his neck. "Don't confuse our organization with your family. Ask yourself this; why should you risk your life for Olympus? Is what's left of your family really worth protecting? After the war with Helio-"
"Enough!" Aphrodite interrupted. "Not another word about that war..."
Julius sighed and turned to walk away. "Just stay out of our way and we'll come to collect you after this is all said and done."
Aphrodite slumped to the floor. She wanted to fight against Julius. She wanted to fight for her family. She wanted so many things that the fear in her mind wouldn't let her have. Instead of thinking about Zeus or Julius, she was now repeating one thing in her mind.
'Can't win against him..."
- Underworld side -
Lucifer, Death, and Lucifer's team were at one of the Underworld's smaller coliseums. This coliseum's floor was filled with short white grass. Goals had been placed on either side with a brown ball in the middle. Lao, Elijah, and Dimitri were playing a game of soccer against Yvere, Sabu, and Peter. with Heinrich using his magic to create goalies for the two teams. Lucifer and Death were watching from the stands with two large barrels of wine. Lucifer was drinking from a mug, while Death was tipping his barrel into his mouth.
Death burped. "All these millennia pass and humans still play this game."
Lucifer wiped his mouth. "It's only gotten more popular from what I've heard."
Hades and Persephone were sitting a few seats behind the two. Persephone was playing with her hair while Hades was tapping his foot. The information the two had gotten prior to this had given them both an unshakeable anxiety.
Hades whispered to Persephone, "It'll be fine, just fine. Brother can handle it, and if anything he's probably been waiting for something like this."
Persephone whispered back, "Of course, yes, definitely. I still think we should tell those two. They could help."
Hades shook his head no. "If my brother says he can handle it, I believe him. I think it's for the best if we let them actually relax instead of involving them. You know if they get even a hint of a problem they wouldn't hesitate to run up to Olympus and help."
Persephone stopped playing with her hair. "That's what I like about them though. How many gods do you know would help, or would help without asking for a significant favor in return?"
"Nice scissoring, Sabu!" Lucifer yelled.
Hades smiled as he tapped his foot harder. "I know..."
Death raised an eyebrow at Lucifer. "Scissoring?"
"It's a soccer term for the footwork Sabu's doing," Lucifer said. "I read up on it when Peter and I were planning the trip. I figured they'd want to play a game of this while they were here."
Death looked at Sabu. "He does seem quite skilled at this."
Lucifer finished off his mug. "It was part of his training. Good footwork can make a world of difference with wind magic."
"I remember Zach telling me that," Death said. "It's a shame he and Sabu haven't had more opportunities to train together."
Lucifer sighed. "Let's not open that floodgate. Zach gets enough requests in Purgatory as is. If he starts training with Sabu then Lao will want his turn, and then Zach will want a match with Peter, which will lead to those two having a long back-and-forth," He groaned. "Speaking of which, how's Mary doing?"
"She's fine," Death said. "Still has the occasional trouble speaking with me."
Lucifer grinned. "You know a good way to deal with that would be-" He stopped and pulled out his echo. "Please be anyone else..." He sighed. "Hello?"
"It's Kahvis," Kahvis said.
'Strange,' Lucifer thought to himself. "What's going on?"
The sound of multiple voices asking Kahvis questions came through the echo. "I wanted to ask some questions about the woman that trained you."
Lucifer looked at Death and gave a shrug. "Why?"
"I'm always looking for new allies and I thought that the woman who trained you might be someone worth seeking out," Kahvis said.
Lucifer laughed nervously. "Yeah...about that. She really doesn't like being tied down to any one place or person. When she trained me she told me to just call her 'Master' because of how often she changes her actual name. Even if you can find her, I highly doubt she would help you."
"Hmm," Kahvis hummed. "It's still worth trying, so long as she's trustworthy. Not to speak ill of your master, but beings can change for the worst sometimes."
"Of course," Lucifer held his mug out to Death. "If I'm being honest, I don't know if you can trust her, mostly because I don't know much about her other than her love of fire magic."
Death filled Lucifer's mug and mumbled to himself. "I wonder what her name is now?"
"I'll keep that in mind," Kahvis said. "Thanks for your time."
"Sure?" Lucifer ended the call and turned to Death. "That was strange. I hope Kahvis is okay. If they're searching for gods like Master, then they must be nearing that war with the Huitzil pantheon."
"Don't concern yourself with it for now," Death said casually. "Let's just enjoy our time here."
- Poseidon -
Poseidon walked up to the portal that Lucifer had taken to Olympus. He pricked his finger and rubbed the blood onto the stone. The portal came to life and Poseidon turned around and spoke to the grey-skinned man behind him.
"I assume you have it?"
The grey-skinned man's silver eyes matched his hair and hooded robe. He pointed to his back and didn't respond to Poseidon.
Poseidon just grunted and walked through the portal.
"Lord Poseidon," The guards by the Underworld's portal bowed to Poseidon.
The grey-skinned man came through the portal soon after.
"Thanatos," The guards greeted with an irritated tone.
Thanatos gave a lazy glance to the guards. "Where's the Lord?"
"In sigma coliseum," One guard said.
"What time is it?" Poseidon asked the guards.
The two guards looked at each other in confusion.
"What do you mea-"
In a flash of silver, Thanatos severed the guards' heads.
- Underworld side -
Death burped as he moved the empty barrel to his side. "That was a good game, I think."
Lucifer stood up and stretched. "I think Sabu might be a little too good at this. I think for the next round they should play four-v-two," He leaned his head back. "You two okay? I could feel Hades's foot-tapping from here."
"We're fine," Persephone answered with a nervous grin.
"Mmm," Lucifer hummed as he gave a doubtful look.
"Lucifer, you might want to go stop them," Death said.
"What?" Lucifer looked down on the field and noticed Sabu and Lao arguing.
Lucifer conjured his wings and flew down to the field. He separated Lao and Sabu with his wings and asked them what the problem was.
"It's not worth it, Lao," Dimitri said.
"I'd rather have a match with him than play this game," Lao said.
"There'll be plenty of time for that later," Peter insisted.
"It's not as if it'll prove anything," Sabu said.
"How's that?" Lao questioned.
Sabu glared. "You're better at hand-to-hand, probably always will be. Ever since I got this contract you've been impatiently wanting another match. Why can't you just let it go and enjoy this vacation."
"Yeah, Lao, why?" Dimitri asked in a tone that implied he knew the answer.
Lao looked around at the team. "I...I-I don't need to explain myself! All this time is just wasted! There are gods in this world with thousands of years of a headstart and none of you seem to worry about that!"
Lucifer sighed. "Training every second of every day isn't how you become stronger."
Lao clicked his tongue. "Says the one with a headstart."
Peter's tone shifted to anger, "Lao."
Lao pushed past everyone. He ignored the calls for his name as he walked out of the coliseum.
"And that's what I've feared this entire time," Dimitri said matter-of-factly.
"Really?" Peter said. "Ya really want to act superior about this?"
Dimitri glared at Peter. "Just because you've known him longer doesn't mean you know him better. He's always wanted to improve himself. It's his greatest strength and his greatest curse. After that unknown took your team's job he seemed like he was missing something, some kind of purpose."
"I'll go talk with him," Lucifer said, flying off.
Dimitri's glare shifted to Lucifer.
Peter gripped his hand on Dimitri's shoulder. "Don't blame Luce for this. If ya know Lao as well as ya say, then ya know that Luce isn't responsible for his behavior."
Dimitri sighed. "Why can't he just be happy with peace?"
Yvere spoke up, "From what he's told me it seemed like you liked the part of him."
Dimitri chuckled. "I love that part of him. A man who endlessly pursues improvement in a world of monsters...never blaming his past for who he is..." He wiped his eye and grunted. "I just don't want to see him self-destruct because of that pursuit."