- Lucifer and Poseidon -
The fight between the two was drawing more attention from the fleeing citizens of the Underworld. Many were finding a high place to stay so they could watch the battle. Most thought Poseidon had come to help them and that Lucifer had gone insane. Lucifer was hearing some of the citizens' voices as he flew around. He could tell by the clearness of what they were saying that this was a similar situation to the palace.
"Why is the fallen fighting Lord Poseidon?"
"Maybe he went mad after losing his match?"
"The fallen's gone mad."
Lucifer tried his best to tune these voices out. The rain's weight against his wings, combined with the evasiveness he had to maintain was taxing on his mind. His vision wasn't completely back to normal either. He felt like an animal that was surviving on pure instinct. If he wasn't furious with Poseidon, he might have tried to retreat.
Poseidon's confidence showed on his face. He was clearly wearing Lucifer down with his barrage of attacks. Multiple times throughout the battle he had blown a hole through Lucifer's wings. As confident as he was, he couldn't help hesitating whenever he caught a glimpse of Lucifer's eyes. The eyes shone clearly through the rain, making the bitter anger behind them stand out even more.
The two's fight was tearing up any part of the Underworld that got caught up in it. Poseidon's blasts of water punched holes in the buildings and roots while Lucifer's blue fire charred anything it touched. Even though it was obscuring, the steam clouds that formed from the fighting kept the citizens watching. On the outside, it looked like two beings, one of fire, and one of water were slamming into each other over and over again.
Poseidon had an unexpected level of caution when dealing with Lucifer's blue fire. He never went for an attack that could leave him open, despite Lucifer's best efforts to try and bait him into trading magical blows. His carefulness, whether purposeful or not, was helping him maintain his advantage in the fight.
Lucifer's mind was nearing its breaking point. His body was in agony from the damage he had taken while his head was filled with the distrusting voices of the citizens below. He wasn't their enemy, he had helped them, and now he was putting his life on the line. He landed on a roof, surprising Poseidon and the citizens. He shouted at the top of his lungs as he looked down at the spectators.
"HE'S BETRAYING YOU, YOU FUCKING FOOLS!"
Lucifer knew what he was doing was wrong. He knew that he didn't have the luxury of stopping to yell at citizens who weren't even listening. He paid for this mistake. A shower of watery bullets tore his wings to ribbons. He fell to his knees, feeling as if time had slowed down. Even though his pain was excruciating, his life potentially about to end, he couldn't help but point his anger at the voices in his head.
"I guess the fallen's finally done."
"What did he scream? Something about betraying us?"
"He really has gone mad."
Lucifer knew he needed to quickly replace his wings and continue flying. The severity of his anger slowed him down slightly. He released his wings and went to conjure new ones. From his peripheral, he noticed something was off as he moved the wings to guard against Poseidon's next barrage.
"Black wings?" Poseidon questioned.
Lucifer's black wings sizzled as the watery bullets hit them. They were damaged but still flyable. He could feel the heat emanating off of them. He had a thought, one that he wouldn't have supported in the right state of mind. He exhaled slowly, moved his wings back, and stared up at Poseidon. The black feathers ignited into a roaring blue flame. He launched himself at Poseidon with every drop of strength he had, the rain steaming behind him as he went.
- Death and Thanatos -
'SHIT!' Thanatos thought after seeing Death kill Chronos.
Thanatos teleported to intercept Death. He needed to buy time more than anything else. He couldn't help his hesitation as he moved. He blocked out the voice in his head telling him to turn around and run as fast as he could. He got in front of Death. He did his best to sound confident.
"You're not going anywhere!"
"Move," Death threw his scythe to the side.
Thanatos felt something off about Death. This wasn't the usual oppressing aura. This was something colder, even more pressuring. Death was at his side in an instant. He teleported away, not realizing that Death was clearly heading for Poseidon and Lucifer's battle. He swallowed, reared back his scythe, teleported, and went for the nape of Death's neck.
Death grabbed Thanatos's scythe just below the blade. "You-"
Thanatos let go of his scythe and teleported away, tripping backward as he did. As he fell onto his ass he felt his body freeze. The image of Death's shadowy form standing above him in the heavy rain, holding his scythe, was too much. He mustered what was left of his confidence and spoke in a shaky tone.
"You won't be able to stop Poseidon from killing Lucifer."
Death threw Thanatos's scythe off the top of the tree roots. Against a different opponent, he would have just blinked and snapped their neck. Thanatos's magic complicated things. He wouldn't be able to easily catch the silver-haired traitor but he also couldn't risk leaving Thanatos alone. He hadn't been standing motionless to be menacing, he had been considering his options. Thanatos's shaky tone had given him an idea.
"Have you ever been hunted?"
Thanatos felt Death's words chill his body.
Death continued, "Do you have any idea what it means to be my enemy? To be a problem I want removed immediately? You're one of the few beings in this world that can actually run from me, but I wonder, for how long?"
As Thanatos's eyes went wide with fear, Death blinked, he only needed a brief window. His hand shot towards Thanatos's left eye, ripping through it. His hand was almost deep enough to get the kill until Thanatos teleported over the open air next to the top of the tree roots.
Thanatos plummeted to the ground. The pain in his eye combined with his fear made him slow to teleport to soften his impact. His body slammed into the partially flooded streets.
Death turned back to Poseidon and Lucifer's battle. He wasn't sure how he would catch up to the two's erratic fighting. He started moving towards them with a nagging feeling in his mind.
- Chronos -
The backward-flowing water carried the pieces of Chronos's skull and body back up to the tree roots. Time seemed to rewind on his corpse, with even the mush of his skull reforming into his head and floating back onto his body. His body's numerous injuries healed as he leaned forward. He cracked his neck and looked down at his hands.
["Even he can't do it..."]
Chronos grabs his scythe and stands up. He stopped the rain that had been pouring down on him. He watched Death and Thanatos's interaction, hoping that Death would win. He had no plans on going for a rematch. He didn't know why Death was so adamant about him dying but he knew it was a sign to try and avoid the hunter at all costs. He jumped down from the top of the tree roots.
["Where's the other one?"]
His eyes scanned the Underworld. He noticed the wooden dome that Persephone had created. While he wasn't certain that Hades was inside, he felt that it was worth at least checking. There was a part of his mind that told him that he should just look for an exit. He told himself that it wasn't fear stopping him. Regardless of whether or not he believed that, he was still hesitating.
['The hunter will kill Poseidon, so that's one of three.']
With that thought, he had decided he was going to just leave it until he noticed one of Apollo's arrows hitting the dome. That was enough evidence for him. He was now convinced that Hades must be inside. He ran to the dome.
- Peter, Dimitri, Lao -
Peter had frequently been turning to check on the top of the tree roots. He had been asked by Dimitri why he kept stopping to which he had replied "I just wanna make sure!" Once he saw a body that clearly wasn't Death's fall off the top he made a sigh of relief, that was until he saw the water go back up. He had stopped the other two.
"Stick to one plan!" Dimitri shouted at Peter.
Peter kept staring at the tree roots. He knew something was off. He didn't hear Dimitri and Lao shouting at him to keep moving. He watched as Chronos jumped down the tree roots. The fact that he didn't see Death sent a wave of fear through his body. Maybe it was just denial, his mind refusing to believe that Death had lost. He started moving towards Chronos.
"What now!" Dimitri's tone was getting angrier.
Peter spoke quickly, "WE DON'T KNOW WHERE THE TRIDENT IS OR COULD BE! CHRONOS IS A BIGGER PROBLEM!"
Dimitri's tone was dismissive, "I thought you said Death was enough?!"
Peter turned and shouted right in Dimitri's face. "HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN!"
Lao ran past the two. "Come on! We can't afford to argue!"
Dimitri followed close behind Peter and spoke so Lao couldn't hear him. "Be honest with me, how bad is this?"
"Run if ya want," Peter responded solemnly.
Dimitri had never been on a mission before but he felt he knew Peter well enough to understand how bad this situation was. He looked at Lao's back, swallowed, and kept his eyes forward with determination.