- Lucifer and Poseidon -
Lucifer's new black wings took over the conversations below. The citizens that had been wondering what the archangel was doing were now speculating that this wasn't the same being they had heard about. White wings, red eyes, blue fire. Except for the last one which had been a recent addition to Lucifer's description, the first two had existed for so long that it made Lucifer one of the most well-known beings that isn't an Ancient.
Even Poseidon, whose eyes had been staying on the blue fire for most of the battle, couldn't help his mind's focus shifting. The steam that rose from the wings, along with the durability of the seemingly charred feathers, was growing his anxiety. As he stared at the wings, he caught a glimpse of the severe damage riddling Lucifer's body.
'Can he die?' Poseidon thought.
Lucifer's relentless pursuit was greatly aided by his new wings. The sudden creation of a new power would normally be driving him insane with questions. He had never had black wings. He knew humans thought he did but why would that matter now? He had two main thoughts: to kill Poseidon and that he was thankful for no angels being around. "Black wing" is a slur among angels. Unlike "fallen," it's not known by most of the world. It's a term that angels in Heaven saved for themselves.
Lucifer felt a momentary relief that the voices he heard had shifted from claims of his insanity to those of wondering if he was even the same being. Maybe he wasn't? His eyes didn't feel like his own. His wings--as grateful as he is for their added strength--weren't something he wanted to admit were his own. Existential crisis aside, the damage he'd taken was slowing him down. Had there not been a constant storm of rain, his body would be painted red.
'Why is he being so careful?' Lucifer questioned. 'He was so desperate to see me use these flames in the coliseum match, but now?'
At that moment, Lucifer heard something that gave him the answer he needed.
"I saw another being using blue fire. They looked similar to Lord Hades."
Lucifer's eyes went wide as he dodged a pressurized blast of water from Poseidon. He wasn't completely certain of the situation, so he decided to test the waters.
"YOU AFRAID OF MY BLUE FIRE?!" he shouted at Poseidon. "DOES IT REMIND YOU OF SOMEONE?!"
Poseidon didn't respond. He grinned slightly hoping to hide the anxiety he was now feeling. Unfortunately for him, in his attempts to hide his stress, he missed Lucifer with an attack. If it was just a simple miss he would have been okay, but it was clear that he had been distracted.
'I'm still winning, it's fine,' He comforted himself.
Lucifer's test was successful. He couldn't say for certain that Poseidon was afraid, but he had an opening. The only thing left for him to do was build the image more. While he didn't know much about Chronos, his own personal experiences in life would be enough.
"IT MUST BE DIFFICULT, BEING THE WEAKEST OF YOUR SIBLINGS!"
'What does he know?' Poseidon tried to ignore the comment.
"YOU THINK YOU CAN KILL ME?! ME?! BETTER THAN YOU HAVE TRIED AND FAILED!"
'He's...he's bluffing,' Poseidon missed another attack.
- Death and Peter -
Death's attempts to catch up to Lucifer and Poseidon's battle were proving more difficult than he had anticipated. He was only able to catch glimpses of the two whenever he got close. The damage to Lucifer's body stood out to him. He felt growing desperation. The environment around him wasn't helping. The roots continued their slithering consumption of the buildings while the rain created more crashing waterfalls.
'Maybe I should help his team?'
Joining Lucifer in battle was more important but also more difficult. Helping Lucifer's team would be quicker and could possibly help the overall situation. He wasn't sure what to do so he pulled out his echo and continued pursuing Lucifer and Poseidon. He made a call to Peter.
"Have the snipers been handled?" Death didn't waste time.
"CHRONOS IS STILL ALIVE!" Peter bitterly shouted. "SNIPERS-"
"PETER!" Dimitri's voice could be heard from the other side.
The sound of the echo hitting the ground played through the call.
Peter attempted to grab the echo but was unable to before needing to dodge another arrow from Apollo.
Death didn't end the call but he did put his echo away. He was certain he had killed Chronos. He looked over at the steam clouds in the distance.
'Forgive me.'
- Sabu, Yvere, Heinrich, Elijah, Artemis -
Artemis continued moving after hitting Lucifer. She didn't know how Lucifer was still flying around but she couldn't spend too much time worrying. The reborn chasing her had damaged her pride. As much as she tried, she couldn't land any arrows against them.
'Grim?' she wondered.
She had been told that it was Lucifer's team but the information seemed to be missing a few key details. The one called "Sabu" having a contract was new. The fact that she hadn't been told about it ahead of time frustrated her. As she questioned the rest of the intel she had been giving she looked over at Apollo. She had been making sure to maintain a line-of-sight with her brother at all times for fear that Lucifer or Death might reappear.
'Knew it,' Sabu thought as he threw a wind-assisted knife at Artemis.
As Artemis was crossing buildings she saw the knife coming towards her. She dodged out of the way and changed her trajectory on her hook rope.
'How did he?'
Sabu relayed the information to the other three, "That confirms it! She's trying to maintain a sightline with her brother! Elijah, get ready!"
Sabu ran up the side of the building with his wind magic. He was going to force Artemis in a certain direction.
"Get ready to heal me," Elijah said to Yvere.
The electricity that surged around Elijah's arm sizzled as the rain hit it. His skin burned as he tried to maintain his concentration.
Artemis jumped off the building. She didn't want to meet Sabu head-on so she only had one path to take in her mind. As soon as she jumped off she could see the blue of a lightning bolt shooting toward her. As she went to dodge she noticed what the real target of the bolt was. Her hook rope snapped as the bolt tore through it. As she plummeted she could see Sabu heading straight for her in mid-air.
'Feel honored, lesser,' Artemis made a razor-sharp whistle.
Artemis's body still had enough momentum to carry her to the side of the other building. She jumped through one of the windows of the building and started to run. Sabu was right behind her. She turned to him and pulled out a dagger. She pointed the tip at Sabu as she kept her other hand to her side.
Sabu's eyes were bright against the darkness of the building's interior. He pulled out his own dagger and matched Artemis's stance.
- Hades and Persephone -
Persephone had relayed everything that was going on outside of the wooden dome to Hades. The defensive system of her roots was fully occupied by Poseidon's hydras.
Hades rubbed the cauterized stump where his arm used to be. "Artemis, Apollo, even my own brother..." He closed his eyes. "We should have taken Poseidon's situation more seriously."
Persephone clenched her teeth. "Are you really defending that traitor?"
Hades opened his eyes. "No...I hope he finds peace in the void."
Hades thought about past conversations he had over the centuries. Talks with Zeus about Poseidon hearing "Chronos's whispers" and how they didn't understand it. His attempts to try consoling Poseidon after the losses suffered in the war. One final memory came through, making him clench his hand. It was Poseidon, pleading with him and Zeus to ask other gods for help with Chronos.
"PLEASE!" Poseidon's voice said. "Why do we allow this curse to exist in our home? Surely one of the gods in this world has the ability to properly kill that monster!"
Zeus had said no and reminded Poseidon that any further mentions of Chronos' existence were considered treason. Hades had a choice at the time to stand with Poseidon, who he agreed with, or Zeus, the ruler of the kingdom. Even mentions of the "whispers" Poseidon was hearing stopped. The other family members would only ever talk about it again in hushed tones.