"curse you Obito"
He said as he flew towards his home his heart feeling a bit torn. Unknown to him Demeter had her eyes on his back as he flew, she scratched her chin in thought before turning to look at the fight.
…..
[Minutes prior]
Both Bia and Zelus had opted to search for Apollo together as– according to Bia– it would be boring to search alone plus Zeus had not expressed on how the search for Apollo should be done as such it was fine as long as they find him, unfortunately for Bia, Zelus wasn't really much of a conversationalist and much preferred to stay silent which in turn meant she would either stay silent or be the one to carry the conversation forward, she opted for the former and the two of them flew in silence.
"it doesn't matter how fast we are if we can't detect his presence we're just flying around, we've circled the isle of Delos a few times now and we can't even see his soul with our divine sight"
She let out a tired sigh as her eyes spotted the isle of Delos again and her nose was once again assaulted by the sickening smell of Ambrosia, they've been circling around from Crete to Delos and everything around for at least 3 times now and still haven't found Apollo, he was certainly good at hiding no doubt about that
"what is this, are you saying that the task that lord Zeus gave us is pointless? Such blasphemy coming from you is appalling sister, you dare suggest"
"enough with that you idiot, I get that our mother told us to follow Zeus and listen to him but must you go so far, I mean for sure he's quite handsome and with a silver tongue that I quite enjoy but must you lick his boots every second of the day?"
"huh? What are you–"
"hold up, do you sense that?"
Before Zelus could speak any further Bia interrupted him as she felt a weird feeling in the air or rather, she had felt it about a day ago but it suddenly seemed to swell in size. Zelus paused and focused his senses as well.
"Mm it's Miasma, yesterday it wasn't nearly this potent"
"yeah, I saw some humans warring the other day but wars shouldn't be producing this much miasma, what do you think is going on?"
When wars are being fought the negative emotions that all parties involved in said war feel create a Miasma, the miasma usually disappears within a year due to it Being absorbed by other living creatures like animals and plants this in turn creates monsters, the monsters may or may not attack humans they usually attack them but the humans fair just fine, witches and warlocks as well as warriors and heroes help with that. However such high levels of miasma might have unpredictable effects.
"Something is definitely unnatural about it, do you think it's Apollo's doing?"
"Someone's coming"
Bia turned with vigilance only to see Kratos flying towards them, she sighed in disappointment, she had hoped it was an ambush from Apollo, she certainly wasn't a battle maniac like Nike but she enjoys a fight or two herself. It took seconds and Kratos was already before her, he looked around seemingly just now sensing the miasma.
"Kratos why are you here?"
"Oh right, the king called off the search for Apollo"
Bia and Zelus were naturally curious as to why and Kratos told them the situation as he understood it, shocking the both of them.
"well this certainly is surprising but before that don't you think we should investigate this Miasma? If we've been searching for the wrong traitor the real traitors could be behind this unnatural increase in miasma"
Bia Suggested, even if Zeus ordered them to come back immediately they can't really ignore the sudden increase in miasma and go back plus it would look good on Her if she unravelled the schemes of the traitor and perhaps maybe Zeus would be appreciative enough to lie with her, he was certainly the only God that had her interest.
"did you hear what I said? The real traitors have already been apprehended, Zeus ordered you to come back are you going to disobey, I thought you were loyal"
"Do not question my loyalty Kratos"
"Then follow orders and let's return to Olympus"
Despite not wanting to seem disloyal she couldn't help but feel that it would be better if they investigated the cause of such miasma, it was also the first time she had ever had the thought of not following orders.
…..
Back to Olympus, the royal palace was in shambles as the battle between Zeus and Athena raged on, Zeus dodged Athena's swing aimed at his neck before following up with a kick to her midsection, however Athena Blocked the attack with the scythe for the umpteenth time. Zeus then used his legs to push her off and sent her flying back, he then commanded lightning from both above and below to Attack Athena. The ground they were on was made of clouds and thus the perfect battle ground for Zeus.
Athena utilized the scythe and spun it around fast slicing the attacks as they come, she jumped back making sure none of the lightning bolts were behind her, the scythe was both a great weapon for attacking and blocking.
their battle seemed like a stalemate, neither of them landing a decisive blow on the other.
"it looks like they're even"
Commented Hermes as he watched the battle along with the others, to him it seemed as if the battle would continue forever or at least until one of them slips up.
"is that what it looks like to you?"
Nike asked with a bit of disappointment in her
voice.
"That's what it looks like to most of us but do you think differently, Nike?"
Demeter offered her opinion, she wasn't the type to throw down and fight as such she had held out hope that Athena would come out on top, but it seemed Nike held a different opinion.
"of course, the king has complete control over this battle"
"How so?"
"neither of the two have gone beyond Olympus, the battle they're having is one where speed and power are the main factors yet, they've not punched each other beyond Olympus yet."
It wasn't Nike that answered but it was Hera and it was true, at such a high speed and high power battle one of them should have punched the other straight off Olympus, not only that but the way they're moving neither of them have flown the battle beyond Olympus which is strange it's almost as if one of them is making sure that the battle doesn't leave Olympus.
"Athena is the one attacking and The king is Only dodging and counter attacking when necessary not only that but he is only using his lightning and he hasn't even begun using his second concept, he isn't going all out"
Nike said a bit impressed by Zeus and causing everyone watching to realize that Zeus isn't just the God of lightning but he is also the God of the sky. Nike suddenly felt the same sensation she had felt a while ago, the same feeling of someone touching her soul however this time it was more vivid but she still couldn't pin point who was doing that, for the time being she ignored it. The battle happening right now was more important.
The sound of metals clashing resounded throughout Olympus as Zeus and Athena clashed against each other, with Zeus grabbing the scythe by the top part of the handle and using his strength to stop it mid swing, Athena used her increasing strength to push the scythe down as its tip was very close to his forehead, if she wasn't Seething in anger she would have realized…
Zeus, using his strength he overpowered her and pushed her back causing her to slide across the ground, he then jumped as well opening the distance between them. Athena tried to pursue but suddenly dropped to her knees, her grip on the scythe felt loose like she couldn't put anymore strength to holding it. The steady stream of power that she was feeling was gone not only that but she couldn't even use her concept of war.
"Well this was fun"
He commented as he let out a sigh of relief, truthfully if the fight had gone for 5 more minutes he might have been overwhelmed by her, it is a good thing she attacked while still below him in strength and speed as such even if she was getting stronger as the fight went on she wasn't quite close to his power level yet had she waited a day or two then maybe she could have won.
'Need to sever the connection she has with war, it will leave her powerless for a while but that should be a fitting punishment plus maybe a 100 years in Tartarus'
He thought as he silently walked to Athena, if she hadn't been so angry she would have noticed that when he grabbed the scythe he ran an unnoticeable line of lightning from his hand to her hand, it was fortunate enough that the only dangerous part of the scythe was its blade so he could grab its handled without worry.
Arriving before her, Athena Swung the scythe at him, a last attempt to attack but Zeus simply grabs the scythe and pulls it off her hand and all of a sudden Athena felt a sense of defeat.
"you know when I said your mother loved me more than you, that wasn't a lie, she actually wanted to kill you before you were born just so I wouldn't eat her but I refused, I was sick of her anyways she was too needy."
He spoke and kneeled before her, he then grasped her shoulder before zapping her with another dose of conceptual lightning paralyzing her body and extending the time limit of how long she be unable to use her power.
Looking at Athena struggle to remain conscious Zeus was feeling a strange sense of regret, considering what he proposed to the other goddesses he felt like he shouldn't have eaten Metis because if he hadn't he might have had this idea of having multiple wives sooner.
"Oh well, you win some you lose some, or rather why didn't I think of this sooner"
He said whilst flipping Athena on her back before using his divine sight and then proceeding to plunge his hand through her stomach, his hand travelled deeper into stomach almost as if he had plunged it into a pit. For Gods the body housed the soul of the God or rather the body acted as sort of casing for the soul like a bag full of water with the soul being the water, the soul then housed whatever concepts that are within their domain/divinity in similar fashion as the body to the soul.
The soul of a God a is quite large like an entire ocean contained in a vase or cup, hence why they can heal injuries as long as the soul remains intact, incidentally humans were also made in a similar fashion only their soul weren't as large and could hardly heal injuries. Zeus was essentially trying to have his hand reach the bottom of the ocean without fully submerging in it, which is impossible but by extending His own soul further he can accomplish that.
When a God chooses which is concept they wish to reign over that concept is imbedded at the centre of their soul, incidentally if two gods happen to share the same concept, there isn't anything of note to be worried about.
As Zeus was feeling through Athena's soul feeling the deepness of it he reached its centre however a shadow suddenly cast itself over him.
"looks like it's a wrap, huh?"
Zeus immediately sprung back dodging the sword aimed to split his head in two, he jumped about 5 meters away and looked at his assailant.
"I thought I said you were banished"
He said standing up and wiping the blood off his arm, Hephaestus stood over the unconscious body of Athena with two swords on hand, a charred curved Blade placed on his shoulder and a black similarly curved blade pointed at Zeus.
Hephaestus didn't respond to his statement but instead quickly grabbed Athena put her over his other shoulder and prepared to escape, Zeus ever ready was preparing to give chase it wouldn't even take a second to catch Him however before either of them could do anything Demeter Shouted.
"ZEUS HEPHAESTUS CHALLENGES YOU TO A DUEL!!!"
"Huh!!!"
Both gods sounded as they heard the goddess' words. She was already in close proximity and she quickly landed between the two followed by the others.
"Demeter What are you talking about?"
Demeter turned to Hephaestus, giving him a wink before answering Zeus's question.
"You see Hephaestus here wishes to take the throne for himself"
Lightning sparked off his body as heard such blasphemy coming from Demeter.
"what?!"
.....
A/N: I hope you all are well and good, how about that kenpacho VS Gremmy fight?
Anime fans are eating good ngl.
love yall!
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