Hunter open his eyes to find himself locked inside a dungeon. The sprite moved towards the doors and spoke as loud as he could. "Hello?!"
"Don't bother; there's no one around. Zeus and the other gods are still deciding what to do with us."
'That voice ...'
Hunter turned around to see a dark-skinned woman with dark brown hair and eyes sitting on the ground in the same cell he was in. "You're the same person who told me not to do anything back at the temple, aren't you?"
The dark-skinned woman smiles and her head tilts sideways, slightly. "Looks like your call has been heard."
"Huh?" The sprite turned around to see Athena standing on the other side of the bars with a guard by her side who opened the cell. "You," the daughter of Zeus pointed to the sprite. "Follow me."
'Again?'
Hunter looked back at the dark-skinned woman who locked her eyes with the teal-green-eyed boy for a split second before walking out of the cell and following stormy-eyed Athena through the rocky path of what looked to be an underground dungeon and out under the sun.
When they got to a clear grasslands with no other signs of life in sight, the goddess turned to the sprite with hands folded over her chest. "How'd you get mixed up with the Gaeans anyway?" Athena asked.
'Good questions ... How did I?'
[I'm still thinking about it]
'Goodness! I never knew there was something that could get you thinking for this long.'
"Funny story," Hunter said to Athena. "I just fell into the temple."
Athena raised an eyebrow. "You expect me to believe that?"
"No, but it was worth a shot," the sprite replied. "How did you know my blood would be ichor?"
"I could tell from the moment I set foot in that temple, your aura, your energy, you are not mortal."
Hunter looks around. "Where exactly are we? Some garden in Olympus?"
[Didn't you notice when she ported you?]
'She did?'
"No," Athena shook her head. "This is an empty land close to Attica."
"I see ... It felt so peaceful and quiet. I wouldn't mind retiring to a place like this in the future, I don't think anything can go wrong here."
Athena suddenly pushed Hunter just as a figure landed between the two of them, the energy released from the strange creature throwing the daughter of Zeus and the Sprite several feet backward.
Hunter looked up and the glowing insides of the creature were enough for him to know what he was looking at. Who he was looking at.
Sephratis.
"What the -- Did I really just tempt fate?"
The god of conjuring eyed the sprite for a couple of seconds, not moving or speaking.
[He knows.]
Hunter swiftly opened a domain and his eyes turned iridescent as he attempted to fool the god of conjuring. The dark-haired boy made it seem as though he had turned into a puddle of water while he quietly got up to leave the scene.
Hunter, however, had barely gotten anywhere when the first conjurer seized him by the throat.
'!!! It didn't work?!'
Sephratis slammed Hunter into the ground but before he could get in any more moves, stormy-eyed Athena hurled a spear at him forcing him to move away from the sprite to avoid the weapon.
Sephratis was wielding a double-edged sword. Much, much bigger than the blade Hunter saw with Ares. The god of conjuring stabbed his weapon into the ground and it suddenly began glowing black.
From the ground emerged some four-legged creatures. Huge, ugly, cannibalistic, hungry.
Hunter found himself running towards Athena who quickly ported them back to Olympus and away from Sephratis and his hungry dogs.
"Holy gua --" Hunter turned to Athena. "Thank you for the help back there," said Hunter.
"I took you there, it was only right," the daughter of Zeus responded.
"Now what?" Hunter said.
"Now I take you back to your cell, there are something's I have to discuss with my father."
The sprite is returned to his cell where he is reunited with the strange dark brown-eyed woman. "You're back?" She asks.
The sprite eyes the woman. "I am," he pauses. "You know what comes next, don't you?"
"I should be the one asking that question."
.
.
.
[ Hecate walked into the Great Hall where the god-eater, HIM, sat above his throne, holding a scepter and wearing, on his head, a golden disk that had a serpent wrapped around its base.
"Hecate," the god-eater spoke. "What brings you so far from home?"
The god-eater looked like a human except that his head was like that of a hawk's. Impenetrable and immovable, he was feared among the gods of Olympus as he had a reputation for killing those who claimed to be a god and were worshipped as one.
The long dark-haired woman bowed. Hecate was no Olympian. Like Invidia, she was a Titaness, and like Invidia, she was allowed to keep her roles after she supported the Olympians during the Titanomachy.
Hecate, however, did not live in Olympus. She lived among humans whom she thought were special, teaching them all she knew about the mystical arts and helping them hone their craft.
Although she was worshipped by most from her coven and despite most of her titan and Olympian peers claiming to be one, Hecate never claimed to be a god and so the god-eater never came for her.
The two enjoyed a good relationship and during Gigantomachia, she and Maat convinced the god-eater to side with the Olympians.
"Creatures from the dark realm have torn down the sacred veil and entered Nym'Roal. They march in numbers near to a million. I fear they'll turn the world back to the chaos era."
The god-eater remained quiet for a while, processing what the witch had said before responding. "The demons are not like the giants, they shan't upset the balance of this world," he paused. "I hope they win."
"If the demons win, if Olympus falls, then the god-eater feasts."
Hecate then left for Faerie, a land in Nym'Roal belonging to the fays and ruled by Nordarhark, King of the fairies.
Nordarhark was a very powerful King but most importantly, he was very influential and peaceful. He hated wars and had been instrumental in mediating conflicts between humans, goblins, vampires, elves, and even the Olympians.
So Hecate met with the King of the Fays and convinced him to mediate the conflict rousing between the demons of the dark realm and the gods of Olympus.
As Hecate leaves Faerie, she feels a strange energy fast approaching her and quickly coats her hands with pure energy and uses it to shield herself from what she was sure was an attack.
The strike was swift, deadly, and would've been lethal had the witch not concentrated all of her energy on blocking.
The impact threw Hecate several feet backward and into the ground. The Titanes managed to get back to her feet, bruises all over both her arm as she got a good look at her assailant.
Pretty, she was, with big doe gray-eyed and long dark hair. The ruler of the in-between and the feared daughter of the Dark Majesty; Luella.
"You're one of them, aren't you? You're one of the demons?"
Luella tilted her head sideways as she took note of the purplish liquid that dripped from the several cuts on the witch's arm.
"Seems I'm getting weaker," said the young demonette. "That was meant to be fatal."
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