Matious instantly regretted handing the potion to Grey and, with the swiftness of a demigod, lunged to reclaim it. Yet, all movement halted as an abrupt paralysis overtook everyone present.
WHoooshHHhhh~
A mighty gust of wind swept through the land, draining the color from the world as if a monochromatic tidal wave had washed over it. As the wind reversed, blacks and whites inverted, leaving a stark landscape of vivid whites and deep blacks.
Cold sweat trickled down Grey's face, feeling a bone-chilling anxiety while looking at the potion at his lips. It drove him crazy, being so close but frozen in time, unable to follow through.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
Grey's heart skipped a beat when rhymic clapping resonated from behind, sending waves of anxiety crashing through him. The others looked worse, terrified even.
"I've gotten away with many things in my life," a magnetic voice announced behind him. "I've cut a god's hair while she slept, bedded a giant, assassinated someone with mistletoe, and have even [mothered] a damn horse–but I've never earned a mythical item for kicking a demigod in the balls. Perhaps I should try it."
Matious trembled alongside the other women. The situation left him petrified, confused why the man was there when the teen hadn't drunk the Dead Man's Luck potion.
Grey, however, was more puzzled than scared. Those stories sounded familiar. "Loki?"
"Hoho!" the man chuckled, striding past Grey. "Seems someone's well-versed in the art of mischief."
Snap!
With a sharp noise, the world's natural colors returned, revealing the stranger's true appearance to Grey. To his astonishment, Loki looked like a respectable human!
Loki looked like a rich giga-Chad-turned-CEO. He boasted a chiseled face and physique, a neatly trimmed five o'clock shadow, and impeccably styled short hair. Dressed in a charcoal-gray suit with a skinny tie secured by a tasteful clip, Loki exuded an air of classiness.
"Don't mind if I do," Loki said grandly, plucking the Dead Man's Luck potion from Grey's grasp, causing his stomach to plummet. The god raised the bottle to his lips but hesitated at the last second. "Oh dear, you don't look well," he said turning to the little person.
Matious shook in fear, looking at the god like a boss on review day. "I-I'm fine."
"Hoh?" the Chad-like god mused, looking at the potion and then at the little person. "Are you sure? I'm about to kill you; are you sure you don't want some liquid courage?"
Loki grabbed the cork from the trembling man's hand, put it back onto the luck potion, and held it before him. "You know, go see if you'll survive a single hit?"
Matious gulped and grabbed at the potion, but the god pulled away at the last moment.
"Oh, that's right," Loki smiled, turning to Grey. "Silly me, I forgot that I can't interfere in the demigod world. I suppose you'll have to see if this boy is as [benevolent] as you are."
The god walked to the teen but tripped before he got there. Grey saw a new golden potion materialize as he fell, dropping it into the water at his feet. He didn't react as the clumsy god put on his show; he just analyzed the situation.
"Oh dear, it seems I've fallen and can't get up," Loki whined, flailing in the shallow water dramatically. "Young man, would you be a dear and find that potion and consider giving it back? I know it's not fair, but it would give this man a fair chance at life."
Grey rolled his eyes and crouched, looking between the two potions hidden in the water. He picked up the second, uncorked it, and looked between the mischievous god and Matious.
-
─┈━═[Item Information]═━┈─
Name: Dead Man's Certain Death
Type: Potion
Grade: ???
Description: ???
Warning: Loki, the God of Tricksters, personally made this potion.
─┈━═━┈━═━┈━═━┈─
-
Grey sniffed the potion with a racing pulse, smirked, and lifted it to his mouth. Genuinely considering whether to drink the potion or ride the wave and see what would happen. Loki was a trickster god, so it could be anything: a genuine luck potion, a mutant beast serum, or poison. Trusting him–period–was a bad idea.
Since Grey already wanted to die, he didn't have much to lose by drinking it but could gain a lot if it proved useful. At the same time, he hated people like Matious—like Vincent Maxwell—and was interested to see what would happen to the man.
"Beg for it, [bitch]," Grey ordered the little person before him, wiggling the potion in front of his face. "By that, I mean drop to all fours, bark like a female dog, and wag your invisible tail."
Matious' eyes flashed with murder. "You son of a—"
"Well, that was easy," the teen chuckled, lifting the potion to his lips.
The demigod tried to rush forward. However, mid-reach—
SNAP! SPlaassSsH!
Loki snapped his fingers, and the man dropped to his hands and knees in the water under intense gravity. "Here, I've helped you overcome your pride."
"I was going to drink it, but Loki is helping you," Grey grinned, looking at the humiliated demigod. "So let's try this again. Who's a good little bitch?"
"Bark, bark, muthafucka," Matious growled sarcastically. "I'm a bitch, now give me my juice."
After a stunned silence, the teen burst into laughter with Loki, with the latter dropping the gravity field on the little person, letting the man move.
"Fuck it," Grey grinned, push-throwing the open potion bottle, missing its cork.
Matious jumped up with superhuman reflexes, catching and drinking the potion in one motion to prevent it from spilling. His body flooded with energy, making him feel like the gods had blessed him with fortune, allowing him to face certain death with hope.
However, the hope disappeared when the god stood in the water and lifted his flat hand to the teen. "Damn, bro, that was smooth," Loki grinned. "High five."
Grey smirked in satisfaction, giving him a high five—consequences be damned. The teen was in a foul mood and wanted to watch the world burn. So he gladly played along.
"W-What is going on?" Matious asked nervously, looking between them.
"Oh, that…." Grey smirked, reaching into the water. "I forgot to mention that I gave you another potion I found." His hand emerged with the Dead Man's Luck potion.
Matious' eyes bulged in fear, cranking his neck to the god. To his dismay, Loki shrugged his shoulders with an expression that read, [it couldn't be helped]. It made the women giggle, staring at the teen and god with amusement and reverence.
"W-What was that potion I drank?" Matious asked with terror-filled eyes.
"Who knows?" Grry shrugged casually, "Knowing Loki, it could turn you into a seal, make you kill your brother, or just trigger a deep desire to shit your pants. Hell, it could instantly turn you into a god."
Hope welled in the beleaguered demigod's heart. "But it's probably poison," the teen clarified, snuffing it out. "Yeah, probably good ol' fashion poison. I'm surprised you're alive right now."
Matious cranked his neck back to Loki, who was whistling to the sky innocently. "Hey, wait… what…."
"Sorry to ask, but can I ask you for a favor?" Grey asked Loki, lifting the real Dead Man's Luck potion while ignoring the man. "Can you kill me with a five-second delay? It'd be cool if I could still drink this."