A/N: You guys did it so here's the extra chapter, if you reach 300 powerstones in 24 hours I'll upload another chapter. Also, if you want to support me and read up to 10 chapters in advance and secondary novels go to my patreon.
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{Tartarus, Unknown Time}
Narration POV
"Ok, so we've decided on what you're going to say, right?" Odysseus asked, his voice low and urgent. "Keep the conversation short and concise."
Melinoe nodded, her pupils dilating until her eyes resembled those of a cat caught in the engine's firelight or ghostlight in this case. It should have been an endearing sight, but on her divided face, it was deeply unsettling. Odysseus suppressed a shudder as he watched her stand and move away from the ghostly train that had brought them to this forsaken place.
As Melinoe walked out of the train and across the barren landscape, her feet barely touching the ground.
The goddess approached the looming presence of Typhon, her steps never faltering despite the overwhelming aura of power and malice that radiated from the monste. His form shifted and roiled, a chaotic mass of writhing limbs, gnashing teeth, and glaring eyes. Hundreds of serpentine heads sprouted from his shoulders, each one hissing and spitting venom into the acrid air.
As Melinoe drew near, Typhon's main head – if one could call it that – turned its attention to her. Eyes the size of lakes blinked open, focusing on the diminutive goddess with a mixture of curiosity and disdain.
"Well, well," Typhon's voice rumbled, shaking the very foundations of Tartarus. "What brings the the number 1 conductor back to me so soon? Have you come to get more of your coal, little goddess?"
Melinoe stood her ground, her dual-toned face impassive. "No, nothing like that Typhon, just wanted to ask some questions about a few rumors I've caught winds off."
A laugh like an erupting volcano burst from Typhon's countless mouths. "Rumors? I thought you were smarter than this Melinoe, can't one of your passengers answer you."
"Come on, you know as well as I do, that that filth doesn't know anything," Melinoe said, her voice calm despite the tempest of power before her, "besides, I think you would know best, since these rumors speak that you will be released by one of your older brothers."
At the mention of Kronos, a hush fell over Typhon's writhing form. Even the constant hissing of his serpent heads quieted for a moment. When he spoke again, his voice was tinged with a newfound interest.
"Hmmm, I've heard about my brother's exploits. What could you possibly want to know about the Crooked One?"
Melinoe's mismatched eyes narrowed. "His whereabouts, for one. They say he will bring about back the Golden Age, you can't have that without the best conductor ever. Who would take care of the trains otherwise?"
Typhon's form rippled, a movement that might have been a shrug had he possessed normal shoulders. "Kronos has always been one for schemes and plots. Too weak for anything else. As for his location." The monster's main mouth twisted into what might have been a grin. "That, I'm afraid, is knowledge only known to his brothers."
Melinoe's expression didn't change, but inwardly she felt a flicker of frustration. She had hoped for more concrete information. Still, she pressed on. "But haven't any of your children discovered anything, this plan could help save their precious dad."
For a long moment, Typhon was silent, his countless fiery eyes blinking in an unsettling rhythm. When he spoke again, his voice was lower, almost conspiratorial. "I know very little, though I have felt some of them heading to the Labyrinth's exit.."
Melinoe nodded, her dual-colored hair swaying with the motion. "I see. Thank you for the information," but Melinoe wanted to know more about Typhon to help Odysseus as much as possible so she continued.
"What about you, where do your allegiances lie, will you also follow the Titan Lord like your children?"
"I claim allegiance to no one but myself, my mother, father and wife" Typhon growled, his amusement fading as quickly as it had come. "But know this, – should Kronos succeed in his ambitions, these chains that bind me will not hold for long. And when that day comes..." His voice trailed off, but the entire mountain shook.
Melinoe nodded once more, sensing that she had gleaned all she could from this encounter. "Thank you for your help Typhon, I will definitely be there to see the day you are freed."
As she turned to leave, Typhon's voice called out once more, stopping her in her tracks. "Aren't you going to bring me my cousin? After all, family should be close."
Melinoe froze, her mismatched eyes widening slightly. She turned back to face the monster, her voice carefully controlled. "Your cousin?"
Typhon's hundred faces grinned, a sight more terrifying than any nightmare. "Oh yes, the one who hides in your precious train even now. The cowardly one. Odysseus, son of Erebus."
From his hidden vantage point, Odysseus felt his blood run cold. How had Typhon known he was there? Shouldn't the monster blood have hidden him?"
Melinoe, to her credit, didn't betray any surprise. "I'm afraid I don't know what you mean, Typhon. I came alone, besides my clients."
The monster's laughter echoed through Tartarus once more. "Oh, little ghost, you cannot deceive the deceiver. I smell his stench, even from here. It reeks of... death. Bring him forward, let me look upon the face of my kin who killed my wife."
Melinoe stood her ground, her voice taking on a sharp edge. "Our business is concluded, Typhon. I'll not play your games."
"You shall not leave this place," Typhon's voice rumbled. His fiery eyes seeming to claw at Melinoe's very essence. "After all I'm sure my father wants to meet his nephew as well."
At those words, the ghostly train shook violently. Odysseus watched in horror as the spectral metal began to disintegrate, dissolving into nothingness. In moments, the train had vanished entirely, leaving him exposed alongside hundreds of Melinoe's monster clients. But this betrayal, shocking as it was, paled in comparison to what happened next.
All the monsters seemed to shrink and fly into a spiral at Odysseus's side, a figure materialized, placing a hand on the hero's shoulder. The touch was cold, colder than anything Odysseus had felt before, and it sent waves of primal terror coursing through Odysseus's body.
Melinoe's blood ran cold as she beheld the newcomer. His body was a masterpiece of nightmares – purple glistening flesh rippling with impossible muscle, black Stygian iron boots that seemed to absorb what little light existed in Tartarus. His breastplate was a gallery of horrors, faces of gorgons, monsters, cyclopes, and drakons pressing against the metal as if trying to escape their eternal prison.
His fingers were tipped with razor-sharp black talons, each one capable of rending the fabric of reality itself. But it was his face – or rather, the lack thereof – that truly defined the terror of his presence. In place of normal features was a swirling whirlpool, an inward spiral of darkness that threatened to consume all who gazed upon it.
This was no mere monster or Titan. This was Tartarus himself, the primordial god of the abyss, given form.
Then a voice that sounded like it was being drawn back inward rather than projecting outward spoke.
"It's nice to finally meet my nephew, Gaia has been talking about you a lot lately."