Despite how calm Ocean Song was on the surface, his mind was panicked. He was happy that Hecate had saved him and even nursed him back to health, somewhat.
But his insides were thoroughly messed up.
Physically, he wasn't going to kneel over and die at this point, even if he still felt like he was going to pass out from the pain if he moved too vigorously.
His physical body felt like it was being held together by prayers and duct tape.
And his Golden Core…..it was more like a Golden shattered mirror.
His Qi was seeping out from the broken pieces of it, its original form barely retained in the vague shape of a Core.
If left like this, he felt like his Cultivation would regress and he'd fall back down to Foundation Establishment. His instincts told him that if this occurred, his path would forever be cut off.
He sat cross-legged and began to cultivate.
Slowly, he began to draw Qi into himself. He could feel it seeping into his Core and the pain that accompanied it.
He was broken in so many places, and now he had to put himself back together.
Ocean Song expected the Qi of the underworld to be...corrosive, turbulent even, yet it was oddly peaceful.
If anything, it was gentler than the Qi he normally used.
Frankly, it was exactly what he needed.
Slowly, like handling the most fragile piece of glass, he began to push the pieces of his core back into place before it shattered in its entirety.
He didn't know how much time he spent meditating, not daring to even open his eyes and lose focus for even a moment.
Yet, all this time, he barely managed to push onetinypiece back into place and slowly mend it.
At this rate, it would probably take him years to fully recover.
He begrudgingly accepted the situation and merely decided to focus every ounce of his attention on getting better as soon as possible. If he put his full effort—
"Bwah!?" His eyes snapped open as someone was leaning down, looking at him, merely inches from his own face.
Ocean Song tumbled over in fright, not sensing the person in the slightest, his Divine Sense having been shattered along with his Core. But even still, the 'person' standing in front of him was still completely imperceptible to Ocean Song.
Ocean Song's eyes widened because he recognized the entity from legends.
The Black Wings were a dead giveaway….
"Greetings, Senior—" He threw up a mouthful of blood and fell face first as he tried his best to give a proper bow.
Ocean Song's body twitched in pain, and he let out a low groan as he found his body being lifted into the air by an invisible force.
However, it was rather gentle as well, almost like how Hecate had handled him before.
He hovered there, looking Death in the eyes.
Before him stood Thanatos, the Primordial God of Death.
Ocean Song would admit, if he had pants, they would have turned brown. Oddly, it was not the first time in his life that he feltlessawkward from his nakedness.
Ocean Song felt like his soul was leaving his body.
Wait.
That was real.
He turned back and realized his body was behind him, hanging limp in the air as Thanatos grasped both his soul and physical body, both unable to move.
"You have died once." The strange, garbled words entered Ocean Song's mind.
Rather, he felt them reverberate through his soul; they weren't words in the normal sense, but more like a magnificent celestial being had lowered itself to communicate in a way that the cyclops could understand.
"Yes, Senior." Ocean Song knew he couldn't hide it in front of him. "I hope this lowly Cyclops has not offended you."
He knew that Thanatos wasn't speaking about surviving Zeus or in a metaphorical sense.
He had died once. He had memories of a previous life that remained with him.
If anyone were able to see through his core, it would be the Primordial God of Death.
Thanatos slowly raised his hand, a single finger extended outwards as it touched Ocean Song. Like it was grabbing at a single thread among hundreds, a faint golden light wrapped around his finger, and he began to pull, unravelling the thread from his essence.
Ocean Song let out a scream of pain. Despite not being in his 'body' at the moment, he felt like every nerve of his was on fire.
With a jolt, Ocean Song's soul was forced back into his body as if it had never been separated.
Ocean Song gasped, falling to the ground as the invisible force released him. He looked up to see a golden light shining from between the fingers of Thanatos's clutched hand. And without warning, he shoved it into Ocean Song's chest.
Ocean Song didn't even have a chance to scream again; he felt something move inside of him.
Something entered his Dantian, and his Golden Core was forcibly pushed together.
Within the blink of an eye, the Primordial God withdrew his hand, leaving not a single wound on the Cyclops.
Ocean Song looked within himself, and his eyes widened. Inside his Dantian, it was a piece of the Golden Apple he had eaten when fighting Zeus.
He was astonished. Did the Primordial God grab the remnants of the Golden Apple Piece that remained within him and was going to waste and condense them back into form?
It was actually just a fraction of the original piece he swallowed before, indicating that the majority of it had been wasted. However, even this small amount... it began to mend him at increasing speeds.
Not only that, the Primordial God had forced all the pieces of his Golden Core back into place.
Granted, they were still cracked and disconnected, but it significantly lessened the time he would need to recover and saved him much hardship.
Another realization hit him.
Once he repairs his Golden Core, he will be at the peak of the Core Formation realm.
He had actually advanced through all of that. Did the lightning strikes he suffered somehow refine some of the Golden Apple Piece while he suffered catastrophic wounds? Before his Golden Core nearly shattered, did he almost advance?
His eyes snapped open, and he was about to thank the Primordial God, but he realized that Thanatos had vanished. He quickly stood up and looked around, but he couldn't find him anywhere.
"Don't bother looking. Death has a habit of sneaking up on you when you least expect it." Another voice entered my ears, a feminine one. Another figure seemed to step out of the shadows.
Ocean Song recognized her as well and clasped his hands, bowing towards her. "This lowly Cyclops greets the Queen of the Underworld."
The Goddess Persephone pursed her lips, looking over the monster before her.
Just because she was in the Underworld didn't mean she wasn't kept abreast of what was happening on the surface.
The talk of the proverbial town was standing right in front of her.
"So, you're the reason that Hecate has been coming and going more frequently lately." She looked him up and down, though her eyes trailed downwards and lingered for a moment as her lips curled up. "I can see at least one reason that would make her become less reclusive."
Ocean Song may have blushed slightly.
"Don't worry too much about Thanatos. He doesn't speak much, but he does things for a reason." She raised her hand and pointed at the ground. Ocean Song followed her gesture to see a black feather left on the ground before him. "It's rare for him to favor someone. It makes me curious what he sees in you."
Ocean Song hesitantly picked up the feather and felt an indiscernible feeling from it.
"You can consider it a token of approval from him. No one in the Underworld will give you a hard time unless you give them a reason."
"Thank you for your teachings, Great Underworld Queen!" Ocean Song bowed again after hearing her explanation.
She looked at him oddly for a moment. Truthfully, she didn't know what to make of this little monster cousin of hers.
The naked monster in front of her that withstood her father's wrath.
At first glance, he didn't seem impressive, but she could tell he was hiding some secrets beneath the surface. Especially so if even Thanatos took an interest in him. She didn't know what Thanatos wanted, only catching the tail end of their exchange, but she didn't' lie when she said that he doesn't do things without a reason.
For what could make Death itself interested, well, she couldn't even begin to guess.
Though her attention was then pulled elsewhere.
"Hecate." Persephone smiled.
"Persephone." Hecate responded evenly. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"
"Can't I just come to visit?" The Queen of the Underworld asked.
"You visited last year."
"That was a whole year ago. I'd say we're overdue for a catching up." She chuckled. "Like your new… interest." She glanced down at Ocean Song.
Hecate's lips twitched, and with a huff, she crossed her arms. "What do you want?"
Though she showed a rather dismissive demeanor, Persephone wasn't insulted whatsoever. If there was one person in the Underworld who was probably forever in the good graces of both Persephone and Hades, it was Hecate for the role she played in them getting together.
It helped that she was reclusive and rarely ever even went out; thus the number of 'incidents' to her name was practically nonexistent.
"Hades is aware of everything that happens in the Underworld." Persephone said lightly. "He's been very patient."
"Hmph."
"Hecate, don't be like that. He won't do anything bad." Persephone reassured her.
Ocean Song sat there utterly confused at what was going on, but he wisely believed it best to keep his mouth shut.
"Fine, do what you want." Hecate waved her hand dismissively.
Persephone gestured with her own hand, and the ground trembled.
From the horizon, a massive beast came running towards them; each of its steps could cause an earthquake. Just its presence alone would cause any lesser monsters to cower and hide.
Ocean Song felt the beast's mighty aura even from this distance, and its speed was astonishing.
"Oh Cerberus~" Persephone called out as the three-headed dog hopped over at her call, playfully dropping to the ground as soon as it arrived, waiting for her commands. "Take that one to Hades." She pointed at Ocean Song.
Ocean Song now realized what they were talking about.
Truly, nothing escapes the eyes of the Lord of the Underworld.
Ocean Song bowed to the mighty divine beast. "Please take good care of me, senior; it is my honor to ride upon your back."
Cerberus got up and looked at him strangely. Its three heads loomed over the Cyclops for several moments before the middle head quickly snapped down and grabbed him with its mouth.
Ocean Song was hanging halfway out of the beast's mouth as it turned around and began running towards the King of the Underworld.
Hecate watched, letting out a sigh before rubbing the bridge of her nose. Because she could see his 'sword' dangling the entire time as Cerberus rushed across the underworld.
(Line Break)
Ocean Song can say that it was his first time riding in the mouth of a divine beast.
Can others say they received this same treatment?
No, they can't.
However, he was oblivious to everything going on around him as senior Cerberus whisked him away. He knew they traveled a great distance just from the number of steps combined with the speed at which they moved.
Abruptly, the mighty beast spat him out.
Ocean Song slid across a tiled floor, covered in spit, and still naked. He raised a hand up towards Cerberus. "Thank you for your efforts, senior."
The mighty three-headed dog let out a powerful bark of happiness before trotting away.
It only took a moment for Ocean Song to realize it wasn't him they were 'responding' to.
He looked up and found he was staring at a throne with the Lord of the Underworld looking down on him.
"I'm –"
"I greet the King of the Underworld!" Ocean Song quickly provided the most polite greetings. "It's my honor to finally meet you, uncle!" And of course, he established the familial connection at the first opportunity.
"...yes." Hades blinked then shook his head, not used to this kind of abrupt yet respectful behavior. After a moment of silence, Hades furrowed his brow, looking at Ocean Song. "Why are you naked?"
"I cultivate my heart and the world. For clothes are simply a boundary between myself and the Dao. I seek enlightenment free from the constraints of civilization, to be free and unfettered by any boundaries!"
"….."
"...The Lord of heaven destroyed my only clothing." Ocean Song looked away awkwardly.
"And you simply did not acquire more…?"
"Ah... I have no money." Ocean Song's head drooped.
Hades oddly felt a twinge of sympathy for him. As also the God of Wealth, he was more than familiar with those that did without.
Ocean Song, however, cared not for the matters of clothing or lack thereof!
At this moment, he realized it was an opportunity. "Esteemed Uncle, please evaluate this." He presented the feather he received from Thanatos.
"Where exactly did you take that out from?"
"Please don't ask me that question. If you do, I'll answer it."
Hades wisely chose not to pursue that line of questioning. "You have one of Thanatos's feathers? And what exactly do you think that allows you?"
"I seek not any promise nor prize from you, esteemed Uncle. What I seek is wisdom that only you can provide." Ocean Song quickly fell to the ground, head pressed against the tiles in a kowtow. "Please grant me answers to my doubts, esteemed uncle."
Hades shifted on his throne. This was far from how he expected this meeting with his... nephew to go.
No, he was going to interrogate the Cyclops about his status, what he was, and the location of his missing Helmet of Darkness.
Frankly, he had been taken aback immediately since the strange monster's arrival.
Hades then finally settled with a hand propping up his head, elbow pressed against the armrest of his throne. "And what do you want to ask?"
The way he was acting, Hades realized that this monster in front of him must have something important to say. He didn't really care about the feather from Thanatos; at most, it would stop him from being heavy-handed.
But now his attention was fully focused on the Cyclops.
Did he have some knowledge about the situation going on between Zeus and Poseidon? Did Poseidon know he would end up down here and prepared beforehand?
Or did Zeus merely put on a show, and all of this was an elaborate ruse?
What if—
"How does one court a goddess of the underworld?" Ocean Song asked with full sincerity.
Hades blinked, looking at him for a moment before letting out a very tired sigh.
Or maybe he had been overthinking everything, and this nephew of his was an idiot.
(Line Break)
A/N
If you want to read 1 chapter ahead of this, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / astoryforone
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