บท 12: Omake #3 - Two Kinds of Power
In the material plane that is known as Gaia, in the pathway in the forest that led to a relatively normal town, there was one that was in the woods, and that one was a man.
He was most certainly an elder of some sort with a beard so long and gray, he wore a beautiful black cloak with purple accents, it looked silky to the touch, the man walked with a dark cane, his legs so weary, they no longer could support him as they did back in the days of his youth.
Truly, if one were to look at this man they would assume that he was a well off, old traveler, with his age and down-right luxurious clothing and cane, appearance-wise they would assume that the man was harmless and was the one more likely to be hurt.
The Lord of the Underworld must say, even if he wanted to, there wasn't even a possibility where he could be even prouder of his disguise than he already is, the only thing mortals would take notice is how clean and expertly-made his clothes looked and are.
Most of his family would prefer to go as attractive mortals, or even as an animal, typically the one they claim as theirs, some even chose to come to mortals in the form of a child, rarely was there someone in his family other than himself that would willingly become an elderly man like now.
He didn't see why, sure many won't sexually look at him, but he can most certainly do and speak things that would at most seem to come from "expirience" or him being senile.
He was currently on break from the underworld, he needed it after the continuous exhaustion he had felt all throughout the century.
Don't get him wrong, he more than loved his realm, he had poured so much time, effort, and power into shaping it, it was almost nothing like how the original hades in the Ancient Greek myths had it set up.
But like he said…he was tired, as the population grew, the more and more…"updates" and "tweaks" he had to make to the system in place in order for it not to get overloaded if a war or a plague were to break out in a city or larger.
He was enjoying the sights, while some would disagree and say that eternal spring was a wonderful thing, he personally preferred the autumn, up to his style.
Though where was he headed to?
Quite simply where the recent events that have occurred in Ancient Greece, in this case the twin sons of Zeus that currently rule over Thebes.
Zeus…he loved his brother, truly he did, he can still remember the times they had in the underworld as they trained and held laughter amongst his siblings…
But he is just so overly lustful, like impossibly so, to the point trying to convert him into a faithful man was always going to be a pipe dream that died at birth.
The best he managed to accomplish, was to turn any of his rapes into heavy amounts of seduction, don't get him wrong, that is certainly better,…in perspective, but not the result he had naively hoped.
On the bright side, he was pretty sure the number of children zeus' had is an incredibly smaller fraction than it was…though zeus' wife would beg to differ.
He would've been amazed just how Zeus could've been able to bed all of these women that he also did in the myths against all odds that something should've changed…if "The Fates" weren't a thing.
Hades frowned at the thought of what were by far the least liked children of Zeus he had ever had a displeasure of meeting.
They constantly tried to undermine his authority as the God of Destiny that his Death Aspect attributed to, they felt they deserved to be the sole deciding factor of leading everything…if you ignore the other fate deity of a higher scale than them that wasn't myself.
He held his annoyed groan in as he shook his head.
But he had made it a habit to at the very least meet a bastard child of his family's at least once, before they do as a king, not that they would ever know that it was their uncle, gruncle, or whatever, not when he always went disguised.
By the time the moon had arrived, Hades had finally arrived to the city, as he arrived, as expected there were people all around, be it civilian or trader.
Hades took in the sights from all over, from the gossiping wives, the playing children, and the haggling men, it…was starting to be frustratingly nauseasing, despite his control, his enhanced senses that could literally stretch across the galaxy were being poked at a million times in here.
Apparently he had stopped paying attention to his surroundings to the point he was bumped into, hard.
He may have been infinitely more powerful than all these mortals combined, but he was still in disguise, in a smaller form, as there was also the truth of 'even if you had unlimited strength, if the sword is heavier than you, you will tip over'.
So naturally, he fell on his ass as he dropped his cane along the way.
He then heard a gasp of "o' by the gods," as someone rushed to my side. Wiping the dust off of me, hades turned and saw a decently beautiful woman by mortal standards, besides her was a small boy that must've been hers.
She looked concerned, as she picked up my walking stick and my bag while saying, "I am truly sorry about this, Wise Elder, I wasn't watching where I was going, please, for your sake, are you all right?" She asked me as she approached me and helped me up.
Hades replied in a dumbledore styled voice, " yes, yes, my dear, nothing to be concerned, I assure you nothing is broken from what I can tell, please, could you inform this old Traveler, of why there was such a rush?" He honestly didn't know if she was in a rush or not, but I kinda needed to play it off.
She sighed in relief, and let out a small smile as she picked up her child to her hip, "nothing of the sort, weary Traveler,…Traveler would you grant me the honor to invite you to my home for Xenia? I would be most grateful if you would accept it as an apology for pushing you to the ground,".
Not seeing the need, Hades waved his hand in a dismissive manner as one still held onto the cane, and tried to deny it, "nonsense, as I said no wrong has been done-,".
She grabbed his hand with an instant tug as she held her child on the other, "but I insist! We have not had a guest over in some time, news of the outside could only be spread by others in this city by so much, this will benefit my family as well as it will for you," she gave a wide smile, the boy for the first time made a noise and giggled.
Pausing for a moment, Hades let out a tired sigh, in the worst case scenario, he will simply meet the twins tomorrow, it was not entirely a bad idea to participate in the "ritualized friendship".
He gave a slow nod, "then lead the way, my most hospitable of hosts," as he motioned for her to lead the way.
She shook her head, "please, call me Niobe,".
He blinked as he heard that name, but frowned when everything came up blank,..which annoyed him, because it meant that this woman was something he knew of but could not recall.
This always happened when something myth related came to me, only after the event has passed does he eventually have the memories fully formed.
Though the clue that he felt dread told me that Niobe also had a tragic story that Greece was so famous for causing and apparently loving.
As he followed them back to her home, they arrived at a relatively large building,…a wealthy home, which actually told me that she was in some way important in the city.
As we came in, all of a sudden a small crowd of children ran to Niobe, who accepted them all with a wide smile and giggled at them hugging her.
I mostly stood there with raised brows in great surprise, because there were around a dozen of them, and then I began questioning myself if these were even her children in the first place and not simply relatives.
It was a lovely afternoon, the children were all smiley and happy, though a little dirty here and there on the nose and face, as if they were out playing in the dirt the whole day, and lacked a little table manners which the Mather scolded.
Xenia,…it was a Greek tradition that started when Hermes and Zeus began traveling around people's homes, it reached to the point that people have started inviting strangers to their homes and calling these strangers "guest-friends".
It came to be when people got scared when Zeus got mad at certain…"incidents", so people simply made it an effort to treat travelers as potential gods to give hospitality too.
In exchange, the travelers would say about the news that goes around the places they have traveled.
They literally started calling Zeus, Zeus-Xenia, because just the sheer amount of times he visited the mortals, and somehow got the reputation of being very hospitable and welcoming, even with his paranoia.
Though after finishing his meal that was made quite well for mortals stuck in what essentially made the medieval ages look advance.
He exchanged several stories that he was aware of that had happened, from a dead king here, to a deadly beast from the far south, etc.
He decided to then drop the question, "so…excuse me for my rudeness, but are they all…yours?," I asked unsurely, this was typically a touchy subject, either someone got insecure or they got offended.
Instead, she closed her eyes, and gave the biggest, proudest smile he has seen yet.
"Yes, of course they are, each and every one of them, my precious, beautiful babies, are mine," she said just as proudly, the boys had a blush as they looked down, while the girls didn't seem to mind it.
I chuckled, "quite proud aren't you, I suppose that makes sense, the fact there are so many of them is an extraordinary feat of a woman such as yourself,".
"Indeed, many of them were twins, I do believe my fertility is far greater than even Leto, the Titaness that only managed to birth the Twin gods!," she gave her biggest boast.
He snorted, "I suppose by numerical standpoint that is the truth!, but…,"
He looked at the placement of the rising sun, "Ibelieve, I will have to get going, I have a need to meet with someone in this city, I thank you greatly for this hospitality, and will do to return the favor if we ever come across again,".
"Will have to make sure her trip to the underworld will be as peaceful and as smooth as possible, I severely doubt she is going to tartarus, so she should be fine,".
She giggled, "no, thank you, old man, but before you go, now that you have eaten, could you please tell me what your name is," she asked curiously.
"You may refer to me as Hade, a peculiar name I have been told, but it is mine all the same, goodbye. Niobe,"
"To you as well, Hade,".
I took a glance at her, and each of her large amount of children, each of them looked happy, and content. There was a small girl, who looked the youngest, who was watching shyly from behind one of her older siblings.
Deciding to be a little cliche, I kneel down, put one of my hands in my robes, and create something for the little girl.
The little girl's eyes slowly widened as she slowly walked up and took the offered flower, with her mouth open in shock, wonder, and awe.
I chuckled as each of them had the same expression, I left with none of them saying a word, since none of them were able to recover.
Several hours later
Today started out a good time in the woods, then turned great with a meal with a nice family, and turned sour when I tried to find the twins and stubbornly not using my powers to find the twins thinking it would be a sinch.
But it turned quiet cold when I received a vision of the moon and sun, standing over the dead, bleeding bodies of the children that I had spent lunch with.
In less than a moment I have felt two familiar sources I'd divinities, who were more than likely unaware of myself.
Try as all these gods want, Presence gave him the power to either be the most noticeable thing to sense, or even to the point where you would always mistake him as a mortal.
What got me to pause in shock,…was the fact they came here, and that I likely knew why they had come.
…and I sincerely hoped that they were better than this, because he truly wanted to believe that they were not so petty that an exaggeration from a woman would turn them into rabid dogs.
I started to make my way over.
3rd POV
There was a lot of crying, a heavy pressure was put down on the city, specially on the one family, they watched as two people came down with enraged eyes, bows pulled back.
The thirteen seemingly knew why they had come, and all the younger ones could do was break down crying while the older ones could only grit their teeth in anger.
The two deities pulled back the their bow,…and instead of aiming at the woman that insulted their mother, they aimed it at her children, and let loose.
They flew at unreal speeds, faster than the eye could spot, and normally would not be stopped…
However…
The arrows, a mere fraction of the distance stopped, not able to land at their marks.
"WHAT MADNESS IS THIS!?," cried out the angry blonde male that hovered in the air alongside the crimsoned haired one that seemed just as perplexed.
"What in Khaos' name, do you think you are doing…"
The twins froze at the voice, as they turned to respond to the voice that was directly behind them,…words could leave their mouths
Behind them, from what sounded like a darker voice of their uncle Hades…stood a ram skulled figure that stood three half meters tall.
There were no eyes, and yet there were 2 purple flames that burned in intensely as in a hungry fire in a heat wave.
It's fir and skin, so dark and blackened, it seemed to dull the colors around it, black miasma flowing out of it like smoke.
…the voice itself was cold, so utterly chilling to hear from what was behind them, seeing it even moreso…they were under no illusion over who it is.
"W-we came to deal with the mortal who dared to step over the line with their words…THEY MUST PAY," spoke the male, stuttering in the beginning, before the momentum in his confidence built.
The figure was not amused
A̴r̵e̷ ̵y̶o̷u̵ ̵g̵o̵d̸s̵?̴ ̷O̵r̴ ̸a̵r̴e̸ ̸y̷o̶u̷ ̶j̶u̵s̷t̸ ̶a̴ ̸b̶u̵n̷c̸h̵ ̸o̴f̷ ̷s̷p̷o̸i̷l̶e̷d̶ ̷b̸r̶a̶t̶s̴ ̶t̵h̷a̶t̵ ̵c̸a̴n̷ ̶o̵n̸l̶y̵ ̶t̸h̷r̷o̷w̴ ̵t̸a̷n̵t̴r̷u̶m̶ ̵t̷a̴n̸t̸r̴u̸m̴s̷ ̵a̷t̴ ̶a̸n̷y̵o̶n̸e̸ ̴t̴h̷a̵t̶ ̸u̷p̴s̸e̷t̷s̵ ̷t̵h̸e̷m̸?̵m̶?̸
At this point, it didn't seem like it was speaking, but more on the lines of it was projecting them from itself
This didn't seem to discourage them whatsoever, "YOU DARE INSULT US!, WHEN WE HAVE BEEN WRONGED BY THESE FILT-,"
The red-haired woman was caught off, as all in an instant, she alongside her brother began choking as the aura intensified and each of their heads were grabbed by enormous clawed arms.
S̴̻͖̟̈́͜i̸̬̣̠͒̿̚ͅl̴̨̥̾̆͗e̸͔̿n̶̫̮̋̚͝c̷̱̰̘̒ë̴̹̠͍́̕͝
Their bodies were panicking, their instincts blazing and screaming to get away from danger, at something completely Foreign, their mind starting to soar into a breakdown, they were desperately trying to rip their respective clawed appendages off of them.
S̶h̷e̵ ̶i̷s̴ ̷a̷ ̴m̴o̶r̵t̸a̴l̶…̴y̷o̷u̸ ̶a̵r̶e̵ ̷G̶O̴D̴S̵,̸ ̶h̷e̶r̸ ̴w̵o̵r̸d̶s̵ ̷o̸f̵ ̴e̷x̵a̵g̷g̸e̴r̸a̸t̶i̴o̸n̶ ̶t̶h̴a̵t̸ ̶s̵h̵e̷ ̵n̴o̴ ̴d̵o̴u̸b̵t̸ ̶o̷n̶l̴y̸ ̴s̶a̷i̵d̷ ̶i̴n̸ ̸p̶r̶i̵d̵e̴ ̴o̴f̷ ̴h̸e̸r̶ ̸c̴h̷i̶l̴d̸r̸e̸n̷,̷ ̷s̶h̶o̵u̵l̴d̸ ̸o̸f̸ ̵i̸n̴ ̵a̶l̷l̸ ̷i̵n̸t̶e̵n̸s̴e̶ ̵a̷n̶d̴ ̶p̷u̶r̵p̴o̸s̵e̶s̵ ̸b̷e̴n̷e̴a̴t̷h̷ ̶y̶o̸u̶ ̴t̶o̸ ̷l̷i̵s̸t̵e̶n̷,̵.̴.̵d̴i̷d̴ ̶L̶e̵t̸o̵ ̵t̴e̴l̴l̶ ̵y̴o̵u̸ ̵t̴o̶ ̵d̴o̶ ̴t̸h̴i̸s̵?̶
Several minutes have passed, the situation has not in the least calmed down"…N-Noo..," spoke the small voice that was apollo, once he finally understood HE was waiting on the answers.
H̶̹͊a̶͕͆s̶̩͛ ̴̛̝L̶̈́ͅè̴̫t̷̮̎o̷͎̓ ̴̥̑H̵̪̀ę̵̒a̴͔̕r̸̻̉d̷̥̏ ̴͇̐o̶̦͛f̷̮̋ ̷̪̀t̷̛̹h̴͖̔ĩ̶͎s̴͒͜ ̶̉ͅh̵̢̀u̵̜͋m̸͓͗a̸̜͋n̵͎̔'̸̗͑s̸̫̕ ̶͈̎w̶̤͑ö̶̢́r̶̦̾d̴̳̿s̵͍̄?̵͚̓ ̶̫̊I̷̲͒f̴̳̑ ̵͔̓n̴̹͘ȍ̷̟t̶͈͠ ̴̝͠ẇ̴̘h̴̳̀ä̵̲t̴̠̄ ̴̠͂d̶̛̰ŏ̵̫ ̵͚̂ŷ̷̪o̸̝̍u̴̯͊ ̵͕̀s̴̢͋u̸̬̅p̴̛͙p̸̦̅ō̶̮ŝ̵͙e̵̩͆ ̶̺͗w̴̤̽o̴̺̿ȕ̴̬l̵̟̔d̵̢̓ ̵̳̐b̶̑ͅe̸̠̽ ̶̮̽h̴̖͑e̶͔̎r̴̻̓ ̴̘͋r̴̖͆e̸̙͒a̸̭͝c̷̤͌ţ̷̛ì̷̙o̵͍͑ṅ̸ͅ?̸̨͐
"…S-she bRus-shed them o-off while r-rolling her e-eyes,".
S̸o̸…̵i̸f̴ ̶s̸h̴e̸ ̵w̴o̴u̴l̶d̶ ̶n̷o̷t̴ ̴a̶s̶k̸e̵d̴ ̷o̶f̶ ̸t̸h̶i̶s̴,̴ ̷n̶o̸r̵ ̸w̵o̵u̴l̶d̶ ̷s̴h̶e̸ ̵e̷v̸e̵n̵ ̵b̴e̴ ̸b̵o̴t̶h̸e̷r̸e̸d̴ ̷t̶o̷ ̵c̷a̴r̷e̴ ̸o̸f̷ ̷t̶h̴e̸ ̸m̴o̵r̶t̴a̶l̷'̸s̵ ̵w̵o̵r̶d̸s̴,̷…̶t̸h̵e̵n̷ ̴w̸h̵a̶t̸ ̵i̷n̸ ̷T̵a̵r̷t̸a̷r̴u̸s̶ ̸a̴r̷e̴ ̷y̸o̵u̸ ̵s̴p̸i̸n̷e̸l̵e̷s̷s̴,̶ ̶p̷a̴l̵e̶,̵ ̶c̷o̴w̶a̷r̸d̷s̵ ̴t̴h̷a̸t̸ ̶g̷o̷ ̷k̴i̴l̷l̸i̶n̴g̷ ̷o̵f̸f̷ ̵c̸h̸i̶l̷d̵r̸e̶n̴ ̸o̷f̵ ̶t̴h̸e̵ ̵f̴a̶m̸i̷l̸y̷ ̷t̴h̴a̸t̷ ̶t̷o̷o̷k̵ ̴m̶e̶ ̵i̷n̴ ̵a̶s̶ ̵p̵a̴r̸t̶ ̶o̶f̷ ̴t̷h̷e̸i̸r̵ ̶X̶e̶n̶i̷a̴,̸ ̵g̸o̷ ̸a̴c̶t̴i̷n̵g̶ ̸l̶i̶k̸e̴ ̴a̶ ̷p̸a̸i̵r̴ ̵o̵f̶ ̶b̸r̵a̴i̶n̸l̵e̴s̶s̶ ̴w̶i̵l̶d̷ ̸b̷a̶r̶b̷a̶r̶i̷a̵n̴s̶ ̷t̴h̵a̵t̷ ̵u̸p̶o̴n̵ ̸d̴e̵a̷t̴h̶ ̶I̷ ̶w̵o̵u̸l̸d̵ ̶n̴o̶ ̷d̴o̷u̷b̶t̴ ̴s̴e̴n̴d̵ ̵t̷h̴e̸m̸ ̷d̷i̸r̷e̷c̵t̷l̸y̸ ̵t̴o̵ ̸T̶a̶r̸t̸a̷r̷u̸s̴,̶ ̷t̶h̴i̸n̸k̶ ̴y̸o̶u̸ ̴a̷r̶e̵ ̴d̶o̸i̶n̶g̷?̸
Finally HE had loosened clawed grip that was starting to get tighter and tighter,
Apollo frantically pulled free as he desperately put distance between himself and the older his as Artemis did the same, both of their hands shaking, their colors dull, as well as looking very pale and malnourished.
All was still for a minute, the twins trying to catch his breath, before the sun deity rapidly replied, "We'llLeave!!YOUWillNeverSEEusANYWHERE near THEM!!, WE SWEAR ON THE STYX!," he mumbled desperately, as he looked like he was having a panic attack, Artemis didn't look much better.
…
…
…̴t̵h̷e̸n̸ ̴w̷h̷y̷ ̵a̵r̴e̴ ̷y̵o̷u̸ ̸s̵t̵i̷l̸l̶ ̸h̸e̴r̵e̴?̶…̸
̸
̵g̵o̴ ̷b̷e̶f̶o̴r̸e̸ ̴I̸ ̸l̵o̴s̴e̸ ̶a̶l̵l̷ ̶c̴o̶n̴t̷r̵o̵l̴ ̵o̴f̸ ̸m̴y̵ ̷r̴a̸g̸e̷,̵ ̷t̷e̵a̶r̴ ̶y̷o̸u̶ ̷t̷w̵o̸ ̵d̸o̴w̸n̴ ̶t̸h̸e̶ ̷m̴i̶d̸d̴l̸e̸ ̴a̵n̶d̸ ̸r̷i̶p̴ ̸o̷u̴t̸ ̴y̵o̴u̷r̵ ̵h̵e̴a̴r̵t̵s̴,̴ ̷f̸o̷r̵ ̶h̵a̴v̴i̶n̷g̸ ̷t̸h̴e̸ ̴i̸n̶s̶o̶l̷e̴n̸c̷e̷ ̸t̶o̸ ̸a̶t̶t̶a̴c̷k̴ ̴t̵h̸e̷ ̶f̴a̸m̶i̶l̸y̷ ̵t̷h̴a̶t̵ ̸h̷a̷v̸e̶ ̵s̸e̴r̶v̸e̵m̴e̵ ̶d̷ ̷a̵s̸ ̶w̵o̵n̴d̸e̸r̵f̶u̸l̶ ̶h̸o̸s̶t̵s̵ ̵i̴n̴ ̷t̷h̴e̶i̸r̶ ̷h̵o̸m̵e̶s̷ ̵w̸h̸i̵l̷e̸ ̷I̸ ̸w̶a̶s̸ ̴s̵t̷i̷l̸l̵ ̸h̵e̶r̴e̷,̸ ̶f̶o̶r̸ ̴a̴ ̸m̶o̸r̵t̶a̸l̸'̷s̶ ̶p̸r̵i̴d̵e̸f̵u̷l̴ ̵c̷o̶m̸m̷e̷n̵t̵ ̷o̵n̴ ̶h̸e̶r̵ ̸c̴h̷i̸l̴d̸r̷e̶n̶
̴̤̥͆
Words could not describe just how fast and shakily the two left as they teleported,…
Hades was aware that the twins would probably never recover from the heavy dose of fear he had just made them experience…
But at the moment…he couldn't give a shit…
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