Chapter 454: Chapter 412
Hades and Persephone listened silently as I regaled them with a story that I wouldn't be surprised if they called me out as a liar for.
If not for both Izzy and Odin supporting my claims, I honestly think they wouldn't have believed me. I couldn't blame them either, it was a wild story and not something that one simply accepts.
I was hesitant to fully admit to my ability to leave the world and travel to a God. Izzy...she took it relatively well, but at that point, we were very close. Hell, I'm sure I could have started dating her back then If I wasn't being so stupid. Then Odin found out....that admittedly took me by surprise, and in hindsight, it wasn't that surprising given all the clues that were thrown in his face. But regardless, it made me worried about what would happen.
It hasn't really been something of note, I barely saw Odin since then and we had been on good terms. Despite Izzy and him fighting all the time, it was never malicious.
So a hesitant trust was formed there.
And now I just said everything to Hades with Izzy's support. She trusted Hades, and I trusted her unconditionally. Not to mention that I had a good rapport with Hades thus far.
So....here we are.
"Hel's tits, boy. I knew about it, but I was not prepared for the whole story." Odin finally spoke up after I finished. "Cu Chulainn, huh?" He rubbed his beard. "I could see it, he was someone I could easily see myself being very similar to."
That was the part he latched onto. The fact that I met Cu with another Odin riding in the passenger seat.
"I have a question." Persephone hesitantly stated.
"I'll answer what I can." I responded.
She looked like she wanted to say something, but was having trouble actually speaking the words. It took a couple moments for her to speak next. "How much danger do you put on our world by....doing what you are doing."
That....was a question I supposed I should have anticipated.
Hades's eyes hardened as soon as she spoke. He didn't say anything thus far, but it was clear he was imagining a lot of things based on what she said.
"I can't say that I don't bring any dangers, but if you're expecting something to follow me back, it's highly unlikely." I hadn't gone in depth about how my Magic worked, and I would not do so. "My method of travel.....you can consider it something like an Authority. There are more 'mundane' methods of traversing other Worlds, but then you run afoul certain entities..."
"The Dragon of Dreams defends this world from outside invaders as part of its nature."
We all nearly jumped out of our seats as someone else entirely spoke. Someone appeared in the room with us, despite the astronomical protection put in place, a young-looking woman with unnaturally dark hair stood behind Hades, staring unblinkingly at me.
"....Nyx." Hades said softly.
I could feel nothing from her, as if she wasn't even here.
No, that wasn't quite right. Now that I focused, it felt like her presence was so large it was engulfing the entire underworld.
A Primordial.
A being that should be at least on par with Shiva. Though, perhaps her existence differed in that she was the personification of a worldly concept rather than an aspect of a cosmology.
"Lady Nyx." Izzy was first to greet her politely. Very polite, her tone took me by surprise. She sounded more reserved than even when she talked to Shiva.
"Izanami-no-Mikoto." Her alien eyes landed on Izzy. "It has been a very long time since I have spoken to my siblings in the East. Are the Kotoamatsukami still absent?"
"They have returned to their origins before the advent of Humanity, Lady Nyx." Izzy bowed her head.
"Mmm." Was her only reply.
"Siblings?" I whispered, mostly to myself.
Nyx's head snapped to me. "We all were born of the Chaos." She answered good naturedly. "In your limited comprehension, that would make us siblings, no?"
....well then.
Even Odin was silent.
"May I ask what you dropped in for, Lady Nyx?" Persephone asked.
"I was aware the moment your guests arrived. I merely wished to inform you that your worries are unfounded. The threat you envision is nothing new, but those much older than you young Gods have been tasked with keeping watch."
"...fantastic, so I suppose there is one more person who now knows." I muttered.
"I have known since the first time you stepped into this domain, child." Nyx replied, looking rather humored, all things considered. "You bear with you a light not native to this world. I am the Night, there is no light I am unfamiliar with."
...oh.
"You've known this entire time?" Hades questioned. "And you thought not to inform me?"
Nyx turned to the God. "I am not a subordinate, Hades. Do not forget that."
"....Apologies." He relented.
She nodded. "You should be thankful, I shielded your conversation from prying eyes."
"And what eyes dare to look into my domain without my knowledge!?" Hades' temper flared.
"Don't be foolish, Hades. You know full well what lurks outside your door."
"Tartarus?" He furrowed his brow.
She nodded once more. "Perhaps even my elder brother may have taken an interest as he keeps to your Underworld instead of the Human World at times. It's unlikely he would have cared an iota as we have mostly retreated from the world. But the possibility exists."
"I suppose I should thank you then." I offered up. "An oversight on our part that you corrected."
"Your thanks is unneeded, but it is not unwelcome. The truths you revealed, perhaps astounding for some, but they are not new revelations in the broad sense. Most Pantheons are aware of certain truths. That Angel you killed was one such example. The Watcher of the Stars was his title, I invite you to contemplate what that meant."
Well...if that wasn't a terrifying thought.
Nyx smiled. "You need not fear me, child. Besides that light within your being is something even I dare not go against, I am aligned with Hades' own thoughts on the matters happening in the overworld."
"That is to say, you agree with his decision to bring back the Abrahamic God and put a plug on the Sacred Gears being thrown around?" I hazarded a guess.
"Among other things, yes. The system left behind by Yahweh was not meant to be operated by one of his Angels. It has fallen into disrepair, and it threatens the stability of the world."
"I did not think someone of your stature would care about such a thing." I admitted.
"It's not your fault, your view of the world is too narrow." She shrugged. "I care not for the method used, even if simply destroying Heaven and its cohorts would be the easiest and most simplistic available. If you wish to put in the effort to revive the Abrahamic Deity, then so be it. My goal will be reached either way."
Without another word, she disappeared from the room.
There was a beat of silence as we all sort of waited for anything else to be said.
"Well that was damn terrifying." Odin blurted out.
"What wonderful insight you always give." Izzy drawled. "But it is not incorrect."
"There is one thing you should remember, child. Something that even these Gods have known since their inception. A truth that humanity also realized when they first developed the ability to look up at the moon-lit sky and contemplate their existence." I felt Nyx's words brush against my ear, as it was obvious that I was the only one hearing her. "The Night is dark and full of terrors."
"Message received." I whispered.
"Good." Her tone was almost seductive in nature. "I have spoken on your behalf, and Hades will trust me. I do not pretend to know what method you use to step away, only that it is permissible. I am not the only one that will know, so do not expect safety in anonymity any longer. The Dream is already aware of your existence and may not be as uncaring if you appear in front of it. Tread carefully."
With that, I felt her presence creep away, but yet....there was this lingering feeling that she was constantly out of reach but always nearby.
Alrighty then. Of everything I thought was going to happen, having the Primordial of Night tell me to keep my nose clean was not one of them. Though, her warning didn't really feel personal, more like she would be forced to act a certain way if I just decided to do some bad things.
I wasn't stupid, it would be the height of foolishness to not realize that this world was familiar with what I was doing, even indirectly. Back home, it wasn't something unheard of for incursions from outside to happen. It's logical that they had suffered some similar things here and have their own methods of dealing with them.
And I already knew about the existence of the fuck-off powerful Dragon that flew around the outer boundaries of this world-line known as the Dimensional Gap. Basically, the corridor that allowed one to access this world and its branching dimensions.
If the Dimensional Gap was the primary Door one uses to enter and Leave, I was allowed to use a secret back door. And if Nyx's warning was to be believed, Great Red – the Bouncer, so to speak, might be annoyed that I was doing so, but wouldn't actively seek me out for causing trouble.
And that just insinuated that Nyx and others were aware of my presumed back door and left it well enough alone because I had the special privilege of using it.
Things got super messy very quickly.
So much to unpack here that I did not want to deal with it when I already had a lot of things weighing me down.
"So you have that kind of card in your back pocket? No wonder you weren't worried about Indra or Shiva when you hoped over there, huh?" Odin verbally poked at Hades as I tried my best to focus back on what was happening in front of me.
Hades let out a long sigh. "It is not a commonly known piece of information. But yes, if Shiva had decided to attack, I would have called up Nyx as back up. Please do not spread this information."
"Right, I'm sure your brother would love to find out how much his throne actually means."
"Zeus would act erratically if he knew that I had amassed significantly more power than he has imagined. He already knows that I passed him many years ago, but we have never spoken about it openly to spare his fragile ego. If he knows that Nyx also supports me so openly, he may do something idiotic."
"I vote in favor of us forgetting this ever happened and proceed how we were." I raised my hand up.
"I am inclined to agree." Izzy even looked tired all of the sudden.
"Welp, I'm glad that we got no Primordials over in our neck of the words."
"Except your Tree that you literally live on." Izzy pointed out.
"....point." He grumbled. And his lips pursed in annoyance, perhaps not because of Izzy but maybe because he realized that we're going to have to deal with that problem too soonish.
Hades rubbed his tired eyes. "Let us focus on the important matter at hand. I will take time to contemplate everything I've learned recently when I have enough wine within reach. For now.....what are we to do about the spear."
"Keep it from getting worse, first and foremost." Odin rubbed his beard.
"I can probably handle that." I spoke up. "But repairing it....we probably need at least one of the Holy Relics for that."
"So we've come back around to that." Hades grumbled. "I will obtain the Holy Nails. The person holding them has to be dealt with sooner, rather than later."
"Are you prepared to run afoul the God that's snooping around there?" Odin questioned.
"Is there another choice?"
"I could help." Odin offered.
Hades shook his head. "We can't be seen working together as of right now. And you have another matter to worry about. My Father trespasses upon your lands, All-Father."
Odin's expression hardened. "That he does." He looked towards me. "Brat, I'll be calling in a favor about that. I need someone to watch my back as we go hunting through the Nine-Realms."
"Odin." Izzy narrowed her eyes.
"Bah, calm your tits. I'm not tossing your boy-toy at the feat of that Titan just as a distraction or anything like that. I recognize his strength, and I don't know what else is hiding away. I really want an extra hand here, no other agenda."
"Izzy, it's fine. I probably owe him this much at least, he did lend a hand before."
"Hmph." Izzy just huffed.
"I apologize for not being able to assist. I do not like passing off my obligation onto you, All-Father." Hades politely apologized.
"I already said it wasn't your fault." Odin waved away. "Besides, how you told it, it was probably Loki who had a hand in releasing your pops in the first place."
"I'm not the only one upset." Hades responded. "Nyx....she rarely appears because she has one other duty she considers hers. A reason why she takes a more....material form compared to her siblings. She keeps Tartarus from leaking out into the world. She was most upset to learn that someone snuck into Tartarus under her nose and released two prisoners. I do not claim to speak for her....but if something presents itself that was responsible for her annoyance, she may respond."
Right, something capable and willing to get one over on the Primordial of Night....then I suppose it was a bit of relief that said Primordial may answer a call for aid if this supposed 'enemy' was revealed.
That was a lot of 'what if's though.
"Hades is correct. Someone was able to sneak into Tartarus with me noticing. This is not as significant a feat as you may presume. Tartarus is not my domain, and Night holds no sway within, but I still am ....annoyed that it happened." Nyx's words tickled my mind once more. "I may be grateful if you found the one responsible."
Should I be happy or frightened that the Night was apparently speaking to me so casually like this?
"It sounds like we have a lot of work to do." I muttered.
"I'll look into some things. I know you got your hands full over on your end, Brat. So don't worry about me needing you if you're doing something important." Odin spoke.
"I appreciate it." I nodded in thanks.
"If we're to assume that these two instances are linked to the same group.....they will know something is amiss if we strike in relative succession." Izzy tapped her finger on the table.
"That is a consideration." Hades noted.
Odin chuckled. "I got a plan."
"Dare I ask?" Izzy raised a questioning eyebrow.
He barely held back a more mirthful laugh. "Let's get the Devils and have them to steal the spotlight."
"Oh?" Hades looked interested.
"Wouldn't it be convenient, if all the 'allied factions' put together their own 'team' to hunt down this Khaos Brigade?" He quirked a smile. "I've been wanting to light a fire under this generation's rears for a while, but never had a good opportunity. I think I'll go propose an idea of setting up a team of our best young'uns."
"You want to sick a bunch of Kids at an organization led by Gods?" I questioned.
"Brat, are you really gonna talk?" He snorted.
"Okay...that's fair. But I'm hardly the standard here."
"Kids gotta grow under pressure. But don't think I'm just wanting to send them to the slaughter. Not every part of the Organization has a God watching over. Besides, it's not like there aren't some that are able to reach those heights with a bit of effort."
"Oh?" Hades seemed very interested at this point. "And who do you expect to be in this 'team'?"
Odin shrugged. "A couple of Devils I remember might be worth giving a shot. Azazel's brat, the White Dragon Emperor has some potential. Might even be able to convince the Old Monkey's grandson to participate too. Heaven has some exorcists that aren't too bad."
"That sounds horribly chaotic." Izzy commented.
"Wouldn't it?" Odin cackled.
"Intriguing." Hades rubbed his chin. "I approve. It would keep both those annoying Abrahamic Factions busy and keep the Khaos Brigades' eyes firmly on them."
"Maybe we can convince Zeus to also participate?" Persephone mused. "You know how he gets when he thinks he's competing with someone? We can frame it like that. Especially after it 'got out' that you were among the list of Gods inside the Khaos Brigade." She used air quotes. "It would ease some tension right now."
"Perhaps. It would be worth a try."
Well, wasn't this a proper Illuminati meeting? Moving all the pieces behind the curtain.
"Oh God..." I let out a sigh.
"What?" Izzy asked.
"I'm going to be bothered to join, aren't I?" I was that age after all. Not that I had any intention to be part of whatever that was, but I would be bothered about it nonetheless.
Izzy gave me a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.
[***]
A/N
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
So, what's coming up soon? Odin just spoiled a tidbit, but you can expect a Gremory Family Dinner to come after as a result of Wilhelm deciding to visit the underworld. After some HP chapters.
Anyways, if you want to read 9 chapters ahead or support me, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / astoryforone
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