187 The Bane Of Olympus part 1
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(General P.O.V)
"What is this my Lord?!"
Lucienne had her eyes wide as the new dream took effect. It was a still a hazy form but the fluctuations coming out of the dream were honestly shocking. Morpheus had a grave yet curious look on his face.
"This Lucienne...is a scheme. A scheme by my dear little brother."
Morpheus suddenly looked up in surprise, before a small smile broke out of his face. The smile changed into a laugh.
"Brilliant!"
Then Dream started weaving the form of the dream, giving him more detail.
(Aden's P.O.V)
(30 minutes ago)
The goddess of The Hunt. What a joke. She was beautiful though. But her beauty paled when paired with the deplorable acts she had committed in the past.
Artemis was far from the worst of the Olympians but she was horrible none the less. I exposed her to my penance stare and stunned her enough that I could invade her mind.
The very first touch upon the natural divine walls the gods had against telepathy, and chaos rose up to corrode them. Like a piece of paper underneath a stream of water, they offered no resistance. It was laughable actually and ironic.
Using Chaos to fight felt... clunky. That is because combat was an art. Complex and it required coordination to chain your attacks and understanding to factor in your opponents moves and respond in kind. That is a concept drenched in order.
Chaos opposed that. Vehemently. I could dismantle just about anything, reverse gravity, rip holes in space time. Each action going against a perceived order. Dismantling, disassembled a target ergo, turning it back to chaos. Reversing gravity was going against the natural order ergo, chaos. Same goes for ripping holes in space time.
But trying to chain these moves one after the other established an order and that directly countered the essence of what chaos is.
So I was surprised that it became easy to use when invading someone's mind. Then I realized that there was nothing as naturally complex, containing both concepts of order and chaos like a being's mind.
A sane person existed at the cusp of achieving balance against the Super Ego and the Id. It was a constant battle that neither side seemed to completely win due to the Ego mediating.
So to chaos...it was like a challenge, one I took advantage of. I combed over Artemis' memories. Filtering out the useless stuff and leaving behind all the most important information. That's where I found out just how horrible the pretty face hid. Artemis had made it a habit to terrorize any man who saw her naked.
She was merciless to even young boys. As long as you caught a glimpse of her, you were done for. Turned into an animal and chased by her Hunters to be killed as prey.
It made me shudder that she took such pride and happiness in hearing the broken cries of innocent men. And there were centuries of these memories!!
I had to filter out more memories and access her latest ones. Anguish and stubbornness accompanied her last talk with the king of gods. Zeus had informed her to wait despite her feeling that Apollo was almost at death's door.
She could feel his pain and terror through their twin link. But by disobeying him, she risked ruining the plan. Huh, so Zeus was under the impression that he could defeat me with a scheme?
Oh...I see. I laughed as Artemis hovered before me with a dazed look on her face. I wonder what she was seeing. I also wonder how she would react to Zeus' second plan.
The first plan was to use Apollo to coax out my own ascension, imprinting a divine signature on me that was backed by ancient laws where I would automatically be a part of the Olympians upon my ascension.
It would put me under Zeus has my Sky father and because of a certain clause sneakily included, I couldn't willingly betray or act against my fellow gods without bringing my case infront of the council of 12 Olympians.
The last thing about that, that grated me was that I would be a minor god! I wouldn't get a throne in the hall of gods. I would be no different than Koalemos! Yeah, you know the god of stupidity! That was how much value Zeus placed on me?!
Anger poured out of me in waves. The whole moon shook at my erratic emotions. I felt like destroying everything.
Death is an easy way out for him. Oh no no no. I will make sure he loses everything first. My initial plan was to teleport there using Artemis and destroy them all with some hardcore ass kicking. I would still do so but there will have to be a few changes. For maximum effect you see.
And the second plan? Well we'll get to that later. Zeus sought to defeat me indirectly because of his fear. Well let's see what happens when I reverse those plans on him.
My homunculi puppet manifested next to me in the air. A boom tube appeared beside me in my White Shadow identity and I jumped in, disappearing off to my dimension. It was time for a talk with Black Adam. Meanwhile, I kept on combing through Artemis' mind for some more information.
(Elemental dimension- Hollow lands)
The whole place was dreary. The ground looked deserted with a lone tree every 50 meters give or take and sand dunes dotting the terrain. Grey mist covered the air, thin enough to not obstruct sight or the glaring heat from the dark red light of the red sun above. The mist was also thicker in some places.
This was a section of the main dimension, hidden deep within the layers of the core of the realm but in a different space. It was fashioned after Hueco Mundo from Bleach, sharing some of the features from the land of the hollows.
For instance,the design. The whole place was barren. A few key differences between the two was that Aden's Hollow Land had a weakening effect to anyone who stayed there for an extended period of time as opposed to Hueco Mundo's immediate suppression of its visitors.
The grey mist also made the occupants of the realm experience illusions. They could walk for 10 meters yet feel as if they had trekked for 10 miles. Any place where the mist was too thick caused even more severe illusions. This function was inspired by the Fog of Lost Souls, a prison in the spirit realm for humans.
The Fog of Lost Souls was actually a spirit that made the prisoners relive their worst memories. Aden didn't have a plan for that but he felt that soon, having a warden as the prisoners grew in number would be crucial.
As the Realm Master, Aden was exempt from experiencing the harsh conditions. His steps were measured as he passed by a huge valley. The valley was easily hundreds of miles long and a cloud of gray mist covered everything inside.
The mist muffled the noise but Aden could hear the mumbling of hundreds of thousands demons wandering about. That was the price they paid for trying to usurp Lucifer and plan an earth invasion. Aden had hardened his heart over this matter. They had kept their lives. That was more than enough mercy.
He turned his attention to his front, sucking in a shallow breath. To his sides the chaos chasm run right through the Hollow Lands just like in the main dimension. He really needed to find a way to deal with this. The Order Avatar State had expelled out the chaos pockets but the rift of chaos looked like it was here to stay.
He continued to walk forward until he arrived before a huge structure. The structure was fashioned after a pyramid. Huge and imposing. Lines of golden energy ran across the 2 suppressing chains running up it's length from the bottom of the pyramid to the apex. Jet Flames appeared under The White Shadow's feet, pushing him to the sky at crazy speeds.
He pushed through the clouds and slowed his speed, lightly aiming himself to land on the small platform at the top. His feet landed, pulling the attention of the prisoner to him.
Black Adam had seen better days. His costume was charred from the intense rays of the sun above, his bronze skin was wet with sweat and his hands were chained by mega huge chains that ran down the structure. His feet were left free, to allow a little degree of movement.
Not that it helped. Any time he tried to jump off the platform, the chains would harden using his own power and he would stuck hanging them for 24 hours. At that time the sun rays would turn even harsher. It was a cruel punishment.
"What...come to gloat?"
The voice of the former Shazam champion sounded hoarse from disuse. The White Shadow smiled.
"Not really. I have a proposal. Tell me what I seek to know and I'll change the scenery a little for you."
Black Adam spat on his feet.
"I will only bargain for freedom."
Aden was silent watching him with a certain intensity that Black Adam had never felt from the young hero before. Despite his powers not working in the state he was in, he could feel the tumultuous energy roiling inside the blue eyes of his jailer.
"Fine. Have it your way."
The White Shadow abruptly stated before turning to leave. Black Adam was surprised.
"Wait!" He shouted through his chapped lips.
"You're leaving just like that?!"
"Yup."
The White Shadow floated out, intent on disappearing.
Adam watched his retreating back and grit his teeth.
"Fine! Fine! I will hear you out."
Aden paused in midair before turning to Black Adam, a lazy smile behind his mask.
"Nah... I'm good."
And with that he disappeared.
Upon his teleportation, the air in the Hollow Lands grew heavier. Black Adam felt the heat from the sun go from oppressive to straight up agonizing. His screams echoed out through the whole area, muffled by the mist.
The White Shadow next visited Fawcett City. If there was anyone else with information on gods that he wanted to hear from Black Adam, it was the Wizard Mamaragan, the one responsible for creating champions in the first place.
He hovered above the whole city, standing on a fire construct and spread out his energy sense, immediately widening his eyes. The city was a hot bed of divine energy. There were criss crossing lines in the air above it. Not enough to affect anyone but trying to fight Shazam here wouldn't go that well. The city would aid him after all.
"You leak of a power from before." A gruff voice said from behind him. "That of Chaos Lords and dark beings even the multiverse has wisely forgotten. Who are you?"
The White Shadow turned to the source of the voice, coming face to face with an old man dressed in faded red robes that had a glowing yellow lightning bolt insignia on the chest.
His long white hair fell to his shoulders and a similarly long beard covered his face. To complete the mysterious look, he had a staff in his hands, that faintly pulsed with Power.
Aden blinked and found that his surroundings had changed. He was now standing on a stone floor with dust covering most of the chamber. Ominous statues were elected on the sides of the room, eyes blazing red everytime you swept your gaze at them.
At the end of the room, was a raised platform with 7 thrones and the same Shazam symbol on the wall behind. The Wizard Shazam was seated on one throne, studying The White Shadow with a glint of curiosity in his eyes.
"Welcome to my humble abode."
The Wizard finally said with a nod.
"Usually people offer a glass of water or a cup of tea."
The White Shadow joked, walking around the chamber and studying the statues in a little interest.
"Emphasis on the humble." The Wizard chuckled.
"I have nothing to offer except the lessons I have learned from my own foolishness."
"One might call it wisdom. You look like someone wise."
The younger of the two observed.
"And you look like a man on a mission. Tell me stranger, what do you want?"
The Wizard's question was met with a snort.
"You're not going to ask for my name?"
The Wizard leaned back in his throne.
"Anyone who goes to the lengths of hiding behind a mask must have a reason for it. It is not my place to pry."
The White Shadow looked at The Wizard strangely.
"I wish everyone shared the sentiment. I wish they understood that the mask is not to hide my face from the world but the opposite, to fully immerse myself in it without the pressures of a real identity. To act without restraint from social norms."
Now it was The Wizard's turn to re evaluate his young guest.
"I understand."
Noting that the talk was going off topic, The White Shadow fully focused his attention on The Wizard. The air between them suddenly grew serious.
"I wish to know something. What would happen to the world if I were to kill a god."
The Wizard's eyes grew sharp.
"That is a dangerous question." His wizened hands tightened on the staff he held in his grip. "With an equally dangerous answer."
"And yet you will still tell me what I need to know."
The White Shadow smiled underneath his mask.
"How so?"
The tension grew thicker. So thick you could cut it with a knife.
"Because my next actions will be determined by your next words."
The Wizard rose up to his full height. Magic and divine power crashing down on The White Shadow. The chamber trembled at the aura of power he exuded.
"Watch it boy."
The White Shadow's face grew serious. His blue eyes flashed red as he responded in kind. Berserk energy clashed against mystic power, splitting the room into two.
"I came here to bargain. But I am not opposed to destroying the Rock Of Eternity. Answer me and I'll be on my way. With a one time favor for you to call on me any time you need."
They entered a staring contest before The Wizard relented, sitting on his throne once more. Instantly, he looked his age. Tired and ancient.
"The gods...that is not an amusing subject, stranger. They left the mortal world centuries ago. A council of all the old gods decided on this course of action, citing a few issues. For starters their worship was being replaced by other more relatable religions."
"The old ways discarded for more merciful practices. Science and industrialization took over, mankind acquiring technical explanations for the world in contrast to the old stories passed down through generations on the god's providence and punishments."
He stopped, looking far away.
"However. The gods are an essential aspect of reality. They hold a soft control over concepts that drive forth existence. They are real. Their power backed on faith but not dependent on worship. Not completely. Even the virtue of being known gives them relevance."
He turned his brown eyes to Aden's own blue ones, the red caused by accessing his chaos through the Homunculi having faded.
"The death of a minor god would only cause a momentary shockwave of power through the divinity they possessed. Mortals would probably not notice it." He sighed, noticing the anticipation on The White Shadow's eyes.
"But that is not who you want to kill, is it?" He laughed dejectedly. "The true death of a Major God has far worse concequences. One like Demeter's would have serious terrifying effects. The world would enter a period of famine as the crops themselves would dry up. The soil would refuse to yield and the seeds would not grow."
"Tsunamis as the sea rages and monsters driven to the cracks of reality down in the ocean emerging, would happen in case it was Poseidon. The nine realms would face an upheaval and start merging and clashing upon each other in case it was Odin. The skies would rapture with billions of lightning bolts and tornadoes would lay waste to the planet in case it was Zeus. Does that answer your question?"
The White Shadow listened to all that with barely a reaction. 'Count your lucky stars Apollo, you won't die just yet.'
"It does. Now, for my final one. How do I prevent this from happening while still accomplishing my goal?"
(Greece - Ruins of Hecate's temple)
A symbol depicting Hecate's divine emblem which was a wheel with inscriptions in the detail was drawn on the ground. All things considered, everything had taken 20 minutes up until now. Aden's real body was still combing through Artemis' mind. He had left Apollo barely alive and imprisoned him in the deepest part of the Hollow Lands.
Manacles which blocked magic and any type of power were placed on him, a function he'd copied from the Magitech power dampening cuffs and Equity.
After the last detail of the wheel was done, The White Shadow silently thanked The Wizard while wondering for the umpteenth time why he had decided to help him. What was The Wizard aiming to get out of the deaths of the Greek Gods? Wouldn't Shazam's power be lost forever? The White Shadow shook his head and turned to the wheel.
The Wizard had told him that to call on Hecate, he would need a sufficient enough sacrifice as incentive.
"Sacrifice?" He snorted. "I'm using the universal trait of all women, curiousity...or is it gossiping?"
He held out his hand above the circle and started pouring in his chaos energy. The power resisted and The White Shadow could see his hand corroding, with flesh slouching off. Before the chaos could take his entire arm off, there was a sudden explosion from the symbol.
The White Shadow backed away as a majestic aura spread out. Bigger than anything short of Lucifer he had ever felt before.
"Mother Magic..."
He whispered to himself, a bit awed. These days nothing could surprise Aden that much but as colors swirled around Hecate's position, The White Shadow could not hide his shock.
His energy sense was going haywire. Hecate's divinity felt like the purest magic ever. And she had lots of it. Not boundless but truly infinite. Aden pinched himself to get back his focus.
"Well, this is certainly interesting."
An authoritarian voice sounded out as the colors faded away revealing a beautiful woman dressed in gaudy purple robes, with black flowing hair and grey eyes.
Through his energy sense however, she appeared different. For instance, she had 3 heads, a maiden, a middle aged woman and an old woman. The crone's eyes danced around, before focusing on him with creepy intensity. The White Shadow wisely ignored that.
He bowed to show proper respect.
"Thank you for answering my summons mistress of magic. I only have one question."
With that Aden looked up.
"What would you give to see the end of the Olympians?"
The smile on Hecate's face spread wide.
(Mount Etna)
Finally, everything was set. All that now remained was one final thing after this. One final thing that would herald the end of Zeus and his Pantheon. The White Shadow chuckled, floating above a mountain. 5 steps to Zeus' end. He wanted to scheme against him? Well Aden would show him what true scheming looks like.
With that final thought, the flame construct under him disappeared and he fell. He only gave himself 2 minutes to end this fight.
(Present)
Hera placed a hand on her husband as she looked down at Aden in a little surprise and interest.
"Do you have any idea who you stand before?"
Aden shrugged, pacing around Artemis who was rooted on the spot, her mind going miles as she wondered about what had just transpired. He...he read her mind?... controlled... controlled her? A goddess!!
"What's with you people and cutting in line? Can't you see she's going through an existential crisis?"
He asked ignoring the Olympians in place of a giddy smile at Artemis horrified expression.
A lightning bolt flew out of Zeus hand, aimed at Aden's back. The fully charged divine attack fizzled out upon reaching 10 meters close to him. The left over energy scattered across the hall, biting into the enchanted walls of the chamber. Instantly every god present felt a sudden weakness invade them.
"Zeus! Your attacks are weakening us!"
Poseidon roared out standing and turning into his god form. He grew to a tall height easily achieving 7 meters. Golden armor donned his form with his divine weapon, the trident appearing.
Pillars of light shot out of all the thrones as every Olympian powered up, all except for Hestia and Artemis. None grew to Poseidon's size however. The former was tending to her hearth while ignoring the show, a bag of smore's were placed right next to her as she stoked the fire with a stick.
"Shut up Poseidon! How can I allow such an insult to go unpunished?"
Zeus shot back.
"Then punish him you idiot, don't destroy the hall!"
As they argued, Athena made eye contact with Hermes and nodded imperceptibly. All of them could feel the power rolling off this mortal. He was...he was a monster. Yet, her father and uncle seemed content to argue instead of deal with him.
A golden streak of light passed through the room a hundred times in a second. Hermes had officially attacked. Aden felt a light breeze blow past his clothes, taking Artemis away from him. Then another breeze blew past him, this time accompanied by a punch that turned his head to the other side.
Then the scene repeated itself, a hundred strikes had landed on his body not doing any sufficient damage but these things pile up. Which was exactly what Hermes was going for.
Unfortunately his next attack was caught.
"Got you!"
Aden smiled and with reflexes as crazy as Hermes' managed to turn around in time for the sword swung at him by Athena to instead land on Hermes left hand. Golden ichor sprayed out as Hermes' was dismembered.
Aden pulled back his hand and slammed it forward on the Speedster god's chest. Hermes was blown back so hard, his chest caved in and his body imprinted onto the wall next to his throne.
Silence invaded the room for one split second before chaos erupted. Athena's sword swung out crazily. Thousands of slashes in one minute, all aimed at delivering the worst injuries and killing. Aden's fingers lengthened into purple whips with sword edges, blocking each of her attack and leaving behind slashes on her skin that exploded with chaos energy that started to corrode her power.
Athena begun to slow down despite the fact that her divinity empowered her the more she fought. A particularly fast slash made her overextend her reach and Aden shifted his elbow into a hammer and drove it down on her back. Athena hit the ground so hard she left cracks on the floor. Aden mockingly kicked her to the side like trash.
A Tsunami of water fell upon him next, seeking to drown him under. Aden's mouth opened up impossibly wide, dwarfing his body in size and swallowed all the water away, leaving behind a shocked Poseidon. Aden reformed and chuckled.
"Refreshing."
"We cannot fight in here! Zeus do something!"
Hera shouted just as Poseidon ran forward with his Trident poised to skewer Aden through. The god of seas let out a bellow that shook the heavens.
Zeus ignored his wife and leapt up in to the air, his body blazing with electric power. Hera, spread out her her hands and created barriers above the thrones in the hall. The streaks of Zeus Lightning washed over the white shields and bounced off. She wasn't known as the Queen of Olympus for nothing.
Zeus charged up his power as his eyes changed form into pools of yellow lightning. A massive bolt, shot out of his hands, wantonly taking out both Poseidon and Aden. A roar of pain escaped the god of seas as he smoked, his large body seizing up in pain. He landed on his side, revealing Aden, looking unharmed as swirling black portals manifested behind him.
"Damn Zeus, I understand a little argument between family but you took it too far... You fried out all his hair. He's a surfer dude, dude! What's he going to do without it"
Aden asked, shaking his head. All the other gods in various states of either attack, fleeing or abject terror looked on in shock.
"Father..."
Dionysus muttered.
"You have taken it too far Zeus!"
Persephone barked.
"Watch your tone Persephone. He is still your king."
Hera interjected coldly.
Demeter rounded up on her, face set in fury.
"And you watch yours dear sister. My daughter merely points out the obvious. Zeus attacked without consideration for Poseidon's safety!"
"Silence!" Zeus' authority as a Sky Father spread out to still the commotion.
"Dionysus, how do I have a son like you?! A coward! Get of your arse and behave like the god you are! Demeter and Hera, you two squabbling gits should focus on leaving here today with your lives! Persephone do not think Hades will protect you if you call my orders to question again!"
Hera looked as if someone had slapped her. It was always easy to forget that Zeus had led a battle against the Titans due to his philandering ways. He thought more with his cock than his head, is what all the minor gods said. But Zeus was still a Sky Father and fool or not, to keep that position for millenia was not a joke.
A slow clap sounded out.
"You tell em Zeus!" Aden cheered.
The god of the sky, thunder and lightning gritted his teeth, his power doubling, then tripling and then quadrupling. It felt like he had no ceiling.
"And you Mortal, I have had it with you the most!"
He flew down towards Aden, who had black portals swirling behind him still.
"Oh yeah...what are you going to do about it, Old Man?"
Millions of lightning bolts washed out of his body wantonly. Zeus had gone berserk. Haephestus who had been silent up until this moment, sneakily stood up and departed, turning into a red flame that flickered out from his throne. He'd bailed.
"Zeus! Stop this madness!!"
Demeter shouted at her brother but her words fell on deaf ears. The wind grew erratic and begun pushing everyone away. Zeus wanted to destroy everything, in a bid to get rid of Aden.
Then everything stilled. Like a shattering mirror, reality broke apart to reveal each of the Olympians seated on their thrones, their faces slack with horror written on them. A trail of saliva fell down some of their open mouths.
Hermes had tears running down his cheeks. Dionysus had black energy covering his body, as he sub consciously accessed his madness divinity. Aden was seated cross legged before Hestia, a stick with a marshmallow lightly cooking over the campfire. Chaos energy was pouring into him like water from a broken dam.
His purple figure lightly vibrated unceasingly. He took a bite of the marshmallow and nodded in appreciation.
"Wow, this is really good Hestia."
The 14 year old girl sitting opposite him, smiled softly.
"I am glad you like it."
Aden nodded.
"Hey so back to what we were talking about before..."
Hestia stared at him with a hard look.
"You mean after you put my whole family under mind control and made them think they were fighting you to farm more chaos energy and prove that you're stronger than us all?"
Aden scratched his head in a little embarrassment.
"When you put it like that, it makes me sound like the villain. Plus to be fair, I did tell them that I could do that." He shook his head "But trust me Hestia, everything I'm doing has a good reason behind it."
"What could that reason be I wonder?"
Hestia asked.
"Your divinity is family right? Are you not tired of the constant clashes between your brothers and their children because of the arrogance borne out of being gods? In fact during the whole fight, they were busy tearing each other apart instead of focusing on the real threat. Me!"
"Every family has its own problems."
Hestia answered simply, making Aden snort.
"True enough but how long are your problems going to last? Centuries? Millenia? Until the twilight of the gods? Something needs to change. I could have easily killed you all but I'm a pretty chill dude. The only reason I even attacked you was because Zeus sent Apollo to capture me like I was his property or something. Do you know how insulting that is?"
For the first time, Hestia looked mildly ashamed.
"Zeus is... difficult."
"Really? Is difficult the world you would use on someone who was counting on me to kill Apollo, giving him enough reason to bear the full might of Olympus down on me without feeling pressured by the other Pantheons?"
Hestia's whole demeanor changed. An aura no weaker than Zeus erupted out of her. The fire burning in the hearth between them shifted from a warm comforting yellow to a sickly green.
"Zeus would...nev..."
It didn't sound like she believed what she wanted to say either.
"It's not his fault. really." Aden uncharacteristically defended him.
"Zeus is merely a tool. A tool for their use. They have a hold on him that will never unravel as long as he remains the Sky Father. And because of using that tool to suppress me, a monster like I, descended upon the sphere of the gods with the full intent to destroy you all." He went silent to let that sink in.
"But I'm giving you a choice Hestia. To prevent the end of the Olympians...I need you."
