212 Gods And Monsters (10): One's Own Hell

(A/N: Don't wanna break the immersion at the end of the chapter, so just gonna say it here: read the author's thoughts below because it's important.)

Their sight was immediately impeded upon the beginning of the actual fight. No matter where they turned their heads, everything they saw was pitch black and nothing more than that. They were only allowed to see themselves, and barely at that.

Noticing that their enemy was not visible, Thor's face momentarily turned into a scowl. "This is how you are going to fight? Like a coward? Are you that scared?"

His question was answered by a phantom pain on his side. A slash wound was present all of a sudden on his skin. "Oh, come on, dear. This is all fair game, isn't it? A warrior should be able to take all of the pain in the world."

The redhead's pupils turned into prickles at the voice. He looked everywhere, but there was no sign of its owner. "Sif..? You fucker, you are even more twisted than I thought..."

"Fucker? Twisted? Are those things you are supposed to say to your wife? You disappoint me, Thor." A stab to his thigh was next. The suddenness of it almost made him fall to one knee, but he managed to remain standing out of sheer anger.

"ENOUGH! Show yourself and stop with your cheap tricks!" The redhead proceeded to shoot lightning from his hammer in all directions after converging his power on it. He had thought he could finally fight a good battle, but this was nothing more than a mockery.

"What are you on about, you musclebrain? Did all the fights make you go crazy?" Khronos didn't understand what has gotten into Thor all of a sudden, hence the question. Unfortunately for him, he was going to know about it soon.

"Establishing Link. Connecting to Celestial Cubic Type Space-Time Fabricator Colony Khronos." Archer almost robotically and breathlessly moved his up—to where the darkness had dissipated in favor of showing a colossal eye peering down on him. "Y-You...?!"

"Corrupted data detected in the ship's core. Probability of the colony having been taken over by a foreign civilization: 93.6%. Ship designation Khronos is considered to be beyond recovery. Commencing purge." That emotionless sentence of his fate gon on the white-haired man's nerve.

"You idiot! You are just a second generation while I am first! Your programming should tell you what hierarchy is, you stupid junk!"

"Subject's argument is regarded as irrelevant. Colony Ship Khronos' cease of functions commencing." That was the last warning Archer got before his whole being was enveloped by a blinding light.

"AAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!" Asterios could honestly say he was a little perturbed right now. Hearing the white-haired man talk to the dark sky as if someone was there and then seeing him suddenly combust into flames was certainly not something that brought him comfort.

"Are you scared, little Asterios?" The Minotaur's shoulders shook, but he managed to quickly regain his composure by taking some deep breaths. "It's okay, mother is here."

A simple touch, a simple gesture, nothing more than physical contact, yet it made so many emotions surge from within him. His frame of almost three meters was imposing, but even so, he never felt so small.

He was back at the Labyrinth. There was darkness, but that darkness was pushed away by small candles hanging on the walls, yet they paled in comparison to the brightness that the white-haired woman holding his hand brought to him.

So beautiful yet so delicate. She graced him with a smile that gave him joy and sadness in equal measure. "It doesn't take a genius to know they are not experiencing something pleasant, so why am I...?"

"Do you prefer to be shown your own inner ugliness then?" The woman tilted her head, patiently asking a question with no intention to rush his answer.

Asterios shook his head. "It's not that. I am just wondering why is it that I have preferential treatment."

She smiled again, seemingly understanding his inner plight. "That person doesn't care about you. No, more exactly, he doesn't see you as someone worth antagonizing."

"Isn't that the same thing? And why are you talking about yourself in the third person?" A short laugh was his answer at first. The melodic tune had a calming effect on his troubled soul.

"To address your first question: no. They are not the same. If he didn't care about you, we wouldn't be talking in the first place. He just simply finds you an amusing sight. Think of it as if you were looking at someone that went through a similar experience as you." That gave some clarity to Asterios. If he thought about it, both were monsters that were alone in the world while growing up.

"And the second?"

"That's an easy one. I am not talking in the third person. What you see in front of you is none other than your mother, I AM your mother. No one is posing as me, and neither I am posing as someone. Simple, right?"

If only it were.

"My mother is dead, her soul is gone, and we are inside my Noble Phantasm. You have to try better than that."

"Ah. I understand how it is now. However, you are missing something here. I am dead, yes. My soul is gone, yes. Yet, it is true that I am here. Your Master is the foreign version of Charon—a carrier of souls. He can move them as he pleases. With the Age of Man and the disappearance of the Underworld, we all went to the same place, no matter where we were originally from. It only took using you as an anchor to find and bring me here." Her explanation lacked faults. It was perfect. And yet, it was that perfection that marked its absurdity.

"Even so, you are a fake." Her smile turned upside down, but the gentleness in her eyes still remained. It seemed that nothing he said would be capable of changing that.

"And why do you say so?" A simple question; one that tested his resolve to see things through.

Embers began to emerge from Asterios' body. They floated up, providing a new source of illumination to their little space. He moved his free hand to his chest, which started to shine brightly with a warm light. "Because she is here, giving me the strength to bring a change to this collapsing world."

Pasiphaë's eyes widened. Tears trailed down her face for a few moments before a smile blossomed on her face like a flower opening her petals on spring. "So that's your answer, huh? I understand. Whatever you choose, I will respect your decision. Just remember, when many people believe in fiction, it becomes reality; and in consequence, when they forget reality, it becomes fiction."

"I see... Thank you. Regardless if you are real or not, seeing you again was something I am thankful for." The white-haired woman's smile turned a tad bit wider before she was consumed in flames. As soon as her presence was gone, a sudden eeriness manifested in the dark hallways.

"You monster! It's finally the time to put an end to your wretched and disgusting existence!" A cacophony of voices. Voices that insulted him, denigrated him, mocked him, spat him, and feared him.

Mud-like shadows emerged from everywhere, crawling, walking... running... They all went towards Asterios trying to consume him and his existence. And yet, despite himself, Berserker couldn't help but laugh lightly.

"This might have worked before coming here, but did you forget that I have overcome all these things in order to succeed Helios?" With a swing of his arm, a fiery wave of hell was unleashed upon the shadows. Those flames were greedy. They didn't only consume the abominations; they also consumed the space around—the illusion itself.

When everything was over, he had already returned to reality. He didn't know how much time passed, but Khronos was still being burned while continuously screaming whereas numerous slashes were covering Thor's body as he kept attacking randomly in order to hit his assailant.

He knew they would eventually escape as he did. However, it would take too much time, and there was no guarantee they wouldn't die before that happened. That's why he decided to take matters into his own hands.

"The Sun shall end the Dream." Asterios lifted his arm into the sky. There, a bright sphere of fire manifested itself with a crushing might. The radiance pierced through the darkness, pushing it all away.

It didn't take long for the fake sun to bring them all back to where they started, although different from before, now everything didn't seem to be part of a dead world anymore thanks to its brilliance.

"Wha...What...? Where is Chaos...?" Khronos was the first to react, mainly because the shock of being constantly burned to now being 'fine' was vastly different. Next was Thor, once he realized that there were no more cuts being made and that the voice of his wife taunting him was no more.

"Everything you experienced was just an illusion. What you thought was there was nothing more than fantasy." Asterios approached Archer and picked him up from his kneeling position. It seemed like he was still a little shaken from the ordeal.

"What we saw was fantasy. What we experienced... was not." Thor was quick to correct, giving a quick glance at his wounds. There were several of them, and each one stung as much as the last. They weren't closing up either... the process of healing was really slow.

"It could have been worse. I felt it when I dispersed the illusion. It was as if no thoughts have been put into them. In other words, it was haphazard. Am I wrong, Master?" Asterios directed his gaze to the black-haired man cleaning his scythe of blood in the water below.

"Forget it. Why do you bother asking? It's obvious he doesn't even understand you—"

"You are right, horned beast. For some reason, using illusions gives me such a feeling of repulsion that I can barely stand it. Strange; I never had this affliction before."

"...!"

Khronos nearly went slack-jawed when Seth interrupted him. It wasn't only him. Thor was the same as well, and Asterios to a certain extent. The suspicions he gained in that illusion when his mother commented on how Seth 'felt amusement' toward him. There was no way some mindless creature would have that particular emotion unless they were fully cognitive.

"You could understand us... from the very beginning? Then what was the point of all of this?! You clearly heard me saying that I sent your mind to the past by mistake! Why didn't you simply let me correct it?!" Archer was finding it really difficult to maintain his composure, especially after the experience he went through in that illusion.

"I was checking the sorry state I found myself in when you attacked me. I don't care if your words are the truth or not. In fact, I know you aren't lying, but that doesn't mean I will let you get to my mind. I hate the mere thought of it." His eyes became clear now that he returned to the outside world after checking his inner one. They were clearly showing intelligence now.

"Then I guess we return to point zero. We will have to do it by force." Archer pointed his finger where Magical Energy began to converge at Seth, ready to start their confrontation again and literally knock reason into him.

"Try it. If you can, that is." Seth disappeared like a ghost, reappearing behind Khronos in an instant. Harpe became the harbinger of pain for the white-haired man as, before he could even register what had happened, the Storm God swung his scythe down at him.

He was saved by the skin of his teeth through a timely intervention on Asterios' part who yanked him back, albeit not soon enough to prevent one of his ears to be chopped off.

Berserker continued by using his other free hand to punch his Master mid-swing. Having predicted this, Seth accelerated his swing, twisting the hand handling the shaft and doing a full circle to bring the blade up and meet the incoming fist.

A hard sound resounded from the impact as numerous ripples of water expanded outward from their position chaotically. The weapon rattled a bit but otherwise remained steady in its defense. "Was this all your decision amounted to?" Asterios noticed the disappointment in his voice, but he didn't have any time to answer as Thor appeared overhead with a lightning-coated Mjölnir mid-swing.

The Egyptian God reacted quickly by kicking Berserker back and rising his own weapon filled with thunderbolts to meet his opponent. With nothing solid to distribute the shock of the impact, though, Seth was quickly sent to the depths.

It didn't remain that way for long, however. A big shadow soon shot like a missile from the cold waters into Thor, tackling him into the air before shooting him down with a strong punch.

Thankfully, he was stopped by Asterios before he could suffer the same fate his opponent did just a few seconds ago. "I would be thankful if you reduced your size. You are not exactly light."

Although it looked like a comic sight to see a three meters giant carrying another giant almost double his size, it wasn't funny for the person involved who had to clean after their messes.

"What are you saying?" Thor pushed himself off of Berserker before wiping his mouth of the blood that had accumulated there after being punched. "Didn't he also get big?"

Indeed. Now their opponent had become a black anthropomorphic dog the same size as the Thunder God. He didn't look friendly in the slightest, but then again, he hasn't been friendly in a while.

"No matter the form, what we have to do doesn't change. We must take advantage of your strength, Khronos' immortality, and my counter to his abilities if we want to win." A laugh was heard at his words. However, it didn't come from either of them below; it came from above.

"Ehehehe...Ahahaha! You are truly amusing. I think you should really asses your situation before speaking." With that, Seth pointed in Archer's direction. Both Thor and Berserker followed the finger only to notice a shaken white-haired man grabbing the side of his head to where his ear should be.

Blood dripped continuously, yet unlike before, nothing was returning to normal. "H-How...?"

The Time God's question was directly aimed at the Kingslayer, who had no problem in answering, mainly to mock his earlier confidence. "You live in the past, the present, and the future, do you not?"

Archer's eyes widened, confirming his words to be correct. "The future sends information to the present about their demise or any injury, while the present process that information and then relays it to the past so that they could begin the process of turning back time before the 'bad end' happens."

"..." Khronos' silence was telling.

"From there, it's just a matter of changing your perception." Seth's eyes narrowed. His saw-like teeth clashed against each other to form a mocking smirk. "Hey, little God. Did you ever have two ears? Are you sure you didn't have one all the time?"

"I see it now. While both my brother and you have the same Authority, your usage of it is completely different. He excels at body transformation, while your forte is mind transformation." Thor's observation caused a raised eyebrow from the Storm God.

"Whoever your brother is, I don't know if you are underestimating him, or he is just pathetically weak. Body and Mind manipulation? Trickery is not something as simple as that." Seth let go of his now-giant weapon, which began to levitate in front of him as he rose both hands into the sky. "The power to break the law of identity which states that you can't be someone else because you are already you is only the basics."

Enormous quantities of water began to rise into the sky. At first, it was all shapeless—chaotic. But then, little by little, it began to take form.

Tendrils of water converged to create animal legs, then they started to do the same but this time in the shape of elongated torsos. Next, long necks that ended in equally long faces. Finally, the shape of a half-man manifested atop the multiple forms—horse forms.

"The power of the strongest Authority behind Creation and Destruction is the manipulation of reality itself! If there is a law that says that Gods can't be manifested from the core of one's own power, then I will break that law!" His raised voice then faded to an emotionless whisper. "Don't worry, though. I will make use of each one of you to turn this world to the beginning; to where he is alive in that sea."

"Now say your goodbyes, disgusting beings. This is my Divine Marionette. God's Puppet: The Sea."