38 Battle

"But with this I'll tear his stomach open and have its contents spill out to the world and maybe just maybe…"

Hope that her mother somehow still lived within his stomach and  that she was alive and well, even if she isn't well, it  would be more than enough if she was alive, she needs to feel her gentle care again, hear her voice again.

With  the Scythe in hand she turned to the Azure blue bolt of lightning, one of Zeus's prized weapons, it  was more than  just a bolt of lightning as it was made using the very concept of lightning itself  as such it can do damage to other concepts as well, to put it simply it can paralyzed concepts rendering any god hit with it powerless for at least 10 minutes giving Zeus all the time to defeat his opponents, it also gave Zeus a considerable boost in power.

Just as she was about to step towards it, the bolt floated up in the air and shot toward the open wall and landed on to Zeus's hand.

"I can't let you have this one, sorry"

He waved the bolt in the air as he said, his expression was rather grim and he seemed to be very serious at the moment.

"I suppose I shouldn't have expected to come here unnoticed"

"as my daughter I'm willing to let you off for a lot of things however I hope you realize that by both breaking in here and Taking that Scythe I'm well within my rights to send you to Tartarus"

"as your daughter, wouldn't it be better for you to try and stop me from doing this by talking me out of it  or you aren't doing that because you don't see me as a daughter?"

Her face showed no emotion and that reflected her mental state, she was calm as a calm, she stared at Zeus with a calculating gaze, assessing every inch and  part of his body.

The concept of war is among the many with great potential even greater that Zeus's own lightning, to be able to grow stronger as the fight continues was great but what was greater was the fact that her mental capacities are also continuously increasing as such she was both brain and brawn, the only way to defeat her would be to end the fight the moment it begins because as it continues the more she gains an advantage however there is a weakness that Athena isn't aware of or rather one she should be aware of.

Staring at Her with a condescending smile on his face, he was quite relaxed. Zeus's strength comes from his talent and not because his concept of Lightning is particularly strong, With that in mind he could not stand the idea of being out done by his own children, he  wished to be unrivalled but that was impossible with beings like Nyx around, since he could not do anything about the Titans  and primordials all he could hope for was to get a few of them to be allies or find ways to make them allies, if any of the enforcers were to be his enemies he wouldn't stand a chance hence why he needed them as allies. His children he however could do something about or at least he thought he could.

"You are completely capable of making your own decisions, I will not waste time trying to talk you out of doing something you deemed to be the correct course of action"

He placed his hand on his waist and  let out an exasperated sigh as he spoke, She was an adult and adults can make free choices.

"I see"

She stepped to the side and let the sudden and the should have been unexpected lightning attack pass by her without getting in contact with her, it  was a extremely thin and nearly impossible to be perceived line of lightning that extended from Zeus's thumb from the hand he had placed on his waist, the thumb was facing directly at Athena. Zeus snorted a bit amused by her senses, even though she shouldn't have be able to see the attack coming.

"sorry to disappoint you but it wasn't my senses that noticed your attack, you're just way too obvious"

"impressive"

Zeus creased his brow as Athena stepped forward by a single step dodging yet another thin lightning attack that was supposed to be undetectable.

"I'm  aware you shoot lightning out from any part of your body so trying to sneak attack from underground is pointless, plus don't bother trying to use lightning spikes the protrude from underground I already predicted that attack"

"did you now?"

As he asked that the entire room, the ground, the walls and even the air was filled with spikes of lightning protruding from every direction and immediately impaling Athena or rather an after image of her. Zeus was suddenly 15 meters   away  at the edge of the corridor that led to the room and Athena was now in the spot he originally was standing in which was exactly 5cm outside the room and the safe spot unaffected by his attack.

"Did you really just runaway from me? You really are afraid of this aren't you?"

She then waved it around a bit feeling its weight which was completely negligible, it felt like she was holding paper. She smiled, pleased with both the weapon and the fact the Zeus was afraid of it.

Betraying her expectations however Zeus walked closer to her closing the distance.

"how foolish of you to even come close to me while holding this weapon"

"it is a requirement that I come close in order to defeat you,  to runaway is not kingly."

No more words needed to be said as Athena blurred from her position and appeared before Zeus, she swung the Scythe at his stomach with a crazed smile on her face, it was always best to go for the goal rather than dilly dally. Zeus quickly jumped up and flipped over her head landing behind  her, his back facing hers, he then  threw a back handed punch that hit nothing but Air. Athena had disappeared and appeared right before him with the Scythe aimed at his stomach,  Zeus did a back flip and as he did so he shot two bolts of lightning from his feet causing Athena to  jump back and disappear again Of course Zeus saw this coming, using his hands he pushed himself off the floor and jumped over Athena who had appeared while he was half-way through his back flip and swung the Scythe at him, he flew over her head dodging the attack and landed behind her again however with a swift motion Athena swung it at his head to which Zeus did a splits and dropped down dodging the Scythe impeccably before conjuring  two lighting bolts and shot them at Athena's midsection, she jumped back but she was too close so she used the Scythe and cut the bolts and causing them to dissipate into thin air.

"This is the first time you've ever used a Scythe yet your so good, almost like you've been using it for years"

Zeus complemented as he stood up, despite his relaxed tone he was quite worried, only a little bit. He was aware that she was skilled with various weapons, she could use swords, spears, clubs, maces and daggers but she has never had a Scythe before and she shouldn't be so good with it, it would seem she has the talent to wield any weapon.

" go ahead, hide your worries behind fake confidence, you'll fall soon enough"

It is true that she only recently got the Scythe and the she has never used it before, however the moment she held it the wisdom on how to properly and effectively used it in battle was implanted in her like and old memory being recovered, it was like she has always known how to use it.

"Fake? Ha! While I do admit the Scythe makes things a bit tricky  Nothing about my confidence is fake"

His voice suddenly sounded from behind her However the Zeus in front of her  had did not disappeared, She felt his weight on her back as Zeus leaned on her going so far as to rest his head on the back of hers. Athena wielded the Scythe and spun it around without moving from her position and aiming for his neck however the weapon stopped before it could even be mid way through its attack,  Zeus had put his foot on the top part of its handle right below its blade and being careful not to get cut by the blade.

"so what? You're showing me that you aren't afraid of this weapon?"

"I was never afraid to begin with and grit–"

A powerful and devastating punch collided with Athena's face breaking her jaw and shattering her teeth before she was sent flying so fast the wind whistled, she crashed through the walls and flew outside, she quickly Adjusted herself flipped herself upright and halting her acceleration mid air and landed on the ground however Zeus was already upon her

"your teeth"

Athena blocked the punch  with the Scythe and slid her left hand toward the lower end of the handle, simultaneously she slid her right hand up the handle, she pulled on the lowered half and pushed on the upper causing the Scythe to spin towards Zeus who quickly dodged by jumping back and the Scythe missed splitting his face in two by a hair's breath. Athena Sprung forward  giving chase. She swung the Scythe horizontally and Zeus who wanted to counter  attack  had determined her reaction he dodged meticulously by jumping further back Enough that he would still be close enough to attack however Athena loosened her grip on the Scythe letting it slide off her hand extending her reach  and grabbing it by the edge.

Widening his eyes at such an unexpected surprise Zeus quickly bent backwards doing a cartwheel to dodge and at the same time using his feet charged with lightning to kick Athena on the chin, Athena Grinned and pulled her face back and then pulled the Scythe back setting it so the blade of the Scythe would slice Zeus's leg off. A single scratch from the Scythe guarantees death.

"humph"

Zeus's harrumphed before bending his legs and then straightened them both dodging the Scythe but also delivering  a hit on Athena, Thunder roared and his lightning Feet crackled as they collided with Athena's chest breaking her chest bones or rather instead they collided with her spear and simply sent her flying back but unfortunately her weapon was now broken.

Athena slid across the clouds as her gaze never left Zeus who flipped himself upright and stood there staring back at her.

"Thought I had you there for a bit"

Athena looked at him with a wavering confidence, that was quite close, He had taken in the bolt of lightning into himself essentially assimilated it, this means that any lightning that comes off his body is conceptual lightning  and if she were to be hit by it she would be powerless giving Zeus and advantage.

"Though I have to say, it's a Shame you're mother isn't here to witness this"

Her eyes bulged open and her grip on the Scythe tightened, power coursed through her veins abs her pupils turned a greater shape of red.

"what did you say?"

"what? I'm sure she'd love to watch me discipline an unruly child"

Athena ground her teeth as Anger slowly over took her, she breathed in and our continuously maintaining her calm and cool.

"She especially loves me, she enjoyed everything I did and could watch me do anything for hours, she was such a foolish little thing and I'm sure she loved me more than she ever loved you"

"Silence!!"

Her shout shook the very ground they stood upon and sent a Shockwave through out the Area, she was seething the intensity in her eyes spoke volumes of her anger. A black like miasma was being absorbed by her body turning her skin darker and darker.

"it's true though…."

'wait a minute, something is wrong'

He had thought she was particularly faster than usual a bit more emotional, Athena should have been able to know that her punishment as a traitor wouldn't be severe and because of that she would have come up with a strategy that would ensure she wins. Suddenly going to the room where he keeps his prized weapons was stupid not something Athena-like it was too impulsive and un thought-out. He had thought it was because she was being influenced by her divinity of war, however it should also increase her mental capacity Bringing her brawn and brain to an equilibrium as such she shouldn't have done something so obvious and stupid.

'I had thought there was an abnormal amount or miasma in the air'

The  only time that the equilibrium between brain and brawn is broken is when the miasma caused by the negative emotions during a war is absorbed, this was a passive thing and  was the result of Ares getting stronger the longer the fight goes on, the longer the fight the more it gets heated and the more aggression and anger and hate the fighters feel creating a miasma that Ares absorbs and grows stronger, its manageable when it's just two people fighting but when the an entire war is being fought it becomes impossible, Ares was used to managing it and Athena was usually was exempt from it because she had the brain and Ares  usually took the brunt of it as such she isn't used to handling such large amounts of miasma this in turn broke the equilibrium making Athena more impulsive and more rash

"By Gaia I will  KILL YOU!!"

Athena disappeared and so did Zeus, both of them moved at Speeds too fast to comprehend, their speed alone was enough to generate gusts of strong wind followed by shockwaves from each of their blows and punches, the sound of attacks colliding was delayed only sounding long after they've collided. Zeus was being careful to block and dodge without being so much as cut by the Scythe, not even a lock of hair as such he used his lightning to fry of his beard and cut his hair quite short too.

Sparks flew in the air and thunder roared as the clouds darkened, The palace found itself suffering sudden blunt force and slashing damage as the top half of the building was sliced off into various sized shapes and the force from their fight blew the debris all over the place.

Inside the palace, the Goddesses that were in Zeus's chambers had quickly exited the room and along with Nike flew off to spectate the battle in a location where they won't be affected by the battle.

"Well I guess we can't ask Athena to challenge Zeus"

Demeter spoke, a disappointed Sigh left her mouth, there aren't that many people willing to defy Zeus those that are don't care about taking the throne so they had very limited options.

"Nike why aren't you helping Zeus?"

"are you suggesting that the king is weak?"

Nike answered Leto's question with a another question she didn't even turn to look at Leto as her gaze was fixed on the battle following every movement from the two combatants, watching fights was just as fun as being in one.

"no but as the enforcer shouldn't you be assisting him apprehend Athena"

"He didn't Order me to thus there's nothing I can do; the enforcers move according to the king's orders and nothing more"

Nike clarified, unless Zeus issued an order Nike will remain a spectator even if Zeus did order her right now it would come off as cowardly and weak, if Zeus hadn't engaged Athena and simply ordered Nike to  apprehend her it would have been fine.

"They're going to destroy the palace"

Hera commented as she watched a large portion of the  palace get sliced off and other parts getting destroyed, the only thing the spectator could see were the Azure blue streak of lightning and a dark blur each moving at great speeds.

The fight was heating up as sparks of both lightning and fire flew in the air, the residents of Olympus had to flee their  homes to get away from the commotion and destruction, meanwhile Hephaestus had Aphrodite in his arms  carrying her in the same style as he would a princess as he flew out of Olympus completely unconcerned about what was happening behind him, he was also being followed by Hecate.

"Aren't we going to stay and see what's happening"

Aphrodite asked her arms wrapped around his neck, she was feeling a sense of great comfort, she liked the way Hephaestus was carrying her it was just right, she hoped he would carry her like this whenever she asks.

"no, we aren't Olympus citizens and I don't care, I have things to do, Weapons to finish, a wife to please"

"can't that... Waa–"

Aphrodite was stunned by his words, she hadn't expected that last part to come out of his mouth.

Hephaestus was certainly in a hurry, there's a spear he hasn't finished, a sword he has yet to even begin to create, with the way things were going Zeus just might go after all his children, not to mention in the trial Zeus had simply banished him because he hadn't thought of a punishment yet so Hephaestus needs to  finish creating all his weapons  and be ready for any punishment that might come

'See you later  Athena, I'll visit you in Tartarus'

It was a shame really, she was a friend  and she might  get killed or  sent to Tartarus. Incidentally the question of whether or not he should help her  did cross his mind however he wasn't about to do something so stupid or so he thought, his face scrunched into an ugly expression as he was reminded of a certain phrase.

"curse you Obito"

He said as he flew  towards his  home his heart feeling a bit torn. Unknown to him Demeter had her eyes on his back as he flew, she scratched her chin in thought before turning to look at the fight.

…..

A/N: no chapter Sunday, assignments need to be finished.