65 - Home

10 DAYS LATER

After a quite small trip, compared with the one Kratos and Pandora made, all the mortals and Gods arrived at the Greek Realm safely. Not a single being died.

It was on this day that Poseidon got out of the carriage. He was accompanied by Freya and Iris.

The trio separated a bit after that and Poseidon went to carry Yggdrasil. He arrived and took Thor's place.

Coincidentally, Hephaestus was at his side. '' So... how was it?''

Hephaestus could see some hiccups on Poseidon's neck and teased him.

Poseidon ignored that question, '' Are you happy to see Aphrodite again?''

Hearing that question made Hephaestu stop joking, '' After everything that happened to me, I'm just glad to be able to see her again... I died Poseidon. I was gone... I thought I would never see her or my children again.''

'' Think about the future, not the past because it's long gone.'' Poseidon tried to comfort his friend.

'' I'm trying but being dead... it's not a good sensation. Besides, I lost some of my Powers.''

'' What? Why didn't you tell me sooner?'' Poseidon was genuinely surprised by this information.

Hephaestus sighed, '' I talked with Aphrodite some time ago and she said Luve was in pain after I died. She seems to have inherited some of my powers.''

' Interesting.'

'' How much did you lose?'' Poseidon checked his friend, but it seems the power loss wasn't that great.

'' About 20%.''

'' Are you okay with all that happened? I mean, I wouldn't like to lose my powers.''

'' Well, at the end of the day I'm alive and my daughter is strong, so I'm okay with that.'' Hephaestus didn't care that much. He wasn't a strong fighter anyway, as he was the one who made weapons.

'' By the way Poseidon. I tried to transfer some of my powers to Pandora in the Norse Realm and I didn't manage to do it. Do you know why?''

Poseidon shook his head, '' I don't know much, but I know that in the Egity Realm, we couldn't do the transfers either. It seems to work only in the Greek Realm.''

' I should ask Amaterasu if there was some way to transfer powers in the Japanese Realm.'

While Poseidon and Hephaestus talked, it seems the people at the front arrived at the Greek Realm.

Iris, who was one of the fastest Gods around, come to Poseidon, '' Go lead the way into the Realm. It seems everyone is waiting for you.''

'' But-''

Hepheastue interrupted Poseidon, '' Go. We can handle this. Remember status is also important.''

Sighing, Poseidon eventually said, '' Okay.'' He didn't say goodbye because they would meet in a few minutes anyway.

Iris carried Poseidon until he arrived at the front of the expedition. All mortals were waiting for him.

Thinking of what to say to motivate 70.000 people, Poseidon started to talk, '' I know some of you are afraid. You witnessed your home being destroyed without the power to stop it and now must seek asylum in another Realm.''

'' But don't have much fear. I promise you we will take all those who need it and train them for what's to come.''

Poseidon could hear murmurs after he said that last part.

'' Yes, you heard it correctly. It's not over yet. Chaos will eventually attack this place too, this very place you now will have to consider home. I'm not asking for you to die, I'm just asking you to be prepared.''

'' Every mortal, every monster, every being will have to put their differences aside to fight what's coming. You saw their capability, you saw their strength.''

'' But I assure you, we can and will fight back. I guarantee we will do so. By the end of this all-out war against Chaos, we will come out on top.''

'' Whatever it takes!''

After Poseidon finished speaking, he passed the barrier the Between the Realm and entered the Greek Realm. The rest of the expedition followed soon after.

After passing through the barrier, Poseidon took a deep breath, '' It's good to be home.''

'' DAD!''

Just as Poseidon was reeling in his feelings, he heard a shout coming from afar. He recognized the voices right away, '' Neptune! Minerva!''

The kids arrived in front of Poseidon in a flash and hugged him. '' Dad! I missed you!''

'' I misse both of you!'' After some time hugging, Poseidon asked, '' And where's your mother?''

'' She's gathering all the leaders of the mortals and making arrangements for the people coming to our Realm.'' Neptune was curious about the number of people, as his mother didn't tell him, '' How many survivors we got?''

'' 70.000.''

Neptune made some quick calculations and shook his head, '' Dad, that's not enough.''

Poseidon ruffed Neptune's hair, '' I know, but trust you, Dad. Did I ever let you down?''

Neptune shook his head, '' You didn't.''

'' So trust me.''

After Poseidon finished speaking, the refugees from the Norse Realm started to enter the Greek Realm. Neptune looked at his Dad.

Poseidon knew that look, '' Go ahead and help. But come home when you finish.''

Neptune nodded and went to help the refugees settle a little. His mother was putting in motion a place for them to stay, but until then, they need a place to rest.

After some time passed since the refugees entered the Greek Realm, they were followed by the Gods and Yggdrasil. When Poseidon saw the giant tree, he knew exactly where to put it.

----

OLYMPUS

Athena just finished the meeting with the leaders of each city in the Greek Realm. It went peacefully, as all of them knew what had happened and what was at stake.

' We need to start training them... They - We are not ready for Chaos yet.'

Athena was so distracted with the meeting she didn't use her powers to sense the arrival of Poseidon and the refugees. When she did use her powers, she noted Poseidon and many other strong signatures were already at Olympus.

' Love...' Missing her husband, Athena went to see him. When she arrived at his location, she was surprised to see a tree so tall she couldn't see the end.

Poseidon was one of the many Gods carrying the tree, but when he saw Athena, he went toward her.

'' Athena.'' Poseidon slowly approached his wife.

'' Poseidon.'' Athena also went towards Poseidon.

The married couple stared at each other for a few seconds before kissing. When they finished the kiss, Poseidon whispered in Athena's ear, '' I missed you so much.''

Athena hugged Poseidon, '' I missed you too.''

The couple embraced in the eyes of all others, but they didn't mind.

Athena broke the embrace and asked, '' So, what is that tree?''

Poseidon looked at Yggdrasil, '' That's Yggdrasil, an ancient tree who, believe it or not, can help us immensely against Chaos.''

Athena looked at the tree, unsure if what Poseidon said was true. But in the end, she trusted him with her life, '' I trust you. But where do we put her?''

'' I was thinking of putting her at the pinnacle of Mount Olympus. As Yggdrasil is a mystic tree, she can put her roots anywhere. Is there any trouble with the location I choose?'' Even though Poseidon was the King of the Gods in the Greek Realm, he doesn't let the title go over his head. He listens to all, be it God or Mortal, and makes the decision after careful consideration.

Athena shook her head, '' The place is empty, so it should be okay to put it there.''

Poseidon kissed Athena once again and went help carry the tree. Before going to plant Yggdrasil again, he said to Athena, '' Grab the Mortal Leaders again and call all Gods, demigods, and mystical creatures. We have much to discuss.''

'' Will do.'' Athena watched Poseidon and the rest of the Gods carry Yggdrasil toward her new 'home'.

After accompanying them for a while with her gaze, Athena went to call everyone for a meeting. She still hasn't seen the expedition that went to the Norse Realm, and she was a little anxious to see her family again.

---

After putting Yggdrasil in her new home, Poseidon checked with her if everything was okay. Yggdrasil called his soul onto her domain for them to talk.

''Everything is okay, but the travel made me worn out a bit. I'll hibernate for some time.'' Yggdrasil was apologetic, '' I know the war is approaching, but there's nothing I could do.''

'' Well, that too bad.'' Poseidon asked, '' How long?''

'' At least one month and at maximum one year.''

Poseidon sighed, '' At least you're alive. Can I come to talk to you when you're hibernating?''

The corporeal form of Yggdrasil shook her head, '' I'm afraid it's not possible.''

Poseidon needed information from Yggdrasil, so with her out of combat for one month was not good. But there was nothing he could do except wait for her to recover her energies, '' See you soon. Call me immediately when you wake up.''

Yggdrasil nodded. Just before she sent Poseidon away, she said, '' Be prepared, for Chaos is already moving towards here.''

'' How much time have we got?''

'' I don't know. Based on my calculations, it's a question of months and not years.''

'' Could you be wrong?'' Poseidon asked.

Yggdrasil nodded, '' The Greek Realm is special. Its barrier can't be broken that easily, so I can be wrong.''

'' Let's hope for the best then. Until we meet again.''

Then, Yggdrasil sent Poseidon away.

After Posedion left, Yggdrasil sighed, '' He has a chance to succeed. Let's hope everything goes smoothly for him.''

Yggdrasil then went to hibernate, to recover her strength.

---

Poseidon 'woke' up and noticed someone had carried him to the Meeting Place. He looked around and saw it was Kratos who did, '' Thank you.''

''Don't mention. We are waiting for you.'' Kratos stepped aside, allowing Poseidon to see the absolutely crowded Meeting Place.

Poseidon could feel their fear, frustration, all their confusion about what and why this was happening. Taking a deep breath, Poseidon went to the middle of the room.

Arriving there, he looked around and said, '' Before I start to tell you the news, someone here wants to ask something?''

Since Poseidon took charge of the Greek Realm, the Mortals had a voice and didn't have fear of talking their minds. So, one of the mortals spoke, '' How bad is our situation?''

The Mortals of the Greek Realm were in the loop about what was happening in the other Realms because they were tasked by the Gods to build homes for the refugees of the Egyptian Realm.

' For him to be here, he must be a leader of one city.' Poseidon slowly said, '' We are talking about a possible extinction event. Everyone here will probably die if we aren't able to defend the Greek Realm.''

'' And before you say, ' what if we run'... there's nowhere to run to. Chaos already destroyed every other place.'' Poseidon didn't hold back and told everyone the hard truth.

Even though everyone knew it was bad, it wasn't a good sensation hearing this fact. Even more so from the strongest God in the place.

'' Do you have a chance of winning?'' The Mortal who spoke earlier asked one more question.

Poseidon looked at him and nodded, '' We do.'' He didn't go any further than that.

After seeing no one ask any more questions, Poseidon said, '' Ok then. I know everyone here knows about our situation, but I'll explain everything once again.''

So for the next half hour or so, Poseidon explained everything about Chaos. He also mentioned Odin's book and passed it to Thoth, Athena, and Mimir for further studies.

'' And this leads us to now. We are the last Realm standing.'' Poseidon looked at everyone in the room, '' So from now on, we will start to prepare for the upcoming war.''

'' Every mortal, God, and intelligent species will start training in combat, regardless of age. The ones who can't hold a sword will learn how to heal from one of the Gods.''

'' The Gods who know blacksmiths are to start weapons production right now! No one will be left out and they can use any material they came across. You also can/should call some other races to help.'' The reserves of materials in the Greek Realm were abundant, so they could produce a large number of weapons. ' Brok, Sindri, Hephaestus, and Pandora will love this.'

'' We also need some Gods focused in combat to teach all beings how to fight.'' Poseidon knew some Gods who would fit perfectly, ' We don't know how much time we have, so Kratos and Freya should be the ones who do the training.'

'' For those who want to focus on strategies are to learn from one of us too.''

' Athena, Mimir, and Thoth were perfect for this.'

'' I repeat, starting tomorrow everyone will start to prepare for the war. There will be no rest, no break. We are on the edge of destruction and we only have one chance to fight back. So we will do everything we can to stop Chaos.''

Everyone took some time to digest what Poseidon said. He didn't let them stay for long, ''Tomorrow we will gather everyone at the base of Mount Olympus. You are all dismissed.''

After sending everyone away, Poseidon looked at Atehan who stayed with him, '' How are our numbers?''

'' Counting everyone, we have 700.000 beings, including Mortals, Gods, and other creatures... Love, it's not enough is it?'' Athena never faced Chaos creatures before, she only heard it from others. So she asked Poseidon, who probably knew better than anyone here.

Poseidon said slowly, '' It's not enough. They have an army that has no end, and some of their numbers have strength compared with Demigods.''

Athena touched Poseidon's face, '' But you still have a plan, right?'' She trusted her husband, so if he says they had a chance, she will believe it.

Poseidon enclasped her hand, '' We have a chance of winning.''

Athena could see concern cover Poseidon's face, '' ... What is the price for that chance?''

Poseidon didn't respond, he only kissed his wife and went away, '' Let's go home.''

Athena could only nod, not knowing what was going on in Poseidon's head. She vowed to help her husband in any form she could. She will start doing so by deciphering Odin's book.

' I just hope we have time to prepare.'