Chapter Fifteen: A Tale As Old As Father Time

"There's a lot to go into" Loki says as he begins to sit down on the ground, "so I'll just skip to what's important about what's happening now... sorry for leaving out so many details".

"But why?" Siran asks in disbelief.

"I'm... sorry?" Loki asks.

"Why gods?" Siran asks. "Why are there gods attacking the world, and why are other gods helping? Why are there gods, like Gaia, sitting this out?".

"I'm afraid I can't give you a straight forward answer for those questions" Loki says.

"This war has been brewing for a long time" Thor says. "Father saw it coming".

"Yes, he did" Loki says. "Many of us saw it coming... that's why our father kept secretly sending us to investigate whenever something seemed... off. The only difference, is we were too late for one of the universes".

"What do you mean?" Zia asks.

"A universe that was filled with shards of Chronos has fallen" Loki says. "And that power is in their hands now. That is why this is a desperate time for us. Otherwise, I'd not have to ask you for assistance".

"If there's anything I've learned so far" Siran says, "it's to not trust anyone or anything from Valhalla".

Loki sighs, then says "Right... that's not a surprise for me. You have always been like that".

"And what the hell does that mean!?" Siran asks. "I still haven't gotten a straight answer about what Ishmael is either!".

"You used to be Ishmael" Loki says, then pauses. "Used to be... he's dead now, and isn't coming back. As for Valhalla, us gods from the original Valhalla offered a sanctum of retreat for each and every god or god-like creature. That way, things wouldn't go to absolute worst when there was a Great War between gods".

"And that means...?" Finn asks.

"We gave up our home to save everybody" Yngvi says. "And we do mean... everybody. Valhalla was originally just our home. Now it's home to every god. We gave up everything to save them and you!".

"You see, that Great War of the Gods was a disaster on the largest scale" Loki says. "And who else would be first to spearhead such an event other than Zeus?".

"And Zeus is back again" Meili says.

"What for, exactly?" Zia asks.

"Let me try to start from the beginning" Loki says. "Or... as close to it as I can, without taking up too much time".

Thousands of years ago, there was only one single universe, only one single Earth, and gods reigned in dominion over the mortal realm. Gaia and Chronos were created by a being known commonly as God himself. He created additional primeval gods, and they were given the ability to pass down power. Being filled with good intentions to keep the universe alive and well, they created the other gods, and assigned each of them a job and roles to uphold in nature. However, some of those gods or god-like beings grew tired of their roles and wanted more. A titan known as Zeus fought back against the goddess that created him, Gaia. Once the titans began to rebel against the gods, Gaia saw them as nothing but evil, and had them wiped out. All of them, except for Zeus. Zeus survived and directly challenged Gaia with the assistance of what few gods existed at the time. Eventually, Zeus was able to successfully take down Gaia, ripping her apart.

After Gaia was severed, she became bitter and evil. Her new form became known as Gaea, and she wanted revenge against this titan that betrayed her. She created many evil mortal creatures in her new form, but she made two immortal beings whose sole purpose could only be describe as a God Slayer. Although Gaea created these two beings out of sheer hate and spite, she came to love these two, as her very own children. One of these beings was a beast with no absolute form. Being made solely out of the energy gods use as a source of power, he has a smokey appearance, with no actual mass. Whenever someone used this energy against him, this energy called Endoindustria, it would only add to the size and power of this beast. His name was Naris, and the only thing that could destroy him was the will of mortals bestowed with the ability to use Reactive Endoindustria, or the primeval gods who were gifted with the ability to use Reactive Endoindustria... the only thing that can destroy endo itself. The other being was a beast with a physical body, given the ability to fluently shapeshift into any creature at will. With the ability to adapt into any creature, he excelled at finding anyone's and anything's weakness. His natural form was that of a nine tailed fox, but he could change as he pleases. His name was Ishmael. Ishmael was driven by his hate towards the gods. The only exception was that of his mother. Until one day, he met one other goddess that he not only came to care about, but he came to love. Her name was Inari. They came to understand each other, as they both shared a deep love for nature. Inari loved to make nature prosper, as Ismael was infinitely fascinated by discovering and learning about anything that didn't have to do with the gods. However, the two could not have children, as Ishmael's body prevented it. Not far from that time, Gaia's brother, Chronos cane up with an idea. "If you can help me save Gaia" he says, "I'll give you what you want more than anything".

"Why would I trust you?" Ishmael asks. "You stood aside and let that... thing kill Gaia, when we all know you could've stopped it!".

"Trust me; don't trust me" Chronos says, "that doesn't matter. What matters is what you want to do".

"Ishmael..." Inari says, "even if you don't get what you want out of it, isn't just the thought of helping someone enough to make it worth the effort?".

After much anticipation, Ishmael eventually agrees to help Chronos. Meanwhile, Zeus was gathering more forces. "Chronos has started moving" Zeus says. "They plan to put Gaia back together, and I fear the worst is about to come".

"What do you mean?" Poseidon asks.

"If Gaia regains her strength" Zeus says, "she'll surely punish each of us. If you plan on keeping your lives, you'd do your best to prevent that".

"It's not like I killed Gaia" Poseidon says with a scoff. "As I recall, I was the one telling you that it was a bad idea... now we have to worry about protecting the mortals from several hundred thousand poisonous and venomous plants and creatures...".

"Either way" Hades says, "I still get to do my job".

"Hades, what are you thinking!?" Poseidon protests.

"I don't trust old man time anymore" Hades says.

"Well, it's about time I dethroned such a pain in our sides" Zeus says.

"You're but a titan" Poseidon says. "This kind of shit is exactly why Gaia wanted your kind gone!".

"Just follow my lead" Zeus says, "and I'll make sure she doesn't want you gone in the process!".

Decades pass as Zeus builds up his forces, even using humans as puppets to gain the attention of the gods. Meanwhile, Ishmael and Chronos has successfully collected every scattered piece of Gaia, except for one. The last one, they found in a place they'd least expect. Inside of Naris. "Why are you holding a piece of our own mother hostage!?" Ishmael demands.

"You idiot!" Naris declares, "can you not see it!? Mother doesn't care about the two of us! Once she's in her right mind, she'll dispose of us! What need would she have of us when she and Chronos have the power to easily combat against the gods!? We're useless! We're nothing but a failsafe for if she couldn't come back!".

"And that failure is only certain because of what you're doing now" Ishmael says. "Give me the shard!".

"Never" Naris says with a growl.

"Then I'll have to take it by force!" Ishmael says as he digs his hand into Naris's stomach. As Ishmael moves, his hand glows with Reactive Endoindustria, destroying Naris's body as he removes the shard. When he takes his hand back out of Naris, Chronos expels Naris's body, and causes him to vanish.

"You damned... dirty fox!" Naris says as his body is blown away by Chronos. "He's tricking you!".

After a lot of work, Chronos was able to reassemble his sister, as Gaia is made whole again. As a token of her gratitude, Gaia removed Ishmael's god-like body from him and made him a mortal. He still retained his nine tailed fox appearance, but he was now made mortal. "This is what you wanted, right?" Gaia asks, a sorrow in her voice.

"If it finally lets me be free of all of this god nonsense and have a family" Ishmael says, "then yes".

Ishmael returns to Inari, and they raise three children together. One girl and two boys. The girl was named Laibah, and the boys were named Kein and Heinnen. As the two of them raise their family, the gods from Valhalla started becoming busy. "Some titan piece of crap is waging a war" Odin says.

"With whom?" Loki asks.

"Shall we assist against him?" Thor asks.

"No" Odin says. "This is their fight, and I want no part of it! Loki! You have a son of yours you want to protect, right?".

"Fenrir?" Loki asks. "Of course I want to protect him".

"Then I have a plan to keep our kind out of this war" Odin says.

Zeus wages a war against Gaia and Chronos, with what little gods from Olympus existed at the time. Meanwhile, rumors of Loki's son, Fenrir killing Odin spread throughout the land. They called this event "Ragnarok" and the gods of Valhalla used it as a ruse to make people believe that many of the mighty gods from Valhalla have fallen. This rumor served to make the Olympians overlook them, so they wouldn't have to be dragged into the war that they wanted no part of. It was said that Heimdall, Odin and several others were killed in their own war, as Loki was chained and locked away by the intestines of his own son. Several years later, the war began to reach further into the east, where Ishmael and Inari took notice.

Ishmael decided to help Chronos, after deciding that he and Gaia were the only gods other than Inari that he could trust. Joining in the battle late, Ishmael found Chronos already being defeated by Zeus. As Zeus delivers the final killing blow, Ishmael tries to save Chronos. However, he failed. Zeus shattered Chronos with his power, causing time and space to distort and break into many piece, the universe splitting into a multiverse, and clones of this one original universe formed in an instant as Chronos was shattered into thousands of pieces. Ishmael's existence was cloned along with the universes, rather than being shattered as well by Zeus. Ishmael, as well as all other mortal beings all began to exist on each and every plane of existence all at the same time. The war ended when Gaia surrendered and gave Zeus the throne as the leading being of Mount Olympus. After defeating Chronos, Zeus became more than a titan. He was now a god, with the power of a titan as well, and many came to fear him. He made many other women give birth to his children as he created his own army of gods and waged more war on the world to make gods the rulers of all universes. However, many other gods opposed him. The war waged on and on as Ishmael kept trying to fight back as well. However, in the midst of the war, Thor took the spotlight.

"We can't let the mortals win!" Zeus says. "If we allow them to win, then what is to come of us!?".

"We can't kill off the mortals!" Poseidon says.

"You're useless to me" Zeus says. "You've always been so complacent". Zeus drives a sword of lightning through Poseidon's heart, and killed him. After the fighting continued for much longer, Thor proposed "I have a solution!". By his side, was none other than Gaia, supporting Thor's ideals. "Valhalla is open! We can still be gods, and we can still prosper as the mortals surely should! This way, we do it separately! We'll have every god go there, and let the humans take care of what we've left them!".

Zeus didn't like the idea, however, too many other gods were on Thor's side with this proposition. He knew he couldn't oppose. Slowly, each and every god began to leave Earth for Valhalla. The last of them being Inari. "I can't let you go with them!" Ishmael protests. "Those assholes aren't trustworthy!".

"Ishmael, I know what you're thinking" Inari says. "I get it, you can't trust them... but you've come to trust me, haven't you? Why can't you let go of your hate?".

"It's their fault why everything's so messed up!" Ishmael says.

"Sometimes people just do bad things" Inari says, "but that doesn't make them bad people. Please try to remember that".

"What about me?" Ishmael asks with a sorrowful voice.

"You're welcome to come to Valhalla too" Inari says. "You know that... but... what about the other versions of you? The many other version of you in the other universes?".

"I'll figure something out!" Ishmael shouts in irritation at himself. "I have to! I'm not okay with this! I can't be okay with this!".

"Then you better think of something fast, you shitty little fox" A menacing voice say as it approaches. Suddenly, Naris appears, much smaller than he used to be. "You didn't think you got rid of me so easily, do you?".

"Inari, get back!" Ishmael says as he shields Inari with his arms. However, Naris passes straight through Ishmael and begins to devour Inari. Ishmael saves Inari before her soul disappeared, but not before she began to die. Using the endo Naris absorbed from Inari, Ishmael hits Naris with Reactive Endoindustria, and destroys part of his body. The two of them fought long and hard, until Gaia was forced to break up the fight.

By the time Gaia got there, they were all on the verge of death. "My children..." Gaia says with tears in her eyes. "Why, my children?".

With the last of his strength, Ishmael opened up a rift, the first Theist Gate to Valhalla and sent Naris inside. From there, Naris was held for thousands of years.

"The Olympians still believed Ragnarok really happened" Loki says as he and his brothers sit on the ground in front of The Six Guns. "They still believe Odin is dead, and Ishmael's existence was scattered to each and every universe. Only mortals began to exist in every universe, as the gods weren't created in those universes as well. However, Inari and Ishmael died that day, while trying to lock up Naris... as to where Naris broke free and destroyed several other universes, which only made this war easier for Zeus to wage again".

"Then what does Ishmael have to do with me?" Siran asks.

"Ishmael and Inari died" Loki says, "but the two of their souls were, since then, reincarnated into humans. That's where you two come in".

"Us?" Zia asks.

"And who let Naris free?" Siran asks. "Who set him up to destroy the world a few times before I had to eventually deal with him?".

"Nobody knows" Thor says. "But the gods feared Naris greatly. Releasing him would be the same as volunteering to be eaten! It's unimaginable to think that a god would do such a thing".

"Defeating Naris is a great task in its own right" Loki says, "but by doing so, you've also cleared the board of one of the key players that prevented Zeus from appearing on this world".

"Then this is my fault?" Siran asks.

Loki fell silent for a moment, then says "I don't think that is true either. Ishmael did many things in that war before the gods went to Valhalla... like, you've saved my son, Fenrir. You don't remember it, but because of that, the plan to use Ragnarok as a ruse has been working so well. Because of that, we were able to commence investigations quietly on these worlds".

"You do seem to be at the center of everything though" Yngvi says. "So it is hard for me to say that it's not your fault after all".

"Yngvi!" Loki shouts.

"What?" Yngvi replies. "I owe him nothing. I'm just saying what I'm thinking".

"You and your brother were not the reason the war happened" Meili says. "However, the events that followed... can be tied to your actions. Then again, it's not in my personal interest to hold you accountable for any of that".

"If it weren't for Zeus being so power hungry..." Loki says, then pauses. "No, if it weren't for Gaia making those titans... none of this would be needed".

"Whatever..." Siran says as he stands up. "I refuse to believe anything you've told me up until this point".

"Why is that?" Loki asks. "Just because I'm the god of trickery? You should know I'm an honest person when I'm being serious, Siran".

"What reason do I have to believe a god?" Siran asks. "When Naris first came to Earth, when it comes to explaining anything, you guys always seem to beat around the bush. None of you have proved anything to me. What reason would you have to want to protect Earth?".

"Because we have an agreement" Thor says. "Between Odin and Gaia. If we were to do anything in our absence, it's for the betterment of the many realms of Earth".

"And you expect me to believe that?" Siran asks. The gods fell silent, and Siran then turned his back to Loki and the others. "Come on guys" he says to his crew, "we've got an asshole to track down and kill now, because somebody isn't responsible enough to keep trash where it belongs".

"Siran?" Alex asks.

"Wait, can he say that to a god!?" Rose asks.

"Aren't you going to need some help?" Loki asks.

Siran looks over his should and says "You guys have helped enough... go back to Valhalla" and then starts walking away.