God of War- The son of the Lion!

Name: Alcaeus.

 Height: 7'5

Eye color: brown

Hair: Brown

Nationality: Greek

Skin color: Swarthy

Story- Alcaeus is the son of Hercules. Given his father's birth name, before he became the mighty Hercules. 

..............

Fires.

Poison.

Storms.

Earthquakes.

Death.

Decay.

The world of Greece was ravaged by the deaths of the Olympian gods. When they fell the lands were ravaged by every disaster imaginable. Poseidon's death flooded the lands in almost their entirety. Villages were destroyed, homes ruined, temples desecrated. When Hermes died, diseases plagued those who had managed to survive the flood. When Helios died, the last of the harvest and crops failed. What remained of it. When Hades died, the underworld was ripped open and the undead began polluting the land. Creatures of Tartarus unbound, they were. The monsters once held in check were now unleashed. And when Zeus died, Olympus fell. Storms of thunder and lightning ravished any land that remained. 

Alcaeus, son of Hercules and one of Hercules' many conquests a Greek woman named Daphne. During the Ghost of Sparta's rampage, Kratos, caused the death of Alcaeus, his brother Alcides, and their mother when he killed the sea god Poseidon and unleashed a massive wave right on top of their farm. 

However, death would not be the end of his story.

.................................

Alcaeus clung strongly to a cliff, his hands broken and crushed by the water that had consumed him previously. His death should have sent his soul to the next world to be judged, however, with the death of Hades, Hermes, and Thanatos such a thing did not happen. Instead, when his life ended his body and soul descended towards Tartarus.

Chaos. Entropy. Death. Countless more descend towards Tartarus, only to be swept back up into the world above by the surging storms, where they are once again swallowed hole.

' Hold on Alcaeus. You've faced harder challenges from your father.' 

Alcaeus remembers the dauntless days being "trained" by his father.

The Lion of Olympus was brutal in all his ways, especially when training his own sons, whenever he bothered to show up that is.

Alcaeus gripped the jagged cliff as tightly as he could and slowly, through the crushing force, began pulling himself towards the top. 

His skin ripped open, his bones crunched and cracked, his lungs burned from holding his breath. The pressure was greater than anything he could imagine. 

Up and up and up he climbed.

Past the edges of Tartarus, beyond the lands of Greece, and finally to the peak of the mountain. And what is it that greets his eyes the very moment he pierces the waters edge?

The entirety of the land of Greece swallowed whole by storms and waves. Tornadoes ravaging what wasn't engulfed in the seas. It was like a nightmare brought into reality. 

Alcaeus looked out over the lands, dread and anger filling his very being. 

This was a new age for Greece. One without the gods. The time for humanity was... Over. Now was the time of monsters!

Over the distance, Alcaeus sees the sight of a giant sea monsters fin breaching the water.

" KRATOS!!!!!!!"

............................

100 years later.

In the hundred years since the fall of Olympus many things have changed. The massive waves that had once gripped the realm of Greece had receded back, far enough that the slim survivors of humanity managed to build on ground once again. Though many cities had fallen, Sparta and Thebes included. 

Athens had become one of the sole remaining locations where the people of Greece could remain safe from the waves. Though that did not mean they were now without problems.

The monsters of the underworld now had ground to roam on. And that meant they had access to the people. 

On the broken road to Athen's a small group of survivors, two men and a handful of women, finds themselves being besieged by cursed remains, skeletal warriors from the underworld and leading them, the broken and tethered remains of a Cyclops.

" Run! They're coming!" One man yelled. Feeling on as fast as his feet could carry him. 

" Aghhh!" One of the women accompanying the men was snatched up by the cyclops and was swiftly devoured by the great beast. Having her chest torn off of her body with one ferocious bite

Blood dripped from the beast's mouth, trinkling down it's ripped and rotting chest onto the ground.

" Sister!" The youngest of the three women screamed out in terror as the woman's body dropped to the ground. Dying and yet, not dying. 

In these hundred years, with the underworld having connected so intimately with Greece, the souls of the dying never passed on. There was no gods or seals to keep the two separate. So, the young woman, disemboweled so horribly, found herself simply existing. In a state of constant pain, until eventually, she too became one of the undead. 

A fate worse than death.

She rose up from the ground, her intestines still spilling out her and began stalking towards the group of people she once traveled with. 

" Come! Hurry up!"

" No, we can't leave her here! She's-"

" She's gone! And if we don't hurry up, we'll be next!" The oldest man of the group grabbed the young woman and started dragging her along with him, forcing her to abandon her sister. 

The four continued running and along the way their paths crossed with a giant of a man. This man had skin as dark as bronze, hair, long and clotted. And a body that looked as though it were chiseled out of marble. A body designed by the gods themselves. 

That man wore a darkened white toga, with worn and tattered brown sandals. 

" Hey! Run!" The oldest man yelled.

But the stranger ignored him.

Instead, the stranger stood still as the four ran right past him. 

The youngest of the girls looked back and watched, expecting to see another man lose his life. But that isn't what happened.

As the cyclops ran forward, the stranger did something no mere man could ever have done. He grabbed onto the Cyclops and lifted it off of its feet entirely, slamming it headfirst into the ground below, shaking it with the force of an earthquake.

The Cyclops struggled and clawed at the man, trying to get him off. But the man grabbed onto the cyclops' head and with a gut-wrenching scream, he pulled the beasts head off of its shoulders. Not necessarily killing it but putting it in a state where it could not function. 

The skeletal remains stabbed at the man, but the giant moved faster than they could strike and with relative ease crushed the remaining monsters. 

The stragglers were amazed by what they had seen. Not in a hundred years has anyone been able to effortlessly defeat the monsters that haunt the lands. 

The man turned towards the people, the rain bouncing off of his skin, and spoke.

" Where did you all come from?" He asked.

" Who are you?" The old man asked. He looked upon their savior wearily. He did not trust that such a man would come to rescue them without purpose or intent.

" I am Alcaeus." The man spoke. " And I am not here to hurt you, if that is what you think." Alcaeus told the man. " I simply want to know if there are any more survivors." 

" We came from a temple... Delphi!" 

" Delphi?"

" Alcina!"

" I am sorry, father. But this man... He saved our lives. Surely we can trust him." Alcina exclaimed.

" Delphi is a two day walk from here. Surely you do not expect me to believe you survived such a journey alone? Who guided you here?" His voice was rough and sounded though it was full of anger. 

" A man with golden eyes and blonde hair wielding a golden bow escorted us into these lands, but he wouldn't go any further. He only carried us so far, before returning to the temple." Alcina explained. 

That description....

" He was-"

" That's enough." Alcaeus raised his hand and stopped the young woman from speaking. " If you continue down that road, you'll reach Athens. There's a sanctuary there." Alcaeus told the group.

He then started walking forward down the road, his next stop was clear and cut. He would make this journey to Delphi to meet this man in golden armor. 

................

In the years after escaping from the drowned underworld, Alcaeus has journeyed across the ruined land of Greece with only one goal on his mind, finding the man responsible for it all. But in those hundred years, he had never met nor seen any sign or the ghost of Sparta.

' It has been years since my search began. And this is a first I've heard of a golden man. In Delphi no less. There is only one temple in that city. The temple of Apollo, the sun god.' Alcaeus' thoughts were simple. ' How is it Apollo has stayed hidden for so long. Or better yet, if he is still alive... Why hasn't the sun returned?' 

After the death of the titan sun god Helios, the sun disappeared from Greece, giving way to perpetual darkness. 

If Apollo does indeed live, then why is it the sun hasn't returned? Why hasn't he himself helped put Greece back the way it should be.

" Too many questions." Alcaeus muttered. 

The wind blew hard and hellishly. Though after the hard years, Alcaeus had become accustomed to the harsh environment. His father had left him with something useful at least. 

Within a day's walk Alcaeus arrived at the border lands between Athen's and Delphi. Where he encountered his first problem.

The occasional monster was no problem. The undead had become such a common phenomenon that dealing with them had become no different than swatting a fly to Alcaeus. However, this beast much deadlier than the undead.

Kneeling over a pile of bodies, gnawing on the bones and flesh of its victims, was a Cerberus. One of the hounds of hell, which formerly served Hades. However, with the realms no longer separated they were now free to realm as they pleased. Alcaeus had faced a few himself during his travels. 

And even with his herculean strength, he still had to be careful when facing one.

Alcaeus approached the beast carefully, hoping to avoid a fight, if possible, but ready, nevertheless. 

The sound of the beast grumbling grew louder as Alcaeus grew closer. And when he was close enough, Cerberus caught his smell.

The beast looked up from its meals and growled at Alcaeus, flashing its large teeth right at him.

" Easy, beast. I mean you no harm." Alcaeus told the creature.

It didn't matter.

Cerberus rose off of the ground, it almost towered over Alcaeus, who himself was quite the large man. Cerberus barked at Alcaeus and then charged him, intent on making him his next meal.

" Fine then!" Alcaeus rushed Cerberus, slamming into him with force, and started wrestling with the beast.

Cerberus barked and chomped at Alcaeus, trying to bite off a piece of the large man.

Alcaeus himself, wrestled with the beast, keeping a tight grip around the monster's mane. Alcaeus used his strong arms, wrapping them around the beast's neck, and squeezed with all his might. 

" HAGH! HAAAAAAAGH!" Alcaeus lifted the Cerberus off of the ground and slammed it back down on its stomach. He then mounted the beast, getting a good tight grip around its neck, and he started squeezing, choking the beast. 

The beast bucked wildly, trying to throw Alcaeus from his back, but it was futile. Slowly, the beast started losing consciousness. Its intensity and its drive slowly died, until finally the beast collapsed onto the ground.

" Damned dog." Alcaeus patted the beast on the back. " I can't exactly give you a death. And I'd hate to force you to endure the hell that you'd suffer. So, for now, consider this a warning."

Alcaeus took a deep breath and moved forward. There was no point in looking back. Nothing he could do with the way things were now.

The lands of Delphi would be a hard place to traverse, but now it seemed even more so that there was going to be more problems. 

Alcaeus, so far from home, marched towards Mount Parnassus. The only spot in Delphi that had a temple that had even a chance of surviving the chaos. 

Word travelled scarcely, but perhaps the god of truth and prophecy could shed light on what he's looking for. And if at all possible, maybe he could help put things back to the way they used to be, or at least put an end to all the carnage.

It took Alcaeus hours to reach the great mount Parnassus, much of which had weathered away during the flood. The once great mountain looked bare, and the once beautiful shrubbery and fauna of the area was long gone. 

The harsh winds continued to batter the weaking mountain. From the looks of it, it appeared as though it was on the verge of collapsing.

Alcaeus started upon the mountain, one jagged piece of earth at a time, climbing his way all the to the top with nothing but his bare hands, an arduous task.

One Alcaeus makes swift work of. 

Upon reaching the top of Apollo's fallen temple, there is an immediate sense of warmth that placates the area. 

Though the grand columns that once towered over the mountains had grown weathered and worn, and though the grand temple itself was long since gone, there was still a breath of life beating within the heart of the very earth below his feet. Almost as if some part of the land still lived.

" What is this feeling?" Alcaeus wondered. " The land... It feels... Alive." He reached a hand down and touched the ground below him with wonder, and for just a slim moment, senses the beating of heart.

Alcaeus followed this sense, intrigued and full of wonder. 

The beating heart led Alcaeus deep within the depths of mount Parnassus to a cave. A cave that led further into the mountain than Alcaeus had anticipated.

Those travelers spoke of a man in golden armor. They hadn't said anything of a hidden cave.

The deeper into the cave Alcaeus descended the more intense the beating of life grew. Until finally it was at its strongest. He pressed past a simple magical barrier and stumbled upon a sight unlike anything he could have expected.

" Who is there?" 

A rough voice, weak and deep, called out to Alcaeus as he stumbled into the hidden lair deep within the mountain. 

Alcaeus immediately recognized the man standing before him. 

His golden hair flowed clumsily down his back, his once shining skin had dulled, and his tattoos were vanishing. His golden armor was cracked, and his eyes no longer full of fire. 

" I don't believe it... Lord Apollo?" 

The man in golden armor was none other than God of the sun, Apollo, himself.