I’m Still Standing Better Than I Ever Did

Jayr POV - Earth, Georgia, Mert County, Lone Oak Farm - 2010

The moon is slowly rising high in the starlit sky while our convoy goes around the enclosed area of the farm outlined by the steel fence to find and pass through the opening in the fences enclosing the whole Lone Oak Farm that was likely created by the walker horde when they attacked the farm using the combined weight and force of their bodies to bring them down.

Once inside the farm's perimeters we park our vehicles in a clear area in front of one of the bigger barns before everyone gets out of their respective means of transport and gather together to discuss our next move.

As soon as we are all together, Rick doesn't waste any time and says, "After a very long and way too exciting day we have finally arrived here. I admit it, I didn't hope that we would find what we were searching for so soon, I fully expected that we would have taken at least a few days before finding a place good enough to start rebuilding our future for the long term. In fact, I wasn't even that sure it existed in the first place, but here we are!"

After saying that, Rick takes a brief pause where he looks at everyone's faces before he continues, "Now, I know that everyone is very tired after everything we have gone through today, but I ask you one last push where we all carefully check and secure this barn before we all take our well-deserved rest."

At this point, Glenn asks, "Why do we use this barn? Can't we use that farmhouse close to the entrance?" which makes Daryl snort out loud and roll his eyes. 

At the same time, I chuckle a little at his antics and calmly explain, "There are quite a few reasons behind that decision. First, the farm is further away from the entrance than the farmhouse which means that the smell of rotting corpses will be much weaker and much more bearable. Second, it is already too dark and we are way too tired to safely explore and clear the farmhouse, especially considering that the chances of walkers being trapped inside are much higher than the chances that we won't find anything inside. Third, the doors of this barn are wide open which means that it is much more likely that any walker that was hiding inside was attracted to our bait and killed in that battle making the barn much safer to check and explore. Even more so if you consider that we can use our vehicles' headlights to illuminate the area inside of the barn making it even less likely that a possible walker stuck inside may take any of us by surprise. These are the main reasons why we want to use the barn as a shelter tonight instead of the farmhouse."

Hearing that, Glenn nods and says, "Got it. Barn safe, farmhouse danger." Rick smiles before he says, "That's right. But don't worry this is only for tonight. The first thing we will do tomorrow is to make sure that the farmhouse is clear of any danger and safe to use, and after that, we will move on to fully secure the rest of the farm."

Shortly after Rick said that Rick, Shane, Daryl, Morgan, and I quickly walked into the barn to make sure it was safe while the others used our vehicles' headlights to further illuminate the interior of the barn.

Looking around, I immediately noticed that this particular barn was mostly used as an animal shelter, and by the milking equipment all around and the shape and size of the free stalls, it is clear that the animals in question were quite big in size, very likey cows, which means that this farm is not only equipped with fields for crops and pastures but also for dairy products, basically this farm very likely produced a bit of everything.

While looking around, I and the other also make sure that the barn is completely safe and are also very thorough in our searches to the point that we stab through the hay to ensure that no walker is hidden inside.

After spending a few minutes like that, we finally confirm that the barn is safe and invite everyone inside where we quickly start to prepare the place for the night, like making some basic beds in the free stalls using the hay, spraying some strong deodorant to try to cover the smell of dry animal feces and death, further secure the place by creating some simple traps that will warn us in case someone or something tries to enter the barn, use some lamps to light up the area, and so on.

Once we have done all that, we turn off our vehicles' headlights and firmly close the barn's doors before some of the more tired people retire in their free stalls to sleep or rest while others gather together to spend some time chatting or playing some card games for some time, at least until they too decide to retire in their free stall to rest for the rest of the night. 

Talking about the free stalls, we are lucky that this barn is quite big and that there are enough free stalls for everyone even if many of us had to share the stall with some other people, but since our group is composed of mostly families with only 6 people being without any relative so it wasn't that much of a problem.

The groups in question are Rick and his wife Lori and son Carl, Morgan and his son Duane, Andrea with her sister Amy, Dale, T-Dog, and Glenn all together, Carol with her daughter Sophia, Morales, his wife Miranda, and their children Eliza and Luiz, Ruben, Almast and their daughter Ana, and lastly Sofya and her nephew Stepan. 

In the end, Shane, Daryl, and I are the only ones who ended up with their own stalls which is quite good, especially since tonight I want to fully focus on my Incarnation as something very important is about to happen in my home universe.

Jayr (Aegiochusmon) POV - Saint Seiya Universe, Earth, Greece, Sanctuary - 1993

At the moment, I'm standing right in front of the Athena Colossus, a colossal statue overlooking the Sanctuary from the topmost part that is, in fact, the sealed form of Athena's God Cloth, as I keep my gaze focused on the lone figure standing in the middle of the plaza that divides the Athena Colossus from the Great Temple.

Together with me, there are my wives, Saori, Seika, Tio, Alvida, and Robin, our children Kharna, Galen, and Seiji, and our family pet Python who is watching over our kids as usual.

But they aren't the only ones present at the moment, there are also Saga, the Great Pope and Gemini Gold Saint, and all the other Gold Saints present. 

Saga's twin brother Kanon, who is also the Gemini Gold Saint, Kiki who is the new Aries Gold Saint succeeding his master Mu, Aldebaran who is the Taurus Gold Saint, Deathmask who is the Cancer Gold Saint, Aiolia who is the Leo Gold Saint, Dohko who is the legendary Libra Gold Saint, my brother-in-law Milo who is the Scorpio Gold Saint with my pregnant big sister Shaina, Aiolos who is the resurrected Sagittarius Gold Saint, Shura who is the Capricorn Gold Saint, Camus who is the Aquarius Gold Saint, and Aphrodite who is the Pisces Gold Saint.

In addition to them there are also two very important guests present here, my father-in-law Zeus, the God of the Sky and the King of Olympian Gods, and my mother-in-law Hera, the Goddess of Marriage and Childbirth, and the Queen of Olympian Gods. 

They are all here for the same reason, the beautiful short woman standing in the middle of the plaza with short black hair that is kept in a tiny bob, brown eyes, and wearing glasses, she is also my wife, Eri Nakamura.

The reason for their presence is that after so many years of accumulation of Faith energy and preparations, my cute Eri is finally ready to take that final step and ascend to Godhood. 

But since this isn't her home universe, Saori thought that it would be better for Eri if she ascended with the approval and protection of her father Zeus which would be useful in preventing any mishaps that may arise because of her status as a person not of this universe, especially from the other Pantheons.

Zeus quickly agreed once we informed him and his reason for that is quite clear and pragmatic. 

Thanks to Eri's connection with Saori and me, she is already quite close to the Olympian Pantheon, which means that once she ascends, even if she isn't officially part of the Olympian Pantheon she will still have a very close relationship with it and thus making the Pantheon stronger thanks to her presence something that is very much needed since Hades died and Poseidon left this universe weakening the Greek Pantheon by a lot. 

After waiting for a few minutes in silence, something finally starts to move as I sense Eri's Spiral Cosmo starting to stir and see a dark grey aura envelope her body, and at the same time, the sky itself turns very dark as immense dark black clouds fully cover the once clear blue sky, it almost looks like the world is about to face an imminent calamity.

Shortly after that, small flashes of pure golden light started to slowly surge from her dark grey aura, at first there were only a few but the more time passed the more their number increased, and with it, Eri's aura also started to swell.

At the same time, an unusually mysterious feeling suddenly spreads from within her body and consciousness, this feeling is peculiar and indescribable almost as if everything is being upgraded, like her entire body and soul are now slowly expanding to a world completely unlike before. 

The more time passes, the more her aura's dark grey color gives way to a pure golden color, and at the same time, I can clearly sense that her whole being is slowly changing, becoming something more than what it was before, becoming something divine.

At one point, the aura she is releasing isn't dark grey anymore, but it becomes all of the same pure gold.

But that doesn't mean that her ascension process is complete, in fact, it has just started as quickly after that, a gold ripples of energy are released from her body as her being becomes further refined.

At the same time, the gold energy ripples she is releasing continue to expand without stopping covering the whole world and even beyond it and whenever they pass, faint figures can be seen slowly rising from the ground all of them facing toward Eri.

Suddenly something changes, a flash of golden light appears in Eri's eyes, and all the faint figures that emerged kneel down at exactly the same time.

Shortly after that, the golden energy ripples she released start to converge back to her further refining her body, mind, and soul, and when the last ripple enters her body, her whole being goes through a complete transformation as the aura around her body turns into a massive golden pillar that pierces into the sky blowing away all the dark black clouds.

But behind those thick dark black clouds there isn't the usual blue sky, in its place there is an expanse of upside-down dark continent with areas filled with countless buildings and structures and if I focus on those images a little bit more, I can also see the figures of many creatures kneeling all over the place, some are skeletal, some transparent like ghosts, others even appear completely human if on ignores their pale skin tone.

Seeing that, I immediately realize that what is projected in the sky is actually Eri's Undead Realm which just like her is going through some kind of transformation as a result of Eri's ascension.

At the same time, I hear Zeus comment as he looks up at the sky, "Oh... She already has a mostly complete realm of the dead. This is very impressive, especially considering that she likely built something like this on her own as a mortal." followed by Hera who adds, "Indeed, her realm of the dead only needed a little bit of Divine Authority to truly become complete and functional to the point that the souls of the dead reach for it on their own."

Hearing that, I can't help but smirk and feel proud of my wife while thinking, 'Indeed, Eri is simply an astonishing genius, especially when it comes to magic. After all, everything I know about magic I've learned it from her.' 

Shortly after thinking that, an invisible pulse of energy is released by Eri's Undead Realm, and in response to it, the faint figures that emerged from the ground at the start of Eri's ascension started to quickly ascend toward the Undead Realm projected in the sky.

At this point it is clear that those faint figures are actually souls of people who remained on earth for one reason or another, and the more souls joined Eri's Undead Realm, the more changes it goes through as it starts to expand as more land starts to get created.

But then suddenly something incredible happens as four massive ethereal rivers appear out of nowhere and start to flow toward the constantly expanding Undead Realm.

Seeing that, Zeus can't help but exclaim in shock, "Those are the Acheron, the Cocytus, the Styx, and the Lethe Riviers!! What are they doing here!?" 

He isn't the only one shocked by their sudden appearance as I thought that they ended up destroyed together with the rest of Hades' Underworld, and at the same time, I start to get worried about what their appearance may imply and look at Saori asking with my gaze is this is something I should worry about and should do something about it. 

When I look at her, I see that she is looking back at me with a calm gaze and a mischievous smile on her face which calms me a little even if I'm still not sure of what is going on. 

At the same time, Hera looks as the four mythical rivers also flow into Eri's Undead Realm fusing with it, and calmly comments, "It is clear that the fragments of what remains of Hades' Underworld are fusing with young Eri's realm of the dead. The reason for that is also quite clear if you take a moment to think about it. Fufufu... It seems that our dear daughter has already planned for everything."

Hearing my mother-in-law's words reassures me even more as it means that what is happening is something that both Eri and Saori already discussed beforehand and it is very likely that it is within their plans, just like the fact to not tell me about it as some form of prank.

Meanwhile, in response to his wife's words, my father-in-law Zeus quickly calms down and after a few moments he clamps his hands and exclaims, "Ah! That's right!" before he explains, "Young Eri is ascending to Godhood in the Sanctuary, an area under the domain of our Olympian Pantheon, and she is doing so in the presence of Athena the Goddess who actually killed Hades, and us the King and the Queen of the Olympian Gods with their personal approval nonetheless! Moreover, it is quite clear that young Eri's Divinity is related to the dead. With all these factors, it is very likely that the universe itself now considers Eri as Hades' official successor, and because of that what little remains of his realm of the dead is now being inherited by her. So this was all Athena's plan, huh? Oh well, I'm not against it, someone needs to take Hades' place and this will relieve me of the burden of maintaining the few fragments left behind with my powers. I'll allow it!"

As soon as he finishes saying that, a distinct sound of thunder is heard in the distance and more ethereal fragments of Hades' Underworld start to appear and join Eri's ever-expanding Undead Realm among which I recognize pieces of the Fields of Asphodel where neutral souls are welcomed, pieces of Tartarus, the prison for evil souls, and even pieces of Elysium where the souls of heroes and the righteous are welcomed.

All these fragments quickly fuse with Eri's Undead Realm and start to slowly be restored and reformed to Eri's personal taste while still leaving behind traces of their Greek origin.

At this point, Saori commands, "Shaka, it is your turn. Let's help Eri make that last final push."

In response, Shaka nods and says, "As you wish, Lady Athena." before he pulls out a mada from his pocket and it isn't just any mada, but THE Mada, the one with 108 darkned beads all containing the souls of the 108 Specters we defeated and sealed during the last Holy War against Hades.

Then Shaka unleashes his Cosmo and shouts, "Moksha!" before he lightly shakes the Mada, and the next moment, 108 beams of light are quickly released from it that instantly fly toward Eri's evolving Undead Realm.

A few seconds later 109 beams of light all fall from the sky and gently land on the ground in front of Eri unleashing a brief blinding light.

Shortly after the light fades away and I see 109 familiar figures standing in front of Eri, 108 of them are all donning dark-colored armor, some of them are violet, indigo, dark grey, dark green, and even black, and dark red, but there is also another figure who is wearing a black robe with few gold ornaments but even so, it is clear that these figures are the Specters, the warriors that make up the Underworld's army who reside in the Underworld where they serve many functions, maintaining and protecting their world, inflict punishment to sinners, or simply dealing with rogue elements.

Among those Specters there are 4 in particular that catch my attention as they are the ones standing in front of everyone and as such are the closest to my wife, Eri, in addition, they also possess the strongest Cosmo among all the figures that suddenly appeared. 

Of the three donning a Surplice, one possesses the physical build of a young adult with an age of around 20 years old, he is about 189 cm tall, a trait that makes him a taller than average person, and has an athletic and stocky body with a fair complexion, his face has rather coarse features that make him look like a serious and aggressive looking person, the most prominent features of his face are his huge eyebrows, which form a single one, and his sharp and cold eyes, he has blond hair, which is tousled.

The armor he is wearing is composed of a headpiece that is a helm in the shape of the wyvern's head with three sharp horns on it, the chest piece protects the whole upper body, and its main features are, the totem of a monster's face emerging with eyes and teeth, and the wyvern wings on its back, and is joined with the waist piece that protects the whole area, the shoulder pieces are made up of four layered cone, the arms pieces are ornate and have a sharp edge at the height of the elbow, while the legs pieces are simpler but the feet ends with the wyvern's talons, all in shades of purple.

Another one is he is a handsome young man in his mid-20s with long, white hair and his eyes are light orange, while his skin color is pale white and is just as tall as the other one, but he is overall slightly slimmer.

His armor is black and has huge wings, they have 3 sets of feathers, and the arms of the wings have a series of articulated overlapping plates, the shoulder pieces are very long to cover the entire arm and are segmented into 8 overlapping parts that taper and become more angular and end in a pointed plate so that when viewed in profile it simulates the plumage of the animal, the waist pieces are long and pointed, covering the entire thigh, the tips are slightly raised outwards, and the headpiece is a helmet that covers most of his head, except for his face.

The last of the three has the appearance of a young man, with a pale white complexion and semi-long black hair, his eyes are black with some purplish tinge, he is just as tall as the others beside him and his build is midway between the other two.

He also wears his respective Surplice like every Specter which is darker in color compared to the other two, his headpiece is a bird-shaped helmet that is encrusted with gems that simulate the bird's eyes and it also has horns, wings extended vertically, its chest in great part carries a design that shows its wings, it has a great protection since it covers all the body except for the face and some of its extremities, the arms and legs pieces do not differ much one from the other as both carry claws with protectors that protrude from their extremities. 

It is clear that they are the Celestial Savage Star Wyvern Rhadamanthys, the Celestial Noble Star Griffon Minos, and the Celestial Valiance Star Garuda Aiacos, the three Judges of the Underworld, the strongest among all the Specters.

Nonetheless is the fourth figure that surprises me the most, the one standing in front of even the three Judges of the Underworld, the one wearing a simple black robe with gold ornament, the one sporting a Cosmo even greater than that of every other Specter present.

He is a very tall young man with light green long hair and similar facial features to Mu and Kiki, as well as the two tikas on his forehead all characteristic symbols of the Muvian heritage. 

He is none other than Shion, Aries Shion, the late Pope of the Sanctuary who was resurrected as a Specter during the last Holy War but who kept being faithful to Athena and did everything in his power to help her win the war until his time among the living came to an end making him fade away in motes of light. 

But he is now very different from the Shion I met during the last Holy War, at the moment his Cosmo is stronger than ever before, to the point that it is easily comparable to the likes of Saga, Kanon, Aiolos, and Shaka making the one I felt in the past look like a small ember compared to it and this makes me realize that Hades likely did not resurrect Shion at his full power.

Before I can question myself about the motives behind his presence here, Eri fully unleashes her Spiral Cosmo now imbued with her Divine Authority.

In response, all the Specters kneel down without any hesitation on their part as they all declare all at the same time with voices full conviction.

""We all greet and swear our loyalty to Lady Eri. The Goddess of the Dead and Ruler of the Underworld!""

Hearing that, Eri smiles and nods as her whole being completed her transformation, now she isn't simply my wife Eri Nakamura, the summoned hero from another universe, she is my wife Eri, Goddess of the Dead and Queen of the Underworld.

Then Eri looks at Shion who is standing still, looking a little baffeled about what is happening around him, and says, "Aries Shion. The late Pope of Athena's Sanctuary, I heard many great things about you and know that your loyality to Athena is second to none."

In response to those words, Shion calmly asks, "Then why did your Ladyship bother to evoche me despite knowing that? I am and will always be a Saint of Athena."

Eri simply smiles in response to his words before she says, "And that's completily fine with me. Different from my predecessor I have no ill intentions against Athena, in fact my relationship with her is quite good. Proof of that is that she allowed me to go though my ascension in her own Sanctuary under the protection of her Saints." 

Hearing that, Shion finally takes notice of his surroundings and quickly notices our presence as he quickly and respectfully greets Saori before his gaze moves to the Gold Saints and as soon as he notices Aiolos figure he exclaims, "Aiolos!? You are alive? How!?"