SEED

"Ah! You're finally awake!", a familiar voice intoned. He could practically feel the relief the sentence seemed to convey.

He turned around and his tense expression relaxed. His father was reclining on a golden chair that seemed to be made of light. He didn't seem to have shaved in a while, which was probably intentional as he could look however he wanted, and the horrifying wound on his arm seemed to have fully healed, but his eyes were filled to the brim with worry.

Athos smiled in greeting but immediately frowned, finding the environment he was in particularly odd, "What happened? Where are we?"

"You knocked yourself out and we're underwater", Herakles responded in a heartbeat.

"Thanks for the much-needed analysis. I never would've guessed otherwise."

"There really is no other way I can put it", Herakles sighed and his gaze flicked toward Athos' right arm with a hint of fear. "You never told me it was that powerful."

"I didn't know its power either. It was my first time using it", Athos grunted and leaned against the golden barrier.

"Uh-huh. I should've guessed since you blew half your body to bits. Perastos managed to keep you together, else I would've had to fish you out piece by piece."

Athos' eyes widened in shock, "Wait, What!?" He looked down at his right arm

"You would've been dead if it weren't for your Divine Body. It took two full days for your body to start healing, and that's taking into consideration your outrageous healing factor and my help.", Herakles said grimly. "But on the bright side, Dionysus is no more"

"He's dead?!", Athos' eyes widened further. The surprises kept coming. He had indeed expected Dionysus to be compromised for a few years, but wasn't this just too much?

"Not exactly. Immortals can't die, but the attack you released was something I'd never seen before...", Herakles shivered a bit. "Its power was unfathomable. Dionysus's essence is probably spread so thin that forming a consciousness, if he can, would take decades at best and centuries at worst."

Athos exhaled but his eyes were shining. The situation Dionysus was in was the only way to put an Immortal down for a good while. Percy and his friends had to go through two entire book series to do the same to Kronos and Gaea, but he had a weapon that could do it in an instant!

He had tapped into but a fraction of Vajraha's might, yet it was enough to blast an Olympian to shreds. Sure, it almost killed him and Dionysus was the weakest of them all, but it showed that the impossible task of bringing down Zeus may not be as impossible as it may have seemed.

'But Shiva did warn me that beings with Divinity had some form of resistance. Was Dionysus an exception or is dad's conclusion wrong?', he thought.

"Wait, how long has it been since the fight?", Athos frowned.

"Six days, give or take a few hours", Herakles replied.

"Six days! Shouldn't the Sun God be hunting us down right now? Even if you ripped him apart, it wouldn't take long for him to heal."

"You're right. That's why we're underwater", Herakles grinned. "It's Poseidon's domain and it's not something he can enter recklessly. Dad expressly forbids that. Aren't I clever?"

Athos' frown deepened, "How are you able to enter it then? Aren't you a God too? I thought it was an Ancient Law that an Immortal can't trespass upon another Immortal's Domain without express permission."

Herakles merely snorted in response, "Ancient Law? Hah! Bullshit. If that's the case, why would the Olympians ever fear the Titans? It is simply a way to prevent infighting between the Olympians. It is a rule set by your grandfather and one enforced by him. Moreover, it mostly pertains to Major Gods as all Olympians can take care of Minor Gods with but a wave of their hands"

Athos raised an eyebrow with a disbelieving look.

"Fine, 'Most' Minor Gods", Herakles sighed. "I'd be blasted to kingdom come if Uncle Poseidon was currently conscious and paying attention to his realm. Apollo wouldn't dare enter it even if Poseidon was unconscious. He fears Dad too much for that."

"I see...", Athos muttered. "Speaking of An-

"Aren't I clever?", Herakles repeated, folding his arms.

"Yeah, yeah, you are", Athos sighed and Herakles leaned back, his face plastered with a satisfied smile.

"Speaking of Ancient Laws...", Athos continued, glaring at his dad, "Grandfather can break them."

"WHAT!", Herakles boomed, the smile vanishing as fast as it appeared. The walls of the golden trembled a little.

Athos expected such a reaction since he'd never explicitly told his father the reason behind him receiving Vajraha. After all, Ancient Laws were akin to the laws of Physics to mortals. Who wouldn't be shocked to hear that a man defied gravity or disregarded the laws of motion?

"HOW?! Wait, how do you even know this?", Herakles questioned, gripping the chair so tight that it began to crumble.

"Shiva told me. Apparently, the method he uses isn't foolproof since there are disastrous side effects."

"How can you trust a foreign Primordial?! Especially one whose Pantheon has clear enmity with ours?", Herakles said, his eyes betraying his anxiousness. The Hindu Pantheon didn't have the best of relationships with the Greeks. Not after Dionysus attempted to invade India when he was a Demigod.

"It's the reason I have Vajraha. Grandfather stole something from Shiva, and I agreed to...Ahem....kill hi-

"YOU DID WHAT!!!"

***

It took quite some time to stop his father from sucker-punching him and even longer to calm him down but eventually, the cracks in the golden barrier patched up.

"I have no idea whether you're stupid or just brave...", Herakles sighed, rubbing his head as though struggling to comprehend what his son had just told him.

"I've heard that before", Athis grinned, awkwardly scratching his head.

"Haaah...", Herakles sighed once again, "About dad's invulnerability to the Laws...Could it be linked to Khaos? You have something similar, don't you?"

"Nah, not possible. It's my sou-..wait!", Athos' brows furrowed.

"....'Free us', Breaker, we plead,

From the confines of the Khaos seed...."

Khaos seed? Athos had never really understood the last couple lines of the Fates' prophecy but after receiving Vajraha and hearing about the Ophiotaraus, he'd started to pay more attention.

He went through the nightmare he'd had after the fight. It was the most graphic dream he'd ever had. So much so, that he doubted whether it was a dream in the first place. However horrifying it was, the memory that stuck out to him the most wasn't the Lovecraftian monster with tentacles, but the purple gem at its centre.

He immediately summoned Leviathan, making sure to catch it in his uninjured arm. He scanned the weapon and when he reached the top, his heart skipped a beat.

The pulsing blue gem in the centre of his axe had the exact same shape and proportions as the purple gem.

"What is it?", Herakles inquired, looking worried.

Athos unintentionally ignored the question as his mind was way too chaotic.

Was the purple gem the Khaos seed? The Fates seemed to be trapped in it but why was Leviathan's gem the exact same shape? Was that a coincidence? No, that's impossible!

Does Zeus have access to the Khaos seed? That would explain the partial invulnerability to the Ancient Laws, but why would he steal Vishnu's eye?

'Wait, isn't Vishnu's eye titled the 'Eye of Order'? Order...Khaos...Perhaps...', Athos' eyebrows rose higher and higher. But did that make sense? Could a part of a Primordial really control Khaos? He doubted it.

"Athos! What is it!"

Herakles' shout snapped Athos back to reality.

"Wha-...Oh yeah, Dad, do you know what this means?", Athos said, raising his palm with a tucked thumb and closing it - the very same action the Fates seemed to be repeating in his nightmare.

"What?", Herakles said, confused, looking at Athos as if he'd grown a third limb.

"Just answer my question. Do you know what this is?", Athos asked expectantly.

"Umm...Yeah, but why-

"Dad, please!"

"Fine. It's simple really. It means Help"

***

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