The Unpaid Debt/Zagreus

"Which lord can be his parent?" Poseidon asked, stroking the green octopus in his hands. "Honestly, I have no idea. The boy didn't show anything from which to draw conclusions. Unless through measured madness and a love of destruction. Wait maybe he's Eris's son?" Hades suggested, finishing his cheese and honey. "Or maybe someone has bred another doom on our heads!?" Both older brothers turned to the younger ones. "He's not mine that's for sure! And you know it since he has too much abyss energy than Olympus. Also, my lightning would have finished him off back then that night if he had been my son. The curse of Kronos has never been lifted!" Zeus said, crossing arms over his chest and rolling eyes. A madman had disappeared in darkness a few minutes ago, and because of that everyone thought it was over and they could relax. Ha-ha, but as usual tragic poems have a very peculiar ending.

"Mom disappeared with him but why?" Hypnos looked at his older brothers curiously. "I don't know but I don't like it. Too much mystery and games in this palace. The kingdom of peace has turned into a snake's nest. Brothers, no matter what happens we will not interfere, our job is simply to observe, do you understand me?" Thanatos coldly ordered the two, watching intently as the Olympians returned to their seats. Charon and Hypnos nodded silently in response. "Hm, after such a fight I feel like tasting the meat of a golden bull" The Spartan shouted cheerfully, drinking wine from the jug. "I could use some food, too," Athena added softly, putting a grape in her mouth. "All of you have done well! And by the way, you all lack a little bit of theatricality, though!" Clapping his hands slowly, Dionysus offered Artemis a taste of the exquisite wine.

"Oh brother, thanks for the advice, but you know what would be even cooler?" Apollo walked up behind his brother. "What would that be, dear brother?" Dionysus asked excitedly, pouring the wine. "Next time you should go out fighting yourself, and show us all how to fight theatrically!" Apollo continued to smile as well, summoning a small flame on his index finger. "Ha-ha I hear you, brother!" Swallowing, Dionysus stepped away from the rest of his kin. "Always with his theater nonsense," Hephaestus sighed heavily as he sat down next to Artemis. "You know if we were the heroes of some poem, we'd have to fight that lunatic again now, for as it turns out he's not really dead ha-ha! What nonsense, isn't it?" Apollo grinned at the idea while popping olives in his mouth.

"Yeah and now Zagreus would fall to his knees again from an attack of unbearable pain, screaming that he's here ha-ha!" Added Ares taking a huge bite of meat. "Shit!" Everyone cried out at once when they saw that Zagreus was bleeding from his eyes. His whole body began to convulse, and Meg laid him down, trying to calm him down. Apollo and Hestia ran up to him and immediately began to heal him. Athena and Ares nodded to each other and grabbed their weapons. Hephaestus summoned his hammer ready to engage. Aphrodite and Dionysus stepped aside, for their powers were more auxiliary than combat. Artemis clutched her pendant tightly with determination in her eyes. "Something is wrong with the very essence of the child!?" Shouted Hestia holding Zagreus' head. "It's as if his very source of strength is in chaos!" Complemented her words, the archer channeled his powers inside the boy.

"His source?" Athena raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Yep, I guess the little brother has his own dimension" Ares replied as he watched Zagreus slowly stop twitching. "Fountain of Blood!" Abruptly said Meg stooped to look at her lover. "What's a fountain of blood?" Aphrodite inquired, creating arrows of love for Artemis. "It is a personal dimension of Zagreus bestowed upon him by Mistress Nyx. As a sign that he is part of her family!" Meg began to explain with panic as she continued to hold the prince's hand tightly. "Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait, if I understand you correctly, are you saying that Nyx herself, Lord of the Night, has granted him some of her possessions?" Shocked, Dionysus waved his hands. "Dionysus!" Everyone yelled at him at once to keep him quiet.

"So this madman somehow managed to get to this source," Ares looked thoughtfully at his sister, hoping that she would explain the picture. "That freak planned everything from the beginning his target wasn't us! Abyss devour him, that damn lunatic succumbed to us during the entire battle, to get Lord Nyx to pay attention to him!" With alarm in her voice, Athena told everyone of Haemon's possible plan. "I certainly understand that Zag is Nyx's pet and all, but why would she personally interfere and drag Haemon into her dimension?" Artemis added logically with her fist to her side. "Wanted to see for herself that the bastard would be punished for his deeds?" Hephaestus expressed his opinion, summoning the red chains. "Perhaps, but wouldn't it be easier to tear up an already half-dead corpse on the spot?" Added Aphrodite putting arrows in her sister's quiver.

"Because he was her son" Everyone turned to the source of voice. Persephone watched with pain in eyes as her son beat in agony. "What?" Apollo shouted shocked, his face contorted into a strange smile. "Haemon he's a son of Nyx! Long ago, when Hades was young, his heart called out to Nyx with a longing for love. And then, in the incredibly dark union of the abyss and the night, Haemon the madman was born" Tears flowed from her eyes at the mention of her husband's former love. "So our monster is the true heir to the throne of underworld!" Ares grinned at the realization of who he had recently been fighting. "Pardon my sister, but how do you know this?" Artemis inquired, putting her palm on sister's shoulder. "Indeed! How do you know that? Even I'm hearing about it for the first time" Asked Athena, thrusting her spear into the ground to adjust her helmet. "No mystery can be hidden from the plants. They all hear and see, even the Lady of the Night cannot hide it from me" replied Persephone softly, smiling at her sister.

"So let me get this straight! Haemon is the deranged son of the original Nyx who wants revenge for being kicked out of the royal family!? I hope I didn't leave anything out?" Nervously twisting her curls between fingers, Aphrodite smiled uncertainly. "No, you didn't miss anything," Ares encouraged sister, leaning against the table. "So what should we do now?" Apollo asked the logical question as he continued to heal the prince. "What? What? Search for this lunatic to stop him!" Athena replied, taking her spear out of the ground. "And I don't think we'll have a problem with that! Guys, turn around!" Dionysus pointed to the sky with a trembling finger. And as they turned around, a black portal opened before them, woven as if from darkness itself. "There's our monster!" Ares clutched his axe firmly, staring determinedly at the gateway leading into the darkness. From there, Haemon slowly emerged, soaring over his enemies like an eagle over a flock of sheep. His huge black wings struck fear into hearts of Olympians. "Please don't tell me he has the powers of Thanatos too!?" With a heavy sigh, Dionysus whimpered, pulling out his staff.

"Did you miss me?" Smiling broadly, Haemon summoned a horde of huge snakes spewing fire. "Shit!" Shouted Apollo dragging the prince's body away. Athena, along with Persephone, erected a huge wall to protect the others from attack. Combining their powers, they created something in between a living wall of plants and shields. "You think flowers will save you?" Veins appeared on barbarian's neck, and immediately snakes' onslaught multiplied, their flames devouring wall like a hungry wolf. "Taste Olympus' fire!" With a menacing roar, Ares appeared behind the madman and delivered a powerful blow to man's neck with his fiery axe. Spartan felt his axe plunge precisely into something soft yet dense. His eyes burned with the glint of victory as barbarian's neck snapped. But that gleam immediately turned to a fire of incomprehension as Haemon turned his head back like an owl, smiling wildly. "'Did you speak about some kind of flame?" With a wide-open mouth, barbarian spewed hell like a dragon into enemy.

The black fire melted Olympian's helmet, fusing his flesh to metal. And as if that pain were not enough, Haemon snapped his fingers to open many holes in space, calling for weapons to pierce the war lord's body. Swords, spears, halberds, and many other implements of death pierced Olympian's body.

The Spartan's body was permanently chained to ground. Haemon's armor had a mind of its own, and so the creature was willing to do whatever it took to protect its father. The creature imitated the skin of an Olympian to protect him from an axe. Quite cunning and insidious for a child who has only known the world for a year. Artemis unleashed a hail of arrows at her foe, but he calmly repelled the attack with his black tentacles. She began firing arrow after arrow without stopping, aiming to kill or at least wound, but it was in vain. The barbarian's defenses were too good! Then deciding it was better to focus on one arrow than many. Artemis drew her bowstring as hard as she could and fired something so powerful that even Erebus himself trembled. A beam of green light swept across the room, destroying everything in its path. The whirlwind was the mad whirlwind of Mother Nature. When the scent of the primeval forests hit the barbarian's nostrils, he was intoxicated and reached for the light like a child.

A rumbling flash followed by shouts of happiness enveloped the halls of the afterlife. "Ha-ha Artemis my sister thank you for this gift! I truly missed it!" Haemon's predatory grin mixed with the half-torn hand holding the arrow shook the hunter's consciousness. How could anyone be so insane! This freak managed to catch an arrow that pierced the stars themselves. His arm is completely torn to the bone, and he is only glad of it. She froze in fright as she watched Haemon slowly fly toward her. He gently touched a strand of her hair and then leaned down to her ear and whispered: "Thank you for reminding me of my home sister! Live and know that the day will come when I will take you away from them. You are what belongs to me" His clawed hand gently touched the hunter's forehead, putting her to sleep. "Get away from her, demon!" With a mad roar, Hephaestus made his way through the horde of snakes.

Red chains coiled around a barbarian, piercing his flesh with hooks. A powerful torrent of flame rained down on the hunter's head along with the smith's hammer. Hephaestus was more furious than ever! For how dare such abominable brute harm his beautiful sister! The hammer crushed the skull of the enemy again and again. "Die demon! Die and never come back!" Bringing his hammer once more over the enemy's head, Hephaestus called forth a storm of golden lightning. A savage cry of pain echoed through the palace, and Haemon was in an agony of unbearable pain. "Aphrodite, you're asking Zeus to help, aren't you? Ha-ha, I'm afraid he can't answer your prayer since he's busy with someone else!" The flesh was falling apart on Haemon's face, but he continued to grind his teeth like a lion looking at the trembling Olympians. Aware of the madman's words, the mistress of love looked to the spot where older Olympians used to sit during the feast and saw to her surprise an impenetrable barrier woven of sand with stars. "What have you done?" The queen of men's hearts shouted demandingly.

"Summoned time itself," whispered Haemon devilishly with his bony mouth. "Athena! I can't hold him that long! Act quickly before it's too late!" Hephaestus screamed as hard as he could, striking more blows with his hammer at the chained barbarian. The lightning bolts, in addition to the fire, ripped through the warrior's body, turning him into a living skeleton. "Almost! All that's left to do is apply the final pattern and the ritual is done!" Athena with her own blood and trembling hands tried faster to draw certain symbols on the prince's body. Zagreus' entire body was adorned with bloody tattoos, giving him a menacing look. "Are you sure this is going to work?" Dionysus asked, along with Apollo. "It should! Our brother has a unique ability to absorb the blessings of other Olympians well. Therefore, there is a good chance of success!" The smartest of the Greeks replied confidently as she finished with the symbols on his body. Then with a wave of her hand, painting her eyes bloodshot, Athena proceeded to read the incantation. As soon as she uttered the word in an unknown language, the symbols on the prince's body began to glow.

Meg still continued to hold her lover's hand with sorrow in her heart. Meanwhile, Hestia, together with Persephone and Dionysus, tried to hold back the onslaught of snakes so that they would not devour Zagreus. Hephaestus struck relentlessly, hoping to finally finish off the monster. "Hephaestus, your art is nothing," the madman quietly muttered.

Looking with bloodshot eyes at the creator's pathetic attempts to become a destroyer. "Shut up and just die!" Hephaestus tried to summon lightning again but was stopped by a black wing that pierced his belly. "Kha" Spitting out a clot of blood, he looked at the barbarian with hatred as he brought his hammer down to crush him. The spiky hammer crushed the smith's skull, plumping it up like ripe grapes. "There is nothing good left in me, it has been taken from me, stolen. Am I the mistake of the night? Or is it its true appearance?" Haemon brought his hammer down on the ground, creating a powerful shockwave. Clearing the path to the prince's body, quietly whistling Haemon slowly staggered toward his brother. "It worked!" With wild joy, Athena jumped out to meet the barbarian. "Ha-ha the power of love and loyalty against malice and loneliness what will win in this bloody battle?" The warrior grinned as he looked at his brother's sparkling body.

Zagreus had changed into something new. Becoming the living embodiment of Olympus! The phoenix prince is the one who must win no matter what! With too much power, the earth cracked all around. Needless to say, even Zagreus himself was covered in lines of gold mixed with green. His eyes glowed like torches in the night and his body radiated power equal to the strongest. "Apparently you and I have a rematch, brother!" The prince smiled confidently as he swung his sword. Haemon only silently assumed a fighting posture, inviting the prince to a dance of death. Zagreus appeared as if in a flash of lightning in front of Haemon and swung his sword into the wall. "Ha-ha what a lowlife you are!" Spitting blood and rising to his feet, Haemon summoned his spear in place of his hammer. "We could have settled this in peace. Without spilling the blood of each other and of those we love" Zagreus lunged again, only this time the barbarian bounced aside and unleashed a torrent of flame into his brother's face. "Those we love you say? That's nonsense! I have no family, for it was you Zagreus who took every one of them from me!" Blood poured from the hunter's eyes as he tried to strike his brother with a spear.

The prince fought off the attack with ease, dispelling the flames and showing that there was not a scratch on his face. Athena's ability helped him create a shield around his face so he wouldn't get hurt by the fire. "I didn't mean it! Mother herself gave up on you and maybe she was right!? Look at what you've become? A bloodthirsty monster, a creature incapable of mercy!" The prince launched multiple attacks, severely wounding the barbarian in the shoulder. "Mercy? Where was this mercy of yours when I was thrown into the abyss!" Raising his hand, the barbarian summoned a weapon from the serpent, intending to kill his brother on the spot. He disappeared in a flash of light and then a sharp pain in his side entered the hunter's mind as he lowered his gaze and saw the sword sticking out of his body.

"Yes brother you are right we have done wrong, but all can be undone! Our strength is in family ties and love despite betrayals and squabbles! Ask forgiveness from your mother and father. And I promise I will take you back into the family." Zagreus reached out his hand and put his sword to Haemon's throat as he fell to his knees. "Ha-ha, I wonder who you'll save then!" Smiling weakly, the barbarian turned his head the other way. "Mother!" Zagreus rushed to his mother with all his might when he saw the black snakes encircling her body. With a swing of his sword, he freed his mother from the shackles of death and hugged her tightly. "Ooh, I think I made it!" The prince sighed in relief as he looked at his weakened mother. "Ha-ha not a bad choice Prince!" A demonic laugh echoed from the Olympian's isospin. Zagreus glanced with trembling eyes to where Haemon stood a second ago and saw only a pile of snakes. "Oh no!" With horror at the realization of what was happening, the prince turned around.

The barbarian grinned devilishly, holding the neck of prince's most precious creature with one hand. Meg struggled tearfully to free herself from the tight grip, scratching the hunter's hand with her claws. With a trembling hand, Zagreus reached for his lover, his heart slowed as did his breathing. All the happiest moments with her ran before his eyes. "Meg!" Unsurely in a half-whisper, the prince said. "Zag....." Reaching for him in response, she shivered at the half-word because of the incredible pain followed by the darkness. With a light movement of his hand, Haemon ripped the Furies out of her spine and skull. Then with a good-natured smile, he turned to the prince: "Oops, I think I broke her a little"