Chapter 6: Glory of Hera

'Oshe and Mjölnir.

These weapons were once wielded by two gods that considered themselves warriors first and gods second. Even the mighty Zeus envied the weapons that could shatter his thunderbolts into a million pieces. Every God wanted these weapons for themselves. Shango and Thor were challenged many times but no one could best them in a fight.

All except one. And that man wasn't even a God.

Heracles.

The God of Strength. The hero who held up the sky. Defeated the Nemean Lion. The man who walked to Hades and dragged Cerberus to the earth above was given a simple task. If he could lift both Oshe and Mjölnir, the weapons would forever be his!

But sadly, he wasn't strong enough to lift either of them. He needed to be stronger.

And so, he went to the Banished God and asked for strength that could rival that of Thor and Shango. This God gave him that power but at a cost. Heracles would be one of the Eldritch from then on. Fueled by rage and jealousy, Heracles joined the Banished God's army and once again challenged Thor and Shango.

But the thunder gods were warriors first, and gods second.'

'I know my own history, Banished One. Why have you returned after all these eons?'

The faceless being tilted his head. Even though Heracles could not see a mouth, he could tell the being made of pure light was smiling wickedly.

'To help you claim what rightfully is yours.'

Two hours. That's how long it took James, the Spartans and Gabriel to finish off the last of the Endless. Even with the powers of Mjölnir on their side it is difficult to keep up the stamina to fight beings that have overwhelming numbers, but nevertheless they eventually succeeded. The Spartans and Leonidas returned to the spear that James had slammed into the ground and he put it away in his inventory. James was looking through his rewards that were received on a large screen as surveyed the carnage he caused with the hammer.

Gabriel lit a healing cigar then sat down on a pile of dead bodies a few feet away from James who was sitting on the golden platform. The universe Gabriel was holding still encompassed the inside of the prison and wasn't going to vanish anytime soon.

'What did you get James?', Gabriel asked.

'A key.'

'A key? You did all that for a key?'

'Not just any key. It goes to a vault in my castle. One of three apparently. Aslo my stats have tripled. You?' James swiped the screen over to his attributes.

Gabriel snapped open up his status screen. He reached level one-hundred.

'I'm level 100! James! I broke the cap!'

He said excitedly.

James rushed over and looked at Gabriel's stats. Besides the level, James pointed to a title that appeared beneath Gabriel's gamertag "SsjSilverback."

'God of Thunder. Dude! Gabriel! You have a mythic title!'

Gabriel exhaled the healing cigar then closed his status window to stand and stretch.

'We can talk about this tomorrow. We've been here long enough. What time is it in the real world James?'

'Seven-thirty at the latest.'

'Fuck only and hour and a half? Feels like we've been here all longer than that.'

'Time does move differently in the game. Wanna head back to the castle before logging off?,' James asked.

'Ja.'

Gabriel grabbed onto James' shoulder but they didn't move.

"What the fuck?" James thought.

'C'mon bro open the portal.'

This time James snapped his fingers.

Again no portal.

'It ain't workin.'

'What do you mean it's not working?'

'I mean I can't open a portal!'

Gabriel threw his hammer at the entrance from where he and James entered the prison. The hammer smacked into a purple energy that rippled throughout the prison.

'A barrier is up', said Gabriel.

'Oh shit. Don't tell me.'

'Yup.' Gabriel agreed.

'Boss fight', the two friends said.

At the same time a white warning screen appeared in front of them.

"Warning…err..or…syst….unkno…ent…warn…ing…inter…"

James' heartbeat began to quicken and Gabriel dug his feet into the ground.

A man walked out from within a white portal on the golden platform carrying a large wooden club in his hand.

Deep scars on his body from numerous battles. On his shoulders draped a lion skin shawl that hung down to the middle of his back. If this man competed in bodybuilding tournaments. He would have put them all to shame from his perfect physique and well defined muscles.

'You have something that belongs to me, mortal', the stranger said calmly while pointing his club at Gabriel.

Gabriel looked down to see that the man was pointing towards Mjölnir, which had returned to its holster, hanging from Gabriel's hip on the right side.

Gabriel slowly unfastened the hammer and sent it flying at the man's head. The stranger did not move as the hammer flew past his head striking the barrier behind him.

'Fool you missed your mark.'

'He wasn't aiming for you!'

The behemoth smiled as he grabbed James' left hook.

'Good! At least you will die with honor.'

The strange man kicked James in the chest sending him flying back. James twisted in the air and slammed his ax into the ground to prevent himself from crashing into Gabriel.

'I am Heracles, mortals. Tell me your names so I will remember this day. The day of your deaths.'

'James. What's today?', Gabriel asked quietly.

James raised an eyebrow. Confused about the sudden question he was asked.

'Thursday.'

Lighting gathered around Gabriel as he closed his hand around Mjölnir.

'Perfect.'

Sekhmet slashed the barrier with her claws over and over again. Not a mark or scratch was left on it. She was beginning to get irritated. Sekhmet had carefully followed James and Gabriel in the mountain. Keeping true to her word she did not interfere, but right now she had no choice. This barrier prevented Sekhmet from going to help James. The barriers gave off malicious energy that was too familiar to her.

Eldritch power.

The only power that could kill a God.

Sekhmet paced back and forth, like a lioness trapped in a cage.

The Goddess placed her hand against the barrier and whispered, 'Please be safe. I cannot lose you again.'

Thor, Zeus, and Shango sat in silence as they watched the fight between Heracles and the mortals. Thors' eyebrows furrowed when Heracles struck Gabriel across the room. Shango tensed when James seemed to have the upper hand only to be countered and crashing into the ground below. Zeus breathed a sigh of relief when the mortals advanced in their attack against Heracles! James pointed at Heracles and Gabriel nodded. They sheathed their weapons which brought up a puzzled look on Zeus' face.

'Why did they put away their weapons?', asked the King of Olympus.

'No. A different strategy,' responded Shango.

'Your son Heracles has been in prison for too long Zeus. Mortals these days don't use the same weapons we did like back in the day,' said Thor. 'It's a good thing our weapons are alive eh Shango?'

'It is clear Heracles has the advantage,' said Zeus.

'True, Heracles is stronger and powerful than most demi-gods.' Shango leaned back in his chair. 'And sadly Zeus, that will again, be your son's downfall.'