[AN: Happy New Years lads… sorry for the wait, the holidays didn't in fact give me more time to write. Instead I've been running around like mad doing last minute gift shopping and attending events. These two chapters should have been published last week, unfortunately I am an idiot and forgot to set a timer. This chapter marks the 'season finale' for this Volume though, the arc was dragging on and I struggled finding a good place to end it. The book isn't over yet though, I promised that I'd finish it and I'm an author of my words. Hope you lads had a fantastic holiday season. More chapters coming February 1st)
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The Olympians were expecting a report.
Too bad.
They get ME.
I stood in the center of their throne room, picking imaginary dirt out from under my nail. The Olympians glanced between me and the several dozen demigods behind me.
Former rebels, 'problem' children, kids who very recently learned siding with the opposite side against someone like me was up there on the poor life choices list.
Ethan Nakamura stood with them, tattered clothes, covered in dirt and sand. He looked a bit pale, but he was alive.
Zeus cleared his throat.
Thunder rumbled for dramatic emphasis.
"So." He boomed, "you will explain what happened."
I tilted my head, considering whether to set his beard on fire or not. "Okay… but I'll keep things short, I have places to go and things to do."
Athena frowned, "Define 'short'."
I hummed as I walked casually over to Hestia and plopped myself down next to her at the hearth. A stick with a marshmallow already on it appeared in my hand, I gave her a wink as I handed it to her.
Another stick appeared in my hand, I started roasting it over the fire.
"Let's see, where do I begin?" I hummed.
"Right, well… I walked, no, I jumped into Tarty Pit, killed Hyperion, followed some monsters, found a boat. Saved those misguided kids from the boat, no doubt on its way to some shady island, vaporised the boat, then I fought Kronos… he lost, died, and now here we are."
Dead silence.
Ares blinked. "That's it?"
"More or less." I waved my marshmallow stick at him.
Apollo leaned forward, "You're telling the truth… but you skipped literally everything important."
"Oh right… I also took his scythe, my son wants to use it as a flying broom or something."
Poseidon pinched the bridge of his nose. "While I am thankful for you averting yet another crisis Lord Satoru… you still vaporised a staggering amount of water."
"This planet is like 70% water, you'll be fine." I waved him off. He just sighed and bowed his head.
"Besides," I continued, "Kronos did most of the damage with his timey whimy bullshit, I just dealt with him."
Zeus's jaw tightened.
"You're telling me that you, defeated the Titan of Time, my father… all on your own."
I shrugged, "When you say it like that, you make him sound more impressive than he really was."
Hera scoffed, "He was impressive."
"Pretty weak if you ask me… aren't Titans supposed to be really strong? Like stronger than your average god? What the hell was that? He just screamed a lot and swung at me like a total scrub."
Athena's eyes narrowed at me, "Explain how you defeated him… immortals do not simply just perish."
"I'd say people haven't tried hard enough…" I bit into my marshmallow as I replied. "Everything can be killed."
A ripple of unease passed through the Olympians.
That was the moment they all finally realised that I had the ability to kill an immortal permanently.
"And the demigods?" Demeter broke the uncomfortable silence that had settled in the room. "They had betrayed Olympus and joined with the Titan."
I tilted my head back to look at her, "Yep, and now they're not. Also betrayed is a bit of a stretch."
Demeter pursed her lips, Artemis spoke next.
"That's it? No punishment?"
"I'd say they're punishing themselves already," I glanced at the kids. "I mean, being on Kronos' side was embarrassing enough as is."
Several demigod winced.
"…yeah, that tracks." One of them muttered.
I continued before Zeus could redirect things.
"Kronos used Ethan over there as a flesh suit. Didn't work out in the end though, some of you might know him. Son of Nemesis, a goddess in y—
"Minor Goddess…" Zeus 'corrected'
"A goddess in your pantheon." I simply glanced at him without flinching.
"Regardless, why have you spared this demigod?" Zeus glared at Ethan.
"Because Ethan wasn't the problem? Are you even listening? Besides, why would I kill someone who did something out of desperation? That's just lazy…"
Zeus looked away briefly.
Apollo looked thoughtful, "And the ship?"
"Oh," I said, "gone… reduced to atoms."
Poseidon groaned, "Completely? That was basically a piece of history."
I shrugged, "There were a few floaty bits… I'm sure you can find something to salvage floating around where it used to be."
"It's gone." Poseidon deadpanned.
"Oh yeah… super gone." I nodded along.
"Figures." He sighed.
A moment passed, Zeus stood.
The air shifted, pressure spiked as lighting crackled. The demigods tensed, wary of the King of Olympus and his infamous temper.
"You are too young to know what to do with that sword."
I raised an eyebrow, "Starting strong eh?"
"As such, it is too powerful a weapon to not be handed over to Olympus as only the King of the Gods is worthy of such power, hand it over as well as any other weap-
"I'm going to stop you there bud." I stared at him, not in anger, not disbelief… just processing.
I glanced around the room.
At Hera, who looked embarrassed.
At Athena, whose lips were pressed thin.
At Poseidon, who looked like he wanted to sink into the ground.
At Ares, looking like a dog waiting for someone to drop a bit of food on the ground.
Then I looked back to Zeus.
"Are you fucking stupid?"
The room froze.
Thunder didn't strike.
Lightning didn't flare.
Because every single god in the room knew exactly what I was thinking.
I wasn't angry.
I expected this behaviour. I was just surprised that he had forgotten just how thoroughly outclassed he was.
Zeus's face darkened. "You dare…
"No," I interrupted, holding up a finger, "that would imply that I have a reason to be scared of you. No… fear is hardly something you stir in me. I just want to understand your logic here."
I paced a step to the side, thinking out loud.
"So let me get this straight. Kronos nearly returned in full strength, your own kids rebelled because you couldn't be bothered to even acknowledge that they're your kids. I fix both problems in the span of twenty four hours,"
I put a hand on the hilt of my sword.
"And your take away is… 'hey you, kid… give me your sword because I'm a jealous manchild and I need to show everyone that I don't have a micropenis.'"
Hera let out a sharp breath.
Athena closed her eyes.
Even Ares slumped back into his throne with a barely audible 'wow'.
"I am the King of the Gods!" Zeus snapped.
I looked at him like he was a pile of dog shit.
"And I don't give a fuck. I killed the King of the Titans, someone who you needed the help of several other gods and your mother to defeat, by myself mind you."
Zeus did an impressive impression of a grape. Lighting flashed overhead.
I didn't flinch, I didn't even move.
"Let me be very clear," I said calmly, "no one in this pantheon gets to demand anything from me or mine."
The pressure in the room shifted, not aggressively, not violently, but undeniably present.
The demigods felt it immediately.
Gods did too.
Overwhelming power, a cold wave washing over the room.
"I'm not your subject," I continued, "I'm not some dumb demigod you can push around. And I'm definitely not handing you my sword because you feel insecure."
That one landed.
Zeus's silence was deafening.
I shifted my gaze away from him before he could recover.
"Now," I said, addressing the Olympians as a whole, "let's talk about actual problems."
They listened.
Because they didn't have a choice.
"You want to know why Kronos found followers in your own camp?" I asked. "Why your kids risked everything to side with a Titan?"
I gestured towards the demigods again.
"These aren't villains. They're neglected."
Some of the demigods shifted uncomfortably.
"You show up, fuck with their mortal parents… even with your 'let's not interfere with the mortal world' rule… then you leave and never look back. You don't raise them, you don't guide them, you see them as disposable tools to be used and discarded at your own leisure."
Apollo winced.
Athena looked troubled.
Even Artemis looked unsure.
"You're all hardly deserving of the title of parents, and you've got the nerve to demand that I give you my weapon, to imply that your own kids need to be executed because you neglected them to the point that they thought that joining your enemies would be a good way to gain your attention.
The words clearly hit them hard. Harder than when I first aired out their dirty laundry.
"Fix your shit."
There was silence, long and heavy.
Then I turned towards the demigods.
"You're alive," I told them. "Which means you get a second chance that most others would kill for, don't waste it."
Ethan met my gaze.
I paused.
"You messed up." I said honestly, "but you lived, that matters."
He swallowed hard and nodded.
Then I turned back towards the exit.
"I'm done here, figure your shit out and fix it."
No bow.
No acknowledgement to Zeus.
I walked out.
[Scene Break]
The air outside Olympus was crisp.
Clean.
Mitsuri was waiting with the kids, laughing softly as Ai animatedly explained something involving sparkles and explosions that probably happened when I wasn't paying attention.
She looked up when she saw me.
"Finished?" She asked.
"Yeah, for now." I grinned.
She smiled.
The kids ran over.
Questions, excitement over things they'd seen or heard about.
I crouched slightly, "How about we take a field trip?"
Instant cheers.
Misturi slid her hand into mine when I stood back up. "Where to?"
I grinned.
"Somewhere new, somewhere… fun."
I opened a portal, and we all stepped through together.
Olympus fading away behind us.
[Scene Break] (Somewhere in another world)
He doesn't like vague reports.
Vague means unknowns, and unknowns meant something he didn't control… yet.
He read the report.
Then again, slower this time. Analysing every detail, the few that were available.
Three warehouses, all hit within moments of each other.
Three cells, all wiped out with brutality and pure violence.
Zero civilian casualties.
Zero arrests.
No reliable witnesses.
Always a single survivor, near incoherent, blabbering on about the feeling of standing before a dark god.
His finger taps the page once.
'That eliminates the amateur heroes.'
Across the desk, the survivor from one of the warehouses shifts nervously. "Si- Sir… our quir- nothing worked on him… Takashi even tried to shoot him with a regular gun b-before that monster cut him into a dozen pieces… the bullets they did nothing. He might have more than one q—"
"Shhh."
The survivor swallowed his words.
'Irrelevant…'
The word lingered in his mind. He leans back, eyes shifting to the final page. A grainy image captured by a camera from across one of the warehouses.
A silhouette, mid-step. Tall, relaxed. No visible equipment, no emblem, no sense of urgency.
The timestamp was damning.
Less than a minute between first contact and total defeat.
Too fast, too brutal.
"Another vigilante…" he hummed.
The survivor gulped loudly across from him. He studied the image again.
This clearly wasn't a hero. Heroes seek approval.
He closes the file.
"… how troublesome," he mutters, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
Somehow, a new piece had entered the board without his knowing.