Asteria kept on shivering like she was in the middle of a blizzard, causing Nyx's frown to deepen. After all, she knew of only one entity that could make Asteria react this way. . .
"Master they freed him!" Asteria wailed.
The color immediately drained from Nyx's face. She staggered and would have fallen had Adam not supported her.
"Why would he? Did he just want to punish me for Eris's escape? Doesn't he realize what he's done? What he's brought upon us all?" Nyx soulessly mumbled.
"Nyx what's wrong? You're scaring me!" Adam pleaded as he held her.
His voice seemed to shock some clarity back into her for good measure. Nyx made an odd gesture with her palm and a storm of darkness transported the three of them into her throneroom. She looked at the heavy Iron gates that gaurded the chamber and asked. "How many are they?"
One of the gaurdian night spirits answered. "Only three, my lady: The goddess Athena, and then a giant in chains who seemes to carry the aura of the great destroyer himself.
And the last one is a strange female with an odd appearance."
Nyx forcefully reigned in her terror and said in an ice cold voice. "Let them in."
"Stay close to me at all times." She warned Adam.
Adam couldn't help but notice how strained her voice was at this time. It held none of its previous mischief and sensuality and instead carried a dread that seemd to come from her very marrow.
Suddenly, the wind stilled in the throneroom. A cold, evil presence wafted into the chamber, causing all the assembled spirits to freeze in their tracks.
It was a presence so sinister, an layer of ice discernable spread across the walls of the throneroom. Three figures appeared before the assembly of spirits. Their steps slow and deliberate as they took the central path and sauntered towards the figures of Adam, Nyx, and Asteria.
The three all stood shoulder to shoulder as they strutted forward. Their footsteps were extremely light as they waded through the crowd of night spirits that parted before them. Even the other gods that served in the palace of Nyx stayed clear of their path.
As they approached, Adam's sight locked onto all three figures, then it was immediately drawn to the woman in the center.
The already dim ambience of Nyx's throne room was dimmed even further as all the light in the room was rapidly sucked into her orbit.
She had an extremely slender build and head full of dark wavy hair that fell all the way down to her buttocks. She had donned a layer of sleek, metallic armour, almost Amazonian in its origin, including metal braces and a head gaurd. A golden sword was strapped to her waist whiles a bronze spear was attached to her back.
The outline her armour drew on her body was among the most bewitching Adam had ever seen. Despite her slender build, the curves the her body were alluring to the point of being soul stealing. She had a pair of extremely heavy breast, while her perfectly shaped, well endowed rear was supple to the point of being hypnotic. A simple glance at it almost caused Adam's soul to go limp.
Unfortunately, her face was covered by a golden mask that left only her nose and lips unconvered.
The strange woman on her right somehow had an appearance that was even less forgettable. Her long ink black hair curtained down to her waist, and her skin glowed with a moonlight blue. The features of her her face were beautiful but wild.
Her eyes were a full voilet, with no space for whites.
A pair of dark horns curved above her head while a long slender tail danced with the rhythm of her movement.
But the monster in the center . . . Was the true nightmare!
Almost a dozen feet tall, he towered above everyone in the throne room. Demonic tattoos that glowed with a scarlet light marked both sides of his chest, and snaked all the way down to his four limbs.
Long claws sprang from his fingers and toes and his muscular build rippled with overwhelming power. Chains bound his arms together, but this did not subtract from his fearsome aura at all.
His features were ancient and cruel, and an air of evil and malice spread unrestrained from him. His cold, wicked gaze scanned over the throne room, his vile intent evident in his gaze.
"So he really went an did it . . ." Nyx said in a trembling voice.
The three .. .were the strangest assortment of geusts the realm of Nyx had ever recieved, and even a fool could tell that they had come with malicious intentions.
The trio stopped about a meter away from, Nyx, Adam and Asteria. Adam felt Athena's gaze linger on his body for a moment before shifting abruptly to Nyx again. The blue woman also seemed to give him a curious glance, but as for the giantin the middle. . .
From the moment he entered the throne room, his eyes had been transfixed on Nyx, as if all others were beneath his notice and now that he was only a few paces from her, he licked his lips licentiously, his intentions evident in his lewd smile.
[Bang!!]
The armrest of Nyx's throne was pulverized into fine dust as her anger erupted. The throne room quaked, and the winds became chaotic as all around us, the entire realm joined her in her fury.
"What is the meaning of this?" She roared.
Adam was frozen still by the dreadful pressure emanating from Nyx, as were Asteria and all the spirits in the throne room, however Athena, who was the focus of her rage, remained unfazed as she replied.
"Father Zeus warned you that your disobedience would have consequences, did he not?"
"Lord Perses here has been quite helpful to us recently.
The other pantheons have their armies: Ra has his heavenly hosts and Odin has his Enheinjir warriors. Only our pantheon has been left unfortified for all this time.
This matter weighed heavily on father Zeus, thankfully lord Perses here offered a solution.
Allow me to introduce to you . .. Echidna.
Daughter of Tartarus and Gaia. Little aunt of Perces and most importantly . . .mother of monsters!"
"You dare bring this vile creature into my throne room?" Nyx snarled while regarding the blue skinned creature with disgust.
"And as if that was not bad enough...you dare openly admit to releasing this beast?" She roared while pointing a finger at Perses.
Athena was unfazed. "Lord Perses is more useful to Father Zeus than you have proven yourself to be. That is simply all there is to it."
"Useful." Nyx repeated the word and looked at Athena like she was insane. "You are standing besides a being who has spilled enough blood to fill a chasm, committed atrocities never before seen in both the realms of gods and men, and you have the gall to talk about usefulness? Do you have any idea what it took to cage this monster the first time?"
"Father is confident he can be controlled."
Nyx suddenly held her belly and laughed like she had heard the funniest joke in the world. "Controlled. Zeus believes he can control this creature."
"That is perhaps the dumbest shit thing I have ever heard, and I have existed since the beginning of time."
"Your opinion," Athena said coolly, "Is of no consequence. You have defied Father too many times, Nyx. You have exhausted every chance he has given you."
The darkness in the room suddenly grew heavier.
"The Underrealm," Nyx said, gravely enunciating each word, "is independent of the Overrealm. It always has been. Zeus has no jurisdiction here. He is not my king."
Then her gaze darkened even more. "And I have not forgotten what he did to me on mount Olympus all those eons ago. I have yet to make him pay a price in blood but he has the guts to send you here to condemn me!?"
Athena was unphased.
"Zeus is king of all," she said simply. "Whether you acknowledge it or not. He may have have fancied you in the past, but your hurbis and your unwillingness to bow down to his rule has drawn his ire." Then she continued.
"Lord Perses, however, has sworn obedience. Zeus heard his pleas from the bowels of Tartarus.
As you can see, he is still partially bound, and his magic bindings restrict even his ability to speak, but my orders are to free him and let him run amok witiin your territory. And we both know that once he's free there is nothing that can be done to stop him!"
The temperature in the room plummeted as Nyx unleashed her killing intent. All the night spirits in the throneroom felt her rage and backed away from her. Adam felt it too, it was like a heavy hand pressing against his chest, stifling his ability to breath. Nyx was well and truly incensed this time around.
But before she could explode, Athena spoke again.