From the deities down to the mortals, everyone is shocked by the sea god's action.


Poseidon kicks Athena off his trident as Ares charges at him with both blades. Ares swings in two different directions and Poseidon manages to block both attempts with his trident. Ares backs up and launches several aura strikes that are roughly blocked by the sea god.


Athena winces from the pain and self-heals thanks to her followers. "Why?", she questions her uncle with a raised spear.

"Time for Athens to go under new management", he blocks Ares' strikes while talking.

Ares gets within his space and the sea god looks to end things here. He moves his trident but finds it has missed the mark as Ares lands a significant strike through the abdomen. His golden Olympian blood comes out as Ares keeps attacking. He launches a tremor jab, but it misses too. Ares plunges several swords within that instant into his uncle.


Poseidon jumps back and now he knows who's responsible just from hearing a familiar sound. The fluttering of winged sandals.

"So, you decided to get involved, runt?"

Hermes had slipped through the barrier at top speed to help his brother.

Athena charges her spear with aura, waiting for the right moment to strike. Hermes keeps assisting Ares as he redirects Poseidon's attacks away from his brother.

While this occurs, Poseidon motions with a hand. His army splits up and the archers start firing away at the armies of Sparta and Athens. Artemis and Eros stop their attempt with a large volley of energy arrows. Apollo and Hemera switch positions and he fires off musical notes that puts the army to sleep. Cetus isn't affected to their surprise.

Dionysus directs the Athenian army away from the battlefield once he notices that. Yet, they wouldn't move.

"We will not abandon our goddess!"

"Athena lied to you!"

His words are not reaching the army as they stay there. He forces them to back up by drawing out his threatening Olympian energy. They finally respond.

The Spartans go to leave the area and Cetus lunges at them! Phobos, Deimos, Eros, Artemis, and Apollo attack Cetus with numerous energy arrows to force the monster back. The creature wails from the pain, but they all notice its wounds are self-healing. They sense divinity in the creature that's the work of Poseidon.


The monster slams its tail on the ground! The impact makes everyone fall to the ground, except his master.

He goes to cut down Ares while he's off balance, but Hermes interferes by pushing Ares out of the way while dodging the attack. He takes this chance and steals the trident!


Although it's too heavy for him to use, he will at least keep it out of his uncle's grasp.

Poseidon goes to take it back, but Athena pierces through his side with her spear! Ares jumps overhead and drags swords into his back before spacing away. The sea god's furious stomp breaks the ground and awakens his army.


The barrier falters from the overwhelming power and human soldiers start falling between the cracks!

Before darkness can swallow them, Hermes uses his superior speed to drop the trident......


Spartans and Athenians are perplexed to find themselves in the town of Nemea. They hear fluttering and Hermes stands before them. They also see Cetus fighting against the deities' projectiles.

"Now is not the time for fighting! Stay right here!", he waves his staff.


They don't dare question his orders. Hermes flies back to the battlefield to help his siblings against Poseidon and Athena. He also wants to prevent Ares from turning his attention to the town. As he gets closer, he crosses a line and is stopped in a familiar sphere.


He winces as several cuts appear on his body, but he refuses to give his tormentor the benefit of a scream. He grips his staff to keep himself from falling apart.

Dionysus notices something about the monster and he quickly runs up on Cetus' body. The monster goes to reach him, but the god of wine hits several points across the monster's body that paralyzes its body. It can't even roar out to its master. The god of wine jumps above the head while facing it. Using minimal aura, he slices the creature's body in half with a chop!


The two pieces hit the ground and the land shakes. A terrible odor emanates from its ungodly stomach.

The body twitches as the ends reattach and blood returns back to its body. He steps back before it can grab him. The monster is now whole.

"Switch!", Hemera tells Apollo.

He gets back in the driver's seat while Hemera jumps down. Mother, give me strength!

"Cover!", she yells before her body shined with the intensity of the sun.

Those who are part of the plan cover their eyes, including Ares. Poseidon is blinded from the light and Ares takes advantage by stabbing through his left leg. The sea god refuses to kneel until Athena shoots him multiple times in the same leg. Luckily, her helmet told her to face away from the light.


Poseidon uses his senses to block a simultaneous attack with his tremor powers. Athena gets hit by Ares with a powered punch during the blockage. Poseidon goes to attack her with a tremor spear hand, but Ares stops him by pushing it away. He goes to slit his throat, but Poseidon forces him back with a back handed slap.


The sea god quickly cakes himself with dirt to heal his wounds.

Meanwhile, Hemera enters Cetus' mouth and ignites. The blast of daylight incinerates the entire creature into ashes! The sea god's army almost drop their weapons in terror. Hemera takes deep breaths from overexhaustion....

Apollo protects her with a musical note as Ares almost kills her with his sword! Another musical note quickly scoops her up and returns her back to the chariot. Hemera rests against the inside of the chariot while Apollo keeps driving.

"You did great, Hemera. Rest and we will let the others handle it."

Artemis quickly touches the ground to fill in the cracks. Athena summons a barrier around Poseidon and Ares so they can fight while she recuperates on the ground. She hears the sounds of her people cheering her, including the relentless praises from her people in Athens.


She stands up as Artemis goes to put her down with her hunting knife, but Apollo is now in her place?!

The huntress stops herself from putting the knife through him by blocking her arm. Apollo looks up and sees that the chariot is about to crash along with the sun! Hemera tries to regain control, but the strain added to her exhaustion.


He quickly flies back to regain control of it before every human will die. Athena gives him an assist with her aura to "protect" her followers. He gets there and pulls hard on the reins. The horses come up and they avoid a catastrophe. He gets the sun back into the proper position.

"So close, Apollo. It would have been worse than the Trojan War", Eris' voice crackles out while casually eating a snack. Her words almost drive Artemis into a feral rage. Seeing Hermes trapped in her chaotic sphere makes her hesitate.

Athena is by her side, fully recovered thanks to her people. Her battle wounds disappear.

"You really thought I would-

She blocks Athena's aura infused spear attempt and redirects the energy to Nemea with a flick of the hand. Artemis is afraid about the loss of life and runs to stop it. All of a sudden aura infused rock walls appear around the entire city as a shield and some of it goes through, but another wall appears to protect the people inside. The energy dissipates as the half dome remains.

The ground beneath Eris reaches out like hands and she pushes Athena into it. Athena groans from being crushed, but she explodes out of the trap. She knows who this is since Poseidon and Ares are preoccupied.

A boulder is thrown at Eris! She switches with Phobos from the throw of an apple. Phobos almost gets hit, but the large rock splits in pieces to avoid him. Eris gets hit in the stomach by the pieces. She coughs up her snack and finds her feet fixed to the ground. A blade pops out from the ground and Theseus appears to strike her down!

He stops mid-swing with dilating pupils.

"Son, why are you doing this?", his father "Aegeus" stands before him. The voice matched his tone perfectly.

"Father?", his hands tremble on the hilt.

"You were going to kill me again. What kind of son would do that to his father?"

Phobos and Deimos lend him some aura to resist her tricks. With a vengeful swing of his sword, he cuts the golden apple in half, breaking him out of the illusion. A gasp of horror escapes the goddess of discord's mouth.

Eris goes to throw out another apple, but her hand is blocked from doing so. Her eyes widened as the leather of a large belt restricted even movement to her fingers. The goddess of archery delivers close elbows to the deity's face while maintaining that hold. With closed eyes, she steals all of the golden apples and zips them in a bag.


While keeping up the barrage of elbows and knees, she throws the bag of apples to Phobos who delivers them to Harmonia. He stays behind to protect her from harm. She opens the bag to do her role while tapping her necklace.


Because she is Eris' opposite, the apples have no effect on her. Her necklace absorbs the chaotic energy without harming her in the process. The evil fruit rots and vanishes forever.


Out of fury, Eris breaks the grip of the belt to recollect her mind. Golden blood foams from her mouth. Her eyes narrow at Artemis, Dionysus, and Theseus who are focused on her. The Huntress ties the belt around her right hand with the buckle exposed. All of them are resorting to hand-to-hand combat to end Eris' life.

Eris cackles. "Fight me and Hermes will die."

He's bleeding profusely as more nicks appear on his lean body. Just like before, but he continues to grip his staff, using the thoughts of his beloved Aphrodite and son to distract his mind.

"Don't worry about me! Kill her!", he urges while in excruciating pain.

Athena doesn't get involved as she watches Poseidon slug Ares with a tremor punch. Ares is almost knocked unconscious by the blow, but he recovers quickly to headbutt Poseidon in the face and bites his ear off like a savage dog.


Ares spits it out and goes to gouge Poseidon's eyes out, but the sea god stops him with a tremor infused kick that almost tears his breastplate apart. Ares coughs up blood, but he licks his mouth and continues fighting.

"Artemis, Theseus and I will handle her while you fight Athena", Dionysus assures her without a doubt. Artemis runs off to fight her sister.

Dionysus and Theseus are focused as they attack her from both fronts with spear hands. Eris uses her magic to enhance her reflexes so they would hit each other. The fighters then change their attacks and Theseus trips her leg out from under her.


Theseus taps into all of his aura to avenge his father and Ariadne. He goes to stomp on Eris but finds Dionysus on the ground.


Dionysus pops up and protects Theseus from a divine kick by ducking his head. He gets hit instead, but he doesn't turn his head away from her.

"If only Mina got such protection like that", Eris taunts.

Dionysus' mouth twitches. His golden Olympian aura trembles within his hands. The homicidal outpour shivers the goddess to her core.


Theseus regains himself and they get in sync with each other as they rush at the goddess. Theseus goes for a low sweeping kick, but Eris raises her leg to knee him in the face. To her surprise, Theseus holds onto her leg and Dionysus lays a near fatal knee to the temple. The goddess rolls around the ground several times, but they don't stop attacking her.

Artemis clashes with Athena. Her knife is blocked by her divine spear. Artemis jumps back and uses her divine speed to find an opening. Athena's eyes are well trained as she blocks her attempts several times. Artemis knows she would have to go into her feral form, but many people will get hurt if they get in her line of sight. She has to keep a cool head.


Something is then heard by the divine beings. The goddess of the hunt gets worried. Athena jabs her spear through her abdomen during this moment and kicks her off. Artemis self-heals and gets back into the fight.

Just before that sound....

Takashi, Hestia, and Heracles are watching the fights unfold. Taki's doing hand and arm motions to participate.

"You can all do it!", Heracles shouts.

"Defeat Eris once and for all", Hestia cheers.

Ares! Don't give up! Aphrodite hasn't given up on you. Beat Poseidon so you can return back to normal!, thought Takashi.

Heracles hears something. He brings his loved ones to the floor! Vibrations of a raucous sound tear through Aphrodite's temple!


The flames from the pot jump out and hit various tapestries. The temple lights up in flames. Everyone's ears are ringing, but Heracles doesn't let go of them. He looks up to see who or what attacked them, but no one is there. Hestia's donkey brays as she retreats behind them.


He goes to get them out of there with love dust.


Slap.

He gets knocked through a column. Hestia quickly gets up to blast the attacker but stops herself. Taki is squirming in the grasp of a scaled tail. She recognizes who she is because of Artemis.

"Stheno, wait! He di-"

Her body gets wrapped as well by Euryale and she gets thrown to where Heracles is. Her donkey breaks her fall. Before Heracles can save his uncle, they disappear from sight.


Hestia absorbs the fire from the temple by raising her hands. She then uses it to seek out where they took Takashi. If they wanted him dead, they would have killed him already. She quickly scans through any available fires to find him, no matter how small. She changes the view each time he isn't there. Heracles crouches down and analyses the spot where they vanished. He notices pink dusting and specks of black sand that he read about before.

The mighty pours out the last of the love dust to save his uncle. He quickly throws on his Nemean armor for extra protection before they run through.

------

The trio finds themselves on the black sanded coast of Sarpedon. Heracles covers his ears while covering Hestia and her friend from Euryale's sonic scream. Sand and water wildly dance around them. The Nemean armor withstands the brunt of the attack.

Hestia doesn't want to hurt her, but she has no choice. She throws out an ember that lands on her tail and she backs off while containing her painful scream. Hestia's companion jumps in front to protect her as Stheno closes in for a strike.

Heracles grabs her arms and steps on her tail to prevent her from moving. Her snakes hiss at him, but don't attack him to her surprise.

"Stop it, Stheno! Where is my uncle?!", he yells at her.

The eldest Gorgon is confused by his words and appearance. How did he know her name and why is it that they met before?

"Uncle?", she utters out.

"Takashi. He's my uncle and I won't let Medea hurt him. He didn't kill anyone", while loosening his grip and removing his foot.

Euryale doesn't attack as it now felt wrong for her to do so.

"B-But he killed Chrysaor", she argues.

"That's not true! Zeus killed him!", Hestia informs. The Gorgon sisters are shell shocked as they feel they are telling the truth. Numerous small gasps leave the mouths of their hair snakes.

"I know the truth about Perseus and Medusa's love. I've also met Medusa while in Elysium. Is Perseus involved in this plan? Please tell us so we can stop them!", Heracles adds.

There's no hatred nor judgment in his words. Hestia walks up to Euryale and heals her burn mark until there is no longer proof of it.

"We took him, but he's now with Medea, Orpheus, and Perseus", the eldest Gorgon confesses.

"They told us that they will take him to Medea's castle in Colchis", Euryale adds.

Hestia quickly summons a large orb of fire so they can jump to that exact location. There is not a single flame or ember within the castle grounds. She picks out the closest hearth that is outside the castle walls and selects that one.

"Let's jump through now!"

They all jump through to end up in front of a startled couple. The husband and wife are shocked to see a group of people, especially the Gorgon Sisters. Hestia uses her pleasantly warm aura to put them right to sleep. Her donkey throws her on top and rushes towards the castle with enhanced speed. Heracles sprints to the castle and leaves large footsteps on the streets with the sisters flying overhead.

They hope it's not too late.

------

A foul odor penetrates Taki's nostrils. He startles awake but finds his hands tied up with what looks like musical notes and feet anchored to the floor with familiar earth. Medea's intense eyes spit venom at him while closing a vial of smelling salts.


He's perplexed at what's going on as his eyes scan around. The iron bars tell him he's in a dungeon. He is without his long sword to defend himself.

"Takashi Watanabe. You will pay for the crimes you committed against us. For the death of my grandfather, Helios." 

His eyes widen from hearing that.


"Mnemosyne and her people, and Chrysaor. Your execution will begin right now", Medea continues. Aura lights up the room to reveal three hooded figures along with Pegasus.

His heart sinks as he recognizes who they are.

"Before you die, you will say your final words", as Orpheus charges an attack on his lyre.

"That's the least we can do to prove we're not monsters like you", Echo removes her hood to show her puffy cheeks. Her crown of depressed, withered flowers reflected her sadness. Her brown unforgiving eyes glare at eyes that are sad for her.

Perseus pets Pegasus' mane after taking off his hood. The demigod's eyes have the same rage that was directed at Poseidon in the previous timeline, but now it's directed towards him. He gets out the divine sword of Athena to end his life. Pegasus snorts angrily at him.

"I will let you have the first stab", Medea tells Perseus.

They then hear something dripping to the floor. Takashi's tears.

"You feel guilty for what you did? It won't save you. Say what you want because it will be your last", the witch seethes.

Takashi tries to speak, but they hear no sound from him. They are confused on why that is.

"Maybe some music will make him talk."

Orpheus plays some notes to enable him to speak, but it has no effect. Something is blocking his power from working.

"He has to be cursed by a god. His aura channels are blocked....by Athena?!"

Perseus is now gripping his sword. He's confused on why Athena cursed him, but his anger was too strong. Still, something felt wrong for him to attack him like this.

"Orpheus, take off his restraints. Have him write his final words."

Orpheus reluctantly plays a note and Taki's hands are free. The musical demigod slides papyrus with an inkjar to him. Taki decides to communicate with sign language to reach Perseus.

"I didn't do it! It was-

Perseus immediately puts his sword against his throat. "You dare speak like how he did?!"

Taki's eyes look into his and Perseus does see guilt, but it's more of the guilt to be unable to-

Perseus takes his sword away with heavy breaths. He goes to Pegasus and throws out an object from his satchel. The stained hour-hand blade clatters in front of Takashi. Taki's eyes are focused on the blade that killed his nephew. He gasps from seeing it personally and more tears flow from his eyes.

"Enough talk. Get up and fight! Release him, Echo!", the son of Zeus demands.

"I won't do that! I can't let him hurt the father of my true love!"

Taki's heart wants to leap out of his chest. He tries to show empathy in his eyes, but she looks away from him.

"You took him away and I never got to meet him!", her heavy tears accompany a spike of mountain like-aura.

"Echo, quiet your aura. We need to make this quick so justice-"

To Orpheus, that word doesn't feel right for him to say.

"Perseus, don't give him that chance. Strike him down now!", Medea urges.

Echo quickly releases his feet from her trap so he can stand up. She sinks against the wall while burying her head into her knees. Her sniffling continues to break Taki's heart.

I'm sorry, Artemis. I don't know why you teamed up with him, but I will get my answers when it's done.

"Pick up that blade right now or die!", Perseus yells to regain his attention.

Taki's left hand trembles as he reaches out to the blade. He tenderly touches the metal with the stained blood. He then grips the handle out of anger for what Zeus did.

As he gets up, Medea's mind is also conflicted. Like he helped her before.....she ignores her gut instinct.

Orpheus also feels the same way. He's feeling sick to his stomach about killing this stranger.

Stranger? No, that word doesn't seem to- Focus, Orpheus. I will make sure that mother will have peace.

They see that Takashi is still crying as he raises his hour-hand blade. Perseus can tell he doesn't want to fight, but he will defend himself, even without aura.

The young demigod attacks first with an overhead swing and their blades clash!

***Taki will fight Perseus in the next chapter. Will Heracles and the others make it in time to tell the truth?