- Hades
The battle in the underworld had escalated considerably over the course of just a few short moments.
Hades had summoned an army of dead souls to engage in battle against the enemy dragons.
But despite being vastly outnumbered, the Euphrates held their own with no real trouble.
What was an army of uncountable size to a unit of dragons with the power of gods?
However, Hades boasted some surprises of his own on that day.
The Greek underworld was charged with receiving the dead from more worlds than just earth.
Hades boasted ones that came from Dola as well, like some wyverns, former vampires, and other races.
But ultimately, the number and what was summoned was inconsequential.
The spectres could not scratch the armor of the enemy to do any real damage to them.
Because Hades wasn't really prepared to be the one getting attacked, he could only fight with what he had on hand... Which was next to nothing.
The death god quickly realized just how bad the situation looked for him.
Under the curtain of a fierce blizzard, Hades donned his infamous helm.
Just as Zeus' lightning bolt gave him the power to hurl thunder, Hades' helm rendered him completely invisible and untraceable.
He could already see that this battle wasn't his to be won.
Now, he only needed to hide and wait for the battle to end before he gave a report to his father and the other titans about everything that had happened here.
'But... What is even the point..?'
He recalled the last time he laid eyes on his Aunt Themis.
The enemy leader was bouncing her head off the ground like a basketball before they whirled her around by her hair and chucked her somewhere near the river Styx.
He wished he could say that was all, but then she proceeded to chase after her as if to continue the beating.
If this was all that awaited those who were supposedly the second strongest among them, then what was the point?
What were they doing this for? If it was to fight and die embarrassing deaths, they could all strangle each other after a circle jerk instead.
Atleast then they didn't have to put on pants.
Hades wasn't really afraid of death. Just because he took steps to preserve his own life, didn't mean that he would cry when the reaper's blade was lain against his neck.
The only reason he decided to flee was because he didn't want to die wastefully; having accomplished nothing of note or worth merit.
Perhaps that was his father's voice following him. Telling him that even if it killed him, he had to make himself useful.
But there was something else that made Hades rethink this whole situation.
He nor the other side were experiencing 'casualties'.
Both armies were undying in a way, but only one had the capacity to change that.
Hades' army was being incapacitated, not destroyed.
He already knew inhabitants of the abyss boasted the power of soul destruction, so he couldn't understand why they weren't using it.
Perhaps they saw his forces as innocents..? But that contrasted everything that he already knew about them.
Hades tried to remember what Abaddon was like when he met him for the first time.
Young & handsome and then big & angry were just about the only things that came up.
'Am I just overthinking this..? Is there even a merit to entertaining these sorts of ideas?'
Hades finally escaped back to his castle and made his way to his study.
It was true that the entire underworld was on lockdown and none could get in or out, but perhaps he could still get out to his father and the others.
Hades unlocked his desk and found an amulet waiting on his bottom drawer. Just like he thought, it was already flashing.
"Great..."
"Whatcha got there?"
"Ah!"
Hades inadvertently let out a small yelp when a small voice spoke out in the room with him.
He found that same childlike soldier from earlier staring back at him as she sat down beside the fireplace.
*Boom! Shatter!*
- 15 Minutes Later
Hades had moved to a seat on the floor and was now smoking a cigarette.
"Hey kid, how old are you anyway?"
"None of your fucking business, puny god!"
*Crash! Thunk!*
"Right, of course not.."
Suddenly the entire ceiling of Hades' home was ripped off by a pair of enormous claws.
"Of course, because why else should I.. Woah."
Hades' cigarette fell out of his mouth from shock.
Towering above his home was the most captivating mythical creature he had ever seen.
A large white dragon with eight different heads. Pure in color, and pure in spirit.
Atop their heads was a different symbol transcribed in red. It was obvious that they carried great power.
The dragon was there for no more than a moment before it's body glowed white.
It disappeared from above the building and reappeared inside.
Only now, it was the beautiful woman from before. The one who turned his aunt into a pincushion within two seconds of meeting her.
Speaking of the titaness of justice, she was dangling limply from Ayaana's grip as she held her by the throat. Her ruined eyes would have already rolled into the back of her head if they still could.
"Oh? What happened here?"
Mira froze at the last moment with a literal hunk of wall over her head.
"...R-Redecorating."
Ayaana looked at the room full of smashed... everything.
Hades was sitting on the floor in handcuffs that he seemed to have created himself judging by their magical signature.
"Uh-huh. Try it again, princess."
Mira's lip began quivering all over again before she ran headfirst into her mother's chest.
"THE BIG DUMMY SURRENDERED! I WAS SO CLOSE TO KILLING MY FIRST GOD TOO, BUT NOW LOOK! HE'S RUINED IT!"
It was worth noting that Hades could not understand Mira through her blubbering. He just hoped she wasn't telling her mother something that could render him in the same position as his Aunt Themis.
Ayaana wiped her daughter's face softly, but spoke in a firm enough tone that her daughter would be compelled to listen.
"Mira, you know that you can't be.."
Slowly , all of the color drained from Ayaana's face.
Mira felt her mother's body tense up and she immediately reigned in her own turbulent emotions.
"Mom..?"
"Sweetie... I need you to let go of mommy for just a bit, okay..?"
Mira knew better than to stay near any of her parents when they were like this.
She backed away as Ayaana raised her captive up so that they were eye level.
Her claws lashed out and sliced open the stomach of Themis so quickly that it was almost a full thirty seconds before she bled.
Or felt the pain.
When the titaness awoke screaming, Ayaana grabbed her by the lower jaw to quiet her.
"Save your screaming for when you decide not to answer my question..."
Though Hades had found Ayaana enchanting before, he now thought she was utterly terrifying.
He could literally see the space around her crying as it tried to support the weight of her existence. The weight of her anger.
"Where are my husband and sister..?" Was all that she asked.
Faced with what was undoubtedly the greatest threat to her life possible, Themis did the most foolish thing imaginable.
She laughed.