The vast expanse of emptiness and absolute nothingness was visible; between them, the different universes appeared as marbles or bubbles.
"Honey, are you there?" I asked Kiss-Shot.
"Alive and kicking; for now I'll stay here. I can't see anything, but I can feel us moving at high speed and those things floating in nothingness. Oh look, I think we're going to crash," she said, only to see that our new destination was already in our sights.
A bubble had crossed our path, so now I would be in that universe for at least five years.
Just as we were about to crash, a portal opened, allowing passage to the place without colliding; you could say it's more of a door than a portal.
Just as I entered the universe, multiverse, world of hair, cosmos—I have no idea. At this point, the name doesn't matter, since they all fit the definition of all this, and yet they don't; I heard the system's voice.
[This universe has been detected as anomalous. Furthermore, multiple beings of omniversal level are heading in your direction.]
I just sighed. I've been sighing a lot lately; I should relax more, maybe take a vacation. I just hope they don't force me to go to school or something like that in the future.
At that moment, I realized we were in a space of many colors.
"Wow, do you always go through places like this when you travel through universes?" she asked me.
"No, this isn't something that usually happens," I replied. "Hey, can you leave my body?"
"Negative, I don't have a shadow to leave through; I have to leave from the same place I entered." She quickly explained her situation. "Hey, your system didn't say that multiple threats were coming our way or anything like that."
She could hear the system, thanks to the fact that we are connected in soul and possess a special telepathy.
At that moment, I saw a mass of energy in a Lovecraftian form. It was a gigantic body; its form seemed to be part of the sun itself.
I saw it staring at me with both eyes, as if examining me to see if it could eliminate me right then and there. And if I'm honest, this thing was capable of doing so.
"Your anomaly, your singularity, you possess the concept of emptiness and darkness," the being spoke.
"Who are you?" I asked just to know who this being was who might possibly kill us.
"I am the colossal interstellar mothership, the spherical fortress of spacetime, Chaos." Hearing that, my blood ran cold. Before me stood the primordial god of Greek mythology.
"You, singularity, are a specimen worth using." Hearing that calmed me down a little, but not much. "You too possess the concept of death, but it is less powerful than the other, which is why I will send you to that place. Go and fulfill your duty; help the others achieve my objective."
And with that, a portal opened and swallowed me, sending me far away. I felt my head spinning; it was as if my brain were continuously pounding against my skull. A massive headache hit me hard, and in an instant, everything went dark.
...
Third-person POV.
Dante fell to the ground, unconscious, onto a barren, fire-filled, and desolate landscape. Blood trickled from his nose and ear.
If what Dante went through could be described in one sentence, it could be summarized as follows: A wild ride across uneven terrain, the cabin filled with fumes of dubious origin, drugged to the teeth with various medications, and witnessing the dance of torture—all amplified a thousandfold.
So it makes sense that Dante fell unconscious. He may be a superhuman, but in a way, he's still human. Even if he doesn't consider himself one in this world.
At that moment, a group of semi-nude winged women appeared where Dante lay. These creatures were Keres, the violent embodiment of death, and daughters of Nyx.
The Keres, upon seeing Dante, sensed a strong connection with him, as there were no men among their species, allowing them to use him as a source of reproduction and sustenance.
They flew swiftly to his location, and just as they were about to touch the unconscious man, a hand emerging from the shadow seized the creature's wrist.
"How dare you try to touch my man without my permission?" Kiss-Shot said, stepping completely out of Dante's shadow cast by the fire surrounding him.
With a powerful blow, Kiss-Shot hurled the Kere toward the others, burying his hand in his chest and drawing a long, gleaming katana.
In the following seconds, he charged at the Keres, eliminating several with swift, simple cuts.
In the world of the Monogatari Series, she was known as the Oddity Killer, and her sword, Kokorowatari, possessed the ability to eliminate oddities by severing them conceptually. Therefore, she only needed a single cut to kill them.
The Keres were no match for her, so they chose to flee, leaving Kiss-Shot and Dante alone.
Kiss-Shot stared at her beloved in his weakest possible state. She knew what had happened, and thanks to the Soul Bond Contract, he had acquired vampiric abilities without actually being one, such as self-regeneration, albeit at a milder level. But the damage to Dante's brain was severe, so he wouldn't awaken for quite some time.
She had also gained something from him: the use of Haki. Not at Dante's level, but something that could be considered the level of a vice admiral. Basically, from the basics to an intermediate level.
After a moment's thought, he approached him and, burying his hand in his chest, began to alter Dante's appearance, leaving him with the body of a seven-year-old.
There was a reason for this: at that size, Kiss-Shot could carry Dante more easily, and if a fight broke out, he could move with him or hide somewhere unseen.
Once Dante awoke and was well, he could return him to his normal appearance.
Just as he was about to leave, he heard a voice.
"How strange, I've never seen so many living souls gathered at the gates of Tartarus," the being said.
Kiss-Shot turned around to see a translucent being shrouded in dark smoke with red eyes, black wings, and a scythe that would later become Harper.
"Who are you?" Kiss-Shot asked defensively.
"My apologies, my name is Thanatos, and I am the god of death, peaceful death," he replied.
"Peaceful death?" she exclaimed.
"Yes, that's my concept; just as the creatures you faced are the embodiment of violent death," the god replied.
But Kiss-Shot wasn't interested in all that; he only wanted to know one thing.
"And what are you doing here?" he asked.
"The being you have on your back now caught my attention," he said, pointing the scythe at Dante. "It's very similar to me, but it also has different characteristics; there's a resemblance that's hard to ignore."
Red eyes, black wings, power over death; it was something, and one could say they were almost the same.
Kiss-Shot didn't trust this being, and Thanatos had noticed.
"Look, since he's a child now, I could say he's my son; that way, things will be easier for the king of this place."
"King of this place?" Kiss-Shot questioned.
"The lord of these lands, the god of the underworld and the dead, Hades," Thanatos said.
She immediately recognized that name, so she immediately deduced where they were, more specifically, which universe they were in: the Greek era.
Kiss-Shot had guessed correctly, but not entirely.
"Follow me, I'll take you to the king," he said as he walked away from Thanatos. Kiss-Shot hesitated for a second but followed him anyway, since she didn't know much about all this and a guide didn't seem so bad, not to mention that she didn't sense any ill intentions from this god.
...
Thanatos, Kiss-Shot, and a chibi Dante arrived at the gates of a castle, which were guarded by a three-headed canine.
This dog saw that Thanatos, a woman, and a child were there, so it yawned and went back to sleep.
Kiss-Shot couldn't help but think about the great job the gatekeeper did guarding the gates, letting two strangers into the place.
(Author's Note: In Lostbelt 5, the gods appear as mecha gods, but there are two versions of Artemis: one as the Orion Servant, who has human flesh, and the other as a mecha god. So I have two options: either Lostbelt 5 made them that way, or she has two forms, one false and one true; in this case, I'll use the latter for this fic.)
After walking a bit, they found themselves in a throne room; there were three beings there. A tall, somber man with white eyes sat on the throne, a woman just like the man but with two spectral beings at her side, and finally a radiant woman whose brown hair stood out against the rest of the room.
The three men interrupted their conversation to look at the three of them.
"It's strange to see you here, Thanatos," the man said indifferently.
"I'm just passing through and wanted to inform you of some information, Hades."
"I imagine it has something to do with those two, doesn't it?" Hades asked, to which Thanatos nodded.
The radiant woman rushed over to Kiss-Shot, her eyes glowing.
"Oh, a child. I haven't seen one in a long time. May I hold him?" she said.
Kiss-Shot wanted to refuse, but with the king of the underworld present and to avoid torture and imminent death, he had no choice but to reluctantly hand Dante over.
"Persephone has always loved children; I think it's time she had her own; your brother Zeus already has about ten," said the somber woman.
"I think it's too soon for that, Hecate; I still have to deal with Demeter," said Hades, looking at Thanatos. "Well, tell me what happened."
And so, Thanatos concocted the greatest tale in the world, the most astonishing in all of Greek mythology.
The story goes something like this. The child, being an anomaly, was sent to the underworld to die, where he was found by the Keres, who tried to transform him into one of them, but a male version. He was saved by Kiss-Shot, and from then on, he refused to leave his side, only to find them both shortly after and bring them here.
"I see. I also sense something strange about that brat," said the elder god, scratching his chin.
"His power and magic are related to darkness and death; the latter must have been forcibly instilled in him by the Keres; I'm curious what he might become in the future," the goddess of magic declared.
"Hey, Hades, what if we adopt him?" she said hopefully.
"Actually, I was going to ask..." His words trailed off as Persephone's gaze pierced his head.
"I don't care if he has the concept of death; perhaps he'll be helpful in the future to do the heavier work," Hades said, much to Persephone's delight.
At that moment, Persephone looked at Kiss-Shot to speak to him.
"And what are you?" she asked curiously.
She was about to speak, but Hecate spoke first.
"She is an undead, a malevolent or demonic spirit, bound to the child," she declared.
At this time, the concept of a vampire or a dead apostle did not yet fully exist.
"What does Hecate mean?" Persephone asked.
"That they are united by soul; if one dies, the other still shares the same soul. I don't know if she did it, if they were both born at the same time and she was always there with him, or if it's the work of fate," she replied.
"That doesn't matter; we're short-staffed here. Any help is welcome. Take the brat to a room so he can rest until he wakes up, and that spirit can go with him," Hades uttered.
And with Persephone as their guide, they went to leave Dante somewhere to rest.
...
Dante's POV
I opened my eyes with a start, trying to sit up, but when I moved my head even slightly, a horrible pain shot straight into my skull. It felt like a long, giant nail was being hammered into my head in several different places.
"You're finally awake, my husband," I heard Kiss-Shot's voice.
I saw her smile at me, as if relieved I was there. We were in a gloomy, dark place, a place that was strangely perfect for her.
"Where are we?" I asked.
"In Hell," she replied.
"Figuratively or literally?" I asked again.
"Literally," she said.
At that moment, I realized my voice was different, something I'd overlooked because of the headache. So, despite the pain of moving my head, I looked down at my body and saw that I'd turned into a brat again; this would be the third time, damn it.
"A lot happened while you were asleep in your unconsciousness," she said with a wide smile on her face.
And so she told me everything that had happened since we summoned the Greek underworld, which makes sense, since the one we met before was a primordial god of those same gods.
But what stuck with us was the concept of singularity and strangeness, since to everyone here, I'm not human.
"Do you have any idea why they say that about you?" she asked me curiously.
"Yes," I said simply, raising my hand only to have it shrouded in darkness. "It must be because of this."
*Flashback*
I held a fruit in my hand, staring at it as if it were something strange, as if I didn't know what to do with it.
"What kind of fruit is that?" Kiss-Shot asked, having just entered the room.
"It's a Devil Fruit, a type of food that grants mystical powers in exchange for not being able to swim in the sea, but I already have something that can counteract that," I replied, placing the fruit on a table. "This fruit has the ability of telepathy, something we already possess, so this fruit is useless. I don't know what to do with it."
While I continued meditating, she sat on my lap and looked at me.
"Isn't there one that's compatible with me? Since you can counteract its weakness, it would be foolish not to get one." With that said, two fruits that would benefit her immediately came to mind.
I quickly logged into the system to check the price of the Devil Fruit. The first one wasn't too expensive, but the second was somewhat pricey, though considering who obtained them and what they do, it's somewhat justified.
Without much thought, I bought both. Summoning one of the fruits, he handed it to Kiss-shot along with a tube filled with liquid, an herbal substance that could counteract the fruit's weakness.
"This is the Kage Kage no Mi; with this fruit, you'll become a shadow vampire woman, allowing you to enhance your shadow abilities. You can not only live in my shadow but also attack with it, and here's the antidote that cures the salty seasickness."
Without much thought, she opened her mouth and swallowed it whole, without biting, and I can say it was a good thing she did, as it spared her from having to taste the most horrible fruit in existence.
With a leap, she stood up, and from her own shadow emerged a dark version of Kiss-Shot. Without hesitation, she began to play with her own shadow, which was shaped exactly like her.
I watched her fool around with her shadow, smiling at the sight while shaking my head.
Without wasting any time, I summoned the other Devil Fruit and ate it.
[Attention! The host has been detected eating another Devil Fruit; it is recommended that they do not eat any more until their body and spirit are stronger and more balanced.]
The system warning sounded. I wasn't planning on eating another Devil Fruit anyway, at least not anytime soon.
Ignoring the unpleasant taste, I used the fruit's power to envelop my arms in darkness. And with all that accumulated power, I enveloped the entire room in darkness.
That stopped Kiss-Shot in her tracks.
"What is that?" she asked.
"This is the Yami Yami no Mi, the Devil Fruit of Darkness. At first, I was going to give you this fruit, but after thinking about it, it was better for me to have it; with this power, I can touch the sun, allowing you to walk outside even during the day. If you tried to do something like that, you'd burn yourself before you could even do anything, so it's better for me to have it so I can block the sun for you." I told her, and she jumped up to hug me and thank me.
Right now, I have a Logia, a Paramecia, and a Zoan-type Devil Fruit in my body.
If the next world we go to is one of superpowers, I can use this as an excuse to let Kiss-Shot walk more peacefully without the fear of being unexpectedly exposed to sunlight.
*End of flashback.*
In the end, we ended up in Hell, a pretty good place for Kiss-Shot to live, and yet not. There's no sun—excellent point—but there's no food source, bad news.
Well, we'll see how all this plays out.
*9 years later*
I was lying there on top of a dangerous creature, staring at the sky, since I had nothing else to do.
"Tell me, you who have lived your whole life in this place, have you ever wanted to go outside, to the surface, even just once?" I asked.
"Wow," one of Cerberus's heads replied.
"And what do you think, darling?" I asked Kiss-Shot, who was not far from me, sitting in a beach chair I bought from the system, wearing a swimsuit and some rags down there.
"As much as I like being here, I'm already getting bored, and I miss the surface too, even though I can't be everywhere," he said, closing the book he was reading.
"Well, let's go to the palace and see what the old man has to say about it," I told Kiss-shot, who nodded.
So, in my 16-year-old body, I jumped off Cerberus; Kiss-shot took the opportunity to slip into my shadow, and we headed to our home of the past nine years.
During this time, I've lived in the underworld, more specifically, in Hades' palace, as the adopted son of Hades and Persephone.
This was possible because they mistook me for a child; I feel like if I had become a teenager, it would have been the same, but what's done is done.
Five years had already passed, the time I was supposed to leave this world, but I hadn't done so for one reason: Kiss-Shot. During this time, she had become very close friends with Persephone, and honestly, I didn't want to separate her from the first friend I'd made in over 500 years.
Another thing to mention is the world we're in, which is Type-Moon. I discovered this because EA wasn't available for redemption in the system.
I could have deduced it from the first Chaos name at first, but when you're trying to survive, you overlook such things.
Shortly after, I learned what era we were in, and it was the Age of the Gods. The Age of Humans hasn't appeared yet.
As he rambles, a blurry blur slams into me, dragging me about two meters backward.
"Brother, let's play battles," said the boy, who looked about eight years old, holding a wooden sword.
This child was Zagreus, the son of Hades and Persephone; well, at least this Zagreus. This isn't the original, so to speak.
Zagreus was the son of Zeus and Persephone, created by Apollo, who was killed by Hera.
It turns out that when we arrived, Hades and Persephone were trying to figure out how to revive Zagreus, but it was complicated because they didn't have his heart; that's why Hecate was there.
In the end, they manage to revive him with Nyx's help, so right now there are two Zagreuses: one being his reincarnation, Dionysus, and the revived one in the underworld, who is standing right in front of me.
This also tells me that we're not so far removed from the time of the Olympians, since Dionysus hasn't been alive for very long.
Hephaestus hasn't appeared yet; Athena was born relatively recently. The closest thing I heard not too long ago, just last year, was that the box containing all evils was opened, which is known in the future as Pandora's Box.
"Excuse me, I have to talk to the old man about a few things; we'll play swords in a little while," I told Zagreus. The boy just puffed out his cheeks in a show of displeasure.
"Fine," he said listlessly.
"Don't be discouraged," I reminded him, ruffling his hair. "I told you later; we won't play later." And so I continued on my way.
After a few more steps, I reached the throne room.
Upon entering, I saw Hades with a stack of papers, complaining about his younger brother's incompetence.
"Hey, old man, when are you going to let me leave here? If you don't give me permission, I'll just force my way out."
I really could have left a long time ago, but I hadn't because of my affection for Persephone, who has been the best mother I've had in my three childhoods. I didn't even want to leave; I can only say that Hades was lucky.
The truth is, I'm seeking Hades' permission, because that way I'll be able to come and go from the underworld without any problems. That way I can visit Persephone, Zagreus, Cerberus, Thanatos, and Nyx again without any trouble with them. Not to mention Hades himself—what can I say? He's not a bad father.
He just sighed. Hades glanced at the papers in his hands, then looked at me, and then back at me about three times.
"Well, I think we can make a deal, just the two of us," he said, giving me a smile.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
I want to clarify something before continuing: the chronology of Greek mythology is complicated, and some events, upon investigation, happen before others. For example, when Persephone was Hades' wife, the Olympians were already fully established, but that's not the case in my story.
So I'm going to end up changing the order of some events for convenience. I'm not going to change things like whether a god exists or anything like that. I'm just changing the order of events, nothing more.
Anyway, this is a Type-Moon fanfic about Greek mythology, not the original Greek mythology, so it shouldn't be too problematic to do that. That's all I wanted to say.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Best regards.