It was prophesied that all gods will eventually die "Ragnarok" or "The end of the world" The mortals call it. But some of them do not know the true meaning behind the prophecy and some didn't even know that it already happened. Mortals, Beasts, and Gods fought each other for survival of the fittest all across each realm. All of those who fought in the war did not know this but it all started because of one small miscalculation.
We've never encountered such an unforeseeable fate, so we thought that the boy's life would have ended in his hands but no, we have never been wrong before.
A sound of footsteps echoes through a void of darkness. "Remember me…" A voice of a woman can be heard. "Remember my name— your beheader. The passer of your judgement…" And the voice slowly fades.
"Alexis!" Another voice echoes through— a man. "Alexis! By the gods, wake up and tend to the fucking farm!" The voice suddenly became louder. "Alexis!" A wooden bucket hits the half-asleep boy in the head. "Urgh! Alright, By the gods, old man, that hurts!" He stood up from his bed, then tidied it and went to change his clothes and he went directly outside. He stretched his arms up high. "The sun sure is brighter by the day. Time to make a small offering." He took a walk past his father's farm, carrying a basket of fruits, to a huge olive tree with a small shrine at its base.
"Goddess of harvest, bless our crops for the coming season so that we will not go hungry for the winter." He prayed.
"Alexis, go to the town and buy us some flour— ours is not ready, and we have no more to eat."
"Alright, father."
Time flew by, and Alexis was roaming around the town. He's quite known by the locals, so scouring through should be easy. "Alexis, tell your old man Pyrrhus that I appreciate his help with my boat the other day. Here, take this basket of fish as a thank you." Alexis gratefully accepted. "Thank you so much, I'll make sure to tell him." After he's done with his errands, he leaves the town. But then something happened that would change the course of his life forever.
A rain suddenly pours, and the boy takes shelter under the base of the olive tree where he made his offerings earlier that day— he can clearly see his house from a distance. But then a crack of lightning and thunder went by. "Arh! What was that all about?" And when he looked up, he could see thunderbolts shooting at another thunderbolt. "What in Zeus's name…?" Then those thunderbolts clashed with each other on a downward spiral, ultimately crashing into Alexis's house with a huge explosion that also destroyed their farm. "No…" He said worryingly. "Father! No!" He shouted as he ran towards the burning field and the burning house. As he was running, he could clearly see the cause of those thunderbolts—it's the king of the gods, Zeus. Battling with a foe fully covered in armour and with a hammer as a weapon. "Bastard!" The armoured fellow shouted as he whistled towards the sky, and a chariot appeared with two goats pulling it. "I'll be retreating for now, I'll see you again very soon, god-king," he said.
The boy stood aside the god as if all his beliefs came crashing through. His only family— Pyrrhus, his father— died by a conflict between something he could not even comprehend. Zeus, towering in size compared to the young Alexis, looks down on him with disregard as if nothing had happened. Zeus then raised his hand and slapped Alexis to the ground, leaving him dead. "Pathetic…" Zeus muttered. Then another god appeared like a flash of air beside him. "Do your job and take this worthless carcass out of my sight." He ordered. "Yes, Father." As the other god carried the body, the two of them vanished in an instant. Zeus, however, caresses his hand because it felt numb. "That blasted hammer." He said and took the form of an eagle as he left.
Somewhere in the sky rests a floating mountain full of trees that have green and golden leaves. Atop the mountain lies a castle and a garden where the gods live. Zeus the king of the gods later arrived after his long battle. "Father, you seem rather distressed." The beautiful goddess asked Zeus. "Ah, Athena, I saw that damned god from the other realm scouting the realm's boundary. I intended to stop him—but he's stronger today than I anticipated." Zeus replied as he walked towards the hall. "Thor isn't one to back down, Father," Athena replied. "Those damned Aesir." Zeus clicked his tongue angrily, and Athena replied with a sigh. "I heard from Hermes that there's one casualty," Athena said. "It was only a mortal, and is nothing to be concerned about." Athena sighs again. "We're not supposed to kill mortals—father.", "The Fates will handle it." Zeus replied.
Hermes later arrives at the gates of the Underworld and is greeted by a familiar face. "Hello friend, I need a favour." He says gleefully. "I don't have any obols to spare for that dead body, Hermes. " Says the tall man in a dark cloak.
"Charon, I don't need any of your obols. I need an audience with your lord so that I can grant this body to walk on the surface once again." Seriously said by Hermes.
"Just what is this about Hermes?" I can't tell you the details here, we're too close to the surface." He said. Charon took a while to answer, but he gave Hermes a glare upon pointing to his boat.
"You'll have to go through the judges first." With this Hermes gleefully smiles and proceeds to the boat. "Thank you, Friend."
Through their journey, Hermes looked at the ferryman and asked. "How do you get used to this, my friend."
"By that, what do you mean?" Charon replied.
"Paddling through the River Styx. Paddling over souls who couldn't pass through. They're always screaming, moaning, and cursing. Their hands—scratching underneath your boat." Hermes said as he looked down below the boat. Charon then reflects as he looks at his surroundings.
"I've been here even before the great war between your father and his father, Kronos. I was the one who dragged their soul from the surface through the deepest part of Tartarus. I've been here when the great Heracles entered and exited, I've been here when Thetis dipped his child Achilles into the river, and I've been here when that same child died. I was there and guided the great king Odysseus to seek the prophet Tiresias to help him find his way back to his spouse. I've been here longer than you ever imagined. At this point, I do not even know what to feel anymore. Mortals die, and that's that" Charon replied. "I guess you're right there, friend,"
"So who's the rotting corpse?" Charon asks as he pokes Alexis' body with a paddle. "Nobody," Hermes replied. "If he's nobody, then why go through the trouble?" Charon asks again with a confused expression. "Honestly, I don't know. Maybe it's the work of your sisters—The Fates. Maybe he has a role to play in the coming war, and if my intuition is correct, this farm boy has some issues to settle with my lord father." Hermes looks at Alexis with a conflicted face. "A…war?"
At Olympus, Zeus readies his battle armour that is covered with the finest gold and silver. He's making his preparations as he sees Thor using his eagle's eye near the realm's boundary. "Lord Father, this is not necessary. A war might kindle between the realms because of these little conflicts of yours"
Zeus looks at Athena with complete disbelief after hearing what she just said. "My daughter, the goddess of war and strategy, is afraid of a little war? You've become as pitiful as that brother of yours—Ares." Zeus said. "Forgive me, Father, but this will not just start a little war; it will start a war between two realms. Odin's army is significantly larger than ours, and we can't just send mortals to war between the immortals. Father, we will lose this war." Athen argues.
Dark clouds then surround everywhere in Olympus, and the echoes of thunder can be heard inside the palace. "Lose? You dare say, child, that we would lose? I rebelled against the titans and imprisoned them through the depths of Tartarus, and you say we would lose?" Zeus shouted as he raised his hand and lightning bolts crackled through his fingers.
Athena backs away, getting ready to defend herself, and as Zeus was about to attack her, a white glowing spider crawls onto his shoulder. Then, total darkness surrounds Zeus. "God-king, we bid you hear us," said a woman with an eerie voice. "What is this? Moirai." Zeus asks as he looks around with distraught. "We've come to deliver a vision. A prophecy. Something that can not be avoided." The Fates said. "A vision?" He asks. "Your daughter is right, God-King, this is a war that you will not win, and this is a war you will not lose either."
"What?"
"All pantheons—lost, and only one remains."
"A Serpent wraps the world and dies. A wolf eats an old god. A stab in the heart for another. Yggdrasil burns, and Olympus falls from the sky, and the others would follow because of the imbalance of power. A fate not even the gods can avoid."
And everything suddenly went back to normal. "Father? What happened? You just fell, are you well?" Athena reluctantly asked, ignoring what had happened minutes earlier. Zeus then pushes Athena aside. "We go to war whether you like it or not, daughter. A war that even I would lose? Damned you and the fates alike." Zeus then proceeded to exit his chambers.
Somewhere in the underworld, Hermes walks while carrying Alexis' body and his soul in a small bag.
"You know your way, though—walk straight, and you'll see the colosseum where the judges would see your entry and the fate of that carcass," Charon said before they departed.
"And here we are," Hermes said.
Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Aeacus. The judges of the Underworld. Every soul that has lived will be judged by the three determining their fates, whether they should go to The Fields of Elysium, The Asphodel Meadows, or Tartarus.
"Messenger God, half-brother, what brings you?" Their voices echoed throughout the entire hall. "Judges, Brothers, I bid you well. I request an audience with your lord, for in my name, I would like this mortal to walk the surface once again. With, of course, the permission of your lord." Hermes said softly and elegantly. "As prior to our position, we are required to judge this soul," said the judges. "Very well then." Hermes then proceeds to take Alexis' soul out of his bag.
"What? Where am I?" Alexis questioned with a ghostly voice.
"You died, friend."
"I…died?"
"By the hands of my father—yes."
"Okay…?" Alexis replied with utter confusion.
Alexis then turns to the judges. He then took one step back and was shocked at what he was seeing. The judges towered over him. "Alexis, son of Pyrrhus, you are hereby judged whether your passage may be as you go through here at the very moment or after the request of your current patron," Minos said.
"You have lived a short yet filled life. The death of your mother did not stop you from doing what is right, and you offered to your gods well. I shall grant you the audience you seek." Minos said as he passed his judgment.
"You have made your father proud, as he said when he came by. You have made some people very happy from the village near your house. The goddess of harvest is pleased with your offerings. I shall grant you the audience you seek, for I am just." Rhadamanthus said as he passed his judgement.
"You have done well, Alexis, son of Pyrrhus, my brothers are just and I shall trust their judgment for that I shall grant you the audience you seek." Aeacus, the third and final judge, has passed his judgment, thus gaining an audience with the lord god of the underworld—Hades.