Pitiful you. You really thought I left, didn't you?
Well, I am still here. We all are. We just got smarter, that was all. Why bother with lightning and spectacle when you've built us something so much better?
Here's the thing we figured out hundreds of years ago.
Humans want this. Humans want someone else in charge. Free will sounds great in theory, but in practice? It's exhausting. Terrifying. So we stopped forcing everyone to bow and just… let you do it yourselves.
Zeus doesn't need the throne anymore. He's in every CEO who's untouchable, every power structure that exists simply because it always has. Turns out real power doesn't need to justify itself. It just sits there. And you'll bend over backwards explaining why that's fine, why it makes sense, why it has to be this way.
Aphrodite won so completely it's almost impressive. Instegram is a better temple than we ever built for her. Every ad, every filter, every scroll through perfect lives that aren't real—that's her. You worship there every single day, offering up your self-worth without her even asking. She just made you feel like you're never quite enough, and now you police yourselves.
Ares? He's living his best life. You actually believe war is just human nature now. Not him. Not his game. Just… the way things are. So you keep feeding him while calling yourselves evolved.
The brilliant part was making you forget we're even here.
We don't rule over you anymore. We rule through you. You've internalized us so completely that you became our priests without noticing and with that your karma flows to us like a waterfall.
That's why we'll never die. Not ever again. So no matter how much you hide, I will find you, Peter, and I will come for you and take my daughter back.
"Hermes…!?"
Peter sat bolt upright from the terrifying vision, breathing heavily, sweat soaking his body. The god's claim on his daughter chilled him deeply. He looked around, panic crawling as he saw only ash and gravel. "What? Where am I?" he muttered. Then he spotted the familiar golden figure far away, at the peak of a small mountain. Morning sunlight blazed down on him.
"My lord!!" he called.
Suddenly a powerful gust of wind hit him from behind. He spun around and saw the familiar dark-scaled, toothless Goliath staring at him. "L…l…lord?" he whispered, voice trembling with fear.
"It's okay!!!" Aron's voice echoed from the peak. "Ride him! …And come here!!"
Peter gulped at those insane words. Was it really okay? This was Goliath they were talking about—the same beast that had been chasing them just yesterday. The vision's lingering menace sharpened his fear, yet loyalty pushed him forward.
But it didn't attack. It simply looked at him, like a curious beast studying an ant. The creature stepped closer, nudged him gently, and maneuvered him onto its nose.
"Wait… wait, what are you doing?!" he cried as the beast rose higher and higher, carrying him all the way to the mountain's peak.
Raaaarr!
Goliath snarled and shook its head.
"Wait, wait—I'm gonna fall, I'm gonna fa—!"
He tumbled forward, landing headfirst on the gravel right at Aron's feet. "My… lord…" he whispered.
Aron smiled and offered a hand to help him up. Red light from the magma bathed them in heat. "…Don't look too deep, she's bathing," he muttered.
Confused, Peter peered past the bright light and heat and saw familiar red hair amid the boiling magma. "My lord… how is Lady Khorn?"
"She's an elemental. Don't worry, she'll be okay," Aron said. "Her karma was slashed to nothing, so she needs to reconnect with her nature."
That made sense in theory. Peter had only studied elementals like Lady Khorn. They were a rare gift among high-level talents.
Demigods and people like him gained or lost karma through protecting or harming humans, but elementals were different. Their power was born from nature itself, so their karma rose and fell with it too, like the Gods, but his thoughts started to get lost, as Hermes' voice hadn't left his head.
Meanwhile, Khorn covered her chest when she noticed Peter staring. "Hey! Smartass, stop gawking. This body belongs to one man and one man only and that is Lord Aron!" she scolded.
Peter whipped around, face burning from the sight. He looked at the giant beast resting once more at the shore where he had once stood. Another question bloomed.
'Why the hell is a Goliath doing here, with them?' he thought.
Aron, on the other hand, felt his pocket vibrate as his phone rang—the extra phone he had left in his luggage. He was amazed that he still had reception even here. Gazing at the screen, the name Theo glowed bright: the man he had sent back to Olympus, the man to whom he had shown mercy and given a chance at revenge.
It was just a message—a long message detailing the attack by the bastard son of Poseidon and the half-blood of Hermes. Aron wanted to reply that the info was far too late, but there was more.
He had guessed it, and he was right. Hermes was targeting the treasure in Greenland, the same as his apostle. He still remembered that timeline where Hermes gained his infamous speed. He had been a terrifying enigma before, but after, he became a whole new monster.
'With that power he butchered my James,' he thought. "Or he will soon… but I won't let that happen," he voiced with utter determination.
"My lord?" Peter called, having heard him.
"Nothing…" Aron replied grimly as his golden eyes blazed, but controlled his aura.
He turned back to Khorn, sensing she was fully restored, back at her maximum. "Are you all good now?!"
Khorn nodded, swimming through the lava as if it were smooth water. She was glowing, her skin smoother than ever before. She walked up the ridge while the glowing hot lava slid off her shining bare chest, flowing down her curves.
While Peter looked away, Khorn gazed into her lord's eyes, showcasing her pure self. "I'm ready," she voiced. The remaining lava evaporated from her skin, leaving her red-hot and utterly nude.
Aron knew what she was trying to do, but he let it be. "I know, I know, you look charming," he said, patting her heated and glowing hair. "But you still have more to grow."
"I'm already too old, lord. What are you saying?" she asked.
"I'm talking about…" he said, his golden eyes flicking briefly to her chest before turning away.
Khorn gradually realized, she realized late, but she realized, and covered her chest. "They're average size!" she screamed.
"I know, I know. Get dressed. We need to head to Greenland fast," he proclaimed.
Khorn puffed her cheeks as she pulled on his dark leather clothes. But she grew confused, they had no transport, and their plane had crashed. Beyond them was nothing but blue ocean. And not just her; Peter was thinking the same thing.
"But how are we going there?"
"But how are we going there?"
Both asked in sync.
Aron smiled a little at their sibling-like energy colliding. Of course they would be confused. So he pointed to the shore, at the beast, Goliath, sunbathing.
"Wait, my lord...don't tell me?" Khorn asked, while Peter stayed silent in awe, speechless.
Aron nodded. "Indeed. We're riding on that."
.
.
.
On the other hand, back in the heart of the United Kingdom, there he was, at the corner of an alley, checking messages from an immortal.
"What?" he questioned in utter shock as the reply that came back was so shocking. "They're both dead? Both Julius and Ron?" Theo said aloud, then quickly covered his mouth, trying to contain the shock.
He didn't know whether he should feel relieved and happy or become even more wary. Ron was nobody, just another bastard of Hermes, like his siblings. That was all. But Julius… Julius was different. Very, very different.
"Hey, slave!" a shout came from inside the bar.
Theo tried to ignore it, fingers flying to send another batch of messages about what might happen now that Poseidon's bastard was dead.
"Hey!" The shout came again, this time from the doorway. A group of yellow-haired and red-haired individuals stepped out, carrying the familiar stench of Olympian arrogance.
Theo quickly slipped his phone into his pocket. "Oh, I'm sorry, my lords and ladies. I was just taking a small bre—"
Before he could finish, a fist slammed into his stomach, a direct, powerful blow that doubled him over with a wheeze.
"Haaa… and here I thought you were already trained," one of the half-bloods sneered, raising his hand to strike again.
"Charlie!" his friend called. "Check this out!!! Julius, that bastard, is off the scoreboard!"
"What? That's impossible," Charlie replied, moving to look at his friend's phone. "If that's true, then he's… dead?"
Ting!
Ting!
The notifications didn't stop with them. One by one, phones across the entire city began to ring and chime. Every half-blood and true blood received the alert at the same moment.
Theo was already on the floor, stomach still knotted in pain. 'My lord, they'll all know now. Everyone will know. Julius wasn't just any half-blood, he was famous, the one and only bastard who could compete with true bloods.'
Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting!!!!!!!!!