Gaming in the Underworld: Βασιλιάς

I followed her through her portal and looked around. We had appeared in some sort of entrance way. Everything seemed to be made up of black marble. Even the furniture was made of black wood and upholstered in black cloth. 

"Strange theme…" I muttered. 

"Well I am the Primordial of the Night brother, I have to fit with the theme as you called it." 

"Whatever, you said you had some answers?" 

"Yes, to your first one. Lady Chaos is one of us, a Primordial I mean. She was the first to come from the void and as such is the creator of many things. There was no relation between her and Tartarus. Their existence simple birthed me into being like many of the others." 

I could feel my eyes narrow at her, "Right… Let's just get on to what we spoke about before. I have a feeling that speaking about our family will take much too long." 

"Very well, as I said I wish for you to join our ranks." 

"And doing so will help me in defeating Gaia?" 

"That is in the hands of the demigods. Your job will be to ensure that she will never be a threat again after they put her back to sleep." 

"And how will I do that?" 

"By becoming a primordial you become an aspect of something that will always exist. Gaia cannot be killed because she is the very soul of the earth. Killing her would Rob this planet of life." 

"I have already gone over this before but continue." 

Nyx didn't show if my attitude got to her; "If a primordial was to kill another primordial, the slain party would fade away and their domains would go to the victor." 

"I have a feeling this is wildly different than what you first had in mind." 

"Well of course. I have watched you from the moment you arrived. I know you hold no love for this world and would gladly leave once you finish your obligations here." 

"What obligations?" 

"Killing that pesky dark god." She smirked. 

"I have enough power to do so, why do I need to become a primordial to do that?" 

"Because I want Gaia out of the way." 

"And your reason?" 

"I miss my family Blake, my daughter Hemera is the aspect of Day. So long as I hold the domain of Night, it is very difficult to see her." 

"And I suppose you're just a worried mother and you have no other motives?" 

"Of course not, I want to take Gaia's place." 

"Wouldn't you have to sleep anyways? That defeats the purpose of you wanting to see your daughter." 

"Gaia does not have an avatar like many of the others. She sees it as beneath her to inhabit a body that isn't her own even if it is made out of her power." 

"So what do you want me to do?" 

"Become a primordial, kill Gaia when the opportunity presents itself then pass the mantle down to me." 

"Sounds much easier said than done." 

"Of course it is. The Fates will no doubt get in your way for making a mess of their 'Great Tapestry'."

"As old and decrepit as they are do they not still hold a significant power over the divine world?" 

Nyx smiled; "As a primordial you will be exempt from their power. Ananke is the only one that holds any sway over the primordial council and she would rather live in retirement than dictate what we do." 

"Sounds like you lot are afforded much more freedom than the Olympians." 

"Of course, even at our weakest we are still more powerful than the whole of Olympus put together." 

"Why didn't you help with the Titans then?" 

"We saw no need, Ananke told us that you were coming." 

I hummed, it all sounded way too convenient. My luck was high but I didn't think it had anything to do with how things have played out thus far. More power never hurt, the prospect of being unbound and free from the will of the three Fates was definitely a plus. I sighed and made my decision. 

"Fine then, what do I need to do?" 

"Simple, you have to kill a primordial." Nyx smirked. 

"Because that's so easy." I replied, voice heavy with sarcasm. 

"It will be, my husband Erebos. He's outlived his usefulness." 

"A bit heartless…" I observed. 

"I caught him with- never mind. What's important is that he was planning on siding with Gaia. He will be the one you kill to gain your place in the Primordial Council." 

"No love lost between you eh?" I sneered. 

"None whatsoever. Had I more options I would have married someone else. Alas when we first came to be he was the only one strong enough to give me powerful children." 

"Right," I didn't like where this was going. "And now?" 

Her eyes glanced over to me. "Now I see better things to fill my time with." 

"You do realize that I'm your brother right? No matter how minute that relation is, we are still related." 

"So? Erebos was my brother as well." 

"Let's just move on from this uncomfortable topic. What do I need to do to get to Erebos?" 

"No need, I already have him captured." 

"Well saves me the time of having to fight him and hunt him down. A bit anticlimactic though." 

"Did you want to fight him?" 

"Not if it saves me time." 

Nyx grinned and snapped her fingers. Another portal opened up before depositing a figure wreathed in darkness on the floor. The figure crumpled on to the floor with a groan. 

"What did you do to him?" 

"When I caught him with that slag I had a nice long conversation with my dear soon to be ex-husband. One thing led to another and I may have tossed him to the hounds so to speak." 

"Hellhounds?" 

"Yes, on that note, I see that you've taken many of my children as your own pack." 

"Didn't plan it that way, they graduated towards me just like the Empousai." 

"An interesting topic for another time perhaps. Let's get back to business." She said while giving Erebos a kick to the side. 

"Feels kind of dirty killing him like this." 

"You've done worse, don't act like you didn't plan on flaying Tartarus alive." 

"You're right, but still. Killing Erebos like a common thug seems… distasteful." 

"Are you going to kill him or not?" Nyx snapped. 

I rolled my eyes at her. "Fine, how do I do this?" 

"Simply claim his domains are your own once you kill him. A few words spoken like an oath should suffice." 

"Let's get this started then." 

Nyx wrenched Erebos to his feet with tendrils of darkness. The beaten primordial groaned and swayed on his feet. Silver ichor dripped from wounds that didn't heal as they should have.

His eyes were swirling pools of darkness that were faded from his defeat at the hands of Nyx. The primordial of night gave me a nod to proceed. 

"Erebos, Primordial of Darkness and Mist. For the crime of high treason against the world and all who inhabit it. I, Blake Corvinus, Elder God of the Void, Heir of Creation. Sentence you to die." 

I nodded for Nyx to move out of the way. In an instant Dark Sister appeared in my hand in place of the Elder Wand.

The sword sang through the air as I decapitated Erebos. Dozens more swords burst from my Inventory and impaled the primordial. Nyx hissed in surprise, and I grinned.

With a snap of my fingers Erebos' body exploded into gore covering everything in silvery ichor.

I felt the power wash over me and let my own massive pool of power absorb it into myself. My smile instantly slid off my face as pain unlike anything I had ever felt bypassed all my defenses.

I fell to my knee gasping for air. My blood boiled in my body as it tried to adapt to the new change. My vision grew hazy and the last thing I saw before everything turned to black was Nyx's concerned face hovering over me. 

[Scene Break]

Memory Sequence

"How's he doing love?"  

"Your son is a near mirror image of you."  

"Well he's as much of my son as he is yours Eve, he's got your face after all."  

"Thank goodness for that."  

"I resent that! Where to next by the way. I'm worried about staying in one place for too long."  

"Jonah, I told you already there's nothing to worry about. In all my life you have been the only one to see through my disguises and you're a mortal. I doubt any deity knows I'm here."  

The hazy figure of a man cleared up a little bit as he stepped closer to me. As much as he had claimed that I looked like my mother I couldn't help but notice that I had looked a lot like him in my first life. The same hair, the same warm brown eyes.  

The memory swirled, my mother was pacing around the room. Her power surges from her like a raging river. It felt muted, I remembered her mentioning that when she took on a human form that she was weakened. It didn't make sense at first but thinking about it a bit I realized that my mother must put out a lot of energy that acts like a beacon to people looking for her. By limiting herself to a mere fraction of her power she would effectively hide in plain sight.  

My father burst into the room looking worried. He glanced over to where baby me was in the room and put on a smile to calm baby me down. He then turned back to my mother.  

"They've found use Eve, we need to- 

The room exploded, baby me screamed in fear and began to cry. My mother tried to use her power but was forced to protect my father as men stormed in the room. One of the men grabbed me and ran out. The others stayed behind to distract my parents. I had never seen my father fight but the man clearly knew how. I didn't know if he was fully human with the way he was tossing people around. My mother blasted several men away with a wave of power.  

The memory shifted again, I found myself in a dark room with men fighting around me. My mother and father had found where the cultists had taken me. Baby me was crying as they fought their way through.  

"With this sacrifice we bring you to this world, the blood of the creator brings you forth!" A cultist shouted. 

The man raised a wicked looking dagger into the air to stab the baby. My father tackled him to the ground but in the process was stabbed by the dagger. My mother screamed as a wave of power exploded from where my father had fallen.  

Darkness swirled as the scene changed, my father was on his knees screaming in pain. Black veins spread from where he had been stabbed. His eyes kept shifting from blazing red to his normal brown.  

"Eve! You have to! Please, take him and go!"  

"I won't leave you! I can't- 

"No! I can't hold him back for much longer. Please my love, you must."  

My fathers eyes blazed red and he began to stand. My mother let out a strangled scream as she redirected her power. With a loud crack and a flash of light my father and the being possessing him turned to ash. My mother wailed as she fell to her knees. 

I could feel my own heart wrenching at witnessing what had happened. I watched as my mother composed herself with tears still running down her face. She made her way over to baby me and picked me up from the stone altar.  

"Let's go home Blake." She whispered to the sobbing baby.  

Darkness consumed the world and I found myself somewhere new. Galaxies flew past me in a myriad of colors. My mother, now back to her true form, stood in front of me.  

"Blake my son, if you are watching this then you have transcended beyond godhood and have risen up to your position. The road before you will be long and filled with hardships. As one of the Protogenoi you will hold power to reshape the world. As my heir you can create and destroy worlds with a mere thought. I prayed that you would never reach this point but you are your fathers son and the impossible is merely an afterthought for you."  

She paused to sigh and looked around, she gave me a warm smile before continuing to speak.  

"I can not tell you what to do, much like me you are a free spirit. I only hope that you continue as you are and never let the darkness of the world taint you. You have already made up your mind at this point to hunt down the being that stole your father from us. Be safe Blake, that is all I ask."  

The world faded again and I found myself drifting through space. There was a lurch and I was slingshot in a direction I couldn't see.  

Memory Sequence End