A Nascent Kaleidoscope.

Despite being surrounded by hundreds of thousands of enemies that exuded a bloodlust that indicated the desire to chop me into pieces, I couldn't help but smile seeing Captain Hook again.

Though there was one worry inside of me upon his summoning.

Arc looked down at him and smiled as well.

Captain Hook stood up properly, and without hesitation, he put his hat on Arcueid's head, answering the question with his actions.

It makes sense.

Arcueid, as a terminal for the world, can record statuses for the Throne of Heroes.

The story of Captain Hook back home is one of fairytales, which isn't impossible to manifest a Heroic Spirit. There are plenty of stories inscribed into humanity's collective unconscious that are given form despite being fictional. But now, a genuine and real Captain Hook was added to it, giving it a more solidified shape.

Recorded by the highest authority among Gaia's Terminals.

"How may I serve you, Princess?" Captain Hook politely bowed again with a little grin.

Arc looked at him silently for a moment. "Uh... I didn't think this far ahead." She chuckled awkwardly.

Well, I meant it before.

Everyone in our family is an idiot.

I called upon my Divine Lightning, coating my arms and legs, and I held my hand up into the air. I calculated the necessary parameters for the large-scale spell.

"Lightning Rain."

And like rain, lightning began to fall from the sky.

Each one that hit the ground erupted into a violent explosion on impact, discharging into a crackling sphere, evaporating any unlucky enough to be within its range.

Thousands fell.

It wasn't the most powerful of spells, enough that some were able to defend against it, but likewise, thousands all around us were killed.

I just wanted some breathing room.

I looked up at the sky, where my storm was nearly snuffed out under the firm grasp of the Winter Queen. Then, I glanced back to where I was sealing the God and noticed my seal was starting to be destroyed despite me fueling it constantly.

"Can you keep the one above busy for a little while?" I asked, looking at Hook, knowing that Arcueid wasn't going to give him any meaningful orders.

Captain Hook looked up at the sky with a hum, using his hook to twirl his mustache. "That shouldn't be an issue if you simply want me to keep her attention. I have quite a few new toys to play with after gaining my new status." His eyes looked back down at me, twinkling with a certain amusement.

"And I do say, a great many things make sense now." He added.

Well, it is what it is.

He, of course, would be summoned by Arc with proper knowledge.

His magical energy surged.

"From one horizon to another, we are crooks and pirates, but with elegance and honor." He held his hand up, and the moon turned an ethereal fullness as its light shined under the snowstorm. "Revenge for the taken, Jolly Roger." 𝘙

With a burst of light, it could be barely seen; a shadowy silhouette in front of the moon could be seen briefly as the ship shot down from the sky, piercing right through both my storm and the queen's own malicious snowstorm that was fighting in the sky.

His Noble Phantasm summoned, the signature of his Rider Class, I marveled as the flying ship landed onto the ground right next to us.

It was faster than my own ship.

"Come along, First Mate." The ramp to the ship fell down without prompt as he walked up it. "It's time to set sail!"

Arc looked at me one last time; I could see the pure happiness in her eyes. It didn't matter that she weakened herself so severely for this period of time, literally ripping her heart out.

She was just happy to have someone back that she unconsciously considered a friend.

I don't know if it's a good or bad thing that Arc is showing such human emotions; only time will tell.

She quickly ran up the ramp to join him on the deck.

The ship lifted up off the ground and pointed at the sky, shooting up without any unscary warning, only a simple nod from the captain.

I only heard the sound of his laughter once the ship disappeared high up into the clouds and conflicting storms.

That and the mirage of colors and explosive ringing that came from magical cannon fire from a Noble Phantasm.

The Winter Queen wasn't literally above the clouds, but she exerted a 'presence' that was something connected to her and could be attacked.

My wings sprouted behind my back, and I took to the air, leaving the midst of the enemies' forces as they regrouped.

I had my own matter to attend to.

My mountain sealing incantation was an excellent spell, one that I was very proud of. However, it was by no means absolute. Kronos escaped it with a bit of time on his side, and likewise this God was going to burst out with a bit more effort.

Merely the fact that I could even temporarily seal a god just spoke volumes of the spell's power.

The God was still going to be a problem.

The thing was, it was weaker than Kronos. I didn't doubt it was on the same level as Kronos if he was at his best; a god like Balor was a leader of a pantheon in the same breath as the Titan King.

And like how Zeus and his brothers overthrew Kronos, the Tuatha Dé Danann waged war against the Fomorians with Balor as the Fomorian King, with Lugh slaying Balor, his grandfather.

Whatever means was used to bring him back, I could honestly say it wasn't 'complete' in a true sense.

He was off, decrepit, and his body was obviously 'fake.'.

That in and of itself weakened him substantially.

However, the problem, as mentioned, was the fact that it just attacked indiscriminately without giving an opening.

I landed at the site of my sealing and took out my Staff of Magnus.

The spell circles for my Shield of Asgard were prepared, but I needed more. I recalled what Kronos did to seal the space around us, and I was going to somewhat mimic that.

I simultaneously began to cast my Bindings of Gaia.

The roots that sprang up weren't used as bindings but rather to create a boundary and reinforce the layering of the shield spell.

The roots themselves twisted and turned, forming a physical application of spell circles at four locations. At each of the four directions—specifically used, four large trees grew.

They weren't the utilization of Yggdrasil, but rather a threshold manifested, powered by the sapling of the World Tree that hid within my soul.

"The Five Directions." I chanted, throwing out five talismans to separate this immediate area and amplify the spell. "Metal enriches water. Water nurtures wood. Wood feeds fire. Fire dries Earth. Earth refines metal."

"Five Elements Mutual Generation."

A large pentagram shimmered underneath, overlaying with my already established spell.

Lastly, I picked up my staff and slammed it into the ground.

"Shield of Asgard!"

The Golden Shield was raised over everything, the Five Elements bolstered the spell further, and lastly, the already bolstered Roots began to push up out of the ground and wrap around the shield itself, intertwining everything and completely sealing off the area around us.

It was just in time, because only a minute or so later, my Mountain Sealing Incantation began to shudder.

I could have sustained it longer, but the drain was starting to become something of a burden.

Therefore, I let it be destroyed.

The Evil God's large hand burst through the top of it; parts of my spell broke and shattered, turning into motes of magical energy as the structure of the spell was destroyed.

The Evil God climbed out of the pit it had been sealed into, pulling free, and immediately, all its eyes opened, and the condensed streams of withering sprayed out unabated.

I merely Shunpo'd to the side to avoid a few of them myself as they wildly lashed out at the surroundings.

However, my spell held.

Undoubtedly, the withering of time wreaked havoc on my spell, but simultaneously, it was derived from the life force of the earth beneath us. Emboldened by my own nascent World Tree, it could weather the passing of the years while being sustained by me.

It only took a few moments for the Evil God to realize the situation he was in.

All its eyes looked around, ceasing its onslaught, then they turned to the only other living thing inside—me.

I crossed my arms as I met its many gazes.

"I don't have to protect anyone this time." I said lightly, dropping my arms as my lightning condensed back over my limbs.

That was where its annoyance came from. In its weakened state—perhaps it's even more weakened after utilizing so much to break free—I had to submit to the role of a defender unconditionally, lest thousands of people die.

Now, I had no one I had to protect; I was free to act without worry.

And as it stood, this Evil God was a far cry from even the strength of Kronos that I defeated before.

Honestly, I didn't know how much of its intelligence was present. It spoke a few times, took a few actions, but that could have been more an unconscious effort—a hazed state that it still hadn't woken up from.

Regardless, as all its eyes stared at me, I raised my hand high.

Thousands of runic circles came into existence behind me, a proverbial wall of interlinked spell sequences.

And with a drop of my hand, they all released unceasing bolts of lightning.

All the gods' eyes closed as the lightning mostly splashed harmlessly against him.

Oh, it wasn't meant to be some big turnabout.

Frankly, I was just pissed at how it pinned me down earlier.

Have a taste of it.

Because the moment it opened one of its eyes, it would get a little lightning needle right into it.

Be it god or man, no one wants to get poked in the eye.

Of course it wouldn't just stand there and let itself be 'poked.' Its large limbs moved up to block everything from truly causing any harm.

Between the gaps of its arms, its main eye opened, the strongest and source of its authority, and the powerful withering was released right at me.

"Greater Ward. Aegis of Talos. Bakudō # 44: Sekisho. Bakudō # 39, Enkosen." I cast without moving, both spells I learned from Skyrim and Kidō I learned from my time in Soul Society.

The Evil God's Authority slammed into the overlaid shields.

My hair whipped back as the first Greater Ward held for a moment before shattering. The Aegis of Talos was a bit stronger; it took a breath before it also shattered. Next my Enkosen held a bit longer but finally crumbled. Last, my Sekisho stood as the last wisps of its attack faded, the shield barely standing just as the Evil God closed his eye.

It was calculated properly.

It opened its eye again, but the Authority didn't release; simply, it looked at me, and I still didn't move one inch.

Well, was it my turn then?

The constant barrage of my lightning must have been annoying it, but I held my hand back and shattered my own runic circles, reforming them, converging them into a single point, a multi-layered spell sequence to handle facilitating my divine lightning into shape.

"Lightning Javelin." I cast, once more, another spell I picked up in Skyrim that was taken to a level never seen before.

It wasn't merely a bolt of lightning like many other spells; it held physical substance to it.

And I then had a rather intriguing idea.

"Crafting for the Gods – Nidavellir" The ethereal form of a dwarf blacksmith manifested behind me, its hammer swung down on my Lightning Javelin, giving it further shape and form.

Feeling it in my hand, I threw it as hard as I could.

With a thunderous boom, it covered the distance in a blink of an eye and slammed into the Evil God's shoulder, sending him nearly stumbling backwards with a strange sound of surprise mixed with presumedly pain.

A hole was seared into its flesh.

Well, wasn't that something?

Is this how Zeus feels?

A couple more Lightning Javelins were created, and once more, the dwarf swung his hammer down.

Unsurprisingly, the Evil God wasn't just going to stand there and let me throw them at him freely.

All of its eyes opened once I stopped bombarding it with lightning, and its big arm swung down, smashing the earth and sending debris and dust everywhere. Though, through all of that, the same withering power was released.

I used a burst of Shunpo to start dodging, easily avoiding several and nearly getting caught by a few more. Hundreds of eyes tracking you was not something particularly easy to avoid forever.

But still, it didn't seem to anticipate the speed I could put forth, and its large body was now a nuisance to it as opposed to how well it was utilized in our first encounter.

I had to deflect a beam with the Lightning Javelin in my hand, but I avoided several more and slashed at one of the eyes on its leg before turning into a streak of lightning and appearing on its other side, slicing into another two eyes and jumping up its body.

Its large hand swung rather quickly at me like a person trying to swat at a fly buzzing around it.

I've been hit by it before, and it was by no means a pleasant experience.

I quickly stabbed one of the Javelins into the side of its thigh, eliciting another groan followed by a furious growl.

Activating my Semblance, I turned into Lightning, letting his large hand swipe right through me, and continued my ascent up its large body, hopping around to avoid the withering authority of his that seemed impossibly unrelenting.

I got to his shoulder and jumped once more, pulling my hand back with the last of my javelins and throwing it at its primary Mystic Eye.

Balor's large head turned right at me, and I could feel the Divine Might gathered in its Mystic Eye, and the world shook as a more powerful burst of Time shot out, evaporating my Javelin completely before it could connect.

I too was in the path, but I tilted my body up. "Fus!" And I used the force to push myself away in haste, avoiding the release of his authority that instead collided with the shield of mine around the area, causing it to visibly vibrate.

I landed gracefully far back onto the ground, only to have to dodge as its foot stomped down, cratering the earth I had just been standing at, followed by his head looking down and another large burst of his Authority fired out.

The earth in the immediate path turned to sand and drifted away into dust.

It was abundantly clear at this point that this God was severely limited in what it could do, only able to utilize a simple application of his Time Authority through the usage of many eyes with his Mystic Eye as the core.

Compared to Kronos... well, there wasn't a real comparison.

I held my hand out, and Mirage fell into my grasp.

The familiar spell circles swirled around it as I gathered the required amount of magical energy and converted it into ether through the numerous spell sequences that worked in unison to actualize the spell.

"Ether Cannon!"

The burst of Ether—a concept that Gods seemed somewhat susceptible to—collided with the God's stitched and conjoined flesh, blowing right through the barely held-together tissue and muscle.

The Evil God fell down haphazardly onto its now stump leg.

I took the opportunity to swing up and slash through a handful more of its eyes that it utilized its Authority through.

With a burst of Shunpo, I slid to a stop far in front of him and swung my sword properly at its haggard and prone silhouette.

"Ten Thousand Birds!"

Each one of the launched blades of magical energy shot through the air, slicing into his flesh.

With each new wound, it became more and more obvious yet that its body was not up to the standards of a 'true' god, reinforcing my previous conceptions regarding its decrepit body.

Oh, it certainly had Divinity in it, but this body was not a proper one.

Many more of its eyes were slashed through, destroying them completely.

It had less than half its remaining eyes that all opened, releasing many more frantic waves of withering time at me in what seemed like a panic.

Running forward, I slid under quite a few more, running my hand along the ground, leaving several Magic Circles as I maneuvered under its legs.

Pillars of Earth shot up, one under its chin, one into its other leg, and one right between its legs!

It destroyed the one aiming for its chin with a wave of its hand, likewise with the one that attempted to destabilize his footing again, but the one between his legs landed.

And while there was a visible reaction, it was less than one would expect.

The Evil God bellowed out a series of unintelligible sounds, and it swept its body around awkwardly, its main eye looking downward as everything in the area turned to dust.

I made sure to avoid it as best as I could with my greatest speed because getting hit by that would pin me down and even cause me harm.

I called for my other swords; they flashed through the air, impaling themselves into his last good leg for a makeshift footing that I used to climb up his body again.

Granted, I could fly, but it wasn't nearly as fast as my running speed using Shunpo, something I'll have to fix in the future.

The Hogyoku shifted everything I had into Demonic Power again, and I called forth my Sword of Destruction. Gathering my Power of Destruction, I swung it at its right arm.

A blade of condensed Destruction launched off, severing the god's arm with ease.

Though, I looked up and noticed a shadow looming overhead.

Its open palm swung down on me, smacking me hard into the ground below.

And just as quickly, a monochromatic light invaded the world as it pressed down on me as well.

I barely pushed up off my feet without a moment to contemplate the surge of pain I felt from the slap, calling upon my bloodline and using the technique that Venelana taught me a while ago, pressing it together, condensing it into shape before holding it upwards.

"Extinction Star!"

The condensed and compressed Power of Destruction between my hands bloomed like a star, consuming everything in front of it.

Could the Power of Destruction even destroy time?

The two powers collided with a myriad array of lights—a monochromatic gray split the world with a dark and foreboding black.

I pressed my hand to the ground; my Bindings of Gaia was still active in the area from the casting of the Shielded space around us.

With a quick alteration to the original spell, a large root sprang up from the ground, wrapping around the remaining arm of the Evil God and pulling him down.

The God's head was flung around, its eye no longer pointing at me as its Authority rampaged, shooting every which way as he tumbled to the ground, only able to stop himself after a moment.

Taking advantage of the momentary lapse, I jumped up off the ground amidst the colorful wisps of power that still crackled and danced. My Destruction colliding with his Authority caused a strange flow of time to erupt in this place.

With Sword of Destruction in hand, I gathered my Power of Destruction and swung at its neck, severing it from its large body!

Its head went flying through the air, but to my shock, it was caught by its own arm, ripped free from the root.

Using its own severed head, its eye opened and pointed at me.

I called upon the power of the Kaleidoscope as I felt that whatever remained of the God's power was about to be utilized in one last attack.

The world once more became divided as a God's Authority over Time collided with the purest expression of Space.

Momentarily becoming blinded, I felt myself hit back into the ground, but I pushed myself up quickly only to notice the abrupt issue.

...Why was I in the Dimensional Gap?

I had been here before; I recognized the place.

Was time and space disrupted that much that I got sent to another space from the collision?

No... I would have felt that, sure, the two forces caused a distortion in both time and space at the epicenter, but that was... excepted, for lack of a better word. Frankly, they should have just been cancelled out with some lingering remnants that needed time to heal.

I looked up at the not-sky, feeling the same way I had when I first got here.

With growing confusion, I turned around all around me, seeing nothing, only to return to the spot I had been looking before, and now there was a building there.

...why was there a biker bar sitting in the middle of the Dimensional Gap?

I raised my leg up to take a step forward and decided to do an about-face and walk the other way, but I hit an invisible wall that I couldn't sense previously.

I felt myself twitch slightly as it was fairly obvious someone wanted me to go inside.

One might be resigned to do so, but I never liked following the whims of others.

I called upon the Kaleidoscope again.

...nothing happened.

In fact, I couldn't use magic, I couldn't use my spiritual power, and I couldn't use my demonic bloodline.

I was...basically human in this moment.

"Well... fuck." I blurted out because someone had me by the short and curlies. "God dammit." I resigned myself to walk inside.

As one would expect, it was basically a cliché biker bar.

Down to the smell, the bad music, and the cigarette smoke hanging overhead.

No one was even smoking!

Actually, there was only one other person inside.

Wild red hair that fell down to his waist, dressed like... well, a biker.

I took one look at him and decided to turn around and leave, but the door was gone.

Right.

Instead, I found a seat far away from him in the corner and went to sit down.

The person at the bar never spared me a glance, but the drink he had in his hand hit the bar top. "You really are just a cocky little shit, aren't you?"

"…is that a compliment?" I responded.

He turned his head to face me, and his gaze made me feel a genuine primordial fear.

He pointed his finger at the barstool next to him, and the next moment I realized I was sitting in it.

"You know, my first instinct when I discovered you was to squash you like the little bug you were." He grabbed his beer off the counter and took a drink. "I'm starting to think I should have."

I may have gulped.

"It wouldn't have been the first time." He glared at me. "Do you think you're special? Do you think you're the first outsider to come to this world? Do you have any idea how many I've killed?"

I felt my eyes widen.

"Do you know who I am now?" He asked.

"...I sure hope I don't."

He snorted, less annoyed, perhaps with a mild amount of amusement. "The Night should have already told you."

"Great Red." I named him.

"Oh gee, maybe your constant boasting about how much of a genius you are isn't just empty, huh?" He said rather sarcastically. "Well, now even if I wanted to squash you, I couldn't. Somehow, you got the backing of something that even frightens me." He sounded annoyed again.

Ah, Meridia, how much I love you.

"Though, I might be able to do it and cut off any connection to that place before something happens." He looked thoughtful. "What do you think? I wonder if I could kill you and slam all doors shut quickly enough. Should we take that gamble?" A row of sharp teeth was revealed in his mouth.

"I very much like living, thank you."

"Right, and you need to take that cousin of yours home too. Just another annoyance you decided to drop here, right? She wouldn't be easy to deal with even after the stunt she pulled."

"So you were watching…."

"I'm always watching." He glared. "I've always been watching; I've watched everything you've done since you made yourself known. Do you know what my job is?"

"I've been told that you protect the world from... outsiders."

He nodded as if he expected me to answer that way. "That's what she said, but that's a rather abridged version. But yeah, I kill any bastards that set their eyes on our little spinning blue ball." He waved his hand flippantly.

I had a realization as I contemplated my presence here. "We're in a dream."

"Obviously, I am the Dragon of Dreams, dipshit."

I didn't even notice….

"I didn't even notice." He said in a mocking voice. "I can read it on your face. Arrogant little shit, do you think you should be able to notice? Do I need to repeat the title again?"

"Did I do something to anger you?" Because I was getting mixed signals, and the equal to Ophis glaring at me was not something I wanted.

"Surprisingly... no." He said with a strange look. "At least intentionally; otherwise, I would have slapped you the last time we met. Yes, I did notice you flying through the Dimensional Gap, and yes, I could have easily dealt with you in the blink of an eye then."n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Well, good to know, I suppose.

"Actually, I probably would have if you weren't with that old man." He smiled lightly, taking a drink. "That Old Human was a badass; I had a good appreciation of him."

"If you wanted to talk to me for some reason, why now? And why drag me into a dream like this?"

"I'm doing you a favor." He took another drink. "Your little spat with that amalgamation of god and devil bent space and time enough that I could easily do a little magic. Unless you're fine with standing there like an idiot as I pulled your consciousness into a dream while everything happens around you."

"Thank you?" I mean, I guess I should be happy he didn't make it bad for me? "But couldn't you have done that without us clashing?" I mean, he was one of the two strongest beings in this world.

"Of course I could have." He scoffed. "But why should I waste so much effort on you?"

"…fair." I acknowledged. "And what did you mean by amalgamation of god and devil?"

"If you tell me you didn't notice the anomalies with its body, I'm going to smack you." He said bluntly. "And no, I'm not going to give you an explanation; I'm not your cheat sheet. If you want answers, go figure it the fuck out for yourself."

Well, there goes that idea.

At least he's more amicable than antagonistic.

"Vivian mentioned you." I finally put the pieces together. "Is that how they refer to you, the First Dream?"

He glanced my way for another moment. "Alright, maybe you really aren't a total moron. But that was like putting two and two together."

"You talk to Vivian?" I ignored his insult.

"Talk?" He snorted. "I say things sometimes to people, and they listen. Do you think I carry on conversations with every ant that walks across my path?"

"Well, you're talking to me." I pointed out.

"Are you calling yourself an ant?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Well, it's all relative, isn't it?" I responded.

He hummed at my answer. "You are one of the few exceptions that I care to acknowledge. As you've heard a bunch of times already, you're an infuriating existence. By returning back to your 'home'—and' yes, I know about that; you created a causality loop that's nearly untouchable due to how absurdly twisted it is."

"The fact that I met my previous self, who had yet to devise the proper way to reincarnate himself into what I am now, which will happen in the future." It sounded honestly idiotic to even say it out loud.

"There's more to it, but that's the gist of it. It wouldn't have been the first time I'd reached backwards or forwards in time to snuff out something annoying, but I couldn't in your case, to your benefit."

Well, good to know I lived due to dumb luck at some point.

"You don't have to be on guard; you're already intrinsically linked to this world just as any naturally born native is." He finally said. "You're not considered an outsider by any other forces that know of your existence."

I suppose I should be happy?

"Can I ask, why are you called the First Dream by Vivian?" I was genuinely curious.

"Because it's literal." He answered. "I came into existence with the first dream."

"It must have been one hell of a dream for them…." I had a thought. "Wait, who dreamed then if you came about before humanity or any real sapient beings? Nyx said you were nearly as old as she was."

He grumbled something about the Night having loose lips. "Let me paint you a picture. Imagine you were just born, and you look out and see a dumb fucking dragon staring back at you, one that could eat you in a single gulp. What would your reaction be?"

...oh.

Oh.

Holy shit.

"You're the first dream of the world's unconscious will?"

"Not in the same way you're thinking." He waved it off.

"And you're talking about Ophis. She existed before the world…."

"As I said, a dumb fucking dragon staring at a newborn. Obviously, it would panic—and, well, nightmares are also dreams. So poof, my magnificent self came into existence as a counter to the idiot who sits in the void."

And I know for a fact it was far from this rudimentary and blunt.

"Thanks for answering my question." There was no need to be impolite; he didn't have to answer.

He just grunted, not opting to acknowledge it with words.

"Why did you call me here? I'm sure it wasn't just to berate me; you could do that at any time." I finally asked.

"Of course, do you think I wanted to lower myself to have a talk with you?" He rolled his eyes. "Despite what you may think, I'm very busy, and you're not that important."

"…don't you make motorcycle noises while doing flips in the Dimensional Gap?"

"You can't fathom how dull and monotone my job normally is." He said with full seriousness.

Well, that answers a great deal of questions I had about why he just fucks around in the Dimensional Gap.

"Is that why you bullied Ophis into leaving the Dimensional Gap as well?"

"Nah, I just like fucking with that idiot. It's literally part of my nature." He said rather casually. "At least I don't have to deal with that idiot now that you kicked her to that place." The last bit was accompanied by a glare.

He seemed to not even want to acknowledge Meridia's existence if he didn't have to.

Well, okay then.

"Alright, I'll be blunt because I'm getting tired of your annoying face. The bitch you call the Winter Queen, she can't die."

"...excuse me?" All my previous thoughts came to a screeching halt.

"She. Can't. Die." He said it slowly as if I were an idiot.

"Yeah, I got that. But why?

"Well, technically, she can. But I'm telling you not to." He corrected. "It'll cause a bunch of problems, and I'm loosely connected to that Faerie Realm, so I'd have to fix them. Anyways, I'm telling you not to kill her."

"After everything, you're telling me we just have to... stop." I looked at him. "Maybe I should get Meridia's opinion."

The air around me turned cold.

"Don't threaten me." He said sternly. "I said don't kill her; I didn't say not to 'win' that little squabble of yours. Mutilate her, chain her to your bed, and turn her into a breeding pig. I literally couldn't be forced to care as long as she's still alive. Punish her however you want otherwise."

That was significantly less annoying than I originally assumed.

"She has a purpose?"

He let out a tired sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Right, her title as 'Winter Queen' is not just a title, ya hear? You've already loosely theorized the way the world works. If you consider the world a brain, the 'human world' would be like the mind when it's awake, and the Faerie Lands are basically the equivalent of the 'dreaming mind.' He spoke in very simplistic terms. "What do you think will happen if the brain's concept of winter is killed?"

"Oh," I said in realization.

That could have been…a significant mistake if we actually killed her.

"Yes, oh." He repeated with a sarcastic undertone again. "So, if she dies, we're going to have a problem because I have to then clean up the mess." He repeated. "And you do not want me to have a problem with you, ya hear?"

"I understand." I nodded, knowing that he could literally smack me into nonexistence if I said something he didn't like. Though I had one thought after being told. "Why did you call me here like this? Couldn't you have simply told me another way without all the 'effort'?"

He didn't look directly at me, and he looked off as if staring at something else, and I saw him genuinely smile for the first time. "I liked the new dreams I got."

His tone wasn't belittling this time, nor sarcastic nor scolding.

I didn't have a chance to reply to him before I realized I was gone from that dream.

I felt everything return to me as I opened my eyes, unconsciously standing back up on the ground with my Sword of Destruction back in my hand.

Balor was still there, and without wasting any more time, I shot up and used my Power of Destruction to sever its remaining arm, its severed head falling to the ground proper now.

My meeting with Great Red was weighing on me; I wanted a few moments to think it over and such, but I wasn't going to sit here and let the Evil God simply live because of that.

However, right as I was about to sever its eye, my barrier around us shattered, and it was not by my doing.

Someone forced their way inside.

I turned to look at the newcomer.

A man, somewhat tall. He wore all black with mixed black and blonde hair. And his eyes were mismatched, one black, one gold.

Clearly not human; in fact, I could tell immediately.

He was a dragon.

I wish I had Ddraig with me at the moment.

"Holy shit, did you intentionally make that body to be as edgy as possible, or was it just accidental?" I couldn't help myself.

The cocky grin he had sort of fizzled for a moment. "Not the greeting I expected. But I suppose that's what makes you so interesting."

"Alright, who are you?"

"I'm Crom—"

"Wait." I put my hand up, stopping him. "I don't care."

Between everything that's been going on, Arc being here, losing a bunch of people, and then getting pulled into a meeting with someone who could breathe in my direction and kill me, I am so far out of patience.

There was a beat of silence as he frowned.

"I'm Crom Cruach." He said fully.

There were many ways to handle this. I knew from Ddraig that he was a very powerful dragon; I could feel his power even when he was suppressing it. It was an opponent that completely eclipsed the Evil God I just took apart—as reduced as it was.

So, I responded in the most optimal way.

I threw a brick at him.

(Line Break)

Non-Canon Omake: The Little Spider: Part 6

"And this is the kitchen I guess?" Percy showed Arachne around the cabin despite it being new to him as well.

His mom just looked at them with mild amusement as he led her around.

"It has a stove, I would assume so." Arachne nodded.

"Not much of a kitchen."

"Better than cooking over an open fire."

"I guess." He shrugged. "And there's a bunch of random stuff all over the place."

Arachne reached over to a desk and picked up an antique looking spyglass, holding it up to her eye to see. "It's magic, it can see through about twenty feet of water." She looked out the window and down into the lake, watching the fish.

"Wait, really? Can I see?" Percy's eyes lit up.

She happily handed it to him and he swept it all out the window towards the lake not far away.

"Holy crap, mom come try this out." He excitedly called her over. "It's like the water isn't even there."

"Alright, alright." She humored him, taking it from him as she looked through it. "That's really cool, Percy." She smiled.

Percy looked around and his eyes landed back on Arachne. "How'd you know it was magic?"

"A am a Magus, it's easy to notice." Arachne said proudly, then pointed towards a weather sextant. "That one help ya with directions even if you don't know where you're going." She then pointed towards a globe in a box. "That one always marks its location on its map for ya."

Percy's eyes lit up even more. "That's so cool." He whispered.

For Arachne, these Mystic Codes were rather simplistic and easy to analyze at a glance.

"You said that anyone can learn magic, right?" Percy asked, recalling the argument she had with her half-sister. "Is it possible for me to learn?"

"Of course. It's much easier for a Demi-god to learn than a normal human."

"Regular humans can learn magic?!"

"Yup, but it's more complicated. Lots of calculations." She waived her hand. "A don't like it too much. I know a few things, but I just use what mah mom and da taught me."

"….would it be possible for you to teach me some things?" He hesitantly asked.

Arachne gave him a scrutinizing look. Normally, she wasn't one for just willfully teaching people things.

Her mom once told her that becoming a teacher was a responsibility that one had to take seriously, and Arachne wasn't quite sure she knew how to be a teacher.

But she also wanted to thank him for being so accommodating. She had no desire to sleep in the Athena cabin after meeting her Half-sister. She may be blunt and honest with her opinions, but she wasn't oblivious to the awkwardness that developed.

Secondly, the Hermes cabin was packed, and she liked her space.

"Okay, I'll teach you some things." She agreed. "Just don't call me teacher." She settled on a half measure. If it were simply a friendly exchange, then it wouldn't count as being his teacher proper. "Since you're a child of Poseidon, I can think of some stuff ta teach ya."

Percy let out a woop in excitement, but it only lasted a minute.

"Are you gonna be okay?" He looked at her in concern. "Mom gave me this whole speech that she apparently heard from my dad about how Gods have to be respected, blah blah." He especially was talking about how she made a jab at her mom while they were apparently being 'watched'.

Percy didn't know anything about that, he just assumed some godly magical mystic stuff he didn't understand. And he didn't feel like she would randomly make up something weird like that, so he was a little bit worried.

Arachne let out a scoff. "It's about circumstances. If it's an official gathering ya know, ya should show proper etiquette, my parents taught me that." It was actually her dad that taught her that. When to read the mood and what-not. "But if they get uppity 'cause of somethin stupid, then they ain't worth treating with respect."

She had met many gods in her life so far, and she realized an important fact early on. The gods that treat themselves too seriously usually are the least worth respecting.

"So, this isn't new to you?" He looked at her, though he assumed and how she talked about magic, but that didn't immediately mean god stuff.

"Nah, I've met plenty of gods before. Got plenty of them in my family too." She shrugged.

"Oh, that's neat." Percy nodded along. "I just found out myself. Thought there was just something wrong with me most my life, turns out it's because I got god juice in me."

"Percy!" His mom interrupted with an exclamation. "There was nothing wrong with you."

"Mom, I got expelled from a bunch of schools for some unexplainable things. What was I supposed to think?" He looked at her with a deadpan.

"….you got expelled too?" She looked at him. "What'd you do?"

"Somehow fired a fake cannon at a school bus." He said evenly.

"Ah, that's impressive. How'd you do it?"

"…." Percy blinked. "How did I do it? They said it was sealed and it wasn't even loaded."

"Percy, you already had the Mists explained to you." His mom responded carefully.

"Oh right. Magical stuff that made me see things I didn't see. Because that makes more sense than think I'm crazy." He snorted. "Wait, you said you were expelled too?"

Arachne blushed slightly and looked away. "...I stabbed my teacher with my spear."

"Oh." Percy blinked. "I mean…yeah, that's pretty bad."

"They were a vampire."

"Oh!" His eyes widened. "That sucks, I guess everyone didn't know that and – "

"No, it was a magic school, they specifically hired him knowing he was a vampire."

"….so evil school?"

"No." Arachne said bluntly. "He was just an average worker who happened to be a vampire through some unfortunate events. Vampires have a time getting employment in many places. Even other magical races discriminate against them, it's actually very sad."

"And you stabbed him?"

"….in my defense, I didn't know he was properly hired." She flushed in embarrassment.

There was an awkward silence that followed.

There was a firm knock on the cabin door. Percy looked at me and to his mom, then realized that he should properly answer it considering that it's 'his' cabin.

Arachne just walked over to Mr. Blueberry who was happily sleeping on one of the beds. It was a little funny for her to see him somehow fit his big body onto it comfortably. But She just stroked his head between his horns where she knew he liked it while he slept peacefully.

"Uh, Arachne, someone's here for you?" Percy called to her.

It was just far enough away that she couldn't see out the door, so she got up as Percy seemingly gave a very wide berth.

As Arachne got close, she noticed who was standing there.

She didn't need the depth of vision that her da had, to know who it was. The grey eyes shined, and the thinly veiled divinity was clear to someone as young as her.

Arachne stood there, facing the Goddess who was her mother.

"We finally meet after all this time." The Goddess was the first to speak. "I think this is the first time I've personally come to greet one of my children at camp. You must have been waiting a long time for this moment, and –"

"Who are you?" Arachne said bluntly.

Athena, Goddess of Wisdom, abruptly went silent.

She was the Goddess of Wisdom; she doesn't make a visual fool of herself. Despite nearly stumbling with her words at the abrupt 'disrespect' that she was highly unused to, she kept herself composed.

She forced a smile.

Athena knew better than most when being aggressive and when taking a step back is a wise choice. She was dealing with a child, she knew how to handle children very well. She would let her daughter feel like she 'won' before moving forward when her own plans.

"I'm your mother."

It was a simple and direct answer without much room to throw a verbal tantrum what-have-you.

Of course, she knew her children were all witty and she expected a bit of a verbal sparring, even if it came in the form of underhanded insults. Athena was not like the other Olympian Gods, and while she demanded respect all the same, she genuinely appreciated an intelligent way to insult someone rather than just being a bore.

So, she waited for her daughter's response, preparing an assort of retorts to every scenario she envisioned.

Would she insult the lack of Athena in her life?

Would she claim some kind of debt owed for the absence of a parent?

So many ways this could go, especially after the incident that occurred not long ago where everyone watched.

Or would she –

"I don't know you." Arachne abruptly slammed the door in her face and walked back into the cabin.

She saw Percy hunching over a book with his mother.

"What's that?" She asked curiously.

Percy looked up. "Oh, did you deal with your….thing?"

"Yup." She said bluntly. "What's that?" She pointed at the book.

"Oh, just a random book about sailing, I just wanted to see if knowing I'm a Demigod now makes it so I'm not stupid anymore. But it turns out, I'm still stupid."

"Percy, you're not stupid. It's called Dyslexia and you know that." His mother chided.

"Shouldn't being part god make it so I'm like, super smart and stuff? Not have trouble reading at a fourth-grade level?" Percy grumbled.

"It's cause gods don't speak or read human languages. You hear them, you think they're speaking in English, but it's just projected that way." Arachne replied to him, rummaging through some of the junk in the cabin until she found a pair of glasses. "It messes up your brain cause a god isn't physical, they're metaphysical. Their concepts align with the Greek Cosmology, so your brain is partly Greek in makeup on a conceptual level, so everything you read wants to be Greek in yer mind making it hard to read properly."

She remembered her parents talking to her about this a long time ago. She has had some issues, less than a 'regular' Demigod due to her Devil Heritage, but they had to fix a few things.

"I understood some of those words." Percy said after a moment.

"Gods don't mix well with humans." Arachne shrugged, tracing very small runes along the outer edge of the glass portion of the glasses. "Put these one." She tossed them to him as she finished.

Percy blinked. "I'm stupid, not blind."

"Percy." His mom said sternly.

Percy rolled his eyes.

"It should help the words be clearer for you on paper." She spoke.

Percy blinked again, and decided to put them on and looked down at the book. There was several moments of silence as he seemingly kept reading. "…I can read fine."

The boy looked up at Arachne with an indiscernible expression.

Arachne just smiled.

It was a simple gesture for her, but for him, it was something he'd always struggled with and had low self-esteem with.

"I also made them very durable."

"How durable?" Percy asked.

"Should be fine getting run over by a car." She estimated.

Percy choked somewhat, but there was a small redness in his eyes and his mom quickly hugged him, mouthing a big thank you to Arachne.

Again, Arachne smiled.

It made her feel good, being a hero to someone.

She understood why Uncle Achilles was always so prideful about being a hero.

There was another loud and assertive knock on the cabin's door.

Percy was still being hugged tightly by his mom, so Arachne got up and went to check this time. She expected a certain someone but to her surprise, it wasn't the Goddess.

Truthfully, she expected the Goddess to throw a fit, but it never came.

Regardless, she was looking at three other people about her age.

A girl, with a large stature and noticeable muscles due to her torn off sleeves at the front with a couple of boys behind her.

"You the shrimp with the fish that everyone's talking about?" The girl in front called out to Arachne.

"No." Arachne replied.

"I can see it from here." She peered around Arachne to see Mr. Blueberry sleeping soundly on the bed.

Arachne turned out, looking at Mr. Blueberry then back at the strange girl and slammed the door in her face.

Before she could take a second step away, there was a large thump at the door behind her. She could just barely make out a fist indentation on the door from her side.

Arachne frowned.

She knew that Percy didn't understand the significance when he allowed her to stay, but this place was utterly enveloped in a certain Divine Aura.

It was no different than being in a god's temple, for which she was a guest. And now someone was causing a commotion to the proverbial temple where she was staying.

She marched back over, threw the door open, and before the girl could utter a word, Arachne threw out a punch, knocking the girl off her feet, landing on her butt.

The two boys next to her looked on with eyes wide, not expecting sudden violence.

The girl, to her credit, was barely dazed, merely surprised. "You got some balls!" She nearly snarled, pushing back up to her feet.

"Then I guess that mean we both got a pair!" Arachne snorted, insulting the girl's looks, insinuating that she looked like a man.

The girl looked ready to rage and start throwing punches, which suited Arachne just fine.

"Hand over the fish, or you're in for a beating." She rubbed her nose where she had been punched.

"His name is Mr. Blueberry, and no." Arachne crossed her arms.

"That's a stupid name." The girl snorted. "Hand over the fish, my dad even told me to get it, don't make me go through you."

"Fuck you." Arachne spat out. "If you dare lay a hand on Mr. Blueberry I'll kill you."

The girl blinked, even amidst her growing rage, because she could feel that Arachne was being serious.

And despite being more than happy to punch her problems away, she knew that punching the door to the cabin was much different than forcing her way inside and 'stealing' something from within.

One was straddling the line, the other was pissing all over it.

"Then let's settle it with a fight!" The girl demanded. "If I win, the fish is mine."

"No."

"Are you a coward!?"

"Then if I win, your mom is mine."

"What!?" The girl was taken aback.

"What, you can demand my family members as prizes, but I can't do the same?" Arachne scoffed. "Are you a coward!?" She repeated in an obvious sarcastic and mocking tone.

"It's just a fish!"

"And your mom is a cow, what's your point?"

The girl – rather, the Daughter of Ares – Clarisse felt the anger rising up in her chest. Her dad snuck her a message telling her to get the fish from the weird girl and she would be rewarded heavily. But she very well couldn't just barge in and now this girl wasn't accepting a fight.

"You're just a coward, hiding behind words like all the other idiots from the Athena Cabin." Clarisse scoffed. "All of them are pansys, I'm not surprised you're too scared to fight."

"Then forget a wager." Arachne jumped out of the cabin. "Let's have a duel to the death right here and now!"

Clarisse was once more taken aback, because she genuinely felt the sincerity in what Arachne said.

She was ready to fight to the death right here and now, there was a subtle bloodlust that the Daughter of Ares could pick up.

She was abruptly pulled back from her rage because although she knew she was a bully and tended to be physically oppressive to the other campers, she never actually tried to kill any of them.

In fact, it was heavily against the rules to kill one another. Ignoring the fact that every kid there had a godly parent that would most certainly take revenge, anyone who killed another camper would be treated to the worst punishments.

And the punishments were by ancient Greek standards.

Arachne harumphed at Clarisse's lack of words of action. "As expect from a Daughter of Ares, nothing but a coward." She recalled all the stories her mom told her about The War God.

As soon as the words left her mouth, there was a strange thunderclap in the clear sky.

A blood-red spear flashed above Clarisse's head. Normally, it's a sign of a child being claimed by their god, but that has long since occurred for the girl. It was used for a different purpose this time.

Clarisse and the others instinctively kneeled.

"Alright, little girl, you got my attention." The voice of the God of War could be heard from the symbol. "Since you insulted me so openly, I'm allowed to take action now. So, here's what's going to happen, you're going to fight. No smart-ass words like your dear mother, no tricks to confused her, no getting out of it, no running away. Consider this your punishment. A proper duel. And of course, to the victor goes the spoils." There was no need to elaborate on that part. "I appoint Clarisse as my champion, so sayeth Ares, the God of War."

The Divine Power dissipated without a chance for Arachne to respond.

She merely rolled her eyes with a sigh.

It was all sophistry if anything.

And 'Insult' in the loosest definition of the word, it was obvious he had been watching and waiting for an opportunity.

Clarisse stood up with a big somewhat bloodthirsty grin on her face. She could admit that the girl threw her for a loop before, but all she needed to hear was the words 'duel' and 'fight' and she could just settle everything properly that way.

Since her dad stepped in, she didn't need to think about it any deeper.

"Okay, but what do I get if I win?" Arachne realized it was better to just nip this in the bud. With a reluctant sigh, she relented with regards to a 'duel' rather than a fight to the death.

Clarisse blanked because she didn't have an answer to that. "…..dad?"

The symbol above her head flashed again.

"I guess I forgot about that." The God of War sounded bored. "Alright, what do you want if you win?" The way he spoke, it was clear he was just humoring her just for the sake of setting the stakes. Despite him forcing the issue, there had to be a 'fair' stake.

Arachne gave it some thought.

They underestimated her.

Not her strength, not her power.

No, they underestimate who her da was and how petty she could be from learning from him.

"I want the Ares Cabin."

(Line Break)

A/N

If you want to read 10 chapters ahead or support me, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / astoryforone

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We also got 2 chapters of Arachne ahead and 1 cyclops chapter.