#deicide chapter 6

[darkdevasofdestruction]

Chapter 6 ~ Death To All Who Oppose Us

"My brothers. We were forged in victory." Zeus began his moment of vivification. "A victory that ended the Great War and brought forth the reign of Mount Olympus. Born from the Depths of the Underworld, rooted in the River of Souls, our mountain emerged out of the Chaos. As it grew, so too did the might of the Olympians. WE created a world of peace - A world of prosperity - A world that lives in the shadow and safety of MY mountain. A mountain that has come to be the absolute measure of strength and power." Hermes watched his mighty Father spread his arms, showing his deep devotion to the Olympians and their home, which was under attack. He had to admit, Zeus had always been a great orator. A politician who was capable of manipulating and attracting even the unbelievers to his side, especially after an unexpected demonstration of power. "Now, on this day, that power is to be tested." Hermes, although emboldened by the speech, was barely able to keep himself from rolling his eyes - This is what happens when you cannot stay loyal to your wife - You get a prophecy about one of your many children who is out to kill you. How pitiful. On the other hand, not Poseidon, nor Hades have such a problem! As the saying goes, you reap what you sow, O, Mighty God. "The mortal, Kratos, seeks to destroy all that I have wrought. And he is aided by one of our own! Mine own daughter, Katrina, has betrayed us - But I do not blame her... Who knows the manipulation of which that mortal is capable of, to turn daughter against father, for the sake of a fleeting love!" and here come the lies, the Messenger thought to himself - Though he was perfectly fine with wringing the Spartan's neck for not only seeking to destroy his home and family, but for making his wife suffer so much over him... But that woman... She was so dear to him, that he would gladly lay down his life for her - He only prays that the dumb brute she is with would be as attentive about her own protection as he is. "Brothers! Put aside the petty grievances that have splintered us for so long! We WILL unite! We WILL stand together! And I WILL wipe out this plague! Olympus WILL prevail!" the mountain shook with each heavy climb from the titans, but nothing stopped Zeus from finishing his speech.

The three mighty brothers, along with Helios and Hermes, stepped by the edge of the balcony, readying themselves, mentally and physically, for an all-out war. The God of the Sun, upon seeing his chariot pulled by his fiery horses, jump onto it, ready for battle. Next, was the husband of the Goddess of Nature, who flipped a coin and made a self-bet. If Olympus won, he would see Heads in his palm - If not... Then, tails. But before he could allow himself to look, he simply caught the coin and held onto it tightly, hoping that there was some hidden 3rd option in which both himself and Katrina could simply run away and live a lavish life, just as before... Before that annoying Spartan came by. He only wished that, by the time he is able to find his wife and steal her away, the whole place isn't completely in shambles.

He could see her sitting upon Gaia... Poor soul, she looked absolutely distraught and afraid. How could such a darling, peaceful woman, thrive in the midst of bloodshed and havoc? Did Kratos truly care naught for the woman who had devoted her very existence to his well being? What a selfish bastard.

"Whatever happens - You MUST escape! Do you hear me?" through the chaos, the Goddess tried to hide behind a tree on Gaia's back. Kratos's voice brought her back to reality, only to frown and shake her head. "I had not gone suffering all this life, just to abandon you, or see your death before mine eyes! Have you any idea how oft have I heard that my love shalt die in mine very arms? I shalt have none of that!" the beautiful maiden reprimanded the once feared Spartan warrior, who grunted, displeased at the disobedience. "That was no question - It was an order!" he yelled back at her. "I am DONE losing my family to the petty whims of the Gods!" Though wholesome, her feelings were similar. "I am as selfish as you are, Kratos! I cannot live without you! Don't you DARE die on me! I have had enough! Do you hear me?!" she pleaded to him, yet it was cut short, not only by the heavy sound of a titan falling prey to the depths of the sea, but by Poseidon himself, creating a water monster to attack Gaia, and in turn, the two rebels - Morphed with algae, minerals and other rocks, Katrina was able to use her vines and hold the equine monster in place, while the Spartan were to destroy it with his powerful double blades. 

When the woman gave the signal that the aquatic entity was held surely, Kratos launched himself up by climbing on one of its arthrophodus-like arms, before latching them onto the horse's mandible and ripping it away - Though they were in free fall, the Goddess was able to offer her lover a liana that brought him in a sure location on the mountain - But her safety was naught in place, as Gaia was losing her footing steadily, being attacked by all.

 It was awful, having to fight all alone, without Kratos's reassuring presence by her side - Alas, whatever fight she was having could not be compared to what he was facing, surveying the inside of the mountain, through the Tomb of Ares. The old memory of the now deceased God of War mattered little anymore, so the Spartan left in a hurry, returning to aid the Titan Mother against the chimera-like water entity causing her heavy damage. Its crustacean shell was not as indestructible as it had wished to be, especially not against his cursed weapons - Weapons capable of killing Gods, Primordials and Titans alike. Thus, he pried away the horse's thorax, revealing the magma stone that served as a heart, which, with the aid of the monster's severed leg, he had impaled, allowing Kratos to properly climb back on the titan... Until he had reached her heart.

He had time for only a small glimpse of it, before running outside where the Goddess was awaiting him, seemingly alive and unscratched. But as soon as he went by her side, wishing to check on her, a gargantuan aquatic entity arose mightily from beneath the seas and emerged like the Great Lord that Governs all that is a water bed. "You DARE challenge me?! A GOD of Olympus?!" Poseidon's voice was dark and boomed menacingly throughout the air. "A TRUE warrior does not hide, Poseidon! Leave the sea and face me!" Kratos roared at the Mighty God, who did not pay him any mind. "The Gods are nothing but cunning cowards who play to their own advantages alone. I truly wished that this would have been avoided... Alas, we will have to destroy the heart of the water entity and pry him away from inside the safety of its carcass. Think we can achieve such a feat?" Katrina's eyes were fixed to its thorax, and she was able to get a glimpse at the God's real body. "Nothing is impossible for us, Katrina." the Spartan's answer painted a more confident smile on her face. "You have disrespected the Gods for the last time, Kratos." the many-headed water horse on which he was mounted crawled with its spiked crustacean legs onto the body of Gaia, leaving deep gashes and lacerations in its wake - The duo would immediately damage them intro retracting. "I will leave NOTHING of you in my wake!" Gaia's continuous gasps of pain meant nothing to either the Spartan or the Goddess - They had a single goal in mind, and that was to kill Zeus. "All of Olympus unites against you!" that would have been a great feat, should there be an army of Gods fighting them altogether - Which, was not the case.

The Mother Titan, however, was capable of catching the God into her hand, thus allow the God of War to jump onto it and deliver damage to his enemy. "For the greatness of Olympus!" he says, using his trident to harm Gaia - What a hypocrite, Katrina thought - He's only mad because of the accident with Atlantis!  Reaching a higher ground, Katrina was able to catch Poseidon's crown with her liana, hitting the entity's head onto the mountain, whilst Kratos destroyed away at its chest piece, revealing the beating stone heart. "Gaia! Hold on a little longer!" Katrina shouted at the Titan who was able to punch at the God's water form with Kratos on her fist - Thus, he could jump through the water giant's form and leapt with Poseidon's human body onto the mountain. He seemed exhausted already - Not much of a fighter, after all. "Zeus should have kept you where you belong." the man panted on the ground, completely out of breath, as the God of War looked down on him with scorn. "No matter how many Gods fall, there will always be another to stand against you." "They will fall as well." Kratos started stomping towards the slumped God. "The death of Olympus means the death of us all - That stupid flower girl who fooled you into thinking she loves you as well!" the Spartan was well aware of the lies the Gods of Olympus spew when in danger. He knew better than to trust any of them. "Then prepare for your death, Poseidon." he dared bad mouth the woman he loved, and even put in question the love she held for him - How foolish of him. 

With much ease, Kratos kept smashing and slamming Poseidon's head onto the wall of the mountain and onto the ground, threw him into rocks and kicked him in the face - Desperate to escape, he attempted to crawl away to the edge of the plateau they were on, hoping to jump into his water domain... But the Spartan had no mercy, and he used his thumbs to gouge his eyes out, before breaking his neck and kicking him into the sea, like a ragdoll. Though, with his domain accepting his deceased body, the water level rose to the point of flooding entire cities... And, mayhaps, even more.

"Kratos! Are you alright, my love?" Katrina asked, leaping from Gaia's body and embracing him dearly. "Of course. He was nothing but a nuisance - And now, he is dead." the man huffed, patting her shoulder as a reassurance. "Kratos! The death of Zeus is within out reach! Climb to my hand!" the two immediately complied, after sharing a dear look with each other, and the Spartan held the woman closely, so she would not fall in the climbing process. "Whatever happens, you do NOT interfere, understand? Zeus will not hesitate to use you as bait against me." Kratos warned his lover. "And if he does, you kill him. No matter what. The world will be a better place for the human realm without him and his arrogant corruption and misuse of power." she spoke back. "I care little for any realm. The one I care for is YOU. Understand? Now GO! I will NOT have Zeus kill you, or who knows what else. If I fall today, you have to run away and save yourself. I will have nothing else." his frown and restlessness were based strongly on the fear of losing the last person alive that he care for. "You are being so unfair to me..." he could not look into her pleading eyes - He knew, if he did, he would end up agreeing to her selfless plan. He couldn't.  "I am. Now leave, otherwise, I will throw you away myself." he did not allow her even the shortest kiss - Instead, just as he was forced to do with Calliope before, in Elysium, he pushed her away from him, He could not bare to even feel her touch, let alone, affection. "Please, I beg of you... Return to me. Alive." the feeling of dread grew forevermore, yet she knew, despite the life and death situation, there was nothing she could do to stop Kratos from attempting to kill Zeus by himself... Thus, she used a liana and ran away. How very cowardly. Through all the adventures they went together - Now, she has to run away. Ridiculous. "What will you do, Father? You can no longer hide behind the skirts of Athena." Kratos snarled, jumping off of Gaia's back as soon as they reached the peak of Olympus, and he stepped towards the lonesome silhouette of the Mightiest God. "Athena is dead because of the rage that consumes you, Kratos. What more will you destroy? Is it Katrina you wish to kill next? Her innocence? Her selflessness?" he truly knew how to anger him. "The Hands of Death could not defeat me. The Sisters of Fate could not hold me. And you will NOT see the end of this day. I WILL have MY revenge!" Kratos readied his weapons and got into a fighting stance immediately. "Petulant child! I will tolerate your insolence no more!" thus, Zeus jump into the skies and landed on a statue of himself, channeling the fantastic powers of lightning, which he threw at the Mother Titan, making both his son and Gaia fall off the mountain - It was only now, as he was steadily falling off the titan's back, that he realised of her treachery. Once again, he was fooled into believing that the enemy of his enemy was his friend... And friend she was, to the extent of her own life. She was selfish. Had Katrina been there, she could have rescued him - Maybe even that betrayer of a titan. How dare she deny him his revenge? Had he not earned it so? Did he not have every right to it?

No matter. As he was falling to his doom, he began recalling heart-breaking life history. I have lived as a warrior - he thought, recalling the many wars he was in. I have died as a God - he recalled his journey through the underworld and the way he was saved... And how Zeus killed him. Having suffered the ultimate sacrifice - Flashbacks his own blades... His own body, being splashed with the blood of his own wife and child... I have been denied release - the burning shackles placed on his wrists by the Furies, he can still feel, tight on his flesh. I... I WILL defeat Olympus - He vowed, seeing Katrina's sweet smile before his eyes, serving as the last piece of strength that surged through his veins.

I WILL have my revenge!

Thus, he awoke, falling into the River Styx, swimming and fighting his way out of there... Right into the realm of Hades. "We are NOT finished, Zeus." as he stepped foot into the land, he cried out to the skies. "The Gates of Hades have NEVER held me!" however, he heard a voice from behind him - It was familiar, though he never thought he would hear it again. "Death cannot hold those with purpose, Kratos." the voice spoke mystically.  Turning around, he noticed the descending silhouette of the one who was once the Goddess of Wisdom. "Athena...?" "I have missed you, Spartan." if Katrina heard such a bold statement from the one who claimed to be eternally virgin, she would have ripped her lying throat out, especially after having put her beloved through such suffering - Alas, Kratos still felt remorse for having killed one which he had not desired... Again. "I... I don't..." he was rendered speechless. Were his eyes cheated by some spell? Was Athena truly in front of him, even in death? "My sacrifice to save Zeus brought me to a higher existence." she spoke.  "You still appear to be an Olympian." Kratos noticed her magic and attire. "Appearances can be deceiving, Kratos." yes, he remembers his beloved warning him of that many a times. "So can the children of Olympus." he turned his back to her, stepping away.  "Perhaps. But remember - My death came by YOUR blade." he always hated how she twisted the knife and poured salt and alcohol on an open wound. "My blade was meant for Zeus." he turned to face her, reproaching her unsavory statement. "Be quick with your words." he had lost his patience with all the riddles and empty words of the Gods. "As we speak, the war for Olympus rages on, and mankind suffers." Athena warned him greatly. "Let them suffer. The death of Zeus is all that matters." he waved his hand dismissively. "Katrina will be displeased to hear that her hard work is not appreciated. She will have much to work after you are done destroying everything in your path, Kratos." though he knew she was right - Who else but the king Goddess of Nature loved the mortal realm more than her own, and wished for the Olympians to be more selfless and aid the ones in need without any tricks behind? Who, but her, was going to use every bit of her power, trying to bring a-back the great glory of Greece for the mortals, no matter how many aeons took? "Leave her name out of your mouth, Athena! She was right about you all along. I should have listened to you, when she warned me about all your lies and deceits. I have no reason to listen to you." he growled at her, angrily. "Zeus will not fall as easily as Ares. To destroy the King of the Gods, you must seek the source of his strength. The Flame of Olympus." the vision pointed him into the right direction. "You once sacrificed yourself to save Zeus, and now you seek to destroy him? What has brought about this change?" the man was rightful to ask such questions - he crossed his arms to his chest and interrogated the ghost of Athena. She traversed her translucent arm through his torso, taking his blades with her and she passed to his other side. "I see truths where I did not before. Perhaps these will earn back your trust." Kratos knew better than to trust someone whose loyalties and opinions are so feeble. Still, watching her using magic to empower his blades pleased him. "These are the Blades of Exile. They will help guide you on your journey to the Flame." she threw the weapons back into his hands. "Remember - As long as Zeus reigns, there is no hope for mankind. Destroy the Flame, Kratos, and the very foundation of Olympus will crumble." as soon as she disappeared into nothingness, the Spartan was able to go about his journey through the Realm of Hades, so that he can escape. Reaching the very gate of his infernal palace, with a statue of his likeness before it, he heard Athena's voice speaking to him, just as she used to, long ago. With the new magic surrounding his weapons, he could summon a protective phalanx of shields and spears that will drive his enemies back. Once again, he had to rely on his brothers - His brethren - To aid him in this war, as he summoned the spirit of his Spartan brothers.

Through the choir of agonistic shrieks of the ones plummeting down from the sky, he could hear Hades's antagonistic comments. He claims to like listening to his pain. If so, then Kratos is eager to listen to his last breath before he dies. Poseidon's wasn't as satisfying as he had hoped.

Venturing forward, he stumbled upon a note, scrawled by a tortured soul. It read the following - 

"This oppressive darkness is no place for a delicate flower to bloom. Tonight, I honor Hades's request and join his table, but I swear on the morrow, I will leave this foul place with you at my side. Nothing shall keep me from you, my darling Persephone." this had to be a rather ridiculous jest, Kratos thought, ripping apart the note left behind by nothing but a fool, in love with the mere mirage of a good looking woman. How many had to die, because some idiot fell in love with a beautiful, married woman and stole her away?  He had once been a renowned general and tactician for the Spartan army - And to see capable young men, wasting away their lives, and even bring about the downfall of a great Kingdom, it was nothing less than ridiculous. 

Even so, as he walked away, he thought about the first words written - With those, he could agree, though he did not think about the Goddess which he had killed long ago - No, instead, he thought about a Goddess which truly resembled a delicate flower, ready to bloom. It was Katrina. It has always been her. He remembers her braveness as she fought her fears and battled through the Death Domain. He remembers how eager she was to sacrifice her life, for him and Deimos to live. He could not allow her to end in this place. She would wilt away. This was no place for her. He wanted to see her eyes sparkle with life and those beautiful pink lips smiling at him. 

Oft times, he preferred venturing about all alone - It gave him the peace of mind he so desperately needed to process not only the torrent of emotions battling inside of his heart, but the infernal rage that was destroying him from within. Despite all this, he had realised how much he longed to have Katrina by his side. To feel her touch, caressing away all of his pain and offering him the clarity he yearned for so much. He needed to hear that voice, sweet like honeyed ale, as she told him about love stories around Olympus, between Nymphs and Gods... Less so humans, as she did not want to disturb the Demigod-born Spartan.

Miraculously, he was seeking comfort from within, trying to recall one of her stories - Though he knew how much she hated the tragedies, she somehow always ended up telling him how there is beauty is every sad story. He hated sad stories... But all Greeks seemed to revel on such artistry... If they love tragedies so much, then they might as well create a whole theater play, or write a poem book, or even a prose about his life... And love life. Katrina would love that. She would even agree to star as one of the actors. She loved mortals more than any God that had ever graced the world. In fact, if they wanted so, she would write the novel herself, just as she had done for some of Sappho's, once she was in too deep a torment to write for herself.

But Kratos, although described often as a brawns-only man, was enough of an intellectual to hold even philosophical discussions with the Goddess - Although she never was a huge fan of politics and existentialism - However, she did like hearing about his life in Sparta, and how great the people are. He remembers once, when he told her about the Queen of Sparta, called Gorgo, and how confident she was. Though, of course, he had not met her himself, he remembers his mother scolding his brother once when he disrespected her with a bratty attitude, no doubt brought upon by mental and physical exhaustion. His mother told him about a conversation than an Athenian woman had with the Queen that went as follows  - The Athenian woman asked the Queen “Why are you Spartan women the only ones who rule over their husbands?” and the Queen answered “Because only we are the mothers of men”. Though it was not a lesson directed to him, Kratos has since kept it to his heart. Never once had he disrespected any woman, be her of any nationality - And Katrina was very much absorbed by that story that he told her - Maybe it was because he smiled... Or so she said. He did not believer her, yet he could not deny it either.

He wished to remember more, his thoughts were disturbed by a man's voice, calling out for him, from behind a wall of thorns. "I have suffered enough, Spartan." the man... He was Peirithous, the idiot whose note he had read previously. "Hades sentenced me to this eternal torture. My... Prison of tinder! But now that you are here - You can free me!" he called out in desperation. "All I have left is my bow. Please, free me, and it is yours." the idiot strikes a good deal, Kratos thought. But he jumped on one of the large chandeliers, and much to his amusement, the man spoke again. "If you light me on fire, I cannot help you!" as if he ever needed any help from these arrogant fools. "You fool! You'll burn me alive!"  if you cannot save yourself, perhaps it is exactly what you deserve, the Spartan thought, moving a flammable brazier into the right position, deaf to the prisoner's pleas and curses, then unleashed the caged cerberus, which he subdued into spitting flames on the brazier, and thus, not only did he burn away the wall of thorns that jailed the idiot, but he, also, was very much roasted. Now, he was the new owner of the Bow of Apollo. With the aid of its fiery arrows, he will be able to venture forth, behind the walls made by the wilted vines.

Passing through the corridor to reach another chamber, he stumbled upon yet another note. 'The melody... It plays on and will not stop. The voice sings of pain and loss. These things I know too well, but still can bear. It is when the voice sings of hope that I learn true anguish, a longing for that which I can never have.' though he hated to admit, this affirmation, he could relate with, on some points. An abstract voice, creepy and fearsome, was silently disturbing the beautiful humming. 'My child. Have you seen my child?' the disembodied voice asked, though there was no child, no person to ask such a query.

The lullaby stopped as soon as he entered a room filled with enemies which he defeated, and it had not started again, even while outside, climbing on the mountainous wall to reach the Judges of the Underworld, huge statues, holding onto a large chain. Once Kratos reached the plateau, he saw the plate underneath being emblazoned with an inscription. "Those who seek to be judged must first complete the Trials of Erebus."

Reaching a pedestal on which a book was resting, he was able to read the description of the first task.

Trial 1: The Condemned Fueled by fear, the lost from the world above have nowhere to escape from their sins. Defeat all the lost souls and the minions that determine their fate.

How pretentious, Kratos thought. Once again, the arrogance of the Gods pits men against men, as if there weren't enough mortal wars out of greed for conquest, wealth and glory to begin with. As the Spartan massacred soul after soul without a second thought, and being able to pass to the next task, he realised how thankful he was that he did not need to expose the Goddess to such cruelty. She had many many a compromise for him, including stepping onto her own heart and closing her eyes at the suffering of the mortal realm. She needn't see any more of it.

Trial 2: The Lost Why do The Condemned souls of Hades continue to seek salvation, when they are eternally damned? Kill wandering souls before they are converted into Hades's army.

Fight during your whole life, and fight some more even in death - One can never even dream of seeking rest of peace, for the Gods will rake around lost souls and make them fight again and again until there's nothing left of them. Still, his task was far more important than the suffering souls of others, and killing them must have been akin to some peace-bringing, at least. He was doing them a favour, by this point, destroying the shackles binding them to eternal servitude at the feet of Olympians. At least he could now pass to the last trial and get this over with.

Trial 3: The Chosen To enter the Gates of Elysium, more than perseverance and strength is required. Step forward to attempt judgement and prove your worth.  Destroy everything...

Elysium... What a grim reminder of Calliope. A father should never have to bury his child...

After the bothersome trials, the gate went down and Kratos could proceed further. The three statues let go of the chain, and Kratos stood on the disk. The statues spoke. "By the Gods of Olympus and Order of Zeus, we are the Three Judges. Face your final judgement, mortal." even statues made out of stone are arrogant now. "King Aeacus has found you wanting. King Rhadamanthus has found you worthy. It falls to me, King Minos, to make the final decision." this is ridiculous. If he had to destroy these statues, he could have solved the issue much faster. "Your future is cloaked in shadow. The realm of the Afterlife is not yet ready for you. Beyond that door waits your destiny." a door had opened, and Kratos could finally end this charade by passing onto the other side of the portal inside.

Though, as soon as he wound up on the other side, in the distance, he saw another portal, in which he entered. There was a door blocking his way out, but on the ground, he found another note - That of a young soul, this time. "The fires! The people screaming! I was so scared! Why didn't father protect us? The judges say I have to go now to Elysium and that it will be nice there. I miss my family." Kratos couldn't help but wrinkle that note in his hand. Had it not been for a single use of a plural pronoun, he would have been certain the note was written for him, by Calliope. A worse coincidence simply could not happen to him, and now, his heart was weeping once more. How he missed his family as well... 

He had to leave that room faster - And so he did, but on his way, he found many golden statues of children. On one of them, a small wisp of white that called out to him... For 'Father', at least. It was the voice of a young girl who was in need of her father. Out of sheer shock, Kratos knelt besides the small statue which had her arms extended towards him, and looked at the white flame-light light in her palms. "Calliope?" he could not believe it was her, yet his heart was longing to see his child again. "Oh." the young girl was as shocked as he was... Thought neither was satisfied with learning the identity of the one they found. "You are NOT my daughter."  how could he be so foolish as to believe that was his own child... "No. But I know who you are." she spoke to him. "You know of me?" he was incredulous. How could a young child like her know of him? "They said you would come." but before the young girl could speak, she disappeared, for Hades's voice boomed throughout the realm, challenging him - Thus, the Spartan quickened his pace towards his destination. 

Though once again, he picked up another note, of a tortured soul. He was growing tired of their woes - As if he had naught his own to deal with. "He was my responsibility. It was my burden to raise him, teach him right from wrong - All who get too near him suffer of die. His wife, his child, his brother... And now me. I failed him. As a mother, as a human being - His sins are mine to bear. Punish me for his shortcomings and grant my son redemption." 

This must be an awful joke Hades was playing on him, otherwise, there wouldn't be some stupid letter that so perfectly reminded him of his own poor mother who had to die a needless death, and lived a no-life. All because of Zeus. He was going to pay dearly for everything that he has done.

The next note, however, almost brought a chuckle to him - At least, this one, he knew truly that it was about him. "He could have saved me. He held my life in his hands, and he still let go. I may have been just a mere boat captain, but he treated me as if I was nothing! He is to blame for my torment here! I hope he suffers in Hades as I have! Damn that Ghost of Sparta!" of course, now he recalls the ridiculous old man, from whom he retrieved the boat cabin key, only to let him slide down the kraken's throat. And then, he let him fall down to the River Styx. And his soul was brought about again, while he was fighting the undead Barbarian King. What a funny old man.

Venturing forwards and unlocking various puzzling mechanisms, he was able to reach a balcony, and looking outside, into the wasteland, he could see the scorched lands that stretch out as far as the eye can see. The Pit of Tartarus. It did not phase the Spartan. He merely stole a look and went on ahead.  Ahead, however, he found a new wing with stairs to climb - It looked like a Forge, in fact. There, he found a large, hunchbacked God, weeping miserably. "Leave me be! I tell you... I have paid the price!" he cried out pitifully. "Calm yourself, Smith God." Kratos spoke with no malice, though, as the God turned to face him, he saw now how disfigured and ugly he is. No wonder Aphrodite could not stand a marriage with him. He was less a man, and more monster - Though at least his craft was like no other's. "Ghost of Sparta? It is you... Well, well, well... I thought Zeus would have killed you by now." such a weak taunt almost amused the Spartan. "I thought you would have escaped this cavern by now." he shot back with ease. "Zeus may have imprisoned me here, but you are the reason I live in torment." the Olympians truly loved to victimise themselves. "I did you no wrong, Hephaestus. I pursue only one Olympian." but the Smith God rolled the one functioning eye arrogantly. "Well, as long as it's only ONE Olympian..." he had no time for his cheap sarcasm. "I seek the Flame of Olympus. Do you know of it?" Kratos asked, thought the Smith asked for a purpose. "For the purpose I  have chosen. Now tell me - Do you know of the Flame?" "All true children of Olympus know of it. Your little flower girl should know it as well, she always liked stories. I'm surprised she's not here with you... Or maybe she's too afraid that her flowers will wilt here. Can't blame her." the blacksmith let out a sardonic chuckle, easily irritating the Spartan. "We have all come to respect its power - But don't be fooled by its enticing glow. Neither God nor man can touch its lethal flame." "I only need to find it." though... Then what? What was he supposed to do with it? Athena had not told him any farther than that into her phantasmal plan. "If you can find your way out of the Underworld, I am sure you can find your way to the Flame of Olympus." came the empty reply of the mutilated God. "You have been truly helpful, Hephaestus." Kratos turned around to leave, already tired from the nonsensical babble of this God. Once again, he truly pitied Aphrodite, and completely understood why she would run away, in the arms of even someone like Ares. At least he was just useless, not yet another enemy, Kratos thought, as he left Hephaestus's Forge, in search of a way out of Hades's Realm.

Once outside, the man had seen another child statue, and thought he had his own statue impaling the poor bronze silhouette in such a macabre way, he found the child's wisp on her palms, calling out his name, this time. Kratos. Kneeling before her, he began speaking to her - Her form was not quite perfectly visible, but enough to make out the form of a young girl. "How do you know of me?" he asked, unable to understand how a child could know of his... Reputation. "You are the Ghost of Sparta. Everyone knows who you are. Everyone is afraid of you." the little wisp spoke. "There are reasons for that." he admitted. "I'm not afraid of you." her voice was calm and even brave, he'd say, if not, childish and innocent even. Like any child. "It is good you're not afraid, child. Fear is a heavy burden." he admitted, reaching out his hand for the hilt of his sword. "I'm NOT a child, Kratos!" how adorable, came a blank thought as he retrieved his sword. "I does not matter what you are. My concerns lay elsewhere." he spoke, stepping away from the statue. "Kratos, please, I need you to free me!" she pleaded to him, but it was in vain - How can one who cannot free himself, free another? "The quest for freedom is also a heavy burden. I cannot help you." her wisp disappeared upon the arrival of several foes, and though she did not reappear right away, Kratos suspected, this was not the last time he would see her. Once more, closing in to Hades's own halls, he could hear the lulling hum, so soothing, yet so haunting. It somehow reminded him of a tragic love story that Katrina had once told him, while playing the lyre for him, for the first time. She had said it was a gift from Hermes, crafted by himself with his own magic, and that no sweeter song could ever be heard, than from that lyre.

He was sat down on the bed, humoring the woman as she dramatically danced and acted out like an expressive bard as she sang the story of love and woe. There was once a mortal who fell in love with a Nymph - And the Nymph was the most beautiful of them all - Her name, Eurydice. The sweet and pure maid, too, fell in love with the man, the talented Orpheus, who charmed her with his wonderous melodies that he played on his lyre. Kratos remembers now, how Katrina would pretend to be either the man or the woman, and how she's swoon and sigh, or pretend to court her own self, in the mirror. It was a humorous moment. Though the two were loving, merry and happy together, singing and playing and dancing together for years, in a small cottage in the mountains, there had come one day, like many others before, when the sweet Nymph asked the man to play her a lovely tune, which she could hear across the meadow, as she goes to pick up flowers for their home. Here, as Katrina would dance barefoot around the room, it began looking more like a flowery field inside a forest - And she danced her heart and glee away, and for once, Kratos was... Content, seeing her so joyful and living her life through the arts that she loved so much.

Alas, at once, she had fallen through the ground, along with her lyre, and her voice got weak and mournful, just as Eurydice lay her dying breath, bitten by a venomous snake. So distraught was Orpheus upon finding her, that he immediately descended into the Underworld, so that he may plead to Hades to return his sweet Nymph to him, as she was wrongfully taken away from the life of the living. Alas, his begging, nor Persephone's could mellow out the God's heart, so Orpheus took to playing his life's song, that of bliss and grief, of love and pain, of life and death, of beginning and end.

Finally, the God was impressed, even moved, thus he agreed to return Eurydice's soul, but under certain conditions - One must be that the Nymph not speak until she steps foot on the living grass of the Mortal Realm, and second, that Orpheus walks ahead and does not look back - Not even once, not even to steal a tiny peek at her - For should he catch a glimpse of her, the deal is broken, and she returns to the underworld. From here on, Kratos could not focus entirely on her play - It had hurt him, thinking what would it be like, should they have been in that situation, and though Eurydice bid her end of the deal perfectly, Orpheus was a frightened fool, though rightfully suspicious of the Gods. 

But the fool broke the deal, and upon turning to look at his beloved, he saw her smile, and her phantasmal form, disappearing before him. "My love!" the man cried out, leaping to catch the last remaining fume that remained, yet it slipped between his very fingers that once felt her soft, warm skin and held her tightly every morn and every night. Just like Orpheus killed outright doomed the one he loved most, so did he - Of course, without the intention to, but all men must live with the consequences of their own actions, no matter how unpredictable and outlandish they become. Would he have looked? Would he have had the strength to keep on moving forward until the very end of the road, without even as much of a tempting peek? Kratos's heart was hurting, just imaging, losing his beautiful red haired lover. He could not accept the idea that he could hold her lifeless form, just like he had done with Lysandra. He simply couldn't. As he heard the Goddess speak of Orpheus killing himself so that his soul could forever dance, and play and sing with Eurydice, in the Underworld, gracing the Halls of Hades and Persephone during even the bleakest winters, he had rose from the bed and thrown the lyre onto the bed, pulling her into a deep kiss. "Tell me of tragedies no more, Katrina. I wish to hear no further." he needn't explain why, for she knew. Instead, she twirled started humming another song - That of Psyche and Eros, one of the only true love stories where the two lovers fell for each other not for their looks, but for their tender hearts - And this affection inspired so many that even Zeus himself was touched and granted the mortal woman immortality, so that they may forever be together and thrive in their passion.

Though he was a Spartan, and his words, laconic, complete anti-thesis to the beautifully embellished phrases that she sings with every word, he truly hoped that the woman was able to feel that his heart for her was true.

But Kratos could think of those times no longer, as he activated a mechanism, and Persephone's coffin was lowered before his very eyes. The woman almost overthrew Olympus and wanted to kill herself, just to escape this man's unctuous hands, only to be entrapped in a match box for the rest of her damned, dead eternity. A pitiful fate, in life and in death. But his respect for the Olympians was close to non-existent, so he did not care that he used her coffin as a battering ram, to go about solving the machinery brought about by Hades's large statue, which he destroyed. At least Persephone's coffin was aiding him to kill the man she hated so much.

Having entered in this dark room, only a spotlight on his, he could hear the ominous voice of the Lord of the Underworld speaking to him. "Kratos, so glad you could carve out some time for us. You know we need it. I sense some bad blood between us, Kratos. Oh, all the memories. They're overwhelming, really. Let's see... How many sins have you committed against me? Oh, that's right. You murdered my niece, Athena. Turned my other niece, Katrina, against her own family. And what else. What else? Ah, and you killed my brother, Poseidon. And I have not forgotten that it was you who butchered my beautiful Queen! I will see you suffer as I have suffered!" those were the self-absorbed words of a God who could only see his own suffering. What about his mother? His brother? His wife and child? His own home, Sparta? What about HIS suffering? "Your soul is mine." Hades spoke as he latched his chained claws onto Kratos, attempting, yet failing to rip away his soul.

The battle for a soul, though not metaphorically speaking only, but physical as well, was an arduous one, Kratos prevailed, as always, and Hades had his soul stolen away by his very weapons, only after having his own heart ripped away and crushed - And thus, his unarmored body, looking flayed and disfigured like a rotting corpse, was letting loose all the captive souls which attacked his lifeless body. Now, having his soul meant that he could swim the Styx without getting harmed - Excellent addition, though he dearly hoped he would never have to step foot in this forsaken realm, let alone see the succumbed body of the one who was once the God of the Underworld.

The claws were interesting to wield, the Spartan realised, and more, he could summon cursed souls to fight for him. He could see the appeal of them. Finally, he was able to swim away - Swim far, far away, into the nothingness, through underwater tunnels and hidden chambers - Right back into the Forge he arrived, meeting a shocked Hephaestus, especially guessing right that Hades was no more. "The God of the Underworld is dead." Kratos jumped in front of the Smith, out of the water.  "Dead? Ha. Hades deserved to suffer, though I thought his death impossible." the blacksmith admitted. "The Olympians overestimate themselves." Kratos jabbed at him and his whole kin.  "Interesting... I will keep that in mind, Spartan." he noticed that the Spartan was looking at a portal door. "You need the soul of a God to use the Hyperion Gate, Kratos, and that one has not been used for centuries. I'm sure it's beautiful, otherwise I'm sure I would have seen my beautiful..." the God sighed in misery and resentment. "You know, Kratos... I wasn't always like this. A monster. I was once the most prized craftsman in all of Olympus. Zeus rewarded me with my marriage to the beautiful Aphrodite. My mother, Hera, bragged of my talent... But the day you killed Ares was the day my world was torn from me. That day, Zeus became the fiend you now know. Worst of all, he took my beloved daughter, Pandora, my reason for living. I spend my time here, trying to recreate her. I fail. Again and again." Kratos looked up, at the hanging statues of different metals, all of them depicting the same young girl, in different poses. They looked perfectly alike the statues he had found in the Underworld. The wisp he encountered, then, must have been Pandora. "She still lives, Spartan. I can feel it." he spoke. "You... You, Kratos, you can bring her back to me!"  "Your child is not my concern." Kratos cut him off. Pandora may be a child, but he was done doing the bidding of the Gods.  "But surely, you can understand. You were once a father too." still, he walked away. He could not bare hearing anyone mentioning Calliope in any way.

After having left the forge, Kratos made his way outside and followed the path that led him to another portal gate, only to see before him the vision of Athena once more. "Remember your purpose, Kratos." she said. "The Twilight is upon us. His death is out only hope." how mysterious and cryptic, Kratos thought. When he tells Katrina about his encounter, she's going to find a way to rip Athena's ghostly head right off. "Understand this, Athena. Zeus WILL die." and without need to continue a baseless conversation, Kratos stepped on the other side of the portal, escaping the Underworld, and reaching the city of Olympia.

He had only been there for exactly five second, and Helios's chariot had already flown past him, and Gaia's hand slammed on the ground in front of him - And as she rose, she noticed him, speaking as if there was no ill-will between them. Lying, treacherous titan. "You live, Spartan? The Blood of Cronos serves you well. Quickly! You must help me!" and she even had the audacity to ask for help again! "Help? You?" he asked, completely stunned at her nerve. "Yes, child! Quickly! I suffered greatly - I tried to return to battle, but..." excuses upon excuses - That is all that they ever new how to spew. "Without me." spat the Spartan. "You know I had no choice! You must help me!" and help her she did, as he made way to the other side of the road, cutting off her hand's trees and vines that were binding her to the mountain wall. "Kratos, do I mean nothing to you?!"  "You were a means to an end, Gaia. Nothing more." Kratos mimicked her words from their previous encounter, when she had left him to fall to his death. "But I must face Zeus. The Titans must take down Olympus!" she tried to plead to him, but it was no use. "No! This is MY war! NOT yours!" thus, she cut off her hand completely, letting her fall to her doom. Payback for your past actions, Gaia.

Pushing even her severed hand off the cliff to fall with her, Kratos reached the Door to Olympia. Engraved into it, it is said that the doors only open to the worthiest heroes, thus, one must destroy all enemies that stand in one's way. Yet another trial in which he must prove he can kill dozens of enemies - As if killing Gods wasn't enough of a worthy showmanship of power. Ridiculous until the end. He was not innocent of this - The only thing that they were good at was destroying everything in their path - Yet even he grew tired of the bloody path he has been walking for so many decades.

Finally, the doors opened, walked through the temple, only to find himself outside, watching the valiant battle between Helios and one of the Titans who threatened Olympus. He cared little for those two - In fact, he was fine moving along in his search for Zeus, but a chimera jumped on him and the God of the Sun was stupid enough to attack him, so now, he had to retaliate. Using the peculiar contraption before him, he aided the Titan into destroying Helios's chariot, scrunching it into his hand and smashing it against the mountain. Serves him right. Now, he can continue onwards.

Making his way towards the other wing of this city, walking along the mountain's wall and defeating more enemies, he jumped down a plateau, where he found Helios, bloody and deathly injured, yet with what looked like ghostly soldiers taking a famous Spartan defending position, with their shields protectively, like a tortoise shell, and their spears out, ready to attack. Helios had no right to use his people's strategies.

With ease, Kratos controlled the cyclops that appeared out of nowhere, to destroy the phalanx formation, and killing the foes, only the broken God remained, spitting blood on the ground. "Kratos. I have not forgotten the debt I owe you. Save me now, as you once saved me from Atlas, and I promise to repay you in full." the Gods' tongues know no shortage of lies and empty words.  "If you wish to repay me, tell me where I can find the Flame of Olympus." Kratos tried, but it was clear where his loyalties waited. "The Flame? You will never defeat Zeus, Spartan. You will forfeit your life in trying." the broken God had no place making a mockery of Kratos's resolve, while his lower part was broken beyond repair. "Of all the lives you should worry about, Helios, mine is not one of them." though the Spartan did not expect that, with his last powers, Helion would invoke the power of the Sun, blinding him. He had to keep his face hidden and move forwards into the white light, and once he reached the God, he stomped on his head until he started yielding.  "Wait! Wait! I can tell you that to destroy Zeus you must step into the Flame to receive its power!" lies - And such obvious ones. What a brainless fool. He had more than one chance to yield and be spared, yet he spat on his mercy, and thus, he will be killed. "You lie, Helios! Hephaestus told me the Flame kills all who touch it!" the look on his face was comical, in his desperation. What the Greek would call a Tragedy. "And you believe him?! That freak has fallen from the graces of Olympus!" all the more reason to take his word over this one's. "That is exactly why I believe him." Kratos worded his thoughts.  "My death will not lead you to Zeus. In fact, maybe you should find a way and reach him faster. Weren't you the one who corrupted Katrina into losing her mind and choosing the wrong side in this war? Zeus captured her and is torturing her for information on you. Good luck finding her before she dies, Spartan." Helios grinned, though his powers were dissipating.  "That is where you are wrong, Helios. I believe not a word that you speak." as revenge for all the lies, Kratos ripped the God's head, as painfully as humanly possible - Then stared up into the sky, watching as the Sun dissolved before his very eyes, and the night took over, along with endless rain.

Using the light emanating from his head, Kratos found a hidden door which was leading inside a cave, towards the Path of Eos. They say that those who see what the Gods see shall find the Path to Olympus. Katrina would know more about this - In fact, she would easily guide him all the way to Olympus. Alas, he could not help but worry greatly about her safety. Surely, she couldn't have truly been captured. There was no way she would have allowed herself to being imprisoned so easily. Still, it was Zeus they were talking about, she had no chance against him. But Helios was a shameless liar and only wanted to lay down a trap for him. 

Deep inside the cave, towards a more suspiciously illuminated area, Kratos found another one of Pandora's statues, and the wisp was awaiting him. "Kratos! It's getting close!" "I told you. I cannot help you." he almost sounded dejected at the notion of allowing a child to be in danger. "But you're the only one who can. I know it. I trust you!" she pleaded to him dearly.  Not even her sweet voice was able to mellow him out... For now. "You shouldn't." he advised her, as he moved forwards, using harpies to fly across certain regions of the cave, and he floated up the Chain of Balance with the help of the old wings of Icarus, jumping outside and ending up on the same titan's eye, only to easily push him off the mountain as well. No God, nor Titan will stand in his way of defeating Zeus, nor will they have the opportunity or satisfaction to even attempt such a feat.

Finally, he had reached the Caverns, a place with numerous hanging cubes... And the soothing melody was echoing even through this place... So it had not been some entity of the Underworld... Maybe he was hearing Katrina, and his ears or mind were just making up things on the go, because he was missing her so? For a few moments, he stopped thinking about his beloved so that he could focus on solving the cube mechanism, only to reach the highest one and meet... Yet another God. Hermes, of all of them. He turned to face him, and he held that very annoying, cocky smirk. How could Katrina hang around such a bloke, and even say she liked him? It was beyond his imagination.

"Oh, look who it is. Kratos, the Ghost of Sparta. The Fallen God. The Cursed Mortal." Hermes's taunting was as ridiculous as his voice. "To catch a fly from the ass of Zeus is not worth my time, Hermes." Kratos warned the God. "A coward's words, Kratos. You don't try to catch me because you know you can't. In fact - No one can." with that smug face of his, he immediately ran up the chain, and sat down, dangling his feet like a bratty child. "Kratos, where are you off today? Kill any family members lately? Oh, that's right, you're off to kill your father, Zeus." that laugh was getting on his nerves, and even for Katrina's sake, he wouldn't be able to stop himself from gutting this bastard like a fish. "Won't happen. Can't happen. Kratos is on a fool's errand. Again!" and he ran up the chain until the Spartan couldn't even see him anymore. "Never - Never learn~! Never - Never... Change! Kratos, the fool who killed his own blood! Kratos the fool among mortals and Gods! Forever - Ever cursed! Forever - Ever doomed!" with how dramatic his gesticulating is, he could at least see where the Goddess learnt to act her plays. "Consumed by vengeance to his last breath, the Spartan lights the way to dusty death!" with even more laughter, the stupidly annoying God ran up the entire chain, and Kratos started climbing after him. Forgive me for going to kill your friend, Katrina, but he cannot be allowed to live. He was able to reach the end of the chain, which brought him to the chamber that held the Flame of Olympus, though kept blocked and entrapped. Looking inside, he could see the old Pandora's Box, which he opened long, long ago. His hand instinctively reached to touch the Box, only to be stopped by the ghost of Athena. "What is the meaning of this?" Kratos asked, aggravated.  "Your eyes do not deceive you, Kratos. It is the same box you opened years ago. The power to kill a God rests inside." Athena spoke, yet everything she said, was old news. "I released those powers when I killed Ares." Kratos stated obviously.  "No. Trapped inside that box, there is a stronger power. It has been missing from the world." she had informed him solemnly. "It all began when Zeus triumphed over the Titans in the Great War. Zeus understood that the evils born from the battle, if left free, would destroy the world of man and Gods. To contain these evils, Zeus commanded Hephaestus to build a vessel strong enough to hold them. Fear. Greed. Hate. He locked them all away in the box in hopes that they would never again infect his reign. When you opened the box to kill Ares, you drew from the forbidden powers. After witnessing your victory, fear gripped Zeus." Athena's story now made sense. "But the Flame is deadly. How can I recover the box?" like any problem, there is a solution. "With its namesake, Kratos." Kratos called out the child's name without even realising. "She is the key to destroying the Flame. The key to our revenge. This will be difficult, Spartan." "A simple child will not trouble me, Athena." Kratos's resolve was set in stone... But could he truly sacrifice an innocent child, so easily? "I hope you are right, Ghost of Sparta. May you let nothing and... No one... Hinder your judgement." the Spartan needn't be told what the vision was referring to - He knew that Katrina would be vehemently opposed to sacrificing a child for something like this - And rightfully so. Still, Zeus had to be killed.

The man went outside onto the balcony to scour the area - Though lonesome, it was... Sad. The world was plunged in chaos and mankind had to pay the price dearly, for the death of Poseidon, Hades and Helios.  Kratos did not care though. Forever night, forever rain, forever wind - He cared little for everything, except ending his father's life. Floods have swallowed the lands and the sky is veiled by clouds and unbridled storms. Let the chaos reign.

With the new knowledge about the Flame, Kratos was able to find his way, by using the Light, to a mural of the Muses - In music, untold truths be spoke to those willing to hear it. Join your voice to the Muses's song and lift Olympus's burden. - Said the engraving before the painting... If Katrina were here, things would have been much simpler. The mural next to it depicted the Gear of Burden - With the weight of Olympus upon it, the Gear of Burden is not easily moved, requiring a great sacrifice to free the Heart of the Labyrinth. The next one spoke about the Heart of the Labyrinth - Beating in the Heart of the Labyrinth is a passion great enough to douse even the Flame of Olympus, and lay bare the power that lies within.

As Kratos finished reading the engraving, he heard that annoying voice again. "You may have brute force, but you lack speed." that pest claimed, laughing, mocking and running amok. "You've been lucky in battle, Spartan. But your luck ends today." Hermes smirked, playing around with his coin. He could barely phantom that he was forced to go against the man that his own wife loved so dearly - It was ridiculous. He could care less about the Spartan's life, but he feared hers, should Kratos truly meet his end during this quest. "What makes you think you can ever catch me?" though he taunted and ran away, hoping to tire down the Spartan, Hermes could only think of his coin - Heads for the Gods, Tails for Kratos...  And the third option. What was the third option? Was there even a third option? He tried and tried, but he could thinking of nothing that would work in both their favours, especially as he made the Spartan ran about the Olympian Citadel, and made fun of him for being so slow. He told Kratos that no one could reach his speed - But he lied. Of course he did, that's what he did best, after all! Even so, there was one person alone who was ever capable of being a worthy opponent while playing Tag.

Katrina.

He remembers, as very young children, how he would watch her constantly running - Mostly, running away from the Olympians who were mocking her. Was it her lineage? Her mother - Whoever that may have been? Was it how lovesick she was - But wasn't Aphrodite the same? Perhaps it must have been how shy she was? Or that she preferred the company of flowers and animals over her own kin? Poor child. Still, she kept running, down in the mortal realm's forests, running with the animals and practicing her nature-creating powers and what not. 

Since then, when they were mere children, Hermes was watching her dearly - And it was then, that he started speaking to her and challenged her to tag games and speed contests - Though, his cocky attitude did not bode well with her low self-esteem and she thought that he hated how, just like everyone else... But that was not the case. She was able to find her own niche of friends, from Anteros and Aphrodite, Eros and Psyche, Hestia, Demeter and even Hekate, Asclepius, Hebe, and Apollo and Artemis. She could see the appeal in overly social interactions and fun-having at parties, she simply could not partake in it, despite even being jealous of him and Dionysus and how much fun they had drinking and jesting around.

Alas, Hermes always thought, the good are always the one being trampled over by the corrupt - And he was no different. He often tricked Katrina, and even abused her benevolence as she never got angry at him and continued to aid him with whatever it was that he needed... With time, however, he started to appreciate and see the wrong in his ways, thus, showing her how to catch up with him while running.

And she did.

Together they could run around the world with no problem, and still have enough energy to play around. Ah, the good times, when she would still offer him that sweet giggle of hers... Ah - Ah - Ah, no time for memories, he is about to fall down the great statue of Athena - What an annoying character she is, even in death.  Hermes was now feeling fatigue take over him - Though the Spartan was nowhere close to matching his speed, his tricks worked into tiring him in the long run. "I will not be bested by a mortal...!" he cried out, realising that the he was facing the exact dilemma of his coin - Even now, he did not look upon it. Was it Heads? Was it Tails? In truth, he was afraid of seeing what it was. 

If it was Heads, he would kill Kratos, and he would have to see the distraught look on Katrina's face - Because her own husband killed the love of her life. The one over whom she had wept for a century. The one who was promised to her since the beginning of life itself.

On the other hand, if it was Tails... He will die. He wasn't even sure if she would weep over him, yet the mere notion that she agreed to be his wife, allowed him to shower her with affection, in spite of not being her real soul mate... The fact that she gave him the opportunity of seeing all the beautiful and silly sides of her, the jests, the stories, the songs, the dances and the plays... All the gossips they shared, and the games they played... He wanted to see her one last time, at least. He was greedy and selfish - He was, after all, a God of Olympus - That is how all Gods were!

But Kratos's blades were heavy on him, and he could see his vision blurring from the pain he was feeling. "I thought Spartans fought with honour, and yet you seek to kill me, when I have no means to defend myself? Not fair." he whined, looking up with spite at the Spartan, only to avert his eyes and see the blood - HIS blood - spilled on the ground. "But you have your own sense of honour, right, Kratos? And what has the honour brought you?! Nothing but nightmares of your failure!" Hermes was able to pull himself back on his feet, ready to try, for the last time, to outrun his opponent, despite how exhausted he felt.

This was the Messenger God's last marathon ran - It was the only thing he was truly great at. Running. He may be the God of many things - Thievery, sea men, trade, whores, humankind and whatever - But, beyond everything, his speed was worth more than him. It was almost pathetic to think that his worth was measured in how great the boots made him. "Today you may defeat me, but in the end, Kratos - In the end, you'll betray only yourself and Katrina!" he could hear the Spartan approaching with rapid footsteps - There it is, he was doomed to die on the slippery grounds of Olympus, outside, in the pouring rain. How absolutely pitiful. 

"STOP!" what was that voice...? 

Suddenly, Hermes fell to the ground, tackled... But the force was nothing compared to that muscle head's. "How could you...?" Katrina? "HOW COULD YOU DO SOMETHING SO STUPID?!" he had never heard her screaming before. It was absolute frightening... No, rather, is was heart breaking. "Katrina? What -... You are alright." the Spartan spoke, looking down at the woman, looking in perfect shape, except for the forlorn expression on her face - She looked desperate. "Yes, of course I am! Ever since I saw you falling, I tried to look for a way to contact you. Hestia was too afraid to try to portal trick again... In truth, there was no one to dig a whole reaching there either. So I went to Hekate, who showed me your journey there. I was so afraid for you that I could not leave her until I saw you stepping out of there." though she spoke to him, her arms were holding the Messenger God, and trembling visibly. "I am happy to see you are alive, my love. I truly am. But please, tell me... Why are the two of you trying to kill each other?" her voice was soft that, through all the thundering and roars of the rain, it could have easily been missed. "He stood in my way." came Kratos's reply. The red head turned her head to look at the God in her arms, who looked as guilty as never expected. The Spartan was genuinely impressed.  "Zeus made me!" the cowardly God latched his arms around the girl. "You know how scary he can be! I tried, you know? I tried, I truly did! But no one truly knows what happens what Olympus falls. I was afraid for our home, Kat! You believe me, don't you? Please, tell me that you do or I will cry!" but the more he spoke, the more disappointed and pained the girl looked.  "You are a fool, Hermes. You truly are." she spoke, hanging her head. "There are enough people who died from less. Have you also taunted Kratos? No, tell me naught, I am sure you did." Kratos could see the remorse and shame from being reprimanded by the woman holding him. What exactly was the relationship between those two? "Kat - No, please, don't cry. No, no, no, Gods, no, don't cry -- Kitty? Sweety? Princess? My dear? Honey? Angel? My flower?" Hermes was panicking, seeing the Goddess unable to contain the tears falling down her face, mixing perfectly with the rain drops.  "Enough." her voice was broken, and so was he. "Hermes... That is enough. You have done it. Have I not told you not to mess with Kratos? Did you think I was messing with you? Even after everything... You think you can go around and make fun of him... And live with such offense?" gradually, her trembling voice was raising. "I WAS TRYING TO PROTECT YOU FROM YOURSELF, YOU ABSOLUTE IDIOT!" her yelling so distressed made his mind spin like a vertigo. "TO HELL WITH ZEUS! TO HELL WITH OLYMPUS! TO HELL WITH ALL OF YOU, AND EVERYTHING!" she pushed him away, standing up. "WHAT ABOUT ME?!" the woman asked. "WHAT ABOUT ME, HERMES?! WHEN IS IT MY TIME TO BE HAPPY?! ALL OF YOU - ALL OF YOU, SELFISH BASTARDS - YOU WERE ALL HAVING YOUR FUN AMONGST THEMSELVES, AND I SAID NOTHING! SO WHY -- WHY MUST EVEN YOU GO AGAINST MY HAPPY ENDING?!" she surely did not realise, but angry liana were swinging around her. She was lost in her emotions. "You - You, of all people, knew how much Kratos means to me -- And you, my own husband - You tried to KILL him?! What about all the promises you made to me that day? When you promised to be by my side, for as long as I'll have you? That you'll take care of me, and make me smile, and all of those empty lies you gave me?! And our friendship when we were children -- Hermes -- Was everything just a game for you?! An elaborate ploy to continue making fun of me?! Were you -- Were you telling the other Gods about how gullible that stupid flower girl is? Did you tell them what we were doing together? The songs me made? The silly jokes and cheesy confessions? The dramas and the... Was everything... A lie?" now, he had a clear picture of her life. Katrina never told him that she was married to Hermes, nor did she ever show any ounce of romance towards the man. By the looks of it, she merely saw him as her friend, and in need of comfort, she accepted his affections. But it did not bode well with him, seeing her so hurt over his actions. Kratos was not going to kill Hermes, should he not have provoked him or stood in his way. It was a tragic situation - Once again, there is nothing but suffering following them. "NO! No - Kat - NO! None of that was ever a lie! I swear to you - I vow, I... I everything! I will do anything, as long as I can prove to  you that I was being genuine through everything! I am happy that you are my wife, and I am fine, knowing that you love another man - It's fine! I knew you two were meant together. I resigned myself to that long ago! I had fun, I always did, and you are the person dearest to me! Please believe me!" to see a God, on his knees, pleading and begging like that, was truly a sight to behold. "You were my best friend, Hermes... Why did you have to ruin everything?" she asked, unable to even look at him. "Please, Kat, please forgive me. I never meant to hurt you. I swear to you, I did not know what to do! I flipped my coin, but a coin has only two faces! Heads was that Zeus wins and Kratos dies, which only meant I would live to see you hurt -- But Tails meant Kratos killed us all, and I would never get to see you again! What could I have done?! I was confused and afraid, just like all of us are!" the man was groveling on the ground - The Spartan wanted to step forward and end it, but the Goddess's vines stopped him. "And what side did you see?" Katrina asked, looking down at him with such a stoic, apathetic look, that one might have said she was a statue. "...I did not look. I was too afraid of the outcome." the God admitted, guilty. "Men must live with the consequences of their own actions. But men are not tied to fate - Men MAKE their own fate. They create their own path, and walk that way. You chose a side of the coin without even realising. In your head, you chose Heads from the very beginning. You are afraid of death and of losing the luxurious, happy life which you have thrived on. Am I wrong?" neither men heard her speak with such edge before. It was frightening how even the kindest can be brought to the end of her limits. "... Not entirely. I tried to think of a third option, but... I found nothing that worked." there was silence for a while - And Katrina extended her hand, so that Hermes would give her his coin. As soon as the little golden one was in her hand, she used her liana to rip away the shoes from his feet and handed them to Kratos.  "You will not be in need of them anymore. Be grateful I gave you no pain. Kratos would have cut off your legs entirely." she spoke, feeling the Spartan take away the winged sandals. "On the other hand... I had already thought of a third option for you. Will you hear it?" she asked, kneeling before him. Seeing him desperate for her, she opened her palms, revealing the coin. Kratos was confused about all the metaphor around that pesky coin - Only to see her morph the golden coin into a beautiful flower, which she put into the God's fiery hair. She had forgiven him. It meant that, once again, a God's fate was in his hands. Hermes was outright sobbing on the ground, groveling at her feet, clinging onto her desperately.  "PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME! KAT, PLEASE, I NEED YOU! I NEED YOU IN MY LIFE! YOU ARE THE LOVE OF MY LIFE! MY BEST FRIEND! MY SWEET, LITTLE KITTEN! PLEASE --" but the Goddess stepped away from him. "Kratos... If you love me... Then please, do not kill him. He will not hinder you again. I can promise you that." she did not look back at him, but as a response, he only grunted. It was a nuisance, but he needed nothing more from the overly loud God. "Perhaps our paths will meet again. Until then... Better find a way down the Mountain... Before it goes down... Like everything else in life, that is." her voice was devoid of any joy or emotion - She seemed... Someone else entirely.

Kratos looked down at the broken man, calling out to Katrina desperately and seeking forgiveness. The Spartan did not need to kill Hermes. Hermes has already killed himself. Kicking him aside, Kratos stepped past him and joined Katrina's step - Yet she did not speak. She seemed... Tired. And Angry.  He was afraid of what would happen, should the both of them be vengeful and filled with rage, letting that cloud their judgement. Usually, if something were to happen, she were the rational one. Alas, he knew that, with everything going on, he could not afford to teach or level out someone's anger, when he, himself, could not control his own.

"What troubles you?" Kratos asked, continuing to walk up and down across the palace with ease, thanks to the winged sandals. "I have realised something that displeases me greatly." she spoke. "During my stay at Hekate, she has shown me your trip. I have seen Athena. She is more disgusting and treacherous now than she was before." the woman spat, speaking of her sister. Soon, they reached the Flame of Olympus once more. "Secondly... I have realised that... Once you opened the Box... Not even I was spared from the awful fate... Of being inflicted with out of the dreads locked inside. And it has clouded my judgement since the fall of Ares. I am upset that I have not come to my senses sooner. I do not want to hinder your journey." she continued explaining. "But I have been battling my misery since then. Now I understand why I was so desperately afraid of losing you, or Hermes or any of my friends. Why I was so afraid of being alone. I was being selfish. And greedy. Now, more than ever, because of Pandora's Box. How pitiful to think that the Mighty Gods of Olympus could fall pray to such a silly concept." it was clear for Kratos that her woes were hammered deep within her very core. "You had no way of knowing. No one did. Do not blame yourself for something like that." Kratos spoke, reaching out his hand to touch her shoulder, squeezing it for reassurance. "The two of us will not die this day, and I have not killed Hermes, nor will I your friends, should they not get in my way. There is nothing to be afraid of anymore." he noticed her gulping and hanging her head, her brows furrowed, though she nodded, accepting his sage words. "I know. Mentally. Rationally. I know. Even so, my heart... It feels like a restless vortex that will not stop. And... It hurts. This hurts makes me do ridiculous things. I cannot understand why this happens. Perhaps if we kill Zeus and open Pandora's Box again, this... Whatever this is, will disappear. What do you think?" she asked, almost as if she had hope.  "It is a possibility - And if does not happen, I will find a way." his words must have had an impact on her, for she snapped her head towards him and her eyes were desperately searching for the truth in his eyes - Though, as always, she found it. "Truly? Do you think I can finally find peace within myself when this is all over?" she found herself in his embrace once more - And for the short time that she was in the safe haven that she found in his arms, she felt just that. Inner peace. "Of course."

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[the-bar-sinister]

Deicide: Red Shift (22583 words) by VickytheSnake, thesavagesabretooth Chapters: 6/?

Summary: A mysterious signal is drawing ships across the Grand Line to a place called Elegia for the first ever concert by the rising star singer, Uta. Following the signal are Cross Guild and fallen emperor Shanks, the Charlotte family, the Donquixote Pirates and the shattered remnants of Law's crew, and Kid's crew, and Cavendish and Bartolomeo.

And the Straw Hats and their captain Luffy, who hasn't seen Uta since they were both little children at their idol Shanks' knee.

Perhaps this meeting was ordained by fate. Perhaps, in the end, there was only ever one tragic outcome possible.

But Luffy has other plans.

catch up here

-

It was finally time, wasn't it? It'd been two years all leading up to this.

Uta pulled her arm sleeve up and flexed her fingers as the blobbish, pale yellow and red 'Uta' symbol covered the back of her hand. Her eyes were locked on her reflection in her dressing room mirror, blocked on one side by the fringe of her hair.

She brushed away the crumpled newspaper and its headlines of pirate cruelty and devastation, leaving only the last fan letter that Gordon had delivered to her only a week before the biggest music festival the grand line had ever seen was to debut.

It was from a fan who almost certainly wasn't going to be able to make it to the show, and Uta's heart ached when her fingers brushed it. Maybe she'd be watching on transponder snail. Uta just had to hope that she was. Nothing could have happened faster than this— there was no way she could have done it without everyone on Elegia's hard work.

There was no way that she could let them all down.

There was a soft cough from the doorway of her dressing room.

Uta forced away the pensive expression on her face to flash her brightest showman's smile and turned, skirt rustling and hair bouncing as she waved in greeting. "I'm all ready!" 

Gordon was there watching her with his own soft smile and his dark, glittering eyes. He was in a tuxedo now, and his steel gray hair was brushed back from the temples and oiled.

"Excited to make your debut for day one, my child?"

Day one. Uta felt the tremor in her hands as she laughed. She was nervous, horribly nervous. She hadn't performed in front of a crowd of strangers for a long time, and even then not one as huge as this. Not since— her hands were shaking harder and she shut down the thought as she laughed musically and stilled them by pressing them to her chest.

"I'm overjoyed! This is going to be lovely, Gordon! Are the fans settling in alright? Oh, I bet they're all excited to see me, aren't they?"

"Everyone's thrilled. Thrilled, my dear. Merchants have showed up and they're selling t-shirts with your face on them. The world loves you. You have all their hearts. All you have to do is grasp them."

He strode toward her, his heels clicking on the hard tile floor, and he put his hand on her shoulder. "We're all very proud of you, you know."

The people of Elegia had taken Uta in, like a daughter to the entire island. They'd fostered her voice when pirates had tried to tear it out with their betrayal. They'd attended every lesson, taught her every instrument—they all knew that she was going to be the voice of the new era.

They'd told her again, and again, and again.

Tears welled up in her bright eyes as she smiled and nodded "I know Gordon—I'm not going to let Elegia down. I'll—I'll throw a concert so wonderful nobody's ever going to want it to end." 

-

Buggy was having a hell of a week. It had started, just started with Crocodile dragging him off in the ship to the breakwaters of Wano hunting marines, which, admittedly, was better than sitting around the island hideout but not exactly 'a relaxing time'. Especially when things started going completely tits up. A marine admiral was sighted. Horrifying, awful. Only he got chased off by a blast of haki!

And lo and fucking behold, after sailing off to try to corner Straw Hat Luffy, Red Haired Shanks got his ship decimated and fell into the drink after the kid beat the snot out of him emotionally because of some 'prophecy' he supposedly was the central figure in.

And now Shanks was on board. All that Imperial danger he had once radiated as Emperor was dwindled down into a semblance of the man Buggy had once known, the man he once loved and was inspired by-– just Shanks, instead of 'the Emperor of the Sea.

And then he started yelling about his daughter. His daughter, who by the way, just happened to be THE Uta. The songbird of the Grand Line, Idol of the seas. Everyone knew Uta, and not a single one but them knew she was Shanks' kid.

Now they were haring off to shitsplat Elegia to attend in person, so Shanks could see her after over 10 years. Buggy was certain, positive even, that she wasn't gonna be happy about that but hey.

Maybe he'd be wrong. 

Buggy, who was currently on deck watching the ocean while he brooded away about all this, wasn't sure where Shanks was at the moment. With Mihawk, possibly? He had no clue. Before he could work up the bad idea to ask him again, if he was sure about this, a heavy arm was thrown around his shoulder, the big form attached to it pressing close to him.

"Hey, clown." 

It was Crocodile.

Buggy startled under his arm, before pressing up against him with a lopsided grin. 

"Heyyy!! Croccy baby! Enjoying the trip? Getting excited for a little pop music? Gotta say, it's a surprise you're into this. Didn't take you for an Uta fan!"

He babbled away, but he knew Crocodile liked it. The big-bad former Warlord was a softy—once you got past the brutality, and the disdain, and the big and menacing hook at least. Once you got past all that, he was a hell of a guy— and admittedly one Buggy had gotten pretty attached to since Cross Guild started up.

Crocodile gave him an absolutely withering look, his cigar hanging out of his mouth.

"That's because I'm not an Uta fan, Bug." It became apparent that the arm around him was the one with the hook when its tip tickled his side.

Buggy shivered, and all but fell against him instead of into the hook. "Awww—don't tell her. You might make the poor thing cry. That'd put a damper on the show!" 

"I think if anything puts a damper on the show it's gonna be the ten thousand fucking marines Smoker says we should expect to show up," Crocodile grumbled. He gathered Buggy closer to his body, the tip of his hook sticking just slightly into Buggy's side.

Crocodile never said it— in fact he would have argued if anyone suggested it— but he was clingy.

Buggy's eyes nearly shot out of his head as he looped his arms around Crocodile to hold him tighter. He was clingy as hell—but so was Buggy. It worked out. "How…how many marines?" 

"Doesn't matter how many marines, clown." Crocodile took a long puff of his cigar, then pushed the tip of it into Buggy's mouth as he blew a smoke ring. "Since we're expecting at least one admiral, and even odds on a Buster Call."

Buggy shuddered slightly and took a long and calming pull off the cigar. 

"Fuuuuck….." He murmured under his breath. "Of course they're gonna call a buster call, to kill Shanks' daughter, who's staging an illegal concert that's basically saying 'hey Celestial Dragons, eat my ass'." 

"Yep." Croc nodded, looming over him. "That's about the size of it. It'll take them a while to get their armada up here though. We just chased off their big presence in the area and they're gonna need to regroup. Which gives us time to dig in our position."

Their position? What did Crocodile mean by that?

"Our position." Buggy asked as he took a drag of the cigar. "You mean 'as far from Elegia with Shanks' daughter in tow as we can possibly get' right?" 

Crocodile gave him an extremely dubious, bordering on patronizing look. "You really think after she set all this up she's just gonna say 'yeah forget the concert actually' and come along real nice?"

Buggy looked up at him with a weak smile. 

"I mean, maybe she'll be real excited to see her dad…" He added, under his breath. "or be excited enough about killing him that she won't ask questions when we ferry her outta there." 

Croc peeled his hook out of Buggy's side, but it was only to lift his chin with the crook of it. "Say that a little louder, Bug. You're mumbling."

Crocodile leered down at him, his dark eyes boring into him.

"I said she'll either be real excited to see her dad, or excited enough about the idea of offin' him that she'd come along anyway!" 

He lifted his chin and took his cigar back from Buggy, taking a thoughtful puff off of it. "You think the situation's that bad?"

This was the closest Crocodile ever got to asking Buggy's genuine opinion.

Buggy nuzzled his chin against his hook as he laughed weakly. "Not gonna lie to you Croccy. I know he says she wanted to stay and everything—but I can tell you how I felt about him leaving. It's gotta be worse when you were a kid who was dependin' on him." 

"Ah." Croc's cool hooks slid down his chin to this throat. "So you're projecting. Got it."

"I ain't projecting!" Buggy puffed out his cheek. "I mean—I'm just saying that we can't just pretend that the kid who's been left on an island for 12 or so goddamn years is gonna be happy when absent-dad comes home." 

Croc sighed, his broad shoulders sagging a little. "No. You're right about that, clown. My 'weird' senses are off the charts here. Mysterious illegal concert on an untraceable island. And it's Shanks' daughter? Something's way fucking off."

He wasn't the only one seeing it, that was good. That was very good. Because this whole thing had seemed fucking bizarre to Buggy since moment one. The whole thing, including the fact this girl was prepared to bring the navy down on her head for a pop concert, had his teeth on edge.

"Somethin's really off Croccy," He leaned on him. "This Uta girl—I think she might need some kinda help. Either she has no idea what the World Government is capable of, or she's got some kind of death wish." 

"Very possibly, Bug. And maybe you're right and we're gonna have to make off with her. But my question is who's helping her set this up, and why? I want to know the answers to those questions." He puffed on his cigar thoughtfully. "I also want to use this concert to boost Cross Guild's profile. Smoker and I were talking about it. It'll be a hell of a thing if she's broadcasting marines firing on civilians, with Cross Guild there to protect 'em."

Buggy blinked up at him, before his hand rose to his chin. It was a practical fucking thought but—damn, it wasn't wrong. If the marines were caught aggressing on civilians with Cross Guild swooping in to protect them and drive them away, provided they didn't all die horrifically people the world over would start losing faith in the World Government, and putting it in them instead.

"Croccy—we play this right and this could be the big turning point for Cross Guild." 

"It could be." Crocodile turned to him with a long smirk crawling across his lips. "You ready to put that pretty face of yours on broadcast, Mr. Famous?"

Buggy felt his face flush a deep red, and he huffed as he floated up to wrap both arms around Crocodile and nuzzle against the top of his head. "My pretty face is always ready for broadcast, Croccy."

Crocodile always sounded like he was teasing, but Buggy knew on some level he really did mean it. He thought Buggy—often mocked as a child—was attractive. And that burst of pride did a little to help bolster his spirits from where they were wallowing in anxiety. 

What did even more was when Crocodile proved it yet again, using his hook to grab his floating torso down into view with his face, and pulling him into a rough kiss. Buggy's arms squeezed him tighter, drawing himself close to him on the deck of the ship as he returned the kiss as rough as it was given.

The aggressive kiss lingered, and Crocodile sucked and bit at his lower lip as he slowly broke it. "Good man, Bug. Let's get ready for Shanksy's big reunion. This is uh, what, number three? Four?"

"Unless he's got another secret boyfriend, daughter, and/or mentor or mentee lying in the wings, I'm thinking this is gonna be the last one, Croccy." Buggy snorted. "But knowing Shanks—-eeeeesh."

-

Luffy was getting more and more restless the closer they got to the island. He paced back and forth on the ship. He bothered Nami. He wrestled Zoro. He slept on top of Jinbei. Anything he could do to distract himself for a little while.

Uta made him think of Shanks. Shanks made him think of his devil fruit. He felt like a wild animal pacing a too small cage. 

He slunk his way into the kitchen, barely looking where he was going, his fingers worrying at the beginning of a fray in the edge of his hat.

Sanji was tenderizing a piece of meat with a mallet when he walked in, cigarette balanced between his lips and eyes intense as he brought the spiked head of the implement down on the meat with a wet thud.

As soon as the door opened, however, he looked up with a grin. "Hey, Captain. Here for—" his brow furrowed slightly though he kept smiling. "You look kinda tense. Want me to make you somethin', Luffy?" 

Luffy pushed his hat back around his shoulders and managed an answering smile for Sanji. "Do you want to make something for me?" he asked hopefully as he sat down on the edge of the table. "You look like you're already busy."

"Hah," Sanji lowered the hammer to lean on the counter. "Nothing time sensitive. Just getting things ready for tonight's dinner. Whatcha want?" 

"Just beating your meat before dinner, huh?" Luffy teased, batting his eyelashes at him. He loved teasing Sanji but it was also a deflection. Bottomless pit Luffy had no idea what he wanted right now.

Sanji snorted, a stream of smoke puffing from his nose. 

"No, Luffy. I'm beating your meat, actually." He leaned on the counter with a smirk "you look down. How about an old favorite?"

Luffy giggled, rocking on the table as he sat cross legged on it. "Sure! Surprise me!"

Old favorite or otherwise, Luffy would eat anything Sanji cooked. He was pretty sure that his cook had never put something in his mouth that wasn't completely delicious.

Sanji chuckled and got to work, putting the hunk of meat back in the icebox before washing his hands and humming a little tune under his breath. "I'm gonna avoid giving you anything too energizing. I've seen you bouncing around the ship today. Like a damn coiled spring, Luffy." 

Luffy stuck his tongue out. "You could give me a beer if you want me to be less energetic. But yeah. I kinda feel like that. Restless."

He'd been getting more and more restless. After the abject, body wrecking depression of his encounter with Shanks had begun to lighten, after hearing that Uta was throwing some kind of a big concert, he was having serious trouble managing 'between time'. Usually he liked just screwing around the ship, but right now it felt like just waiting.

It was only a moment before a mug of beer was clapped down in front of him, followed by another as food began to sizzle behind them. Sanji sat opposite him, and picked up the spare glass of beer with a wink of his visible eye. 

"Drink up, Captain." He took a sip before he said. "You're restless huh? Is it Miss Uta's concert coming up? Too bad we can't just…" He snapped his fingers. "wind up there." 

Luffy smiled and took a long drink from his mug. Even without the beer, being around Sanji always managed to make the world go at least a little soft and fuzzy at the edges.

"You get it! That's exactly what I was thinking. You know I love sailing but– ugh! I just want to be there!"

Sanji laughed. "You and me both, Captain." His grin went a little silly for a moment. "I mean, a once in a lifetime encounter with a goddess of music as beautiful as the lovely Lady Uta?" 

Luffy couldn't help but laugh with him. Sanji got so silly when it came to women, but it was one of his many charms. Even if he was talking about Uta.

"I guess she's kinda pretty anyway. She definitely got taller!" He took another long drink of his beer, thinking back to the short days of their youth together. At the time, it had seemed like it would go on like that forever…

Sanji laughed, leaning back to check the sizzling pan, before he seemed satisfied and sipped his beer with a sly smile. 

"I'd bet, she wasn't that much older than you, was she?" He seemed curious, but was holding himself back—maybe he recognized Luffy's thoughtfulness and was giving him the room to open up, if he wanted. 

He scratched the back of his neck, considering if he wanted to talk about her. Well, if Sanji was interested, maybe he'd have fun talking? He didn't think about her age a lot, but he was vaguely aware that she was older than him.

His nose wrinkled. "She always used to brag about being older. Maybe like a year older? A year and a half?"

Sanji's slightly curled eyebrow arched, and a look of amusement crossed his face as he poured Luffy more beer. "Oh yeah? You two were kinda competitive, huh?" 

"Ooooh yeah," he nodded, and gratefully took another long swig. The good brew was already taking the edge of his restlessness, along with Sanji's company. "She was sooo competitive. Always talking about how she could do anything better than me."

It was annoying sometimes, but it was also fun. Luffy had tended to outpace the other kids of the village easily, in just about any challenge. But Uta had been able to match him, and was actually interested in trying to beat him.

"Anything you can do, I can do better, eh?" Sanji shook his head. "A real rivalry. No wonder you're excited to see her, Luffy. Think she's gonna challenge you?" 

He rocked back and forth on his legs again, thinking about it.

"Probably. Unless she's really changed a lot. It's been a lot longer since I've seen her than–" He broke off as Ace's face flashed through his mind and he pushed it away. "It's been a long time. She could be different."

Sanji's hand reached out to squeeze his shoulder, before he gave him a smile, tapping his cigarette into the ashtray. "She could be, sometimes people change. Sometimes they don't. Either way—should be nice to hear the gal sing and catch up, huh?" 

"Yeah." Luffy nodded firmly. He did want to catch up. He wanted to see her. But more than anything, he wanted to ask her the question that had been on his mind since she left. "And I can finally find out why she went away. I mean. If she'll tell me."

Sanji hummed quietly, before he got up to tend to the skillet. A moment later he flipped the contents and leaned against the counter again with a curious tilt of his head. 

"Why she really left? I take it you didn't get a great explanation back then?" 

Luffy leaned his head in his hands, elbows on his knees as he thought back to that day when the Red Haired Pirates came back without his 'big sister'.

"Shanks said that she wanted to dedicate herself to being a singer." He felt the frown stretch his face as he thought of it. Shanks' hand on his shoulder, the sad look in his eyes. "But Uta never wanted to be anything but a pirate! I don't know why it changed and now—"

Now he didn't even know if Shanks had told him the truth.

"Now you ain't even sure if it's true," Sanji seemed to read his mind again, as he flipped a perfect omelet onto a plate and presented it to Luffy with a serious look on his face. "iI she really gave up on bein' a pirate, or if something happened—or why, if it's true." 

"Yeah." Luffy looked down at the absolutely perfect omelet on his plate. It looked like a picture of an omelet in a book, and it smelled so good. He waited to tear into it just long enough to give Sanji a smile that he hoped showed all the love and appreciation he felt– and then he tore into it like an animal.

"Thank you!" he managed, around bites of egg.

Sanji laughed, settling down opposite him to grab his beer again with a wink. 

"Hey, can't have my Captain thinking on an empty stomach, huh? Sounds like a recipe for disaster. Maybe the cogs in there'd catch fire or somethin'."

His bright, slightly droopy eye watched Luffy with affection as he ate, his smile framed by his smoldering cigarette."We're gonna land soon—and you're gonna get to know her all over again. You'll get your answers."

"Yeah," he nodded thoughtfully, the fork hanging out of his mouth almost in a mirror of Sanji's cigarette for a moment. "If she lets me, I'll introduce you to her."

Sanji grinned widely at him, leaning closer. "Think you could swing me a date?"

"Maaaaybe?" Luffy was suddenly forced to consider if Uta would be interested in dating Sanji. Or dating in general. "Uh. Hm."

His childhood was not full of a lot of pure memories. He realized with a start that he and Uta had never even held hands, as far as he could recall. They were too busy trying to push each other off of things.

Sanji seemed to be staring at him with an expression of increasing amusement. "Careful there, captain. I think that fire's started in yer noggin. You're turning bright red." 

Luffy made a gurgling noise. Caught!! He leaned forward on the table until his head hit Sanji's chest. "I just— last time I saw her I was like, seven. Barely."

Sanji laughed, and Luffy could hear it reverberate along with his heartbeat as he wrapped an arm around him. "Ahhhh—so it ain't been since you were kids. And well—you've both gotten a lot older than that now, aintcha?" 

Luffy nodded, nuzzling his head against Sanji's warm chest, rumpling his handsome suit. "Yeah. we're not little kids any more. Even if she hasn't changed… that has."

Luffy wondered if he had changed. There was no one to ask but Uta. He hoped it wasn't true.

"Heh—" Sanji leaned down to kiss the top of his head. "Well, given how red you've gotten, I've got a guess what's gotcha in a tizzy there." 

He teased playfully, but his arms tightened around him in a squeezing hug. 

Luffy wrapped his arms around Sanji in a tight squeeze. "Hmph! Maybe I was thinking about if I'd want to date her! I never thought about it before."

Sanji's fingers, the hands he used for cooking and showing affection just like this, stroked against Luffy's back as he puffed at his cigarette. 

"Given the time it's been since you've seen her? I'd bet. But hey—things change, you grow up." He chuckled warmly. "Maybe you should give it a shot, if ya wanna. Just put in a good word for ol' Sanji."

"Duh!" Luffy hopped up and grabbed his cigarette away to plant a kiss on him instead.

Sanji flushed red, but kissed him firmly with one arm looped around him. Any reply he had was smothered by Luffy's lips. 

-

Perona was having a normal one. She and her daddy had finally made it back to Cross Guild's base. It was a long trip back, but it was worth it! She'd set out to save her father from that stupid, overly bright vacation island he'd decided to waste away on instead of doing something useful, setting out from Mihawk's castle with Wallace in tow—Mihawk absolutely insisted when she left that she take his trusted butler, a man she'd been enjoying the services of for two years while she watched over Zoro and trained her own devil fruit abilities and haki alongside him.

The trip there had been—ugh, she didn't even want to remember the cramped merchant ships and sneaky stowing away they had to do. Bleh. Ick. The ride back was much, much better. She had her dad, she was making sure he didn't drink anymore overly sugary alcoholic drinks (by drinking them herself), and Wallace gave her all the bagel sandwiches and coffee that she wanted!

All as they made their way towards the start of a new era for the Thriller Bark Pirates among the leaders of Cross Guild, thanks to dear Mihawky's generous invitation! Things were looking up, things were going to be FANTASTIC.

Except now that they'd gotten here, it turned out that the Beast Pirates were also there.

And Wallace and a very pretty man with FANTASTIC fashion sense, like—wow…wasn't he part of that Baroque Works thingie?, were busy trying to keep Moria and Kaidou from starting round two of the apocalypse.

Perona floated around them as she spun her umbrella, contemplating how to break it up. For a moment, she considered sending some negative hollows, a little depression leads to personal growth, you know? 

She was on the verge of trying it just to have something to contribute when she heard a noise from the other room. The distinctive chirping of a transponder snail.

"Hey! Idiots! Don't kill one another while I'm gone!" Perona demanded. "Wallace, Prettyboy, make sure that they behave!"

With that, and a flourish of her giggling hollows, she floated out of the room and into the other room to scoop up its receiver. 

"HelllOOOO Cross Guild speaking! Who d'ya need dead or whatever?" 

A voice barked out of the transceiver. "Bentham? Is that you?"

"WHaaaaaaat?? Geeze, are you deaf or something?" Perona puffed out her cheeks. Betham! That was the pretty guy's name! "Bentham's in the other room!"

She flipped upside down, still holding the receiver up to her lips with a little 'horohorohoro'. "Who's this? And you'd better be someone interesting or I'm hangin' up!" 

There was the sound of hitched breath on the other side of the phone for a moment, which turned into a snarl, which then paused. "... wait just a fucking minute. Is this Perona?"

"Got it in two!" Perona chirped as she kicked her feet. "You're not Mihawk, you're too growly for that—OOOH!! Are you Croccy Woccy?" 

"This is Sir Crocodile, yeah," he snapped back in an exceptionally growly way. "Mihawk'll be glad to know you made the trip but what the hell are you doing in my transponder room?"

"Uhh…" Perona thought that was kind of obvious, wasn't it? Wasn't this Crocodile guy supposed to be a criminal mastermind? Mihawk always talked him up, but like—this was basic deductive reasoning, geeze. "Answering the transponder snail? Duh?" 

There was a silence over the snail for a long moment. "New question. Why didn't someone else answer my transponder snail?"

"Horo horo" said one of her Hollows, and she had to agree with it. This Croccy guy was grumpy as fuck.

"Because they're too busy trying to stop my daddy from getting smushed by Kaidou?" she ventured "I mean, who cares, I answered. Nobody else is here anyway!" 

"Kaidou?! Why's he there? Why is no one else there?! Where's Hancock?!" Perona was getting the sense that Mr. Crocodile's anger and panic might sound the same.

Perona floated upside down in silence for a moment, lips pursed as she twirled her umbrella over her head. With more of Croccy's noises of distress piping in her ear, she finally decided how she wanted to answer.

"I dunno?" she kicked her feet thoughtfully. "I think Miss Hancock went on an expedition or somethin'. I saw it on a spooky note." 

The note wasn't really spooky, but there was just something inherently fun and eerie about notes left in abandoned places. "Kaidou's here 'cause he's Kaidou and nobody told him no? And nobody's here 'cause Miss Hancock ain't here." 

Crocodile sounded exhausted. "Alright Perona, walk me through what the note said."

Perona rubbed her temples. Miss Hancock probably wasn't gonna be super happy with her. But she'd butter her up and smooth it over. Perona was lovable, you know? Even if Crocodile's grumping around was making her wanna find out how to send a Hollow through the transponder snail.

"Alright so it all began when we arrived on Emptee Bluffs Island, my jelly bagel sandwich in hand and my vampire butler close behind…"

[jacynwulfewildmage]

Chapter 6 babeeeeee

This one is Long Baby, there’s a reason I cut 5 out of it.

[katakaluptastrophy]

If we're going to get very technical about it, the population of the Nine Houses is probably more in the 30-40 million mark...

We know the Sixth has three million people, and that the Seventh and Eighth together are around nine million (per Palamedes in NTN chapter 1). So let's say 3-6 million per House, and for all we know the major Houses like the Second, Third, or Fifth could be even larger.

Killing 30-40 million people by deicide-induced solar collapse is not great. But then again, John Gaius murdered 10 billion people with his mind (and a nuclear fission chain reaction...), wiped Mercymorn's memory, and manipulated her into becoming an immortal enforcer of his genocidal fascist theocracy so...

aita for atomizing a man in front of all my coworkers (one is a three year old idk why she’s even allowed to work here)

[arlingtonpark]

SNK 114 Review

Zeke Jeager: Origins! Edition

One of the cool things about this series is that Isayama seems to have a passing interest in sociology. He’s written a series that tries to delve into what makes humans tick and how human interactions work.

I’ve been wary of this series and its potential, rightward leaning politics, but the biggest reason to be hopeful has always been that Isayama has clearly exercised due diligence in researching the sociological aspects he’s writing into the story. 

(This sounds hopeful, but what you’re actually reading is the start of a rant about how awful this story is.)

The story has paralleled the Eldians to Jews, and in ways that seem to have gone over people’s heads. Yes, they live in ghettos and wear starred armbands. But it goes much deeper than that.

Racism has its roots in medieval antisemitism. Medieval Christians hated Jews, and do you know why?

Because they thought Jews were children of the devil.

Medieval Europe had a very religious, predominantly Christian, society, and because Jews do not believe in the divinity of Jesus, they were considered suspect. People believed that they were children of the devil. That they did his bidding and were the enemies of God.

And not only that, but a belief took hold in the popular medieval conscious:

That the Jews murdered Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

This charge of deicide was used to justify antisemitic hate; killing Jesus was considered a stain on all Jews for all time. This parallels how Eldians are hated for the past crimes of the Empire.

Isayama has clearly done some homework. He deserves credit for that.

But I fear something sinister may be going on here.

The parallel between Jews and Eldians appears to work, but it actually doesn’t, and that’s because there’s a very important difference.

How much responsibility Jewish authorities have for Jesus’ crucifixion is debated, but in any event, that responsibility would not carry over to future generations. The Catholic Church has explicitly repudiated this notion. (See section 4, para. 6)

Responsibility for the Eldian Empire’s actions, however, as I have repeatedly said before, does in fact carry over. This is not some controversial notion I’m pushing here. It’s political philosophy 101.

The Empire committed its atrocities in the name of the Eldian people. Thus, there is carry over from the imperial era. This doesn’t justify the hate Eldians get, but calling for reparations does not entail hate. Calling for Jews to account for killing Jesus does entail hate because the charge of deicide is a canard; it’s slander.

In any event, the racism Eldians suffer today makes the crimes of the Empire a moot point. But that’s not what the story is saying. The story is saying that the sins of the father should not be visited upon the son. All well and good, but Isayama compares apples to oranges by drawing this Jewish/Eldian parallel.  

Now, let’s add a third component to the mix.

Isayama has also paralleled the Eldians to Japanese people. Paradis is very obviously an analog to Japan. An island nation asserting itself on the world stage, yet dogged by past crimes? That’s Japan, but it’s also Paradis, and the hatred directed against Paradis cannot be viewed as separate from the hatred directed against Eldians in general, because it’s the same.

“You’re ancestors committed heinous atrocities in the past and that is a stain on you!”

“Also you’re satanic!”

My take is that Isayama is making a political statement about Japan and its relation vis a vis East Asia. Any attempt by Japan to play a bigger role on the world stage is decried by countries like China and South Korea. They think Japan’s assertiveness is a slippery slope; they fear any outward movement portends a return to imperialism.

This is like Paradis. They try to engage in diplomatic relations, but are stymied by the Empire’s past actions. It’s even revealed that the world’s nations use hatred of Eldians to promote internal stability, just as China and South Korea do with Japan.

And of course there’s that scene between Kaya and Gabi. Gabi tries to guilt trip Kaya over her ancestor’s actions, just like how Japanese people are sometimes guilt tripped by China and South Korea.

On a descriptive level, this parallel works, the problem is that it’s in service to a bullshit normative claim. The claim is that contemporary Japanese/Eldians should not be held to account for the actions of their ancestors.

What I’ve said about Eldian responsibility is true for the Japanese as well. Their Empire committed its crimes in their name. The burden is carried by the Japanese people.

Again, this does not justify hate, but that doesn’t mean we can’t talk about reparations or other forms of atonement. It says a lot about Isayama that he refuses to entertain this notion.

But wait! It gets even worse! Brace yourselves, because I’m about to logic bomb your minds.

Try this classic logical set on for size:

A equals B,

B equals C,

Thus, A equals C.

Now try it again with these stand-ins:

A=Jews.

B=Eldians.

C=Japanese people.

If Eldians are meant to parallel Jews, and Eldians are also meant to parallel Japanese people, then that implies a parallel between Jews and Japanese people!

Go ahead, sit back and try to process the implications of this.

Isayama, whether he intends it or not, draws a parallel between antisemitism and modern anti-japanese sentiment by way of the Eldians. Jews are hated for bullshit crimes past and the story seems to be trying to say that Japanese people are in a similar position.

By using Eldians as a stand in for both Jews and Japanese people, he conflates the two. And that’s awful because they’re not comparable. At all. To even entertain the notion that Jews and Japanese people are in the same boat is insulting!

Just what is Isayama trying to imply here? That the plight of modern Japanese people is comparable to f!@#ing antisemitism?

No! Just NO!!

Jews have had pogroms directed against them for centuries. Nothing comparable to that is happening to Japanese people.

The charge that Jews murdered Jesus was based on a single verse in the Gospel of Matthew, which isn’t corroborated by any of the other three gospels.

The charge that the Japanese Empire committed numerous atrocities in the past is supported by voluminous evidence.

The Rape of Nanjing didn’t happen 1,000 years ago. It didn’t happen 500 years ago. It didn’t even happen 100 years ago. 82 years. That’s how long it’s been.

And it isn’t the case that records are unreliable. It’s not even a case of he said, she said.

The New York Times, Reuters, The Associated Press, The Chicago Daily News, and Paramount Pictures all had reporters on the ground and they saw. the whole. thing. This massacre was reported on contemporaneously.

It happened. It was real. It is not a cudgel wielded by bad people to justify oppression.

It speaks volumes that Isayama is happy to have Eldians embody aspects of both antisemitism and anti-Japanese sentiment.

The more I think about this the more awful it becomes!

According to the framework Isayama has constructed, the canards directed at Jews are equivalent to the allegations of war crimes by the Japanese Empire. Does Isayama even understand what he is saying here?

He’s saying the allegation of Japanese war crimes are equivalent to antisemitic slander! That’s bullshit!

We have the receipts.

Japan committed war crimes.

Thank u, next.

The parallel between Jews and Eldians doesn’t work because there is no carryover in culpability for the former. The parallel between Eldians and Japanese people does work on a descriptive level, but it’s in service of a bullshit normative claim.

And the implied parallel between the Jews and the Japanese is despicable.

…You know, I was prompted to think more deeply about this series and racism by that opening sequence, and things kinda got outta hand…

…so, anyway, chapter 114! Yeah, this is supposed to be a review of that. I forgot.

So this is the chapter we finally get Zeke’s backstory. The curtain has lifted. Let’s see what’s behind it.

Grisha truly is a jackass, isn’t he?

He showed no regard for his son. Putting children through military training is abhorrent by itself, but it was obscene of Grisha to pressure Zeke into it.

He pressured a boy to enlist.

It’s incredible that this sentence doesn’t fully capture the repugnancy of what Grisha did. If his plan succeeds, his son’s life will be drastically shortened. In Grisha’s dumbass mind this is a triumph! A ingenious tactic that will redound throughout time!

In every respect, children are not fully developed. Not mentally, nor physically, nor emotionally. Thus, children are dependent on their parents for protection. What Grisha did was an unspeakable dereliction of his parental duty.

He clearly saw Zeke as a tool. Tools wear down and break, but they can be replaced. That is not a mode of thinking you should apply to a human! Grisha didn’t play with him, display any affection outside of Zeke showing progress in his indoctrination.

I mean, FFS, the tool analogy may actually be too kind. There are gearheads who show more affection to their tools than Grisha did to his boy. (Those people are a different kind of weird, though)

But you know what’s especially awful? It’s Grisha’s sheer egomania.

“I know you can become a warrior. […] You’re our boy.”

“You can do it! You’re our child, after all!!”

*Zeke fails* “Dammit! It’s not supposed to be like this!”

Yes! Zeke, you are the product of my loins! You were born from the marriage of your mother’s flesh with my perfect body! *proceeds to explain human reproduction in exquisite detail* So you see, Zeke, you are a slice taken from the golden pie of the Goddess, Ymir! You cannot lose!

Whenever Grisha praises Zeke, he’s not actually praising Zeke. He’s praising himself. Zeke is going to succeed because he has that Jeager DNA in him. What a hypocrite!

If there’s any justice in this world, this will be written on his tombstone:

He pressured his boy to enlist in the military, pursue a goal that would shorten his life, and told him to do it for his race. Grisha cared about the Eldian people over his own flesh and blood. That is what classic nationalism looks like.

But what’s ironic is that the classic example of nationalism run amok belongs to Zeke and Marley. Children ratting out their parents to the secret police is a classic nationalist trope (Warning: disturbing af content) and what Zeke did to his parents is an example of that. Or at least that’s what the Marleyans think.

In reality Zeke did it for self-preservation. It was cold and loveless, but then again, what goes around comes around. Sorry, Grish, (that’s my nickname for him) but what can I say? Life comes at you fast.

But as terrible as Grish is, I don’t think I agree with Mr. Xaver blaming Grish for putting his family in danger. Blame for that belongs with Marley for having such an unjust punishment for treason.

It’s not just you that’s punished. Your whole immediate family goes with you.

I get the point. Targeting the family is meant to discourage would-be rebels. Isayama is probably referencing North Korea with that.

But Grish being so callous in how he rebels is separate from his choice to rebel at all. His family was placed in danger because Marley doesn’t recognize the basic rights that it should, not because of Grish.

Now it makes sense why Zeke cares so much about Mr. Xaver. His father was cold and callous. Zeke walks home and sees the life he doesn’t have: a fun one. One where he plays with his dad. Then this stranger comes into his life and starts giving Zeke just that: play time. Fun. Affection.

Affection! Mr. Xaver compliments him on his talents. He compliments him as talented in his own right; not as a Jeager, but as Zeke Jeager. Did Grisha ever do that?

I don’t think he ever has. In the entire series.

Xaver was the father Zeke never had. And Zeke was the son Xaver never had. Is it hard to imagine Mr. Xaver looking at that same father and son Zeke saw, and feeling the same way?

Of course not. They completed each other. They may as well have been family.

Actually, no, they were family. Zeke trusted him enough to tell him about his parent’s secret. And Mr. Xaver helped Zeke instead of turning him in. This is what unconditional love looks like.

I love the imagery of Mr. Xaver picking up the baseball and it has the blood of his family on it. It was such a poignant and even brilliant metaphor. Mr. Xaver playing catch with Zeke was not as innocent a game as it seemed. It was (metaphorically) a blood-stained affair.

So now we’re at the big reveal.

Zeke’s plan the whole time: kill everyone.

I don’t like it.

Not only that, but this plan is sooo played out at this point.

The first villains of the series were the titans. Their goal? Kill everyone.

Next it was the titan shifters. Their goal (as far as we knew)? Kill Everyone.

Then it was the First King. His goal? Kill everyone.

Then it was Marley. Their goal? Kill all the Eldians.

And now Zeke? It’s to fucking kill all the Eldians!

Why does every villain just want to kill a lot of people?

This is very bad.

It is a travesty that this series has made Zeke a genocidal lunatic because now the door is wide open for this series to make an endorsement of right-wing nationalism. One of the biggest reasons to be hopeful that wouldn’t happen was that it seemed the right-wing nationalists, led by Zeke, would be the final enemy.

That’s gone now.

Now Eren Jeager, right-wing nationalist asshole supreme, is poised to be cast as the hero.

I’ve said before that Isayama uses Eldians, and especially Paradis, as a stand-in for Japan. Well, if that’s true, then the debate that’s been ongoing on Paradis over the Wall Titans can only be read one way: as an analog to the debate, such that it is, over whether Japan should obtain nuclear weapons.

My read on the Wall Titans is that they are an analog to the atomic bomb. They’re described in-story as being a weapon of mass destruction whose power will never be topped. Just as it is with nuclear weapons, once the Wall Titans are deployed, you cannot stop them.

You can only pray that you live.

Colossal Titans in general are associated images of nuclear explosions and their aftermath. Whenever we see what the aftermath of the Wall Titans coming through looks like, we see a flattened terrain. It is eerily reminiscent of the aftermath of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings.

Japan has been able to build atomic bombs for decades now, but has chosen to forego this. Unsurprisingly, obtaining a weapon whose destructive power is popularly measure in Hiroshimas and Nagasakis is not something the Japanese people are keen on.

The Japanese people overwhelmingly oppose the nuclearization of their country. Supporting this is a fringe position that only right-wing nationalists support.

Which is why I say this:

If the final conflict comes down to Eren vs. Zeke, with Eren wanting to use the Wall Titans to defend the Eldians and Zeke wanting to use the Founding Titan to wipe them all out, and the story endorses the former, then that unambiguously places the series on the fringes of Japanese political opinion.

Hell, it would place the series outside the bounds of reasonable debate. Japan nuclearizing would be disastrously stupid. It would enflame regional tensions and could even lead to a nuclear arms race. It would be a travesty for Isayama to endorse that even by accident.

Just as the right-wing nationalists want Japan to nuclearize so they have a deterrent against enemies, it may be the case that SNK ends with Eren using the Wall Titans as a deterrent against Marley. In doing so, the series will be demonstrating the benefits of having weapons of mass destruction.

Except, ya know, WMDs have no benefits.

It wouldn’t surprise me if using the Wall Titans in this way is Eren’s position. While it is true I’ve been assuming Zeke’s plan is to use the Wall Titans, in hindsight, Zeke never actually indicated that.

But you know who was the first one to propose using the Wall Titans?

Eren.

He did it while explaining what he thought Zeke’s plan was, but I bet money that in that moment he was projecting. He wants to use the Wall Titans and he projected his own preferences onto the tabula rasa that was Zeke’s plan.

So that’s the political implications out of the way, but this is to say nothing of the dearth of creativity this is. The villains have been people who want to kill Eldians. How much more of a twist would it have been if the final villain wanted to kill everyone but the Eldians? That would’ve been different.

Zeke’s plan is pure evil. The lives of Eldians is so awful they’re better off dead? Who the fuck is he to decide that!

He has no right. He’s just like his father. Taking people’s destinies for himself and making decisions for them. He tried to avoid becoming like his father, but now he’s essentially Grisha 2.0. He claims to be doing this out of love, but he doesn’t really love the Eldians. This is not a kindness. This is him demonstrating super-Grish levels of egomania.  

Not only is Zeke worse than Grish, he’s worse then King Fritz! Fritz thought Eldians were better off dead, but at least he didn’t actually try to kill them all. Even though he could have. In a very twisted act of kindness, he even took some to live in relative peace on Paradis.

Zeke isn’t having any of that. He’s not interested in singing kumbaya around a campfire, he wants to skip straight to the killing.

Zeke is just done. Fuck that. Dying would be the easy way out. If living in this world is hell for him, then by God, he should be forced to live as long as possible. I’m sure that’ll be eminently possible once someone actually deals with the issue here.

Speaking of death, I wonder if Levi is dead.

Even if he wasn’t mortally wounded by the explosion, he’s not going to be in good shape.

And look at his trajectory. He’s going to land in the river.

The raging river.

The ice cold, raging river.

With open wounds!

And he’ll be disoriented from the explosion on top of being thrown about by the current and the shock from the cold.

This may be too much for him.

…

COMMENCE PRAYER CIRCLE!

[redorblue]

Book 22/2017 - Ride the Storm by Karen Chance

I’m like a month late to the party, but anyway, here goes. I read it twice because I didn’t have time to write about it after the first time (that’s a shame because God have I waited for this book) and I’m glad that I did because I missed so much on the first time through! Like how Artemis is still kinda around and might be back (and Roger, too, I guess, since his soul is still there and that’s enough for a clairvoyant/necromancer like Cassie), and how it was Arthur who really killed Apollo and Ares? I should have known, I always get distracted by the action scenes with these books (although thinking about it, not noticing Arthur’s deicide was probably due to another kind of action^^), so I normally need a reread to catch the finer details. RtS doesn’t feel enough like a standalone book to talk about it in my usual fashion, so I’ll comment on some things I found noticeable instead.

1. Chapter 3, Rosier giving Cassie a pep talk I think the point Rosier is making, basically fake it ‘til you make it, is something Cassie really needed to hear, and something she should remember more often. It’s in every book of the series so far, but in this one it really struck me how negatively Cassie thinks of herself, always telling herself and others how much of a screwup she is, how she never gets anything done and is never able to save anyone. I get where it’s coming from, unfinished business just keeps on piling up in front of her and every time she jumps back to save Pritkin, she’s quite sure it’s her last try - talk about pressure. What she doesn’t notice, and what’s so great about Rosier’s little speech, is that everyone is making do with what they’ve got. We don’t know much about how the bad guys operate, but even the most respected and powerful leaders of the (supposedly) good side like the Consul and Jonas improvise more often than not. They lose people, they are taken by surprise, and they’ve made their fair share of mistakes. Compared to them, Cassie’s track record looks pretty good, and even more so considering her lack of experience, knowledge about the supernatural world, and also authority (although that is finally getting better). So I think it would be good for Cassie if someone else continued in the same vein as Rosier, because in all likelihood she won’t see how well she’s doing herself.

2. Chapter 7, Rhea being heroic This is one of those instances where Rhea acts more like a classical hero, but what I think is really important about her character is that these moments when Rhea turns into a fighter are not (only) what make her admirable for her bravery in Cassie’s eyes, and a great female character from a reader’s perspective. She does have scenes that show her martial side, and those are great, but she’s more of a caretaker than a warrior and thereby fulfills a traditionally female role. She represents a type of womanhood that doesn’t require its role models to know 100 different ways of killing a person but none of making an omelette, be loud and outspoken all the time, only have male friends etc. = features that are generally associated with maleness and inherently superior and more admirable than “girly” ones like knowing how to prepare healthy meals or comfort crying children. This type of womanhood doesn’t force women to become practically male in order to deserve respect, thereby abandoning all her other instincts that make her appear weak because they’re associated with femaleness. It doesn’t assign a gender to certain characteristics, and it doesn’t rank them. Rhea (and also Tami) is a good example for that because while displaying some martial qualities, she is mainly celebrated because of her personal strength and her ability to hold the Pythian Court together. In a universe that has many male characters, and even more from both genders who are respected mainly because they are good fighters, it’s nice to see a diffferent type of a strong female character.

3. Chapter 13, Cassie calling her vamp bodyguards family I knew Cassie cared about her bodyguards, but I think this is the first time she openly calls them family (and does it again later, then including her court and Tami and the Misfits). I don’t think this principle of hers that she can’t care about anyone never truly worked out for her, but in the first few books she kept insisting that it did at some point, and wondering why it didn’t anymore. It’s great to see that she finally abandoned this mantra, and for so many people at that, and it shows how good a leader she is: she feels responsible (even too much sometimes), she gives and inspires unconditional loyalty, and she doesn’t care about people’s backgrounds or species as long as they stay with her. She even offers a war mage a place, although she really didn’t have good experiences with them, because she thinks it’s worth a shot for the protection of her family and because she judges people by their actions instead of their previous allegiances, and only after they joined her group. So it warms my heart to see her calling her bodyguards family, and I hope she gets to spend more time with them and her court now that she doesn’t have to spend all her time in medieval Wales anymore.

4. Chapter 14, Cassie and Caleb arguing This is where she talks about a gulf between her and everybody around her, so the exact opposite of the family thing... yay. I can see Cassie’s point here - she really doesn’t have much help to deal with all the crap that’s flung at her, so I get that she feels like she has to do everything on her own because no one’s going to want to help her anyway, at least not without terms and conditions. But it has me worried for her that she barely seems to notice how she is running herself ragged, and that her death would be about the worst thing that could happen regarding the war. She doesn’t see how important she is, and naturally she doesn’t act accordingly. Of course she couldn’t have just quit the mission to save Pritkin, and finding out about the gods’ weapons was important, but her dying because she is too exhausted doesn’t help anyone either. The bad thing is, I don’t see a solution to this problem, so I’ll just fantasize for a moment and imagine that the next Cassie book starts with her spending two weeks in a remote mountain spa without reception, supernatural or otherwise, so that she can recharge again. She’s definitely earned it, so... pretty please?

5. Chapter 22, Cassie and Pritkin trying to define what they are to each other I miss their banter so much, especially since this book in my opinion was the darkest one so far and mainly consisted of running, fighting and suffering. And I like it that deep down they both think their relationship is of the “It’s complicated” kind (even though baby!Pritkin doesn’t know the half of how complicated it is), but that it’s Cassie who says it first. This book shows Cassie coming to terms with her feelings for Pritkin, and light as this conversation may be, it’s definitely progress from her being deliberately obtuse when it comes to her and Pritkin.

6. Chapter 31, Cassie and Mircea “talking”, part 1 Because that’s the thing: They don’t talk. And it’s not just that he never tells her anything, it’s the same the other way around. It doesn’t show as much because normally, when Mircea asks Cassie a question, there’s a few pages of interior monologue on why she can’t answer his question so that you forget that there was a question in the first place. At least I do. So they both have no idea what the other has been up to for the last few books (no idea how much that was in real time, I’m confused) and the only time they get in touch with each other is when one of them wants something, ideally right now and no questions asked, thank you very much. I certainly don’t think Mircea is without sin, his behaviour especially concerning Cassie is not great (which is why I really want them to break up because this relationship seems to bring out the worst in him) - but I don’t think he’s the only one to blame that it didn’t work out. Communication goes both ways, and with each other, they both suck at it. I had high hopes for this book, I thought they were finally going to break up for good and say out loud that it just didn’t work out, but well... next one, hopefully.

7. Chapter 32, Cassie and Jules talking I liked this chapter because 1. I like Jules, especially this new confident version of him, and 2. because this conversation between Jules and Cassie offers a rare perspective (in the Cassie books) on Mircea by someone who isn’t Cassie, and therefore not tangled up in their mess of a relationship.Not that Jules is entirely objective either, but since he’s human now and not bound to Mircea and the family any more, I think he’s a trustworthy source on how people who are not Cassie view Mircea. According to him, others think of Mircea as quite trustworthy (for a vampire) and also very capable when it comes to strategies for the war. And Jules himself says that Mircea would be sorry and apologize to the baby vamp he accidentally shut up permanently if he realized what had happened.  These snippets show other sides of him - reliability, a sense of honour, experience, a conscience, a disregard for hierarchy etc. - that for me as a self-declared Mircea fan are very refreshing to read.

8. Chapter 49, Cassie and Pritkin talking about “the rival” This is exactly what I want, right here. They are talking. No obvious change of topic, no one disappearing, but a real conversation about real feelings with a real result, uncomfortable as it might be. Thinking about it, (with Cassie) Pritkin is actually much less cagey about personal stuff than Cassie is, although for him she’s finally trying hard to explain herself and be honest. The younger version of him is pretty straightforward anyway, which makes sense because that seems to be one of his basic characteristics and at that stage he didn’t have that much to hide yet. But once the modern him starts trusting Cassie, he’s very honest with her, too - she can ask him pretty much anything and he’ll answer, no matter how painful it might be for him to talk about his past. He even got very close to telling her he loved her, which is huge considering the whole Ruth story. Cassie, in comparison, still has strong flight instincts until pretty much the end of the book - not because of shame, I think, but rather because of habit and a lack of self-worth? I’ll have to think about this. But anyway, that’s why I liked this mini-scene, and that’s why I was so so happy to read that Cassie was the first one to say the three words in the end. First, because it’s a huge step forward for her, and second because I think Pritkin needed that to deal with his own lack of self-worth. And to relax enough to have sex that was hot enough to kill gods. Destroying the god of war with love... How very poetic.

[evilkitten3]

Let’s talk about reviewing fanfics

We gotta do it. More. A lot more. A lot a lot more. I could probably rant about it for ages, but instead, I’ll just go to examples.

Let’s start with my work on AO3 that’s gotten the most hits - BNHA Oneshots. Just a series of oneshots, me writing things for people, and a constant reminder that I have several more prompts in my inbox waiting to be filled (sorry).

Said story has 3342 hits. That’s a lotta hits. It’s also got 140 kudos.

Speaking of kudos, let’s take a look at the story with the highest amount of those - A Complete and Total Lack of Subtlety (both BNHA stories, interestingly enough), with 265 kudos and 2205 hits.

Now let’s take a peek at the story with the highest word count - Deicide (Ha! This one’s Durarara!!), with 63,260 words and 100 kudos. The previous two stories had, respectively, 6,183 words and 1,352 words.

Finally, let’s look at comments! AO3 counts all the comments, including the ones you make in reply and the ones people make in reply to your reply (and so on and so forth). This means that, if you reply to every single comment (which I generally do), you have to cut the amount in half to see how many of the comments aren’t from yourself.

Deicide has 132 comments total, meaning that around 66 of those comments are from people who aren’t me. And because some of those comments are mini conversations, it’s actually an even smaller number. Deicide has 21 chapters, the first of which was posted on FFN (where it has 44 reviews, 63 favs, and 82 follows) way back in December of 2014.

ACaTLoS has 27 comments total (around thirteen not from me) on AO3. On FFN, it has 3 reviews, 28 favs, and 8 follows (despite being a oneshot marked “complete”). 

BNHA Oneshots has 18 comments (9 from other people) on AO3 and 10 reviews on FFN (as well as 9 favs and 14 follows). It has 14 chapters total.

Now let’s move on to the stories I know for a fact that people are most interested in - Ad Nihilum, Things Fall Apart, and Marcidum (Deicide should probably also be one of these, but I already talked about it and few people seem to care too much anymore, including me).

Ad Nihilum has 5 chapters, 15,998 words, 12 comments (6 from other people), 31 kudos, 11 bookmarks, and 327 hits. On FFN, it has 7 reviews, 8 favs, and 14 follows. Which is actually pretty good.

Things Fall Apart has 6 chapters, 19,648 words, 12 comments (again, 6 from other people), 15 kudos, 1 bookmark, and 748 hits. On FFN, it has 17 reviews, 6 favs, and 10 follows. A little disappointing, but not terrible.

Marcidum has 4 chapters, 8,734 words, 38 comments (19 from other people), 100 kudos, 17 bookmarks, and 1003 hits. On FFN, it has 7 reviews, 4 favs, and 4 follows.

Now, realistically speaking, different fandoms are active on different sites. I know for a fact that the BNHA fandom prefers AO3, so it makes more sense that my BNHA stories do better on AO3 than on FFN. Fairy Tail seems to be transferring over to AO3, but most of the fanbase is still on FFN, which is why TFA does better there. Yu-Gi-Oh! and Durarara!! are all over the place, hence why Deicide and Ad Nihilum are split roughly down the middle.

All that said, let’s add everything up.

With these six stories, we have a total of 207 reviews/comments. For 51 chapters containing 115,175 words.

AND YOU WONDER WHY FANFIC WRITERS THINK THEIR WORK IS UNAPPRECIATED.

[delwray-blog]

THE JEWS ARE MURDERERS

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MURDERS? “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:” Rev. 6:9. Who Murdered Jesus Christ? Jesus Christ gave up His life for the very ones that crucified Him. His own brethren! Del Wray Pastor But who actually crucified Jesus Christ and all those who were martyrs? The Apostles accused the Jews and not the Romans for the death of Christ. In the Holy Scriptures, in the Acts of the Apostles (Chapter 2), Saint Peter, addressing his words to the Jews of different lands who were gathered in Jerusalem, where each (after the descent of the Holy Ghost) heard the words of the Apostle in his mother tongue, said: Acts 2: 14, “Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words” vs. 22 “Ye men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by Him, in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know” vs. 23. “Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.” Peter thus clearly lays responsibility for the murder on the entire Jewish people and does not accuse the Romans. Do the clergy, who in such incredible manner assert the contrary, perhaps assume that Peter lied when he said to the Jews who were come from other provinces: “Men of Israel, ye have crucified and slain Him”? In the third chapter of the aforementioned work we find the passage relating to the healing of the man lame from birth: “Acts 3: 11, And as the lame man, which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them, in the porch that is called Solomon’s, greatly wondering vs. 12. And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, ‘ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? Or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?” Vs. 13 The God of Abraham and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified His Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied Him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go vs. 14. But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; and killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses!” In this passage of the New Testament, where the entire people was assembled, Peter upbraids the Jews for having killed Christ. In addition we find in the “Acts of the Apostles” (Chapter 5) a passage where not only Peter, but also the remaining Apostles, categorically accuses the Council of Elders of Israel, which was summoned by the priests, of the death of Christ: Vs. 29 “Then Peter and the other Apostles answered and said, ‘We ought to obey God rather than men” vs. 30. “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.’” We have thus here a common evidence of the Apostles, which accused the Jews and not the Romans, of having killed Christ. If all this will still not suffice, we will quote in addition the evidence of Paul and Stephen, the first martyrs of Christianity. Paul, in his First Epistle to the Thessalonians (Chapter 2), says with reference to the Jews: Vs. 15 “Who both killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have persecuted us, and they please not God and are contrary to all men.” In this verse Paul describes the Jews in convincing manner as “contrary to all men.” This is a truth that can be doubted by no one who has thoroughly studied the mode of thought and the illegal activities of the Jewish people. However, it is very probable that, if Paul had lived today, he would have been condemned as an enemy of the Jews, since he publicly announced a truth that may never be announced to any one, owing to the Jews and their accomplices within the clergy. When, on his side, the martyr Stephen turned to the Jews of the Synagogue of the Freedmen, the Cyreneans, the Alexandrians and then to those of Cilicia and Asia, to Jews from different parts of the world, he said to them in the presence of the high priest the spiritual leader of Israel: Vs. 51 “Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost; as your fathers did, so do ye” vs. 52. Which of the prophets have not your father’s persecuted? And they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One, of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers” The evidence of Stephen thus agrees with that of the Apostles and with that of Paul, when he regards the Jews in general, both those of Jerusalem and the remaining parts of Judaea, as well as those who live in other parts of the world, as a people responsible for deicide. All this is recorded in Holy Scripture, where one does not find a single verse that accuses the Romans of the murder. In short, the preceding revelations of Christ Our Lord, as well as the evidence of the Apostles, including the Apostle Paul, represent an irrefutable proof that the Baptist Church, far from having erred over nineteen centuries, was completely right to regard the Jewish people as murderers of God; whereas to attribute responsibility for the crime to the Romans lacks any foundation. Since this doctrine, which asserts that the Romans and not the Jews were responsible for the murder of our divine Redeemer, stands in contradiction to the evidence of Christ and the Apostles, it is proven in clear manner to be false and even heretical. At first sight, it seems absurd and inexplicable that a group of zealous Christian clergy should be so emboldened to support such an apparent error in our days, which, if it were to prosper, would deny the truth of that which is said in the Holy Gospels, with all its unimaginable consequences. But such godless intrigues are explained, if one bears in mind that the “Synagogue of Satan”, as well as the clergy who stand in its service, are disturbed by the struggle that devout Christians from different parts of the world are conducting against Communism and against its father and instigator, the Jewish striving for power, and that they under all circumstances wish to reform the Church in such a manner as to allow them to use it henceforth as a serviceable tool of the Synagogue, in order to crush Christians who fight heroically against it for the defense of Christendom and its threatened and oppressed nations. In order to attain this, it must in the first place destroy this error. In their indescribable insolence they go so far as to demand the setting up of new doctrines, such as those which represent the Romans and not the Jews as responsible for this despicable murder. As long as Christians continue to regard the Jewish people as the murderers of God, every assertion that has the aim of regarding them as good, holy and untouchable, is condemned to failure. However, the Hebrews fight bitterly to force upon Christianity a false doctrine, which declares them as the beloved, sacred and untouchable of God and then allows them to carry out free and without contradiction all their conspiracies and crimes. The Jews were not only the murderers of Jesus Christ but also the murderers of His Apostles and all the Saints, followers of Jesus Christ down throughout all ages Rev. 6: 9. It is the Khazar, Talmudic, Pharisaic and wealthy Zionist Jews migrated here from Russia who is today the enemies of Christianity and the United States of America.

[writteninbloodblog-blog]

Bloodstock Preview #6 - Body Harvest

Origin: Bristol, UK

Genre: Death Metal

Latest Release: Parasitic Slavery – 2018 (available via https://bodyharvest.bigcartel.com/)

For fans of: Cannibal Corpse/Deicide/Krisiun

The UK’s contribution to the early shaping of death metal is often overlooked, being outnumbered by the plethora of bands coming from the USA as well as Sweden, however Britain has a proud death metal heritage with bands such as Cancer, Bolt Thrower, Benediction and Blasphemer offering some of the genre’s finest releases. 

Coming from the increasingly impressive crop of modern British bands eager to turn back the clocks to the early 90’s of death metal Body Harvest exploded into the radar of every British underground metal fan back in 2012 with an impressive set opening for Exhumed, with their debut album Futile Creation being widely acclaimed by critics and fans alike several years of touring and playing with acts such as Gorguts, Aura Noir and Cerebral Bore.

In 2017 Body Harvest began work on their second album Parasitic Slavery as well as making an appearance at Bristol Deathfest playing with Vader, Immolation and Nadar Sadek. Body Harvest are uncompromisingly an old school death metal band in its purest, no frills chaotic form and stand ready to write their own chapter in the UK’s fine death metal legacy.

Now adding a slot at Bloodstock Open Air 2018 as Metal 2 the Masses Bristol winners to their already impressive rap sheet of shows, Body Harvest will take the New Blood Stage by storm on Saturday 11th August.  

[houstonlocalus-blog]

Green Light: The Best of The Week

Lorde. Photo: Paradigm Agency

  Well, it’s that time of year again, when downtown becomes the backdrop for FPSF. While the likes of Lorde, Solange, and more will all be in town for the festival, that doesn’t mean that it’s the only game in town. Performances from JMSN, Dressy Bessy, and Deicide will all be here as well while locals like Cool Moon, The Cops and more fill in the gaps. Houston, here’s what you should be doing this week.

  On Wednesday you could get started over at Discovery Green for the Party on The Plaza series, this time featuring the music of Nick Gaitan. Gaitan has been the leader of bands like Umbrella Man, as well as bassist for Billy Joe Shaver and most recently Nikki Hill, and he’s a not to be missed act. The jazz infused Latin rock of Nico Diaz will be on hand as opener for the free and all ages show getting started around 5 pm.

  The Cops. Photo: Trie Blair Fulco

  If that’s not your thing then you could head to Walter’s for VHS Night: Cop Night with The Cops. That’s right, a live set from Houston punks The Cops will take place after two cop movies are shown on a big screen. There’s also a VHS swap meet of sorts, free donuts, and more for the all ages event getting going with doors at 7 pm and more information, here.

  Over at Continental Club, the high energy rockabilly of The Delta Bombers will swing by to perform. These guys are known for their crazed live sets, and their latest release The Delta Bombers sounds like a time warped infusion of rock, swing, and rockabilly. The four piece will be playing without a support act for the 21 & up show with doors at 9 pm and a $10 cover.

  Nathan Quick. Photo: Sherita Perez

  Thursday you could begin at Presidio when Houston singer songwriter Nathan Quick will stop by to play on the big patio. Quick has been changing up his sound as of late, returning to a more intimate and bluesy sound with last year’s The Sound. The show gets going around 6 pm, it’s all ages, and it’s 100% FREE.

  There’s something crazy happening at Improv where Val Kilmer will be on hand to introduce his one man play, “Cinema Twain.” I know, that sounds bizarre, but it’s true. Often referred to by many myths, Kilmer has been acting a long time, and this film covering his one man play about Mark Twain should be nothing if not interesting. The one night only event is 18 & up with doors at 6:30 pm and tickets between $30 and $70.

  You might rather head to Nightingale Room when Houston’s Hescher swings by to drop his dark electronica. Hescher is definitely different, but not a stranger to the Houston scene, and while I’ve only heard good things about his live shows, his single “Scarlet Shell” is definitely worth checking out. The electro pop jams of Rex Hudson will open the 100% free show for 21 & up patrons with doors at 7 pm.

    Deicide. Photo: Continental Concerts

  Down at Scout Bar, the heavy and brutal death metal of Deicide will be here to play their scary sounds. The controversial band has been blowing ear drums since the early nineties, they’re pretty intense to see live, and their latest release In The Minds of Evil from four years ago still holds up. There’s no word of openers or direct support, but that should change on the all ages show with doors at 7 pm and tickets between $12 and $17.

  Walter’s will have the anti-racist Oi Skinhead punks, Booze & Glory by to drop a set. These guys have been making London shake for a good while, and they’ve become well known for their crazed energy when they play live. Their mix of rock, punk, and Oi music is pretty impressive, and their latest Chapter IV is London through and through. Houston’s The Velostacks will bring their leather punk on as direct support while the Skinhead hardcore of Houston’s Thug Boots will open the all ages show with doors at 8 pm and tickets between $10 and $12.

  On Friday you can get started with the Summer Breeze festival when it gets kicked off over at Splashtown (the DIY Venue, not the water park). The kickoff party will have some epic performances from the likes of Austin’s Nosferatu, Enemy One, Houston’s Narrow Head, LACE, and more for the all ages show with doors at 7 pm and a $10 cover.  More information is available here.

  Trout Fishing In America. Photo: Don House

  Mucky Duck has the funny antics and fun sounds of Trout Fishing In America over to the intimate venue. The acoustic folk rock duo from Houston has been delighting audiences since the late seventies, and their shows are a mix of funny songs and serious licks. Their newest album, The Strangest Times returns the band to their original duo sound. The 21 & up show has doors at 7 pm and tickets between $25 and $28.

  Rudyard’s will have Houston’s The Dead Rabbits over to perform their blend of Irish folk meets punk. While the band plays in the vein of bands like Flogging Molly, their Celtic punk sounds are pretty fun and full of energy. The bluesy stoner sounds of Stonework will be on as direct support while the punk of The Unconvicted will go on prior. The insane one man band intensity of D. Kosmo will open the 21 & up show with doors at 7 pm and a TBA cover.

  Kimi Kent. Photo: Rachel Lynn Photo

  Over in the Foundation Room at House of Blues, you can catch the folky sounds of Houston’s Kimi Kent and Tyler Lucas. With both backed by a full band, each has a sound that’s worth making it out for. Kent has a more blues pop sound full of lush vocals all over her debut, Wayward Child EP, that really showcases her larger than life sound. Lucas has a more singer songwriter sound that’s impressive as well. The 21 & up show has doors at 8 pm and it’s 100% FREE.

  The Armadillo Palace will host the birthday party for Houston guitar slinger The Mighty Orq when he headlines a set with his backing band The Unusuals. Orq is definitely an act that every person in this town should check out. While his skills on a six string are fairly unmatched, the good time jams from his latest release To The Bone are hard to deny. Deep voiced singer songwriter John Egan will be on hand as direct support and opener, and he’s a guy you shouldn’t sleep on. His latest album, last year’s Magnolia City sounds like it was recorded on the Delta, complete with some guitar that’d make Muddy Waters proud. The 21 & up show has doors at 8 pm and tickets for $10.

  Lil Uzi Vert. Photo: Paradigm Agency

  Things on Saturday could begin with an early morning trip to Eleanor Tinsley Park for this year’s FPSF. Opening with sets from Houston’s Camera Cult and Kay Weathers on different stages, the two day festival has a pretty stacked day one. Performances from Deep Cuts, -Us, Rose Ette, and Khruangbin will fill up the early hours of the festival before sets from Hurray for the Riff Raff, Cashmere Cat and Lil Uzi Vert happen later. The first day of the festival is capped off with performances from Grouplove, Post Malone, Cage The Elephant and more for the all ages event that has gates at 11 am and tickets between $148 and $999.

  If you’d rather keep things on a more grassroots scale, then the Summer Breeze fest over at Walter’s is probably more your thing. With performances from a slew of punk bands, the technically second day of the fest should be a doozy with a headlining performance from Olympia punks Gag. These guys have been called everything from magnetic to hardcore heroes, and tracks like “Locker Room” should give you an idea of their intensity. Sets from Sexpill, The Secret Prostitutes, The Pose and many more will also be on hand. The whole lineup is available here for the all ages show with a $20 cover or two day pass for $30 and doors at 4:30 pm.

  Over at Mucky Duck, the jazz infused Americana of Austin’s Phoebe Hunt will be in town to bring her energy heavy tunes to life. Here to support her newest album which doesn’t get released until the day prior to this show, you can get a feel of her twangy goodness from her last release Walk With Me. The 21 & up show has doors at 7 pm and tickets between $20 and $22.

  JMSN. Photo: Orienteer PR

  Later on at White Oak Music Hall upstairs, the sexy jams of Detroit’s JMSN will swing by to melt hearts with his sultry tunes. Possibly one of the tightest performers I’ve seen in a good while, this guy dropped It Is last year only to follow it up with Whatever Makes You Happy this year, both of which are full of killer tunes. The soulful jams of Quin will be on as direct support, and she is rumored to be amazing to see in person. The R&B of Canada’s alcordo will open the all ages show with doors at 8 pm and tickets for $15.

  Satellite Bar will have the folky electro pop of DC’s Pueblo by to perform. These two make songs that sound like if Dusty Springfield and Air made tracks together. They’ll be here in support of their latest Boring The Camera from this year. Houston’s Alex Riddle will be on as direct support while the folk rock of Grisbee will open the 18 & up show with doors at 8 pm and tickets between $8 and $10.

  On William Street, Terraform will return with another unofficial after FPSF party. This edition will feature sets from BRKCHK, gonner, Kunai, and many more. With sound and lights from Lynchpin Audio and an open bar all night, the event should be a banger from start to finish. The doors are at 9 pm, there’s a $10 cover, with address info and lineup here.

  Charli XCX. Photo: Paradigm Agency

  On Sunday day two of FPSF will get underway with a closing set from New Zealand’s Lorde. The singer songwriter has been turning heads since her dissociative single “Royals” blew up and rocketed her to stardom. Lorde brings a lot to the table, as David Bowie was and the remains of Nirvana are all fans of her work, and with a new album on the horizon, this performance should be full of new songs. That shouldn’t overshadow the fact that Solange will also bring her lovely tunes to the festival, as will The Shins, Portugal The Man, Cheat Codes, and Charli XCX alongside others. The day gets kicked off with early sets from MIEARS, Bang Bangz, The Wheel Workers, Hiram, and Night Drive as well. The all ages event has gates at 11 am and tickets between $148 and $999.

  Discovery Green and Wonky Power will team up to bring you a new concert series called Sundays in The Park. This opening edition will feature the indie rock sounds of Houston’s Vodi. Full of lush tones and energy, Vodi is a great way to chill and get excited at the same time in the Summer sun. The all ages show gets going around 4 pm and it’s 100% FREE.

  You might want to swing by Walter’s for day two of the Summer Breeze fest, as the second day is just as stacked as the first. With a headlining set from Austin d-beat punks Impalers, Houston’s Skourge, Dress Code and more, things should be insane from start to finish. The whole lineup is here for the all ages event with doors at 4:30 pm and a $20 cover, or a $30 two day pass.

  In the studio at Warehouse Live, the hip hop meets pop sounds of San Antonio’s Austin Mahone will be here to drop a set. Mahone makes the kind of songs that stick in your head, while having a personae that he takes to the stage. His latest, For Me+You from last year has gained plenty of steam, and his live show is worth checking out. The R&B of Atlanta’s The YRS will be on as direct support and openers for the all ages show with doors at 6:30 pm and tickets between $25 and $27.50.

  Monday you could head over to The Secret Group to catch a set from Houston rapper Kay Jay. since running through a rough patch that included a little time behind bars, this guy has turned his life around and kind of makes moves that’ll make your head spin. With his latest release Seize The Day, Kay Jay has features with Devin the Dude while his last single with Paul Wall “Live For Today,” hits hard. New Trill will open the all ages show with doors at 7:30 pm and a measly $5 cover.

  Walter’s will be bringing the no frills and straight ahead rock of The Split Squad to town. Featuring members like Clem Burke of Blondie, this five piece makes music that’s reminiscent of the past without sounding dated, and their debut Now Her This… is pretty epic. The highly energetic and fun sounds of Denver’s Dressy Bessy will be on as direct support and their latest Kingsized sounds better live. There’s no word of openers for the all ages show with doors at 8 pm and tickets between $12 and $15.

  Gouge Away. Photo: Zack Rogers

  Tuesday you can head to The White Swan to catch Florida’s Gouge Away. Possibly one the most impressive sets I’ve seen from a direct support band before, their last time in Houston opening for Ceremony was amazing. Their newest release, Swallow is hardcore greatness, and their intense show is worth making it out for. Houston’s History Repeats will be on as direct support with Shallow going on beforehand. Things get opened up by DAZE for the all ages show with doors at 8 pm and and $8 cover.

  Over at Walter’s the sunny bedroom pop of New York’s Adult Mom will swing by to perform. With critical acclaim and a rumored energetic show, this four piece should be worth making it out for. It doesn’t hurt that their latest release, this year’s Soft Spots is catchy and fun. The indie pop of Philadelphia’s Free Cake For Every Creature will be on as direct support while the energetic indie rock of Houston’s Cool Moon will go on beforehand. Things will get opened by the indie folk of Greg Cote & the Real Life Friends for the all ages show with a $10 cover and doors at 8 pm.

  That’s about all that’s happening this week. No matter what you decide to do, please be mindful of others and remember that a safe ride home is just an app away.

Green Light: The Best of The Week this is a repost

[darkdevasofdestruction]

Deicide - Kratos Love Story (God of War) ~ On Going

Summary:

The Sisters of Fate are wrong. Eros is wrong. Anteros is wrong. The Pantheon is wrong. The whole world is wrong. She was not to be taken lightly, nor forgotten, for the quietest ones always prevail, in the end, and all her gambles will pay off, some day - Even if that means waiting for three whole eternities - Only the skies knew, Gods had more time at hand than they needed. Life was to be cherished, happiness, to be embraced, and love, to be treasured. If only those damned Muses would stop singing her songs of tragedy, loss and heartbreak. She will find him, one day - Mayhaps, he wasn't even born yet, or maybe, he has yet to be reincarnated... But her soulmate will step foot into this world, and this Goddess was going to welcome him with an open heart, and a long-awaited embrace. Until then... May the hymn of the forest ring far and wide amongst the leaves and petals dancing in the lonely breeze.

Chapter 1 -  The Marked Warrior Chapter 2 - Call Out My Name Chapter 3 - The Final Task  Chapter 4 - Kinslayer  Chapter 5 - The Truth Revealed Chapter 6 - Death To All Who Oppose Us Chapter 7 - Patricide Chapter 8 - Frozen Heart Chapter 9 - Witch's House

[pamphletstoinspire]

THE HOLY GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST, ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW from the Latin Vulgate Bible

Chapter 24 - Part 2:

4. And Jesus answering, said to them: Take heed that no man seduce you:

Ver. 4. And Jesus answering. Various are the interpretations given here. Some will have it refer to the destruction of Jerusalem, which took place, A.D. 70; and others, to the end of the world. That of St. Chrysostom seems to be very conformable to the context, and is followed by many. He explains all, to the 23d verse exclusively, of what shall precede the destruction of Jerusalem; nor is there any circumstance which cannot easily be referred to that event, as will appear from a careful and attentive observation of the history of the Jews, and of the Church at that time, in the writings of Josephus and Eusebius. Even the preaching of the gospel to the whole world, which seems to favour the contrary explanation, is by the same father said to have taken place before the destruction of Jerusalem. St. Paul tells the Colossians, that even in his time the faith was spread all over the world. The abomination of desolation may be explained of the Roman soldiery, or, of the seditious zealots, who, by their murders and other atrocities, polluted the temple. See Josephus, b. 4. and 5. of the Jewish war. As deicide was a crime peculiar to the Jews and exceeded every other crime, their punishment was severe above measure. Had the Almighty punished them to the full of what they had deserved, not one of the Jews would have escaped. But as he formerly would have spared Sodom and Gomorrha, had there been found therein ten just men to avert the impending ruin; so shall these days of affliction be shortened for the sake of some who believe. The verses subsequent to the 22d, are explained by St. Chrysostom of the second coming of Christ, previous to the general judgment. (Jansenius) --- Such as wish for a more particular explanation of every thing preceding the 23d verse, how it applies to the Jews, may consult the concordance of Jansenius, who thus concludes his observations: "Hitherto we have explained all things of the destruction of Jerusalem, which prophecies, though they principally regarded the times of the apostles, may be of use to us in two ways. 1. It will confirm our faith, when we see clearly fulfilled whatever was distinctly foretold of this people; and may serve to increase our fears, when we reflect, that what is immediately added concerning the day of judgment, shall be fulfilled with the same rigorous exactitude and certainty. It is another effect of divine Providence for the increase of our faith, that this prophecy, which was to take place with regard to Jerusalem, is not mentioned by St. John, who lived long enough to see it accomplished, but by the other evangelists, who died long before the event. 2. It should animate us in the practice of virtue, and gratitude to reflect, that whatever tribulations happen to the Church, or throughout the earth, all co-operate to the advantage of the elect. Such as will be good, have nothing to fear." (Jansenius)

5. For many will come in my name saying, I am Christ: and they will seduce many.

Ver. 5. For many will come. One of these was Simon Magus, who in the Acts (chap. viii. ver. 10.) is mentioned as calling himself the power of God; hence the apostle St. John (1 John ii. 18,) says, and as you have heard that Antichrist cometh, even now there are become many Antichrists. By Antichrists I understand heretics, who, under the name of Christ, teach doctrines different from Christ; neither is there any reason for us to be surprised, if many be seduced, since our Lord declares that many will be seduced. (St. Jerome) ... This alone will be sufficient for us to know the false doctrines taught by Antichrist, when they assure us that they are Christ; for we do not read in any part that Christ said so of himself. The miracles he performed, the doctrines he taught, and the virtues he on every occasion exhibited, were proofs sufficient to convince us that he was the Christ. There is need of the assistance of God to overcome the snares laid for us by hypocrisy. (Origen) --- Among these impostors were one Theodas, (Acts v. 36,) the impious Egyptian, (Acts xxi. 38,) Judas of Galilee, Menander, and several others who preceded the destruction of Jerusalem; but many more will precede the destruction of the world. This therefore is the first sign, the seduction of many souls from the true faith by heresies, and is common to both events. (Jansenius) --- See much more in Barradius, tom. iii. lib. 9, chap. 2, where he collects various illustrations from Josephus and profane authors. (Menochius)

6. And you shall hear of wars, and rumours of wars. See that ye be not troubled. For these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

Ver. 6. Shall hear of wars. Most authors understand this second sign of the Jewish wars which preceded the ruin of Jerusalem; others of the wars of Antichrist, previous to the end of the world. Both are very probable. The first is proved from history, and from the events; the latter, from what we learn from the Apocalypse, will certainly happen. (Menochius) --- These things must happen, as is said of scandals and heresies, not absolutely, but considering the malice of man, and the decree of God, by which he had determined to punish the Jews. (Maldonatus)

7. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be pestilences, and famines, and earthquakes in places.

Ver. 7. And there shall be, according to the proverb, loimos meta limon, plague after famine, both natural daughters of war, with intestine divisions, earthquakes, and other calamities; the third sign. ... As the bodies of men generally grow weak and faint previously to dissolution, so will it be with the earth before the destruction of the world; so that this inferior globe will be shaken with unusual convulsions, as if making its last effort for existence. The air filled with destructive vapours will turn to the ruin of men, and the earth exhausted of its natural fertility, will refuse its accustomed support to the sons of Adam. Hence will arise wars and famines, insurrections, rebellions, and mobs; some driven on by famine and want, others by ambition and avarice. But if the corrupted heart of man shall refuse to depart from its evil ways, these calamities shall be increased; for all these are only the beginnings of more dreadful sorrows. (Origen)

8. Now all these are the beginnings of sorrows.

Ver. 8. No explanation given.

[evilkitten3]

Hey guys

Not sure how many of you read my Fairy Tail stories, but this is an announcement about that, so if you might wanna listen up if you’re interested.

I have been thinking about ceasing to write for Fairy Tail. As much fun as it’s been to work on stories like “Things Fall Apart”, it’s still just that - work. In high school, I was driven to school by someone else up until my senior year, and thus had plenty of free time. In senior year, I had to drive myself, but I’ve since regained some of that time thanks to public transportation.

And back then, it was worth it to devote time and energy into doing something that I loved to create something that other people loved. It was fun. But... lately, it’s not as entertaining - sometimes, it’s even a bit stressful.

The two things that motivate me to write fanfiction are canon itself and feedback. As many fans of the series have noticed, Fairy Tail has begun to drop in quality lately, and I no longer feel the same passion for it that I once did. In addition, most people tend not to leave any feedback. Most people on Tumblr don’t reblog fanfics, so I don’t think there’s anything to be done about that, but AO3 and FFN are a bit different.

“Things Fall Apart” has 650 hits on AO3. Out of those 650 readers, 14 left kudos. Obviously, I assume some people took a look at the story and decided it wasn’t for them, which is fine. But there are still only 12 comments - actually, since I respond to every comment I get, there are really only six. That’s one comment per chapter, assuming nobody responds to my responses.

Compare that to my BNHA fic, “Marcidum”, which has 893 hits, 93 kudos, 16 bookmarks (only one for TFA), and 38 comments (which, if you don’t count my replies, is actually 19 comments). For four chapters. It’s... a big difference.

But fewer people know about AO3 than FFN, right? Well, yeah. I generally get a better reception for my FT stories on FFN than on AO3. But TFA still only has 17 reviews, 6 follows, and 10 faves. That’s... not much. Mind you, the first chapter of TFA came out in April of last year, so the story hasn’t been around for nearly as long as some others (my Durarara!! fanfic “Deicide” began over two years ago and is easily my most popular story on either site).

I’m not asking you to rush to my stories and leave as many reviews as possible (please don’t, actually - that’s even less helpful. You’d just be dumping a bunch of pressure on me and the rush would disappear pretty quickly anyway, so I’d just end up getting stressed about it), nor am I going to stop writing for Fairy Tail just yet. What I’m saying is this: next time you’re reading a fanfic - mine or anyone else’s - stop before going to the next chapter. Think to yourself, “is there anything I can say about this chapter” or “is there any way to express what I thought”. If the answer is “yes”, DO IT. Because sometimes? Canon isn’t enough to keep a writer going. This has been a desperate plea for validation fanfic PSA.