Scene 1
"A Kunlun?"
Watching as the whale I had been swimming next to suddenly opened its jaws and devoured a leviathan in one bite before blasting out of the Sea. Its massive body twisting through the sky as if the ocean itself had thrown a mountain upward. Water falling from its scales like rain as the pressure of its presence alone sent the surrounding sea beasts scattering.
"Sweet. Neres, record it as my Divine Beast. How one got here is a mystery, but it's my Divine Beast now."
Maintaining my long dragon form of inky black scales as I shot after it. My body cutting through the Sea before spiraling upward to wrap around the Mid level Minor God ranked beast while it still considered me a water based predator. Catching it off guard in the split second where instinct failed it. My coils locking around its body as it thrashed hard enough to split clouds and send waves crashing across distant islands.
Yet the more it fought.
The tighter I squeezed.
Forcing it into submission in a manner even Poseidon's Court would see as legitimate. To take possession of a beast form capable of being classed as a natural disaster wasn't theft. Not in the Sea. Not when the beast itself answered to power. Only the weak cried theft when they lacked the strength to hold onto what was theirs.
"So how long will you keep it as a mount? Oceanus will be upset if he finds out one of his Divine Beasts has been taken."
Neres spoke without a single ounce of emotion as he drifted nearby. His gaze not on me, but on the soul of the beast itself. No doubt already confirming the brand hidden beneath its spirit.
"As long as I want."
Tightening my body around the beast once more before driving it back down toward the Sea.
"I don't mind trading a favor to Nyx to secure my hunts. Thankfully I decided to journey into Poseidon's territory to test his reaction. If he wants something in return, I'll gift him apples."
Hearing Neres go silent behind me as if trying to process whether I was joking or not.
I wasn't.
Dragging the beast down onto a lone island as I returned to a more humanoid shape and placed my palm against its skull. My Divinity flooding into it in a violent surge. Burning away the soul brand left by Oceanus before carving my own motif into the hollowed place it once occupied.
A Black Sun.
The beast screamed.
Its body convulsing as the will inside it buckled and reshaped around mine. The island trembling under its cry as trees collapsed and smaller creatures fled into the waters.
"Quiet."
Pressing harder.
"Your last owner wasn't strong enough to stop me. So stop embarrassing yourself."
Feeling its resistance shatter completely before forcing it asleep to recover from the shock method. Better that way. Fear and awe lasted longer when the mind awoke with no answer besides the memory of defeat.
"We're almost in the western region. Once we arrive, we'll be by ourselves without any eyes watching over us."
Nodding as I looked out over the sea.
That wasn't true.
Not fully.
There were always eyes.
Poseidon's.
Pontus's.
Oceanus if he noticed in time.
And things older than all three that still listened whenever the Sea changed its breathing.
Yet Neres was right in one sense.
The western region was where open supervision ended and older things began pretending not to care.
Smiling faintly as I sat atop my newly sleeping Divine Beast.
"Good. I was getting tired of behaving."
Scene 2
"Yes. We come from Lord Poseidon's Court. The owner of the world you live in. The Sea you breathe. The King of Sea Beasts and Merfolk."
Glancing to Neres as a small smile tugged at the edge of his face. Rare enough that I nearly laughed. Watching as the merman tribe in front of us bowed so low their foreheads pressed into the stone floor of the coral hall. Another tribe fooled into believing Uncle Poseidon had sent out emissaries to verify the loyalty of his mortal subjects.
Not that the lie lacked value.
If anything, it was making them better.
"If our Lord demands fruits each year, then we will strive to be loyal subjects. With your five laws of worship, we will never again be disloyal servants incapable of answering his request for anything."
Nodding my head slowly as the elderly merman bowed deeper. His voice trembling with a mix of fear, shame, and the kind of devotion mortals always gained when given something simple enough to follow.
Behind him five men carried tablets of gold.
My tablets.
Seeded throughout the Sea.
Each etched with laws of storage, tribute, preservation, and worship. Each one carrying CuelJuris's name as the Divine Recorder of the End, labeled as the creator so the image would settle before the man himself needed to arrive.
"Yes. From each hunt or gathering, set aside one piece. Build storage for the days when the Sea gives nothing. A full storehouse honors your Lord more than desperate begging during famine."
Watching them listen with fanatical focus.
"And more importantly. Worship your Lord properly. Even growing storage space is a better tribute than an empty chamber. Poseidon doesn't need your excuses. He needs proof you can survive beneath him."
Neres coughed into his hand.
Poorly hiding the amusement.
Maintaining CuelJuris's attitude so I didn't ruin his image. Straight backed. Calm. Slightly colder than necessary. Enough to make the old merman think he stood before a recorder of sins rather than a bored traveler passing time by rewriting local economics.
The old merman nodded so hard I thought his neck might snap.
"It shall be done. We have already begun carving out a second storage basin. We will dedicate the first fruits of the season, the first fish of each hunt, and the first shell of each gather to Lord Poseidon's grace."
"Good."
Extending my hand as one of the younger men hurried forward and placed the newest tablet into it with both hands as if handing over a sacred relic.
It was funny.
Because it was sacred.
Just not to the person they thought.
"Spread copies to the neighboring tribes. Let none of them say they were not taught before the hungry days came."
"Yes, emissary."
Looking down at the gold tablet before glancing toward the ceiling of the underwater hall.
I could feel them.
Everyone above Titan level watching.
Watching the spread of these tablets.
Watching me borrow Poseidon's prestige.
Watching CuelJuris's name take root in places he had never stepped foot in.
And none of them had moved to stop it.
Which meant they had all retrieved copies for themselves already.
Good.
That saved me the effort of making more.
Handing the tablet back as I rose.
"Continue. Next time we return, I'll inspect the storage myself. Failure will be remembered."
The entire tribe shivered.
As Neres and I turned to leave, I finally let out the laugh I had been holding.
"You enjoy this too much."
Neres's voice was flat as always.
"Of course I do. Imagine how offended Uncle Poseidon will be when he realizes I improved his mortals."
That earned me a real look from him.
"And if he isn't offended?"
Smiling as we stepped back into the dark waters.
"Then I'll know I picked the right sea."
Scene 3
"So there's another one of you brats."
Glancing up as I finally stabilized the Crown of Hell. My eyes landing on a blue haired man with an equally vibrant beard holding a trident. His presence carried none of the aggression lesser sea gods would have clung to in a place like this. Only age. Ownership. And the kind of relaxed danger only someone who had already ruled too long could manage.
"Yes, Uncle Poseidon. There are two of us born from the union of Hades and Persephone."
Turning a page in my book before focusing once more on the snake coiled among the incubating Devils.
"Just like you nudged the birth of the four Satans."
The four marks branded into them pulsed weakly.
Different signatures.
Different God-Kings.
All of them collapsing more and more the stronger these four grew. Their plans had already failed the moment Zeus refused to surrender the Earth Crown. Now all that remained were fragments of old intent, hanging from beings no longer interested in obeying.
"To say Hades has produced the highest level of miracles would be disrespectful to what he sacrificed to produce it. Wouldn't you say so, nephew?"
Nodding my head once.
The truth was far scarier than that.
For someone to even consider the path Father took…
Madness wasn't enough of a word.
"Yet you are also the least Divine looking out of our bloodline."
My eyes lifted slightly as he stepped closer.
"Quite the interesting duo. One appears mortal yet is steeped in madness from that Book. While the other breaks everyone's mind with actions akin to madness."
Staying quiet as he pieced together his own opinion.
No use interrupting an elder when he was amusing himself by finding the truth.
He summoned a throne beside me and took a seat rather than above me.
That alone said enough.
He had not come here to test me.
He had come to talk.
"To think Hades, of all our brothers, would leave behind something like this."
His gaze drifted to the Crown. To the incubating devils. To the walls of Hell stabilizing under my influence.
"People always mistake emptiness for failure. Your father was never empty. He was starved. There's a difference."
Writing that line down without looking at him.
A useful truth.
One worth preserving.
"The Sea remembers debt better than Olympus remembers sacrifice," he continued. "Which is why most of them still fail to understand what he paid."
Turning the page again.
"And what do you understand, Uncle?"
A smile tugged at his mouth.
"That suffering accepted willingly can produce greater miracles than power stolen easily."
The cries of the Satans rose around us.
Hungry.
Angry.
Still half-born.
Neither of us looked at them.
Poseidon rested the trident against his throne as if he had all the time in the world.
"Let us discuss the truths of the Sea, my mad nephew."
Nodding as I dipped my pen again.
"Then let us talk, my distant Uncle."
Ignoring the screams around us as the conversation began.
Scene 4
"Asteria, send out Hecate to retrieve Neres. You'll be in charge of training him in the usage of Stellar Laws since they follow a different concept from Earth Laws."
Watching the conversation between Juris and Poseidon through the shadows and the shifting waters reflected within them. Their discussion moving exactly where it needed to. The Sea was giving answers easier than Olympus ever would, which made sense.
The Sea had always been better at memory than the Sky.
No doubt an influence from my mother's recent centuries of traveling to aid the losers of the last war with Chronos. Quietly nudging key fate-breaking moments through me and my sons while leaving enough distance to claim innocence.
"She will depart and watch over the Young Lord. Only he can travel into Hyperion's vault as a Sun. Hecate will bring him back after ensuring Neres reaches the proper standard."
Nodding as Asteria accepted the order without question.
Pulling out the StellarHeart before splitting it in two. Passing one half to her while sending the other half toward Aeon.
"Study the laws inside them. Once the World Seed is planted, we'll begin construction of the pseudo four realms within the Dark Sun."
Receiving a nod from both the God and Titan as my Big Four moved at once.
Each of them already understanding their roles.
Each supporting one realm.
While Eris held all of them together through my Seal of Darkness that Juris had sent back.
A kingdom did not begin with walls.
It began with roles.
With tension.
With pieces that could remain themselves while still answering a center.
Closing my eyes as I felt the increased amount of Faith being funneled toward me from the Sea.
Because of Ten.
Because of the tablets.
Because mortals always mistook the hand of one brother for another when the power felt heavy enough.
I could keep it.
Should keep it by simpler logic.
Instead I shifted its alignment and sent it back toward Poseidon.
Aiming to stabilize his wounds the same way I had stabilized my own.
"Let the Sea heal him first."
The words left me quietly.
Not mercy.
Not charity.
Only balance.
A wounded brother was still a brother.
And a debt remembered by the Sea was worth more than applause from Olympus.
Scene 5
"Thanatos. Morpheus. Even Fatí."
Glancing around before focusing on the newly regrowing grotto as I found myself locked inside a triangle formed by three of Hades's Big Four. The land itself still looked young. Half-restored. Half-concealed. As if it had not yet decided whether it belonged to the world or the Underworld.
"Prometheus."
Thanatos spoke my name like a statement rather than a greeting. His crow perched on his shoulder, black eyes fixed on me with more hostility than the master it served.
"Do I need to say anything? Or do you understand the message?"
Focusing on Fatí instead.
Because if Fate had moved them.
Then Fate was angry.
Or afraid.
"If he's moving you, then Fate is truly upset at something… or someone."
Raising my hands slowly as Thanatos's crow morphed in an instant. Feathers hardening into a spear already pressed against my neck before the last black strand even finished shifting.
Fast.
Clean.
A warning more than an attack.
"Relax."
Keeping my voice level as the spear dug in just enough to let me feel the point.
"Zeus and I are on the outs since Chronos fell… or played his role in Fate."
Watching the slightest shift in Morpheus's eyes.
Interesting.
So even that wording still mattered.
"I'll leave."
A pause.
"But answer me this. Angel of Death—"
Stopping myself.
No.
That title no longer fit.
His presence had changed too much. His center had changed too much.
"Would it be better now to call your domain the End?"
Feeling the spear dig a little deeper into my neck as Thanatos remained silent.
That silence was answer enough.
Sighing at the loss.
At the realization that I had come too late to retrieve the four End-class beings with mortal souls injected by Uranus's design. Too late to touch the board before Hades and his children had begun locking the paths around it.
Turning away before the moment stretched further.
Because none of us were foolish enough to start the war we were all waiting for.
Not here.
Not yet.
And certainly not over a warning all of us understood.
So I left.
With the taste of failure in my mouth.
And the certainty that the West had already begun changing faster than Olympus realized.