"What did you do with my friend?" Jack demanded, standing on Janus' back while holding his scythe blade just under his neck.

Despite the fact that he was an instant from death, Janus laughed hysterically. Jack snarled and channeled his lightning through his weapon. Blue lightning bolts travelled down the staff and into the blade, where it arced out to zap Janus' neck.

"So help me if the next word out of your mouth isn't the location of my friend, your head will roll" Jack warned seriously.

Janus never lost his smile, but he did take a moment to consider the answer.

"Olympus" he said after a few seconds. Jack's heart skipped a beat. He was finally getting the answer that he desperately wanted.

"You sent him to a mountain in Greece?" Jack asked with narrowed eyes.

Janus' hoarse voice rang with laughter once again.

"No. The planet Olympus" he cackled.

Jack was starting to worry that he knew what Janus meant. He looked to the ancient gate in the room with the incredibly intricate fractal scripts carved into it.

"We made a deal" Jack reminded him. "You promised to tell me what I wanted to know if I defeated you. Well, it's time to pay up."

He couldn't see Janus' face, but Jack could feel defiance in his presence with his mind's eye. He pulled the lightning covered scythe back until it touched the madman's neck and drew blood.

"You are right" Janus finally relented. "But to understand what happened to your friend, you need to know who we are."

"The Roman gods of doors and hunting right?" Jack asked with contempt.

"Actually, this story dates back to ancient Greece" Janus revealed. "When the Earth was still full of qi. The Greek empire was dominated by a martial sect headquartered on a mountain named Olympus."

"You're talking about the Greek gods now aren't you?" Jack would never admit this, but he couldn't help but be interested.

"They were not gods back then. Just the most advanced and powerful warriors that this world has ever produced. The common people worshipped them as gods because of their abilities with qi. The patriarch of this sect, was a man named Zeus."

As soon as Janus said the name Zeus, Jack could feel Zachias' extreme shock. Jack got the sense that Zachias would have gasped if he were there in the flesh. Obviously, he recognized that name.

"Zeus and his sect of warriors grew so powerful that Earth could no longer support their advancement. They had absorbed so much of the world's qi that the planet became almost barren. The Olympic sect was forced to seek new opportunities in the greater universe.

"Eventually, Zeus found a new qi-rich planet to move his sect to, and he commissioned the building of this very gate" Janus said gesturing to the stone arch on top of the pedestal. "His brightest general, a man named Chronos, built this spatial-doorway and they were able to transfer their sect to the new planet that they would name Olympus after the mountain from which they originated."

Jack took all of this information in with a sense of awe. He wondered how many other people from Earth had ever heard this story. He had always wondered how the Greek religion lasted for so long in the ancient world when their ‘gods’ were said to live in one specific place in the world. All they would have had to do was climb one mountain to see if their gods actually lived there.

But if the Greek pantheon was an actual group of people, that would explain it.

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"So you and Diana were part of this sect?" Jack asked.

"When the Olympic sect went to conquer this new planet, they feared that they might fail. A few members were left behind to make sure that the door was ready in case they ever needed to retreat" Janus interrupted himself with laughter before he continued.

"They told us that it was an honor. That I was being entrusted with the Key of Chronos, and I had the most important job of all" his hoarse voice was growing bitter.

"So that is why there was no version of Janus in the Greek religion" Jack said. "You only got the chance to spread your own legend after the Greek rule was already over."

Janus reached into his left pocket and pulled out a key the size of his hand. This key was the same grey colored stone as the doorway, and it had a similar fractal pattern carved into it.

As he looked at the key, Jack's neck hair stood up on its end the same as when he took in the stone doorway. Jack could feel a sense of interest from Zachias.

Afraid that he was about to try something, Jack held the scythe tighter to Janus' neck. However, Janus only pulled the big key out of his pocket and threw it on the ground in front of him where it rattled to a stop on the white marble floor.

"For thousands of years, we have watched over the door. Living on this planet that barely held enough qi to sustain our lives, let alone our paths, while our sect conquered worlds and became a true pantheon."

Jack might have felt empathy for the insane man, but there was one thing that he just couldn't get past.

"Even if this is true, what does it have to do with Arthur?" Jack couldn't feel for the people that had taken his friend.

"Your friend was strong. It would have been a waste to kill him. So we sent him to Olympus to fight for the pantheon" Janus explained.

"You enslaved him" Jack was furious.

The hoarse voice broke into laughter again, angering Jack more.

"You should be thanking me" Janus claimed. "Your friend will be given the chance to earn glory, to advance, to train with the best."

It took every bit of self control Jack had to not take Janus' head right there on the spot.

"How do I get him back?" Jack asked, and predictably, Janus cackled.

"You think you can go to Olympus and take your friend back by force?" Janus' condescending amusement made Jack clench his jaw. "A pathetic mortal who believes he can defy the gods?"

"Yeah, well, this pathetic mortal has a blade to your throat you pimp cosplaying mark ass mark. I’m about to shut that mouth permanently if it doesn't tell me how to save to my friend" Jack said coldly.

"You believe I am afraid of death?" Janus croaked. "Do you know how many times I have conquered this world? Rome was built on my word. The British Empire, the Continental Congress, I created the world that you were born into boy."

After he finished posturing, Janus pointed to the large stone key that he had dropped with the complicated fractal scripts on it.

"This key will open the door for you" Janus croaked. "But if you follow through the same door as your friend, you will have a collar around your neck before you can blink."

"The same door?" Jack asked, looking at the stone arch. "Is there another one around here?"

"No, that is the only door to Olympus on this planet" Janus explained. "But there are multiple locations that you can travel to. We sent your friend to the door located in the city of Nyx, but if you arrive there, you will be immediately enslaved."

"Well then, oh mighty god of gates and doors" Jack said sarcastically. "Which one should I go through?"

Instead of getting angry, Janus merely considered his answer.

"The first door" he said after a moment. "It is the only one that is not currently attended. It was abandoned soon after the great cities of Olympus were built with their own artifact doorways."

“Do you think he is telling the truth?” Jack asked Zachias in his head. He could tell that the big blue warrior was paying close attention to the conversation.

“Yes” Zachias answered quickly. “Janus may be insane, but he is also a true warrior. He would not lie after making a deal like that.”

Without realizing it, Jack was beginning to take his word more seriously. It would have been impossible not to respect him a little bit more after Zachias showing him how to win that fight. Jack may not like him, but it was becoming clear that Zachias had a truly humbling amount of knowledge and experience.

“What do you think I should do with him?” Jack thought to Zachias.

“You know what you need to do.”

Janus seemed to be thinking along the same lines.

"Is that it then?" Janus asked hoarsely. "Because I am tired of looking at this floor."

Zachias was right and Jack knew it. More than that, Jack was still furious about what they had done to Arthur. But most of all, he knew that sparing Janus' life would be something that put his entire family in danger, and that was a risk he would never take.

"Goodbye Janus. I won’t forget you." he said solemnly and pulled back on the scythe, reaping the life of a man that had lived for thousands of years. His head rolled over and Jack saw that Janus had died with a smile on his face.

As soon as he was dead, Zachias projected himself to stand in front of Jack. His massive arms were crossed over his white armor and his light blue face was grim.

"And so begins your war with gods."