(2 months ago) (Olympus) (around the time Starfire leaves the dimension.)

In the hall of the gods, housing 12 thrones that were the Symbol of each of the Greek god's immense power, silence dominated. Zeus had a stormy expression on his face. By his side was the Queen of the gods, her brows set in a perpetual sneer as she cast a ridiculing look her Husband's way.

"Hermes, how confident are you in your report?"

Zeus bit out, his fingers digging into the stone of his throne. Streaks of golden lightning danced across his beard and an aura of barely restrained power hummed in the air. It had all started when, the Fates had given a prophecy.

A prophecy that spelt of an uncertain future for the Olympians. Zeus had sent Hermes to find out what the cause could be. The initial thought had been an attack from the other pantheons or one of the children of the big three, scheming against their parents. Time and time again had shown just how much of a threat a misguided demigod could be. But this?! The prospect of a new Skyfather...of a new pantheon...

Hermes bowed his head at his Father and the King of the Gods. His helmet was held underneath his armpit, the wings on his ankles twitching slightly at the passive oppression from the Sky father's overwhelming power. His eyes strayed to the rest of the Olympians. Hera was her usual distasteful self, nothing new there.

Poseidon had a an intense look on his face, most likely mulling over what Hermes had told them, Demeter was throwing worried glances at the figure who sat on Hades' throne, which happened to be Persephone, filling in for Hades who was 'feeling under the weather.'

Everyone knew their eldest brother just did not have the patience to deal with Zeus. The two clashed on almost all accounts. And because the Underworld still needed it's monarch to take part in the mandatory meeting the Skyfather had called for, Persephone had elected to go in his place. Zeus had been angry but could ultimately do nothing as he understood that now more than ever, they needed to be united. It was just one of the reasons he was Uber mad.

Athena similar to Poseidon had a keen look on her face. It differed in that where Poseidon had the intensity of a raging storm, Athena's eyes, gray like her father's were cold and calculating. Dissecting the information given and coming up with conjectures and countermeasures.

Apollo was slung over his throne in a casual pose. However for anyone who knew him they could tell he was lost in thought. He felt Hermes' gaze on him and established eye contact, nodding a little. A silent communication happening between them.

Artemis had a bow in hand, twining the string absentmindedly as she stared at her twin in suspicion. Apollo was acting...off. Hermes immediately moved to the next god, which turned out to be Ares' empty throne. Hermes eyes passed over that clusterfuck and landed on Aphrodite, who had a coy smile on her face.

The God of travel quickly averted his gaze when a familiar feeling of warmth invaded his groin. Not going to think about...

"Well! Out with it Hermes!"

Zeus roared out, startling Hermes from his distracted eyes. The latter caught the small reassuring smile on arguably the best of the Olympians, Hestia.

"Oh sorry Father."

He hurriedly apologized only for Zeus to snort in derision.

"Save your apologies and answer me. How valid is your report?"

Instead of answering someone else stepped in.

"The Fates do not lie, brother. Misdirect, give vague answers yes, but not lie."

Poseidon stated.

"And yet time and time again, whatever they prophesy rarely ends well. Is that not enough to question their intentions?"

Hera dryly countered.

"Take heed husband. Whatever Hermes thinks he knows, he might be wrong."

Hera threw a scathing look The god of travel's way. Everyone knew of her hate for any of Zeus' bastard children.

"But surely this merits concern does it not?" Demeter implored.

"We decided to separate ourselves from the mortal world after the whole Ares' affair. To my knowledge, nothing has changed. I do not see a reason to involve ourselves now."

Dionysus lazily said, sipping on a wine pitcher from his throne, ignoring the sudden chill that invaded the room. Especially from Hera. Ares was not a topic they discussed...ever.

"If anyone should be concerned about this new development, it should be you Dionysus. A mortal well on his way to acquiring divinity? I'd say that warrants enough reason to investigate at the very least."

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Artemis pointed out to which her brother merely threw her a stink eye and drowned his never ending wine.

"Father, have you decided on what action you're going to take?"

Athena addressed Zeus. Being her favorite child, he looked at her in a much softer light and sighed.

"We risk war with the other Pantheons should we misstep. And that would be all Darkseid and his hoard would need to..."

"Attack."

Apollo said with a yawn.

"You would think that after all these years they would have done so already."

"Do. Not. Underestimate the new gods."

Athena's eyes flashed with a grim light.

"Silence! I have decided, we will not pursue the matter concerning the mortal. While the prophecy from the Fates should be heeded, we left the mortal world behind. It does not concern us."

'Fool.'

Poseidon thought.

A few of the gods smiled while a few others frowned but none the less, accepted the King of the God's verdict. But then Hermes spoke up.

"Father...before you make your decision final, there is one last thing you should see."

An annoyed look crossed over Zeus face.

"Hermes, we shall no longer revisit this Issue." He ordered and looked around. "Now let us get on with the next thing on the agenda."

Hermes looked at Apollo, who rolled his eyes and sighed.

"The oracle...my divination, I cannot see his fate at all. He is a walking void." Apollo said, gathering attention. He leaned forward.

"Father, believe me. You will want to see whatever Hermes has brought with him. It will only take a minute or so, insignificant to the eternity we have."

Murmurs broke out, before Zeus slapped his throne.

"Silence!"

Everyone quieted down.

"Hermes." His voice was low and dangerous. The God of travel felt like tapping into his prodigious speed and running away. He bowed. Despite the common insinuation that Zeis was a lumbering horny fool, no one could deny his fury was legendary when he perceived an insult to his person.

"Forgive me father, for my insolence."

A beat passed.

"Brother, why don't we give him the chance to present this new information?"

Hestia who was tending to the hearth in the middle of the hall said her piece. She rarely rarely involved herself in the matters of governing like her siblings. Hestia was content keeping the flame burning.

Zeus considered her words carefully. Hestia never asked for anything.

"Very well. Hermes, the floor is once again yours."

He told his son with narrowed eyes, who nodded gratefully at his aunt and reached into his pocket. His fingers came out clutching a roiling sphere of multicolored shifting images.

"A memory crystal?"

Athena enquired.

"Indeed sister. And what is inside will shock you." Hermes replied in a grave tone. He turned to Apollo.

"Apollo, if you will..."

The God of the sun, arts, music and illusions nodded, reaching out and pulling the memory crystal into the palm of his hand.

His eyes glowed golden as he accessed the memory and then using his minor divinity, all the Olympians were pulled into the illusion. A few minutes later, the illusion broke.

Am aura of incredible power rippled out of the hall of the gods. The sky above flashed blue with lightning as all the minor gods below the sprawling city fell to their knees, in unwilling subservience. Zeus was pissed.

(General P.O.V)

"Now what?"

Darken asked tersely, darkness roiling off her in waves. The White Shadow cocked his head to the side.

"Easy. Now we fight."

Darken looked at him as if he had grown a second head.

"Fight!? That's what we've been doing for the last 5 minutes. And it's not working! How are we supposed to take down self regenerating Blood monsters that look like a cross between an angel and a demon? There are easily thousands of them!"

They were standing a few hundred meters before a massive black castle.

The castle was surrounded by flying humanoid creatures made from chaos and magic. They had blackened wings that dripped with thick blood. beautiful porcelain smooth faces that cracked when you hit them and bled with the same black viscous blood. And were tall, dressed in tattered robes. Sharp claws speared out of their sleeves. Which is what they used to attack with. Sounds of fighting could be heard from afar due to The White Shadow's superior senses. The creatures that had not arrived to swarm them were busy fighting someone else near the castle grounds.

The vortex at club Lux had funnily enough, manifested where Galiel had conducted his illegal underground fighting ring. The place had been renovated into a basement, storing liquor. A bartender had been pulled in as well as a few people who had wandered down there. Using the negativity in the underground fighting ring, chaos had precipitated the creation of these murderous spiteful creatures that seemed to regenerate whenever attacked.

However, The White Shadow knew that the key to breaking the whole dimension down was finding the lost civilians and saving them before their life essence which the dimension drew upon to give the creatures form was completely sapped away.

"Come on Darken. Look on the bright side." He said swiping out his black saber, white fire slashed out in an arc that took out tens of the chaos creatures, burning them all away with a hiss. The white fire was proving to be scarily effective on them. It congealed into a snake construct that slithered away towards the castle.

"There's a bright side?!"

She asked skeptically as spikes made of darkness speared through the creatures coming towards their flanks. The White Shadow placed a hand on her shoulder and the surroundings instantly blurred in her sight. Sparks of white lightning escaped his form as he stepped away. Darken noticed that they had crossed the hundreds of meters and were now before the castle and also...close to Wonder Woman and Superion. The latter was mob diving across the courtyard, taking out the creatures with a spin, a red shimmering shield surrounding his body.

Wonder woman spared a glance at the new arrivals, her Lasso lashing out to grab a few creatures and then swinging them to a few of their compatriots. They clashed on each other and fell in a tangle of limbs.

"Raarrrggh!!"

The Amazonian princess yelled and took a leap, her sword coming out of her sheath and dissecting a creature in mid air before plunging the weapon into another one as she looped down from her leap.

The two were being besieged on all sides by the creatures, trying and failing to get to the door of the castle. Some of the creatures screeched, a loud sound that grated on Darken's ears and announced their presence. The White Shadow laughed, jumping up, aided by his white jet flames. Just as the snake construct he had created a few seconds before, crashed through the gate of the castle, taking out even more creatures.

"The bright side is...we get to crash a fight!"