"Fine. It's simple really. It means Help"

Help.

Athos' mind went back to the lines from the Prophecy. The Fates were asking for help yet again and according to what they said and what he saw, they seemed trapped in the Khaos seed....whatever that was. Moreover, Zeus was currently the best candidate for the one in possession of it. If that wasn't crazy enough, Leviathan's Gem seemed to have some connection to it.

But why would Zeus trap his own daughters, and when did he even do it?

The first question was easy to answer as Zeus' paranoic and mistrustful tendencies were well-known throughout the vast cosmos. After all, he was the one who swallowed Metis in fear of being overthrown by his offspring. As for the second question, only Zeus himself would know the answer to that.

"Care to tell me what you're thinking about?", Herakles said once again, a look of concern colouring his face.

"It's...complicated", Athos answered, looking into his father's blue eyes.

"Try me"

"Fine", Athos sighed. "You may be right. Zeus may indeed have something related to Khaos in his possession. He probably used it to trap the Fates for reasons unknown and Leviathan's Gem is related to that something which could be called a Khaos seed."

Herakles' expression morphed so many times that he looked akin to a man undergoing a seizure. Perhaps the amount of information he was absorbing today was a tad too much, or his fight against Apollo and Dionysus took too much out of him. Either way, his eyebrows continued to dance on his forehead, clearly expressing the confusion he felt.

"That's Impossible!", he said after somewhat partially digesting the information. Despite his somewhat calm demeanour, his hands were slightly trembling. If what his son said was true and ever reached the ears of the Olympians, chaos would ensue.

"Hey! I don't know for sure either but that's the conclusion all the clues point to", Athos raised his uninjured arm in surrender. "But there's no other way he could've stolen something from another Pantheon. From a Primordial-level entity at that."

Herakles' frown deepened as he knew what his son said was right, but he still had his doubts. He had seen the Fates in person multiple times. They didn't look trapped - not weakened in any literal sense. Moreover, if the Fates were under Zeus' control, then why was Olympus currently in danger? Even Gaea had to curb her arrogance in front of the Fates, so how could Zeus let Olympus fall this far? Or was the Great Stirring, just another scheme of his father?

Just then, Athos let out a low groan and Herakles' eyes narrowed.

"You need rest. Your body hasn't healed enough. Go back to sleep - it helps"

"I have so many questions, though", Athos winced as more pain travelled up his right arm. He wasn't lying. He had a ton of questions which needed answering. The first and most prominent one was about the sudden appearance of his Aerokinesis and Electrokinesis. He'd guessed that it was a side-effect of the ritual, but why hadn't it appeared until now? He knew his father had an answer as he vividly remembered the day he first met him as a baby. That declaration his father made had been seared into his head ever since that day.

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

"Questions can wait but you're body can't. We'll talk later once you can stand up without making a face", Herakles shook his head and waved his hand. The golden floor of the bubble raised by a few inches and softened greatly, forming something akin to a bed.

"Sleep"

***

Athos felt wind brushing against his cheek and his eyes shot open, finding himself in an unfamiliar environment once again. He frowned and sat up, his right hand fully healed and at peak strength.

This was the second time he had woken up in the wrong place.

The first time was when he woke up in total darkness and it was a nightmare. The chances of this being something similar were high, but what was the reason he was having such dreams? Dreams that seemed to have some hidden meaning buried within. Demigods did have prophetic dreams, but something told him it wasn't that simple...

He looked down at his forearm where 'Vajraha' pulsed innocently - faint golden light swirling about it.

"....It shall be your light in the darkness, guiding you - leading you to what you need to accomplish your goals...."

"This better be helpful then...", he muttered to himself before looking around him. His eyes immediately widened, as his surroundings weren't as unfamiliar as he thought.

An endless wheat field stretched out into the distance while a kaleidoscopic sky swirled above - a multitude of colours churning about. It was the same wheat field he'd met Demeter in after learning about the Ritual from Nereus. He summoned Leviathan before slowly walking forward, his black cape and borderline evil-looking axe sticking out in the aurous sea.

Speaking of said axe, he would have to look into Leviathan's gem later. The Khaos seed relation was too important to ignore. Perhaps the telekhines could give him some answers.

He pushed that thought to the back of his head and began trudging forward. The wheat plants that previously came up to his chest now barely made it to his waist and his every step crushed many of them under his feet. A few minutes later, a small brown dot appeared in the sea of gold. It looked so out of place that it was impossible to miss.

"This wasn't here before", he whispered before blasting off the ground and into the air.

With a sonic boom, he shot forward, while holding his hands forward, cutting through the air and making the sea of wheat part.

'Does Moses exist in this universe?', he thought while grinning. Flying was too much fun.

As he got closer to the brown dot, its proportions and features became more clear. It was a long reddish-brown mahogany table that had intricate carvings which depicted major events in Greek Mythology.

The overthrowing of the Titans, the Gigantomachy, Zeus defeating Typhoon, and Apollo slaying Python. Everything from the birth of the Protogeni to the reign of the Gods was represented in such startling detail that it seemed unreal. It seemed so perfect that it almost made it less beautiful.

BOOM!

He landed next to the table, pulverising the wheat around his feet in a wide circle.

"Damn!", he whispered as soon as the dust cleared and revealed the table. The art was truly otherworldly. He trailed his fingers on the carvings, admiring their beauty but when he circled the table halfway, he frowned.

There were no carvings on the other half of the table.

The carvings didn't abruptly stop but were incomplete, as though somebody had yet to fill them in.

RUMBLE!

The ground suddenly shook and Athos immediately jumped back, raising Leviathan but lowering it just as fast.

Four large stone thrones emerged from the ground, breaking through the earth and stopping once they fully surfaced. Dirt automatically slid off the thrones as though they dared not dirty their surface and symbols appeared on the chair's backs. Every single one of them was different and exuded a different aura.

The one at one end of the table had a Hammer and a forge carved into it. Faint sounds of metal against metal could be heard and Athos could almost feel the heat the throne was emitting.

The throne at the opposite end had a brown cornucopia carved into it whose aura was ever-changing - from fiery hot to chilly cold to withering death to blooming spring.

The sides of the table sported the two other thrones, one of which had a pink dove. Its carving exuded an extremely enigmatic aura that seemed both powerful and oddly sensual at the same time.

The last throne was by far the most interesting and one whose aura was the most palpable. A blood-red Greek Omega symbol was carved into it and it emanated bloodthirstiness and violence. A need to rip and tear any living thing in front of him. Primal anger. Brutality. Death.

Athos' eyes narrowed as he felt the aura wash over him.

What did all this mean?