Perseus woke up feeling kinda groggy. He had clear memories of his dream the previous night but was unsure how it ended since he spent the last part of it in a black void only hearing mumbling. “Neptuna?” Perseus called out in a quiet and cautious voice. Neptuna manifested in the air not far from him and looked around. “That… that actually happened right?” Persus nodded. “Did you enjoy your alone time?” Neptuna sighs and lowers her head. “I could still feel your presence and even though I'm fully aware of how much you would experience in standby mode I simply didn't feel alone and couldn't get comfortable.”
Perseus slowly worked his way out of bed. “Understandable.” And started his daily routine. Perseus cleaned himself up and got dressed before getting breakfast. Then he heads out. “Looks like it's time to resupply, I'm running low on provisions.” With that he hops on his vehicle and heads to the grocery store. The store wasn't as active as normal, only having five people in it, but other than that there was nothing out of the ordinary. Perseus purchased his items and went along on his merry way. Once home he put everything away and did a stretch. “I think I'm going to go for a run and clear my head.”
Perseus then headed back out and started to jog down the streets with an earpiece in so people wouldn't question him talking to himself and would assume he's on the phone. “So much like when I dream, you had full sensory input?” Neptuna nodded. “It was just like having a real body almost from what I experienced. I had not been injured or anything so I'm not sure if pain or pleasure would have felt just as real.” Perseus does a so-so gesture. “Eh, they feel dulled after a point but I get a feeling of how much it's being nerfed so I know how much more intense it would be in real life.”
Neptuna floats back and forth. “Do you think it's possible to get us both in a physical form during a dream?” Perseus shrugs. “No idea, and I'm not sure why you'd want that. My normal dreams can be deceptively dangerous. Injuries actually hurting can cause interesting side effects. Although my body will be fine I often feel the injury long after I wake up.” Neptuna hovers to Perseus’ right. “That's… strange. I've experienced the dreams of a few mortals over the two hundred or some odd years I've been doing this and yours are unique among them. It's not quite lucid dreaming, you only have control over your own body and are still beholden to the rules of the world you are in during the dream.”
Perseus nods. “I figured what I had was different but not to that measure. My dreams have taken me strange places and I sometimes question if something I see is somehow real. Thanks to meeting June who I first saw in that tyrant dream and knowledge of magic existing I must question my dreams again. If my tyrant dream was some sort of echo of another timeline then what does that mean for the times I've talked to someone who didn't feel like a normal dream NPC?” Neptuna thinks for a moment as her position remains static relative to Perseus. “How about you let me help? Describe one of the dreams where talking to someone felt more real. Besides the one last night talking to me, that clearly doesn't count.”
Perseus continued to jog down the streets while taking to Neptuna. “The first that comes to mind are these two dreams where I was in some dark void, not that different from the one from last night now that I think about it. In this void was a presence, one I felt immense power emanate off of. It towered over me and felt like it could easily crush me by mistake simply by moving a bit. The entity talked to me both times. He said something about being tortured by the dream gods and being thankful to have a visitor that wasn't them.”
Neptuna thinks for a moment. “Oh, I remember you asking if the dream gods were still in their true form one morning after a really active dream I wasn't privy to. That must have been when you first had the dream with this entity. If we work under the assumption that you really talked to someone then the best theory would be you visiting another person's dreams. In this case someone who is in some way imprisoned and has knowledge of gods. I remember you specifically saying oneiroi, the Greek name for them.” Neptuna has a thinking face for a while.
After a pause to think, Neptuna hesitantly shrugged. “There are a few figures from my home mythology that have been imprisoned but most of not all of them faded away when the age of mythology ended. Most monsters were driven to extinction or sent to another place out of phase with the normal world by Hecate's magic and the work of other similar gods. As for things higher up then normal monsters… well let's just say I'd rather not think about the few that would still potentially be in this world. In fact the only figure that I can think of who is imprisoned in some way in this world is… not a figure I wish to name.”
Perseus nods, knowing the figure she's thinking about. The prototype to the Deus Armatus, made as a prison rather than a survival tactic. Typhon the imprisoned, the king of monsters in Greek mythology. A figure so strong it took all the Olympians working together just to imprison, being too powerful for them to outright kill. “If that was what was happening somehow and he was who I talked to… well he seemed surprisingly chill. Maybe his years of solitude and torture has actually made a difference? Or maybe he was so desperate for a new kind of interaction he just took it. If it were me I'd probably break shit as soon as I was free from a multi millennium imprisonment that included torture.”
Neptuna sighs. “He was already a violent individual who sought to overthrow the gods. His victory would have meant the end of humanity.” Perseus nodded. “I get that, but no crime no matter how heinous is worthy of eternal punishment. I'm not saying his crimes should be forgotten, or even forgiven. Just that he be given the opportunity to rest. Even if he was incapable of change.” Neptuna sighs. “You are far too empathetic sometimes. Feeling bad for even the worst of monsters.” Perseus shook his head. “That's not what this is. No crime has an infinite effect. People today are not suffering because of what he did back then. So why should he suffer forever? Why should a punishment be infinite if the sun itself is finite.”
Neptuna thinks for a moment. “I guess you have a point. Typhon should definitely not be let loose but that doesn't mean she should be tortured for eternity. Though… I lack the power to affect his state of being.” Perseus nods. “You would need to ascend, and I don't think it's going to be with me.” Neptuna had a feeling he was right, especially considering she didn't want to ascend with him. That would mean fusion into one being, they would be together but alone. That wasn't what she wanted. “Let's just try to focus on the here and now.” Neptuna said out loud.
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Perseus suddenly becomes increasingly aware of the fact the street he's on is incredibly empty and stops jogging to look around. “Why is it so dead outside right now? It's the middle of the day and the weather isn't exactly bad. It's a bit overcast but it's not going to rain anytime soon.” Neptuna also looked around. “I've got a bad feeling about this.” Perseus then looked down the empty road to see a single person. An absolute behemoth of a human being, looking like a professional bodybuilder. The person approached Perseus cracking their neck and knuckles. Once they closed in enough Perseus could see this individual was a woman. One who was built like a brick shit house and could understand normal circumstances body Perseus.
The woman finishes cracking her joints. “Sorry small fry, it's nothing personal. Just good business.” Perseus sighs and does some stretches. “I also offer my apologies, for I'm much stronger than I look.” the woman laughs. “If you weren't I probably would have passed on this job. After all, work’s no fun when it's too easy. Now enough with pleasant formalities, let's get down to business. Come forth, iron ball of the Earth god, Jord!” Rocks magically gather before forming into a gigantic metal ball with spikes on it attached to a chain like a comically oversized flail. Perseus takes a step back. “God damn!” He exclaimed before trying to regain his composure. “Come forth, Trident of the Sea God, Neptuna!”
Water and ice form the trident as the large lady smiles. “Good, good. It's best you not hesitate and give it your all. I want a proper cardio workout from this at the very least. So do try and hold out as long as you can, okay.” She took the chain and began swinging it over her head with relative ease. Perseus mumbling under his breath “I'm definitely not getting out of this one unharmed.” he doesn't hesitate to go on the offensive charging right in. Perseus is forced to dodge backwards however as the giant spiked ball is slammed into the road at high speed, creating a crater in the road.
Perseus exclaimed in sarcastic mock frustration “Like we don't have enough potholes the city refuses to fix already.” before moving quickly to try and get behind her before she can recover. Again the woman is surprisingly fast, able to pull the spiked ball out of the round and swing it at Perseus who leaps over it as it smashed through the corner of a building like a wrecking ball. Persus decided to swap tactics by rushing over to a nearby stop sign and uprooting it before sending it at the woman like a javelin.
She easily knocks it away and starts to give chase as Perseus leads her to a nearby dog park to avoid any buildings getting demolished as collateral damage. “I know I said I wanted cardio, but the least you could do is stop running like a coward and face me like a man!” The lady shouted in frustration as she sent her ball at Perseus once again. “I'm not running to get away from you, I'm running to prevent others from getting hurt in the crossfire.”
The woman continued her pursuit, allowing herself to be led into the open area. “Ah, I see. You could have said something sooner. I'd rather not level a building with people in it. I may not be the most morally upright person, but I'm no killer. Not unless it's my life on the line.” Persus adjusts his stance. “You better get ready then, cause I'm about to fight you for real.” Perseus twirled the trident in his hand before rushing at the woman. However, before he's in range to attack her, he changes direction to arc in a circle around her.
The woman swings her iron ball the other way at the same distance but Persus bursts closer, hitting the chain causing the ball to swing as the chain is stopped. The iron ball is returned to sender but she simply puts her hand out to stop it before sending it back to Perseus. “Did you really think you could hurt me with my own weapon? It doesn't work like that.” Perseus doesn't respond as he is once again forced to dodge back by the ball hitting the ground and nearly crushing him.
Perseus grumbles. “(She's surprisingly fast with that heavy weapon, it's hard to get close enough to use mine. I might have to abandon the idea of getting inside her range for melee combat.)” He takes his left hand off the trident shaft and starts shooting ice spikes at the woman while moving around. She responds by taking her spiked ball and holding it out in front of herself to block. She's easily able to turn to keep up with Perseus. He decided to stop playing it safe and just go for it.
Perseus makes a charge once more, this time keeping her attention with projectiles. He slides into a low stance and just before reaching the iron ball he places his trident into the ground and pushes at an angle to arc around the orb before doing a spin and sending the blade of his weapon right at her legs. The woman makes no attempts to move or block with her weapon as she simply stomps her foot and creates a small wall of rock to stop the attack in its tracks. With the blade on solid rock the woman backs off and makes a swing for an overhead strike.
Perseus managed to free his weapon but didn't have enough time to dodge. So he put the staff above his head and readied himself to block the mighty blow. The impact pushes Perseus’ feed downward and craters the ground beneath him as he's actually able to stand his ground with shaky feet. The woman whistles. “You are stronger and tougher than you look. That impact would have broken the bones of a lesser person.” She then lets out a hearty laugh. “Hahaha, now we're talking. Make me work for it, scarecrow.”
It takes all Perseus has to keep himself upright. He bends his knees a bit then shoves up to send the ball up enough to come out from under it. He then rushed his way to the woman in order to try and attack her. With a powerful spinning swing, he roundhouse swatted her with the trident with his movements boosted. She slides back a bit, pulling on the chain to bring the iron ball at Perseus' back. He rockets himself over it doing a flip before landing.
Once on his feet he doesn't hesitate to prepare himself for a big attack. The woman sends the iron ball straight at Perseus with him hitting the bottom and sending it up and over himself, hitting his own arms in the process. Before the woman has a chance to pull the chain to send it at his back he brings the weapon down in a mighty swing with a loud battle cry-like expression. “Anaklusmos!” A massive sword slash effect made of water and ice is sent after his attacker. The woman calls forth a rock wall but it's not good enough as the rocks are smashed and she's sent backwards and knocked on her hind end.
Both fighters are bruised with small cuts on their bodies at this point, breathing heavily from their efforts and/or injuries. The large woman starts laughing while on the floor. “Hahahaha. Fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. I haven't had a work out like that in quite some time. Here I thought only the holder of Thor or Zeus could keep up with me as they are both men who look traditionally strong. Though to be honest I'm not sure I gave it my all from the start. I underestimated you and naturally I held back because of it. However, you've definitely shown me you have the potential to be a good work out partner given some time.”
Perseus tilts his head. “Are you done then?” She laughed again. “Haha, are you kidding? That was just the warm up. The foreplay if you will. Now that we've done that I'm definitely in the mood for something more.” She picks herself off the ground. “Come on then, let's get nasty.” Persus blinks a few times. “I'm not sure if that's an invitation to fight or if you are flirting with me.” The woman laughs once more. “Why can't it be both? After all, how else am I supposed to tell if a man is worthy?”
Perseus lets out a long exasperated sigh. “If you weren't sent after me to take my life or capture me for someone else, I'd rather not fight. Just because I'm capable of fighting doesn't mean I enjoy doing it.” The woman brings her weapon back to her hand. “That's too bad, because now that you've gotten me all hot and bothered, I'm ready for round two. Let's take our time and get to know one another more intimately.” Perseus lets out a sigh and readied himself once more. “If you insist on fighting I will defend myself.” The woman smiles. “Good, try to keep this interesting.”