Styx’s furious cry echoed through the room. Power followed, rolling through the destroyed space like vengeance itself. This was her home, this was the domain that the Creators bestowed on her. Nothing, demon or shadow, would take that away from her. Still cloaked as Death, she would face any threat, vanquish any threat.
Caleb added an extra layer of strength. Because she knew he would support her, help her, remain beside her. The bond between them thrummed steady and sure. The determination shone through and added a necessary edge. Startled, she glanced over at him. How did she survive so long without him?
The others rallied under her cry. Anubis bellowed his rage, snarling and hurling bolts of pure essence. Shinigami screamed, tendrils of black rolling from his kimono, and his Katana now glowed a menacing gold. The Three Fates gathered close, their chanting flowing across the broken floor and with the words, white light spread up from the cracks.
Caleb shot her a smile. Dirt and ash obscured parts of his face. A few spots of blood darkened his tattered clothes, but courage and strength shone through the bond. Together, they’d defeat these intruders. Together, they’d celebrate victory.
“Face us, Nyxen,” Styx cried. As the words left her mouth, she held her hands high above her.
Energy rippled about the room, kicking up a tremendous wind. Caleb hid behind his elbow, as Death’s cloak folded about her frame. With a snap, a quarterstaff slid into her grasp. The golden color spread a slight luminance as she swung it.
image [https://i.imgur.com/VktL2eJ.png]
“Do you know what this is, demon?” Styx asked, her voice menacing and low.
Nyxen’s features curled into a dreadful smile. “I do.”
“So you’ve heard of Sparkles before?” Styx chuckled.
“Sparkles?” Caleb blinked. “Who names a quarterstaff, Sparkles?”
Shinigami chuckled. “She called her scythe Bubbles.”
“What? I didn’t know you named the scythe Bubbles,” Caleb said.
Styx shrugged. “I also have a crossbow named Sunshine, and don’t get me started on all my blade names.”
“They’re all perfect,” Present said.
Again, Styx swung the quarterstaff back and forth. With each movement, the air sang and hissed. “Lord Yama gifted this to me, crafted with his own hands. It’s forged from the gold given to a thousand assassins, now rotting in my Underworld.”
“Is that your backup weapon?” Nyxen asked.
“Sparkles is no backup weapon.”
“Her throwing knives would be more backups,” Future pointed out.
“Yeah, those totally are,” Past said.
“Would you like to see my backup weapon?” Nyxen’s lips curled into a smile.
At her side, Caleb shuddered. “That’s a terrible expression. Really terrible.”
“Reminds me of when John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln,” Past said.
“Totally, he wore that same creepy grin,” Present nodded. “At least we got that enchanted gun.”
Future glanced at her sisters. “Where did that go?”
Present giggled. “You’ll find it one day.”
“What are they doing now?” Shinigami asked, pointing.
The demons gathered close together, chanting a low and rumbling spell that rattled the walls and shook the ground. Caleb looked up at her, his eyes wide with alarm. But before she comforted him, a massive blast of air knocked them to their knees.
When the dust cleared, a magnificent creature clawed its way up from a fissure in the floor. For a moment, fear surged hot and bright.
The towering behemoth seemed forged entirely of flowing quicksilver. A dense metallic liquid that shifted with dreamlike viscosity. Styx stared at the reflection rippling across Simug’s torso, distorted proportions and blurring motion, making each hero appear misshapen and feeble.
Only partially bound by the arcane forces compelling it, the mercury substance strained against invisible bindings. Muscles of silver bulged, eager to wreak sublime destruction. The liquid took on a hypnotic allure—beautiful, beguiling, yet undeniably promising inevitable violence.
Where a head would have been, this creature bore a lone mound like a morass of melted ingots. Half-formed faces occasionally surfaced with soundless screams from the swirling silver surface. Four grasping clawed hands sprouted from its sides, ever shifting and flowing as though the beast was still solidifying into a terrible reality.
“Is that?” Shinigami said.
“It is,” Present muttered.
“Mercury,” Past gasped. “He created a golem from mercury.”
Future shook her head. “That’s not a golem. We haven’t seen it before. It’s not of these realms.”
“No,” Nyxen said. “You have no name for it, no word for it. We call it Simug.”
“I’ll just call it dead, thanks,” Styx said.
Simug lumbered forward, dreadful thumps echoing through the room. Ominously, it crept closer. Whenever a limb would come close to the spitting blue fire, it would bubble and churn. Acrid smoke sputtered before the surface calmed once again.
“Finally,” Death said. “Some real entertainment.”
image [https://i.imgur.com/qJQvlfm.png]
Twirling her golden staff, Death charged at the silver behemoth, cloak flapping as she moved. Her first mighty overhead smash slammed against the chest. Glassy silver spikes erupted from the impact, ripples rolled outward, but no wound appeared. In just moments, the surface calmed and, almost casually, the beast smacked her.
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The dense fist sent her reeling backwards, cloak hissing with smoke drifting up from the burned location. Even her skin, usually so protected, was smarting. Cursing, Styx spun away as the creature approached again. She needed distance, and with a grunt, she hurled the staff. It lodged deep in Simug’s shoulder. But a magnesium flame suddenly spewed from its maw.
Everywhere the flames touched, evaporated instantly. The flames licked across the ancient tombs and sacred shelves, disintegrating everything still standing, leaving only ash. Styx wanted to stop and mourn the loss of so much, but she couldn’t. Right now, she had something important to do: seek vengeance.
A lumbering swipe wretched her briefly airborne. She clenched her teeth. This would be a harder fight than she thought. Anubis and Shinigami joined, and together they attacked one of the massive arms.
With a combination of swipes, they severed the limb. But the beast still moved towards her. The gathered heroes gasped as the nubs sprouted from the stump and blossomed into two more hands. Shouting in victory or rage, the Simug bellowed. Its newest arms stretched eagerly towards her. She stretched out her hand and whispered the words.
Shadow substance sprang into her palms, and she pulled. How would eternal darkness react to the neverending light of the mercury?
She flung the liquid night, watching with bated breath. The two forces impacted. A brilliant fire exploded, covering the area in molten sunlight.
“Did it work?” Caleb asked.
Death winced and tried to blink the glare from her eyes. When the spots cleared, she cursed. Simug now spouted more arms, and an even brighter sheen.
Styx was done with this fight. It had gone on too long, destroyed too much. But she had an ace up her sleeve. The other deities of the Underworld would come to her aid.
“To me!” she bellowed, her voice reaching the furthest reaches of the Underworld. “Come, my deities!”
The air crackled, but no one appeared. Anubis ran forward, sweat gleaming. “They cannot answer. The demons have attacked their separate realms.”
Frantic, Styx looked around. While the shadow men lingered on the sidelines, hissing and spurting, she could only see a few demons. Snarling, she closed her eyes.
Sure enough, she could feel the pulses of magic being sent from the various realms in the underworld. Hades, Sheol, Abaddon, Naraka, Hel, Annwn, all of them were now under siege. Demons were seeking to destroy her home and her people!
Rage clouded her judgment. She bellowed, brandishing her staff, running full tilt at the enemy. No matter what, she’d take this menace down. A force slammed into her, and they went careening off to the side. She snarled and kicked.
image [https://i.imgur.com/qD3v6x2.png]
“Ouch! Ouch!” Caleb hissed. “That hurt.”
“What the hell, Cal! What the hell!”
“You can’t just keep throwing yourself at that thing and expect different results.”
Behind them, Shinigami and Anubis were dealing with the Simug, while the Fates were fighting against the shadow men. Styx cursed again and kicked Caleb off. He helped her sit up and grinned.
“At least we’ve determined that I can touch you in this state without having my soul ripped out.”
She huffed and pulled her cloak out from under him.
“Listen, the demons have vastly stronger magic,” Caleb said. “So it stands to reason that this thing would be more powerful.”
“No shit, Sherlock,” she growled. “Thanks for that Capitan Obvious.”
“So we need to…”
Shinigami drowned him out, yelling a string of impressive expletives. “You menace burned my kimono! My Sobo made this!”
Styx tensed, ready to jump to the defense of her companion, but Caleb held her down. He flinched as she turned her rage filled gaze on him but continued.
“We need sulfur!” He gripped her shoulders.
“What?”
“Sulfur can stop it! That thing’s made of mercury!”
Styx glanced at the beast. It now sported more than a dozen arms and was quickly over powering her friends.
“Sulfur?”
“Sulfur! What does the Underworld have a lot of?” He gave her a tiny shake.
“Volcanoes! Volcanoes!”
Styx cackled and Caleb helped her stand. This would probably be a stretch, considering her magical essence was being overly taxed by everything, but she had to give her home a fighting chance. No matter what, she needed to do this.
“Anubis is going to kill me,” she laughed.
Caleb stood by her side, his presence a comfort as she closed her eyes. All around, she could feel the building blocks of the Underworld, each nook and cranny. Every cliff and river. The bubbling lava and molten brimstone. She spent an eon crafting this place to her exact specifications. Occasionally she still redid portions. Her recent renovation of the Pit of Despair was really fantastic.
So she began. First molding the vast chasm that would house the magma, then the tubes that would bring the lava up. It was taxing, and soon a layer of sweat blossomed on her skin. Caleb placed a hand on her back, and with a start, she realized he was lending her strength.
She almost shoved him back, but she needed it, needed his help. So she took it. Somehow, it was strange. The force coming from him was spicy, like it should contain magic. But yet, it lacked any discernible power. Shaking away the thought, she focused. With their combined forces, the task was soon complete.
Anubis and Shinigami coordinated their strikes as Styx prepared her own. The sun god landed a crushing golden-flail blow only for the beast to spawn more arms from every dent. Shinigami carved shadowy streaks through quicksilver flesh that reformed in seconds. Anubis took a blow to the chest that launched him back, while Shinigami nearly suffered the same fate.
“Nothing is working!” Shinigami yelled.
Nyxen cackled, as he watched his beast dominate.
“Scatter!” Styx yelled.
With a flair of power, she ripped open the ground around Simug. Molten lava burst forth as she extended her will into the depths of her realm. Searing energy answered her call, torn from the earth’s boiling guts.
An oppressive and deadly heat exploded outwards in every direction. A massive upwelling of sulfur shot through the rift behind the beast, crashing over its mercurial form in a biblical deluge. The noxious torrent melted stone, sending ash high into the air.
Now, destruction had truly claimed the sacred archives; no column remained undamaged, and no wall untouched. The creature struggled, fighting against the onslaught, but Styx remained undaunted. Lava and sulfur continued to froth and roll, as the beast’s mirrored surface sheen dulled rapidly to a matte-silver as the corrosive bath solidified its liquid essence.
Nyxen snarled and raised his hands, but Styx was faster. She descended from the heavens, riding a wave of molten rock, and struck the monster. Her staff crashed down on the shoulder, and she drove downwards. With a tremendous crack, the beast shuddered.
Anubis didn’t waste any time as he slammed his flails with renewed fury, fracturing and exploding chunks from the embrittled titan. The sun deity hammered again and again mercilessly, obliterating segments of the once fearsome creature.
Not to be outdone, Shinigami flickered as he flowed forward, wielding his Katana. The dastardly reaper cackled wildly as his ethereal weapon cleaved through Simug, swallowing dense, rock-like portions into the void.
Past, Present, and Future clustered close, their hands interwoven, and magic flowing from their connected words. A powerful spell gripped the stone debris and flung boulders at the shadow men, keeping them at bay.
Together they dismantled their foe—Shinigami’s attacks, Anubis’s crushing blows, Death’s relentless pressure. Their combined savage assault swiftly reduced the formidable figure until, with a burst of blue, it exploded.
The force tossed the heroes away, and they slid across the destroyed ground. Nyxen howled his rage and turned a vicious gaze on Death. She stood straight and proud. The various injuries about her body ached and in several places, blood dripped down her flesh. This was the first time in a very long time that it had taken so much to overcome her foe. First time in centuries she’d seen her blood.
“You think this is a victory?” Nyxen snarled. “You think you’ve won?”
“Well, yeah.” Styx said.
“That was a dumb question dude,” Shinigami said.
“It was lacking in intelligence,” Anubis nodded.
Caleb’s head bobbed up and down. “We’re smart!”
Nyxen only grinned. “Simug was a distraction.”
“Of course it was,” Styx said. “Because now you’ll reveal your grand plan for dominating the Underworld!”
“You make it sound like it hasn’t happened yet,” Nyxen said.
“You’re grasping at straws,” Styx said. “Because we totally rock.”
“Yeah, we do!” Caleb puffed out his chest.
Nyxen twisted his wrist, and the shadow men vanished in a puff. Styx stood ready, silently mourning the destruction of the archives. Still, blue fire licked at the walls and between mounds of rubble. It would take serious work to get this back to working condition. Though perhaps it was a great time to redecorate. Perhaps go with a floral theme, with beautiful pastels and striking black.
“Should be about now,” Nyxen said.
image [https://i.imgur.com/SlYKVoM.png]