[b]Scene Title: Anthem of the Dead

Characters: Isaac Zivaku, Kratos the Ghost of Sparta, and Hades the God of the Underworld. References are made to Cheryl Mason and Abigail Wallace.

Context (Situation): After a duel with Hades, God of the God of War Underworld during the Second Great War, Isaac gains an important Godly Possession. This takes place between the upcoming thread "Of Wolf and Man" and the first thread of "Fatal Foundations".[/b]


This was not an unexpected turn of events.

Okay....not entirely true. It was unexpected to find himself in the palace of Hades himself, let along so close to him. It was unexpected to be able to find his way through so easily, albeit with some minor trouble with non-burning Harpies.

What wasn't surprising was the giant hole in the wall at the back, with the chains holding a broken, glass casket of, if the name on the epitaph was right, Persephone, the Queen of the Underworld. Additionally unsurprising were the shouts from within the chamber beyond, where hellfire seemed to burn in some degree, and stone breaking could be heard for several second. Then the metal clashing.

"Your pain is mine to give!" boomed the voice of, presumably, Hades himself.

Needless to say, that bald, ashen-skinned, shirtless brute of a man, Kratos, was at it again.

Isaac Zivaku sighed. Why had he returned to this world, where he had lost the trust of Naito for a time, where so much had come to cause him pain? He really had no reason to be around, so why was he even trying? He could just wait here a little longer, wait it out until he was sure he could interfere, no pun intended. The demon peered inside to take a look. Okay, a blackened arena of some sort, with hooks on the ceiling for the purple chains being used before his eyes by the being there. There was a chasm leading down into the River Styx.

Kratos was bald as always, with his scars and skin and all, new chain-blades on his arms, the Blades of Exile, but otherwise the same, including the Golden Fleece on one arm. He was at a tug of war with the God of the Underworld.

The deity wore a loincloth, along with fleshy armor on his body, most of it taken off. Spikes came from his back, and he wore sandals like the rest of them. Upon his head was the Helm of Darkness, Hades' Helm, which could selectively grant invisibility. It was large and black, with a grating having flames coming from it over the face, horns on the sides curved downwards. His weapons were a set of purple claw-like weapons, the Claws of Hades.

A brief scan of both of them was in order. Okay, so Kratos had killed... a lot of people, a lot of gods, Hades' family. It seemed reasonable for Hades to be angry and fighting him. And Kratos was only after Zeus, who killed him for...okay, he'd established how bad of an excuse that was for him already. They were trying to pull each other into the River Styx, where Kratos could have his powers sapped by the resident spirits. Kratos was trying to slash at him with his left blade across the chasm, while avoiding the same from Hades' right and pulling back against his dragging pull.

The incoming Interference apparently distracted the God, who noticed his entrance to his domain. "Silver Tongue? You DARE interrupt me?"

A shrug. He wasn't doing anything. Though he agreed with Hades' reasoning, he knew that fighting Kratos was suicide. He looked to Kratos again, then to Hades. "Watch your head."

Before the god could respond, another slash took him, finally stabbing into his helmet, wrapping around one of the grates, bashing him into the far wall, destroying the stone and showing the dimly-lit abyss beyond. With an upward swing from the former God of War, he was attached to a ceiling hook. A yank, and he collided with the ceiling, face first. Another, another another! Finally, on the ninth, some type of white orbs fell from him, coming back to Kratos, Hades falling down into the Styx with a splash and a shout. Isaac sincerely doubted that he was dead, but the Claws were now in Kratos' hands, spinning around him with a flourish before they came back to his hands.

Suddenly, as he was finishing his showing off, more minor enemies came from dark smoke. The Olympus Sentries, as they were called, appeared as gaunt, skeletal beings, adorned in rusted armor, and armed with standard makhaira model swords that they held in their right hands. Immediately, they began to attack, the Claws dragging them in, tearing out souls and doing even more damage, as per his brutal modus operandi.

Unlike Kratos' initial opponent, Isaac had no qualms about helping here. Spreading his wings, he flew in, landing beside the Ghost of Sparta. In a crackle of black lightning, he summoned the Abyss double saber, stabbing through one Sentry under his guard before deftly rolling away from another's swing that he could see behind him with his saber's eye. That attack dealing a fatal amount of damage, he stabbed backwards into the aid, killing him as well by swinging him up and over his head and decapitating the undead man as he came to his head's height before him. Turning, he muttered under his breath. "Hellfire." A blood red fireball appeared in his hand, and he threw it, immolating a soldier that was going to attack Kratos from behind. Though he was paid no mind (not usually), he continued to attack everyone around as Kratos did the same.

Abigail would probably enjoy this, he mused about his "Alpha," the fight simple enough to make for some other thoughts.

That was, until it happened. With a roar of anger, Hades, far larger, rose again to his waist, destroying a good portion of the small chasm he had made to look to the Styx below. His helmet was gone for some reason, scars and deformities crisscrossing his face and bald head. Deprived of his weapons, the god of the afterlife here raised a hand, fists ready to fight the intruders.

Again, Isaac opted for the more pacifist route, having nothing against this Underworld God. While Kratos went to assail him from a position above, slashing repeatedly at him with his own Claws and avoiding bashing and slamming palms, Isaac simply flew back and forth, dodging each of the attacks only just....until he saw the beam of white light.

Whatever Hades' attack was, it was definitely powerful, as it rightfully would be. Isaac flew backwards as the full force of it hit him in the chest, grunting as he hit hard stone... and fell to his knees. "Okay... bad plan."

"Die, kinslayer!" So says the god trying to kill his nephew. Another mouthful was ready, though the god seemed weak...

And Kratos struck. He jumped up, stabbing his way up Hades' back before lodging both Claws in his forehead, landing in front of him. Once, twice he slammed his face into the stone between himself and the demigod, and he leaned back, trying to clear his head....when they lodged again in his forehead, causing a violet light to begin to spew from the top of his head.

"No! Nooooooooooooo!" the god screamed, a purple essence in his shape, his soul, being torn from his body. Slowly, painfully... it detached. The god's soul shrank into Kratos, absorbing into him....and Hades fell, his left cheek colliding with the stone. A crawling sound could be heard within him, and the finale took place.

The top of Hades' head exploded, countless souls erupting out of him, causing the body to writhe during it all. Harpies stationed around the arena that had not been previously visible screeched, flying around the battle before leaving through the new opening at the back, off to parts unknown.

Finally, the last insult. Lacking the soul of the God of the Underworld, the spirits within the River Styx did not recognize him as such. Therefore, they cut into him, beginning to eat the body, to push it off to its right side, let it fall into the River Styx and wash away.

Hades, God of the Underworld and guardian of all of the lost souls, was no more, but Isaac had but one response to it all.

"A bit flashy for my tastes, but not bad." He walked over to the edge of the river. Presumably this was where Kratos had to-- okay, he was diving in, swimming away unbothered. As Isaac looked across the river, a functional save altar right arose the chasm now that the battle was done. If he looked at that bloody mess a ways away, they had actually eaten a tunnel through Hades, which Kratos was using to go on his way. Not like the Interferences mattered at all to him anyway. At least he hadn't asked for-- oh, he had wings now for gliding. That was good enough.

There was something flashing at the bottom of the river, where Hades had once been. A small white twinkle, not much. The demon looked in, wondering if it was something of use.

"Interesting." It was the Helm of Darkness itself, discarded but not broken. Usable still. Maybe he could procure it for himself? He would have to be fast, if he wanted to get his powers kept in check.

Oh well, what the hell. He dove in, a swan dive, and quickly kicked his way down, holding the Abyss in one hand as he did so. He felt the spirits within, though not eating him for reason of him being usual on the worlds and not malevolent toward them, sapping at his MP, taking his magic. He had to get down there, to make it... and he touched it.

Instantly, his MP was restored, the Godly Possession disappearing in a swirl of blood red fire and black smoke. Maybe it was closely enough associated with his magic for him to incorporate it somehow? He'd find out soon enough.

He began to swim up again, the way harder now, the association with the Helm making things far more difficult. His wound was not helping. He needed help, any help... and it came to him.

Soul Wound.

A new skill. He saw one of the spirits before him as he rose, and slashed, trying to get past the problem of the water. First time he missed, but the second was a stab to one behind him. Blue orbs of magic flowed from the screaming spirit to him through the spell's use, recharging him as he came to the surface... and he surfaced, gasping for air as he climbed out of the sickening water to the side with the save point.

"That... wasn't so bad..."

He was soaking wet, half unconscious from the effort, but it was worth it. He would just have to see how later. He was sure he could use this as leverage against Hades of Olympus Coliseum, and he doubted more death gods existed here for him to have trouble with.

Should he go to see Cheryl? Maybe, but he would see later. His time with the Pack, what he had learned about Ignis' "Collective"... he had to get word out.

Behind him, the same spirit he had stabbed rose up, looking at him. It wanted to get revenge for hurting it. As he took a brief look, he saw it was that familiar man, the gray hair and beard, the angered eyes. The stab in the forehead had not gone unnoticed. "I'll make you pay for that!"

Isaac didn't even look at him, stabbing him in the face again and making him fall, screaming, back into the Styx, washing away. "Shut up." He felt his chest before he left. Looked like it was intact, nothing broken. He stepped to the altar, and rose up on it, flying up out of the world on a beam of golden light.

Not exactly a trip to die for, but he'd still gotten something out of it.