"Be careful, fellow Daoist Daedalus." Ocean Song gave his fellow Sect member a warning.
"I know what I'm doing."
"If you mess up, we're all dead."
Daedalus stopped. "Are you going to look over my shoulder the entire time? And your commentary isn't helping."
"I'm just reminding you."
"And it's very unhelpful."
Ocean Song silently stood at the side, opting not to continue bothering Daedalus. Medusa came to join him, watching the ancient demigod work.
"And what 'Dao' is this that he's working on?" Medusa asked, trying her best to stick to the random words that Ocean Song throws out.
"The ancient and most revered Dao of not-getting-killed-by-an-angry-goddess." Ocean Song answered immediately.
Daedalus was working on the Sect Array.
"That's a good one." Medusa said quietly.
"Yes, one that all of us should master posthaste." He nodded in return.
"...I'm going to go swing my sword and pretend like I know what I'm doing." Medusa walked off.
Ocean Song watched her back for a moment, admiring her in his heart. Truly, she had captured the essence of being a Cultivator in the short time she had started.
Ocean Song clasped his hands behind his back, momentarily letting his robes flutter before he departed.
He knew that Daedalus would do a good job on the Sect protecting Array. He knew because if he didn't, they would all be dead eventually, so there was no point in even considering the alternative.
Therefore, he had unwavering confidence in his fellow Sect member.
He saw Medusa had actually found a secluded place to practice her sword—properly at that. Despite her earlier sarcasm, it looked like she was genuinely doing her best.
Ocean Song continued onwards to find Tyson in his forge, as normal. If there was nothing going on, he knew his junior brother would be in the forge.
At this point, they had all sorts of armaments already crafted. And farm equipment—if anyone wanted to be a farmer, they would be set up with the most pristine and immaculate farm equipment they could ask for.
Ocean Song didn't know why his junior brother forged random things, but he didn't say anything to stop him.
He knew that it was important to foster creativity in younger kids.
He was still waiting to hear back from his father as to why he didn't get any of that forging talent himself.
And of course, Nessie was in her kiddie pool. She was playing with a little rubber duck, pushing it around with her flipper and spraying water at it.
He didn't know where she got it from, but he stopped asking certain questions about Nessie. Actually, he stopped asking any questions regarding the Great Void Heavenly Demon.
There are some questions too profound for his meager cultivation right now.
Yes, Ocean Song stood at the edge of the courtyard, overlooking the mountain peaks in the distance.
He admired the scenery. The feng shui that he carefully and meticulously designed. Of course, he also marveled at the beautiful birds that danced between the sect's clouds high above, giving it an immortal feeling.
He even admired the two black birds in the distance, ignoring any semblance of normalcy as they flew this high up. He was fairly sure that ravens don't reach these heights.
Or maybe they do; Ocean Song wasn't a bird expert.
Maybe they were migrating?
He pondered that question as they came right at him, not stopping at all, grabbing onto his shoulders as they flew by, sweeping him up off the ground, and beginning to fly away with him.
"Are you going somewhere?" Medusa asked from the ground.
"It appears so." Ocean Song nodded.
"Where?"
"I don't know." He replied. "Farewell!"
As a proper cultivator, if some magical birds want to kidnap him, he knows it's best to just let it happen.
At least, he thinks that's what he should do as a cultivator. But he didn't voice those thoughts out loud.
As a proper cultivator, he would just pretend to know what was happening at any given time.
Ocean Song didn't question it as he was whisked away. Not just from his Sect, but from the human world in general. The changing of worlds was pretty obvious when it was laid out via a big portal tearing through space-time with different sceneries on either side.
He had never been kidnapped by a bird before; it was a new experience. It was certainly better than traveling by large canine; that was for sure.
Though he could guess the identities of the birds now.
Mostly because he knew where he had been taken, as he had been here before.
Helheim.
"Greetings, Senior Garmr!" Ocean Song politely greeted the great wolf as he flew past.
The said watchdog of Helheim looked at him in confusion before going back to sleep.
Truly, the mythical 'Face' was now serving him well. Even the great Garmr gave him 'face' and didn't give him trouble for abruptly entering Helheim.
He flew a bit longer until he found the recognizable throne of the Queen of Helheim.
In fact, she noticed him as soon as he entered. It was just incredulous enough that she didn't even think of 'stopping' him. That is to say, she had no hand in him being here at this moment.
"Greetings, Great –" The birds unceremoniously dropped him and flew off. Ocean Song hit the ground but quickly got back up. "Greetings, Great Goddess!"
"...why are you here?" She asked him with a noticeable dour tone.
"I don't know." Ocean Song clasped his hands behind his back heroically.
Mostly because he felt awkward in the situation and wanted to project an air of confidence.
Hel let out a sigh, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Odin rarely explains the things he does."
"Perhaps you require assistance with something, Great Goddess?" Ocean Song offered. It was never a bad idea to be on the good side of a deity.
She pursed her lips, scanning him with her eyes. "You're different from before. It's almost like you're a minor god now, but even that is strange. All I see is…you. What did you do to yourself?"
"This lowly Cyclops has ascended to the renowned Nascent Soul Realm and taken a large step forward in Cultivation! One day, I shall ascend to Immortality, with a life equal to the sun and the stars!" He exclaimed.
"Right." Hel replied, clearly unconvinced by his rambling.
"Do you need anything, Great Goddess? Perhaps a fearsome foe that needs to be slain? My blade is at your service!" He quickly asked again. "Except Jotun."
Hel raised an eyebrow. "Why not Jotun?"
"I don't like Jotun." Ocean Song didn't elaborate. "They are the scum of the earth! Their hearts are filled with evil!"
"I'm a Jotun." She stated.
"....."
"My father, despite being a god, was a Jotun." She explained. "My mother was also a Jotun. I'm a goddess, but I'm a Jotun."
"I love Jotun." Ocean Song said without missing a beat.
She let out another sigh. "Why are you…right, you don't know either."
"Perhaps there's something else I can help you with? Do you know why the Great God Odin would wish for me to be here?"
"Because he's a meddling fool." She harumphed, crossing her arms. "It's not even a big deal; why is he making it a big deal?"
"...perhaps speaking about it would help? Whatever is troubling you?"
She grumbled. "It's nothing; I was just rejected again. For the last time. I'm done."
"Pardon?"
She uncharacteristically slumped in her chair. Truthfully, she wasn't used to having guests in her realm, so this was mostly a new experience for her. "I reached out to Nanna as well as Baldr."
"I see." Ocean Song nodded. "Did you fail then? Reject isn't—"
"Oh no, actually, she was…receptive, surprisingly. Well, I was rejected, but not like that. It's just…. One thing led to another; I went on a date with both of them. I mean, that night was wonderful." She smiled despite herself, but it quickly went back down to a frown. "But it became increasingly clear that it wasn't going to work out."
Ocean Song was now fully brought up to speed.
Truly, he had a herculean task given to him by the All-Father. Helping someone depressed from lost love recover.
Thankfully, he was an expert in love.
Well, compared to most people in his life, that is. Granted, the people in his life were Daedalus, Medusa, Tyson, and Nessie.
"It was better to have loved and lost than—"
She flung a rock at him. "Do you think I don't know mortal stuff?" She said dryly. "Don't quote famous poems at me to try and make me feel better."
Ocean Song quickly recovered. "Very well, then it seems I'll have to use my trump card to make you feel better."
"I don't need help 'feeling better.'" She rolled her eyes.
"Prepare yourself, Goddess." Ocean Song's face betrayed nothing as she felt a strange sense of foreboding. With lightning-quick speed, he slapped his storage pouch and did a flip through the air, landing just in front of her. "Do you prefer Cookie Dough Ice Cream or Rocky Road Ice Cream?" He asked, holding a carton of each out for her to choose from.
She sat there, blinking incredulously at the Cyclops. "...Cookie Dough."
Ocean Song plopped down next to her, opening it up and handing her a spoon.
"Great Goddess, how about you tell me what happened fully? Often times, it's best to speak it to someone else." He tried to coax her again.
She let out another sigh. "Fine."
[Line Break]
High up on Mount Olympus, a meeting was happening.
In fact, it was one of several that happened the past few days.
"You know, this is starting to become a trend." Apollo picked at his fingers. "What with Uncle's weird monster kid. Then the other Pantheons come and kick us in the nads. Then…this." He specifically didn't bring up the Golden Apple Tree.
Hera was there.
Everyone was there.
But Hera was there.
And Hera was on a hair trigger. No one wanted to be the one to set her off. She was…not raging at the moment because everyone had said that they were making progress on retrieving her Golden Apple Tree.
Truthfully, they weren't.
They barely started. Though in some logic, that is progress considering they hadn't done anything beforehand.
"Don't forget the newest clusterfuck." Dionysus raised his can of Coke as if it were alcohol. "You must be happy, Hermes; your big boy is alive and well."
"Huh? Yeah." Hermes, who was looking off into the distance, perked up at being mentioned. "It's good to see Pan alive and well." He smiled.
Though they all saw the lack of actual warmth in his words. Hermes was…capricious in most things. He loved his kids; no one would deny that, but he barely paid attention to them. If someone killed one of his kids, he'd rage with the best of them. But likewise, he quite literally dropped his comatose son off at camp and barely had a word to say about it.
"How fares the God of the Wilds?" Artemis asked, one of the few times she took interest in the affairs of a male god like this.
Though the care was mostly from practicality. If Pan passed and the Wilds were lost, it would affect her domain in a small way.
"He's fading." Athena responded. "I had time to look him over. The moments he was lucid, he said he was hiding in the Labyrinth because it was one of the last vestiges of pure 'Wilds' left."
That made all the gods go quiet. Even Hera, who was fuming under the surface, looked somber for a brief moment.
The fading of a god to them wasn't a small matter. It was a reminder of their own 'mortality' in a way.
For immortals, even for Zeus, there was one fear above all else. It was disappearing, fading away, dying for good.
Athena continued. "The camp will sustain him for a period, considering that it's cut off due to the tree that creates a border with the world. However, that's only a temporary solution. Either he needs to be rejuvenated, or he needs to pass on his mantle."
"Of course, I'll take it." Artemis spoke. "It should belong to me."
"He's my son; I should choose who gains it." Hermes frowned, arguing back.
"Silence." Zeus boomed, interrupting them. "We will decide later. We have a more pressing matter to deal with."
"My apple tree!" Hera spoke—shout.
They all winced.
"...other than the Golden Apple Tree." Zeus clarified. "Athena, what did you discover about Boreas?"
Everyone got quiet again.
"He's currently mortal." Athena stated. "His divinity has been stripped utterly, though not ripped from his being. It's as if it exists in a perpetual state of nonexistence behind a locked door. He's still a god, but for all that matters, he is a mortal for the moment."
"Can you speak more plainly?" Apollo asked. "What are we looking at here?"
"Someone essentially sealed his divine nature." Athena explained. "As punishment. I was able to speak with him in some capacity, despite what happened to him."
"What do you mean 'despite what happened to him'?" He's mortal, not deaf and mute." Ares grunted.
"He was also ruthlessly beaten. His legs are broken, and a good amount of his other bones are broken. His teeth are nearly shattered. His face was too swollen to speak properly. He had a concussion, and he was on a great many drugs to help with the…pain of other physical beatings he received, particularly to his groin area."
The men in the room winced.
"Couldn't you just heal him?" Apollo asked. "Snap your fingers, boom, healed mortal—god, whatever."
"I…believed it not wise."
Zeus looked at her with a frown. "Speak, daughter."
"He told me the truth. That the punishment came from Styx. Her champion had ambushed him, stripped him of his divinity, and then…beat him. That's all I could get out of him."
Athena had no care for Boreas; she wasn't going to run afoul of Styx after all that happened. Especially after seeing the state of Boreas. She didn't know how she did what she did, only that her punishment was swift and merciless after presumably he broke an oath.
They were waiting for her to say more, as if to tell them that it's all fine, they don't have to worry.
"He was also stripped naked, and all his possessions were stolen." She finally stated.
"....."
"So…" Dionysus was the first to speak up. "Her new punishment is the divine equivalent of getting mugged?"
Strangely, Athena didn't refute his phrasing.
Even stranger, no one wanted to stress test this new 'punishment.'
[Line Break]
Ocean Song flew through the air as fast as possible. Passing hundreds of miles in the blink of an eye.
"Sect Members, assemble!" He bellowed as he approached the mountain, his voice reaching everyone in the sect.
He touched down, and his Sect Members were there waiting. However, as soon as he landed, their eyes traveled upwards. Specifically, they landed on the woman he held above his head, carrying her like he was holding a piece of furniture.
The woman in question had the most defeated expression on her face. As if she were questioning some of her life choices up to this point.
"Did you kidnap another person?" Daedalus asked.
"I don't kidnap people." Ocean Song retorted swiftly.
Daedalus pointed to himself, to Tyson, and to Medusa.
"Actually, I came willingly. Against logic and reason." Medusa corrected.
".....I didn't kidnap my brother!"
Tyson waved at the woman above his head; she hesitantly waved back.
"He's a minor; it's technically kidnapping." Daedalus pointed out.
Ocean Song thought quickly. "Nessie wanted to come!"
"Bawhooo!" She appeared right behind Daedalus, much to his annoyance, as it startled him again.
"It's literally the Loch Ness Monster; you took it from Loch Ness." Daedalus countered.
"Anyways, this is our newest—temporary—sect member, who I definitely didn't kidnap. She's 100% here willingly, and I didn't have to use underhanded means to coerce her presence specifically through craft, wordplay, and bribery." Ocean Song explained, setting her down.
Her exalted origin must be hidden. Like all good Cultivation Sects, there's also someone with a hidden background in the Sect with a heaven-sent origin.
"Everyone meet –" Ocean Song paused, trying to think of a good name to say. He racked his brain; his cultivation base rotated. His thinking power is at its peak. "...Mel."
[Line Break]
A/N
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