Dispute

"He escaped," Apollo mumbled, seeing the carriage continue in its former course even after he fired his arrow. He glanced at Ares and Hera standing next to him, both of them having frowns on their faces.

"So, Athena wasn't able to descend here because of that blacksmith bastard? I said that we had to find him before going down, yet no one listened to me." Hera's eyes were like daggers. "All of you are useless. I have to do everything by myself."

In response, no one said anything as Hera became even more agitated. "Did it feel good playing with Zeus? Why couldn't you have just killed him with full power from the beginning? He was so weak, yet he escaped, and now we have to search for him again!" Hera, full of fury, punched the ground, creating even more cracks.

"He won't be able to grow his divinity to defeat us, and Hephaestus is not good in actual battles," Ares said. "We will find him and kill him for good. There is no reason to be angry."

Hera turned her head in Ares's direction, her eyes bloodshot. "I think you forgot who we are dealing with. I know Zeus better than anyone. He is a bastard and a moron, but he is a monster. He started here from nothing and lived for only a few years, yet now he is keeping up with our speed. We don't know what will happen in a few months! It was a perfect opportunity!"

Ares wanted to retort but understood that he was unable to. Hadn't he been immortal, he would have been fried by that laser Zeus created. However, his rapid regeneration is a part of his being, and that's what he always used to overwhelm others, so Zeus wouldn't be an exception.

"And why are you so quiet, huh?!" Hera approached Apollo, staring right into his golden eyes. "You could have killed him at any moment. I know that you could! Even your arrows weren't aimed at his heart or head!" Apollo kept a straight face, then smiled. "I wanted him to suffer more." "Suffer?" Hera's face was an epitome of madness as she raised her hand, purple energy gleaming around it. "He will suffer in the soul prison, not from your inaccurate shots."

With that, Hera tried to punch Apollo. Yet, Apollo caught her hand like it was nothing, the ground beneath breaking at their casual collision. Ares was already beside Apollo, holding him at bay with a spear. An amused expression painted Apollo's face. "You are all so funny. It's just one failure, and you are already so irritated."

"Gods don't make mistakes," Hera answered.

"Gods make more mistakes than mortals." Apollo retorted, calmly pulling off Hera's hand from his wrist and freeing himself from Ares's spear. "And our mistakes cause more harm than you could imagine."

"Where do you think you are going?" Hera hissed.

"I will search for him. In case I find him, I will inform both of you." Apollo said, walking away. "He is probably going to lay low for now, at least until his injuries get better."

With that, Apollo walked away, ignoring Hera's angered shouts. He put on the Akatsuki robe and a ring on his hand then glanced into the sky. "You have changed, father. However, it is too late. I will not be stopped."

Hera continued with her previous tantrum. "I knew bringing him was a bad choice."

Ares just shrugged, not wanting to indulge in unnecessary conflicts. He descended for the sole purpose of enslaving Zeus - not for some drama between gods.

"Let's go." Hera sighed, seeing that there was no use talking to Ares. "We can manage without that bastard."

-

"Since when has Poseidon been on my side? I don't remember him being so fond of me. Instead, he was actually quite on good terms with Hera." Zeus, already recuperated, and the injuries no longer deadly due to natural energy, asked. "Why did he fight against Hera?"

"When did I ever say that he fought because of you?" Hephaestus smiled. "He wanted to take over the entire Heaven, and Hera was simply ahead of him. He probably wanted you dead more than those three."

"That makes more sense." Zeus nodded, slowly standing up and glancing around from the carriage. "By the way, how the hell did you build this stuff? How is it floating like that?"

"Oh." Hephaestus finally got more interested in the conversation, as he shuffled in his seat. "It's made of a few special materials I have discovered on this planet. Additionally, I have spent some time researching the jutsu scrolls of this world, managing to implement them into this carriage for it to float like that. Essentially, I took..."

Hephaestus was about to continue, but he noticed Zeus zoning out, causing a frown to appear on his face. He was about to grab his hammer again, but he calmed down. "Why ask questions if you don't even want to hear the answer?"

"Sorry, sorry, that cloud looked really intimidating." Zeus scratched his head.

Hephaestus stopped, lifting his eyebrows. "Did you just say sorry? What the hell happened to you? Are you even Zeus?"

"I am?" Zeus said. "Or I was?"

Hephaestus simply sighed, putting a hand on his forehead in distress. "Whatever, we will be arriving soon."

"So, where are we headed?" Zeus stuck his head out of the carriage, looking down, understanding the ground was growing nearer and nearer. He saw huge mountains and canyons. "Is this the Land of Lightning?" "Nope," Hephaestus answered, pointing further into the distance, where signs of snow were present. Slowly, as they advanced further, the sight completely changed from greenery into whiteness all around. "We are in the Land of Snow. I have built a little hut there."

Zeus smiled. This man was one of the few gods who actually cared little about materialistic things, unless, of course, the talk was about valuable materials. Hephaestus could very well live in the mortal world without any issues, and Zeus had grown to respect that over the years. Zeus settled back into his former position, awaiting their arrival.