Chapter 8: Foolish Brother

It was a world in which gods lived. All Villagers knew about it, but none had ever seen one. They lived in a desolate place, not the prosperous city of gods. But even then, the stories had traveled far and wide.

The Village Elder was sure that the people inside the Sky Fortress were deities. Only deities could possess a palace like this and survive such a fall.

Raven glanced at the Villagers in the distance, noticing the minimal damage to the Village. He stepped towards the Village, jumping down the height.

The silver haired man followed behind, remaining alert. This was a hostile world and he knew that they weren't safe yet.

Raven stopped before the Village Elder who was on his knees, looking at Raven with a gaze of worship.

Raven stopped mid-way, feeling something. He turned to the silver haired man, creating words with his finger, a message only for him.

Seeing the words, the silver haired man seemed stunned.

"But-" he exclaimed, but before he could finish his sentence, he saw Raven remove the earring.

Carrying an innocent smile, Raven grabbed his hand and placed the bloody earring in his hand.

As Raven's hands touched his, the silver haired man felt as if molten lava had touched him. Raven's entire body was warm, as if he was burning from inside. He was sure that Raven wasn't fine. He was in pain yet he didn't show it.

The silver haired man stared at the earring in disbelief. He only came to his senses the moment he saw Raven's body falling to the side. In a swift motion, the silver-haired man caught Raven.

Raven's face had gone completely pale, his body warming up as if he was burning in the flames of hell. His eyes remained closed, yet it didn't look like he was sleeping in peace.

Instead, it was more like he was facing a nightmare filled with pain and sadness, the curse overwhelming him once again, even stronger than before.

The silver haired man held onto Raven, his fists tightly grabbing the earring of his master. Seeing Raven in this condition, he felt his heart shatter into a thousand pieces. Just when he thought everything was over, he came to find out that this was just the beginning.

Just as he had gained a moment of peace, he realized that they were far from peace. It was just as Hermes had said. Just one artifact wasn't enough to remove the Curse. In fact, the curse was only getting stronger, slowly suppressing the effect of the earring.

Realizing that if he kept using the earring, it was going to become less effective, Raven quickly took the decision of removing it instead of weakening it further. He let the curse temporarily take possession of his body, instead of granting it an opportunity to get stronger.

It was the message he left for the man before him. The earring was their last resort, only to be used when his people's lives were in danger.

Raven knew that now that his people had started appearing in this world and the sky fortress was taken down, it was only a matter of time before all his enemies found out about his return.

"Even after all this time, you still don't stop worrying about us." A drop of tear steamed down the silver haired man's cheeks as he looked at the young boy in his hands. "Even after all this, you haven't changed."

"I, Zephyr, promise you. Even if I have to burn the entire world to ashes, I will protect you! We will recover the other items. All those who hurt you will face a fate worse than death!"

He turned his back on the Villagers, turning into a shadow and disappearing with the young boy in his arms.

****

"Did you find Gaia?"

In an unknown part of the world, there existed a majestic land known as Olympus.

Although the true Olympus was destroyed during the Calamity and most of the Olympians were killed, a new Olympus was created in the world created by Gaia during her death.

With time, the Olympians were reborn, coming to their rightful place. However, even after all this time, Olympus hadn't regained their previous glory.

In the past, Olympians were truly immortal. They could live for an eternity as long as they weren't killed. But when they were killed during the Calamity, all of them lost their Immortality.

Even though they were reborn, still in possession of their old powers, none were immortal anymore. All of them were caught in the cycle of reincarnation, growing old and dying.

This was also a reason why all of them still hated the Traitor who caused that calamity.

"Not yet. We are still trying," a response came.

"It's been fifteen years since the prophesied time of her rebirth. And you still haven't managed to find her? Since when did you all turn so useless?!"

"We are trying our best. We're also taking Lord Apollo's help but-"

"I didn't ask for excuses!" The man on the throne roared, his voice loud enough to shake the entire palace. "Find her, no matter what! We can't let others find and get closer to her first! Don't forget, she's our only chance of regaining what we lost!"

"This is also her first rebirth since the day she died while sealing that bastard! I've waited for this for so long. I won't allow any mishap this time! Do you understand?"

"Please call your anger, Lord Hades. I promise I'll find her." Instead of arguing, the men agreed.

"If you get it then scram and find that bitch and bring her to Olympus before others get her!"

The men nodded in agreement and dispersed, each determined to locate Gaia. However, all of them knew that it was easier said than done. If even Apollo couldn't find her, then they could only try their luck.

After the men left, Hades stood up. "Sigh, has Olympus always been this useless? Just why did I want to rule this place in the past. It's like the land of fools. It's well suited for my foolish brother."

"Talking of my foolish brother, where is he?" he asked, looking in the distance.

A man came into sight. "Lord Zeus went surfing with Lord Poseidon."