Kronos' Tomb was one of many artifacts that had originated in the Godlands but had ended up (one way or another) in museums on Earth.
This Tomb looked as though it was the Tomb of an Ancient Egyptian, but, as with many things in the Immortal world, there was more to see than what met the untrained eye.
Really, Kronos had disguised his Tomb so he could keep his sword safe underneath the mummy he'd placed on top. What with Kronos being a Titan, he would be far too big to fit in the Tomb after all, and then there was of course the small matter of him not being dead, instead just banished to the Realm of the Titans after losing the Titanomachy (an Ancient War started by his son, Zeus).
So, in the beginning of 2015, Zeus was offering a reward for the person who could go to the museum in New York and retrieve his father's Tomb and bring it back to him first.
As a reward, the winner would be allowed to ask the other Immortals competing for anything they wanted.
This knowledge sparked a light in Ace's eyes as she listened outside the door of the High Temple to the Immortals talking inside.
She had heard there was going to be an urgent announcement, one for which many Immortals, particularly those of the younger variety, need not be present, something for those with 'experience'. So naturally, Ace had immediately felt this sudden, irrepressible urge to go along and spy on them and boy, was she glad she had.
After this all, the tricksy little goddess sauntered away before the doors opened to let the Immortals come pouring out in their hordes of excitement, thinking as she did, "If they didn't want me to listen outside the door, then they should've invited me in the first place."
Growing up with two of the Godlands' most adept thieves for parents, and a certain chaotic knack had certainly given Ace an advantage in her field.
At this point, she was quite the thief, even if no-one truly knew it yet. And The Goddess of Chaos knew exactly what she was going to ask for when she won, her grin widening as she disappeared just in time, the door opening a mere second later.
Chattering and yelling, the combined immortals of the Godlands poured out, getting ready to head for New York (where the Tomb was held), come nightfall.
After the museum shut, a pack of immortals entered its walls: ready to grab Kronos' tomb from its place in the centre of the museum. Each god crept, flew or ran through the halls of the museum avoiding the Security Guards or knocking them out, or, in the case of the telepaths, simply wiping their memories.
It was chaos, it was madness, it was everything Ace thrived on.
If the Immortals passed each other they would either sneak away or confront each other which soon led to bursts of colour illuminating the museum corridors as the immortals battled it out for the prize.
Let's just say that most of them clearly didn't know the meaning of the word 'discreet'.
Swords clanged, beams of Magic flashed and shields boomed as they deflected enemy blows throughout the corridors. More and more immortals fell, leaving less and less left as they made it further through the museum towards the Tomb.
One of these immortals, Thor, The God of Thunder, was striding confidently along the corridors, his red hair billowing out around him as he headed through room after room, battling his way towards Kronos' Tomb with ease.
As he went, he knocked down immortal after immortal until he entered a large room filled with the bones of an assortment of creatures. To the dismay of the god, he spotted a small living being amongst the remains.
"Oh hey Thor! Come for the Tomb I presume? Oh that rhymes!" Ace said spinning her large cane around excitedly as Thor looked at her, a baffled expression on his face.
The expression in question may have been something to do with Ace knowing about the Tomb or it might have been to do with her outfit which was... far from traditional.
She was wearing a colourful polo neck jumper, a leather jacket, dark baggy jeans and odd socks, all of which stuck out so much, that the most disguised part of Ace came atop her pale head in the form of her customary black hat.
"How did you know?!" Thor demanded furiously.
"Oh Thor, I always know," Ace said tapping her nose and winking at the raging god.
Thor raised a bushy eyebrow as he put his hand on the Hammer hanging from his belt.
"Nah I'm just kidding, I listened outside the door, you really should get better security you know, or maybe just invite everyone so you don't have to," the goddess said, putting her hands in her pocket and sauntering calmly up to the god who was nearly three times her height and covered in muscle. Contrary to this Ace was a little more on the thin side and barely made it up to the god's chest.
However, even if The Goddess of Chaos had been tall in stature she still wouldn't have been close to the height of The God of Thunder. Thor really was humongous, his giant frame towering above Ace's small body.
"Well, normally I would obliterate those foolish enough to listen behind doors, but... as you are just a weak young maiden- I feel it is only right that I let you go now Astrid," Thor said in his most chivalrous voice, straining slightly as he left the way out clear for Ace. At Thor's words, Ace's smile melted away into something darker, her dark blue eyes flashing dangerously as she looked at the god, not moving an inch.
"Listen here Thor, three things: One, I will not tell you again, I don't take Astrid anymore, my name is Ace. Two, do not ever, EVER call me a young maiden again pal. I am not some posh 'maiden' and I'm perfectly happy giving the world the gift of my opinions- thank you, Thor. Oh, and finally- three, if you think I'm weak and you think I'm just going to walk out of here, no. If anything Thor, if I was you I'd walk out the room right now, cause when all the others hear how I beat you in single combat, you'll be the laughing stock of the Godlands. So, take the chance and leave now or I'll have to embarrass you," Ace retorted, her hands back on her staff, her eyes still flashing dangerously.
At the words of the goddess, Thor's face lit up with glee as he laughed raucously, Ace looked up at the ceiling as he did in exasperation, wondering why people insisted on being so ridiculously idiotic.
"You are funny indeed little damsel," Thor guffawed as he rubbed Ace's hair like she was an adorable toddler.
A BIG mistake on Thor's part.
As she spoke, Ace's eyes flashed a warning yellow, the goddess teleporting back in front of The God of Thunder, not ready to leave so quickly.
"Damsel, as in damsel in distress because pal, if we're talking about damsels in distress, I think there's only one in here, princess," said Ace, grinning as she gave the Thor a great big kick in the knee that sent the unsuspecting God stumbling backwards, clutching his knee.
"You will pay for that Astrid!!" The god blustered angrily.
"What you gonna do Cinderella? Poke me with your glass slipper?" Ace retorted, grinning wildly at Thor's evident fury.
Then, as the god got back up, going to pull out his Hammer, he spoke, foolishly, "If you want my advice Ace... go learn to sew like a proper little lady. Or, even better, go find a suitor and learn your place."
Upon his words, the god came over and looked down on the still smiling goddess, who took a step back. She scoffed disbelievingly, her black eyebrows shooting up her freckly forehead.
"Oh you're asking for it now," Ace said, her voice burning with outrage as she bashed her staff against the ground. Her eyes flashed a bright electric yellow as a pile of bones came tumbling down on top of the God of Thunder who looked up, one second too late, falling to the ground in a heap.
Now, Thor's large frame lay there, covered in the bones of some long gone creature.
"Whoops... clumsy me."
Ace grinned from ear to ear as the bones began to shake and flash in a bright shade of blue.
After a few seconds, Thor burst out of the bones in a crash of thunder and lightning, sending debris flying across the room and bouncing off of a yellow force-field that had surrounded Ace, who looked at the carnage around her with a gleeful grin.
Eventually, The Goddess of Chaos stopped and clicked her fingers- sending the bones miraculously back to their original places, as though they had never moved. Thor was mad with rage now, his mustache rippling with his short, sharp breaths.
"Get. Out. Of. My. Way!" yelled Thor, trying so hard not to burst with anger that his face turned a deeper shade of red than his mass of unkempt hair.
But, even at this, Ace merely grinned coldly in the face of Thor's fiery fury.
"Make me," she replied, simply lifting her staff off the ground with a smile that pushed Thor's fury over the edge.
This was just a small goddess, she should be bowing to him, certainly not the other way around! He had beaten so many immortals tonight and he was to bested by a young goddess?! He didn't think so.
"I think it's time someone taught you a lesson, young lady!" Thor yelled, bringing his Hammer down to the ground with a tumultuous 'crash', making the ground shake and lightning streak towards Ace who dropped her staff and threw out her hands, grinning with the thrill of the fight.
At Ace's touch, Thor's bolts of lightning stopped in mid-air, beginning to turn a bright shade of yellow and curling back towards their commander. At this, Thor's face turned from a mad frown to a mask of fear as the lightning crackled towards him, commanded by the grinning goddess.
A split-second later, the bolts hit The God of Thunder with the full force of a sledgehammer right in his muscly chest, sending him crashing through the large oak doors at the other end of the room with a loud 'bang!'.
Following this, Ace picked up her staff and sauntered to the other door in the room waiting for Thor, ever so casually.
Moments later, the god jumped up and ran after Ace, breathing like a demented bull. Just as Thor came up close to her, she teleported away, stuck her tongue out at the god and slammed the door right in his blustering face, heading ever closer to Kronos' Tomb.
"Many have tried Thor, and many have failed," Ace said gleefully through the shut door as she turned to face the next room, only to set eyes on the other god now facing her.
"Oh, hey Hypnos, you might wanna duck!"
Then, as Thor opened the door with an almighty crash, he saw the form of Hypnos speedily flying over to Ace's side.
Ace now held onto to her staff a little tighter as the three Immortals looked at each other, on edge.
Hypnos, The God of Sleep, was utterly unlike Thor in every way, his head a mass of short hair comprised of fluffy white feathers like those of a baby dove.
Atop his feathered head lay a pair of wings giving him his speedy flight and hanging from his belt was the god's precious Sleep Trumpet, a weapon which puts the victim into a deep sleep. With that and the other powers at his disposal it was no surprise that Hypnos had made it this far, though he didn't seem to have the demeanour of one you would expect to gain victory in such a task.
Thor spoke, looking fed up with this whole charade and upset that he was not, as he was used to, the centre of attention.
"Now listen here you two, you're going to get out of my way RIGHT NOW or I'll simply have to force you!!" Thor warned in his deep voice, towering above the two Immortals who looked at each other then back to the furious God and snorted with derisive laughter.
"Seriously? Do you never learn Thor? I just kicked your sorry backside into next week and you think you can force me to get out of your way?" Ace asked as Hypnos turned a somersault through the air in his glee.
"Thor get real, you couldn't beat Ace on her own, you try and take the two of us and the only way you'll be getting out of here is in an ambulance," said Hypnos gleefully, brandishing his Trumpet in the air, a slight glimmer present in his dark eyes.
For a moment, Ace looked uncertainly at the fiendish god but he just winked back at her, putting the Sleep Trumpet to his lips.
Seemingly relieved, Ace grinned gleefully and pointed her staff at The God of Thunder, moving slowly towards him with Hypnos by her side.
As the god brought down his Hammer to strike Ace conjured a brilliantly bright forcefield out of nowhere, causing Thor's hammer to bounce uselessly off the protection, and sending the god stumbling backwards onto the ground with a 'thud' that shook the earth under the immortal's feet.
"Night, Night, sweet dreams," Hypnos cooed as he raised the Trumpet to his lips. Though, just as Hypnos spoke, Ace put a gloved hand on his Trumpet looking round at the God with a mysterious smile on her freckly face.
"Let him see you stealing his thunder," the goddess suggested, a mask of mystery concealing any hint of her true intentions from view.
Hesitantly, Hypnos nodded and, to protests from Thor, Ace conjured huge, heavy chains that temporarily inhibited Thor's powers, binding The God of Thunder tightly.
Then, as Hypnos pulled the God up and shoved him happily towards the door, Ace looked round at the ancient paintings of the Greek immortals that lined the room.
"Wow. They seriously thought Zeus had that much muscle? Nobody has that MUCH muscle, I mean come on! And what's this 'Zeus was a benevolent and just ruler'- yeah you've never met him!" Ace exclaimed, as she made her way through the circular room looking up at the large statue of Zeus on display.
"And hadn't they heard of clothes when they made this? I mean how hot do they think Olympus is?!" The Goddess of Chaos added as she looked at the statue of Zeus, which was indeed absent of any clothes, along with nearly all of the surrounding exhibits.
"I know right, even the drawings of me have loads of muscle on them! It's insane! As if I need muscles, after all, the only thing I need is right up here," said Hypnos tapping his head, a proud smirk still painting his face as he shoved The God of Thunder through the door towards Kronos' Tomb.
While Ace nodded in agreement, Thor's red eyebrows crumpled as he spoke with a snort of condescending laughter, "How's your skull going to help you in this you idiot?!"
Hypnos put a hand to his winged head as Ace let out a short, disbelieving laugh and rolled her eyes, speaking as they entered the room housing Kronos' Tomb,
"Well I wouldn't worry Thor. I think your skull is the best you've got just now."
Thor still looked baffled, but before he could open his mouth to speak again Hypnos turned to Ace as three other Immortals broke through the two other doors leading into the grand room.
"Now..." Hypnos began, turning to Ace with a smirk on his mad face, "sorry dearie but Uncle Hypnos can't have you messing up his plans can he? Sweet dreams little thief!" Hypnos cooed as though addressing a little baby.
Quickly, Ace took a step back from the god, drawing her staff just a second too late, he blew on his sleep trumpet and sent the stunned goddess falling to the ground, fast asleep.
Now, Hypnos was faced by the other three Immortals still left vying for the Tomb of Kronos. Ace's trickster of a Father Loki, Hermes, the Greek messenger god, and Hypnos' sister Eris, three of the best thieves in the Godlands.
"Well, I didn't expect to see Ace here, last time I checked she thought we were going to steal from the Valhalla Palace," Loki said as Eris watched her brother with narrowed eyes and Hypnos and Hermes flew inches above the ground, Hypnos with his winged head and Hermes with his Winged Hat and Sandals, holding his long Staff tightly as he gave The God of Sleep a suspicious glare.
"But the Valhalla Palace is where I live!" said Thor in an outraged tone.
"Yes, yes, you know where you live, have a gold star Thor!" said Eris, scornfully, looking at her sleeping daughter then back to her scheming brother without even shooting Thor a glance.
"Terribly sorry about her but she was getting in my way," Hypnos drawled, not taking his wild eyes off his sister's dark blue ones.
"Yes, she has a habit of doing that she takes it off her mother," the goddess finished smugly, smiling slightly.
At Eris' words, Loki looked round indignantly.
"Eh, I think you'll find she takes that off me," he said crossing his arms as he looked at Eris who raised her eyebrows as she spoke in a tone covered in sarcasm.
"Oh sure she does Loki."
As Loki made to retort, Hermes butted in,
"Oh give it a rest will you? You lot are louder than a pack of Harpies!" the athletic messenger God said as he made a lunge for the Tomb lying in a central spotlight- but Hypnos was ready for him.
He flew up to the messenger God and, though Hermes dodged his first blast, the messenger took a second too long to laugh at the God's mishap. In his momentary weakness, Hypnos blew a plume of deep purple smoke at Hermes who fell from the sky with a shocked "Oh"... and crumbled on the ground in a deep sleep.
"Now terribly sorry about this sis but-"
However, before Hypnos could finish his sentence, he was cut off as his sister jumped onto the Tomb and sent a jet of Dark Magic at The God of Sleep who dodged just in time, nearly dropping his beloved Sleep Trumpet in the process.
"Yikes!" screeched Hypnos, diving for his trumpet and scooping it up a mere second before it hit the stone floor.
"You were saying brother?" Eris asked the peeved god gleefully.
Then Loki joined in the ensuing fight between the Immortals that remained awake and unchained while Thor demanded he be released immediately, to no avail.
"Oi, featherhead- take this!" shouted Loki, hitting Hypnos with a blast of energy that sent him spiralling across the room.
"Oh, you'll pay for that you cheap illusionist!" screeched Hypnos, placing a hand to his feathered head as he got back up, seething with anger. Loki ignored the god, flicking his hair out of his face as he turned back to Eris.
"Now, Loki I would hope you're smart enough not to make the mistake of thinking I'll go easy on you," Eris said, the corner of her lip twisting up and her dark blue eyes narrowing as the pair stared each other down.
"Oh I wouldn't dream of it..." said Loki, grinning as Hypnos jumped towards him and The God of Mischief threw a blast of energy at his wife who promptly jumped off the Tomb, throwing her own blast right back. Loki just dodged in time receiving a hit on the head from Hypnos' Sleep Trumpet that sent him tumbling to the ground as Thor continued to complain in the background.
Then, suddenly, as the immortals' fight raged on, the lid of the Tomb burst off in a whirl of dark clouds and a huge shadowy figure emerged from the small box clutching The Sword of Kronos in its large fist. At the sight of the figure, the immortals stepped back in shock, forgetting about their fight in the shock of the moment.
"Immortals! Say my name and tremble at my feet!!!"
The deep voice came booming from the mouth of the shadowy figure, loud and commanding.
At this point, even Thor had shut up, which was a very welcome change.
"W-we don't know your name," whimpered Hypnos, gulping down the fear he was trying to hide.
"Yes you do! SAY IT!" The voice boomed across the domed ceiling and the round walls.
"Ok, ok, ok!! Kronos! You are Kronos, as in THE Kronos, The Almighty Titan?!" Hypnos squeaked as his sister gave him a withering look.
"Kronos?!! No, no, no," and as the voice got through each 'no' it started to sound less booming and more, well, cheeky and the shadowy figure started to look less shadowy, quite a bit smaller and a little more like a certain, very chaotic Goddess.
"My name is Ace, The Goddess of Chaos, and don't you ever forget it!!" Ace finished gleefully as Hypnos and her parents turned to see the illusion of the sleeping goddess fade into golden dust.
"Oh my Gods, how did you? I mean, what?" Hypnos asked in shock, gaping in awe, as Thor looked thunderstruck (pardon the pun), and Loki and Eris looked at each other with something in their eyes which might just have been pride, if not a smidgen of annoyance.
"Oh it's simple really, I've been in that Tomb ever since you turned on me Hypnos cause I knew at some point you'd try to get me with that Trumpet of yours so when you did I just used an illusion and teleported to Kronos' Tomb. I'll tell you what it was a hard job keeping up the illusion, but I couldn't risk you seeing I'd gone, and I couldn't resist seeing your faces when I pretended to be Kronos! Oh and boy was it worth it! I mean you looked like you were wetting yourself Hypnos!" laughed Ace, chuckling with her eyes as well as her mouth as she held Kronos' massive Sword with considerable effort- it was nearly two thirds of her height after all. Then, she teleported the Tomb and its discarded lid out of the room.
"Where did it go?! That was my prize!" yelled Thor angrily.
"Oh shut up Thor!" snapped Ace, Loki and Hypnos at the same time as Eris gave The God of Thunder the same withering look she'd given her brother a minute before.
"Oh and Thor? If you want someone to sew for you, here's a wild idea for you! Why don't you stop telling me how to behave and go learn how to do it yourself?! Because I may not be able to speak for everyone, but I think we all here can clearly see that my talents lie elsewhere, more in the field of awesome thievery skills and general charm and charisma," Ace said winking at The outraged God of Thunder as she teleported to the door of the room with a smile that spread across her face and up to her glowing yellow eyes as a portal to Olympus opened behind the gleeful goddess.
Looking back, still grinning wildly, Ace spoke to The God of Sleep with smiles in her eyes and a spring in her step. All while Thor looked shocked and dumbstruck at the impertinence of this one immortal.
"Oh and by the way Hypnos?"
"Yes?" asked the God glumly as he watched his prize disappear.
"Thanks for the Sleep Trumpet!" Ace said, pulling Hypnos' Sleep Trumpet from behind her back with a flourish and a wink that was simply bursting with glee.
Hypnos' already huge eyes burst with shock and he spluttered with indignant shock as Ace turned and walked through the portal with the manner of a spy walking away from a large explosion, a smug smile on her freckly face.
Then after that, all the other Immortals in the building were carried up to Olympus and any spells on them were removed as the Tomb and the Sword left the museum for the last time. Nobody in the museum would ever be sure exactly what happened that night as, by some chaotic fluke, all the security cameras had broken and the security guards, well, they were lying on the floor with no recollection of the last night whatsoever.
All they had to go on the strange scorch marks across the walls and floors which evaded any understanding. For even the most intelligent of experts were never going to be able to identify the marks of an Immortal's Magic.
Back on Olympus, Zeus was flabbergasted to see Ace appear on the table in front of him with Kronos' Tomb and Sword by her side one hand in her pocket, one hand casually spinning Hypnos' long Sleep Trumpet.
"But- How? You... weren't meant to- " Zeus blustered, his blue eyes bulging with rage and shock.
"Know, I wasn't meant to know... I know and for the record I think I know why you didn't want me doing it now, you were too worried I'd steal their thunder weren't you? And you were right to be worried!" Ace said bursting with glee as she gestured at the assembled gods, one hand clutching the Sleep trumpet and the other still calmly stuck in her jeans pocket, her grin spilling across her features.
Thor, who'd been let out of his chains once he arrived in Olympus, protested angrily,
"She was not meant to be a part of this!! Therefore, she should not get the prize, she needs to be punished!!"
Zeus looked as though he thoroughly agreed with Thor but Ace's interjection brought the god tumbling back to reality.
"Well, when I was listening outside the door I couldn't help overhearing you, Zeus, say there was no rules 'Win by any means' was, I believe, what you said, so there was no age limit, you just didn't tell every Immortal about it," said Ace, hands in her pockets, as cool as the North Pole as Zeus sighed in annoyance at this inconvenient truth. All around them, the assembled immortals' faces around looked stunned, angry, disbelieving and some were even looking just a little impressed.
"Very well Ace, what would you like as your prize?" asked Zeus, bitterly averting his electric blue eyes from the glittering deep blue pools of Ace's eyes.
"Wow, someone's just letting me get away with this eh? You going soft Zeus?" Ace responded, cackling as Zeus muttered bitterly under his breath, his eyes jumping around the room.
"Just... get on with it."
"Well, normally I'd say the expressions on your faces are more than enough but I'll tell you what I want. I want each of you to... give half of all your money to Mortal charities."
As uproar raged around her, Ace simply watched on coolly.
Even her parents looked a little less proud now. Although, there was definitely still a flicker of pride in their eyes whether they'd deny it later or not.
"Why would we do that?! We're hundreds of times more advanced than those Mortals!!" Ares said utterly beside himself with rage as protestations echoed around the room.
"Well if we're SO above them then surely we should be helping them evolve like the kind, loving people we are?" replied Ace somewhat sarcastically as she stepped off the table with a flourish, throwing Hypnos' Sleep Trumpet back to the astonished god (who hugged it as though it was a long lost pet) and pulling her staff out of thin air, then she sauntered through the parting crowd towards the door, cool and calm in contrast to the burning fury around her.
"Ever call me dearie again Hypnos, and you won't get the Trumpet back next time," warned Ace sweetly, making the god nod his feathered head fervently.
"You could've picked anything!! Why that?!" Zeus demanded as the goddess made her way to the door with all the swagger of eight gods in her step.
Ace turned back just as she made it to the door, smiling at the assembled Immortals with a glint of mischief in her eye.
"Well, maybe I just wanted to see the looks on your faces, or... maybe I'm actually a good person, I guess you guys will just have to wait and see won't you?"
And, with that, The Goddess of Chaos winked at the Immortals and teleported away in a shower of yellow sparks, happy in the knowledge that each of them were bound by an oath on the Styx to follow her order.