(Temporary Perspective Change)
"So let me get this straight Asmodeus... instead of focusing your army on the phoenix and only going for her... you decided to attack, the ENTIRE MORTAL REALM!?!"
"You're making this out to be bigger deal than it actually is Zeus. Things would have gone much smoother if you told me the dragons had decided to band together and protect the world. Further preparations could've been made if that vital piece of information were present"
'It's always bittersweet seeing father like this, I'm not sure if this situation is good or bad but seeing him this anger does bring a hidden smile though'
Me, Asmodeus and Zeus are all currently at a viewing station after witnessing the demon lord Belphegor's death and I can't help but notice how much Asmodeus seems to enjoy getting ripped at by Zeus. He planned and orchestrated this failed attack yet seems to not care in the slightest? It's almost suspicious how he really has no care for his own kind.
"Bah... are you actually mad demon lord!? Why on Olympus did you think it was a good idea to do all that!?
"It's obviously for a distraction. If I were to send the entire demonic army straight to the islands alone, then wouldn't that have looked suspicious? You wanted this under wraps, correct? It sounds like this is a complete waste of time then, can always call the attacks off if you really still don't like my plan"
"You still haven't called them off!?! Bah, I think my soul is losing its grip on reality..."
To actually see Zeus be this worked up over something. Despite his irritation, none of it is aimed for the safety of mortals since such a thing isn't a consideration at all. This just comes down to being moaned at by other Gods when this information finally reaches public ears. And it will, I'll personally make sure on that.
"*Sigh*... this is why I cannot put my faith in anybody... there's only one real option left to protect the Gods now. I feel like you've forced my hand a little as well Asmodeus"
Even now, I'm still not sure what his final option is. There's been a rumoured final resort father has been keeping secret for dealing with troublesome problems but no God or contact even seems to have a clue what it could be... well, at least of what we know of. There probably is someone out there who has a clue but we're in the dark right now.
If I'm speculating though, father's solution cannot be him finding a body to possess and doing things that way, it's way too risky and time consuming to be considered a choice. And besides, he only does that sort of thing simply for sex. If not for the most basic of carnal needs, then what's the point? But taking up a temporary form is slightly different to actually being able to stay a while longer in the world.
Zeus wants the phoenix gone yesterday and getting stuck in a baby's body for years being fully conscious is a choice he'd never make since picking a mortal body is the only way to be able to return. If you go down there full power mad, you're permanently stuck is what I'm told.
He could also do what I do with an incarnate but I think Zeus see's that idea as a little disgusting and would be extremely hypocritical if he did. Relying on mortals to do your own job would repulse him.
If this last attack, whatever it may be on Ikarus fails, there might be the chance for a peaceful route but after what's happened, could you really see the phoenix wanting to become a Goddess? No chance, in her situation, I'd want to purge the heavens personally...
It's a shame Hephaestus isn't around since he used to handle all of Zeus's affairs and may even know what the final solution is but that's just complete speculation. Still can't find him despite my best efforts, should probably join in the conversation as well. I was invited here today despite my observation job being finished.
"I'll never complain at seeing you get angry old man but why am I even here? You basically deemed my help pointless a while ago"
"Asmodeus wanted to invite you boy for some reason. Personally, you've never had the stomach to deal with high pressure situations but I think the demon does? Everyone up here is useless anyways..."
Now Asmodeus aims his slight grin towards me, it really is quite unsettling but man up Dionysus. You've already drunk enough to kill a boar today so ignoring his sinister smile should be easy.
"Oh, your father nearly made me forget my reason for wanting to see you. Zeus, our lovely and majestic leader, don't you find it pretty strange how well the attack was defended?"
"What are implying Asmodeus? You're always been a tricky fellow so get to your point already"
"Of course! I'm not hinting or implying at anything. What I am stating is a fact... your innocent, alcoholic son has been meddling in places he shouldn't be"
And that's when the demon Asmodeus presents a scroll showing a very noticeable face, someone I've been in contact with for years now. To think he knows about Charlotte...
"Am I supposed to know who that is?"
'This bastard's got me...'
"Hehe, don't play dumb with me and neglect your little worshipper Dionysus. It must break her heart for you to ignore her like this"
This little charade is going to last longer but father really cannot stand anything like this so his anger is only going to get worse at this rate.
"Asmodeus! Get to your fucking point already and don't tempt my wrath!"
"Okay, okay... My point is, our humble and brilliant leader Zeus, coincidences don't happen this easily. I can prove Dionysus has been in contact with that particular human and heh... the best part is, that particular human is best friends with the phoenix you've been trying to desperately kill"
And that's when he presents another scroll showing a picture of Charlotte and Ikarus standing over Belphegor's corpse with several others. This clearly is something that was just shown on the monitors but actually seeing that I have a connection to her and seeing some of the transcripts of what we said on that paper as well... I'm fucked. There's no way father's paranoia will believe any lies I spill now.
He picks up the overwhelming evidence against me and his face goes from sheer anger to disappointment. I feel no regrets doing what I did despite the potential threat of execution, this was worth it all...
"Dionysus... do you have anything to say on this? This seems... pretty damning"
"Other than a sentence or two? You've proven time and time again you're no longer fit to rule the heavens and someone more competent will replace you. Whoever that is, I really couldn't care"
A glass gets thrown in my direction from father luckily just missing my head, a small injury like that is the least of my concerns right now though. I really have no play other than to accept what incoming, I've always prided myself on being a lover, not a fighter so this is inevitable.
"Bah, you're not even denying it boy!?! To think you betrayed my trust like this and even have a dirty smile on your face! Treacherous scum..."
Without even having the chance to react, I find the demon's arm wrap around my neck and a sharp prick go into my shoulder. This was nice while it lasted I suppose, still not a single regret. I just really hope Charlotte will be okay without me...
Just as I'm about to lose consciousness from what the demon stabbed me with, a small whisper enters my ear...
"Relax young God, things are more complicated than you can believe so this is for your own safety. Apologies for this but things will become clearer soon..."
And that was the last thing I heard before everything went black....
__________
(Ikarus) "Shit..."
"..."
(Zeki) "No no no! Fuck fuck fuck!"
Having just entered the clinic in search of Ariza, what presents us is a damning site of just how harsh this world can be. This place is drenched in blood, demon and human bodies litter the ground like garbage everywhere. But that's not just it in the hell turned place of healing, right in the corner at the far back is three people. Two of which are clearly alive crouching down over the corpse of the third...
(Marcus) "Ariza... s-she..."
(Garry) "The lass told us to hide when that huge guy came in here"
Sitting peacefully up against the wall is the smiling Ariza... or her blood-soaked corpse...
Me and Petra are just shocked while Zeki rapidly rushes over there aggressively pushing the two guys aside to grab a hold or her body. This is just... I'm speechless.
"Brother! Why the fuck d-didn't you just run away!?"
Watching him with his eyes filled with tears kneeling over her corpse is just too much... fuck it. There's no choice to make here, right? It doesn't matter if I want to save my resurrect in case Petra passes away... No, there isn't a fucking choice here...
"Screw it, let's do this then"
Quickly making my way to where the sobbing Zeki is, I crouch down and grab hold of her cold wrist. I really, really hope this isn't too late.
'Aesa, there's no way she's been dead longer than an hour, right?'
[<Aesa presumes so>]
"Orangey, g-get the fuck o-off her!"
The thought of anyone touching her corpse is sending him into despair but I have to be making contact, I think?
"Zeki, just trust me one second"
'Aesa, activate second chance'
[<Does -Ikarus- wish to conf-... forcibly skipping notice regarding 1 year cooldown time. Ability -second chance- has now been successfully activated into target -Ariza-... thank you -Ikarus->]
Holding onto Ariza's lifeless wrist, I feel a jolt of energy course through me into her body... and then almost instantly, a pulse can be felt.
'Thank fuck...'
"Uh... is everyone alright? I handled most of them... what about the big guy? Is he still here?"
I can't help but crack a smile about Ariza's first words returning from the dead but the main reaction seems to come from the tsundere beside me.
"You fucking idiot brother! T-This is why I keep telling y-you've got to be selfish! Thank you o-orangey!"
If anything, Zeki's crying has gotten even worse now but nothing better than happy tears, even if he seems to be suffocating her with hugs right now. I'm a little surprised Petra hasn't broken down from this but maybe she expected me to do this? It could just be she's trying to appear strong as well.
"You're crying Zeki? Ria didn't break up with you or something like that, right?"
"D-Don't change the subject! You j-just died because of your s-selflessness brother, how fucking dare you leave us like this!"
"Did I? Uh... huh, I did, didn't I?"
While those two are having a moment, it might be for the best to leave and do something else. It's kinda an unnatural feeling seeing Zeki be this honest with his feelings for once.
"Petra... should we probably return to the fight?"
"Think everything's over for now... thanks Ikarus"
No more words need to be said regarding the issue of me using second chance. Now for the next year, I'm going to be wrapping Petra in bubble wrap so this doesn't ever become a thing. It may sound like I'm joking but I'm being deadly serious, I'm going to become clingier than I've ever been before...
'It would've been horrible to lose Ariza permanently though... let's just move on from his sappy shit otherwise I'm going to cry as well in a minute...'
"No need for thanks... we're going to repay this favour to Asmodeus one day..."
__________
"Huh, what a weird and chaotic day"
"Heh, yeah Ikarus"
Currently chilling on the roof of a building, Petra's currently snuggling into me while we're watching some miners struggling to get mother out of the lava pit. It's a strange position to be in, I know but it's probably that inner bird in us coming out on why we've chosen such a risky and stupid thing.
I also kinda feel like we need to be seen, just more for people walking around the town so they know things are finally over. Seeing the two queens hugging and sitting on a rooftop together definitely gives off that impression, could be something less weird but weirdo might as well be my middle name at this point.
There's also the slight problem of my level having gone through the roof from that one battle but really can't be arsed focusing on that right now. I'm still pretty sure one of my ribs might be broken but all I want to do is relax and comfort Petra right now.
"Ikarus... thank you again, you really didn't have to do that"
Whether it was sweat or a tear, something definitely just landed on my leg but I won't say anything to Petra about it. I already know she cares for Ariza enough anyways, maybe she just expected me to save it for another time?
"What do you mean Petra? Of course I did, everyone loves Ariza around here"
Speak of the devil, Ariza's currently walking past in the distance over there and she appears to have a tail. Not literally of course, what I mean is Zeki seems to be following her around while he is being followed by the dryad and the dragon Mute... wait, please don't tell me Mute likes Zeki or something...
No, I seriously doubt that, it might just be because he's been crying a tonne and still seems a little sad at the thought of his sister or brother dying. Mute does seem like a pretty compassionate person to be fair and Zeki is surprisingly loyal even if she did have a thing for him. He's stuck with the dryad permanently, unfortunately for him
"Ikarus, I... there's a prophecy I never told you or the others about"
"What was it Petra?"
"I've... been expecting both Zeki's and Ariza's death for a while now. I never told them about it but that was one of the connections between the fourth phoenix thing. You'll destroy the world and in the process, harm us three as well"
Petra kept another part of that prophecy secret? Oh, I don't even care about it that much...
"Let's be real though Petra, your mother was clearly a manipulative bitch who may have been a prophet but was a evil mess. Just look at the way she treated Mute for example..."
I don't even need to know Petra's mother to get that vibe, who the fuck tortures their own daughter since it might benefit your future more? My bluntness does surprise Petra slightly though.
"...I'd personally take anything she's ever predicted as a grain of sand. If I'm going to go about destroying any world, I can guarantee it ain't going to be this one nor will I ever hurt those two. She probably lied about the whole thing to misguide you as well, probably has more of a grip on you than you seem to realize"
...
A silence ensues but not down to it being uncomfortable. Despite Petra fiercely disliking her prophet dragon mother, I guess she never really assumed that she may have been screwing her over even now. I know that she basically said all her prophecies turn true but we really cannot trust someone like that.
"You know, you really can give the best advice at times Ikarus. Hey, erm... forget it"
Oh great, she's doing this thing again. We cannot continue to hug if she's about to say something, then changes her mind! If it's a kiss or something like that, then just do it already!
"Don't make me beat it out of you Petra, what were you going to say?"
Threating to beat my girlfriend is always something great to be heard out of context...
"Heh, fine then Ikarus. I'll say it but promise not to take it out of context, alright?"
"I won't, promise!"
"Okay... what's your view on marriage?"
...
If this is suddenly Petra's way of proposing... no Ikarus, she literally just said don't take it out of context! Why else would she be bringing it up now of all times though?
"Bit hard not to take that a certain way Petra, any reason you're asking that then?"
"It's the two queen comments that keep coming up and I'd just like to know your opinion on it really. Heh, this really isn't a proposal so you really don't need to look like that"
I don't know what she means by how I look. If she were to propose, I'd find it nearly impossible to say no but actually giving it some thought? The only word that comes to mind is eh...
"I guess if I had to answer... eh?"
I probably should find a better word and not shrug but that's seems like the perfect word to describe my thoughts on the whole thing. Eh is more than reasonable.
"Your thoughts on marriage, is the word 'eh' Ikarus?"
"I'm actually not that fussed or even care that much, maybe because there's still a tiny bit of dude left in me? Something like that really isn't that big of a deal since it's basically just a big party anyways, I'm not really sure..."
That seems to have made her a little disheartened, that's not what I was going for!
"...Don't take this as me ever saying no if you offered though Petra! It's just that I really don't have any opinion... except on clothes, I ain't wearing no wedding dress!"
"Heh... there's really no point then. The only point in getting married would be to see you in a gown anyways"
...
Sighhh... I know what she's doing, I can see through her like a piece of glass now. This could be seen as being manipulative but it really couldn't be any further from the truth...
"Well... there might be some way... some tiny chance to convince me otherwise. It would have to be the biggest and most manipulative bribe you could think of though, something so impossible that you might have to even resort to mind control... something like a fried chicken the size of a phoenix? That would make a pretty dope dowry to be honest"
"Heh, looks like I'll have to get a date ready then. How does first thing tomorrow soun-..."
I love the banter we have sometimes, might as well cut her short with a quick kiss... or a proper one. Ah, quick feel around as well...