From Mortal To Divinity

Wolf House

Sonoma Valley, California

United States of America

X776

Sitting down amongst Lupa's pack once again to eat is an experience that I did not think that I would miss, yet here I am experiencing it once again, and I find that I did in fact miss it. Maybe it's because it reminds me of the simple time, or maybe it's because my childhood with Lupa has a heavy influence on who I am today. Regardless of what the reason is, all that matters is that currently is that I am sitting here eating with my family and my surrogate mother.

"Tell me cub, how did you escape The Pit and what have you been up to for the past few years?" asks Lupa as we finish eating.

"I found a passage out that led me out of Tartarus." I answer nonchalantly even as the temperature drops and an ominous feeling fills the air at the mention of 'Tartarus'. The change in atmosphere immediately puts the wolves on edge as their fur stands on end and a few of them even snarl into the shadows in the forest.

"I forgot that using names can have consequences here ." comments Azula as she lets a miniscule amount of her godly power leak, causing the ominous presence to quickly retreat and for the atmosphere to return to normal.

"I see that you have much to explain, beginning with where did this passage lead you to." says Lupa as she feels the power coming from Azula and the divinity behind it.

"The passage led me to a world similar yet quite different from here. A world where all myths are real yet are manifested in different ways. It is there that I met Scáthach and Morgan." I explain to her.

"The name Scáthach is familiar to me. She is one the Celtic's most powerful warriors. Would that be her?" asks Lupa as she studies Scáthach.

"That is indeed me. However, I do not think that the Scáthach of this world is the same as me." answers Scáthach.

"You certainly carry yourself like a warrior." observes Lupa as she gets up from her lying position on the ground and circles around Scáthach before turning her eyes to Morgan. "And her?" she asks.

"I would be Morgan le Fay." introduces Morgan.

"I recall that name from the Arthurian stories but nothing else." she says as she turns her eyes to Mordred. "And this would be your cub." comments Lupa with narrowed eyes as she scrutinises Mordred with her famously intimidating wolf glare. Rather than shy away from Lupa like most would, Mordred stares her right back in the eyes without an ounce of fear. This faceoff lasts a few seconds before Lupa grins.

"You raised her well. While she certainly is not Roman, she has roman like qualities about her and the fire of a warrior that I would not mind having as an ally on the battlefield." praises Lupa as she returns to her previous position while ignoring Mavis. "Not only have you returned from The Pit, but I can see that the challenges you have faced have turned you into a Roman I would follow to Tartarus and back. I am proud of you." she says to Azula and I. "I will not keep you here any longer." says Lupa as she closes her eyes and seems to prepare to sleep while dismissing Azula and I.

With a fond smile on my face I get up from my position and exit the Wolf House with Azula and the others not far behind.

"She hasn't changed at all." comments Azula as we stand outside of the Wolf House, a massive ruin of red and gray stones and rough-hewn timber beams.

"She honestly has not changed at all. She still doesn't care about anything as long as it isn't a threat to Roman, or pertains to the future generation of Rome." I reply with a smile as I look up at the cloudless night sky.

"So where are we going now?" asks Mordred.

"We split up from here. We will go to Olympus to visit Aphrodite while Ambrosius goes to Atlantis." suggests Azula.

It makes sense. Atlantis is an isolationist nation and newcomers are not welcomed, even if they are guests of one of the princes. Even if Salacia might be willing to make an exception for Mordred to see her grandchild, it would be disrespectful to bring her with me.

"Very well. I will first go to Atlantis before meeting you in Olympus. Afterwards we can visit Camp Jupiter before returning home."

With a nod, Azula grabs the others and vanishes with a crack of thunder. Not far behind, I dissolve myself into sea water and make my way towards Atlantis.

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City of Atlantis

Location Unknown Other than Somewhere in the Ocean

Deep in the bottom of the sea, where no man has ever visited, lies an underwater kingdom that many have speculated about, yet none have ever seen proof of its existence. The Kingdom is made up of multiple moderately sized cities spread out around the ocean floor, and a large city serving as the capital. To many the name of the kingdom is Atlantis, however Atlantis isn't the true name of said kingdom, rather it's the name of the capital city.

Unlike the myths however, Atlantis is not a mortal kingdom that sunk to the bottom of the sea. It is in fact a supernatural kingdom made up of all seafaring life, such as merpeople and water spirits, that started out as a group of independent kingdoms. However, when Neptune took over as the lord of the sea, he united them into one kingdom and made Atlantis the capital.

Currently inside the throne room is filled with many water deities as Neptune and Salacia hold court. The throne room of Atlantis is completely different in style compared to the rest of the royal palace. Unlike the royal palace, which is heavily based on roman architecture with some minor greek influences, the throne room takes most of its designs from european throne rooms. The dais is taller, the thrones themselves are larger, and the decorations a bit more lavish.

Sitting on a pair of thrones on the raised dais are the ruler of the sea, Neptune and Salacia, looking as regal and powerful as always. Standing in front of the dais is none other than their son, older brother of Ambrosius, and the crown prince of Atlantis, Triden. And standing on both sides of the room and leaving the middle open are the generals and anyone important enough to be part of the court. In the middle of the room floats what looks like a regular dolphin, but is in fact Delphinus, the god of dolphins, roman counterpart of Delphin, and one of Neptune's most loyal lieutenants. As the lieutenant finishes his report, he bows to Neptune before returning to his position on the right side of the room.

"Thank you Delphinus." says Neptune as he watches the god return to his position. "Is there any other matter that needs to be addressed?" questions Neptune as he surveys the room.

Seeing no one coming forth, Neptune prepares to adjourn court before he is interrupted by a vortex of seawater that materialises into the middle of the room. Seeing this every member of the court turn to Neptunes with questioning faces. However, Neptune does not answer them and simply raises his trident towards the vortex in order to dispel it.

"Impossible." whispers Neptune as his power over the sea fails to dispel the vortex.

Hearing their king's words, the members of the court draw their weapons and prepare for whatever it is that comes out of the vortex. Soon enough the vortex slowly dissolves before beginning to form a humanoid form until, floating in the middle of the throne room is a stranger that many feel as if they should know.

The stranger at six feet two inches, possesses long silver hair that reaches his upper back and has a slight glow to them, beautiful brown skin and a physique perfect for a warrior. He wears a red sleeveless cuirass with silver accents, a red and silver pauldron on his left shoulder, silver vambraces that reach from below his shoulders to his wrist, silver tassets over black trousers, and silver greaves that completely covers his boots, and on his back he wears a red cape with silver accents. While all of these features are alien to the occupants of the room, the stranger's face bears a resemblance to many members of the royal family that cannot be ignored. From the stoic roman expression on his face, to his high cheekbones that give him aristocratic features, and the hardened yet gentle expression in his eyes, the man can easily pass off as a member of the royal family.

Approaching the stranger, Triden points his trident at him with a scowl on his face.

"You are trespassing on Atlantis. Identify yourself." orders the crown prince.

Rather than immediately answer, the stranger studies Triden for a few seconds before he surprises the room by gently smiling towards the god.

"It's good to see you again brother." says the stranger as his eyes flash into a glowing sea green, and his hair turns into midnight black.

"Brother?" questions Triden as he lowers his weapon a bit before quickly putting it back up. "No. Any deity worth their salt can alter their physical features. Tell me something that only the two of us would know." says Triden while Neptune and Salacia watch the interaction with narrowed eyes, ready to smite the stranger should he prove to be an imposter.

"You found my superior skills with weapons to be infuriating because of how easy it came to me, while you found my lack of control with my powers to be infuriating because of how lacking it was. Also, you found my showboating to be quite annoying and unnecessary." answers the stranger with a smirk.

"What were my very last words to you before you left Atlantis?" questions Triden.

" 'Good. Now go change, father would like to see you before you depart' " answers the man as he repeats Triden's words verbatim.

"It really is you." says Triden as he puts his trident away and the entire court follows suit. "You finally came back. I always said that it was simply a matter of time." claims the crown prince as he studies his younger brother with a slight smirk on his face.

"Well you know me, I always have to show off some way. And what better way to show off than escape Tartarus unscathed and by myself." answers the now identified Ambrosius with a shrug, causing Triden to chuckle before he floats away from him to give Neptune and Salacia a full view of their returning son.

"King Neptune, Queen Salacia, I have returned." says Ambrosius as he places his right fist over his heart in a standard Roman salute and slightly bows at the waist.

"I see that." answers Neptune with a slight smile that only a few notice before he looks towards the members of his court. "Court is adjourned, we shall meet again next month." says Neptune as he kindly dismisses them with his words, yet forcefully orders them to leave with his eyes.

Not willing to incur Neptune's wrath, the members of the court scurry out of the room before the guards close the door behind them. With the court gone, Neptune and Salacia rise from their thrones with smiles on their faces before floating towards Ambrosius.

"My son has returned from The Pit." boisterously laughs Neptune as he uncharacteristically pulls Ambrosius in a hug. Unlike the facade he and Salacia portray on a regular basis, Ambrosius' situation has affected them a lot. Not only is Ambrosius his son, something that automatically guarantees him a place in Neptune's heart, but he also spent time with him. While some may not see a few months as long enough to gain feelings for someone, it was enough for Neptune, and even more so for Salacia because she spent more than a few months with him after he left Atlantis.

"It's good to see you too father." says Ambrosius as he returns the hug.

As Neptune pulls away, he takes the time to study his son for a few seconds before nodding in satisfaction and allowing Salacia to pull Ambrosius in for a hug.

"Welcome back son." says Salacia with a gentle smile as she hugs the now taller Ambrosius.

"It's good to be back." he answers with a smile of his own before they pull away from each other.

"How long has it been?" asks Ambrosius.

"Five years." answers Triden.

"Tell us son, how did you escape, and what happened to you?" asks Salacia as she points to his red eyes, white hair, and his armor.

"I found a passage out of Tartarus, however it led me to a completely different world, and I have been traveling from world to world ever since." he answers, shocking them.

"This…this is an important revelation." answers Neptune as he begins to pace around the round while gently rubbing his beard in deep thought. "The Pit is connected to a different world." he mutters to himself before turning to look at Ambrosius. "What was that world like? Did they have their own gods?" he asks.

"It is similar yet quite different from here. Myths and legends walk in the shadows similar to here, yet how they manifest themselves is quite different." he answers them as he conjures images. "This is Hercules, and unlike our own he would quite easily fit under the mortal's definition of hero today as opposed to simply being a classical hero." explains Ambrosius as he shows them an image of the man.

"If Hercules exists, then that must mean that so does Jupiter and the other gods." comments Triden as he studies the images of different heroes.

"I never met any of the gods." answers Ambrosius. "When I had arrived in that world, most had already retreated from the mortal world and did not bother themselves with it any longer. As for what happened to me, well that is a long story."

"We have time." declares Salacia as she makes seats around a table out of the water.

Before they can sit however, Mercury appears in the throne room with a flash of light.

"Jupiter is calling a meeting. You are also to bring Ambrosius with you." relays Mercury before he disappears with the same flash of light.

"It seems that Jupiter has received word of your arrival." comments Neptune as he calls his trident to him.

"It was simply a matter of time considering the fact that Azula has also returned." answers Ambrosius as the quartet teleport to Mount Olympus' throne room.

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Mount Olympus

New York City, New York State

High up in the sky of New York City, a mountain floats over it. This mountain does not connect with the ground and cannot be detected by mortals due to the Mist, but is connected to the mortal world by a space elevator where it hovers above the Empire State building. It possibly exists in another dimension, due to it floating with its great mass over a mortal city undetected.

At the top of it is a large city containing the palaces for the Olympian gods, goddesses, and residences for many minor gods, other creatures and beings of Greek and Roman mythology. It is here that the gods commune, each having a massive throne, which are collectively arranged in a reversed U shape.

Currently in the throne room of Olympus, also known as the Hall of the Gods, the Major Olympian gods sit together holding a meeting in light of recent events.

The Thrones of the gods stand in a U around a hearth, where Hestia usually sits but is currently absent, starting with Zeus/Jupiter and Poseidon/Neptune's thrones as they are the most powerful Greek/Roman gods. From Zeus/Jupiter and Poseidon/Neptune's thrones the goddesses sit on the left side of the hearth and the other gods sit on the right side. High above, the blue ceiling can be seen glittering with constellations.

After the war with Gaea and the achieved peace between the Greeks and the Romans, the gods have merged their conflicting identities of Roman and Greek into one. As such, while they are currently acting as the Roman gods and goddesses, they still retain much of their greek aspects and no longer suffer from having identities that are at war with one another. The result of this union is that they are now both Roman and Greek and retain certain attributes from their two aspects depending on what the situation calls for, which is why it is not surprising to find that many of them are currently bickering like their Greek aspects as opposed to their Roman aspects. The reason for their bickering is simply due to the return of the two most powerful demigods in history and the fact that they have found that Tartarus connects this world to another. One similar yet different from their own. One where different versions of themselves exist. Some believe that they should explore this new world, while others believe that it would be best to leave it alone, and some simply don't care and are not paying attention.

Just as the arguments reach a crescendo, a massive vortex of sea water erupts from the middle of the room, causing the gods to quiet down. Once the vortex vanishes, the royal family of the sea can be found standing there in full armor. While the fact that they are wearing their armor is something to note, the gods and goddesses find their eyes drawn to a red armored stranger standing among them.

"You have finally arrived brother." comments Jupiter as Neptune grows to thirteen feet tall and takes his seat on his throne. "We were discussing what is to be done about my daughter's findings in Tartarus." says Jupiter in a very Zeus like manner.

Before Neptune can give his opinion, Ambrosius interrupts him.

"Nothing will be done to those worlds." says Ambrosius as he joins his group a few feet away from the thrones.

"And who are you to suggest to us what is to be done or not?" questions Jupiter.

"You already know who I am Jupiter, and I would suggest that you reel in your inner Zeus, his stupidity and power hungriness is showing." answers Ambrosius, causing Mercury and Apollo to stifle a laugh while Mars scrutinises him and the other gods begin to really pay attention to the meeting.

Next to Ambrosius, Triden makes to stop him from speaking further when Salacia stops him and telepathically tells him to trust his brother. Despite not knowing much of what Ambrosius has experienced, she and Neptune remember that Ambrosius never committed to an action without the means to see it and through, and although it has been years since they have seen him they know that this is one attribute about him that has not changed. Not only that, but ever since seeing him they have noticed that the previously quiet confident demeanor that he had about him seems to be amplified to the point of making him seem to be as powerful as them. Even if they don't feel a godhood coming from him, and in fact cannot sense anything from him.

"The worlds that we have visited do not fall under your jurisdiction, they do not follow the same laws as this one, and most importantly are under our protection." claims Ambrosius as his eyes flash a crimson red before returning to normal.

"Those are bold claims you make, demigod." answers Zeus as he spits out the word demigod as if it were an insult.

Expecting Ambrosius to continue his argument with Zeus, the gods are disappointed and surprised when he decides to remain silent. However, just when Zeus believes that he has cowed the petulant demigod, the entire mountain begins to shake and storm clouds begin to form over Mount Olympus. Believing this to be the cause of Neptune, the gods turn to him only to see that he is not in fact the cause. This makes them turn to the only one capable of shaking the earth, Ambrosius, just as an aura of bloodl.u.s.t begins to emit from his body and his eyes glow a crimson red. Soon after a crash of thunder can be heard as a lightning bolt strikes the middle of the throne room.

Getting up from his throne, Zeus summons his master bolt to him and aims it at Ambrosius.

"You will cease this." orders the king of the gods as he prepares to smite Ambrosius.

Before he can however, his master bolt flies from his hands and into Azula's.

"Oh, father, why must you be such an imbecile." sighs Azula as she twirls the master bolt around in her hand before grasping it with both of her hands. "Don't you know that it's a fast way to get smited by beings more powerful than you." she says as she snaps his master bolt with a smirk and absorbs all of its energy.

Seeing this, Artemis, Apollo, Athena, Mars, all draw their weapons, only to be completely encased in ice by Scáthach who simply glares at the group even as she ignores the growing plants that attempt to wrap themselves around her. Before they can however, they catch on fire courtesy of Morgan or are sliced to pieces by Mordred as she wields Veterum.

By this time the other gods have realised what is happening and all, but Neptune, Salacia, and Triden, rise to action. Before they can launch themselves at the group however, a pair of Excidium beams fire from Ambrosius' eyes and carve a deep vertical line on the floor between the two groups.

"Anyone who crosses this line will be killed. I do not mean fade, or sent to Tartarus, or grievously injured, you will be killed." claims Ambrosius as he glares at the gods and goddesses with his glowing baleful red eyes and releases more of his power, cracking the ground and the walls of the throne room along with increasing the power of the storm overhead.

"Now why don't you all be obedient and sit back down." orders Azula with a voice dripping in charmspeak while Scáthach frees the gods encased in ice.

With glassy eyes, the gods return to their seats where their shackles grow from their thrones and imprison them.

"Now, you will all listen to me very carefully." orders Ambrosius as most of the gods truly begin to feel terror which is only made worse by the cracking of thunder overhead.