Scene One: The Descent to Tartarus
The gates of Tartarus groaned open like the dying breath of the world.
Zeus and Poseidon stepped into the abyss, torches of divine flame lighting the unending spiral staircase. The air grew colder with every step — not from temperature, but from age. Time itself slowed here, suffocating even godhood in forgotten chains.
Zeus's voice echoed off the stone. "This is madness."
Poseidon's gaze remained steady. "No, brother. This is survival. Megumi Valentine is not a mortal we can toy with. You've seen it—felt it."
They reached the bottom. The cage was vast — a sphere of unbreakable celestial bone. Shackled in its center, slouched on a throne of obsidian spikes, was Cronos.
The Titan King.
His body was gaunt, wrapped in rusted chains thicker than columns. His mouth was sewn shut with golden threads. But his eyes burned—golden, endless, aware.
Zeus lifted a blade and cut the threads.
Cronos inhaled for the first time in an eon.
"Hello… sons."
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Scene Two: The Snake in the Garden
Back on the surface, the sun bled orange over the forest.
Leonidas and Nyx sparred in the clearing. Her strikes were faster now, more focused, and Leonidas had begun to sweat.
"You're improving," he said.
She smirked. "I'm still holding back."
But neither of them noticed the rustle in the trees… the slither beneath the soil.
Megumi, not far off, was meditating near the edge of a cliff overlooking the river valley. He sat cross-legged, eyes closed, centering his mind through the teachings of the Fallen King.
And then—
A hiss.
A whisper.
He opened his eyes—too late.
From the shadows, Medusa emerged. No longer the weeping victim of myth — now a sharpened weapon of Olympus, armored in obsidian scales, her hair a nest of serpents writhing with hunger.
She whispered, "Don't blink."
Megumi turned his head—and her gaze met his.
His breath caught.
His fingers stiffened.
And stone began to crawl up his arm.
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Scene Three: The Rescue Attempt
Leonidas stopped mid-spar. His eyes narrowed.
"…Megumi."
He dropped his staff and bolted, Nyx following without question.
As Megumi fought to close his eyes, the petrification crept from his fingertips to his elbow. His voice rasped as he tried to channel energy to reverse it—but the venom in Medusa's gaze was too ancient, too direct.
She approached slowly, smiling. "You're stronger than most. But still flesh. Still prey."
Suddenly, a streak of violet light flashed from the trees—Nyx's blade. It struck one of Medusa's snakes, severing it. The creature hissed in fury.
Leonidas burst into the clearing, his sword unsheathed.
"Move away from him," he commanded.
But Medusa sneered. "You're too late. He's mine now."
Leonidas dropped his blade and knelt beside Megumi, who was now frozen up to his chest. His heart still beat, barely, and his eyes were trying to stay focused.
"You listen to me, boy," Leonidas growled, grabbing Megumi's hand. "You are notdying like this."
He drew a dagger and cut into his own palm, letting his divine blood flow onto Megumi's chest.
"Come on…" he whispered. "You carry the King in your soul. You can fight this."
A pulse.
The Fallen King's energy flared briefly in Megumi's core.
And the stone cracked—reversed—as golden fire erupted from Megumi's halo, shattering the creeping petrification and blasting Medusa backward into the trees.
She hit the ground hard, body scorched, her magic unraveling.
Before she could rise, Nyx pinned her blade to Medusa's throat.
"She dies," she said.
Megumi coughed, barely able to speak. "No… she warned me. Let her go."
Nyx hesitated.
Leonidas looked at him, surprised. "You sure?"
Megumi nodded weakly. "She hesitated. That means fear. That means doubt. That means… she can be turned."
Medusa snarled, but didn't strike again.
Nyx pulled her blade back slowly. "One chance. That's it."
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Scene Four: Shadows in Olympus
Meanwhile, atop Olympus, Cronos stood freely for the first time in millennia.
His voice was like death echoing through time.
"Bring me the boy. I want to meet the child of wrath. And then… I will unmake him."
Zeus and Poseidon looked at one another.
Their war had just become something much, much darker.