The skies above Mount Oryx were quiet.
Too quiet.
The swirling storms of divine war had passed, for now, leaving the mountain bathed in eerie golden twilight. The cracked stone and scorched earth bore the weight of battles long etched into myth.
And at the very peak, where once Cronos had ruled with iron command, now sat a different kind of king.
Megumi Valentine, the Fallen King, rested alone on the shattered throne—his eyes glowing dimly gold, a faint hum of black, white, and crimson energy coiling around his body like a serpent made of starlight.
The throne room was still, carved open to the elements. The air was thin. The wind did not dare touch him.
He leaned forward, resting his chin on his hand, eyes watching the horizon with a strange mix of fury and exhaustion.
"They just don't stop," he murmured. "Apollo. Artemis. Zeus. Even Cronos…"
His voice trailed into silence.
He remembered the way Artemis moved—graceful, precise. The way Apollo fired—merciless, fast. The way they looked at him—not as a man, but a threat.
He didn't feel powerful right now.
He felt tired.
Megumi looked down at his hands, fingers lightly trembling. The power of the Fallen King roared in his veins, but even divinity carried weight.
His grip tightened.
"Why do they keep coming?" he whispered. "Why keep trying?"
He thought of Medusa. Of Nyx. Of Leonidas, still recovering from battle.
He remembered Ava's voice. The warmth of her smile. The way she once ran her fingers through her hair while watching the rain fall outside their window.
His eyes sharpened.
"They fear change," he said aloud. "They fear what they cannot control."
He leaned back on the throne, gold-red lightning crackling around his shoulders, wings folding behind him with a slow beat.
Then, silence again.
Until the words left his mouth like thunder wrapped in velvet:
"Maybe it's time…"
He rose from the throne.
"…I paid Olympus a visit."
The sky shuddered.
The heavens held their breath.
And Megumi vanished in a flash of red lightning, leaving only silence and a throne no god dared sit upon.