Legend of a Hero

Chapter 8

A/N - sorry for the delay, i am a college student and got really busy with school. enjoy the chapter.

Third Person POV

"Our meeting has been long overdue my son, I do not have much time so I want to tell you a few things. Above everything else please know that I love you more than anything, not being there for you was very hard for me but I kept watch over you and tried my best to help." The woman in front of him spoke softly, this was his mother, the one whom he had always wanted to meet.

She walked over to him gently before speaking again,"You and Erebus are no different than one another. You both want the same thing. You both want the peace that fate has spoke of. However you're both working for your own kind of justice. The justice you have meted out against Olympus is exactly the same as what Erebus has planned for the entire world. Conquer, redesign and reclaim. It is simply a revolution. Everyone feels the pain of loss the same. You and him are just ordinary people driven to revenge in the name of justice. But if this revenge is called justice, then that justice breeds yet more revenge and it becomes a chain of hatred. Living within it, aware of the past, predicting the future. That is what it means to know history. We cannot help but know that people cannot understand each other and frankly never will. If all we know is fighting than what is the point of living? A man's life is not measured by how they lived but rather what they managed to accomplish before their death."

Perseus understood little of what was being said, he had no idea where he was, no idea of how to get back. The Olympians were all gone except for Hestia, the girl he fell in love with was standing right before him before he was brought here. Everything was hitting him all at once and for the first time in his life he didn't know what to do.

All he could do was listen.

"The world is full of things that don't go as you wish. The longer you live, the more you realize that reality is nothing but pain, suffering, emptiness and loneliness. Listen to me when I say this my son, in this world, whenever there is light, there must always be shadows. As long as the concept of winners exist there must always be losers. The selfish desire of always wanting to win is what causes violence, and that violence breeds hatred, and hatred is born to protect love."

"Do remember that power is not a will, it is a phenomenon of physically making things happen. When a man learns to love, he must also bear the risk of hatred. I've watched your interactions with the priest and still know that you have much love for her." Her face softened as she smiled sadly, "The pain you bear has been masked for centuries, the hatred for the gods has caused you nothing but pain, but it's come for the pain to end."

She silently walked over and faced the large lake that was off to the west, the water sparkled in the evening sun that was just starting to go down.

"We are humans, we don't know what kind of people we truly are until the moment before our deaths. As death comes to embrace you, you will realise what you are. That's what death is, don't you think?" She laughed softly at her rhetorical question.

She walked over and looked Perseus in the eye,"Love is the reason why there is pain. When we lose someone precious to us, hate is born. Vengeance is the product of that hate and so death follows. But in death there is only more death. This will give rise to more pains. In this cursed world we live in, it is a cycle of hatred that will not cease. You seek your own kind of peace, and Erebus seeks his.. Let me ask you this one final question. how will you confront this hatred and pain in order to create peace?"

A lack of words was understatement, Perseus had no idea what to say or what to think, he looked down towards that ground as an evening breeze moved the blades of grass ever so slightly. The three suns in the sky were almost gone from view as night was just starting to set in, three crescent moons were becoming more and more prominent in the night sky. As time passed by, the answer was becoming more and more evident.

Perseus sighed, "There is no such thing as absolute peace, the Olympians are gone but Erebus still stands, as long as there is humanity then there will always be suffering and pain. It's a shameful contradiction that we all seek peace, yet at the same time yearn for war. These are just a few of the realms belonging solely to man. Thinking of peace whilst spilling blood is something only humans can do. They're two sides of the same coin. To protect something another must be sacrificed. However, I plan on breaking this cycle. The Olympians are no more, Erebus will be next. Afterwards I plan on redesigning the world from scratch and revolutionizing everything."

His mother had a stern look on her face, "You talk about becoming a god."

Perseus nodded, "If that is what must be done then that is what I will become, to truly achieve the peace I want then this is something I have to do."

"You cannot escape what fate has in store for you Perseus, not even I am above it."

"I will break away from fate and write my own destiny then." His bright emerald green eyes shone with a fierce strong determination.

Skuld smiled, "Then there is nothing more I can tell you. Our time here is up, I wish you the best of luck Perseus, I will always be watching." She walked over to Perseus and put her index finger against his forehead and whispered in an ancient tongue. She smiled one last time and she faded away as if she was never was left standing in the beautiful garden of Yggdrasil at night all by his lonesome.

His true fight had just started. The Norse within him had woken up.

Ω

Perseus hadn't of been gone for long but much had changed. Erebus had taken control over the entire planet, the humans were driven to the brink of extinction. Monsters roamed the cities, the demigods were publicly executed..

Dark clouds covered the skies, the sun hadn't shone it's face for days since the sun god was gone. The planet was slowly starting to die without proper sunlight. Erebus had begun his plan for a revolution. He would build the planet back up by scratch.

Piper was seen as a one of a kind girl, and with her powers over charmspeak she was locked away as a tool to use against other deities that Erebus wished to recruit. Her clothes were torn and covered in dirt and dried blood, it was a deja vu for her all over again and thinking about the Trojan war brought back many memories of Perseus. He was right there in front of her after centuries all for him to disappear without a trace. She had no idea if he was alive or not. Images of Erebus' blade stabbing through his chest flashed before her eyes many times over and she had to shake her head to stop thinking about it. Tears streamed down her face as her sadness reached new heights.

There was no hope for this world left, even the hope of Olympus, Hestia, was killed moments before Perseus disappeared. The cell she was locked in rattled and the ground beneath her started shaking violently. Her heart started beating quickly, she could feel him. She wiped her tears away and stood up.

He was here.

Ω

Perseus struck the earth in such an incredible force that he cracked the planet's crust, a large ravine that went all the way down to Tartarus was formed. His tengu had changed considerably and looked more humanoid than anything. Despite being larger than before, it's agility and power had increased dramatically as well. Perseus stood in the center of the tengu with a black set of armor on, the most notable feature being the wings on the helm.

The sheer power he was radiating was too overwhelming for the monsters around him and they all turned to dust in a matter of seconds. Perseus' tengu raised its four blades and brought them down in an arc and a wave of energy mixed in with the black flames of Shiva struck Olympus and completely destroyed the main part of the building. Even from this distance Perseus could see that Erebus was livid and furious. He couldn't help but smirk.

The primordial's armor manifested itself around him as he jumped downwards from the heavens towards the earth below and the ground cracked with his landing.

"How nice to see you again Perseus, last time I saw you, you were on the ground kneeling before me with my sword through your chest." His mouth formed an evil smirk as he looked onwards towards Perseus. The sinister look on his face had become more devious than before. "While you were gone, I've made some changes." He spread his arms out, "Look around you, this is what was meant to happen! A desolate world with no life, no signs of humanity. That is what this planet needs. All that's left for me is to reform this planet in whatever way I want. I will be the one to give it new life. I will be the one to redesign it and become it's only god. I will be worshipped by all!" The emphasis on himself was evident, his narcissism was slowly getting out of hand.

Despite all the remarks about him, Perseus kept quiet, his tengu still activated and around him.

"Not saying much now are we? What can you possibly say? Would your version of a utopia be any different than mine? We are both murderers in our own rights. You have done what no other man has ever done. You razed Olympus and killed every Olympian. In the end, you are no different than I, Perseus."

Erebus crouched slightly and unsheathed his sword, "Now Perseus, the tables have been set, now let us begin!"

Erebus transformed himself into a larger version of himself to match Perseus' tengu but despite transforming, he still wasn't able to match the tengu's size.

The two met in the middle and locked blades, the force that was emitted caused a bigger crater than the one Perseus created formed. As Perseus met Erebus' punches with his own, shockwaves caused by the two further damaged the planet. Craters were visible almost everywhere, water from nearby lakes and rivers leaked into the craters only to be turned to steam due to the lava that was oozing out from the bottom of each crater. Thunderstorms formed and the lightning struck the ground and the ground was lit ablaze. Every natural disaster one could think of happened one after another.

Earthquakes shook the planet and caused buildings around them to collapse, tornados ravaged the earth and plucked trees one by one. Tsunami's destroyed and swallowed everything in their paths. Pillars of lava spit out from the ground and into the skies. The planet's destruction was at hand, it wouldn't be too long before there was nothing left.

Exchanging even blows was all Perseus could do at this point, he couldn't see a weakness in Erebus' guard and didn't know exactly how he'd be able to win.

Erebus jumped back, "Enough games!"

Erebus glared at the legendary warrior, a black aura of power pulsed around the body of the god of darkness as he raised his sword high above his head and charged, his footsteps pounding against the already cracked earth, deepening every crater the more he ran. Perseus stood with his tengu activated, it's four blades ready to block Erebus' attack. Erebus swung his blade towards Perseus and managed to push Perseus back with his sheer strength. The god of darkness pushed forward as Perseus was pushed back. Perseus flew high up in the sky with his tengu's wings extended and he dropped down towards Erebus. The deity managed to block two of the blades but momentarily forgot about the other two and could only watch as blades protruded through his back and the black flames of Shiva ate away at his fell on the ground hard and screamed in agony. His sword fell from his hands and skidded across the dry destroyed ground. The sword stopped near Perseus before the young warrior picked the blade up and tossed it deep into the depths of Tartarus where the fires of the underworld would destroy the weapon.

Erebus' black eyes glowed in rage, he balled his hands into fists and let loose a blast of dark energy that struck Perseus' chest, the manifested tengu disappeared as both lay on the ground slowly losing energy and life.

"I shall not lose!" The deity screeched as he used his last remaining bit of power to get up back onto his feet. A tendril of darkness shot up from beneath the ground and formed a sword out of pure black energy. Perseus only just managed to bring his sword up in time but Erebus' newfound strength was pushing him down and his blade was dangerously close to his neck. As the blade closed in, millimeter by millimeter, he realized that he really had nothing to live for. At least if he died he could move on to the next life and be with his friends and family, maybe he thought, Piper would be there too.

He was giving up for the first time in his life, his head hung low and his eyes dropped, the strength he had previously left his body as if it was never there to begin with. He was willing letting the blade take his life, he had accepted his fate.

Perseus closed his eyes and waited for his inevitable doom that he once talked about centuries ago.

"I didn't teach you to give up so easily Perseus, now did I?" Perseus' eyes snapped wide open, the voice he was hearing was so familiar. The voice he had grown up with.

He looked up, time was frozen. He could see himself from the outside, he could see how defenseless he was and how close Erebus was to beheading him.

"It has been a long time my old friend." The sound of footsteps reached his eyes as he looked over his shoulder to see a handsome man with blonde hair and bright blue eyes with a muscular build. His entire torso was covered with the traditional Greek armor, however the most notable thing about him was the arrow that had pierced his heel.

Astonishment took place, he didn't believe what he was seeing. "Master…?"

Achilles chuckled, "Yes young Perseus, it is I."

"But how is this possible?"

"I think you've been told once before that people live their lives bound by what they accept as correct and true. That is how they define reality. But what does it mean to be correct or true? They are merely vague concepts, their reality may all be a mirage. One's reality might be another's illusion. Can we consider them to be simply living in their own world, shaped by their beliefs? We all live inside our own fantasies. But however, you are the only one who can create your own destiny, forge your own path, you must deem what you see and hear as true or correct."

"So despite knowing this, you are still haunted by the pain and sorrow. I've moved on to the afterlife, Perseus, you are still living, you are young, you have many years ahead of you. You focus too much on the past and not enough on the present. Plan for the future, you will never be able to relive the past so why be hung up on it?" Achilles walked forward and rested his hand on Perseus shoulder, "My you've grown, last I saw you, you were but a young adolescent teen keen on fighting his first war."

Their eyes locked, "You hold much depth in your eyes Perseus, I remember when you were a young boy and your eyes twinkled with laughter, with joy, you were a happy one. Now? Your eyes hold nothing but anger, a need for vengeance, and hatred. Losing yourself is the only way to find yourself Perseus, do remember that."

Achilles took a step back and raised his arm up and motioned for Perseus to lock forearms with him. Seconds later he grabbed Perseus by the back of his neck and looked into his eyes "I will always be there for you Perseus, I know you will become a greater man than I ever was. Before I must leave, I want to impart this truth with you. You don't ever have to forgive me for leaving you and dying on you so early on when you needed someone the most, and no matter what you do from here on out, just know that I will always love you." The smiling face of his master was the last thing he saw before he disappeared in a bright flash.

It was in that moment that Perseus' resolve changed forever, the assurance he needed from his master after all these years was finally delivered.

Within a second, time replayed and Perseus stood on his knees in front of Erebus waiting for the blade to sever his head from his body, but today wouldn't be that day.

Perseus grabbed Erebus' blade with his bare hands and stood up and watched as Erebus' expressions changed from shocked to feeling afraid.

Perseus' tengu manifested itself around him once more, all four blades struck Erebus down. The black flames of Shiva covered his entire body as they ate away at his flesh and bones, the gory sight before him didn't affect him the slightest. His screams and cries of agony were ignored, the tengu raised it's hand and picked the deity off the ground and held him up so Perseus could look at him. "This world you've created is nothing but a false reality, humanity is needed so we can survive. Without our humanity, there's nothing that anchors us to one another." Perseus raised his sword and a series of Nordic runes appeared across his blade unbeknownst to him. Perseus impaled the primordial in the chest and watched as his very essence was sucked into the blade. His power was no more, his blade turned a darker color but nevertheless remained mostly the same. The body of the deity crumbled to dust and Perseus watched as the wind blew every small fragment of dust away.

The clouds above him cleared, a pillar of light shot down towards the ground from the heavens and Perseus had to squint to see clearly.

The figure that stood before him had such a monstrous aura that Perseus could feel it rolling off of him in waves, he wore a black hooded cloak and underneath the hood the only thing you could see where his eyes. Two balls of light. Two suns.

The creator had arrived.

"Perseus…"

Ω

A/N - Story is not over yet, stay tuned. More to come. As usual if you have any new ideas, feel free to pm them to me and I will incorporate them. Don't forget to review, I always appreciate the constructive criticism.