NOVEL NEXT Chapter 43: Gods Among Us
Chapter 43: Gods Among Us
AN Disclaimer: I'm putting this here to tell you guys that I'm not really too familiar with the Greek Gods in the DC Universe so the following will be based on my own thoughts and how I wanted them to fit in the story to simplify things and not make it too...complicated.
Also, to those that said that Lucas was already a God before because of Darkseid, no, that isn't counted yet since he doesn't have full access to his powers at 100% so he is, at most, a demigod.
Zeus' powers that are mention is also because he is synced with Diana, who is the daughter of Zeus.
That's all, enjoy!
Olympus.
Inside a large hall, a long table with multiple chairs around was placed.
At the head of the table was an old man with white hair and a robust figure. He wore greek robes and held a staff on one hand which flickers constantly, resembling a lightning bolt.
On his right side sat a beautiful and mature woman with brown hair. She looked at the projection being shown at the middle of the table and turned to the old man.
“I can feel your presence in his veins. Is he another one of your...children, Zeus?”
Being stared at by his wife Hera, Zeus broke into a cold sweat and his eyes darted around.
“U-umm...maybe...I don’t remember…”
“I see...you don’t remember huh…?”
“...”
Though Zeus saw Hera smile, he felt she wasn’t smiling at all!
He cleared his throat with a cough and spoke up.
“Anyway. Child or no child of mine. What should we do with this Lucas? He had somehow sealed Ares in him and gained his powers. Turning into a new God of War…”
Beside Zeus sat another old man with a sturdy figure and wavy hair. On his hand, he held a huge trident.
“Not only that, but I can also sense the power of the Apokolips within him...though not fully, it is there…”
On another side, a blonde-haired man with a carefree attitude raised a brow while leaning back. He also wore a pair of sandals with wings attached to them.
“Poseidon, you think he has a connection with that dastardly god, Darkseid?”
“It won’t harm to be more cautious, Hermes. Besides, this Lucas seems to be tied to my people, the Atlanteans, as well.”
Poseidon sighed and shook his head.
Another woman spoke up. She had short black hair and an owl sat on her shoulder.
“There is no need to worry about that. From what I recall, 5 years ago, Darkseid had attacked Earth. When he came, he also used a device that had sealed the Gods in their respective spaces, unable to descend to Earth to help. It was this young man who had been the one to destroy the device and sent Darkseid away from Earth.”
After hearing what Athena said, everyone fell silent for a moment.
Only a certain Goddess in the corner who appeared short and had black twin-tail hair was grumbling on the corner while mumbling to herself.
“That bitch Aphrodite is making fun of me again...I can feel it…”
Zeus coughed and spoke up once again.
“No matter what, he had saved Earth on multiple occasions. Ares had also proved to be quite troublesome lately and kept making trouble on Earth. Let this Lucas be the God of War in the meantime and we’ll continue to observe.”
Everyone nodded, each having their own thoughts.
Poseidon also thought to himself that he would seek out the King of Atlantis to find out more about Lucas.
After everyone left, only Zeus remained in the hall.
He turned to an empty seat and spoke.
“Hades, I know you’re there. I hope you don’t give this young God any trouble.”
“Kukuku. Don’t worry brother. Ares has been thinking of overthrowing me, I would’ve dealt with him anyway. This Lucas just saved me the trouble of doing so. I won’t do anything to him.”
An eerie voice echoed in the room.
After a while, the voice disappeared.
Zeus sighed as he knew that Hades had already left.
He continued to sit there on his throne and pondered.
Umm...in the end, is he really my child? But I don’t remember doing it with Martha Wayne…
Zeus sighed again and wondered how he was going to explain to Hera...
...
Lucas felt like all sorts of respect he had for the Greek Gods was gone. He no longer cared about Aphrodite and turned on the communicator once more.
“Batman, how’s the situation?”
“Is this Lucas?”
“Lex?”
Hearing another voice instead of Bruce, Lucas frowned and wondered what happened.
“...How’s the situation there?”
“We’re still handing it. What about you? How are things on your end with Diana?”
“Ares has been handled. I’ll be coming over to help you guys out as well.”
Lex fell silent on the other side for a while before speaking again.
“No need, we just finished creating the antidote. Batman and Flash built a device that will help deliver the antidote to the whole world. The situation here should be under control soon.”
“...I see.”
Lucas paused for a moment before nodding.
“Alright. Let me know if something happens.”
“Okay.”
After Lucas ended the call, he frowned as if feeling something was wrong.
Diana approached him.
“Was that Lex? How’s the situation?”
“Ah, he said the situation’s more or less under control.”
Lucas thought for a moment and asked.
“Say, does Lex know I was coming here?”
Lex seemed to know that he and Diana are together at the moment. From what Lucas remembered, he didn’t tell anyone that he was coming here.
Well, except for Barbara. But it’s probably nothing. She could’ve simply told them that I was headed to Diana before we separated. The others might’ve asked her.
Diana nodded.
“Before I left the Watchtower, I told everyone that I’d be meeting up with you here.”
Hm. It’s probably nothing then.
“Come to think of it, I contacted you that I will be coming. I headed to the Watchtower but you weren’t there? What did you want me to do here exactly?”
“Oh, we were going to have a big or-”
“Wedding!”
Hippolyta was about to answer his question but Diana cut her phrase and shouted.
Wedding?
Lucas was surprised.
Diana quickly followed up and explained.
“Look, didn’t you promise me that if our feelings are still the same after you turn 18, that we would marry?”
“Uhh…”
Come to think of it...I did say something like that?
It felt like so long ago that Lucas had forgotten it.
He scratched his chin and smiled wryly.
“But is it alright? How about Mera and the others?”
“Don’t mind them! This will be just for the two of us! You can marry them later. More importantly, I’m your first woman so I should be first to marry you!”
“Uhh...if that’s what you want then…”
Lucas could only say so as he was still surprised by the whole thing.
He didn’t think he’d be marrying someone so soon. Even Bruce still hasn’t married anyone. Clark too is also not married to Lois yet. Even Barry and Iris.
For some reason, it just felt surreal for him to be the first one to get married.
Diana pouted.
“It isn’t just because I wanted it! It’s useless if you also didn’t want it!”
Lucas smiled and touched her cheek.
“Diana, if I didn’t want it, I would just refuse. I was just saying, if this is what you wanted, then I’m here for you 100%.”
“Lucas…”
Then, Lucas remembered something.
He pulled a necklace around his neck and saw the various rings on it.
Bruce had given this to him when he had returned. It was a gift from Diana and the others when he disappeared in the past and the other girls also followed suit in the following years.
Lucas was speechless and didn’t know how he could possibly wear multiple rings on his ring finger so he simply turned it to a necklace.
After pulling it out, he asked Diana while awkwardly scratching his head.
“Umm...which ring was yours again?”
“...”
At this moment, Diana started to question her decision.
After a while, Diana walked off with her mother to prepare for the wedding, claiming that Ares had destroyed it so they needed to prepare again.
Lucas looked around and wondered what she meant. There doesn’t seem to be any decorations…
When Diana and Hippolyta were a distance away, Hippolyta pulled her daughter and glared at her.
“What’s wrong? How come this is the first time we are going to plan a wedding!? Weren’t we supposed to have everyone share Lucas!? And I was looking forward to it too…”
Diana rolled her eyes at her mother. She spoke in a hushed manner.
“We can’t! That Aphrodite is here! If she finds out, she’ll definitely join in! Who knows when anyone is going to get their turn by then!?”
“...Fine. But this is only postponed!”
“...Why does it have to be Lucas?”
Diana pouted while Hippolyta smirked at her.
“Isn’t this your fault? You keep boasting how great Lucas is in bed and Donna slept with him too and started boasting! Now everyone wanted a piece of that meat!”
“...”
Diana sighed and placed her palm on her face.
“Can’t you just go to another human city and find a guy? With the quality of women here, it should be no problem landing one or two men…”
“Diana, we’ve been through this. Us Amazons desire strong men. That Superman is too much of a...boyscout. He won’t do. As for the rest of the men in your Justice League, they already have partners and it would only create trouble if we take them. Lucas is the only one who’s fine having multiple wives! This is a unique catch!”
“...”
Diana sighed again and regretted boasting her man...she didn’t think the situation would escalate this much…
After a while, Diana shook her head.
“Anyway, this is all useless if Lucas disagrees. So we’ll talk about this another time.”
“Hmph, having a land full of beautiful and fit women, plus having the chance to do it with me, what sane man would refuse?”
“...Didn’t you just say that Clark and the others-”
“This and that are different!”
“...”
How???
While Diana and Hippolyta bickered, Aphrodite came before Lucas.
“Congratulations! I heard you’re getting married.”
“Hm? Ah, you’re still here?”
“Ouch. That hurt~”
Though she said so, she didn’t seem to have been hurt at all…
Aphrodite giggled and winked at him.
“Anyway, Zeus is calling me now so I need to go. When you're ready, come find us in Olympus!”
After she said that, she flew up and disappeared.
Lucas sighed in relief once she was gone. It was too dangerous to be near that woman who was the embodiment of beauty…
Lucas had nothing else to do for now other than to wait for Diana and the others to finish preparing.
Just as he was about to leave, he heard an eerie voice echo from behind.
“Kukuku, so this is the new God of War?”
“Who’s there?”
Lucas turned around but didn’t see anything.
Suddenly, a figure appeared before him.
What he saw was a man...at least, it should be a man. However, he didn’t seem human.
He had the physique of a normal person. He wore black and red armor and held a unique black helmet under his armpit.
However, his face was...beyond recognition.
He could only see his lower face and his ear. Other than that, the upper half of his face was filled with candles and wax.
“...What the heck are you?”
“You can call me Hades. The God of the Dead and the King of the Underworld.”
“Huh...you look very…”
“Scary?”
“I’d say weird but...if you say so…”
Hades chuckled at his answer.
“Well? Are you here to cause trouble as well like Ares?”
“Kuku, don’t worry. I’m not here to fight. I detest fighting. The more people who died, the more and more populated the Underworld is. Do you know how annoying it is to rule over trillions of people and all they do is moan in pain, shout loudly, and make noise all the time?”
“Uhh...I guess that’s annoying.”
Hades sighed.
Lucas actually started to feel bad for the guy…
“In any case, I found out that Ares had been planning to overthrow me for a while now. Ares isn’t like me. If he rules the Underworld, he’d use them as his army and cause chaos to all worlds. You dealing with him has earned my favor.”
“Umm...you’re welcome?”
Hades chuckled again.
Every time he chuckles, Lucas feels goosebumps all over his skin.
“I don’t like owing favors, which is why I’m here. After you dealt with Ares, I moved up your parents into a VIP section in the Underworld to save them from torment. If you wish to see them, you can only do so once.”
“My...parents?”
Lucas was stunned.
Did he mean...Thomas and Martha Wayne?
Lucas felt conflicted.
Although they were his parents, Lucas didn’t actually feel much connection to them as he never met them when growing up.
He didn’t know what he would feel if he met them as well.
Lucas frowned and thought for a moment.
After a while, he turned to Hades and asked.
“This favor...can you give it to my brother?”
“Hm? Is it that Bruce Wayne who calls himself Batman?”
“Yeah. I think it’s better if he’s the one who meets our parents...I don’t really know them well and it would be a waste if I was the one who took this chance.”
Hades chuckled and Lucas shivered at him chuckling once again.
“Kuku, alright. Give this to your brother. Once he breaks it, he will be sent to the Underworld.”
Lucas received a small gargoyle statue from Hades.
“...He can leave afterward...right?”
“Of course. You think too badly of me.”
“Ha-haha...I was just asking…”
Lucas laughed awkwardly while Hades just smiled and shook his head.
It can’t be helped. Hades has been vilified a lot in various stories and movies so it was natural not to trust him.
“Alright. If your brother doesn’t return after 24 hours upon entering, then come to Olympus to find Zeus if you don’t trust me.”
“Sorry. Thanks.”
“It’s fine. I’m used to it by now. Oh, congratulations on your marriage.”
“...Thanks…”
With that, Hades disappeared in a ball of fire and was gone.
Lucas looked at the small gargoyle statue in his hands and chuckled.
This Hades...doesn’t seem like a bad guy…
Lucas didn’t really know the Greek Gods in the DC Universe well but from meeting him, he could tell that he didn’t have any ill intentions.
Of course, it was still better to be cautious.
As he said, if Bruce doesn’t come back after a day, he’d come knocking on his door and kick his ass.
He looked at the statue and muttered.
“Parents huh...I wonder if my parents from that world are still okay…?”
