999,999+ Max Stat: Even the Gods Can't Stop Me

The first thing Liliana noticed was that the sky had stopped moving. The clouds above the very high mountains were stationary. A single bird was even frozen in mid-air, halfway through a wing beat.

As they walked, the remains of the temple hung in the air, dust drifting lazily down from its broken stones. Suddenly the air seemed to freeze, and Liliana felt a hand on her arm. She turned to see the Oracle standing a few feet in front of her.

"Liliana?"

As suddenly as that, the world went back to moving. The bird flew off, the clouds in the sky shifted, the dust from the ruined temple settled. Liliana breathed a slow, deep breath and started to walk again.

"The boundary is getting worse."

The Oracle was gripping the two fused pieces of matter tightly. "Yes."

"You sound far too calm, brother, more than I like to admit."

"I’m terrified, as much as you."

She looked at her brother, and he wiped at the blood in the corner of his mouth.

"I’ve been here long enough to realize that nothing, no matter how terrible, will gain its peace."

Liliana almost smiled. "I see, You’re still the same huh."

"And you’re still irritating."

Liliana gazed off into the distance. She could see the mountains and knew that Olympus, where Zeus and the other gods resided, lay beyond them.

And Poseidon, ruler of the sea, was surely somewhere beyond that. And then, of course, there was Amon, fighting somewhere, unknown, and waiting. Liliana’s fingers curled into a fist.

She could still remember the vision, so incredibly real, Amon standing next to her in a blue, beautiful sky. There was no blood, no screams of terror, no burning of the heavens.

He looked at her with the same adoration and love in his eyes, the same way he used to, before everything had fallen apart.

The other half of her memory came back. Amon’s body collapsing, the light leaving him, his hand on her cheek. The smile on his lips. And her throat started to constrict.

"We need to fasten up the pace..."

The Oracle looked at her legs. "You can barely stand."

"I can walk. Sw...we walk faster."

"That wasn’t what I said."

After that Liliana walked on, aware of her legs bearing her weight, her eyes fixed on the far horizon as if drawn by an unseen hand, the same hand which at some point in the distant past had seemed to care for her, and made her whole.

"Liliana."

She raised one hand. "Wait."

Nothing seemed to have followed her, and the whispering had stopped. Liliana looked at her palm. It was closed. She couldn’t tell if anything had grasped hold of her there.

"I’m still here, Liliana, don’t worry I know the future, I know what is absolute."

The Oracle slowly lowered his blade. "But you can never tell, I know."

As they journeyed on to Olympus, neither Liliana nor the Oracle was aware of a dark shape following them across the mountain.

As they continued along the road, the mountain range finally came to an end, and there, ahead of them, stood Olympus.

Liliana was taken aback by the sheer scale of the place, and for the first time since leaving the temple she could see why even Amon had spoken of the gods with a mixture of respect and annoyance.

The mountain was far more than just tall. It was wrong in every sense of the word. Instead of reaching up to a normal sky, Olympus disappeared into a colorful array of golden clouds.

Each one was actually a layer of energy used by the gods. It was beautiful and, at the same time, incredibly powerful. Lightning of every color raced through the clouds.

There was no thunder, however. Instead, the sound of crackling energy filled the air as it moved about the sky. Across the face of the mountain were etched a series of ancient symbols. They seemed to burn into the stone, glowing brightly as if alive.

Some had fallen to the ground, and others were missing their faces entirely.

The Oracle looked up at the summit. "We’re here," he said.

Liliana swallowed hard as she took another step forward. "No... we’re at the door..."

Suddenly a deep rumbling sound echoed throughout the mountain, and stone began to move. A massive door made of stone opened, and Liliana and the Oracle stood still. Neither of them touched the gates, and yet they slowly swung open.

"You took long enough."

The Oracle looked up, hardening his expression. "You know why we are here?" he asked, as if irritated. Liliana too was annoyed and followed his line of sight to see a woman walking through the bright golden light toward them.

The woman wore a suit of white armor. Her long, silver hair fell around her and, without a speck of dust on it, moved as if alive. Liliana knew who this was before she approached.

"Athena," Liliana called.

The Goddess of War stopped some distance away, her cold, gray eyes scanning Liliana from head to toe, taking in her battered and bruised form. Next she looked at the Oracle, her gaze piercing. And finally her eyes came to rest on the fused pieces of goddess and demon.

"So the rumors were true."

Liliana’s hand slipped to the hilt of the dagger beneath her sleeve. She felt Athena’s eyes on her.

"You don’t need to threaten me."

"I wasn’t. Witch."

"You were thinking about it. That’s what Olympians do, violence your way anything."

Liliana’s eyes narrowed. Athena almost smiled.

"Good." The goddess turned. "Come."

The Oracle didn’t move. "I see..." He muttered to himself.

"...why are you just letting us in?" Liliana asked.

Athena looked over her shoulder. "Because Poseidon is waiting. There isn’t one orcale, we have our own..."

Liliana looked at orcale, and he nodded, as both of them stepped forward.

Athena’s expression changed slightly. "Which will no doubt be final."

Liliana stopped. "What?"

Athena’s eyes turned cold. "And he knows what you carried here with you." She glared at Liliana for a long moment before continuing,

"He knows what you are, a hybrid creature of some sorts, a human and...a fellow kin." Her gaze did not waver from Liliana’s before she added, "And he knows exactly what Amon is doing right, causing nothing but harm to reality. Our reality. My reality."

The throne room of Olympus had never seemed so small. As Liliana proceeded down the length of the hall, between the long lines of seated gods, including Hermes and hephestus.

And as she proceeded, silence followed her. Every pair of eyes in the long hall followed her, but not one of them spoke.

It was so silent that it was worse than having to shout at the top of her lungs would have been. The girl followed behind the Oracle, her boots striking the cold, hard marble floor. Every step of hers echoed off the walls. And every step seemed to take an age to reach the end of the hall.

Poseidon sat on the massive throne above the pool of dark water, his long white beard drifting in it.

His eyes, a deep ocean blue, locked onto Liliana, and she felt the dark magic that resided in her skin, and in the wombs she had carried all these years trying to destroy, react to his presence. She felt it recoil in fear. Poseidon noticed her reaction.

"So." His voice was quiet. "You survived, hades games."

Liliana stopped. "Indeed...I am an immortal,"

"No.."

The Oracle spoke. "You already know why we are here, we come for peace."

Poseidon’s gaze shifted to the Oracle. "Do you believe that? And I mean, do you really believe that?"

The Oracle’s hand was clenched tightly around the fused artifact. "I saw it."

"So did our oracles..."

The room fell silent. "You saw the vision, the end of everything?"

Poseidon stood up, and water began to rise from the floor in waves around him. "I saw the future," he said, walking down the steps. "And I saw the golden immortal die."

Liliana’s face went white. Poseidon stopped right in front of her on the steps.

"but...He died smiling."

Her fists trembled. "What happens.. after?"

Poseidon stared at her. "That depends on whether you are willing to pay the price. For its no longer hades’s game you are in, now you are in mine."

Liliana looked up at the throne. "Give me the key, that is all I am going to ask." she said.

Ares chuckled behind her, and Liliana could sense several of the other gods stirring, but she paid them no attention, for Poseidon remained still, impassive.

"You think the key is a weapon, you think just a key will help you finish your goal, utterly stupied!"

"No." Liliana looked straight into his eyes. "I think you know what it does,"

For the first time, Poseidon showed a sign of fear. Only for a bit.

"The Key of Poseidon does not belong to you."

Liliana took another step forward. "You really want to see the world burn and gone..Then tell me...all of you." She asked, looking all around the gods. "What will you rule in the end...ash and dirt?"

Poseidon looked out to the horizon, to the place where the world was beginning to splinter apart.

Pause.

"The last person who can use it."

Liliana waited. Poseidon’s voice dropped.

"Amon."