Chapter 123 – Minor Developments and Minor Prophecies

[5 years later]

Tulen and Zina sit quietly and prefer watching their mother put the finishing touches on a beautiful portrait of their other mother over doing their homework. Azula doesn’t mind. She hopes this helps them feel closer to Nuwa when they see her again. They have heard all of her stories from the gang, so they often ask where she went, why she is taking so long to come back, and why she hasn’t contacted them.

Brushing aside her own melancholy over those same questions, Azula turns around and says, “Alright, you’ve procrastinated enough. Get back to your homework.”

Azula takes her task of educating the 9 y/o Tulen and 8 y/o Zina very seriously. She knows how important knowledge and wits are after seeing Nuwa in action and also after witnessing the industrial revolution in Republic City through videos sent periodically from Katara to her Smartphone. Tulen and Zina have their own Smartphones now too, which they had to drop off in bins in the front of the classroom. She has Ty Li to thank for these.

Ty Li had started a modeling career with Sadboy doing sfw scenes and Dan doing nsfw scenes to earn enough SIMP energy for more Smartphones from the Peaknights. She had a daughter with Dan, but she follows a very strict diet and exercise plan so she shed the extra weight quickly.

The girl’s name is Danielle, which is fitting because she’s a daddy’s girl, and she is a year younger than Zina. She comes to visit every now and then, brought in by the enlightened Dan. Danielle is darker than Ty Li due to Dan’s genes, but she shares her mother’s contortionist streak. Zina loves watching Danielle’s body do crazy things like having her feet touch the back of her own head, but Tulen isn’t a fan. His draconic body is naturally inflexible due to his hard, heavy bones and armor-like scales, so he gets jealous.

Azula is thankful for the Smartphones, because they allow her children to see what human society is like as well as keep in touch with their cousins, the junior gang.

There were a few other developments too. Kuei did end up marrying the younger Ty sister trio all together and one of them is pregnant right now. Their cooperation between sisters has leveled up to the extent that they are taking turns getting pregnant.

Toph quit the military and became the Republic City Chief of Police. She had another daughter, this time with Haru, named Suyin Beifong, who is a year younger than Danielle. Gunner is still around and even though Toph forbids him from sailing due to him not being able to protect himself with bending at sea, he works at the docks, where people have an easier time understanding his dialect.

Yue has been overly protective of Yasuke after that incident where it seemed like he might have been taken away from her by the Southern Water Tribe, so Sokka doesn’t think they are ready for more children.

Ty La and Jet moved into Republic City, just like the above two couples. Ty La is still not sure about kids, so they haven’t tried, but she’s definitely not a virgin anymore. Jet caught a big break when Nuwa died. Lady Pea lost much of her fire since that day, and she looked like she aged a decade overnight.

She has moved into Azula’s cave with her physical body now that Tulen is a little bit older and knows how to control his strength, leaving her husband to look after the businesses. She wants to be closer to her favorite grandchildren.

Just like Sokka and Yue, Zuko and Mai have not had any other kids since Izumi. They are of the opinion that it would add unnecessary drama to the royal court. With an only child, they can place all their focus on educating her as the crown princess on the duties of the Fire Lord without any ambiguity. It helps that she has a serious personality, much like Ty La’s as a child, but also more reliable in other ways, since Izumi knows when to ask for help.

With the exception of Azula and Toph, the other members of the gang have all stopped training. Even Dan got lazy with practicing his talent for healing when he got his own Smartphone and connected it to a screen. He plays video games with his wife or daughter in his spare time now. There’s no overt dangers so they’re living peaceful days. Azula has not told anyone about Lo and Li.

She still tells Nuwa everything though. She messages Nuwa updates on Tulen and Zina weekly and whenever she catches something funny on video, she sends it. Neither has she shown any apparent signs of age since she gained her Dao. The gang does not mind, but she occasionally feels uncomfortable seeing the signs of age appear on their faces and not hers. Aang even sports crow’s feet before the age of 30 from how stressed out he gets. Not everyone is comfortable with consuming Dan’s cum to resolve the minor wear and tear of aging.

Azula smiles seeing her children doing their math and pings Nuwa, “Miss you, babe. Did you know Zina has your smarts? You’ll love her.”

~ ~ ~

It is Zagreus’ 18th birthday today. Everyone had gathered in the lounge where the Head Chef had prepared a big cake. Zagreus sits down on the chair of honor with the ever-clingy Nuwa on his lap. With how excited she was, people would think it was her birthday! Megaera pulls Nuwa’s hair-snakies away from trying to nip at the cake and almost accidentally ties them up with her whip, before hearing an *ahem* from Nyx and realizing she’s only supposed to tie them up, not torture her. “Lemme gooo, Meggy!”

“Stop trying to eat Zag’s cake, then. You’re already 8 years old. Act like it. Even Cerberus knows restraint.” scolds Megaera.

Nuwa whines, “You know I can’t control what they do when I’m distracted..”

“Don’t get distracted, idiot.” replies Megaera. Nuwa glares at her and hisses, but otherwise lets Megaera tie up her hair in a scrunchie since her mother tacitly approves.

Zagreus has grown a lot over the past 5 years. He can use dash with a lot more versatility, for example, he can perform dashes from any sort of stationary position, in the middle of combat, and even perform attacks out of a dash. Hades still shouts at him, but is not as harsh as when he was smaller. He is still a rebellious, cocky guy without any clue what he wants to do when he’s older, but the fire inside him that told him to metaphorically give the middle finger to his old man is not as strong as it used to be.

What really shocked him was when Achilles mentioned to him the true combat power of the people in the House of Hades. He knew his Mother was strong, but Achilles says she could take on Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon all at once without breaking a sweat! Then he heard Achilles say that his elder brother Thanatos could defeat his Father in open combat! Although Thanatos was intimidating, he always gave Zagreus a warm feeling like he was fully protected in his company.

He wonders then, why do all of these strong people follow his Father’s orders? Of course, he infers that it is due to Authority. It is because of his Father’s Authority over the Underworld, where he could siphon unlimited power and because this is where they lived. Hades’ Authority grants him an environmental buff as well as the highest status among those residing in the Underworld. Zagreus feels the buff too, to a tiny degree. He feels the power passively seep into his body, gradually making his muscles and bones harder while maintaining their flexibility.

Stroking his hands over his sister’s pony-tailed hair-snakies, he looks around calmly with an easygoing smile. Cerberus is salivating looking at the cake from outside the lounge. He’s too big to fit inside. Thanatos is brooding like normal as he floats in the corner. Hypnos is awake, but with his usual droopy-eyes, using his cape as a midair loveseat. Dusa is jittery in between excitement and tears that the Prince is finally reaching adulthood. Megaera and Nuwa are growling at each other near him, which he always finds cute. Achilles is seated next to Hypnos, waiting patiently with a markedly more easygoing smile than Zagreus’.

Nyx has nearly dragged Hades over grumbling and mumbling. He’s used to having his meals delivered to his desk, so he knocks over a decorative vase while entering the lounge with his overly burly body, but catches it near-instantly with a curse, “Damn it all.”

Zagreus has never seen his Father in action, so he is stunned to see that the speed with which he caught the vase is at the same level as Achilles’ fastest spear movements. Nyx hovers elegantly over next to his chair and puts a hand on his shoulder. “We wish you a Happy Birthday, child.” obviously speaking on behalf of her and Hades.

Zagreus looks up at Nyx and says, “Thanks, Mother..” then he looks over at the grumpy Hades, “..and Father.”

Hades snorts as he stands next to Thanatos and says, “You’re still a boy until you learn proper responsibility.”

Nuwa is too lazy to stay angry at Megaera so she turns her attention back and says, “Yaaaay! Let's see some hugs!” entirely ignorant of the way her Father killed the mood.

Nyx indulges Nuwa by pulling herself closer into a hug with her seated foster son. Zagreus has been teased relentlessly in the past few years by Megaera, but has never gone all the way or even reached orgasm. Needless to say, he almost immediately starts to pitch a tent when Nyx buries his entire face in her soft, motherly bosom. He hugs her back as casually as he can.

Luckily, Nuwa is on his lap serving to block the view of his boner. Or is it? When Nuwa finds something hard pushing between her legs, she rolls her thighs to push it back down. It pushes harder, so she furrows her brows, opens her legs, and swats downward.

With his entire face still hidden in Nyx bosom, no one can see the horribly painful grimace he had for an instant before he recovered. Leaving his Mother’s chest, he is glad that Nuwa ended his boner, otherwise he’s scared of what else she would do or if he would get caught. Meg, Than, and Hypnos would make a huge joke out of it.

Hades says, “Get on with it now.” to the Head Chef, who nods, floats over, and deftly cuts the cake. Nuwa picks up a plate with a neat slice of cake and starts shoving it down her mouth unceremoniously. Hypnos mutters, “Er.. weren’t we supposed to do candles, sing, or feed the birthday boy first? Well, never mind.”

Achilles laughs and Megaera groans from having to pick up Nuwa to keep her from grabbing the other slices. Zagreus does not mind. He prefers less ceremony and keeping it casual. Now that he’s an adult, he can feel that the connection he uses to latch onto his Father’s authority to the Underworld is easier to hijack than ever.

This is the case because he’s recently reached Soul Tier 3 with the natural growth of his soul. Whether he can make it to Soul Tier 4 and become a God from a godling is up to his spiritual growth and the hard work he puts in from here on. It will be relatively easier for him to do so than for a demi-god to do so, but it will still be difficult, otherwise there wouldn’t be so few gods.

He pushes the plates of cake set apart by the Head Chef to each of those at the table and brings two over to Thanatos and his Father. He only gets a monotonous “Thanks.” from Than and nothing from his Father. Slightly disgruntled, he returns to his seat and chats with his pals. Nyx does not stay long before going back to her work of ensuring that Night reaches half the world. Her departure gives an excuse for Hades to leave too. After that it gets livelier.

Meg pulls out some Nectar of the Gods from her cleavage that she smuggled into the House to really turn the gathering into a party. Although Than complains about how it’s contraband, Nectar is for Gods what wine is to mortals. It’s a guilty pleasure that tastes incredible and is often gifted or used as currency. They manage to keep Nuwa from drinking it, but otherwise they all get a taste and Zagreus even gets drunk.

Zagreus wakes up groggy and muddle-headed later that night. He has vague memories of doing crazy shit earlier, like eating slices of fish that the Head Chef threw in the direction of his mouth while he was upside down in a handstand. He sees his sister and Meg hugging him in their sleep on either side of him. Squeezing out of Meg’s superhuman grip with a dash, he almost trips as he exits the dash running, still reeling with a headache from the Nectar.

He’s looking for some water, but instead his attention is captured by a fancy cylindrical scroll on his desk, which only gets used lately due to Nuwa liking to doodle. He leans over and sees that the title of the scroll is the “Fated List of Minor Prophecies”.

‘Oh..’ Zag looks around and spots no one. His sisters, the Fates, must have misplaced it here. ‘Hmm.. I know I shouldn’t, but maybe this will give me some idea of what I’m going to do when I’m older. Let’s see some spoilers! I refuse to believe I’ll be at a desk job 20 years from now.’

Throwing away his consternation and anxiety, he opens the Fated List and reads the first few golden characters written within.

“The son of the god of the dead shall someday break free from the realm in which he was born to reunite with his mother.”

‘Reunite? Implying that.. Nyx is not my mother?’

‘My real mother left me with that terrible man.. Or maybe she was forced out?’

...

‘No wonder I have one green eye.’

…

‘No wonder my skin is not the same color as my siblings..’

‘I don’t know who to trust! Everyone has kept me in the dark! What.. what if she’s waiting for me up there all alone? What if she thinks I’m dead!?’

..

Zagreus’ heart sinks as he puts down the List, entirely ignoring the rest of the text. For the first time in his life, he feels like he has to get away from this place. He HAS to find answers. Cooped up in the House of Hades, he’s blind to the world besides what others tell him. His headache is long gone. He goes to the training room pondering what to do, but it is not until he sees the six Artifact weapons floating in midair that he decides on a plan.

The entire Underworld is his Father’s domain, but he can manipulate it in an extremely localized fashion. All he has to do is go to the edge of the training room, hijack his Father’s authority, tell the locked door there to open to enter Tartarus, and exit the House of Hades for the first time. However, his Father will sense something amiss the moment the door opens. Hades will also be able to sense all of Zagreus’ movements as he makes his way through the Underworld due to the disturbances in Authority. Zagreus needs a weapon to defend himself against whoever his Father sends after him. He needs a powerful weapon.

There’s only one Artifact weapon unprotected by a formation: Stygius, the Blade of the Underworld, once wielded by Poseidon, the God of the Sea, as well as Nemesis, the Goddess of Revenge, who is his sis.. foster-sister. It has bathed in the blood of the Titans. Zagreus shakily reaches out to the sword, grasps it, and feels power course through him as he wrenches it free from where it is floating. He doesn’t want to think about the family he’s leaving behind. He just wants to smash things.

It is a heavy broadsword so he tries out some combos and eventually experimentally smashes it on the ground. What impresses him is that the smash causes a magic shockwave generated by the weapon itself. It seems more for the purpose of knocking back than actual damage, but that too is useful in its own way. Feeling free of all inhibitions, he steps forward with jitters of excitement to the locked door with his Father’s face engraved upon it, touches it, usurps his Father’s Authority, and commands it to open.

‘Fuck you, old man! I’m outta here!’

(A/N: Zag red-pilled OwO this reminded me of Matrix Revolutions trailer lol)

(A/N: https://discord.gg/VD3C2BFPAu)