The heavens split.
A scream of thunder tore the sky in two, and every god, demigod, and spirit in Olympus turned their gaze upward— towards the dot that fell like a star breaking orbit but turned out to be Kassus. He fell like judgment itself, trailing the fury of a thousand storms. Aeolus' winds roared behind him, funneling into a cone of force that made even Zeus' storms seem tame. His cloak snapped like rocks in a hurricane, his blade already glowing with the desire of spilling ichor. Kassus slammed into the marble court room with the fury of a meteor. The floor exploded outward, sending gods stumbling, demigods tumbling. Dust and wind blasted across the room as Olympus shook beneath his landing.
From the center of the smoking crater, Kassus rose. Blood streaked his armor. Fury danced in his eyes. One hand held the Aegis Blade. The other was holding one of the potions given by witches to weaken divine beings. He was ready.
"I'm not leaving without her." He growled, looking directly at Zeus.
A wave of fear washed over the place. Hestia whispered a prayer. Hermes begged for Ganymedes to take him to his chamber, he did not want to taste Kassus' fury again . Demeter clutched her sickle. Athena stepped forward, but even she looked uncertain of what to do. And Ares?
He grinned. "Nice to see you again, silent sword. You're not worthy of our time, unless you prove it."
Ares gestured to a demigod to act, and he charged. The poor demigod was young, fast and arrogant. He had everything to deserve Kassus' hatred. Kassus, on the other hand, dodged with the grace of a veteran, grabbed the demigod's arm mid-strike, and twisted it. The pop of a dislocated shoulder echoed across the hall, and ultimately, his sword pierced through the chest before the boy even had time to scream.
Kassus kicked the body aside, and another demigod came. This one wielded fire.
She sent a burst of flame from her staff, but Kassus rolled through it, fire licking off his armor harmlessly. He spun behind her, gripped the back of her neck, and smashed her face into the marble. Then came a spear. Kassus parried —barely— then retaliated with a brutal headbutt that sent his attacker reeling.
Three more jumped him. Olympic servants in golden armor. This time, Kassus did not dodge, but he lunged forward. He grabbed one by the throat, strangled him and used him as a shield. The other two struck, only to impale their own. While they hesitated in horror, Kassus moved. The Aegis Blade sliced through gold and flesh like silk. One down. Then the other. Blood misted the air, splashing everywhere.
Kassus looked up at the Gods, barely sweating. "Come down and fight, unless you are scared of a simple mortal."
The Gods took Kassus' words as a challenge, and one by one, they approached. Poseidon casted his trident, Ares his spear and shield, Artemis her bow. The other demigods stood behind them, ready to charge at the same time and end the circus named Kassus of Rhodes. Nevertheless, as soon as they were ready to charge, Helios and Aphrodite stood between them and the mortal. Aphrodite smirked, as she looked at Helios with a mischievous smirk.
"You ready?" she asked, radiant with love and fury, ready to protect her mortal.
Helios exhaled. His form shimmered— peeling away like molten skin. Gold cracked. Light spilled out of his chest, his eyes, his hands. All of this while the sun began to vanish in the sky, forming an endless night.
Light dimmed across Olympus. Shadows lengthened.
"I told you." Helios boomed as he grew. "The mortal lives. This time, I won't run away, I won't hide. I'll avenge my brothers and sisters."
His feet cracked the floor as he stepped forward, now towering over the gods in his Titanic form, a giant made out of pure fire and light. Flames licked up his arms like solar flares. The sky grew black as night. He was no longer a god. He was the sun.
Aphrodite rushed to stand beside Kassus, summoning her blade of rose-gold starlight.
"I never needed Olympus." she said softly. "Just you."
Kassus looked at her and his eyes softened, for just a second. Then he looked back to the battlefield. "Then let us show them why they were right to fear our feelings."
Helios turned to them with a smile, before he finished his transformation. From a radiant and warm god, he was now a Titan. A giant beast that personified the sun itself, because in the end, he was the sun. Helios raised one molten hand, ready to attack while the lover stood behind, thinking of where to go. The court room erupted in light as he crushed two columns with a single swing, hurling rubble towards the thrones. Gods scattered like startled birds, afraid to get buried alive. Poseidon cursed from above, shielding his face. Artemis loosed a volley of silver arrows—Helios swatted them aside like raindrops.
"They are focusing on Helios." Kassus said, his voice low, steady. His gaze locked on Ares, who was holding his spear with glee.
Aphrodite nodded, her hair flowing with the stormwinds previously caused by Aeolus. "Then we move. You take his guard. I'll take his ego."
They sprinted at the same time.
Ares spotted them too late. "Oh?" he bellowed, grinning. "Coming to play, little heartbreaker?"
He met them mid-charge. Kassus blocked Ares' first slash— but barely. The impact cracked the marble beneath them. Aphrodite dove to the side, her starlit blade slicing through Ares' gauntlet. He roared, spinning towards her, but Kassus tackled him mid-turn. The two warriors crashed to the floor, wrestling, fists flying like thunderclaps. Ares elbowed Kassus in the jaw and grabbed him by the throat, only for Aphrodite to drive her blade into Ares' shoulder, stabbing him.
"You really shouldn't hit my favorite mortal." She said with a smirk, making Ares silently pay for the time she got them caught by Hephaestus.
Ares kicked her back with a sweep of his boot, leapt to his feet, and spun in a whirlwind of attacks, forcing them both to retreat. "You think love can defeat war?!" he laughed, his face twisted with fury and delight.
"No." Kassus said, wiping blood from his mouth. "But we are not here to kill you."
He darted forward, feinting low— then high. Aphrodite followed, matching his tempo perfectly. They circled Ares like dancers, while one was striking, the other was blocking. Kassus hooked Ares' leg; Aphrodite swept his arm. Blade met blade, and then starlight met steel. Ares staggered. Kassus slammed his pommel into the god's face, cracking his helm.
"You two move like one." Ares spat, breathing heavy now.
"We are one, unlike you and I did." Aphrodite whispered. And with that, she threw herself into a flip over Ares' shoulders, landing behind him. Kassus rammed the Aegis Blade hilt-first into Ares' gut. Ares collapsed, stunned. Not dead. Just... broken. Beaten.
Above them, Olympus trembled. Helios let out a roar that sounded like a dying star. Dozens of gods surrounded him now, blasting him with beams, arrows, spells, all desperate to bring down the burning behemoth before his footsteps shattered the mountain.
But the Titan would not fall.
"Run!" Hera cried with fear, watching Helios' light grow brighter and hotter to resist.
"HE'LL BURN US ALL!" Cried Dionysus, shielding his face and his wine in hand.
And yet Helios stood. The core of a dying sun. Roaring defiance. Blinding Olympus with the truth of his strength. He felt invincible, like nothing would surely take him down anymore. He was making the olympians pain for the suffering Zeus caused on his fellow titans. Memories of Gaia, Atlas, even Calypso suffering because he could not defend them, because he was a coward. But not anymore. Helios was ready to deal the final blow on them, to make them feel the centuries of fire he had let grow inside his soul.
Until a voice like an avalanche broke across Olympus.
"ENOUGH."
From the stormclouds above, Zeus descended in fury, lightning wreathing his entire form. His gaze locked not on Kassus, not on Aphrodite, but on Helios, who still towered like a dying star, cracks of flame bleeding through his molten skin.
"You were warned, Titan." Zeus thundered. "You were spared once. You will not be spared again."
Before the gods could breathe, before Helios could even raise a hand to swat Zeus—
Zeus struck.
A bolt of lightning ripped through the sky, crashing into Helios' chest like the wrath of all creation. The blast lit the heavens in white. Olympus shook. Every god turned away from the blinding impact. When the light faded, Helios fell, his titanic form shrinking immediately into his god-like appearance. Smoke curled off his bare skin; his golden eyes dimmed, his body broken, ichor pouring from wounds that hissed and smoked on the marble. He coughed once. Then again. Fortunately, Helios could still move.
Barely opened eyes roamed around the room, knowing that if he was down, Kassus and Aphrodite would suffer the same fate soon. Until he saw something on the floor, perhaps a miracle, perhaps just luck. There, tied by golden rope, was Aeolus' wind bag— the divine pouch containing every chaotic gust and violent gale that ever carved the sea, one that would surely push the lovers away enough.
With trembling hands, he dragged it across the floor towards Kassus.
Kassus turned, wide-eyed. "Helios?"
Helios looked up at him with a smile too exhausted to shine. "Y-You'll be safe."
He looped the bag's strings around Kassus' ankle, knotting it with what little strength he had left. Aphrodite rushed to Helios' side.
"What are you—?"
"GO." He rasped. "I'll buy you one more day."
"No." she whispered, as she tried to fall to her knees to aid Helios. "You'll die if you stay."
Helios, coughing gold, gave a broken grin. "I'd rather die than watch you suffer."
Kassus' eyes locked with Helios'. They understood each other. Warriors. Protectors. Both in love with the same goddess— and only one who could stay. Kassus grabbed Aphrodite by the waist, keeping her close to him.
"No!" she cried, tears in her eyes. "No! please, wait! sun boy!"
Helios' bloody fingers yanked the wind-string.
The sky screamed. A cyclone exploded from the pouch, ripping through Olympus like a divine vortex. Gods were thrown back, thrones cracked, pillars snapped. Kassus and Aphrodite locked immediately in each other's arms as they were hurled into the sky like leaves on a storm.
They vanished in an instant, lost to the wind.
Helios collapsed, finally still.
Around him, Olympus burned in silence.