Hey everyone, sorry for the delay in the chapter, but I was studying on Monday because I had my thesis defense on Tuesday, which I passed, so now I can apply for my bachelor's degree; I just need the credits to apply.
I was also looking into the worlds Dante will be visiting, mainly focusing on the arcs, since I had one left over and I currently put Bleach in it, but I don't remember anything about that anime. Thinking about what I want to do in each arc, I realized that the Mash-up and Marvel ones are going to be quite long.
One of them won't be about catching waifus like in Pokémon, in a "gotta catch 'em all" style like in other fanfics, but rather about how the world is going to hell. There are the Danganronpa, Jujutsu Kaisen, and HOTD ones, plus Noragami, not to mention I want to include the DxD universe, and there was another one I forgot, but lots of chaos and lots of ways to screw up the world.
And in the Marvel one, there's the idea that it will be a mix between serious movies and the comics themselves, like Civil War; I'll also include the Inhumans, Spider-Man's villains, and the alternate universe theme like the Ultimate universe or the Secret Wars comic. Basically, a lot of things to make it longer.
Because of this, I thought about dropping the Bleach one and leaving it with just 5 exploratory arcs.
Well, that's all for now; on to the next chapter.
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Libra's POV.
I stared intently at my target, calmed my breathing, just as Mother Arti had taught me, and with fluid movements, I shot.
As expected, I hit the bullseye. At that, I threw the bow to the ground, bored.
This was my daily archery training to become a splendid hunter in the future, something I really don't have much desire to be.
There are many concepts Mother Arti tells me that a 5-year-old like me can't understand, and frankly, I'm not interested in understanding them.
What I want is to travel the world, to live adventures, just like my father did in his youth.
I looked around to make sure I was alone; it wasn't nighttime, so she shouldn't be watching me, so I transformed into a tabby cat and left.
Quickly, with the agility of a small cat, I reached the room where my father should have been, only to find it empty. I sat down and started thinking about where I could be.
After a while, I had an idea and went back home. It was completely empty, but only inside; in the yard, my father was asleep next to Cerberus, the dog who doesn't like to do his job, and Nova, a firebird that can't die, according to Grandma Hestia.
Technically, Nova is my pet, a gift from Grandpa Hades, but that treacherous bird spends more time with my father than with me. I'm envious and jealous that that stupid bird doesn't pay any attention to me, only obeying my father.
This frustrated me, so I unsheathed my claws and lunged at my father's face to scratch him, waking him up instantly.
"What the heck?" he said, holding me down with his hands, creating a distance from which I couldn't continue my mission. This also woke Cerberus and Nova.
"Libra, what are you doing?" he asked lazily.
"I'm bored," I replied.
"And that means you can scratch my face?" he said, still with his nonchalant tone.
"Exactly," I said.
My father gave me a blank stare and let go of me, and I landed on my feet, or rather, on my paws.
He started stretching, something the two magical animals mimicked. My father stared for a moment, and I didn't know why.
"What's wrong?" he wondered.
"Nothing important, I just didn't remember you having the ability to transform into an animal," he replied.
"It's because of Aunt Hecate's blessing; since I can use magic, I can magically transform into any animal I want; you can too, Father," I explained.
The sequencing man thought for a moment and looked at me again.
"I think I could too, but I never tried, mostly because it never crossed my mind," he said.
"Why don't you try?" she asked again; he became thoughtful once more.
...
Third-person POV.
Kiss-shot returned home carrying the parasol Dante had given her. She had come from the temple of the goddess of love to discuss a recent event involving Aphrodite, Athena, and, for some reason, herself.
The conversation was more chaotic than she had anticipated, as Dante's relationship with the goddesses of this pantheon was quite peculiar. Each one was different, and she had to be vigilant, since Dante possessed a certain level of resilience, but any god could take advantage of him. If he hadn't left, it was because of her.
Since she doesn't want to leave yet, she wants to stay here as long as possible, for the sake of Persephone, Demeter, Hestia, Hades, Zagreus, Melinoe, and even Aphrodite herself, despite the fact that Aphrodite has tried to take her husband from her on more than one occasion. But she isn't too worried about that, given her soul bond with Dante, something the goddess of love cannot interfere with or alter.
Now, Libra, the little girl who has been sharing motherhood with several goddesses, much to her annoyance, must also be included in all of this; these goddesses include Artemis, Athena, and Aphrodite.
The moment she arrived home, she began to hear the sound of dogs howling loudly. She walked past them and went to the yard only to see two Siberian Huskies, one adult and one puppy. Both were howling at the sky, accompanied by Cerberus, who was doing the same with his three heads. Off to one side, Nova stoically watched all of this.
It was the most irritating howl in the world, enough to drive her crazy.
"What the hell is going on here?" Kiss-shot said, almost shouting.
At her words, the three dogs stopped and looked at her.
"Oh, it's Mom Kiss," said the smallest husky, running over to her, transforming into Libra, and giving me a hug.
"Hi, my baby, can I ask what you were doing?" she asked languidly.
"I was bored, so I looked for Dad, and he told me to transform into one of the most irritating animals in the world and start howling at the sky," she told me excitedly.
"So it was your father's idea. I ask you not to do that again," she told her daughter, turning her gaze to where the others were. "As for you," she began her scolding but realized that Dante, or his transformed dog form, wasn't there. He had escaped upon sensing the danger posed by Kiss-shot.
...
Medusa's POV.
With fluid movements, I destroyed several training dummies since I have to protect my older sisters from any threat. It's always been this way, but since he came into our lives, life has been calmer and more fun than before.
His presence brings me peace, and he always treats me kindly, with affection and great appreciation. Every time I'm with him, I feel something in my chest that I can't quite put my finger on.
But this isn't the time to think about that. I used magical energy; I kicked the dummy, shattering it into a million pieces.
"Incredible, Medusa, I see you've made great progress," I heard a voice that made my heart race.
I turned around to see Dante-sama there on a tree branch, watching.
"Dante-sama, what... what are you doing here?" I stammered.
He looked at me with a hint of disappointment, then appeared in front of me and grabbed my cheeks.
"How many times have I told you to just call me Dante? I'm not a god or a divine being to be treated with such respect," he scolded, leaving my cheeks stinging.
"I'm not a child anymore, Dante-sama, I mean, Dante," I replied, rubbing my cheeks, hoping the pain would subside.
"I can see that. You used to be such an adorable little girl, but now you're quite the woman, surpassing your older sisters in many ways, especially your backside," he said, giving me a look.
At this, I shifted, facing him, covering my backside in embarrassment at him looking at me like that. He just smiled at me.
"I don't think so. Oh, my sisters have told me I'm not as perfect as they are," I said, feeling a bit embarrassed.
"I see you train hard, but what's the point? No one comes to these parts, and those who do worship your sisters like goddesses, and they respect you as their guardians," he said, leaning against a tree and snapping his fingers. "How about we go on an adventure, just the two of us?"
"An adventure, just the two of us?" he asked, making me blush again at the thought of all the things we could do together.
"Yes, since I don't think we can take those two along. Speaking of them, I have to talk them out of letting you come with me—well, if you want to do this first," he explained.
Thinking about my sisters and Dante filled me with a bitter, unpleasant feeling.
I knew that Dante and my sisters had some kind of relationship, in addition to the one with his wife, whom I already knew about, and the goddess of love, with whom he'd even had children.
Thinking about having children with Dante-sama fills me with a feeling I've never experienced before.
"Well, let's go to the temple and talk to them," he said, snapping me out of my fantasies and back to reality.
...
I could hear moans coming from across the room; Dante-sama and my sisters were locked in that room, the three of them alone, and from what I could hear, doing perverted things.
I didn't like this feeling at all, but for some reason, I couldn't stop listening, as I kept imagining myself in my sisters' position.
While I was lost in my fantasies, the door opened, causing me to fall to the floor inside the room.
I looked at my stheno, who was holding the door, a provocative smile on her face; in the center of the room was Euryale, sitting while Dante massaged her shoulders.
"Look who we have here, our little sister spying on our massage session with Dante. But look how red you are! You didn't think we were doing anything perverted, did you? What a perverted little sister we have, right, Euryale?" Stheno started teasing me.
"She's right, sister. And she thinks Dante asked us to let her go with him; in return, we asked each of us for a shoulder massage, and this disrespectful sister is spying and thinking lustful thoughts. She must be punished," Euryale added.
I felt my face burning, most likely completely red from the embarrassment I was experiencing, especially in front of Dante-sama.
Dante-sama tapped Euryale, making her groan in pain, grab her head, and stick out her tongue.
"Don't be mean to Medusa. She's at that age. You have to be understanding with her." Hearing that from Dante-sama made me feel more embarrassed than my sisters' comments.
"Ugh, what a spoilsport," Eurylae wondered.
"Well, since this has been interrupted, you'll have to think of another way to stop our little sister from going out alone," Stheno said.
Dante-sama put his hand to his chin and began to think.
...
"How adorable, she reminds me of Medusa when she was younger," said Euryale.
"Yes, good memories," commented Stheno.
In the midst of their clutches was Dante and Aphrodite's son, Eros, being mistreated by my sisters.
The child could be seen whimpering and begging his father to take him away, but he was ignored.
"We're ready; let's go, Medusa," Dante-sama said to me, leaving his children behind.
"Father, I promise not to misbehave again, so don't leave me behind," the god of desire and attraction cried.
Dante's POV
I watched as the two demon sisters took my godson away. It's strange to say my son is a god when I'm not.
Just so you know, after Nix and Athena got together and discussed some details, incorporating elements from other related mythologies, they concluded that I'm a daemon, or a being somewhere in between—basically, a higher rank than human, but lower than a god.
By the way, Libra is considered a demigod.
(Note: According to ChatGPT, which I was too lazy to research further and find nothing, Dante is a conceptual chthonic daemon of darkness and emptiness, and his powers of death and darkness aren't inherited, since they come from a Devil Fruit.)
I don't know where these concepts come from, but I really didn't care.
"Are you ready?" I asked her, to which she just nodded.
I saw her wearing comfortable combat gear and using a spike with chains for fighting.
(Note: This is Medusa Rider, exactly as she appears, both in clothing and appearance, since at this point she must be around 18, 19, or 20 years old.)
With everything ready, we set off.
We spent most of the day hunting beasts and monsters, but not killing them. This is because Echidna currently lives on Anakosmos Island, and she found out about some of my crazy antics; she would speak to Zeus to ask him not to interfere with her children anymore.
In the end, an agreement was reached that I could interfere but not exterminate or kill them. So we'll only do that kind of hunting where you catch your prey and release it to hunt it again—the same, but with monsters.
The first creature we encountered was the Hydra. We tried to see how many heads we could cut off before the multi-headed winged dragon-serpent got tired.
We reached head number 103 when it basically stopped fighting and surrendered. Quite an achievement.
We found a nest of harpies, so with Medusa's help, we managed to capture them. We tied their wings, weighed them down, and forced them to run free. It was an incredible sight.
The last creature we came across was the Nemean Lion. It was a good 20 hours of continuous fighting.
Meudas also participated, but she couldn't do much in the end.
The important thing is that we had a good time, and I got to spend some quality time with Medusa, since she's always locked up on that island with those troublesome sisters.
Plus, there's the myth of Medusa, how she became the Gorgon, and all that; Right now, I don't see anything like that happening, so I'm calm.
We were just sitting watching the sunset over the horizon.
"So, how was it, Medusita?" I said jokingly.
"Good, Dante. I like spending time with you. It makes me feel good and alive," she replied.
I narrowed my eyes at this; she was looking at the horizon, so she was watching me. I knew why she acted this way, the way she behaved around me; it was quite clear, but for me, it was nothing more than a fleeting infatuation, something temporary. Nothing more.
"So, how are things with her on the island of the gods?" she asked.
"Mm, a bit chaotic, as always. The gods are causing chaos, especially that crazy goddess of love. Now she wants a third baby. I don't know where she gets so much energy, or desire, too," I began to vent a little. "There's also the matter of Athena, who's avoiding me right now, and I don't know why; luckily, there haven't been many problems with the other goddesses so far."
It has to be said that the goddesses are the most troublesome, second only to Zeus himself, being the king of all the current problems on Olympus.
"It must be entertaining being there, with you and all," he said but immediately realized what he'd said. "Oh, when I referred to you, I meant it like this."
I saw her acting like a lovesick teenager, shedding her role as a quiet, rational, and protective woman and falling into a state of uncertainty, insecurity, and embarrassment when she was with me, and a little bit with her sisters.
"Medusa," I said, and she stopped talking. "I know how you feel, but that feeling is temporary; no, later, with time, that crush on me will disappear. "I was just treating her like the grown-up teenager she was, like someone normal her age.
"It's not like that," she began. "What I feel right now being with you isn't fake, and I don't think it will ever go away." Silence fell. "I know it's real. I really like you. I haven't felt this way about anyone else but you, so I want you to accept me. No matter how much I'm with Kiss-shot or the goddesses of love, just being your lover and being with you is more than enough for me."
I looked into her eyes and realized that what she was saying was genuine. Nothing influenced her, be it a spell or the instigation of others; she was purely pure, just like with Kiss-Shot, which is one of the reasons I agreed to be with her for life.
She liked me purely and sincerely, not like Aphrodite or Hera, who were influenced by my curse, or whatever you call my special condition.
I gazed at the horizon and thought of Kiss-Shot. She'd never cared about the whole harem thing or having more than one lover, since for her, the soul bond was more important and stronger than anything else; hence her acceptance of Aphrodite doing certain things.
"Look, we'll see how things go, and if that feeling is still there, we can try to convince Kiss-Shot to see if we can have something official without having to hide," I told her.
I looked at her and saw her give me a smile of pure happiness that tugged at my heartstrings.
Before we could continue talking, I heard someone walking behind us.
"You accepted her, just like that, didn't you?" Turning around, I saw the goddess of wisdom, Athena, walking slowly toward us.
"Athena? What are you doing here?" I asked, stopping in front of Medusa, since I could sense a hint of hostility from the goddess.
"You said my name; a god can sense when he's mentioned. He doesn't usually pay attention to these things, but since it was you, I immediately looked to see what you were doing, only to find you being very affectionate with that nymph, so I came," he said with an eerie calmness.
"How strange that you were avoiding me before, but you come here for exactly this kind of thing," I said, narrowing my eyes.
"Well, I had a conversation with Aphrodite that opened my eyes a bit to what I was feeling inside." He began to recount, his gaze fixed on me.
"I remember, it even came to blows," I commented.
"That's what happens to that vixen for flaunting being with you," he continued. "I'm talking about how I didn't know what I felt and that I would always have you all to myself for the rest of your life, but seeing this, I think she doesn't have it so easy," he said with a dry laugh.
"What are you getting at?" I asked, a little uncertain inside. "Easy, I want to be with you too," she said, her eyes a little wild. "It drives me crazy seeing how your wife and that whore have you all to themselves, and I can't be with you because of that stupid oath to the River Styx I made a long time ago."
I stared at her, and I realized that she had that look; I don't know if it was because of the current situation or because she'd always been crazy, but it gave me a bad feeling.
"I'm sorry, but I can't be with you. You're a virgin goddess; we can't have that kind of relationship. It's better to just be friends," I replied. This was mostly to avoid problems. If something were to break, the consequences of breaking the oath wouldn't fall on her, but on me, and with Kiss-Shot, Libra, and now Medusa after me, I can't take any chances.
Now it was her turn to narrow her eyes and look at me frantically.
"You're telling me you reject me, but you can accept that low-class nymph," she said through gritted teeth, revealing the anger and fury she'd been holding back at my rejection.
I took a protective stance behind Medusa. Athena noticed this, glared at Medusa, and quickly walked over to me.
"You'll regret this," she said before leaving.
The place fell silent. I pondered what Hestia had said about why she became a virgin goddess.
The fact that she found men stupid and that I didn't attract her attention made her swear by the River Styx. But then I came along and shattered all those thoughts she had about men.
I imagine that if my feelings toward her were kindness and admiration, then she developed an infatuation she didn't know she had, and Aphrodite somehow turned it into an obsession. That's why this place happened.
I don't know what I did, Dite, but it couldn't have been anything good.
"It's best if we go back to your sisters; he'll be safe there, and she won't be able to do anything if you're there," I told Medusa. She just nodded.
Athena ruined the whole atmosphere, but there was nothing I could do.
"Wait," I heard Medusa say. When I turned around, I felt her kiss my cheek. "It'll be for now; we'll see if we do other things later when you talk to Kiss-shot," she said.
I just smiled at her.
"We'll see," I said as I took her hand and we left.