Marcus raised his hand higher, and the golden light expanded, filling the small room with radiant memory. The light coalesced into shapes, scenes, moments frozen in time and then brought to life.
Tony watched as the light formed a vast hall. Pillars reaching into infinity, carved from compressed starlight. Thrones arranged in circles, thirty-nine of them, each one occupied by a being of immense power. And surrounding them, lining the walls in tiers that stretched upward into darkness, thousands of lesser gods.
At the center, elevated above all others, sat a throne of golden metal and bone. Twenty meters tall, its back stretching fifty meters high, crowned with spikes like a violent sun. Skulls fused into the gold, faces of gods who'd challenged its occupant and lost.
Zeus.
The king of the Greek gods lounged on his throne, white beard cascading down armor that crackled with perpetual lightning. His presence filled the hall, made reality itself bend around him.
And walking toward him, up the stairs to the central platform, was a younger version of Marcus. Hermes. Messenger of gods. Son of Zeus.
Tony watched the golden figure climb, saw the dread in every step, the weight of the news he carried.
Marcus's voice narrated from the present, overlaying the scene. "This was eighteen years ago. I'd been investigating anomalies across dimensions for months. Mortal civilizations advancing too quickly. Knowledge spreading in patterns that shouldn't exist. And I'd traced it all back to one source."
The golden Hermes reached the platform, stepped into the light falling from the aperture above. He knelt before Zeus, fist pressed to chest.
"Greetings, Father," the golden Hermes said. "Thank you for the privilege of speaking before this council."
"Rise, my son." Zeus's voice was thunder, controlled but barely.
Hermes stood. Tony could see the hesitation, the moment where the messenger almost reconsidered. Almost kept the secret.
But loyalty won.
"Across the dimensions, toward the lower sectors," Hermes began, "knowledge of the gods has spread among mortals. Their civilizations advance beyond natural progression. Even those in the 3rd Dimension now wield understanding they should not possess."
Silence fell across the hall. Gods shifted on their thrones.
Zeus's fist slammed down on his throne's armrest.
The impact was silent, but reality screamed.
Time shattered. Six dimensions convulsed as Zeus's rage exploded outward, uncontrolled for just three seconds. In the 3rd Dimension, mortals froze mid-breath. Hearts stopped. Restarted. A three-second pause in causality itself.
Then Zeus pulled the power back, reined it in, his expression smoothing to dangerous calm.
"Elaborate." A female voice, sharp and commanding. The golden light showed her gray eyes, armor gleaming, spear in hand. Athena, goddess of wisdom. "What manner of knowledge? How long has this been occurring?"
"Mathematics beyond what they should comprehend," Hermes replied. "Physics that allows them to manipulate matter and energy. Chemistry that transforms base elements. In some timelines, they've achieved space travel. Begun colonizing other worlds." He paused. "The spread began approximately two decades ago in mortal time, but the acceleration in the past years has been exponential."
"Two decades," a god muttered. Hephaestus, god of the forge. "How did we not notice?"
The scene shifted. Space folded at the edge of the hall, and a new figure stepped through. Tall, ageless, neither male nor female but somehow both. Eyes like clock faces. Robes that shifted between past and future states.
"The Watchmen noticed," the figure said.
Marcus's voice explained, "Elerie. The goddess of Time. She doesn't belong to any pantheon. Serves the titans directly."
Every god turned toward Elerie as she walked with measured steps toward the assembly. Where her feet touched ground, cracks appeared, time itself splintering, showing the floor as it had been, as it would be.
"Elerie," Zeus said carefully. "This is a Greek assembly. Your presence was not requested."
"And yet necessary." Elerie's voice echoed strangely, each word arriving slightly before and after she spoke it. "Your rage moments ago shattered time across six dimensions. The 3rd Dimension experienced a three-second pause. Mortals frozen mid-breath. I came to repair the damage. And to clarify something that's been overlooked."
"Which is?" Zeus's lightning crackled.
"The Watchmen reported anomalous knowledge spread forty-seven times over the past four decades in mortal measurement." Elerie's gaze swept the assembly. "To the Greek pantheon. To the Norse. To the Egyptian. To the Roman. Forty-seven reports, detailing advancement beyond expected parameters. The reports were acknowledged by all major pantheons." She paused. "And subsequently ignored."
Tony watched Zeus's expression remain carefully blank, but Marcus narrated, "He knew. Zeus had been letting it happen, letting the situation develop into crisis. Waiting for the perfect moment to use it."
"Then the system failed," Ares, god of war, growled.
"They distinguished perfectly," Elerie countered. "Their seventeenth report, twenty-six years ago, specifically mentioned the possibility of divine birth. New gods radiating influence. The signature matched the goddess of Knowledge's essence pattern."
Every eye turned to Zeus.
"I only became aware of the severity recently," Zeus said smoothly. "Until my scouts confirmed it three lunar cycles ago. She's been giving birth. Seventeen children confirmed. Each one sent to different dimensions. Each one radiating knowledge like a beacon."
"Seventeen?" Elerie's head tilted. "The Watchmen detected eighteen distinct essence signatures."
Zeus's eyes narrowed. "Then there's one more we haven't found."
In the present, Marcus said quietly, "That was you, Tony. The eighteenth. The one he couldn't detect because you were wrapped in mortal flesh."
The golden scene continued. Zeus stood, his form expanding. "We face a crisis. Divine essence contaminating mortal realms. We've seen what happens when gods are careless with their presence in lower dimensions. The Loki incident. An entire galaxy destroyed because one god failed to contain his essence properly. I had to unmake an entire sector to prevent cascade failure."
Several gods shifted uncomfortably.
"But that was accidental," Poseidon said quietly. "What the goddess of Knowledge has done is deliberate. She weaponized essence. Turned her children into beacons, planted them like seeds."
"Exactly," Zeus said. "This isn't contamination. This is invasion."
"Is it?" Poseidon's voice carried an edge. "Brother, mortals were always going to advance eventually. Their brief lives create urgency. They learn faster than we do because they must." He gestured around. "We've grown complacent. When was the last time any of us created something new?"
"Are you defending her?" Zeus's voice dropped dangerously.
"I'm stating facts," Poseidon replied evenly.
Zeus's gaze swept the assembly, and suddenly stopped. The golden light showed his eyes locking onto a figure seated among the lesser thrones.
"Curious," Zeus said softly. "The goddess of Language is here. The daughter of Knowledge herself. Acting as emissary, I presume?"
The scene focused on her. Dark hair, pale skin, eyes holding infinite linguistic knowledge. Around her neck, a pendant, a silver crow with obsidian eyes.
Marcus's voice in the present cracked slightly. "Meltiy."
The golden Meltiy stood, composed despite the attention. "I represent my mother's interests in this assembly. She believes dialogue prevents conflict. Knowledge should be discussed, not hoarded."
"How convenient," Hera said coldly. "The architect sends her daughter to plead her case."
"I plead nothing," Meltiy replied. "My mother answers to no pantheon. She's committed no crime under divine law."
"She's destabilizing reality," Zeus countered. "Creating gods without approval. Those are crimes."
"According to Greek law," Meltiy said. "Not universal law."
"Then perhaps it's time for universal law." Zeus descended from his throne. "Perhaps it's time the pantheons united under common authority."
The words hung in the air.
"You overstep, Zeus," Poseidon warned. "Each pantheon governs itself."
"And look where that's led us." Zeus gestured at Meltiy. "Gods operating independently, destabilizing dimensions without oversight."
He approached Meltiy, lightning gathered in his hands. "You'll remain here. As a guest. Until this matter is resolved."
"A guest who cannot leave is a prisoner," Meltiy replied.
"Call it what you wish." Zeus gestured to Ares, Apollo, and Hephaestus. "Guard her."
The three gods moved to positions around her throne.
In the present, Marcus's hands clenched into fists. "I should have moved then. Should have stopped it. But I was frozen. Loyal. Stupid."
The golden scene continued. Meltiy spoke quietly, "Odin will object. I'm under his protection. My mother is..."
"His lover, yes," Zeus interrupted. "I'm aware. Which makes this interesting. Will Odin prioritize his lover's daughter over relations with the Greek pantheon?"
The golden Hermes finally moved, stepping forward. "Father, perhaps—"
"Silence." Zeus's command was absolute.
A messenger burst through the hall's entrance. "My lord! The Norse! Thor, Hela, Loki—they approach! Demanding entry! Armed, with fifty warriors!"
Zeus smiled. Not with warmth. With satisfaction. "Let them in. Let's see what the Norse want badly enough to breach our hall uninvited."
The doors exploded inward. Stone and divine metal shattered like glass.
Thor walked through the smoke, Mjölnir on his shoulder. Lightning, raw and primal, crackled across his armor. Behind him came Hela, death made manifest, crown of shadows forming. And Loki, grinning as if this were entertainment.
Fifty Norse warriors filed in, weapons drawn.
"Zeus," Thor's voice boomed. "We need to discuss your hospitality. Specifically, holding my father's betrothed against her will."
"Welcome, Thor Odinson." Zeus's smile widened. "Your timing is impeccable."
The golden light showed the tension, the weapons being gripped, the power gathering on both sides.
And then Marcus's voice said, "And then the fighting started. That's when everything went wrong."
The scene froze.
Marcus lowered his hand, and the golden light faded, leaving only the four of them in the small room. His face was haunted, eyes distant.
Tony, Grimmey, and Yuki sat in silence, processing what they'd witnessed.
"That's how it began," Marcus said quietly. "With me delivering a message I should have kept secret. With Zeus using the crisis to seize power. With Meltiy caught in the middle." He looked at Tony. "And with you being born somewhere far away, unaware that gods were going to war over your existence."
"What happened next?" Grimmey asked.
Marcus closed his eyes. "What always happens when gods stop talking and start fighting. Bloodshed. Betrayal. Death."
He looked at them, and his expression carried the weight of eighteen years of grief.
"Do you want to see the rest?"