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Devon felt his power roll over him as if the amplifier was near, but unlike in the street when he lost himself to it, he could handle the flow of it. He had finally accepted his power and in return it allowed him control, melding and becoming one with him; an extension of himself.
He pulled the God to the forefront, keeping himself on equal footing as his eyes and veins started to glow green and his vines grew around him, crawling and knotting into a shield in front of him.
The green light moved over his skin until every inch of him glowed and the winged serpent tattoo moved and writhed before it left his body and became a tangible thing.
Devon caught sight of a figure in his periphery but when he turned, they had disappeared.
Trap, the serpent whispered into Devon’s mind and before he could even take a defensive stance, Crius flung his hands out, wind and light swirling around them and the churning dirt becoming rams.
“How? How did you block my sisters from my realm?” Persephone demanded as the fire bled from her onto the ground around her, catching as if the soil were covered in accelerant. Her wings were spread out behind her and he could see the feathers twitching in anger.
He hadn’t noticed, but she was right, Hera and Amphitrite were nowhere to be found. He knew they could sense their sister was in danger, yet they were not here. If there was one thing he could respect of her sisters, it was that they would never let Persephone stand alone against an enemy. Something had to of happened.
Crius laughed, his head thrown back and arms out. “I created chaos on earth. Your sisters are working hard to save those pesky insects you call humans. Then, it was easy to spell this place so they are all but locked out. That left the gates open, and thankfully since I was not bound during your little rebellion against your father, I’m here to free my king,” he growled.
“Now, I can undo everything that his demon spawn daughters and waste of a wife did to send my baby brother to this place. All because of a falling out,” he spat, his face warped in a menacing smile that made Devon feel sick. It was a culmination of every sinister and evil smile he had ever seen as a mortal. This man embodied all the evil he’d fought so hard to rid the world of as a human.
“Only you would call Cronus murdering me and my sisters a ‘falling out’,” Persephone seethed.
Crius simply ignored her and continued with his monologue.
“Oh, niece, you have no idea how the fate that your father dealt you will compare to what Atlas has planned. A drop in the ocean compared to the torture you will receive at our hands,” Crius smirked.
Atlas. He had said he was working with him, so did that mean Atlas had access to the Underworld, too? He knew deep down a loss here meant Persephone would be stripped of power.
Him, too, but he knew he could survive without it. He had only just begun to wield his power, so it was not as strong as hers yet. She’d spent eons with hers and it was as much a part of her as her soul. Losing her power could mean the death the Moirai foretold.
He was brought back to the fight when the ground began to shake violently. He saw Thanatos brace himself, his wings flaring out to the sides of him to balance. Persephone seemed wholly unaffected as she stared down Crius, her teeth gritted, and fists clenched.
Devon felt the vines move deeper into the ground before shooting back up and wrapping around his legs to anchor him.
Crius fell to his knees, pushing his hands into the ground as impacted earth expanded from him and released more of the rams made of the earth. The animals moved as a herd, circling them as their hooves kicked up dirt and bits of bone.
“Devon!” Persephone yelled over the booming noise of the earth coming undone. Her hair
slapping her face from the wind coming off the stampeding rams.
Crius threw his arms out wide as he stood atop the gate of Tartarus. As if on command, the rams stomped all at once on the ground, the impact creating a fissure that grew between him and Persephone. He missed a step, the ground giving out beneath him as the fissure continued to grow before his vines wrapped around him and pulled him back to solid ground.
As he found his footing, he realized he was on the opposite side of her and Crius, split from them by vegetation and open ravines.
Use the earth, the serpent growled with a small huff of annoyance.
Falling to his hands and knees, he felt the ground respond to him as the soil moved under his power, pulling away from Crius.
Before he could do anything more, he was hit with a flash of light that knocked him back several feet, his head hitting the ground hard. The hit sent electricity through his entire body, making him shake violently as he tried to hold onto consciousness.
His vision wavered before he could focus again and attempt to stand up, still dizzy from his fall. Putting his hand to the back of his head, he was not surprised to see blood after taking such a hard hit to the head..
Not good. Get up. Get up!
A grunt from in front of him had him raising his aching head. The pain a fading concern as he came face to face with an angry ram staring him down with blood-red eyes.
“Shit,” he muttered, calling to his vines as he scrambled to get up.
The ram screamed in panic as Devon’s vines moved around it, crushing its body until the dust it had been created from scattered to the wind.
As the dust cleared, his heart stopped at seeing Crius and Persephone alone in their confrontation. Behind her, Thanatos and Cerberus were fighting back rams in a seemingly never-ending battle to keep them from her as she fought. One ram would fall to dust as two more rose from the ground.
