The sun was just spilling its first gold across the peaks of Mount Olympus, but the gang was already moving. Lysandra's duplicated shadows glided silently through the mist, their bows drawn and arrows tipped with Aether-infused metal that hummed faintly in the cool morning air. Kairo fell in step beside her, fingers brushing the dual Aether at his sides. The red and blue streams coiled instinctively, a restless snake that demanded attention.
"Lysandra, stay sharp," Kairo murmured, his storm-grey eyes scanning the craggy terrain. "If the sirens have a guard, they'll be waiting higher up."
"You think I don't know that?" Lysandra smirked, her green eyes flicking toward him. "Keep your energy in check, dual-god boy. Don't blow yourself up before the first fight."
Ayo cracked his knuckles, molten metal already beginning to form into protective armor over his bronze-skinned arms. "And here I thought you'd need me to babysit," he said, heat radiating faintly from his body. Kasai's golden hair caught the early sun as he flexed, a tiny solar flare dancing along his fingertips. "Enough chatter," he muttered. "Let's find the artifact."
The group ascended the rocky cliffs, each step measured, the whispers of ancient Greek legends trailing them like ghosts. Kairo felt it—the dual-god energy in Lysandra, Kaito, Reina, and even Dagon pulsing alongside his own. Every step forward made him wonder: how had Sensi mastered all of this? How had he shaped them so perfectly, as if weaving some unseen pattern? And more importantly, why did some of them move with a fluidity that only dual-god Aether could explain?
"Hades," Kairo called to the shadowed boy walking slightly apart from the group, his pale face unreadable. "Keep watch near the cliffs."
The boy nodded, shadows coiling from his fingers, solid enough to hide small movements and small traps in the terrain. He spoke softly, almost to himself: "He should not be here yet." His eyes flicked toward Sensi, who remained silent behind the group, observing, arms folded.
As they reached a narrow ledge, the air changed. A deep, mournful singing drifted across the mountain—a Siren's call, perfectly sweet and impossibly dangerous. Lysandra raised her hand, halting the group, and whispered the command word to her duplicate: a single syllable that drew energy into her bowstring, her duplicate firing an Aether-charged arrow that cut through the melody before it could ensnare them.
"Good," Kairo said, letting a flicker of relief escape, though the red and blue Aether around him danced nervously. His dual-god energy responded instinctively to the danger, forming protective halos that shimmered in opposition, a warning to any who might attack.
Then it came—the first Cyclops. Massive, with a single golden eye that glowed with Aether-tainted fury, the creature slammed the cliff face, shaking rocks loose. Ayo's molten spikes erupted toward it, but the Cyclops swatted them away with a boulder-sized fist. Kasai unleashed a solar flare to blind it temporarily, while Kaito and Reina combined lightning and water, sending a storm surge crackling into the creature's flank.
Kairo stepped forward, dual-god Aether burning at his sides. He could feel the strain already—two streams of energy pulling in different directions—but he focused, allowing them to flow as one. He extended his hands, unleashing a pulse of energy that split into a red wave of force and a blue ripple of containment. The Cyclops staggered, letting the rest of the gang move in.
As Lysandra fired a rapid volley, duplicating herself seamlessly, and Dagon's poisonous mists curled around the creature's feet, Kairo felt a twinge of something familiar: the precision, the coordination, the ease with which they moved together. All of it seemed… designed. Sensi's plan, his training, the way he had shaped the gang—it wasn't just preparation. It was manipulation. And Kairo couldn't shake the uneasy thought that his father's stolen power had something to do with this orchestrated perfection.
The battle ended in a blur of Aether, metal, fire, and water. The Cyclops fell, dissolving into shards of energy that hovered briefly before disappearing. Kairo exhaled heavily, dual streams of Aether simmering down, but not fully quiet.
"Next," Lysandra said, brushing dirt from her arm. "The artifact should be in the temple ruins up ahead. No distractions."
Kairo nodded, but his mind wandered. The dual-god users in front of him were exceptional. Some of them could have been born anywhere and still learned these powers—but not all did. Some had to have been… trained. Or perhaps… influenced. And Sensi had done more than train them. He had shaped them. Orchestrated them.
The artifact waited, and so did the truths Kairo wasn't ready to face.