Aiónios Pólemos

Chapter 2 - What's the plan?

Every gods with their groups were lead to their own part of the palace, the living quarters were evenly distributed and customized for each and every god of their own myths.

At the Japanese God's living quarters, before the entrance was a smooth stone path lined with sakura trees blooming on both sides. The door was made out of refined bamboo wood, smoothed out finely. The door was pushed open by two creatures in samurai armor, the interior was just as beautiful as the outside, filled with traditional and authentic Japanese decoration and architecture. The gods sat cross-legged around a round wooden table, "The winds have gone silent dear comrades, the tournament has begun" Hachiman said calmly. 

"So what's the plan?" asked Susanoo, as he wiped his katana with an oiled cloth. Hachiman sighed and spoke, "Each group will have three chosen fighters to represent their own. Those who win will move to the next round.", "But we have no idea who we're fighting?" asked Kuzenbo as he tilted his head, water pouring from his crown. "Your water is spilling Kuzen, straighten your head or you'll ruin the tatami. But yes, we will have no idea what god or creature we will fight in the other group." Hachiman shook his head in disapproval.

The gods looked at each other, and came to an agreement. "Susanoo, Hachiman, and I will participate in the first round. We need to keep both of your strengths unknown for now Raijin and Kuzenbo." Amaterasu said as her kimono slowly transforms into a traditional armor. "Will do, Empress Amaterasu. We wish you three a glorious battle ahead." Raijin and Kuzenbo said as they took a knee.

----[Somewhere in the palace, in the Egyptian side...]----

Golden sands shift through the breeze, palm trees dancing along. The gods trudged forward through the sandstorm, and what stood before them was a golden door, built in between pillars and walls made of smooth sandstone. A jackal-headed god stepped before the others in front of the gate and blew a sharp whistle. The sandstorm dissipated and two jackal-headed warriors emerged from the chaos, they bowed before their master before opening the door for the gods to enter.

Passing through the doors, an oasis and pyramids with perfectly sculpted heads of the gods atop the entrances were seen. A soft sound of the piercing of flesh was followed by a loud yelp, "WHAT IN THE UNDERWORLD DO YOU WANT KHEPRI?!". Khepri's mandibles clicked in amusement as he slowly removed one of his legs from sobek's tail, "We're about to have a strategic meeting, don't run straight to that river oasis Sobek." A soft sigh escaped from Sobek's mouth as he held his head  low.

Ra sat upon a golden throne as the others bowed before him, "You may raise your heads, my dear children.", "Ahem, so as far as we know, our opponent is the Japanese gods." stated Thoth. "The tournament will go by a best of three, which mean only three of us per round." Thoth continued on. "So by that logic, why don't we send two of our strongest and only one less stronger one?" Anubis spoke as he emerged from Thoth's shadow. "We don't really have a weak god, do we?" Thoth scratched his head, "We only have gods that are weak to each other, but it's all in the match up." Sett said. "Either way, I'm going to fight this round and no one shall stop me."

The gods looked at him, "Not surprised brother, since you're the god of strife and chaos after all." Osiris scoffed. "I'll join the first bout too, I'm getting bloodthirsty thinking about the other gods I'll be able to kill." Sobek grinned. The other gods exchanged nervous looks, Ra turned to Thoth, "Oh no my lord, I'm not much of a fighter." Thoth said nervously." Ra looked at him and said, "Oh no don't worry, I'm not sending you to fight. I'm just wondering if it's allowed to bring in Apopis."

As the name was said, the room fell silent. The gods faces were filled with horror and some had a bead of sweat trickle down the side of their animal heads. "He might turn his back on us my lord,  but it is possible..." Thoth looked at Ra, the king of the egyptian gods in absolute dismay. "That's news, but don't summon him unless we need to win this round. On the other hand, before we call upon 'him', Khepri you are chosen as a fighter." Khepri, the god of the morning sun and rebirth, could only bow his head before his king and accept his fate.

----[Some time has passed]----

The colosseum towering . The seats were filled by mystical creatures cheering on their origin gods. A bright light shone down into the middle of the colosseum, and two gods emerged from the light. One of them was thoth, holding his signature book, and the other god was a beautiful woman wearing a white kimono with pink sakura imprints. "I, Thoth will be the judge and the announcer for the Egyptian side" Thoth said, amplifying his voice through his magic. "And I, Izanami will be the the referee and announcer for the Japanese side" Izanami took a bow before disappearing in a puff of sakura petals. The two gods appeared at commentator's box which is sat at the middle of the colosseum. "For the first bout, representing the Egyptian Gods. I bring to you, Sobek! The crocodile god of the Nile.", announced Thoth. "A strong fighter for the first bout? How desperate do you Egyptians want to win?" mocked Izanami. "But alas, same could be said for us Japanese. Our chosen fighter... Hachiman of the eight heavenly banners, will be going up against Sobek."

"Shall we make this fun?" asked Izanami. Thoth turns his head towards her, "What are you getting at?", "We'll flip a coin, who ever guesses it correctly gets to chose the terrain of the battlefield." said Izanami. "I like that idea, I'll go for tails then." Thoth chirped in delight. Izanami opens her palm, revealing a coin made out of pure gold. The coin flipped up in the air and landed back down... revealing that it was tails. "Aw, thought we could get the upper hand" Izanami said shaking her head in disappointment. "The battlefield would be set to the desert then." Thoth said with a devious look in his eyes.