DIVINE CHAMPIONS 6: A FINAL CONFLICT

AIR-WATER: THE FACE OF MAGIC

Rishi's entry to the throne room of Atlantis was welcomed by a tumble, and a blackout. That was weird, as Rishi rarely got visions. What was going on? Rishi flailed over on the ground. He was talking to his parents and Rick earlier, before getting here. At Tina's request, they had tried getting back to Vanaheim, but the ring seemed to have stopped working. And now, this. Aitri seemed to be losing her feet.

Rishi sat on the ground, his eyes going completely white, like it normally did when he electrified himself during battles. But that Rishi was way more energetic. His head tilted towards his right, before he made some sounds. Aitri looked at King Jay and Tina, who looked confused themselves. And quite soon enough, the eyes returned, and Rishi turned normal. "Rish, you alright?" Aitri ran to her boyfriend, "You were blacked out."

"Yeah, yeah, I had a vision."

"What did you see?" Jay asked.

"Freya."

"Freya?"

Oh yes, Jay still wasn't aware of who Rishi and Aitri were. Tina revealed to him everything. Jay, though shocked initially, got over it quicker than expected. "What do you feel like?" He asked Tina. 

"I am still piecing it together." Tina said, "But I don't see why we didn't think they existed."

"Well, Iris did tell me about existences of other beliefs."

"Iris?" Aitri asked.

"The rainbow goddess." Jay said, as he finally sat on the throne, and a man entered. That was some creature, something they would call a faun. He had the upper body of a man, but had goat legs. "Bring two chairs for our guests. And call everyone else." Jay ordered. Then, he said to Aitri and Rishi, "I, King Jay Chatterjee, son of Hecate and Rohit Chatterjee, welcome you to Atlantis. As much as I am pleasured to know of your existence, what worries me is why you are here. I fear something apocalyptic." Jay's weird maturity at an age younger than her slightly surprised Aitri. He seemed to deal with this kingship well, for someone who was not born in a royal family. But he had also had it for two years, so he was prepared now. Jay went on, "I am waiting for my family. Unfortunately, we don't have our eldest Chatterjee brother, Avik with us, and our former Amazon Queen, Delilah. They are out for a trip to the South of the New World. But luckily, I have the others, with whom, I would find a way to help you out."

As they waited, Aitri looked around at the hall. Rishi did the same. Paintings covered the high light blue eyes. Touch of modern electricity contained too, with the hall's lighting depending on LED tubelights. Fourteen different thrones lay across in the form of a circle. And to Jay's right, where the thrones ended, there was a fireplace, with fire burning. "Does that fire burn always?" Rishi asked. Tina nodded. Rishi asked his next question, "Is that the hearth? Hestia's domain."

"We Greeks strongly believe in the importance of the hearth, something that keeps on burning. Here in Atlantis, this fire is the gift from Hestia herself. She put some of her eternal fire in every Atlantean house. Since then, the hearth lives on. It did flicker majorly few years back. But now, everything's fine."

"Would you ever tell us why?" Aitri asked.

"We will, one day. For now, it is long. All you might know is that yours isn't the first apocalyptic war the supernatural world has fought. There was an apocalypse that had been sent back after its arrival."

"Woah!" Aitri asked, "Was there giants?"

"Oh yes." Jay said, "Big ones. But they were mere pawns. The actual enemy was a demigod like us."

"Was he special?"

"Yes. Powerful, physically strong, mentally unbreakable. He taught me something. A man can do whatever he decides he would do. A mere human giving the gods a run for their money. As much as I hate him, even at his death, he could have been the greatest demigod of all time. I would have happily left this throne for a man like that. Sadly, he was evil, and he's dead."