A new age of Divinity: Theomachy

Life or death

It had been a few days since they had come to Tracey's house and no trouble had arisen. Gulltoppr was clearly worried about his master and just layed outside looking up at Nate's window. They had some kind of link that ran deep, clearly down into their very souls. Tracey always felt bad for him whenever she would be at the kitchen window and one night while Beth was helping her make dinner, she asked what the lion liked.
"Oh, Gulltoppr? Mostly horse and deer," Beth replied "He is not picky and Nate figured out he would rather not kill his food before eating it. So..."
"I'm not giving him one of my horses," Tracey told her "But, I can go down to the store and get him some venison."
"Venison is...?"
"Oh, that's what deer meat is called," Tracey explained "After dinner I'll take you guys and we can go get some."
"Thanks, but I would rather stay behind and make sure Nate does not wake up in an empty house. Knowing him, he would most likely end up destroying something."
"I can understand that... okay, you can stay behind. I'll take the others. Gulltoppr is a really pretty animal. I'm surprised I've never seen a horned lion before."
"W-wait, you can see his horns?" Beth asked, shocked at this "But you are a mortal."
"Ah, but my son is a Demigod... and actually mine. Adoptive mortal parents of Demigods can not see the Mythological. However, when you open your mind to it, a mortal can see these things. You'd be surprised how many Mythological things I've seen that I've never told anyone about."
"Well, there was a Hecatoncheires working at a coffee shop. He told me that there was a gateway to Hades from there, so if there was ever a need for him urgently, he could join his brothers... or something."
"Huh, interesting."
"Mhm, now, let's get some food for you four."
After they ate dinner, Kenneth, Eden, and Mikayla got into Tracey's car whereas Beth sat in the guest room. She had been waiting for Nate to wake up all week, but he had barely moved. They hadn't cleaned the blood off of him so he still looked like he had just come from a warzone. His sword had been laid on the trunk on the other side of the room and she looked back at the weapon. Beth had always been curious about it as she barely ever saw the blade. Most specially made weapons from the camp had cool little inscriptions in them and she wanted to know what it looked like. She unsheathed the weapon and saw some runes on it that she didn't fully understand. She could see the rune for his father and what looked like a rainbow carved into the blade. She put the blade back into the sheethe and turned back to the bed, only to find Nate back on his feet. His eyes were strangely dark, but still primarily maroon, still the dark shade and swirling rainbow sparks made her a little uneasy.
"Nate, you look... good?" Beth tried in order to break the silence.
Nate sighed and replied "You look tired."
"Yeah? Well that happens in our kind of situation," Beth replied while crossing her arms, trying her best not to stare down at the stub "So... what brought you back?"
"I have been awake for a while," Nate admitted "But I needed a time when you were the only one here."
"Okay... why?"
"'Cause, I need to teach you something," He replied while walking toward her.
"You think there is anything left for you to teach me, now?" She asked while stepping out of his way.
"You're never too knowledgeable to learn, Beth," Nate reminded his old friend.
Beth sighed and replied "Alright... fine. What is your lesson, then?"
"Oh, it's nothing major. Just a simple question." He picked up the sword in the sheethe with his left hand. "Which do you prefer?" He held the weapon at his side and moved his stub toward it "Life..." She couldn't tell what he was doing, but he let go of the sheethe, letting it fall to the floor. "Or death?" The sword moved seemingly on its own.
When Nate turned around, Beth was shocked to see... something coming out of his stub. It was a new arm completely made out of Bifrost. The fingers were a bit twitchy, but aside from that, it was just as stable as a normal arm. She stared at him, completely dumbfounded that this was the idea he had.
"Nate, I am not fighting you," She told him, but just in case she began to summon Kenneth's sword to her hand.
Nate sighed and looked at the floor for a moment, then looked back to Beth, and told her "Wrong."
He brought his blade up and swung it down at Beth, but she lunged to the side to avoid his attack. Kenneth's sword flew into her hand and she watched as Nate's sword cut cleanly through the wall. He looked over at her and swung his sword up at her stomach, but she used Kenneth's to block. His sword bounced off of hers and he swung down at her head. She batted his blade away and then finally swung down at his head. Nate foresaw this and brought his blade up horizontally to block the attack. He pushed her sword down, then backed her out of the room. Their fight continued out in the hallway and she blocked a swing to her head, then a slash to her arm. He kept swinging at her head, but she blocked the two strikes. He tried an upward swing to her neck, but Beth learned backwards. She stepped back and Nate spun around using the momentum of his previous swing. He slashed at her head, but she ducked underneath the attack, continuing to back up. She got back up and swung at his knee, but he used his blade to let her golden one bounce away. Beth brought her weapon up and swung at his Bifrost arm. He moved out of the way of her attack and then brought his sword up in front of his face to block a slash to his nose.
"Now you're getting it!" Nate told her as he knocked her sword away from his face and hook punched her across the jaw "Maybe now you'll decide to get serious."
"Nate, stop it!"
"No, no, no! Get serious!" He grabbed her wrist with his left hand, then flipped her onto her back "Come on, just get pissed."
Nate swung down at her again, but she brought her blade up to block the attack. She swung at his leg again but he blocked and pushed her blade away. She got up off of her knees and they both spun their blades before she stabbed at his hip. Nate blocked the attack and side stepped her, ending up behind Beth. He spun and swung at her head, but she blocked, and pushed his sword away. Nate, in response, spun back the other direction and slashed at her neck again. Beth ducked underneath the attack, then got up right as Nate stabbed at her head. She blocked the attack and he pushed both of their blades back toward her face. Using her superior strength, Beth pushed the blades away and aimed them at his back. Nate had to use all his energy to swing their weapons up over his head and in front of him again. He quickly pushed the weapons back toward Beth's face, but she leaned back to avoid the weapons. She pushed the blades away, then Nate grabbed her wrist, and stabbed both swords into the ground.
"The way you're fighting me's idiotic," Nate told her as he hammerfisted her across the face with his Bifrost hand.
"Augh... how am I supposed to fight you?" She asked while They glared at each other.
"Like you would against her."
"Ugh, fine!"
She stabbed at his stomach, but he sidestepped the attack and blocked it with his sword in his underhand. He grabbed her wrist and held her blade away from them as he swung his down at her nose. She grabbed his wrist, which burned a little bit because of the Bifrost. She grunted as she pushed his arm away, then backed up, and tried to hit Nate with a flying spin kick. He just let Beth jump, then heel kicked her in the stomach. The Demigoddess tumbled down the steps and slid a little bit when she reached the bottom. Beth looked up and saw Nate stomping down the stairs, his arm looking slightly less controlled than when they had begun.
As he reached the bottom, Nate snarled "You lack commitment!" He swung down at Beth, but she backrolled away, and scrambled up to her feet, then Nate swung at her, but she blocked, and stabbed their swords into the wall "If you can't even beat me, how are you expecting to beat her?"
"I am not trying to beat you!" Beth yelled as she pulled their blades out of the wall.
Nate growled and swung her head, but she blocked the attack, so he swung his blade down at her hip. Beth brought her blade down and blocked the attack, then swung up at Nate's head. He blocked the attack and pushed her blade away, then backed up, and held his blade down. Beth didn't understand why his guard wasn't up, but didn't want to take any chances either. She slowly held him at bay with a long point guard and he just gestured for her to attack. Beth thought for a moment, then decided to use her guard to her advantage. She thrust her blade at Nate's chest, but he just leaned to the side, and swung his sword at her neck. Beth blocked the attack, then Nate pushed his blade closer to her face.
She maneuvered their blades behind her back and Nate told her "Yeah, and that's why..." He let go with his Bifrost hand and uppercut her in the nose "You're clearly destined..." He grabbed Beth by the shirt and pulled her nose into his forehead "To lose!" he let her go and punched her across the face, then knocked her blade away, and backfisted her across the face.
"Augh! What is your problem!?" She yelled at him as she swung at his head.
"That you clearly don't understand, get it," He told her while pushing her blade into the ground "If you won't even fight to kill me..." He swung at her throat, but she ducked underneath the attack, then attacked him again with a downward strike "Then how can I be sure you won't bitch out against your mother?" He blocked the attack, then used the butt of his sword's hilt to hit her in the eye, she looked up and blocked two overhead strikes, then blocked a third, and pushed their swords into the wood floor "You still can't beat me, fighting like this."
"I am not trying to."
Nate grabbed her wrist and sword and pushed both blades toward her face, completely lost in his anger and frustration, he snarled "And that's why you'll die."
He pushed her sword up, then kicked her legs out from underneath her. Beth fell onto her side and groaned, then yelped as she barrel rolled away from another slash down at her side. She got back up and stabbed at his nose, but he just slapped the attack away and Beth resumed her long point. She began to back up and the anger in Nate's eyes absolutely terrified her. His manner of speaking was also familiar, but she couldn't tell where. Sure, he had been angry with her before, but that was so long ago that his voice sounded almost completely different. He was breathing heavily, but it clearly wasn't because he was tired, the fight had not been going on that long. His breath was slow, heavy, and full of anger, like he was facing down Athena herself.
"Let's finish this," Nate said as he funneled Bifrost into his blade from the arm.
He swung down and struck the ground, which sent sparks up at Beth. She jumped back to not get hit by the specks of fire and Nate rushed her without warning. He pushed her backwards and pushed her through the door to the garage and pushed her against Tracey's workbench. Nate tried to push the blade down to her head, but then she pushed his blade to the side. She jumped to the side and swung at his head, but he just ducked under her swing. He got up and roundhouse kicked her twice in the back before heel kicking her in the small of her back. Beth broke through the bench and her nose slammed against and Nate punched at the back of her head. She leaned away from the attack and Nate's fist broke through the wall and Beth tried to use this to her advantage. She swung down at his legs, but Nate swung his blade down to block the attack. He brought his blade up and swung horizontally at Beth's head, but she blocked the strike with a vertical guard. She swung down at Nate's head again and he blocked, then pushed her sword away, and elbowed Beth in the eye. She stumbled backwards and Nate brought his blade down at her head. She managed to block the attack, then swung at his neck, but he just stepped backwards. She handed her sword from her right to her left hand behind her back, then swung down at his head. He hadn't expected the shift and batted her attack down, then she swung back at his hip again. He used his blade to let the weapon bounce away and she grabbed the weapon with her right hand again. Nate tossed his sword into his left hand underhand and when Beth swung at him again, he just used his Bifrost hand to stop her strike. He pushed her back and swung down at her head with the sword in his underhand. She grabbed his wrist and he grabbed hers when she tried to swing down at his head.
"This is getting annoying," Nate told her as he pushed her backwards and through the garage door, letting them go outside into the foggy evening.
"Then just stop it," She told him as they jumped away from each other.
"Not until you just get your wits about you and fight me!"
"What does it look like I have been doing?"
She stabbed at his head, but he side stepped her attack, and grabbed her wrist with his left hand. He spun her around and tried to bring his blade down at her head. She pulled her arm out of his grip and spun, bringing her blade up to block her best friend's attack. Nate knocked her sword away, then kneed Beth in the hip, which knocked her backwards. She stumbled back and he slapped her sword away with his Bifrost arm. He swings his blade down at Beth's head, but she blocked with all the strength she had. Beth fell down to one knee and Nate kicked her leg out of her hands. He spun around and kicked her in the chest... then finally regained his senses as the car pulled up again.
"Nate, what the fuck are you doing!?" Kenneth yelled as they got out of the car.
"Teaching Beth... wait, who the Hel?" They all felt something behind them and looked back to see... someone "Oh..."
"Fuck," They all said in unison.