Son of Odin

The King's Command

"Perseus why must you insist on defying my logic? Just go into the damned spring already!" Kronos shouted in irritation. The prince hadn't even said anything and for the last half an hour that the two of them had been at the death springs he had merely stood on the edge, eagerly watching the bolts of lightning ricochet around the basin of the black water with a silent fury. If he stepped in here and lived to tell about it, then he knew that if he ever got the chance to reveal his and Artemis' forbidden love to Olympus, he would stand tall and await Zeus' wrath with dignity, only for him to be revealed as a raging badass afterwards.

Armageddon had been silent ever since their descent into Tartarus, but he was definitely there, he too decided not to utter a single word until it had the most dramatic flair entailed with it. There was sometimes a rare purple light that filled the caves of despair that they had called their home for the past two years when the Prince would change into something else entirely. Armageddon would take over and wreak havoc in his attempt to free the two of them.

Without any signal the Prince casually stepped into the death springs that would become a watery grave for anyone other than him. The lightning bolts seemed to have found his presence and were drawn to it immediately. Creatures of all rank and manor could feel the silent rage building from the Prince as the ground shook from the resistance he gave off. The legendary 'Defiance' was giving them another show. Monsters had begun to investigate what was going on, Kronos pulled his scythe from thin air, none would near the death springs while the King guarded it. He may have been sentenced to eternal torture here but he was still above and beyond them all in leagues for power.

The discarded master bolts had all but disappeared as the Prince took his first few steps shakily on the rocky ground. He'd gone from freezing waters of death to the hot embers of torture, but he felt no difference, to him the ground was just as it was, indifferent to his feet. He felt no pain from it nor texture. He was the Prince that had been returned to his former glory. A once powerful demi-god champion of Chaos. He was still bound by his unbreakable incarceration however, and could not reveal himself to the world like this, he simply could not escape while in his enchanted prison.

'Perseus, I'm surprised, those bolts had been collected over the millennia and you know how many Zeus likes to fire off. I'm mildly impressed that you haven't been obliterated and sent to the void.' Tartarus' voice echoed inside the Prince's mind, but as always he was met with silence from the proud warrior.

'It has been two years of your silence Perseus. You are the text book definition of defiant but all men have their breaking points. I assure you that the pit will run deep with the sound of your screaming, the sound of you begging me to end your life Perseus.' Tartarus faded from the Prince's mind. The taunting was daily and after all this time his words had become hollow. Sticks and stones was the truest proverb in Tartarus, no words came close to hurting the Prince compared to the malicious things that Tartarus had done to his body. Hell had defiled his wings and tried to steal his dignity, but pride ensured that the Prince was the most respected being in creation, even by Tartarus himself. Not once had he ever flinched from the torture, the cutting and scraping against his skin, the flesh branding and lashing, not once had he ever spoken a single word or whimpered against the frozen waters that water boarded his mask.

The Prince couldn't recall how long he had spent absorbing the spent master bolts in the death springs but by the time he arose from the black waters he found himself side by side with the King of Titans facing an army of monsters that was as vast as the pit itself. Some he didn't even recognize at first, but eventually Chaos' inherited knowledge kicked in and he could analyze them in critical detail. The battle plans that ran through his head were Athenian in scope and brilliance.

Sparks of lightning danced along the Chaotic Platinum chains that hung ornately around the Prince's bound body. Raw power was irradiating off of him in droves. It was enough to make Kronos' skin tingle when the Prince came nearer.