Ephus - A demigod possessing the power to repower the gods
Quinn Markov - human wife of Ephus
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Norse Deities
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Odin - War god, main god of the Norse gods
Frigg - Wife of Odin, promoter of marriage and fertility
Freya - a goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, sex, war, gold, and seiðr.
Thor - a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of mankind, hallowing, and fertility
Loki - a mischievous god who can shape-shift and can take up animalistic forms.
Valkyries
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Göndul - War Valkyrie
Guðr - War or battle
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Egyptian Deities
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Bast - Goddess of cats, protection, joy, dance, music, family, and love
Serket - Goddess of scorpions, medicine, magic, and healing venomous stings and bites
Thoth - God of knowledge
Titans
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Cronus - The King of the Titan, and the god of destructive time--time which devours all.
Iapetus - The Titan god of mortality and the allotment of the mortal lifespan.
Ephus, looked as Guðr bowed before him. He then tried to get the Valkryie off her knees.
"I am not a god Guðr, you do not need to bow to me," Ephus said.
"Lord Ephus, I am only showing you the respect that you deserve," Guðr said, visibly shaking. The one before her may not be a god, he was powerful, plus, was also more human. There was no telling what he could do to punish her.
Ephus could see and feel this from the female, sighing again, why in the hell was everyone thinking he was going to punish them? Looking at the Asgardian gods, he thought back to the other two sets of gods he'd met.
Damn, he thought, they really were that bad, why was all the pain so necessary? A thought came to him, fear and respect through fear and pain. Though, as he thought about it, they could more times than not backfire in most hellish ways.
So, again he tried to get the Valkryie to rise off the floor. Almost to no avail, then Guðr started to rise, a look of near awe and fear etched on her face.
Ephus was about to open his mouth when a stray voice came to him. "Ephus,-- ---- need of--- your wife ---, then there was nothing.
He stretched his arms out feeling the thoughts, they were almost completely blocked. As the anger started to build, Ephus could feel strong interference. Reaching, he felt a god or rather Titan.
Ephus put all his power into the strike that he let loose. A shrill scream sounded in the air.
"You should really make sure who it is you piss off before you do," growled Ephus as he applied even more pressure.
No one does this to Iapetus! You will pay dearly for... Iapetus started to think. Ephus started to apply even more pressure interspaced with even more brutal hits.
"I believe that I will enjoy destroying you, you useless little shit. If not, then you won't be doing too much for a while," Ephus said as he felt an arm, then both legs start to snap in several places.
A moment later, Ephus felt three powerful powers hit him. To their surprise, they bounced off him as if they were nothing.
A fourth and fifth, then a sixth added their power, barely breaking Ephus' hold on Iapetus.
Thankfully, Iapetus had gone quiet, actually calming Ephus for a moment.
What felt like a solid wall formed between Ephus and Iapetus. This Ephus hit, knocking the Titans there out of the way, going straight to Iapetus, he commenced to beat the hell out of more.
Ephus stop! Came the thoughts of Cronus.
"I suggest that you keep that THING as far away from me as you can. Next time I will not stop nor will any of you stop me from destroying him. It was blocking the thoughts I just barely received. If this delayed me helping my family," here Ephus growled at Iapetus. "Then I will return and finish the job."
With a wave of his hand, Ephus blew the Titans deep into their prison, nodded to Odon and the rest then vanished.
Less than a few seconds later, Bast, Serket and Thoth felt an enormous power approaching them. Then, in a plume of smoke and fire, Ephus appeared not looking too happy.
A look around the room showed two of his Egyptian goddess wives, his Egyptian god brother Thoth. Though, the thing that got him moving the most was his prone, human wife, Quinn.
At her side, Ephus looked at her, then his other wives. "How long has she had this much power?" Ephus asked.
"Not long after you left," Bast said. "At first we were trying to help train her. I am afraid that we, no I pushed her too much. Her power was growing so fast we were afraid she might be hurt without more control. I failed my husband." Lowering her head, she waited for Ephus' anger.
Bast was surprised a moment later when Ephus' hand gently guided her head upward. "You didn't fail my Bast, I did. I didn't think that her power would grow as fast as it did."
"I have determined that her power is much like yours. I believe it was triggered by the many blessings of power several of my realm bestowed on her," A relieved Thoth said.
"I have attempted to heal her to no avail. I feel that I have also failed my husband," a sad-looking Serket said.
A now concerned Ephus pulled both goddesses to him, holding them close. "Know, neither of you failed, her power, much like mine, is far different than any either of you have ever felt. Really, it is a wonder you were able to do anything. Remember mine? There was really nothing any of you could do to help me remember?" Ephus said.
Bast looked at Serket then spoke, "We remember husband. We weren't happy, but we remember. So, is there anything that you can do to help?"
"No, I'm afraid that I am the only one that can, though I need to be here to do that. With the threat of Loki, his followers, then the Titans that are starting to rear their heads. I am stretched thin at the moment," Ephus said.
With a pass of his hand over her, Quinn's eyes fluttered open. "EPHUS!" She said, flinging herself at him, holding him tight against herself.
"I am so glad you are here. I can't control them. They had me out there. After all that, I got so weak, I was scared no one could see you," Quinn suddenly stopped staring into Ephus' eyes. With a sigh she tried to hold him closer, allowing the tears to fall.
"I am here now, hon," Ephus said, calming her. "I might be able to help you. What can you, no, let me see." Again, passing his hand over her, he saw her teleportation was good, energy bolts, hmmm not much else. "I think I can help. Do you mind if I limit what you can use?"
Quinn's eyes went wide as she whispered, "you can do that?" A shake of her head she said, "of course you can, probably the only one that can. Please, though you said limit? What did you mean?"
"Well, you seem to have most of your control over your teleportation, moving with a thought. Also, your destructive bolts, so, I thought I'd leave them," Ephus said.
"So, I won't hurt Ephus Jr.?" Quinn said.
"No, I set something up for that if you want me to," Ephus said. This would actually help him as he wouldn't have to worry about her as much, he hoped.
Quinn was biting her lip as she looked at Ephus, should she tell him now while he was here?
"Uh," Quinn started, I might have news for you. Though uh..."
Ephus looked at her with a lightly confused look, "what is wrong? Are you this worried about your power?"
"No, it's not that as much as uh..." Quinn hesitated.
"Tell him or we will," hissed both Bast and Serket.
Ephus turned to stare at both of them, his confusion growing more. "Yes," he started hesitatingly, "tell me."
"I have been afraid of saying anything," Quinn started.
"About what..." Ephus stopped with his mouth open. "What!? I can feel it, oh my! How long have you known? This is the most wonderful news."
Bast leaned over, "see? I told you he'd be happy." This, of course, had Quinn smirking.
"Yeah, your definition of happy and mine are two completely different things," Quinn told a now also smirking Bast.
"Quinn? " A now worried Ephus said. "You were afraid that I would be upset? Why? I thought you knew that I was happy with the children."
"Ephus, you have so much on you besides the fact that you have children, all your wives from both realms are pregnant. My dear, you have so much on your shoulders right now. I didn't want to become a burden, plus the fact that I didn't have powers that are almost out of control," Quinn said with quivering lips.
"My god Quinn, I am so sorry that I haven't had much time to help you, let alone be with you. What I did will help you, though if you get extremely upset it might not help," Ephus said.
"We will endeavor to keep her and your son safe," Thoth said as he felt around Quinn. "What you have placed within her in unfamiliar, as are many things about you. I will keep a thought line open to you in case."
"I thank all of you," Ephus said as all his Egyptian wives, brothers plus his Greek wives appeared with their brothers. A smirk appeared on his face as he thought let them try to attack his human family.
A sudden thought came to Quinn as she turned toward Serket. "Oh my god! Serket! Will these powers that I am getting, will they harm the baby?!"
A now concerned Serket turned to Quinn as she started to pass her hands over the baby within Quinn. The room was silent as Serket went over her once then again. A third pass had Quinn nearly in tears. If Serket was this unsure, she was fearful for the baby.
To make things worse, Serket was concentrating far harder than Quinn had ever seen. Also concerned, Ephus started to pass his hands over Quinn.
Serket looked at Ephus a moment, then allowed him to finish. "I am sorry husband; I wasn't able to detect anything. It is much like you, I cannot if you do not let me. I am afraid that, at the moment, she knows not how to allow me in."
Ephus nodded as he finished with what he thought Serket might want. ""Here," Ephus said as he stopped, then touched Serket's forehead. "Perhaps this will help."
A shocked Serket nodded as the images started to flood her mind. Going through them all she was surprised that Ephus had gotten almost everything she'd need.
Finished, she waved her hand, showing Ephus a picture of Quinn and the baby. "From what I can see, the baby is shielded from the magic. Though here," Serket indicated an area within the baby. "It appears that the baby will have powers later, though not without help."
"Not without help? What does that mean?" Ephus asked.
"More than likely, you will have to activate its powers. Not too unlike it was with your goddess's children. This is actually a good deterrent for bad conduct," Serket said.
Ephus was nodding as he took in all that Serket was saying. "I still have all their powers at a low at the moment. They have a tendency to play tricks I am not happy with on their human brother."
All of his Egyptian wives were nodding their heads. They have, had to calm their children after Ephus had punished them. A few of them knew what it was like to have their powers locked away within.
"I hope that this Asgard business is finished before the babies make their appearance. If I need to, I will leave to be with any of you when the time comes," Ephus said.
All his Greek, then his Egyptian wives had wide grins on their faces. "I think I speak for all of us when I say that is very reassuring. I would hold you to that though, like last time? You were hurt greatly; you now have ten powerful goddess wives. Nine God brothers, we are all fully powered, whoa be to the one that hurts you again," Bast said.
Ephus looked into the faces of all ten of his wives, he then felt them all power up. A shiver ran through him as he couldn't imagine all that power and anger released.
"I guess I should make sure then that doesn't happen," Ephus said, not really placating any of his wives. "I have to go, as I said I am glad that all of you are here to help each other." Kissing all his wives, he tried to reassure them, then vanished.
"Now then," Bast addressed all that were there. "I want all of us to try to keep him within our senses. As I found out when he was back in time, Thoth is about the only one that can reach him. It was about like that this time; he was only able to breech a little. We all need to keep him with us."
All of the Gods and goddesses nodded their heads as they started to vanish. It suddenly grew quiet with only Bast, Thoth and Serket remaining.
"I thank you sister, brother, sister wife, I was beginning to feel useless," Serket said. "It was a great relief to see. husband, as I am sure it was for everyone else."
"I agree, sister, I was happy that husband wasn't angry with us," Bast said as she turned to Quinn. "At least we know that you can now get upset without blowing anything up."
This brought a wide smile to Quinn's face as she slightly nodded. "Yes, I am glad also, though he said if I get extremely angry, I could blow things up."
"It is our hope that we can keep you from getting that upset then," Bast said, looking at Thoth and Serket.
Yeah, Quinn thought I hope so too. I truly hope so.
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Loki was pacing again, madder than he'd been to date. How dare Ephus take away half his followers? As of yet, he still couldn't break Ephus' block.
All that were in the room with him were cowering at him. They'd already seen what becoming the object of his anger did.
Inside, Loki was worried that the Titans would once again strip him of the power they had given him. There was no way he was going back to being the weak pathetic God he was again.
He had to destroy Ephus, he didn't really give a shit what the Titans had said. Ephus had more than embarrassed him, his destruction was all that Loki would accept.
It really didn't matter how many Gods he had on his side; Loki knew he had the power to destroy him. Yes, Loki thought, as a devious plan came to mind. He favored those useless Valkyries, yes, he thought. They were an obvious weak spot for him.
Without further thought, Loki started to go through all of the Valkyries that were still his mind slaves. There had to be one whose mind was by far weaker than the rest of them. A few moments later, a wicked smile lit up his face. Ah, Perfect.
A moment after he left his home, Ephus was back within Freya's domicile. His sudden appearance startling all that were there.
"I hope all is well back home, Lord Ephus," Odin said, (having started to call him that after taking to Freya and Frigg.0
"At the moment, Odin, though I am not sure for how long. Another, who has power very close to what mine is, has appeared. I am having to be in two places at once," Ephus said.
"I hope that she will be able to gain control Lord Ephus," Freya said.
Ephus' head snapped around to stare at Freya, "how did you know it was a she?"
"Well, it is apparent from the worry," Freya said.
"Yes, it would also appear to be someone close to you," Frig said. "Perhaps even your wife?"
Ephus was shocked a moment, then nodded, he had to remember he was so transparent to these Goddesses. "Yes you might say that she is or rather was my human wife. One of eleven I have, well, twelve, though she doesn't consider herself to be my wife."
Odin's mouth dropped open, "Twelve! How do you keep up? I have one and it is difficult!"
"I can hear you, Odin," came Frigg's voice from across the room.
Ephus leaned close, whispering, "as I told Ra and Zeus. It's not so much keeping up, as treating them as equals. I do not believe I am better than them and I do not act like it. They are my partners in everything. Believe me, I left them out of plans I made once. I was nearly destroyed. They saved me, without thought to their own safety. I try not to get in situations like that though it happens, and they are there for me."
"That is astounding," Odin whispered back. "I will try it, though after so long, it may be very difficult."
"It might be easier than you think, you just have to make an effort. Believe me, the end results might be worth it," Ephus said.
Odin looked over at Frigg as he shook his head. Could it really be that simple?
A look back at Ephus, who was nodding, had Odin thinking even more. Shrugging, he walked over to Frigg.
"Odin, before you get into that, we are going to need more allies. Any suggestions?" Ephus asked.
"Well, we could use Heimdall. I think Hel would help. Also, Vidar, though not sure he'd help, also my other son Vali. The only thing is, I'm not sure where they are," Odin said.
"Oh, I think I can find them," Ephus said, reaching out to touch Odin's shoulder.
Ephus was about to vanish when Thor, Freya and the Valkyrie Göndul walked up to him.
"We know you are going after others; we wish to lend our arms in battle," Freya said.
Ephus stopped short, looking at the three of them. "I'm not so sure, Freya, you and Göndul almost got us caught last time. Thor, you seemed unable to stop the last two times you went out. I need a solemn vow that when I say we go. We do not stay to slaughter more."
All three looked at each other, then knelt before giving a solemn vow. Ephus sighed, then nodded as all four of them vanished.
A few moments later, all four appeared in a rather large room. Against the far wall was a well-muscled, red-haired and bearded male.
Much like when they freed Frigg, there was a shout, then dark beings like before, started to pour into the room.
With an almost child-like shout of glee, Thor started to cut a wide path through them. He was closely followed by
Göndul and Freya. Ephus could only blink. Not only were they keeping them back, they were right to Vali.
Thor could only stare in shock when his hammer bounced off the chains holding Vali. The two females were also shocked when their weapons also bounced off.
"Lord Ephus, it appears that you are the only one who can break them," Thor shouted as he went back to destroying the dark elves.
Ephus walked behind the three as he started to take out quite a few. Swinging his sword, it too bounced off. Growing angry, he grabbed the chain, amazed when it just broke. This roused Vali as he stared at Ephus.
"The other one, free me," Vali gasped as he felt quarter his power return. Ephus reached to the other arm, watching amazed as the chain just broke, falling off. "By Odin's power! It feels so good, please finish."
Ephus nodded as he broke the other two on the male's legs. Although they were holding their own, more Dark Elves were starting to pour into the room. The number of dead and dying not hindering them at all.
"We need to go," Ephus said.
"I cannot without my sword," Vali said, shouting to get above the dim.
Ephus shook his head, why the hell does this always have to be so damn hard? Placing a hand on Vali's shoulder, Ephus said, "think about it."
Vali stared at Ephus a moment, shrugged, then did as Ephus said. Ephus started to growl when he saw that Loki had it in his possession.
"I figured you'd go after him, too bad..." Loki started, before Ephus hit him in the face, driving him to the wall. Ephus pulled, then the sword was before him.
Vali could only stare at Ephus, then grabbed the sword entering the frey. Shit Ephus thought, as he dropped to the floor, a weakness he hadn't felt in a while. Damn it, this was bad. He didn't have enough to get them all back.
Thor looked back at Ephus when he fell to the floor, "Ephus! Can you move us?"
Ephus held up a hand as he reached deep within. Closing his eyes, he thought of Freya's home. It seemed slow as they vanished, then it seemed a few minutes before they appeared.
The other four were wide-eyed as they turned and watched Ephus as he slid to the floor.
Several of the females were rushing to Ephus as he laid slightly gasping on the floor. "I think," Ephus started, "that I overdid it a bit," he then embraced the darkness as it took him.
Freya looked at the others then placed a hand on Ephus. She started to glow for a few minutes, then she too slid to the floor.