Chaos.

The city was engulfed by it- a beautiful landscape turned battleground for two warring celestial forces, with the inhabitants caught in the middle of it all, some desperately scurrying to find shelter when their houses proved to be incapable of withstanding the full power of a god, other fearfully watching things unravel from afar, unable to contain their curiosity.

Like a show of lights, the afternoon skies exploded in a combination of color every time one of the gods landed a hit, the tremors being felt all around the city as the people grouped up at the edges, stampeding out of the city.

And amidst the chaos he ran, a young sentry had taken it up to himself to seek help, for their weapons already proved to be unable to defend against the onslaught that was currently transpiring, the fledgling army of Lindos merely relegated to the position of an observer. They had tried to attack when words did not seem to do the trick, only to be completely ignored by whoever was up there in the skies.

The ground beneath him shook as he fought to avoid losing his balance in the steps that led to the temple. At the end, the giant, half-opened doors welcomed him as he rushed, forcing his way through them.

Barefoot, having long since discarded his sandals, his hurried steps left bloody prints along the steps and echoed through the massive hall as he struggled with his failing legs to reach the cella, where the monument to Athena was located. Stumbling, he pushed open the ornamented doors that allowed him inside the room, conceding himself a moment to breathe as relief washed over his face.

He had made it.

He gulped, coming closer to the magnificent marble statue that was placed at the end of the room, crafted by Rhodes’ finest craftsmen, before his legs gave out, forcing him to kneel. Swallowing the nerves, he looked up and finally opened his trembling mouth.

“Pallas Athena, goddess of goddesses, embodiment of mind and virtue, we beg of you…!”- A massive crash interrupted the man’s speech and he shuddered, ducking in fear, he might not have much more time. - “O-Our eternal guardian! Please come to your subjects’ aid in our time of need! Oh almighty! We…!”

The man couldn’t even finish the sentence before the doors – and the entire wall to that extent - he had crossed not too long ago were ripped from its hinges under the concussive force of an energy blast so blinding the man had to raise his arms to cover his eyes, hissing in pain.

When he opened them again, he found himself staring at the frame of a gasping raven-haired woman, laying mere meters from where he stood. His body reacted on its own, moving behind the Athena statue and hiding away from the entity, he knew, was one of the two responsible for the mess that was occurring outside.

She was entirely clothed in some kind of black colored robes, which were already enough of a bad omen, and her soulless, empty spectral eyes reminded him of the descriptions of Tartarus the old often preached about.

Yet those weren’t the most defining feature she presented, instead, his wandering eyes landed on her back as the girl began moving. She groaned as she rose, sitting straight before letting out a growl, allowing her two midnight black wings to freely extend, blocking almost the entirety of the man’s sight.

He gasped, although didn’t dare move any further, even inside Athena’s temple, under the watchful eye of her marbled self, he was still in presence of a divine entity, one that could make him vanish with only as much as a slight movement of her hands. If he moved, he risked being seen.

“A priest?”- The man felt his blood freeze as the goddess, still with her back turned to him, spoke. – “No, not that, possibly a soldier?”

She turned her head to him, slowly, and the man felt his body paralyzed as her eyes met his. He tried to reach for the xiphos that hung of his belt but quickly realized he couldn’t move an inch, he couldn’t breathe, he wasn’t in charge of his body anymore.

“Or perhaps… a desperate fool in search of death?”- She grinned, the two black eyes glinting strangely as the man felt the asphyxia starting to set in.

Shadows exuded from her body, creeping across the cobblestone floor as the man struggled in vain to free himself from whatever control she had over him. It didn’t take long before they reached him, coiling around his legs as they crawled further up.

He wanted to scream, yet no sound would come out of his throat, which prompted the dark goddess to let out a spiteful snicker as she finished standing, her long, luscious hair losing itself between the robes as she pulled up the cowl to hide her own face.

He closed his eyes as his arms involuntarily stopped struggling against the shadows, his body jittering product of the fear of death itself. Whatever trick that was, it had dulled every single one of his senses.

He was about to be completely engulfed by the darkness when, to his surprise, the sound returned, albeit muffled, shortly followed by a blow so hard it swept him off his feet. He breathed, taking in as much air as he could to satiate his burning lungs, before his vision focused again and he messily brought himself to his feet, coming face to face with a confusing panorama.

There was a newcomer, a petite woman cladded in a green dress that was way too large to be of actual use in a fight, who was blasting away the darkness that had engulfed him not too long ago – leaving a trail of destruction along the temple’s floor as the yellowish discharge of energy burnt through marble and stone alike - and with it, the dark goddess was propelled backwards into a nearby stone column, crashing against it with such force that the material cracked under her weight before gravity could do its job and pull her back down along with some pieces of rubble.

The man watched, astonished at such godly display of power, before turning his head back to his savior, contrary to what he expected, this was not Athena herself, but someone entirely different.

“What are you waiting for, mortal?!”- The brunette bellowed with airs of authority that didn’t fit her slender form, her eyes still trained on the rising frame of her rival. - “Leave at once!”

He nodded hurriedly, carrying his trembling self towards the now door-less entrance with as much vigor as his weakened legs would allow him. He had done his part, prayed to the city’s goddess, and she would surely come to their aid soon enough.

The young sentry threw one last glance back there, he couldn’t recognize the two divines, Zeus knows it was difficult to keep track of every single one of them, but he was sure this wasn’t just some isolated incident, no, this had to be so much more. Even here in Lindos, Rhodes, far away from the mainland poleis, the talks of war in Troy, near Lidia, were a common gossip topic nowadays.

Harmonia, goddess of harmony and concord, sensed the young mortal leaving and allowed herself to let out the sigh she was holding in. No more people should be injured today, that hadn’t been her aim to begin with, quite the contrary, she wouldn’t have gotten the city involved if it wasn’t for her…

Now, with the man gone, they were by themselves yet again.

“Can’t resist the favor of mortals, eh?”- The black-haired girl taunted her as she rose, brushing aside the rubble and dust with one powerful flap of her wings, smiling at her.

“Will you settle and come peacefully, Eris?”- She questioned, her voice booming across the giant chamber that separated them- “Or am I to compel you?”

“Humor me”- Eris’ manic grin just grew as her arms rose, launching a few energy projectiles that demolished the temple’s roof before she took flight, Harmonia taking off shortly after, her dress flowing seamlessly after her as she commanded the winds to lift her up.

The two soared, engaged in a chase that ended swiftly when Eris turned around, her wings still carrying her gracefully along the skies as she launched a ball of pure, dark energy towards her pursuer, who had to stop mid-flight to deflect it. Harmonia’s hand quickly went to clutch the necklace that rested barely above her bust. An exquisite piece embellished by its golden chain that held together an emerald at its center, flanked by six marquise rubies, it channeled power though her, allowing her to conjure a protective barrier that easily withstood Eris’ attack before dissipating.

Her necklace, the root of her powers yet also a piece cursed beyond salvation. Crafted by the skillful hands of Hephaestus, gifted to her on her own wedding as a payback for her mother’s infidelity. Misfortunes befell the wearer, be them mortal or divine, and she had experience it firsthand a century ago, when she watched her lineage suffer. Yet despite Hephaestus best efforts, the curse seemed unable to affect her at all, the necklace becoming more of a fountain of power for her the more she channeled into it, in which she could store energy at will and withdraw whenever pleased.

Not a second after deflecting the first, another energy orb came her way, forcing her to stop her flight and duck low to avoid it, the blast landing right on the temple they were leaving behind, reducing its entire façade to rubble in a snap.

It wasn’t easy, fighting didn’t come to her as naturally as it might be for Eris, goddess of strife, and one who could never pass up the chance of a good scuffle. Harmonia had to keep her senses sharp, her abilities not allowing her much choices when it came to the offensive, thus being driven to keep a defensive position against a clearly more experienced opponent.

“Blink and you’ll miss it”- Her head snapped to her side, as Eris had somehow closed the distance between them the moment Harmonia forced herself to stop flying. She had both arms pointed in her direction and, before Harmonia could even muster up a decent defense, a gushing ray of pure darkness erupted from them.

The stream of dark energy pugnaciously collided against her, sending her tumbling down from the skies, her immaculate dress quickly catching on fire, she was sent flying back into the city. She tried to steer as she fell, bring herself back up if possible, and watched as the energy ray pierced and crumbled the nearby buildings, one after another, felled by the corrosive darkness.

Her landing was rough, hitting a water fountain head-on, destroying the ornate structure as her body came to a sudden halt and the once contained water leaked onto the streets, extinguishing the flames that singed her dress in the process.

Harmonia quickly came back to her senses, rising as she removed the wet hair that clung to her face. Her gaze fixed up in the sky, where a smirking Eris seemed to be waiting for her to charge back into the fight.

She was about to when the sound of hushed whispers reached her ears and she was forced to hesitate as she looked around. She had happened to land in the middle of a bazar, the place bustling with currently abandoned stands that sold from salt-cured meat to rugs and swords, and in the middle of it were now five kids dressed in rags, probably no older than 20, which were in the process of stealing some of the wares displayed.

 “Scatter! Fools!”- She shouted, an intense gust of wind accompanying her words, which was apparently enough to get the onlookers dispersing. The bazar was quickly left deserted, and so Harmonia allowed herself to look back up at Eris with renewed energy, she’d focus on getting out of the city as soon as possible, it didn’t matter if Eris got away, she had to prevent any kind of harm coming to the inhabitants, and gods knew Eris wouldn’t be the one to be concerned about that.

A little tad too late, as she would come to know merely a second afterwards, as Eris came crashing down on her. A high velocity punch landed on her cheek, with enough might to have cracked the skull of any mortal or creature, and it caused her body go through the rest of the fountain and a few stands inside the market before her back painfully collided against the wall of a nearby house.

She got up yet again, her favorite dress drenched and tattered, her body bruised and her lungs almost out of air, and she saw Eris draw closer.

“Is this really the best they had?”- She asked, her voice dripping contempt.

It wasn’t a fight she would have picked if she had had the chance anyways, but it’s not like she was given the choice. Zeus willed it, and no one could refuse Zeus.

Harmonia didn’t answer, instead, she extended her arms forward as a yellowish orb with a green core and the width of a Hoplite’s shield started to materialize. She released the burst of energy as soon as she felt it appear, which launched towards the taunting Eris, colliding with the goddess, who had already seen the attack coming and moved to block it.

Contrary to what Eris had expected though, there was no explosion, the ball merely dissipating into smoke as it touched her. Regardless of if the blast was meant to hurt or not, the goddess of strife showed no sign of being nothing but annoyed, as she grimaced, her bottomless eyes locking with Harmonia’s.

Eris spat, her eyes never leaving hers, before she tried to lift her hand.

She couldn’t.

“What…?!”- The dark goddess gritted her teeth, forcing her arm back up ever so slowly. She couldn’t muster the strength to attack. – “What…?! What is this?! What did you do to me?!”

Eris’ outburst earned her a weakened laugh from her counterpart.

“As long as your intent is to inflict harm, you shall not move, you shall not lift a finger, you shall not conjure any sort of energy.”- She gasped for air as she finished, clutching her necklace, keeping that up was nothing but temporary and her strength was failing her already.

“Stop wasting my time!”- By now, Eris had relentlessly kept trying to move, managing to get both hands to point at Harmonia, though completely unable to produce any sort of energy, no matter how much she concentrated on it.

She had to buy herself some time to think, to rest. Riling Eris up like this would mean the raging god would probably follow her – intent on blasting her to smithereens –the moment she let go of the small hold she had on her mind.

So she had to act, fast.

“If you are so adamant…”- Harmonia closed her eyes, inhaling as she readied herself to resume the fighting. – “Then so be it.”

She forced herself to lift off, losing both her concentration and her control over Eris, barely avoiding the gargantuan stream of energy that erupted from her hands. She gagged, hesitating momentarily, as she saw the few houses behind her being reduced to dust from the air.

Rising even higher Eris came to clash, and Harmonia barely had the time to dodge the mad goddess’ attacks. If before she was slightly annoyed, now she was completely vexed, launching attack after attack in a flurry of fury.

Harmonia sped up, leaving the city behind as fast as she could with Eris snapping at her heels. They had taken the fight up to the skies again, trading a few more blows before Harmonia ascertained that they had left the city behind.

“Yaaaaaaaah!”- With a small war cry, Eris pounced on her, and Harmonia swiftly sidestepped, gracefully surfing the wind, tracing an arc above her that ended with one strong, brutal overhead swing that sent the goddess flying back down, slamming into the ground with enough force that it created a hole in it, causing a tremor that was probably felt a hundred miles round.

Harmonia descended shortly after, landing besides the hole, as she watched Eris emerge with wary eyes.

 “All this for the taste of an apple…”- The