Beyond The Impossible

One million years ago

The first thing Hera remembers is heat. The body of her father Kronos still illuminated the surface of Othrys and the ruins of its formerly glorious palaces: the eternal flames surrounding his head were still burning bright despite the massive wound on his chest.

The fading power of Kronos wasn’t the only source of heat. Much like Olympus will be, Othrys was built on the surface of a white dwarf star: thousands of degrees of nuclear fire and the soul-crushing gravity of a star were attacking the newborn goddess from all sides.

But the real heat was coming from a girl standing right behind her: Hestia was clinging to their mother Rhea, who was already carrying Demeter on her back.

<Come here, dear. This isn’t the place for a child.> Rhea told her, taking her arm to drag her away from her wounded father.

<Who are you? Where am I? Who am I?> Hera asked, uttering her very first words through radio waves. She was just born, but from a human perspective her body might have looked like that of a twelve year old made entirely of blue energy. Despite being technically older and looking exactly the same age, both Demeter and Hestia couldn’t speak yet.

<Has it been that long since your first birth? You’re Hera, dear, my youngest daughter. I am your mother Rhea, Queen Of The Universe, and that is…> Rhea began to explain, when Kronos opened his mouth with a thunderous voice capable of making the entire star tremble.

<I am Kronos, the once and future Emperor Of The Universe. Your siblings are too young to serve my purpose, but you will be my greatest triumph, my daughter.>

<Father?> Hera said, her blue eyes staring in awe.

<Kronos, I think this is something we should discuss between… hey! Poseidon! Stop picking on Hades right now!!!> Rhea shouted in protest: her younger sons were reborn in their teenage years and were already roughhousing against a more mature and far more powerful Zeus, much to her annoyance.

<I swear on myself, these boys are a handful. Take care of your sister for a moment, Hera, will you?> Rhea said, taking flight to deal with the others; Demeter was still clinging to her, but Hestia was left behind. Already hotter than the star she was sitting on.

<Listen to me, my daughter. My idiot wife and my treacherous son have managed to greatly diminish my power: I’m no longer able to feed off the energies of my children and I’m too weak to devour you again. But I am still Kronos, I am still supreme, I am still the God Of Time… and thanks to you, I shall once again rise to rule the universe.>

<What should I do, father?>

<I am not talking to you, Hera. Your only purpose is feeding me: next to my firstborn, you are nothing and you will always be nothing… her power and destiny vastly overshadow yours.>

<What? This little thing? She’s just a baby!> Hera protested, looking at her sister who was just barely able to stand on her feet… and yet was staring intently at Kronos, as if she was able to understand his cryptic words.

<Listen to me, Hestia. Even with his newfound power, Zeus cannot kill me… I am eternal. I cannot be defeated. I can see the future: I know he will exile me, I know I will return and I know I will still exist until the end of time… because my firstborn will not fail me. Unlike your useless sisters.>

<But… but… I didn’t do anything wrong…>

<Yes, you did. You were born.>

A bolt of lightning hit Kronos right on the wound of his chest, shutting him up. As Zeus descended from the heavens, Hera looked at her future husband like he was the greatest thing she ever saw.

<Shut up, old man. Don’t listen to him, girls… he’s just an old fogey who doesn’t get it’s someone else’s time to shine. The name’s Zeus, by the way.>

<Zeus.> Hestia repeated, trying to walk towards her brother… only to be unceremoniously pushed into the stellar surface by Hera, throwing herself in the arms of Zeus.

<Don’t listen to her, she’s not important! I’m Hera, handsome. Pay attention to me!>

<Well, uhm, okay, but first I really need to kill our dad.>

<Whatever. As long as you pay attention to me… ONLY to me.>

 

Today

The Vulcan Forge, 23,000 light-years from Earth

Hera has been humiliated before. She’s been betrayed countless times, she’s been rejected by her children and grandchildren, and there was that one time Zeus chained her to the heavens for an attempted coup… but she’s never been in such a dire situation.

Her children have betrayed her or died in shame: the black hole where Hephaestus died is visible from her location, a reminder of his failures.

Her husband abdicated and is nowhere to be seen.

She’s lost in a contest of wits and power to a mere mortal: Noriko Null is floating in front of her, unbothered by the coldness of space, whereas Hera’s body has been badly injured.

<I have to give it to you, Hera, you’re a heck of a tough b##ch. I fired eight miniature black holes into your body and you’re still alive. But you’ve reached your limit, haven’t you?> the mortal mocks her, ready to fire her gun directly into her brains.

<My… limit?> Hera repeats, and a dozen alarms are relayed from the sensors of the N01-Ragnarok into Noriko’s ears.

<Whatever you’re thinking of, Hera, stop it. I don’t want to kill you, but I will if I have to.>

<A goddess has no limit. I am eternal. I cannot be defeated.>

<I’ve heard that before. Last warning, Hera. Stand. Down.>

<I was BORN to succeed my father. I was born to MATTER!!!> Hera shouts; her body is surrounded by blue fire that burns in the vacuum of space hotter than any star… and the first layer of the many forcefields protecting Noriko fails.

<Dammit, Hera, it didn’t have to be this way.> Noriko admits, pulling the trigger.

The Genius Gun releases a bullet that travels towards Hera faster than sound. It’s supposed to break once it hits her forehead, but she moves fast enough to catch it between her hands like she was swatting a fly.

With the seal broken, the tesseract hidden inside the bullet opens to unleash a microscopic black hole. Microscopic in size, that is: it still has enough mass to swallow an entire planet in an instant.

From her previous shots, Noriko knows that Hera has no defense against this kind of attack: the black hole should go right through her, devouring her from the inside before evaporating into exotic particles once the damage is done.

That is not what happens now. Before her very eyes, Hera not only contains the entire gravitational force of the black hole: she completely annihilates it, effectively disintegrating it.

Which, as far as Noriko Null knows from all the knowledge she has absorbed from mankind, various alien civilizations and gods… should be an utterly impossible feat.

<F##k. Guys, I think I made a terrible mistake…> she admits, sending a message to the Vanguard through the Soul Relay.

<Yes, you most definitely did. You were born.>

Hera’s power skyrockets, and Noriko runs the calculations in her head in an instant: she’s not going to survive this fight. She closes her eyes, fully expecting to die.

<Hellfire Inferno!!!>

Vesta rushed to her defense so fast that even Noriko’s exceptional brain didn’t register her arrival; the wall of white-hot plasma she creates in front of her is barely able to cancel out Hera’s energies.

The only reason Noriko isn’t annihilated just by being near this apocalyptic display of power is the red-skinned hand emerging from a pentagram and pulling her to the other side of the portal.

 

Bridge of the N-01 Ragnarok

<Oh my Gods, are you alright?> Kari asks Noriko before she’s even completely aware of where she is, quickly removing the belt from the Slayer’s waist.

<I didn’t ask for a rescue! What’s the big idea!?> Noriko complains, pushing Kari away.

In response, all the Myridian girl has to do is hold up the belt she took away from her… specifically, the short-circuited forcefield emitter that is bleeding sparks and black smoke.

<Alright. So maybe Hera is a bit tougher than I expected.> Noriko concedes.

As if to emphasize the point, the Ragnarok is hit by a pressure wave so massive that its artificial gravity is barely able to compensate; the warship is like a leaf caught in a hurricane, and all members of the Vanguard are sent flying.

Quantum makes himself intangible, Kari cushions the blow by landing on two newly created duplicates, and Torn anchors himself to the ceiling with an energy dagger while catching Noriko with the other hand before she hits the wall.

<What the heck was that!?> Quantum wonders.

<It seems Hera is hurting our asses.> Torn replies.

<On screen! NOW!> Noriko orders the ship’s computer. And the Ragnarok obeys the command: the main viewscreen projects the image of a maelstrom of blue and red fire.

<This is absurd. The sensors can’t even read her energy output!> Noriko says by glancing at the nearest console, and as she looks back at the screen her heart sinks: it doesn’t take being a genius to realize that even Vesta won’t last long against such a force of nature.

<How powerful is she?> she asks herself.

<That’s hot, isn’t it?>

Immediately after making that remark, Zeus finds himself facing a pair of Genius Guns and Blood swords pointed at his face. He doesn’t pay attention to them.

<How did you did you get here!?> Kari wonders.

<I’m Zeus, sweetie, I do whatever I want. Love the purple hair, by the way!>

<What do you want, Zeus? In case you haven’t noticed, I’m kind of in the middle of something.> Noriko says, putting away her weapons and signaling to Torn to do the same; she already knew her technology was nothing to him, but today’s events cement the idea.

<I saw that. Half the Galaxy saw that: Hera’s going all out today. It’s not often I get to see a catfight of this magnitude! This is going to be so hot.>

<Dude, that’s your wife trying to kill your sister.> Quantum reminds him.

<They’re both my sisters, but don’t worry. Hes… I mean, Vesta’s going to be fine. You guys might want to skedaddle to another galaxy, though. I don’t think there’s going to be much left.>

<You’re exaggerating. Hera is not that powerful.>

Zeus stares at Noriko, raising an eyebrow. And she can feel a cold sweat coming.

<Seriously? She’s a Class-2 goddess, she’s not supposed to be this strong!>

<Ugh, that class thing again. Athena just loves to classify things, but she prefers to avoid conflict when she can… kind of weird for a war goddess if you ask me… so I don’t think she actually knows how a god evolves beyond the class he was born into.>

<How do you get stronger?> Noriko asks, her silver eyes shining.

<Sorry, I’m not going to tell you the secret.> Zeus replies with a wink.

<You must get close to death first.> Torn intervenes.

Everyone else looks at him like he said the weirdest and the most sensible thing at the same time.

<Reach utter defeat as a path to surpass your limit. It’s one of the ways to gain mastery of the Blood as well; very dangerous when you’re not immortal. But for a god it’s a viable strategy.> he deduces.

<Alright, you got me. Yep, that’s why so many gods never get a chance to evolve… when you’re as strong as we get, it’s hard to find someone who can really knock you down. I don’t think Hera’s ever been pushed enough, but…> Zeus admits.

<By not killing Hera I’ve made her more powerful. She’s a Class-1 goddess now.> Noriko realizes.

<If it’s any consolation, Vesta is a Class-2 goddess by now. Besides, you have no idea how long it’s been since I got the chance to bang a Class-1! I’m going to rock Hera’s universe when she’s done.>

<That’s all you can think about!? Hera’s going to burn down your kingdom!> Kari chastises him.

<My former kingdom. I’ve abdicated… you’re on your own, kids. Your best bet at this point is take this ship to a different galaxy and start all over again.>

<No. I’m going to put an end to this. I’m going to beat her> Noriko replies, her eyes shining again.

<This might be hard for you to accept, but… you can’t “beat” a Class-1. Why do you think this is the highest level a god can reach? There is literally nothing in the universe stronger and more powerful than us.>

<We beat Tiamat!> Quantum reminds him.

<I’ve heard. You lobotomized Tiamat… which I’m not gonna let you do to Hera.>

<I don’t need to kill her. I just need to be smarter.>

The viewscreen emits a powerful burst of blue light; when it fades away, Hera is now holding a badly injured Vesta by the throat.

<Is that the best you’ve got, mortal!?>

<I’m just saying, the smart thing would be leaving.> Zeus suggests.

<I said I’m smart, I never said I was sane. Kari, activate the Negative Drive… we’re going to Olympus. It’s time to negotiate a deal.>