A Not so Welcomed Guest

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.

Vali - son of the god Odin, the god of eternal light

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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.

Hyperion - the Titan god of watchfulness and heavenly light.

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A NOT so Welcomed Guest 12

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Ephus - A demigod possessing the power to repower the gods

Quinn Markov - human wife of Ephus

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Norse Deities

--------------

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.

Vali - son of the god Odin, the god of eternal light

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Egyptian Deities

-----------------

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

-------

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.

Hyperion - the Titan god of watchfulness and heavenly light.

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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.

Odin ran to Freya, as did Frigg. Both placed a hand on Freya, then Odin shook his head. "It appears she sacrificed most of her power to keep Ephus from depleting himself further," Odin said.

Here both of them replaced their hands on Freya, watching as she started to glow, then they released her. With a groan, the goddess's eyes opened, though at first she didn't move.

"I thought you knew that trying to power a more powerful being would drain you greatly," Frigg said.

Freya's went wide, then she slowly nodded. "I figured that out when I was at full power and his power barely moved. Not sure I want to do that again," Freya said.

"Good idea," Frigg said with a smile. She then looked at Odin as she nodded. They both touched Ephus a moment later, though both their eyes opened wide at how high Ephus' power was.

Less than a moment later, Ephus' eyes snapped open as he pushed both of their hands away. "I think that's enough, still can't completely control how much I take yet," Ephus said.

Both Odin and Frigg snatched their hands further away, a look of surprise on their faces.

"I had thought that after all this time you..." Frigg started.

"I have control over a great number of them, though a few I am still learning," Ephus said.

Odin and Frigg looked at each other with their mouths open. Well, they thought this was going to be different.

Quinn tried for the tenth time to make something appear. Bast and Serket could feel Quinn's frustration growing, plus her anger was starting to kick in also.

"Sister wife," Bast said softly, "you are trying too hard, try..."

"I am trying!" Quinn shouted, blowing Bast back over a hundred yards. Luckily, Bast had gotten her protection up, though I was surprised at just how powerful Quinn had grown.

Reappearing, Bast thought Ephus, husband, come home soon. She needs you greatly, as I am afraid we all do.

Quinn could only stare at Bast, "I am sorry sister. I still can't seem to control what is in me, that much."

Bast smiled, "it is like with anything, you have to get used to them as you use them. Besides, I am tougher than I look."

"I am just afraid of hurting the babies, I'd never forgive myself if I did," Quinn said.

A broad smile came to Bast's lips. "It would take far more than that to harm me and the babies," Bast said. Though Bast thought as fast as her power was growing, that might be the case after a while.

A look at Serket, had her immediately passing her hands over Bast's stomach. "I'm feeling no harm to them at all, though I am still afraid of what father and the others might do."

"Do you really think that Ephus will allow any harm to befall them? Do you really think that he'd allow anything to happen to any of us? I truly believe that, if he lost his temper, all of them together couldn't stop him. No, I think that father and the others don't want our husband mad. I know they don't want to see his anger neither," Bast said.

Both of them shook, remembering the one time they saw Ephus lose his temper almost completely. No, both of them thought, they didn't want that again.

Thoth had backed away, watching the war of emotions that played across the faces of his sisters. This wasn't the time to try and poke his nose into what they were worried about. Then there was Quinn, someone needed to watch her while they were coming to grips with what was bothering them.

It was at that moment that Thoth noticed that both of his sisters and their sister wife were staring at him. The looks they all had on their faces, had him trying to beat a hasty retreat.

He'd already tried to vanish, finding that the way out was blocked. Not by one, but at least three or four.

Thoth held up his hands, "No! Whatever is on your devious minds I want no part of," Thoth said.

It seemed even further worse, when both Bast and Serket advanced upon him. That and the fact that they both had an almost evil smile on their lips.

"What Brother? We only need a favor from you. Why are you afraid?" Bast said, her voice thick with beguile.

"Yes brother, it is only a small thing we ask," Serket said sweetly.

"The last time you did this I was nearly exiled from the realm. Its bad enough that with both of you carrying Ephus' children, I am almost blind to events. I can feel nothing but ill will from what I feel you are about to ask me," Thoth said.

"What!?" Bast said, feigning shock.

Thoth's eyes narrowed then flew wide in surprise. "Sister Bast?" Here Thoth looked hard at Bast, "two? Father and the others haven't said anything, have they?"

Bast looked unaffected as she answered, "No, when Serket and I went to them, they said they had to have council. She and I are afraid of what Ephus might do if they decide against us. We are both certain that his anger would pale compared to last time."

"Last time?" Thoth asked, though he was almost afraid of the answer to that question.

"Yes, last time," Bast started. "He had grown extremely angry, he then vanished appearing out past the moon." Here Bast, shocked a bit, "he only snapped his fingers, then the moon and all the planets exploded. I also noticed that everything was frozen, time frozen except me. I... I think the only thing that snapped him partly out of it was when I cried out in fear. He appeared beside me in a second, the look of rage on his face had me backing away from him. That, I think, was what brought him back to me. When I told the others, they checked. They do not want him that angry again."

"Why was I not told of this? Surely I could have helped," Thoth said.

"No, it was decided by the council to leave all out that they could. The thing is, Ephus fixed all of it almost as fast as when he destroyed everything. Ephus has far greater power than he knows, father thinks he is using just below half," Bast said, shuddering.

Thoth tried to speak, not even at half?! Here he was as strong as he was. Thoth shook his head, he was damn sure glad that Ephus was his brother AND on their side.

Taking a deep breath, Thoth decided that he'd help, though he was sure he really wasn't going to like it.

"Alright, what is it the two of you want?" Thoth asked.

Both Serket and Bast looked at each other with huge smiles, then turned toward Thoth. "Nothing too bad, we just want you to tell us what the council is speaking of."

Again, Thoth's mouth dropped open, "you most certainly wish for me to be banished from the realm. Alright, if I do this and am banned, it will take Ephus to get me back in the realm. If not? Remember, I helped you and am banned, OK?"

Both Bast and Serket's mouths dropped open. "Father wouldn't do that would he?" Bast said.

A smirk came to Thoth's face, "to use a earth saying? You wanna bet? In a heart beat."

A sly smile came to Bast's, then Serket's faces, "then we'll just have to make sure father doesn't find out."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" A 'til now quiet Quinn said.

"I wish that there was," Serket said. "For the moment, we need to work on your control. I am hoping that whatever Ephus did helps you."

Quinn was nodding her agreement. I hope it also did Serket, I hope so too.

Not even thinking about anything, Quinn had waved a hand. Her eyes grew wide when she suddenly was outside her and Ephus' home. Shit, she thought I wasn't even thinking about anything. Another wave, thinking about being inside, had her appear in front of Bast, Serket and Thoth.

A deep breath a moment later, she looked at the three god beings. "I wasn't even thinking of moving and ended up outside," Quinn said.

Thoth was beside her a moment later, his hands extended trying to read Quinn. "By father's power, I can hardly detect anything from you! It's much like Ephus. I have to adjust how I feel if I am to help."

Both Bast and Serket's mouths were hanging open. Their brother didn't know? "Brother? Think you that the reason might be because their power is tied to the human and god realms?" Bast asked.

Thoth stopped a moment, then stood there deep in thought for quite some time. His head finally came up as he stared at Bast.

"I'm not really sure, there has, of course, been nothing to reference this from. As is with Brother most of the time, I am finding myself lacking knowledge. I will have to look into this further," Thoth said as he suddenly vanished.

Serket suddenly sighed as Bast looked back at her. "Knowing Brother, it might be quite a while before we see him again.

Bast could only nod her head as she saw that Quinn had a more worried look on her face.

Ephus tried to sit up, finding that he was indeed weaker than he thought. He then reached in feeling his power start to renew.

A look at the floor beside him, he saw that Freya was also down there with him.

"I see you found out just how much power I have," Ephus told her.

"Yeah," a barely replenished Freya said. "I think that I might check first before I do that again."

A smirk came to Ephus' mouth, "Yes, a good idea. Though I have to admit, you did bring me around far faster than I would normally, thank you," shocking all there when he bowed to Freya.

Ephus looked at all that were there. When this started, there was only one goddess. Now they had three very powerful gods and two goddesses. Then there were the fifteen Valkyries, some of them the most powerful of the forty. Yeah, it'd be good to have all of them, though he was at a loss right now. Loki wasn't completely stupid nor would he fall for the same thing more than two times.

"Give me a moment, I should be OK," Ephus said. He could still feel his power growing, though not as fast as usual. Reaching out Ephus, at first felt nothing. Then, as his anger rose, he felt at least two of the Titans, rapidly withdrawing. He also at that moment felt something that was retarding his power regeneration.

His anger still growing, he wiped what was around him away in no time. Taking a deep breath, Ephus grabbed the closest of the two, pulling. A moment later, the presence of the Titan, Iapetus, could be felt.

"I warned you what would happen if I caught you interfering again," Ephus growled.

Iapetus snarled, trying to swipe at Ephus. "Iapetus, no interfering, just watching."

"Yeah right, as if I believe anything you might say," Ephus growled. He also hadn't noticed that everyone had backed away. Nor had he noticed that both his skin and eyes were both glowing.

It was at that moment that Iapetus started to scream out in more pain than he'd ever felt. "Iapetus, only doing as was ordered", the Titan was screaming louder.

Ephus started to nod,then felt two more powers heading their way. Growling slightly, Ephus held up a hand, effectively stopping the two additional Titans. Both Cronus and Hyperion's mouths dropped open, then they tried to power up and break through.

Ephus turned toward Cronus, "I told you what I would do if I caught any of you bothering me again. It's bad enough you have helped that weak god Loki." Ephus held up his other hand to quiet Cronus, something that wasn't usually done. "Don't even start, I know it was you. Go ahead, keep it up, then there might be fewer Titans."

This caused Cronus to lose his temper for the first time in many eons. "No one has that much power, NO ONE!" Cronus shouted as he started to push even harder.

The whole time, Iapetus was screaming at an increasing volume and frequency. "You just wait, Iapetus will destroy you, Iapetus..."

Ephus twisted his hand to the right, then left, causing Iapetus to scream the loudest yet and drop. Both Cronus and Hyperion were still striking at whatever Ephus had in front of them.

This, of course, had both of the Titans growing angry, though not as much as Ephus.

"I have far more power than the two of you think, maybe this will help," Ephus said as he reached into Iapetus.

Less than a moment later, he withdrew, Iapetus's eyes huge as he couldn't feel his powers.

An evil sounding hiss issued from Iapetus's lips. "What have you done!? How is this possible!?" Iapetus launched himself toward Ephus, only to be slapped back at an accelerated rate.

Hyperion vanished, then appeared a moment later with a battered and bruised Iapetus.

"What have you done to him!" Hyperion growled.

Cronus reached out, scanning Iapetus, "NO! No god, no being, has this power! Restore his power this instant! Our brother will die without his powers."

"Or what? The three of you weren't able to get to me. So tell me why I should. He is nothing if not an irritating ass. Plus? You demanding this of me?" Here Ephus shook his head, "Not going to happen."

Iapetus was waving his hands, already having given up on thinking about what he wanted. "Brother," Iapetus said almost in a weak whisper, "Bother help me. Make him undo what he has done, it hurts so."

Cronus turned toward Ephus, a look of extreme rage on his face. "Here I thought you had learned since the incident with your wife. You know very well that the complete loss of power within the body is deadly."

Ephus only thought a moment, then nodded toward Iapetus. The Titan suddenly leaped to his feet, waving a hand toward Ephus.

Iapetus could only stare at Ephus, "what? You really thought I was that stupid? That I'd restore you completely. No, I don't think so. Besides, it might do you some good to see how it is to be weak," Ephus said with a smirk. He started to turn when he looked back at Cronus. "Oh, by the way? That little power siphoning trick you did? Not going to work again, especially after this exercise today. Thank you for helping me to get stronger. Now then," Ephus waved a hand, making the three vanish.

Ephus looked around surprised when he only saw faces and heads peeking around the doorway of the last room. Shocked, he started toward them.

"Have you calmed Lord Ephus?" Odin said as he clutched his weapon tighter.

Ephus also saw that all the Valkyries were gripping their weapons tighter at the ready.

Ephus stopped confused for a moment, then became even more confused when Frigg slowly moved towards him. "What has happened? I am the same as I was before," Ephus asked.

Frigg's eyes were wide. He didn't know? She had heard of this before but never thought she'd ever see it.

A nod of her head as she stopped before Ephus, she drew a circle in between them. "Lord Ephus," she said as she pointed to the circle. Inside the circle, it grew hazy then, it was showing the room they were in. "Please watch this, I hope it will explain."

Ephus nodded as his attention turned to the circle. As the events replayed, Ephus' face started to grow grim. The longer the scenes played, the grimmer his expression got.

"I..." here Ephus stopped, what was it he just saw? "I do not feel that much power that I just saw from me. I have no idea how or where that came from." Here he turned toward Odin, "can you explain it?"

Odin held Gungnir out in front of him, passing it over Ephus a few times. He then looked at the weapon, nodding a few times.

"Gungnir says that you have a far deeper well of power than she has ever seen. She also says that you have an ability to only use what you need. Though in this case? You grew angry, whatever boundaries you have within you were shattered. Ah! She says that it appears to be a protective measure," Odin said.

Ephus was shocked at this. He should have been able to feel the power that was within himself. Reaching in, he started to nod. Now that he was aware of it, he could barely feel it. Hmm, he thought, this was going to take getting used to.

Not far away, Loki was getting off the floor again. He was about to start railing at those there when Cronus' visage appeared. For the second time that day, Loki was smashed into the wall.

"You weak, insignificant, fool!" Cronus shouted at Loki. "You were supposed to have taken care of this human piece of filth by now," Cronus again, driving Loki into the wall. "Take care of this NOW. The longer he remains free the longer it is going to rid this realm of him."

"I need more power..." Loki started.

This got him knocked back into then through the wall.

In a low menacing growl, Cronus said, "You have more than enough. Now, use that useless thing you call a brain and destroy him. I may not be there, but I can still punish you for failing, which at present is all you are doing."

Cronus drew back a fist, driving it with all he had into Loki's face, knocking him out. Disgusted, Cronus vanished, several beings were immediately at Loki's side lifting and placing him on a divan.