Author's Note;
I know, I know. I'm sorry for the really late chapter, three months is way too long, and I'm sorry. Like I said in the Author's Note, many things happened, and I was working on this almost every day to try to get this done. I re-wrote things a million times before I even liked them and did this justice. I decided to send this part first, even though I wanted it together, because the battle was twice as long as ever; twice as long as other battle-focused chapters I did, and I thought this was way too long. I finished the battle sections and am doing another round of editing; it will be out soon, within the week rather than the three months. This is more the calm before the storm. Hope you like it. This is a bit more emotional than a battle scene. Don't forget to vote and share. Thank you, guys, for following me for this long. The end is coming. Hopefully, you like it. Thank you, love you all.
Percy POV
When I woke up, it was the night before my birthday. I was asleep for days, not hours. Apollo cabin was watching me and ensuring I was healing correctly, making sure Evolgia was healing me by keeping it at my side. I didn't feel as bad as before, near death's door due to the godly feats and everything else. I wasn't fully healed, but it would have to do. Will Solace told me everything that happened. He glazed over when he told me six campers died from injuries. I wrapped him in a hug. He was surprised at first but hugged tighter into me.
"You did the best you could. Do you honestly think I would survive sitting on two godly thrones after everything I did?" I asked him rhetorically.
"I didn't tell anyone, but you flatlined twice. I was with four of my siblings, and I made them swear on the Styx never to tell another person. If anyone found out you died during the fight," he let the statement stay there.
He was right. I knew I was going to die if I sat on thrones. But I had trust in Will. Aphrodite was not there when I sat on the thrones. And the curse I bear from Eros says explicitly that she will watch me die every time. Will was going to save me. But if word leaked that I was killed in battle. What little morale we had would crumble away before Kronos even made it to Olympus.
"Tomorrow is my birthday," I said. Will didn't know what to say to that. You can't just say; happy birthday, maybe next year, don't wish for the extinction of the mortal race. "Win or lose, tomorrow the war ends. Win or lose, tomorrow the sixth age will come, and we already saw the end of the fifth."
"What do you mean?" Will asked, scared.
"The end of the fifth age will be marked with death in mass. As you can see, most of the world is underwater. A great flood, most of the world has drowned already. I hope my other barriers have saved everyone in them," I admitted.
"Percy," Beckendorf said, shocked, walking into the room. It was then I realized we were in one of the rooms of the council chambers. Or rather one of the side rooms in the building. Everything was made of marble and stone. "You're finally awake."
"Who's taken charge?" I asked without missing a beat.
"Zoe has taken the lead with hunters. Thalia tried, but...she lost a lot of support after Bianca's death. Silena tried to rally the campers, but everyone learned about her...relationship with the enemy. That didn't do her any favors." I noticed Beckendorf was avoiding the word traitor for my daughter. I was touched, but my feelings about my daughter's choices were not something I wanted to think about. "With Clarisse and Annabeth dead, we didn't have a clear second in command. That was until Chiron started speaking."
"That's not good," I said. "Chiron having to lead is bad for the long run. No clear camper taking the lead...Chiron is to guide us, not lead us. We will have to fix that when this is over."
"Percy, Kronos he," I stopped Beckndorf before he could finish.
"He's almost ready to shed Marcus' body," I replied.
"How did you know Athena cabin was working overtime to give us a time frame."
"I am the favored child of Ournous; I could feel when there is a shift in power in the domain of the skies, and right now, there is a shift. Kronos will have domain over the skies and time." I turned to Will and asked him to leave us. "I need you to lead the camp after this."
"You'll lead the camp."
"Not when I'm reincarnated," I returned.
"You won't die!" Beckendorf roared. "I won't let you. Do you know what, the Hades, it would do to Silena? She has been ripping herself apart ever since we nearly blew up on the boat! After everyone found out about what she did. She's berating herself for thinking you hate her now!" Beckendorf defended.
"I can't beat him!" I yelled back. I then went into a calm, low voice. "I'm at the end of my chain here. I can't fight him. If I fight him one on one, I lose. You try fighting titans, Nemean lions, Vaslias, and killing hundreds of thousands of monsters! Kronos, he's the most powerful titan. I almost lost to Hyperion, and he is the second most powerful. Even if I was getting stronger over the years, which I have in a ridiculous amount, I can't beat someone when I'm half dead and when he's in full strength. The only reason I beat Hyperion was because of pure luck. I highly doubt I could pull off the same. The only chance I have is if I die alongside him."
"I won't let you die," Beckendorf told me.
"I appreciate the thought, but no. This is the final battle coming now. There's nothing you can do against Kronos."
"I'll kill him," Beckendorf said.
"I bet you would," I laughed. I thought about something. I smirked; he would kill the titan of time, I thought he was an idiot, but sometimes you need a couple of idiots on your side when no one else is willing to fight alongside you. "It's been a long time. But I remember every face. Every monster, demigod, and man. Do you remember your first?"
"Yes," Beckendorf said calmly. Taking the bait in a change in the subject even if we were still talking about killing.
"What was he?"
"A human. Never got his name," Beckendorf said. "Silena doesn't know. He...he...killed my mother while I was fighting a cyclops. I escaped the cyclops and found him trying to... have his way with my mom. My mom was on the ground; her pants ripped off. My adrenalin was high after fighting the cyclops; I killed him before he could finish putting it in. My mom was already dead."
"How'd you do it?" I asked.
"Lance through the heart. It belonged to the cyclops, it tried to kill me with."
"Quick one," I said. "Lucky you. My first mortal was at a battle at Corinth. My horse had taken an arrow, and I was sludging through the mud. He came for me on his horse. Thinking he could kill me with a single swing. I knocked him down his horse with my hammer. Right before I brought my hammer down, he screamed, wait, wait! I brought my hammer down hard. Probably shattered every bone he had." We sat in silence for a few seconds. "They never tell you that they all crap on themselves; they never say that in the stories," I said somberly.
Before we could finish our conversation, someone came into the room. It was Zoe. She looked at me, then Beckendorf, then nodded when she realized I was well enough to at least understand what she was going to say next.
"One of the sky gods protecting us from Kronos' armies from flying up here has betrayed us," she said as neutrally as a battle-hardened commander should when talking about battles to come. "Kronos has used the winds to carry what remains from his army above to the city gates. He gathers his forces, and Athena cabin has reason to believe the battle will occur tomorrow night."
"How many do we face?" I asked.
"Around ten thousand. The flood had killed hundreds of thousands of monsters. That with thy godly feats decimated their numbers," she told me.
"I know this has been the entire time so far, but we have no chance," Beckendorf told me. "The children of Aphrodite was our last trick up our sleeves, and you are tapped out."
"Either way, I'm going to face him," I reminded everyone. I looked over to the side and saw my black Nemean lion's fur coat. I put it on and made sure the Sphere of the Presence wasn't taken out. I took a deep breath before taking a step out of the room.
I walked outside the council room and noticed that what remained of Hephaestus' cabin had made some barriers and walls from celestial bronze through the few streets that lead to the council chambers. The fifty campers and hunters capable of fighting were lining the walls. I opened my hand, and Olethros and Evolgia flew into my grasp as coins before both turned into their respective swords. I could see those who were too injured to move were being carted away toward safer locations.
I tightened my fist and walked toward the center square. There was a bonfire made. Those well enough to fight were sitting together under the stars. Some children of Dionysus had found some wine, and almost everyone was underage drinking; considering most thought they wouldn't get to be old enough to drink, either way, they didn't care. Neither would I. Far be it from me to refuse a soldier's last request of joy. That's what they were. Soldiers. They had fought alongside me through this war and the battles before it. They might be kids, but they had fought harder than most I had fought alongside.
There was a somber mode; this was not joyous drinking of victory or toasts of glory. This was drinking to numb the pain yet to be. Drinking to avoid tomorrow's worries. By gods and men, this was drinking to feel anything but everything that was. These weren't toasts for the honor of combat but drinks to honor the friends that will be forgotten once we lose.
The fires of the bonfire were a lie in every form. Promising warmth that one would lose once they are cold and rotting under a monster's foot. And yet, all those near it snuggled up tighter to the flames as if trying to understand what they would lose once they reached the Underworld.
I walked closer to the flames all the same. Right now, I would face a beautiful lie rather than an ugly truth. Death comes for those who wait. At least our waiting would be warm and pleasant. I could see some kids of Dionysus gorging themselves in their father's domain as much as pigs in their pens. I sat near the flames and bit the inside of my cheek, drawing blood. Letting the blood drip out my mouth and onto the flames.
"Let this be our baptism. One of fire and blood. For no metal is forged without the fire, and no relationship more grieved than the loss of your blood," I recited the old words my own commander told me on the verge of our last battle together before my first war in Corinth. "To fire and blood. May fire-forged sword bare the blood of those who wish my own."
Zoe had found me and decided to sit by me. Alongside her were Thalia, Adras, Beckedndorf, Grover, and soon to come, Silena. We sat there looking at the lie that was the fire. The last lie we would crave.
"It's strange, isn't it?" Thalia finally asked. Everyone turned to her except for me. "We fight for the gods, all our gods, we pray for them, to them, we want them to show us a favor, and yet...here we are alone in their halls. Ready to defend it together."
"At least we'll die with honor," Zoe finally replied after some silence.
"I think we might live," Adras said. Some of us chuckled or scoffed at him while I looked into the flames. "I do," he said with a smile towards the scoffs. "How many battles have we survived between us? Charles Beckendorf, Charles the Ironside, from what people are calling you now. Fought in the battle of Labyrinth like most of us here. Fought a ship of monsters and survived the battles for Atlantis. Thalia Grace, the Thunder Bellow, right hand to Artmesis's right hand. Survived multiple battles, killed countless more monsters, and even had enough gall to stare down the Skybreaker himself."
"Killer of her fellow hunter," Thalia said coolly, sarcastically, regretfully. Adras tried to continue on to liven up the mood rather than let Thalia kill it.
"Zoe Nightshade, Artemis's right hand, lieutenant to the hunt, killed too many monsters to count, and battles won, just as many. Creatures run in fear of you. Creator of Riptide. Co defeater of the Nemean Lion. I could count at least five dozen wars you have won and the hundreds of battles in them. " Adras finally looked at me.
"Perseus Jackson, prince of the seas, triblood, son of two primordials, a god and legacy to another. Breaker of the sky and bearer of its weight. Wielder of Olethros and Evolgia. Bearer of the curse of Achilles. Wrath of Sparta. Lion of Corinth. Bane of titans and gods alike. Just in one lifetime, he fought and won five wars alone. Not including the dozens in every single life as a Spartan. I think we have a fair shot."
"You forgot someone," Silena said. "More like two."
"I'm sorry, lieutenant Silena Beauregard, right hand of Perseus Jackson, and Grover Underwood, commander of the satyrs and nymphs," Adras said smugly with a satisfied smirk.
"We can't beat them in a straight fight," I said somberly.
"What's our best shot?" Beckendorf said.
"I don't know. But he will be coming for me and the gods' throne room. Destroying their seats of power will weaken them, and he will win."
"I don't get it; why are the seats of power so important?" Grover asked.
"When gods become the focal point of their pantheon, their position holds their reality and cosmos in place. With twelve gods, the position is divided equally rather than a single power like Kronos. The seats are the representation of their stability in the cosmos; a broken seat is a fractured power, a weak control, an easy usurpation," I said calmly.
"Any last words of wisdom," Grover asked me. He was scared; I turned toward him. I didn't say anything about it, choosing to speak of better times than fake promises of wisdom.
"I used to want to be a singer," I said off handily, gazing in flames. "When I didn't live as a Spartan king but rather a king of other city-states, even in Corinth, I would make my king's guard come with me in the streets. Walk among the people."
"Why?" Silena asked abruptly.
"I would sing to them," I said with a sly smirk from thinking about forgotten peace. "I would find a place to sing. I would make my king's guard collect the money."
"You were good?" Adras asked.
"I liked to think so."
"I thought you were only good at killing," Thalia said sarcastically with a smirk.
"I hate killing; I love singing. One time we gave the money to the next singer down the street. One time we gave it to an orphanage. Another time, we..." I then looked towards and pointed my lips at the campers and hunters getting drunk and laughing. My lions walked to me and sat down, yawning and letting me pet them. Everyone chuckled.
"One time I ran into a woman; gods be good, she was a beauty," I said with a smile. Zoe looked angered, as if I was objectifying her. "Strawberry blonde locks and sapphire blue eyes. A gaze that made men and women alike feel as though the heaves were held in them. How many times can a man say they can fall in love with a woman over and over again for thousands of years? Every breath she draws makes the man love her all the more. I had used the money from my singing to give her two gifts. The first, roses, were as blue as her eyes and thorns as red as her hair. I had to go to a witch for them." I smirked.
"Sounds beautiful," Grover said.
"You have a girlfriend," Thalia countered.
"I was talking about the roses," he corrected.
"Even worse, considering your dating a bush," Thalia mocked.
"The second gift," I continued. "The second gift was an apple. I had bought the apple from a mountain top blessed by both Zeus for touching his skies and Aphrodite for its unwavering ethereal beauty. The apple was peach in color, and when you bit into it, the taste was like a thousand exploding stars erupting with the glorious symphony."
"What?" Adras asked.
"It tasted really good," I clarified. "I grabbed the apple, went to the woman, gave her the roses, and asked for her hand. Aphrodite said yes right after."
"I remembered that lifetime," Zoe said with a smirk. "You had adopted six daughters of Aphrodite and five daughters of Apollo. Lady Artemis regularly came, thinking all of them would join the hunt." She then grew serious. "If I recall correctly, you died before the wedding."
"What was she like?" Silena asked, knowing I was talking about her mother. Wanting to her more.
"You want to know the horrible truth? I don't remember. Aphrodite never knew this, but the cruse, it makes me forget how she looks like in her true appearance. All I remember is her eyes and hair. I remember thinking that no beauty could ever surpass or even equal it. But I can't imagine a face; maybe that is why she changes her features so much because some part of her knows I can't remember what she looks like, and she never wants anyone to have the chance to remember it. I died in her arms the night before our wedding."
We all stood silent. The few of us still sober took more swigs of wine. Trying to forget or, rather, not be able to remember what is to come. The sad, dark, heavy mood, thick with emotions too somber or dark to put into words.
"I think we should go rest before the battle tomorrow night," Zoe said, taking another sip.
"Not yet," Beckendorf said. "How about a song? Adras?"
"Only good at seas shanties," Adras said as an excuse.
"Zoe?"
"Thou would wish for a quick death," she said gruffly. Beckendorf looked to several others, all giving no or a response of their lack of skill. It was then I started singing, with a far more melodramatic and sad undertone than the song was known for.
We'll meet again,
Don't know where
Don't know when
But I know we'll meet again some sunny day
Keep smiling through,
Just like you always do
Till the blue skies drive the dark clouds far away
So will you please say "Hello"
To the folks that I know
Tell them I won't be long
They'll be happy to know
That as you saw me go
I was singing this song
We'll meet again,
Don't know where
Don't know when
But I know we'll meet again some sunny day
We'll meet again,
Don't know where
Don't know when.
But I know we'll meet again some sunny day.
Keep smiling through
Just like you always do,
'Til the blue skies
Drive the dark clouds far away
So will you please say Hello
To the folks that I know.
Tell them I won't be long.
They'll be happy to know
That as you saw me go,
I was singin' this song.
We'll meet again,
Don't know where
Don't know when
But I know we'll meet again some sunny day
I was standing over the ramparts of one of the buildings. Before me, a statue, a women's statue. Looking at her, she looked nothing like she was supposed to. The woman in question was far more beautiful. A relic of a time before loving Aphrodite. During the year between my birth and hers. Or was it before that, before my birth?
"Dad," Silena said, walking up behind me. I turned to look at her and took a deep sigh. I didn't want to talk to her. Honestly, I knew we had to. I knew that we had to speak about what happened and get through this, but honestly, call me a coward if you want; I didn't want to.
I looked at the statue once more. A story for another day. A story better left forgotten, in all honesty, a part of me that should have died. A part of me better never see the light again. Aphrodite once told me the best stories have sad endings because that makes the good times in them all the more beautiful. I won't let my daughter's memory be a sad ending. I don't want my daughter to be left forgotten. I don't want to die and let her suffer the next eternity of her life with her thinking of her father not loving her.
"Who is she?"
"Diatarachi Archí," I said, putting my hand on the stone.
"Never heard of her," Silena said. "And I know all the stories."
"It's not worth knowing," I mentioned.
"How did her story end?" she asked.
"The same way it started," I said with closed eyes. Trying to picture everything. With that, I turned to her and enveloped her in a giant hug. Holding her with all the force I could. Trying not to cry. Trying not to forget how warm her hug was. She hugged back and tightened her grip. She was crying and sobbing, breaking down in my arms.
"You have always known how to make the right choice. In every story I hear, you prove yourself a proper Spartan. A good king, a good hero."
"That's not true. It may look like that, but I don't always do the right thing. I've done things I regret."
"Not like me. I regret them, but I'll do them again. But gods, they hurt, gods how much I regret them," she sobbed harder in my arms.
"No, not like you," I agreed.
"I always wanted to do the right thing. Be the right person. It felt like an impossible decision. Loyalty or family."
"I have tried to be a father to you," I said, holding her.
"I know."
"I was scared, you know. I thought if I dealt with you the same second I learned of everything, I hurt you by accident. I made you lose control over your emotions to prove in the throne room that you need to train. I made you lose control to prove that the children of Aphrodite are too strong. And yet here I am, almost making the same mistake."
"That's what Beckendorf said. You hurt him, by the way," she said, chuckling into my shoulder half-heartedly.
"I'll apologize when I see him," I said. "I was close to letting go, you know. I was close to releasing my full strength. You know how hard it is to walk around in a world that's so paper thin. Everyone focuses on my power and strength, and yet everyone forgets how much I have to hold back. It's like trying not to crack an eggshell when you're landing a seven-forty-seven on top of it."
"Sounds tedious."
"I gave you everything I could. And you betrayed that. Betrayed my memory. But your mother and I are a part of you. Whatever choices you make, we will always be a part of you. It's not my place to forgive you for everything. But what I can forgive...I do."
"They need us," she said abruptly, pushing her emotions to the side. Looking to our campers getting ready for war.
"Then why are you still talking to me for?" I asked with a smirk. "Silena Beauregard, you are to take command of your siblings and Little Margey and my own siblings. My siblings are loyal to me and listen to me if I say so. Little Margey would then follow my siblings. You will have command of the most powerful demigods we have. Make use of them as you see fit. You are to take command alongside Chiron after I face Kronos." I said.
"Yes, sir," she told me.
"I'm giving you a chance. Make sure I was right in giving it," I said in a whisper before turning around and going back to the battle to come.
We were as ready as we ever could be, as ready as a few dozen kids with weapons getting ready to die fighting could be. It was thirty minutes after the last preparation was made. It was quiet. The torches on the other side of the city were out due to the winds blowing them out. The only ones active were on our side, and it was due to us maintaining them. We stood there for some time, staring at the nothingness.
I wouldn't have known the enemy army was there without the sound of monsters marching and grunting. The clanging of thousands of monsters sung together like a hellish symphony.
The rain slammed down hard, the harsh big, stinging, fast rain. The one that made you curse the weather. Our clothes were drenched and stuck to our skin as our shoes sloshed and were filled with water. I could hear the rustling of my demigods as much as the enemy's movements. I couldn't hear the rain; it was white noise, and the flashes of lightning and roars of thunder sounded. Lighting illuminated the blackened force just enough for us to see a mass of bodies and movement.
"All men must die," I whispered.
"But we aren't dead," Silena whispered back. "We came back harder and stronger."
In my impatient, I raised my Olethros spear into the skies before slamming it down to the ground. A large wall of fires roared to life before my army and the enemy. It was a surge of deathly flames that reached high into the skies, finally allowing us to see the monsters we were to fight against.
In a roar of flames, all the lighting ignited, illuminating every grotesque monster as they moved unearthly and unholy in unison. They were biting and swiping at the air as they roared and bleated.
In front of the monsters stood Marcus, or rather Kronos. His time manipulation made Marcus look older, and the older Marcus looked more like Henry Cavill. His hair was long, and his golden eyes stared deep into one's soul. His golden scythe was gleaming and waiting to face me. Lighting and thunder danced on the few pieces of skin that were not covered with bronze armor.
I stood in front of our campers and enemy army; all looked at me as I stared down at them. There was north of nine thousand monsters left. Cassie had chosen not to be there. But Vasilias was; he healed up apparently and was willing to go for another bout. But with his growl, Aperio and Aioniotita came forth and roared. Vasilias wasn't willing to back down, but he did hesitate.
"I thought you already died," Kronos mocked.
"Sorry to disappoint," I returned. I spun my Evolgia sword around, allowing Evlogia to heal me up. It was working miracles. Anyone who wasn't me would have healed already in seconds, but sadly godly feats are not meant for mortals, and you should die before attempting it, so it was taking a while. "As you can see, the reports of my death were greatly exaggerated."
"Not for long," Ethan told me.
"And whose going to do it? You? I could literally snap your neck and kill you before your heart takes its's next beat," I said calmly before my anger exploded. "Both you and Kronos will not make it out of this battle!"
"You will defeat me?" Kronos laughed. "Who decided that? My army will falter? Who decided that? You will survive this? Who decided that? I am the one who will stand above all other's, Perseus. I will enjoy allowing the sole of my boat to rest atop your severed head."
"By either fire or blood, I will kill you all," I said as Olethros roared to a burning light. Thunders sounded louder than even the cosmos knew they could. "Death is coming for you, Kronos, and you will hear me roar, for ours is the fury!" I screamed as my lions roared in unison.
"Goodbye, my putrid grandson!" Kronos roared as his army was ready to march, but before they could, the earth shook. Don't question how a floating mountain in the middle of a sunken city was shaking, but somehow it was. Everyone single last one of us, even I, fell to our knees when it happened.
Both armies were quickly trying to right themselves from the force of the earthquake. I initially thought it was Kronos's army or even that my plan had failed, and Typhon had made it to Olympus, but I saw Kronos' face, and he was just as confused and concerned. We quickly realized that it was not the other, and this was something that neither of us had planned.
"What the, bloody Tartarus, was that?" Adras asked.
"Hey, Percy," I heard a familiar voice say. I looked up to see Nico with Hades and a few thousand dead soldiers. "I brought some help, if you needed it, that is," he said knowingly.
"If Aphrodite didn't kill you afterward, I would kiss you right now," I smiled.
"By Chaos, herself. I would have assumed that my eldest son was the one with the most common sense," Kronos retorted. "To think you would forsake self-preservation and choose to die like the fool I knew your other siblings were."
Hades had his blackened armor and his helm of darkness upon his head. His armor looked like it was taken more from medieval times rather than Greek or even Roman. It was as black as the sins of the Devil himself. Hades' long hair was more glossy and wet than before. He looked more like a noble black knight than the muttered hair tyrannical ruler most confused him for.
"Father," Hades said.
"Son," Kronos returned.
"Your war is over," Hades said coldly.
"Because you said so," Kronos smirked smugly.
"This ends in the name of the gods," he said stoically.
"This endures in the name of the gods," retorted with calming venom as if it was the fact more than hatred.
"I defeated you before and took the crown from your head. I understand that you wish vengeance on Zeus, on the other idiot gods, but I will not allow you to take the world I helped build, flawed that it is. I won't let you commit genocide and mass murder. My domain will have to reconcile with those who have died already."
"You couldn't stop me before. I still breathed, I still drew breath and returned. You are alone."
Flashes of light appeared behind Hades. By his side were his children, Makaria, her similarities to Persophe save for her purple eyes were blatant; Zagreus, his similarities to his father but his mother's golden eyes instead much the same; and Meloine, her looks of half albino on one side and melanism on the other made her the most different. Then there was Persephone and Demeter. Next to them were Makaria's now husband Thanatos, with his golden eyes and black hair looking as calm as the grave. Then finally, was Hecate with her blackened hair and near artificial, acidic, green eyes.
"I was alone," Hades replied.
"Father," Demeter said, unlike her regular self. She seemed far more confident and severe.
"The most pathetic of my daughters graces me with her presence," Kronos voices. "It will be more effort than you are worth to even send one of my monsters to kill you."
"I will delight in mincing your flesh into fertilizer for my wheat fields," she said with a thick cold hatred.
"Is that before or after you consume copious amounts of cereal?" Kronos asked rhetorically. He then turned to Persephone. "You must be my granddaughter, or are you, my daughter-in-law? With our family, it is hard to tell."
"It must have been for you to wed and bed your own sister," Persephone countered.
"Did you make the same comments as the ones you call to your uncle and aunt? Oh, I'm sorry, I mean you, mother and father," Kronos mocked.
"This coming from the guy whose dad is also his brother?" Zagreus countered.
"Who are you?" Kronos asked, not knowing.
"You grandson, father time," Zagreus mocked.
"Yes, an excellent job narrowing it down," Kronos said sarcastically. "Did you figure that out before or after you realized that my sons fathered more bastards than all the grains of sand on all the world's beaches? You have their smarts, at the very least. It would seem your son can not pour water out of a boot with the instructions on the bottom side of the heel, Hades. Truly a testament to your intelligence, son."
"Ah, yes, I, for one, have thought he did inherit something from you. I might be vicious and my son an idiot, but you were the very first curse in my life. A king who was a vicious idiot truly a travesty to the world at large."
"You indeed are a fool, Hades. To think all three of my sons are lack witted enough to face me in winning this war. I ought to be king. I will kill every single last of my sons and claim their domains for myself. At the same time, gutting Olethros a final time. Every time he comes back, I will kill him again, again and again."
"It's easy to confuse what ought to be and what is. Especially when what ought to be, has not been in your favor over the years."
"You will die here; this is your end," Kronos finally said.
"Two kings will die on this day, not including you. I will not be a part of the statistic."
"To the end of the fifth age," Kronos smirked. His armies roared in response.
"To the beginning of a new one," Hades uttered under his breath. The promise of a new beginning did sound good to him more than any other. A chance for him and his to be more than what they were. Respect for his name and his domains rather than using his very name as a curse.
"Any words to your army?" Silena asked.
"Not anything they haven't heard before," I uttered. I looked to every person in attendance, every hunter, every camper, every satyr, nymph, undead, and god. If this was the hill, I would die on, no better hill than this.