It was almost time to leave for the meeting and I was pissed. Beyond that, even-- I was ready to rip apart Zeus' entire kingdom and leave him to rot in the ruins. I wanted him to feel the very betrayal that I felt now, and know in the depths of his very essence that he was wrong to try to mess with my kingdom.
He wouldn't dare. The papyrus scroll laid out on my desk, filled with names and ages and death dates, blurred in my red-tinged vision. The divine quill in my fist splintered under the pressure of me squeezing it, and I forced myself to release it before it broke in half. Hephaestus would not appreciate having to make another for me.
"Breathe, Hades," Hecate's ageless, echoing voice reminded me. My eyes shot to her. She was standing near the fireplace in my study, watching me with those ancient eyes. The light from the fire cast contrasting light and shadows on her skin and made her face look older. I almost snapped at her, but her eyes flared just a little in warning, and I caught a glimpse of the ancient, primordial Chaos that she'd been formed from. It would be a bad idea to pick a fight with her.
I took an unnecessarily deep breath and looked around my study, trying to clear my head. Nyx had taught me to concentrate on my surroundings when I needed to get a grip on my emotions, back when I had first took over and everything had been new and terrifying. I took in the gray stone walls and looming bookcases, the chairs for guests to sit in while I worked, the rugs and tapestries thrown on the ground to make it seem a little more welcoming and less like a cave. It didn't help me calm down like it usually did.
I took another deep breath. Hecate was right; it would do me no good to allow myself to be blinded by my own anger. But my chest throbbed with rage at the news of my brother's betrayal, and the ancient power I was born with stirred in me for the first time in centuries, itching to be let out. It was boiling inside me like water over a fire. I fought to suppress it, but when I opened my eyes I groaned a curse, momentarily forgetting my anger. My desk, littered with scrolls, trinkets, and writing tools, was encased in bits of metal and crystal, all sharp angles and deadly points. All of it would have to be replaced-- especially the scrolls.
"I'll have to redo all of this now," I complained. So much for not breaking my quill-- it was encased along with the rest. I wasn't sure if my desk was even salvageable. Great.
"One issue at a time, Polydegmon." I glanced at my former mentor, who was looking at me with a mixture of amusement and concern. "I can have someone replace the desk and quills. As for the scrolls, I'm sure someone can get a few servants to salvage what they can. But we need to worry about Zeus' plan."
His plan. I stood up from my chair and began to pace, unable to stay still any longer. "He can't force me out of my seat. I was specifically told that I had to stay until--"
"Yes," Hecate interrupted. "But Zeus is tired of waiting. He wants you home--"
I snorted. "Oh yes, let's pretend Zeus isn't doing this out of anything other than his own self-serving interests. He wants more power and he thinks he can just unseat me and be done with it."
"Likely," she acknowledged. "So what are you going to do to stop him from doing just that?"
"Beat some sense into him," I grumbled, but shook my head and sighed. "He's going to spin this like he's concerned about my wellbeing." Self-serving bastard. "But if I can find a way to assure him that the responsibility is easy for me to handle after all these years..."
"Without downplaying those responsibilities," Hecate interjected. "He doesn't know how much work goes into keeping the Underworld running, and if he takes it from you because he thinks it'll be easy to manage..."
"Everything will turn into Chaos," I finished. I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. "I can't bring the judges since they are all technically shades, and therefore can't leave the Underworld. Humans aren't allowed on Olympus anyway, even dead ones. I'm running out of beings who can attest that I can handle this."
"Perhaps tell him that you've added more members to your court?" Hecate suggested.
I shook my head. "He would want proof, and I can't add more beings to my court quickly enough to provide that. I have to screen beings for the skills I'd need, spend months training them to take on that role, and have them shadow Aeacus or Rhadamanthys for a while. If he comes down here and sees that I'm lying then I'd be screwed. And I doubt he'd be patient enough to wait those months while I trained them. I need something more immediate."
Hecate grumbled a curse, which was very unlike her. I couldn't blame her though; she didn't like my brothers very much. She tended to have an issue with Olympians, and she certainly couldn't be happy that one was trying to rule her home.
I sighed and grabbed my cloak, which had been draped over my desk chair. As I buttoned it around my throat, I told her, "I'll try to think of something on the way up. If I don't leave soon then I'll be late."
"Travel safe, Your Majesty," Hecate said, then added sternly, "And come back as Your Majesty. If I find out that Zeus took over, I'll make Prometheus' punishment look like the child's play that it is."
I shuddered at her words, nodded, and left my study in a hurry. As I walked through the familiar walls of the palace that was built for the Fated One some millennia ago, I felt an ache in my chest. I couldn't let Zeus take this place from me. I would concede when the Fated One came but until then, the Underworld was mine. If necessary, I would fight for it. It wasn't like I had much to lose; I had no other purpose anymore. I was originally supposed to be the God of Wealth once the Fated One took over, but nobody expected me to still rule the Underworld by now, either. After all the time that had passed while I waited, Plutus had taken that role for himself.
A God with no purpose other than to be a placeholder-- what a cruel fate.
I shook myself out of my misery and headed toward the stables, where my chariot and horses awaited me. When I arrived, a shade was just finishing up strapping the last stallion in. They grew agitated at the sight of me-- they knew my presence meant they would get to run soon-- and the shade flinched away as the massive creatures stamped impatiently.
All four of them were dark as night, but each had their own traits; Alastor had grey fur below his knees, and was the calmest of the four. Aethon, besides the striking blaze between his eyes, had slightly longer limbs than the others, and it made the rest of him look off-balance. Orphnaeus was the strongest, and it showed. His muscles rippled with every movement, made more noticeable by his shining fur. Nyctaeus had scars on his neck and hide-- he was the oldest, though his brother Orphnaeus was not far behind him in age. Nyctaeus and had been my steed in the war all those centuries ago and wore the marks of it proudly. I patted them each as I passed, and took the reins as I stepped into my chariot.
At my command, they took off, hooves thumping on the ground. The world became a blur around me as they gathered speed. At another command, their wings unfurled and with a few powerful beats, they were lifting the chariot into the air. The chariot was built for air travel, and the transition between being on the ground and being in the air was almost seamless. Only one command was left. "Olympus," I called to them, and let them do the rest.
While we traveled, I was deep in thought. I had to come up with something or my brother would take the realm without hesitation. I sighed. I shouldn't have let Hecate stop me. I should have gone to the Moirae-- they might have had a solution. What if the reason they were freaking out was because Zeus was going to succeed? The idea hurt and pissed me off at the same time, like Zeus had stabbed me between the ribs. No, I had to be more positive than that. Hecate had already told me that they would have warned me if something detrimental was coming. But that didn't mean I could just sit back passively while Zeus threatened my position.
I was so deep in thought that I didn't notice that we arrived on Mount Olympus until we stopped. I was jolted out of my thoughts when I noticed my surroundings-- all white marble and precious metals-- and stepped out of the chariot, leaving my stallions to a few of the servants to care for.
I knew the way to the room where the Dodekatheon met, and walked through the too-white halls toward it. There were few servants roaming his palace, which was abnormal. Usually there were hundreds roaming around. Normally I would not have noticed or cared enough to speculate why, but knowing what Zeus was up to, I could only guess damage control. I held back a bitter laugh. I was not the one that killed lesser beings for fun.
My mind was racing as I struggled to come up with a possibility. I still didn't have a solution to give him, and that made my muscles tense in anger. I shouldn't have to come up with an excuse to stay the ruler of the Underworld. My hands formed tight fists, and I felt the sharp pains of little crystals forming on the insides of my hands and digging into my palms. I ignored it, even as that very pain helped clear my head a little.
If I reminded him of the agreement, Zeus would ignore me. He hadn't sworn on the Styx, so there were no consequences for breaking his oath. So there wasn't any point of reminding him what he promised-- he knew damned well what he promised, and he didn't care. I could threaten war, but I would be risking losing control of the Titans, and my brother knew I wouldn't let that happen. Guilting him by telling him I'd lose all purpose wouldn't work either; he didn't care about those sorts of things. Every option I had, Zeus would have a counter for.
I stopped. Not every option. Hera had sworn on the Styx to not tell me the reason for this meeting. He was hoping to catch me off-guard, for me to not be prepared. But I was prepared, and I could start on the offensive, rather than have to defend myself from the get-go.
I took a deep breath, and for the first time in many years, ripped open the aether outside of the Underworld. It felt different here. Too bright, too... alien. It put a bad taste in my mouth even as I considered where I wanted to end up. I knew he'd expect me to come in through the doors, which meant he would hear me coming and have a few extra moments to prepare. Like Tartarus I was going to give him that advantage.
I stepped through the aether and pulled myself into the corner of the meeting room opposite of the door. It looked more like a party than a meeting, but that was typical of Mount Olympus. At least there wasn't any blood this time.
The room was spacious and once again formed from white marble. There was a roaring hearth the size of a water mill, blazing hot and wild, and huge pots of plants hung from the ceiling, allowing leaves and vines to dangle decoratively. The other gods and goddesses were busy talking, sitting at the large meeting table with their backs to me, and didn't notice I was even there. I spotted Zeus on his raised dais-- every room in the palace, outside of the bedrooms, had one-- and felt a flash of pure, hot rage. He was so relaxed and confident, like he wasn't about to rip aeons of my life out from under me. I seized my Bident from the aether before closing it completely, and it glowed with divine, crackling light not dissimilar to the lightning my brother weilded. Normally it was calmer, but it could feel my rage, and responded to it in kind. That was fine-- let them see how angry I was, how ready to fight I was.
I slammed the end of my Bident hard against the ground. It made a satisfying cracking sound that echoed through the spacious room. I could have sworn I saw the plants above us shake from the force. The gods and goddesses of the Dodekatheon whipped around to face me, shocked, but I only looked at Zeus.
"Hades! I didn't hear you arrive," my brother said with a grin, still sitting in his chair, wine glass in hand. I stayed silent, just watching him. His smile faded as he noticed my crackling Bident. Hera, who had been mingling with the other gods, watched us, her face drawn and pale. Her husband's brow furrowed. "Is something wrong?"
My lips formed a sneer, and my Bident blazed brighter. I felt more crystals growing on my hands, plating one over the other like armor. I would protect the Underworld at any cost, even if it meant a fight. Even if it meant war. I would not let Zeus take it from me and destroy everything I created.
My actions were so swift that I didn't have time to even realize what I was doing. I ripped open the aether again and stepped through so I was inches from his throne. Before he could do anything to stop me, I speared my Bident into his headrest, which embedded in the marble with another thunderous sound. The two prongs trapped his throat between them, ensuring he would not be able to stand. One wrong move and I could destroy him. At the edge of my vision, Poseidon took a step toward us, as though he hoped to protect our little brother. I glared at him and he halted. He knew better than to go head-to-head in a fight with me.
I returned my gaze to Zeus, who was watching me with shock clear on his face. He opened his mouth to speak, and I dug the Bident deeper into the chair. Any closer and it would cut off his air, which wouldn't be very comfortable. He shut his mouth. I loomed over the King of Olympus, feeling more powerful than I had in a long time, and snarled, "What's this I hear about you taking my throne, brother?"