by James Welsh
Hades gasped and folded onto the ground.
Zeus, who had been fighting his brother just moments before, did not take advantage of Hades’ fall. Instead, Zeus took a step back, a curious look on his face as he tried to make sense of the situation. Part of him wondered if this was some sort of trap, if Hades wanted Zeus to underestimate him. But he quickly laughed off the theory: he doubted that Hades would fake weakness. Even acting out a fall would have been an insult for the King of the Dead. No, there was something else going on.
Zeus suddenly felt warm underneath his thick cocoon of armor. It was then that he realized that the afternoon sun had come back to life, that all of the clouds in the sky had vanished. And while Zeus felt a lover’s warmth in the sunlight, Hades hissed and slinked back from the rays of sunshine. Zeus could feel his old strength returning to him, all while Hades was losing his own power.
Much more confident than he was before, Zeus strode over to where Hades laid sprawled out on the stone. Zeus raised his foot and brought it down hard on Hades’ chest, kicking the air out of the god. Hades gagged and then vomited a shallow pool of ambrosia to his side.
“Get up, brother,” Zeus ordered sharply. “It’s my turn.”
Hades crawled at the ground, desperate to drag himself away. As he crawled, Zeus walked alongside him, slightly amused at how far his brother had fallen. Zeus let Hades crawl for a few more feet before he grabbed the King of the Dead roughly by the neck and pulled him from the ground like a flower. He dragged Hades towards the end of the ledge they stood on. Holding Hades out at arm’s length, Zeus commanded, “Look at what you tried to do. Look!”
And so Hades looked: he saw the entire world white with ash. But the sun was still in the sky, and the world was still very much alive. Worse, there was not a single cloud to be found. And his cape of shades had since slipped from his shoulders – Hades did not see the shades anywhere. And that was when he realized the truth that was awful for him: his armies had failed him in the battle. Not only had they lost, but they also fled back to the safety of the Underworld, abandoning their leader in a world that was not his. When Hades realized this, how lonely he had become, he wept.
Zeus wasn’t sure whether to be more disgusted by Hades’ tears or to feel pity for his brother. But then, he remembered all of the injustices that Hades had brought against him. Hades was the reason why Zeus was dead and imprisoned in the Underworld until very recently. Hades was the reason why the world had plunged into an ashy winter. Hades was the reason why Mount Olympus almost collapsed into rubble. When Zeus thought of these things, all he felt was rage. He tossed Hades to the side. Hades slid across the stone, coming to a halt after a few feet.
The god struggled to get up as Zeus approached. As the King walked, he took a lightning bolt from his robes. He knew his power was coming back to him, because this bolt glowed much brighter than the others. And he could even feel the hairs on his own arm rise from the electricity. Zeus made a fist with his right hand and wrapped the lightning bolt tightly around his hand, until it looked like he was wearing a glove of light. Hades had barely stood up before Zeus hit him in the stomach with the glove of lightning. There was a deafening crack and Hades flew backwards, slamming into the mountainside before coming to a rest in the deep crater he made.
Zeus almost seemed to saunter towards Hades, clearly enjoying the reversal. He said lightly, “That didn’t hurt you, did it? I didn’t mean to hurt you – not yet, anyway.”
Hades gave up trying to stand – instead, the god laid in the crumbled rock, groaning softly. Zeus stopped when he was standing over his fallen brother. Zeus looked down at Hades distastefully and asked, “Do you remember King Draco?”
Hades looked up at his brother, baffled as to why Zeus was bringing this up now. He said in a crackling voice, “Vaguely, yes.”
“I wouldn’t blame you if you forgot about him,” Zeus said, leaning his arm against a boulder, his arm wrapped in lightning still ready to strike. He looked down idly at the sparks popping from his fist. As he did this, he continued. “He’s been dead and forgotten for a long time, as he should be. But when he was king, he wanted to be remembered, forever. And so he set up a cult, and he executed anyone who didn’t worship him. I made a mistake – I didn’t pay attention to him until it was too late. He murdered several of my priestesses who were traveling and stopped in his city. And so I killed him. Well, I did more than that. One night, his palace was hit by a lightning bolt, even though the skies were clear. The whole palace burned down, and I watched him melt to death. And the records that he had his scribes keep? They burned up with the palace. He spent decades trying to be remembered, and I made the world forget him in one night.”
Hades, breathing raggedly, asked, “Where are you going with this?”
“I was there during Draco’s final moments. I stood over him and watched his defeat, much like I am now with you. And I saw the look of horror on his face, just before he died. And I thought for the longest time that he was afraid of the fire, of being burned to death. But then I realized something: the fire would be agony, but just a few moments of hurt. He was afraid of that, sure, but there was something else. You know what I think? I think he actually believed in his own worship – I think he believed he was a god, that he would be going to whatever afterlife he made. It wasn’t until he saw me, though, that he knew the truth: he would be spending an eternity in the grayness of the Underworld. And that’s how I know what your punishment will be.”
As Zeus finished speaking, he began unwrapping the bolt of lightning from his hand. He held the bolt to his side, limp in his hand. Still not enlightened, Hades asked, “What are you planning to do with me?”
“I’m not going to kill you, brother, because I don’t know how. But I do know something – I know that you hate the Underworld more than anything else. But you’ve come to hate it as a ruler. You don’t understand how much your subjects dread you, how they try to prolong their lives, even by a few extra minutes, to avoid your kingdom. And that’s how you’ll live, from this moment on. And so I’m going to tie you up with lightning, I’m going to throw you to your shades, and we’ll see just how much your subjects love their king.”
But as Zeus approached with the shackles of lightning, Hades began laughing. Startled somewhat, Zeus asked, “What are you laughing about, brother?”
Hades managed to stop his laughter long enough to say, “You still don’t understand – after all of this time, you still don’t understand.”
“Understand what?”
“If you hurt me, if you kill me, if you imprison me, who will look after the Underworld?” Hades asked. Zeus’ face fell as Hades continued. “Remember, any god who defeats his kin has to take over their responsibilities. Otherwise, who will look over the Underworld? If you bring me down, I’m taking you with me.”
Feeling outwitted by his brother, Zeus snarled. Still, even as hatred sparked in his eyes, Zeus stepped back and put the lightning bolt back in his robes. Hades smiled, because he saw an escape from defeat. But he took his approaching freedom for granted, because even then, he was thinking of yet another plan, one last-ditch effort to salvage all that he had lost.
Zeus took a deep breath to calm himself and said, “I’m going to follow you to your kingdom, and I’m going to leave you there. You may keep your throne yet, but I never want you to step foot in this world again. Do you hear me? I want you exiled to the Land of the Dead, forever. You will never see another color besides grey again. You will never see another living being. You will never feel the warmth of another’s touch. And you will never, ever see Persephone again.”
That last sentence set off a panic in Hades’ eyes. He sputtered, “You will show mercy if you were smart, Zeus. I will let you take away all of my other freedoms – just please let me see my love again.”
“She was never yours to begin with, brother. She would have had to love you back first. That’s som
ething you need to understand – but I’m afraid you’ll never understand that, as smart as you are.”
Hades bared his teeth. “You will regret doing this. I will make sure of it.”
“No, I don’t think I’ll regret it. You see, you may have taken her, but you’re not an army, and she’s not a city. Persephone is a living, breathing being, not the spoils of war. You will never be close to her again, just like your earth can never touch my heavens. As long as I exist, and I will exist forever, you will never be close to anything you love again. Now come with me – it’s time for your exile.”
Zeus reached down and easily picked up the limp Hades, now weaker than ever. Hades desperately needed death to happen somewhere in the world. What Hades didn’t know was that, as long as the olive tree covered the entrance to the Underworld, none of the dead could enter or leave the kingdom of the gone. He was a king without his land, and it showed in his pained face. But even though he wore the face of defeat, Hades still had one more plan – he always had one more plan.
Hades shrank back from Zeus’ outstretched hand. Alarmed, Zeus watched as Hades convulsed and coiled into a viper. In just a few moments, Zeus found himself face-to-face with one of the most dangerous creatures in the world. Zeus was too strong to be killed by the snake, of course – but that did not mean that its venom, infused with Hades’ ichor, could not ruin the god. Zeus had never been bitten by a snake before, but he had watched from the heavens as mortals were bitten. He watched as the bitten mortals spent their final days in agony, writhing in their beds while their limbs turned black and smelled spoiled. Zeus could not imagine what a viper with an immortal’s spirit could do to him.
Zeus shuffled backwards as quick as he could. He tripped over himself as he did so, and he fell hard on the ledge, cracking the rock beneath him. The snake was much quicker and, before he realized what was happening, Zeus found himself staring wide-eyed with a viper. The snake was resting on his chest, its fangs dripping, ready to bite. Zeus could have sworn that the snake was smiling, but he thought he was imagining it.
But, as the snake pounced, and Zeus instinctively closed his eyes, the bite never came. Instead, Zeus heard a squeal, and he looked to see the snake wrestling in mid-air with an owl. Zeus immediately recognized the owl for what it truly was, and he stared in awe as the snake tried wrapping itself around the flapping owl. The bird stayed clear of the snake’s jaws, hooting loudly as it climbed in the air. Then, the owl squeezed hard with its talons, and Zeus heard the sound of juice running. The snake immediately went limp, its neck crushed by the owl’s sharp, powerful talons.
When Zeus saw the dead Hades, he knew that the world’s nightmare was over. But for his daughter, a new horror was beginning. Zeus wanted to warn her somehow of what laid ahead for her, he wanted to rescue her before she was ensnared. Hades was right – any god that defeated another god had to take over their responsibilities. And in the case of Hades, those responsibilities meant death.
But, it was already too late for Athena. Zeus could do nothing more than watch Athena fluttering above him, her wide, silvery eyes burning through him. That was when Athena vanished from the air entirely, something an astonished Zeus had never seen before and never would again.
“Athena,” Zeus breathed.
Book 21