Turning around, Griffin was still sitting on the throne watching me with quiet eyes and nursing the refilling bottle. I had half a mind to go over and take it back from him. But alcohol wouldn't help me now. Chasing oblivion would put off the inevitable and despite the drinks I had had earlier, it was better I went into this with a clear head. Walking out of the throne room, I pushed the double doors open from which the ghosts had come through. Where ever it would lead me, it was nowhere more daunting than my own personal hell.
Beyond the throne room the hall opened into a dark, cavernous tunnel from which ominous drips echoed in the din. I walked along, my own footsteps following me like whispers of ghosts. I didn't know where I was going or how I was going to get back to Olympus. I knew there was no point in trying to go back at least, no point in going to Savannah and trying to rally the others in hopes of support. At the same time frankly, in my gut I believed they were right - this was a failed venture. Did I want to bring the other Olympians with me? These loyal souls who would follow me where I would take them, no matter the consequences to themselves.
I thought of Blaine whose life had been lost because Soren thought it was me. I didn't know Blaine well enough to mourn the loss of the man, the loss of a life that would never be. He could've been the scientist who cured cancer and we would've never known. I couldn't risk letting someone else die for something I could continue. I wasn't going to let someone else die for me. My pride couldn't stand it.
If I went and did this alone, at least I could keep the others safe. That's all a good leader could do. I stepped through the door and the hallway opened again into another cavernous room. Not unlike the throne room but it lacked the opulence that leant a certain kind of dark splendor to the room Griffin called the hub of his kingdom. It would be all too easy to wander through these halls and get lost. It was all too easy to succumb to the darkness that claimed those who found themselves in the Underworld. That was the point though, having a place like this where souls became lost ones and people were chased by their worst nightmares.
Instead, I thought of my plan and my destination. As I crossed the room a door appeared on the other side, my kingdom on the other side. I knew magic had once more provided for me the thing I needed the most. The others may not believe in me but my magic was unfailing and if this was what I wanted, it would give me what I needed for success. I knew opening the door would alert Asher to my return. Did he know I was coming for him? Did he know what I was willing to turn over? Did he know I was betraying my own urges to seek revenge for his role in the death of Valentina?
Zeus couldn't agree with my plan. He wanted blood but unlike the days of old, I hadn't the strength to wage war against Titans and Demi-Gods. I hadn't any experience. At the end of it all, King of the Gods though I was, I was still a man who had been destined into a role in which I had no guidance. The man who I could've turned to for guidance turned out to be a nemesis.
Grabbing the door, I pulled it open and the sudden brightness of Olympus beyond blinded me temporarily. The throne room was still in shambles, remnants of blood staining the marble tiles and a painful reminder of the takeover and my acute failures. I was going to fix this. I was going to fix everything. And with that thought in mind, I stepped through.
Chapter 9
I stepped through the door and had to admit I was almost disappointed there wasn't a swarm of Titan soldiers waiting for me. I passed through a barrier of magic that felt like my own magic had recharged to its former glory but once I was all the way through, my body returned to the sensation of depletion I had grown accustomed to in the Underworld. I conjured a small bolt of lightning in my hand if only to test my magic, but even that was strenuous. Snapping my fingers, the bolt evaporated and I dropped my hand back to my side.
The hairs on my arm stood on end as I walked further into the throne room, looking around for any traps before I conjured the massive screens to the wall and tuned into the mortal world. The devastation I had been consciously aware of still took my breath away. The oceans had pushed onto the land, swallowing massive chunks of continents. Cities once great were eradicated into compounds filled with terrified and confused humans, hunted by monsters that had once only existed in movies and TV shows.
I wondered how Asher explained centaurs, minotaurs, dryads and vampires away. Could he make shifters seem like something that had always existed? Witches... Fairies... if I didn't already know the world as I did - as a God - in their shoes, I would've found the whole thing incredulous. How had we existed in a world alongside these things and not known they were real and the stories were not fictitious?
I watched as people lined outside of a warehouse to collect their rations for the day before shuffling off to a dead-end job they needed to work to survive in this new world Asher and his cronies had conjured. My eyes flicked to the next screen and the images greeting me were all the same. Humans were enslaved, even if they didn't know it. Bloodbaths, they called it. Many people died, many monsters feasted on their flesh and nothing would stop them.
I stepped back and as I turned around I stopped short, staring at Griffin whose eyes were locked on the screen digesting the same atrocities as I had. His eyes finally turned to me and he lifted the bottle of whiskey to his lips, taking a slow and judging slug.
"Savannah says you're giving up," he finally said as he smacked his lips and dropped his arm back to his side. My head naturally tilted to the side, almost bemused he had the gall to judge me.
"Not giving up, accepting everyone's decision."
"You're giving up. On Valentina." His voice was sheer contempt, misplaced anger as though I had been a part of what had happened to her. As though I didn't care about her.
"Do not to try and blame me for her." My voice was hard, cold and a bristle of power crackled through the room. We were in my domain now, not his. Maybe the whiskey made him feel safe but I was all too happy to show him exactly how safe he was in my throne room.
"No... You didn't kill her," he said in an agreeable tone as he took another sip of alcohol, his eyes red and glassy. Valentina would be disgusted with this. She had worked hard to get him clean, even proud of her accomplishments and here he was desecrating her memory by blatantly disregarding her care and love for him. "But you might as well admit you're accepting her murder by turning yourself over to them and not fighting back."
I stepped closer to him, rage coursing through my veins as Hades' words hit his brother in all the right places. "And what the hell do you think you're doing?" I got right in his face, his height nothing on mine as I glared at him. "You think you're helping her, getting shit-faced and yelling at me? Where were you when she needed you?"
I couldn't stop myself as the words flooded out of my mouth, as much as Griffin couldn't stop himself as he took a swing for me - with the whiskey bottle. The glass collided with my head, shattering everywhere as the neck cut along my face. Torrents of blood dribbled down the side of my face but it didn't matter much as I tackled Griffin and threw him across the floor with my body weight on top of him.
My fist landed, connecting with his mouth while my other hand came and closed around his throat. He reached out, struggling under me as he reached out trying to fight back but Zeus was stronger and pissed. I hit him again, drawing blood from his gums before laying into him once more getting his eye this time. The flesh swelled, a bruise already blossoming from the force of my blow.
"Enough, enough..." He coughed and choked through the blood, his hands limply trying to grab at my shirt as he attempted to get me off him. I pulled back after a moment before slumping onto the ground beside him. I wiped at my face with the heel of my hand as Griffin conjured another bottle of alcohol, swishing the liquid around in his mouth before spitting it out on the floor.
I watched him out of the corner of my eye, his shoulders shaking with silent tears. I pinched the bridge of my nose, looking away unable to cope with his grief. Where was Savannah when I needed her? Oh right, left behind. I turned back to h
im, working up a bundle of awkward courage before patting his back.
"I want revenge too," I admitted, "but I can't get it on my own. Not with everyone against me." He continued to shake which only added to my awkward feeling. In his shoes, I knew what he would say, "We can't go against this kid alone, Griff. Every minute our power begins to fade a little bit more and he knows. He knows too much about us. He'll wear us out until he knows we can't fight and what? We die too? Val wouldn't want that."
"You're going to give up?" He looked at me incredulously. I couldn't blame him for it either. I was ashamed too of my actions, but what else was there for me to do? And I told him.
"You have to pick your battles Griffin, and going against Asher and losing our magic, and our thrones, and for some people their lives is not a risk I'm willing to take. Maybe, just maybe, if I turn myself over to him, I can spare everyone else from getting hurt. Maybe it will buy you time to figure out what you need to do to get the revenge you want." I took a deep breath, casting my eyes down to compose myself before looking back at him. "But I must warn you, revenge isn't going to make you feel better. It's not going to take away the pain or emptiness. It's not going to bring her back. And neither will drinking. There's no answer, Griffin. There's no miracle cure that will make you feel whole again. It's going to become a part of you, another facet of your personality, you either learn to embrace or hide. Those are your only two options. But you can't get rid of it. Some scars cut you too deep." I pushed my hands into the floor and stood before holding my hand out to him.
I could still feel the rivets of blood on my face. The wound had mostly healed, slow going though it was. Further evidence of a need to end this war. I helped Griffin to his feet, watching as he stumbled back towards the portal. He paused at the threshold to turn around and face me. I stuck my hands into my pockets and shrugged, "If I don't come back," I paused, "take care of Savannah for me."
Griffin nodded his head and I couldn't help but remark on the irony that here I was, entrusting a God who had once tried to rape my girlfriend to protect her. He stepped through and once more I was alone. My eyes glanced at the screens, nothing had changed. Unless of course, you counted the desperation that seemed almost palpable through the high resolution. I didn't have a good feeling about this. Then again, I wasn't entirely sure I'd have a good feeling about any of the options I had. I wasn't the type of guy who appreciated the unknown. I liked to have control of things and be aware of what I was getting myself into no matter what path I struck, though I wasn't going to know the outcome. As far as I was concerned now, at least turning myself over was a manageable way of handling the situation.
A slow clap alerted my attention as I turned, seeing Asher standing there and leaning casually against the threshold of the throne room. "That was good, Father," he said cheerfully as he smirked in my direction. This only set my blood to boil. "Motivating... Or something like that," he said with a sneer as he pushed himself up and moved toward me.
"We have to learn to live with our pain," he said with a sardonic grin, "is that what you did? Learn to live with it?" He sized me up for a moment as though he might know the dark secrets rooted in my past before he laughed and turned away. "I guess the same thing could be said about anything." He sat on my throne, testing it out for size. "We have to learn to live with the lot we were given." He drummed his fingers against the gold arms, crossing one leg over the other. "Or," he said cheerfully, "we could take what we want, fix our situation and become better, become the greatest," he said wistfully.
"That's your scheme, isn't it?" I said crossing my arms over my chest. "You want to be better than me, better than all of us... God of the Gods," I said, watching his reaction.
Asher rose again, almost skipping over to me before coming to a stop. Much like Griffin, he was still a few inches shorter than my own length. "Well, I'm not going to sit around and let my... father get all the glory. I mean look at you, why on this Gods-forsaken planet would you deserve to be revered? I'm a true God. Look at my people." He turned to face the screens. My hand clenched by my side, sparks crackled from my fingertips as the urge to build a lightning bolt and drill it right through his cold dead heart overwhelmed me.
"Those aren't your people. Those are human beings. And you've enslaved them, taken away their freedom... All because you had daddy issues and needed a little attention. Let me tell you, had I been there to be your father, you would've been spanked on the ass to knock sense into that entitled head of yours."
Asher laughed and looked back over at me, his eyes flicking to my hand before looking at my eyes. "Yeah, well, you got what you wanted from my mother and went off again."
"Not my choice," I said coldly, "not exactly fair to hold it against me when my soul was put back to sleep by a Titan.
"Maybe not, but you could've at least gifted me a domain before you left instead of leaving me to grow up human."
"How was I to know your mother was pregnant?"
Asher laughed and rolled his eyes, "When do you ever sleep with a woman and she doesn't get pregnant?"
Images flashed before my eyes. Memories I couldn't seem recalling and yet I could see crystal clear in my mind's eye. Savannah was in a bathroom, standing in front of a mirror with her shirt tucked under her breasts examining her belly. When do I ever sleep with a woman and she doesn't get pregnant? The words echoed in my head as a cold sinking feeling fell through my body to the pit of my stomach. Jesus. I looked up, Asher was smirking at me like he knew something - like he knew what I was thinking. The idea made me shudder.
I wanted nothing more than to turn around and get back to Savannah. It couldn't be true. She would've told me. Why would she have hidden something like that from me?
"But here we are," Asher broke through my thoughts, "a little birdie told me you have a deal you want to make with me!"
My jaw clenched, muscles in my body tightening with the urge to fight. This was it. It was now or never; I could go through with my plan and be the coward I knew I was deep inside or... My fist connected with his face before my mind conjured the thought. Asher landed on the ground in a heap as I landed on top of him. Wasn't it only moments ago when I was doing the same thing to Griffin? Zeus wanted to fight. A burning urge built in him to beat someone's face in with sheer power and force. Magic be damned, I wanted to feel the crunch of cartilage under my knuckles and the warm gush of blood as I broke his nose.
But I got neither of those satisfactions as he threw magic toward me, sending my body hard into the wall behind me leaving behind a human-sized dent in the drywall. I slumped to the ground, shaken but not injured and barely managed to get to my feet before Asher sent the next surge of power. Apparently, he didn't want to fight like real men, he wanted to hide behind his magic - or other people's magic, as it turned out.
My fingertips crackled, magic flowing through me. It didn't take much effort to conjure a lightning bolt at my side. I didn't want to bother to throw it like I was practicing a javelin throw. Instead I ran for him, with only one goal in mind: get the lightning bolt through him - any part of him and cause as much damage as I could.
And I did. I ran right for him with the bolt aimed at his heart. As I reached him, Asher reached out as well and gripped the tip of the bolt in a way no other had done before. It took me off guard, I faltered in my step and nearly collided into his body with the bolt as the only thing between us at that point. Asher didn't scream or react to the fact he was holding a source of pure magic in his palm. In fact, he almost seemed like he was pleased. The bolt brightened like a light bulb, if it was it would've shattered. The brightness blinded me but I didn't dare close my eyes and give Asher the upper hand while I was close.
It burned and it burned until I finally realized what he was doing. He was absorbing the magic of the lightning bolt. He was draining me of my power. My knees buckled and I fell to the ground as it took everything in me to hold onto my magic, to try and fight the drain. His magic entered me, turning my skin hot like that tim
e Savannah and I had practiced sharing magic with one another. I could feel it flowing through my veins, pulled straight from my heart. I gasped as the air in my lungs caught and in that solitary moment of weakness, my power slipped away.
The bolt went out like a wink and I fell onto my hands, gasping for air. Asher laughed, cruel and mocking as he reached down and patted the top of my head.
"There, there Father." He laughed again, "you tried." His fingertips crackled, making my body tense as shockwaves went through me. My muscles contracted, fighting the onslaught until I felt my vision darken at the edges as my consciousness slipped. "There can only be one king of the Gods." He spoke and his words faded into my head as I passed out.
Chapter 10
When I woke, I stumbled my way back through the portal feeling cold and empty. Above all though, anger rushed through my veins alongside frustration. I had fallen for a blatant trap. The wall closed behind me as I descended back into the Underworld in search of Savannah and the others. As it sealed, I was thrown into darkness and for a moment I was grateful.
Reaching out I set my hand on the wall, craggy and rough as it was, to brace myself as my knees grew weak and the false bravado I carried around with me evaporated. I had let my father down, becoming the son he regretted ever having. I had let my mother down, allowing her to fall victim to a man who had never loved her. I had let Valentina down and she was now dead. I was going to let Savannah down once I got back to the throne room and what would she think of me? My shoulders shook with silent tears as it took every effort in my muscles to hold myself upright and keep from slipping down the wall.
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