by RM Virtues
Hades scratches at his beard with his free hand before smoothing over his mouth. “My boy.” She barely catches the words he mutters. She can almost hear his heart hammering in his chest, and she knows what he’s thinking. Still, she waits patiently for him to say the words.
“He saw us there, all of us,” he breathes. “I’m sure of it. He saw us there, and he waited. He waited for you. He knew he couldn’t stop me, us. He—”
“He’s a coward, Hades,” she intervenes as gently as possible. “He is a coward, and you are doing what’s right.”
“But I haven’t, not yet. The longer I let him stay in this city, the more harm that comes. It has to be dealt with tonight. This has to end.”
“Hecate doesn’t have the proof yet—”
“I have enough proof to last me a lifetime. He has been shoving the proof in my face for years now, and I just wouldn’t look at it. No more.”
“That isn’t how you work.”
He looks at her. “Then I will go get the proof myself.”
She knows he’s made up his mind. She also knows that Zeus is a loose cannon with not a single thing left to lose. What he’d done tonight proved that, but hitting Dionysos? He must know now what Hades will do. He must know now that he is no longer safe. It’s common fucking sense. Dionysos may be a god in Khaos Falls, but no one loves that boy more than Hades. In this instance, hitting her may have been a better outcome for Zeus. But if Zeus knows that too, who knows what he might do the moment he sees Hades?
She moves to squat down in front of him, cupping his face. He seems to brace himself, as though fearing she would lecture him or try to stop him. She brushes her thumbs along his cheeks.
“Just come home to me,” she pleads.
He nods, soft at first then more vigorously before he leans in and kisses her hard on the lips. She falls into him, his hands on her neck, and offers his tongue all the words she cannot say. They part far too soon for her liking.
“Watch over him,” he requests. “And Athena.”
“I will,” she assures him.
He stands then, gesturing to his three closest companions. Hephaestus stands too, and Poseidon moves to his brother’s side. They need no further instruction. The group of them follow Hades out, and Persephone’s chest begins to tighten. The next time she sees any of them, everything will be different in an irreversible way. Until then, there is no peace. There can’t be.
Her eyes dart over to Athena, who stands beside the swinging doors, her arms crossed over her chest and her brows knitted together. Her face is obscured by her loose curls falling down around her head, but her shoulders shake visibly. Persephone doubts herself as she stands, making her way towards the younger woman. She wonders if Athena blames her, if she’s angry with her for being the one out here while Dionysos is the one in there. She would understand. She approaches her anyway, grabbing a few tissues off of the nurse’s desk and offering them to her. Athena immediately starts to swipe at her eyes, but when it does no good, she takes the tissues, muttering her gratitude.
“I’m not about to stand here and try to feed you some bullshit that may or may not make you feel better,” Persephone assures her. “And as much as I care about him, I won’t pretend I have any idea what you’re going through. —And if you blame me, I—”
Athena snorts a sharp laugh before she looks up, her brown eyes bloodshot and buried under a grief that startles Persephone. The tears continue to fall without Athena’s permission despite the rigid control she has over every part of her body, her shoulders set back and her feet squared and her wild curls falling obediently to either side of her slender face. There is an angry red tinge to her rich brown skin, and her jaw clenches every now and again, but she finally speaks.
“He thinks the world of you,” is the first thing that comes out of her mouth, and it seems to surprise them both. “I thought he had a crush on you in the beginning.” Her brow quirks. “But he just really loved working with you and Calliope and the rest of the cast. He talked about the show nonstop, and it broke him when the Pantheon burned down and Elysium got closed, and it was like - like—”
Persephone remembers Hades. “Like someone cut off one of his limbs?”
“Yeah, exactly like that, and I didn’t get it. I couldn’t. I tried, and I wanted to, but I just couldn’t ‘get’ it. I don’t really get most of the things he’s passionate about, the vineyards or the clubs or the parties, not the way that he does or the way he wants me to, but I love his passion. I do, and so I keep trying. I always will. I want to make him happy and be in it with him because he’s - he’s my best friend.”
Her voice cracks, and Persephone senses there is something more there, but she doesn’t push. She doubts she could give anymore of a push than a gunshot if there’s something Athena needs to say, and it’s probably not Persephone she needs to say it to anyway.
Athena shrugs. “I don’t know. I guess that even though we’re complete opposites in a way, he’s taught me a lot about what it means to love yourself. Ugh, it sounds so stupid.”
Persephone smiles. “It doesn’t. I think he’s taught me a good amount of that too.”
Athena softens. “He said you taught him. —I just - I don’t know who I would be without him. And I feel like this is my fault. I trusted Zeus too. I...”
She appears to war with something, looking down at the floor, and eventually she shakes her head. Persephone places a hand on her shoulder.
“There’s only one person at fault for any of this, and I know that you know Dio would say the same thing. The point is that he’s gonna be okay, and when all of this is over, you’ll still have each other. We all will, and we have to let that be good enough.”
Athena only nods, leaning back against the wall, and Persephone lets it rest there. She returns to her seat, and Aphrodite comes to sit beside her. Their hands find each other as fatigue begins to catch up with her.
“It all changes tonight, huh?” Aphrodite asks, her gaze as distant as her best friend’s.
“Yeah,” Persephone concedes. “For the better. It has to be for the better.”
She will tear the city in two if it comes to the worst.
31
Hades
The SUV is silent as it covers the short distance between the neutral Healer District and the neighboring Olympus District to the north. Hades stares out the passenger window, privy to the intermittent glances he receives from Thana in the backseat and Charon behind the wheel. Hecate’s presence directly behind him is an immovable pillar. While it is usually his job, she is the one that tethers them to the ground tonight. He focuses on that now. He needs it.
The pistol resting on his thigh is heavier than it has ever been although he’d like to think he doesn’t need it. After today, he knows better than to assume, but it signifies exactly what all of this has come to. His constant coddling, his disregard for the concerns of countless others, his willful ignorance… It all comes down to this. Now, he is the only one that can make this right.
As they reach the main street of Olympus, which leads all the way up to Zeus’s estate, the other vehicles in his caravan branch off. The place will be surrounded within minutes, but Hades is going right through the front door. It is crucial that he looks Zeus in the eyes when he tears the crown from his head. It cannot end any other way. It’s always been him or Zeus, and both of them have always picked the latter. Maybe for Hades, it was easier than risking defeat. Maybe it was easier than facing his mother in the afterlife. Maybe he feared failing. He’s come to see however that it isn’t about picking himself or Zeus. Today, it is about picking Dionysos. Tomorrow, it is about picking this city.
They reach the dramatic golden gates at the foot of the hill, Zeus’s massive mansion visible sitting atop it. Charon rolls down the window, and Hades recognizes the man in the security booth as Demokrates. He isn’t just any security guard but the head of security. Hades had foreseen this. Zeus knew he was coming. It works out exactly as the elder needs
it to.
Hades doesn’t hesitate to climb out of the car and round it to the driver’s side. Demokrates extends his hand, and Hades takes it, a good sign.
“I’m going to be straight with you,” Hades says, his tone firm. “I’m going up there, and I'm going to take him down. I won’t kill him if I don’t have to, but he will leave this city one tonight, way or another. I’ll offer you a job here and now. First, you’ll escort my men inside, and then, you and your men can continue to work here for Athena and Ares at a higher rate. Let’s say a - 30% increase to start, to be revisited in six months then once a year thereafter.” Demokrates raises a brow, and Hades knows that Zeus has never done anything of the sort. “Your choice, but I’m only offering it once. This all plays out the same way, and I know you know that.”
Demokrates eyes him warily, but it only takes him a moment to nod his acceptance, and Hades knows it’s no secret what Zeus has done today, not to his security team. Even if he hadn’t shot the most beloved club owner and winemaker in Khaos Falls, working under Zeus was more necessity than privilege for most. Hades hadn’t worried how they would get through Zeus’s frontlines. He just wondered how much it would cost him. Compared to what he had prepared for, this is not steep at all. Demokrates shakes his hand again before picking up his radio, his eyes still on Hades.
“Open the gates,” he commands. “All of them.”
Then he follows his own order.
Hades claps his shoulder before returning to the car, and they proceed up the lane to the circular driveway that fronts Zeus’s home. They climb out once Charon parks, and Hades catches glimpses of the other SUVs flanking the place, coming through each of the other three gates. He tucks his pistol in the shoulder holster beneath his jacket as the security guards at the front door open it for him. Ganymede, who has worked for Zeus under a number of titles for years but is also a close friend of Dionysos, meets them at the center of the entrance hall, yanking the earpiece from his ear.
“He’s upstairs in his study,” he whispers to Hades, his eyes red. “He’s - he’s drunk, and he’s just - going off on everyone, waving his gun around.” He pauses a moment, and his lip trembles. “Is - is he - Dio… Is he okay?”
“He will be,” Hades says. “Here is what I need from you right now, Gany. Pack my brother a bag with his five favorite outfits, and leave it here at the door. Then get out of here. For now at least. I’ll be in touch.”
The young man nods and quickly moves past him. By then, Poseidon has entered the house, and he nods to Hades before they all continue up the stairs. The moment they reach the third floor landing, Hades can hear his brother’s shrill shouting. When they round the corner into the hall housing his study, he sees Hera leaning against the wall, her head pressed back against it. She looks up as if sensing their presence and immediately rushes towards him.
“What did he do?” she demands in a low hiss, concern and confusion threaded through her face. “What happened?”
“He shot Dionysos,” Hades says although he doesn’t expect Hera to care much. She’d hated that boy since he’d shown up in Khaos Falls. “He was trying to shoot Persephone.”
“Wh - why? Why would he do that?”
Hades can see it in her eyes: she knows why, but they don’t have the time to discuss it at the moment. At this point, the specifics don’t matter to Hades. His nephew is lying in the hospital, and the man who put him there must be dealt with now.
“Hera, I would be delighted to speak with you tomorrow so that I may lay out how things are going to be from now on, and I’ll answer any questions you truly want the answers to, but right now, I need you to either stand aside or leave.”
“What are you going to do?”
“My brother has seen his last day in Khaos Falls. Would you like to join him?”
She stares at him for a long time as if attempting to discern whether he’s serious or not. They have both enabled Zeus in ways rooted in fear, and he can understand her hesitance. She may not be in love with Zeus, but she had loved him once. That short amount of time had been far too much. He’d used every single moment to convince her of her worth, or lack thereof, and she’d been feeding those fears ever since. As is the case with Hades, many in the city have an idea of her that is far from the truth due to his brother’s presentations. And like Hades, she doesn’t know who she is without Zeus. If she can accept his terms regarding the district, they can try and figure it out together though.
She shakes her head.
“And I assume you don’t care to see him off either,” he continues, and she shakes her head again. “Good. I’ll call you in the morning, alright, sister?”
She nods, and he kisses her cheek before she moves off towards her room. There has never been much feeling between them, but there is a tremendous respect. They had survived this nightmare together in so many ways, and while she may not be happy with every part of his plan moving forward —namely the roles in Olympus— he has hope that she will learn to love her freedom again.
Hades now turns to the others. “Wait here for Demokrates.”
“I’ll go with you,” Poseidon immediately pipes up, but Hades puts a hand on his shoulder.
“No, brother, this is on me.”
They stare at each other for a moment, but when something else shatters in Zeus’s study, Poseidon nods and steps back. Hades continues down to the large oak doors on his own, Zeus destroying what he assumes is furniture on the other side. He waits for a moment of peace, or as close to peace as it gets, and enters the room. It’s in complete shambles, as is its master, who immediately raises his pistol as he swings around to face the door.
“Put it down, Zeus,” Hades says, and although it’s a simple command, it’s a command nonetheless.
“You took everything from me!” Zeus screams after he realizes who stands before him, eyes wild.
“I didn’t. Not yet.”
“You - you think you can just - come in here, and… You can’t do anything, Hades! I’m in charge! Me!”
“Not anymore, brother.”
It’s hard to look at him. Hair mussed, face flushed, eyes unfocused; he looks every bit as out of it as he sounds with his slurred words and stark stuttering. Hades almost feels sorry for him. Almost. But then he thinks of Dionysos, innocent as the day he was born, and he remembers that Zeus has been prosecuting the boy for that alone ever since Zeus learned of his existence. He thinks of Persephone and how close Zeus had been to taking her too. And then he thinks of all the times he himself had tried to please his brother only for it to never be enough.
“You can’t do this!” Zeus cries, tears welling up in his eyes, his hand shaking. “You can’t! This is my city!”
“You nearly killed him, Zeus.”
“I was aiming for her!”
“You think that’s a viable excuse?”
“She—”
“You would have answered for that just the same.”
“Look at what you’ve - you’ve let her do to us! You let her come between us!”
“You let you come between us. You and your ego, your pride, your greed. You chose all of that over me again and again, brother, and still, I put you first every time. I will not do it anymore, not at their expense. What - what you could’ve taken from me today is -” He feels it; the pain, the agony, the fear crawling up his throat, everything he’d choked down as they carted Dionysos away. He forces it down once more. “It’s irreplaceable. I will not gamble with their lives, not for you and not for anyone else, not ever again. Put the gun down, Zeus.”
Zeus does not obey, but as Hades moves closer, his resolve strengthens. If Zeus was capable of shooting him, he would have done it today rather than go after another. He would have ended it then. He had to know Hades would come for him, and he’d risked it anyway. If Persephone had died, Zeus believed he would be all Hades had again, but all he’d done was disprove that theory. The truth has never been more clear than it is in this moment.
The barrel
of the gun touches Hades’ chest before Zeus realizes his brother isn’t bluffing. He pulls the hammer back, but Hades disarms him in one swift movement, gripping his wrist and using the same arm to deliver a strong elbow to Zeus’s jaw. Zeus stumbles back, tripping over his chair and hitting the floor with a groan.
“You’ll be on a ship tonight to Naxos,” Hades explains, setting the gun down on the desk. “You’ll have enough money to get you on your feet and some clothes I’ve had packed for you.”
“Demo!” Zeus calls for his head of security. He won’t come.
“My guards will escort you into the city to a place I've had arranged for you.”
“No,” Zeus grunts as Hades stands him up, but it’s hollow and broken.
“I will have eyes on you. I will know every single time you eat, sleep, breathe—”
“Demo—”
Hades grips his jaw, forcing Zeus to look him in the eye. “—and if you ever even think of coming back to Khaos Falls, I will come to you again as I do now, but unlike now, I will bring no mercy with me.”
His eyes bore into Zeus’s until he finds the fear, lurking there beneath the crystal blue surface, and he calls it up with expert efficiency. It’s crucial. This is the moment, the transfer of power, and power is the only thing Zeus has ever understood. He must understand this.
“Demo!”
It’s Hades who calls upon him now, and this time, Demokrates appears in the doorway with three of Hades’ own men. Zeus’s eyes widen as he glances over his brother’s shoulder. When he looks back at Hades, his face is chalk white.
“You - promised—” he begins, but Hades stops him.
“I promised to look after you. My promise is fulfilled, Zeus. You are your own responsibility now.”
Patting his cheek, Hades turns and shoves Zeus into the arms of his men. Demo steps back, allowing them to cuff his former employer.
“And I’d be careful in Naxos, brother,” Hades sighs. “I hear they don’t take kindly to bullies, and they’re swift with their justice. In fact, from what Erebus told me when we had dinner last night, it’s brutal. His brother is the one who makes sure of it, and he’s looking forward to welcoming you to the city.”