Just once, perhaps.
“Hades, your arm.” Artemis broke the tension, and in that moment, as everyone turned to face him, they were met with a shocking sight.
When someone met their end and entered the Underworld, the first letter of their name would emerge carved into Hades’ skin with the darkest shade of black. As another person died, the preceding letter would gradually fade into his flesh as if it had never been there. But upon raising his arm, instead of a black letter, a multitude of hieroglyphs, written in a marine blue shade with waves overlapped on his forearm.
Fascinating.
“Poseidon is dead,” he said at last as Athena moved closer to him, taking his hand in hers and studying the symbols that were disappearing into his flesh.
She whispered, her index finger following the symbols. “I have never seen anything of this nature.”
When she touched him, Hades flinched in a way that was barely noticeable, however, he remained still, narrowing his eyes at the symbols. “Because no god has ever died before now.”
“Athena, what is there left to do?” Artemis asked, catching the goddess’s shoulder between her fingers. Athena pursed her lips. “There has to be something else we can do. What about Hera? What if we kill her instead?” Her eyes glistened at the thought. “I’ll do it myself if it comes to that. I can’t tell you howmany times I fantasized about drawing an arrow through her skull.”
Athena shook her head. “The spell requires the death of a man, and I’m afraid Poseidon is Zeus’s only brother.” The Goddess of Wisdom’s words created a change in the air.
The symbols on Hades’ skin faded away as the three gods gathered together—yet the only one who didn’t move was Eros. He seemed to be lost, not in his own mind, but in his rage. The three gods exchanged glances as they attempted to discover a solution they hadn’t considered. However, they were helpless. The prophecy precisely described that the desired outcome could only be achieved through either the collection of all three relics, or by obtaining one of the relics alongside a sacrifice, or as a final resort, the ultimate blood sacrifice entailing the killing of Zeus’s only brother. And they had lost any of these chances.
“I refused to believe you would come here to kill my brother as I assumed you were to come here only to speak with him, perhaps to aid you in your plan,” Zeus announced, his raspy voice echoing throughout the palace as his body materialized on the throne. “However, I must offer my appreciation for the foolish wildling who disclosed everything with no coercion from my end. I had wished to savor the last remnants of my brother’s life, but you have instead heightened my rage.”
I was aware of another’s presence, yet I did not expect it to be you, basileús.
With his shallow, white eyes providing a stark contrast to the blood that was running down his cheeks and finally reaching his clenched jaw, he continued to hold Poseidon’s decapitated head.
Committing fratricide. Truly, deeply disturbing, even for yourself, basileús.
Shadow found himself unable to look away from the severed head of Poseidon, and as he moved his eyes toward the back ofthe throne, he saw the remaining parts of the corpse, now devoid of life.
A smirk spread across Zeus’s face as he licked his lips. As he passed his tongue over them, his fingers unclenched and let the head drop to the floor as his body emerged from the throne.
Silence fell upon all the gods, even over Eros, whose anger from just a few moments before seemed to have completely taken over him. However, at that moment, the expressions on their faces revealed a noticeable decline in their sense of hope—and a loss of words as well.
Zeus’s form shook with each movement, as though it was attempting to become one with the water that began to flood the glass floor. As the water level increased, the deceased fish scattered, and the water eventually rose, reaching for Zeus’s muscular calves like writhing tentacles. His eyes followed the liquid as it engulfed his body inch by inch. Once it covered his wide back, his rich, authoritative laughter erupted.
He was about to become an anomaly amongst the gods.
Their plan was not only unsuccessful, but it made him even stronger. You are a filthy, lucky bastard, basileús.
The water had merged with his body, and as he lifted his hands into the air, the water ran down them, stopping at the end of each of his fingers. With his eyes squeezed shut, he seemed to be desperately clinging to an unseen power, but his eyelids fluttered open again quickly.
In a display of power, the crushing waves of the sea seemed to merge with his unsettling white irises, signaling that he had truly become the most powerful god of them all.
The unbelievable scenery became even more astounding by Artemis’s low, indecipherable whisper. No one had moved as they watched over Zeus’s metamorphosis.
The water still clung to his body when he leaned to the floor and gently tapped one of the dead fish with his indexfinger. As soon as he touched the creature’s slick skin, one of the goddesses gasped when the fish revived and his companions were resurrected.
“From this moment forward, I shall be known as the God of Thunder, Sky, Lightning, and all the Seas, Earthquakes, and Floods,” Zeus declared, articulating the last word as his authority and power became palpable in his growl.
Each of them continued observing him, the perilous silence unbroken.
“I believe my work is complete for the present time, though. Before I listen to what you have to say, I should mention that I did not need you to reveal your plans,” he said, then paused as he fixed his gaze on Artemis. “How could I not have been aware when the gods, whom I once called family, were conspiring in secret?”
Pardon me if I am mistaken, but I thought I detect a flicker of pain in your eyes, basileús.
Chapter 29
Shadow
