My feet pushed forward, running toward the group huddled not too far from me, my vision zeroing in on the poison they carried in their hearts. My father's power, my power, coursed through my veins with vengeance, connecting with the dagger in my hand, illuminating the handle with the rot and decay flowing from me.
I wasn't a woman burdened with grief anymore. I was more, so much fucking more, and they were not prepared for the ending I would bestow upon them. They were not prepared for the suffering that would come their way.
The crack I jumped over split, shattering the ground into two, letting the ear-piercing shriek into the air. Hera dropped down to her knees, followed by Zeus who couldn't stop himself from screaming. But I knew those shrieks. I knew their pain like I knew my own.
They thought destroying the God of the Dead would simply unlock the veil. They fucking thought that the dead would stay where they were without an anchor to that place?
The souls erupted from the ground, where the blazing fury of fire slammed against the dirt, setting them all free.
"What is happening?" Zeus wailed as he knelt on the ground, looking frantically at the dark shapes emerging from the earth, slamming into us and flying into the world.
Ares wrapped his hand around his bicep and pulled him up. "The veil is broken," he said. "Just like you wanted."
Yeah, just like he wanted. Just like they planned.
"But none of you are leaving." I laughed, looking at the pathetic trio. "None of you are getting out of here alive."
Hera scrambled to her feet, wrapping her arms around Zeus's middle, her eyes never leaving me as I kept walking toward them, slowing my pace. She whispered in his ear,her eyes turning into a molten gold, her own power coursing through her. But it was not enough. None of it was enough to stop me.
My fury wrapped around my heart, diminishing any light I had.
They took everything from me.
My choices.
My life.
My love.
I had nothing left to give. I had nothing left to hold on to.
The hope that lived in me, the dreams, the belief that better times would come, had died the moment Hades's heart stopped beating. The moment they tore my heart out, letting it shatter into pieces.
They made their choices.
They made a monster.
"You took everything from me!" The roar erupted from my lungs, from my throat, crawling over the field like a disease clashing against their poor attempt at power.
But they weren't born to destroy the Gods.
I was.
My body propelled me forward, darkness taking over, and as the edges of my vision turned to red, I no longer saw anything but the three figures who deserved a painful death.
The handle of the dagger dug into the palm of my hand, feeding on my blood, feeding on my power. Droplets of rain fell onto my face as I slammed against Ares, pushing him into the forest and away from us, leaving me with Hera and Zeus, both of them trembling in front of me. In front of my power.
And I fed on their despair. I fed on their fear, on their urge to flee and get away from me.
My hand rose as fury enveloped every atom of my body. I let it turn my grief into power. I let it lead me by anger. I letthe uncurling of the shadows deep inside my core erupt all over my skin, their wicked little whispers bleeding toward Hera and Zeus.
The rain sizzled as it fell on top of the blade and as my fist connected with Zeus's cheek, his head flying back, Ares appeared out of nowhere, slamming into me, into my chest with his hands and pushing me away from them.
"We need to go!" Hera screeched, lifting Zeus up. But they weren't going anywhere. No. They were mine now.
Mine to play with. Mine to cut. Piece by piece, until there was only pain left inside their filthy souls. Until their cries satisfied the rage living inside me. Until they spent the next five millennia, slowly decaying, dying, getting destroyed from the inside until their minds broke and this need inside me disappeared.
Ares's fists flew toward me, landing against my stomach, my cheek, but I wasn't budging.
