- Hermes is the traitor. - Zeus says, looking the boy in the eye with unnamed fury.
Everyone turned to the messenger god, as if they couldn't believe what they had just heard, especially Apollo, the closest to Hermes.
Hermes smiled at his father in a nonchalant manner.
The silence was deafening.
None of the gods present seemed willing to break the tense atmosphere.
Then Zeus continued as he walked towards Hermes.
- You! - he exclaimed as he pointed at the boy with a fierce expression. - Did you think it was funny to fool everyone here all this time?
He stopped three meters away from his son, looking up at him. At this moment it became possible to see the difference in size between the two.
Hermes was about one meter and eighty-five centimeters. The giant in front of him must have easily exceeded two meters and fifty.
Zeus regarded his son as a child. But a child that had made him very angry.
However, even with all his superior and intimidating pose, he didn't seem to have been able to frighten the 'little' Hermes, who stared at him with a serene face. He was no longer laughing, although he didn't look afraid.
- You had this obligation to your equals. It was your duty to get rid of Pandora for us! - Zeus continued.
- Father - Please be reasonable, Hermes never- - Apollo approached his father, gesturing with a worried face.
No clouds, no storm, no rain. Thunder rumbled from the heavens, causing a huge noise and making Apollo shudder in a fright.
Zeus stared furiously out of the corner of his eye, which caused him to shut up and look away in fear.
Everyone thus realized that they shouldn't meddle there.
- HERMES, YOU HAVE TRAITED HIS- - Zeus almost spat every word at his son, pointing as fiercely as he spoke.
Hermes' lips twitched. A certain irritation piled up in his expression.
- Shut up," Hermes ordered his father. - Hermes ordered his father.
Zeus' eyebrows went up, as did everyone else's in the place. After a few seconds, the veins on Zeus' forehead began to expand. His face crumbling into pure anger.
- How- -
- Is all this anger because you can no longer go around impregnating any mortal you meet? - Hermes asks his father with an angry face.
Zeus' fury increased by the second, as did the incredulity of everyone present. Especially Hera, who had been the most irritated by this comment from the boy.
It was common knowledge among the gods that she did not like it when her husband's infidelity was exposed. She felt humiliated by this.
Hermes seemed unaffected as he continued to stare unflinchingly into his father's deadly white eyes.
- You talk so much about duty, work, obligation? - Hermes continued, taking a step forward. - And especially about 'us'. - He watched the boy, his face confused as he made quotation marks with his hands.
- Who the hell is 'we'?
In the blink of an eye, Hermes disappears from in front of Zeus, reappearing in the center of the coliseum, in front of all the other gods.
- You influence the lower world, inferring your wills on all mortals. Casting plagues on those who disobey you. Causing wars by getting involved with compromised women. - Hermes angrily counts on his fingers each of the accusations, and looks directly at his father with his back turned as he says the last one.
Zeus did not turn around. He seemed petrified at the boy's audacity. He simply stared in front of him with eyes wide in anger and angry veins bulging in every visible spot on his body.
- Do you feel betrayed? - Hermes raised his eyebrow, speaking with a comical air as he turned to face his father. - Betrayed because I didn't get my damn hands dirty to further your interests? - He asks, adopting a more irritated tone.
Footsteps are heard approaching slowly from behind Hermes.
- I believe you've had enough fun with your accusations, brother. - Ares spoke in a warning tone. - Perhaps you need to spend some time with Hades, to think about your actions.
This was the one among the gods who spared no effort to get into fights. Even more so when his father was the target of the mess. Ares behaved as the true right-hand man of Zeus...
Even though he wasn't even close to being one.
*Zip* *Pump*
Hermes disappears from Ares' front with a sort of buzz left behind. Without his brother having time to prepare, he reappears in an onslaught in the air hitting him with a volley kick right in the nose.
Ares flies off with the blow, crashing through three of the coliseum's pillars. The god's body falls to the ground, as he, still in shock, tries to get up. He fails, and then falls to the ground unconscious.
Hermes lands on his feet on the ground majestically, his wings on his sandals trembling and glowing with intensity.
The other gods in the coliseum widen their eyes, staring at the small boy and putting themselves on alert. They were startled, both by his sudden attack and by his strength.
Almost no one in that place could send Ares flying with such ease.
Hera was furious. "How dare a damn bastard lay a finger on my son!"
- You think I'm just going to let you kill me? - Hermes adopted a more serious, though nonchalant, posture.
Zeus finally turned to the center of the room. He stared frantically at his son. Thus completely ignoring Ares, who had been thrown violently a few seconds ago.
Poseidon rose from his throne, picking up his trident with a serious look.
- You're doomed, boy.
- People, please - - Apollo pleads immensely worried.
- Nobody. Move. One. Finger. - Zeus orders.
Zeus' body whitens to a yellowish white, and the atmosphere begins to collapse with a buzzing sound. Poseidon in turn begins to conjure a sphere of water from the tip of his trident.
Zeus disappears in a beam of light that moves at high speed toward Hermes.
The boy prostrates himself, raising his arms defensively. The beam returns to the form of Zeus in front of Hermes. His fists transformed into white electric blades, throwing a punch with unbelievable speed. Fortunately for the god of messengers, speed is his main quality, surpassing even his father in this respect. He deflects with a simple movement to the side.
Thunder is heard.
Zeus throws countless punches in his son's direction, a thunderous sound roaring from each blow. Hermes uses his speed and manages to dodge, countering with lighter, faster blows aimed at Zeus' elbows and knees.
This goes on for some time, with everyone staring in disbelief.
"How does he manage to match his father?!" Surprise gives way to a startling revelation. "No. His speed is even greater than lightning!"
However, the speed of Zeus' blows suddenly begins to increase, his face becoming angrier. His arms begin to form blurs of light in the air emanating electric sparks. Hermes dodges, but stops his counterattack when he realizes that the electric aura in Zeus' fists has expanded and taken over his entire arm.
The blows come at close range, tearing out strands of the little boy's hair.
- IS THAT ALL? - Hermes asks as he deflects, assuming an air of superiority.
And then a shallow cut appears on Hermes' cheek that shows surprise.
He had not been hit. So how did this happen?
The answer soon appears in the form of other cuts. Hermes begins to retreat, dodging the punches and taking a few steps backwards in a careful manner.
He finally figures it out. "The damn sparks!"
With each energized punch from Zeus, sparks formed around his arms and went to meet Hermes' face. He realized that he would have to try harder.
Zeus assumed a more smug posture, realizing that he was backing away from the blows. And then Hermes' body began to vibrate and turn into a blur. He was dodging at a speed far greater than any energy splash could reach him.
Zeus gritted his teeth, and kept increasing the speed and force of his blows. The white staining of his arms expanded and took over more and more of his body.
He began to feel pain, he was beginning to force himself.
The King of the Gods reached his limit. Unable to keep up with the boy's speed, he roars, deciding to invest more force at the sacrifice of speed. Five bolts of lightning descend from the sky toward the two as Zeus prepares a blow with his hands together, using them like a hammer.
The air vibrates, almost matching Hermes' speed. The pressure all around increases as Zeus' feet sink creating huge cracks in the coliseum floor.
Zeus performs his movement like a hammer, scattering the air around him as if he were kneading reality itself. Thus, hitting nothing, since Hermes was no longer in front of him.
The lightning strikes unite to form one big bolt of lightning, opening a crater and violently piercing the floor of the coliseum. An earthquake takes over the place, as if the entire island was being pushed down and shaking with the electric discharges that shook all of Olympus.
Hermes doesn't give his father time to turn around and leaps up striking him in the side of the abdomen with a kick.
Zeus' feet sink to the ground, and he is pushed a few feet to the side by the impact, tearing up the ground with his bound feet.
The boy moves forward without blinking and immediately appears in front of his father. A flurry of super-speed punches are unleashed against his abdomen which causes Zeus to give way. He is taken by surprise and tries to throw counter punches.
Hermes just moves his head and torso in evasive maneuvers, dodging everything as he lands several on Zeus' belly and a few on the sides of his knees.
And then, in an instant, the boy disappears from in front of his father leaving a trail of light behind. And he reappears in one of the corners of the coliseum, straight at Zeus. He picks up momentum, and rushes forward in a condensed flash of golden light against his father, leaving only a divine spark in a trail behind.
Zeus feels his knees fail him and begins to fall, moving his hands to his abdomen. Incredulity, more than anything, apparent on his face. But before he falls to his knees, he is hit by an ultra fast blow to the chin, which sends him flying out of the coliseum, demolishing everything in front of him.
Hermes stares at the lithe body distancing itself and devastating everything in its path.
The gods in the coliseum widen their eyes and tighten their grip on their weapons even more.
It is no longer wise to underestimate the Herald of the Gods.
- You have crossed the line, young man. - Poseidon speaks, maintaining an imposing aura as he points his trident in Hermes' direction.
- Who are you? - Hermes asks, turning to his uncle with one eyebrow raised.
What may seem like a meaningless sentence, was easily understood by everyone in the room. Hermes wanted to say. "If not even Zeus was able to stop me, who are you to think you can?".
Everyone understood, and to some extent they even thought the same. Except for Poseidon. The proud King of the Seas would not let this affront come cheap.
Poseidon looked Hermes up and down. And then, a pressurized water missile shot through the boy's shoulder, leaving a hole in the spot. Surprisingly, the speed of the projectile was enough to overcome Hermes' passive perception. A handful of blood squirted out of the wound.
Hermes widened his eyes. "Since when is this old man so fast?" He thought staring at the shallow cut on his shoulder.
He raised his eyes to his uncle, and again he was surprised. Poseidon was carrying ten more of those water missiles around him. His face looked smug. He probably wanted to show himself more powerful than Zeus and demonstrate how easily he could beat the one who had surpassed him.
Hermes, however, had no plans to allow this to happen. He knew that, no matter how much his provocation said otherwise, Poseidon was too powerful.
A light missile shot across the hall, and hit Poseidon full in the belly. He spat out gallons of blood with the blow, the water missiles burst in the air like bubbles, and he was sent flying, even farther than Zeus.
He certainly wouldn't have taken that blow easily if he had been prepared. But for him, Hermes was still one step below him. He felt very secure seeing how easily he was able to hit him with one of the missiles, unlike Zeus, who had trouble superficially wounding the boy.
Everyone finally got into an attack position, pointing their weapons and forming spells in Hermes' direction. Except for Apollo who still seemed ecstatic about everything that was happening, and Dionysus who was cheerful and unconcerned. Regardless, everyone realized that they would have to fight together.
Ares, who was being helped by Hera, his mother, stood up with one hand on his face, covering his broken nose, still stunned.
The woman seeing her son's situation turned to Hermes with hatred and fury. "How dare a damn bastard touch my son?"
And then she felt a certain confusion take over her senses. A thin, purple mist began to spread inside the coliseum.
Hermes felt dizzy. And then he started to turn around, looking for the source of the mist. Before everything became cloudy, he managed to face a huge, fat figure with a barrel in his hand, disappearing into the purple gas.
- I think you need to calm down a bit, my brother. - Dionysus said with a drunken smile as he drank wine straight from a barrel, emanating that mist from his skin.
Hermes gritted his teeth.
- You fat bastard! - He grumbled with his hand on his neck, feeling that sensation spreading from his mouth and down the rest of his body.
His vision had blurred in a few seconds.
Then he held his breath.
He began to look around, looking for signs of anyone he could strike.
A silhouette appeared in the mist. Hermes leaped toward it at high speed. Then he punched the wind.
This was repeated a few times, until Hermes lost his patience.
- AFRODITE! COME OUT NOW, YOU BITCH! - He roared, losing his composure with an anger that one would not normally associate with him.
Dionysus was doing a good job.
Aphrodite, with her hypnotic and hallucinogenic powers, was an unrelenting mix against the boy who was totally out of his five senses at this moment.
And then a chirping sound was heard, and the boy turned in her direction. The figure of an owl came flying straight at him. He then used his speed to advance against it and hit it with one punch.
The next thing he knew, his arm was torn. From the gap between his middle and ring fingers to his elbow.
The owl had turned into a spear. Athena's spear to be more exact.
- GUAGH! - Hermes groaned in pain, feeling his arm broken in two pieces.
"That wretch!" He curses the Goddess to Strategy.
Under normal conditions, he would perceive the Goddess' strategy, but Dionysus' powers certainly messed with his perceptions.
He removes the spear from his arm, throwing it to the ground, and, to his misfortune, notices his blood flowing in a purple hue.
"She poisoned me!?" The boy wonders, incredulous.
Which he would not be if his mind were in a normal condition.
He immediately realized Athena's strategy. His calm had already worn off, and she took advantage of that. Now he knew he might not get out of here alive.
He felt his body paralyze. And then an arrow pierced through the mist, gaping and leaving a trail of clear air in its midst. Hermes dodged, but was still grazed and felt a momentary paralysis again, followed by a growing tingle coursing through his body from that wound.
"Even Artemis is in the middle of this?" He wondered in surprise.
She was one who normally took no part in such intrigues. But for some reason, the way she missed the arrow even though the target was stunned, ended up drawing Hermes' attention.
On the other hand, seeing the arrow gaping in the gas, he had a new idea.
Hermes starts running in circles in the coliseum, increasing his speed as much as he can.
And then a whirlwind begins to form. The wind sweeps away the mist, bringing the air back into the coliseum. Hermes topples over, losing his strength and sinking into the cracked ground.
All the gods stare at him seriously on the ground, one at each point of the coliseum. Then they slowly and cautiously approach him.
After a few moments on the ground, Hermes' broken arm begins to regenerate. And in a short time he is whole again.
Hermes begins to get up with difficulty.
- Does it still persist? - Athena asks, raising her eyebrow in surprise.
Athena was a goddess.
Hermes knew that he would not be able to defeat everyone there. Dionysus' powers had stunned him, and Artemis' poisoned arrow was hindering his healing, so he still couldn't feel his newly healed arm.
He prepares to move away from there.
His feet then sink to the floor, as he picks up momentum to run from there.
But then he can't get out of the place. He looks down and notices his feet wrapped in thorny vines that emanate a purple aura.
Hermes' eyes widen and he looks around to find Hera staring at him with hungry eyes and even more furious energy roaring from her body, causing the ground beneath her to shatter with the pressure of her powers.
- YOU! - she spoke, approaching Hermes with her left hand raised toward him.
The vines grew and wrapped themselves more and more around the boy.
- A bastard dared to raise his hand against his father, and much worse, against MY son! - She roars with a frown on her forehead and her eyes completely filled with a purple glow.
Vines cover Hermes' lower body completely as Hera stops a few feet in front of him in a proud pose. A condensed energy begins to emerge from the chaos coming from Hera's aura.
- You will be cursed with doom, and no matter where you go, your life and death will be filled with suffering and pain. - Hera begins to chant what sounds like a curse. - May your stay in Tartarus be even worse than non-existence!
Hera points at Hermes, and a violent torrent of power rushes towards him. Entering the boy's body. Hermes feels his strength draining away, and his body is marked, a direct mark on his soul.
Hermes stretches out his arm in a desperate attempt to attack Hera. But Poseidon's trident cuts through the air, piercing his arm and pinning him to the ground.
He turns and faces his uncle who approaches from the ruins of the destroyed coliseum against which he had been thrown. His clothes are dirty and there is an etched mark of a fist in the center of his abdomen. His face in a mixture of both anger and exhaustion.
- DAMNED! - Hermes shouts. - I WILL KILL YOU ALL! - He stares at everyone with an intimidating face, even in his current position.
Everyone immediately points their weapons at him, really feeling threatened.
Artemis draws her bow. Ares points his sword. Aphrodite releases a pink, spiral-shaped aura from her body. Athena points her spear. Hera strengthens her vines on the ground.
And Apollo, who until now had been paralyzed by the situation, clasped his lyre tightly in his hand with a downcast face. He wondered if Hermes was saying this to him, too. If his hatred was truly directed at all the gods there.
The ground begins to tremble. Hermes feels his end approaching.
In the distance, everyone spots Zeus returning to the coliseum.
His battered robes are falling to pieces on the floor. His aura grows stronger by the moment, even more powerful than before.
Hera begins to walk to the side, clearing the way for her husband. Her mission was already complete.
Zeus' body began to glow. That glow that once possessed his hands, now possesses his entire arm and torso.
- Hermes. - Zeus spoke as he synthesized in his hand, a spear-shaped beam snapping furiously in front of his son. - You have betrayed everyone in this room. Especially me, your father and your king. - The king of the gods raised his right arm, using as much energy as he could channel into his fist, his mouth oozing a little blood. The glow in the rest of his body fading and being sent all to the palm of his hand. - Now, you must live amidst all the misery and suffering you caused, as one of those you swore to protect. Hugh- Your time as a god is over! GAH-
Zeus roared, his voice as powerful and commanding as thunder.
That electric lance came down from the heavens, piercing straight through Hermes' chest and he roared in pain. He felt all his energy drain away. His hair gradually lost its golden and divine glow, until it turned completely white.
- GUAHGH! - Hermes felt his consciousness fading.
Something penetrating his very essence, and then splitting it into many pieces.
Something fragmenting inside him, like a vase breaking into many pieces.
And then, something scarring his chest, physically and spiritually.
Whatever Hera had done, it seemed to intensify at that moment, with the discharge of divine energy coming from Zeus' ray.
==================================================================
The onslaught of lightning continued until the vines burned and the marble floor below him gave way, leading the boy in the form to cross the sky of Greece, like a giant serpent of lightning.
And then, in the middle of nowhere. The lightning hits the ground hard, opening a huge crater and sending rocks all around flying everywhere.
*KABOOOM*
A curtain of smoke and dust rises on the scene, devastating the quiet and peaceful environment.
==================================================================
A caravan follows a desert path. About a hundred wagons and only one wagon further ahead of the line of wagons.
Further down the road, the driver of the carriage notices something strange.
In the middle of the road, a huge crater and fallen trees everywhere.
A very chaotic scene, and one that he thought was strange even for bandits.
The man stops the carriage, signaling for the others to do the same.
An old man with a fancy yellow chiton comes down from this neatly arranged wagon, located at the front of the caravan. He looks angry.
- Who the hell allowed it to stop? - He asks the driver.
- It's just that there is something strange up ahead sir. It could be thieves.
A strong man in black armor, apparently a guard, comes up beside the two, spotting the crater ahead.
- I recommend that the nobleman return to the safety of the carriage and allow me and a few other guards to find out what happened ahead. - The soldier explains in a serious tone.
The nobleman shudders at the idea that thieves are behind all this, and then starts looking everywhere, searching for any sign of these troublemakers.
His cowardice was palpable in the air.
- But no way are you going to leave me behind in the midst of this imminent danger! - The nobleman speaks in a voice thin with fear. - And if these wretches steal my slaves, you can be sure that I will report you and your damned minions to the Corinthian guard!
The man rolls his eyes, and then signals to the guards to stay further back, to secure the wagons. He in turn beckons the nobleman to follow him.
When they reach the edge of the crater, the guard is pushed by the lord, who acts with curiosity and little caution. They see, in the center of the crater, what appears to be a corpse.
- What is it? - asks the nobleman, covering his mouth with a handkerchief and his face twisted.
- It looks like a body. - The guard states staring at a man lying in the middle of the crater.
- Don't say it, you imbecile! - The old man mocks the soldier aggressively. - Just get down there and bring that body back here.
The guard sighs and after a few seconds decides to obey, even though it is not his job to do so. Escorting slave caravans was always well rewarded, and since he wanted to ensure that he would receive his payment, he knew better than to go against the snobbish lord in front of him.
He lays the body of the boy on his stomach on the ground next to the nobleman, who soon spits out a large amount of blood. He is wearing what appears to be part of a very torn and dirty chiton. His chest exposed by the torn clothing.
- Does this live? - The old man asks impersonally, as if referring to an animal.
The soldier felt like returning the old man's earlier kindness with an ignorant answer, but decided to stick to the obvious to keep his head on straight.
- Apparently. What do you want to do with him?
- Throw this thief into a slave cart. - The old man orders, turning away with disinterest and returning to his carriage.
- Thief?
- He is a follower of Hermes, watch his chest.
It is then that one sees, on the boy's chest, what appears to be a scar in the shape of a caduceus. A very well done design, like a tattoo that has been carved directly into the skin with a knife.
The soldier sighs again, gathering the boy's body from the ground onto his shoulder and returning to the caravan.
The driver sees the soldier coming and is filled with curiosity.
- Who is this?
- A thief who follows Hermes. - The soldier says nonchalantly
- But isn't Hermes the god of merchants or something? - asked the driver, still not understanding.
- And is there a difference between the two?
The conductor looks at the two of them, walking away regretfully
"Poor guy..." He reflects shaking his head.
He turns around and goes back to leading the horses.
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