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Issue #25: X, Fall.
(General P.O.V)
When Hades got to his feet, everyone gathered in the banquet Hall went silent.
Like a spotlight shone on him, every eye found itself inexplicably drawn to the Unseen One, shadows hovering around him and his wife. Almost protectively in regards to the latter.
In Kane's keen senses, the God of the Underworld's presence seemed to billow out, blanketing the whole chamber.
Diana sidled over next to the Assasin's position and the two of them cast their focus on the host of their feast.
"Friends, family. It's always an honor to have you present during this night."
Hades begun, a rare gentle smile on his face.
"The night of the vernal equinox is special for two reasons. One, my wife-"
Saying this, he took Persephone's hand into his own, gazing into her eyes with love.
"-Gets to rejoin her mother, my sister Demeter in Olympus. And second, I start to count the days till I see her again."
There was almost a collective 'aaww' moment from many of the goddesses gathered.
Heedless, Hades continued,
"My light in the darkness. My hope in the dreary night. My-"
"Oh Zeus' smelly balls," A snide voice lamented.
"What a load of crap."
The doors to the banquet Hall were blown open, a pair of yelps; the hellhounds manning the entrance, bodily smashing into the chamber.
Before anyone could react, Shadows shot out, intercepting their uncontrolled flight by swallowing them.
Kane grabbed Diana's hand, stepping back into the crowds of Gods and Goddesses.
The princess made no protest.
The whole banquet Hall was focused on the soon-to-be-dead fool, who had interrupted the Lord of the Underworld's speech.
The three judges, Minos at the head stepped forward to face the intruder.
Hades from where he was standing, no longer had a smile on his face. He lowered the hand controlling the shadows, narrowing his eyes at the entrance to the chamber.
"You have a lot of nerve coming here...Ares."
The Unseen One spoke, his words sending a wave of surprise across the room.
""Ares!?""
""The God of War?!""
""Does he have a death wish?""
""Did you hear what he did?""
The crowds of minor and major gods were sent into a frenzy. After all, Ares was the last person anyone would have expected to crash the party.
"Oh dear uncle. It's not just nerve, I'm confident in leaving here unharmed."
Ares in his silver armor remarked, appearing through the shattered doorway, only to stop at the top of the stairway.
"I just thought I'd drop by for my sister's farewell party. Why I wasn't invited beats me. We are family after all."
"That's as far as you go, kin-killer."
Minos grunted, the tail wrapped around his hips snaking out, waving in the air.
Flanking his sides, Aeacus and Rhadamanthus pulled on their own divine energy, filling the chamber with a pressure that made it hard for the weaker gods to remain standing.
The three of them surrounded Ares from all sides, standing in a formation that blocked the God of War's path into the chamber.
Ares slowly blinked at them, crossing his hands over his chest.
"A duo of my father's bastards and a man out of place. You think that's enough to stop me? How foolish."
From his back, blood red weapon constructs, spears, swords, arrows were launched out, hurtling down towards the judges.
The three of them stood at the ready, prepared to uphold their Lord's authority.
However, they had underestimated the speed of the projectiles. Thus, before they could be turned to pin cushions, the shadows across the room rose up again, swallowing every single construct.
"You dare raise arms against my subjects-"
Hades growled out, his aura rippling out and drowning the judges combined presence.
"IN MY OWN HOME?!"
Not only minor gods, a few major ones in attendance stumbled.
As for Ares, he balked, a thin sheen of sweet appearing on his brow.
He wiped it away with his forearm.
'Even with all the preparations done...we still underestimated him.'
One of the two soul's within the God of War admitted.
'Focus Phobos, we can't falter now...we've come too far. Father will skin us alive if we fuck this up.'
The other soul admonished it's counterpart.
'I know. We're to cause a distraction...I just hope we survive Hades' anger-'
Phobos told his brother.
'By the time he realizes, father will have his army and then no one can stop us.'
Deimos replied.
Their conversation took only but an instant.
In reality, laughter escaped the God of War, red fire burning across his body.
"I do dare! I DARE ALOT!"
He exclaimed.
The film of red fire warped and deformed as it struggled to bare the full blunt of Hades' divinity.
Cracks begun appearing around the Hall, the glow of lava and wails of the dead reaching into the hall. The lanterns around pulsed with green flames, burning at the same intensity as Hades' anger.
A wave of unrest gripped everyone within the chamber.
Far away from the action, at the edges of the hall, Diana and X were on their knees.
'This isn't a fight we can participate in currently.'
Kane reasoned, turning his focus away from the heated confrontation to stare at the window next to them.
The atmosphere outside, while unfavorable to their mortal bodies, was their only option in case things got...even more heated.
He made eye contact with Diana and the two of them nodded.
"Enough of this."
Poseidon grunted, coming in between Hades and Ares.
A livid Hades turned to his face him.
Poseidon raised his hands in an act of peace.
"Brother...as great and justified as your fury is...could we try to solve this in a more civil manner?"
The God of the seas suggested.
Hades, face twisted in rage was about to refuse when Persephone grabbed his hand.
Immediately, the anger in him drained out.
Persephone placed her other palm on his cheek, turning him to face her. Both husband and wife stared into each other's eyes.
"He's not worth it."
She softly spoke.
Hades sighed, placing his forehead against hers.
"You always bring me back...thank you, My love."
Ares, a dark look flashing across his face chuckled.
"How...quaint. The beauty has conquered the beast. You know when we were young...the name Hades held gravitas...and then you fell for the bitch."
The room turned frigid.
Whoosh!
Poseidon's trident shot out, cutting through the air, spearing into Ares' shoulder and sending him flying out of the banquet Hall.
But it was too late.
All light within the chamber was drowned out.
SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!
THE LORD OF THE UNDERWORLD could no longer be appeased.
(Kane's P.O.V)
Spider Sense screamed at me to get going or get dead.
I immediately grabbed and pulled Diana towards the window, smashing through it as we fell out of the underworld palace in controlled panic, my heart beating so fast I could hear it.
There have only a few times in my life, where abandoning a mission had become necessary to safeguard my own life.
2 times to be exact.
One was when a building I was in during a mission in Haifa, Israel, was surrounded by a squad of highly trained Mossad agents with heavy weaponry.
And the other was when the target I was contracted to kill, was more useful to the world alive than dead.
The second time could be labelled under personal extenuating circumstances but...just like my instinct told me to bail back then...
Everything in me was screaming to put distance between Hades and us.
Diana wisely wrapped her hands around my torso, leaving my hands free for what came next.
Two of my fingers curled inwards in a familiar gesture, forearm stretched out as I picked a target.
Then in a display that would have made the former me green with envy, I accurately shot and attached a web to the underside of the dock-bridge leading to the palace.
The web grew taut, wrenching Diana and I in a sideway arc around the palace.
A palace whose structure was now bleeding out darkness, apparent through my peripheral vision.
"Kane..."
Diana called out.
As if on cue, Spider Sense blared out at me again and by reflex alone, I cut off the web.
And not a second sooner, a flash of golden light speared right through where we'd been an instant ago, missing the two of us but blowing the bridge into kingdom come.
Wood and obsidian metal fell around us. Diana punched out into the air, producing a pressure wave that expelled any debris from falling on us.
That said, without the web and adding in the blow back impact caused by her fist, Diana and I started descending in a tangle of limbs, headed toward the lake below.
The same lake that all the five rivers of the Underworld fed into. In other words, a guaranteed death if we didn't do something.
The descension allowed me to spot what had almost taken us out. Or rather, others like it.
A collection of golden light raining upwards, cutting through the dreary underworld atmosphere and splintering off into parts unknown.
From the slight pressure each light was outputting...they had to be Gods.
Gods--escaping a palace that was nothing but a mass of burning shadows.
The gasp of disbelief that escaped Diana and the absolute grip she had on me, told me I was more right than wrong.
Almost immediately, an explosion of pure obsidian darkness consumed the entire palace.
And then I saw it.
For just a single second...
The hand of GOD.
A silver arm, completely made of lightning tore right into the underworld, holding a bolt of CHAOTIC BLAZING WHITE lightning.
"HADES!! YOU DARE KILL MY SON!!!"
A loud and maddened voice called out.
"I DO NOT FEAR YOU ZEUS!!! I'LL EVEN KILL YOU!!!"
Hades' own voice answered back, unbowed.
Like a black hole, everything around the palace, was pulled into a single point and then expelled into a wave of black fire.
The fire changed into a huge hand holding onto a fiery prong the size of the Eiffel Tower.
The lightning bolt and the prong collided.
It was...catastrophic.
KRWAKOOOM!!
BANG!
I winced my eyes shut at the resulting flash of light.
The noise and shock waves hit a second later, throwing Diana and I onto the sides of the cliff.
The stone shredded my back as I took the force of the impact, leaving me breathless.
Then we bounced off, continuing to fall towards the lake below.
"Kane!!"
I heard Diana call out to me but...something was wrong. Her voice sounded far away.
She...was no longer in my arms.
We were separated. The impact of the clash between two major Olympians had wreched us apart.
"Hold..."
I stretched out a hand, aiming to-
I cant...
...I couldn't muster enough strength to create another web. My hands felt as heavy as jelly and my ears were bleeding.
I could feel the blood trickle down the sides of my neck.
The final image I had of her, was as a massive golden owl swooped down and curled it's talons on her midsection.
Diana, hand stretched out towards me fought to get off the hold, looking on in horror as the distance between us grew longer and longer.
"No..."
Her lips moved.
The owl flapped its huge wings, ascending higher and higher with the princess while I got closer and closer to the water belo-
Ever had an ice bath before?
No? Well, it's your lucky day, as I get to reveal exactly how it feels.
It feels like a thousand knives carving out your flesh.
This felt worse than that. I plunged into the lake and sank, immediately feeling its unnaturalness. It's hatred for life.
And the many many disgruntled and hostile forms that eagerly swam my way, planning to rip me apart.
With nothing else to do, I pulled on my bio-electric aura and released a wild and erratic burst of venom blast.
Then I kept on doing it, abandoning all sense of reason.
I wasn't going to die here. Not if I could help it.
(General P.O.V)
Within the lake under the Underworld Palace, occasional flashes of yellow could be seen.
And then the swimming form of a man in a black shirt would get closer to the surface of the lake...inches away from breaking through...
Only for thousands of pale hands to grab onto his limbs pulling him back down.
Then the water would bubble and churn as another wave of yellow electric energy would be expelled out.
This would repeat for half a dozen times.
And then...eventually it just stopped.
No more flashes. No more man. The lake remained undisturbed.
(Thanatos)
(A few years ago)
He was inevitable.
He was merciless.
But above all he was fair. As death holds no allegiance, neither to gods nor mortals.
He was...
"Thanatos."
Hades called out, a bit of frustration evident in his tone.
"Did you kill one of Cerberus' heads?"
Said 3 headed Monster Dog that was the fearsome guard of the Underworld, was lying on the foot of Hades throne, whining piteously.
It's left head was doing the actual whining, while the central head glared at the black haired God, teeth barred viciously.
As for the right head, it's tongue was lolled out to the side of its jaws, eyes staring at nothing.
It truly was dead.
"It said it had a headache. I tried to help relieve the pain by rubbing it's head."
Thanatos whispered.
Hades rubbed the sides of his head. Now HE was feeling the onset of a headache.
"Thanatos...how many times do I have to remind you...anything you touch will DIE. That is the basis of your job. It's who you are."
For Thanatos, he'd heard those words a billion times before. Both from his family and from his boss.
While many mistook Hades:- his boss, the God of the Underworld for the God of Death, only a few knew that that station and domain belonged to Thanatos.
And even fewer still, knew just how potent his divinity truly was.
Put simply, Thanatos could kill anything.
He was the PRIMORDIAL DEITY OF DEATH.
His mother Nyx, suspected with enough training...he could even kill conceptual entities like Chaos Itself.
The drawback?
So great was he, that one single look from a mortal was enough to induce loss of life.
A single touch from him and even powerful beasts and gods were in danger of dying. Case in point, Cerberus.
That was not even considering the fact that if he actively decided to use his divinity...nothing could escape him.
-0-
Back in his palace, an obsidian mansion created from darkness and smack dab in the middle of the death realm(a pocket dimension attached to the Underworld), Thanatos sat, bored out of his mind.
Hades had suspended him from court. This time for 10 whole years.
That meant...no more gardening time with Persephone, playing catch with Cerberus, sparring with Hades or even river rides with his younger brother Charon.
Man...if only he was the God of Time, then he could make the years move faster.
Unfortunately that ability lay in the hands of The Titan of Time, Cronus and he was in Tartarus. And even for someone like Thanatos, Tartarus was...less than ideal for a casual visit.
At least his work wouldn't suffer.
He had his grim reapers, disembodied shades created from his own divine essence spread out across the world. Billions of them-killing people in his stead.
Killing sounds harsh but...call a spade a spade, not a big spoon.
He would just have to settle playing chess with himself.
Nothing apart from him could survive the death realm after all.
Nothing.
-0-
2 years into his suspension, Thanatos had had enough of chess. He'd played against himself, his shades, splinter selves(each of the 12 personas of death within his psyche) and was now playing against...
Well himself.
-0-
5 years into his suspension, the God of DEATH had the very bright idea of creating LIFE.
Meaning, he tried to create a companion. Mother Nyx had father Erebus. Hades had Persephone. Cerberus had his three heads. Chiron had his work. His sisters well...they were as devoted to their chosen profession as Chiron. And that was saying something.
Everyone he knew (the whole world was his playing field afterall, so he knew a lot of people) had something. Or someone.
And so the question became what is the fundamental aspect of life?
A start. A spark. Or rather...a seed.
Intuitively, Thanatos drew in all the energy of the Death realm and condensed it into a [SEED].
And then he pulled a part of his own essence, (as a result his power would be forever deprived of 0.000000000000000001% of its total reserves) and gave the seed a spark.
For any other God across Gaea, the galaxy, the universe, hell-- the Multiverse itself, this would have worked.
It didn't for him. If a tier system was in place, Thanatos would be the premier God of Death. He was as diametrically opposed to life as day was from night.
The whole dream had taken three years to be conceived, entertained, before ultimately dying.
He was after all linked to death most inescapably.
Everything he touched...tried was bound to die.
He was cursed to be alone, for all eternity. No companions or friends.
And then a gasping Kane- the last of the ghostly forms from the lake burning off against his blue fiery figure- landed right at the steps below Thanatos' throne.
With this cloak of blue fire, Kane jumped up, breathing heavily while looking around with a sharp and vigilant gaze.
"Oh..."
He coughed, eyes glowing the same blue as the flames around him.
"I survived."
Then, his eyes closed and he slumped over.
Thanatos, the queen in his hand hovering above the board, about to checkmate himself, only had one thing to say.
"Huh?"