“What have you learned, Darkness?” Poseidon posed the question carefully, running a finger on top of his wine glass. Erebus turned to study him, the immortals sizing each other up. There had been a tense camaraderie between them up until that point; he knew that the brothers had been planning something, but he didn’t know what. He was concerned that the brothers were now involved in Zeus’s plot to trap him and Nyx. Hephaestus had only warned him off Zeus, but how would he know who Zeus had confided in? Erebus took a deep breath and decided. He could overpower anyone, if it went that badly.
Erebus let his shadows slip out a little more, curling around Poseidon and Hades’s feet in a subtle warning. He leaned back against the column so he could address them both.
“Hephaestus warned me that Zeus had him make…a weapon.” He paused and studied their faces, pleased to find genuine confusion there.
“A weapon? Zeus uses his own lightning.” Hades muttered in confusion, turning over to look at the god, who was in an opposite corner and arguing with Hera. Erebus nodded.
“He wanted a weapon that could restrain even primordials.” Erebus’s brow furrowed as he said it, anger rising in him once again with unparalleled fury. The shadows tightened around the brother’s ankles until Poseidon slapped him on the back.
“Um, Erebus—”
“Oh, fuck.” Erebus looked down and pulled back the shadows, nodding as they retreated. “Sorry. That’s what I was told. A weapon to restrain a primordial.” Poseidon was gripping his wine glass so tightly his knuckles had gone white, and Hades was shaking his head in disbelief.
To their credit, if they knew anything about this, they’re impeccable actors.Erebus evaluated both and listened to his shadows as they snaked around the god’s bodies.There must be something else that they’ve been planning.
“He couldn’t possibly mean to defeat you?” Hades’s voice was incredulous, a tone that Erebus had never heard him take before. He nodded. Poseidon cursed.
“He means to capture you? That’s why he pressured you to be here? Is that why he pressured us to recruit you so terribly?” Poseidon turned to Hades for conformation.
“No,” Erebus let out a long sigh. “I’m afraid his ambitions are worse than that.” There was a heartbeat of silence before both brothers had to fight to keep their voices down, exploding in an array of whispered curses. The oldest curses, Erebus noted with a mental grin, invoked his ancient name.
“Capture Nyx… He’s lost his mind.” Hades shook his head, bewilderment covering his features.
“That’s why you’re here.” Poseidon nodded solemnly, some of his composure coming back into his face. “You’re making sure that doesn’t happen.”
Erebus sighed deeply, not removing his gaze from Zeus, who had moved on and was now leaning against a wall and shamelessly leering at Artemis.
“Exactly. Hephaestus warned me.”
“Is he makingthat weapon?” The realization dawned over Hades. “It would be suicide if he admitted that he could create something like that.”
“I’m not sure. He didn’t tell me. He warned me that he had been commissioned to do it. I would imagine that he’s stringing Zeus along…but I can’t be sure.”
“Did you warn Nyx?” Poseidon put his hand on Erebus’s shoulder and turned him towards him. “Surely, you’ve told her about this?”
Erebus eyed the hand on his shoulder and then raised a brow at Poseidon.
“Did I senda warningto Nyx?” He shook his head. “There is no warning her of anything; she doesn’t know the meaning of the word.”
“Why not at least tell her what you know? Let her know that is the reason you’re staying? Erebus.” Hades looked at him and shook his head. “Do you think you need to prove yourself because you came against her wishes?”
The targeted question made Erebus’s heart skip a beat; he kept it off his face. Hades was right, but there were other reasons why Erebus hadn’t told Nyx immediately of what he had learned.
“Zeus has spies everywhere. He’ll know if I leave Mt. Olympus, even if I go in smoke and shadow. Everyone knows that Nyx and I haven’t been speaking since I arrived. If I suddenly ran off to the Underworld and then reappeared, it would cause concern.”
“Do you think?” Poseidon raised a brow as he looked out over the crowd of gods, now getting increasingly drunk as the evening wore on. The toasts kept coming, albeit somewhat prematurely, since they only had one win under their belt and the confrontation was far from over.
“I know so. Everything here is about politics. I know it, you know it. It would spark enough of a rumor mill if I went back to the Underworld that it might spook Zeus. He’s only going to attempt this if he thinks he has the element of surprise.” Erebus turned around so he faced both brothers. “Now, what is it that you two have been up to this whole time?”
There was a millisecond of a glance exchanged between Poseidon and Hades, but it was Hades who motioned for Erebus to follow him. The three gods silently filed out of the hall, using a side door that would hopefully get less attention. The gods were drunk enough that there was a good chance no one would see them leave, but on Mt. Olympus, someone was always watching.
The three immortals made it outside into the cool night air, the sweet reprieve of light filling Erebus’s lungs with a sense of longing once more. He would never again take the feeling of rolling over the nighttime sky with Nyx for granted. The freedom that it brought him, the expansive breath of the universe that they got to call home when they descended. Hades led them down a paved road, amongst the other residences that some of the gods kept there, stopping in front of a black door.
“My ambassador residence, if you will.” Hades ushered them inside. The house wasn’t huge, but it was beautifully built—a residence for a god no matter how small it was. The stone was all black with a fire pit in the center, low benches surrounding it.
“You spared no expense.” Poseidon rolled his eyes as he sat down, Hades and Erebus following.
“I live in the Underworld, you know that. I only took Zeus’s offer to piss off Hera, that she’d have less room next door. And you’re one to talk, you don’t even have a home up here, water boy.”
