They all watched as Zeus stepped in between Artemis and Nike, grinning lecherously at Hecate. Hecate took a step back from Zeus, her eyebrows raising. He opened his mouth to say something as Hecate held up a hand to silence him. They couldn’t hear what Hecate and Zeus were saying, but watching the scene unfurl before them was no less satisfying. They watched on as Hecate dismissed Zeus with a wave of her hand, turning back around and giving Aphrodite a small smile.
“I think she’s secretly in charge of all of us,” Poseidon admitted, his eyes wide as he got an idea of what the Goddess of witchcraft was all about. The gods milled about for a little while longer, until there was a great bellowing sound that shook the hall. It sounded far off, and Erebus knew it was coming from the valley.
Zeus stood immediately, and the sounds of weapons being unsheathed and the dull hum of power began to fill the room. He parted the crowd and stormed out, the rest of the gods following.
“Here we go again,” Hades chuckled, magically pulling out his bident once more. Poseidon laughed, a darker sound that Erebus was used to hearing from the god. He cracked his knuckles, summoning the infamous trident out of thin air.
“Come on, boys, I think our luck is about to change.” There was a tone to Poseidon’s voice that subtly let Erebus know whateverplan Bwas, the brothers had found it.God help us.
They filed out, making up the rear of the war procession, finding Hecate waiting for them.
“What are you doing here?” Erebus asked with a raised brow as they fell a few steps behind the rest of the gods. Hecate shrugged.
“I wasn’t kidding. I do think that everyone needs to wrap this up. I don’t like the havoc it’s causing, having gods, primordials, and titans all locked in a confrontation.” Erebus studied her face for a moment, noticing that she wasn’t making eye contact with him.
“Did Nyx send you?” His voice was dreadfully quiet, almost hopeful, when he asked. His heart skipped a beat waiting for her answer. When she did speak, it was quiet, just for him.
“Yes. She is still concerned about the Fates’ prophecy, but she asked me—”
“She asked you to watch after me?” Erebus raised an eyebrow, not offended by the concept but also confused as to how a god, any god, less powerful than him would be of great assistance. Hecate shrugged as if she read his thoughts.
“I think more so there would be someone you trusted out there, Erebus. Not everything can simply be settled by a power struggle.” Erebus sighed, the ever-present ache in his chest getting more prominent by the minute.
“I do trust you, Hecate.”
The goddess grinned, flipping some hair over her shoulder as she hid her other heads.
“Excellent. Now, let’s wrap this up. I left Thanatos in charge of my dogs, but I have a feeling he’ll be busier than the rest of us soon.” There was a wicked gleam in her eye when she said it, and Erebus knew that as wise as Hecate was, she was not to be messed with. She had a bloodthirsty streak as wide as the rest of them, except hers only came out when it was justified, making it more dangerous.
By the time Erebus had caught up and stared over the precipice of the mountain, no one was prepared for what they saw. Hecate was gone, rushing down the mountainside with the other gods as quickly as she could, vanishing and reappearing in midair. There was a massive mass at the base of the mountain, standing taller than anything in the valley. There was an earth-shattering roar that shook rocks free from the cliff side, sending them down on some of the heads of those below. At the base of the mountain, plucking gods out of the sky, was Hekatonkheires. One of the most feared creatures of Greece, he was stronger than all the gods and all the titans. The giant had over fifty heads and one-hundred arms, all of them moving sporadically. His most memorable trait, however, was the stench—a smell that came from fifty mouths, maws open, smelling of rotting flesh. It carried through the valley and made everything smell like death.
Erebus turned and looked at Poseidon and Hades, both of whom had deadly serious expressions on their faces.
“Are youfuckingkidding me?” Erebus growled, immediately pulling back his arm and delivering a swift blow to Hades. The god stumbled backward, ichor pouring from his nose. Poseidon stepped in between them with his hands up in a placating gesture.
“Erebus, easy. I know that this seems brash—”
“Brash?” Erebus yelled, shoving Poseidon in the chest. “You really should just challenge Zeus to combat at this point, if you think unleashing Hekatonkheires was the bestplan B?”
Hades stood up from the ground, wiping at his nose. “Listen, we’ve thought this through…”
“We don’t have time for that,” Erebus snapped, his gaze returning to the battlefield down below. It was already devolving into carnage, and Erebus cringed at the sight of the bodies.
It took one lunge and he was off, diving into the fray. Erebus rolled his shoulders back as he slid down the mountainside, rejoicing in the feeling of his shadows once more. He stopped halfway down, with a great shout and tossed his hands out into the air in front of him, and a wave of blackness unfurled from him. It was like a blanket tumbling down the cliff side, not like veins, but a wave. The darkness consumed everything that it touched and leaving no light behind. It was not like nightfall, no, it was the absence ofeverything.To be within the darkness was to hardly exist at all; it was Erebus at his most primordial, an elemental blackness that things had to claw forth to existence. Erebus’s yell shook the heavens in answer to Hekatonkheires, his veins turning black under his skin. His body shook with the strength of his exertion, chest heaving as a raw, unfiltered power was violently ripped from his body at his own command.
Every god and titan down below stopped and turned, seeing Erebus on the side of Mt. Olympus and the rushing wave of blackness towards them. This had surpassed anything that they had seen, even his efforts the day prior. Hecate grinned wickedly in encouragement, using his momentary distraction to drive a poisoned blade between the ribs of a titan. The gods cheered as the blackness rushed down to meet the hundred-armed monster, but only one face was utterly unamused. Zeus.
The God of lightning had been making his way towards Kronos, utterly content to leave Hekatonkheires alone, much to Poseidon and Hades’s disappointment. Zeus decided that if a missing Erebus didn’t pull Nyx out of hiding, then the monster would. What he did not account for, however, was Erebus. There was a petulant rage in Zeus that was fully unlocked at the sight of Erebus, once more, displaying greater power and authority than Zeus could ever imagine. Zeus’s eyes nearly went red with anger as his shoulders tensed, conjuring up a lightning bolt that he gripped in his hand like a sword. The battle had descended into utter chaos around him once more, as the darkness continued down the mountainside, slowly but surely.
Hekatonkheires was distracted by a melee of gods flying around him—most notably Hermes with winged sandals and Helios in a blazing chariot, distracting him with piercing blows at one of his many eyes. The monster didn’t see the blackness rushing down upon them. The darkness alone wouldn’t kill anyone, but it would greatly inhibit them, rendering them virtually senseless. It was then that Erebus was able to step in, with all his senses intact in the darkness, and end his opponents.
Zeus gripped the lightning tighter and kicked off the ground, launching himself above the fray and up towards Erebus. Poseidon and Hades had already joined in the fighting down below, waiting for Erebus’s darkness to descend upon the battlefield in totality. Poseidon caught a glimpse of Zeus, rocketing up toward Erebus with murder in his eyes. The primordial was in deep concentration, required to both wield his power and avoid giving himself over to it completely.
“Erebus,” Poseidon yelled out, his voice becoming a booming echo that shook the valley. It got his attention, and Erebus stopped, the shadow on the mountainside stopping its progression. He looked up right at the moment that Zeus tackled into him, the impact sounding like a thunderclap. No one noticed, there were now too many enemies, and the gods were all locked in combat. Ares and Apollo had joined the frays that were throwing barbs at Hekatonkheires, none of which were making a lasting impact. Hecate herself had proved wickedly efficient with short blades and was moving through a line of titans with barely a sweat breaking out on her brow.
Erebus and Zeus rolled until they came to a stop, both now on a short outcropping on the side of the mountain. Zeus stood first, his eyes contorting to an expression of utter madness as he bared his teeth. Erebus stood up and dusted himself off, his black shadows still filling his veins. They began to circle each other once more, seizing up their opponent. There was now a spinning thundercloud that was forming above Mt. Olympus and the entire valley, a dark, ominous vortex that sparked with lightning. Hekatonkheires let out another shout that sent rocks tumbling down the mountainside as the cliff face shook—he was beginning to climb the mountain.
“Zeus,” Erebus’s voice had dropped, a commanding tone to it that was so powerful, it reminded you that he was one of the first five beings in existence. “You need to think very carefully about what you’re doing right now. Do you think the gods aren’t watching? Why are you attacking an ally?” Erebus tried to appeal to Zeus’s ego.
