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Devon felt himself come back to consciousness, the heaviness in his limbs telling him he was no longer in the Underworld.
His mind was spinning. The fight, Crius… someone stabbing Persephone and the look in her eyes…the pain and fear. Demeter… Atlas.
Atlas.
Rolling over, Devon pushed himself up to a kneeling position as he tried to work out where exactly he was. Darkness and rock surrounded him.
A cave?
He finally made out Atlas, who watched the flames of a fire from a few feet away.
“My brother brought you humans fire. Ridiculous creature, thinking to help such weak, pathetic beings. You have the lifespan of fruit flies compared to us, yet he thought you were worth it. They say Zeus banished him to Tartarus to have his liver eaten by Zeus’ pet.” Atlas threw a log in the fire as the flames grew higher and shadows danced along the ceiling. “Lies.”
“Must suck to know that your brother got all the goodness and soul in utero.” Devon murmured. He tested his strength and found he had a bit more than he did before Atlas abducted him.
Atlas looked towards Devon, the fire reflecting ominously in the giant Titan’s eyes before he stood and sauntered over to where Devon sat.
Devon tried not to let out an audible gulp as he used the last of his reserves to stand, hoping he could muscle up enough of his power to fight if Atlas attacked.
“I have been the general of the great army of our King of Gods, Cronus, long before your ancestral line was walking up right. You dare speak to me as if I am nothing but some fledgling human?”
Atlas shoved Devon and he found himself no longer in the cave but looking out over the coast of some unfamiliar island with Atlas still beside him.
“Before Cronus was banished, this land around you thrived.”
All the trees were dead along the coastline, the sand gray, and the water inky with who knew what beneath.
“Half this globe looks like this. Had Cronus been in power, this would not have happened. His pathetic offspring did not know how to put true fear in the hearts of the humans and this is what we have. Death and destruction.”
“Humans did this to themselves,” Devon replied as he watched a whirlpool open in the ocean, moving closer to the coastline and taking everything down in its path. The trees trembled before they were pulled down into the abyss as it moved along the shore.
“Yes, because the Goddesses were too weak to stop them.” Atlas turned to look at Devon. “There is a war. We, the Titans, intend to take back what was ours before the betrayal of our king’s progeny. You were a soldier and are capable of great power. We had every intention of you joining our team, as that was the plan from the beginning. I waited for you and watched you grow, but you were not fit to fight past your prime, so we took action when you were at your most capable.”
Devon felt as everything clicked into place at Atlas’ words.
He felt the earth tremble around him as the land disappeared into the sea, but he was lost.
Lost in the memory of his death.
The moment when he was killed by something he could not see. He closed his eyes, now with the ability to see what a mortal could not.
He watched as Atlas, shielded in shadows, pulled the trigger of the gun he had focused on Devon at point-blank range.
The bullets as they tore through Devon’s human flesh.
As Atlas lowered the gun and disappeared deeper into the darkness.
As Devon fell to the floor, his life blood leaving his body.
He watched it all happen in front of him like a movie playing out.
“You killed me so I would fight for your side,” Devon muttered, his mind piecing all the events that had transpired since his death almost faster than his brain could handle.
“As you still can. You’ve ascended and are a God in your own right. Maybe you do not carry the blood of a Titan, but you carry the power of one.” Atlas explained.
“You… killed me. I couldn’t see my attacker, but that was because I was still mortal and unable to see through your wards, to see your power signature. Had I been a God…”
“You would’ve known me from the start. I even managed a spell from some witches to hold off the reaper, but the damned Fates tied your string to the weak progeny of the great Cronus!” Atlas sneered and his bulky shoulders tightened even more.
