AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Hades.” Kore calls to her, regaining Hades' attention.
He’s battered, a bleeding version of the young man she spent many nights learning. The soft skin of his hard forearms flakes with golden remnants of ichor. An angry, purpling bruise shadows the tawny skin beneath his left eye, and a split lip leaks immortal essence down his chin. Yet he stands with a proud spine and determination tightening his jaw.
“I am with you,” Kore says to her. An oath that makes her feel safe despite the circumstances. “I am with you, no matter what.”
To Hades, those words mean more than emptyI love you’s.
She grips her bident, the cold steel grounding Hades to this moment. Her crown sparkles in her other hand, and she thinks of Minthe. Loyal until the end, Minthe who served her with a devotion Hades never returned.
As she lifts her crown, settling its weight atop her head, Hades thinks of all she must fight to preserve. Of Thanatos. Hecate. Hypnos. And every other child she’s raised in darkness.
Most of all, she thinks of Kore. Of that spot at her side that sat barren for far too long. Hades is determined to bring spring back to her realm.
First, she has to tame her father.
39
Kore
Kronos mocks all of Olympus with his laughter. He taunts the lesser gods, telling them the greater gods have failed.
“I will return to rule you all,” Kronos boasts. “I owned these cosmos before you were created, and I will own you from now until Chaos swallows everything into the primordial void. Come, Olympus, and bow to me!”
Kore watches him with growing annoyance, but their best warriors lie battered and he worries about their odds to win.
A worry that ebbs when Hades looks up at her father with sharp eyes. A worry that fades when she strikes her bident to the ground.
“None shall bow, Kronos,” Hades calls to the Titan. Her voice is defiance and vengeance as Hades disappears into a mist of her making. Hades' words echo through the growing fog.“ You will yield.”
“Join me,” Hades' breath, soft as a whisper, tickles Kore’s ear.
Her fingertips are a phantom touch over the backs of his hands, and he knows she means for him to take up his mother’s torches. Kore twirls the wood of them, testing their weight as he prepares to call forth whatever is needed to bind Kronos again.
Around him, the battered heroes of Olympus move to their feet. Athena stands closest, rolling her neck as she assumes a defensive position. Ichor leaks from a gash at her side, but Athena ignores the wound. Kore admires her ability to remain calm in the face of what could be imminent destruction. All of the gods who stand with shaking limbs know they can’t afford passivity. This is their kingdom. These are their subjects—as much as they are Zeus'—and they owe the lesser deities their everything.
Having ruled the Underworld for a time, Kore better understands the weight of that responsibility. Hades knows the weight of a crown; she often mentioned the burden of her duties outweighing her desires. Her burden—and the love of her realm—forced Hades' hand in Kore’s return. As he stands, awaiting the possibility of infinite punishment, Kore realizes that Hades loves him enough to choose him over the good of her people. She loves him enough to beselfish, and that causes a determination to bloom within his gut, forcing his feet to take a firmer stance as he prepares for the second destruction of Kronos.
We will not lose, Kore tells himself, closing his eyes for a moment and recalling the spirits he served in the Underworld.I will return to you, I promise. I will serve your queen, and you, until Chaos calls the cosmos back to nothingness.
Kronos' eyes fall over him. In them, Kore sees the erosion of planets and the decay of time. He hopes Kronos sees the rebirth of destruction in Kore’s gaze, the rising of mountains, and the growth of tall, proud trees. Let the Father of Time know that there is rebirth after his touch.
We won’t end with you.
A cruel smile lights across Kronos' face, as if he can hear Kore’s thoughts. Another of his awful laughs pours from his mouth—a snicker that’s stopped by a bolt of lightning clipping him in the center of his throat.
Kore turns to find Zeus standing on buckling knees, with ichor leaking from the corners of his mouth. Hatred burns in his charged gaze; a lighting storm dances across Zeus' irises. Kore swallows at the image he paints. He always believed Zeus to be a lazy, lusty buffoon who would rather bed randoms than be a king. Kore never understood the respect for the King of the Gods; often he cursed Zeus under his breath. Now, watching him, Kore deplores those feelings. Now Kore understands what makes Zeusworthyof reverence.
40
Zeus
His wings feel heavy and battered as they weigh down his back. The appendages twitch as Zeus tries to call them back into his body—a moot effort as they resist. He’s too weak to control his limbs, but abhorrence and anger strengthens Zeus' spine. Watching Kronos turn against Hades fueled him to move beyond inaction, but her whisper at his side renews Zeus. Her presence reminds him that he still has some fight in his veins.
“Fight with me, Zeus.” Hades' voice holds a note of pleading. “Fight with me, as you asked me to fight with you all those centuries ago.” Her cold hand squeezes his shoulder, conveying the love she has for him in a brief moment. “Fight beside me as my champion, as my ruler, and remind me why I swore my fealty to you.”
“I will fight for you,” Zeus promises. Even if she didn’t swear her oath to him, Zeus knows he owes Hades. She has always come through for Zeus; it’s high time he return the favor.
He feels Hades leave him. As Zeus glances around, he sees his children and the other greater gods standing with renewed vigor. The fight returns to their limbs the same way it has to Zeus'.
