The Path to Victory

Chapter 10


Zeus was becoming irritated; he had planned to discuss further battle strategies with Poseidon before attending breakfast, and his brother could not be found in his quarters or anywhere else, for that matter. When inquiring about his whereabouts, Zeus was told by Hestia that the last time she saw Poseidon, the god had been preparing a small meal and drink for Hades to bring into his chambers.

Zeus’ jaw tightened at the mention of that, and he was suddenly more than certain where to find his brothers; both of them.

The leader of the Olympians entered Hades’ bedchamber without knocking, and his suspicions were proven true when he took in the scene before him. Poseidon and Hades were apparently still asleep, and not even Zeus’ entry had been enough to rouse them. Hades lay draped over his younger brother with his head on Poseidon’s shoulder, and Zeus could tell from the scent alone that they had definitely been doing more than simply sleep together.

He briefly contemplated on how to best get his brothers’ undivided attention, and suddenly he knew just how. Grasping the edge of the blanket that loosely covered them, he roughly jerked it away.

The sudden cold of being exposed caused both gods to jolt awake. Zeus’ two older brothers both wore masks of annoyance at their rude awakening, but when they opened their eyes, their looks of irritation turned to expressions of mortification. Poseidon, always so easy when it came to expressing himself, was in truth more reserved than Hades, who bowed his head and avoided Zeus’ gaze outright.

Eyes narrowed, Zeus glanced over both of them and looked at Poseidon. “You were expected in my quarters to further discuss the coming battle.”

“Yes, of course,” Poseidon answered, though he could not remember such a promise. “Forgive me, I shall be present shortly.”

Likely Zeus had not arranged another meeting so early, but was irritated at where he had found his older brother. After their leader left, Poseidon stood from Hades’ bed and scrambled to get dressed as quickly as possible.

Hades’ frowned as he thought of Zeus’ request. “Perhaps I should attend,” he stated as he grabbed his robes as well.

Poseidon opened his mouth to object; Zeus had not requested Hades’ presence, only Poseidon’s, and he knew that showing up in Zeus’ quarters uninvited would hardly benefit Hades. Yet he did not have the heart to voice his concerns. In his opinion, their older brother deserved to be a part of this just as much as Zeus and Poseidon himself.

“Yes, perhaps that is a good idea,” he said, smiling at Hades. “We could use your input on things.”

Hades smiled back, even though he reminded himself that he was still angry with his brother. Finally, in what felt like forever, he might get a chance to prove himself useful.

*

“Enter!” Zeus called when there was a respectful knock on his door, ten minutes after he had roused his brothers from sleep. The door slowly swung open, and indeed his visitor turned out to be Poseidon, except this time he was not alone.

“Welcome, brother,” he said icily. “However, I don’t remember asking for Hades to be present.”

Hades fought to hold his head high despite the immediate rejection, but he still felt ready to bolt and stayed in place only because Poseidon’s arm was around his shoulders.

“This battle concerns all three of us,” Poseidon replied, his tone unobtrusive yet determined. “It is only fair that Hades joins us in planning our strategy.”

Zeus clenched his teeth, and his two brothers both felt like recoiling when he stood up to approach them. “Hades’ presence is not required, or even wanted, as he won’t be joining us in battle,” he announced, as though Hades himself was not even present.

“Zeus!” the older god exclaimed, his frustration finally speaking for him. “Why would you say that? I can fight alongside you!”

“No, you cannot,” the leader replied coldly. “You’re weak, Hades. Which is why you are best suited to remain here with our sisters.”

“That is not true!” Hades shouted. “Why do you always treat me as though I’m worth less than the dirt under your fingernails?! What gives you the right?”

Zeus had to restrain his volatile temper to prevent himself from striking his brother to the floor for his insolence. He held his breath for several seconds before speaking. “Hades, could you give my brother and I a moment? There is something we need to discuss between four eyes.”

Hades, his anger momentarily spent, merely bowed his head and left, closing the door behind him.

Anger still storming in his mind, Hades hurried down the halls, ignoring his sisters as they asked him what was the matter. Unfair… it was so deeply and wrongfully unfair. His face cold and devoid of emotion, Hades kept walking, never stopping even as he arrived at the doorway to the fortress itself.

“Damn all of this,” he muttered as he opened the door and left the refuge, walking towards the cliffs.

Poseidon meanwhile, though not nearly as angry as his elder brother, was not pleased at all with Zeus. Zeus himself was unaware of the fact, as the moment Hades left, he drew out maps and schematics of the coming battle. He would have gone on for hours oblivious to his brother’s anger toward him if he had not looked up at Poseidon a few minutes into his proposal.

“What could possibly be angering you so, brother?” Zeus knew the answer to his question, but the answer irritated him nonetheless.

“You know what,” Poseidon replied. “Excluding our brother was uncalled for.”

“Don’t be so hurt by my decision,” Zeus said with a wave. “I am thinking sensibly, and you know Hades is not as strong as you or I.”

“He is not simply useless,” Poseidon argued. “Do not be so quick to excuse him like you would our sisters.”

“Poseidon, stop acting so hurt about the matter. Just because you take him to bed, it does not mean he would stand a chance in battle.”

“How do you know, when you won’t even give him a chance?”

To prove that the matter was not up for discussion, Zeus slammed his fist against the table hard enough to crack the marble. Poseidon flinched but any other reaction was absent.


“Brother,” Zeus began. “I will only explain this once, so I suggest you listen carefully. You are entitled to question any particular plan of action I have decided, but do not make the mistake to question my authority. My main reason for not wanting Hades with us in battle, apart from the obvious fact that he is not strong enough, is that I need you beside me, focused and alert. If he comes along, you will spend far too much time worrying about him rather than focusing on defeating our father. Do you believe Cronos is simply going to hand over his rule? Even with our formidable weapon, this is going to be a difficult battle to win, and Hades’ presence will only result in our brother being slain needlessly. Tell me that is not what you want, Poseidon?”

“I still think that three will have a better chance of succeeding than two,” Poseidon replied. “And Hades can look after himself. He is not a child!”

Zeus rolled his eyes. “Please, brother. I have no objection to your using him as a bed-warmer, as long as you’re not distracted from our main objective, which I’m sure I don’t have to mention what it is.”

Fury flared in Poseidon’s eyes and he was ready to reach across the table and strangle his brother, but a frantic knock sounded on the door. The two brothers barely had to time to react before Hera was entering the room without consent.

“Forgive my intrusion, brothers, but Hades has left the fortress!”

“What??” Zeus exclaimed, eyes wide with anger.

“He’s making his way to the cliffs!”

Hades was at the cliff’s edge by the time the rest of his kin were running to catch up with him. He only stood there looking at the ocean which reached the horizon.

“Hades!” Zeus called as he and his siblings reached him. “What on earth are you doing?!”’

“You’ll see,” the elder god simply replied. He picked up a small stone and held it over the cliff, dropping it. The stone’s splash was barely heard or seen. “Kraken,” Hades softly said. “I am here. Come and see your creators.”

“Hades!” Zeus grabbed his brother by the elbow. “You know that you must not leave our refuge unaccompanied!” In truth, his first spontaneous thought when he saw the other god standing by the edge of the cliff was that his brother would jump.

“And why would you care?” Hades snapped back. “What possible reason could you have to worry about me, now that I no longer carry our weapon inside me?”

“As we have already experienced, Cronos has many minions and spies in his service. If any of them—”

Zeus was interrupted by the sound of roaring water from down below. Looking down in alarm, he could see something dark and very large quickly ascending toward the surface, and the size of the creature suggested that it was definitely not Hades’ child that had responded to the call.

Eyes blazing, Zeus drew his sword, although he doubted it would be much use against something that gargantuan. “You idiot!” he hissed at Hades, who merely continued to gaze down at the water with a placid expression.

The cliff over the sea was only three stories high, but the waters were still very deep. The shadowy figure surfacing from the sea was at a size in which it could easily climb the walls of the cliff side and reach the Olympians. Though the goddesses were ready to run, they were confused between Zeus’ lack of an order and the calm look on Hades’ face.

Water cascaded off of the creature as it surfaced, and before its head could be seen, several tentacles shot up from its body and scaled the cliff in seconds.

“Wait,” Hades said to his kin, hand out to signal them to remain still.

The tentacles, coated in hard fleshy armor, were soon followed by outstretched bestial hands, which rested on the surrounding boulders, in truth bits of land which had broken from the cliffs over time. Finally a massive head appeared, followed by muscular shoulders. A creature this size would easily swallow the entire group without chance of a fight.

Poseidon was the first to speak as Zeus and their sisters looked on in awe and fear. “Is that… is it really…?”

Hades smiled, gazing up at the indescribable sight of the massive beast. “My child,” he answered. “And your weapon.”

“It cannot be…” Zeus murmured, his sword dropping onto the ground by his feet. He refused to believe his own eyes, yet there was no doubt about it. This was the Kraken, their weapon against the Titans, and it was both a magnificent and terrifying sight to behold. The creature had grown to at least twenty times its previous size in less than two days after they released it into the ocean.

Hades reached out his hands, beckoning to his child, and as though it understood, the Kraken brought its monstrous head toward them, and soon it was close enough to fill their entire range of vision.

Hera, trembling in fear, buried her face in Zeus’ chest, and he wrapped both arms around her, both to give and seek reassurance. The Kraken’s breath washed over them all, and the smell could be described as something resembling rotten fish and seaweed.

“Worry not, brothers and sisters, he will not harm us,” Hades said soothingly. Now the creature was literally close enough to be felt, and Hades did just that, placing his hand against the space between the beast’s nostrils.

The Kraken snorted as though clearing its nose for a better smell of its parent. The air around Hades blew against his hair and he laughed.

Poseidon cautiously stepped forward, arm out. “May I?” he called out.

“Yes, he should be calm enough to tolerate another’s touch,” Hades said, keeping his eyes on his child.

Carefully, Poseidon reached forward and lightly touched the cold, clammy skin of the massive beast, then when he felt more comfortable, drifted his entire palm over it. Smiling, he patted the beast’s muzzle without any fear whatsoever.

Zeus, seeing the compliance of the creature with his two brothers, stepped forward. “Remarkable,” he said, hand out to touch the beast.

The Kraken did not like this one bit, however, and reared its head, growling and scaring the
life out of Hades, and especially Poseidon. Perhaps he had been a little too quick to judge the gentler nature of this beast.

Zeus stepped back, his hand immediately back on the hilt of his sword. The creature still did not like him and apparently had never forgotten what had happened the last time it had encountered him.

Hades tried to soothe the Kraken with hushed words of reassurance, but the beast did not heed him any longer. Its gargantuan form withdrew from the cliff and for a moment it simply stared at the six Olympians, who were unable to judge the look in its eyes. Zeus began to fear that it might decide to make a meal out of its creators, but fortunately his fears were unjustified. The Kraken sank back into the ocean, its massive head and lastly its long, slithering limbs disappeared beneath the surface, and it was gone as quickly as it had appeared.

“My child still doesn’t like you very much, brother,” Hades stated grimly and knowingly eyed Zeus. “He doesn’t even tolerate your touch. Do you believe he will take orders from you once you need him to battle against our father?”

“Is this why you brought us out here, Hades?” Zeus asked, anger clear in his eyes.

Hades closed his eyes for a moment and then looked at Poseidon, who was still staring over the cliff’s edge at the retreating dark shape.

“Perhaps we should retire to our fortress. There is a battle to be planned after all. Then breakfast.”

The last part of his statement was lighter, a little more in high spirits. The ironic cheeriness of the words was not lost on the youngest of the Olympians, and he glowered at his oldest brother as they walked back to the stronghold with their kin.

Zeus knew now that the Kraken’s dislike, even despising of him, was born from the anger felt against him by Hades. He had no choice now but to bring Hades with him to the battle. He could only wonder though if the Kraken would be more invested in attacking Cronos, or the leader of the gods himself.


TBC...