Betrayal in Elysium [malexmale]

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty

"So," Hades began, "Let me get this straight."

We sat around in the throne room, with Hades sitting on his throne looking all high and mighty in his shiny black battle armor, similiar to Sept's, except it was entirely black with a black cape that flowed around him, like his black hair that he had brushed over his shoulder. The rest of us stood around his throne, swallowing hard in hopes that he wouldn't kill us for telling him everything that had happened to us in the past year, or to us, the past two days. Hannibal was wise to remain dead silent and stand behind Cain and I, watching Hades very cautiously. Not that it mattered considering Hades was probably going to wipe him from existence anyway.

"Something about Cain and Abel," Hades said, making Cain and I roll our eyes, "Blah blah blah something betrayal, blah blah. Hannibal. Blah blah blah. Prometheus. Trapped in a Labyrinth for what you thought was two days, but was actually an entire year of shit storms that not only rampaged through the underworld, but Olympus and the mortal realm, and we even had to call in Thor and Odin to help us. About seven hundred thousand sixty-five-- wait, sixty-six men. All died in that one year, fighting against the Titans, who threatened to take over the world and destory everything. And still about a handful of those friendly little boogers managed to escape and go into hiding where we can't find them. They're not at the Labyrinth either, something something something, Daedalus, maps of Atlantis, a weird Atlantean ritual, something about Prometheus again, then Hannibal, then oceans and skies and beaches that are filthy and gross and watched over by both my lovely brother, Poseidon, and my mentally retarded nephew, Apollo. My sons, also my most trusted and important generals, while the rest of us were suffering, went on a vacation to the Bahamas. Is that what you just told me?"

Nobody said anything. Judging from the toxic amounts of sarcasm Hades was spewing, it was safe to say he was angry enough to kill us all in one blow. We just stayed quiet, nodding very slowly, afraid that even that single gesture would result in our deaths. Hades said nothing for a moment, then rested his elbow on the arm of his throne, his cheek against his knuckles-- which was shocking considering his gauntlets were spiked.

"And," Hades added, holding up another finger at us to stop us from talking, not that we were going to bother, "The fun part is that Prometheus cursed my wife and I to have infants that he kills. Did I get that part right too?" I swallowed hard and just gave a short nod. Hades nodded back, lifting his head up and resting his hands on the arm rests of his throne. He stared straight ahead for a while, bouncing his knee.

"Well," He mused after a while, giving a light shrug so his armor clinked, "I have a few options to consider. I can go the easy route and just kill you all for your stupidity and recklessness." Nobody said anything to that. We didn't dare. Hades looked disappointed, then continued.

"Or I could have Zeus do it for me when I tell him the good news." He offered. Still no one spoke. Hades practically pouted, drumming his fingers on the arm rests.

"Okay, fine, we can also go with option three. You bumbling idiots return to your jobs, double time. I take half the funds I send you, unless you actually need it for something, like, oh say, a Titan outbreak maybe? I also send representatives to each of your territories to watch and make sure that you're actually doing your jobs. These reps will also attend your lovely meetings to make sure you actually get shit done. So, tell me which option you like best. I personally like the first one myself, but Persephone's into democracy and told me while she was away that I ought to be nicer to you boys." He explained, waving his hand at us as if he couldn't care less. We shared looks, then turned back to him.

"Option three sounds great." I said first. Cain nodded quickly in agreement.

"Yeah, living sounds pretty fun. I could deal with that." He agreed. Hades wrinkled his nose at that, then looked at my other brothers, who nodded in agreement with us and when he looked at Sept, the Egyptian ex-god bowed his head.