The Fated One

4 (Hades)

It was almost time to leave for the meeting and I was pissed. Beyond that, even-- I was ready to rip apart Zeus' entire kingdom and leave him to rot in the ruins. I wanted him to feel the very betrayal that I felt now, and know in the depths of his very essence that he was wrong to try to mess with my kingdom.

He wouldn't dare. The papyrus scroll laid out on my desk, filled with names and ages and death dates, blurred in my red-tinged vision. The divine quill in my fist splintered under the pressure of me squeezing it, and I forced myself to release it before it broke  in half. Hephaestus would not appreciate having to make another for me.

"Breathe, Hades," Hecate's ageless, echoing voice reminded me. My eyes shot to her. She was standing near the fireplace in my study, watching me with those ancient eyes. The light from the fire cast contrasting light and shadows on her skin and made her face look older. I almost snapped at her, but her eyes flared just a little in warning, and I caught a glimpse of the ancient, primordial Chaos that she'd been formed from. It would be a bad idea to pick a fight with her.

I took an unnecessarily deep breath and looked around my study, trying to clear my head. Nyx had taught me to concentrate on my surroundings when I needed to get a grip on my emotions, back when I had first took over and everything had been new and terrifying. I took in the gray stone walls and looming bookcases, the chairs for guests to sit in while I worked, the rugs and tapestries thrown on the ground to make it seem a little more welcoming and less like a cave. It didn't help me calm down like it usually did.

I took another deep breath. Hecate was right; it would do me no good to allow myself to be blinded by my own anger. But my chest throbbed with rage at the news of my brother's betrayal, and the ancient power I was born with stirred in me for the first time in centuries, itching to be let out. It was boiling inside me like water over a fire. I fought to suppress it, but when I opened my eyes I groaned a curse, momentarily forgetting my anger. My desk, littered with scrolls, trinkets, and writing tools, was encased in bits of metal and crystal, all sharp angles and deadly points. All of it would have to be replaced-- especially the scrolls.

"I'll have to redo all of this now," I complained. So much for not breaking my quill-- it was encased along with the rest. I wasn't sure if my desk was even salvageable. Great.

"One issue at a time, Polydegmon." I glanced at my former mentor, who was looking at me with a mixture of amusement and concern. "I can have someone replace the desk and quills. As for the scrolls, I'm sure someone can get a few servants to salvage what they can. But we need to worry about Zeus' plan."

His plan. I stood up from my chair and began to pace, unable to stay still any longer. "He can't force me out of my seat. I was specifically told that I had to stay until--"

"Yes," Hecate interrupted. "But Zeus is tired of waiting. He wants you home--"

I snorted. "Oh yes, let's pretend Zeus isn't doing this out of anything other than his own self-serving interests. He wants more power and he thinks he can just unseat me and be done with it."

"Likely," she acknowledged. "So what are you going to do to stop him from doing just that?"

"Beat some sense into him," I grumbled, but shook my head and sighed. "He's going to spin this like he's concerned about my wellbeing." Self-serving bastard. "But if I can find a way to assure him that the responsibility is easy for me to handle after all these years..."

"Without downplaying those responsibilities," Hecate interjected. "He doesn't know how much work goes into keeping the Underworld running, and if he takes it from you because he thinks it'll be easy to manage..."

"Everything will turn into Chaos," I finished. I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. "I can't bring the judges since they are all technically shades, and therefore can't leave the Underworld. Humans aren't allowed on Olympus anyway, even dead ones. I'm running out of beings who can attest that I can handle this."