Chapter 29
Shadow
“You should’ve stopped calling us family when you began abusing your powers and ruining everything we’ve built.” Artemis finally spoke, her lips trembling as her anger grew.
Zeus cocked a brow and tilted his head as he approached her, coming to a stop only inches from her face. “I believe you have inherited some of my courage, daughter. Addressing the most powerful god in the Kosmos, despite the familial relationship, is quite bold.”
Using familial vulnerabilities for the sole purpose of manipulation.
Pathetic.
Her fists clenched and eyes narrowed. “Don’t call me that.”
“I struck a sensitive chord. Excellent,” Zeus replied without delay, a smirk visible on his face. “In response to your earlier statement, someone needed to abuse their power and authority to assert dominance and instill fear. And who could have executed this better than I?”
“And what did you gain from it? As far as I can see, the only thing you did was push away every living soul around you and make them despise you,” Artemis said, almost bursting with mocking laughter.
“But sure, yes, Father, instilling fear in your so-called family is truly a display of the powerful ruler you want to be.”
She was not exactly known for her self-control, and she looked as though she was about to lose it and snap soon.
With each word she uttered, her voice trembled and grew louder, a fact that did not go unnoticed by the other gods, particularly Eros, who remained still beside the throne but subtly raised his gaze to her.
As her words settled, Zeus had a moment where he froze completely as if his body momentarily forgot what to do. His brow furrowed in contemplation of her words, but the goddess’s interruption silenced him before he could even begin to respond.
“It seems the courage I inherited from you fires back, Father.”
Finally waking up from the state he had been thrown into, Zeus’s eyes squinted. He rapidly surveyed the gods, using his index finger to point at each of them. “That is what you all think? That I had attempted over the past few decades to instill fear in you and make you all despise me?”
At the moment he delivered the final word, his voice became defensive. Rather than displaying his characteristic defiance and authority, this time his speech now had a slight tremble. It was not the result of fear, but rather, arose from a clear sense of frustration.
Today, not only have I witnessed your transformation into a new god after drinking your brother’s blood, but also you are showing feelings—real feelings, basileús.
Did you lose control of them, or do you actually possess them?
Shadow examined the entire scene, and to him, all the deities were trying to understand his words—except Eros.
He was the only one who continued to clutch his weapon, maintaining the appearance that he might resort to violence at any moment.
Suddenly, he felt a stir within his void, drawing him nearer to the god against his will.
This is impossible.
“Per your own statement, Zeus,” Hades’ voice, gravelly and deep, finally resonated as he continued, “You sought to instill fear in us.”
“Au contraire, friend. I never said I wanted to instill fear in you,” he answered, his breath quickening. “However, you morons genuinely thought that and began seeing me as your enemy while our real foe waits for us.”
With a slight widening of his eyes and a darkening of his irises, Hades conveyed his concern at Zeus’s statement.
Shadow was quick to observe an odd twitch at the corner of Zeus’s lips—as if he was about to say more—and this brought back memories from the night when he had trailed Zeus and witnessed him visiting Hades right after his encounter with Thalira.
Perhaps you, God of the Underworld, Death, and the Lord of the Dead, are privy to information we are not aware of.
Yet.
Athena’s voice came sharp as a knife, cutting through the tense atmosphere. “Please elaborate on what you mean by real foe.”
“I must ask, before going into further detail, what actions of mine have led you all to the point of trying to kill me?” he said, stepping farther away from them as if trying to keep a better eye on them.
The only voice that had remained silent until that moment made itself clear by finally saying, “The Gods’ Gambit. Your reign was once just as king, but your actions have recently become increasingly dangerous.”
“I suspected I was missing something, but I didn’t realize what until you spoke, lover boy.” Zeus chuckled, revealing his teeth in the moon’s soft glow. “Although I might have demanded your answer so I can hear your reasons, I must be direct and tell you why your accusations are wrong.”
“Explain,” Hades intervened, subtly turning his gaze to him.
He cleared his throat and began. “The Gambit is essential for preserving the balance of all Kosmos’s dimensions, particularly for protecting my family’s power and preventing the merging of our world and Earth.
You might argue with that but let me say that without these trials, some of you could have already lost your powers and Elythra might have already begun to fuse with the Earth. ”
Referencing them, once more, as your family. I might begin to think that you do have a heart, basileús.
Athena cocked a brow at him, not knowing if she should trust his words or not. “Why didn’t you share this information with us sooner? Why now?”
“I wanted to shield you all from this for as long as I could, even if it might make me seem foolish,” he said. “Because of your actions, I was left with no option but to do it now,” he elaborated, his voice softer this time.
“You lied to us, and because of that, you have made us your enemies instead of protecting us,” Artemis said, her eyes filled with rage.
“Enough,” Hades growled from beside her. “Why would stopping the Gods’ Gambit result in that outcome?”
Zeus fixed his gaze upon him, and with a weighty sigh escaping his lips, he realized that he had no choice but to reveal the truth to them. Fear flashed in his white eyes, not related to his words but to the potential consequences his words might bring to all those who were there.
“Every time an error is born, it rips a fragment of our power, as you all already know. The Earth cannot hold on to magic, and if we do not retrieve it back, a disturbance between realms would ensue. The remaining power on Earth would be drawn to its origin, resulting in a collision between the human world and Elythra, which would lead to the annihilation of all known existence.”
“I am at a loss. I don’t understand why this information was not disclosed sooner and why we were instead deceived,” Athena spoke, her eyes betraying the hint of pity she felt, mixed with a slight anger. “We deserved to know, Zeus. They are our errors as well. We are part of this as well.”
“I sought to protect you, although in light of the current situation and the threats we face, my efforts may have been in vain.”
“Sometimes, the most protective thing you can do is to be truthful.”
The moment Artemis spoke, Eros roared, and as he inched closer to Zeus, he thrust Poseidon’s trident deep into his back.
The three razor-sharp prongs, each meticulously sharpened to perfect points, pierced the god’s muscular torso.
Zeus’s guts were now positioned outside of his body as he fell onto his knees.
My dear god, it’s unsurprising that you did that, but I admit, I completely missed you picking up the trident. It’s possible I was too absorbed in the heated argument and I overlooked your actions.
Shadow felt himself nearing the god; however, his focus immediately went to the words he had spoken.
“You shall listen to your daughter, Zeus. It is indeed time to be truthful,” Eros snarled. He moved toward his ear and continued to drive the trident farther into his flesh, eventually reaching for the transparent floor. “Where. Is. She?”
Shadow was aware that his stillness signified the quiet before a storm, although what was unfolding was not a storm at all, but a lethal hurricane.
As the trident continued to slice through his flesh, Zeus leaned down and gripped at the razor-shape prongs, attempting to force them out of his body.
It was then that Eros raised his leg, positioned himself straddling Zeus’s back, and gradually removed the weapon only to sink it more forcefully inside his torso.
“Where is she?!”
His jaw shuddered, betraying the barely contained fury within, and a small bit of spittle made its way through his tightly clenched teeth.
A deep red color of violence, which started at his ears and went down to his cheeks and neck completely consumed his face, as if the tremendous heat from his anger was literally carving its way into his skin.
I see you. Surrender to the darkness and reveal your seething inner rage to the world, my beloved god.
There was no attempt by the other gods to intervene in the situation, possibly because of fear or possibly because they found pleasure in witnessing Zeus at the mercy of Eros.
Zeus let his hands fall to the floor, his fingers now soaked in his own blood. When he slowly lifted his head to observe the gods who were watching him, his laughter swelled, becoming both louder and more difficult to control as he remained in the same spot.
“For this reason, a man should refrain from displaying vulnerability, even toward his family,” he stated with a gravelly voice, making a brief pause as he gripped the trident between his fingers. “Because his family is always going to be the source of betrayal.”
At that precise moment, he rose to his feet, still keeping the weapon inside his body.
He tensed his abdomen, as though attempting to regain control of his pierced flesh.
After turning his back and moving deliberately, he threw Eros down to the floor, the thudding impact resonating through the room.
Zeus turned on his feet and pivoted to face him.
“The offer of allowing her to live has been completely dismissed,” he snarled, leaning above him with the trident still piercing through his body as he grabbed Eros by his neck, strangling him and raising him into the air.
“Take your hands off him,” Artemis warned, drawing her bow. Hades’ grabbed her shoulder, trying to convince the goddess to stand down, but no one could control Artemis when it came to her friend. Her best friend.
When Zeus made no move to comply, Artemis shot an arrow in his back and then began immediately loading another one. Her father scarcely made a sound. Before she could shoot the second, Hades dragged her away and threw her weapons on the ground.
“This, gods and goddesses, is a display of genuine friendship,” Zeus stated, slowly turning his gaze toward Hades. “Thank you, friend.”
Without uttering a word, Hades maintained his gaze upon him, appearing to be patiently considering whether preventing Artemis from continuing was the appropriate course of action.
Although there was no evidence of any emotion displayed on Hades’ face, Shadow saw a flicker of fear stemming in his eyes from the possibility of Zeus causing Eros any harm.
The crimson anger on Eros’s face darkened almost to purple, his breathing obstructed by Zeus’s hold. Despite his attempts to move his body and escape, his efforts were in vain.
“Let go of me,” Artemis spat in Hades’ face, teeth gritted. It wasn’t until Hades transmitted something with his expression that the goddess stopped her resistance.
“Now,” Zeus spoke again, hissing the words out as he clenched his fingers tighter around Eros’s neck.
“I suggest you not spend your time worrying about me and instead find a way to prevent the world from collapsing after the mortal’s death.
The decision to bond her to the only god with the power to obliterate us all was a terrible mistake. ”
As Eros opened his mouth and attempted to reach for Zeus in a desperate effort to inflict harm, he suddenly collapsed onto the floor.
He reached down to immerse his hands in the spilled blood of Zeus that was pooling on the floor. Once his fingers were drenched with the liquid, he began to hit the floor with his fists. Soon enough his blood mingled with that of his enemy.
Shadow could only hope that Charisma Sinclair will survive, as the situation appeared dire for the God of Love.