by Jory Smith
Rushing towards Ares’ back leg, Amadi shot the chain that connected Terry to Aphrodite, leaving Terry free to Ares in the back of the knee carrying his whole weight. Ares tried to defend himself, but he was too late. Terry being faster and stronger caused Ares to flip up in the air and was slammed down hard from one of Terry’s punches. Hearing a shotgun blast, Terry looked up and saw Zeus laying down on the ground holding the knee Nicolai shot. Athena tried to attack Nicolai, but was held back when Amadi grabbed hold of her hair and punched her in the temple. Donning his bracer from Ares’ belt, Terry summoned his weapons to him.
Aphrodite grabbed his shoulders and before she could say anything he turned around and smacked her across the face with his rifle knocking her out cold. Hearing the screams of Thantos for his father, Terry turned his attention to the god that tortured him. To save Thantos’, Hades ran up to Thantos and clobbered him over the head with his weapon, a vicious two pronged fork. Aiming his weapon at Hades, Terry was about to fire before Nicolai stepped in front of his rifle.
“Don’t do it Terry,” Nicolai yelled, aiming his shotgun at Terry. “If you shoot, I will shoot.”
“He was in on the torture. His son tortured me for seven days. Their lives are mine!”
“You can kill us if you want, young man,” Hades said pushing Nicolai aside. “But if you do, remember the consequences. If we die, something far worse will be unleashed on earth. And you don’t want that to happen.”
Terry turned his weapon to the side and shot into the horizon screaming to let out the anger that had built up. After his weapon stopped firing from being over heated, he looked around and noticed Dionysus was gone. “Where is Dionysus?” Terry yelled, looking around.
“He left when the trouble began. He has never been brave,” Hades answered. “Don’t worry I sent Helios after him.”
Terry lowered his head, removing the god’s out of his sight so his anger would die. Now is not the time to lose control Terry he thought to himself. Everyone watched the young demi-god tried to regain his composure or occupied with something else, none of them noticed what happened next.
A black blur ran past all of the gods, and knocked them down. Looking up Terry saw another shade. It looked quite similar to the one they had killed in the compound, yet he saw some slight differences. This one was a bit shorter but broader, it looked more like a female and she was holding Zeus up by his throat. Then it started to speak in their hissing voice.
“My masters would like to thank you humans for giving them the key to their freedom. You have wounded Zeus for us. For that you shall live today.”
With a flick of her wrist, a black hole formed underneath the shade and Zeus, and just as quickly they dropped into the hole. Hades tried to run for his brother but missed them as the hole closed after them.
“What have you done?” Ares screamed. He recovered just in time to watch his brother disappear with the shade. He tried to stand up but couldn’t because of his knee. “You have allowed the Daimōn to grab Zeus. When they break him, their kind will be free.”
“There is something we can do, brother,” Hades said to Ares. “We have three powerful demi-gods that can be raised. Then they can go and rescue Zeus.”
“Why would we put our tails on the line for Zeus?” Amadi asked.
Ares looked at him and laughed. “You don’t understand, do you? The shades are not the Daimōn. The Daimōn are far worse and if they get loose, the whole galaxy will be destroyed.”
With Atlanta and Artemis helping him up, Ares turned toward Hades. “Grab Poseidon and I will grab Demeter. We will meet on Olympus. There we will ascend these three to god-hood. Brother, I hope you know what you are doing. These three will be far more powerful than us Originals.”
“I know, brother. But it’s good to see that you are back to normal. What happened to you?”
“I am not entirely sure. All I remember is that I was in my domain planning a war. Everything after that is foggy.”
“Try to remember.”
Ares turned to Aphrodite who was lying down unconscious. “All I remember was a spirit coming to me, slowly corrupting me over the years. Then one day the shade came offering its allegiance. I can still feel that spirit inside her, I can feel it sucking me back in.”
“How can Aphrodite do that?” Athena asked
“That is not Aphrodite. I don’t know what that is, but that is not our sister,” Ares replied.
“Thantos, Athena, take Aphrodite to Olympus and put her in a cell,” Hades commanded. “When our new kings have gained their power, you will hand her over to them.”
Picking up Aphrodite’s limp body, Thantos followed Hades with Athena keeping an eye on Aphrodite.
Ares turned to the three demigods. “I hope you are ready for this. Let’s go and make you gods.”
Chapter 21
The room the ceremony was being held in was packed full of gods to witness this rare event. Pillars made of crystal went up as far as the eye could see and on top of each pillar; sat a star that shined. Every attending god wore white robes that reflected the light. The whole room had a glow that brought a sense of life to everyone. At the head of the throne room stood three thrones; waiting for their new owners.
Demeter, Poseidon, Ares and Hades stood next to each other dressed in their formal wear. Demeter wore an elegant gown made of leaves, Poseidon wore a robe of water, Ares wore chainmail made of pure gold and Hades wore a robe made of the blackest silk. In front of them; stood Athena, Thantos, and Hermes. Each carrying a satin red pillow that held a shard made from a diamond. In front of each shard knelt one of the demi-gods; Terry in front of Hermes, Nicolai in front of Thantos and Amadi in front of Athena. The demi-gods wore a white robe and a crown on their heads.
“We are here to ascend these three demi-gods to full god-hood,” Poseidon said to start the ceremony.
“You have grown accustomed to your powers as demi-gods,” Demeter said. Her eyes still filled with hatred when looking at Terry. “With your ascension you will gain new powers. Greater powers than you can ever imagine.”
“Just one of you will be far more powerful than any of us combined,” Ares continued. “That is why we rarely raise a demi-god to full god-hood.”
“That is why you will lead us into the new age,” Hades finished. “Now take your place among us.”
The four Originals took each other’s hands and the shards began to glow. Each of the men grabbed their shards and yelled out their discipline.
“I Nicolai Altukhov, lord of life,” Nicolai yelled.
“I Amadi Oleke, lord of wisdom,” Amadi yelled out.
“I Terry Burke, lord of destruction,” Terry yelled out the loudest.
Grabbing their shards, they placed it over their hearts and shoved their shards into their chests and the new gods began to acquire the glow of full gods. The whole room erupted praising the lords of Olympus.
After the ascension took place, Nicolai, Terry, and Amadi were placed on thrones and crowned the new rulers of Olympus. One by one the gods came, knelt, and swore loyalty to the new rulers. Not all of the gods came. Some still thought of them as humans that didn’t deserve to rule. They also still had the battle on earth to deal with.
The little time they had spent in the Plane of Existence had actually equaled five years on earth. Apparently Jessica was now leading the charge to save the human race and they were worshiping her as a goddess.
“As you can see, my lords, we have a lot to handle.” Poseidon was finishing his report. “Don’t forget the promise you made to me when you were still human, Nicholas.”
“Don’t worry, we will free your son,” Nicolai answered. “Do you have any idea who else could be in there?”
With Poseidon shaking his head no, Terry spoke up. “What we need to do is help Jessica in her efforts.”
“That may need to be put on hold,” Hades said. “I had the fates look her up and they can’t find anything about her.”
“Zeus did the same
thing with the Graeae, and they couldn’t see anything as well,” Terry said.
“The Graeae can only see into the future,” Hades explained to Terry. “The fates see the future and the past, but they don’t see anything about her. That only means one thing. Someone has been hiding what she really is.”
“I know Jessica, and she is not our enemy,” Terry said. “Besides we will need her help against the Daimōn. Is that why she can’t be here, because you don’t trust her?”
Hades and Ares looked at each other avoiding Terry’s eyes.
“We need to question whoever has possessed Aphrodite on what she was doing,” Amadi said, hurrying to change the subject. “I will start reading what Zeus wrote about the Daimōn and the Angelos. When I am ready I will talk with her.”
Nicolai watched Terry’s eyes darken with anger as Ares avoided his question. Terry is going to kill Ares. I have seen that look a thousand times. I have given that look more. Amadi and I are going to have to discuss what we are going to do with Terry. Perhaps our fathers can give us advice.
“Here is what’s going to happen,” Nicolai commanded. “I will work with Poseidon to find this prison and learn how to free the prisoners. Terry, since you know Jessica better than the rest of us, will go down to earth and find out what she is up to. You will also try and find out what she is, so these fools can be pleased. Amadi, you will be in charge of questioning Aphrodite, learn more about the Daimōn, and try to find a way we can get Zeus back.”
Amadi and Terry looked at each other and finally agreed to Nicolai’s delegation of responsibilities. When the older gods left, Amadi
“We will still have to deal with the gods that have not acknowledged our ruling,” Amadi said. “Then we have the gods that are still in hibernation. How are we going to deal with them?”
“That will be easy,” Terry said. Leaning back in his chair he summoned the child god. “Hebe, you are summoned.”
The child goddess appeared before them and knelt to the ground. “I have come to your summons, my lord. What will you have of me?”
“I want you to take Athena, Artemis, and Atlanta and go see if you can get a count of all the gods who are still in hibernation and where they are at. We don’t want to have any more surprises here.”
“At once, my lord,” she said before she disappeared.
“Well gentleman,” Terry said. “If we are done for the day, I am going to Jessica. It has been five years since we last seen each other for her. Even though it seemed like hours to me, I am surely going to get yelled at.” Without moving a muscle, he suddenly disappeared.
“We have to do something about him. Something inside him has changed,” Amadi finally said after he probed to see if Terry had left any listening wards behind. “He still wants to kill every one of them and we can’t allow that to happen.”
“I know. Perhaps we can just keep Terry away from them,” Nicolai said agreeing with Amadi. “He is powerful though. I think he may be more powerful than me.” After a moment of silence Nicolai brought up another subject. “What are we going to do about ruling? I really don’t want to do this for all of eternity. How about you?”
“I wouldn’t mind being in charge,” Amadi said. Then quickly added “Of course for the important matters, like with what we are dealing with now, we can come to a consensus. Or if you want, and if Terry agrees with this, we can rotate who is lead.”
“That sounds nice,” Nicolai responded. “Do you really think we are going to be free to rule? Someone is bound to try and take control. I don’t mind if they do though, seeing as I have what I need.”
“We will deal with that when it happens.” Amadi said leaning back in his chair.
“That sounds like an idea to me. I am out of here. I also need to check up with Celeste. I don’t know how long she thinks I have been gone, but with my luck she probably has thought it was longer. ” Nicolai disappeared before Amadi could say anything.
Sitting on his throne, Amadi was left alone in his thoughts. He knew Nicolai wouldn’t fight him for supremacy, but what about Terry? He had been through a lot, and being tortured like that changed his motivation. I will have to talk this through with Athena.
Now back on earth, Terry was amazed at the progress Jessica was making, especially with the resources she had. When he first looked in on her he saw that she was rebuilding the cities and had walls to help protect them. As long as the humans stayed within the walls, they were kept safe. As of this moment she had cities dotted across the whole east coast of the states and working her way west. What surprised Terry so much was the fact she let them set her up as a deity. I have to ask how that came about. The best part of being on earth, besides Jessica, was no gods. Since they kept the edict in place, he wouldn’t run into any gods—any gods he couldn’t kill. Right now he was hoping he would run into some of those gods.
Truthfully, Terry didn’t care about any of them. He didn’t care if it wasn’t really Ares who had tortured him. He didn’t care if Ares had been possessed. They were all a part of it, and he would have his revenge for the things they did to him. There was only one person who would help him with that—Jessica.
Walking up to her headquarters he nervously continued his descent up the stairs. Talking himself out of teleporting to her, he wanted to give himself time to think of what he was going to say. It would be the first time he would see her since they came back from the Plane of Existence. He tried to have her be brought up, but the other gods wouldn’t allow it. Knowing he wouldn’t win that argument he backed off the request. All of this seemed weird to Terry, in his mind, Jessica was out of place being charge of this army. She could get bossy at times, but he never really thought of her as the commanding type. She was always the one who would rather pull the strings from the shadows. And setting herself up as a deity kept her out of the shadows for good.
Terry finally reached her headquarters and her guards let him pass with ease. The command center had dramatically changed since Amadi explained where he could find it. They moved it to a top of a hill and instead of a tent; it was more like a temple. Walking through to her personal quarters, he could tell they had spent a lot of time on its construction. I think being a deity is getting to her head as well.
When he got to her room, he casually opened the door calling out her name. When he entered, he saw her using powers he had never seen before. Somehow he recognized what she was.
“Jessica you’re a…”
Suddenly the door closed behind him and from behind he was smacked with something hard. Before he fell unconscious, he heard Jessica softly say, “Tereus, I am sorry.”
Sneak Peak
The Titan Queen
They watched as she stood up and ran to the bathroom. Seconds later they heard retching noises followed by the sound of running water. Looking at his companion he noticed a look of concern form on her face.
“It’s ok,” Hephaestus said trying to concern her fears. “What we have told her would have caused a worse reaction in stronger men. You remember what happened with our dear brother.”
“I do.” Metis looked to where Jessica had run to. “What do you think she will do? Will she accept?”
“She will have to.” Hephaestus pulled Metis into his arms. “She knows what will happen to Tereus if she doesn’t.”
“Will we succeed?” Metis left Hephaestus’ grasp and walked toward the balcony. “Not only will we have to defeat Zeus and the rest of the gods. We will have to defeat Cronus and our brothers.”
Standing up, Hephaestus spit on the floor. “The gods are a perversion that should have never happened. We will be done with them. Cronus and our brothers will be dealt with this time. We will grab the remaining Titans and deal with our brothers and the gods. “
Metis looked at Hephaestus and saw the fire burning in his eyes. He looked different now that he had shed the body he took as a god. Instead of a crippled, the Titan she had fallen in love with stood before her.
“Besides,” he continue
d. “It took seven gods to defeat three titans. We will have nine Titans on our side; ten if you count our mother. We will easily defeat our brothers, and bring the end of the gods.”
Hearing the door open behind them they saw Jessica emerge from the bathroom’s shadow. They watched as the tension filled the room waiting for her response.
“I will lead your revolution,” Jessica sneered. “Things will be done my way.” Walking towards them with a commanding presence she stopped to pick up an object from the table. “First things first, You will remove this block that you have put on me.”
Afterword
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Sneak Peak
Afterword
