17 Return To Olympus

Hades woke up days later, recovering from his mental fatigue of changing an infinite realm in his sleep he dreamed of the DC Universe, he didn't know why he did so, but it was fun seeing his childhood comics once more even if their current state in his previous were something he disliked.

'By myself, that was a nice sleep' Hades thought stretching in his bed.

He got up from his bed, and summoned his clothes on his body, he decided to wear a black toga, to customize himself to the time the Olympians were living in, though he wouldn't wait for humanity to advance so he could steal their technology, he would simply create it centuries before without all the infighting over it, eventually reaching the level of sci-fi nations.

Exploring the universe, answering all those questions that various astronomers and physicians had, wouldn't that be exciting. Even though he may not need it in the future as his skills with his powers grow, he could rapidly travel the void between stars, but it will take a bit of time and experimenting before he reached that level.

Hades went towards the forges of the Cyclops, he knew the entire layout of his new home, as it was part of the Underworld it naturally was laid bare for him, it was like having a mini-map inside his head, he knew exactly which turns to take for him the forge.

When he arrived he was immediately greeted by the three Cyclopes, after the greetings, he had basically told them to go wild in their inventions, as long they didn't create something dangerous, they repeatedly thanked him for this, and returned to their work in a newfound fervor.

After that, he went towards the Hekatonchires and the Furies, the first he assigned to guarding the Titans in Tartarus serving as the first line of defense if they were ever managed to free themselves.

The latter he assigned to the Fields of Punishment, they would work alongside the Thumos daemon clan, but that would be separate from them, and would only torture the worst of souls that were sent to Tartarus, a task they immensely enjoyed.

After that seeing that everything was going well in the Underworld, he decided it was finally time to return to Olympus. The future den of Hedonism and Madness. He had decided to stay on Olympus, really it was a miracle that place didn't implode, but that was because of the greeks who didn't want to say that their gods would kill themselves. Even if their worshippers did.

The concept that God was fundamentally good came to be because of Christianity, before that, all gods, even those that showed care to humanity, would always care more for both themselves and their families rather than to the humans they could simply create again. It was harsh and crude, but it was the truth, or at least that Hades believed.

He made a gate of living shadow and step into it, his destination being the halls of Olympus.

~~~~~~~~

The first thing Hades heard was arguing, then silence as the gathered gods noticed his presence, it was quite amusing seeing some of the minor gods' pale forces and retreating forms.

"Brother! You finally returned!" Said a grinning Poseidon "You must help me stop our brother's madness!"

"What madness?" Hades said he was calm, if Poseidon or Zeus attacked him, he could simply nuke the place and then rapidly dispose of them, even then he was curious the same carefreeness of life was still present in both of them.

Did they not know of the previous iterations of gods? According to the Underworld, the Skyland held the information but it seems it didn't share it with Zeus, which to be fair it was quite predictable. If there is a god who won't survive to see the Fifth Iteration of the gods, then it is going to be Zeus, his habits and paranoia have made him many enemies, with many being his own family, eventually, he is going to be completely alone. And will have no one to blame but himself.

"He seeks to merge this!" Poseidon extends his hands towards the room they were in "With the Skyland!"

"It is not madness!" Zeus shouted, sitting on his throne, the master bolt and the blade of Olympus were nowhere to be seen, but Zeus was ready to conjure both of them "It is a much better place than the mortal world, in here we are visible, in the Skyland we will be better protected from potential invaders!"

"Do not think that I don't see behind your ploy Zeus!" Poseidon said, snarling like some type of beast at his younger brother, "You would like it, wouldn't you? Seeing all of us grovel before you? Begging for entrance towards your Olympus?"

"The gates of the Skyland will be opened to all who present here, who wish to enter," Zeus said, shocking Poseidon "I swear by the River Styx" Thunder rumbled outside Olympus as the pact was made, and Hades could briefly feel the power of the Styx surrounding Zeus, making sure that if he didn't his oath then he would suffer.

Poseidon was visibly surprised, Hades not so much, after all, he knew that Zeus did not have the necessary brainpower for this, his wife who was sitting beside him with a stoic face on the other hand did. Hades didn't doubt even for a second that Metis was not the one that planned this.

'Besides' Hades analyzing the other elements of the room 'It seems that the divisions have grown more since I left' Hades was referring to both the minor gods and the Titans who joined them in the war.

The two groups were visibly separated into two distinctive factions, and the hate and resentment in the eyes of the minor gods were becoming more visible each second that passed. They may have a civil war on their hands.

"Well..." Poseidon grumbled "I...can... accept that"

"Good brother, good" Zeus showed a 'kind' smile making Poseidon scoff, Zeus then gazed upon Hades "What about you brother? Will you join us?"

Hades did not see the hopeful faces of the minor gods, hoping that he would reject Zeus's offer, no he saw the hopeful and fearful face of Hestia. Which made him think, he wasn't dense, he knew there was a chance, he just didn't know his actions may have caused such a change. He wasn't going to reject it if it was true, definitely not.

"I will" Seeing the crushed faces of the minor gods nearly made him laugh like a maniac but he had good self-control.

"Very well then, I will begin the transportation of our halls towards the Skyland, as I do that, I ask you all to return when I summon you for the process is extremely delicate," Zeus said while thinking with anger 'Especially if the realm does not fully accept you as its King'

When Zeus went towards the Skyland to claim, he had found that it did not fully obey him, sure his strength was increased and he could change some things in it, but by only dragging other places or objects to the Skyland or building in it, he did not have full access to the powers of a realm lord. He was sure that Poseidon had also failed, he could see the inner frustration in his eyes, but he couldn't see it in Hades.

Could it be that his eldest brother had managed to fully become a realm lord? If so the threat he represented had increased, even with the Blade of Olympus who he had gained with the help of Gaia, who proved that she was his most loyal ally and subject with that help, he couldn't be certain that he could defeat his brother, he feared Hades for his power and at the same time hated that he was more powerful than him.

Like a child, Zeus was throwing a tantrum that things were not like he wanted them to be like instead of improving over these flaws.

"My lords I also have something to say" A voice ringed out from the Titans, that voice belonged to Prometheus, the infamous strategist of the Titanomachy, he had been the terror of both sides through he was outsmarted by Hades a couple of times unknowingly to the god, for Prometheus could not create a tactic or a strategy to defeat Hades.

He had been the one who sent Atlas after him, for logically he was the only one that had a chance, and the result was that Atlas returned with lighting lodged in his shoulder that brought him untold agony, and had necessitated Cronos power over time to fully expel it.

"Speak Prometheus" Spoke a bored Zeus, his mood had been darkened by the fact that Hades might have succeeded where he had failed, but he kept it hidden behind a facade.

"My lords, the earth now has fully healed, thanks to the efforts of Lady Demeter and many others" Prometheus began, his words causing Demeter and those who helped cure the Earth of the damage inflicted by it to nod at him "With this, I can say that it is time to release humanity from stasis"

Prometheus always had a fondness for humanity, it caused him to betray his family, and will cause him misfortune in the future. Prometheus had gathered as many humans as he could and put all of them on a magical stasis hidden from all but him.

"If it is so, then release them" Zeus didn't give two shits about humanity anyways, those mortals could kill themselves off for all he cared, they weren't special in any way, shape, or form.

"Thank you, my lord, with your leave" Zeus waved his hand and Prometheus gave a short bow before leaving to release humanity back into the world that was not being destroyed by literal gods.

"This meeting is over" Zeus announced and the gods started to disperse, Hades amongst them wanted to talk to Hestia and confirm his suspicions, but before he could do so Metis shouted, "WAIT!" Her shout caused everyone to turn back and focus their attention on the Queen of The Gods.

"What is it, my wife?" Zeus frowned, Metis was always collected and calm, it wasn't normal for her to act like this.

"I want to announce... that I am pregnant"

'Oh boy' Hades thought as chaos immediately followed after Metis declaration 'This will have repercussions, and I can't wait to see it'