Chapter 4

Finally the day had finally arrived. We stood once again standing on the 'beach' of our prison. I had my arms crossed looking up at thesky just waiting when Poseidon broke the silence.

"Alright, Hades," he said, crossing his arms. "How exactly are we getting out of here?"

I took a steadying breath before responding. "Zeus will hand Kronos a poisoned beverage—one that will cause him to vomit us out."

There was a beat of silence before the complaints started.

"Vomiting us out?" Hera asked, her regal composure slipping into disgust. "That's… vile!"

"I agree," Demeter added, her lips curling. "Surely there's another way?"

Hestia grimaced but remained silent, though her troubled expression said plenty.

I held up a hand to calm them. "Hell people, can you guys relax. Look when the time comes, I'll encase us in a ball of shadows. It'll shield us through the journey and keep us clean."

Poseidon chuckled, clapping me on the shoulder. "That's the big plan? Ride the vomit wave in a giant shadow bubble? Sounds like a wild time."

I gave him a flat look, but before I could respond, the ground beneath us began to tremble. Looking up I saw a waterfall of alcohal come down and hit the acid as the stomach started to shake and rumble.

"That's our cue," I said sharply. "Everyone, huddle up. Now."

They moved quickly, as I extended my hands and rose a giant sphere of shadow around us. I quickly hardened it into obsidian shell. The rumbling grew violent, and suddenly, we were in motion. The stomach churned, and I felt the sensation of being hurled upward. Poseidon whooped loudly, his voice filled with exhilaration.

"This is amazing!" he shouted, his laughter echoing in the confined space.

The others were less enthusiastic. Hestia clung to Demeter, her eyes squeezed shut as she screamed. Hera's shrieks were punctuated with furious muttering about how undignified this all was.

I stood still with my arms crossed blocking out their noise. The ride felt alot like a rollarcoaster and I kept my ears and eyes out listening and seeing what was happening inside and out. extended as I heard the sound of Kronos garguling and then flesh ripping as we fell through his mouth and onto the floor, rolling across the floor before ending up next to a pillar.

"We're out," I spoke up. "You can relax now."

I lowered the obsidian shields slowly, letting the light seep inside. We were at a massive marble throne room, there were tables of food and unconscious Titans sprawled across the floor, many chalises littered the floor, alchohol everywhere. 

Poseidon whistled as he looked around. "Man this place is a mess, but it looks alot better than where we were before." 

As my siblings took in the scene, my gase was at this figure approaching. He was tall, muscular and lanky blonde. His confident stride and cocky grin really was pissing me off already and I just met him. So this was my youngest brother, Zeus. 

The blonde stopped a few paces from us, his piercing eyes taking in the group. "Well," he said, his voice dripping with amusement. "I wasn't expecting Kronos to vomit out a giant rock. Though mother did say that she had tricked father into eating a rock in my stead."

I smiled as Kronos had eaten a rock, and I had it with me. Turns out what Rhea gave Kronos was very rare crystal that was one of its kind in all the world and I wasn't kinding as the God of Riches I could pinpoint the location of anything worth of value and of course I was going to keep it. 

Zeus looked between us and grinned. "Alright so we have, Hestia, Hera, Demeter, Poseidon and Hades right? My name is Zeus, I am your youngest brother. Our mother had sent me away so that I would be able to one day come and save you all."

"Well I am heading out." I spoke and before anyone could respond I melted into the shadows behind me.

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The silence of the night was unsettling, yet so calming. After centuries trapped within my father's wretched stomach, the world was mine to walk upon again. Every breath of the cool air, every distant rustle of leaves, every glimmer of starlight felt like a freedom I had almost forgotten. But this wasn't a moment for indulgence. There was no time to revel in my liberation. The next phase of my plan awaited, and the Underworld was calling me.

I stepped forward, the soft crunch of soil beneath my feet grounding me in this fleeting tranquility. The night air carried the earthy tang of freshly turned dirt, mingled with the faint scent of decay—a sign, perhaps, that the Underworld was already reaching out to me. With a snap of my fingers, the world responded. The ground trembled violently, cracks spiderwebbing outward from where I stood. The night was split by a deafening roar as the earth yawned open, revealing a massive chasm plunging deep into the abyss.

The wind whipped around me, a sulfuric stench rising from the depths and mingling with the chill. Shadows swirled below, beckoning. I didn't hesitate. I leapt into the void, the cavernous maw sealing behind me as though it had never existed. For a moment, there was nothing but silence and weightlessness. Then the cold hit me—sharp, biting, seeping into my very bones as I descended deeper and deeper.

The darkness was absolute, pressing in from all sides like a living entity. Yet it didn't frighten me; it embraced me, becoming an extension of myself. The farther I fell, the colder the air grew, until finally, with a soft thud, I landed. I stood in a land that was both alien and eerily familiar.

The ground beneath my feet was coarse and jagged, sand that shimmered like crushed glass, each step biting into my soles. The grass—if it could even be called that—was sharp as blades, swaying unnaturally despite the still air. Fires dotted the landscape, roaring to life from fissures in the earth, their flames casting flickering shadows over the desolate terrain. Volcanos erupted sporadically in the distance, their molten rivers carving ominous trails through the barren land. Dead trees with skeletal branches reached toward the empty sky like desperate hands, and jagged rocks jutted from the ground at odd angles, some resembling twisted forms frozen in agony.

I took it all in, the oppressive atmosphere, the deathly quiet interrupted only by the occasional rumble or hiss of escaping steam. This was the Underworld, the realm that would soon be mine to command. And yet, as I stood there, surveying the landscape, I couldn't help but feel... underwhelmed.

"Wow," I muttered, my voice cutting through the stillness, "I was expecting something, but this is really just disappointing."

My words echoed faintly, bouncing off the jagged cliffs and volcanic crags. The land, it seemed, didn't take kindly to criticism. A distant growl rumbled from somewhere unseen, and the fires flared brighter for a moment as if offended by my remark.

I smirked, folding my arms. "Don't take it personally," I said to no one in particular. "We'll make some changes. A realm worthy of a god doesn't build itself, after all."