21. Seat of Power

It was two days after that Zeus was caught with Medusa by Hera. For such a crime Zeus was hit with a pain curse. Meanwhile the Gorgon was struck with something much more malevolent. From the dredges of her magic she placed a permanent, soul and bloodline shackling curse. Petrification Gaze. Any living thing that Medusa looked at would be turned to stone. For the simple request of saving her tribe she and all her descendants are now cursed to be blind, or forever alone.

....

....

A week later and I've spent nearly every minute with my son, simply hanging out or teaching him things. Like fishing, which is what we're doing now, in hell. The sky was dark with smoke, and the ground was red and craggily, we were sitting on the shore of a lava ocean on one of the larger rocks. 

"Hey, how long do we have to wait? And are you sure theres even fish in here? It's literally lava." Meliodas says, skeptical that anything could live in an ocean on liquid rock.

"Of course there's fish, its an ocean isn't it?" I say with a small smile, finding the absurdity of things living in lava funny.

"It's LAVA, though?" He says, stating the obvious.

"Life finds a way." At that his enchanted fishing rod get yanked, nearly ripping it from his hands. Quickly fixing his grip he holds on tightly already showcasing his enhanced abilities.

"Whoa, what the heck there really is fish in there!" With a massive smile at the realization he holds on tighter as the fish pulls even more. 

"What do I do now dad?!" Smirking at his anxiety I quickly tell him what to do.

"Since it's already hooked just pull it as hard as you can!" He does as instructed and with a grunt leans back pulling on the rod with all his strength. The surface of the lava was broken as a fish the size of a whale springs from its depths flopping around.

"Oh ho good job, catching a fish this big. They usually live much deeper." I say as I get up to go kill it, though a thought did enter my mind of making him do it, maybe next time. With the touch of its head its motion ceases and I withdraw two skinning knives.

"Come here and help me skin this, I'll teach you how to do it." He excitedly comes up to me eager to learn how to do it.

And that pretty much where our relationship was at, with us just doing stuff together.

A day later and that ended when I remembered my siblings don't even know I'm back yet. And suddenly all of my happiness washed away remembering I had and idiot brother ruling all of Greece.

Now considering that Crete was doing fine and my son wasn't on Olympus I can assume that either Zeus doesn't care or doesn't know both of which are good because if I, ever, find out he tried to exploit anyone I care about, then Thor might be the only sky god.

"Do you know what Zeus's been up to?" I ask Amaltheia as she lays her head on my lap relaxing on the beach. Off in the distance I could see Meliodas playing in the water, some nymphs playing along with him.

With a hum she responds as I caress one of her horns. "I haven't been to Olympus since his marriage to Hera. But I have heard some interesting news. 6 new gods have been born, though only one being birthed by Hera. A few scandals too, just the other day he was caught cheating on her with a gorgon." 

That's not too bad, if anything it just aligns with his character. As long as he wasn't going on a rape spree then who cares if he was a freak in the sheets.. Hera probably.

"Does he know about Meliodas?" I ask curious what his current status was. At this she releases a sigh. 

"No, the only ones who know are your sisters, minus Hera of course. I had initially planned for only Hestia to know but Demeter found out shortly after, meaning your sister cant keep secrets for shit, haha." With a light chuckle she jokes. She was probably terrified about Zeus finding out and taking him. 

"Don't worry, I'd never let anything happen to you. I dare Zeus to even look at you wrong."

...

Arriving at the palace on mt Olympus it was a large and white place with an almost annoying amount of statues. In the large open courtyard hundreds of beings move around hustling and bustling around doing whatever was urgent for them. Yet it all stops when they see me, as if time itself stopped they halt in their tracks.

"I'm back." I say, breaking the silence. Like it was practiced they all bow respectfully, one of the older deity's coming up and informing me of what'd happened in the last century as we start walking toward the throne room.

The humans have cities now, along with lots of other tech thanks to Prometheus. Lots of other gods have been born including the other 6 Olympians along with lots of other monsters and demi-gods due to their... lustful, nature. Mostly via Zeus though. One thing he did mention is that just recently Hera has once again caught Zeus in the act, cursing the Gorgon Medusa while letting him off the hook, like always.

Reaching the throne room doors he stopped and bids adieu.

"It was an honor meeting you lord Hades, and welcome back. Just beyond these doors should sit your brothers and sisters along with your new nieces and nephew's." With a bow he leaves. Disappearing around a corner.

Ah I forgot to ask his name, whatever.

Looking up at the doors with a sigh I push the massive things open. They were almost as big as my own doors yet much less splendid. Entering the room I'm greeted with a bored group of God's and a feeble and broken looking Gorgon man. They continue talking, not noticing my presence as the man yells in anguish, expressing his current grief. The room was a large semi-circle with 12 thrones each the size of a car. Sitting atop each was an even larger god, each dressed in their corresponding colors, and thrones adorned with the respected ornaments.

"She has tuned them all to stone! I have no idea how many got away. My own wife and children, turned to statues before my very eyes! O' lords and ladies!" He proclaims mainly looking at the women the only gods with the compassion to want to step in. 

"I request, no I plead for justice against the vile monster Medusa!" With that he collapses to the ground, his broken body strained from his escape I guess.

"Remove him" Zeus says his tone cold as he looks over to Hera with a hidden annoyed expression. Guards dressed in shining golden armor pick him up by his arms and carry him out of the palace.

Now that his show was over I make my entrance. With a flicker of my aura they finally notice me, a gasp coming from each of them as I stand in the center of the room.

They look at me with hard to read expressions ranging from fear to excitement.

"So I hear you've been quite active Zeus." I look at the new additions to the Olympians.

Out the corner of my eye I see Hera bite her lip in anger at the true statement.

"Well," They continue to sit in silence, stunned. They had no idea I was back yet.

"Are you going introduce me to my nieces and nephews?" I say with a smile looking at them one by one.

Athena was the first to speak, regaining her wits only a few moments later. She was a beautiful woman even compared to other gods with a strong face and pointed eyebrows. She was dressed in a light robe with straps of leather armor, making her curvy figure pop. Her voice was crisp and clear with hidden wisdom in its undertone, like a seasoned general.

"Hello lord Hades, I am Athena, goddess of Wisdom, War and Craftmanship. I've heard so much about you during the great War that I'm quite impressed, and I would love to get to know my uncle more." She said, seeing him in the flesh she knew he was the real deal, legend manifest. With a nod, acknowledging her, Hermes speaks next.

He was quite small compared to the other gods and unlike the others his body wasn't chiseled with muscles or abs, he honestly looked quite frail.

"I'm Hermes God of speed, travel and trade. I'm the messenger of the other gods and I'm quite surprised I haven't heard of your awakening lord Hades." He says with a charasmatic smile. Aphrodite speaks next showing a polite smile not quite reaching her eyes.

"Seeing you here in the flesh uncle I can tell not a single one of your legends were embellished. I would hope we could get to know each other more... intimately." With the waggle of her eyebrows and lick of her lips eyeing my body like a predator making me do a double take.

She was absolutely gorgeous, beauty personified, it was as if she was digital art with not a single blemish or bump on her olive skin. Her nose was pointed and mouth was small with big eyes too cute for any mortal to resist. Her hair was a light pink that oddly looks natural on her and her body was one of legendary proportions. She was wearing a robe with the sleeves cut off so that her sideboob was exposed for all to see along with it being wrapped in a way that it hugged her body. She wasn't a milf or a loli. She was woman perfected. Her breasts were large enough to perfectly fit in your hand while also holding a spring unknown to any larger sizes. Even while sitting I could tell that she possessed a bubble butt that Aqua would struggle to compete with. She was a goddess, in the purest of definitions. 

My gaze couldn't help but linger on her for a few seconds, luckily only she was able to notice as the others were still trying to grasp the fact that I had returned. With the shake of my head I move on, I really cant let my lust control me so easily.

"I would like to get to know each of you better, in due time." The introductions continue with Ares coming next, his attitude abrasive and aggressive clearly wanting to challenge my legends, a big man with more muscle than skin, unlike the others who were lean but fit he was simply bulked to the extreme. He wore nothing but heavy leather and bronze armor his face brutish and angular. Next was Artemis and Apollo, Goddess of the hunt and god of the Sun among many other things of less importance. They both introduced themselves with respect barring no attitude or subtleties causing them to be quite favorable in my mind.

"It's so good to be back here, with my family," looking at Hestia I enunciate the word family showing a genuine smile at her.

"I really have been gone for far too long.." She smiles at me truly happy that I'm back. 

"Though I think its long overdue to take a seat on my second throne." 

All the while everyone introduced themselves the original 6 were murmuring and whispering among themselves but I could clearly hear that Zeus and Poseidon along with Hera talking about what I would do now that I'm back, clearly worried that I'll take the throne. But luckily for them I have my own realm to rule, one much better than this piece of shit in the sky.

Taking a seat on my throne Zeus and the others watching me with trepidation, and I hummed in question as to why. The large seat was a simple white slate of marble that lacked the ornaments or personality that so decorated everyone else's. It was honestly pretty boring.

That thought was quickly dashed as a surge of unimaginable power burst through my veins. The second my hands firmly grasped the armrests my body contorted as pure power overwhelmed me, purple fire blasting up from the floor, hellfire, licking my skin.

The others watched in fascination as the stone of my throne started to flake away like ashes in the wind revealing what is buried underneath. Blackness like death itself summoned, fear flickering on the other gods faces before they reign it in. I groan in pain as the fire continues to climb. More stone flakes away, skulls of various creatures from ants to dragons are etched into the sides and continues until it leaves a sea of black leaving the arm rests with only a single symbol being inscribed right below where my hand would be. A black swirl with purple outline, its edges were spiked out making it leave an uneasy feeling in your gut. The fire begins to settle as it reaches my face seemingly guided into my eye sockets until it all disappears into my coal like eyes, now emitting a faint purple glow entirely separate from its normal orange hue.

{The Symbol}

With a sigh I shake off the sudden pain, opening my eyes to the shock of my family.

"That was weird." I casually say feeling that it would be funny. Sadly only Hestia found such humor as everyone else simply looked at me in subtle fear. 

"So what was that?" I ask no one in particular as I feel what happened to me. Although I noticed when I arrived on Crete not it was much more obvious. I was now connected, on a deeper level to the mortal realm, to earth and its inhabitants. The voices of humans praying echo louder than before.

"That was you being linked with the mortal realm, we don't know how or why it happens but its nothing dangerous and we can sever it anytime we wish. What we do know is that the more people worship you the more power you get, which is what leads us to our next topic." Zeus says suddenly taking the wheel.

"Since the great war we have tirelessly been working on growing the mortal population via blessing and protection from the many monsters wandering the realm," 

"Some more than others." Hera spitefully whispers. I could tell from how angry she was that Zeus's solution probably involved a few demi-gods.

"Somehow your name has been spread quite thoroughly though we have no idea how leading to you experiencing pain upon linking up." He says with a twitchy smile explaining the situation. 

"There have also been reports of other pantheons cropping up. With the biggest being Bur Burison starting dozens of wars hoping to expand his realm of influence." At this I couldn't help but crunch my eyebrows, If they attacked right now we would be cooked. Not even I think I could defeat Burison, the creator god.

"His son, Odin should reach Earth by next winter, I'm sure bearing with him the might of the Asgardians."

Odin was born already? A fully fledged war god at this point too by the sound of it. This is bad, I'm going to have to speed up my plans by quite a bit. Gonna have to ditch the transformer idea for the time being too.

Damnit.