Chapter 11: Light, Day, and Darkness
In the Mansion of Night, a reckoning silence reverberated, stilling the flowing darkness.
Aiether gazed at the empty cup that now clearly had the auras of Hypnos and Hemera written
all over it. His heavenly face was daubed with colourful hues of glitter, as if it were a thoughtful masterpiece by Iris herself.
The resounding silence was suddenly broken by pearls of derisive laughter resonating throughout the mansion of night.
"Hypnos!" Aether immediately bellowed. He whisked his head to his left. Hemera was gone, obviously. "Hemera!"
Their laughter rapidly became distant, as if they were running away at breakneck speed.
The Primordial of Light immediately stood up and looked all around, his golden eyes turning abnormally bright and piercing through all the concealments of Hypnos with his light.
He immediately found them. They were already halfway through Tartarus.
"You cannot escape this time!" Aether thundered, and his form began to shed an infinite amount of light. The glitter on him didn't melt away as he expected, which only served to increase his rage all the more.
Immediately, the Primordial of Light shot forth like a shooting star towards Hypnos and Hemera at the speed of light, passing through all the obstacles in his path with the intangibility of light.
All throughout this escapade, Erebus didn't even move his gaze from the projections, only intently focusing on the battle of Hades and Altas. Their battle was reaching the breaking point.
He wanted Hades to win, obviously. He could sense the immense potential of the eldest son of Rhea. It was very impressive for a god to be able to stir his domain to this level.
Though Erebus prepared himself for a disappointment, that was the problem with the divine wars. The marvellous battle that you were enjoying would always be interpreted by others joining the battle, drawn by the commotion.
As expected, more Gods began to enter the battlefield to support Hades, and Titans immediately followed suit, plunging everything into a path of chaos with no victor.
Erebus sighed, sipping his wine. He still continued to watch the chaotic battle just for the sake of it.Thê source of this conte/nt n/o/v/(el)bi((n))
"Erebus!" Nyx called from the kitchen.
"Yes, my love?" Erebus drawled, reclining in his sofa.
"Can you please put a stop to your oblivious act?" Nyx spoke so deafeningly. "They are going to fight in the middle of Tartarus and will most likely end up waking our strung brother."
"We don't want Armageddon on our heads."
Erebus placed his glass on the table. "Children..." he sighed yet again as his form collapsed into a mass of wavy darkness.
A few minutes earlier.
In the middle of Tartarus, Hypnos and Hemera were running at breakneck speed with wide smiles plastered on their faces. But their happiness soon faded as soon as they noticed a beam of light shooting towards them at the speed of light-it was their incensed bother, Aether. And the dreadful fact was that his speed was increasing beyond the speed of light, breaking the material laws of creation.
"He is going to catch up," Hemera expounded the obvious.
Hypnos caught her hand, and they screeched to a halt in their path. Then he immediately turned and pointed his hand at his raging brother.
"Infinity." The Primordial of Sleep declared, his deep voice resonating with the space, sending ripples throughout it.
Between them and him, the fabric space began to elongate infinitely, trapping Aiether in an endless loop. He was still shooting at them at warp speed, but he made no progress under the expanding river of space and was struck in his position infinitesimally.
"That won't be enough to hold him down." The Lady of the Obvious expounded yet again.
"This is just to buy us some time." Hypnos said. "There is no point in running, so come, let's fight him."
Hemera grabbed his hand, hesitation written all over her face.
"What, sister?" Hypnos stared at her. "Don't tell me you are chickening out just because he is also your husband?" he provoked with a smile, pointing between them. "What about the pact we made?"
Hemera glared at him. "Fine," she finally sighed in defeat, though the gleam of eagerness in her eyes told a different story.
Meanwhile, as they expected, Aeither didn't even bat an eye in infinitely expanding space. He raised his hand, condensing his primal power into a bright and burning sword.
And he swung it down at the flowing space.
The searing sword ripped through the very fabric of space, shredding and scorching it all into smouldering cinders.
CRACK!
Like a sand castle hit by a wave, the endlessly streaming space immediately collapsed on itself.
Aether dashed out of falling shards of space, his grip on the sword tightening at the sight unfolding in front of his eyes.
outcomes, possibilities, and prospects of a particular event and plan well ahead to nip all of his eventual problems in the bud.
He could also control the flow of time, turning it forward and backward and even freezing it. It was what gained him most of the support of his Titan brethren and gave him absolute dominance in any war. He could make it so that his subordinates and allies were always in a peak state, devoid of weariness and fatigue. So they can endlessly fight in a battle without even breaking a sweat. And the frightening fact was that this was only one of many applications of this absolutely marvellous power.
Then there was the next alarming power of Kronos: he could completely rewind time in a particular area. This made him absolutely unbeatable, as he could simply turn all of his disadvantages into advantages and always be one step ahead of his enemies.
And finally there was his cursed scythe-the nightmare of immortals. As much as he hates to admit it, Hades himself was afraid of the scythe. It had the power to scatter the essence of immortals, bringing upon them a fate worse than death.
In the beginning of the war, his siblings were kind of lethargic, audaciously holding back their
power in the battles. The luxury of immortality was slowly getting to their heads and giving them a false sense of security over their lives. And when Hades pointed it out, they merely
rebuked and reproached him. He didn't bother anymore, knowing their naiveté would return to bite them back.
And bite them back it did; Hades still remembers that day as clearly as the day he was born. It
was well into the middle of the war when they finally managed to gain the upper hand over all of the Titan troops, forcing them to retreat. They were jubilant, clutching onto their first true
triumph. Even Hades felt the hope of victory in the air, but his delusions, along with those of his siblings, were collectively shattered by their crooked father. Kronos entered the battlefield for the first time and utterly destroyed all of them. With a swing of his scythe, he slew many minor gods and his treacherous brethren. Zeus was the only one who stood a chance against their father. He fought the Crooked One
desperately while also trying his best to protect them, but it was ultimately useless, as even his most terrifying lightning bolts meant naught in front of the might of time. Under their horrified eyes, they witnessed their father swing his cursed scythe at their
unguarded sister, Demeter.
Hades hated his weakness more than anything at that time. There may be misgivings and bitterness between him and his siblings, but at the end of the day, they are his family. If his mother taught him anything, it was that you can't give up on your family, no matter what.
He thought it was the end.
But just then, she arrived, blocking his father's cursed scythe with her mere body. The curved blade that so easily slaughtered immortals themselves didn't even leave a nick on her blemishless skin.
Under her presence, his all-powerful father became as weak as a baby. The Crooked One tried
attacking with all he had, but his mighty powers of time literally broke before they could even touch her.
From the beginning to end of the battle, the ethereal woman didn't even move, merely gazing
at Kronos with disappointment. She literally forced the proud king to retreat with his tail
tucked behind his back with nothing more than a stare. Their saviour was none other than Gaea, the Earth Mother.
That was how the dreadful day ended. From then on, Hades put everything into improving his power, and his siblings also broke free from their naiveté. They then fought, putting everything on the line for victory.
Years flew by. Hades grew stronger along with his siblings, but their father still remained as
insurmountable as ever to them. The only reason they had not already lost the war was because of Gaea and Prometheus. The Earth Mother saved them from the crooked claws of
their father in every hopeless situation, and the Titan of Forethought had clairvoyance that countered the precognitive abilities of their father. They somewhat balanced the situation of the war, but the tides were not turning in their favour at all. Everything was slowly becoming
meaningless.
His recent battle with Atlas was no different, ending in chaos with no victor yet again. Hades
felt utterly worn out, and judging from the expressions of his siblings, they too shared his
sentiment, but before they could get any reprieve, all of them were summoned by their beloved grandmother.
To Hades, Gaea was an enigma. He didn't really understand her true intentions. He could tell his grandmother still loved all of her children wholeheartedly, including the Crooked One. She wasn't really being subtle about that.
So, suppose he and his siblings won the war. They would surely banish all the Titans who supported their crooked father.
At that time, would Gaea, the all-mother, still support them? Questions always flooded his heart wherever he thought about his grandmother, only
increasing his distrust toward her.
Hades didn't share his feelings with his family, though, as he knew this was not the place or time to do so. It would only amount to even more chaos.
As he was musing on his grandmother, Hades and his siblings entered the general meeting
hall with their mother.
Gaea was there in all her ethereality. She immediately turned to him. "Hades," she smiled gently, surprising him. "I am giving you an important duty."
"You shall go to the deepest depths of the world, bearing my message to the dark family of
existence."
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