the great arsehole zeus

asked Hades coldly. I'd never heard him use that tone, one that could pierce even the strongest steel, but again I'd never seen him with Zeus.

"Oh, brother," said Zeus as if he didn't hear anything. "It's always one's pleasure to meet one's family."

Hades scoffed, "said the one who didn't even bother to come down here to pick up his daughter."

The story of Persephone and Hades was well known (it must be since even I knew of this) and everyone knew that Zeus had sent Hermes to pick up his daughter for him.

"Feisty!" Zeus shook his head in amusement. "Clearly all those stories human wrote about you being the lonely, sad god was nothing but fiction." As he lowered himself down, a golden throne came out of nowhere to be sat upon. "Not everything is false, of course. After all, the part where they mentioned you never came to Olympus was indeed true."

"Oh, did they write about him being an outcast too? That his family has practically thrown him out and pretend he doesn't exist?" I bit my tongue and cursed myself inside once those words left my tongue.

I didn't even know why I'd said that. He was Zeus, the King of Gods, it didn't matter if he was The Great Asshole Zeus inside my head. For all I knew, he could blink and I would turn into a frog, or maybe something even worse. I gulped nervously as I stared into those piercing blue eyes, trying so hard not to be a coward and hide under the table.

Zeus lifted his brows, clearly wasn't expecting someone without any power like me to talk back to him, let alone use sarcasm.

I felt my dad's hand holding mine as if telling me that he would never let anything bad happen to me. The small gesture worked its magic as my breathing slowed down and my body became less tense.

Apart from being a moody god, Zeus apparently had some sense of humor. Instead of throwing a fit like I'd predicted, his shoulders shook as he let out a deep and loud set of laughter.

"You're just like your father," commented Zeus in between waves of laughter. "Like father like daughter."

"Why are you here, brother?" asked Hades, seemingly exhausted with the whole ordeal. "The truth, this time, not a make-up excuse that even a child won't believe."

"Maybe I miss my brother, we haven't seen each other for centuries, not since the day you asked to marry my daughter." Zeus slid his gaze to Persephone and smiled. "You're just as beautiful as your mother."

Persephone, seemingly followed my bluntness earlier, murmured under her breath, "is that why you left her for many others then let her get raped by Poseidon?"

Everyone who watched or read Hercules' story (myself included, although I'd only watched the Disney version of it) was aware of this. After all, Arion, the immortal horse born to the goddess Demeter after she was raped by Poseidon in the shape of a horse, was Hercules' horse before he was owned by Adrastos.

If Zeus had heard her, he chose not to comment as he dragged his eyes back to Hades who was still giving him a hard stare. "Okay, fine. I'm here because of her." He used his forefinger and pointed directly at me.

The table along with the foods and drinks were gone in a split second and before I knew it, Hades had stood tall in front of me, shielding me away from his little brother.

"If you want to take her," warned him in an icy tone. "You have to go through me."

"Oh, really? That's interesting." He crossed his leg over the other and rested his chin on his palm. "Even though you're the scary Lord of the Underworld and this," his hand made a sweeping gesture, motioning the surrounding, "is clearly the Underworld," he chuckled instead of quickly finishing his sentence. "But I'm the King of Gods. You shouldn't challenge me," said Zeus, showing how great of an asshole he was.

"It's not a challenge." Hades tilted his head to the left and smiled mischievously. "It's a warning."

Zeus, still sitting in his made-up throne, chuckled. "Don't worry, I'm not here to take her anywhere." He slid his gaze to me for a moment before taking his eyes to face his brother. "I'm here because you almost told her everything and that, my dear brother, is dangerous. You know what she is capable of."

Somehow, I felt that the 'she' he was referring to wasn't me but someone with power and I couldn't help but wonder if she was another goddess or Queen Rhea.

"Oh, and what do you suggest?" replied Hades sarcastically. "My daughter being chased for eternity?"

Zeus shrugged without care. Of course, he didn't care, why would he? If he did, he would've stopped it a long time ago, not centuries later. Plus, with the strained relationship between him and my father, it was unlikely he'd help.

"Not a chance." Hades shook his head adamantly. "This cycle ends now. I've kept my end of the bargain for your sake for so long but I won't do that anymore. It's time to reveal the truth and end her misery."

Gone was the happy, chattering Zeus as he rose into his feet and summoned his lightning bolt in his hand. "That is not what we agreed upon."

"Well, I guess the agreement is null and void because I'm done being oppressed by you. I may be your brother but I am also the Lord of Underworld."

Just like what Loki had done in Avengers, the Helm of Darkness appeared on my father's head along with his bident, a two-pronged weapon mainly of bronze.

I glanced to my right and saw Persephone looking at Hades with so much awe and adoration. Any historian who dared to say that the Goddess of Spring didn't love her husband was clearly never witnessed their powerful love for each other.

Zeus clenched his fist as he stared into his older brother's dark eyes with protruding eyes and flaring nostrils. "You know how much I love her," he started. His voice was low, sending chills down my spine as I could tell the threat behind it. "Yet you still want to reveal the truth? She will kill her and that will destroy me. Do you really want to risk the fate of all beings?" He took a step closer, his voice was thunderous as he reiterated one more time, "well, do you want to risk everything?"

Hades reached for my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. He bent down and kissed the top of my head before facing his brother's wrath. "For my daughter, yes. I'd risk everything."

Lightning came out of nowhere as if hearing his master's call, a brilliant shock of glowing white forking silently in crazy zig-zags as they made their way to the unsuspecting floor.

"I'm sorry, brother, but I can't let that happen."

A cracking violent scream pierced the air and I lifted my hands to cover my ears, only to realize, a moment later, that it belonged to me.