35 War I

(3rd Person POV)

Hades and his siblings were standing in the war tent. After accepting Zeus' 'beg', Hades first had to go back to the Underworld and tell both Nyx and Erebus that he would return in a few days to continue, but first, he had to win a war. 

(Flashback)

"So you're leaving to fight in the war alongside your siblings then?", Erebus asked.

"No."

"No? But I thought you just said that-", Erebus continued.

"You're not listening to him, Erebus. He never said he'd fight alongside his siblings.", Nyx said.

"Hm?", Erebus didn't seem to understand. 

How was he a primordial?

"Nyx is right. I never said I'd fight alongside those drivelling wimps. I will win the war and be back in a couple of days. And then I'll continue working on the Underworld. I'll see you then."

Hades saluted them and slowly faded out of existence. 

"... you know ... he truly has the best exits and coolest lines of any god I've seen to date.", Erebus said after a moment of silence. 

"Ugh ...", Nyx rolled her eyes and then also left to go back to the Night Palace. 

"What? He's cool! Don't tell me you don't think so too...", Erebus tried to explain himself.

"... Nyx? Hello?"

(Flashback end)

So now they were all standing in the war tent together with other Titans that were still on their side. Among those were Themis, Prometheus, his brother Epimetheus and surprisingly the female Titan Hecate. 

Originally Oceanus also wanted to join the Olympian's side, but when he saw how the war was progressing he decided to stay neutral. That was a hard blow for them as they lost a strong ally. Not only was Oceanus powerful and could have helped Poseidon in his training, but he also had a lot of children and if the father was on the Olympian's side, then the children would also unlikely fight against them.

The Titan Hecate though was a surprise. Why? Because she was not on the Olympian's side until just recently. It seems something must have happened for her to switch sides. Like ... she knows something. 

Zeus of course didn't want to have her on their side, as he didn't trust her and he wanted her in the war tent even less. But frankly, he had no choice. Every new ally was welcome and somehow ... he felt like things were changing. 

He felt better ... mentally. He had to use his power to stop bleeding because the wound wasn't closing, but his head felt clearer. He suddenly had ideas on how to proceed and win the fight. Strange...

"I had an idea. We have been trying to get to Mount Othrys until now and it has been going terribly. The high ground the Titans have is costing us many casualties and we shall change that. 

I have come up with an idea on how to proceed from here.", Zeus proudly told everyone. 

"And pray tell, what might thig ingenious idea be?", Hades asked. He of course knew what it would be. And to be frank, he was revolted that they had not thought about it sooner. Like much sooner, as soon as the war started.

Zeus didn't like Hades talking to him that way but said nothing for now. He would wait for now and be patient. His time would come and this idea was already the first step in securing the throne.

"The idea, dear 'brother', is to take Mount Olympus and set up our camp there. It is even higher than Mount Othrys. We will then have the high ground and turn the war around. 

We will use the Cyclops and Hecantochires and have them throw giant boulders at Mount Othrys while the others rain attacks of their own.", Zeus finished. 

He was very proud of himself. But there were so many holes in this plan that Hades wondered how this even worked in Greek mythology. True having the high ground was important but this wasn't an Anakin-Obi-Wan- situation. They were not very close together. 

And while that didn't matter much in god terms, it was still important as the Titans would be able to defend and attack them from the ground as well. They had more manpower and could afford to play this game. 

"This plan has merit. It is very smart to take the high ground. A good idea indeed, fitting for one of your station.", Metis said. Ever the supporter of Zeus. Trying to make him appear as the fitting ruler in the future. 

Hades couldn't stop from smiling slightly at their display. He thought it funny and even helped them a bit. 

"And what will we do when they respond in kind and decide to attack from the ground as well?"

Zeus and Metis smiled unknowingly. They thought Hades had just unknowingly helped them and put himself in a worse position. How foolish.

"Ah, good point Hades. But that is where you and Poseidon come in. Poseidon will use the sea to pressure Mount Othrys from the south by sending storms and tsunamis their way. 

Then they will be attacked from the air from the north by me and the others on Mount Olympus and by Poseidon and some others from the south."

Hades knew where this was going and he was amused. So he lent them a helping hand.

"That leaves me. What am I going to do during all this?"

"Yes. You will have an important role. As you said the Titans could still decide to send ground troops to the north and pressure us. So you will have the important position to hold them back as much as you can, to stop them from coming north to Mount Olympus. 

You can use some of those tricky curses you showed us to bother the Titans, what do you say?", Zeus added the last part with a smile on his face. 

"... so much honey ... haha. Alright, I'm game. Let us commence in your marvellous plan to finally turn this war around and grant us victory over our oppressive father and his goons. Or something like that.", Hades was bored and just wanted to get this over with. 

He could walk up to Mount Othrys and take the Titans one by one or even together and add them to his ever-growing army. That would end this pathetic conflict and finally give Earth some rest. But no, he had to at least give Zeus a chance. 

And participating in a war like this had more use than one might think. 

Imagine Hades walking up to Mount Othrys. He calls upon his 10+ million Shadow Soldiers to have them fight the common soldiers that are not worth fighting himself, while he fights one Titan after the other. 

His army would grow tremendously and he would also gain Titans as powerful fighters, a perfect win for everyone ... no?

No. That would not be good. What would be the point? The war would be over but no one would be sure of what happened. There might be rumours about Hades killing everyone, but nothing to be sure about. 

And to top it all off he would have a very angry primordial on his ass. It wasn't that it bothered him much, he could deal with Gaia, but it would be a drag. He had no time to invest in a dumb primordial whining about her children. He had much better things to do. 

The Underworld wasn't going to build itself, you know. 

The last bad thing about Hades simply soloing the war was the missing merit. He was using this time for two things. 

One, he wanted to increase his Shadow army. That was always a good idea. There was no such thing as too many shadow soldiers. He had a place to stow them away, they didn't use much space. The perfect army.

And two, he was going to increase his merit in this war. His name shall strike fear in the hearts of his enemies and those who think of double-crossing him will live in fear, not knowing whether their shadow holds a soldier of Hades. 

He was creating an image, of a powerful and merciless god that kills you and won't even let you rest after you die. You will serve him for eternity and there is nothing you can do anything about it. For he will have the last say. He is ... the END.

.

Hades walked out of the tent. The meeting had been adjourned. Everyone was getting ready for the plan, except Hades. He had nothing to prepare. His attire was not elegant ... something he would have to change in the future, because he had been working in the Mines before they came.

He would have to find a seamstress in the future to make him some clothes. But for now, these clothes would have to do. 

When Hades walked through the camp and looked at everything, someone called his name.

"Lord Hades.", a feminine voice said.

Hades turned around and saw a woman walking towards him. She was tall and walked with slow calculated steps. She wore black and together with her black hair, you could think of her as a goth girl, but that was not the case. It made her seem ... elegant. 

Hades could see the glint in her eyes and knew what sort of woman he was dealing with. She was going to be an enjoyable person to talk to ... he hoped. 

(Hecate POV)

I could feel his eyes on me. But it wasn't the kind of look filled with lust like the ones I usually got from the Titans and also gods, no it was different. I felt a shiver run down my back. He wasn't just looking at me, he was judging my worth. 

He was looking right through me. That was usually the look I gave others and now I was on the receiving end, how intriguing. The air around this god was different, just as I foresaw. 

"Lord Hades I wished to speak to you."

"Aha.", was all the god said. He did not seem interested in the slightest. 

"Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Hecate, I am the Titaness of magic, crossroads and necromancy."

"I see."

"I wanted to say that I am glad you are fighting with your siblings, I always thought that they were missing something to win. And I am happy that they found it now."

"Good to know."

"I also wanted to say that you really helped Lord Zeus explain his plan back there. I am impressed at your quick thinking."

"Thank you. Is that all?"

He didn't seem to be surprised or getting the hint. Why was he acting this way? Was he not interested? I had to change my tactics. Maybe he was one of those dense ones? But she had never seen such a god.

Was that the reason why he wasn't interested in women? No, that could not be it. She was sure that he was interested in women and not men. How should she go about this then?

"...ahh, I wanted to remark how similar our divinities are. Quite peculiar don't you think?"

"Not really."

"No? Don't we both have a divinity of necromancy? I can feel it from you. We are quite alike.", I said dropping a very obvious hint. 

"Are you also the goddess of riddles?"

"What? No, why do you ask that?", I was confused. How did he get to such-

"Because you are talking in riddles and for some reason try to hide your intentions. You're probably one of the smartest in the room but why don't you stop with the useless waste of air and speak about what you want?"

...

"I ..."

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~Cliffhangeeeeeeerrrrrr.~

I know you like those.

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