16 Understanding
Survival.
The one thing that every living creature in existence is coded to do.
Be it a microbe or Cosmic Entity of near-limitless power. All possess this instinct to Survive.
Hades spent his time separate from indulging with the Olympians by plotting and scheming with Nyx. Setting up pieces of the chessboard, Zeus was a wise King, for a short while at least until Athena was born and Ares became the God of War.
And amongst the initial years of his observations, he started noticing patterns.
Zeus, Poseidon and many other Gods followed the path of degeneration. They just seemingly, out of the blue started having this crazed need to indulge in hedonism. As a result of which they started having loads of demi-Gods.
'I could understand Poseidon like Oceanus was abnormally fertile, so his actions could be understood but Zeus was surprising. Especially after I chopped his balls off for forcing himself on Demeter.', Hades pondered on his observations as he stroked his beard.
" What do you think of Zeus, Aunt?", Hades implored sitting on my throne. A chessboard in front of me and on the opposite side Nyx who was still concentrated on the board.
"The boy lacks discipline like his father. He should have started feeling the instinctual threat on his life. And just like his father, he's indulging in frivolity to escape from it. Though I must admit he's not nearly as paranoid as Cronus was. That or he's really good at not showing his anxiety. In that case, his threat level should be raised.", Nyx replied nonchalantly still focused on the board.
" How much of the future can you deduce currently?", he raised a question that finally made Nyx look up at Hades leaving the chessboard aside.
" I can see that the things have changed, Gaia isn't blocking my vision any longer but...", she hesitated, she had a look in her eyes that he had never seen before. Fear.
"But?", Hades leaned forward, his eyes and ears focused on Nyx.
" I see someone, shrouded in darkness. He holds frightening power, the power I've only witnessed once. When I saw Chaos. The power coming from this figure seemed similar to Chaos at first glance but I can feel it in my bones he's stronger than Chaos and he still has room to evolve.", Nyx, who had always been arrogant and flippant about everything, didn't feel so Invincible anymore.
" Focus Nyx. I need something, anything we must know who this external enemy is.", Hades expanded his Domain subconsciously, cutting off any connection to the world.
Gods have a habit of looking into the future but future and time are vague concepts. The stronger a God become the more he taps into the essence of their divinity. Every divinity, no matter how obscure come from one source split into infinite branches and draws power from these branches.
'This was what I understand from my conversation with Adam. He had been around God or "The Source" the longest and I could see the branches coalesce at his neck.' Hades recollected his experience around Adam as he saw a mystical spark in Nyx's eyes.
This is the reason why Primordials can look into destiny and deduce patterns that lead to a certain favourable outcome.
Even God or Titans whose dominant domain relates to Time, Destiny, Luck, Space or Fate cannot match up to Primordials cause they simply aren't powerful enough. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule, such as the Sisters of Fate for example.
'I am not nearly powerful enough to see that far into the future neither with enough finesse to not tip-off others of my meddling. But I was more than strong enough to block others attempting to spy in on me and divine my actions.', Hades grabbed his Helm and increased the power of his Domain.
With Hades protecting them from the prying eyes of other Primordials and Gods, Nyx used her powers in ernest, " Nothing. I still cannot see any farther except he's still out of our Universe but he's gradually closing the distance. I still can't make out his features except for a symbol on his chest."
"Show me."
Hades' hairs stood on ends. *crush* he stood up but the armrest of the throne were crushed to dust.
"Darkseid", Hades whispered as he looked at the Omega symbol projected by Nyx.
A thought blossomed in his subconscious, which began a domino reaction as numerous thoughts filled his head.
But two of these thoughts were at the forefront — DC and The Anti-Life Equation.
'As soon as the thought of the Anti-Life Equation arose in my mind I squashed it. I remembered the partial equation and stopped myself from thinking about it cause I could feel an insidious power bursting forth and threatening to corrupt my soul.', Hades decisively sealed his memory of the partial equation and released a breath of relief.
" You know him?", standing by his side, Nyx asked as she too observed the symbol.
" Yes, Nyx abort all our schemes. We must suspend our goal of destroying the Olympians.", giving a solemn nod Hades gave the command.
"What! We have already set the pieces, we can destroy the Olympians at this exact moment!", Nyx was in disbelief as she heard his statement.
" They are inconsequential in front of the threat he poses. We need the Olympians if we to fight him, hell even with the Olympians alone it would be a daunting task to go to war against him.", Hades replied not taking his eyes off the projection. Raising his hand against the symbol, the darkness surrounding it clear and the figure of Darkseid came forth.
"*sigh* So all our efforts up until now are wasted.", Nyx analysed the figure of Darkseid and came to the same conclusion as Hades. She stopped all her attempts at divining further least she tipped of Darkseid.
Now that the veil over Darkseid lifted Nyx could, to some extent factor in his existence and deduce he stood high above her in every aspect possible.
" Well, I wouldn't say that. Victory or defeat isn't the most crucial thing in a War, it's the profits. While true Olympians will live to see another day, for now, it doesn't mean we can't manoeuvre and increase our powers.", with a cold smile Hades released his domain.
Just like that, the Aunt-Nephew duo returned to their seats, peace and silence reigned amid them. The throne projected a regal yet savage aura, a sinister yet peaceful feeling. So paradoxical yet it seemed natural just like the God who sat on it. It had no damage whatsoever as if what happened earlier was but a dream.
But if one were observant, they would notice that the chess pieces were in a different position and they would understand —the Game had changed.
.
.
.
.
.
×
