The Dragon's egg II: Hade's Rebellion

'Sakura, wake up'

…

'Wake up'

…..

'Come on, wake up'

…..

'Wake up, right now'

….

'WAKE THE HELL UP BRAT!'

A young, pink-haired woman jumped out of bed with her head ringing and black dots in her line of vision.

'What the hell Tsuki?! I'm trying to sleep here!'

'My point exactly! Now, get out of bed right this instant or you are gonna be late'

'Late for-' Sakura's eyes widened as it hit her.

"Shit! Shit! Shit! I'm gonna be late!" she yelled and immediately threw the covers aside.

'Good to hear that we agree'

The girl ignored her dragon and continued rummaging through her closet for something to wear. She didn't really know why Kaien had called an emergency meeting and the man was unpredictable, it could begin as a simple gathering and the turn into a full training session. And since it was summer and the temperatures were high, she chose plain black shorts and a fitting green t-shirt. Simple and comfortable, just the way she liked.

Without wasting another minute she grabbed her katana (which she didn't have to hide anymore) and rushed out of her room and down the stairs into the kitchen where her mother was preparing breakfast.

"Good morning mom!"

"Oh! Good morning Sakura! Why are you in a hurry?"

"Kaien called a meeting and I'm gonna be late!" the girl said and as she grabbed her toast and gulped down half a glass of fresh orange juice.

"Tell Tsuki and the others hi for me, will you? Oh, and please remind Kurenai and Kaien that they are invited for tea later today!"

"Will do!" yelled the girl and ran out of the door, over the wooden fence and down a path that she knew all too well. The truth was that her mother had taken the whole 'dragon-rider' thing surprisingly well. At first, Sakura had expected Tsunade to freak out, yell, faint. Well, do something other than what she did. Tsunade had listened to the whole story quietly without interrupting and even asked a couple of questions to clear some things up. Sakura had been pleasantly surprised to see that her mother (and her sister after some time) accepted the unexpected turn of events in their lives. Of course, the girl hadn't told her mother of her meeting with Dan Haruno. The fact that her daughter and Toshiro were dragon riders and that she was conversing with 4,000 year old people were a lot to take in. Also, meeting up with the dead wasn't something common even for dragon riders and she had kept that to herself. Not even Toshiro or Neji knew. After all, she felt that that meeting was something special and she wanted to keep it to herself. Between herself and her father.

Within minutes, she was standing panting in front of Tsuki and Uragiru's cave.

"Glad you could make it." a voice said and Sakura looked up to see Neji smirking from the cave's entrance.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm late. Is everyone here?"

"Kaien will be here shortly. He had to take care of something first. Kurenai and Toshiro are already inside."

Sakura nodded and followed him inside where humans and dragons alike were resting quietly.

"Good morning."

"Good morning, Sakura."

"Morning, sleepyhead."

The girl glared at the white-haired teenager who only smirked in return. She walked past him and made herself comfortable between her dragon's front legs but not before giving Tsuki and Uragiru a kiss on their muzzles. It had taken Uragiru some time to get over the guilt of being Madara's dragon (even though it had not been his choice) but he had adapted quickly to his new life and he couldn't have been happier. He had opened up to them after the first few months and they had become best friends with Tsuki rather quickly. As it turned out (and to everyone's surprise) he liked affection and had developed a particularly soft spot for Sakura who gave it to him wholeheartedly, with the girl coming second only to Toshiro. It was plain as day that the black dragon adored his new rider and was extremely protective of him. She rested her head on Tsuki's body and closed her eyes, enjoying the calming rise and fall of her dragon's breathing.

'Do we know what this meeting is about?' Sakura asked without opening her eyes.

'I'm afraid not. No matter how many times we asked Kaien, he was reluctant to answer. The same goes for Kurenai. They have been awfully secretive these past couple of days. Not even Neji knows.'

'Strange. Kaien never tells us anything until the time is right but for Neji to not know…..I don't know; it just feels off.'

'My thoughts exactly. Something is going on….And I've been getting this strange feeling the last few days…..'

Sakura opened her eyes immediately and turned to look at her dragon. Tsuki's eyes were worried and uncharacteristically wary.

'Tsuki, what's wrong?' the girl asked more worried about her dragon than anything else.

'I'm not sure. It's just…I've been getting the feeling that something big is going to happen. And it doesn't seem good.'

'What about Uragiru? Have you talked to him about this?'

'He gets the same feeling too.'

'Does Toshiro know?'

'I'm not sure but judging by the glances he has been sending us since we started talking, he probably does.'

Sakura lifted her eyes and emerald clashed with sea-green. In his eyes was all the answer she needed. He knew and he too was worried. She nodded curtly at him, telling him that she knew and a silent understanding passed between them to talk about this later.

'Tsuki….. What do your instincts say?'

The young dragon looked at her straight in the eyes 'Danger.'

At that moment and before Sakura could answer, the unmistakable sound of flapping wings came from outside announcing the arrival of Arasoi and Kaien. Both man and dragon hurriedly entered the cave and Sakura's worry intensified once she saw the distressed look on Kaien's usually composed face. The last time she had seen the man so upset was almost a year ago….right before the battle with Madara. Her gut clenched uncomfortably at the thought.

"Kaien? What's wrong? What did you find out?" asked Kurenai and rushed to the man's side. She hadn't seen Kaien seem so…..old for a long, long time and her instincts were screaming at her that something was terribly wrong.

"It is worse than we thought Kurenai." The man said and he seemed so tired, as if he had aged 1,000 years in the course of a minute. Arasoi sensing his rider's distress sat beside him and brought his legs around him protectively to which Kaien answered with a grateful smile.

Kurenai paled at the sound of those words "How much worse?"

"So much that I am afraid we might be too late."

"But how is it even possible? The last one was suppressed almost 3,000 years ago!"

"Hey, we would very much appreciate it if you finally told us what the hell is going on." Toshiro interrupted them before Kaien had the time to answer.

Kaien sighed heavily as if the weight of the world was upon his shoulders, knowing that it had come to the inevitable.

"Sit down and listen carefully."

The others, humans and dragons, gathered around the man in a semi circle and waited patiently for him to continue.

"The world has another threat to face" the man started "and this one might mean the end of it. For good."

"What kind of threat?" asked Neji who was sitting beside Sakura, already getting the unpleasant feeling at his gut that in the end, it would inevitably have something to do with them.

"Hades is preparing another rebellion."

Sakura watched her Guardian closely for his reaction and she could say that she wasn't pleased with it. Neji, who she thought wasn't unfazed easily, became even paler than he already was and his pearly eyes widened considerably.

"Hades?" said Toshiro and her eyes shifted to him.

"The Greek God Hades, the ruler of the underworld, King of the Dead." Answered Neji and his voice carried an uncharacteristic edge to it that had the hair at the back of Sakura's neck stand on edge.

"Exactly. Ruler of the Underworld, lord of darkness, wielder of shadows. Call him whatever you want."

"You said he is preparing a rebellion. Why? What does he want?" This time it was Sakura who asked.

"Hades along with his brothers Zeus and Poseidon and his sisters Hera, Demeter and Hestia are the children of the Titan Cronus and Rhea. The six gods challenged the Elder Gods for power in the Titanomachy, a war of gods and titans which lasted for a decade and ended with the victory of the younger gods. Hades and his two brothers, Poseidon and Zeus, drew lots, for realms to rule. Zeus got the sky, Poseidon got the seas, and Hades received the underworld, the unseen realm to which the souls of the dead go upon leaving the world as well as any and all things beneath the earth. But Hades was never satisfied. He blamed Zeus; accused him that he had tricked him and cursed him to live for eternity in the misty and gloomy abode of the dead. And he never rested. He plotted with his shadowy followers since the dawn of the Olympian Gods."

Silence fell around them, uncomfortable and suffocating until it was broken by Sakura.

"Kurenai said that the last one was suppressed 3,000 years ago. What exactly did she mean?"

"Hades has tried again to take over Olympus. Almost 3,000 years ago he challenged Zeus to a divine duel to see who was the strongest and fit to rule Olympus. But he underestimated the power of the Father of Gods and Zeus banned him from the Residence of the Olympians. He has been living in his dark realm since then and now he is making his move."

"But why now?" asked Toshiro.

"The Olympians are weak. In Ancient Greece they were feared and respected and worshiped. They had temples and shrines and statues. But most of all, people used to pray. Nowadays, people no longer believe in The Twelve and their power is fading. But as you can't stop time, you also can't stop mortals from dying and with all the wars and the deceases scourging the world, their number is bigger than ever. Hades is gaining power and the Gods are weakening. Soon he will have enough power to overthrow Zeus and turn this world to ashes."

The cave once more fell silent as the graveness of Kaien's words lingered in the air and weighted their hearts.

Sakura knew that she had to ask; a question that she wanted to be answered but also dreaded.

"What does this have to do with us?" Suddenly all eyes, human and dragon alike, turned to Kaien who was silently sitting across from them with his eyes closed. They patiently waited for the man to answer.

"We have no choice. Our allies in Greece have already begun gathering forces to face Hades when the time comes or at least slow him down even for a while. We have to go to their aid. An old friend of mine who has been living in Greece for the past few centuries contacted me a couple of days ago. The news isn't encouraging. They have problems keeping the creatures of dark at bay and most of their forces have not yet arrived. Soon they will be overpowered and what small hope is left will be lost."

"Kaien, Sarutobi is old. What if he is wrong?"

"Don't try to postpone the inevitable Kurenai nor find hope where there isn't. Sarutobi might be old but his powers far surpass ours in this particular field of knowledge. He was never wrong in the past and he will never be until the day he closes his eyes. The signs are clear."

Sakura closed her eyes as if in pain. The truth was that from the moment Kaien had walked through the door, she had known that he wouldn't be telling them anything good. As it turned out, Tsuki had been right. They had another, new war to fight. It never ended, did it? There always would be another battle to be fought, another villain to be brought down. But this time, did they even stand chance? Madara had been a tough opponent but he had been mortal. This time, they were going up against a god. Dragon riders or not, they were mortal and they would die. Heck, they were fighting the God of the Dead himself! Could she risk everything for the second time in her life? Would she? Now that she was finally happy and at peace with her family and loved ones, was she willing to give all that up to go on another quest? Another mission that would take her far away from home, maybe forever?

Yes, she was.

There were innocent lives at stake. If Hades won, no one would escape his wrath and desire for vengeance. He would destroy everything and everyone in his wake, her family and friends included. She couldn't- wouldn't allow that to happen. She had already defeated a madman once in her life and she would do it again and again and again if it meant keeping the ones that mattered to her safe. Slowly she rose and was immediately followed by Toshiro and Neji. The boys had been around her long enough to know when she was serious and the unmistakable shine in her eyes was all the answer they needed.

Sakura trailed each of her friends with her eyes. Kurenai's worried expression and Kaien's tired face, Neji's sharp features and Toshiro's tense form. Then her eyes went to Tsuki and the other dragons that were patiently waiting for their riders to make their decision. These were her friends and she knew that they would stand beside her as she would stand beside them. She trusted them with her life and nothing would ever change that. When she was with them she didn't know what fear meant.

"Well, what are we waiting for?"

She wasn't surprised to see Neji and Toshiro with identical smirks on their faces and she noticed with satisfaction that Kaein's face had regained some of its color and that his eyes weren't cloudy anymore. Slowly he rose to his feet and stood tall beside his dragon.

"I shall inform Sarutobi that help will be arriving shortly." He said and sent Sakura a smile. It was in rare occasions that Kaien smiled that particular smile; the one full of gratitude and kindness and pride. But when he did, it brightened his face as it brightened the souls of the ones that were around him. She returned it with one of her own.

"So that means….." Toshiro trailed off.

"That means that you should pack your bags. We are going to Greece."

TBC

And here it is! Prologue/ Chapter 1 of "The Dragon's egg II: Hade's Rebellion"! First of all, I know that many of you have noticed that not all the parts of Ancient Greek Mythology I used (and will use) are exactly as they really are. Believe me, there is nothing about Greek Mythology that I don't know since I've read and re-read and re-re-read and- well, you get the point. The thing is that Ancient Greek Mythology is something that I've known by heart since I was three (there was no Snow-White or Cinderella for me. My mother used to put me to sleep by reading me the Odyssey, the Iliad and the story of the Minotaur.) So please don't tell me that I am doing mistakes or that I don't know Greek Mythology. It's just that some parts will be altered to fit the story better. I hope you liked the chapter and the general idea of this sequel. Tell me if you'd like me to continue this story. READ AND REVIEW! Lots of love!