I touched down to the foot of the Empire State building, I was tempted to just simply fly up with my eagle-owl animagus form, but I'm pretty sure if Zeus knew about me, he would strike me down before I could enter the damned place, because yeah, the one of few ways I can fly and, bang the God the Sky will strike me down.
But forgetting him for a moment and turning my thoughts to dad, maybe I should wait for the Winter Solstice to be over, and then I can cold-clock dad in the Underworld, but then I'll have to deal with Persephone.
"Can I help you, sir?" The clearly ordinary security guard asked… oh fucking hell, I don't have time for this.
My eyes flared, a trick dad taught me, but the guard didn't back down or even show any emotion.
"Lord Alton." I sighed at the emotionless voice that came from beyond the guard.
"Thanatos, stop calling me Lord." I groaned out, "You work with my dad. Not for him." I clapped in-between each word.
"Lord Alton." He motioned for me to join him in the elevator ignoring my comment entirely.
"I would hate you if I didn't like you so much."
"I'm glad, Lord Alton." He said with the barest of smiles.
Thanatos, the true God of Death. He tended to be impartial to most things being the embodiment of the Grim Reaper and all, but he seemed to relish on family drama, to be exact, my family drama.
He pushed a button that seemed to have a glamour of sorts on it, probably to hide it from the muggles.
"He knows I'm coming?"
"Yes." He nodded.
"The other Gods know I exist?"
"Some." He bowed his head slightly.
"…Fucking-A." I grumbled.
"The alternative?" He asks me for which I give him a nod, "You would've had to let your father kill Zeus' daughter and the other three with her."
"I'm not even surprised that you already know this much." I groaned out.
"It's not in your nature, my Lord." He said, ignoring what I just said.
I rubbed the bridge of my nose, "I'm sure I'm not going to like where this is going, but what do you mean?"
"You brood, you get angry, you force yourself in solace, but you always try and do the decent thing, even when it clashes with your own wellbeing."
"This is the most I've heard you talk at once." I deflected.
He shrugs, "I feeling whimsical today."
The elevator dinged, and I walked out with the possibly wankered God. Olympus was breath-taking, the lulls of the sun rising made the city shone with an indescribable glow. The streets were barren but filled with temples of varying designs.
The only one that seemed to have to be occupied currently was the giant colosseum made of pure white marble.
With a few beings flittering around the entrance, I took stock of the Gods and Goddess, my view on most of them has never been flattering, but here they are just talking to each other, some gossiping, some laughing and joking around. Others were getting a bit too heated for the public.
No. Remember, they are a bunch of immortal immoral twat-bags, "They're all not that bad."
"Stop doing that, Thanatos!" I said a bit too loud, drawing more than a few questioning glances.
Damned God of Death, reading me like a book.
"Lord Alton, if I may?" I didn't bother responding as I knew he would say whatever his piece is in-spite of my answer, "You should perhaps handle this matter with delicacy."
I nodded, "I will take that into consideration."
He motioned for the doors as he stood a few steps away from it. My father was in there, the man who I haven't seen for nearly a decade. I should choose my words carefully.
"Oi!" I kicked the door open.
"At the very least, you're being delicate,"
"You stupid fucking arse wipe," I called out to the hall.
"Oh, never mind."
All eyes landed on me, but I ignored the beings who tended to be lavished with attention, and I kept my gaze solely on him as he sighed deeply into his cup, they all seemed to be in their relatively smaller forms, as if they were unwinding from all their 'important' duties.
"Alton." He gave a slight nod as he drank deeply from his cup, "I see you have decided to be a fool."
Silent mummers erupted from the hall.
"Summon your blade," I demanded as I strode towards him.
He turned to me, "No, Alton."
"Hades!"
"What are you playing at, brother?"
Hades let out a deep sigh, his eyes accused me of his headache, but I ignored it, "Get your fucking sword."
"No." My fist slammed into his jaw, and he buckled from the impact, dropping his cup and wasting good booze.
"Don't do this, boy." He grunted.
"Too fucking late."
I hooked my leg behind his and then punched him in the ribs. He groaned as his body went slack for a moment, allowing me to drag him to the brazier in the centre of the room.
He hardly put up a struggle as I lowered his head to the fire.
"Fine," He gritted out and finally summoned his strength and pulling himself out of my hold before punching across my jaw. The impact launched me across the room, "have it your way." I heard the sound of a blade being drawn from its sheath, despite him being out of view I could picture him drawing it out with his theatrics.
I shakily got back onto my feet, setting my jaw back into place and spitting out a glob of blood, "Wait a moment." I said, raising a hand, causing him to stop moving, "But I'm not a child." He gave me a loathing look, "You sure you want to fight someone who's going to kick your teeth in."
"Sure." He said simply, "Send them my way."
"Alright, I walked into that one." I groaned before clapping my hands together.
The power I've grown accustomed to pumped through my hands, and I constructed an ethereal dark sword that hummed alongside with my magic, the barest of wisp wafted from the blade.
The Fateless power, something I unlocked when I first discovered who my father was, a power that severed my destiny, I was destined to die young and be forgotten by all. Still, he changed it, changed it all, when he gifted me with that grimoire all those years ago, Hades had hoped that he changed my destiny of dying young to the Noseless-Cretin. And it's precisely why I can't stand the sight of Hades, right now.
We were given a wide berth as the two of us rushed each other.
As I neared him, he took a step back and swung the greatsword. I rolled forward and sliced the upper part of his thigh with my constructed short blade. He hissed while he slammed his dress shoe on top of my outstretched leg, trapping me for a brief moment, giving him the prime time to hitting the flat of his sword across my face.
The skull rattling hit was something else, but he foolishly paused, hoping that it was enough to simmer my fury.
Nada.
I dissolved my short blade, and pumped the energy into my hands. I then slammed my fist into the open wound in his leg. With all of my might, my knuckles dug into the ichor leaking wound.
He let out a roar of pain, letting up on the trap-hold he had on me. I rushed up and willed a battle-hammer with my Fateless power, smashing across his face, he briefly recoiled, and when I raised my hand back to once strike him with it again, he caught the hand, and he squeezed, crushing the construct, though he didn't let up.
Blood seeped out of my mouth, my teeth grounded, the bones in my hand were being crushed. I held the scream back as our amber eyes met, and I could tell he just wanted this to end as quick as possible.
It will.
He seems to forgotten I'm a wizard before his involvement in my life, and I will always will be.
My yew wand slipped slid into my right hand. I jabbed the wand in front of his face and I clamped my eyes shut, "Lumos maxima."
He released me and moved to protect his already light damaged eyes, "Chaos, damn it, Alton!" He cursed.
"Bombarda." His body sailed as the spell hit him directly in his chest, a few Gods and Goddess were forced to dodge his flying body.
I hovered my wand over to my left and dominant hand, muttering a quick and painful healing spell to reset the bones before tossing the wand to that hand, painless spells required time and patients, and even then not great for rush on the field type of damage or even something crippling not without real training.
"Shouldn't we stop this?" With varying dress sense conversed with each other, two men, them being the only ones to do so drew my attention, which proved to be dumb of me as in the moment of my attention going stray, Hades was already on his feet and closing the gap between us.
I summoned more of the Fateless power than I initially started with. This time my perception of time slowed drastically; with this sense of time, I tend to be a glass cannon, though I was covered by moving crazy faster than most of the opponent I've faced.
Let's see if this was enough to cause some harm to dear old dad.
Or maybe not.
Two women appeared in between us; the one who stood in front of Hades had a childlike appearance, but her look of loathing was enough to stop him in his tracks. Me on the other hand, I had to watch in painfully slow detail as the woman who I resembled more than I did with my father glared something fierce.
A woman who showed me nothing but love and happiness, frankly, it tended to be overwhelming most of the time.
Right now, though.
She raised a hand, striking me on the side of the face that wasn't swollen.
"Persephone." The well-dressed man said as he approached slowly, "Step back." He warned her.
She just scoffed, "Relax, Zeus. Alton would never harm me." She turned back to me, her thumb caressed my swollen side of my face, switching her anger to a soothing comforting temperament.
She let out a deep sigh, "What in your father's name were you thinking?"
"I wasn't thinking," I admitted with a deep sigh.
"I can tell." She suddenly tugged my bread, "You look awful."
I gave her a flat look, "You ain't talking 'bout my bruised and bloody face, are you?"
"Well," She scrunched her face up and nodded, "you look like crap. You could groom yourself. Cut your hair, shape up your bread if you have to keep it. Fates, Alton, you're so handsome but put in some effort."
"Yep, that's prudent right now, mother."
"Mum." She demanded.
"No," I denied with a hard look, "you know I will only call one person that."
"Mom." She tried the middle ground with a hopeful voice.
"No, but that's for a different reason." I moved away from her touch, "I'm fine."
"As am I," Hades said as he walked closer to us.
"Nobody asked." Persephone snapped as she kept her eyes on me.
"Are you kidding me?" Hades groaned, "Alton started it." He sounded like a fucking child.
"Actually, you did." A woman outfitted in an ancient Greek garbed stepped forward; she gave Hades a warning look, "When your monsters attacked my daughter." She turned to a skinny man with dirty blond hair, "Your son." And then she turned to Zeus, "and your daughter."
"You have a daughter?" The man dressed a typical beach bum surfer look, asked with an angry tone to his voice.
"Yes, he does."
"You really think you have a leg to stand on, Hades?" Zeus questioned, "Your Ichor is still on your son's knuckles."
"Godfucking dammit." I placed two fingers on the bridge of my nose, wincing in pain, but I still kept them there as I needed to alleviate my headache, "I should've gone to Canada."
"Thank you." The Goddess of Wisdom thanked me, bringing me out of my thoughts of why did I decide to come to America, her familiar stormy grey eyes boring a hole in me, "You saved my daughter's life."
"And my son's." The man I'm pretty sure is Hermes stepped forward, "Thank you."
I backed away slightly, "You knew your kids were in danger, and you did nothing."
"To be fair, I just learned about it," Hermes stated.
"Not helping your case, pal."
"Gods and Goddess cannot interact with our demigod children," Athena said.
"Yet Hades has." Zeus said as he stood in front of me, "You look remarkably well and untouched."
Persephone attempted to stand in front of me, but I slipped away and stood beside her, "I'm not bound to the Fates."
Zeus' eyes widened before he let out a hollow laugh, "And you say my kids are arrogant Hades. Yours thinks he can stand against the Fates."
"He is not lying." Three crones appeared, and all the eccentricity and the interest the deities had shown has wholly disappeared.
'Even a fool like Zeus fears the Fates.' A memory of Hades came to the forefront of my mind.
"Son of the Dead." One of the crones turned to me.
"Son of Astra." I corrected.
"He's got a pair on him."
"He's an idiot." My 'uncles' commented.
"I was and will always be my mum's son." I ignored them, "If you fucking crones must refer to me as anything, it will be, Son of Astra."
"Alton." I ignored the worry in Persephone's voice or the oddly proud look on Hades' bruised and battered face.
"Son of Astra." One of the crones appeased.
"Say what now?" Poseidon let out in one breath.
"You caused the demigods to come to my home," I stated.
"Yes." The one with an eye currently in her socket rasped with a deeper voice than her sisters.
"Why? Did you really think I would have let them die? Or did you think I would kill my father in some misguided retribution?"
"Or I kill him for attacking me?" Hades questioned as he stood beside me.
"I wouldn't kill him." The both of us said simultaneously.
"He's a hypocritical bastard," I said.
"He's a stubborn fool." He said.
Neither of us needed to say anything else; it was already spoken without saying the words; it was said despite the anger and most likely slowly disappearing contempt we held for each other right now.
One of the Fates plucked the eye out of her sister's socket and popped it into her own, "Son of Astra. Peace was never yours."
"Old or new." Were the last words they said as they disappeared from sight, leaving with the cryptic words.
The hall of the Gods was dead silent, "I should have gone to Australia." I shook my head, "The only thing I would have to worry about would be the wildlife."
Hades snorted, but he didn't say a word. None dared to.
"Are you going to try and kill Thalia?" I said, drawing back Zeus' full attention.
"I will," Hades admitted, the two of us standing side by side, not looking at each other.
"I won't let you."
"You are meddling with affairs that are not your business."
"But they are." Poseidon said, "He's your son."
Hades growled, sending a look of loathing at the Hawaiian-Shirt wearing God, "Alton is past the age of the damned prophecy. It is not him."
"Your son is powerful enough to stand against you in a one to one." Zeus stated, "He is flippant to the Fates, and yet he still breaths."
"What is he?" Poseidon questioned.
"A Fateless Wizard," Hades said as if that quenched their answers.
"Oh, thank you, brother. That answers everything." Poseidon snarked.
"He is done with this." I said and moved to leave, "Hades." I paused as I called out to him over my shoulder.
"Yes?" He grounded out.
"I will protect her."
"She is not yours to protect." He stated as if were a matter of fact.
"She is a child," I shrugged my shoulders, "that you are trying to kill because she was born. I stand the right to protect her from your forces."
"He would do the same to you. He has done the same."
I scoffed at his reasoning, "Then be better."
"Hades, stop your child from leaving," Zeus demanded, but The God of the Dead just sneered in return.
Hades POV – Moments after Alton's departure
Seeing my son for the first time in nearly a two decades was undoubtedly an experience.
I couldn't help but admire the man he has become, Alton, once the weakest demigod I produced, and with a bit of push in the right direction from me, not that he would call it that, but he has become something more.
"You're proud." With a fiery look gazing her face, my dear wife accused me with a livid expression. Chaos damned, she is stunning right now.
"Of course." I grunted out, not emoting the passion I was feeling right now, "He is a stubborn fool, but I will never fault him for standing on his own."
Persephone seethed, "He shouldn't be on his own."
Persephone always says Alton got his mother's handsome looks while he got my personality, and sure I will admit he got my temper and bouts of a desire to be alone, but he did inherit parts of the late Astra.
He cares; sure, the old him was never quick to attach himself to those around him, but when he does care for someone, he will give them his heart and everything that comes with it.
"He needs time." I appeased.
To lose your world, and then to be told you can have it again but at the cost of irreparably hurting those you cannot live without and yes tonight has shown he can be foolish beyond belief, but even he knew why he could not defy the laws of death.
If he needs to heal by fighting me, so be it, but I will not apologise for wanting him to live and survive, and now added fuel to the fire, Zeus's daughter.
"Hades," Zeus commanded my attention, but I ignored him in favour of turning my attention to the only sister I cared for.
"Did you get my wife?" I accused.
Hestia gave me a loathing look, showing just how angry she was; my sister was never one for bouts of anger, she after all takes on all the disrespect mortals and other gods heap on her with kindness and smile. The one sure way of earning her ire, hurting children and infighting within what she likes to call 'our family,' daft woman.
"Well, I figured I couldn't have stopped two beings as hard-headed as you on my own." She said with an irritable tone.
"Hades!"
I turned to Zeus, and I was met by two furious glares of my fools in the guise of brothers.
"I know, I know, a meeting just for us," I said as I referred to myself as an Olympian.
He was too vexed to comment, not that I cared either way.
I turned my full attention to Persephone, "My love."
"Don't." She warned.
"Persephone." I sighed, "Leave Alton be,"
"I-"
"Love him as if he was your son, yes, but you and I both know he needs to smoulder and rage on before talking to him."
"Yes, I wonder where he gets that from?" She jeered.
"Persephone." I am the God of the Dead. I do not whine to my wife, and especially not in public.
"I will not stand by and let you two go on about the way you have been, not when the two of you decide to draw each other's blood."
"We fought for a different reason then the cause of his departure."
"There should be no fight!" She roared as she backed away, joining my sister as the two walked out of the hall, the rest of the minor Gods and Goddess not turning their eyes away from me.
Alton, you have called for too much attention than any of your kin has. Tyche favour him.
I walked into the chamber that more or less was held when Zeus wanted to discuss something he deemed far too crucial for lesser ears.
His ilk already in their seats, in their godly forms.
Zeus wasted no time as the moment I walked in, the lavish doors of the council chamber shut behind me, he demanded answers. "Who was that?" He uttered in a low warning tone, begrudgingly I will admit that he would send lesser beings in a fearful state with just that tone, but I.
"Oh, him? He's a figment of your imagination, or perhaps your drunken stupor."
Thunder boomed, and he sent me a loathing glare, "Do not toy with me, Hades." He warned.
"Do not ask senseless questions," I warned in return.
"Your son-"
"Is 37." I cut him off, "He is no threat."
"Expect to you, as it seems." Zeus's so-called wisest child chimed in with an amused smirk on her face, the mark of unearned arrogance.
"Alton is strong-willed and extremely hard-headed, but his fatal flaw is that he cares for those in his life greatly."
Hera scoffed, "Of course you would see that as a flaw."
I gave her a warning look, "When he lost his wife, he ravaged the Underworld. He instilled fear into creatures that have never known to fear anything but myself."
"His wife," Hera asked with now renewed interest. I cursed myself; I had come into this meeting as Zeus usually takes to calling it, with the desire of spilling little as possible about Alton. Yet there something about Hera that has always infuriated me, nothing simple as lust or attraction. No, this was a loathing of hypocrisy.
I chose to ignore her, "He now lives in isolation. Interacting with no one." The Fates have changed that, now.
"It doesn't matter," Poseidon
"I begged to differ." Apollo grinned, "The Winter Solstice hasn't been that entertaining in decades."
Artemis sent her cheery idiotic twin a withering look, which had seemed to tame him for a moment; a moment was usually the extent of the Sun God's attention span.
"It doesn't matter, nor do I care." Poseidon kept his attention on me, "We need to deal with him." He said, sounding like Zeus.
"You said he was a 'Fateless Wizard' what is that supposed to mean?"
I let out a sigh considering on if I should tell them the long or short version, deciding on the latter, "He and his mother are descendants of those blessed by Hecate."
"The world hidden from mortals, under her protection." Athena said.
I nodded as Hermes arched an eyebrow, "World hidden?"
"During the dark ages, when monsters of all kinds ravaged mortals, Hecate blessed groups of humanity all across the globe. However, unlike our blessings, hers was capable of being passed along, from parent to child, they even have a hidden community in New York."
"These humans, used their abilities to hide from regular mortals." Zeus added with a nod, "But what do you mean when you say he's Fateless?"
"Exactly that. I changed his written end by giving him an edge and in doing so, the Fates cannot weave his fate anymore, he is out of their control."
Zeus interest was piqued, "Can this be replicated?"
"No." I gave him a challenging look, one that he returned, even if he drops the matter for now, it will come up again. The idea being out of their reach is too good to pass up.
The supposed king of gods went quiet on the matter now.
Poseidon brought up the fact we needed to deal with my son, and we knew why he was so adamant about it, Alton's declaration of protecting the daughter of Zeus from my wrath.
To Poseidon it looks like an alliance between Zeus and I, and if the moron just looked a bit deeper than the surface level, he would clearly see it for what it is, a willful son defying his father. That's precisely what Zeus see's, a son of Hades extending his protection to his daughter, and he'll gladly exploit it.
There is something he and I share in common for all of his faults; our love for our respective spawn was the same.
Someone like Alton, my son, powerful and uncontrollable, would typically send Zeus ballistic.
Did Alton know how to play Zeus? I wouldn't put it past him, but he's also the type of person who does not care about people's opinions, nor does he think his actions through, point in case my wounds that healing currently.
"We do nothing," Zeus finally said, "for now." He said to appease Poseidon, though he failed going by Poseidon less then pleased expression.
"He held his own, against Hades." Poseidon did know how to play on Zeus' fears, that is for sure.
"We will watch them."
I let out a scoff, "You mean my son, and only him."
Zeus sneered, "Well, it's not as if you aren't sending a horde of monsters to kill my daughter."
I refused to give him a point, "Who exactly will watch them?" I spat out them.
Zeus ignored me for a moment and turned his attention to his children, Hephaestus, Apollo and Dionysus, were oblivious to the world around. The only talented one of Zeus' kids tinkering away at some device in his hands, the drunkard in his imposed sobriety dozing in his throne, and the fool was busy playing with a strand thread on his jumper.
The war-obsessed moron looked excited at the prospect of fighting my son, and I had to will myself not to smile at the image of Alton beating him to an inch of his immortal life. My pride as Alton's father is undoubtedly not clouding my judgement.
The Prankster seemed to be taking this seriously for once, but that is probably because he owed a debt to my son for saving his.
The supposed Wise Goddess stepped forward, "Father, I gladly-"
"No." Poseidon refused, cutting off the Goddess, "She owes the boy."
"Man." I corrected.
Athena glared at the Sea God, their rivalry sparking throughout the years, all stemming from the city of Athens and their contest, "I will do my duty as I have always done."
"Enough." Zeus boomed, "This is not a matter of debt." He uttered out as he glared at our brother, "We are to watch him." He didn't realise he lost his pretences, "To neither aid," He turned his sneer to me, "or harm."
"Then I will volunteer."
"Shit," I uttered out.
Zeus ignored me and looked surprised that Artemis agreed to undertake this task; there was something about her expression that told me that she looked like she was seething with rage as if she had some personal stake in this. Oh, fucking fates, what did you do to piss off her, Alton?
"No."
"Yes."
Zeus let out a tired sigh, "We're getting nowhere with this."
"Why don't I-" Before the Goddess of Love could finish her sentences, the three of us denied her request.
I would rather she stays away from all of my children, not to mention Persephone would probably, no scratch that she would kill her if she tried to lay with Alton.
"Artemis." Zeus dismissed the prospect of the Love Goddess, "Observe, and act on my judgement." He gave her a warning gaze, daring her to defy him.
I suppose that's the best I'm going to get from Zeus, and Poseidon looked joyed at the fact.
Alton, I hope you know what you've just inflicted upon yourself.
A/N – 21/04/2021
Thank you all to the support you have shown for this story.
Short fight scene in this chapter, and I tend to keep them short just because I suck at writing them most of the time.
The Fateless power for those that do recognise it, is Kingdoms of Amalur Reckoning, a brilliant game for those that haven't played it and it has recently been re-released, it is worth checking out.
So Alton and Hades have a tense relationship and that is for reasons that I will explain further down the line, and yeah I tend to write characters that don't think things through or just need to vent and lash out because they humans, and humans don't usually need sound reasoning to be angry.