Divinity: Fates and the Afterlife

Chapter Seventy-Nine

Agamemnon stood at the gates of the fields or mourning with a large group of soldiers securing the borders of each gate and river in the underworld. Ever since Hades went into seclusion, he was given a higher title and attached with it, the task to monitor the underworld's status and keep contact with all the soldiers guarding the broken rim that kept the underworld safe from Tartarus.

He laid down his stained weapon and put it back in its scabbard before turning back from the remains of Thanatos and frowned, showing deep concern, mortified even. Clearly sensing something was happening aside from their current situation. His suspicions spiked to a higher level when he saw a couple of soldiers walking his way with hurry.

"Commander,"

"Take your position, call for aid," Agamemnon, turned his cold gaze to the second soldier standing close, "We must be prepared for whatever it is coming our way,"

"Yes, Commander,"

"Have you gathered more information concerning the rim?" His frown deepened, digging a deep wrinkle in between his thick brows "Anything that we can to our advantage about the Hybrid's whereabouts?"

"No, Commander. Nothing in sight. We cannot sense any aura that could lead us to think we have found him. All we know is that the ground is unsteady but we still have not been able to stabilize the gates; they're fickle and so is the magnetic field to keep those cursed demons at bay. Pushing further will only compromise our soldiers' safety." The soldier in ash gray armor turned to the fire pits bursting with fierce force behind his leader, "Commander... Lord Hades..." he stared at him with concern, "What will Lord Hades do if we do not find him soon?"

Agamemnon's face tensed even more, he already fearing the very worst. Not that he had a close relationship with Hades, but he was familiar with his dark mood whenever his orders were not fulfilled. The lord of the underworld was not a god of massacre but he did make his victims suffer in the cruelest of ways. His jaw clenched with doubt and hesitation, knowing he was walking on very slippery ground. The matter was delicate, more than he imagined, more than he wanted to believe.

The soldier remembered his reaction to the news when the terran prince had crossed to Tartarus and since then, there had not been any retaliation, but that did not mean it was over. Hades was not a condescending god, he had no time to be merciful—he did not waste his time with it, and if he did, he completely ignored it and better sided with his obsession over power and control that was also not a secret. He felt it, fear creeping inside of him like a long-limbed spider devouring his patience.

"I do not think the hybrid's his priority as of now, Gutba." Agamemmon swallowed, "Right now, we have to keep the barrier up." He let out a hoarse sigh, almost desperate, "We have to keep all the gates leading to Tartarus closed to keep its demons from filtering into the Underworld."

Almost like if his words and the haunting meaning of them were the spells to break their conviction, the ground beneath their feet growled with angry force. Echoing like a peal of thunder crashing underground, the soldiers and commander lost their balance, Agamemnon looked up at the rim and widened his eyes when he saw cracks of intense light piercing through the stone and a very dense fog ahead; he took a sharp breath, "No... it cannot be..." he flipped his head with panic to look back and swallowed hard, "We cannot be this damned..."

O—o—o—o—O

His face was marked with peaked interest. His eyes wide gleamed with entertainment. His hair, dark as a starless night flowed in its long tail from the top of his head like a trail of thick smoke.

Chaos stood still with his arms crossed as he watched the ground crack into pieces, allowing the void behind started to manifest in swirls of angry fire granting the creatures from the deepest part of Inferno crawl free from inside their hole. He wasn't even trying to avoid the commotion; he just stood there and watched the corrupted remains of giants and ancient entities come to the surface to take everything under their control—like in the old times.

His eyes locked with Hades' and then to Zeus and saw them battling with the mass of scattered bodies re-spawning like the worst of their curses becoming true. Like a true messiah to evil, Chaos was completely careless of the sewer of heinous waste he just opened and what was worse, he was greatly entertained. He began walking the long field using a magnetic force to clear his way to the sealed gates that divided Thanatos from Tartarus and forced the remains of the seal put on the rim to tear open like dry sand.

Ares quickly spotted the titan approaching the gates and turned to slash the last demon to clear his way and went after him but was abruptly stopped by the ungodly roars coming from the void behind. His blood froze. He froze. His mind quickly played his life in a matter of seconds.

Fear. Torture. Hunger. Anger. Disillusion. All back—it was all back, to haunt him again.

-O-

The tension on his sore muscles, the burn on his skin for the unforgiving ambiance in that somber prison he had been kept away. His gray eyes quivering with tears of mixed feelings; rage and impotence, pooling at the very rim of his lids, watching with horror as the little creations of light, just like him, were dismembered and devoured by their captors.

His breathing peaked when he heard another muffled cry. One he knew too well, the one that came attached with the stench of blood. He wanted to scream, he was going to scream; one more tear and he was going to break. His body shivered, splatters of blood, dry and fresh, stained the stone walls that were weakly lit by the flickers of the fire torches hanging from the ceiling.

It felt like time stretched to no end, every cry it felt like an eternity coming over again to create a torturous loop. His chapped lips quivered, he was about to give in to his desperation and run after their captives when a pair of hands covered his eyes and pulled him close to his equally unnourished body.

"Do not move. Do not look,"

Ares heard another bone-chilling cry; choked and charged with dread, followed by the crack of bones and swallowing. He knew what it was—he knew perfectly what that sound was and what would come next. He had learned to decode it, after years of listening to it over and over again, he had learned what bones sounded like when they were stripped from their flesh and how they cracked when turned completely dry. They were there with the sole purpose of fulfilling the bottomless greed of the masses. He knew the scent of blood and the haunting sense of death and he also knew, that if he didn't come up with anything else to escape, they would be next.

His gray eyes, hidden underneath his wet and dirty golden locks widened when he saw a shadow moving closer to where he was curled in hiding with his older brothers, Zeus and Hades, who was holding him tight in his arms, trying his best to keep him secure. "Do not look, Ares." He said in whispers "Close your eyes."

"He is going to kill us..." Ares said frustrated, choked with emotion "He is going to see us."

"I will not let him,"

Ares slowly turned to Zeus, who had his back pressed against the cold stone wall. His brows were knitted in thought and his eyes gleamed with determination, "I will not let him have us. This is not why we were born." He shook his head "This cannot be our destiny. Why we were wished to exist."

"Zeus..." Young Ares took a sharp breath; catching the older boy's attention. Zeus turned to him, his face and body showed the signs of abuse as much as his, or even worse, because every time they were to get beat to a pulp with a whip, he took the bullet for his brothers. Bruised and with cuts all over his exposed chest and arms, Zeus, looking what one would identify as to be in his early teens, looked at his much younger and badly hurt brother, "Together we stand. Together we remain. Together we win."

From their hiding place, came to view their biggest tormentor, Tantalus, holding a rusty ax on his hand and his muscular body stained with blood—old and new. His long dark hair reached his waist, tangled and frizzy from all the moist inside the stone chamber where he murdered his victims.

He was well-known for his torturous techniques and the rusty spiked crown he wore upon his head like a true king of nightmares. Far back in time, the man was known to be a king; he led a reign of misery and solitude so disturbing it was outcasted by the laws of the titans, the current rulers of great parts of the universe. Tantalus was known for not being pleased with the creation of gods, often claiming they were creatures born from the waste of other deities. He was also against in how titans had risen in arms against his ruling and had forced him to give up his crown, many times; a crown he made up again for himself made of carcass.

Tantalus was a strange deity, some said he was a giant, others a titan, but neither races admitted his origin; neither considered him as one of them because he did not really fit anywhere. There were rumors of his conception, rumors of his upbringing, but none addressed it out loud. Not one cared to explain. An outspoken secret in everyone's mouth, an outcast that became king of a forgotten planet at the outskirts of the *Sextans Galaxy, an irregular dwarf type cluster of stars located 4.3 million lightyears from the Milky Way. He had a thirst for power. He was unforgiving. He was evil for the pleasure of being evil—an angry soul. He worked his way up between both reigns, giants, and titans, and murdered gods because he considered them a plague, and now, it came to his knowledge how wishes, when strong, spawned life that later would morph into deities under the name of Olympians. Creatures of beauty and youth, of blood so pure that could even revitalize his rotting body and he wanted that; he wanted that power.

It came to his knowledge that Kronos, Chronos' father and King of the Titans, had gone in a massive murderous rant and had joined forces with Atlas and other titans who opposed the idea of giants and gods gaining power over their ruling and had started a war. A war that was getting out of control and splitting into two different battles that had gotten Zeus, Hades, and Ares, along with many other nameless gods imprisoned and waited to meet their bloody fate in the dark and anonymity.

"I heard it—those damn ancients," Tantalus hoarse voice echoed inside the stone chamber as he sharpened another one of his axes. It appeared he was speaking to somebody else, somebody Ares could not see or recognize by the sound of his voice.

"Aye," Said the other voice, its baritone level bounced in the emptiness of the court, "Kronos is beheading everyone, I heard he has even eaten some of his children in an act of rampage; aiming to get rid of those of titan blood he does not think worthy of breathing his air. Giants are losing the battle—"

"Giants... Titans... they are all the same wasteful matter. They will eat each other until they all die."

"What about The Twelve?"

"What about them?"

"They will come after you; you have taken much of their domain. Not to mention, they have gone in their own personal crusade."

Tantalus ran his calloused finger across the curved blade of his ax to test its sharpness and let out a choked laugh, "Titans are savages. They focus their attention on whatever catches their eye; as long as I keep myself out of their way, nothing will happen. This place is a fortress and nobody knows about it." He looked at the trickle of blood coming out of his finger and narrowed his sunken eyes, "Nothing comes in and nothing comes out. I have made sure of that myself."

"There are rumors about the descendants of The Twelve and how they are causing quite the commotion; some are war incarnated."

Tantalus raised his blade eye-height and turned over his shoulder and spotted Ares close to his brothers and arched his brow, "I do not mind those pests." His eyes gleamed with pleasure as he swung down his murderous weapon of choice, "I have better things to do."

-O-

Ares' eyes widened twice in size when in between blazes of hatred and fire came to his vision the form of the creature that embodied his worst nightmare. It had been eons since he felt this uncontrollable sharp wisp of fear. As the god of war, he overcame it, he mastered fear—he became fear and vengeance. Ares forbid himself of this raw sentiment, but now, it was all back and it was taking full control of him.

Covered in scars, his skin scorched and blistered. His face, while almost to a point of not being recognizable, still held that same crooked smile, the same one he made when he had chosen him to be his next victim. Tantalus came out of Tartarus' hole with his famous bloodied ax in hand, striding with pride and vengeance marked in those same sunken eyes completely covered with smoke and blood.

Ares froze, Hades noticed it.

At the other side of the crumbling cliff, Hades swung his scythe down and claimed the heads of four different beats in one slash completely forgetting his disgust over other's blood staining the beauty of his face, "Ares!" He turned to Zeus but he was already in a ravaging battle with another demonic giant coming out of the massive black hole. The lord of thunder raised his hand and summoned his power manifesting in strings of thunder echoing in the sky and charging his blade and swung it down, electrocuting everyone in his path in just one strike. He turned when he heard Hades' call for his brother and tried to run after his younger brother, he raised his blade and charged it at more demons pouring out while cursing under his breath for not being able to get to his brother faster.

Ares stood still watching Tantalus coming close with his eyes focused and his weapon aiming at him—he, the god of war. What a damn irony. His hand trembled as he held his claymore weapon and tightened his grip but the fear crawling over him was too strong to allow him to even cast a move.

He could not move.

This was a recurring nightmare becoming a reality once again.

-O-

The chilling sound of blade against blade made Ares' skin crawl. He couldn't stop looking at it: Tantalus' ax dripping blood as he sharpened it again to skin and chop his next victim. Finally, the man came to view and with him, Pelops, another titan famously known for being evil and corrupt.

"Aye, what about those three," Pelops pointed his head in their direction, his face as dirty as Tantalus' "Where did you find those?"

Tantalus turned at Zeus holding Hades' hand and Hades with his arms around Ares. It was the longest, coldest stare a living being could give another. His grip on his ax tightened, "Those three... I heard they are children of Divines—they call themselves Olympians, now. Rhea hid them and sent them away to protect them... but I managed to stop her."

"What for?"

Tantalus looked at the rusty blade of his ax and narrowed his sunken eyes, "Preservation." He turned to the three children and pointed at Zeus with his blade, "If they were kept intact by Rhea it is because they probably mean something valuable. They are different spawn. A creation that comes from the death of stars... between the natural layers of Titans and Giants lies this new breed."

"A new breed..."

"Titans and Giants are natural enemies, the war between them has existed for eons. These are something else." Tantalus arched his brow, "Let the ancients bleed to death. The flesh and blood of these divines belong to me. If I drink their blood—if I eat them, I will become something else."

"Someone stronger..."

"...My own kind."

-O-

Ares couldn't fight the tears forming in his eyes, the tears he couldn't shed when he was stuck in that prison of gore. He couldn't fight the anger boiling inside of him, the disgust he felt when he saw the face of the man splattered with blood and that crooked grin he wished he never had to see ever again. How much time it had passed since they were both face to face, for different reasons, under different circumstances but both equally dangerous and horrifying.

"Gods..." Tantalus' sunken eyes sparked with bloody murder and disgust as he came close with his weapon already prepared to swing it down, "I remember those eyes... that face..."

Ares tightened his grip on his sword and raised his arm enough to block the man's straightforward and unmeasured attack. Brutal as him, unforgiving and so full of raw hatred. An angry soul, a torturous soul. Evil for the pleasure of being evil. He didn't give any clues up on what he was going to do next, he never did, all of his victims' lives were sliced with that same sharp, rusty blade, stained with million-old blood of both, guilty and innocent—giants, titans, divines, and gods.

Trapped in between his darkest memories, Ares engaged in a savage battle with the man that once threatened to cut his head and later feast with his flesh and blood. Coiled in the echoing sound of his rough laughter and grunts, paired with the chilling crisp noise of their unforgiving blades sliding and screeching against each other, Ares managed to stay focused on his target despite feeling his most vulnerable. It was needless to say that the man fighting him represented everything he never wanted to be to his kind, and that he, was probably the only creature in the universe that made his skin crawl and the reason he chose the path of becoming the god of war so he would never feel this helpless ever again.

Tantalus didn't wait long to take advantage of Ares' confused and troubled mind. He knew how to read his victim's weakness, he knew how to bend and break anyone's spirit and god of war or not, he once was his victim. He once had Ares chained in his murder prison, he once had his tears and cries. He owned his fear.

In quick turns and barely executed dodges, Ares blocked Tantalus rusty blade with his own and squinted his eyes, trying his best not to break his well-armored character. He knew better than this, he had fought countless enemies, countless of powerful beings, and came victorious. He learned the trades of murder like the back of his hand, he was the head of an army and even trained the most skillful and merciless polemarchos. Chaos' master; and once a titan's pupil. He couldn't lose against this man, yet, he felt his body was betraying his knowledge and mocking his belief system. He was becoming his own enemy by yielding to his opponent.

Ares didn't realize his level of disadvantage until he felt Tantalus' fist pounding on his face and his dirty boot kicking him down like an old bag of bones. His gray eyes widened when he tasted the familiar metallic taste of blood pooling out of his mouth, staining his lips and the ground underneath him and felt like the child from thousands of years ago. Helpless and alone. Ares lay there without a spark of strength on his side, without support from his broken mind. He was broken. Overpowered. Vulnerable.

He felt another kick, this time on his side of his ribs punching the air out of his lungs as he rolled away from the force. Tantalus lowered down his ax and looked at him with an unreadable expression on his scarred face, "You..." he muttered, his husky voice came out after millennia of imprisonment, "That face... I have seen that cursed face before. Gods... you, disgusting gods. Hybrids of the universe. Granted wishes."

Tantalus' words pierced Ares' mind like sharp blades as rusty as his ax; the way he spoke with so much disdain and disgust; with such disapproval for his existence, for the way gods came to be another race in the universe. There was so much anger in his tone he sensed its force shadowing his aura and his state of mind like an eclipse and this is how he came to understand how the terran prince must feel every time the gods refer of him as a fault of the universe, a cursed hybrid that needed to be exterminated and it pained him. He felt ashamed.

He slowly turned his head in his brother's direction and briefly locked his gaze with Hades, who happened to be watching the harrowing battle from a distance. Much to Ares' surprise, there was a mortifying gleam in Hades' always calm and wise glance, so uncharacteristic, it made him remember that he was still his brother. The very one he once looked up to. The same one that traded his place to endure Tantalus' torture tactics to break their spirit so he would not know what pain is like—Hades had died in life. Hades knew torture. Hades knew death, for he had tasted it. He knew fear and so, he learned how to play with it.

Hades studied Tantalus and with time, he learned—he mastered his tactics and implemented them later on with the vilest ways of torture. It finally made sense why he had been so disgusted with his cold and distant behavior. Ares finally understood why they grew apart so much from each other when once they were inseparable. Much more than they were with Zeus, who they always saw more like a fatherly figure than an actual older brother. It finally made sense.

Hades had become a modern version of Tantalus, and he, in a way had too.

Just like him, Hades learned the trades of murder and harbored the pain and trauma of their unsteady upbringing. He too lived the aftermath of Tantalus' torture, bringing sense as to why he never put up a fight when Zeus gave him the title as the god of death. In fact, he owned it with pride and it has been this way for thousands of years.

To Ares, it made sense why Hades chose not to stain his hands with blood ever again, why he was disgusted with gore and preferred to toy with his victims through their emotions. Even as children, his skills and power never really resided in brutal force, as he would often say. Hades was an intellectual, a strategist, a negotiator and that granted him superb power that allowed him to build and control a reign that became as grand and powerful as Olympus itself—the Underworld. The majestic realm of death and rebirth. The same place that created the cauldron of stars in the Alpha Galaxy.

When the war with the titans started, Ares was the very first to step in and be the one protecting Hades. He helped him bring order and balance to the universe with the help of the celestial army, already curated and polished by Helios and it is with that power and refreshed authority that he brought the cursed ones to the underworld to imprison and control under his command. As a matter of gratitude, Ares had sworn to look after him the same way he did when they were imprisoned in their early years, but somewhere along the way, things started to change between them and long forgotten were those times when they stood up for each other and became blood enemies.

With every kick, with every swing, and every cut of Tantalus' blade, Ares started to give up on himself, waking the same sentiment on Hades' spirit as he watched from afar helpless and busy dealing with the wave of evil entities pouring out of the pit.

"Ares! Stand up!" Hades quickly turned and swung down his scythe to behead another cursed creature. His poised and elegant moves turned brute, imperfect and rushed. He wanted to get closer but damn his luck, damn his position and damn his pride. How many times he warned him, how many times Ares tried to pull him away from his idiotic thoughts and stubborn beliefs; how many times he tried to bring the brother in him back and yet, he had stepped too into this new person he had created.

Ever since Ares was born, Hades saw a spark in his eyes and the strong force in his aura that showed him he had a potential he knew he didn't have; powerful yes, that he was, but the rawness of character and the implacable nature of his youngest brother was incomparable—even to Zeus. The moment they lost their way and fell into Tantalus' trap, Hades knew Ares was the one that had to persevere, of all of them, Ares was the soul that needed to survive and clear the path so other gods could rise and a new era could commence and he had to make sure to make it known, one way or another.

-O-

"I am not satisfied. This is not filling my needs. I do not feel energized. I do not feel at a higher level!"

After another murderous rampage, Tantalus turned his attention to the three young gods chained in a corner; his dead eyes immediately were fixed on Ares, but the second he moved close, Hades had moved in reflex and pulled the youngest one into his arms tightly, only spiking Tantalus greed even more. He ran his hot tongue over his dry lips as if he was savoring the blood of the three divine deities "You have a high value; I have heard."

Hades narrowed his gray eyes. The waves of his dark hair barely gracing his collarbone contrasted like day to night with Ares' golden locks. His skin was lacerated, and even when marked with the horrors of torture it still looked like the finest porcelain; almost translucent, like alabaster. His gaze was cold, calculating, the man noticed right away and while he held a resemblance to his brothers, yet he was so different from the other two.

Tantalus leaned down and tried to pull Ares from him when Zeus quickly stepped in only to be pushed and thrown aside, hurting his head when he crashed against the stone wall. Hades pulled Ares closer to him and turned his head to the other side so he wouldn't see Tantalus' maniac face splattered with blood.

"My, so overprotective of that one... I wonder why." Tantalus grinned, "So innocent... you still think you can survive." His eyes gleamed with the need for murder, "You all are condemned."

Hades pursed his lips, "I do not fear death."

"Good." Tantalus turned to grab Ares' arm and pulled his chains with force to bring him closer to him "Because your moment will come after I take the blood of this one."

Hades jumped from his place to block Tantalus' intentions but just as happened with Zeus, he was easily pushed away and knocked down. His gray eyes widened the moment he felt the strong sole of his boot stomping on his back, cracking his bones, mauling his now weak muscles. He took a sharp breath of desperation when he saw the youngest of them was pulled away from the chain tied around his neck and was taken to the other side of the chamber—the one they could not see but knew well was where he killed his victims.

Hades felt the desolation and shook his head desperate to move from his trance, "N-No! Leave him alone!" His vision turned blurry, his own blood clouded his view and burned his eyes. His mind was becoming askew "Ares!" Hades tried to drag himself to that chamber and coughed, close to lose consciousness "No... Ares... no..."

Hades felt his body stiff and soon after a wave of warm energy pulled him out from his shock. His gray eyes widened when he saw a man standing next to him staring down at him with a face clearly of anger and disgust when he looked around at the other deities that shared his same fate. Hades found it strange, he wasn't sure how long he had been unconscious that he did not even notice when he broke into those dark catacombs. He did not remember hearing any noises that could give them a hint that someone was coming or that war was breaking in. There had not been any explosions nor invasions like the one that took them from their home.

Still very much confused, his chapped lips parted and tried with all his might to force his voice to come out in what he thought would be his final act of bravery, and he chose not to do it in his behalf.

"Not me... I do not fear death." Hades said hoarsely and weakly pointed in the direction of one of the chambers, "He is worthy... Ares... leave me behind... his soul... If he is still alive... take him with you."

O—o—O

Tantalus heard Hades' weak voice from the other side of the chamber and grinned as he pulled the chain with more force, making Ares stumble and fall to the ground, "Oh? You were given a name already... interesting."

Ares looked up with rage glazing his eyes, a sentiment he had never felt before. Overpowering anger, overflowing power. He turned and grabbed one of the metal spears stacked on the back wall and quickly turned, aiming the sharp point on Tantalus' throat, "Not for you to use."

Tantalus burst in a chocked laughter and moved closer but Ares acted faster by stepping back and turned on his axis to make a centrifugal force and use the weight of the chains to hit the man on his face. Tantalus frowned with notorious annoyance and pulled from the chains tied on Ares' ankles, making fall to the ground and grabbed him by his hair before he took the spear from his hand, "You have a vile rage flowing inside of you. I see it, raw sentiment, I like that. It is the energy I am looking for." He raised the metal ax and cut through the spear and stomped his boot over Ares' stomach. He then raised his ax over his head again, "You will give me what I need to satisfy my thirst," to his words, Ares widened his eyes; he felt his blood ran cold. This was it, the moment he would meet death.

Like if it happened in slow motion, he turned to try to find his brothers but he knew both were heavily beaten and chained, making it impossible to get to them. Tantalus grinned as he flicked his wrist to manipulate the weight and control over his giant ax when a deep voice cut through his intentions.

"Combustio,"

A loud crash stopped the weapon from hitting its target; Tantalus frowned when he saw whirls of fire spread inside the chamber with merciless force-feeding on the blood and darkness inside; his hooded eyes widened and turned to look over his shoulder at the person responsible for the intrusion and clenched his jaw with rage and dread at the same time.

In between the gusts of scorch there he stood, the titan of the sun, Helios. Wearing a black armor with a deep golden sheen, a long cape flowed on his back and a golden aureole headpiece that kept his raven hair pushed back, exposing his elegant face. His golden sword dripped with Pelops' blood who he had beheaded in a flash of light right in front of Tantalus when he tried to interfere and threw it aside with no interest for the corpse's rotting fate.

Ares slowly turned his head from his lying place and felt immediately magnetized by the man's undeniable strong presence and the coldest, most intimidating gaze he has ever seen. The crisp sound of his crystal sword swinging in the air to block away Tantalus' ax followed kept him entranced in the allure of his sharp movements. Helios turned over his shoulder and did a strong snap of his fingers that activated the rage of his fire to imprison the corrupt king.

"Hoc est ergo in quo non erat qui latebat,"

(So this is where you have been hiding,)

His attention was soon caught by Ares' weak attempts to get up and narrowed his golden eyes as he turned to Tantalus, "Abominabile vobis, dicentes adfer mortis," (You disgusting leech of death.)

"Ah... well look at that," Tantalus growled, "But if it is none other than the golden child of Thea and Hyperion, the one who shares the blood of Aether. The one called the high one. The Titan of the Sun, Guardian of Oaths and Sight..."

Ares took a deep breath of shock, "T-Titan..."

Titans... that title Ares has heard many times before. The ones that ruled across the universe, forces of nature and terrors of the divines and giants. He has heard the tales, but he had never seen one in person and now he could understand why they were a race that spiked controversy. From where he stood he could see he had such dominance he barely needed to speak a few words to make anyone to succumb to his presence. The titan in black and gold was intimidating, yet intriguing; alluring. His gray eyes carefully studied the intricacy of his armor and the exquisite scabbard of his swords that now were merging into another majestic weapon. His strut was like that of a lion studying its prey, careful, silent.

Despite the age he might have in reality, Helios had the appearance of a man crossing his late twenties, and he had a striking beauty so different from that of the olympians and even giants were famous of owning. He was indeed hypnotizing and imposing, like the sun itself.

Helios stepped into the room and looked around the blooded walls and floor with clear disgust marking his handsome face "Quod necesse sit introductio. Ex ore tuo, utrum hceresis." (The introduction is unnecessary. Coming from your mouth is heresy.) He stopped by the corner of the long metal table where Tantalus sacrificed his victims and spotted Ares underneath, gasping for air and still fighting for his life. His beautiful golden eyes narrowed "A puero deo..." (A child god...) he turned to Tantalus with the same disgusted glare and frown and kept pacing around the room, careful not to hurt the child.

"Scio quod tu cogitas. Ut ego eram validus impetro? Nonest, ut putas tu invicta, quae est apud te quoniam tu benedices iusto."

(I know what you're thinking. How was I able to get in? You are not as invincible as you think you are, it is who you surround yourself with.)

"Are you here to play the hero, Titan?"

"Ludere? Nullus, nulla... conspectu meo hoc errore deciperis. Non ludere. Ut incenderent cum argumentis hanc novam terram arare, et universum illis in ortum."

(Play? No, no... do not mistake my presence. I do not play. I burn the anomalies of this universe and plow new ground for those on the rise.)

Tantalus widened his eyes when he saw Helios summon his power and manifested in his double-bladed golden spear and swung it behind him making a melodic echo as the blades glided through the air as he took a first stance; ready to strike it down "Non enim manum meam et animam tuam dici, Tantalus." (It is not my hand what will claim your soul, Tantalus.) he looked over his shoulder at Ares, "Non fecit me, qui dolorem et iram." (It is not me who you have caused pain and anger.)

Tantalus watched Helios pace around the room, pick up the metal spear from the bloodied floor to hand it to young Ares, who, in reflex grabbed without hesitation.

With a flick of his wrist, specks of light ignited again into swirls of mad fire obeying his command, catching Tantalus in them to lock him into his trap; making him scream with pain. The titan in black and gold turned to the corrupt giant hybrid and narrowed his eyes when he saw Hades and Zeus standing at the other side of the chamber staring at the corrupt king blister in the sacred flames.

"Bellum, Mors, et antequam Inveni Iustitiae quidem durus es huc. Ego iustus ad medium illud est manifestum."

(War, Death, and Justice found you before I even knew you were here. I am just a medium for it to manifest.)

The moment Ares touched the spear he felt an instant rush of energy flowing through him, giving enough strength to stand on his own and use the borrowed weapon to put an end to the man that had been their living nightmare for so long it was hard to count anymore. With one straight forward move, Ares ran in his captor's direction with a strained scream charged with rage and pierced the sharp end of the spear into Tantalus' chest and was quickly pushed back when this reacted almost immediately with an unforgiving swing of his bloody ax.

"Solaris Ardeat," Helios snapped his fingers again, commanding the flames to pull the man into a pit of darkness finally putting a stop to his endless reign of torment and with the majestic blade he turned and made a clean-cut, finally putting end to the torment.

A couple of minutes passed until Helios made sure Tantalus no longer represented a threat and turned to Ares, who was still wrapped in rusty chains, badly bruised and bloodied. The man was a silent one and he barely expresses any emotion but the beauty and mysticism of his eyes were enigmatic and enough to prove his high rank; Ares thought. He had never seen eyes like those, nor, power and strength so majestic and that is when he felt something in him woke; he had a purpose, he had a goal and a solid inspiration. In that very moment, it became clear to Ares what was the fate of his existence and the path he wanted to follow from that point forward.

He wanted to be what was the closest to being a titan.

A god of war.

"What name were you given?" Helios finally spoke in his same language, his low voice never changed of tone. Ares looked at him and stood straight, trying his best to imitate the titan's poise "Ares,"

"Ares," Helios narrowed his eyes again, "The soul born from the fury of Mars. The youngest of Rhea,"

"My brothers..." Ares turned to look for them, "I have to-"

"They will be taken out of here, along with the others imprisoned, alive and dead. This place is on the course of destruction."

"H-How did you find us?"

"Tantalus has been a target for centuries; I was given the task to find him and take him down to pay for his crimes. I am trained for this, it is my duty to vanish and burn the impurities that threaten the balance and laws of the universe."

"You are a Titan..." Ares stared at him startled when he saw the armored man stand by his side with pride glazing his prism eyes "I want to be strong, I want to follow that law."

There was something in the way Ares said it made Helios notice something intriguing about the young olympian. He arched his brow and slowly crouched to meet face to face with Ares, "My nature should never be a fixation to you, it is what you will learn from this point onward what needs to be of your concern. Void is approaching; but also evolution and I must be prepared. You have the spirit of a warrior and I find that interesting; I need deities with character and desire so they can build great things from the ashes."

Ares widened his gray eyes with wonder as he watched the titan stand tall and looked up "Does that mean I will get to be where you are?"

"Where I am, that is only of my concern, young Olympian. A position I earned. I am a Titan old enough to know the universe has laws that are difficult but not impossible to bend and break, that there is a balance you must protect from becoming a flaw." Helios narrowed his golden eyes "Do not worry of me being who I am; worry about being one worthy of your heritage and serve to keep that balance. Build your own pride."

Helios disarmed his golden spear and put his sword and dagger back in their scabbards as he looked down at Ares, "I am forging a celestial army with the most skilled warriors in the universe—Polemarchos." He tilted his head and narrowed his eyes with careful study, his hair rich as dark velvet glided down on a side of his face "And you shall be its Commander."

"Commander..." Ares mumbled the word, revitalized by its mere sound and power.

"Stand up, Ares, God of War." Helios put his blades back on the sheaths secured in his belt and turned on his heel, "A warrior does not come to exist overnight, there is much to be done."

O—o—O

"Stand up, Ares."

"Stand up!"

Ares turned his head and looked up at the shadow of the man that had marked his existence. The reason for his awakening and focused his intense gaze into the eyes of his enemy ready to swing his rusty axe down.

"Stand up, God of War, a warrior does not come to exist overnight... there is much to be done."

A new rush filled Ares' spirit and quickly turned to grab the hilt of his sword and blocked Tantalus' attack creating ripples of energy around them he used to impulse himself back on his feet. His hair flowed freely like strings of pure gold in the dense and hot breeze and while he felt beyond exhausted his fury was far stronger than the fear the man before him represented.

With a strong grip and security in his eyes, Ares stepped out of the shadow that pinned him to misery and confusion. With his gazed fixed on the man in front of him, he summoned for his inner power the same way Helios once taught him and channeled it to his majestic claymore sword. With a steady pace and like a beast targeting its prey, the god of war ran toward the giant king and engaged in a fast-paced match of blood and power. Every swing of his sword, every hit, every glide and piercing echo surpassed the last proving why the ancient titan had chosen him to be his most trusted pupil.

"Disgusting leech," Ares snarled between his clenched teeth as he kicked Tantalus' blade and used his metal scabbard to hit the giant on the jaw to knock him down, "You will not get out of this hole. And you will not respawn ever again." He looked down at Tantalus with dark rage and used his sword to pin him down on the ground, making him scream in pain.

"Hades,"

"Ares," Hades stood next to his brother and arched his brow with marvel, "My, my... what do we have here? It seems the tables have turned. Now I am only missing the chains to pull you down to your own misery." Hades' voice deepened "I told you, I do not fear death... the question here is... do you?"

Tantalus' eyes went wide when he recognized those words, finally latching their faces to the memory in his head of that exact moment and who had said it "War... Death... Justice..."

"Ah, you remember..." Ares narrowed his gray eyes "The words of my Master,"

Tantalus froze "Master?"

"Hades," Ares frowned, "Your scythe—you can make use of it,"

Hades arched his brow and stomped his boot on the hilt of Ares' sword to push down the blade into Tantalus' chest, "I do not care for the stench of blood in my hands, I like to enjoy torture." With a proud grin, he handed his majestic weapon to his brother, whom he gladly took from him. Tantalus saw the raging glare on both gods, "Those eyes... you hold murder and sin in your eyes... you who hold a weapon of masacre is no different than me."

Ares held Hades' weapon and charged it with his energy, "I am the embodiment of gore and violence. I am murder. I am war, born from hatred and rage, from trauma, but unlike you, I learned my purpose—I have a duty to exterminate creatures like you and protect the balance of the universe as the Commander of the army of Polemarchos. So, no. I am not like you." His eyes narrowed, "I am much more."

With one gracious swing of Hades' scythe, Tantalus' head was no more, nor, his soul. Ares turned to Hades and returned the bloodied weapon to him. Hades stomped the titanium point on the ground and took a deep breath, "Your loyalty to him goes far than I ever imagined."

"It was Helios who saved me, my loyalty will forever be engraved in his memory. He taught me well, the ways of war; he prepared me for this... but that would not have happened..." Ares said lowly as he pulled his weapon from the tainted ground and turned to face his brother, "If it was not for you."

Hades cleared his throat and turned to look away. Ares was more than sure it had been eons since he last saw that familiar gleam reflected in his brother's eyes, the one that proved there was a glint of mercy still latent within him.

"I do not know what you are talking about."

"You put your trust in Helios' hands and asked him to take me with him regardless of what could happen to you. Helios trained me and took me under his wing because you asked him to. He confessed it to me, shortly before his disappearance. All along it was you, God of Death, you saved my life." Ares squinted his eyes, "You were protecting me from corruption, diverting my eyes from that madness. That is why you made me look away every time Tantalus carried a new victim; so I would not grow with hatred and become a twisted version of him."

"I knew you were born to be a cause and effect but I did not want you to go through the same I went through—to witness what I did and later put to practice. You are different, Ares. Unlike Zeus or myself, you had yet not awakened to a purpose but the grand potential and power were there. You had to be saved so we could follow, even if the one who saved you would give way to a dynasty that went out of our control. That was the best opportunity for us, and I had to take it—I had to trust a Titan to save ourselves, even when all we heard of them were tragedies." Hades sighed and turned to look at his brother, "You are my brother, blood of my blood, a fragment of my flesh. Our differences may have put a strain on us three, but the truth remains. We are born from the same wish. From one star. We are a cause and effect and together we must stand."

"Hades..."

"You were right, there are many important things we must worry about right now." Hades looked away, his grip on his scythe tightened, "Our deal can be put aside for now. Go," he turned to Ares, "I will manage things here at the rim, I am the God of Death, after all. It has been eons since I did the work myself and I think it is time to remember why we were born—who we are, and why we exist. I will take matters here, you and Zeus find a way out—and whatever you do, Ares, do not look back."

"Hades, what are you planning to do here?! The rim is practically destroyed and under Chaos' influence!"

"Let me worry about it, God of War. You said so yourself, did you not, brother?" Hades arched his brow, "We must have him as an ally rather than an enemy. I must take a leap of faith and put my trust in a Titan's hands, once again. If he is Helios' true descendant, this is his time to prove it to the divine realm. As for me... let me handle things here. Let me put order into this realm once again—rely on my daughter Saturn if you need a connection or assistance from the Underworld. She is my eyes and ears and she is on his side."

Ares took a deep breath and nodded, "Together we stand."

"Together we remain." Hades raised his scythe above his head and summoned his divine power, "My bond to what is left of this realm can create a portal back to Olympus—go."

Ares turned to Zeus, who was running towards them and frowned at Hades, "I will go back to Olympus and lead our forces from there—I need to free Hera at all costs." He turned to his youngest brother, "Ares, lend me your strength. I need the strength of the celestial army."

Ares nodded, "I will surround the rim of Alpha and retrieve the information from Centaurus. You need speed on your side, Canopus will meet you there—Aegeus and Centaurus will come with me." He turned over his shoulder at the warriors in black approaching them, "Rhadamanthus, Minos, and Aeacus remain to aid Hades along with Leporis, Polemarchos of Lepus. He is the best qualified for the task."

"What will follow, Ares?" Zeus narrowed his eyes, "Where will you be heading?"

"Aegeus has taken my place in my absence—I will go back to retrieve as much information I need to block Chaos' influence on other planets and galaxies. I need to learn the extent of invasion, as of now, Chaos' attention is fixed on one sole thing granting me a window to do damage control. In Helios' words: there is much to be done."

His gray eyes gleamed with threat "Chaos will not stop from this point on until one remains." He clenched his jaw and turned to the portal Hades, "And by any means, must be him."

The Divinity Series is rated M. Gore, violence, cursing and intimacy may occur.

I do not own Sailor Moon, just this plot and some of the characters.

A/N: I am alive! (And still active)

Life has thrown some very hard punches these past couple of months but I am still kicking and so is Divinity. I read your messages and support, I am so happy to know you are enjoying the story despite coming so slow lately. I will try to get back to a more regular schedule and keep this story moving forward! Thank you so much for your support, good vibes and encouraging support, your words are my fuel. Thank you again.