I hadn't planned to be captured by Hades.
Hades dragged me through the palace, destroying everything he saw, generally being inconsiderate of how many monsters would starve to death.
I wondered what I looked like to an external viewer. Maybe they thought I was being brought before Kronos so he could have one last meal before his inevitable demise.
I figured I would be stuck to Hades forever when the god took a wrong turn and found himself in the Throne room where Kronos and the remaining Titans were all gathered.
"Hades," I said to them.
Kronos narrowed his eyes. Hades was revealed, his right arm holding onto my shoulders, his other holding a wicked black sword that seemed to make all the shadows in the room darker.
"Curse it! Zeus, you better send back up right now!" Hades exclaimed as he snapped his fingers, causing a table to fly towards Kronos.
Atlas caught the table mid flight and threw it straight into Hades, leading to Hades being slammed through a door. He lost his grip on his sword.
Menoetius got up and started walking towards Hades as I grabbed Hades' sword.
Things started to go wrong.
The roof disappeared just as a lightning bolt ripped through the air and into Menoetius' head which was probably not a very bad way to recover from a 10 year war. Menoetius dissolved and his particles fell into Erebos, maybe Tartarus.
The 12 Olympian Gods jumped in from the roof, all dressed in blinding white and gold armor that heavily contrasted the black Marble to Mount Othrys.
"Surrender!" Zeus roared, waving his lightning bolt in the air.
"Kill them all!" Kronos boomed, getting out of his throne to battle Zeus personally.
A huge fight ensued, the Titans fighting desperately to keep Kronos' throne from being toppled.
I limped towards the exit. This was a deity fight. If I even decided to get involved, I'd be toast.
Unfortunately, Hades got up and stared me right in the eye, sparking so much fear in me that I actually considered using his sword to commit suicide.
Nonetheless, I advanced towards him. He blocked the exit, holding a broken piece of wall.
I swung my sword at Hades but he used his makeshift shield to block the attack. He threw the shield at me, sending me crashing to the floor. Luckily, the wall smashed into the opposite side of the room, also breaking the wall and causing its collapse.
I got up and tackled Hades toppling him and thus interrupting his summoning of ghostly apparitions.
Hades scowled at me, got up, and blasted me with some kind of magic.
I fell into a coma.
When I woke up, I was in chains. My chest was tied to a pole with entwined rope and my hands were stuck to each other with iron manacles.
A cyclops guard was poking my bleeding chest with a rusty spear.
"Wake up, Captain Kathryx," he said in a low voice, probably trying to sound scary.
I blinked. I was just taking in this Cyclops' clothing. He was fashionably dressed in a pink colored chiton with orange gloves that came with his orange swirly hair.
The dude looked like he had ransacked Mount Othrys' premium outlets (before it was collapsed by Poseidon).
"I'm awake," I answered though halfway through the sentence, I snorted quietly.
"Zeus wants a snack."
I frowned. Maybe Kronos had been right about Zeus eating people.
The pink cyclops gave me a key to unlock myself while steadily kept his spear pointed towards my heart.
Once I undid my chains, the ropes unraveled by themselves.
The cyclops led me towards a huge throne room. Calling the room a room was an understatement. The place I entered was a palace with 12 Thrones, each decorated with unique things. One seat held a Trident. Another housed several plants. Sitting in each Throne was a god, all wearing stylish armor of gold.
"Captain Kathryx!"Zeus proclaimed, "You have been accused of treason to the Gods! Do you have anything to say before we disintegrate you?"
There was one last trick I could use.
I looked at Artemis in the face. She was wearing a green dress, probably to blend in with the grass. Her hair was tied back in a bun which reminded me of ripples in a pond.
"I believe Artemis would like to say something," I announced to the assembled Gods.
I remembered the night I had had with her, before the Titanomachy and everything became complicated.
Artemis coughed. "I must vouch for this man's life," she said after.
"You're vouching for a boy's life? You're breaking your oath!" Apollo exclaimed.
"Dear brother, the oath only specified that I have to be a maiden. Is it against Maidenhood to help a man live?" She retorted.
"This is totally out of your personality, sis. Is this some kind of mind control?" Apollo asked.
"No! I am not being controlled in any form. I am simply following an oath I took," She replied which seemed to confuse Apollo and even some other Olympians even more.
"Quit fighting you two. If Artemis vouches for this one, we can spare him," Athena said.
Apollo looked like he hadn't completely given up on the Mind Control Possibility but he shut up anyway.
Zeus raised his eyebrows quizzically. "Very well. Captain Kathryx, it's your lucky day. You are pardoned and dismissed from the Council."
A loud BOOM echoed through the chamber though I found my traces of lightning.
I said a couple of thank yous and made my way towards the exit. The huge doors opened and revealed Calypso, standing quite still and confused.
When she saw me walking free, her eyes lit up for a bit until her Cyclops guard prodded her back with a spear, forcing her to move forward.
She shuffled forward and I whispered into her ear: "I'll find you. We can get through this change together."
She nodded. As she entered, I heard the booming voice of Zeus for a bit until the doors closed and I could no longer hear anything from inside the room.
I waited a long time for her to be freed. I had found a small storage box which I sat upon. The entrance to the throne room had become quite crowded with prisoners and their guards.
Once a few hours had passed at least, I started panicking. Almost every prisoner who had entered the throne room never reappeared. If Calypso was truly gone, I'd have to have a word with the gods.
Just as soon as I felt like I had waited enough, Prometheus appeared right in front of me, dressed in a plain white men's chiton:
He took the box right in front of me.
"I assume you're waiting for your sister?" He asked.
"Half-sister... probably," I answered. I wasn't in the mood to talk with Prometheus but he continued.
"Well, your half-sister wasn't as lucky as you. She got sent away to an island in the middle of nowhere."
That got my attention.
"Where can I find this island?" I requested.
"I did say nowhere. Nobody will be able to find it," Prometheus answered.
My heart did a little spin. If only I had been quicker, I could have gotten Calypso out of danger and fought off Hades.
Prometheus started saying something but I wasn't interested. He seemed to recognize that I needed time alone and let me leave.
I wandered through Olympus for quite a bit before I finally decided to leave and settle somewhere in Greece.
Very quickly, I found that Thessaly had changed quite a bit. There were peculiar little guys called Humans who were mortal living around. They used silver Drachma and spoke the language of the gods, also using fire, apparently gifted to them from Prometheus who was now being eaten by a vulture every day.
How long had I been out? I wasn't sure. It had to have been a long time since Mount Othrys looked shorter than it had been when I'd been at the summit.
Thessaly itself hadn't changed much besides the many mortal cities that had popped out of nowhere.
As it was, I found myself a good comfortable home to live in around Athens with the remainder of my Golden drachma. Later that night, I got a job as a soldier in the Athenian navy. The mortals expected me to row a boat across the sea just to get to a place called Troy. I imagined I'd be back at my home in no time.
A/N: It took quite a while to plan out this chapter. Hopefully, it'll be enjoyable to read.