CLASH of the TITANS

CHAPTER

—II—

GLORY TO HERA

TAUGETOS| If there was once a time where Calibos held to a vestige of his humanity; it was long gone now. His abode was deep within the mountains of a dark and distant land, a place that reeked of death and destruction. From the cold shadows, Hera, queen of the heavens stepped out into the decrepit palace—draped in a cloak of white and gold that hung over platinum plate armour, she was the image of godly.

The Queen of Heaven walked through the dark and misty hallway, where ugly vines tangled their thorny bodies around crusty stone pillars and the incessant howling of barbarian merriment filled the void. Hidden in the mist, she could faintly make out the silhouette and shape of women and children, cowering in fear and doubt, peaking over the larger vines and roots at the new visitor, gawking and murmuring amongst each other.

Hera was soon joined by another figure, another god—one that invoked some mistrust in her heart. Yet, desperate times call for desperate measures. Hades, Lord of Darkness had appeared from a cloud of black smoke and with a slight nod between them, made their way forth.

They were nearing the end of the feasting hall. There, before the two immortals was the man in whose halls, they were intruders.

Calibos, son of Hera, no longer resembled a man, no longer exemplified the better traits of his godly mother. He was now much larger, accentuating his more manly features with the addition of the two large horns on his head, and his face which contorted into some beastly animalistic features. Framing that unrecognisable face was a long, reddish mane of hair though still maintained in them the braids that marked him as a warrior, an honour given to him by Scythian Centaur tribes. A testament to his savagery in eradicating to near extinction the Amazon tribes there.

"All hail…" came the booming, growl-like voice of Calibos, "Hera, the White-armed, the Flowery One, Queen of Heaven…Mother…of…Gods." He sat upon his throne so casually, his left foot atop the seat and his left arm resting on that knee. A sinister smile on his face as he examined the approaching guests.

Finally, they stood before him, and only Hera looked upon him with even a shred of what could be considered as love and affection, and especially concern. "Calibos, my son. What has become of you?"

A shrill chuckle escaped from the beastly man. "What do you mean, mother? I am blessed by the gods." His scowl intensified as he stared at his beloved mother. "Blessed by you."

"I like him, sister." Hades chuckled. "He's very eccentric."

The beastly man made to quip back at him but refrained. The darkly clad god accompanying his mother was foreign to him, who had been formerly introduced to his other family members on Mount Olympus many years ago, when he still lived amongst the heavenly bodies. He was cast out for his indulgences in the Wells of the Moon, then deformed out of jealousy or envy by the gods for claiming his birthright, albeit by force. Now he leads an army of the desperate, of the lost. Those who make a deal with him to become immortal themselves now live out their lives as mindless soldiers of the damned. Those who had become tired of Olympians and wish to rebel against their tyranny fell to his feet…but it wasn't enough. He struck an alliance with a mortal king but Acrisius proved ineffective and weak. It wasn't enough.

"Why have you come here, mother?" The words came out of him in accursed spats.

Hera wanted to say something to him, acknowledge him, comfort him, but the words had vanished in her rushing thoughts.

It was Hades that pushed through that awkwardness with impatience, going right for the main event. "We have a common enemy, Hera-spawn. The god that cursed you…Zeus, my brother."

Calibos squinted his eyes though it was not for interest in the being before him, more in resentful jest. "I don't seem to recognise your face. Who are you?"

The Lord of the Underworld ignored his questioning and moved in closer. "You are being used as a pawn in Zeus' plan to strengthen humanity's obedience and love for the gods. Your fight against their worship is working but it is not enough."

"Do not lecture me on how to spit in the eyes of the gods, stranger!" Calibos roared, pouncing out from his throne in a huff. "Do not pretend that I do not instil fear in Zeus' heart. If not fear then a useless rage, now get out of my house!"

Hades suddenly leapt to meet his wayward nephew. Face suddenly contorting into a monstrous form. His iron-clad hand reaching around the whelp's throat. "Do not look a gift horse in the mouth, sweet nephew. For we have come to help." For a moment after that he seemed to calm down and backed away. "You have been used as a tool for Zeus' designs. Now the time is right to begin preparations."

"Preparations for what?"

Hades then looked to his sister, requesting her to pitch in. "To assault Mount Olympus itself and rip your birthright from the hands of Zeus."

Suddenly those words became pleasing to the monster's pointed ears. "So far, your methods have been indirect, seen as common vandalism, even your partnership with the king of Argos, though ended in failure, was yet more or less effective. Your next target will be the grand statues of Zeus spread across the many islands surrounding Greece. Bring them down and Zeus will be forced to unleash my ferocious furies and other such armies upon mankind. Rage has made my brother blind and impatient and he may not differentiate between you or them. Make sure your next batch of converts used against him are not as alien as the men you surround yourself here. Keep them sane, train them. There are already many that share your sentiments and hatred toward the gods. Soon, my Lord Brother will command me to release the Kraken from Tartarus. Zeus will believe that I serve him, until the last of the living Titans decimates the world and the he is rendered weak…helpless."

To say that Calibos was intrigued would be understating things— drool seemed to leak from his grinning mouth like a simple toddler. But he was broken out of his reverie by a thought, or rather suspicion. "Acrisius wanted to cheat fate in exchange for helping me. What is in it for you?" he asked pointedly.

Hades grinned and growled. "Zeus and the others atop their cradle of power, have neglected this world and the balance of the cosmos: granting immortality to mortal beings, spawning demi-gods and half-bloods, making a mockery of nature." Hades got closer until he was at eye-level with his grotesque kin. "Like unto his father, new blood must take power from him. When Olympus comes, sow as much dissent and distrust in the gods, even for a little while. In their desperation, the people will pray to me, Lord of the Underworld. I will get stronger, strong enough to cripple Zeus, ready for you to take him out in due time."

"Then you will sit at the head of Olympus as ultimate ruler." Hera added. "The world will be yours to shape and maintain."

The Raider-King between the Mountains, thought on that for a while, yet still keeping his aggressively sceptical eyes on the others. "Why are you doing all of this?" Hera's son asked his mother. "You of all the gods care little for the wellbeing of Olympus. You who watched and did nothing as her beloved son was cast out and then made into…this!"

"You believe this of me, that I would abandon my children on a whim; but I do love you, Calibos. I want only the best for you, as any mother would. But if you feel that I or the other gods have treated you unfairly, then now is your chance to set it right," his mother responded. Her heart had steeled, her face affirmed with purpose now. "On Olympus, through rebellion, as you have always done, you can finally ensure that justice is fulfilled. I seek only to enable you, gift you with the means to fulfill your destiny."

After some moments of silence, Calibos rose to his feet. From atop the elevations, he seemed to tower over his godly mother. "I don't want 'justice', mother. I want vengeance!"

Pleased, Hades came back down and in his soft, raspy voice, commanded the Raider King to kneel before him. At first, he resisted, but with a look from his mother, the brute was put at ease. Thus, he did so—got on one knee before the Lord of the Underworld and waited. Hades took a deep breath and then suddenly, his hand took Calibos by the neck and lifted him up off his feet. His eyes, now turned black. "I bestow upon you, Calibos, son of Hera, the dark power of Tartarus, and the monsters that dwell within!"

With that, Hades opened his mouth and black smoke and embers jetted out and into every orifice on bestial godling's face.

Hera could only watch with great discomfort as her son groaned and winced in pain and agony, then choking as he desperately grabbed for breath.

The ordeal was long but not drawn out. After a few seconds further, Hades sealed his mouth once again and the shadowy rays ceased. Calibos fell to the ground once more to his knees. Gasping, he took his time to regain his bearing. Heart pounding a hundred miles per minute as he tried to look up again. The young god felt different—stronger, angrier. When he finally managed to rise up, he found himself surrounded. His subjects, the product of his corruption had encircled him, chanting and wailing in a language that even he was unfamiliar with. Men, women, children, slaves won through conquest and coastal raids. Their devoted worshipping culminated in their prostration before him.

Was he humbled?

Hera approached the man that was her son. Renewed in vigour, empowered with rage, even in his hideous, ungodly form, there was an aura of regality to him, and this new found piety required a fitting weapon. The Queen of Heaven presented to him a blade from the aether—a sickle, its celestial blade shaped like a small scythe astride a handle of bronze with a scull motif on the pommel.

Transfixed by the sickle, the king between the mountains seized the weapon and immediately felt the fires within him grow in potency, like the blade was feeding him his rage. A terrible weapon…a powerful one.

"This is the Backbiter, the Sickle that my father, Cronos, used to defeat his father Ouranos at the beginning of time itself." Hera explained. Warm and proud eyes fell upon the beast of a man, and he was indeed receptive of hers. "Though not enough to kill Zeus, with this weapon you will be unstoppable."

Hades took his attention once more, appearing more worldly, more…his level, almost weak, yet even the newly powerful Calibos dared not provoke him. It wasn't long before the Lord of the Dead regained some of his regal posture and looked at Calibos with conviction blazing in his golden eyes. "Go forth now, my blessed avenger. Wreak havoc upon the world of Men. Show them what wrath and ruin looks like and when the Kraken is released…he will yours to command. Zeus' downfall will come by his own hand!"

Every subject present in the murky hall of the Raider-King shouted and cheered for their master. They chanted aloud to the moon, thanking and praising Hera and Hades for the blessing bestowed upon them. All-the-while, Hades slunk back into the shadows with a massive grin on his decrepit face and Hera, stayed with his son, looking on in pride as the monstrous man relished in the fanfare of his subjects.

This will humble him, Hera thought to herself.

…O…

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. I loved Calibos in the Original movie and thought that the remake did a disservice to his character though unintendedly. I felt more of that tragic sympathy behind all that make-up and early stop-motion special effects of the Original than in the remake where they merged his character with Acrisius. Wasn't a fan, especially after having seen the Original later on.