4.

This is so bad, this is so badly bad, Poseidon thought desperately, pacing up and down once again, though this time the scene was set on the streets of Mt. Olympus.

The Sea God was completely lost. It had been three days since his last visit to the Underworld. Of course he could still feel Hades in his soul and this unpleasant sensation only became stronger with time. Poseidon simply didn't know what to do. He tried consulting Apollo about this, but the God of Doctors didn't say anything reassuring: the fading can only be stopped when the factor that's causing it cease to exist. Nothing else works.

He knew Zeus felt it as well, however the King of Gods didn't show any sign of acknowledging it. Poseidon had to tell him just how bad the situation was. They had to get Persephone back to Hades as soon as possible.

- Zeus, we need to talk! – he stepped into the throne room.

- About Hades, I believe – grumbled Zeus, obviously not in a good mood as he surveyed a holographic planet Earth, especially the clouds on its surface.

- Yes. So you can feel it too…

- The girls feel it as well – said Zeus, not taking his eyes of the orb. – It is kind of hard to ignore.

- Zeus, we need to send Persephone back to him this instant!

- No.

- What?! Zeus! Hades is fading, for the love of—

- I am not going to sentence my daughter to this split life again. That is my final word.

Poseidon was officially pissed off. Ignoring the little bells alarming him in his head he grabbed his brother's shoulder and pulled him backwards, away from the small planet. Zeus turned to him angrily.

- What is it?! – he boomed.

- You don't seem to realize the situation! – shouted Poseidon, grabbing his Trident. – If Hades fades, we will lose this war! Don't you get it?!

- He is not a key figure, mind you – growled Zeus.

- Yes he is! We all are! If he fades, there will be no King of the Underworld, the dead will grow restless and after a while they will break out to the surface. The chains of the Titans will grow weak and they will break free! Can you imagine what kind of total, all-out chaos will be around us?! The Giants and Gaea will definitely win!

- We will make somebody else the King of the Underworld – shrugged Zeus. – Thanatos, for example. Or Nico di Angelo.

- His kid?! You are out of your mind!

- No, I'm not. He has every quality for it. After all, they are related. All we have to do is turning him into a god and give him some time to experience.

- Precisely! We don't have time! – shouted Poseidon. – Damn it, by the time he learns everything the Titans would already be free. Hell, we all would be defeated by then!

- No, we would not be – growled Zeus. – Don't waste my time with this, Poseidon! If Hades is such a pitiful being that he fades just because his wife is no longer with him all the time, then so be it! It will just go to show that he wasn't strong enough—

That was it. Poseidon couldn't believe his ears. Was Zeus actually… abandoning Hades?!

- So you will just stand there and watch your brother fade into oblivion?! That's it?! – he hissed. – Are you going to do nothing to at least try to stop it?!

- There is nothing left to do, Poseidon.

- Yes, there is!

- Oh yes? What? What would you do?! There is nothing we can do to turn it around!

- HADES IS OUR ELDEST BROTHER, YOU IDIOT! – howled Poseidon, the air shimmering with magic around him. – YOU CAN'T JUST LEAVE HIM TO HIS DEATH WITHOUT EVEN TRYING SOMETHING! ANYTHING!

- TRY WHAT?! WHAT?! – Zeus screamed back, the air filling with electricity. – YOU THINK I DON'T GET THE PROBLEMS HIS FADING WILL CAUSE?! BUT WE CAN'T DO A DAMN THING ABOUT IT!

They were very close to tearing each other's throats out when someone interrupted. Hestia slowly walked into the throne room. Zeus and Poseidon slowly, ever so slowly backed away from each other, weapons still held in the hand firmly.

- How is Hades? – she asked quietly.

- He is going to fade – said Zeus coldly, turning back his gaze to the planet. – That is all.

...

Poseidon went to the Underworld again. He just couldn't stand there and do nothing. Then again, he didn't really have any idea how he could help his brother. He couldn't believe Zeus just stood there, not even caring about it. "We will find a substitution". Yes, because it was that easy. Letting a sibling die was this easy for him. No wonder Zeus was the one who cut up their father into a million places: he had a heart cold enough to do it. Poseidon gritted his teeth in his desperation. What was wrong with Zeus?! The Sea God caught himself thinking about something: what if he was in such situation? Zeus would let him die as well?

As much as he hated facing the fact, his answer was: probably yes.

Poseidon shook his head, exiling the thoughts as he entered Hades' bedroom. The god was unconscious again, slumped in between the pillows like a ragdoll. Beside him sat a teenager: Nico di Angelo. The moment the demigod saw the visitor, he stood up, bowed a little and stepped aside without a word.

- How is he? – asked Poseidon.

- I don't know, sir – mumbled Nico, eyes casted onto the floor. – He said he was tired… very tired.

Poseidon grimaced. When a god felt tired, something was wrong.

- When did he faint?

- A few minutes ago. He told me to let him be… but I can't.

Poseidon sighed.

- Neither can I, kid – he mumbled and reached out for his brother's hand.

It was very cold. Hades never had a very warm touch, but this was cold even for him. Poseidon grabbed his wrist and slowly lifted his arm up. Hades didn't react. The Sea God sighed in defeat and was about to let it fall back when his eyes caught something.

He froze to his spot.

He could see the silhouette of his own fingers through Hades' arm. It was very dim and hard to notice but it was definitely there. Poseidon quickly looked at his face. The end of his pitch-black dark hair became transparent, blending into the pillow. He only knew they were there by some weird, blurry shadow they had casted.

Poseidon gulped and placed the hand back onto the blanket.

- What now, sir? – asked Nico in a small voice.

The kid was afraid. As much as he was distant from Hades, the god was his father. Watching him slowly dying was probably not a scene easy to bear.

- I… I don't know, kid – Poseidon said after a long pause. – I wish I knew…

...

The sea had been restless for weeks. No storms came, yet the surface of the water was constantly torn up by waves much to the pleasure of the surfers all over America. However the sea creatures, especially the ones that lived inside the underwater palace weren't too happy about it. They could feel the cause of this: their king was anxious.

Poseidon hadn't slept well for days since his last visit to the Underworld. His worry teamed up with the uneasy sensation through the Familylink. Unfortunately now he could feel not only Hades, but the others as well: Hestia was desperate, Hera was angry, Demeter was annoyed, and Zeus… Zeus blocked them all out with a wall of pure coldness. He might as well hid something, they couldn't tell. Poseidon didn't even dare to touch Zeus' presence anymore in his soul. It was like hugging a big ice cube: terribly cold and cruel. He didn't even know his brother was capable of such thing. It was frightening. Okay, they often hated each other's guts beyond belief and wanted the other dead. But Poseidon knew he would never be strong enough to truly turn his back on a sibling in real distress. Zeus was just doing that. And Poseidon had a terrible feeling he would do it towards all of them, not just Hades.

He also couldn't really forget the look on the kid's face. Not like they spent too much time together, however it was enough for a god to know many things about a mortal. Nico was scared beyond belief, no matter how hard he tried to hide it. Poseidon couldn't blame him. It was an utter shock for him as well to see his brother like that. Made things even worse that they knew this shouldn't have been happening. Hades was a god… he was eternal. The fact that he was just going to… disappear forever was very unbelievable. Unfortunately unlike mortals when gods fade, there will be nothing left behind to remind. The humans till had their souls and as shallow as this comfort sounded like, it was still far better than what was awaiting a fading god: pure, total nothing.

Nico had already lost his mother (thanks to Zeus) and now he had to watch his father fade away. No wonder the kid was scared.

The days weren't better either. Poseidon found himself seeking the comfort of Amphitrite. His wife was more than willing to help, however she could do little. Poseidon tried pouring his heart out for her and she was listening, but it didn't help. The Sea God didn't feel any better.

And of course Hera found a way to make things worse. She always did.

She just appears in his throne room in a flash of light when he was deep in his thoughts and start screaming and whining and bitching around like it was her home and Poseidon cared about it.

- That's it! – she shrieked as she walked up and down in front of him. – I'm through with Zeus!

- Who did he seduce this time? – growled Poseidon tiredly.

Oh yeah, Zeus could totally have time for something like that even now.

- No one! He closed himself away from everyone! – came the angry reply. – He won't even talk to me or anyone, only if it's "business". I'm fed up with him!

- Then divorce! – hissed Poseidon, knowing all too well how Hera would react to such thing.

His sister didn't disappoint.

- Divorce?! DIVORCE?! – she shrieked like a falcon. – HOW DARE YOU SAY SUCH THING TO ME?! THAT WOULD BE AGAINST EVERYTHING I REPRESENT!

- Do you know what you represent?! – shouted Poseidon, standing up. – I'll tell you what you represent! A whiny useless bitch who is only good for pissing off her brothers and wasting their time while she ignores a sibling in distress! You are angry with Hades because he dares to be sick and fading and disturb your peace! You can't tolerate when someone even thinks about divorcing but Persephone leaving behind her husband is fine and dandy because said husband is Hades whom you hate! Either you get the hell out of my palace this instant or I will make you swallow my Trident in whole!

The two of them shared the most tensed staredown of history for a good two minutes. Hera however was not stupid enough to provoke her brother to do something drastic. So she left.

Poseidon continued to stare at the spot she had been standing before throwing himself back into his throne. He thought through what he had just said to his sister. Then he got up again and teleported to Mount Olympus.


So, uhm, yeah, I'm not a huge fan of Hera (sorry to all the Hera-fans out there, if you exist). She is more evil than Kronos and that says something.