6.
This quickly became a routine: get up in the morning, wander around aimlessly in some part of the world (Mt. Olympus, beaches, his own palace) for some time, teleport to the Underworld, talk himself hoarse to the motionless Hades, go home, spend the rest of the night restless.
Poseidon during these five days spent more time in the Underworld than all the other gods in total (minus Persephone, of course). He just felt a strong urge to go there and talk about any stupid worthless thing that came into his mind. He even told his unconscious brother tales about his fishing experiences (he knew everyone thought it was a sport boring as hell) or when he had to drag three hippocampi out of a mortal's net before the guy would have pulled them to the surface. He told what the demigods had achieved, what monsters were spotted in the mortal world, Ares' and Aphrodite's new affair, Apollo's new and totally annoying poem, really everything that came into his mind.
While he talked, his mind was wandering around freely, not caring about the words coming out of his mouth. He noticed many details. The Underworld became darker and more silent (even the Fields of Punishment) as the time went by. The place was reacting to the fading of its master, just like Poseidon and his domain reflected each other's state and mood. Oh yeah, speaking of which, the mortal scientists started growing worried about the unexplainably restless behavior of the oceans and seas around the world. Poseidon told Hades that as well.
- I really should stop that, you think? I mean, it must be getting hard to sail on the waters by now… everybody is probably starting to freak out… but it's not that easy, you know… Zeus was looking for me the other day, trying to order me to calm down the waters… but I avoided him… why can't he let me be? No wonder you two can't get along… you hate that he always wants all attention, right? It's annoying, really… then again, I'm doing the same thing right now… I should stop… and Athena should stop being a smarty-pants that she is…
And it went on and on like that. At one point he was talking about those stupid Giants, the next he was explaining how a good BBQ meal is prepared. He surprised himself just how random he could be at times.
This was either a sign of desperation or of madness, he decided.
Then he noticed something only he could spot.
The Underworld stopped getting darker and quieter after a while. It remained the same during the fourth day and that was actually surprising. Maybe it couldn't get any darker and more silent than this.
The fifth day came.
Poseidon did his morning routine of wandering around aimlessly then he hurried to his brother's side and started speaking once more. Only this time he was talking faster than ever before, he jumped from topic to topic aimlessly. It was impossible to keep up with his trail of thoughts (or the lack thereof).
- You wouldn't believe how idiot Ares can be! Do you know what he has done again? … And the mortals are all excited about some new nebula they found gods-know-where. I mean, really? What's the point? It's not like they are ever going to get there or something. It's so stupid to waste so much time with things like this! … Oh yeah, did I mention that Polybotes was killed?
Once again he talked until his throat began to hurt, only this time when he stopped speaking he didn't leave right after that. He stayed there, still watching his unconscious brother. After a very long pause, Thanatos walked in. He seemed distracted and bowed awkwardly to Poseidon. The God of Death leaned over Hades, scanning him with his dark eyes. Poseidon caught himself holding his breath back.
Thanatos straightened up then looked at the Sea God.
Poseidon noticed how surprised the other god seemed.
- He… it's… it will be a week before he fades – the God of Death said slowly, obviously not believing what he was saying. – I… I don't get it… how?
Poseidon leaned forward in the armchair.
- Repeat that – he ordered.
- The fifth day came but suddenly now he is one week away from fading – said Thanatos.
That's when Poseidon noticed that the Underworld was less dark and less silent than it was yesterday… even if only a little.
Hades coughed and opened his eyes.
- How… the hell can you talk this much? – he moaned.
...
- HADES IS NOT GOING TO FADE, BITCHES!
This was sentence Zeus was sure to never forget. Ever. Neither would he forget the entire scene.
It was 17th September.
Up until that day, Zeus was mainly busy with cutting himself off from his siblings via the Familylink. He hated that stupid mental connection but it was there and it couldn't be erased in any way. So he had to maintain a blockade of sorts, trying his best to mask his real feelings. The last thing he wanted was that everyone could see into him. No, it was unacceptable, especially for a king. He had to keep his cool. Somehow. Or at least keep the look of it.
He also hadn't talked to Poseidon since that last argument. He did see him a few times however: the God of Seas seemed very distracted, walked aimlessly on the streets of Olympus, not paying the least attention to his surroundings, before disappearing to Tartarus-knows-where. It had been like this for five days straight. Once Amphitrite herself contacted to Zeus asking if he knew anything about Poseidon. The Queen of the Oceans had no idea what her husband was doing. Unfortunately, neither did Zeus.
However, he noticed something strange. So far the unpleasant feeling in his soul (Hades) was growing worse as time passed, however on the fourth day it didn't change anything.
And on the fifth day, 16th September, it actually lessened.
No. It did not lessen. Zeus shook his head. He was just imagining it, he said to himself.
The next day the gods of Olympus were gathering for a shorter meeting and Zeus called out for Poseidon mentally to come over.
- Just a sec – came the rather hurried reply.
Well, this "sec" turned out to be half an hour.
Zeus was holding back the start of the meeting, waiting for his brother to show up. He didn't come. However, right when they were about to start at last, a swirl of water exploded into the throne room, forming Poseidon. The God of Seas stood proudly in the middle of the room, holding his Trident in one hand, the other was on his hip. Before anybody could ask anything, he threw his head back and bellowed that one sentence, before disappearing once more to go… hell knows where.
Silence followed the scene. The gods stared bewilderedly at the spot where Poseidon was standing a second ago. Zeus opened his mouth but no sound came out. More than 5 minutes passed before somebody finally broke the silence.
- Wait, what?! – this was the trademark question of Ares.
However, this time it was uttered by Athena, Goddess of Strategy, Wisdom and Crafts.
Poseidon's most epic scene ever. XD Nah, just kidding, there must be countless way cooler moments of his out there on .
