A/N: The reason for all this delay in posting these new chapters is because I had a bit of a hard time coming up with the main character for this fanfic. I had drawn a complete blank for the last few chapters, so I decided not to mention it for quite a while, but I've finalized it at last. Any comments on that would be appreciated.

Crius Sympan was just out for a walk. There was no reason why it should turn out to be something extraordinary; after all, the world still looked as it always had when he entered the forest that wasn't too far from his house.

Since his birth, the Sympan family had lived at that place for twelve years. Twelve years in which Crius had been repeatedly told not to wander off into the woods. There wasn't anything remarkably dangerous about the woods, but there was always the chance of getting lost among the pines, and the ground was treacherous at places.

It was a warning that Crius had refused to heed since he had been three years old. The woods, somehow, held a very deep and special fascination for him. He would often wander for hours aimlessly among the trees, and he had been reprimanded a lot for not coming home on time.

"There is no one in those woods," his father had told him countless of times. "If you tripped and broke your leg, or something else happened, no one would come to help you. And you wander along them for hours; no one would bother searching for you for a few hours if something happened." His mother would often echo the same words.

But for some reason, Crius just simply couldn't believe that. For some reason, he had always thought of the forest as a friend, an ally who could be trusted, something that wouldn't harm him.

And so, he began his 'normal' walk into the woods. The woods always sported a mysterious sort of aura, something even other people felt. However, unlike them, Crius didn't fear the woods. Rather, he went there so many times because of it.

And so, among the trees, he lost himself for a time span that he himself didn't know. The forest held many places where the terrain was unstable, and while walking on one of them, Crius felt the earth give way beneath his feet.

Before he knew it, he was lying face-up, looking at a patch of the sky that was visible through the trees. The only thing that registered itself besides this was an excruciating pain all over his body.

I've broken my neck, a part of his rational mind said. And probably some other parts, it added. Crius realized that he must be in a pit of sorts and that he must have fallen at least ten feet, maybe more.

He had read somewhere that people usually didn't die from breaking their necks instantly. But if he wasn't found soon enough… well, it was only about midday, and his parents wouldn't come looking for him until after dark. He had ignored their warnings, and was feeling quite stupid for having ignored it.

I guess this is the end, he thought.

No Crius, you can't die yet.

Crius tried to raise his head before a large amount of pain met him. Had he imagined that voice? Was he hallucinating?

Before his trail of thought could go any further, he felt a strange, electric sensation spread across his whole body. It was weird, and for a few seconds there was this unbearable itch all over his body, and then… nothing. He got up. How had he been healed?

Lachesis had been about to give further instructions to Aeolus when it happened. She didn't even need the Circuit this time. She could feel a thread vibrating like crazy, and then suddenly stop. That thread… whoever it was should have died. But they didn't. It was much more than divine interference; someone had just defied Atropos, She Who Cannot Be Turned, herself.

All suspicions of the First Prophecy were true then. Oh well, no need to panic. This was time for action.

She drifted off to Zeus again. She told him what was happening, or a bit more accurately, a twisted version of what was happening. She told him that there was a prophecy that said that a mortal child had stolen a certain sword that had been lost long ago, and would later turn out to threaten the gods. The only way to stop him was to take the sword back and then smite him.

She left as Zeus contemplated on what to do, rather pleased by her smartness. It was not in the nature of the Fates to lie, after all, there was no one that could do anything to oppose them if they told the truth, and anyway, there was no fun in lying. But it couldn't hurt this once, and she needed to kill the boy before he got any further on his quest or her sisters woke up and found out.

But she wasn't overly concerned. The Olympians would find the sword, because whoever had stolen it would most likely hand it over to the boy sooner or later. But it could take years for the boy to learn the secrets of the sword and its full power and long before then, the Olympians would take the sword from him. Then, she could destroy him easily, and return the sword to its proper place.

But she wouldn't drift off to sleep like her sisters yet. Her sisters might take days to wake up, she knew that fact, and her paranoia just wouldn't sit still, not after all that had happened already. So, she decided to keep her eyes and ears open and keep a careful watch on the Olympians' movements.

Crius had barely gotten out of the pit. As he was about to walk home, he heard something. Not only that, but he felt it too. Something was approaching him, and it was speeding up. Before anything besides that could register in his head, someone grabbed him from behind.

The next thing he knew, he was lying down on a cold floor, and there was a very angry, very tall man in front of him. Was he even human? He had to be at least thirty feet tall, and there was something about his eyes that reminded Crius about thunderstorms.

"Hand over the sword, child," the man thundered. As you may have guessed; the person in question in Zeus. He had very quickly assembled the other twelve gods and explained the situation to them. Within seconds he had summoned the boy to Olympus.

"What?" the boy stammered. Zeus wasn't a very patient god, and then immediately let loose a small bolt of lightning at the boy. The boy flew twenty feet and landed dazed on the floor.

"Halt, brother," Hades said. Normally, he wouldn't even be allowed to these meetings, but since he was now considered one of the Olympian gods, Zeus had to invite him.

"What is it Hades?" Zeus thundered. As he spoke, lightning bolts forked across the sky. Show off, Hades thought.

"You see, from whatever I have understood, it would be foolish to kill this child. For if we do, then we will never know where this sword is that we're supposed to be finding. We are also bound by several rules of the Fates, and so cannot force the truth from him in another way," Hades said.

"Then we merely get others to torture him!" Zeus said again, once again with the lightning forking across the sky as he spoke. He needs to stop doing that, Hades thought.

"That would also be a bad idea. We don't want anyone else to know of the sword's existence, after all. And trust me, I'm the god of torture and punishment myself, and I can tell that this boy isn't going to crack easily. Instead, a better idea would be to put the boy in a place where he would be safe, but at the same time in a state of discomfort and somewhere where we could monitor him. I say that we throw him into Tartarus. No one will bother searching for the boy there, and eventually he will realize that he has no choice but to submit to us," Hades said.

The other gods looked thoughtful. Zeus merely looked suspicious. It wasn't that there was a fault to the plan; it was that Hades had been the one who had suggested it. It was enough to warrant suspicion in his eyes. However, he couldn't find a logical flaw in the plan for the time being.

"Perhaps there is some merit to what Hades says," Poseidon said. "His plan makes sense to me." However, Poseidon's agreement only furthered Zeus' suspicion. However, one by one, the other gods assented to Hades' decision, and Zeus began reconsidering.

"Fine then," Zeus said. "But I will be the one to cast the boy into Tartarus myself." That was the only way that he thought that he could defeat any trickery that Hades may have planned.

"I consent," Hades said. Crius was beginning to regain cognizance, and the last thing he saw before Zeus whisked him away was Hades' face: cruel and unforgiving.

And then, seconds later, he was falling. Not like falling through the air, Zeus must have done something to slow down his descent. It was more like falling through soup rather than air. The events of the last few minutes kept spinning around his head. What sword had those… people been asking for? He had assumed that they weren't human, but then what were they? He had heard the name Zeus once, did they mean that Zeus? The one in Greek legends and all? And if so, what did they want from him?

"I'm going to get to the bottom of all of this," he muttered to himself.

"That's the spirit," someone said just next to him. Crius spun around to see Hades, wreathed in what looked like… souls? Was that really possible? Or was this all just a dream?

"Believe me, you're not dreaming," Hades said. "You mortals always seem to think of that as the first excuse. Now, let me guess, you're wondering where you are, what this is, etc? Well, allow me to tell you this much, all the Greek myths that you've ever heard are all true. And now, you've been accused of stealing a sword of great power, and all twelve Olympian gods are after your life."

"But I didn't steal anything!" Crius said.

"I know that," Hades said. "I know that because I'm the one who stole the sword. I'm also the one who saved your life, by the way, so you should be thanking me. That was me when you were stuck at the bottom of that pit, and it was I who shielded you from Zeus' wrath just now. I was going to give you the sword, but for now, I believe that I will keep it until such a time as you are worthy to wield it."

"What do you mean you shielded me? I got thrown into Tartarus!" Crius said. Even he had heard some things about Tartarus. Wasn't it where people were punished after they had committed great crimes?

"So what?" Hades asked. "Just a few minutes ago, Zeus was about to smite you, and yet you still breathe. Do you know how few people can boast of having done that? Not only that, but you are still alive. Perhaps you're in Tartarus at the moment, but yet, you are still alive. Let me give you a hint though: Seek out the Titans. They will aid you. Don't tell them my name though, or they'll just eat you."

"Why should I trust you?" Crius asked.

"There is no reason," Hades said. "But perhaps you would instead like to trust Zeus, after he just tried to kill you? If you must know, I have my own reasons for helping you, but they don't' involve you getting harm in any way. Choose who you will trust on your own, Crius. I will merely tell you this: Trust the Titans, trust even my father, Kronos, if you have to, but do not trust the Olympians."

And with that, Hades disappeared into the shadows, leaving Crius to drift alone.