Sorry it took so long to update, been working on another story. Thank you Starship Gazer, Emily Dark Lady Devinity and Johnny Boy Blue for reviewing.
Chapter two: Banishment
Disclaimer: I do not own Disney's Hercules but I do own Persephone or any other gods I have made up.
On Mt. Olympus, the deities fervently assembled to see the anticipated trial. All wanted to make sure that Hades got his just desserts.
Well, all except three people.
Hera, overwhelmed with shame and guilt, unconsciously rubbed her stomach. She had a bad feeling about the trial and hoped it would blow over. And not in the literal sense.
Sitting next to her was Poseiden, the middle child and referee of the family. He was smarter then his older brother and stronger then his younger brother. Normally, he had a dignified but amused face, but there was nothing but worry on his face. He only wished that when this was over, his family would remained intact.
The last one was Persephone, who held a face with both worry and guilt. She had light brown hair and pearl white skin that gave off a hot-white aura. Her green eyes, normally filled with life and happiness, were bloodshot. She wished none of this had happened. She knew she was just as much at fault as Hera and Zeus were. Her best friend, Hermes; and her mother, Demeter, were trying to cheer her up, telling her that everything will be okay. But she knew nothing would ever be the same.
The rest of the immortals were hoping and praying that Hades would be incarcerated in Tarturus. As far as they were concerned, they never liked the dark morbidness of Hades or the Underworld. Regardless of the fact that he was Zeus' baby brother, they never respected him. Now that Hades showed his true colors, they had no reasons to hide their contempt for him.
The golden gates opened and all eyes were on the two people that walked in. Well, one of them was walking, the other was being dragged in chains. Zeus' face was serious and almost grave while Hades was looking quite indignant about how he was being treated and decided to voice it out vociferously.
"You can't treat me like this! Ow! Hey come on, bro, you've been usurped before! Ow! Ow! Hey, at least give me the right to have a lawyer! Ow! WILL YOU GO EASY ON THE CHAINS!" Hades whined.
Zeus felt his right eye twitch. There was only so much a god could take, and oh boy, can Hades be annoying (like all siblings can be.) He pulled the chains even harder until he reached his daughter, Athena.
"Here's your lawyer! Athena, you will defend Hades." Zeus felt that regardless on how he felt about his brother at the moment, he deserved a fair trial. He felt his daughter would defend him well.
"Ahh, Athena! Goddess of war and know-it-allness, constant pain in the ass of Ares, and love child between Zeus and...himself. (1) How's it been, how's Athens?" Hades smirked.
No matter what, Hades always retained his sense of humor.
Athena glared at Hades after giving her father a pleading look. But Zeus would have none of it.
"Athena, I'm asking you to do this because I trust you to do your best. Now make me proud."
She sighed seeing that there was no use arguing. Dragging Hades to the stand she sat in front of him. Zeus walked up to the pandomon and pulled out a miniture wooden hammer.
"All right! The court vs. Hades is now in session. We are here for the trial of the god of the Underworld who is accused of working with the Titans and attempted usurpation of my throne. If he is found guilty, he will be forever banished to Tarturus."
Hades' eyes widened. Taturus! No way was Zeus serious! Tarturus was filled with monsters, furies, and evil souls. Of course, those, Hades could easily handle. But there was the slight detail that Chronus was there, waiting for a way to exact revenge. Hades felt his bottom lip wobble in fear.
"Hades, how do you plead?" Zeus demanded as he glared at him.
Hades was about to scream 'not guilty' but Athena beat him to the punch.
"Oh great Zeus, the defendant pleads insanity." Athena smirked.
Once again, Hades didn't know whether to be grateful or insulted.
Zeus raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? On what grounds?"
'Yeah, on what grounds?' Hades thought as he glared at Athena.
"I don't believe Hades was in his right state of mind to do this. Hades would never consider releasing the Titans with the knowledge that they would turn on him. Clearly, this is a sign of duress. He just wasn't thinking at the time"
Hades smirked. Okay, he could live with that.
"I'm afraid," Ares spoke out as prosecuter. "that the evidence will speak more against that statement then I do." He signalled Hermes to bring Exhibit A, which was a large chessboard.
"Hey! Those are my stuff!" Hades shouted as he stood up. Zeus, needing an excuse, threw a lightning bolt at Hades. knocking him down.
"Hades, you are out of order." Zeus stated, only to have his left ear pulled by Hera.
"Zeus, use your gavel! That's what its there for!" She hissed.
"As you can see, this was a strategic plan for Hades to use the Titans to stop us. It was not just planned over night. The Underworld god had been planning this for a very long time." Ares finished with a smirk.
'What did he do, steal Athena's owl again? Since when was Ares so smart?' Hades thought, incredulously.
"Now, for my witnesses." Ares gestured as a Chimera, a Minotaur, and a Gorgon came to stand. Hades recognized them as the monsters he sent to destroy Hercules.
'I am so screwed.' Hades moaned inwardly.
"Now, " Ares questioned. "You were each hired to kill my baby brother, Hercules. Correct?"
There were grunts and growls escaping their throats. Hermes; the god of communication, translated for everyone.
"They said yes, and they were never paid for it, either." He translated.
'If they sell me out, they will be paying for it.' Hades thought, darkly.
"Why did you do it? Ares growled out.
They roared, and Hermes translated: "They were promised a portion of Earth to rule over."
"Who hired you?" Ares demanded to know.
Instead of speaking; they pointed thier fingers at Hades, who was picking the lock on his chains with a hairpin. Seeing that all eyes were on him, he laughed nervously and sat back down. Athena, rolling her eyes at him, stood up to defend him.
"Exhibit A seems to be nothing more then a simple chess game for children. Your witnesses are monsters, can we really trust them? They are not our most closest friends; this could be a way of placing friction between us."
Zeus, the audience, and the jury groaned. Maybe having Athena as Hades' lawyer was a bad idea. She seemed to be doing too good a job.
"Okay, Little Miss Smarty-pants; let's see you find an excuse on this next piece of evidence." Ares growled. He signaled his two sons to bring forth the next evidence. "Exhibit B!"
This time, it was a stack of papyruses that were contracts to his past deals.
"Hey! Be careful with those! It's as fragile as Zeus' grip on reality!" Hades shouted.
WHAMO!
"Hades, you are being out of order again." This time, Zeus did use his gaval. Hera glared at him.
"What? You said use the gaval."
"I meant on the pondium. Not on his head!"
'I wonder if I could start a new case on assault and battery?' Hades mused as he rubbed his sore head.
"My client is in need of psychological help! Overwork and tension could be the reason why he felt the need to lash out on his family and friends."
'I have no family and friends.' Hades thought, grimly.
"ARE YOU SYMPATHIZING WITH THE ENEMY? WHY ARE YOU HELPING HIM?" yelled a marooned-faced Ares.
Athena was turning purple. "I was given orders by all mighty Zeus A.K.A. Daddy to defend him to the best of my abilities, and that is just what I am doing!" She growled.
"WELL YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO SUCH A GOOD JOB ABOUT IT!"
"JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE DOING SUCH A LOUSY JOB OF ACCUSING HIM---"
"WHO'S DOING A LOUSY JOB, FAT HEAD?"
"You have got to be joking?" Zeus muttered as he watched, incredulously. This was a serious trial and they were treating it like their usual sibiling rivalry.
"EGG HEAD!"
"BRUTE!"
"KNOW-IT-ALL!"
"SORE LOSER!"
"Gee, now how did I know it would end this way?" Hades commented as he rolled his eyes. Of course having Ares and Athena against one another was a stupid idea, it would be like putting heavy oil and fire in the same room. The result would be begging for a disaster.
And speaking of disasters, Zeus looked like he was going to blow.
"WILL YOU TWO PLEASE GET ON WITH THE CASE!" Zeus roared as he glared at his children, lightning appearing all over the courtroom.
"Sorry, father." Both gods whimpered as they literally made themselves smaller.
Evidence after evidence, argument after argument, Ares was trying to show that Hades was guilty. Unfortunately, Athena was a thousand times smarter then Ares and always found a way around each of Ares' statement. Finally, Zeus made a final statement.
"Ladies and gentlemen, We are at the end of the trial and the jury," He nodded his head at several minor gods and goddesses at the jury stand, "has reached a verdict."
"The jury finds Hades guilty for releasing the Titans, endangering the lives of mortals as well as immortals, and attempted usurpation of the throne of Olympus."
Hades moaned but kept himself quiet. It wouldn't do any good to complain.
"The sentence is eternal banishment to Tarturus."
Hades' eyes widened as his worst fear was realised. He was going to Tarturus: Where the remaining Titans and, even worse, where his father was residing. Hades was not ashamed to admit that he was petrified of his father. To this day, he still suffered nightmares from him. His entire body started to shiver with fear as he began to imagine what the god of time would do to him once he got his hands on him.
Luckily, Lady Fate decided to give Hades a well-deserved miracle.
"However, due to the lack of evidence as well as the fact that we need him to control the Underworld, I must change the sentence to a simple banishment. Hades, you are hereby banished from Mt. Olympus until it is deemed otherwise. Case dismissd." Zeus finished. No matter how betrayed he felt, he did not want to put Hades back in his father's clutches.
Hades didn't know whether to be grateful or hateful. (The latter being easier to spread, over the former.) He was happy that he wasn't going to Tarturus; however, Olympus was his childhood home. To never come up again was worst then working full-time in the Underworld.
He sighed and decided to leave. As he passed by, he gave a murderous glare at Hera and an angry glare at Poseiden. But for Persephone, he didn't even spare her a glance. That alone was enough to make her burst into tears.
Zeus glared at him when he noticed Persephone's tears. His brother could be so cruel sometimes; it was amazing that they were related.
"Hades! I did not ask you to leave!"
"Oh, now I have to ask permission to leave a place I'm banished from?" Hades shot back without even looking at him, as he walked way.
Furious, Zeus jumped off the podium and chased after Hades. Hera tried to stop him, but Poseiden grabbed her shoulders and shook his head.
"Let them go. They really need to talk to each other privately, anyway."
Hera sighed. She knew this was going to end violently.
End of chapter three
This doesn't seem good! Will Hades and Zeus ever stop being mad at each other? What are Poseiden, Hera and Persephone hiding? Is it the key to why Hades is the way he is? Find out in the next dramatic chapter of Brothers.
There is definitely a conspiracy going on here. On the next chapter, Zeus confronts Hades but soon regrets it when Hades explodes and reveals something that completely changes Zeus' perspective. What do they know that Zeus doesn't? What! Another son of Zeus? And what does he have to do with Hades? More importantly, what happened to the kid?
(1) In another version of Greek Mythology, Athena was born without a mother but sprang out in full-armor from Zeus' head.