Chapter 17: More Bad News
When they reappeared in Greece, they looked around. Ares looked at Athena, and then heard Caudus' voice in his head.
I have news, the hydra said telepathically. As I was doing my duties in the underworlds, I heard Hades and Mars talk about something called Tartarus and the Titans. They said something about releasing them. Do you know what they are talking about?
Athena looked up to see Ares go stock still. "Oh my Zeus not the Titans," the giant wolf said.
What are the Titans? The hydra asked.
Ares wasn't responding, so Athena explained. They were the first gods, giant warriors, she explained to the hydra telepathically. Zeus banished them to Tartarus. We had hoped they would never return.
What did they do to deserve that? Caudus asked.
They tried to overthrow the other gods, and a war began between the two. Once the Titans were defeated, they were banished to Tartarus for eternity.
"And now Mars and the others want to bring them back. I remember that war...the destruction, the battles, the pain..." Ares was saying, drifting off.
Athena nodded. "We must stop them," she said. "Caudus needs to go there. Since the hydra is now the Guardian of the Underworld, it is also the Guardian of Tartarus too."
"We should start heading over there now as well. Beats sitting around doing nothing and waiting for them to come to us," Ares said, at which point Pandora came out of her box.
"I can take us to Tartarus," she said, floating in the air. "I have seen what is to come when the Titans are released."
"You can see into the future?" Ares asked her.
Pandora nodded. "I can see all possible outcomes. I can see what will happen if the Titans are released, and what will happen if they aren't," she continued.
"What will happen if they're not?" Ares asked the spirit, who looked at it.
"Simple, you fight Mars, Hades and Proserpine and win. They are returned to Pandora's box without any possible way of escaping a second time. On the down side, Argentum never talks to you again," she said.
"And if they are?"
Pandora shuddered. "I can't say. The future I see is clouded in darkness and sadness. It is to horrible to tell, that's why we can't have it happen!"
Ares and Athena nodded. "We must meet up with Caudus, then," the wolf said as it paced around.
"And quickly, too. We don't need the future plague as such," Athena added.
The god of war nodded and vanished as he appeared near a portal to the Underworld. Caudus came out, looking nervously behind itself. What do you want, Ares? It asked the wolf, which looked at the hydra.
"We need help to get to where the Titans are. So can you help us with that?" the god asked.
I can, it said. What do you want me to do?
"Buy us some time. Try to keep them from going there. We need to plan for the worst, and we need to prepare," Athena said.
Caudus looked at Ares. You know I can't promise that, it said, slowly. The wolf looked at the hydra. It growled at the creature, which nodded. I'll try, the hydra said. It looked back nervously. But I'm not making any promises, Ares.
"Just do what you can," Ares snapped. "This is serious."
The hydra growled at the god, showing its fangs. Fine. Now leave. I have business to attend to.
Ares nodded and left. Athena looked up Ares. "Did you have to be so harsh?" she asked.
The wolf snarled. It looked at its wife and shrugged. "Yes," Ares said. "Why wouldn't I be? We need to stop them from releasing the Titans."
"Because even though he's our friend, he still the guardian of the Underworld, and Hades is his master. What if you piss him off so much he switches sides?"
Ares shrugged. "The hydra won't do that. It's still our friend, like you said."
"Anything can happen. Remember how they came to this timeline. You told me everything. They weren't originally from here, you created their families. If that can happen, I wouldn't put that possibility out of the question," she warned.
"I'll consider it. But I also told you that they don't have any memories from their time and can't go back to the present. They always thought they've lived here."
"Doesn't change the fact that unthinkable things happen. Just be careful," she pleaded.
Ares sighed. "Okay," it said. "I'll do that. Now, where to?"
"Let's see if we can't find anything else that will help us for the upcoming battle."
The gigantic wolf nodded and pulled Athena up onto its back. It growled and sniffed the air, wondering where it could go next.
