Chapter 26: Reading Reviving the Army
Iapetus pulled his hood down over his face more as he stepped off Charon's ferry and onto Hades' domain. He wasn't sure how to feel about Kronos' orders. His brother had given him a job that he knew he wouldn't mind doing, despite that fact that it was blatantly disregarding the ancient laws. Iapetus blocked his aura from leaking out as he neared Cerberus, the hound sniffing at the passing dead.
"Is he doing what I think he is doing?!" Hades asked outraged.
"He is," Nico said and bowed his head in shame, he had rooted for the Titan and had explained to many that he wasn't evil, and here he was doing things for the Titans that the gods would consider a traitor.
Iapetus paused slightly as his gaze landed on Hades' Palace in the distance. It would be so easy to go there now and tell the god everything. And Kronos would be mad at him – again. He'd lose all the very small amount of trust that Kronos had for him, and he'd be back at the beginning. No, he decided, it was better to play along with his youngest sibling. At least until he had an opportunity for something, but what that something was he had no clue.
Kronos glared at his older brother, who looked anywhere but him, it was torture that the godlings were there, this book wasn't ever supposed to read, he knew it had been a possibility, but it was tiring. They got to know the dirtiest secrets; like Iapetus traitorous thoughts, like learning that Percy had really hated him for quite sometime, that was one of the few reasons he had tortured him. He had wanted the fire quenched by him.
It didn't take Iapetus long to avoid the Judgement Pavilion and cross the Field of Asphodel to reach Elysium, but he found himself stalled by the Gates of Elysium. He placed his hand on the doors, shutting his eyes as he allowed some of his power to slip past the block he'd made. "Agor ac yn caniatáu i mi, y Titan y Underworld i basio."
"I think I said that wrong," Nico said gloomily, he didn't want to read, but being forced by his dad he had.
Everyone was on edge at his monotone un emotional voice, it was like he was permanently sad or something, and it was probably true, Bianca had died a hero's death, but they had been together for so long he didn't know how to function without her; Will could only do so much.
The doors opened slightly, and Iapetus slipped in, softly shutting the gate behind himself. He knew he now had a time limit before Hades sensed him trespassing. He concentrated, quickly splitting himself apart – his shadow heading in the other direction to him. Kronos had given explicit instructions that Iapetus was to raise three certain demigods, but if he wished he could raise more.
Kronos had an army of demigods who were angry at their godly parents and had recruited them, encouraged them to hate their godly parents, and each and everyone of them he recruited differently. Some needed a firm hand, some needed someone to talk to, and some needed to do stuff to feel important, and that's how he won many over. By knowing their weakness and exploiting it.
Elysium was quiet, almost as if all the dead could sense there was an intruder in their sanctuary. Iapetus sent out a flicker of his power, latching onto one of the beings that Kronos wanted revived and creating a trail to him. Iapetus stayed in the shadows as he made his way towards the demigod, hearing the sound of swords clashing ahead.
It didn't take long to reach the cause of the sounds and Iapetus stayed in the shadows as he watched. Ethan Nakamura and Luke Castellan fought in a ring, swinging their swords with intent to kill. Iapetus waited until Luke had Ethan at sword point before stepping out of the shadows. The effect was immediate.
Luke spun around, his sword raised in a defensive position as Ethan stepped forward, his eyes narrowing. "Who are you?"
"I am Nobody!" Percy exclaimed and clapped his hands in delight, he remembered that quest he had went on with Annabeth and Grover, so many years ago…
Iapetus moved the hood of his cloak back, revealing his silver hair. "Someone who's here to bring you two back to life."
"Iapetus," Luke growled, his celestial bronze sword pointing at him.
"I could maybe have taken him on, Kronos and I had been one once, and I am a very good fighter." Luke said non commently as he waved Nico to read the book, the glare he got was worth the interruption.
"I still would have won Luke Castellan, I have billions of years against you," Iapetus said and smirked, once upon a time ago he could beat his brother Kronos, but one year Kronos left off the surface of Gaia and when he returned he was powerful, wise and angry. He never explained what happened to him and no one asked, he was ruthless ruler and now it was tamed a bit by Percy.
"I mean you no harm," Iapetus said calmly as he raised his hands.
"That's a lie," Luke bit out. "You're with him again."
"I had made it to Elysium, and I was so surprised that Hades had done that, but I was thankful, because I knew Percy had done the right thing." Luke said and saw Thalia stare at him with anger.
Luke hated to loose, and he had lost majorly whistle with the gods, Hermes didn't care about him, he was a god and one day he would die when his King let him and he never wanted to loose again. Kronos and Percy were going to win this dammed war and Luke would be beside his friend, his brother.
"Kronos means well," Iapetus sighed. "Trust me. No harm is to come to you. He only wishes those who stood by him to rise from death and do so again."
Luke's eyes narrowed. "I'll never help him again."
Iapetus grimaced. "He thought you'd say that," he murmured.
"And?" Ethan prompted. "Why don't you go give him our answer. Along with the middle finger."
The gods burst out in laughter and imagined Kronos getting the bird flipped at him, No one with the exception of hid brothers had the audacity to do that, not even the gods would do that!
"The first is not an option, however as for the second, I may be able to," Iapetus smiled slightly. "I am sorry to say that he told me to remind you of the oaths you made on the Styx to him. That you would serve him and do whatever he wishes. And he wishes for you to join his army on the surface. You have no choice."
"You... you're helping him?" Luke asked incredulously.
"Whilst I am backed into a corner, yes," Iapetus paused slightly before continuing. "It would be good to have someone in Othrys who will be able to help Krios and I to sabotage Kronos' efforts."
"We really have no choice?" Luke asked uneasily.
"Apart from entering the Void, no," Iapetus said calmly. "Think about it. I have other demigods to collect. I'll come back to the Gate of Elysium in a half hour."
Luke frowned. "What if we tell Lord Hades of your intrusion?"
"Tell him!" Hermes chanted softly, though he knew it was no use, Luke hated him, and that was all Kronos needed, leverage to build that and he had Luke's unwaveringly loyalty.
From what he could tell that it was Luke was basically Percy's right hand man, Iapetus was obviously Percy's acting protector, Krios was a close third, and Kronos… ugh Hermes shuddered at what his cousin was doing.
"You won't," Iapetus said simply as he pulled the hood back up over his face and left the area. He met his shadow at the Gate, allowing it to slip back to him as he eased the doors open. The next demigod he was ordered to find would likely be in the Field of Asphodel as a punishment for joining the Titan Army in the last war. Iapetus quickly strode across the Underworld, warily crossing the worn dirt road as he entered Asphodel. He ensured his hood was up encase any souls glanced at him, otherwise Hades would know he was there.
"Ghosts were pretty chatty, and would tell in a heartbeat
It took him longer than he would have liked to locate the demigod he was looking for due to the sheer amount of dead in Asphodel. He muttered a short curse under his breath as he started to rely on once again sending out a bit of his power and risking Hades sensing him to find the demigod.
It was a relief when he finally latched onto the soul's aura and started tracking it through the mass of bodies. He studied the dead demigod curiously, noting that he had likely died at some point in the war against Gaea due to his age.
The demigod's eyes widened, apparently recognising the Titan even with the hood up. "My Lord," he cried, sinking to his knees immediately.
"Alabastor C. Torrington," Iapetus greeted.
"Lord Iapetus," the son of Hecate nodded. "It is an honour to see you here. What is it you desire?"
"Lord Kronos," Iapetus said, ignoring the way the souls moved away at the mention of the Titan King, "has called for you to be revived and returned to your place in the Army. We are gathering allies in the small window of opportunity we have."
"It would be an honour to rejoin the Lord," Alabastor said confidently.
Iapetus nodded slightly. "Then follow me," he said, turning around before pausing. "And please try to keep up. It was bad enough trying to find you. I don't want to have to find you again."
Iapetus moved quickly, sensing that Hades had realised something was wrong. "We must move quickly," he murmured, glancing up at where the Furies circled Hades' Palace.
"Who else is coming?" Al asked as he glided along slightly behind the Titan.
"Luke, Ethan, Beauregard and Rodriguez. Along with all of those from the army that never betrayed us," Iapetus idly noted that he was speaking as if he was still aligned with Othrys and willingly serving Kronos.
Athena made a mental note to try talk the others into coming back to the gods side, though she it would be in vain in asking. The demigods trusted and looked to Kronos to restore the world to its former glory. Change was good, but sometimes it hurt families, like right now.
Al scowled. "Why the traitors?"
"They swore to serve Kronos and do what he wishes. They didn't, and so he will show them the consequences," Iapetus said distractedly as he sensed the approach of a demigod. "Alabastor, continue on to the Gates of Elysium. I will deal with this."
The demigod soul quickly moved forward, and Iapetus spared enough of his energy, giving it to the demigod so he was gradually becoming living even as he moved away from the Titan. Iapetus grimaced, realising what he was going to have to do as he turned to face the son of Hades who was striding towards him through the dead. Iapetus summoned his silver spear to his hand, keeping it pointing to the ground.
"Iapetus?" Nico exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"
"Ah, I thought it was going to be me," Hades said and pointed at his son to read the book, it was getting annoying to listen how the Titans could easily get in and out of domains.
"That would be none of your business, son of Hades," Iapetus bit out.
Nico hesitated. "Iapetus?" He asked uneasily as he unsheathed his sword, his gut instinct telling him he'd need it.
Iapetus inwardly steeled himself for what he'd need to do. "Begone, little demigod," he sneered, "you cannot hope to defeat me."
Nico frowned. "What happened? You're... you're acting like a Titan."
"I am a Titan, godling spawn," Iapetus growled, "and you're intruding."
Nico's eyes narrowed. "I'm intruding?" He exclaimed. "Iapetus, you're in the Underworld!"
Iapetus felt genuine irritation bubbling up inside him and struggled to squash it down before he harmed Nico irreparably. "I am the Titan of the Underworld. This is my domain."
Nico snorted, shaking his head as he did so. "Has being around the other Titans really affected you that much?"
"You do know he has and always be a Titan, memory wiped or not, our ichor call to each other's and nothing has changed about him, maybe a brief glimpse of morality, but he is a Titan through and through." Kios said and looked at Nico who swallowed.
Now that he thought of it, it made sense.
Iapetus' fist clenched at his side. "You know nothing," he spat, his mind racing for a way to convince the son of Hades. His thoughts settled on one thing. "Kronos will cleanse Gaea from those that wish her harm and restore Othrys to its rightful place. And Perseus will soon rise to become his right-hand, bringing order and justice across the land."
Nico studied him for several seconds. "Sounds like something out of Star Wars," he commented.
Everyone burst out in laughter and began to talk about that comment, it was something different for them, yes Nico made jokes, it wasn't often.
Iapetus barely managed to change his grin in a smirk, and then a sneer. "We will rule again, and nothing will stop us. I have been trusted with reviving our demigod army, and Kronos will trust me again if I do so." Iapetus knew he was running out of time – he could feel the connection he had with Alabaster fading. "Now, little demigod, I must return to Othrys. Time is running out." He turned, leaving the shocked demigod behind him as he slipped into the closest shadow, appearing just outside the Gate of Elysium.
He didn't bother with being subtle now and blasted the Gate open. Hades would definitely be approaching after his recent conversation with Nico. He saw several dozen demigods waiting the other side, most of them looking happy to be there. Though five of them looked like they'd rather stay. He frowned as his gaze landed on Charles Beckendorf.
Shocked gasps from the demigods, and Beckendorf right now looked a bit shocked as Hephaestus.
"Anywhere Silena goes, I go," the son of Hephaestus said firmly, holding Silena's hand.
Even though it was wrong, because the boy just declared himself a traitor, or would in the future Aphrodite smiled at the love this man held for her daughter. She approved and hoped Ares would understand when it was her turn to turn on Olympus.
"Kronos will pleased to have gained an unexpected ally," Iapetus mused before snapping back into action. "Hold hands," he ordered. "We must move quickly. Hades approaches."
The demigods all immediately did so, every single one of them excited to be alive again once they reached the surface. Iapetus saw the shadows condense and Hades appear just before they shadow travelled away, the god looking like he was about to tear apart his domain in his anger.
Iapetus couldn't help it. He lifted his hand in a mocking one-fingered salute as they were all shadow travelled away back to Othrys.
A/N: So today was an okayish day, got in a small argument with my parents, went for a walk and decided to update! I have a few days of free time and would like to dedicate it to updating my stories.
Wattpad Readers: I don't know why my stories aren't updating it fast enough, it says it's posted so check on it in 20ish minutes
Fanfiction Readers: Thanks for reading my story! Don't forget to check out Dragonswoe stories as well!
Ao3: I am updating as fast, but I'm still learning how to use this website, I usually write on Fanfiction more.
JIO