Hades followed the orca messenger through the turquoise waters, descending toward a magnificent city of gold that rose from the coral-carpeted ocean floor. Domes and arches gleamed, a testament to the wealth and power of its ruler. They passed through grand gates into the innermost throne room, where Oceanus sat upon a massive golden throne, a trident of pure light resting in his right hand.
"Welcome, Hades, to my palace," Oceanus greeted, his voice a resonant boom that vibrated through the water.
"Your hospitality is noted, Lord Oceanus," Hades replied, his form untouched by the crushing depth. "But I must ask the reason for your summons."
Oceanus stroked his beard, a thoughtful look on his face. "Your father ruled through fear, and your brother will rule through impulse. This world doesn't need another tyrant or a hothead. It needs order."
He leaned forward, his voice dropping to a more conspiratorial tone. "Your realm, Hades… it's the only one that never changes. It's the foundation everything else is built on. So I ask you, who better to bring that kind of stability to the heavens? Let Zeus and Poseidon exhaust themselves. With my guidance, you could take the throne that your nature has already prepared you for."
Hades didn't even blink. "Let me see if I understand," he said, his voice flat. "You want me to betray my family, make myself a target for every god who opposes us, and become king… all so you can be the one whispering in my ear, ruling from the shadows. You're not offering me a crown. You're looking for a puppet."
Oceanus's benevolent mask cracked for a fraction of a second. "You misread my generosity."
"I read the currents perfectly," Hades replied, his voice dropping to a deadly calm. "You're not offering me a throne. You're asking me to be your puppet. The answer is no."
Oceanus's eyes hardened. The water in the chamber grew dense. "A pity."
Without warning, he swung his trident. The water itself solidified around the golden prongs, aiming to crush Hades with the weight of the entire ocean.
Hades didn't move. A spear of solidified darkness materialized in his hand, and he met the trident with a clash that sent a shockwave through the palace. The water around him began to churn, turning a sickly, stagnant grey.
'He's resisting my domain' Oceanus realized with a shock.
He increased the pressure, condensing it until it felt like a mountain was pressing down on Hades.
'Open first gate, second gate, third gate.'
Hades's knees buckled slightly, but then a corona of black energy erupted from him. The corrupted water expanded, and the pressure lessened. Spectral, gate-like shapes flickered in the dark aura around him.
Oceanus pulled back and struck again. This time, Hades was ready, moving with newfound speed to evade the blow.
'Soul Flare'
Hades hurled a projectile of screaming spirits. Oceanus merely summoned a whirlpool that devoured the attack.
"Futile!" Oceanus boomed. "Here, only my rule exists!" As if to prove his point, the forms of ancient sea monsters—Krakens, Leviathans, Megladon and Mesosaurus appeared at the periphery, their auras radiating Chief God-level power.
'Open fourth gate, fifth gate, sixth gate.'
In response, Hades's power surged again. Three more ghostly gates materialized in his aura, and a crown of obsidian flame formed upon his brow. The corruption around him spread further, creating a sphere where the sea's power held no sway. He was carving out a piece of the Underworld in the heart of the ocean.
Oceanus thrashed his trident, locking Hades's spear between its prongs. 'Metal Surge!' Massive spikes of dark iron shot from the seabed. Oceanus yanked his weapon free and swam upward, a massive sphere of hyper-compressed water forming around him. It spun, shattering the metal spikes into dust.
In that moment, Hades prepared his true strike. A dark spear, glistening with his concentrated essence, hummed with power. He hurled it. It shot through the water like a void, a line of nothingness aimed at Oceanus's heart.
It stopped an inch from the Titan's chest.
The water sphere vanished. An enraged Oceanus grabbed the spear and snapped it like a twig. "I said it was USELESS!"
The ocean itself roared in response. The pressure intensified a hundredfold, and the water became a violent maelstrom. Hades grunted, his own power flaring in a final, desperate surge.
'Open seventh gate, eighth gate, ninth gate, tenth gate, eleventh gate, twelth gate.'
Six more spectral gates blazed to life around him. His form became blurred, ethereal, clad in armor of black obsidian. A spear wreathed in twilight flame appeared in his hands.
Oceanus stared, his mind reeling. A Low God King, matching my Mid God King power in my own domain? How?!
As Hades charged, a psychic scream tore through his mind, sharp with panic and pain. 'Hades! Help!'
'Hecate!'
His focus broke for a single, critical second. 'Dark Haze!' He released a cloud of pure shadow that swallowed all light and sound. Fusing his arcane and underworld divinities, he tore a 'Gate of the Underworld' into the fabric of the sea and plunged through.
The haze cleared. The throne room was empty. The only evidence of Hades was the sphere of dead, stagnant water slowly being reclaimed by the vibrant sea.
'Sonar'
Oceanus unleashed a sonar pulse that scanned every league of his domain. 'Nothing.' Hades was gone as if he had never been.
The sea floor cracked. A hurricane began to form in the waters above the palace.
"HADES!" Oceanus's roar was the sound of the deep itself being betrayed.
---
Hecate and Amazel rode upon Nixi, the panther leaping across the jagged terrain of Tartarus's deepest floor. Behind them, the Obsidian Dragon gave chase, its wings casting a vast shadow.
"ROOOAARR!!!" Its breath, a stream of corrosive darkness, lashed out at them. Hecate and Amazel combined their magic, a shield of purple and blue deflecting the attack. Below, Druvak clung to the beast's tail, his sword scraping uselessly against its scales.
The entrance to Tartarus was in sight. Hecate's heart hammered. 'This thing cannot be allowed to escape.'
"Nixi, now!" she shouted.
'Silver Flare!'
A flare of pure, primordial silver fire shot from her hands. The dragon responded with its dark breath. To Hecate's horror, the two forces met and neutralized each other in a silent, violent eruption of nothingness.
'It can negate my silver flame?'
The dragon, enraged, drew in another massive breath, its maw glowing with annihilating power. Hecate and Amazel braced for an attack they could no longer counter.
A shadow fell over them. Moving with a speed that defied the very air, a figure wreathed in twilight flame slammed into the dragon's side. It was Hades, and in his wake, he left a trail of nullifying energy that severed the dragon's connection to the chasm's power. For a crucial second, the beast's invincibility faltered, its dark breath sputtering out.
"Now, Hecate!" Hades's voice was a command that brooked no delay.
She didn't hesitate. A concentrated beam of silver flame, all her power focused into a single point, struck the dragon's head. Deprived of its neutralizing breath, the ancient beast could only scream as the primordial fire consumed it, turning its obsidian skull to ash.
THOOM.
The massive corpse hit the ground, shaking the very foundations of the prison. Hades landed as the dust settled, his obsidian armor and burning crown disintegrating into motes of shadow.
Nixi padded to his side. Hecate stared at the smoldering remains. "It struggled, but it neutralized the silver flame," her voice tight.
"Because it acquired that power from the chasm," Hades replied, his eyes glowing with analytical divinity as he scanned the corpse. "Its breath could negate anything, even primordial energy, but the cost was immense."
He turned to her, his expression grim. "You and Amazel, go and rest. Nixi, Druvak, and I will secure this area."
As they moved to leave, he stopped them. "Wifey" he said, the informal term underscoring his urgency. "Send word to Uncle Brontos and the others. They are to come to Tartarus immediately with all their equipment and every nullification brick they possess."
Hecate met his gaze and gave a single, sharp nod. "It will be done." In a flash of silver light, she and Amazel were gone, leaving Hades to stare into the abyssal darkness of the giant chasm.