The immense auras of Gaea and Pontus crash forth, a tsunami of primordial power. The atmosphere instantly solidifies, becoming a crushing weight that drives every lesser being flat into the ground. Chests strain, fighting for a single, ragged breath.
Hades meets the onslaught with his own apocalyptic aura erupting in a counterwave. The mere clash of their powers makes the fabric of space tremble, hairline fractures spiderwebbing across the void.
With a roar of raw earth, Gaea wrenches an entire mountain from its roots and hurls it like a cosmic lance. Hades doesn't flinch. He snaps his fingers, and lances of abyssal flame ignite in the air, screaming towards the mountain.
BOOOM!!!
The mountain disintegrates into a expanding cloud of dust and rubble. From within the chaos, one of the abyssal lances, weakened but undeterred, pierces the cloud, aiming straight for Gaea. She tilts her head with arrogant grace, but the abyssal flame grazes her cheek. The air sizzles with the scent of burning ozone and something eternally sacred.
A scar, faint and smoking, mars her perfect skin.
Gaea's fingers rise, trembling, to trace the mark. An emerald radiance glows at her fingertips, and the scar vanishes. But the insult remains, a cold fire igniting in her veins. To be marked, to be flawed by this upstart god—it is an unforgivable sin. Her eyes, burning with the fury of a newborn universe, lock onto the smirking Hades. "You will pay for this."
She thrusts both hands forward. One palm swirls with emerald life, the other with crimson ruin. The energies twist into a devastating helix. 'Helitox Pyrelance'
The beam of green and red energy screams towards Hades, promising absolute annihilation. Pontus's eyes widen. 'Is she trying to destroy the entire Underworld with him?' he thinks, aghast.
A grim smile touches Hades' lips. He answers in kind, thrusting his own hands forth. A helix of twilight and silver flame spirals around a core of pure abyssal darkness. 'Trinity of Oblivion'
The two world-ending forces collide. The void loses all color and sound. Space shatters like a mirror, and violent tremors wrack both the Underworld and the Earth above, fissures tearing across realms. Hades grits his teeth, his divine form straining at its seams. Life force bleeds from him in a torrent. 'I can't hold this form much longer. No… I have to. If I want to see tomorrow, I have to.'
Suddenly, the shattered void swirls with living darkness. Nyx arrives, her presence immediate and vast. With a wave of her hand, she envelopes the struggling worlds in a protective shield of her essence. Erebus materializes beside Hades, adding his own devastating power of absolute darkness to the clash.
Gaea's Helitox Pyrelance begins to falter, pushed back by the combined might. She pours more of her ancient energy into it, her face a mask of strain.
Pontus's fingers curled into fists. He did not want this war. Not again. Not like the last time their clashes nearly drowned the world. But Gaea was losing control—and that terrified him more than Hades's rise.
"STOP THIS!" Pontus's shout is lost in the cataclysm. Frowning, he gathers his own power, preparing a wave of intense pressure to break the deadlock.
But before it can be released—
Snap!
A single finger-snap echoes through all of creation, freezing everything. Time, space, and the very conflict itself stand still.
An intense, unimaginable pressure exerts itself, forcing every single Primordial, including Hades, to their knees. A portal opens, and from it steps a goddess of pure white—white hair, white peplos, skin like alabaster. Ananke. Her chin is lifted, her prideful eyes sweeping over the kneeling deities like a disappointed sovereign. "Are you all out of your minds?"
Her chilling gaze settles on Erebus and Gaea. "Gaea. Erebus. Have you forgotten the treaty you agreed to after the Giant Chasm incident?"
Both Primordials tremble under her regard. "N-No, Lady Ananke," Erebus stammers. "Please forgive my insolence," Gaea whispers, her head bowed.
"THEN WHAT IS THIS!?" Her voice shakes the frozen firmament.
Sweat drips from Gaea's temple. "It is because of him!" she cries, pointing a shaking finger at Hades. "His ascent caused catastrophes across the world! The laws that bind creation began to break!"
Ananke's gaze shifts to the kneeling Hades. "HADES."
He understands the unspoken command in her tone and bows his head deeply. "Please forgive me, Lady Ananke. I gained this primordial power by fluke. I am still new to it, and my inexperience caused this catastrophe."
Ananke squints, then waves a hand. The truth of his words unfolds before her vision. "Hmm… you speak the truth."
The tension in Hades' shoulders eases for a fraction of a second. Gaea glared at him. Raise her voice in protest "But—"
Before she say something, Ananke interrupt her.
"But," Ananke continues, her voice final and absolute, "that does not mean you will escape punishment." Hades breath hitched, eyes wide with fear as his body tensed.
Ananke announce her judgement "Hades, you are too young and inexperienced to wield such power. Therefore, your Apocalypse form will be sealed until you are capable of handling it. And for pushing the world to the brink, a portion of your power will be taken from you."
The world itself responds to her judgment. A black haze tears from Hades' body, forcing him back into his normal form. Deep within his soul, a small, potent orb separates from a giant sphere, fracturing back into three and bound by threads of pure white.
Then, a golden haze—his very life force and divinity—is ripped from him. His veins swell and burn. His pale skin flushes a painful, angry red. The metallic lustre of his wings dulls into tarnished lead.
"Haaaaaahhh!!!" Hades' scream is a raw, hellish thing, echoing in the silent void.
When it ends, he is on his hands and knees, breathing in ragged, shuddering gasps. The feeling is one of profound emptiness. The constant, thrumming song of the Underworld is now muted and distant. He has fallen from mid level god king to low level god king.
Snap!
Ananke's second snap restores the flow of time. The destruction and catastrophes reverse, the land mending itself as if it never happened. She steps back toward her portal, pausing to give a final, weighted glance to Hades and Gaea. A tense line appears on her face, a silent warning for them both. Then, she is gone.
The moment she departs, Gaea's avatar hardens, cracking and crumbling into lifeless clay dust. Pontus, without a word, dissolves into a stream of water that flows away into the fissures of the earth.
Erebus places a heavy hand on Hades' shoulder. "Do not think this is the worst outcome. This punishment is light compared to your actions."
Hades finally finds his voice, hoarse and weak. "I know. She showed me mercy. Otherwise, I would be nothing." He turns to Nyx, his expression weary. "Lady Nyx, what is this treaty?"
Nyx nods, her form already beginning to fade at the edges. "After the Giant Chasm, we agreed to a pact for the world's stability. We would interfere in the mortal world only indirectly and avoid direct clashes between Primordials. It is a verbal accord, but one held value."
She takes a deep, shuddering breath, the darkness around her dimming. "Hades, our energy is depleted too far. We must fall into an inactive state for a time. We will not be able to support you as we have."
The news hits Hades like a physical blow. His breath catches, his chest tightening with a cold, familiar dread. These are his mentors, his protectors. Their absence leaves a void more terrifying than any power loss.
He bows deeply from the waist, the gesture filled with profound gratitude and grief. "Thank you," he says, his voice thick with emotion. "The Underworld and I… we will never forget the help and sanctuary you have given us."
Nyx and Erebus share a look of weary pride. "Hades," Nyx says, her voice now little more than a whisper on the wind, "take care of yourself and others. Assess the situation fully before you act. This time, you were lucky. Next time…" Her words hang in the air, unfinished, as she and Erebus dissolve completely into the fading darkness.
Every step towards the Underworld is a monumental effort for Hades. The aftermath of his apocalypse form tears through him—a fever that burns like the embers of a dying star and a pain that lances through every nerve, as if his very divinity is being unspun. His vision swims, the obsidian halls of his home blurring into a hazy twilight. A figure materializes before him, their form indistinct. Before he can even question who it is, his strength vanishes, and he collapses forward onto their shoulder.
---
Hades' eyes flutter open, greeted by the familiar, comforting shadows of his bedchamber. A dull, throbbing ache blankets his body, which is swathed in tight bandages and cool, pungent medicinal paste. He turns his head, a slow and painful effort, and finds Hecate.
She is slumped in a chair beside the bed, her head resting near his hip, one hand tightly clutching his. Even in sleep, her brow is furrowed with worry.
His slight movement stirs her. Her amethyst eyes open, and the moment they meet his, they well with tears that trace glistening paths down her cheeks. "…Hades." His name is a broken whisper on her lips.
He lifts a heavy hand, his fingers gently brushing her soft chin, wiping the tears away.
Her voice cracks."I thought… I thought I lost you. I-I—"
He silences her by placing a faint finger on her lips, then weakly guides her into an embrace. She comes willingly, sobbing into his shoulder, her body shuddering. He can do little more than lightly tap her back, his own strength gone. "Shhh," he murmurs, his voice raspy. "I'm here, wifey. I'm still here."
When her tears finally subside, she pulls back. Her eyes are swollen and red, the trails of her grief stark against her pale skin. "How long?" Hades asks, each word an effort.
"A week," she whispers, wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand. Her gaze drops. "Your divinity… it's dim. Your life force was seeping away. The physicians used every art they knew, but…" She gestures helplessly at the discarded bowls and used poultices littering the room. "They could not stop the drain."
Hades manages a shallow, pained sigh. "Don't worry. I have a way to restore it."
Hecate's eyes narrow, her mind, ever sharp, already working. "Are you thinking of the Twilight Flame? A mass harvest?" She strokes her chin, a flicker of grim resolve in her eyes. "It's efficient." She raises her voice, sharp and commanding. "Sebastian!"
The tight-lipped butler appears in a moment and kneels. "My lady?"
"Go. Fetch me beings of immense life force. Now."
Sebastian bows. "As you wish."
"Wait!" Hades' voice, though strained, carries a note of absolute authority that halts the butler. "Sebastian, abort that order. Instead, bring me the gold-embossed case from the treasury."
Sebastian bows again, deeper this time. "As you wish, my lord," he says, and vanishes.
Hades turns his head on the pillow to look at Hecate. She glares back, her arms folded tightly across her chest, a tempest of frustration and fear in her eyes.
"I know you are worried for me," he says softly. "But your worry cannot justify such cruelty."
"The Seed of Life Jewel?" she asks, her voice tight.
He gives a slow, single nod.
Hecate lets out a frustrated breath. "Hades, that will take centuries! You need to plant it, nurture it, wait for it to bear a single fruit… We don't have that kind of time!" The words are laced with a desperate love that borders on fury.
He reaches for her hand again, his touch weak but insistent. "Wifey," he says, his gaze steady and deep. "Trust me."
The fight drains from her posture, replaced by a weary, anxious silence. She says nothing, but her hand turns to clasp his, her grip fierce as she endures the storm of her frustration for his sake.