Hades

the end

Ella's point of view 

four months later - 

I remember the day the war started as if it was only yesterday but it was four months ago. The soldiers, Gods, Hades and I gathered in front of the palace and made our way to the valley where we had previously marked out. 

We set up a base camp of sorts just within the tree line and attacked Kronos and his soldiers the next day. They did not expect our presence but still managed to escape mostly uninjured intact. By that stage, we had injured and taken out at least three hundred of his soldiers. 

I had spent the last four months waiting. Waiting for something to happen, wait for the prophecy to make an appearance. As the months dragged on and more of our soldiers became injured, more eyes lingered on me. 

They stared at me from medic tents and from across the field as they sharpened their swords. I felt their heated gazes when I turned my back. I felt the way their eyes bore into the back of my head when I walked past them. I watched how the Gods grew restless, how they secretly questioned my abilities. 

I became to question the prophecy too, was it possible that this was all a freak accident? That I was not who they believed I was? 

I spent my days watching. Watching the soldiers leave for the battleground which was located over a kilometre away. Watching how their blades glistened in the sun, how they almost winked at me in the sun's delight. Watching how Hades left every morning and returned every night. Watching how his body contorted in battle and how the only blood that was ever on him was not his own. 

It wasn't until exactly four months after the war started that something occurred. It had been a normal day. I flittered through the camp, trying to desperately make myself useful in some manner. I had ended up in the medic tent and was tasked with sorting some supplies. 

It was around midday and the soldiers had been gone for many hours. There was nothing out of the ordinary that was happening but suddenly I had the chilling feeling that something was happening, something big and I needed to be there for it. 

I dropped the box of bandages and sprinted out of the tent. I didn't bother grabbing my shoes or changing my flowy dress. My mind was set, I needed to get to the battleground quickly. I dashed off in the direction my feet led me in. I could hear them calling my name, telling me that it was not safe. 

I ignored them, pushing my feet faster. Hades needed me, I could feel it. I could hear the soldiers behind me, the entire camp sprinted after me trying to catch me before I made it to the field. All the Gods were already there so there was nothing they could do to stop me. 

I eventually reached the battlefield, near the centre of the field I could see Kronos and Hades in what could only be described as a battle for life and death, even though neither could truly be killed. 

Before I could even comprehend what was happening I was moving. My heart whispered 'run' and I ran. 'Run to him' my head rang out and I ran to him. I could see the obsidian ribbons reach out and burn Kronos but he refused to give up. 

I watched as Hades began to lose control. I watched how the black ribbons stopped reaching out towards Kronos but now wrapped themselves around Hades. I watched as they encompassed his body. I listened to the bellowing growl that left his mouth and how he charged at Kronos. 

Kronos' soldiers charged forward and I watched how Hades lost control. How he destroyed anyone who got into his path. I felt the underworld shake and watched how the sky above us shifted. How the birds flew away in a hurry. How the Gods stepped slightly backwards as they watched the scene before they unfold 

Hades had lost control and they acted like cowards, stepping away from a disaster they were destined to fight for. They were no better than the sinful mortals on Earth. 

Kronos was too stubborn to back off despite his burning flesh. I ran across the battlefield and watched as the Gods shouted at me to go back. I ignored them and focused on Hades. All I could think and focus on was him. 

I let go of the control I had, I let myself be free and I felt as if I made shifted control from myself to some interior version of myself. But I knew who she was, I could feel her connection to her, feel the way her blood was mine, how when she breathed I breathed. I could feel that she was a Goddess and that I was her. 

I could feel the flowers and other plants that sprouted out from where my feet were moments ago. Suddenly she was chanting, in a language, I did not recognize, words that I had never heard before left my mouth and yet I somehow knew that she was speaking Greek. Demanding that Hades be released, demanding that the war ends and power is restored. 

She demanded this and suddenly my feet stopped moving. I was no long-running but rather floating. Floating higher and higher until I was over two metres above the ground. I could feel how my dress blew in the summer sun and how my head tilted back and she carried on chanting. 

Δώσε μου πίσω τους νεκρούς μου, δώσε μου πίσω Βασιλιά μου!

Give me back my dead, give me back my King!  I chanted, again and again, chanted it until the only words I knew were those. 

Suddenly the soldiers stopped fighting and Kronos fell to the ground. He stood before me, on his knees with his head bowed. I looked down at him in satisfaction, before falling from the sky and collapsing upon the ground. Hades rushed towards me and lifted me gently into his arms. 

"It's okay my sweet, it is all over now, you saved us," He whispered. I smiled before closing my eyes and falling into a deep sleep. 

When I woke up I was back in the palace. It was a calm day outside, the sun filtered through the thick curtains and the birds could be heard singing. 

I rolled over slightly and Hades was there, he was always there. He smiled at me, the tender smile he seemed to only reserve for me. He kissed my head slightly and I placed my head back upon the pillow next to his. 

It was over. The war, the constant state of fear, it was all over. I had not managed to stop the ever-turning clock but I had saved them. Protected those that needed protection. Hades had been returned to me and Kronos had been stopped. We did not utter any words to each other as we lay upon the bed,  but I knew. 

I knew the darkness no longer crept upon him, I knew he no longer had to battle for control. I knew that the Gods had returned to Olympus. I knew that Kronos was locked away somewhere far away from here. I knew that Hades and I were together now, in peace. 

I knew because she could feel it. And she was me, she had always been me. 

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And just like that it is done. 10 March 2022 Thank you to everyone that stuck around. To everyone that commented, voted and read my story. To everyone that encouraged me and understood me. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. There are no words to describe what I feel at this moment. This book has been my little baby for the last few years and there were moments where I did not know how to begin, there were moments when I did not know what to write and there were moments when I did not want to finish this book because I knew that it would be over. I love you all, always, see you in the next book! lots of love, - s