Revelations [malexmale]

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

The silence that followed Ra's disclosure was deafening. One could hear a pin drop. For a split second, panic rose in me because Hades was now in even more danger than he was before. Following that, my panic rose when I watched everyone turn to Rowan, who stood as stoic and stiffly as possible.

"Hold up," Theo spoke first, putting his hands up for a physical emphasis to his command, "Wait. Last I checked, Hades was born to Rhea and Cronus, Lord and Lady of Douchebaggery and Childhood Scarring." Ambrosius didn't say anything, simply lowered his eyes and Thorn cleared his throat, looking away from everyone now as he stood close to Ambrosius. I wasn't entirely sure how these two had figured out Rowan was Hades's father, but I wouldn't put it past myself to have slipped up, or Hades.

It wasn't that we didn't want to tell the children.

We just didn't think of it. After all, Hades himself was having difficulty coping with the news himself. He refused to acknowledge Rowan as his father. Jokes and witty quips aside anyway. Addressing him formally was something Hades wasn't going to do. Thus, we'd not thought of telling the children.

Of course, now the cat was out of the bag.

"Rowan created Hades," Ra replied calmly, as if he didn't realize the gigantic nuclear bomb he'd just dropped on the kids, that or he simply didn't care, "It is a lengthy tale that is not for my telling. You can discuss it with your father when the time is right."

"And when the hell would that be?" Cain demanded incredulously.

"Yeah, I'd like to know when you guys would've thought it a good time to fucking tell us that Rowan's our," Cerberus stopped and grimaced, "I mean, like, we're related." He clearly wasn't comfortable calling him grandfather, and Rowan looked entirely uncomfortable with that as well as he averted his eyes.

"You're wigged out," Theo exclaimed incredulously, then looked at Rowan before his cheeks turned pink and he shuddered, rubbing at his arms, "Oh fuck, I am so Greek it fucking hurts. I need to burn my skin off. Or pour acid in my ass. Or down my throat. Oh Jesus Christ-- I mean, ah, fuck it, you know what I mean." He cast Yhwhwa a look of disdain, then moved away from Rowan to keep rubbing at his arms while his siblings scowled in confusion. I wasn't sure what his behavior was about, but whatever it was made Rowan give Theo a deadpan stare.

"For the record, I come from a time when such things were not unheard of," he said flatly, making Theo choke, "Also, you were the one who came onto me."

"Oh my god," Cain shouted, covering his ears with his hands. Abel scowled and Nikias rolled his eyes, folding his arms over his chest.

"Why are you of all people wigged out by incest?" He asked. Cain growled at him and gave him a shove, which Nikias returned, only for Cerberus to step between them and put his hands on their heads to shove them apart quite roughly.

"We can deal with the fact that Theo will fuck anything with a heartbeat later," he said, making Theo sputter indignantly, "Right now, we need to figure out where the fuck Hades went if the shadows are after him."

"Did he mention where he was going?" Zelios asked, turning to Ra, who frowned. He looked to Yhwhwa, who shook his head slowly.

"He simply claimed he was searching for proper shades," he answered. Cerberus cursed under his breath and Jaques glanced at him, then at Yhwhwa.

"Did he fight before he left?" He asked. Yhwhwa inclined his head.

"Most of this damage is his," he admitted grimly, "The shadows came for Hades and killed anyone in their path. Unfortunately, their entry into the prison triggered violence among the prisoners, a riot. Mortals and shadows were attacking one another and the rest of us. Hades killed most of the guards."