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Well, i wrote this. its a bit long so yeah, please critique it. tell me what you think. Tell me how i could make it better, why it sucks etc. im perfectly fine with harsh critiques so go ahead. oh and obviously its not done yet. so don't say "well it has a bad ending" please.

Erebos: The Untold Story of the Greek Gods
The Rise of Erebos

Prologue:
A Hidden Birth

Zeus and Hera had a child. His name was Erebos, named after darkness itself. Zeus was disgusted with Erebos because he was so small and frail so he threw him into the mortal world. Zeus was so appalled that he never told the other gods about Erebos.
Hera was against this. She begged Zeus to let Erebos live among the other gods. Zeus ignored her. Hera became angry. She looked for an opportunity to tell Erebos about his past.

Chapter 1

Hera watched Erebos grow up from her throne on Mount Olympus. She watched him play, eat, and sleep. She was devastated that she couldn’t talk to him. She watched him on his sixteenth birthday and decided that she couldn’t wait any longer. One day, she fed Zeus a poison that would put him to sleep.
Hera ran to Erebos and when she found him, she explained everything. Erebos was stunned at first. He couldn’t believe that he was a god. Hera told him the meaning of his name. She told him what he was god of. She told him who his father was and why he never knew.
Erebos grew angry. He couldn’t believe that Zeus, his own father, would do this. Hera tried to calm him, but he only grew angrier. Hera remembered how Zeus treated her and saw a resemblance between him and Erebos. She smiled. Although Erebos was angry now, Hera knew he had a kind heart and a clever mind.
On Mount Olympus, Zeus woke from his sleep. He saw what Hera had done. Now he had to kill them both. He descended hundreds of lightning bolts at them. Instantly, Hera was killed. Erebos was wounded badly. Several lightning bolts struck into him. Erebos almost collapsed. He limped to the nearest shelter. Gold blood poured from his body.
Zeus cursed, “I didn’t want to kill other people when I slaughtered you, Erebos, but you leave me no choice.” Zeus struck the building with many lightning bolts and it finally collapsed. Many people died. Erebos was buried under the building’s debris.
Erebos screamed, “Father! Why are you doing this to me? I may be small, but I am no longer frail! I am strong and smart!”
Zeus looked down. He saw that Erebos was strong. He smiled, “I will not kill you, yet. You still will not be allowed into Olympus, but I will let you live for now. I will enjoy watching you.
The thunderbolts stopped. Erebos smirked, “Good, now I can avenge Hera. Now, Zeus will see the end to his reign!”
Over time Erebos studied Greek mythology. He learned about the Titans, the Cyclopes, and the fifty-headed, one-hundred-armed creatures, which had no name. He read about the downfall of Kronos, the ruler of all the Titans and how they were thrown into Tartarus. He read about the lone Titan, Atlas, who was given the task to hold the weight of the sky on his shoulders. He read about Echidna and all her children, and her husband who is buried under a volcano.
He decided he would turn the Gods against Zeus and travel to the Underworld to unleash the Titans. He would unleash Prometheus, the Titan that saw the future. He set out to Greece.

Chapter 2

Erebos built a ship made of wood. He coated the outside with metal and the inside with animal fur. He added a mast and sails to it. Finally, he attached a wheel to the deck. “This will have to do,” he said.
He moved the boat to the shore and climbed up to the deck. “Zeus, I will avenge Hera. I will destroy Olympus!” He steered the boat into the sea. Erebos steered for hours and hours and eventually he tired. He couldn’t take much more. He decided to lie down and take a quick nap.
Erebos awoke to waves crashing onto his face. Lightning struck the water beside the boat. Wind rocked the boat side to side. He jumped to his feet. He grasped the wheel and gained control of the boat. Suddenly, a wave crashed into the boat and tipped it over. Erebos jumped into the water and climbed to the top of the boat. He stood up and looked at the far away horizon and saw an island.
He jumped from the boat and started to swim. He swam for hours until he found himself touching the sand of a beach. He heard voices and he followed them. Soon he found himself staring at many people dressed in white togas and crowns made of ivy. He yelled for them and they came up to him.
He asked, “Who are you? Where am I?”
They responded, “You are on the island of Crete. We are the children of the mighty Cyclopes.”
“Cyclopes?” he asked.
“Yes. We are the children of the Cyclopes,” they repeated.
“Okay. Where is Greece?” he asked.
“It is far away. It is north of Crete. We can show you the way.” they suggested.
“Okay.” he said.
The children of the Cyclopes guided him around the island. Eventually, he was led into a cave.
“Where are we? This cave has no openings,” he asked.
“We are the children of the Cyclopes. We serve the Cyclopes. We feed the Cyclopes. You are a sacrifice to the Cyclopes.” They chanted.
“What… no. I will not be killed for anyone! I must destroy the gods!” Erebos screamed.
“Sacrifice. Sacrifice. Sacrifice…”
“NO!” Erebos searched rapidly for anything that could be used as a weapon. He noticed a sharp shard of rock dangling from the side of the cave. He quickly broke the shard off of the wall. He waved the shard in front of the men and women, trying to scare them off.
“Sacrifice. Sacrifice. Sacrifice…” They repeated.
Erebos was backed into a corner. The children of the Cyclopes gathered around him. A large man stepped forward and took out a dagger. He shoved it towards Erebos. Erebos sidestepped it and cut off the man’s right hand. The man’s hand and the dagger fell to the floor, blood pouring everywhere. Erebos scooped the dagger off of the floor. The man got up and punched Erebos. Erebos recovered and cut the man’s chest. Blood spilled on the floor, the man coughed slightly, and fell to the floor- dead.
Erebos used the dagger to fend off the rest of the children of the Cyclopes. Finally, he reached the opening of the cave. He scouted the island for wood. He collected eight trees and thought this enough, and he built a raft. He sailed back into the sea.
Later in the day, he noticed a fork in the current and remembered that that meant that Scylla and Charybdis inhabited the paths. Drifting closer to the fork, Erebos heard screams echoing throughout the sea, coming from Scylla.
Erebos steered the boat toward Charybdis. As he drifted closer to the whirlpool, Erebos prepared himself for the storm ahead of him. Finally, the raft entered the whirlpool. The raft was thrown across the narrow pathway as if it were a toy. Erebos held onto the raft, although three pieces fell off.
Again, Erebos was thrown across the whirlpool. His back jammed into the stone walls. Finally, Erebos drifted out of the whirlpool. Erebos’s back gushed the gold blood of the gods.
“Crap.” he muttered under his breath.

After hours of perilous sailing, Erebos spotted an island with many tropical fruits and several oases. He steered towards them hoping that he would make it. Waves crashed onto what remained of his raft. Knowing that his raft wouldn’t hold, Erebos jumped into the water and swam towards the island.
About halfway there Erebos heard singing and he knew he had made a grave mistake. As much as he wanted to, Erebos knew that he couldn’t turn back. He had no raft, no food, and no supplies. All he had was the clothes on his back. He swam faster and faster until he reached the island. The Sirens were singing, but Erebos wouldn’t let it cloud his judgment. He reached for the dagger he had kept from the encounter with the Children of the Cyclopes. It wasn’t there he searched rapidly to find it. It was nowhere to be found. He calmed his mind and decided it must have fallen out when he swam to the island. That, or when he encountered Charybdis. He looked around for anything that could be a weapon. He couldn’t find any. He scraped his hand on a rock and flinched. Checking how bad his wound was he saw gold blood oozing from his hand. He remembered reading about how gods had gold blood. Images of Hera flashed through his head. Her telling him about being a god and of Zeus killing her, mercilessly.
Erebos remembered. He was a god. All gods controlled something, and he controlled darkness. It was night. It’s worth a try, he thought.
Erebos filled images in his head of darkness swallowing the Sirens. He opened his eyes and the sirens were gone.
“Amazing,” He whispered.

Chapter 3

Erebos, eating the luscious fruits and drinking from the shining oases, was planning his route to Greece. First he would carve a boat from a large tree and leave this island. Then he would head straight to Greece.
He packed as much supplies as he could. He built another boat, bigger and stronger this time. And then he set out.
After hours of sailing he found Greece. He set out to the Underworld. He asked around but he was laughed at. Finally, it occurred to him that in his readings it vaguely described where the Underworld was.
He mapped out Greece and picked the possible places where it could be. A total of eight places. One after another failed miserably. Until only the eighth remained. Finally, he found a pathway. He followed it and began to smell the stench of dead bodies. Not ten steps after that the Underworld revealed itself. He saw Cerberus, the three headed dog. He moved on towards the God of the Underworld, Hades. He soon came to a large, black castle wall.
“Erebos, fitting. My name means darkness, and is used to describe the gates of Hell itself,” Erebos muttered.
The gates opened. “Who is there?”
“Erebos, God of Darkness. I request Hades immediately.”
“You’re speaking to him,” A figure draped in black fire came towards Erebos. “Erebos, God of Darkness. You are a lie. There is no such God.”
“I am a child of Zeus and Hera. Zeus did not love me so he hid my existence and threw me into the mortal world. Hera visited me and told me of the truth. Zeus mercilessly killed her. Now I want your help to take Zeus down.”
“How do you plan on doing this.”
“I plan on gathering as many Gods as possible and releasing the Titans to kill Zeus.”
“That would be an interesting plan, but I refuse.”
“Why. Zeus is the one who cast you down here to watch over the dead. You don’t hate him for that?”
“…”
“Join me. You can reign over the new world with me. Zeus will be destroyed.”
“Very well.”
“Now, take me to Tartarus.”
“Follow me.”
Hades led Erebos to the deepest part of the Underworld just outside Tartarus.
“You must go to the very bottom of Tartarus and get the Titans on your side. Once that’s done, you must pass through the Ten Levels of Tartarus. Then come back to me,” Hades instructed., “Oh, and you might need this.” Hades handed Erebos a black dagger.
“What’s this?” Erebos asked.
“This is the Blade of the Underworld. The blade cannot be broken and will pierce any material.”
“Okay. Don’t make a move until I get back.”
“Good luck.”
Erebos jumped into Tartarus. Flying down towards the end, Erebos sensed a strong presence, “Cronus,” he whispered.
Finally, Erebos landed. “Cronus! Come to me,” Erebos screamed. A large figure eased towards him. He was draped in a golden robe.
“What do you want. You Gods only want to gloat about your victory over me. Well, I’ll come back and take my place as the ruler of the universe back.”
“Well, here’s your chance. Join me and we can overthrow Zeus.”
“Who are you?”
“Zeus’s son, Erebos: God of Darkness and the Night.”
“Very well, I shall join you.”
“Good, convince the other Titans to do so.”
“Very well.”
“Good, I shall get more recruits. Once you convince everyone, leave Tartarus, and meet me at Hade’s palace.”
“Okay.”
“Good luck.”
Erebos began towards the Ten Levels of Tartarus. Soon later he reached the first level. A single apple lay in the center of a dark room.
Erebos went to grab it but a snake whizzed towards his hand and bit him.
“Crap.”
Erebos reached quickly and snatched the apple. Suddenly, the room became illuminated. Hundreds of snakes slithered all over the floor.
Erebos saw the door, he ran for it. Snakes bit him, their fangs ripping through his flesh. Finally, he made it to the door. It burst open. Erebos was drawn closer to the door.
The door led to a flight of stairs. At the top of the stairs was a door painted black. The door was creaked open. Erebos continued inside. A monstrous beast waited inside.
It was the Minotaur. A beast with a human’s body but a bull’s head. It charged at him at full speed. The Minotaur’s horns crashed into Erebos’s abs, sending him flying across the room.
Erebos struggled to his feet, but as soon as he did so, the Minotaur’s horns rammed into him again. Once again, Erebos struggled to stand. He took out the blade Hades gave to him.
The Minotaur began to charge. Erebos stood his ground. He dug his feet into the ground. The Minotaur lowered his head. Erebos brought up the knife. Erebos went flying into the wall. Black blood was splattered all over his clothes.
Across the room, the Minotaur fell to the ground, dead. Erebos got to his feet. The Minotaur’s blood was smeared across his torso. He found another door and another flight of stairs. Another door creaked open.
In that room, a Hydra, a creature almost like a dragon, but with nine heads, slept in the middle of the room. Erebos crept along the room opening the door, until, suddenly, he was thrown across the room. The Hydra was awake. Poison dripped from its mouths. A head darted towards Erebos. In reaction he cut it off. Two heads grew in place of that head.
Another head raced towards him, this time he dodged it, but another head dashed towards him. Once again, he dodged it. Head after head kept coming to Erebos. Time after time he dodged them.
Erebos dashed towards the body of the Hydra and stabbed at its heart. Blood poured from the wound, but it didn’t die. Suddenly, a head swooped down and Erebos was sent flying crashing back onto the floor. Erebos kept dodging heads.
He had an idea. He pictured the Hydra being swallowed by the darkness. Slowly, he opened his eyes, and the Hydra was dissolving. A head was racing towards him. There was no time to react. The head was just mere inches from his face. He could smell the poison dripping from its mouth. The head was about to bite. Erebos closed his eyes, but nothing happened. He opened them to find the Hydra gone. It had dissolved into nothingness.
Suddenly, Erebos was fatigued. He dropped to his knees. Using that power made him tired. He shook it off and looked for a door. He climbed up the stairs and found another door.
Inside the 4th Level was a large, fiery crevice. Across it was the door. Erebos ran to the edge and jumped crashing into the wall of the crevice. Now, he just had to climb up. Suddenly, a Phoenix whizzed past him, almost knocking him down.
Erebos pulled out his dagger and sliced the bird in two. Erebos continued climbing. Another Phoenix rose from the ashes and rammed into Erebos sending him off of the wall. Erebos got a hold on the Phoenix and steered him upwards sending him straight out of the crevice. Erebos beheaded the Phoenix and went to the next challenge.
In the next room there was the Sphinx, a monster with a woman’s head and a lion’s body.
Erebos took out his knife, but then the Sphinx spoke, “Put away the dagger just answer a simple question and you can pass.”
“Okay,” Erebos replied.
“How many challenges did Hercules have to complete to wash away the blood guilt?”
“12.”
“Correct. Name them.”
“No. You said a simple question. I answered a question now let me through.”
“You may not pass.”
Erebos began to walk towards the door, securing the grip on the knife. He quickly pulled it out and stabbed the Sphinx killing it. He went on to the next challenge.
What was waiting inside the next level was Talos, a machine made of bronze. Erebos picked up his dagger and thrusted it into where his heart would be.
Nothing happened. Talos punched Erebos in the face, sending him flying. Erebos slashed everywhere he could think, but Talos wouldn’t die. Talos didn’t even get tired. He just kept punching Erebos in the chest.
Erebos went for the Achilles’ heel and he got lucky. Talos fell to the floor, dead. Erebos moved on to the next challenge.
The next room was an arena. In the center of the room, a Chimera, a creature that includes a lion, a she-goat, and a serpent all in one, paced back and forth. Erebos stepped forward, and instantly, the creature noticed him. It bounded for him, spitting fire from one of its mouths, while another mouth let out a horrible, ear splitting scream.
Erebos reached for the dagger and slashed across the beasts chest. The creature swooped down and kicked Erebos. Erebos grabbed one of the legs and climbed onto the creatures back. He took his dagger and decapitated the heads, one by one. He opened the next door and headed for the last two challenges.
In the next door was a room with Python, a she-serpent. Erebos pulled out his dagger and raced towards it. The Python didn’t react until he was about to strike. Python quickly dodged and then wrapped her body around his. Squeezing the air out of him.
Erebos couldn’t see straight. Python was suffocating him. He struggled for his dagger. He stuck his dagger into Python and brought it up ripping Python into shreds. Erebos move onto the last level.
Inside was a God. Heracles stood there, waiting. Finally, he spoke, “No one has ever made it this far. Who are you, boy.”
“I am Erebos, God of Darkness. You are?”
“Heracles. I am impressed that you have made it this far. However, I cannot let you pass. I was told to watch and guard the exit to Tartarus. You may not leave.”
“Hahaha! You do what the Gods tell you to do. Pathetic. You are no more than a pawn. Bow down before a real God.”
“You think you are a God?”
“Yes I do. I was going to ask you if you wanted to join me, but, no. You are nothing more than a pawn. You are a God, yourself. Why answer to them?”
“I will do what must be done to protect Olympus.”
“Wouldn’t you rather rule over a kingdom than guard it?”
“One day, I shall take my father’s place and rule Olympus, until then, I guard Tartarus.”
“You really are a pawn. You were brainwashed by Zeus. Zeus isn’t better than us. He’s a bug who uses his power to rule Gods. He rules a kingdom of fear. He killed my mother, so I am taking a stand. Join me.”
“He killed your mother? Who was she?”
“Hera.”
“Zeus’s wife, Hera?”
“Yeah.”
“Good riddance. She was a pain if you ask me. I won’t miss her.”
“You are just as bad as Zeus!” Erebos screamed. He lunged at Heracles, tackling him down to the ground. Heracles pushed Erebos off of him.
They both took out daggers. Erebos and Heracles locked blades. Blow for blow they met each other’s moves. Heracles slashed at Erebos’s chest. Erebos countered and stabbed at Heracles’ neck. Heracles ducked and swiped his blade upwards. Erebos narrowly avoided it.
Finally, Erebos saw an opening and cut off Heracles’ hands. He kicked Heracles to the ground. Slowly, Erebos brought the blade down towards Heracles’ neck.
“Please. No! Don’t kill me!”
Erebos added pressure to the blade. Golden blood ran down Heracles’ neck.
“Please. I’ll join.”
“You’re useless to me,” Erebos muttered before decapitating Heracles.
Erebos opened the door to find himself back in the Underworld. He searched for Hades, and found him, waiting on his throne. “So, you’re back,” Hades grinned.
“Yeah, Cronos joined us.”
“You made it past Tartarus.”
“Yeah, it was tough, but…”
“What?”
“I don’t know. It seemed too easy.”
“Too easy?”
“Every challenge, they were all, too simple.”
“Oh well, so did you kill or recruit Heracles?”
“I killed him. Wait how did you-”
“I was the one who made the tests.”
“Oh.”
“Well, now we wait for Cronus.”
Erebos an Hades discussed how they would bring down Zeus. After, a few hours of this, Cronus appeared.
“Erebos, I have recruited all of the Titans and Typhon. You will lead them,” Cronus said.
“Good. Now, Hades, go release Prometheus.”
“Okay.”
Hades walked away, going to release Prometheus while Erebos and Cronus discussed their plans from here. When it was all over, they were going to betray whatever Gods joined them, Hades included. They would rule Olympus. Destroying anyone or anything that was in their path.
Hades came back with Prometheus, a rather wimpy figure compared to the gods, but still very large and muscular. “He’s willing to help,” Hades said.
“Good,” Erebos replied. In his head though, he thought, s**t! Prometheus can see into the future, he’ll know all my plans. I’ll have to kill him.
“Hello, Erebos,” Prometheus gave him a wry, knowing smile.
“Hey,” Erebos greeted, “You’re Prometheus then.”
“Yes, I am.” Prometheus grinned.
“Well, now we must release Atlas.” Erebos said.
“Okay,” Cronus said. “But who will bare the curse that Atlas holds?”
“Prometheus.” Erebos said. “He can’t fight and all we have to find out is if we will win. So, Prometheus. Will we?”
“You will prevail over the Gods, however, the whole war will not be yours, Erebos. You will fall.”
“All I care about is killing Zeus, I don’t care what happens after.”
“Very well, you’ve been warned.”

Chapter 4

Erebos led the Titans and Hades to Atlas. “Atlas! I am the God of Darkness Erebos. I have come to recruit you in a fight against the Gods. Will you join us.”
“Yes. Who will take my burden?” Atlas said, his voice booming. He was draped in purple. Larger than Cronus and even more muscular.
“Prometheus shall.” Erebos handed Prometheus over to Atlas.
“Very well, it is good that I may get rid of this burden.” Atlas said as he tossed the sky on to Prometheus’s shoulder.
“Prometheus, we will come back for you when we defeat the Gods.” Erebos said.
“Okay…” Prometheus’s voice was strained.
Erebos walked away from Prometheus, a large smile on his face. He had conquered the only enemy he had. Prometheus would have been a pain to deal with. Him seeing the future would have been bad.
Although, why didn’t he reject to being the one to hold the weight? Did he foresee that someone would release him. Could someone release him? It’s the only thing that made sense. Erebos turned around. Prometheus glanced at him, a twisted smirk on his face.
Erebos looked at him. Knowing that Prometheus knew his every move. He had to be erratic. He couldn’t be careful and over think things, “Prometheus will turn on us. He will slit our throats when we sleep. We must stop him. We must kill him now.”
Erebos glanced at Prometheus with a wry, triumphant smile. Prometheus smiled back, “No. I am not the one to turn on you. Erebos is.”
Erebos stated, “What proof do you have?”
Prometheus laughed, “I see the future.”
Erebos remarked, “If that’s the case, you would win every argument.”
Prometheus said, “Erebos is the traitor, kill him!”
The Titans and the Gods looked at Erebos with murderous intent. He said, “Kill me, if you want, but Prometheus is the traitor. He will accuse all of us to be traitors! He will kill us off, one by one, destroying our alliance. He will kill all of us. Is that what you want?”
Erebos sneered at Prometheus. He knew that he had won. Prometheus looked down at his feet. He looked up with a twisted smile. “Yes, I am the traitor.” Prometheus screamed as he swung side to side like a mad-man. “I am the traitor!” He took out a blade and swung it across Erebos’s chest. Gold blood poured like a fountain from the wound. Erebos fell to his knees. “I am the traitor, but do you really want this weakling as your leader. What he says is not true. Yes, I will betray him, but no one else!” Prometheus pressed the edge of the blade against the back of Erebos’s neck.
“Will you really kill me. I am the one who has unified us. Gods and Titans to bring down a common enemy. Without me, the union will crumble. So realize this is just a game Prometheus is playing. He’s playing you. He wants you to see that I am a traitor, something of which I am most definitely not! He wants you to believe him, so that you may reign him leader of this union! Then, he shall stab each and every one of you in the back. Leading up to him being the only one left. He should not have been invited to the union. We must kill him. We must kill him, now.” Erebos replied, a smug look growing on his face.
Prometheus knelt down. The smirk that was once triumphant, wiped clean off of his face. Erebos soon said, “Do you see now. He has nothing to say to me now. He is the traitor, and we must kill him.”
Hades interrupted, “Why don’t we just leave him here.”
Erebos replied, “Do you remember him rejecting the position of holding the great burden?”
Hades replied, “No.”
Erebos smiled, “That’s because he didn’t. I believe he didn’t refuse because someone will release him. He is a dangerous enemy to our union. Therefore, he must die. Erebos glanced around, looking for other Titans to take the place of Prometheus. His gaze fixed on Rhea. “Does anyone disagree that Rhea should temporarily hold the burden. That we should kill Prometheus here and now?”
The crowd became quiet. No one said a word. No one rejected the idea. Not even Rhea herself.
“Very well, Rhea, take the burden from Prometheus.” As Rhea swiftly moved towards Prometheus, Erebos ordered Cronus to hold a knife to Prometheus’s neck. Soon after Rhea took the burden, blood was spilled on the floor. Prometheus’s head rolled to Erebos’s feet. Erebos picked it up and said, “No one shall see this face again.” And Prometheus, head and all, disappeared into nothingness.
“Now, that leaves us with our next job. We need to find weapons. Mine shall be a scythe that cannot be broken, the problem is, where can I find one, or who can make one?”
Cronus soon said, “I know this blacksmith in southern Greece. He is… efficient, at scythe making.”
“Good, now what about the rest of you.” Erebos asked.
Cronus pulled out a sickle, Hades took out a bident, a two pronged trident, all the Titans and Gods took out something. Except for Atlas. He stood there empty handed. Erebos asked, “Atlas, where is your weapon?”
“I have none. I fight with my hands.” Atlas said as he showed Erebos the palms of his hands.
Erebos frowned, “You must have a weapon.”
Atlas replied, “I don’t need one.”
Erebos said, “To defeat other gods, yes you will. Especially Zeus. So, what will be your weapon?”
Atlas thought for a moment, “A sword. A large, heavy sword.”
Erebos nodded, “Very well, it fits you nicely. Okay, well I shall have a Scythe. Hades shall have a bident. Cronus shall have his sickle. And Atlas shall have a large, weighty sword. Honestly, for a scythe, I read that there’s a scythe called Hell’s Scythe. It’s quite interesting. I hear that it has three blades coming out of each end. Amazing. Just amazing. It’s so ingenious that the blend of metals makes it indestructible. The only thing to do, is find it.”
Hades nodded, “Yes, I’ve heard of that too. It’s hidden inside Mount Everest. Right inside the core.”
Erebos sunk to the floor, “Did I come all the way here, just to go across the world again?”
Hades spread a look of surprise on his face, “You’ve never shadow-traveled? You actually sailed across the world all the way to Greece.”
Erebos looked just as surprised, “Yeah, I did. What’s shadow-traveling?”
“Here, I’ll show you,” Hades grabbed Erebos at the forehead and they both shriveled into darkness. Seconds later, they ended up at the foot of Mount Everest.
Erebos dropped to his knees, panting. He couldn’t get up. He struggled to his feet but dropped to the ground just as fast. He passed out.
Later he woke up to the sound of talking. He tried to get up, but struggled. “What happened?”
Hades and the Titans looked at Erebos. They looked surprised, “You passed out. I knew shadow-traveling was straining, but I didn’t know it would take you like that. Oh well, your alright now,” Hades said.
Erebos nodded, “Yeah, I feel okay. So that was shadow-traveling. Interesting. Okay, well, while I get Hell’s Scythe, Hades will come with me. Atlas, you and Cronus will go find a large sword of your own. When I’m done, I’ll be at the Coliseum. Meet me there. Okay, hurry up.”
Atlas and Cronus immediately shriveled into darkness. Hades said, “Well, let’s get going.”
Erebos nodded, “Please.”
Hades grabbed Erebos’s head again
Erebos flinched, “You’re not going to do this again, are you?”
Hades smiled, “Yes, this won’t be nearly as long of a journey. You’ll barely be tired.”
Hades and Erebos shriveled into the darkness. They reappeared in the center of Mount Everest. Hades said, “Here we are. How are you feeling?”
Erebos said, “Fine, actually. You’re right. I’m fine,” Erebos’s tone became firm, “Now to find Hell’s Scythe.”
Hades pointed to three tunnels, “One of those leads to it.”
“Great. There’s only two of us,” Erebos said sadly.
Hades smirked, “Not necessarily,” he said as he split in three.
“What was that?” Erebos asked.
“Shadow-morphing. Only Gods of Darkness, like you and me, can do this. I’ll show you how,” Hades said as he morphed back into one.
“Wow. Okay well, how do you do it?”
“Just focus your energy into two other places. Like this. I’m going to focus on the points on that rock to my left,” Hades pointed to a rock about five feet away from him, “and that cliff,” Hades pointed to a cliff to his right, five feet away. Hades closed his eyes and almost immediately two other Hades appeared right on the points, “Now, you try,” All three Hades said.
Erebos smirked. He closed his eyes and said, “Okay, I think I can do this,” He focused on points close to him, and immediately two other Erebos appeared, “Nice,” Erebos smiled.
“Good job. Now, each one of you will follow one of me. We’ll each go into a separate tunnel. Follow me,” And with that, the three Erebos followed the three Hades into separate tunnels.
The first pair of Hades and Erebos traveled down a dark path. Eventually, they came to a large crevice in the cave. They descended down. After a mile, they finally reached the bottom.
Suddenly, the ground shook. A large beast crept out of the darkness. It breathed a horrible smell into their faces. Hades backed up, but Erebos stood his ground. He observed the situation. In front of him was the beast, in front of the beast was the wall. To his left was nothing, as to the right there was nothing.
“Hades!” Erebos shouted.
“Yes?” Hades asked.
“I’ll distract the beast. You climb up the wall. If Hell’s Scythe is there bring it back to me and finish the beast.” Erebos ordered.
Hades ran towards the wall but the beast followed. Erebos shriveled up and appeared in front of the beast. He took out The Blade of the Underworld and pointed it at the beast. He couldn’t make the image of it out, but somehow, he knew where it was. Suddenly, an earthquake struck and Erebos struggled to keep on his feet, but the beast had no problem and swiped Erebos aside.
A large rock fell from the ceiling. It landed right in front of the beast. It retracted. Another rock fell to the ground. Then another. Soon, it was practically raining giant rocks. The beast and Erebos became buried, but the raced to the top. Light shone through the cracks.
They both burst through the rocks. Erebos took a moment to study the beast. It was massive. It stood at 50 feet tall. It was like a dragon, but stood on two feet. It’s head was massive, about one-third the length of the body. The wing span was about ten feet, and the tail was twenty feet. On the end of the tail was a snake head, hissing and snapping. Spitting venom everywhere.
Erebos raised his dagger. The beast lowered itself onto all fours. It raced towards him. Erebos leaped into the air, landing right on the beast’s back. He struggled to stay on, so he dug the blade into the beast. Black blood poured from the wound. The beast howled and threw Erebos off of its back. The dagger stood in its place.
The beast raced towards him again. Erebos stood up, but he wasn’t fast enough. The beast rammed into his side. Breaking his ribs. Erebos struggled to his feet, but couldn’t stand up. The beast raced towards him, one again. Erebos tried to stand, but couldn’t. He closed his eyes and waited for the impact. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head. He shriveled up, and appeared onto the beast’s back. He closed his eyes, and held on for his life.
The beast stood up and shook his back, it tried to get Erebos off, but Erebos focused everything he had onto staying on the beast. He glanced at the dagger still wedged into its side. He reached to grab it. He pulled it out of the beast. He climbed towards its head. The beast went back on all fours and hurriedly arched its back, flipping Erebos, almost off. Erebos descended to the head. He took the dagger and stabbed it into one of the eyes. The beast howled and shook his head, but, once again, Erebos stood in place. Erebos took the dagger again and stabbed it into the beast’s remaining eye. The beast howled. This time it tried bobbing its head. Erebos refused to move.
Disoriented, the beast fell over. Erebos got off and walked towards the beast’s chest, “Finally, it’s over,” he said as he stabbed at the beast’s chest and ripped out the heart.
Meanwhile, Hades raced towards the end of the cave. He came to a dead-end, “It was all for nothing,” He said, disappointed. He decided to head back towards Erebos. Erebos sat and waited for Hades. What was taking him so long.? Erebos defeated the beast, and Hades still wasn’t back yet. He decided to travel towards Hades. Eventually, they met.
“How’d it go?” Erebos asked.
“Dead end,” Hades replied sourly, “How’d you manage to kill the beast?”
“I blinded it, it got confused, then I ripped out its heart,” Erebos answered, almost joyfully.
“Well, let’s go meet up with the rest of them,” Hades suggested.
“Yeah. Hopefully we’ll find Hell’s Scythe in their passage,” Erebos said, as he turned around and walked towards the entrance to the tunnel.
The second pair of Erebos and Hades came to an ocean. Waves rippled, and sometimes crashed, into the shore. They swam to the other side of the shore. Just as Hades got out a beast dove out of the water and crashed back in right behind them.
“Hades, I’ll take the beast, you look for Hell’s Scythe! If you find it, when you come back, give it to me. If not just come and help with the beast,” Erebos ordered.
Hades shriveled up. Erebos looked down. He saw a blur swimming rapidly under water. It rushed towards the surface. Erebos took out The Blade of the Underworld. The beast swallowed him whole. Erebos screamed, “Illuminate!” and the beast, almost on command, was like a light. Erebos could see. He dug himself out of the beast, water filling up his lungs. He struggled to hold his breath. He cut himself out and began to swim towards the top.
Suddenly, a beast crashed into him, knocking the air out of him. Erebos began to swim again, but once again a beast crashed into him. Then, a tentacle wrapped around his body and pulled him into the murky depths. Erebos focused on two points in the water, and two more Erebos appeared and cut the tentacle off. They swam to the top. The other Erebos, not so strained for air, protected the other. The three Erebos burst out of the water, gasping for air. Another beast jumped out of the air, swallowing the two copies.
Erebos took out his dagger again, and swam towards the beast. He managed to grab on. He struggled to stay on, but ultimately failed, being thrown across the water. He swam towards the beast again, grabbed on and stayed on. Erebos analyzed the beast. It had a gray rubbery surface for skin, many layers of teeth, and a tail that outgrew the whole body.
Erebos cut a slit in the beast’s back, and black blood poured from it. The creature dived down towards the depths. The pressure started crushing Erebos. He constantly stabbed at the beast, working his way to the head. Then he pushed the dagger down, and cut halfway through the head. He gave it one last shove and cut the head clean off. Suddenly, the fight was put out of the beast, but just as quickly five new heads sprouted from the stump. They bit and chewed at Erebos, feeding on him, while the pressure crushed him. Erebos needed a way out. He needed a way to kill the beast. He tried for the beast’s heart, but the layer of skin was too thick. He gouged the eyes out, and cut off the tail. The beast stopped swimming. It thrashed side to side, trying to find a way to move. It was sinking to the bottom. Erebos turned the beast over and dug the dagger into the chest.
The layer was too thick, and Erebos was running out of air. He rapidly pulled at the blade, slowly ripping the skin apart. Blood started to ease out of the skin, slow at first, but then rushing out like a fountain. Erebos reached his hand in and pulled out the beast’s heart. The beast was finally dead. Erebos ran out of air, he panicked, and swam upwards. He counted the seconds without air. 1... 2... 3... 4... He swam faster. 5... 6... 7... 8...
He gave up and sunk to the bottom. Suddenly, a form appeared next to him, grabbed him, and then they both shriveled up and appeared at the shore. Erebos gasped in air as fast as possible. Wheezing and coughing, he still had trouble breathing, but at least he could breathe.
Meanwhile, Hades found a dead-end. He turned back and decided to meet with the others.
The last pair found a large cliff. They started to climb. Suddenly, a large bird swooped down and pecked Erebos and sent him to the ground. Erebos plummeted, trying desperately to stabilize his weight. The bird was in his sight. He reached out and grabbed its leg.
He tried to hold on as it twisted and turned, raced up and down. He started to climb towards its head. He grabbed the neck and twisted it. He broke its neck, and it plummeted down towards the ground.
Another bird came towards Erebos and picked at him with beak. Erebos started to bleed. He took out the dagger and stabbed at it furiously. Blood spurted out of the bird. It plummeted down, like the one before.
Suddenly, swarms of birds flew towards Erebos. He struggled to fend them off. He grabbed onto one and jumped onto it. He flew it into other birds, while he sliced at them with his blade.
Most of the birds died, while others remained. Erebos tried to finish the rest, but as soon as one died more just took its place. Erebos sliced furiously, cutting into the flesh of any birds he saw. Then, only five remained. They circled him, and the tension grew. They darted towards him, and he only managed to kill one.
He was knocked off of the bird he flew on. The bird turned and pierced his skin with its beak. Erebos struggled to his feet. The last birds raced towards him. He closed his eyes, imagining them all disappear. Erebos opened his eyes to find that all but one had disappeared.
He tried to react. He brought out his blade, but his reaction was too slow, the bird drilled into his side. Erebos got up. He took out his blade and stabbed into the bird.