Once the initial shock had worn off, I began to slowly take in my surroundings. And, Gods, it was beautiful. Of course, as it was the home of the Gods, one would expect it to look nice, but it really was a spectacle.

I was at the base of a small hill, at the bottom of polished stone stairs, which trailed in a twisting path up the side of the hill. The hillside itself was adorned by numerous flowers of every colour imaginable, which made the place feel somewhat peaceful.

Looking behind me, I saw that I was about one step in front of clouds. Yes, clouds. These clouds were the whitest clouds I had ever seen. For a moment, I wondered what would happen if I walked into them. Would I just fall to the ground below? Or were they solid?

Shaking myself back into reality, if that’s what this could be called, I turned back towards the steps. Taking a deep breath, I began my ascent.

Immediately, I noticed the strange similarity between my current situation and the night that I had climbed the hill. Each step was harder than the last, and my feeling of unease only continued to grow as I walked.

I also began to wonder why I had been brought here. Clearly, the politicians had been told that I would be here at three, but did they know why? I could only presume that the Gods wanted to talk. And that presumption filled me with pure terror. If they wanted to talk, it could only be about one thing.

It was unnervingly silent on Mount Olympus. Even the light breeze that wafted through my body made no noise whatsoever. The silence allowed my thoughts to ring louder than ever before, which was not something I was happy about.

Actually being on Mount Olympus made me realise the sheer magnitude of the situation. Maltor, somebody who was supposed to be dead, had just revealed himself and now evidently wanted revenge. Knowing my luck, he probably wanted something worse than revenge.

It was insane. Somebody coming back to life. It defied all odds. Death was irreversible, everybody knew that. It was possibly the hardest fact for a human to come to terms with, and yet we all had to at some point. If death were reversible, then why couldn’t I bring back Grandad?

After a shorter while than I had expected, I reached the top of the hill. My eyes widened, and for a moment, all I could hear were my own shaky breaths. I felt a strange mixture of fear, awe, and wonder.

A huge golden palace sat atop the mountain, with numerous pillars stretching from its base to its roof, which was too high up for even me to see. It glistened magnificently and looked not unlike a golden upgrade to The Hall. A massive pair of golden doors sat at the top of a small flight of golden steps. It was very golden. It looked like jewellery as a building.

Without even noticing what I was doing, I slowly walked up the small flight of steps and stopped in front of the double doors. I was only snapped back to reality because the doors opened automatically upon my arrival.

The sound caused me to jolt slightly before the feeling of unease finished growing and climaxed on one of the worst feelings of dread I had ever felt. I had no idea why I felt the way I did, but I was certain that something bad was going to happen. Or maybe it was just the nerves that came along with seeing one’s jerk ancestor.

I walked through the doors, my footsteps echoing throughout the building. The silence was deafening. It felt almost as though I were about to be crushed by the silence itself.

The doors shut with a huge bang behind me, but this time, I did not jolt. I kept my eyes forward and my back straight. I did not want my first visit to Mount Olympus to have a bad impression.

The inside of Mount Olympus was exactly as I had expected it to be. Not that I had given it much thought, but being there made me realise that it was exactly like one would expect it to be.

A huge chandelier hung from the ceiling, casting a stunning light over the interior. The carpet beneath my feet was a beautiful shade of dark red with gold lining the edges. The walls on either side of this short corridor of sorts were adorned with paintings. I presumed that these paintings were portraits of the Gods, but one was definitely a depiction of Mount Olympus itself.

Then I was in the Throne Room.

It looked like a standard throne room. With a domed roof, white and gold walls, and of course the thrones themselves, this room was also exactly as I had thought it would be.

Now, the thrones themselves. If the Gods had wanted to make a demeaning, threatening impression, they had not failed. The thrones were huge, to say the least, and on each throne sat its respective God. They were large enough, it seemed, to seat someone that was thirty metres tall, and each had its own unique design, presumably tailored to its God.

The thrones were arranged in a sort of reverse ‘U’ shape, which added to my feeling of unease by making me feel surrounded. And the person at the centre of this ‘U’ was exactly the person that you would expect. Titan.

He was certainly at least thirty metres tall, and he looked exactly as he had looked when we first met over a year ago.

He had the same flowing dirty blond hair, sparkling blue eyes and white toga that somehow allowed his arms and abs to seem more defined. The same light stubble also sat at the bottom of his face. He wore the same leather sandals, too, which also appeared gigantic in his newer, larger form. Never in my life had I wanted to be near enough to the size of a sandal, yet here I was. Even at thirty metres tall, he looked like a model.

I looked around momentarily at the other Gods, trying to match names to faces. Some of them looked similar to how one would expect them to, but others just looked…normal. And even though they were all related, they all had their own uniqueness.

‘It’s been a while, hasn’t it, Albert?’ Titan’s voice boomed from above.

I stared up at him for a moment. Our eyes met. I wondered for a moment whether I looked stupid. I was wearing casual clothes, whilst everybody else here looked as though they had come off of the cover of an ancient Vogue.

‘It certainly has been, Titan,’ I said cautiously.

He smirked at me. ‘Is there anything you feel like we should discuss?’

I remained silent for a moment, not breaking eye contact.

‘Oh, I like this one,’ came a voice from behind me.

Whirling around, I saw somebody who I presumed to be another God, even though he looked nothing like anybody else here.

He, unlike the other Gods, had chosen to present himself at an average human height. Well, he was at least six feet tall, but at least he wasn’t huge. He had shoulder-length straggly black hair and black eyes that glistened like frozen tar. He wore a long black robe, which served as a stark contrast to the clothes of the other Gods. Despite this, he gave off a strange charismatic charm. He also had a thin beard that decorated his pointy chin, and his voice was somehow both smooth and raspy.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

‘Pardon?’ I said quietly.

The man smirked briefly before looking up at Titan. ‘I really do like this one. This generation of kids might be my favourite so far.’

‘Wait,’ I said slowly, trying to put the pieces together in my head. ‘You...you’re Hades, yeah?’

I heard a few of the Gods chuckle at this statement. The noises echoed around the chamber, reverberating off of the walls and sending a shiver down my spine.

The man in front of me continued to smirk.

‘Quinn’s dad, right?’ I continued. ‘He was really happy when you Claimed him.’

His smirk turned to a chuckle. ‘I’m glad. I know it was hard for him to cope with his mother’s ignorance.’

I opened my mouth to respond, but I was immediately cut off by another voice.

‘Brother, do not distract him. You know what he is here to discuss.’

Looking up, I noticed who had spoken. Judging by the fact that Hades was his brother, this God could be either Zeus or Poseidon, and I was willing to bet that he was the former.

He had an imposing demeanour and a proud, serious face. He had shoulder-length black hair and a neatly-trimmed grey-and-black beard to further add to his handsome look. His eyes were electrically blue and he wore a navy blue pinstriped suit. All-in-all, Zeus certainly deserved his spot as one of The Big Three. Compared to Hades, Zeus looked powerful and valiant, whilst also making his brother look small and irrelevant.

Hades laughed again. ‘Do not ‘brother’ me. All I did was say that I like him. Is there a problem?’

The air began to smell like rain as Zeus opened his mouth to argue before being cut off by Titan.

‘Please, do not argue again,’ he said, sounding almost bored. ‘Can we please get on with the discussion?’

I felt Hades’s hand descend firmly on my shoulder. I turned my head slightly to look at him, only to find him smiling at me. His smile was strange; it looked almost as though it pained him.

‘We’ve got this,’ he whispered.

I saw Zeus roll his eyes, but he did not continue arguing. He gestured towards Titan, seemingly urging him to hurry up.

Titan and I stared at each other again. I felt both calm and angry towards him, which was one of the many strange things that had occurred since my arrival.

‘Well, Albert,’ he began, ‘Maltor is back.’

‘Wait, really?’ I said sarcastically. ‘I thought he was dead.’

A God that was wearing a black leather duster chuckled and nudged the Goddess next to him. Even she smirked.

‘Now isn’t the time for sarcasm,’ Titan said sternly. ‘You have to fight.’

My mind went blank. I didn’t have a sarcastic retort for that.

‘I can,’ I said after a moment’s silence. ‘I’m sure you all saw me on Saturday. We fought.’

‘And you call what you did a victory?’ Zeus said, raising a large eyebrow.

I gritted my teeth and turned my gaze to him.

‘I wouldn’t call it a landslide victory per se-’

‘Then do not act as though you are some hero,’ Zeus said dismissively. ‘Saturday was not-’

‘I wouldn’t call it a landslide victory per se,’ I repeated, not taking my eyes off of Zeus, ‘but it can hardly be called a loss.’

For a moment, nobody made a noise. Even I was stunned at what I had done. But I continued.

‘Were you really watching? Or did you just miss the bit where I kept going after being disarmed? The bit where I gritted my teeth and got to my feet after being pummelled to the ground? The bit where the first thing I did upon seeing him was rise to the challenge?’

Titan then spoke again. ‘That’s hardly what he meant, Albert. He was not insulting your willingness to fight, more so your confidence.’

‘And how is he supposed to fight without confidence?’ said the God wearing the leather duster.

As I looked at him, I realised that he could only be Ares. His huge bodybuilder-worthy muscles bulged underneath his clothes and he wore black sunglasses on his brutally handsome face. He also wore black jeans and had a hunting knife strapped to his thigh, as though he needed to look any scarier. He also had knife-scarred cheeks and an oily black crew cut. Even with Zeus in the room, Ares gave off a dangerous aura and he was certainly somebody that I did not want to find myself on the wrong side of.

‘You cannot fight without confidence, Titan,’ Ares continued. ‘An ego and confidence are different things if that is what you’re getting at.’

‘I suppose that is exactly what I was getting at, thank you, Ares,’ Titan said.

‘My ego is exactly where it should be,’ I said determinedly. ‘Or exactly where it can be after the shock of having to try and kill my best friend again.’

‘He is not your best friend,’ Titan said, becoming stern once more. ‘He would not have betrayed you in the way that he did if he were.’

‘Don’t tell me what makes somebody a best friend or not,’ I said, pouring as much steel into my voice as possible. ‘The two of us endured torture together for seven years. Nobody helped us. I’m sure someone had the power to help. But they didn’t. I think our priority should be finding that person who dared to be so selfish, don’t you?’

‘Don’t give us that attitude,’ Zeus said, causing me to turn to him.

‘Attitude? What attitude? Are you suggesting that I am upset that I was left to die for seven years? What kinda person do you think I am? Those seven years were the most fun I’ve ever had!’

‘Now is not the time!’ Zeus roared, causing the entire hall to shudder. I kept my feet planted firmly on the ground, however; I could not show any resemblance of weakness. ‘We are here to discuss the war at hand!’

Yet again, my mind shut off. ‘W-War? There is no war. We fought once. That isn’t a war.’

I saw both Titan and Zeus roll their eyes, and I heard at least two others sigh.

‘But what if there is?’ Titan said in a tone that sounded as though he were trying to soothe me. ‘If there does end up being a war, then you need to be prepared to fight.’

‘Again, don’t try and tell me things I already know how to do,’ I said. ‘I am the toughest kid you’ll ever come across.’

‘There is a man in Switzerland by the name of William Johnson,’ Titan continued, dismissing my statement. ‘He is my son. He can teach you how to fight this war.’

‘H-Hold on!’ I yelled desperately. ‘Can’t I at least have some help?’

‘We’re giving you help!’ Zeus retorted. ‘You and that Ethan boy can go and see Johnson and learn to fight properly!’

‘You can shut your mouth!’ I roared, wheeling on Zeus. ‘Need I remind you that you are the Gods? The most powerful beings ever to exist? And you want some thirteen-year-olds to fight this supposed war on their own?’

‘The war you began, boy!’ Zeus said, his face as dark as thunder. ‘Actions have consequences, need we remind you? We cannot interfere with small mortal wars!’

‘‘Small mortal wars’?’ I screamed. ‘Is that what this is? If this thing becomes as big as you’re suggesting, it won’t just be some ‘small mortal war’! Who knows how many will die? You are the Gods!’

‘And you expect us to fight your war because of that?’ Ares shouted, joining in.

‘Oh, for crying out loud, you are the God of War! Don’t you enjoy fighting? Don’t you want to help? Not even that; apparently you can’t help! It’s not like you’re, oh, I don’t know, immortal and have unique powers that rival everything else!'

'Don’t you dare raise your voice to me, child!’ Ares said, rising from his throne. If this was an attempt to make me falter, he failed.

My anger had risen higher than I had expected it to.

‘Tell me, Titan, why can’t you fight?’ I shouted, turning to him.

‘Because-’ he began before I cut him off.

‘No, actually, shut up,’ I looked at each of the Gods in turn. ‘Why can’t any of you fight? Is that how little we mean to you? Your own children are down there, and you can’t even get up off of your comfy little thrones to help them. It’s pathetic.’

‘If you dare-’ Zeus began.

‘Have I not already told you to shut up?’ I said, glaring up at him. ‘For a God, you sure do have a short capacity for memories.’

‘Albert, just listen-’ was Titan’s attempt, but I could not be stopped.

‘No, I’ve had enough,’ I said, turning my back to them all and striding past Hades, who seemed to be trying not to laugh. ‘I’ll fight him. And I don’t want your help. And don’t even think about helping. RoCity does not need the help of selfish gits. We can fight.

‘I mean, really, you are all pathetic. Watch me. I am going to make a bigger impact than all of you combined. Why? Because sod you. All of you. And if this meeting did not fit your initial plan, I can thoroughly say that I do not give one. You are all making me fight my best friend alone. And for that, I offer you no sympathy in any future endeavours. So, Olympians, goodbye for now, and have fun being the biggest gits on Earth.’

And with a racing heart, I stormed to the front doors, which opened automatically upon sensing me. I stormed all the way down to the clouds and took a deep breath.

I turned back towards the palace and stuck up two very crude fingers before letting myself fall back into the clouds.