How-not to be an Olympian God!

Alex was confused and didn\'t know how to react to Hades\' words.

\'Olympus is not the place I think it is...?\' Alex pondered over these words.

He knew that there some dark secrets and mysteries he didn\'t know, and even his closest friend, Hermes, kept some of his own.

However, almost all of the deities he\'s met were trustworthy people, and he couldn\'t imagine them any differently.

His rabbit hole of thoughts was unfortunately interrupted.

"What am I even saying...?" Hades repeated these words over and over again.

He then turned back to Alex and warned as he glared at him with his pitch-black pupils, "Beware of Zeus, never do him any favors, never trust him. He will NOT remember your goodwill and return it."

Alex nodded in confusion.

Suddenly, Hades, whom Alex always thought of as a stoic and collected god, collapsed into tears.

"I c-can\'t believe I\'m letting an Olympian see me like this..."

His words were hard to hear as the sound of sobbing muffled them.

Alex did not understand any of what was happening, but he knew that the man needed some space.

\'What could even drive the monarchs of the Underworld to tears and such a dispute?!\' Alex wondered as he left the place.

\'It\'s just as I thought that I finally had my place in Olympus, that it turned out I only ever took the first step...\' Alex laughed.

As he looked to the plaza of their home, where a single olive tree stood in the center, two figures climbed up the staircase and entered the plaza.

\'Athena....and...Persephone?\' The two women approached the door in slow steps.

Athena saw him, but she didn\'t greet him.

From her expression and the fact that she came with Persephone, Alex knew there was something on her mind.

Persephone, too, looked different, as a fierce expression replaced her formerly tearful face.

"My King!" Persephone exclaimed.

\'She usually calls Hades by his first name.\' Alex commented in his mind and frowned.

Alex felt strong steps approaching the door and backed down.

Hades, in all of his glory, left the house.

It seemed he had also regained composure and put his emotional outburst into control.

"My Queen!" Hades exclaimed back.

Persephone nodded when she saw him, and said, "If we cannot resolve a conflict with words, then let\'s go back to the old times and resolve it through violence like true gods!"

Hades looked dumbfounded by her words and his mouth kept opening and closing back and forth, but no words came out.

Alex also listened with astonishment.

\'The most lovey-dovey couple of Olympus...fighting?\'

Persephone seemed to expect his reaction and stated, "I have mulled over it and I find that this is the best way."

"Wait...does Athena have something to do with this?" Alex whispered as he took a glance at Athena, who was by the goddess\'s side.

She stared back at him and kept a poker face.

Alex knew Athena was the kind of goddess who could resort to violence once words become useless, like the time they visited Poseidon.

Hermes, on the other hand, would find the best way to escape physical conflict with his smooth tongue.

Alex could have kept casting theories here and there, but Hades\' action brought back his attention to the present events.

The god advanced until he was also in the plaza, and said, "Very well, my queen."

Suddenly, the entire environment changed.

The grasses that were withering from the dwindling temperatures of autumn suddenly sprouted back and turned the entire plaza into a green haven of long grasses.

However, in the perimeter around Hades, all of the flora turned gray and withered.

A large skeleton popped up from the ground and charged in the direction of Persephone.

The latter harrumphed and just as the skeleton was next to her, it suddenly disintegrated into dirt and collapsed, turning into fertilizer for the grass.

In the tall grasses, a rustling sound approached Hades and mini-golems jumped on him.

Hades reacted by erecting mini-skeletons that countered the attacks of the golems.

Then, a small battalion of large skeletons appeared under the command of Hades and made their way to Persephone.

It looked like she couldn\'t perform her disintegration attack from earlier, and she seemed helpless for a second.

Nonetheless, she found a solution.

Without any notice, the temperature around them suddenly plummeted to freezing levels and all of the grasses turned into sharp icy spikes while snow rained on the \'battlefield\'.

The skeletons were frozen in place.

Persephone plucked the ice spikes from the ground and sprinted at Hades.

She was fast, but when she reached him, she hesitated for a second and stood still.

Hades took advantage of that and parried, sending her flying into the air.

Being a direct descendant of titans, Hades\' physical strength was nothing to joke at, and Persephone didn\'t stand a chance.

As she fell into a clearing, she lost control of the environment and the frozen skeletons resumed movement.

They surrounded her, but when they were about to attack her, they all dissipated into nothingness.

This wasn\'t Persephone\'s doing, but Hades\'.

Hades collapsed on the ground and said, "I-I c-can\'t attack you, my q-queen...."

Persephone replied, "I couldn\'t attack you too...."

"This was a stupid idea, wasn\'t it?" She continued.

She then stood up and approached Hades, then helped him stand up.

When the two were both stood up, Hades suddenly took Persephone into his embrace..

Alex looked at this scene and tried to establish Link with Athena, who was on the opposite side of the plaza.

She accepted the connection, and he asked, "Was this your doing, Athena? To have them fight and then make up?"

Athena cluelessly replied telepathically, "I don\'t know what you\'re talking about."

Alex chuckled and said, "I didn\'t say anything, I\'m only a figment of your imagination..."

He then cut off the connection and watched the couple.

They were both crying in each other\'s embrace, and Persephone said, "Hades, let\'s give this more time, and we will work together to resolve this..."

"Yes, my queen...."

Alex figured he wouldn\'t be able to know what the cause for today\'s conflict was for now, but he was happy it ended in a truce.

And with that, the flow of seasons would be back to normal, as Persephone would spend the next 6 months with Hades in the Underworld.