Dying Ichor

FIFTY-EIGHT

   From a distance, Cronus stared at Zeus with a carefree smile as his sisters and brothers ran amok, taking down any gods they see and coming closer to the palace. Ares' soldiers were finally getting pushed back and many of them have lost their lives, but that didn't deter them.

Especially Ares' best soldier, Gino, who's still commanding the rest to grit their teeth and march forward. Ares had given them the command not to let anyone or anything come close to the palace gates. Gino will die to make sure his command falls through if necessary.

"Fall back."

Gino stops, panting with blood running down the side of his face and neck. He looks at Zeus questioningly. "Y-Your Majesty?"

Zeus glances at him. "Take the rest of your men and leave Olympus."

"I cannot do that. We must not let anyone through."

"Mortals are holding us back. If we show our true selves, none of you will be able to withstand it. The Titans will also shed their glamours soon enough to take over Olympus. Fall back."

Gino remains standing, shaking his head. Even if Zeus is the king of all the gods, the only orders he and the others followed were Ares'. If Ares told them to protect the gates, they will gladly die doing so. Even if that meant defying Zeus himself.

Zeus clenched his jaw. He doesn't want to risk killing off any of Ares' men, but they were getting pushed back. The only way to fight freely without any restriction was to take off their glamours. If he wasn't so considerate, he would've done so already, but Ares would've butted heads with him despite their situation.

Thankfully, he didn't have to argue with Gino for long. They see Ares trudging up to them, a permanent scowl on his lips with ichor smeared across his cheek and down his neck. Every step he took was thunderous, made the other beings around him scatter immediately when they saw how agitated the god was. Ares gripped onto his sword, but then swung it around next to a poor demon.

He roughly barks out, "Gino. Take the others and head down."

"But the gates-"

"Fuck off." Ares bumps shoulders with him, shoving him away as he stood next to Zeus. "You'll only be getting in our way. Do some damage control and take out the rest of the monsters that's escaped to mortal grounds."

Gino doesn't dare say anything back. He gives him a slight nod and does what he's told. He's been with Ares long enough to know that while he was already in a foul mood with the Titans arising, something else completely ticked him off. And Zeus noticed, giving Ares a certain look, which made the God of War sneer.

Clearly his annoyance wasn't made by the literal war in front of them. Zeus didn't care much about it. He was already trying to deal with his father, who had unfortunately escaped due to Typhon getting in between them, trying his best to take Zeus down. Who the hell knows where Cronus went?

"Where the fuck is Eris? I want that bitch standing in front of me before I put her head on a spike," Ares spat out.

"You seem to forget that I have my hands full with the Titans. You should be helping the others like Demeter. She's locked in with Phoebe, and Athena and Persephone are engaged in an ongoing fight with Tethys. Crius is nearing the gates and have already taken down some of the minor gods, and it won't be long until Coeus breaks through."

As much as he hated to admit it, Zeus' hands really were full. He's had to deal with Cronus and Typhon once, but not at the very same time. It was difficult considering the two of them were working together, but even then, it didn't look like Typhon was following any of Cronus' orders. The beast was only doing whatever he wanted, wreaking havoc on Olympus as much as he could. Cronus didn't even seem to stop him. As long as Zeus was being backed into a corner, Cronus didn't care much for what Typhon was doing.