Alternative (a UC one-shot)

Alternative

Hades inhaled deeply, ensuring that he could breathe in as much of the thick smoke as possible. He held it within his lungs for a bit before slowly exhaling it, only to start the cycle again.

He's sitting in a relaxed position on a cushioned chair with his head resting on a small pillow on the back, his arms settled and his legs stretched out. He can hear the others breathing, mumbling or gasping desperately for the smoke. The only ones in the same room as him are Arikos, Hannibal, and Menotius. And some pestering spirits that Hades had learned to ignore.

Hades can't see the others, but he knows where they're at, because the location of their sounds don't ever change. They sit in the same places, and Hades doesn't know if they're sitting there by force or if they're like him; relaxing with no desire to move.

He doesn't know where Joxeia and Xiphrus are, but he knows what has been done to them.

Being blind has its perks. He doesn't have to see the lifeless expressions that he knows are on their faces. He doesn't have to see the familiar spirits attempting to talk to him, so he can easily pretend they're not there.

Being blind has its downsides, too. Flashes of memories come to him in between breaths. Images of the Great War, of the scattered bodies. Bodies of his family, of his sons. There's nothing he could distract himself with, nothing to read or to stare at in order to ignore those memories.

He can remember the cries of anguish that erupted from mouths of his sons' lovers.

He remembered the broken voice Adrian had when he learned that Malachi had died, and when he realized that he was next. Hades remembered Sept's anger. He lashed out, attacking with all of his strength, but he was nothing compared to Atlan. Hades remembered Noe's screams of agony when he awoke to find Zelios's corpse next to him.

Hades remembered Blaine's voice when Cerberus and Ambrosius both died in that war. His cries were a mixture of sobs and anguished screams as he fell to his knees. His twin children, Holly and Keros, didn't seem to understand the news, but as they saw Blaine's collapsed state, they began weeping alongside him.

Hades remembered the deaths of his sons most vividly, because he wasn't blind when he saw them.

Charon was shattered over the death of his husband, Alexion. His will to fight was already dying, but he managed to use the last of his strength to keep himself alive until Atlan's hand shot through his chest and ripped his heart out. Of course, that wasn't what killed Charon. Atlan took his sweet time to watch the god bleed out before he sliced his head clean off.

Cerberus was halfway through his transformation when he died. He was severely wounded, unable to move, and so he resorted to his beast form as a last chance to fight, but a spear pierced his body, halting him in the midst of his change and killing him merely moments afterwards.

Zelios was fighting an Atlantean god over Noe's unconscious body. The god had gotten an advantage because Zelios's strength had depleted significantly from several hours of battle. He died quickly due to a blast that ripped through his torso, and so he collapsed next to Noe, who would soon wake up to discover Zelios's body.

Abel and Cain fought side by side before they faced their deaths by the hands of Hannibal's enraged beast. They were torn apart and devoured, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it from happening.

Malachi's limbs were ripped off, leaving him with only his torso to bleed out on the sand. The ocean waves nearly dragged his body out before Hades pulled him from the sea's grasp. He didn't try to regenerate his son's limbs; he was already dead, and Hades knew better than to waste his energy on someone that couldn't be saved.