Title: Father Dearest
Theme:He was the one who couldn't escape their father's calls…
Author: KatieArtemis
Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine, just the idea for this OS ;)

Father Dearest

For thousands of years, Kronos had sent nightmares to all his children to unsettle them.

Many of the eldest Olympians weren't affected by them most of the time; they were too far up in the sky and thus too far away from the depths of Tartarus. Zeus, the son who was the least beloved by their father, sat on his throne high above the clouds. Poseidon was closer to Tartarus, but he roamed the seas, and he was always too fast on his travels for the past to catch up with him.

The three sisters, Hestia, Hera and Demeter, sometimes visited the Underworld, especially when Persephone was there in the winter, so they came closer to Tartarus than their two brothers. When they did, they were also plagued by some scary but harmless dreams.

All siblings would wake from their godly slumber now and then, covered in a fine film of sweat, panting heavily after their living nightmares. But the shadows retreated from their consciousnesses too soon for them to pay them any mind.

Kronos soon realized who the weakest link in the chain was, the one who couldn't get away from him and his prison. His prison's guard.

Hades.

He always started his little attacks sometime in spring when Persephone left. First, it seemed like some shadows grew a little darker, a little more threatening. Hades didn't mind that. He was the darkness. He wasn't scared of his own realm, though he hated it most of the time.

But as those shadows grew, Kronos crept into his eldest son's dreams.

He would whisper into his consciousness when he slept, words of revenge and wrath and agony, in a language far too old for anyone but titans and gods to understand. Kill them, kill them all. You are a king. Free me, and you, too, shall be free.

Kill.

Free.

Kill.

Hades always shrugged it off, even though those voices drove him mad. Kronos was really annoying when he tried to be persuasive. Sometimes Hades was tempted to get rid of Olympus just to get his loony father out of his head. Since that kid of Hermes' and the crazy woman's had showed up and started sponsoring that madman, it had gotten even worse.

Then came the one night when Hades couldn't shrug it off anymore: The night Kronos actually appeared on his doorstep, only months before the second Titanomachy.

Hades was in his throne room, taking care of bad souls (so basically, sewing some new socks), as he saw some shades of flowers in Persephone's garden shift. In the pale light of Greek fire, he ordered Thanatos to do the rest of the work. As he received no answer, Hades turned to face the other god, but it seemed like Thanatos was frozen in time, knitting needle in hand. Hades immediately spotted the enemy:

Time.

He shuddered oh-so-slightly as he stepped out of his palace. He knew where to seek this particular villain.

'Who's there?' he asked into the darkness.

Instead of offering an answer, the shadows in front of him started flowing together like water; droplets of darkness melted into a silhouette, then the shades became more refined and formed delicate features that didn't seem to fit the badness of their owner.

'Hello, son.'

A dark-haired man in a black cloak, very much like the one Hades was wearing himself, stood in spring's garden and smiled cynically. He bore an unsettling resemblance to how mortals pictured the Grim Reaper. He seemed to glow, though, and his whole body and the scythe in his hands were lucent like he wasn't really there. Which Hades knew he wasn't, because his very essence was scattered around Tartarus. Or in that sarcophagus Luke was running around with. Anyway, he couldn't be here, be as it may.

'Daddy,' Hades replied dryly, drawing his stygian sword. He felt his hand shaking ever so slightly. 'Fuck off.'

Kronos chuckled. Hades almost shuddered again. He looked exactly like Poseidon when he did that. Or the other way around. Zeus had inherited next to nothing of their father's looks, but Hades and Poseidon unfortunately had.

One more reason why Hades so hated that nephew of his. Except for the eyes and the tan Percy tended to look a lot like Kronos when he was angry, which happened often enough considering how often that boy was confronted with armed combat. Terrible kid, really. He wondered if that ever bothered Poseidon. Then again, Hades was the most Kronos-like of all, so he maybe should keep his mouth shut. Luckily Bianca and Nico looked more like Maria.

'So much anger, boy?' Kronos said pitifully and leaned against a fence casually. 'I understand. It is grossly unfair you have to watch over the dead. You could be so much more. You were always a lot smarter than your brothers, and less… impulsive.'

'Is this speech heading somewhere or can I kick your ass back to Tartarus right now?'

Kronos' lips twitched into a cruel grin. 'There is no ass to kick, as you know fully well. I'm just essence, nothing more. And… yes. My speech, as you call it, is in fact heading somewhere.'

Hades gulped as Kronos stood up from his leaning position and took some steps closer. His young face was illuminated by the torches, but the light was cold. It looked like it didn't quite reach his pale skin.

'Join me, Hades.'

'Wow, what a shocker. Didn't expect that one since you asked only three million times before', Hades sputtered matter-of-factly. Acting indifferently somehow cured the feeling in his gut that told him to run to the next corner, cower in a fetal position and drool. He figured that wouldn't help matters.

The fact that he was still scared of his father after so many years was kind of shocking.

Kronos chuckled again. What could an old dirt bag who'd lived in a dark pit for the last three thousand years possibly find that amusing? The whole guy seemed sort of derailed.

That didn't make him less spooky though.

'It's unbelievable that you still stick to the Olympians, Hades. After all they've done to you.'
'Well. They haven't eaten me so far. That might be a plus', he replied grumpily.

Kronos ignored the comment and went to rant mode. 'Your cute little oath? Zeus and Poseidon broke it. They weren't even punished. Is that fair? The drawing of the lots? They got the sky and the sea, and you got a misty, gloomy hole in the earth and some paperwork. And those camps – their children got some nice cozy cabins, yours have been discriminated against for thousands of years. They are outcasts, even among demigods. So I'll ask you…'

Kronos leant down to Hades since he was a little taller. His face was so close he could have felt his breath had there been any. 'What have the Olympians ever done for you to deserve your loyalty? Are they so much better than me? Face it – they have abandoned you.'

'Stop,' Hades said. 'Just stop, you narcissistic nutcase.'

Still, Kronos had a point. Hades felt something inside him rise. He recognized the feeling instantly.

Grudge.

Kronos observed him. 'You could be free of the Underworld. You could walk the Earth again. This time as a ruler. Not as a captive. I might be a prisoner, but so are you.'

Hades knew what his father was doing. He was exploiting his weaknesses. Grudge, pride, hunger for power. Hades pressed two fingers against his temple, trying to calm down. 'Stop,' he said tiredly.

Kronos stepped further away again and raised his arms, knowing he was close to succeeding.

'It is time for a new age! I am never to be defeated, Hades! Never completely. You know that. And my army might have shrunk, but it isn't gone. In fact, it's growing as we speak, and it will rise against Olympus again, just like I will! The time will come soon enough! So fight with me. This is a war we will win. Besides, I bet you're tired of being on the losing side.'

'Yes, great. Come to the dark side, and get a fifty percent discount on day-old sushi. We also throw in an amazing cruise at the Caribbean and some Bermuda shorts, half-price. Oh, come on, grandpa. You sound cheap', a voice chirped in.

Caught off guard, Kronos and Hades both turned around.

A young girl with a bow in her hands stood only metres away from them. She had dark hair that was pulled back into a braid and fierce eyes that bored into Kronos'. She was aiming an arrow at the titan.

Kronos snorted. 'Keep out of this, brat.'

'Leave him alone.'

Hades blinked. He hadn't expected her to just waltz in and defend him from his evil father. Partly because no one ever had, but also because she was just a little girl. She was a little girl that was currently threatening her grandfather, the king of the Titans, alright. But nonetheless she was in the body of a little girl, just a teenager. He should be protecting her - he was the king of the Underworld, the eldest god, damn it. And now a child was defending him. Oh, geez. Bye, last rest of dignity.

'Are you brave or just incredibly stupid?' Kronos asked mockingly, clearly showing he was leaning towards the second alternative.

The girl smiled, never taking down the bow. 'Well, how could you harm me? By killing me? Please. Go ahead.'

Hades was too dumbstruck to react to any of this, so he leant back mentally and watched as the girl shot the arrow straight through Kronos. He wasn't surprised when his father disintegrated instantly and didn't reform. It must have taken a lot of energy from him to show up, and Hades reckoned he would need all the energy he could get for that reforming-his-body-thing he was pulling off. Kronos had probably used his last spare reserves to get on Hades' nerves.

For a moment, he and the girl stood still, neither moving nor looking the other in the eye.

'Why did you do this for me?' Hades asked, facing the girl. Their gazes met. Oh, she looked so much like her mother.

She smiled and looked at the ground shyly. It was incredible that a second ago, she had been that brave, invincible bowman, because now she looked like a simple child.

'It's what family is for, right?' she asked humbly.

'To keep me from turning into my crazy father and wanting to conquer the world?'

She chuckled. 'Yeah. But I do get why you often seem grumpy, though. It must be pretty annoying to have that psycho whisper stuff in your ear every time you try to take a nap, huh?'

'Oh, you have no idea. He sucked as a father, but he's also a pain in the ass as a neighbour.'

They were silent for maybe a minute, both at a loss for words.

She looked at the roses next to her and gulped. 'Have you decided, then? Will you fight for Olympus?'

Hades sighed. 'No, I don't think so. Kronos is kind of right, even though he's an idiot. I see no reason to be loyal to those selfish freaks.'

She pressed her lips to a line. 'I guess I can't help that choice, can I? Even though Nico is still fighting for Olympus alongside the other demigods?'

Hades' expression turned a little softer than it normally was. 'No, you can't. I am grateful for what you just did, though. That was very brave. It's a pity you can't participate in the war. But why are you here anyway? Shouldn't you be in Elysium?'

Bianca smiled softly. 'I came because I would like to be reborn. I'm going for the Isles of the Blest, Dad.'

At that, Hades actually smiled back.

Hi, folks! :D
Uh, yes, strange OS. It's something I've had in mind for some while now, but I never got around to writing it. But here it is. ;)

I wondered in TLO why Hades liked Bianca that much (or at least more than Nico), wishing for her to be alive instead of him and so on. And I also wondered what it means to have Kronos as your sort-of-next-door-neighbour and figured it's probably not so great. (It was really difficult at times not to crack up and turn that whole thing into comedy, though. Might be interesting, too. Maybe I'll write that version someday…)

Anyway, all that stuff kind of melted in my thoughts and this is what turned out. Cough. Hope you liked it. ;)

And: yes, I just assumed that gods sleep, too. :)

And2: I hope at least someone thought at first that Bianca was Artemis. I tried.

Thanks for reading.

~KatieArtemis