Chapter 41: The Gods Who Watch

The divine plane trembled.

Not from war.

Not from prophecy.

But from something greater.

Something none of them had ever felt before.

Demeter, Athena, Hera, and Apollo stood atop the golden halls of Olympus, their eyes fixed on the horizon—

Or at least, where the horizon used to be.

Now, only darkness remained.

A war beyond gods was being fought.

And they could feel it.

Demeter: The Fear and the Fascination

Demeter had always known Hades was different.

He was not like Zeus, not like Poseidon, not like the gods who thirsted for power. He was something else.

But this?

This was beyond even her understanding.

She could feel him even from here. His presence stretched beyond the Underworld, beyond Olympus.

And it terrified her.

But worse than the fear?

She was drawn to it.

Because something in her whispered that she needed to see what he was becoming.

Athena: The Mind of War

Athena was not afraid.

She was calculating.

The moment she felt the shift in reality, she understood what it meant.

This was not just about Hades.

This was about Zeus and Poseidon, too.

They had followed him.

They had changed.

And now, the balance of power in Olympus was crumbling.

What happened when three kings stood together, bound by something greater than family?

What happened when gods surpassed what gods were meant to be?

Olympus would never be the same.

And she had to decide:

Would she fight against it?

Or would she embrace the inevitable?

Hera: The Queen's Fury

Hera's hands curled into fists.

Her husband—the king of Olympus, the god who had ruled unchallenged for eons—was changing.

And she did not know if he would return as a ruler… or something else entirely.

Zeus had always been a god of power.

But now?

Now, she could barely recognize him.

Did he still belong to Olympus?

Or had he outgrown it?

She had spent eternity keeping the gods in check.

But what happened when the gods she ruled became greater than the world itself?

Apollo: The Song of Chaos

Apollo felt the war.

Not through sight. Not through strategy.

But through music.

He could hear it.

The song of destruction, the rhythm of creation being rewritten.

And it called to him.

For the first time in centuries, he was uncertain.

Did he stand with Olympus?

Or did he follow the melody of war?

Because deep down, he knew—

This was not the end.

This was only the beginning.