A golden fist, radiating the unwavering light of cosmic order, connected with a silver jaw. The Silver Hades crashed onto the metallic floor, the impact ringing through the strange dimension.
"I am real!" the Golden Hades roared, his voice echoing with the weight of guardianship. "I am the Preserver! The shield of this world!"
The Silver Hades rose, his form seething with corrosive energy. He launched forward, a blur of motion, and delivered a powerful kick to the Golden Hades's chest.
"Heuk!" The Golden Hades staggered back.
"Shut your mouth, fake!" the Silver Hades snarled, his voice a blade of shattered glass. "Only a fool protects this hypocrite world! What has it ever given you? Hatred! Betrayal! Or have you forgotten the look of pure terror in our mother's eyes when I emerged to protect her from Cronus? The very terror meant for us!"
"Because you were about to destroy everyone!" the Golden Hades shot back, clutching his chest. "How could she not fear that? The world has hypocrites, yes, but it also has those who believe in order and law! For them, I will protect what must be protected!"
"Keep your righteous ethics!" The Silver Hades lunged again, his punch landing squarely on the golden face. "The world is rotten to its core! It needs a cleansing fire! It needs to be torn down so something new and better can be born from the ashes!"
Hecate could only watch, her mind reeling. The logic was a paradox, yet the power behind each blow was terrifyingly real. 'They're both him... his essence, his power. But they're tearing each other apart. Which one is the core? Is there even one left?'
Her eyes fell on the dim, translucent red thread on her wrist—their soul bond. As a last, desperate anchor, she poured her will into it. The thread flared to life, becoming a vibrant, solid cord of light. Then, it tugged. Not in one direction, but in three.
Hecate's breath hitched. The thread split before her eyes, one strand leading to each clashing Hades, and a third... reaching off into the depths of this psychic realm.
"No..." she whispered, the truth dawning with cold, brutal clarity. "It's not a choice. The bond doesn't lie. They're all real. He's shattered."
Her gaze followed the third thread as it led her away from the chaotic battlefield. The twilight sky darkened into an eternal night; the silver floor was replaced by cold, polished black marble. A grand staircase rose before her, culminating in an obsidian throne. Upon it sat the Apocalypse Hades, motionless.
"Hades...?" she murmured, approaching cautiously. No response came. As she drew nearer, her heart sank. His eyes were open but hollow, devoid of any consciousness. He was a king adrift in his own castle, an empty shell on a grand throne.
'The Black Hades. The true self? Or just another piece? But he's the key. He has to be.' She racked her brain. 'How do I wake him?'
BOOOM!!!
A colossal explosion from the clashing titans shook the very fabric of the mindscape. The sound of sizzling energy sparked a memory. A lesson with Amazel, a misfired spell, a concussive blast that had knocked her student unconscious. The solution had been an Arcane Impulse.
A spark of hope ignited in Hecate's eyes. She raised her hand, and a whip-crack of pure, violet lightning sizzled to life in her palm. Without hesitation, she placed it against the chest of the throne's occupant.
The body jolted. A finger twitched. The dead irises shifted slightly.
"It's working," she breathed, and sent another, more focused surge through him.
---
Meanwhile, in a void beyond consciousness, Hades drifted.
"Have I died again?" his own voice echoed in the nothingness. He was so tired. "Maybe... this best for me."
"You are not dead," a heavy, familiar voice resonated through the emptiness, pulling him from his despair. "I have merely borrowed you for a moment."
Hades's eyes jolted open. "Greetings, Lord Kaos."
"Are you so quick to surrender, Hades?" Kaos's voice was neither kind nor cruel, simply vast.
"What else is left for me?" Hades's voice was hollow. "I unleashed the Calamity. And I remember... I felt our mother's fear. It was sharper than any of Cronus's blows. I heard her thought... she regretted giving birth to me." The confession was a wound. "The whole world hates me. And now, It wants me…dead."
"Is that so?"
A screen of light formed before him, showing Hecate defiant before the Primordials, teleporting his rampaging form away, binding him, and now, in this very moment, desperately channeling her power into his chest, her face a mask of strain and devotion.
Hades's eyes widened, a painful moisture gathering.
"Hades," Kaos's voice echoed, "I agree that your beginning is not good. But it doesn't define who you are. Nor does this world decide that for you."
"Your father, Cronus, the holder of the divinity of time, possesses one of the most restricted forms of power. For many centuries, the world believed he was the weakest. But he believed in himself and proved who he truly is."
"Now this question turns to you. Who are you? Are you a guardian? A calamity? A mortal? A god? Are you good? Are you evil? A king? A soldier? Ron? Or are you Hades…?"
His voice fades, and Hades' vision grows hazy.
The voice faded, and his vision blurred.
---
Hades opened his eyes to the strange world. He saw a disheveled, sweat-soaked Hecate, her beautiful hair matted, her body trembling with exhaustion.
"Hecate…" he murmured, his voice raspy but his.
Her eyes snapped to his, wide with disbelief. Then, a dam broke. A sob wracked her frame as she collapsed against him, clutching him as if he were the only solid thing in a dissolving universe. "I thought I lost you" she choked out, her words muffled against his chest.
He held her tightly, his hand gently tapping her shoulder. "I'm here. You didn't lose me. You brought me back."
Suddenly, her form began to flicker, turning translucent. She wiped her tears, a look of stern urgency returning to her face. "The potion effect... it's ended. Hades. Return—"
She vanished before she could finish, but her message was seared into his soul. He smiled, a true, determined smile. "I will."
He stood from the throne, his movements fluid and sure once more. He strode towards the two warring aspects of himself, who were now turning their fury towards him.
"Hey! Both of you!" Black Hades declared, his voice cutting through their rage. "The real Hades is here!"
"Shut up, bastard! I am real!" they shouted in unison, before glaring at each other and returning to their clash.
Hades surged forward. "This won't be solved with words!" He delivered a flying kick to the Silver and a crushing punch to the Gold. "Let me show you who is real!"
What followed was a brutal, triangular brawl. The Golden Hades moved with the precision of a celestial equation, his fists carving arcs of solid light. He met the Silver Hades's chaotic charge head-on, blocking a furious claw-swipe with a forearms crossed in a perfect guard. The impact rang like a gong.
Silver was a storm of relentless motion. He disengaged from the lock, spinning into a low sweep aimed at Golden's legs. Golden leaped, but Silver was already rising, an elbow smashing upward toward his jaw. Golden barely twisted away, the blow grazing his temple and scattering golden motes of light.
Seeing an opening, the Black Hades surged into the fray. He moved like a shadow given purpose. He intercepted Silver's next lunge, catching the destructive arm and using its momentum to hurl him toward Golden. The two collided in a tangle of light and fury.
Golden recovered first, shoving Silver aside and thrusting a palm forward. A beam of condensed order shot out. Black Hades beat his wings, not to flee, but to dive, the golden energy searing over his back. He landed and swept a leg under Golden's feet, forcing the Preserver to stumble.
Silver was on him in an instant. He ignored Golden, his fury now focused on the Black interloper. His strikes were a barrage of sharp, cutting motions, a knife-hand to the throat, a clawed rake across the chest. Black Hades blocked and weaved, his movements efficient but defensive, absorbing the violent intent.
Golden regained his footing and joined the assault, his style shifting to overpower the dark center. He hammered a fist down like a falling star. Black Hades crossed his arms above his head, taking the blow with a grunt, the dark marble beneath his feet cracking from the force.
A synchronized attack came from both flanks. Golden launched a low, powerful kick while Silver unleashed a wide, scything arc of corrosive energy. Trapped, Black Hades dropped into a crouch and beat his wings violently, launching himself straight up. The golden foot and silver wave passed harmlessly beneath him.
He descended like a meteor, aiming for the space between them. He landed with a shockwave that threw both back a step. The reprieve was momentary. Silver recovered with a feral growl, launching into a flying kick. Black Hades leaned back, the kick whistling past his face, but Golden was already there, driving a knee into his side.
Black Hades staggered, the wind knocked from him. Silver pressed the advantage, tackling him around the waist and driving him backward. They crashed onto the hard floor, Silver on top, raining down hammer-like blows. Black Hades brought his arms up, his guard shaking with each impact.
Golden approached, his form blazing. He raised a foot, intent on a crushing stomp. With a surge of effort, Black Hades rolled, heaving Silver off him and directly into Golden's path. The two aspects collided again, this time in a heap of conflicting energies.
Black Hades scrambled back, gaining his feet. His body ached, his dark form flickering from the sustained assault. He saw them untangle themselves, their hatred for each other momentarily forgotten, unified in their focus on him.
He knew then that this could not continue. He was the bridge they were trying to burn.
As they charged him in unison, he did not brace for impact. Instead, he charged to meet them. He did not throw a punch or a kick. At the last possible second, he leaped, not over them, but between them. He wrapped his arms around both their necks, clamping down in a vice-like grip, and used his wings to violently propel all three of them into the air.
They struggled, golden light and silver chaos flaring against his dark wings, but he held fast. He climbed higher, then twisted, and dove. He drove them downward, their faces forward, into the unyielding silver floor.
BAAAM!!
The impact was catastrophic. The floor splintered in a web of cracks. Golden and Silver lay stunned, groaning, their energies dimmed.
Black Hades stood over them, his own breath ragged. He pulled a single, primary feather from his wing. He focused, and it hardened, lengthened, its edge sharpening into a blade that gleamed with fatal potential.
He stood poised, the weapon ready. The choice was before him.
He looked at the Silver Hades, the embodiment of his pain and power. He looked at the Golden Hades, the symbol of his duty and order.
" What are you waiting for?" the Silver Hades spat, struggling to rise. "Cut us down! Become the real one!"
"Become who you were meant to be!" the Golden Hades echoed, his voice strained.
Their words were a final, direct challenge to Kaos's question. 'Who are you?'
Hades looked at the blade, a tool for severing, for making a final, destructive choice. His arm trembled.
Then, with a final, decisive breath, he threw the feather aside. It clattered on the floor, the sound a period to their conflict.
He extended a hand to each of his fractured selves.
"I am not here to end you," he said, his voice resonating with a newfound, unshakable authority. "I am you. And you are me." His gaze locked with the Silver Hades. "I am the Destroyer." He then turned to the Golden Hades. "And I am the Preserver. To deny one is to be forever incomplete. We are not good or evil. We are Hades."
Understanding, not defeat, dawned in their eyes. As they grasped his hands, they did not vanish, but flowed into him. The Golden light fortified his spirit, a steady, unwavering core. The Silver power cooled from a raging inferno into a focused, lethal current in his veins. He didn't just gleam with white light; he became a being of solidified twilight, whole and complete.
The world around him stabilized. The chaotic silver floor and twilight sky dissolved, replaced by the familiar violet grounds and starless black sky of his true domain.
---
Deep in the River Eridanos, the Apocalypse Hades opened his eyes. He felt the tight bindings of the Velkarion and the unconscious weight of Hecate in his arms, her body covered in wounds he had inflicted.
'Velkarion—unbind.'
The chains obeyed, slithering away. He caught Hecate as she fell, his heart clenching at the sight of her injuries. Gently, he bathed her in his life force, the golden ichor ceasing to flow as her skin knitted itself back together.
Her eyes fluttered open, alarm flashing within them as she saw his apocalyptic form.
"Relax," he said, his voice calm and clear, the chaos gone from his eyes. "My mind is my own."
"You... you can control it?" she asked, awe mixing with her relief.
He looked at his own hands and nodded. "Yes. But the cost is immense." As he spoke, the dark, corrosive energy receded, drawn back into the core of his being until only the original Hades remained. He helped her to her feet.
"Rest now," he said, his voice soft but firm.
"I'm coming with you," she insisted, though her body still trembled with exhaustion.
He shook his head, a sad, determined smile on his lips. "You brought me back from the abyss. You fought my battles and bore my wounds." His gaze turned toward the distant, ravaged peak of Mount Orthys. "This final act is my burden. It is between me, my brothers, and my father."
By saying this, he turned. Power erupted from him, not as a chaotic explosion, but as a controlled inferno. He transformed into the Black Phoenix, but now it was vast, its wingspan eclipsing the river. The twilight flame that once wreathed him was now a deeper, more potent abyssal flame, burning with the absolute finality of the void itself.
Hecate could only watch, a whisper escaping her lips. "He's ascended... to Mid-God King."