Chapter 336: The Shattered Pantheon
The sky above Olympus bled with stormlight.
Not mortal thunder. Not natural lightning. This was the pulse of oceans tearing at the very dome of the heavens. For centuries, Olympus had stood untouched by storms, its white pillars and golden halls unmarred by the chaos of mortal seas. But tonight, the waves struck even here—rolling clouds bent under the weight of a god who had reclaimed his name.
Poseidon.
The pantheon was no longer whispering his return. They were choking on it.
Zeus’s hand clenched the arm of his throne, knuckles white. His thunderbolt burned hotter than usual, but for the first time in an age, it did not calm him. Around him, the other gods muttered like restless crows, their voices sharp with fear.
"He has drowned three cities in less than a fortnight," said Hera, her eyes narrowed. "Mortals are already building shrines to him again."
"He is not the Poseidon we once knew," Athena snapped, standing from her seat. The goddess of wisdom’s voice carried iron certainty, but her eyes betrayed unease. "He is something else—fused with Thalorin’s essence. A god born not of Olympus, but of abyss."
"Which means," Ares cut in, his voice eager, "that he bleeds. And if he bleeds—he can be slain." His spear slammed against the floor, echoing through the hall like a war drum.
But Artemis shook her head. "You’ve seen what he did to Helior and Pharos. Their flames and light did not just fail. They were swallowed."
The room fell silent. Swallowed. A word that gods did not use lightly.
Zeus rose to his feet, his aura pressing against every corner of the chamber. "Enough." His voice was thunder itself. "This... abomination cannot be allowed to ascend higher. If Poseidon is no longer one of us, then he is our enemy."
Yet even as the king of Olympus declared it, the chamber’s floor shuddered. A trickle of water seeped between the stones, though Olympus sat high above any sea. Drops gathered, forming streams that began to coil toward the center like serpents.
A voice rose with them. Deep. Resonant. Merciless.
"You speak of me as though I were absent."
The streams erupted, slamming into the center of the chamber and spiraling upward. A towering figure emerged from the water—a body carved of tide and storm, eyes burning with abyssal light.
Poseidon stood within Olympus itself.
The gods recoiled. Some reached for weapons. Some froze. For centuries they had believed Olympus impenetrable. And yet here he was, walking across their polished marble as though it were nothing but sand beneath his heel.
"Poseidon," Zeus growled, lightning dancing across his arms. "You dare trespass—"
"I dare reclaim." Poseidon’s voice cut through thunder like a blade. His gaze swept across the gathered deities, resting on each one as though measuring their worth. "You sit here in halls gilded with mortal worship, pretending the seas bend to your decree. But the tides answer to me—and they always have."
Hera spat, "You drowned thousands."
Poseidon’s eyes flickered with cold fire. "They were the first to kneel. Mortals understand balance. You—" His gaze swept the council. "You forgot."
Ares moved first, spear in hand, leaping across the chamber with a roar. "Then remember this!"
The spear struck—only to vanish into a whirlpool that appeared midair. Poseidon’s hand rose lazily, redirecting the weapon’s thrust as if swatting away a child’s toy. The whirlpool spat the spear back, slamming Ares into the wall hard enough to crack stone.
Athena followed, sword glowing with runes of strategy and foresight. Her blade slashed through illusions, cutting water that wasn’t there, striking true—until Poseidon’s hand met her steel. Ocean surged from his palm, swallowing her weapon. The blade dissolved into droplets that hissed and evaporated. Athena staggered back, eyes wide.
"Wisdom," Poseidon murmured, "drowns when it believes itself unsinkable."
Zeus roared then, thunder splitting the chamber. Bolts of lightning cascaded downward, striking Poseidon’s form again and again, tearing pillars apart, charring marble. The hall quaked with divine fury.
But when the light faded—Poseidon still stood. Smoke rose from him, water hissing against burnt skin. He looked up, smiling faintly.
"Brother," he said, voice cold as the trench. "You always mistook sound for strength."
And with a gesture, the sea answered.
The floor of Olympus split, geysers of brine erupting, swirling into walls of crushing tide. The gods scattered as the throne hall itself drowned, columns collapsing under impossible pressure.
Hera screamed for retreat. Artemis loosed arrows of silver moonlight that hissed against the waves but vanished before striking true. Hephaestus hurled chains forged to bind Titans, only for them to rust and snap in Poseidon’s presence.
The gods of Olympus—beings who had ruled the world since ages untold—were retreating.
And Poseidon walked forward, every step heavier, as though the entire ocean pressed behind him.
"You called me brother. You called me ally. Yet when the abyss took me, you sealed the gates. You feared the tide because you knew it could not be controlled."
His voice shook Olympus itself. "Now, you will learn what it means to stand against it."
Zeus, blood running down his arm, lightning faltering, met his gaze with unyielding fury. "Then Olympus will fall... before it bows."
Poseidon raised his trident, water coiling around its prongs like serpents ready to strike.
The pantheon stood fractured, the very heavens shaking.
And far below, in the mortal world, storms began to surge once more. Seas tilted. Cities flooded. Mortals woke screaming with his name on their lips.
Poseidon had not merely returned.
He had declared war on the gods themselves.
*****
Authors Note
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