20. Ultimatum
Atlas awoke slowly, to the sound of a nearby river. His mind was in a fuzz, so he had trouble remembering where he was, or why he was there. Carefully, he opened his eyes, stretching his various body parts in an attempt to banish the sleep from his body.
In very short order, Atlas noticed several things that were horribly wrong. First off, he was not a pony. Second, he appeared to be in a dank, dark cave. And finally, some bearded weirdo was looking right back at him with a stressed face.
“Atlas! So glad you could make it so fast!” Hades said, trying to shake Atlas awake. “Come on, get up, we don’t have a lot of time.”
Seeing Hades caused Atlas to remember everything. He just killed himself in order to meet up with Hades, and he was back in his human form because it was only his soul that was present. Still somewhat groggy, Atlas took the hand Hades offered and got up on his feet.
“Alright, I’m awake, I’m here,” Atlas said, trying to balance on two legs. “What’s with the rush?”
“I’ll explain on the way, but we gotta move, now,” Hades replied while dragging Atlas off towards a nearby tunnel.
Atlas recognized the place he was at, from the very first time he’d met Hades, which meant he was at the river Styx. Apparently Hades was responsible for making sure Atlas’ soul returned to his body after death, but instead, he was just fishing the soul out of the river when it passed by.
They started walking down the rather narrow tunnel that was lined with dark stone and the occasional mineral. Through holes in the wall or splitting paths Atlas sometimes saw the river Styx again, causing him to believe they were walking upstream instead of going downstream, like last time he was here.
“We’ve run into a little bit of a problem and things are pretty hectic right now,” Hades started explaining.
“It doesn’t sound so little if you’re willing to contact me in such a spectacular fashion,” Atlas replied casually from behind. “What if the wrong god had seen you do it?”
“I’ve made sure my man on the inside was careful about that, but Zeus and his posse have really lost interest in you, to be honest. The sphere that harbors your pocket dimension is sitting around in Zeus’ trophy room, collecting dust,” Hades said, nervously glancing down a side passage as they passed. “Not that it would matter either way.”
“Speaking of my prison… I thought you said you couldn’t pull me out of there anymore and would just visit instead,” Atlas suddenly asked. “Did this change somehow?”
Atlas could see Hades cringing a bit from behind as soon as he heard the question.
“I might have bent the truth a little there,” Hades said. “Pulling away your soul from your prison has always been connected with substantial risks, and the completion of your prison only made it harder to the point where it was easier to just visit. Just know that the situation calls for you to actually be here instead of me being over there, and that the risk was calculated.”
“O...kay?” Atlas said as they suddenly moved out into an open field with the sun shining over a clear blue sky. “What is this place?”
“Ah yeah, welcome to my realm, I guess,” Hades said, kind of gesturing to the general vicinity of everything.
“Huh, I always assumed it would be more… dark and dank,” Atlas said with a raised eyebrow while he took it all in.
“It is for the most part, but I’d actually like some peace and comfort where I’m actually living at, you know?” Hades said, greeting a trio of what Atlas assumed to be other gods that passed their path. “Hanging out in caves for a prolonged amount of time can do things to your brain,” Hades added, shooting back a pointed look at Atlas.
Atlas missed it, since he was busy looking after the three gods they had just passed, but definitely picked up on the jab from how Hades said it.
“I have a nice balcony,” Atlas deadpanned.
“Hey, I’m not judging,” Hades said while shrugging. “That’s the job of the guys we just passed.”
They were coming up on a group of about twelve decently sized houses arranged in two lines of six, with what appeared to be a large community space in the center. What confused Atlas about all of this was the giant palace made out of black stone that could be seen in the distance.
“What’s up with the eyesore back there,” Atlas asked, gesturing towards the palace.
“My old crib,” Hades answered offhandedly. “Too big and empty for just a few gods to live in, also way too much work to upkeep, so we abandoned it.
“More importantly, we have arrived!” Hades said, stopping in front of the biggest house of the bunch.
None of the houses had any fences around them, or any kind of visible border between each other. They all seemed to be designed in a very modern and aesthetic mindset, impressing Atlas. The house they stopped at was a three-story building that was painted white and had a flat roof. Atlas couldn’t see up there, but he’d bet his unicorn horn that there was some sort of outdoor-lounge hidden from his view. The windows were big and evenly spaced along the walls, which allowed Atlas a sneak peek of what the interior looked like.
“Nice,” Atlas said after taking it all in.
“Thanks, but let’s hurry on, as I’ve mentioned before, time isn’t our friend right now…” Hades reminded and gently pushed Atlas towards the front door.
They stepped inside, and immediately Atlas was led through a hallway toward another door, which was half open. A conversation involving several people was on-going inside, even if Atlas couldn’t make out what was being said. Hades pushed open the door all the way and entered, Atlas close behind.
Hades was busy greeting and addressing the whole room while Atlas looked around. They seemed to have entered some sort of intelligence headquarter, since pretty much every available space was filled with maps, documents and actual desks with computers. Most prominently was the map that dominated the far wall. Contrary to his expectations, it didn’t show the earth, and instead seemed to be a detailed map of the two realms of heaven and the underworld.
In the center was a large, round table that was similarly littered with documents, and gathered around it were four gods, three male, one female, not counting Hades.
“Everyone, this is Atlas,” Hades gestured towards Atlas. “I doubt many of you have seen him in his human form. Thankfully, he was able to come here almost immediately.”
“Uhh… hi…” Atlas said under the scrutinizing gaze of literal gods.
“Atlas, this is my wife, Persephone.” Hades pointed to the lone female, which gave a small unenthusiastic wave to Atlas. “Apollo,” The man that waved back mostly stood out because he didn’t have a beard, like everyone else. “Ares,” the muscular man nodded at Atlas upon hearing his name. “And Hyas… Who, I guess is your son, in a very convoluted way.”
“It honors me, to meet the bearer of my father's soul,” Hyas said, indicating a small bow towards Atlas. “The merge seems to be going favorably. At least the runes on your forehead would suggest so. While still rough at the edges, they’re expertly crafted.”
“Runes on my forehead?” Atlas asked confused, touching the offending area with his right hand.
Persephone helpfully held out a hand mirror towards Atlas, who gratefully took it to take a look at himself. Sure enough, all over his forehead were runes, almost looking like healed over scars.
“Oh they’re supposed to be on my horn,” Atlas said, recognizing them immediately. “I didn’t think they’d translate over to my soul like this…”
“Runes hold a great deal of power and importance to every living soul,” Hyas replied. “Most like, more than you could ever imagine…”
“Cryptic, just like everybody else,” Atlas replied. “Am I gonna get some actual answers soon?”
“Yes, you are about to,” Hades intervened. “Now that introductions are out of the way, let’s get this meeting started proper.
“First off, you need to be brought up to speed,” Hades said, moving closer to the table and motioning for Atlas to do the same. “Bad news first, Zeus is on to us.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” Atlas said. “If I remember right you wanted to… ‘wait for the right moment’, was it?”
“Quite,” Hades said. “Sadly, Zeus has discovered our movements in the shadows and is preparing to crush this revolution before it can begin.”
“That sounds even worse,” Atlas gulped.
“While this is most unlucky, our preparations are further along than he thinks, and he hasn’t found all of our undercover agents… yet.” Hades continued. “He took away our initiative, but we still have a decent chance of winning, even if it will more than likely be a lot more bloody than it was supposed to.
“There’s just one problem with all of this, and this is where you come in Atlas,” Hades said.
“Me? How could I possibly be a problem in this situation?” Atlas asked, feeling the eyes of everybody in the room resting on him. “Isn’t my prison just some random ball in Zeus’ collection?”
“I wish it were that simple,” Hades sighed. “News is that Zeus has gone forward with an emergency plan of his own. One that heavily involves you.”
“I’m afraid to ask, but in what way?”
“He has changed the original plan of killing off the Atlas fragment residing within you… and instead is preparing to absorb it and claim it for his own, giving him an immense power-up in the process.” Hades revealed. “There’s someone making the necessary changes to your prison as we speak, and once it’s complete… Our chance at victory will become zero.”
“Does… Would this really give him that much of a power-up?” Atlas asked.
“We aren’t sure,” Hades said with an annoyed face. “There is no precedent to a god bearing two souls, but if it works out, Zeus could potentially become invincible and all-powerful. Especially since we’re talking about the soul of none other than Atlas himself, who was incredibly powerful as well…”
“I’m guessing you want me to do something about this?” Atlas asked, hoping that there was still a way to rectify the situation.
“Exactly, while we always assumed you’d have a role to play in our revolution, it seems like you’ve become the pivotal piece,” Hades said. “We have to prevent Zeus from absorbing your soul, whatever it takes.”
“You’re… you’re not just going to break my prison aren’t you?” Atlas asked worriedly. “What would even happen to me and everypony else still inside, if you did that?”
“While that is an alluring option, it will most likely hurt us more than it would Zeus,” Ares interjected with a baritone voice. “Right now, Zeus is betting everything on the fact that he’ll attain your soul. If we outright destroy the prison, he’ll change his plans, costing us our advantage. If we leave everything intact, though, we’ll be able to pull the rug out from under him and take him by surprise.”
“Which brings us to what we need you to do,” Hades took over. “We need you to completely sever the connection of your pocket universe to this realm.”
Atlas shot Hades an incredulous look and attempted to start a sentence several times, until he finally managed to gather his thoughts.
“How even?” Atlas said baffled. “That sounds more than impossible.”
“Actually,” Hyas held a finger into the air. “It is possible.”
“Enlighten me,” Atlas replied dubiously.
“The universe that was created to act as your prison is not infinite,” Hyas explained. “It might look like it from the inside, but at the end of the day, everything fits inside the sphere that contains it. And from reliable sources, we can confidently say that the walls are located quite close to the planet you reside on in your equine form.”
“They are?” Atlas asked with furred eyebrows. “That would certainly explain the need to raise the sun and moon…” he added with a murmur.
“Indeed they are,” Hyas said. “Which creates an opportunity for you. As you might know, a large part of your prison was made using runes. And, like any other solid surface, runes can be inscribed on it, even from the inside.”
“So you want me to carve a rune array on the inside and sever the connection to over here?” Atlas said, taking a shot in the dark.
“Precisely,” Hyas answered.
“Impossible,” Atlas immediately retorted. “There’s no way I could carve runes on something so far away from where I am. And that’s ignoring the fact that I wouldn’t even know where to start on an array like that.”
“And that’s why Hyas is here,” Hades said. “Amongst all the gods, he is one of the most knowledgeable ones, considering he learned under the original Atlas. He’ll teach you as much as he can with the little time we have left.”
“Alright,” Atlas grumbled. “Let’s assume he can actually teach me what I need to know to pull this stunt off… How much time do I actually have to do it?”
“Let’s see…” Hades tapped his chin a few times. “The modifications to your prison will be complete in sixteen days…”
“WHAT?” Atlas shouted, taking a step away from the table. “There’s no way! Literally no WAY I can do this in time, no matter how great of a teacher Hyas is!”
“Now, calm down…”
“Calm down?” Atlas interjected immediately. “I am as fucking calm as I’ll ever be, but you guys seem to be off the hook. You’re asking for the impossible here! Oh my God, I’m going to die in sixteen days… and Equestria will be wiped out with me... “
Atlas was looking down at his feet when he was suddenly slapped pretty hard from his left side. After reeling for a bit, he started rubbing his cheek with a hand while Hades was comically shaking his hand, as if he actually had hurt himself giving the slap.
“You would be well advised to let your elders finish before getting into paranoia induced panic attacks, dear Atlas,” Hades said. “Anyway, as I’ve said… The modifications will be complete in about sixteen days, BUT, luckily we have someone that’s still undercover that can get you… a little more time, so to speak.”
“Okay,” Atlas said, still rubbing his cheek. “How much time are we talking, because sixteen days isn’t even close to enough…”
“Well, the one modifying your prison is Hephaestus, which has a rather... strained relation to our dear friend Hestia, both of which are about equally skilled in the art of runes,” Hades explained. “We’ll have Hestia sneak in tonight, while Hephaestus rests, and… add a little bit of flair to the modifications.”
“Okay, cool,” Atlas said impatiently. “But how much time?”
“I’m getting to it, jeez,” Hades said with a roll of his eyes. “She’ll modify the runes that govern over the time that passes within your dimension. Currently, time is just about the same as on this side, meaning our days are both twenty-four hours long. After the modification, one day on our side should be around one-hundred years on yours.”
“That… is a lot of time, actually,” Atlas said dumbfounded.
“And hopefully, enough,” Hades said, with a slight sarcastic overtone. “Since things have changed so drastically, you’ve become a pivotal piece in our plans, which means we’ll support you as much as we can. You have fourteen hours left to learn as much as you can from Hyas, before we’ll have to send you back.
“Once you’re back, that’s it. You’ll be completely cut off for a good one-thousand and five hundred years.” Hades said. “You’ll be on your own.”
Atlas eyes were unfocused, flicking to and fro while he was already running a few calculations in his head. He was brought out of his thoughts when a palm came to rest on his shoulder.
“I know I said you’ll have ‘about’ fifteen-hundred years, but this number is pretty exact, to be honest,” Hades said with a concerned look. “For our plan to succeed you’ll have to pull it off as close to the fifteen-hundredth anniversary of your return as possible.”
“I… I understand,” Atlas said slowly. “But what happens if… no, when I succeed?”
“We’re not completely sure,” Hyas answered. “The framework that keeps your dimension working is all inside the sphere, so you should be completely fine once you sever the connection. What we can say for sure though, is that we’ll never be able to contact each other again, since your pocket dimension will essentially become autonomous…”
“Huh…” Atlas said.
“I do understand that this is a lot to take in,” Hades said, pulling Atlas out of his stupor. “But while you’ll have plenty of time once you’re back, your time over here is awfully limited. So Hyas, take our dear friend and drill some runes into his brain, if you would.”
“But of course,” Hyas replied, moving towards the door. “Follow me, Atlas.”
Atlas, for his part, was still mentally processing everything he just heard. On a basic level, he understood perfectly what Hades wanted from him, but the scope and reality of the whole thing were still sinking in. Shooting one last look at the remaining four gods, who were already discussing the next thing on their agenda, Atlas followed Hyas back out into the hallway.
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That was... Unexpected, it makes perfect sense though. Colour me surprised.
So, Atlas has to wait for 1,500 years before he can speak to Hades again?
The defecants are about to hit the rotating air mover.
That sounds like it's pushing close to Nightmare Moon's return, but we can't be sure. Still... 14 hours? Does he plan to just cram as many runes as possible then reproduce them inside and study them there?
So, if the connection is severed in 1500 years, does that mean Atlas would no longer come back from the dead?
well crap things are moving super fast and slow at the same time.
8632936
Probably how Zeus found out
...that was surprising. I can see why though.
But I’ll have to admit, I still wanna see an epic showdown between Equestria and the Greek pantheon.
8632869
Well, I think he still would be immortal, because he basically isn’t dead in the first place. It was described as once his body takes a certain amount of damage, he has to take a day or so to heal up. While he’s in that state, Hades can pull him into the underworld if he wants to, but it’s not necessary. This essentially means that everything regarding his immortality stays the same, he just can’t contact Hades.
Or at least that’s what I got.
So after telling his story, Atlas requests help against Zeus?
DUN DUN DUN!
That came outta nowhere! But I'm still interested in how this plays out. 1500 years huh? Does this mean it wll be before Twilight or after Twilight? I bet it's after Twilight meet him but it could also already be solved before that time.
Poor Atlas can't even take a break. Well he can, kindda, but when you have that much time to do your work but that work also takes a very long time, it kindda screw with your perception of time a bit you know?
Well shit...
(only for the first 50 seconds or so.)
The stakes are high, the pressure is real! I wonder how they'll get out of this situation?
Wow, that was tense. And quite rushed, but that's the point, isn't it. Wow. So, after the world running runes are inscribed on the inside, nothing can get in or out? Or is it just like they need to actually travel the distance of the pocket universe to meet?
I wonder what they (on the inside of the sphere) will use to carve the runes on the outside? Discord's magic? The elements of harmony? Phenomenal Cosmic Power!!!!!?
Who knows, but I am eager to find out.
And new info on runes!!! Yaaaay.
8634558
Hello, yes, it is I, the author. This might come over as a tad defensive on my part, but I shall attempt to answer some of these questions.
Even if Zeus has someone undercover on Hades side, it doesn't mean much if this matter is on a strict need to know basis and only his most trusted officers know. Ofc there's still the possibility of one of the most trusted officers being the snitch, but let's just assume for now, that this isn't the case.
Even if they decide to reverse the effect, it would still take them several days to do it, and as soon as Zeus finds out that his precious is gone, he'd immediately launch an attack in order to stop them, costing them their advantage and probably causing them to lose. As for the sneaky changes, they can contain themselves to change just a few variables to change how time works, similar to coding on a computer. A tiny value change in a huge code will be much harder to detect than a huge change.
And yes, Zeus was able to defeat Atlas, but only after a hard-fought battle. The fragment, while definitely not being the whole soul, is still pretty big. It's also sort of unclear just how much of the soul translates to how much power. Considering that the fragment is currently merging with our Atlas soul to become one whole again, there is a possibility of the fragment not needing to be that big to be restored to some of its former glory.
So if the Atlas fragment were to merge with another soul of a god, it would be wise to assume that said god would get a SUBSTANTIAL power up. Considering that Zeus already is one of the strongest gods around, this would spell trouble of epic proportions for everyone involves. All-powerful? Maybe not, but still close enough to be undefeatable.
I hope this could clear up some of your "plot holes". I don't know if I'm just not good enough to convey those details, but I always assume that most of this stuff can be figured out with a bit of thinking without me having to go into extreme detail. It might also just be me, remembering a lot more details about what I've written than the regular reader.
8635368
k
8635368
"Waaaaaaaaa why aren't you writing your creative art exactly how I want it to be done and I'm right because fuck the lore and canon of your story in this creative piece of fiction that does not in anyway adhere to real life or physics"
8635684
k
8635684
What truth?
you're pissing and moaning that somebody else's story does not adhere to the structures and processes that you personally think is how it should be.
It's not your story, and the rules in it do not work how you want them to, your opinion on how you think it should work is irrelevant when it's not how it does work.
8635712
k
8635712
Oh the irony of somebody trying to interpose their own rules onto another person's creation and complaining that the story doesn't work how they want it, insisting that it should work that way and calling someone else delusional is absolutely delicious.
8635723
Thanks for being a great source of humour, maybe you should get some professional help for your glaring autism.
8635738
Incest isn't really my thing thanks, though since you seem to keep bringing up various complex's and disorders, I gather that you have more than a few of them.
Projection at its finest.
8635758
Did it not occur to you that I'm not bothered by trolling and am doing this for shits n' giggles?
Also an Electra complex would happen to be physically impossible.
8635738
The 'This is a troll.'-ing is hurting my eyes ;-; if you write something, please make it readable, despite the obvious fact that it's not supposed to be visible.
(or just, you know, don't do it at all? I mean, it's incredibly pointless and I'm being petty, but my head has decided to host a rebellion.)
8635773
Trolling trolls is my thing, much more entertaining than trolling normies. It requires more subtlety and nuance at the same time as being blunt as a hammer.
8635780
I should probably just not try to read it. :I
8635791
Mmh
Well. That was sudden.
I'm pretty surprised at Apollo and Ares being part of the revolution.
Hades and Persephone are generally depicted as "Gods who do their jobs, do them well, and don't screw around (literally)" (besides the whole "Kidnapping Persephone to be his wife and thus causing winter to become a thing" thing. Buuut they got used to it and were happy together?) so they make sense.
Apollo and Ares, however? Two of the most "Greek God-ish" of the Greek Gods. Generally colossal assholes the both of them, and in Ares' case is also a super-violent moron whose idea of problem solving is: Apply sword and spear until dead, if not dead, throw a divine tantrum.
Ares also liked himself a bit of slaughter, loot, rape, and pillage... as those -along with actual martial prowess/skills, battle, and combat- were the main components of his divine portfolio. (Athena got all the non murder-hobo Aspects of War. Strategy, honour, tactics, etc. Ares just killed shit, didn't really care who or what or even which side they were on sometimes.)
I am very disappointed in Athena, Hephaestus, Demeter, etc. A lot of the gods who are generally seen as good or wise (or just as not assholes most of the time, which given the rest of the Greek Pantheon is a major commendation) seem to be on the opposing side...
Oh.
Waaait a minute...that's not a good sign, is it?
What an unexpected series of events. I was already enjoying this story but my interest has peaked, to see how this chapter plays out with the story in general. Great chapter and eager to see what's next.
8636223
Yo, it was never said that Hades is leading the good guys... ;D
8636687
True, but his motives and goals (at least as I recall them being described way back) seem way better than Zeus and his toadies. (Yes, he may have been lying, but given it's Zeus' fault Atlas is trapped and immortal and Hades has been the only friendly god who's tried to help him, there is no reason to think that.)
And Zeus is indisputably either amoral/uncaring at best, or actively evil at worst.
I also have a real hard time seeing Hades as "the bad guy" as he is pretty much the one god who doesn't go around screwing with other immortals or mortals. He choose the Underworld as his domain (as Zeus got the skies, Poseidon the seas, and a conglomerate of nature goddesses (Demeter, etc.) got the land.) in order to stay out of all the shit his brothers Poseidon and Zeus and their families get up to.
He also seems to have the best interests of humanity/Atlas in mind (And seems to comprehend that humans are also individuals with desires, thoughts, and emotions. Versus Zeus who treats them like toys. He may find a favourite toy every once-in-awhile, but they just break so easily or he gets bored.) Plus I doubt Hyas would help if he was conning Atlas this whole time.
Ares, I suppose Hades could have recruited by promising him that -as the rebellion was the underdog- he would get some really good fights if he joined (maybe even be the one to fight/kill Zeus.)
Apollo... hmmm... Admittedly I don't actually remember any specific myths with him being a colossal dick to mortals or other gods, he mainly stuck to the background and was a supporting character. Really the only instances of wrongdoing I can think of are him being super overprotective regarding his sister and mother (Checked Wikipedia, seems that and flaying a satyr who challenged him to a contest of music alive are about it.) Otherwise, he really just helped out in various Epics. And had sex and demigod children with various nymphs, mortals, dryads, etc. But since he didn't have a wife, let alone one with a jealous streak who would invariably try to kill them and the children (Hera) that really wasn't a bad thing.
Plus he's the god of healing, so that would hint he does care, at least slightly, about humanity. And as the god of truth and prophecy he may just have see that the cause was just/that they would win, so joined the winning side.
So, sorry Apollo. I assumed you were a asshole in my previous post, which seems to be untrue.
(But screw you still Ares.)
8637553
either you know your greek gods really well, or your google-fu is just as good as mine. It took some real research on my part(as does every chapter involving the pantheon), but I basically narrowed it down to these guys as realistically belonging into Hades' camp in this situation. Hyas is obviously just there because he's Atlas' son ^^
As for the motivation, iirc the only motivation he's given in this story boils down to: "A lot of gods aren't happy with how Zeus is running things anymore."
Whether or not that's a good cause... I'll let you decide :P
8637677
Apollo flaying a satyr who challenged him was the only bit I had to get from Wikipedia. I couldn't actually recall any instances of Apollo actually being a dick, checked his Wiki and found that sole major example not related to his sister or mother. (He was totally batshit crazy whenever his mother Leto or Artemis were involved though.)
I was (and still am to an extent) a HUGE mythology buff back in my childhood/adolescence. I read everything I could get my hands on regarding Greek, Norse, Egyptian, Aztec, everyone and everywheres mythologies, folklore, and legends.
Specifics have since gotten rather dusty, but when reminded or prompted I can generally bring most of it back to the front of my mind.
8637861
quick google search tells me there's some discord over it... (heh, get it?)
Some sources say, zeus appointed Poseidons and Hades' realms after being appointed king, other say they drew lots, like you said.