I Am Zeus

The air above Olympus still reeked of blood and smoke when Zeus turned from the broken ranks of gods. His storm was steady now, coiled around his shoulders like a cloak, and his eyes burned with decision.

Nyx slipped from the shadows beside him, silver gaze calm, robe spilling stars across the cracked marble. She had not spoken since the battle ended. She did not need to—she was night itself, always present, always watching.

Zeus faced her. "Go to the underworld. Hades bleeds, and he needs your veil more than I do. Wrap his domain in shadow. Hold it until I come."

Nyx tilted her head, lips curving faint. "Ordering night itself is bold."

Zeus's eyes did not soften. "You stood beside me, Nyx. Stand beside my brother now."

The stars in her robe flickered. For a heartbeat, her gaze lingered on him, sharp and curious, as if she weighed whether he was asking or commanding. Then she gave the faintest nod.

"As you wish, Sky King."

The night folded, and she was gone.

Zeus turned to the gods behind him. Their armor was cracked, their faces streaked with blood and ash, but their eyes burned steady. Artemis's bow glowed faint with Tiamat's oceanic essence, Hermes's sandals flickered with Erebus's shadow, Athena's spear dripped sparks from his storm. They were ready.

But Olympus needed guarding.

"You will hold this mountain," Zeus thundered. His voice rolled through every hall, every broken temple. "Guard its heart. Protect the wounded. If Olympus falls, none of this matters."

The gods bowed their heads. Even Ares, still slick with blood, lowered his blade without argument.

Zeus looked once at Metis, who stood calm in the ruins, her eyes sharp, her mind already weaving the next line of defense. He met her gaze, and she gave a single nod. She would think. He would fight.

His hand lifted, lightning flared—and he vanished.

–––

The sea raged.

Waves crashed higher than mountains, blackened by fire and blood. The trenches split open, vomiting creatures that had not seen light since the first dawn—scaled horrors with too many eyes, teeth like shards of broken coral, wings slick with brine. The waters themselves groaned, boiling and freezing, pulled apart by alien tides.

And in the heart of it, Poseidon fought.

His trident gleamed as he struck, each thrust birthing a whirlpool that swallowed beasts whole. His roar carried like thunder through the sea, summoning walls of water that smashed serpents to pulp. Every stroke of his arm reshaped the ocean floor, collapsing trenches into the creatures that crawled from them.

Yet still they came.

From the largest rift, a glow rose—dark red, burning with hate. A figure stepped from it, his body towering, his crown jagged coral fused with flame. His skin glistened like wet stone, his beard foamed with blood, his eyes deep as trenches. His presence was not mortal, not Titan, not god. He was something older.

Varuna.

King of the deep seas beyond Olympus, ruler of waters never touched by Poseidon's trident. His aura pressed like a crushing tide, bending the ocean itself to his will.

"Brother of the storm," Varuna's voice rumbled, slow and vast. "Your sin is your brother's sin. And for his hubris, you will drown."

Poseidon's grip tightened on his trident. His voice thundered through the currents. "I bow to no tide but mine. If you come for me, then you face the sea itself!"

Varuna raised his arm, and the ocean obeyed. Currents twisted into spears, whirlpools snapped into existence, tearing at Poseidon's legions of sea-spirits. Hundreds of nereids screamed as the water itself crushed them into nothing.

Poseidon bellowed, his trident spinning. He struck once, and the seas split—an entire trench collapsing into a wall of rock and coral that slammed into Varuna's tide. Water exploded into a vortex, shaking the deeps.

The clash began.

Varuna thrust his palm, and a serpent of pure abyss rose, its scales made of drowned cities, its eyes glowing with sunken fire. Poseidon answered with a wave shaped like a god, a colossus of water wielding a spear of coral. The two titans collided, the explosion cracking the seabed, sending geysers erupting to the surface.

"Your storm-brother has torn the balance," Varuna growled, stepping through the chaos. "And balance demands blood."

Poseidon snarled, his trident blazing with green light. "Then take mine, if you can."

They clashed again, and the ocean screamed.

Varuna's dominion pulled the tides themselves into chains, wrapping them around Poseidon's arms, crushing his chest. The sea king roared, his veins bulging, blood spraying into the water.

But Poseidon was no lesser god. He drove his knee upward, breaking the chains, his trident spinning in a circle that birthed a whirlpool vast enough to swallow an island. Varuna was dragged downward, his coral crown shattering as the spiral pulled him into crushing depths.

Yet the god-king of foreign seas only laughed. His body split into water and flame, reforming above the whirlpool. His arm snapped forward, and spears of abyss pierced Poseidon's shoulders, pinning him against the seabed.

The sea boiled crimson.

Poseidon's roar shook the trenches. He wrenched himself free, blood clouding the water, and thrust his trident with both hands. The weapon burned brighter than ever, answering the rage of its master. A tidal wave erupted, blasting Varuna backward through pillars of stone and coral.

Still, the foreign god rose, his eyes endless as the trenches he ruled.

"You cannot win, Olympian. Zeus's storm has brought war upon all realms, and the tide will claim you all."

Poseidon's eyes blazed, his teeth bared. "Then let the tide remember the name Poseidon!"

He surged forward, trident spinning, his body glowing with the fury of the sea itself. Waves followed him like soldiers, hammering into Varuna with every strike. Coral shattered, abyss cracked, the waters howled with their rage.

And above them, the sea split.

Lightning poured downward, spearing through leagues of water, parting the depths as though they were air.

Zeus arrived.

His storm lit the trenches, his fists sparking, his eyes burning. He landed beside Poseidon, the ocean trembling around him, his voice shaking the deep.

"Then let him face us both."

The brothers stood side by side, storm and sea, trident and lightning. The waters churned around them, their fury making the ocean itself quake.

Varuna raised his hand, his abyss surging in answer. "Then drown together."

The clash of gods shook the seas until the surface split, and Olympus itself trembled at the roar below.