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not
the poison you fed your own father. And was I was a traitor when I gave mankind
fire so that they could live? I would rather be marked as a traitor
than a tyrant.”
    “ You're just going to let
Kronos rule?”
    “ No. I'm going to let
mankind rule. You never believed in them, Zeus. And neither does
Kronos. I'm going to let them govern themselves for a while, to
aspire to greatness without fear of being struck down by a jealous
god.”
    Epimetheus pressed the corner
of the blade into Hera's throat.
    “ Surrender,
Zeus,” Prometheus said, “and I won't have a vulture pick out your innards for a thousand years.”
    Zeus looked back and forth
between his wife and Epimetheus. The younger Titan had hunger in his
eyes; he wanted to do it. Zeus cast his eyes to the floor and held
out his wrists. Perses stepped forward with the manacles and
hesitated.
    “ You took down Ares, but
you're afraid of me?” Zeus asked, looking up at the Titan.
    “ A little,” Perses said,
before he swung his fist and knocked Zeus unconscious.

    The lightning crackled and
faded away, leaving Zach doubled-over on the wooden floor, scorch
marks burnt around his hands. The light faded from his eyes. He
panted, his whole body covered in perspiration. It had only been a
few seconds, but the memory had been so vivid that, to Zach, it felt
like minutes.
    Jason had shielded his eyes
and turned away, afraid that Zach would burst into a form that would
burn out his eyes or make his head explode. He had done his homework
and read the myths. He knew what happened when mortals, like Semele,
looked on the true forms of the gods. He didn't know exactly what
would happen if he looked on their true forms, but he knew it had a
final result of death.
    “ I'm leaving this room,”
Jason said. “Until you're all done going super-nova. Try not to
burn down my house.”
    “ Prometheus,” Zach panted.
Jason stopped in his retreat, interested to hear what Zach had to
say. “I saw Prometheus. He was in charge the night we were taken.”
    “ You saw that?” Lewis
asked.
    “ I remember hands in the
darkness,” Celene said, hugging herself as if a chill had just
entered the room. “A darkness so complete that we were blind.”
    “ They burst in to Hades with
an army. They brought their own boats,” said Peter. “They caught
Cerberus in a net of chains. They stabbed my guards with blades
dipped in the Styx.”
    “ They arrested us for crimes
against humanity,” Zeus said. “They threw us in Tartarus. I
remember…thousands of years in that pit, fighting off men we had
condemned to torture.”
    “ I don't know if I want to
remember that,” Devon said. Xander had begun to fuss at Zach's
sudden outburst of shouting and lightning. She patted his back now,
and she bounced him gently in her arms.
    Zach pushed himself to his
feet. Somehow he seemed taller, and everyone in the room looked
startled at this change. Seeing that Zach was alright, Jason turned
to leave the room. “Wait,” Zach said. “There's more. Kronos
wasn't supposed to be in charge.”
    “ Who was?” Jason asked.
    “ People. Even Prometheus
knew that Kronos was a bad leader. If he's out now, stomping around…”
    “ Then Prometheus' plan has
gone terribly wrong,” Peter said. “The Olympians were not
supposed to be in charge, but Kronos really shouldn't be either. He's
cruel and he's lethal.”
    Celene touched the back of her
head where her spine met her skull. “And if what we've seen of him
so far is any indication of how he'll rule…”
    “ Damn,” Lewis said. “Shit
just got heavy.”
    They all nodded quietly.
Xander stopped fussing and went back to sleep, resting against his
mother's breast. The Pantheon exchanged worried glances.
    “ One more thing,” Zach
said. “I asked Prometheus who let him into the palace.”
    “ And?” Teddy asked.
    “ I don't know. But he said
it was one of us. Someone here betrayed us.”
    “ Because of our crimes
against humanity?” Valerie