Jaehwan doubled over as a mysterious force tugged at him, pulling him backwards. "What did you do?" he spat at Wonshik.

Wonshik didn't reply, his lips curved in a smirk as he mockingly waved at Jaehwan. 

Jaehwan then lost his footing and the force pulled him out of the Underworld, landing him back on Olympus in a cloud of white dust.

He coughed, pulling himself up with his arms. 

His hands balled into fists and his lip curled. This was a disgrace.

Why was he lying on the floor of the throne room, right in front of his throne?

Wonshik walked through the thick white clouds of dust englufing Olympus, stopping every god in their tracks. He came up to Jaehwan, standing in front of the king of the gods, now lying on the ground as a massive force held him down.

It was as if Atlas himself was pushing down on him, preventing him from moving. 

"What do you want, Hades?" Jaehwan spat. "Did you do this to capture my throne?"

Wonshik looked at him with a confused look. "Why would I want your throne?" he questioned. 

Jaehwan refused to reply, making Wonshik give a chuckle. "Did you actually think I wanted your throne?" he scoffed. "Your throne up here in this suffocating place, with all these gods walking around pretending they owe you their fair-weather loyalty? Why would I want to live in such a place?"

He laughed loudly, his deep voice echoing through the walls of Olympus, sending shivers down every god's spine. 

"I never wanted your throne, Zeus," Wonshik told him. "I never have, and never will, ever." He placed emphasis on the last word. 

"Then, why?" Jaehwan softly asked as his eyes filled with betrayal. 

"Like I told the boy, you needed to be humbled," Wonshik said, bending down so that he was eye level with the other.

"The boy?" Jaehwan asked. "You mean, the demigod? The son of Kratos?"

"No," Wonshik disagreed. "I meant the son of Zelos." 

Jaehwan's eyes widened as the aforementioned demigods appeared in the shadows behind Wonshik.

Jaehwan grinned slightly. "I think I underestimated you, Hades," he said. "You do live up to your reputation."

Wonshik shook his head. "Not really," he said. "You underestimated them."

He pointed behind him, as two more figures, Sanghyuk and Hongbin, joined Hakyeon and Taekwoon, standing patiently as they witnessed the confrontation of the century; the confrontation between the lord of the heavens and the lord of the underworld.

"What about them?" Jaehwan asked.

Wonshik gave a disbelieving laugh. "You still don't get it, do you?" he asked. "Even after all these centuries, you still look down upon mortals and write off demigods as entertainment. You believe that they're so predictable, they'd do your bidding with a single threat."

He paused for a breath. "You seem to miss the point, that you were wrong. Humans aren't predictable. They're completely unpredictable."

He turned slightly so that even he was facing the four demigods. "Did you expect that Sanghyuk and Hongbin would turn to me to find a way out of it? Did you expect that Hakyeon would go to great lengths to save Taekwoon, even after all they'd been through?"

He turned to Jaehwan. "Tell me, brother. Did you really expect that these demigods would immediately help me once you released them from their oaths?" 

Jaehwan looked at them, the demigods.

He looked at Han Sanghyuk, a poor soul into this mess due to his proximity to Hakyeon. A kind soul who was forced to betray his elders as he was forced to take an oath with Zeus lest his human parents die.

He looked at Lee Hongbin; Prometheus, who he'd granted salvation after centuries in the form of another life. Who he'd manipulated so that in his desperation to hold on to the life he'd created, however brief it may be, he could commit a despicable act and go against the person who had taken him in and cared for him when no one else would.

He looked at Jung Taekwoon, who lived a simple life with no expectations except to make his mother happy, hence suffering greatly for it in the form of physical as well as mental torture, to be betrayed by the one he loved. 

And finally, he looked at Cha Hakyeon.

Cha Hakyeon, the one he had underestimated the most.

The one who he'd written off as just an arm of Taekwoon and entirely disposable. The one who he had thought was so easy to trick in order to bring the person he was interested in to his grasp. The one he had no qualms about sacrificing for this endeavor of his.

And yet, the one who had held the demigods together, who had run to the rescue of his brother even after the harsh words they had exchanged. The one who had gone to great lengths to help Hades out of his prison, only to save his brother.

Cha Hakyeon, who had surprised the king of the gods with his determination to end this once and for all. 

Jaehwan's lip curled a bit. "Alright," he sighed. "You win."

Wonshik smiled. "Now was that so hard?" he asked mockingly.

He waved his hand over Jaehwan's body and the immense pressure disappeared, making the lord of the heavens utter a relieved moan. 

Wonshik reached out, grasping Jaehwan's chin and forcing him to look at him. "No more needless sacrificing of demigods in your holy name," he stated sternly. "No more throwing your weight about as if you own every being here. No more of your games just because you're bored."

Jaehwan gritted his teeth, refusing to answer in his state of broken pride.

Wonshik gave a dark chuckle. "What you did to those boys, you thought you would shatter them internally for your own amusement," he stated, speaking Jaehwan's mind. "However, you might have just strengthened their bond with each other, and their hatred for you." He grinned. "Me, and the other gods? We know very well what you are, but these boys have just seen your true colors."

He left Jaehwan's chin a bit harshly, standing up. "When you need these demigods to fight your wars for you, take it from me, they won't answer your call."

He turned around and left, leading the four away from the King of the Heavens, still lying on the ground.

"What now?" Hakyeon asked.

"I send you two back home," Wonshik informed him, gesturing to Taekwoon with his head.

"Wait, what?" Taekwoon interjected. "That's it? You're just going to send us away without any sort of-?"

"Any sort of what?" Wonshik cut him off mid-sentence. "Was there anything else you were expecting?" 

Taekwoon gulped. Even though Hades had helped him regain his strength and life force, he still gave him the shivers. 

"What about Hongbin and Sanghyuk?" Hakyeon questioned. 

"Um, about that..." Hongbin slowly shifted on his feet. "We-we're not coming back with you."

Hakyeon's eyes widened. "What? Why not?"

"I have some work with them," Wonshik replied.

"Work? What work?" Hakyeon complained. "Why can't you send them back with us? They did what you told them to!"

Wonshik sighed. "Are you always this annoying?" he asked Hakyeon. "I don't mean to harm them, if that's what you're insinuating."

"Hyung, it's fine." The surprising answer came from the youngest, Sanghyuk. 

Hakyeon's head snapped up, looking at the youngest boy. "A-are you sure about this?"

Sanghyuk nodded. "It's absolutely fine," he repeated.

Before either of the two could say anything, they caught sight of two gods coming up behind Wonshik.

They were tall, with wrinkled skin on their handsome faces and white hair framing their heads. Their dark eyes twinkled when they saw Hakyeon and Taekwoon, and the massive wings on their backs moved a bit.

Wonshik raised his hand, waving it in front of Hakyeon and Taekwoon.

Before darkness engulfed them, the two saw Zelos and Kratos give them a nod and a smile.

When they finally came to, they found themselves lying on the well mowed grass of the local park, at midday, with only a few old ladies sitting on a bench a little way away.

Hakyeon pulled himself up on his elbows to look around a bit, registering the hot sun beating down on them, the relative cool their legs felt under the shade of a tree, the prickly feeling of grass on their exposed skin.

He wondered what they looked like to outsiders, a couple of random men looking like they just got out of a gang fight just lying in the middle of the park.

Taekwoon let his head hit the grass, heaving deeply. "You know what?" he broke the silence, a first for him in all these years Hakyeon had known him. "I think I'm just going to stay single for a while." 

Hakyeon followed him, falling back on the grass and closing his eyes. Finally taking a couple of moments to experience normalcy again, the heat of the sun, the feel of the grass under them, the light breeze fanning their faces. 

He hummed. "Me too, Taek. Me too."

Taekwoon lightly pushed his shoulder, and Hakyeon couldn't help but laugh.

After so long, it was finally over.