Ch.1

Zeus sat on his throne lost in thought. How could he do this? The goddess of marriage cheated on her husband. The irony tasted bitter in his mouth. Hera, his Hera, was with another right at this very moment. Yes, he knew, but he couldn't bring himself to say anything to her. It wouldn't be fair. Then again, when had either of them been fair to each other? Their entire marriage had been full of lies and mistrust. The happy moments were few and far between. Marriage was a game to Zeus and Hera. Something that only she took seriously and he only enjoyed the title of Husband. He sat up straighter as the doors opened and Hera walked in the room. Her long auburn hair fell down her back in waves and her jade eyes sparkled in the dim torch light. She was a beautiful woman but behind the beauty was a fierceness no one wanted on the receiving end of.

"Hera." He greeted her with a cold tone. She nodded in reply but otherwise said nothing. His eyes trailed down her body to her stomach. It grew bigger by the day. Hera could most likely have the baby any day now.

The only question in Zeus's mind was about the father. Would it be him or perhaps some human he would need to rid the world of?

It was quiet on Olympus. Too quiet. No one was talking, no one was barely breathing. The only thing that could be heard was the blood curdling screams of the Queen. Zeus paced back and forth in front of the room. Poseidon and Hades stood off to the side watching him intently. Fear was rolling of the God of Thunder in waves. Despite their nonchalant postures the two other men were just as worried for their sister. A delivery had never been this painful or difficult for Hera. Eventually the screams subsided and were replaced with the cries of a young child. Zeus let out a small sigh of relief. Hera was fine and from the sounds of it so was the child. Athena exited the room, the usual solemn expression on her face. This time however, there was an undeniable warmness in her grey eyes.

"Well?" Poseidon walked forward. It was well known that he and Athena weren't on the best of terms but when it came to Hera he would do anything. "How is she?"

Athena tilted her head to the side. "She is well. Tired, but that was too be expected. Eilythia said this was the most difficult birth she had ever witnessed."

"And the child?"

"A girl." Athena walked down the hall without another word to any of the others. She was drained both emotionally and physically. During the labor Hera had confessed something Athena knew would destroy Zeus if he ever found out. One of his brothers was the father of the baby. Hera already knew Zeus doubted he was the father, but she also knew that he had no idea who the real father could be. She wanted it to stay that way.

The three brothers stood in silence for a moment before Zeus finally spoke up. "The two of you can leave now. You were never needed in the first place."

Hades scoffed. "Of course we weren't. That's exactly why you summoned us here. Don't think that we can be bullied into submission. You should know better than that by now Brother." With one last look at Zeus he entered Hera's room and sat down on the edge of her bed. She looked up from the soft golden blanket she held in her arms. Shock covered her face for a minute before she went back to the blissful expression she'd had earlier.

"Isn't she gorgeous?" Hera asked. She wasn't really interested in an answer. It was just something to say so they wouldn't be sitting in suffocating silence.

"Positively radiant. Like the Morning Sun." Hades replied, making Hera smile widely. "Have you decided on a name?"

"I'm torn between two. Adara or Electra. I was going to wait and see what the father thought." She gave her brother a knowing look.

He nodded. "Yes, Zeus would want to be involved in the naming of his child." A hand came down on Hades' shoulder. He knew immediately from the little zap of electricity that it was the man of the hour himself.

"I like Electra," said Zeus. There was a fire in his eyes that dared Hera to question him. She didn't. The Queen remained silent, simply nodding her head in agreement. "Electra, goddess of the dawn and truth." None of them noticed the look Poseidon shot Zeus before storming out of the room.

"What are you doing?!" Hera screamed in frustration. "Put her down Zeus!" She lunged for her daughter but Zeus turned his back. Once more she repeated her earlier question. "What are you doing?!"

Zeus pushed Hera off of him in anger. In honesty that was why he was doing any of this. Anger. Hera had cheated and lied and he was sick of it. He was sick of seeing the evidence of her betrayal on a daily basis. Electra was not his daughter and he would not treat her as such any more. The one year old looked at Zeus with clear blue eyes. She knew what was happening better than he realized.

"Put my daughter down!"

"She is your daughter?" Zeus questioned. "I thought she was our daughter." When Hera said nothing he continued on. "Exactly. As such I will do with Electra what I wish." This was unbelievable. He had given Hera a clear out and she refused to take it. There was too much pride in that woman.

It was one reason he loved her so much.

"Where are you taking her?" Hera's voice was low. There was no more fight in her. It wouldn't do any good anyway. Once Zeus decided something the only way to change his mind was to prove him wrong.

"Camp Half-Blood."

"What?! No, I refuse to let you take her there and have her treated like one of your common half breeds! She is a goddess and should be treated as such!"

Zeus scoffed. "Your argument is irrelevant Wife. Besides she will have Dionysus with her to watch after her and protect her. Being the goddess of dawn she should be on earth."

"Send her to stay with Apollo." The unspoken part of that sentence was, 'just don't take my child away from me'. "They're two parts of a whole."

"Apollo isn't responsible enough to watch after a child."

"And Dionysus is? I believe your argument is the irrelevant one Husband."

"Chiron will also be at the camp." Zeus held Electra tighter as Hera made another lunge. "Do not fight me Hera. That will only make things worse." With that Zeus and Electra vanished leaving a screaming Hera behind.