The March of War
Summary: They sit around the hearth together in complete and utter silence under Selene's glow. No one says a word. They all know what comes next.
Hestia adds a few more sticks to the fire in front of her, desperate to keep it going in the cold night. She hated the cold, though she had not known it for even a day yet. Inside her father's stomach, it was always warm. That was one of the few comforts of it. Though wet and dark, at least she and her siblings had never been cold like they were now. Zeus may have laughed at them for their shivering when they first emerged from Cronus' belly and said that today had actually been a phenomenally hot day, Hestia didn't pay her new found little brother any mind. He just didn't understand.
Hestia readjusted the wrap around her shoulders as she stepped away from the fire and retook her seat beside Hades on some rocks. Letting a yawn slip past her slips, she leaned against her elder brother's broad shoulder. He made no protest, even though Hera was already leaning against his other shoulder, fast asleep, her long black hair mingling with his. He was used to their combined weights on his shoulders. They had slept this way for years, she, her little sister, and brother.
Looking at her brother, however, Hestia knew he was far from sleep. He stared intently at the fire with pensive dark eyes. In the few times she had seen her times prior today, Hestia had never seen her brother's expression so grave. But looking around, she saw he wasn't alone. While seemingly content to play with the blond curls of Zeus' head in her lap, Metis' mind was clearly somewhere else. Zeus himself, even as he sharpened a dagger distractedly, seemed elsewhere in his thoughts. Even Poseidon and Demeter were ensnared in the dark atmosphere surrounding their campsite. The only one seemingly spared was Hera, bless her heart, as she slept soundly, huddled as closely as possible to her elder brother.
Hestia knew what had caused the despair of everyone's thoughts. She may have spent all her life trapped in her father's stomach, but she was no fool.
The moment Zeus had revealed his existence to Cronus that morning, a declaration of war had been made, and when Cronus had spewed her and the rest of her siblings forth, Zeus had not only freed them, but recruited them. They had no choice but to help their younger brother dethrone their father and his allies. If they didn't, they would just be consumed again, or perhaps killed out of vengeful wrath by their father. Or one of his allies. Depending on which got to them first if they left the sanctuary that was Zeus' island.
Hestia didn't want to go back to the darkness. Despite the cold of the outside world, despite the danger, she had already decided she didn't want to go back. Not when she had already discovered so many wonderful things: like fire. It was warm like her father's stomach had been, but unlike father's stomach, it was bright and gave off light in all directions, driving away the frightening darkness like a great protector.
Her siblings had found new things as well. Poseidon had become enamored with their uncle's vast wet blue realm. How his eyes had shone when the waves had first washed over his feet, how he had laughed even as he choked on salty sea water, and how broadly he had smiled when he discovered a creature known as the sea star. Demeter was entrenched in maddening adoration of everything green seemingly. Hestia was sure she would never forget, not in a millennium, how her sister had gasped in awe at the sight of an entire field full of flowers of every color. Watching her run through it a moment later had warmed Hestia's heart in a way that not even fire could.
Hera and Hades had found nothing as far as she knew. Nothing but freedom. But Hestia knew that her brother didn't need something materialistic to bind him to this new world they had suddenly been thrust into. To keep him from returning to their father. All he needed was already there, sitting around the hearth alongside him. And as for Hera…well, Hera would follow her big brother and her big sister anywhere, even on the march of war.
A/N: Hope you guys liked it! Please review!