The Council

Some years later…

(Athena's POV)

We can't go on like this. This afternoon Artemis and Hera almost killed each other during the Council. That was because one of Artemis' nymphs wishes to get married and my sister is trying in every possible way to prevent her from doing so.

And this afternoon at the council Hera decided to come out with this story, for no reason:

"You should let her do what she wishes, Artemis. You behave like a tyrant" she began. I sighed and exchanged a desperate look with Apollo; we both knew what was going to happen.

"Maybe you're not entitled to speak about tyrants, Lady Hera." Artemis replied indifferently. She is not the most tactful person.

"And why is so?" Hera asked with a cold voice. Actually she knew perfectly well what Artemis was thinking.

"You know why! And maybe tending to husbands and children is not what one wishes eventually" Artemis growled back. We watched the debate silently, too used to such fights. I just don't know why they need to jump at each other's throat.

"And who speaks about tending to husbands?" Hera retorted indignantly.

"Hera, Artemis, please. You are both exaggerating. Now just take a long breath and calm down." I cut in slowly. They both looked at me with wild eyes but then complied and we went back to our discussion.

"We really need a moderator." I told Apollo when the council ended.

"Yes, I agree. And I have someone on my mind too." He answered.

I looked at him expectantly and he clarified: "I think Hermes would do. And moreover, it is time for him to join the council."

I thought about that. From what I know, Hermes is an intelligent and quiet young god, but would he be able to confront the gods? Some of us can be really scary sometimes and I hear that he is quite the shy guy.

Apollo seemed to perceive my doubts: "Do not worry, Athena. He appears quite defenceless but he is not. Should we entrust him this task, we would not be disappointed."

"Very well. Let's have a talk with our father about this matter" I said.

And so we decided to take Hermes as a mediator. We shall see.

-O- -O- -O- -O- -O- -O- -O- -O- -O- -O- -O- -O-

(Hermes' POV)

Tomorrow I will join the Council for the first time and more that that I will become the moderator.

"Do not be too sweet, Hermes. Some of the gods need to be reminded of where they are." Apollo told me yesterday. What should I do, then? Enter the Council Hall with a hammer?

I'm nervous. Euterpe laughed about my concern and told me not to worry but still. How am I supposed to keep them quiet? Damn it, I'm behaving like a mother hen!

/

I'm still alive.

Upon my arrival I was welcomed by a smiling Apollo: "You are joining us, little brother. I am happy."

The council hall is large and bright and there are twelve different seats, one for each Olympic God. Some of the gods were already there.

They welcomed me warmly, more or less. Hera was a bit cold to me, but that's probably because I'm not her son. And Hestia didn't say a single word to me, and when someone is entirely covered in black veils and moreover she doesn't speak to you it is scary.

Apollo had told me that she would've behaved like this: "She has been traumatized by Cronus, she has always been very silent and reserved. But I can assure you that she is the most caring and peaceful goddess of all, so be it" he had explained.

I took my seat, which is next to Athena's, and soon the missing gods were there. Someone looked curiously at me, someone else – like Ares, shot a disdainful glare at me, and from that I understood that I will have to fight with him.

"Now that we are all reunited here, my family, let's welcome my son Hermes among us" my father's voice boomed while he smiled to me.

We started to talk about Athens, the city Athena gave her name to after winning over Poseidon. Athens' inhabitants chose her over Poseidon and he's still very pissed about that. Everything went quiet for a while until Ares spat out: "You can care for your beloved city, sister, but one day we will defeat you!"

"It seems unlikely to me that you will defeat me. Or don't you remember about our last fight?" she answered with a quiet, yet dangerous, voice.

"A single fight means nothing. You're a coward, just like your filthy city!" he growled.

Athena's eyes were burning so much that they would've easily set fire on anything. Noticing that she was beginning to stand up, I cut in:

"Ares, I advise you not to use such words in here." I was a bit scared but I tried to keep my voice as cool as possible while everyone turned to me. I could hear low murmurs of surprise but I didn't mind.

Ares just smiled, bewildered. "Otherwise?" he asked ironically.

"Otherwise" I stated, meeting his eyes "I will personally grab you by your sleeve and drag you outside."

The hall went completely silent.

"But look at yourself" he hissed with contempt "You are so skinny and weak that I could easily crack you with my very hand and you think that I could fear you?"

"Ares." Apollo started, but I silenced him with a look.

"This is my task so please let me deal with it, Apollo" I told him.

Then I turned to Ares: "If you have any doubts about my physical strength, Lord Ares, we can settle the matter out of here and I'll swear I'll prove you just how weak I am." I tried my best to hiss angrily at him, even considering that he's far bigger than me and that he'll probably crack me one day or another.

"Of course we will settle the matter. I'll never let a boy make fun of me."

"But if I win" I said "you will keep quiet during councils."

"For how long?" he asked suspiciously.

"Well, for a century at least. "

"That's too long" he muttered.

"Oh? Are you afraid to loose, my dear?" I asked wickedly, and he reacted exactly as I had expected:

"A century is fine. But what if I win?" he asked with another sardonic smile, as if daring me to say the contrary.

I thought briefly: "If you win, I won't bother you and ask you to be quiet for a century."

"I agree." He answered. A big deal indeed; Apollo and Athena would silence him anyway. He's proven how stupid he is by just accepting my conditions.

The rest of the council went on quietly and tomorrow I will meet Ares for our debate which will be a boxing match.

"Could you tell me please what has come over you?" Apollo asked me while we went out. He seemed a bit concerned.

"It was the only way to keep him silent for a while. Now I hope he'll not kill me." I answered.

"Look, you are much more intelligent than he is and you are really good at boxing " my brother told me confidently "But you are just…"

"Yes, I know. I'm as big as his cat."

Apollo burst out laughing.

"A cat can be most disturbing sometimes." said a voice behind my back. I turned to find Athena staring at me, a smug smile on her face.

"I bet this is the first time someone silences Ares like that. Challenging him has been a smart idea, I should've done it years ago."

I smiled: "Now I hope he's not going to silence me forever."

Athena laughed a trilly, beautiful laugh: "As for that, just think that Ares doesn't remember having a head. And that's not just a metaphor!" she added with a smile before leaving.

Now what the Hades does that mean?

/

Man, Athena could've put it simpler!

We decided to settle the matter in the garden just outside the temple; almost all the gods were there, apart from Hestia. Euterpe was there as well, trying her best to hide her concern.

"Remember that you are brothers." My father told me gravely before the beginning "No matter how this match ends, I wish you to respect each other."

"Yes, Father. " I told him. I don't actually hate Ares even if I can't say that I love him either; I just want to hold councils in peace.

Ares appeared soon, wearing only a short dark red tunic around his waist. He was probably trying to scare the Hades out of me showing me his muscular body, his broad thigs and arms.

The match begun; for the first minutes we just studied each other, throwing some tentative punch to each other. He was strong but sensibly slower that me and he found it difficult to react when I did something unexpected.

Then he tried to throw an uppercut to me but I whirled around and punched him in his stomach; the hit was not hard enough because he backed for just a moment but he didn't even fall.

"Are you going to beat me up like this, little one?" he mocked.

"How are you going to beat me up if you hardly ever touch me?" I mocked him back. He threw himself at my throat, enraged, and he tightened his hands so much that he really hurt me. But then I kneed him in the groin and he let go of me with a muffled cry. I know that was a low blow but damn, he was breaking my neck!

Finally he tried to punch me in the stomach but before he could even reach me I had grabbed his wrist. He looked at my hand with a hint of surprise and I, remembering Athena's words, took the occasion to punch him on his nose. He didn't even see my fist coming; he just fell on the ground.

I took just a moment to congratulate myself before bending over him:

"Now you will be a good boy for the next century. And dear brother, you should just improve your skills." Actually he had beaten me up and my body was aching but what I couldn't let him know.

He didn't even answer to me. He just stood up and left without a word.

"Enchanting" Apollo commented with that serene expression of his "You still have marks on your neck but I will take care about that." He slowly run his hand on my neck and the red marks disappeared. (A.N. I know the gods are supposed to have ichor and not blood and that ichor is transparent – but thus they would be white like death, so here they have blood…).

Euterpe hugged me tightly and kissed me on the cheek while the other gods just looked at me, some pleased and some bewildered. I noticed Hera's hostile look when I passed her way; she is probably still pissed about her son being knocked out by one of Zeus' bastards.

And Athena winked at me! The thought still makes me laugh…

-O- -O- -O- -O- -O- -O- -O- -O- -O- -O- -O-

(Athena's POV)

I was laughing so much that my legs were shaking. The young one was great – and apparently he's listened to my advice too.

I approached him as he was about to leave with his fiancèe. "You fought well" I told him with a smile "but don't think that problems are over now. There are many wrathful gods you will have to calm down – and they're not all stupid like Ares."

"Oh, well, I'll plan something for them too." He answered with his sweet smile. "I understood what you meant about the head" he added.

I laughed, winking at him, and hugged him briefly before going to our father.

"I know I shouldn't favor a son over another" he started "but I'm pleased. Ares is really hard to endure sometimes. And the boy is quite a tough cookie, despite the appearance."

"I had told you so" Apollo cut in, smiling proudly.

"Tough and cunning as he is, should there be some delicate mission to carry on, we can count on him." I told my father.

"If you believe that punching my son is tough and cunning, so be it." Hera interrupted us. She was slightly paler than usual and her lips were thin.

"His behavior during the council was unforgivable, Hera, you can't deny it." My father answered.

"It was, but it wasn't necessary to beat him up. He's not a child." She told him bitterly.

"Actually Ares accepted to settle the disagreement with a boxing match" I said "and he lost it. No one beat him up." You're being irrational because he's not your son, I thought. But that would've been a petty thing to say.

I think our young brother has just started to surprise us but much more is to come.