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"He needs to be punished!" I boomed from my throne. Everyone looked at me with disbelieving eyes. "You can't be serious!" Poseidon shouted from his throne.
"Did something hit you in the head, Father?" Apollo asked, a little worried.
"Don't be stupid! Nothing hit me! I am just telling the facts here, that's all." Apollo rolled his eyes and I glared at him.
"What has Perseus done? Nothing!" Athena sided with him also.
I gritted my teeth "He may want the title king of the gods now that he is more powerful than me."
Hera laughed from beside me. "Now you are just being incredibly stupid. He is the god of loyalty!" Everyone agreed with her. Even Ares. Now I was even madder. "And that would be perfect for him if he would be the king! He would gain so much loyalty. That would make him even more powerful!"
"Zeus you are now talking about my son. I refuse to listen to this!" Poseidon boomed. "I feel like YOU are more loyal to him than to me!" I shot back. I could feel still all eyes on me. They seemed to say "he's gone insane" or "is the king of gods this childish?" But I didn't really care. Gritting my teeth I glared Poseidon the best I could. Which seemed to work.
"I am loyal to you, brother. But he is still my son and family comes first."
"Then show it to me." I said as calm as I could manage.
"Show what?" Hermes asked from his throne. "That you are loyal to me and not to the son of Poseidon."
"Father, isn't it enough for you that we haven't talked to him in ages! And he IS our friend!" Hermes continued. But I just shook my head. "You just had to pay more attention to your duties. I didn't ask you to lessen your gossip-time with him because of this."
"Father, you know that's not true." Artemis said with cheerless laugh. I knew she was angry with me for not letting anyone to contact him anymore. I knew she missed him, they always had fun together. And I didn't want her to be angry.
"Just… Let's banish him for a week or so. With this you have proven yourself to me and you don't have to face my wrath. When he comes back he can show he is loyal to us, too." Everyone was silent for a while. I knew that they didn't want to agree with this. I sighed and said: "And when this is over, you can all socialize with him again all you want without me interfering." This seemed to brighten up their moods. And I knew I have been pain in their asses ever since Perseus began to have more and more power.
"Only for a week?" Apollo asked as if suspecting something. "Yes… But we won't tell him that so that we see if he truly is loyal." I knew no one really wanted to agree with me, but they wanted back their peace. "All in favor?" I asked and most of the Olympians raised their hands. I smiled wickedly. "Great! And now, everyone swear on river Styx that no one will tell him about this." When everyone had reluctantly sworn, I ordered Hermes to get him.
When they Hermes returned and everyone saw his face, I felt remorse and guilt float from everyone. Was I doing the wrong thing? But at that moment Perseus stepped in and my rage surfaced.
I woke up from my short dream. It was like a nightmare. How could I have been that stupid? At least I was not the only one to blame, others agreed with my stupid, oh so stupid, plan. And of course that was the best time Apollo had to have a not-so-promising prophesy. The one that said that Perseus' child would be a key to destroying or rising of Olympus. I was so mad then that I couldn't think properly.
When Perseus got away from Ares, I was beyond mad. Other gods tried to reason with me, but it only made things worse. In my madness I destroyed everything that reminded me of Perseus. Everything. I send Ares to retrieve his students and teach them if he wanted. And I destroyed the only woman he had loved after such a long time and his first daughter without any hesitation. I had so much remorse now.
Then when I finally got Artemis to hunt him and bring him back, it was too late. He was mad and hid from us and I must admit, he was good. For two years he hid before Artemis got to him. And when she did, it was too late. She came crying to the throne room and told us that he had faded. I felt like someone shoved guilt up in my ass. I felt so guilty and in my guilt, I ordered that no one was to speak about him again. Everyone swore to river Styx after they had yelled at me for destroying everything he had. For I was the cause he was forced into fading. Poseidon was beyond mad and he didn't talk to me for next seventeen years properly. I ordered every god to swear so that no one would know how huge mistake I have made.
I wanted this all to go away.