Chapter 3:
As Percy awoke the next morning the first thing to greet him was the smiling face of his new friend and aunt, Hestia. Remembering what happened yesterday brought a smile to his face, despite her assurances he still had not been sure if she would return but here she is.
"Good morning Perseus" Hestia said with a smile as she saw her nephew waking.
"Hi Aunt Hestia, you came." Percy responded but the latter was more for himself as if he had not yet fully absorbed the fact that she is here.
Hestia simply smiled in response as if she heard his thought although Perseus wasn't sure if she could do that or not. Perseus then realised with a jolt that he had a guest with him and how the animals had told him that when someone has a guest, they should take care of them.
Jumping up quickly and grabbing his hand-crafted bow and quiver of arrows from the tree it was leaning against on the outskirt of the small clearing he was camped in, Perseus turned to Hestia saying, "I'll go get us some breakfast to cook up I'll be back soon" Before awaiting a response Perseus bounded out into the forest with a hunters grace of which Hestia had never seen anyone reach close too.
Despite being impressed by his skills from what she witnessed she was still rather annoyed as she wanted to spend time with him, and she could have just summoned food but not wanting to make him feel bad she decided to just eat what he cooked up and not tell him she could summon food. On this line of thought Hestia became curious as to what and how well her nephew will cook as she loved cooking but had much longer and a much nicer environment to learn how.
As she got lost in her thoughts remembering about the times she was first learning to cook after she had escaped her father's horrid stomach, she was shocked back to reality when Perseus returned into the clearing with two dead rabbits hanging from their tails in his hand as he put his bow and quiver back where he found it before heading towards the fire. Usually she paid far better attention to her surroundings, but she definitely didn't expect him to be able to hunt breakfast in only ten minutes after leaving the clearing.
"That was very fast, how did you manage to find them so fast?"
"Experience Auntie, I have been doing this all my life it is really easy and fun when you get good. Do you want me to teach you?" Perseus asks excitedly with a wide grin on his face.
"Thank you for offering dear but I'm afraid I must decline I try to live a more peaceful life after all that happened with my father" Hestia has a distant look to her face as she explains, when Perseus notices he decides to distract her from her musing and asks if she wants to cook with him.
After Hestia asking what he has to cook with and Perseus showing the bag of dried herbs and spices, and other things to flavour his food the two spend the next hour enjoying each other's company as they cook a meal of the rabbits that could only be described as divine due to the combined cooking skills the two had developed. The experience of cooking with each other brings huge smile to their faces that don't disappear as they continue their work, this is the most fun that both have had for a very long time as they laugh and share light-hearted stories and jokes.
Finally, after over an hour of cooking which should have only taken half of that but was extended by the two's enjoyment and getting side-tracked as they spoke, the food was done. The rabbit was prepared in a hearty stew that burst with flavour and despite the nature of rabbit as a tough meet it was tender as anything you could find and had a strong meat flavour that mixed well with the stew.
The two ate together quietly compared to how they were chatting and laughing together before, enjoying the food to its fullest. "Thanks for keeping me company Auntie" Perseus spoke up as he put aside his drained bowl that he had previously made for himself.
Hestia looks to her nephew with a bright smile, "It was my pleasure I haven't had such fun in a long time, you are great company" Perseus blushes in response with a small smile, not use to having anyone other than animals compliment him.
Over the next few weeks Hestia visited Perseus as much as she could which ended up being almost every day, this went unnoticed by the Olympians that are her so called family which would usually have hurt her deeply at being so uncared for by those she desires connection with due to her domains link to family, despite this she was feeling better than she had for a long time. Hestia had finally found someone that she could call her family that she loved deeply. She wished she could adopt Percy as her own but knew that Aphrodite deserved to one day be reunited with the one, she loves so much, and she and Perseus already shared a close mother-son relationship that had quickly developed. After first finding and talking to Perseus, Hestia had been more closely observant towards her family, Perseus' parents even though such a position wasn't the least bit deserved by Poseidon, as a result Hestia had seen through the extremely good façade that Aphrodite had put up and saw the pain she buried deep. Despite Aphrodite's constant talking about how great love is and how she loves bedding many men all the time Hestia can see the hollowness in her eyes that didn't sparkle like they did long ago the first time she remembers having met Aphrodite, that must have been just after Perseus' birth, Hestia thought to herself. She can now tell that Aphrodite is trying to bury a deep pain and after going to her house to talk with her and catching her with red rimmed eyes and a poorly concealed beautiful drawing of a young baby with deep and bright purple eyes on her table that was splattered with what she could safely assume were tear drops, she didn't have a doubt at what the cause of her sadness was and that she loved Perseus. After seeing Aphrodite in that state and having seen the longing Perseus had to be reunited with the mother who he hardly knew but cared for deeply, Hestia swore to herself that she would make sure they can be together again and wash away each other's pain.
Over the weeks as she visited Perseus on the Island, through the fire that she had come through originally and she kept lit using her powers of the hearth, Perseus had taken to showing her all the nooks and crannies of the island excitedly and explained to her the nature around the island, in such detail that she was amazed by his intelligence. After the first few days Perseus had begun opening up to Hestia as he told her about how he had been attacked by monsters for most of his life and about how he learnt all he knows from observing the world around him and from conversing to the animals.
Hestia immensely enjoyed her time with her new-found family, and it became the thing she looked forward to most each day and the few days she was kept back from seeing young Perseus were spent miserably attending to duties and tasks that had befallen her. Alike to her nephew Hestia found herself growing more comfortable around Perseus than she had felt around any other. Hestia's strained relationship with her family had caused her much sorrow in the past with her only escape being that of her brother Hades, whilst not the closest of siblings Hades was a caring and nice brother who was always happy to see her and they shared much of their thought with each other without fear or restraint though there were still things that Hestia kept to herself, not being close enough to Hades to share these things.
As Hestia learnt more and more of Perseus and his adventures, she found herself growing to love the young godling more and more enjoying his inquisitive and enthusiastic nature whilst his obvious skill at all things he endeavoured to learn, and intelligence didn't elude her. Each morning when she arrived Perseus would have already been up and cooked a meal of some animals, he had caught which they would eat together then each night before she left they would prepare whatever he had again, hunted and caught, for dinner and cook it together both teaching each other of whatever they had discovered of cooking as well as working together to find new thing and ways to cook, it would definitely be a lie if the food produced was ever described as any less than divine bar the times where they got caught up in the fun of cooking together and would add too many strange ingredients they had procured. Cooking together was the favourite time for both of them as they shared stories and thoughts while expanding their knowledge of cooking from one another and growing more and more like a family, a mother and a son.
At the end of the fourth week since Hestia had turned up at his campsite on the Island Hestia finally came to trust Perseus enough that she felt safe in telling him all her history and thoughts knowing that they would be there for one another and not tell a soul any secrets they shared. Perseus had talked to Hestia about all his conflicting emotions concerning his father and mother amongst other things and Hestia had been able to comfort the godling and help him find more peace although the only way it could truly be solved, she believed, was to reunite him with his mother so that they could deal with all they had to deal with together. Hestia had overcome any of her previous jealousy at the love Perseus had for his mother that she thought she would never have, this was because she found that although Perseus loved his mother deeply and missed her he had also come to love her as a mother figure to him which filled Hestia with more joy then she could express.
That night, after having eaten an exquisite meal of roasted deer along with some delicious salad which's ingredients were procured from the surrounding forest, Hestia sat on a log that lay down next to the fire as a seat with Perseus sitting beside her leaning into her loving embrace as they talked of Hestia's past and the things she had enjoyed like when she had convinced Hades to play a prank on Zeus with her in the early days of their rule when their 'family' at least seemed close. After they shared a laugh at Hestia's endeavours they sat together in comfortable silence as they stared into the fire with bright smiles on their faces. Hestia then came to the decision that Perseus had trusted her with everything he had and that she would do the same even if it meant that he wouldn't want to see her anymore, he deserved to know. The smiling fading from Hestia's face, she turned to Perseus and cleared her throat to garner his attention.
"There is something I must tell you my dear, it is something I haven't spoken to anyone about and I have tried unsuccessfully to forget ever since it happened" Hestia spoke in a quite and nervous voice, in response Perseus had tightened the arm he had around her in a comforting embrace, silently encouraging her to go on.
"It is the reason why I so dislike your father-" Hestia was cut off by the darkening of Perseus' eyes at her calling Poseidon his father, "I mean the man who sired you" Hestia continued, "it was almost 2 years ago, one night after there was a party for the celebrations of one of Zeus' 'mighty achievements', not that I remember whatever it actually was, I had left as most people had and before heading home I had decided to wander Olympus and enjoy the cool late evening weather, a relief from the sweltering day it had been, as I wandered the streets I found myself lost in thoughts of the past and what my future may hold, when I came out of my thoughts I was in one of the many gardens on Olympus, near the edge of the mountain and overlooking the surrounding land."
Flashback
As Hestia gazed out at the world around her she used her domain of the Hearth to feel the families out in the lands of Greece and despite feeling some that were dim with the weak bonds of a family she could feel many that were bright and in them she could feel the love of a close and strong family. A family such as those that had bright hearths was the thing she wished for most and what her thoughts had been wandering to as she thought of her future on her stroll, she had sworn an oath on the Styx after the downfall of her father to stay a maiden not wanting to risk brining the pain that her father had brought her and her siblings onto any children she could have had, as such her only chance at family she believed she had was that through her siblings and other than Hades' kindness she knew she would likely never find the family she desired with them.
She was brought from her musing from the footsteps that approached her from behind and she turned to meet her brother, Poseidon who was wearing a high quality tunic and his royal jewellery from his palace under the sea that he had worn for the party, despite having had drinks at the party the gods couldn't get drunk on the mortals drinks and many just drank nectar, the drink of the gods, like her. In the past when they had grown up in her father's stomach Hestia had tried her best to raise her siblings in their confines, even then their family hadn't been very close despite the forced proximity they had had in their dwelling. Hestia put a smile on her face, but they were no brightness in her eyes that had once been there when she had believed that her family cared for each other, "Brother, what brings you here?" she asked.
"Ah, my beautiful sister, what a pleasure it is to see you, I came here for you of course." Hestia was confused by his words as he had never shown any care for her as a brother should but rather was self-absorbed and cared little for her or anyone else for that matter. Hestia was dressed in a high quality yet relatively plain soft cotton dress that she liked as it was both comfortable and presentable enough for the occasion as she never enjoyed dressing up too much for anything.
"And is there something you want from me brother?"
"Of course." Poseidon said stepping closer as he towered over her being a head taller than she was, both of them in their 20 year old form as most gods did, "I came to show you my love dearest sister, I know you swore a silly oath but I saw through that my beloved I know you just wished to save yourself for when I came for you." Poseidon continued as he laid a hand, less than gently on her arm.
"That isn't true Brother please leave me be I have no desire for such things." Hestia responded, uncomfortable by his closeness or the situation they were in.
"That is no way to treat your love I guess I'll just have to teach you to love me" Poseidon replied as he forcefully kissed her none too pleasantly. Hestia disgusted by her brother and fearing his actions pushed him away wiping her mouth on her arm as she backed up. "Brother leave me alone I have no wish for this." She spoke but Poseidon made no heed, advancing forward towards her with an evil grin plastered to his face.
Glancing over her shoulder for a way-out Hestia's heart dropped as she found herself backed against the fenced edge of Olympus and beyond was only a sheer drop. "uh, uh, uh, your not running away, I see you want it rough so that's what you'll get" Poseidon spoke in a dark voice, "Ill take the maidenhood that is rightfully mine and then you shall join me beneath the waves as my wife for me to fuck and enjoy whenever I may like."
Hestia's fear grew as she searched frantically for a way out as she knew she couldn't out run her brother and if she tried to teleport, he would grab her and force her to remain here and do what he said he would. Tears built in Hestia's eyes as the prospect of what Poseidon was to do to her became more and more inescapable.
"Please don't do this, if you care for me at all brother don't do this." Hestia begged trying in vain hope to stop what was happening.
Rather then responding Poseidon grabbed her and brought her into another forceful kiss, as she tried to break free he pulled back and laughed, "So you are so desperate to get straight to it", He grabbed my arm and threw me onto the cold, hard and smooth stone path of the garden.
Now without Poseidon between her and the exit to the garden she attempted to scramble to her feet and race out of the garden only to be stopped as Poseidon caught her arm as she was turning and pulled her back around causing her to slip and fall to the ground with her arm still in his painful grasp.
Tears now flowed freely from her face as she tugged hopelessly on her arm to get away from the vile man that was her brother. Poseidon reached down and tore the front of her dress open revealing her chest, he then pulled apart her legs and pushed up her dress as she struggled further to no result. Poseidon began undoing his trousers as he looked down at her hungrily, his eyes filled with lust.
Suddenly a loud bang sounded in the distance, Hestia would never know what caused this, but she would be forever thankful. At the bang Poseidon looked up distracted for a moment and this was all she needed as she kicked him in the groin and scrambled back to her feet, tears still leaking from her eyes and running down her cheeks, she turned and raced from the garden pulling her ripped dress around her to maintain whatever dignity she still had. As soon as she had made it out of the garden she had teleported back to her palace and collapsed onto her bed weeping and ashamed.
End Flashback.
"After that happened I was always far more cautious with everyone I met, the only one I could truly come to trust was Hades, and even then I was too ashamed of being so weak and helpless that I couldn't tell him or anyone what had happened" Hestia said weeping as she spoke, "I understand if you don't want to see me again, I'm just some d-d-disgusting m-monster." Hestia stuttered out as she began shaking with sobs.
Perseus had listened to her the entire time, anger had grown in him, more than he had ever felt before in his life and he swore to himself to make that monster pay for all that he had done. Throughout telling the story Hestia's eyes had watered with tears and about halfway through tears had begun sliding down her cheeks. As she stopped talking and buried her head in her hands sobbing Perseus was heartbroken at the pain she was in and wrapped her in the best warm and loving hug he could being only the physical age of a 7-year-old mortal. "Don't ever say something like that Auntie, I love you and nothing will change that, what he did was unforgivable and one day I will make sure he pays the price, but you mustn't blame yourself. You are an amazing person and you came here and gave me your love, no one else has done so, I think you are an amazing person and anyone's opinion who doesn't care for you doesn't matter." Perseus spoke as Hestia's sobs quietened as her shaking slowed.
She looked up with red eyes and tear stained cheeks, "You really mean it Perseus, y-you still love me, even after all I told you.", "Of course I do, and you aren't going to be getting rid of me anytime soon Auntie." Perseus said with a smile as he continued to hug Hestia tightly. Hestia let out a soft yet joyful laugh as she hugged her nephew tighter then she had already been doing, hearing that from him and speaking to someone about it all had felt like lifting an impossibly heaving weight off her chest and she knew now that she had a family and that it couldn't hurt her any more. After a long while hugging silently Hestia spoke up, "I love you too, my dear"