Hey guys. I've got writing fever bad! Need to keep writing. Well here are the new reviewers:

Marooo – I'm glad you love it. I hope I can live up to your standards.

Daughter of Hera 2.0 – thanks, I'm glad you like it. I'm going to finish this if it kills me haha.

Athens lay on Poseidon's chest in the midst of the trees, eyes closed and listening to his gentle breathing. For this moment there was no war. For this moment the two of them could just be alone together. She could feel the arm he had wrapped around her back draw her nearer, his hand stroking her shoulder. She planted a kiss over his heart and looked up into his smiling eyes.

"At the risk of further swelling your already-too-large ego, you are exceptionally good at that." she purred. He let out a low chuckle.

"And you have an uncanny ability to take what would normally be a marvellous compliment and make it an insult."

"It's a gift." she beamed as he pulled her on top of him. The long tresses of her dark hair tickled his shoulders and neck. He reached up to touch her face.

"I strangely look forward to spending the rest of my life listening to you insult me," he muttered, his index finger tracing the plump shape of her pert lips.

"Good." She ginned and leaned down to kiss him. She couldn't help but smirk when she felt him growing once more against her thigh. "Again? Really?"

"Is there a complaint?" Poseidon smirked. "Because I've heard that I'm exceptionally good."

Athena rolled her eyes and kissed him again with more fervour. His hands wrapped around her back to hold her closer. He could feel her breasts pressed firmly against him. She parted her lips from his, breathing heavily. Her hot breath danced across his moist lips, giving him a shiver.

He lifted a wary hand between them and gently squeezed her left breast. She bit her lip to hush the moan that his movements coaxed from her throat. He gently continued kneading them and she pressed her lips to his neck, lining his jaw with a trail of hot kisses. Groaning, he flipped them over and pinned her hands to the floor. She gasped and smiled mischievously.

Her olive skin was so soft to the touch, so satisfying under the movements of his hands. Leaning up to kiss his neck, she let her lean fingertips brush over his muscled stomach, her nails grazing gently against his skin as she reached his abdomen. Whimpering a little, he pulled back from her and took a moment to drink her in. Every inch of her exquisite form. Her lips were a little swollen and slightly parted, her sparkling grey eyes were heavy-lidded, her chest rose and fell with each of her excited breaths. Just as he was about to kiss her again, a loud horn rang out in the air.

"Zeus is calling us back for the war council. We should go." Athena whispered. She went to move out from under him, but Poseidon didn't let her. For a minute she was concerned but then she saw his eyes. He just wanted to look at her like this a little more before they left. To make a memory to keep him going through all the fighting ahead. Athena savoured it too, stroking his bearded cheek and leaning up to kiss him softly.

After lingering for a moment, he rose and helped her to her feet. Their scattered clothes and armour flew off the ground from where they had been discarded and fixed themselves back into place on their bodies. They stared at each other, debating whether or not they should say something, when a second blast of the horn called their attention. They ran together out of the trees, being sure that no one saw them, and across the square to the Grand High Chambers.

When they got there it was considerably quiet compared to before the war began. No one was arguing or even looking at one another. There was just silence, and every god was staring at the foot of their throne. Persephone was there, probably at the insistence of Demeter, but had been perched tentatively on the arm of Hades' seat. He had his arm slung loosely around her waist, which she kept eyeing disdainfully as she hid behind her veil of platinum hair.

They weren't the last to arrive. Hermes was still absent. His throne stood empty between Athena's and Demeter's. Zeus was tapping the armrest of his throne irritably, so Athena sensed that he was waiting for his return. When he finally swooped in, out of breath and red-faced, he weakly knelt before his father.

"Every minor god has been rallied to the cause. I have sent Iris to confer with the... the armies on the ground." he panted.

Zeus raised his head and politely nodded his head in acknowledgement at him, but said nothing. That irked Athena as she watched her brother limp to his throne and practically collapse onto it. Even for the messenger god, he hadn't has this much work for years. Most of the minor gods were scattered all over the world, some even hiding in separate realms. To make all those journeys, repeat the same message and avoid titan attack would have wearied any of them. However, knowing better than to say something that might provoke her father into further anger, she reached over and held Hermes' hand to let him know someone appreciated his efforts. Zeus looked once around the room with his piercing sky-blue eyes.

"There is no denying now that we have a second Titanomachy on our hands," he muttered gravely as he continued to tap at his armrest. "They have grown in strength and found allies in our own ranks in what appears to be only two days."

His gaze turned to Poseidon. He looked expectant, as if he wanted reassurance of some sort. He didn't know what to say, but puffed out his chest in an attempt to seem braver than he felt.

"We have also multiplied in strength since the last time, brother," he said sternly, indicating the others. "This council alone proves the titans will find no easy conquest here."

"I agree," Zeus mumbled, "but if they have indeed found a way through which they can awaken the Earth Mother, there will be no place on heaven or earth face for any who call themselves Olympian."

"F-father." came a small voice from the end of the room. Everyone looked surprised at Persephone, who had never been invited to an Olympian council let alone talked in one. Not only that, but she rarely addressed Zeus as 'father', she she ever addressed him at all.

"Yes?" He looked at her with fascination rather than the outrage her expression told the others she had been expecting. She looked around a little timidly.

"My husband told me what you said about the ones once known as the Gaianids," she said with a newfound confidence. Hades grunted and tightened his grip on her waist as if she shouldn't have told him that, but she just stiffened her saw and grimaced sullenly at him. "You said they would not wake the Earth Mother on orders of their new queen, who didn't care for tending her sacred ground. I was just wondering, though I know it is not my place to say, if it were possible she would side with the titans and agree to wake Gaia for some slight she believes you did her. In penance for some grudge she holds against you."

Athena had to admire how careful her sister had been with her words. Sure not to be directly accusing Zeus of anything so as not to anger him, and making sure she knew her place in order to coax an answer from him so he could feel as though he was educating her rather than giving her what she wanted. Her time with Hades must have made her savvier than Athena remembered, and more cunning than her delicate form and soft voice would have one believe.

Zeus looked both taken aback and ashamed with himself. "There is something I should tell you about them. Something from a long time ago, before any of you had seen the Earth. Back when Mother Rhea asked Gaia to have me raised on Earth to hide me from my father."

It almost seemed like his voice was breaking. Athena's eyebrows raised. She'd never seen her father so close to tears. He frowned and shook his head like he was so disgusted with himself he had hidden something he had some from all of them in fear of being shamed by it. Zeus had done some pretty monstrous things, there was no two ways about it, so what could he have done back then that was so terrible it eclipsed them all?

After a long pause of deciding where to begin, he dared to raise his head. "My first memories of my life are of my mother holding me close to her breast as she took me to Gaia. Sometimes I can still feel her tears as they fell from her eyes onto me face as she begged her to save me, her only living child. She could not bear to watch Cronus devour another of her children. After watching five of you disappear down his gullet, picking bits of you from his teeth, she had finally gathered the courage to defy him.

"Gaia didn't care for her blubbering or her bravery. The only reason she agreed to aid in a chance at overthrowing Cronus was because, in his greed, he was ransacking the rich land she loved so much. Stripping her bare for the wealth it held. She took me from her and descended to her sacred land, which was cared for by her favourite, Adamanthea. She bent the knee to Gaia and accepted me, swearing no harm would come to me on her land. She was glad to help her patron, eager even, for her having sustained her and her daughters their whole lives.

"Adamanthea had many daughters, too many for me to remember all of their faces. She had lived with the satyr mother Amalthea on Crete when Gaia had taking a liking to her. They tended the earth together with such care that she'd charged them both and their offspring with being her physical hands with which they should tend the soil. In return Adamanthea sired all her children with plant seeds so they would be true-born children of the earth to please her patron even more.

"Her eldest daughter was sired by the seed of the atropa belladonna, what we now know to be Deadly Nightshade. She had eyes of a deep purple, the colour of the bloom from the plant that had sired her, but blood as poisoned as the fruit it bore. The most beautiful of women, they named her 'Calista'. Fitting though it was to her appearance, it would not describe accurately the soul within."

Poseidon blinked as his brother took a pause. Calista... he had heard that name once before somewhere. He couldn't think of where, but he had heard it. As he tried to remember, he saw his other brother rolling his eyes and looking disinterested. He clutched Persephone greedily closer to him, ignoring how she resisted and tried to shuffle subtly further to the edge of the chair arm she was balancing on.

"What has this tale to do with the war?" he sneered bitterly. "We've all known nymphs. What relevance has this one to what's happening now." Poseidon saw Zeus snap his head up, his eye's flashing menacingly.

"Peace, brother!" he called to Hades before Zeus could do or say something terrible. "If Zeus says this is important, we shall listen."

Hades pulled a face but didn't say anything else, sensing Poseidon was digging him out of trouble. He hunched over and sulked as Persephone grimaced at his proximity to her.

"As I was saying..." Zeus continued, stressing each word to warn off any other potential interrupters, "Calista dutifully helped her mother and younger sisters in tending the plants and earth in the beginning, and genuinely cared for it. But she always saw her status as the eldest daughter as a position of authority, and tried to make her sisters obey her when their mother was out of reach. She saw the earth as a long and ongoing food chain, rather than something equal that needs love and caring for in all its forms."

Demeter snorted, but was hushed by a warning look from Poseidon. There would be a time to disagree with how nymphs treat the land the gods provided them with, but now was certainly not it. She huffed and crossed her arms haughtily at her brother and turned back to Zeus to continue on listening begrudgingly.

"Adamanthea had no idea of how to hide me from my father's watchful and paranoid eyes, that is, until Calista stepped forward and suggested they suspend the baby in a hammock from a tree. This would thus keep me between the earth, sea and sky, making me no part of father's domain. Suffice it to say, she was unhappy with the lack of credit she received for the successful idea.

"As I began to grow, I could no longer live dangling from a tree. Calista again made a suggestion to her mother that they take me to Gaia's holy ground, her own earthly sanctum, where she could cloud Cronus' vision. At first Adamanthea dismissed it, not wanting to burden the Earth Mother with a duty she had assigned to her servants. But when Calista told me of her plan, I agreed and allowed her to carry me there. I was uncomfortable now as a youth being trapped and dangling precariously over the earth, but you see, I admit I had fallen in love with Calista's beauty." As he said it, Hera made a small and near inaudible noise that could only be described as a whimper. Zeus leaned over to her without meeting her eye and clasped her hand to hush her, though the gesture had a certain coldness about it.

"I had only ever seen the women who had raised me. Their beauty was all I knew. While every one of them was gossamer in shape and form, it was clear that Calista was the shining gem among them. I would have agreed to anything she asked of me. I was young and foolish and sick with affection. And I had never... known a woman.

"Adamanthea forgave her daughter for her disobedience since her plan did work, but warned me that I should not leave the holy ground or father would be able to see me. Should that happen she and her daughters will have failed their patron. I gave my word, on the promise that Calista keep me company every day. Calista agreed, and I confess that made me happier than I had ever been. I who had known from my birth that my life would be destined to bring about destruction, would be allowed this bliss with the willing consent of the woman I craved with most passionate fervour.

"What made me even happier, Calista eventually returned my feelings for her. Almost every time she came to my hovel we made love. She even bragged to her sisters that the future ruler of the world was in love with her and that when he overthrew his father, she would be his queen. The thought had crossed my mind too, I loved her that much, but Adamanthea was not happy with what the young god's attention was doing to her daughter."

With every word he spoke of his love for Calista, Hera found it harder to contain her tears. She looked positively livid. With a stiff upper lip she sniffed them back, clasping his hand tightly with both of hers, trying to remind him that now he was hers, and as usual, he was paying it no attention. Poseidon couldn't help but feel a swell of pity for his sister. It was bad enough she had to find out about all of Zeus' affairs with mortal women, but now she was sitting here being forced to listen as her husband professed his love to his first, who he had described as equalling no one in physical beauty. If he had been the brother she had chosen to consort her, he would never have blindly subjected her to such humiliation.

He then looked over at Athena and was forced to remember his indiscretion with the nymph on Sandora. Overwhelmed with his own hypocrisy and wondering what humiliation he would cause her should the information come to light, he looked to Zeus in an attempt to change the subject.

"Well, Zeus, as you were saying..." he prompted him. Zeus eyed him gravely.

"When the time came for me to finally confront my father, Cronus was cunning, and welcomed me with open arms. He allowed me to be his cup bearer, and gave me Metis, the Titaness of Wisdom, as a wife." he said, resisting the urge to look over at Athena. Not many of the other gods were as resistant.

Athena felt their eyes on her, and even she herself couldn't help but flinch at the mention of her mother. One of the other women Zeus had put in harm's way to maintain his power. Pushing her compassion down and burying it to keep herself from vulnerable, she held her head high and showed nothing of her emotions on her face.

"I had never seen a goddess, save my mother, in my life." Zeus mused, scratching his chin and smiling at the memory of his first wife. "I immediately fell in love with her and agreed to marry her. She was something I had never known. Fierce and strong; not delicate in her beauty.

"As you can imagine, that didn't sit too well with Calista, who had thought so adamantly that she would become my consort." Someone that sounded a lot like Ares muttered 'where have we heard this story before?' only to be hushed by Zeus' glare. "Not that I cared much now I was accepted by the titans and had a beautiful new wife who was less challenging and from whom I had a lot to learn.

"Calista was enraged, and insisted her mother let her exact her vengeance. Adamanthea forbade her, telling her that as long as she was Gaia's earthly hand, their clan was made for nothing but tending the earth. Love was not something they were given as a necessity. Adamanthea herself remained a virgin, having sired all her daughters with plant seeds."

Zeus then paled, his face going ashen. "That's when things began to fall apart. Descending further and further into vengeful madness, Calista kept herself hidden from her mother and sisters in the nightshade forest, the plant that had sired her. It wasn't yet known that the fruit was deadly, and her time surrounded by it caused the poison in her blood to boil and become more potent. It whispered ill thoughts in her ear.

"One of her sisters eventually came looking for her. I forget which one it was. Although she couldn't find her, she called out to Calista, insisting she was being folly and that she should stop sulking. Reaching her tipping point, Calista launched herself at her sister. The plants whispered in her ear again and instructed her to feed her some of the berries. They proved fatal, and Calista realised she had killed her own sister. A crime that was considered a capital offence even before the Olympian age.

"Momentarily filled with guilt and remorse, I imagine the only time those emotions stirred inside her, she crushed the rest of the berries in her hand. She was terrified at what her mother would say, and what Gaia would do when she found out. Vulnerable and crying, the nightshade whispered again, telling her to slip some of the essence of nightshade in her mother's water. Calista looked at the purple poison in her hands and shook her head, refusing to kill her own mother who was innocent of any crime. The nightshade told her to think of all the times her mother had disregarded her genius, saying she would be just as fit a leader, and that killing Adamanthea was the only way to escape punishment for the murder of her sister. Calista finally agreed to do it, and washed her hands of the nightshade berry juice in her mother's cup. She then implored the nightshade to dispose of her sister's corpse. They wrapped their vines around her and preserved her body and spirit in the earth.

"The next day, Adamanthea's corpse was found by Amalthea and two of her satyr sons. She had purple trails dried around the corners of her mouth and showed signs of having convulsed violently. The satyrs and their mother told Adamanthea's daughters what had happened and buried her respectfully under the tree she had nursed me in.

"By this time, I had saved my siblings, and every god in existence was preoccupied with the war. Calista took this opportunity to take leadership as leader of the Gaianids, which she gave a new name to fully install herself. She insisted they leave the patronage of Gaia, in order for her to avoid punishment for her crimes, and live as they wanted to, without restrictions. The sisters felt obligated to listen to her, as she knew how to captivate them, and they left Gaia's service despite Amalthea trying to reason with her. Since then I can only imagine the torturous ways she has thought of exacting vengeance upon me. I cannot entirely blame her for my treatment of her, but it remains she was born of evil from the seed of deadly nightshade. I was not to have known what she really was."

It was typical of Zeus to try and remove blame from himself, most especially when he was to blame. Silence fell over the Olympians as they let the story sink in. He had been talking for so long and with such depth, they had almost forgotten the reason for his delving into his past. Athena was the first to dare speak.

"What was the name she gave her clan when they left Gaia's service, father? If you know, can we not seek them out and confront them?" she asked. Zeus paused.

"The Parnicus," he muttered finally. "The name she chose was 'Parnicus' meaning 'potential' in nymphian. Potential for what is anyone's guess. In any case they are all as slippery and cunning as Calista now. She's twisted and corrupted them into worshipping her evil beliefs. I don't know where they ended up."

Ice formed in Poseidon's stomach.

This evil clan was call the Parnicus. Now he remembered where he had heard the name before; Medusa had told him the name of their queen when he had asked her to rally them to the cause. She was one of these evil twisted sisters. That left him with no doubt in his mind. The Parnicus must have decided to realign themselves with Gaia. What better way for Calista to have her vengeance than to strip him of his throne? It sounded like a brilliant plan, and all too easy.

But how could he tell them? If he told his brethren he knew of the clan's treachery, they would want to know how. If eh told them how, he would be as good as admitting to Athena he had shattered every promise he had ever made her, and she was never one to take such slights lightly. She would sure enough rise up and curse him, admitting to everyone the nature of their relationship, and how he had soiled her when she swore to remain a maiden. Perhaps she might even go as far as to tell them he had raped her. Then Zeus would forget about Cronus and the war. He would be consumed by his favourite's need for revenge, and find numerous punishments for his brother who dared besmirch her honour. He knew what became of Cronus and Prometheus. He didn't want to risk a fate like that, let alone a future without Athena.

No, he would have no choice but to keep it to himself. What good would it do to say he knew, anyway? They needed to focus on stopping Gaia, not on what was causing her to stir. This could wait, and it would have to. Zeus stood to address his council.

"I believe it possible Calista may have done this to spite me, but it matters not. If we can find a way to prevent Gaia from rising, we will cut off the titans' power at the source. Does anyone have an idea of how we might proceed?" he inquired. Athena cleared her throat.

"Father, I noticed during the battle that, in turn for their protection, the titans were throwing mortals into the cavern Gaia created. I can only surmise they were sacrifices to her. If she is sacrificed to with blood of great enough value, she would rise, would she not?" she said cleverly, though there was not a hint of arrogance in her voice. Zeus nodded.

"Like all gods, she requires sacrifice and prayer to grow strong." he agreed.

"The tremors!" Ares cried suddenly. "When I threw Hyperion into the rift, the earth shook and these vines shot up to attack me. Then when I did the same to Crius it happened again."

Poseidon couldn't help but notice that Ares had conveniently left out the part where he had swooped down to save his life, but didn't press him.

"Those of godly blood were given to her," Athena continued. Her grey eyes glistened as every cog in her brain worked at full capacity. "It will have increased her power, but angered her too. She won't want the blood of the children she's trying to save. She will have rejected them and tried to kill who dared sacrifice them, like feeding someone a meal prepared from the flesh of their children. She will want those of noble blood for sacrifices, and she'll only get angrier the more of her children are thrown at her altar."

Not one person in the room could say truthfully that they weren't impressed. Zeus nodded at her assessment and ran his hands through his hair as he thought of what to do with it.

"Might I add to Athena's brilliant theory," Poseidon added, "and suggest that whatever plan we devise be designed to be carried out on chariots and other such airborne means of travel. As long as out feet are on solid ground, the titans have the advantage."

"I agree." Athena said with a smile of anticipation and cunning. "An air assault would be best suited. We could find a way to lift the titans up away from their source of invulnerability into Zeus' domain, and that will give us the best hope of defeating them."

"New chariots should be built to withstand the weight," Poseidon continued excitedly. "I shall call every pegasus to the cause."

"I can design as many as will be needed." Athena assured. "With weapons enough to defeat each of the titans. As the creators and best riders of the chariot I propose we begin immediately with preparations."

They were looking at one another with such passionate excitement they had forgotten the others were there. Had they not liked what they were hearing so much, they might have suspected something, but the other gods had been united in their enthusiasm. Hephaestus rose from his throne, hammer in hand.

"Give me your designs and I shall work tirelessly until they have come to shape." he declared. Aphrodite leered at him, seeing in her husband a rare glow of decency and strength. Ares nodded too.

"Give me your strategies and I will put them to the field of battle." he stated firmly, even regarding Hephaestus with an air of respect. Zeus, for the first time since he had called the gathering, allowed himself a smile.

"Give me your loyalty, and I will not fail you." he said, looking from his brother to his daughter. "I have faith in your plan. Go, both of you and prepare. Take whatever it is you need. We will defeat the titans, quicker and more swiftly this time than the last. We'll make them scared enough to never dare think of escaping again."

Athena and Poseidon smirked proudly at each other and left through the grand doors together with proud cheers following them from the battle-hungry Olympians. They headed for the newly-erected battle pavilion in the square and got to work on designing new chariots and battle strategies. This war just chalked up a point for the good guys, and a new wave of hope spread over all of Olympus.