"Are you nervous?" Thia piped over North's shoulder. He started, then chuckled at her stealthiness.
"Now why would I be?"
She sidled up next to him on the throne, watching through gentle, magenta eyes as the rest of the gods and goddesses filed in the room. Her eyes fell on the seat beside Aster, and she sighed internally for what seemed to her like the millionth time.
Unlike her siblings, she had no issue with their mysterious brother, who was an enigma unto himself. She felt a sense of duty to protect him from the harshness of Gothel, and the callousness of Aster and North's indifference. Thia and her other sister, the kind, humble, and docile Katherine, were the only two who had not let prejudice towards their older brother cloud their judgment.
For that, Thia felt sorry for North. He was missing out on a wonderful ally in Jack, just because of some nymph's death a millennia ago. The queen knew that she should not judge her brothers too harshly, but the loss of one nymph should hardly amount to years and years of bitter resentment.
Of course, there was also Gothel, who seemed to make it her personal mission in life to harp on Jack as if she had nothing beneficial to do. Thia grimaced, remembering the day that had started this petty rivalry between them. She recalled the first time she had ever set eyes on Rhea, her mother and the Titan Cronus's wife.
She remembered how beautiful her mother had been, how radiant and bright her blue eyes were. But all Gothel could do when she got out from the dark place that was her prison for half her life was stare at Jack in contempt, remarking that he looked a great deal like Cronus.
And there was also the tiny matter of Gothel hating her because Thia got to be the Queen of Heavens while she was resigned to being the Harvest Goddess.
She rubbed her temples. Sometimes her family could be extremely dysfunctional.
"Because ichor-shed could happen at any moment now," she prompted, in reply to her husband's last question.
He gave a hearty laugh. "Don't you worry, Thia. For tonight, we shall all look happy and be as one, what do you say?"
Thia sighed at her husband's short-sightedness, but did not remark, distracted by the announcement of Jack's arrival.
"Presenting, King Jackson of the Underworld, Falsefinder and Shadow Master, with his consort, Rapunzel, the Goddess of Spring."
Every eye in the room turned to look at the couple and Thia couldn't help but be floored at the difference in the both of them.
Rapunzel was beautiful, much more so than the last time she had been on their palace grounds; her gown flattering her shapely figure and her blond hair glowing even from Thia's perch on her throne. It was such a refreshing difference from the young, scared girl who refused to even look her relatives in the eye; covered up and smothered in her plain facade and reserved shyness.
But the most noticeable transformation had to be Thia's brother. Jack had turned from a sullen, quiet man into someone who commanded power and demanded to be seen with his powerful gait and firm stride. Thia was amazed at this. Her brother had basically gone from trying not to be noticed and trying to hide his anomalies, to embracing them. She could see it from the way he held his head, authoritative and aloof.
"Presenting, King Aster of the Seas, Earthshaker, Ocean Commander..."
Thia tuned out the sound of the herald's voice, her eyes following her brother as he passed by North and took his seat next to him. She could see the worried glint in his eyes when his beloved was forced to sit farther away from him, in a place which he knew to be next to Gothel's.
The Queen of Heavens averted her eyes to the younger goddess, noting that she seemed much more nervous without Jack beside her. It came to her then: Jack and Rapunzel had come here as each other's anchor and supporter – being seated away from the only person in the room to have your back must've been absolutely, positively nerve wrecking for the both of them.
"Welcome, gods and goddesses, to the annual Winter Solstice meeting," North's voice boomed across the room, immediately silencing the incessant chatter.
"Hands to your hearts and repeat after me."
Even though North had been doing this for years, she could still feel the current of glee her husband gave off when he led everyone through the oath.
The oath to not draw weapons in this room; that no blood should be shed and no one should come to harm while they were under the protection of Zeus and Olympus.
With the oath done, the sounds of rustling fabric and jostling chairs could be heard as the whole room resumed their seats, patiently waiting for the ceremony to begin.
"Now," North boomed in a low, gravelly voice. "We shall start with a current problem we now face: the validity of Jack and Rapunzel's marriage."
All eyes swivelled to them, conversation erupting from the lower thrones, and Thia felt a pang of sympathy for the couple. She could tell that something huge had happened between them and as the Goddess of Marriage herself, who was she to deny a couple that had so obviously married by the law?
Thia couldn't understand just what the fuss was all about.
Here was a perfectly good example of a couple married through love, respect, and law, and her husband wanted to destroy that?
North waited for the whispers to quiet, explaining the situation, his voice solemn as he informed the room about his daughter's disappearance, subsequent marriage and the war that had sparked because of it. He then waited a moment before motioning to Gothel, who stood at his prompting, a fierce glare frozen on her face.
"I, for one, want to dismiss the notion that Jack has ever married Rapunzel. After all, he is a Falsefinder and can lie," she said, voice raised an octave higher. "From what I could gather during the siege to the Underworld, he has only shared his hearth and bed, not his food."
"That's not true," Rapunzel's voice chimed. Gothel's dark eyes trained on her daughter, seated a few ways beside her, expression cold.
"What was that?"
Rapunzel flushed, unused to be having everyone's eyes on her. Thia also suspected that it may have something to do with standing up to her mother for the first time.
"I said that that's not true," she repeated, staring Gothel down. "He did, I ate from the fruit of the Tree of Hades."
North's eyes widened and he cast his incredulous gaze to Jack, who looked at Rapunzel grimly.
Gothel's next words were short, her eyes widening. She turned to Jack. "Is that true?"
"Yes, she's telling the truth," he replied tersely.
"But that could not constitute as food-"
"It can and it is," Thia interjected. As queen, she was used to attention and thought nothing of the fact that everyone's gaze was trained on her. "From my standing point as the Goddess of Marriage, I can assure you that their marriage is legal."
"Great, now can we move on to something else?" Jack piped, his blue eyes hard with hate. From across the room, Thia could see Rapunzel shaking her head slightly, indicating 'no'.
Jack caught her gaze and rolled his eyes, but kept silent, waiting on North's word.
"Is this true?" the King of Gods asked, seemingly still disbelieving at his own daughter's words. "Did you eat from the same fruit that killed Leuce?"
Thia stiffened at the mention of that nymph, a flare of jealousy lighting up in her chest. How dare he mention her, in front of his own wife; the nymph whom he loved as his own daughter, when he couldn't care less for the children that she bore for him?
"Yes," Rapunzel replied without hesitation, voice high and clear. "Yes, I ate from the fruit and am still alive to tell you all this."
North turned his gaze to Jack, who remained impassive throughout the exchange.
"Why did she not die?"
The Lord of the Underworld rubbed his temples, pondering North's question. "I think," he began, "I think it's because Rapunzel is a goddess and Leuce was merely a nymph – their abilities and immunity are on two different levels."
North huffed and sank deeper into his seat, his belly straining against his gold chiton.
"And suppose I believe in this – in what you say, how could you explain the kidnapping of Rapunzel?"
Jack's expression darkened. "It was... it was a ploy, to use her to get back into Olympus as a bargain-"
The whole room erupted with immortals blatantly arguing, voicing their opinions; even their whispers echoing like the hum of a lightning bolt.
"-But I changed my mind," Jack continued, giving the room a glare. Miraculously, everyone fell silent, the quiet unnerving after the noise.
"I decided to take her as my wife because... of... certain feelings."
"Against her own mother's wishes?" Gothel said, her voice piercing through the silence like a cold lance.
This time, it was Rapunzel who deigned to reply. "Mother, I am old enough to make my own decisions – granted Jack had a wrong way going about this, but we worked this out; if only you could see how happy I am and how-"
"Happy?" Gothel said, voice loud and high-pitched, hurting ears like sharp nails scratching down a chalkboard. "This is delusional, he doesn't love you, you don't love him, it could never happen! Grow up and realize that your love is futile!"
Jessica then did something that Thia would never thought the Goddess of Love would have done. She actually said something worth listening to for the first time. "On the contrary, I think their love is valid – I can feel it, even from where I am seated."
Shifting eyes and barely-whispered voices filled the room again and Thia could feel the palpable sense of dread at what was to come.
Gothel rounded on her niece, gaze narrowed and haughty. "If I remember correctly, you've never even been in a steady relationship, how could you know what true love is?"
"Because I am the Goddess of Love," Jessica replied, rolling her eyes. "Are you really asking me something so obvious?"
Gothel's eyes flared with obvious hate as she stared Aphrodite down. Thia could roughly guess what outcome this trial would have. She could see it from the fear in Gothel's eyes.
"Very well then," Gothel said calmly, coldly. "I will let you know – all of you know – the deal I made with North."
The queen snuck a glance at him. North's lips were pressed together tightly, blue eyes staring unblinkingly at his other sister.
"I told him that if I cannot have Rapunzel for myself, I will forever curse the land, causing all the mortals to die. None of you will ever have believers."
A collective gasp sounded and she could see Hiccup whisper something in Merida's ear. The Huntress gave a distressed shake of her head and Hiccup shot her an exasperated look.
Before they could ponder on Gothel's ultimatum, the double doors burst open, admitting a haggard-looking Pitch.
"You," he said, snarling at Gothel. "You promised not to tell them of my involvement."
"You-" she shrieked, standing up from her throne. "-Promised me that you would keep Jack away from my daughter, but you failed and now look! I'm going to lose everything I ever had because YOU. BETRAYED. ME!"
"Hold on," Jack said, getting to his feet. "You've been working with her?"
"Surprised, aren't you?" Pitch said, grinning his sharp smile. "Surprised that I had had enough of you, of your whining and idiocy… How you cannot even rule without referring to me – I did you a favor, you were never made to be an Olympian anyway."
Thia cast a fearful gaze to her brother and to her dismay, she could see the dark shadows starting to gather around him. Jack's gaze was mutinous with betrayal, hands clenched to his side as wisps of dark smoke and flaking ice crept up his arms.
"You... did you have a hand in this war?"
"I had a hand in everything," the General replied. "The idea of kidnapping Rapunzel, Leuce's death, Rapunzel's leaving the Underworld, all of it I did to break you, and rightfully so."
His crazed gaze turned to Rapunzel, who was shaking with obvious fright.
"And you... sweet, naïve, trusting Goddess. You should've never taken my word, the word of Death." He snorted back a sardonic chuckle. "Believing that stupid soldier that I employed, willingly going through with Nyx's mixed up potions... are you even sure you are a capable Goddess?"
"Stop, Pitch, your fight is with me, leave her out of it."
"Oh, yes, I quite forgot," the General said, turning to his former master, smiling with mirth.
"Why did you do this? Was it because you thought I wasn't fit to be a ruler?" Jack's calm voice contrasted greatly with the slowly-growing wind, whipping around and causing Thia to clasp her shawl tighter around her shoulders.
"Because I think you're not fit to be the god of me."
Two things happened at once: Jack's transformation and Gothel's wrath.
Pitch found himself the target of two raging forces, shadows and growth, all hell bent at destroying him.
Thia could only watch helplessly as Jack's demi-Titan form, wrapped in shadows and chillingly-cold wind, advanced towards his general. Screams erupted as gods and creatures jostled back, pushing each other around so that they could stay away from the eye of the storm.
She snuck a glance at North and found him pale, lips drawn together in a tight line as he witnessed the besmirching of the sacred Winter Solstice meetings. Thia cast her gaze to Rapunzel, thinking that the younger goddess would help keep her beloved in line. But no such luck.
The Spring Goddess was staring in disbelief at the general, mouth popped open in surprise. Thia guessed that she was still trying to wrap her head around the new turn of events.
Well, that makes two of us, dearie, she thought.
A/N: Sorry for the truly late update. Life just got a bit crazy but I'm back now!
Hope you guys enjoy this and let me know what you think!