As the Olympians started filing into the council chambers, the sour mood that Zeus was radiating seemed to infect each one instantaneously. Smiles disappeared, shoulders slumped and sighs were audible. Even the giggling Aphrodite had caught onto the somber feeling as she stepped through the large doorway and she eyed the crowd, clearly out of the loop. Hephaestus' mood had already matched the situation, so it was no change for him as he walked in, and although he was without much information as well, he didn't seem to care. Glancing briefly to his wife, who tossed him a wink, the pair divided to the opposite sides of the circle and took their seats respectively. Athena eyed the area carefully, looking for their guest of honor who was nowhere to be seen.
Hera took in a deep breath as she watched everyone take their seats, attempting to ignore the mood Zeus was setting for everyone. The King was sitting in the throne deep in front, his eyebrows frozen in a sour look as he stared into the fire and thought on all the events that had taken place in such a short time. He let his thoughts wander over the years he had wasted, crumbled at Hera's side while those responsible for it went on living. He thought about how crippled Olympus had become and despite that, it was never attacked. He tried to rationalize who hadn't fallen to the sleep and why - why had they been chosen over others? His frown seemed to solidify on his face as he finally thought on the attack and he briefly doubted himself. Hera's words about diplomacy had struck him hard, as he quickly had come to realize what he thought was an offensive attack had primarily been defensive; they were protecting their investment. It was an insult nonetheless, not worthy of attacking his daughter, but in realizing this he had hoped things went well between Nyx and Rhea. When Hera's hand touched his forearm, he was pulled from his thoughts and he had come to realize everyone was staring at him. Hestia offered a small smile and when he nodded to her, she opened the doors for their mother.
Rhea was a brunette with long hair that was bundled up neatly in the back. She wore plain cotton robes as she found them comfortable with a scarf of sorts that wrapped around her neck and tumbled down the front of her robes to her feet. She was dressed very simply and plain, just as she liked it. As a titan, Rhea was naturally tall. She hovered several feet above the other gods, a threatening height if her children didn't know her so well for Rhea was an extremely loving and compassionate person with a calm demeanor. Though Hestia had come to know her wrath from early on, no one else had ever heard her yell or seen her be angry before. Often whenever she disapproved of her children's actions, she would frown and state how disappointed she was, which they considered worse. She always spoke with authority but a soft tone, a combination that both demanded you listen but without threatening your own autonomy. In her presence, the council felt younger, childish; they felt like children with their mother coming to check in on them. Poseidon curled his nose up as he recognized the feeling and disapproved, not one to answer to anyone. Hestia found it comforting and smiled up at her mother, who leaned forward and placed a kiss on her eldest daughter's forehead. As her smile widened, the hearth goddess moved around her mother and went to the doors, closing them behind her.
Rhea looked around the circle of gods, smiling at all of them though only a few smiled back. As she stepped forward towards the fire, preparing to sit on the ground, Hades realized they hadn't prepared a place for her and stood up immediately. Demeter pinched her lips together, momentarily feeling bad but quickly shot a glare to Poseidon who, in her opinion, should have done the same. The sea god shrugged slightly as Rhea thanked her eldest son and sat in his chair and Hades stood behind her. Zeus raised an eyebrow, at the scene before turning to Hestia as she closed and sealed the doors. He announced the meeting to session and looked directly to Rhea, whose smile suddenly waned.
"So," Aphrodite began awkwardly as she shifted in her seat, causing the tension to pull from the titan to herself. She smiled briefly, glancing between Zeus and a few others. "For those of us in the dark, what happened down there?" There was a bite in the words that meant she was offended not to know the current situation and while everyone absorbed it, almost no one reacted to it. Zeus took in a deep breath and nodded, sitting back in his chair as he clenched a fist. He was nearly about to describe the situation when he looked to Rhea once more and raised his eyebrows.
"I believe you would be able to tell them more accurately."
She pinched her lips together, a sadness overcoming her eyes at her son's annoyance with her. She nodded, taking the cue and looking briefly to Aphrodite before scanning the rest. Clearly she was attempting to find a place to begin.
"Around the times of the Roman Empire, I was a frequent visitor of my mother, Gaia. She would complain to me about how the mortals were used and abused by Olympus, unable to work out their own fates. They were punished for mediocre events, turned into plants or animals to be saved from rape or death and given horrible fates when granted a gift. You were cruel to them, like a child is with its toys and she pitied them. One of these times that I visited her, she told me her sister had come to her - Nyx - saying she had overheard out conversation. She agreed with Gaia and believed something needed to be done to quiet the interference. At first, they simply talked about intervening or threatening. But the longer their discussions went on, the more they became to believe the mortals would be better off without Olympus, without a sense of forced order and meticulous rules -"
"And you?" Ares interrupted, leaning forward as he clearly felt something suspicious in her words. He ignored the consequential glares. "Did you agree with them?"
"I did," Rhea admitted immediately, her eyes locking with Ares; there was a clear sadness in her tone, as she regretted doing so and thus began to amend her narrative. "You have to understand, after the wars with the giants -"
"Which she started!" Zeus suddenly roared with the intensity much greater than needed. Even Hera's eyes grew wide as she leaned away from her husband, staring at him incredulously. He was leaning forward with a clenched fist on the arm of the throne which had fallen down, slamming against it. He had been holding in his comments over Gaia for some time, but it was obvious he had been waiting for the right moment to bring it up - which this clearly was not, but he could not hold it in any longer.
"You misunderstood her intensions," Rhea calmly explained.
"Oh, I misunderstood war?" Zeus snapped back, causing Ares to grin.
"She needed to know the cycle was over," the Titan replied, again, with calmness. Before Zeus could interrupt her again, she put a hand up and delivered a soft glare in his direction. Though most anyone else would have been yelled at further, he kept his mouth shut and let her continue. "It was a curse of the reigning parents. She was forced to ask her son for help against her husband and it continued down to me. When you defeated your father, Gaia feared the cycle would never end. She needed to keep you from making a similar mistake with your children as well, to test your resolve and ability to lead. You won, and she never bothered you again."
"Barely," Demeter mumbled under her breath, causing the dark brown eyes of her mother to turn to her and she sat up a little straighter. "We barely won. That war almost destroyed us."
"But you won," Rhea replied with a smile. "As parents yourselves, I would think this concept would be not be so foreign anymore."
The comment caused unrest as the almost everyone shifted in their seats uncomfortably, knowing she was right but still unhappy with the idea. She nodded as the silence was her answer and continued on.
"As I was saying, after the war with the giants, Gaia withdrew herself from our world and simply let herself exist with the mortals. Most of us did. I chose to live amongst them and Nyx, as always, watched. We became really close with mortals and it was often difficult to see them used as they were. But in any sense, it became clear that we needed to remove all interference."
"How?" Hera added somewhat quieter than usual, but no one seemed to notice. "How did Hypnos have the power?"
Rhea suddenly frowned and for the first time, her eyes wandered off of anyone's face and to the ground. It was a question she hadn't wanted to answer but knew the question would inevitably come up. She leaned back into Hades' chair momentarily, her eyes staring at the fire as she thought about how to word it.
"As descendants of Gaia and myself, we have certain - liberties, I guess. It takes a lot of effort on our parts, but we were able to weaken you enough to be able to fall under his influence."
This time, Zeus glared at her; she could feel his blue eyes tearing into her and judging her every word, and while Rhea believed his anger was justified, she did not appreciate the looks. She shifted her shoulder slightly and lifted her jaw, trying to feel more comfortable despite her son's cold looks. Unfortunately for her, he wasn't the only one displeased with this new information. Poseidon was one of the few not offended by this news and, in fact, he grinned, suddenly enjoying everyone's displeasure. Hear bowed her head as a hand shielded her face from being seen, Demeter's nose twitched in annoyance, and Athena's frown was clearly visible from all angles of the room; though she had much to say, she preferred to hear the entire story before questioning her.
"So what changed?" Hephaestus asked, cutting the tension swiftly. His rough voice was rarely heard throughout council meetings and though it wasn't clear why he didn't speak up, the rest had simply grown accustomed to it. To hear him speak now diverted their attention from their rage to his general direction. He paused awkwardly, not realizing his question was too vague until Hera cleared her throat slightly, her usual indication of needing more. His eyebrows rose up slightly as he shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "Why the change of heart?"
"Well, Gaia believes the mortals have turned on her," Rhea replied quietly. "She claims they began to worship themselves and their crafts. The more they discover innovation, the more of the Earth they use in abundance. Though at first it seemed like change she was uncomfortable with, it became clearer that this path was damaging to their system and her health."
A glance between Demeter and Hera gave Rhea a pause as she looked to them; though not many in the room could recognize it, there was a wordless conversation between the three of them within a few seconds. Demeter and Hera believed Gaia to be exaggerating and refused to take the claim seriously. Their exchanges solidified each other's beliefs and when Rhea caught sight of it, she had interpreted it correctly. Her eyes narrowed briefly at the pair, jumping between them as she silently scolded them for disbelief. Though Hera challenged Rhea's disapproval, Demeter pulled her eyes from the conversation and many, such as Zeus, were left staring at the three wondering what had just happened.
"She panicked and stirred, trying to gain Nyx' attention. She wanted to awake you all, to remove the hold Hypnos had and let you destroy these new inventions that were draining her. Though I can't be sure, it seems Nyx went on to ignore her for centuries, letting the mortals draw on her and slowly destroy her spirit.
"Gaia has started awakening you herself when she couldn't find me," Rhea explained quietly at first, her thoughts wandering over to her own fate in the sleep and feeling empathy for everyone else in the room. "It seems to have taken a lot out of her, between that and what the mortals are doing to her, but she was able to work up enough energy to wake a few. Dionysus and Pan were first, though Dionysus was unable to hear her…" Rhea's voice trailed off as her eyes scanned over to the wine god who had been slumped in the chair and suddenly stiffened his back and averted his eyes. Hermes barely stifled a snicker, who received a glare from Hera but it didn't do much to quiet him down. "She said when Pan disappeared, she panicked. Not knowing where I or he were, she focused her attentions on all of you and though she succeeded, she hastened her deteriorating condition."
Rhea suddenly paused and frowned, her eyes falling to the ground as she seemed to be pulled back into the memory of her mother. Seeing her condition had not been pleasant, as it was disturbing in itself as well as a hint that immortality was not absolute. Even her husband survived in pieces at the bottom of Tartarus, something Rhea rarely discussed but she constantly knew. She had begun to avoid the Underworld or being anywhere near it, as she could hear him particularly clearly. But Gaia's condition was akin to ageing and death, as if she had caught some disease of the mortals and was crumbling slowly and painfully. If there had been anything Rhea could always count on in her many years, it was her mother; suddenly seeing the threat of that disappearing caused her expressive pain. Before she knew it, she felt Hades' hand on her shoulder and she gasped slightly, turning to look at him and offered a thanking smile. As she placed her hand on his, she turned back to the council who were all staring at her. Before she continued, Athena stirred and a few eyes pulled in her direction.
"As observers, did you not realize the mortals were no better off without us?" she questioned harshly, as if Rhea were testifying for her actions. Athena leaned forward, placing a hand on her knee and ignored the glares she was receiving from various older gods. "After the fall of the Rome, they were lost on all counts of religion. They had no one to turn to for answers for no one was there to give them any. Our disappearance incited mock religions to take hold, religions in which they prayed to vacant gods and fought bloody battles in the name of nothing. At least when they died in our names, there was a cause – a real reason to it all, but now you made their deaths more meaningless than life itself."
"Athena," Demeter hissed from across the circle, but no one else seemed to come to Rhea's aid. While the war goddess' tone was particularly harsh and her words were spit out like daggers, the information was correct and needed to be said. Because of this generalized feeling and Athena's need to rationalize everything, she ignored Demeter and even sat forward in her chair, staring the titan down.
"At what point did you not realize that they were creating pestilence in their own filth? Or that their systems of hierarchy were cruel and, in some places, much worse than any of us could have imagined? You made this arbitrary decision to remove us from the picture and rather than use the time to see how cruel the mortals were to themselves, you ignored the facts and let things worsen until lives were in danger. You selfishly stuck to your decision, whether or not you were proven wrong, and only when in desperate need of help did you think maybe – maybe you had made the wrong decision. So tell me this, grandmother, did any of you really think you were doing this for the mortals or for yourselves?"
When the question was delivered, the room was silently divided. Many of the younger gods agreed with her, like Ares who grinned maliciously at Rhea and Hermes who nodded, ready to stand up and shout in her favor; however the direct children of Rhea were conflicted. They felt the need to protect their mother from Athena's sharp tongue, but simultaneously agreed with her words. When the lingering eyes turned to Rhea, it was mildly uncomfortable how unaffected she looked by the speech until her mouth twisted into a small frown.
"You are right, my dear," she said quietly, nodding slowly and cleverly avoided the final question. "Unfortunately, I was given the same fate as all of you. I did not have the chance to see this evolution or see the error of my ways - though in reality I can't say I would have done anything about it. I think most everyone here can appreciate how difficult it is to admit your faults and change them, especially one so drastic."
The answer didn't satisfy Athena as evident by her pinched lips but as she opened her mouth to reply, Zeus raised his hand. Sighing her energy out, Athena leaned back in the chair to relax, but her eyes were still fierce with thoughts and unspoken points. Apollo, to her right, smirked at her as he could see her restless energy and she glared at him in return. Zeus placed his hand down on the arm of the chair, taking in a slow and deep breath to keep himself calm. There was much about this discussion that enraged him but in the presence of Rhea, he was much less likely to shout. Clenching his jaw together, he was giving himself time to sort out his thoughts before saying anything that would incite another argument.
"What is done is done," Zeus announced carefully, his voice emitting the power and authoritative energy while his jaw seemed clenched and strained. He was always an advocate for looking passed offenses and forgiving old crimes, but almost never when they were directed towards him. To forgive his mother for her part in this was a grand gesture, recognized everyone immediately, though Hera alone could see how much it strained him. "Our objective now is to deal with this instable situation. And war is not our goal." The blue eyes flashed over to Ares who was visibly disappointed.
"That may be harder than you think," Rhea sighed quietly. "Nyx refuses an audience with Gaia and says she will attack until things are returned to normal. Gaia, in turn, wants us to declare war on the mortals, hitting her sister where she is least able to defend. Neither side seeks peace."
"Nor is peace applicable at this point," Athena added, retorting quickly and fiercely to Rhea, as the goddess was still not satisfied in voicing her displeasure. She shifted her shoulder, sniffing her crumpled nose as the eyes turned on her. "Fighting both sides would cripple us greatly and clearly Nyx will not adhere to a neutral stance. Siding with her means our return to perpetual sleep while aiding Gaia means our return to a normal state and resetting mortal life. The only logical choice is Gaia."
"Logical?" Aphrodite asked as she sat forward, her mouth opening slightly as a horrified look came over her face. "There is nothing logical in murdering billions of lives or destroying years of history, knowledge and creativity. We would lose –"
"Expendable creatures," Athena interjected, her intensely focused eyes glaring at the love goddess. "The lives of mortals are insignificant in comparison to our own. Without us, they suffer. There is no contest here."
"Of course there is!" Aphrodite nearly shrieked, slamming her fist against the arm of her chair as she shifted towards the edge of it, on the verge of standing in passion of the argument. Ares seemed to join her at the edge, eyeing her as if she would lose her clothes any moment; the slight smirk on his face indicated his pure enjoyment of her debating his immortal enemy. "They suffer in your mind because it takes years for them to learn. Yes, they died in battles, yes, they've scarified to no one and yes they created their own diseases – but it was nothing different than when all of you were awake! Except … for maybe, they had no one to blame but themselves … but the point is that they pulled out of it! They learned from it and have a beautiful lifestyle and history that isn't some… some garbage to ignore!"
Artemis cleared her throat, the awkward tension of Aphrodite's emotions settling into the room. She was clearly not the best debater, let alone someone to stand against Athena, but the wavering in her voice and the tears forming in her eyes had caught many of them off guard. It was rare – if not obscene – that any god would cry in the name of mortals. Often it was the younger ones, the less experiences that shed emotions over those who perished within a blink of an eye. Despite everyone knowing Aphrodite was not the most emotionally stable goddess, she had never cried in a council meeting. The feeling was uncomfortable and it was drowning them.
"Perhaps a break would be prudent," Rhea quietly observed, her eyes lingering on the crying goddess.
"No," Athena harshly added, her eyes narrowing as her stubbornness suddenly flared up. "Better than anyone, you should know that love doesn't always mean doing the right thing. Just because she has grown attached to the mortals does not mean her opinion is worth anything more – it should, in fact, exclude her –"
"Athena," Hera groaned, already knowing this conversation was going sour.
"Emotions manipulate logic," Athena snapped quickly, barely turning to Hera to defend herself. "It gets in the way of making the correct decision."
"How dare you!" Aphrodite shrieked, standing to her feet to run at the war goddess but she found herself pulled back into her chair by Ares. She turned, glaring at him furiously and only enraged more when he grinned at her. "Let go!" she yelled at him, twisting her wrist, attempting to wiggle out of his grip, which only served to amuse him more. Hephaestus seemed to grunt something audibly across the room and Artemis glanced back to Athena, seeming to smirk at her slightly.
"Perhaps rushing to this decision is not the best approach," Hades added quietly from behind his chair, causing his mother to turn over her shoulder and look up at him with a slight smile.
"We also don't have the time to squabble about this," Poseidon added, raising the volume of his voice to be heard over Aphrodite and Ares' arguing. "We should be preparing for another attack."
"Attacking Olympus would not be wise," Athena seemingly mumbled, curling her nose up.
"We're not impenetrable," Hephaestus grunted, shaking his head as he stared at the ground. "Not to her."
"Ares, let her go," Hera sighed, still attempting to placate Aphrodite's stress. The war god shrugged it off as he let go of the goddess' wrists, causing her to spring up to her feet finally and point to Athena.
"Just because you don't know how to love anything doesn't mean you're always right!" Though her comment was a little late in the conversation (as she had been working on thinking something up), it caused a general pause in the murmuring of the meeting. Demeter put a hand up to her mouth, pressing her fingers against her lips to prevent from saying anything while everyone stared down the war goddess, awaiting for something from her. Ares laughed slightly and leaned back, the first to make a sound and though it didn't seem to take anyone's eyes off of Athena, it seemed to snap her into action. She stood up, something that Hera began to open her mouth to fix, but Zeus looked to her and she said nothing.
"The capacity to the love and the desire to love are two completely separate things," Athena started off, glaring down her opponent who showed no sign of weakness. "But there is no sense in arguing that. The matter at hand is whether or not to side with a goddess who wishes us to sleep eternally, or one that is dying at the hands of creatures we created. The purely selfish want to stay awake plays into my decision, of course, something you – no doubt – have no concept of. "
"I lost everyone!" Aphrodite yelled back at her, finding Athena's calm demeanor more frustrating than the topic at hand. Hephaestus said something that caught some attention, but either the love goddess didn't hear or ignored him. "Do you think I want that again? But destroying the mortals is not the answer!"
"Then what is, Aphrodite?" Athena snarled, stepping forward closer to the goddess, causing Hera to sit at the edge of her seat. "Please – enlighten us on what other options we have here."
"I don't know!" she shouted as she closed her eyes, putting her hands on either side of her face to attempt to calm herself or think clearly. "But there has to be!"
"Another option does seem more appropriate," Apollo suddenly interrupted, glancing over the faces and promptly ignoring Athena who spun around to glare at him. Artemis blinked, looking to him with a look of shock over her face.
"Which would be what, exactly? We can't afford to let them destroy Gaia," his twin criticized loudly.
"Who said they were able to destroy her?" Hermes added, his face contorted as he was visibly confused. "She's hurt, yes, drained, yeah. But that could be from forcing us to sleep and wake. I mean, she's immortal, right?"
"We didn't think we could be forced to sleep, either," Demeter mumbled audibly.
"Let's just destroy them," Ares groaned as he lifted his head to the ceiling. "We can create more later."
"NO!" Aphrodite exclaimed and turned to him, slapping his leg, which caused him to stand up. Ares, who was suddenly enraged, caused the council room to break out into an argument. He stood up to start arguing with Aphrodite, getting close to her face and causing her to push him back. Athena and Artemis were ganging up on Apollo, arguing with him over their options versus the prophecy. Dionysus groaned as he leaned back in the chair, holding a hand over his ear as he complained about the noise. Hera stood up to break up the argument between Ares and Aphrodite, but Zeus held her back, which caused a separate fight between them. Poseidon laughed as he caught their argument and, much to Zeus' annoyance, stood up and separated the love and war gods. Hestia had moved back, closer to the mother, since the arguing had made her uncomfortable. Placing a hand on her daughter's shoulder, Rhea looked to Hades and started mumbling about the situation. Hermes and Demeter were calmly debating the concept of Gaia dying at the mortals' hands.
"Look at your council!" Hera howled at Zeus, throwing her arm out to show him the disaster the arguments had created. She was standing over him while he still sat, glaring up at her but not fully engaged in the argument. "This has turned into a charade and you're doing nothing!"
"This needs to come out one way or another," he calmly sat, barely looking around at the arguing room.
"So you let it happen here?" she asked, her eyes widening in horror. "Be the leader you're supposed to be and stop this nonsense!"
"ALL RIGHT!" Zeus yelled suddenly as he stood to his feet, now towering over his wife as he stared down at her. His voice had carried into the ceiling and the walls around the room, causing them to shiver from the thunderous sound. The noise and reverberation of his voice caused everyone to stop immediately, many turning to him and others just simply stopping in their place. A shiver went down Hera's spine from the vibration and she closed her eyes, trying to ignore the memories that his voice created for her at times. "Sit down!" he snapped to his right, glaring at the cluster of gods who had rose from their seats in the midst of the arguing. Hera was the first to take her place and quickly, while everyone else sat down at nearly the same time. Ares frowned when Aphrodite sent a final glare his way, knowing this argument would carry over into the bedroom at some point – something he often hated and tried to avoid. Zeus, however, remained standing as he glared across each face in the room, waiting for one of them to dare try and speak up or against him. When he looked to Hera, she was one of the few who didn't break the eye contact and he narrowed his eyes slightly, biting back at urge to yell at her in front of everyone.
"We side with Gaia," he announced, still angry and glared over to Aphrodite as he awaited her plea. She did nothing except make a small sound, a whimper as she tried to choke back a cry. Turning his eyes to Rhea, he nodded to her and turned his back on the council room, mumbling the meeting was over in order for the seal of the room to be broken. Ares tried to take Aphrodite's hand, but she pulled it away from him and stormed out of the room, quickly followed by the blacksmith god. Ares growled, muttering under his breath as he kicked the leg of her chair before leaving. Demeter sighed, leaning forward as she placed her hands in her face. Rhea pushed herself up from the chair, frowning slightly at the outcome of the meeting. Hades turned to leave but she reached out, touching his shoulder to cause him to turn back and look up at her.
"I'm sorry," she whispered to him. "I know how .. upset you were –"
"It's done," he cut her off quietly, turning his eyes away from her briefly before walking away. By the time she turned around to look back into the chambers, everyone but Hestia had left. The fire in the center was crackling as the mother and daughter looked at each other. Smiling, Rhea brushed a hair out of her daughter's eyes.
"Why not me?" Hestia asked quietly, almost enough to be covered by the crackling of the fire. Rhea's eyebrows furrowed for a moment as she tried to piece together the missing words in her question; when the smile washed over her lips, she realized what she was asking.
"Oh darling," she replied with equal softness in her voice, placing her hand on her shoulder. She paused, thinking back to the decisions that went into their planning, just exactly who to keep awake and who not to – then her smile widened. "You were too powerful for us. "
