Author's Note: I know this story has overall been dramatic, only with flares of comedy so it probably stands to reason I don't need to tell you things are getting serious. :) I hope you enjoy this chapter – it was certainly an interesting one to write. :)

The trip up from the mortal world had been terribly silent between Eros and Ares. Though the two still shared a more kindred relationship than most immortals, Eros' close affiliation with his mother had left the two barely knowledgeable of the other. Ares was, to say the least, not pleased with a son of love who shot arrows out of compassion rather than rage and Eros, never having had any interest in fighting, felt no need for a paternal relationship. He kept calling him father by Ares' demands, but their sole uniting factor had and would always be Aphrodite. Upon reaching Olympus, Ares had finally stopped leading the way and turned to her son, reaching his bloodied arm out.

"Well, lead the way," he grumbled, as if annoyed by having led the charge up here to begin with. Eros skeptically eyed his father before stepping forward, looking around the palace and scratching the back of his neck.

"Well I don't know where she is now," he confessed as he looked back to his father who grunted and stormed passed him, muttering something under his breath. Eros' nose turned up, giving himself a second to pause and calm himself down before taking off into the air to follow his disgustingly decorated father.

The pair wandered the halls at first, taking the direct route to her room only to come up empty. Begrudgingly Ares had checked Hephaestus' room, but only after searching his own, of course. When it became noticeable that everyone's rooms were empty, the next step was to check where only everyone would be at the same time: the council chambers. Marching down the grandiose hall, the walls began to echo the words from the large room and it was clear they were heading in the right direction. The first clearest voice was the subject in question, Aphrodite, groaning in an unpleasant manner.

"Why can't you feel this?" she complained loudly, striking a hand against her chest as she leaned against Hephaestus for support. Upon entering the room, though said pair were what Ares locked eyes on, Eros saw a much more complicated scene: Zeus and Hera seemed to be standing alone against those that wanted the extinction stopped. Those that supported it were already on the Earth, following his orders and he was left to defend himself. Hera was weary, not standing as strong as she usually did, but instead kept her eyes locked on Aphrodite skeptically.

Ares, staring at the married couple, noticed Aphrodite's pain was written all over her face and body, though she looked still inherently beautiful even under such stress. Her eyes were beat red and glittering by the tears that flooded them, her cheeks a tinted red and the stains of old tears still shining through. She seemed more pale than usual and her limbs were weak, seeing as she couldn't stand long enough without the aid of her husband.

It was unclear how long this had been going on, but evidently long enough to gather a crowd. Dionysus and his daughter were standing by with Apollo at their side. Hermes was standing near Hestia who was trying to seem busy at the fire, while Psyche stood off to the side, the front of an accumulating crowd from the outside of the palace walls. She and Eros briefly exchanged smiles.

"My decision stands and you would do well to accept that," Zeus coldly stated, glaring at Aphrodite as he was growing more annoyed with her theatrics. She used Hephaestus, pushing off of him to stand up and he kept his hands out for a lingering few seconds, making sure she was steady. She took a bold step forward, which looked to take a lot more effort from her than usual and had to choke back a sob while she pounded her chest plate, causing it to turn bright red.

"This isn't just about them! I can feel everything!" she tried to explain but her words had never been articulate. She had often let her emotions flood her and hoped that would explain everything, but when it failed such as this, she was lost. All she knew was that since the attacks, she had felt a searing pain all throughout her body and was alone in this phenomenon. "They're dying and losing love in everything they had! I can't take this –"

"They should have thought of that!" Zeus roared, stepping forward to physically challenge the goddess but Hera stepped forward. She put a hand on his arm, scolding him silently and though he growled, he made no further aggressive moves. "I will not explain myself to you, Aphrodite. Their hubris is to be punished!"

Stricken with panic, stress and excessive pain, Aphrodite closed her eyes, brought her hands up to the sides of her face and shrieked as loud as her voice would let her. It did not have the same authority Zeus' did when he bellowed nor the roar that Ares had when he ran into battle, but it was ear-splitting and painful to hear, both at the sound but also the pain behind it. Eros flinched, feeling an excess of her pain with her and had to bite back saying anything to interrupt this argument. Hephaestus stepped forward, wrapping his arms around her and she briefly fought him but was out of strength. She simply leaned away from him, using his arms as a brace as she kept screaming until Zeus roared over her, shaking the palace with the thunder from above. She was overpowered vocally and finally stopped, collapsing in Hephaestus' arms and he kneeled down to show her pained state as the sobs came pouring out of her.

"Zeus!" Hera chided loudly and rushed forward to attend her, the only immortal in the room daring enough further challenge him at this point. Even Apollo had hesitated to help her, not wanting to incur Zeus' wrath for caving into what he perceived was a spectacle. Hera put her hands out on either side of Aphrodite's face, feeling the flush through her and briefly made eye contact with her son who held the goddess, who was slightly panicked.

"Don't feed this pathetic drama!" he ordered, meaning every word to be followed. When she looked over her shoulder, glaring at him and refused to respond, he let out a terrible roar that was accompanied by the sky. Hestia cowered behind Hermes and even Eros stepped behind his father. The thunder god reached out and grabbed his wife by the arm, pulling her from the fallen goddess and to her feet. Hera turned, unable to fight him off physically but still reached her free hand out to slap him across the face. Stunned, he released her on instinct and paused, his face washed of anger for a split second before turning to rage once again.

"Do you not see what's going on here? Can't you HEAR her?" Hera bellowed in her loudest possible voice and though anyone else might feel fear if directed at them, it was no match for Zeus'.

"Emotional!" he shouted, his arms throwing up into the air. "Ridiculous! Sensitive! You have always chided Aphrodite for these things and NOW you believe her?"

"She's in pain!" Hera shrieked in response as she lingered close to him, looking up but somehow still appearing powerful. "What don't you understand about that?"

"SHE'S EXAGGERATING!" he bellowed no different from before, but something behind his tone was different. As if he were standing on the edge of something, ready to jump should he dare and either Hera was there to jump with him, or push him over.

"AND WHAT IF YOU'RE WRONG?" she retaliated and, surprisingly, the sky backed her up. There was a thunderous roar that accompanied her this time and the pair were too focus on their own rage to hear it, the rest of the room did. She put her hands up by her face, her palms spread wide as she was clearly trying hard to maintain herself but failing.

"I'm not wrong!" Zeus snapped in his words and physically. He was done being questioned and done explaining himself to a group that had been too cowardly to make the decision themselves earlier. As if there were a switch to his capacity to think clearly, he reached a hand out, grabbing her wrist and pulled her in closer to him at first, but it was only to wind up and shove her away from him. The force was powerful and she stumbled backwards considerably, nearing Apollo who put his arms out to catch her. Without thinking, Zeus growled and stepped forward to attack, but he was assaulted from the side by a fist slamming into his jaw.

"Don't touch her!" Ares shouted with a surprising force when up against the roar of thunder and lightning. Eros gasped, stepping forward as if he stop his father but it was too late. The rest of the room knew what happened before Zeus did and they stared, mouths open and eyes wide as they could only imagine the next step from here. Hera pushed herself up from Apollo's grasp and started after them to stop this before it got worse, but the sun god quickly grabbed her and held her back.

"Let me go! Ares!" Hera screamed as she slapped at Apollo's arms, but his grasp held firm. Even if she had managed to butt into the fight, she would have only been collateral damage. The second Zeus' eyes landed on his bloodied son and he connected what happened, there was little anyone could do.

Zeus shouted fiercely as he ran forward, his arm extended out to close-line Ares in the neck, but the war god was fast. He ducked down and curled his hand into a fist, slamming it into the thunder god's side as he continued by through the momentum. Though it had been a sharp move, it didn't actually affect Zeus much and merely gave him a locale of his target so that he could slam his elbow downward without even glancing back. Ares was slammed forward as Zeus' elbow locked with the back of his head and he was momentarily blinded due to the force. He fell to his knee, his hands hit the ground to steady himself. Unfortunately he had paused long enough for Zeus to turn around and summon a lightning bolt, to which Hera screamed in horror. Aphrodite moaned and reached a hand forward, but she was too weak to do much of anything let alone break away from Hephaestus.

Scowling, Zeus only hesitated a second before releasing the bolt to his son's back. The sound of the crash filled the room and the blinding light caused most to turn their heads away. Zeus shielded his eyes with his forearm, trying to squint through the light from underneath but by the time he realized what happened, it was too late; Ares had rolled to his side fast enough to avoid the attack and had swung a leg around to kick at his father who was much larger and difficult to get off his feet. He slammed his shin into Zeus' knee, causing it to buckle and Ares locked his leg around it to help pull him to the ground. Momentarily caught off guard, the thunder god's knee slammed into the ground but he otherwise remained steady. Using the momentum of falling to the ground, he pointed a fist towards Ares' face and let them connect as he hit the ground. Ares grunted as the fist connected with the lower half of his jaw and he flinched, readjusting his jaw in the process. Zeus raised his hand again to continually punch the war god, but Ares raised his arm and let his forearm take the brunt of the attack. Zeus growled and grabbed Ares' wrist, pulling both of them up and lifting Ares off his feet.

The god, who was not accustomed to being manhandled as such, momentarily froze as he looked down to the ground and in those few seconds, he was slammed into a wall. He nearly let out a loud grunt as his back went numb, but he closed his eyes, clenched his jaw and tried to cancel out the pain. He was pulled away from the wall and slammed into it again like he weighed nothing, and his jaw remained shut. Fighting off giving Zeus any satisfaction, Ares kept utterly silent as he was thrust back and forth against the wall by the large god. There was a sudden pause as Zeus heard a strange sound come from Ares and he halted, breathing heavily at first and staring down his bloodied son; the war god coughed up, nearly spitting out blood onto Zeus before his lips curled up and he started laughing. It was low and slow at first, like he was trying to gain his breath in order to get momentum, but as Zeus was staring down the laughing god, he grew louder and louder. Snarling, the thunder god pulled Ares back and slammed him into the wall once again but it didn't stop it. He paused as the wind was knocked out of him but a he breathed in, he chuckled again. His ears were ringing as his body was rejecting the pain and all that was left of him was his guttural amusement until he was suddenly dropped to the ground. Grunting as his body fell like a limp corpse, he took in a short, sharp breath to let out a final, last snicker.

"What are you doing?" the sharp, controlled voice rang loud and clear and despite his terrible pain, Ares grinned when he realized Athena had come to his aid. She put her hands on her father's chest and pushed him away – although her own force didn't do much, he obliged her attempt and took a few steps back.

"He –"

"Nevermind," Athena snapped, looking down at the sight of Ares and back to her father. "It's all worthless now unless you listen – some of the Olympians are tied to the mortals. Their fates are intertwined and if you kill off all the mortals, you kill off the gods."

"…What?" Zeus replied in a daze, as if the fighting had rendered him incapable of functioning in reality. His eyebrows furrowed as he tried to connect the dots but he shook his head, unable to accept the principle. When the immediate danger seemed to pass, Apollo released Hera and she rushed to Ares, panicked at the sight of him even if most of the blood on him was not his. She pressed a hand on his forehead and leaned forward, kissing it as she whispered to him, "You're such an idiot."

"You're welcome," Ares replied with a laugh, spitting up his own blood onto the floor on his left.

"It's the Moirae," Hades explained as he stepped forward, accompanying Athena's attempt to placate the situation. "They're dying without mortals and the same will happen to us. Is happening to us," he emphasized as he pointed to Aphrodite and then those surrounding. Dionysus was holding Khloé up, though he was not looking particularly well either and Psyche had fallen and was attempting to stand with Eros at her side.

"Impossible," Zeus stated as if still in his daze, half squinting and half glaring at those around him.

"Listen to me – Zeus – Father," Athena reached out to place her hands on his face, trying to gain his attention for his eyes were wandering all over the place. She frowned as it was a slight struggle to pull his attention to her but when their eyes locked, he stopped fighting it. "This isn't about being right anymore. This is about saving your family."

"No," he growled as he pulled away from Athena. "This is about punishing the mortals and Nyx for their crimes."

"I don't see Nyx or her family being punished here," Athena snapped, trying to keep her words delicate after seeing the damage to Ares, but for once, time was not in abundance for them and it was wearing on her. "I see you destroying your son and everyone else dying around you!"

"Zeus," Hades interrupted, his demeanor surprisingly calmer than Athena as he motioned for his brother to follow him into the hallway. Silently, the thunder god did so and the pair left the rest of the room rather stunned. When they were far enough away from the doorway for privacy, Hades turned around to face his youngest brother. "What were you thinking?"

"I wasn't," Zeus grumbled, rather easily opening up to Hades. "They were all questioning me and I felt it boiling up. Hera's was too but when she turned on me, I snapped. Then Ares stepped in –"

"You've got to control this," Hades chided quietly, being remarkably careful with his tone but strict nonetheless.

"I was," the thunder god pressed, groaning as he put an elbow on the wall and set his forehead in his hand.

"That didn't look controlled to me," his brother replied a bit louder this time, trying to press the point home. Zeus repositioned himself, sighing as he started to retort but Hades shook his head and started first. "Look, I know you need to keep face and Ares can be insufferable. But mother tolerated Cronus until he turned his curse onto his kids, the same as Ouranus. A loving mother is not denied –"

"Don't quote it, damnit," Zeus growled, his hand curling into a fist and he recoiled it, nearly punching the wall. He took in a deep breath to calm himself down and lowered his arm, sniffing the air and grunting.

"Well you just gave Hera the perfect excuse to turn on you," Hades blatantly replied and it caught Zeus' attention. He seemed frozen for a moment by the words, letting the reality of the past few minutes sink in and slowly, he nodded. "She has it too, nearly as bad as you. But she loves you – somehow – and you've been riding that out for far too long. So calm yourself, think about what's going on and turn this blind rage on your enemies, not your family."

Zeus closed his eyes as he took in a breath, nearly looking to be meditating. After a few silent seconds, he let go of his breath and his shoulder relaxed, having reached more calm and collected state. When he opened his eyes, he reached his arm out and pat Hades' shoulder, giving him a smile of thanks that he would never word. Hades nodded in reply and they both turned back to the council room, entering it to see very little had changed except that Apollo was attempting to care for Ares and Aphrodite simultaneously while Hestia hovered over Ares.

"Hestia," Zeus called out as he walked in her direction and she looked up at him, her eyes widening in a slight panic. She shifted, moving closer to Hera who refused to look at Zeus and simply kept her eyes on Ares. "Stoke the flames. Home is hope and comfort. We need to let every Olympian know that this isn't happening again and we need their strength."

The shy goddess flashed a smile and nodded to her brother, only briefly glancing to Hades before turning her palms to the sky and facing the hearth in the center of the room. As she raised her hands up, the flames roared with intensity and immediately heated the room. She closed her eyes, breathing slowly as she focused her attention on the flames elsewhere, all throughout the mountain kingdom and each one, like an obedient follower, grew and roared back.

"Hephaestus, take Aphrodite to Hestia. She will watch her," Zeus commanded and the smith god immediately obliged, lifting the groaning goddess easily into his arms and heading over to glowing flames.

"Hermes, call off the assault," Zeus ordered but as the messenger turned, Athena outstretched her hand.

"Wait," she injected to him and turned to her father. "Poseidon won't back off, I've already spoken with him. And I don't believe Gaia will either."

"No, she didn't agree with it to begin with," Hermes added with a nod.

"Gaia?" Zeus questioned with a hint of annoyance, his eyes flashing between the two, wondering why he had only heard of this now. Hermes gave an apologetic smile and the thunder god sighed. "All right. Apollo, go to your sister and the two of you find Demeter. We need her strength against Gaia."

Apollo stood to his feet and nodded curtly, a small smile appearing on his face as he was overwhelmed with the turnaround – as well as knowing he would be the one to tell his sister she was wrong. Exchanging glances with Athena, the war goddess barely flinched when his grin widened at her and though he knew it was inappropriate, he mouthed the words 'told you' before turning around and heading out. Athena sniffed, her nose briefly twitching. Zeus didn't see the exchange and turned to Ares, who was now sitting up on the ground with Hera behind him.

"Ares," he started and for the first time since the fight, Hera locked eyes with her husband. The war god noted the look and turned, patting his mother's hand that was firmly on his shoulder before he began to stand. No easy feat, the room was silent as Ares bit back any groans and complaints from the pain, which were tolerable after Apollo's touch. Adjusting his shoulders, he lifted his jaw as if ready for action immediately. He didn't hesitate to lock eyes with his father who, clenching his jaw, paused to collect himself. "Pull any immortals from the mortal civil wars."

Ares nodded at first but slowly he started to grin and as Zeus took in a deep breath, his son put out an empty hand. Zeus merely blinked at first, his eyes jumping between his son's smirk despite his loss and the offered hand, wondering where the trick was hiding. After a few silent seconds, Zeus out stretched his hand and the two connected, shaking firmly and the gods nodded to each other.

"Meet us in –" Zeus started but glanced to Athena for aid.

"In the Mediterranean sea," she affirmed Poseidon's location with a nod.

"I'm sure you'll know where," he added and Ares chuckled before turning and heading off.

"The rest of you," Zeus ordered as his eyes scanned those still around, his bright blue eyes even landing on Hera for a brief moment. "Come with me."