It was Aphrodite who finally came up with the idea of using a woman to stop humanity's rise. Though suspicion of her had mostly vanished, Aphrodite still constantly felt on thin ice. But this plan would show them she was a deity to be feared.

After all, love was her territory and Aphrodite knew more than anything how devastating it could truly be.

For once, the gods voted unanimously, and they began to work on the being that would serve as a tool to punish Prometheus' creations. All that mattered was the being stay a secret until it was time for her reveal.

Of course, they greatly underestimated the girl's curiosity and what it would drive her to do.

The first time Hestia met the girl was during one of her visits to the mortal realm. The instant she spotted the girl, Hestia was immediately hit with the strangest sense of Deja vu.

The girl cocked her head at Hestia. Hestia turned and smiled at the girl.

"Hi," Hestia told her. "I'm Hestia, who are you?"

The girl looked back. "I don't know. I'm supposed to be a gift... I think. I'm still figuring it out. I'm supposed to get a name when I'm finally ready."

The girl let out a loud annoyed huff. "I don't know when I'll ever really be ready though. They never let me know if I'm ready. Is anyone ever ready?"

"Do you want a name?"

The girl looked like that answer should be obvious.

"Of course, I want a name. I'm not sure why I have to be 'girl' all the time. They never tell me. Do you have any idea what name I should get?"

The girl cocked her head.

Hestia took in the girl. She wore a simple white chiton and had tight curls ringing her face. There was something familiar about her… but nothing that Hestia could see gave any reason for her to remain unnamed. In fact, there was a name right—

"How about Pandora? It means all-gift." Hestia offered the name written in Hermes' hand writing floating over her head. Hestia assumed he'd been the one to choose it, though why he hadn't already given it was rather confusing. It solidified and vanished after Hestia offered it.

Pandora nodded. "That sounds right. It even feels right. How did you figure it out so fast? Are you a goddess? Why are you in the mortal world? I thought only mortals live here... Do you have a mission? Apparently only gods with missions are allowed down here."

Hestia blinked. "I am a goddess." she told the girl. "I'm Hestia, goddess of the Hearth and Home. I'm on a bit of a… break." That was the simplest way of explaining it.

"What's a hearth?" Pandora asked.

Hestia explained as best she could. There was a very familiar quality to the girl.

Her eyes widened at the description.

"What's a fire? Could you show me it? I heard it's too hot to touch, is that true? I've never been allowed near any before."

Hestia laughed and summoned a small globe of fire for the girl to inspect.

"Where does it come from?"

Pandora inspected it, though her fingers stayed far away, wide-eyed as Hestia explained that all fire stemmed from the Flame of Olympus.

Pandora was a very good listener. She spent a few minutes, her face scrunched in thought after Hestia finished.

"Why does it feel familiar?" Pandora finally asked.

Hestia blinked and finally understood why the girl felt so familiar. Inside the girl's soul Hestia could sense the presence of the Flame.

"I think it's because you come from the Flame yourself," Hestia answered softly.

"Do I? How does someone come from fire? It does sound familiar, but Hephaestus said he created me from mud."

Pandora's face fell.

"That's not very attractive, is it? Aphrodite says I shouldn't mention it," Pandora wrinkled her nose. "But it could be worse. Apparently, I'm a human. Do you know what a human is?"

Hestia laughed and nodded. "They're some of the most amazing beings on this planet. They care for each other and are amazingly intelligent. Prometheus created them."

"Whose Prometheus?" Pandora suddenly looked sheepish. "Also, I'm sorry if I'm bothering you with so many questions. Athena told me being curious is a good thing, but too much is dangerous. I'm never sure what they mean by that…"

Hestia was certain now. The spark of intellect and curiosity in the girl's eyes were the same spark as the one she'd seen in the Flame's eyes. This girl somehow housed the Flame.

"It's no bother," Hestia told the young girl. "I'm happy to answer any and every question you have."

Pandora smiled widely and bounced on her feet.

"Where do you want to start?" Hestia asked.

A few hours later the two beings found themselves sitting on the side of a grassy hill watching the sunset which Hestia explained as best as she understood it.

Pandora was overflowing with questions and ever so alive. In that moment, it was undeniable. Everything they'd gone through to free the Flame had been worth it. Hestia just wished she could tell Prometheus that. She hoped he at least had been able to foresee this.

Zeus found them hours later. He appeared in a flash. His beard and hair curling wildly in the wind that he'd conjured. Hestia had forgotten all about her brother's penchant for dramatic entrances.

Pandora paled at his sudden appearance. Hestia's brother had that effect on those around him. It came with being the King of the Heavens.

"Young girl," his commanding voice boomed. "What have I said about wandering off before you're ready. The world below is a dangerous place. You could get into trouble and have no one to help you out. Particularly if you refuse to let anyone know where you're planning on heading."

Pandora glanced fearfully up at him. She also wore an expression of abject confusion and guilt. Hestia put her arm around the young girl, comfortingly.

"But I wasn't alone," Pandora asked. "I had Aunt Hestia to protect me. Why didn't you ever introduce me to her before? I didn't know that there was a goddess down here! Other than Auntie Demeter of course and Uncle Hermes sometimes too."

Hestia felt a burst of nostalgia. Those came sooner rather than later these days. She missed her family.

She took in Zeus. Even as his eyes flashed, Hestia could tell her brother looked far more worn down than she'd remembered. Was he having trouble with Hera again? Were the rest of her family doing alright as well? Hestia missed the days when she saw her family daily, drama and all.

Zeus' eyes widened for an instant when he spotted her. Hestia was sure she could read guilt in them. And concern. Hestia couldn't tell if it was for her or one of his many plans. Kingship had not been gentle on him. Still, it had been worse on their father.

"We'll discuss this back on Olympus," Zeus growled. Pandora vanished in a flash.

For the first time, Hestia was suddenly alone with her brother. The two gods stared at each other for a moment.

"It's been a long time, sister," Zeus broke the silence. "How have you been?"

Hestia did her best to smile. "I've been alright. This break has been just what I needed."

She struggled to read her brother's face. Was he upset? Hestia longed to ask him about how he was. How her siblings were. But, as much as she happy to get a chance to reconnect with her family, she still owed the young girl she'd just met so much. "Pandora, will she be alright?"

Zeus scowled. "Other than being named earlier than planned, she will be fine. It is fortunate you chose to give her the same name Hermes had picked out for her."

He spoke curtly and coldly as he had at the trial. Hestia felt the overwhelming urge to back down, but she owed it to Prometheus that this girl would not suffer his fate.

"Fine like happy and safe, or fine like Prometheus?" It came out far more accusatory than Hestia had planned.

Zeus' eyes flashed. "We have no intentions of bringing any trouble to her other than that she stumbles into naturally herself. You might have noticed how easily controlled she is by her curiosity. That will cause her more harm than any plan we might have should she fail to control it."

Hestia swallowed and nodded. "I…"

"I see that your self-imposed exile has not given you clarity," Zeus sighed. "I had hoped giving you space would clear your mind."

His expression looked disappointed. Hestia felt guilt roil through her.

"But since you brought him up, I suppose it's about time we have a talk about your dear Prometheus and the consequences of your actions."

"We just thought-"

Zeus let out a huff.

"Do you even remember what the Flame does?"

Of course, Hestia did. Zeus had reminded her multiple times. The Flame was the source of Olympus powers. Or at least their ruling might. By possessing her, they'd gained the strength to win the war. This was the excuse Zeus had given Hestia to keep a tighter and tighter watch over the Flame. To take away more and more of the Flame's freedoms.

Still, as Zeus' eyes pierced into her, Hestia couldn't help but feel ignorant.

"It strengthens us," Zeus reminded her. "It keeps us in charge. If it were to fall in the wrong hands, we would be completely destroyed."

Hestia had thought about that. She'd stayed up late debating the consequences of their actions with Prometheus. They'd both agreed it was a risk, but both agreed it was far worse to keep the Flame trapped forever. Particularly when she so clearly belonged with humanity. Besides, by the end of it, Prometheus had been convinced that this exchange would actually have the opposite effect.

"But we haven't been," Hestia insisted. This was the part that hurt her the most. The silent whisper in the back of her mind that spoke with her father's voice. Blaming her for his fall.

Her brother's face calmed.

"No, we have not," he mused. "At least not in that sense."

He stared at her for a moment before turning towards the last bits of Helios still visible as he landed for the night.

"Do you know why I told him no the first time? Oh yes, he asked me first." Zeus continued regarding Hestia coldly. "He argued that we could gain power from the mortal's worship. He was quite convincing. So, I agreed to a trial run. I granted humanity a little bit of fire."

Zeus glanced off into the distance. "It was supposed to be simple. Just a sacrifice. I was given two options. One, a luxurious sacrifice covered in glistening fat," Zeus' eyes gleamed. "And the other, a loathsome stomach. I chose the obviously more appealing option. Only when I opened it to eat from it, it turned out to be merely bones. And the stomach, it turned, was filled with delicious meat.

"I tried to demand the other option, but it turned out that my choice had set a precedent. From henceforth the sacrifice I chose would serve as the proper sacrifice demanded of mortals forevermore. The Flame does not just give us power, it binds us. If it could bind us to a simple sacrifice, mortals could also bind us to how they think we are."

Hestia shivered. She could see how her brother feared that. And yet she couldn't bring herself to regret helping Prometheus. They'd both known there were going to be consequences.

"As such, I gathered up all last elements of the Flame I'd taken from Olympus and returned her at once. I made all participants swear an oath to secrecy." Zeus' eyes turned sorrowful. "I had hoped that would have been enough. Prometheus had promised he would drop it and I thought he had. But just in case I put extra protections. Extra alarms."

Hestia remembered the alarms. She remembered the trial. Hestia shivered.

"And so, you punished him for it."

Zeus nodded. "He disobeyed direct orders. He earned his punishment. You…" Zeus swallowed. "You didn't. I can hardly blame you for being tricked when I, myself, fell for those same tricks. If anything, I am the one to be blamed, for not warning you."

Zeus just looked tired.

"I am sorry," Hestia apologized. "I did what seemed right at the time. I hope I didn't cause too much trouble. I never meant for this to get so blown out of proportion."

"It hardly matters now," Zeus sighed. "It would have been a far better if you had given me a chance to explain. All your attempts to protect Prometheus just left me far more of a mess to clean up."

A beat passed.

"I'd always assumed you were my most dependable sibling. The one who'd give me the least issues, but the headache I got when you vanished…"

"I'm sorry," Hestia felt guilt twisting her insides. "I had been trying to maintain the peace. I was hurt and I wanted to find a safe place where I wouldn't hurt anyone. "

"In doing so you further aided a fugitive and left chaos that I spent ages cleaning up-" Zeus snatched a breath. "At this point it doesn't matter. It's a storm that's already blown through."

He waved away a few clouds that had started to gather overhead.

"Besides I can't even say that the rest of your siblings haven't given me far more consistent headaches. At the end of the day, we're still your family. We'll let this go. You can come back. But if you do, just, for the love of Olympus, make sure to leave leadership decisions to me

"Of course," Hestia swallowed. "I will need time to think this through."

Returning. The way that this conversation had been going, Hestia had expected her self-imposed banishment to have become permanent. But she still had a place. Her spot was still waiting for her.

"That I can grant," Zeus nodded. "I hope to see you back in your normal place soon. Though when you return, I have a few things to go over with you."

He vanished in a flash, leaving Hestia alone with her thoughts. Even knowing everything, it was hard to feel bad about her decision after seeing Pandora. After all, the Flame clearly belonged, and Hestia had the sense that power ought to always come with a cost.

Hestia didn't see Pandora again for another few- was it years? Time was difficult to notice as an immortal. Even one visiting the mortal realm. She found Pandora now a fully grown woman on one her routine visits to Epimetheus. For some reason, the glow of the Flame that had used to surround her, seemed to surround as if curious about some new life growing in her stomach. Hestia guessed Pandora was about seven months pregnant.

Prometheus had asked her to look after his brother should anything happen to him. He'd asked her long before they'd even gotten close to the plan. Epimetheus, in turn, had been asked (and more than happy to) adopt young Deucalion, Prometheus' semidivine son. The child was about seven now, Hestia thought. He had gained a recent fascination with frogs. She'd known Epimetheus had gotten married too (Deucalion kept talking about his new Aunt) but for some reason she'd never met his new wife.

The first time attempts to meet her, Hypnos, Nyx's little boy, had apologized profusely for accidently making her sleep through the wedding when he'd sneezed. Then another time, Hestia was supposed to meet them for a picnic only instead of them, she'd bumped into Demeter who dragged her off to hang out with Kore who was skilled with growing plants that Hestia admired. Kore also seemed to have a fascination with entropy that Hestia really couldn't help with. Instead, she recommended the young girl send her uncle some letters. Hestia hoped that Hades would at least be a good pen pal to the young goddess.

Then the next time, Apollo ended up asking her advice for some sort of poetry. Apparently, he was trying to court some nymph. And the most recent time, Poseidon had some sort of underwater camp that he wanted to talk to her about…

The point was, Hestia hadn't had much luck seeing them lately. Each time Epimetheus and his new wife had been understanding, but Hestia had gotten tired of not actually being able to check on them in person and dropped by for a surprise visit. She wanted to at least see them once before she returned to Olympus.

The door swung open to reveal a familiar young woman with a swollen stomach.

"Hello," Pandora greeted her. "I'm Pandora. Epimetheus' wife. How are you today?"

"I'm doing alright," Hestia told her. "I just thought I'd stop by for a surprise visit. Is Epimetheus' home."

"Hestia?!" Pandora's eyes widened excitedly. "I haven't seen you in ages. Thank you for stopping by. I can't believe we actually get to see you."

"May I come in? I'd love to talk. How have you been?"

"Of course," Pandora smiled. "I've been good. Epimetheus is wonderful." She turned her head towards the hallway behind her. "Epy! Guess who it is?!"

"Who?" Epimetheus's voice echoed back to the door.

"Hestia!"

Just like that, Epimetheus was there.

"Hestia?! It's been so long! Come on in. I see you've finally met my wife."

Pandora smiled softly as Epimetheus gently wrapped his right arm around her. It reminded Hestia of her parents when they'd been younger. Before they loathed each other. Hestia prayed that Hera had given her blessing that this marriage would last far longer.

"We bumped into each other years ago," Pandora gushed. "She was the first person to give me a straight answer for anything."

Epimetheus smiled.

"How could I forget, dear? You remind me of that daily," his face remained bright and open. "It always reminded me of our story. You were just wandering, and I was wandering too."

"And then you turned a corner and there I was. You asked me who I was, and I haven't stopped talking your ear off ever since."

"And I wouldn't want it any other way, dear."

Pandora blushed.

"I've learned so much since I was that child you met though," Pandora promised Hestia. "Like, did you know that butterflies use their feet to taste?"

Hestia had not.

"My wife and her facts," Epimetheus laughed, proudly.

"Well, it's all thanks to that scientific method that you taught me. It's your fault I learned so much so quickly. You're lucky I haven't put it to use to figure what you're hiding in that urn of yours…" Pandora suddenly shut up as Epimetheus froze. His face suddenly a cold mask.

"That's not to be opened. I thought we both understood that."

"I know," Pandora sighed. She wiped the look of pure longing off her face and smiled as if she hadn't just brought up a source of tension. "Anyhow, have you heard about our nephew's newest pet? His name is-"

Hestia felt a shiver down her spine. But the topic changed, and it didn't come up again.

A/N: Hi all! I'm back! So remember when I said there was only going to be one more chapter...

Lol! That didn't end up happening. When I went back to look over this story's 'last' chapter, it turned out that it had secretly become more chapters behind my back.

So... umm... yeah that happened. But on the positive that means a couple more chapters to go.

Hope you enjoy. Thank you for reading! :)