A small hymn left Hestia as she tended to the flames in front of her. She had heard a mortal singing it the other day and it had been oddly catching. It was always fun to watch mortals as they went about their day. Hestia did not have much interaction with mortals, and she enjoyed every moment that she could. Her gaze moved to the side.

The Olympians were sitting in their thrones, discussing their favorite topic of the last week: the imperator of the Sixth Legion. Hestia looked back at the Olympians and did what she did best: listen to them as they made choices that would decide the fate of the world, for better or worse.

"We must speak to the imperator," Zeus insisted. The king of the Olympians looked around as if he wanted someone to disagree with him.

"We should not talk to her. We should remove the problem," Artemis stated. The goddess of the Hunt was still holding onto that mortal device, the laptop, that she had brought in. She showed them the video of Reyna and Burza walking out of the elevator, with the dead body of Bellona inside. They read the lips of that odd woman as she questioned if Reyna had killed her mother, and Burza confirmed it.

Hestia was not surprised that the other Olympians didn't see this coming. Reyna had been pushed and pushed further and further doing these wars. She was stretched thin mentally and physically. It only made sense that she would finally snap.

"She killed her mother," Artemis stated. "It is only a matter of time until she turns on the rest of us."

"Do we really think we can trust this reaper?" Ares asked. He looked down at the shield in his hands. "Everyone says that her older sister was charmspeaked into stealing this. Are we sure about that? After all, why would the reaper work with someone who framed her sister?"

"The girl does have a tenuous grasp on reality," Dionysus commented. "Are we not sure that she sees certain gods and goddesses as others? Or that she hears voices and claims for them to be a god? With her mental issues, I do not doubt that she barely understands what is going on."

"Is insanity the excuse we are going to use?" Artemis demanded.

"If the girl is that insane, we should just put her down," Hera commented.

"We tried," Athena said. "At Camp Jupiter. And, it failed. Atropos put a claim on the imperator sometime ago. Has Atropos been manipulating the strings of Fate until she could secure her champion?"

"A champion who should have died after working with Kronos," Hermes muttered with a dark look on his face. "Why would she bring that evil back into our world? After what he did the last time."

Hestia stoked the flames as she listened. She knew that some demigods hesitated to use the name of gods and monsters. They believe it gave them more power and could even alert them. Was that why the Olympians did not use Reyna's name?

"She brings death wherever she goes," Demeter said. "Did we forget the fields that she soaked in barbarian blood when she thought her sister was going to die? Nothing will grow back there."

"We remember all of the evils that Reyna committed but none of the good," Aphrodite said. The goddess of love studied everyone else. She seemed to have a soft spot for Reyna, but Hestia could not pinpoint the moment that caused it. Was it Reyna saving her daughter Carina from impossible odds when the Sixth Legion was surrounded? Was it how Reyna used the love for her sister, her friends, and her home to drive her forward?

"She did help us destroy Ouranos," Apollo began.

"With the help of Kronos," Hermes snapped. "We cannot act like one act of good erases an act of evil."

"What do we call coming to Olympus to save Zeus?" Aphrodite asked. "Apollo, you healed her. You remembered how broken she was. Yes, she was still willing to do everything in her power to destroy Ouranos, and she did."

"But not on Olympus when it was a one on one battle," Ares countered.

"It wasn't a one on one battle. Jason was there," Apollo argued. "Charmspeaked into trying to kill his own father. Reyna stopped him and saved Zeus. Reyna's payment was being thrown off of Olympus. We're lucky she didn't die on the way down."

"I believe that reaper did what she thought was necessary," Poseidon interrupted. "The only thing that matters is that she destroyed Ouranos, and Kronos was destroyed in the aftermath."

"And, the reaper was spared by Atropos. She immediately worked with Circe and even went against Zeus. We named her an enemy of Olympus, and it is time we stop playing with her," Ares stated. "We need to kill her."

"Have you seen the others who have tried to kill her?" Hades asked. He sat back on his throne and had been quiet most of the time. "The rogue Amazons could not. Ouranos could not. Metis and Thoon could not. Every attempt to kill her has only resulted in her getting stronger and stronger."

"The best chance we had to kill her was by keeping reinforcements from helping Camp Jupiter, but she still escaped with the help of my mother," Athena stated.

"Who only wanted her to destroy Ouranos, so her plans could be arranged," Artemis said. She jumped to her feet. "Do we not see that Reyna is merely a pawn for others?"

"That's why Atropos wants her," Hephaestus interrupted. "The girl is almost like a machine. If you know what buttons to press, you can get the reaction you want. If part of the machine doesn't work how you want, you break it a little more and repair it."

"What if we broke the machine completely and rebuilt it from scratch?" Zeus questioned.

"Reyna has already been through enough. We should not add to her pain and suffering," Aphrodite almost pleaded.

"The only way to further break her would be to kill her sister, and we all know the reaction that would give," Athena said. Her eyes grew distant. "Unless we framed someone."

"The peacekeepers," Hera guessed. She frowned and then nodded. "If she is fully working with them, it will be hard to frame them."

"The truth will come out. Reyna will know, and she will turn her attention to us," Aphrodite said. "I believe Bellona's demise was one of her own doing. We can all admit that we are not the best parents, but Bellona is... was worse. War does not make a good parent."

"Then, we break her another way. Shatter her mind," Dionysus. "We can either rebuild her, or there will be nothing left to rebuild. It's a win either way."

"It's not a good plan," Apollo said. Hestia turned her head to look at Zeus. The king of the Olympians seemed to have a thought in his mind, an idea that he latched onto. Zeus held up his hand.

"Atropos," Zeus began. A chill ran through the room, and Hestia moved closer to the fire. No immortal would admit it, but they were terrified of the Fates, even Zeus. "We must talk."

There was no sense of someone appearing. The air didn't twist nor did shadows move. Instead, Atropos just appeared. Her black eyes focused on Zeus and then the rest of the Olympians. Hestia felt the hearth growing colder.

"We must speak to your champion," Zeus stated. Atropos turned on him. Zeus gripped his lightning bolt.

"I will not force my champion to speak to you," Atropos stood firm. "Especially since I know most of you harbor a grudge and wish her harm."

Did Atropos already know what they would say? Did she not know but could see where every outcome would lead? Hestia could never wrap her mind around the concept of fate. Of how they all had a set path that changed at any moment based on the smallest decision. Hestia believed the only thing set in stone was how long someone's life would be, but that could also be changed by a string being stolen.

Why did the Fates allow gods and goddesses to take strings of demigods? Hestia knew it was not the great heist that the other Olympians liked to think it was. Zeus spoke, "We will guarantee her safety."

Atropos remained silent, and Zeus continued, "We know what she did, but we will spare her. We want to understand what she did and why. I no longer want the reaper to be an enemy of Olympus. I swear on the River Styx that no harm will come to her while she is here."

Thunder rumbled and shook the throne room. Zeus looked unconcerned, "The rest will make the vow as well."

Artemis tried to protest, but a hard look silenced her. She looked down. One by one, the Olympians made their vows. Aphrodite was the first. Ares looked reluctant when he said his own. Athena and Dionysus looked like they were trusting Zeus over their own thoughts. The last one to make their vow was Artemis, and when she muttered through it, Zeus gave her a look that caused her to repeat it.

"I will not force my champion to come, but I will tell her of your offer," Atropos said. She focused her gaze on Zeus. "You remember the consequences of breaking a vow on the River Styx."

"We all do," Zeus promised. Atropos nodded once and turned away. Just like that, she was gone. They were left alone.

"Father, we can't-"

Zeus held up his hand and slowly looked around the room. He spoke aloud, "Vow or no vow on the Styx, we will do what we must to contain the reaper."

"This is a terrible idea," Aphrodite stated.

"It's time we handled the problem," Artemis countered.

"If the imperator will not work with us, she will learn the wrath of the gods," Zeus proclaimed. "There are no arguments about this. We will stand united against this threat."

Hestia looked down at the hearth. She focused on the flames and could see death on the horizon. The death of who she didn't know. Hestia closed her eyes and felt like the Olympians were about to make the greatest mistake of their immortal lives.