CHAPTER XV

WARNING: Mature

The air of Olympus felt tense and heavy, Athena thought, as she rode out to Zeus' palace. The last few weeks had been characterised by disorder across the territory as well as on earth, with frequent Chimera and hybrid beast attacks, each attack appearing in another location totally independent from the previous. There seemed to be no order or distinct pattern to the attacks, except for that they were brutal and kept Athena at work almost nonstop. Zeus' sudden disconnect from the rest of Olympus was also causing a certain amount of panic and discomfort among the Olympians and gods. It was known that Zeus was accustomed to working in infrequent and abrupt ways, disappearing from time to time, only to return dramatically with a new venture or idea. But this time it was different, Zeus was present in Olympus, but detached. His palace was often closed off, and Hera hadn't been seen often either. Storm clouds often rolled over Olympus and then dispersed, only to reappear a few days or hours later.

Athena had not seen Ares for weeks. They were both kept busy by the attacks, taking their armies out to mountainous terrains, treacherous coasts and other threatening landscapes faced with wild beasts running rampant. An incredible amount of blood had been shed during these few weeks. Some of demons and beasts, some of army men and innocent citizens of both Olympus and earth. As expected, Apollo had been working around the clock healing the many injured. Athena even went as far as calling upon the help of those typically not assigned to the task of slaying beasts. Artemis frequently accompanied her on her missions and Hermes took up the job of relaying to Apollo the numbers of the injured on the battlefield. Hephaestus, when he was not tirelessly crafting and repairing weaponry, made the effort to hobble out of his fortress and keep a few beasts at bay nearby — whether or not purely for his own interest was unknown. Poseidon kept the suddenly agitated and ruthless sea creatures pacified, and as for the likes of Aphrodite, Dionysus and Hestia (though no longer an Olympian) they helped as much as they could — which wasn't much.

Now, quite suddenly, Zeus had called an urgent meeting at his palace and Athena was called upon to attend. As Athena rode through the heat of the glaring sun, her heart's pace picked up ever so slightly. She hadn't heard from Zeus in so long and suddenly he was calling for her to attend an important meeting. 'Do not be late,' the letter read, and as Athena stroked her dreary owl on her forearm she was almost sure the letter was written by Hera. Hera had a way of maintaining a vitriolic tone even through text.

Arriving at the palace Athena noticed it had not changed one bit. However, no ceremony had been made for her arrival — not that she expected or wanted one. The palace sparkled as always, every golden inch glimmering in the sunlight, and every marble column gleaming opulently.

Athena ascended the staircase lined with stony-faced servants, their heads bowed and expressions fixed, and entered the palace nodding at the two servants who followed her into the palace foyer and led her to the room the meeting was taking place in.

When she entered, she realised her attempt at punctuality may have been in vain. Seated already in what looked like individual, jewel-encrusted, gold-plated marble thrones sat Poseidon, Hera, Zeus and Apollo, all looking very grim. Zeus sat at the head, in a throne of course, larger than anyone else's. To his right sat Hera, her hands folded neatly in her lap and her chin in the air, and to his left sat Poseidon, his large beard obscuring his toned chest. Beside Poseidon sat Apollo, looking much smaller than the god beside him, and another empty throne had been placed beside Apollo. Athena, assuming the seat to be hers, moved quickly but then stopped suddenly noticing and identical throne beside Hera.

'Athena,' said Zeus. Her ears perked at the sound of his familiar, gravitas tone. She turned to him and bowed, feeling incredibly small standing at the foot of this table, which was donned by another throne. This one was different from the others. Not as decorated.

Athena looked up at King Zeus and noticed in the time she hadn't seen him he, much like his palace, had not changed. However, his eyes did not seem as bright and his smile was weak.

'Please,' Zeus said warmly extending his arm to his right, 'take your seat beside Hera.'

Athena nodded, uttering a 'Yes father,' and approached the seat beside Hera before receiving a scathing glare from the Queen. Athena was late.

Athena sat beside Hera, who looked ever so slightly drained, her ruddy cheeks now a tepid rose colour. Athena's eyes wandered over to Apollo whose eyes caught hers. He, much like everyone else in the room, looked tired. The dark circles forming around the skin of is usually beaming-bright eyes were telling. Apollo held Athena's gaze unblinkingly, almost questioningly. Athena responded with a slight shrug of the shoulders.

Neither was aware of the business of this meeting. A long intake of breath followed this quiet exchange and everyone's attention was drawn to Zeus.

'I am glad you were all able to gather here today. I know that you have all been busy, and the current state of our Olympus has not allowed you the luxury of rest, but I plan to address the matter now. Beasts of different breeds, some we have known for centuries, and others hybrids of the beasts we already know have been spawning across Olympus as well as earth. Chaos is erupting across our territory, but especially on earth where the humans are incapable of dealing with the beasts without serious collateral damage. I have been in my palace trying to conceive a solution to this epidemic, but it has now occurred to me before we can tackle this problem head-on, we must discover the root of it. I did not want to have to resort to this type of gathering, but I felt it to be necessary in order to restore peace to earth and Olympus. The very few of you who are present today have been called for the sake of corroborating stories and confirming that which is unclear. I have also made this meeting intimate so as to not further alert the rest of Olympus. I trust that we can keep this meeting to ourselves until the time is right. As for —'

'Forgive me father,' a husky, familiar voice said from the entrance as the doors parted slightly.

Athena's heart jolted. Emerging from the other side was Ares in his crimson military coat, it's golden buttons and adornments glimmering a deep brilliance foreign to the rest of the gold in the room. His dark, long hair was combed neatly behind his ears and he stepped into the room, absent of his usually haughty self.

'Is the portal open?'

'Yes sir,' Ares' said bowing, before approaching his seat beside Apollo.

'And he has agreed?' Zeus eyebrows furrowed.

'You need only to summon him,' Ares sat down. Athena's heart thumped in her chest. She found his demure, calm demeanour to be bizarre, but averted her eyes to the table when she felt his gaze move towards her.

An indescribable heat filled the room.

Zeus clutched his beard and stroked it, sighing deeply. Engrossed by his thoughts and suddenly absent from the room, Athena wished Zeus could start the meeting so as to allow the tension in the room to dissipate. Her wishes were not answered.

A shuffle and a huff broke the silence. A throat cleared. Hera seemed just as sensitive to the tension as Poseidon, who glanced between Ares and Athena, before lowering his head and stroking his beard with a forced absence.

A few minutes passed before Zeus raised his head, his expression dark yet determined. His eyes roamed the room before he nodded to himself.

He cleared his throat.

'Let us begin. Hades, I summon you to a disciplinary hearing. Make yourself present.'

The room rang with Zeus' voice and there was an icy silence following the boom of his warm tone. Athena felt a chill come over and her eyes wandered about the room carefully to confirm that she was not the only one experiencing this sensation.

'Disciplinary hearing?' The walls spoke. A disembodied voice with an endless echo filled the room and the members of the meeting tensed accordingly.

'Have I misbehaved?' laced with mockery, the voice seemed to move from every corner of the room as the temperature slowly dropped.

'There are some things you need to answer to Hades,' Zeus said with a huff, his brilliant eyes darkening with every word.

'Would it not then be more appropriately labelled as an inquisition?' Hades said, and a shadowy chuckle followed.

'If you will, make yourself present so that the meeting may begin.' Zeus raised his head and cast his eyes down on the empty seat across the end of the massive table.

Hades materialised in an excellent show of dark smoke and mist. As the mist cleared, a slim figure appeared dressed in a dark velvet suit that seemed to shimmer with the brilliance that Olympus had lost over the last few weeks. Hades threaded his slender white fingers through each other, whipped one long leg over the other and set his eyes upon his brother, his expression a mix of delight and resentment.

Athena twisted in her seat. There were an innumerable amount of circumstances Athena had endured that, though they were uncomfortable, she managed to face with an unrelenting courage. However, if there was one situation she would do anything to not be involved in, it was one in which Zeus and Hades were in the same room. The two brothers had resented each other for millennia, and the unapproachable nature of their relationship had only festered over the centuries.

Zeus cleared his throat.

'Well?' Hades said, a smirk playing on his lips.

'You know why you're here, I'm sure.' Zeus said, his chin rising slightly.

'No. I don't,' Hades cocked his head, 'do explain.'

'Are you telling me you have no idea of the chaos that has erupted on Earth and Olympus over the last few weeks?'

'I'm not telling you anything. I merely want to know why I'm here, so I can leave and we all get what we want.'

A short silence ensued in which Athena felt as though she was drowning. Zeus sighed, the corner of his left eye twitching.

'A series of…waves of creature attacks have been occurring at random locations on Olympus and Earth. These creatures range from Chimera, Cyclops and Clazmonian boars to breeds of creatures we have never seen before, that we can only explain as hybrids bred for no purpose other than for causing havoc. From the evidence Apollo and Ares have collected, we are to believe that many of these creatures are being spawned in from another dimension and the only god responsible for the dimension in which they should be held captive, is you.'

'In other words,' Hades dragged each syllable, 'It all falls to me. I am the scapegoat.'

'That is not what I said.'

'Then what are you saying, brother,' Hades folded his hands over his lap and narrowed his eyes at Zeus, 'that because Olympus is too incompetent to take care of itself, when all of the stage craft starts falling apart it's my job as the unsung hero, to make sure everything stays in place. Olympus doesn't want to fight any monsters so I must keep them at bay, and Olympus doesn't want to be flooded with the souls of the dead so I must tend to them. Olympus doesn't want the trouble makers and the rejected so I must house them, but the moment this utopia starts to look like the bureaucratic, poorly constructed doll house it is, it's my faul—'

'Watch your mouth Hades!' Hera bellowed and Athena jumped in her seat. Hera had been staring at the table motionless since Athena had arrived and suddenly, her cheeks ruddy and flustered, she looked up at Hades, her eyes glossy.

'You will not speak about the land we have worked so hard to build for ourselves in that manner! Olympus is a reflection of all we have achieved—'

'If Olympus is a reflection of all you have achieved, what exactly is the Underworld then, Hera,' Hades raised his voice, 'just reflection of all your failures and regrets, the lies you've told each other to keep this ship afloat? This puppet show Hera,' Hades eyes darkened as he watched her carefully, 'who is it really for when you know you told me the truth about how you really feel about this place?' Hades nodded at Zeus, 'And him.'

The room suddenly spiked in temperature and a static electricity whizzed through Athena's hair. Hera stared at Hades, her mouth agape as a tear rolled down her cheek. She glanced back at Zeus, and he caught her gaze briefly before dropping it and returning his glare to Hades.

'Is this why you are doing all of this? You are bitter about your role in the keeping of order of the universe?' Zeus said, and the electric current passed through the room violently.

'No, contrary to popular belief, I'm not.' Hades grinned sardonically.

'Is it about Hera?' Zeus asked, his eyes passing over her. Hera swallowed, furiously wiping her tear away.

'No, because I am not doing anything.'

'Hades you give us every reason to believe you are involved in this. Creatures under your control are escaping into our world and wreaking absolute havoc upon it and you know nothing of it? You have nothing to do with it?'

'No, I don't,'

'You resent our Olympus, you resent me and you expect us to honestly believe that you aren't involved at all? Tell the truth, Hades…' Zeus voice dipped dangerously low.

'I haven't a single clue as to how this is occurring—'

'Hades, it's best you just be honest so we can be done with this…' Poseidon raised his head. Athena noticed his uneasiness.

'I am being honest,' Hades rolled his eyes, 'none of you are listening.'

'Admit it,' Zeus leaned forward, his beard quivering and the sudden jerk, 'your disdain for Olympus has finally led you to act against us—'

'You've always been so good at making fruitless claims—'

'Liar!' Zeus slammed his fist on the table and the room shook as his voice filled it. The table creaked under the weight of his fist. In the distant a deafening clap of thunder sounded followed by a series of smaller, yet equally violent claps.

The room was quiet.

Hades looked up at the ceiling, and grinned.

'Ooh,' he said before shrugging his shoulders, 'spooky. Look King Zeus, if I really wanted to send Olympus to the dogs I could have done so in the very beginning, but I didn't, so I have very little reason to do so now. In the end, Olympus, Earth, the Underworld, we are inextricably linked. Destroying one would inevitably destroy the others and if I plotted to wreck Olympus and succeeded, I would essentially lose my job of shovelling the shit this realm produces. I'm not doing anything distasteful.'

Zeus watched Hades with eyes a colour totally foreign to the gleaming, bright blue that he usually adorned. Hades gazed at him almost innocently, as he opened out his palms and shrugged.

'Look, if you don't believe me, why don't you just ask her. That's what she's here for, isn't it?'

Athena glanced around the room and noticed Hades' gaze that hung just above Zeus' head.

'Show yourself, Ma'at,' Zeus said.

Above the king's head, a pair of brightly coloured wings begun to materialise. Soon she appeared, legs crossed before her and her palms resting on her thighs, donning gold finery with the blessed kiss of the sun only found in Egypt.