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Peace In Our Time

"The Olympians accept the consequences of your offer!" I tell the Fates. They nod gravely and I felt the gravity of my decision weigh heavily on me. The Fates turn first to Tartarus for a few seconds presumably giving him instructions before turning to Chronos and nodding their heads.

Chronos closes his eyes before stretching out his arm into the air. Suddenly a long staff with a glass sphere filled with sand appears in one of his outstretched hands. He opens his eyes again before spinning the glass sphere anti-clockwise two times. I could feel the difference in power levels when with a simple twist of a glass sphere, everything slowly started moving backward in time around the stone circles. Stones raised from their previous lying positions and Kronos stirred with his blackened torso slowly healing.

Tartarus immediately acted and with a groan he sent the slowly undying Titan Lord into a swirling ink-black portal with the scythe following shortly after. And I sighed in relief the Primordials thankfully having thought about this consequence of the 'time travel' before.

Dust floated against the previous wind direction and ever so slowly combined and stuck together making mortals appear again. I could feel every one of the ninety million people reforming and being brought back totally unaware of the alternative world they had almost been or rather not been in. They continued their usual lives of growing crops and making stuff while praying for their local deities and spirits to grant them luck in the future. Not paying any mind to the ultimate sacrifice the currently most powerful deities on this planet had made for their continuous existence.

I took a calming breath fearing that I would go insane by the sheer power being emitted in front of me. It was such an unreal and incomprehensible experience that I could barely believe it even standing only feet from the event myself.

Confused deities of other pantheons look at the world slowly becoming more familiar from the unreal reality they had just witnessed, many of them would just forget this event thinking of it as an absurd dream or nightmare, while those who remember keeps quiet and lets them be free of the knowledge that even if they were very powerful beings, some things were... inevitable.

I slowly noticed the time going the 'right way'? Forward? Ehh, it was… going at least.

Chronos slumped to a knee with an exhausted exhalation of finality. Chronos's head gently sank forward and then with a snore he disappeared. The Fates, Gaia, Nyx, and Tartarus observed the event knowingly. Tartarus silently leaves the scene back to his residence in Tartarus and I can't say I'm too bothered by it, he is frightening, to say the least even with his help. The Fates looked up again this time at Zeus who had moved to my side with Hades and Poseidon flanking us on each side.

"Zeus! King of the Gods and God of Justice you will be the enforcer of our will on Gaia, in Tartarus, the waters of Pontus and Ouranos. Do you accept the duty to uphold the Ancient Laws...or will you disappoint yet again?" The Fates declare imperiously. Zeus agrees, though he still seems pretty shaken by Chronos finally joining the Creator. "You do realize that if you do not uphold these laws not only your string but the string of Olympus, would be on the line?" The Fates ask, and Zeus has the same response.

"When we say limited mortal interaction we mean it! Nyx has a solution for it so she will explain, understood" It was a rhetorical question apparently because they continued on seconds later "Very well notify your little council then" The Fates say before vanishing abruptly.

Gaia steps forward and looks at the deities with calculating eyes "If you do continue in your father's footsteps..." She cuts herself off sends another look before disappearing leaving only a pile of dirt on the ground.

I step forward to the pile of dirt noticing that it had remnants of Gaia's power all over it. I scoop it up with my powers and then I send it back to my palace. I can only imagine what this Gaia-infused dirt can do! The possibilities…

And then Nyx finally steps forward with Hecate on her right. "So the solution is quite simple in theory, we will use illusions and the mortals' inane need for normality to confuse their brains until they just accept just about everything. The focal point of this... mist covering the mortals will be Hecate here because of her neutrality, but she will need help by the whole Olympian council to quick start it, or else it would take too long" She looks around at us before disappearing like her siblings and nieces.

I move a little back as Zeus begins ordering Hecate to give them control of this mist. Hades and Poseidon flash back to Olympus and once Zeus loses his previous momentum and fierce need to gain control over this powerful mist, I send him back to Olympus, leaving only me and Hecate left. I felt the previous light breeze pick up heavily and even I became chilly.

Hecate looked out on the rolling hills of the primitive island we were on "We got justice for him" I try moving forward and giving her a reassuring embrace, but she turns to me swiftly with red-rimmed eyes and in a venomous tone she hisses "He needed vengeance not justice" She swings her head back and forth "He was let off too easily, his end didn't match the evil!" She bursts out in tears and even then she again rejects my second attempt to comfort and get her to calm down.

"That bastard killed our son! And you don't even seem to care anymore!" I stiffen and Hecate's eyes widen in shock. "I didn't mea..." I cut her off "Save it!" I spin around and I say without turning back to face her "When we arrive at Olympus you will help construct this mist, and then you will leave! I think it would be good for us if we didn't meet for a good amount of time" I say before flashing out with a bright flash. I hear another regretful apology behind me but I coldly ignore it as I flash out.

I arrive at my throne ending some kind of argument in its tracks. My fellow councilors look at me apprehensively. I send an annoyed look at Zeus. "Well, we were just wondering why you were producing such massive earthquakes?" He asks seeming almost nervous about my response. "It's personal" I state simply and then suddenly Hecate flashes in thankfully diverting Zeus from asking any more questions.

"Alright, we will begin this ritual now and get it over, any objections?" Zeus asks imperiously. No one spoke up, this was presumably because I was glaring at every councilor turn after turn. "V-very well, let's set up this mist" Zeus says a little uncertain because of the soft tremors being heard up to even Olympus.

"Hecate, how exactly will we be able to help you?" Aphrodite questions smoothly seeking to direct the council's attention away from her husband's smoldering rage and anger. "Ohh, you needn't do anything I will fix it, I will only need your help for the activation itself, this will take a little time though, so you can do something else in the meantime" Zeus looks happy enough with that I notice, even if I have red dots filling my vision and a black hole of grief pumping in my chest. My dear son! You should have lived a long and fruitful life, instead, you die in a pointless power struggle that shouldn't have even concerned him.

I heard Zeus working through a few points concerning the settling of Pan's favorite creatures on Olympus but I wasn't listening too closely until he turned to me specifically. "Do you have anything else to add Perseus?" I'm about to reply before being interrupted by Hecate making the bile I had in my throat grow, I couldn't say I was angry with her, she was as lost with grief as I but she had the excuse of not being the cause for the death of their son. I had dragged him into that damn… "Perseus?" Zeus interrupts my thoughts and I turn my blackened and tearful eyes upon him.

"What!?" I growl out. "We are powering the mist, remember?" Zeus replies now a little irritated. I only nod and infuse my power towards Hecate who is chanting faster and faster in the language used by the primordials. It only takes five minutes but I feel like I sit there pushing as much of my energy as I can for much longer until we suddenly stop and fog surrounds the feet of our thrones fully covering the Titaness of Magic.

The mist dissipates quickly and reveals Hecate glowing brilliantly in the center of the chamber before that light vanishes as well. I hear fatigued panting from the younger Olympians and some sighs of relief from the older generation.

Third Person POV

Hecate with a nod leaves with no fanfare and after the Olympians silently observing the mortals and their recent memories shifting to a more agreeable account. Zeus then coughs to gain the attention of the other Olympians "Well I think you were supposed to say something Perseus?"

Perseus nods gravely "I hereby resign as King of the Gods and I will be taking an extended vacation, effective immediately! Goodbye" He announces before flashing away leaving a group of shocked deities. Zeus looks most distraught out of them all.

Aphrodite flashes out shortly after and this breaks the seemingly unbreakable silence Zeus's attitude seems to shift in the blink of an eye and he angrily says "I veto this resignation and the council does not recognize it! He will remain King until his death or the dissolution of this council! I will have no objections about this, but his vacation will be accepted, he is truly the one who sacrificed the most in this and we will not forget it!" Zeus says fervently.

He turns his gaze on Hephaestus who looks way over his head "Nephew! I want statues and a monument dedicated to Perseus and our victory over the mad Titan King!" The end of his announcement is met with cheerful applause by the remaining Olympians, and while Zeus enjoys it very much he knows that something or rather someone is missing from this celebration.

The goddess of Love and the Queen of the Gods or former Queen if her husband is to be believed first checks their palace which is Perseus's former palace with her tasteful additions. When she doesn't find him there she quickly scans Olympus for his power signature before flashing away yet again.

She appears at the foot of a very familiar mountain and walks past the temple honoring her husband where she finds him standing in the garden outside before one of the three shrines situated outside. She walks past the shrines dedicated to Hephaestus and Persephone before ending up beside the God of Nature and essentially Gaia's heir in front of the last shrine.

It was a quite simple one with the sculpture of a herb and a small stopper flask beside it. Prokopios was very happy with it as far as she knew. Aphrodite simply puts her slim arm around her husband's waist and summons two Echinaceas on each side of the stone sculpture, and Perseus lets out a tired and choked laugh at the symbolism and puts his strong arm around her shoulders and leans into her side.

"Perseus?" Aphrodite asks weakly after standing for over fifteen minutes in comfortable silence. "Yes?" Perseus replies curiously "Well what would you think if I said that I was p…ant" she squeaked out. "If you were pant? No don't worry, I know what you meant, I discovered it as soon as you arrived though it's a bit different than Demeter's pregnancy if I'm honest, though that's probably only natural" Perseus answers lightly. "So are you happy about it?" Aphrodite asks, her nervousness gone and replaced with her characteristic confidence. "Of course I'm happy, but I'm feeling quite… melancholy right now, and I think you know why…" He answers lightly.

Aphrodite smiles warmly and answers understandingly "I'll leave you here then" She says before flashing away. Perseus turns back to the engraved stone a tear of joy slowly making its way down from his shining green and golden eyes.

Perseus POV

I learned quickly that my resignation had been rejected but the vacation was accepted at least so I didn't object, it was more of a power trip for his brother and younger self. It was now a year since the end of the war and on the mortal side the world had been thrown upside down with the Hittites and the Kemet Empire suddenly collapsing from invasions by the sea and a strange new folk suddenly building up from a place called the Levante inside the late Hittite Empire's borders named the Phoenicians bringing goods and technology from faraway lands in the east, and with them lots of religious cults and small local deities. Setting up their colonies all over the Sea of the Philistines as they called it.

On the godly side things slowly shifted to quiet normalcy with the rapid population growth on Olympus by small deities or other non-mortal creatures like Pan's Satyrs or recently one Chiron a half-man half-horse, Poseidon loved the concept and created three new species he called Centaurs, Hippocampi, and lastly the Ichthyocentaurs. I tried my hand at creating a new species too and created the Myrmekes who were giant ants with an affinity for shiny things like my beloved ravens, it wasn't my initial intention but I stuck with it and let them set up in the deserts to the west.

The one thing disturbing this peaceful tranquility was the nonexistence of my child with Aphrodite. It was a 'phantom pregnancy' something previously only seen with mortal species and never a deity. This was heartbreaking, to say the least, but it did explain the off feeling of the 'pregnancy' the lack of life, and such. My wife was inconsolable and I felt these continuous tragedies break me down bit by bit but I tried to remain strong, even if I was certainly becoming very tired with this beat down of my existence, I needed a real vacation from all of this, but I couldn't do that so instead I accepted an invitation from my twin to his palace.

I was granted access immediately after arriving at the border of his property and domain. These ancient laws had prohibited lots of small things like walking into the domain of other deities without permission, it was of course highly frowned upon before but now it had gained real consequences for doing it, yet another way to lessen the chance of war between deities again.

I opened the door and was led by an awaiting wind spirit into a living room furnished with two Klines a new invention from the aforementioned Phoenicians, it was two parallel legs with a board on top where you could lie down of fit two people if they sat on it. I saw Zeus already laying down on his Kline up on some pillows and I took a seat myself on the opposite side of him.

I looked around the open room of white marble and other extravagant furnishings I then shifted my attention to my brother and looked closer at him and noticed that something was eating him up, with him looking very guilty. "Perseus? I just wanted to ask a question of you" Zeus says trying to act as nonchalant as possible, though I saw through it and raised an eyebrow in response "You invited me to your just to ask me a question?" I questioned him "Ehh, yes" I sigh "Very well, what is it then?" He sends me a grateful and nervous smile.

"Well, what would you do if you had a prophecy dangling over your neck like an executioner's ax saying that your descendants would eventually overthrow you? W-would… could you allow that?" Zeus asks nervously. I feel the previously open and airy room close in on me and a sense of dread clutches my heart. "Oh, Chaos what have you done now brother?" Zeus swallows nervously "Well you remember Métis right?" My eyes fly up then narrow "Y-you killed her? I-I how could… I-" Zeus opens his mouth to speak "-No! I will not hear any of your excuses, Zeus! This… this is truly barbaric!" Zeus lets out a gasp of outrage.

"How dare you! How can you insult me like this in my own home? I invited you here for you to help me deal with all this, Not ridicule and insult me!" My eyes narrowed. "Do not try to contact me, brother" The last word was said with such venom that it felt like the surroundings were sizzling, which they were. Between the two powerful deities, the air was sizzling angrily while some plants on the ends of the two Klines began to slither like snakes toward the two brothers.

"Don't worry, I won't!" Zeus fires off before turning on his heel and walking out. He gets distracted however and stomps on one of the plants laying there on his way out. The other plant trips him up while he is focused on the first, and he sends a lightning bolt in the middle of them barely hitting them both. Perseus smiles at the perceived victory before flashing out leaving a crack in the otherwise flawless marble floor, well if you don't count the black spot between the two decapitated plants a few meters away.

Six Years Later

I slowly crawl forward out of the dry bush on the desolate mountain ridge of the Pentadaktylos, there is nothing there besides an eagle and some shrubs longer down. I can already feel the satisfaction of yet another of Zeus's feathery demons' death, but before I can do that the eagle chitters before taking off. I send a sharp twig at him but miss because the eagle suddenly is moved to the side and I curse the winds for the whatever many times I have done that.

"Yes, Poseidon?" I turn around to meet the eyes of my elder brother. "How can you always know when I'm close?" Poseidon says with a sunny smile filling his more mature face. "It's my domain, you couldn't be within one hundred kilometers of me without me subconsciously noticing you if I wasn't even focusing on you" I tell him in a deadpan tone. "Now why have you decided to bother me yet again brother, has King Thunderbutt finally ordered me back?"

"No Perseus, he is still as stubborn as you left him and demands that you return on your own accord" My brother says tiredly before he begins to whisper "Though I think he is missing you, I know the rest of us does at least. You didn't even attend Zeus and Hera's wedding!" Poseidon ends stressing the last bit. I shrug "Well I didn't receive an invitation." I said aloofly. The God of the Seas laments "You did receive an invitation from us all, except Zeus! How isn't that an invitation?"

"It doesn't matter, only the host can invite guests and I didn't get one" I replied petulantly. I recognize that I'm being a little childish, but I won't admit defeat to that twat that is my brother. I didn't even care about his horrible treatment of his first wife, my problem with him now was his inability to apologize for his unapologetic attitude during that ask for help six years ago. It sounds inconsequential when I think of it this way, but I know in my heart of hearts that I'm correct.

Poseidon changes his angle "What about your wife? Won't you return to her, or what about your children? You have responsibilities, and I feel weird even saying this but you should live up to them!" I stare at him shocked. Where did that come from? Ohh yeah… "I-I will think about it, leave me" I reply, and with a somber nod, Poseidon dissolves leaving only a small pit of water on the ground where he stood.

Maybe… it is time to return?

End of Chapter

A roller coaster of events there, from the rolling hills of Salisbury to the home of the Spartans. I hope it was interesting

And yes Prokopios has faded. If any of you remember Percy almost died from a scratch on his arm and he was one of the most powerful demigods ever so a decapitation of a minor deity would do it.

Perseus and Zeus are both very privileged individuals and that leads to pride and things like that, especially with each other so them being estranged for so long makes sense to me, they are only thirty and something years old, so I will excuse it for now. We need Perseus to grow up from something right?

Next: The Call of Duty and the Box

Thank you for reading