Word Count (for drabble only): 245

Eleventh Prompt: Innocence

It was a king's right to pass judgment. That was all Zeus was doing here. Nothing wrong with that.

He listened as the minor gods and goddesses explained themselves. He didn't interrupt as they listed their many grievances. One unfortunate thing about being immortal was that they never forgot past slights, or had a reason to.

Hera sat next to him, eyes almost as stormy as his. Athena stood by her father's side, impassive. The right of judgment was not hers, but he let her help him anyway.

These immortals were guilty. Guilty of treason, guilty of bringing about the biggest disaster since the humans' big wars. Guilty of aligning with Kronos.

Despite all this... Could he really blame them? He was guilty of many things himself. That didn't stop him from reigning over Olympus, no matter hard others tried. Could he really punish them, when he understood the justification behind their actions to be partially his fault?

He glanced to the two goddesses by his side, seeking their council. Hera demanded Guilty, wanting to throw them off the broken city and punish them for their insolence.

Athena argued for partial innocence, saying penance was better than full punishment. After all, it was full punishment that put the gods in this mess.

Zeus went with his daughter's choice, much to his queen's displeasure. He would appease her later.

His judgment was final. They would take steps to regain innocence.

A/Ns: Hello fanfiction! I know it's been forever, but I am finally back.

So Camp NaNoWriMo was a huge disaster, and it's only partially my fault. The medium holdingy novel lost it twice, and I decided I had no inspiration for the story, so... Oh well? On the bright side, I got a new original idea out of it.

But it did leave me in a bit of a funk. So this is my way of breaking it. I know you all miss Zeusie, so here's a little snippet of him acting high and mighty. He can be understanding when he wants to be. And gods can too learn from their mistakes in this headcanon.

Thanks for dropping in, you will hopefully see more of me later, and I'll see you on the far side!