Chapter 9: Androgynos
Hermes stared at his ex-fling.
Emphasis on EX!
Hermes didn't know which was worse: the situation he was in, the situation he and Penelope were now in, or that Nemesis was giving them decaf coffee and scones, fully aware that she was stirring trouble?
All three were horrible for Hermes.
His roommate and eternity-long best friend had violated his sweetest friend, severing Hermes and Artemis' trust in him before the truth was even forced out on live television. Hermes had chosen to go to the Underworld during the divide. For a decade, he hadn't seen his mother and he'd been possessed by Kronos.
He hadn't even properly broken up with the dryad Penelope. Wait… What was he saying, they hadn't gone on a date! They were mere acquaintances turned quiet friends. The God of Travel occasionally dropped off deliveries for Penelope's flower shop; all the plants and flowers he delivered came straight from her family's small farm in Arcadia. Apollo, in his obvious scheming, had spent less time at home during Hermes' house arrest. Penelope had bothered to check up on him, either bringing him fresh flowers or coffee.
A small friendship. They were both from Arcadia. Both worked frequently to support their families financially. Aside from the obvious shades of red and weird senses of humor, the common spots ended there. It should have stayed like that… until Penelope visited him the very same day Hermes came back from work… announcing Persephone's trial the next day. Penelope didn't know how to speak comforting words that could reach him… The next morning, before Hermes went to the trial, they had agreed that what they did the previous night must never happen again.
And now Hermes REALLY wished to go back in time to see if he'd forgotten to put on protection.
"So!" Nemesis slouched on her chair, all three sitting around the coffee table. "Who wants to go first?"
"Why are you asking that? You obviously want to go first," Hermes told Nemesis.
"Totally!" Nemesis looked at the form she'd given Hermes. Penelope lowered her head, too ashamed to show her teary eyes. "Penelope, when I hired you, I had you give a DNA sample like all my other employees. You even confirmed in the classified paperwork that you were guilty of child exposure. Not that uncommon, rest assured. I got curious, however, when you said, and I quote, you 'abandoned your child out of lack of knowledge of the father'."
"I didn't know who the baby's father was…" Penelope whimpered.
"How could you not know?" Hermes asked. "When did you realize you were pregnant?"
Penelope sniffed and sat upright. "The day of the trial, I went to visit my parents in Arcadia… I just… went to check on the groves… And then they announced that the borders were sealed. That Persephone was banished… and you went to the Underworld… I couldn't be there when they shut down my shop… My mother and I were going to go see Persephone for potential jobs… But on the way, I ran away when I realized I was pregnant…"
"Didn't you tell your mom?"
"My mother always threatened to send me to hibernation if I ever got pregnant before getting married." Penelope's trembling caused her ears to grow leaves that constantly flew off. "I hid for some time in the mountains… I thought I was expecting your kid… But… when he was born…"
"What?" Hermes frowned. "When he was born?"
"He was half-goat, Hermes!" Penelope exclaimed. "I gave birth to a red satyr! Why? I didn't think I gave birth to a demigod, but if… If I just happened to give birth to a satyr… then… what happened to me? Did somebody do something to me…" She hugged herself. "What was I was going to do? My parents would have sent me and the kid to Tartarus if they found out I might have been carrying my violator's bastard, and I didn't have a DNA kit to confirm otherwise! Not to mention that with the business down, how could I feed him? Raise him? Care for him? That's…" Penelope choked. "That's why I left him in the mountains. I figured he might survive in the woods… or some kinder shepherds might take him in… And months later, there was that mudslide… I figured he survived since local mortals claimed Silenus' retinue had found a baby satyr… Please don't forgive me. I don't deserve it."
"Penelope…" Hermes hesitated.
"Seriously? You have no desire to make her pay?" Nemesis ripped up the piece of paper she was writing on. "Olympian favoritism, I swear to Tartarus!"
"This is really funny to you, isn't it?" Hermes got up, angrily staring at the Goddess of Retribution. "First Rumors and Lies, and now…"
"Do you wish me to escort Lord Hermes out of the office, Lady Nemesis?" Penelope politely asked her boss.
Nemesis tilted her head, giving her personal assistant a forced smile. "Out of my office? OUT OF MY OFFICE? Please, Penelope… Get that hippie out of this pantheon! Better yet, send him to Mesoamerica! And take two weeks off, Penelope! I don't believe this, I work with hippies! I better call Eris for dinner…"
The Olympian and the nymph quietly exited out of the rambling goddess's office. Hermes waited for Penelope o clock out and grab her belongings. Despite the vibrant lights, Olympus felt darker at night nowadays. NEMS INC. was right by a quiet park and an all-night café; Hermes treated Penelope to their old coffee.
"Can't believe you put up with her as your boss," Hermes said.
"Well… I guess when you work for a famous god, you know when to step down and let them throw their tantrums. Doesn't affect your paycheck." Penelope blew a bit on her coffee. "I didn't think she'd get you to come. She didn't even tell me about the form she gave you. Or that she figured out I had a kid with you."
"Some gods like to poke on other gods' businesses." Hermes sat down on a bench, grimly remembering his arguments with Thanatos. Had he minded his business…
Then again… if none of that had happened, I wouldn't have known about Apollo… Hermes thought miserably.
"Are you OK?" Penelope asked. "I caused you a lot of trouble…"
"You didn't." Hermes ran his hand down his hair. "It's just… I'm really troubled by what Nemesis did. I wish I didn't have to find out so much bullshit through live broadcast and then being dragged to meet my old friend… Damn. I fucked up that night."
"Yeah, we fucked, but it's primarily my fault."
"I was in a bad spot, Penelope. I should have known better."
"Nobody knows better." The dryad sat down next to him.
"What we did was pity sex! I don't even get why I was OK with you comforting like that!" Hermes sighed. "I don't even know why YOU felt like you could comfort me like that."
Penelope's red eyes looked sadly at Hermes, the leaves on her ears' branches withering. "Well… Nymphs on Olympus… You're either an affair or an intimate escape. And frankly, what happened to Thetis and Minthe… I don't want to exploit you like that… But we're not equals… Never were… A nymph can only comfort a god with pleasure." She drank halfway through her coffee. "You shouldn't forgive me."
"I know… But right now, you're one of the few non-god people I've known who're sane… Believe me, I spent a decade being possessed by Kronos…" Hermes shuddered. "And… I get your situation. I'm a decade behind on financially supporting my mother." He looked at Penelope. "How are your folks, anyway?"
"Well, Nemesis pays extremely well. I've been setting aside half of my paychecks to secure my folks retirement."
"How much is left for you?"
"Enough that I can pay my landlord three-months' worth four times a year. I just paid him my 1st one…" Penelope weakly smiled. "Guess we're still financially struggling."
It was an expected silence the moment they finished their coffee. In the night sky, Selene was doing her round, illuminating them with her silvery moonlight. "Well, you found out what I did," Penelope broke the silence. "What do you want to do?"
"Well… I know I'd like to meet him."
Penelope hissed through her teeth. "Not a good idea, Hermes. You know Silenus is still VERY anti-Olympian. Nysa's even got some sort of monster guarding the borders."
"What kind of monster?"
What Penelope told him next alarmed him.
"Thracians think it's Typhon's brethren."
…
Nyx's darkness surrounded everything when Dionysus opened his eyes.
Where am I?
Dionysus was sure he'd gone to bed, his head against Silenus' belly, his brother Pan snuggled across from him. The fire's leftover ambers left some lights. Yet somehow… Dionysus found himself sitting.
Sitting on a large root. A large, death grey root hair of Titan-sized roots that kept going downwards into the abyss.
Dionysus couldn't shapeshift. Climbing up wasn't a problem to him but second nature. He felt every fiber and molecule of the roots. The remains of a once powerful venomous plant.
A woman's scream made him lose his grip. He fell through some roots the way shades phase through rocks. The winds got strong. Dirt flew in sick patterns, fading in the darkness.
"DIONYSUS!" The woman screamed.
For once, he turned. In the darkness…
"GREAT-GRANNY!" Dionysus ran towards Gaia, the very first fertility goddess. He didn't know what he was thinking, but he couldn't let Ouranos drain her out. His hand darkened and he fell down.
"NO! GREAT-GRANNY!" He landed on another root. His tears barely grew some moss on it. Right next to him, something smelled of ashes on fresh grass.
Dionysus nearly choked.
"GRANDMA!" Dionysus ran towards the Titaness. The very Rhea herself. "Don't hibernate! I can fix this!"
"Dionysus… Don't do it…" Rhea coughed through her pain.
"But I can fix you! I'm a fertility god, like you!" Dionysus hugged her drained black thumb. His fingertips darkened while some fuchsia spots grew.
Rhea retracted her arm from him. Her body disintegrated into the darkness.
"GRANDMA! LET ME FIX THIS!" Dionysus bawled.
Thunderbolts illuminated the darkness. A terrified Dionysus couldn't find a spot to hide.
"DIONYSUS! DON'T USE YOUR FULLEST POWERS!" Metis screamed. "YOUR MORTAL HALF CAN'T HANDLE IT AGAIN!"
The small demigod was traumatized by the sight of Metis being swallowed by his own father.
Dionysus noticed the ball of intertwined roots he was standing on.
He knew his roots. And roots never balled up within the ground. Yet…
It seemed less like a ball of roots. It felt more like a cage.
Something humanoid moved within the cage.
"Hello?" Dionysus called out.
The being flew around the cage. Dionysus almost caught its wispy hair. So see through…
"Are you a ghost?"
Colorless eyes glowed from the darkness of the cage.
"Are you trapped in there?"
The eyes nodded.
"Who did that to you?"
The ghost briefly vanished, leaving only a darkness filled with stars within its cage.
"Who are you?"
Dionysus received only silence.
"Well… who do you want to be?"
An arm reached out through the roots. A ghostly, see-through arm with stars as freckles. A face pressed against the cage.
Dionysus backed away at the face. A ghostly face with flesh dried out around the glowing left eye. More stars freckled its cheeks. The humanoid bared its fangs at the demigod.
Dionysus screamed.
"Dio!"
"DIONYSUS!"
Dionysus bolted up. There was no more darkness. He was in Gaia's old temple. Within Nysa. The safest place for him…
He hugged his blanket tight. Silenus had knelt down to check him. Pan almost tumbled but got close to Dionysus.
"Dio! What happened?" Pan yawned. "You screamed."
Dionysus' hyperventilating caused the roots around the temple to shake. Dust fell from the ceiling.
Silenus hugged the shaken demigod. "It's OK… You just had a nightmare…"
"I'm gonna die!" Dionysus cried. His crying had woken up Silenus' donkey.
"You won't." Silenus gently stroked Dionysus' hair.
"I am! I'm gonna die and everyone will find out about me!" Dionysus kept crying, burying his face into Silenus' stomach to cry some more.
"It was a bad dream, Dionysus." Silenus hugged him close. Dodo nudged against the demigod's head, waiting for him to lift his head up. The donkey gently licked his tears away.
"Maybe Dio needs a bath and hot milk, Pops," Pan suggested.
Dionysus shifted in his father's hold. Silenus felt the horns coming out of Dionysus. He let go and got up.
The demigod's purple locks had grown into a floor-long mess. Tears stained the now softer cheeks while the cute nose sniffed. Smooth skin covered the trembling skin. Silenus and Pan got a bit more disturbed by the small curves.
"I think she needs it…" Silenus hesitated.
"ATALANTA!" Pan shouted.
…
"So, yeah, this is why we woke you up this early in the night," Pan explained to Atalanta. While Silenus was having his own panic attack about the situation in the temple, Pan and Dionysus had met up with Atalanta at the lake for a private, midnight bath.
Frankly, it was an excuse for a more private moment. Especially one where Dionysus could unwrap the cloak… to reveal the situation.
"A nightmare… turned you into a girl," Atalanta enunciated. "This isn't even the weirdest thing I've seen you do."
"He… She… Dio's a girl, Atalanta! I don't know what to do!" Pan freaked out.
"Well, she is known as Androgynos, He Who Is For All Genders," Atalanta said. "Maybe it was bound to happen that Dio would bounce between a guy, a girl, and neither."
"You're oddly calm about this."
"Again. Not the weirdest thing I've seen."
Dionysus threw herself into the lake, splashing Pan and Atalanta. She did her best to sink herself in the dark waters, only showing her eyes and nose on the surface.
Atalanta looked at Dionysus empathetically. "It's not the end of Gaia, you know? You're still you."
Dionysus sunk deeper in the water.
"Are you serious?" Atalanta got exasperated. "You grew jungles, brought wine to man, gave chaotic parties, went bonkers on pirates, shamed Midas with the golden fingers, and your biggest problem is your fucking hormones?" She pointed towards her legs. "You guys ever wonder why I got blood on my legs?"
"Uh, 'cause you murdered a bunch of guys who got too friendly and ya use their blood as war paint to scare people?" Pan asked.
Atalanta rolled her eyes. Pan turned his eyes to give Atalanta some space as she undressed to jump in the lake. Once she dove into the water, Pan saw the stains…
"That is SO gross!"
"Yep!" Atalanta smiled smugly.
"For Gaia's sake, Attie! The retinue HAS pads!" Pan exclaimed. "I ain't going in that lake anymore!"
"Uh… Pan, you realize that nearly all the women here do stuff in the lake? Right?"
Pan ran to vomit behind a tree trunk. Atalanta swam towards Dionysus, who started to show more of her insecure expression splashed with some surprise.
"I… didn't know you got your period…"
"Duh! I didn't tell anyone!" Atalanta moved her arms around to keep herself afloat. "I mean, I'm younger than you and Pan. Most girls get it a couple years later. I didn't know how to talk about it to anyone! Even my bear mom! I was afraid that if I told anyone, they'd think that I'm a girly girl!"
Dionysus gave out a small snort. "YOU? Girly? You'd rather die!"
"EXACTLY! Then I remembered! I didn't feel girly just because I shed some blood! Will I change physically? Maybe. Maybe in three years from now, I might grow into a red-furred bear! Or a red lion! Even if I change, I'll still be me! Atalanta, the super archer and Artemis' number one fan! And NO MAN will be the boss of me!"
"Well, yeah… but…"" Dionysus hesitated. "It's not the same…"
"How?"
"Well…" Dionysus swam towards the shore, Atalanta following her. "I'm NOT supposed to be a girl! You know what happens to fertility goddesses, right?" She shuddered as she got out of the water. "I dreamed of the fertility goddesses… the ones before Auntie Persephone… I saw all of them being killed…"
"Hey, at least Pops gave you the heads up about your nature!" Pan came back, paler from losing most of his stomach.
"At least I was an oddball! The Olympians go looking for fertility goddesses, not fertility gods!"
"And you're both! You're still an oddball!" Atalanta whacked Dionysus behind the head. Dionysus growled back at Atalanta.
"Dio…" Pan said. "You've shapeshifted into girls before. You even play dress-up with the retinue's dresses. You think things will be different?"
Dionysus put her wet butt against the soil. "I don't know! It's one thing to dress like a girl! It's another thing to be a girl! Body-wise!"
"My Gaia, I still don't get the fuss!" Atalanta rolled her eyes. "Dio, ya met Loki, right?"
"Obviously."
"God, slash goddess of mischief. EVERYBODY knows about Loki. Fathered a bunch of monsters and MOTHERED a horse. You've seen Loki shift. How'd you feel about that?"
"Fine. Because Loki is Loki." Dionysus frowned.
"EXACTLY!" Atalanta and Pan exclaimed.
"But…"
"No buts! Though you really need to wash yours." Pan pointed at his sibling's dirty butt.
"You're Dionysus. And Dionysus… is DIONYSUS!" Atalanta emphasized.
"Obviously, but…"
"ARE YOU DIONYSUS, YES OR NO?" Atalanta's scream agitated Pan's fur.
"I'm Dionysus…" The fertility deity shifted into a startled boy.
"Good! Problem solved! Atalanta going to bed so Atalanta can hunt for thousand retinue members! Good night!" Atalanta grabbed her tunic and dressed herself as she walked towards the shadows.
"Pan think that Atalanta too cranky for night pep talks." Pan imitated the third-person dialect of the mortal girl. He tossed a clean towel to Dionysus. "You feel better?"
"I don't like it when Atalanta gets angry." Dionysus wrapped the towel over his lower body, making him look like he was wearing a sarong. "You sure my… new thing… isn't bothering you?"
"Well… hygiene's gonna be an issue." Pan patted Dionysus on the bare back. "Besides, if Pops found out EVERYTHING you've been doing behind his back recently, your 'new thing' will be nothing… compared to our hides on his wall!" Pan hissed those last words.
Dionysus scoffed, making his way to the woods. "I get away with it after each punishment."
Pan squinted. Dionysus kept his eyes straight towards the path.
"Oh, no, no, no, no!" Pan galloped, his hooves hopping over roots and trunks to catch up to Dionysus. "I know that look!"
"What look?"
Pan blocked Dionysus' path. "That look you get when you're hoping something goes your way! Dio, what happened in Crete?"
"NOTHING!" The demigod's horns started to grow.
"You asked her again, didn't you?" Pan gasped. "Dio!"
"She didn't say yes, Pan! You think I'm Zeus?" Dionysus' eyes began to glow green and purple. "All she said was that she had to think about talking with her siblings about leaving Crete. You think I like seeing her with a bruise every Sunday? Her family's awful, Pan! And her brother's being used as Minos' personal bloodbath toy!"
Pan, despite his frustration, inhaled and breathed out. "Dio. Knowing you, I get that you hate what's happening in Crete. It's you being sympathetic to your mortal half's plight. I do. I mean, I'd hate it if you were locked away or if Pops suddenly decided to beat you. Thank god he's not that kind of dad! But…" Pan placed his hands on Dionysus' shoulders. "You don't have… Zeus' flaws. And… lately I've been worried… are you sure you and that chick are just friends?"
"She's not turning ten until six months from now. We're kids!"
"Anything can happen in the next eight to ten years!" Pan dismissed Dionysus' comment. "It's just…" Pan sighed. "Part of me is REALLY hoping that you guys are just Uncle Hades and Auntie Persephone 2.0… But… another part of me is worried… What if it ends up like your great-grandparents, your grandparents, and your dad with your stepmom's mother? What if…"
Dionysus pulled away from Pan. "Even if we were more than friends, and we're strictly friends, Ariadne would never do that!"
Pan crossed his arms.
Dionysus waited for him to say something.
Pan said nothing.
"This is the part where you expect me to give you proof that I don't have, right?" Dionysus sighed.
"Worst case, she might ditch you after she finds out about your 'new thing'."
Pan regretted his choice of words. Dionysus shoved his brother to the ground and ran off crying.
"Dio! I'm sorry! That's not what I meant!" Pan called out. "DIO!"
…
The week passed by quickly. The three realms were still poorly handling the public reveal and Apollo's embargo. Hestia was probably handling it the worst. Her best distraction was her weekly meetings with Persephone and Hades at Underworld Corp to discuss the Elysian Fields project.
"I think the best way to get started with the paradisiac system is to establish the shades' evaluation." Persephone read through her ledger. "All shades were never evaluated based on their actions and lives. I think assembling a justice would benefit the selections."
"You mean like that of our Egyptian compatriots?" Hestia grimaced. "You're not going to feed their hearts to Cerberus, are you?"
"Eh. He wouldn't digest it well." Hades shrugged.
"But we are thinking of communicating with Osiris and Iris for suggestions," Persephone continued. "Assigning a god to judge shades in our Underworld would be too biased and impossible. Personally, I think we should select judges among the deceased. Shades that have the most experiences with people."
"You might need to discuss this part with Athena," Hestia recommended. "Her main specialty with the mortals is the art of diplomacy. I wouldn't be surprised if she recommended a ruler to you."
"Will she be impartial about it?" Persephone asked.
Hestia pondered. "Touché."
"No, I think the real trick is to find VERY fresh. It's got to be deceased mortals who not only know mortals, but REALLY knows them! Not as 'go to paradise if you worship the gods', but 'go to paradise if you truly weren't at fault'. Like… a peasant who performs good xenia. A king who rules fairly. A demigod who truly performed acts of heroism."
"We might as well cross that last suggestion off." Hades took notes. "The only decent demigod in our realms was Perseus. And he's currently a constellation."
"And what about the decadent demigods?" Hestia noted. "Tantalus…"
"HE stays in Tartarus!" Both Hades and Persephone said in unison.
"I was going to say 'is an obvious example of a guilty candidate'." Hestia sighed. "Would have helped if we weren't surrounded by assholes. There's got to be at least ONE divine entity who isn't secretly a douchebag that's not going to blind us with lies! At least somebody who knows decent people!"
The engaged couple exchanged awkward glances at one another.
"Hestia… are you seriously considering resigning from the Olympians?" Persephone closed her ledger. Hades got up to prepare some coffee for all of them.
"I feel stupid, Kore…" Hestia scoffed. "And I made you feel like crap! I'm the founder of TGOEM… and it's like Medusa all over again!"
"Heh…" Persephone hesitated.
"Would I even be surprised if in the next few days, the next I hear is that he violated the Priestess Protocols?" Hestia snarked.
Interlude for THE WORLD ACCORDING TO DIONYSUS
Let's get real. Anywhere you go that has a religion, there's always some kind of priest/priestess governing worshipping practices. One major rule that applies to nearly every single employee in a temple?
CHASTITY! VIRGINITY! NO SEX! It's that simple!
The priests/priestesses of gods' temples in the Mortal Realm are basically the faces of the gods' reps. Like how you go shopping and the way employees talk to you reflects the CEO's image. And with nearly every single pantheon, gods WILL get angry if the rule is broken within their temples.
OK, I'm making this too complicated.
Origins of the Priestess Protocols? Medusa was a good-looking mortal, but still a devoted priestess of Athena. And like all priestesses of TGOEM, Medusa made a vow of sexlessness. She did just that until my uncle Poseidon thought it was a good idea to attack her. In Athena's temple.
OK, I'm not even sure what he was thinking. And why are all the men in my godly side of the family, except Hades, perverted?
Anyway, Medusa got stained. And since Poseidon was a god AND her uncle, Athena was like 'You fucked in my temple, so I fuck you!' And that's how Medusa got transformed into a Gorgon and there was the whole thing with Perseus.
Problem was, assaulting the gods' most faithful servants led to mortals wondering 'Dude, where's the respect for our devotion? We keep your temples in good shape and handle your offerings, and our reward is getting our priestesses fucked?' I think because Athena overacted, my Auntie Hestia, as Vespa, had her worshippers in Rome make an ultimate vow of celibacy… that came with being buried alive if sex came in the picture. Auntie Hestia then petitioned the Priestess Protocols, which got approved by the 6 Traitors Dynasty. Basically, gods had to be reminded. Don't fuck with another god's priestess and don't fuck with your own.
Well, unless you were a priest/priestess of Aphrodite and her family.
And now, cue the phone call!
Resuming the story
Hades excused himself the moment the office phone rang.
"Unidentifiable number. Better not be another burner phone." Hades picked up the phone. "Underworld Corp. This is Hades, co-ruler of the Underworld speaking… Silenus?"
Hestia's head perked up. Curious, she noticed Persephone's sudden smile.
"Silenus, since when do YOU have a phone?"
"Are the boys doing OK?" Persephone asked.
Silenus? With kids? Hestia was confused. She could have sworn that due to the last time Silenus had gotten involved with Olympus, he cleared off sex.
"Kore's wondering if Pan and Dionysus are…" Hades paused. "What? You sure? Hold on." Hades covered his phone with his palm. "Dio's not doing well."
"Oh no, what happened? Is he sick?" Persephone got up in worry. "Should we get a doctor?"
Hades tensed as inaudible screaming came from the phone. "Are you daft? I'm not sending Asclepius! I got standards!" Hades exclaimed. "Pan told WHAT?"
"What did Pan say?" Kore inquired.
"Not sure I understand, but Dionysus hasn't been doing well all week. He hasn't even been focusing on his classes. And… he's also a she. Occasionally." Hades resumed talking on the phone. "Well… except for the fact that this MIGHT be better a few… five years later… OK, did Pan really tell Dionysus that? Gaia, I pity you. Oh, uh… Well, we have a very tight schedule this weekend… I mean, I'm sure Persephone would want to… KORE!"
Persephone snatched the phone from her fiancée. "Silenus? Is Dionysus OK? Hades made it sound like he was in a bad mess, PLEASE TELL ME YOU CAN COME OVER FOR A LATE NIGHT DINNER TODAY, HESTIA MIGHT BE THERE BUT SHE'S PLANNING ON RESIGNING, SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT ANY OLYMPIANS, AND WE'LL DO OUR BEST TO MAKE SURE THAT THE BOYS ARE COMFORTABLE AND DIONYSUS SEES THAT HE/SHE IS A WONDERFUL CHILD, REGARDLESS OF WHATEVER PAN TOLD HIM!" Persephone's eyes turned red and flowers exploded out of her hair. The floor nearly cracked underneath her. She then calmed. "OK. See you tonight!" Persephone hung up the phone.
"Uh… Sweetness?" Hades asked.
"Good news, Silenus and the kids are coming for dinner tonight!" Persephone smiled. "Bad news, we have to go grocery shopping and get rid of our wine. Medium news, Silenus sounded more unhappy about Hestia resigning than joining us for dinner." She tilted her head. "Hestia?"
Hestia had been frozen by several words.
Silenus.
Kids.
Persephone.
Hades.
Worry.
I don't want to be an Olympian anymore.
Dinner.
Comfort.
Dionysus?
Who's that Dionysus? Persephone and Hades sound like… they care about a child.
That's when Hestia remembered a small detail.
For once, she was glad that Zeus' sunshine bastard had such a big mouth about Hades.
Hadn't he mentioned something crucial about Hades' medical history? And with Persephone…
Hestia smiled. "I was thinking that I could help with tonight's dinner. Cooking for six people is easy for me."