Chapter 6: Pillars Cracking

Sometime during the hurricane of the last chapter

Nemesis laughed at the ongoing chaos.

It was fantastic, really. The moment AURA, the selected fan, had shared the video and asked the question, all of Tartarus broke loose. Granted, it wasn't in the same dazzle as Persephone's trial, but it had caused quite a fire in the studio after, well, Apollo forced an answer out.

It was the beauty of the River Styx. A genuine lie could torture your body until your confession. A lie born of delusions caused GREATER damage.

Zeus was forced to transfer the Olympians, the Underworld royalty, and Nemesis to his office. It was probably the first time Hades and Demeter actually agreed on something and tried to kill Apollo. Persephone kept turning to avoid showing her face. Nemesis immediately turned on her camera to record the drama the moment once Hestia started yelling, causing everyone to silence themselves.

"See, this is why I can't bear my title anymore!" Sparks popped out of Hestia, who rarely lost her cool. "I can't believe this…" She glared at Apollo. "What were you thinking? You assaulted one of my past candidates!"

"She agreed to it!" Apollo said. Hades felt his claws scratching against his skin in his fist.

"Coercion to intercourse is still assault!" Aphrodite yelled.

"Calm down." Hephaestus patiently held his wife.

"I won't!" Aphrodite said. "It's acceptable on mortals, but not with another immortal!"

Hera just drank her cup of decaf coffee, relaxing in her seat. Apollo murderously glared at her.

"You knew all along," Zeus told his wife with an accusatory tone.

"Didn't stop you from playing favorites." Hera drank her coffee. "I told you I had a vision of him assaulting Kore. I told you that you went too far. Your own brother told you that Kore was afraid of Apollo."

"I got to say, Nemesis, I'm amazed by the carnage you just created." Ares clapped his hands.

"ENOUGH!" Zeus snapped, silencing everyone. He inhaled deeply. "Besides OBVIOUSLY my wife and my bastard of a son, WHO ELSE knew AND FUCKING DIDN'T TELL ME, that this happened?"

Hades and Hephaestus raised their hands. Nemesis smugly raised hers.

Artemis was torn. Between wanting to hug her best friend and showing her anguished expression at her twin, the Goddess of the Hunt was in an awful position. "Apollo, how could you? Persephone, how could you?"

"Sis…" Apollo began.

"DON'T 'SIS' ME!" Artemis yelled. "How could you? I make a zero men tolerance in my house except for my brother! I make it SPECIFICALLY clear to you that my best friend was off limits. Is this how you expect me to trust you? You assault my friend in my own house? Then you put her through all that? Tell me this, Apollo, exactly HOW did you think I was going to look on your good side when this gets added to the fact you hid the truth about our parentage?"

Apollo wanted to say something, but Artemis turned to Persephone. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Persephone bit her lip.

"Shame. Fear of friendship loss. Slut-shaming. Blackmail. Unfair trial. Obvious Olympian nepotism, like my brother once said." Nemesis chuckled. "I mean, like Zeus once said, people would question the Olympian selection all for one B-grade goddess."

"You still have a lot to answer for," Zeus pointed at Nemesis. "Why would…"

"I don't answer, I do my job. A fan sent a submission. They filed for public retribution. The public retribution was given. I collect taxes through my Immortal Retribution Services, I got the paperwork done, my lawyers, AND my lawyer. My job comes with permits, and I have them all filed up. You can inspect my office."

"She's right," Athena sighed and stood up. "Nemesis' thorough administration covers her. Not to mention that now, because Persephone is the Queen of the Underworld and Hades' fiancée, EVERYONE in the three realms knows that Apollo assaulted his soon-to-be aunt! They won't just criticize Father's choice in Olympians, they'll start to question our actions henceforth. Citizens in the Underworld and Olympus might cease all work for us. Mortals could quit their worship in distrust."

"You MIGHT want to add the Valhalla Nightly News." Hephaestus checked his laptop. "They just broadcasted."

"Well, NOW we might be able to add a potential war among pantheons!" Ares got excited. "I forgot how much of a loser Pops' boys were to them! Ya might cost a lot of foreign sun gods their jobs, Apollo! Great job!"

Apollo lowered in his seat, his eyes glowing yellow.

"And questions might rise!" Athena added. "Father, you clearly had banished Persephone after her trial SPECIFICALLY after Apollo revealed himself in public as your son! Just as Apollo's approval rates rose and he started his presidential campaign, the reveal of the video will cause people to connect dots. They'll start to question if you had suspicions."

"Suspicions?" Hera stopped drinking her coffee. "YOU had your own suspicions of Apollo from the start, and you vilify MY visions?"

Zeus ducked the coffee cup she threw at him. Hera stormed out the office.

"I demand punishment!" Demeter snarled. "I want your head on a spike!"

"Zeus!" Hades snapped.

"SILENCE!" Persephone shouted, red thorns growing in her pink hair. The gods silenced themselves. Nemesis got excited. "See? This is why I didn't want anyone to find out!"

"But Kore… We talked about this." Hades patiently told her. "Even after the divide, you still refused to tell anyone."

"Well, it's not like it would have mattered." Persephone flashed her red eyes at Apollo. "I even made it clear to you and your mother! To you, I specifically expressed my hatred and your delusion! But you live in your own olden cloud that everyone likes you! Either Leto indulged your delusions or you lied to her! She sounded pretty ecstatic to possibly have the Goddess of Spring as a daughter-in-law!"

"Ooh, intense!" Nemesis kicked her feet off the ground. "And during the divide, Apollo requested Leto's return to Olympus!" She jumped off her seat, kneeled before Persephone, and presented a stack of paperwork. "I got permits for harassment revenge, your Majesty! Hundreds of different ideas for how to avenge your honor AND give the Sun God a proper punishment!"

"OK, you're WAY too much like Eris!" Persephone scoffed.

Nemesis sighed enamored. "She completes me." She sifted to the severity. "But seriously. How would you like to file your revenge? Destruction of all lyres in Apollo's touch? An arrow of hate piercing his heart every day? Ooh, I have a favorite! We cut off Apollo's upper sinews and his dick, we put it in a jar, and we toss it in Mt. Etna! It'll turn him into a complete mess!"

"NO!"

"Yeah, you're right. Too Typhon. Maybe we can chain him to a rock in a public place, and every time he attempts flirtation, crows pick off his tongue, it regenerates, and we do JUST like Prometheus!" Nemesis slammed the paperwork on Zeus' desk, eagerly flipping through the pages. "By the way, I still got some undocumented retribution towards the mortal realm. Lady Artemis, how come I haven't seen you at my office yet?"

"I did nothing! I'm busy yelling at my asshole twin!" Artemis said.

"Minus your unregistered retaliation against Queen Niobe, I still haven't heard about your desired retribution towards the Kings of Calydon and Arcadia respectively." Nemesis forced some files in Artemis' hands. "And let me see…"

"Nemesis, must you deviate from the main topic?" Zeus questioned.

"Hey! Retribution is like death. It's an on-going job." Nemesis said. "Knowing you, you'll obviously want to accumulate more evidence until you can properly put Apollo on trial."

"You can't be serious!" Apollo stood up. "I'm an Olympian and the son of Zeus!"

"That didn't stop the rulers of Olympus to disown my own girlfriend. And she was the firstborn!" Nemesis pulled out some papers. "Tip of advice? Give Apollo house arrest. It's not like his job did much compared to Helios' actual weight."

Some of the gods nodded silently.

"I'm the God of the Sun! Who do you fucking think you are to…"

"ENOUGH!" Thunderbolts appeared out of Zeus' eyes. "Until further notice, Phoebus Apollo's duties as the God of the Sun, Music, and Medicine are under embargo! You won't be allowed to leave Olympus to perform your duties until this situation has cleared."

"Helios can easily pull the Sun. Besides Asclepius, there's a good portion of minor gods who can act as Interim for the Healing section," Hephaestus rationalized.

"Yeah, and let's be real. We can ask ANY of the Muses to substitute him in Music," Poseidon added.

"Fantastic! I have just the paperwork for that!" Nemesis presented Zeus with the form. "Temporary Retribution Under Publicized Assault on the Triarchy. Rest assured, Your Majesty, my clients get protected assets."

"I don't suppose you can provide the address of the nymph who got the video?" Zeus sighed as he signed the paper.

"Can't. I have strict confidentiality clauses sworn on the River Styx. What I CAN say, however, is that I'm curious."

"Curious?"

"Well, AURA happened to get visuals of the night of the rape. Unless Artemis has high-end security in her house, the nymph might have gotten the recording from the only deities in our pantheon to record all beings' history, lives, and births. What I'm curious about is, can the Olympians interrogate one of the few deities they can't arrest, or are they going to suspect another of their own?"

…

With that disastrous assembly split, Hades and Persephone had opted to take a cooling break in the Mortal Realm.

"I can't…" Persephone sighed. "First my mother, now this?"

"We'll figure something out." Hades held her close.

It seemed like the gods had been arguing all night. The Mortal Realm was experiencing an unusual cloudy day, not a single pinch of sunlight in sight. The wet grass left some mud on Hades' feet and his steed, the black horse carrying Persephone. In the distance, some farmers freaked out by how soaked their crops were.

"I'm not familiar with this part of the Mortal Realm." Persephone frowned.

Hades reared his grip on the horse.

Nestos, a big river of lime green coloring, separated them from what seemed like an endless forest hiding the mountains. Warning signs with painted mortal dialect were hammered onto the ground, ideally right by the one road. Even though the road was right by the river, the signs created a fence. Almost as if to tell strangers not to cross.

Something peaked out of the river. A lime green head the size of a fishing boat. The river spirit showed his grinning face at the two gods. His hair was a flowing waterfall behind his head.

"Aidoneus!" He greeted. "I haven't seen you since you were little!"

"Nestos? Is that you?" Hades helped Persephone off her horse.

"You know him?" Persephone asked.

"Of course! I used to watch him play with his mother. I haven't seen him since. I spotted him once in the Mortal Realm, but he was busy with Kronos." Nestos noted Persephone's presence and smiled. "Aw, Aidoneus! You finally found someone? She looks just like your mother!"

Persephone blushed at the comparison.

"Nestos, how've you been? Olympus usually isn't kind to the children of Titans," Hades said.

"Eh. I'm a river spirit. If they start making a fuss, who's going to keep Thrace hydrated. Besides, as a son of Oceanus, I'm one of Amphitrite's endless number of brothers. You should visit more often. Poseidon does."

Hades lowered his head.

"I'm guessing you didn't come all this way to check on my wellbeing," Nestos guessed. "What happened on Olympus? I almost flooded Nysa!"

"Nysa?" Persephone looked at the endless forest behind the river god's head. "Wait… Hades, doesn't Silenus and his retinue live there?"

"THAT'S Nysa?" Hades widened his eyes. "I could still see the mountains the last time I saw it 30 years ago! Time flies!"

"Yeah, the way Dionysus changed it makes a big difference."

It took five seconds for the couple to actually understand what Nestos was saying.

"Wait… Silenus' kid? Purple hair, makes wine, threw a big birthday party?" Persephone cautiously asked.

"I don't know another Dionysus with that specific description," Nestos replied.

"He grew a forest all on his own? How amazing!" Persephone beamed.

Nestos frowned at Persephone's reaction. "Uh… You couldn't tell?"

"Not really! You can't detect the extensions!"

"Uh, no, I meant about Dionysus." Nestos looked at Hades. "She's not serious with me, right?"

Both gods were now confused with Nestos reaction.

Nestos dove back into the river. Rocks emerged from the current, forming a rocky pathway for the gods to cross.

"Nestos?" Hades called out.

The river spirit's face appeared in the water.

"I'm not the best at it, but I think your mate is missing my point here. You might have to talk to Silenus. About Dionysus."

Hades and Persephone stared at one another.

They weren't Olympians, so it was safe for them to assume that they could enter Nysa.

Nestos drowned the rock pathway in his current once the gods and their steed crossed. They felt eyes staring at them from the trees' shadows. Hooves could be heard bouncing off.

Silenus' satyrs were keeping a close eye.

"I hope Dionysus is alright." Persephone admired the trees that camouflaged the sky. "Nestos made it sound like he was in trouble." She noticed Hades' apprehensive expression. "Something wrong?"

"Kore, I should have mentioned this earlier…" Hades sighed. "Remember when we ran into the retinue? Just after that intervention Demeter tried to pull?"

"Yes. When we first met them? Why?"

"You… didn't notice something off about Silenus' boys? Maybe, a signal that there was more to them?"

"Hades."

Playing the cautionary card wasn't going to work on her.

Hades sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Silenus' boys are demigods. I picked up their scent when we first them."

"What?" Persephone became concerned. "Are you sure? Demigods are like a quarter to regular mortals being dimes. They're so frequent!"

"Trust me, it's hard to miss. You didn't notice it the first time?"

"No."

"I figured. You and Demeter spent so much time in the Mortal Realm, it's hard to distinguish. Demigods carry a scent specifically based on their divine genetic. A god could easily detect the smell… I initially didn't pick up the smell when we ran into the retinue until the boys got closer."

"You think Silenus used the retinue's mixed odors to camouflage theirs? That makes sense."

"Maybe. Zeus' demigod offspring all carry the scent of Amalthea's essence."

"Amalthea?"

"Demeter never told you?" Hades touched a nearby tree. The trunk darkened, creating the image of a goat with fur sparkling like stars. "After my mother tricked Kronos, she put my brother in the care of Cretan nymphs. Amalthea was an immortal goat who fed him with her milk. Almost like fertility goddesses, she lost her immortality after feeding a son of Kronos so much. Zeus wanted to commemorate her. Her hide became his aegis and he converted her soul into a constellation."

Persephone scoffed. "How poetic. Give your kids the stench of the same goat that fed you until you killed it."

They kept walking, failing to notice the ivy suddenly growing to cover the area Hades had burned on the tree trunk. Amalthea's image dissolved into moss.

"You think Dionysus and Pan…"

"Just Dionysus. He's the only one with Zeus' odor. Pan had Hermes' scent."

In the grass behind them, sundews slithered through the grass.

"Hermes? That can't be right! Pan's probably the same age as Dionysus! And Hermes was possessed by Kronos in the Underworld during the divide!"

"Maybe Hermes and the boy's mother split just before your trial, unaware of the latter's pregnancy?" Hades snorted.

Persephone paused.

"Kore?"

"You get the feeling that we're watched? Or, in a weird way, hounded?"

The ground shook. Stems erupted from the soil and bloomed, their purple petals agitating towards the gods.

"Aconites?" Persephone was baffled. "Aconites aren't that big!"

The large aconites began to knot together. The gods watched the sentient plants conjoin into a strange muscular mesh of stems. Purple petals grew all over the abomination. The creature hissed, purple poison dripping out of its fangs. Persephone and Hades gasped at the floral panther growling its venomous fangs at them.

Persephone held out her hands. Thorned vines grew from the earth and attacked the monster. The beast dodged the vines and tore them off, its poison killing them. Hades stomped the ground but the monster jumped over each crack that opened up the earth.

The gods' eyes flashed red.

"Aidoneus! Kore!"

The distant calls of Silenus interrupted the fight. The monster growled and jumped into one of the cracks, disappearing as the earth closed. By the time Silenus came, purple rhododendrons grew where the earth had opened.

"Silenus! What was that monster that grew from the plants?" Persephone questioned.

"What… Oh! THAT monster!" The old satyr panted from the long walk. "Can't do big hills anymore… Ugh!"

"Are you alright?"

"I'm old." Silenus stretched his goat legs. "The Nysaen Monster is an odd one. It comes and goes, taking on beastly forms based on the local flora. It only bothers intruders."

"Who'd intrude Nysa? It's your domain," Hades pointed out.

Silenus waved his hands. "So was the nymph preservation grounds of Demeter, but did that stop mortals from trespassing and chopping as they pleased? Besides, my retinue resides in the sacred lands of the primordial ones. I wouldn't be surprised if the Monster was trying to protect external assailants if they weren't invited. It must have fled once it realized I was calling you."

"How charming. I never thought I'd get welcomed by plants in such a way." Persephone said.

"Well, Nysa has it's weird ways with Xenia."

Interlude for THE WORLD ACCORDING TO DIONYSUS

'Xenia' is basically 'hospitality', and my can't-control-my-dick dad Zeus is the one who invented Xenia. Along with the useless nickname 'Zeus Xenios'.

Basically, if somebody came knocking at your door, you HAD to let them in. Doesn't matter if it's a god in disguise or the satyr next door begging for an extension on your deal. You're supposed to do Xenia by being a good host AND a good guest. You do that, and everybody knows you're cool and you get invited to their places. If you fuck up, bad shit happens.

Zeus takes Xenia SERIOUSLY! Like, Prometheus stealing fire seriously! He's lost his shit whenever he shows up as a traveler and he's not respected. Ya know Niobe? Her dad was my half-brother Tantalus. For some reason, he thought it was a good idea to feed the gods a human flesh stew when he had them over. Like, why'd you cut up your son anyway and feed it to his grandpa?

Lesson learned: even if you hate somebody's ass, always give them good Xenia. Otherwise, my Uncle Hades will give you a one-way ticket to Tartarus.

Oh, looks like Pops brought Uncle Hades and Auntie Persephone over! Gotta go!

Resuming the story

It took one glare from Silenus for the tribe members to move on with their tasks or time-off, giving the newly arrived gods some spaced.

"I'm assuming you've witnessed a hurricane," Hades started to say. "I wanted to…"

"Save it!" Silenus made a shushing gesture. "Shove whatever shitty business your brother and his peers caused on Olympus into Pandora's box. I made it clear a thousand years ago, and I made it ESPECIALLY clear decades ago. What Olympus does STAYS OUT of Nysa!"

"What happened a few decades ago?" Persephone asked.

"Silenus reported to Hera that Zeus assaulted the nymph spouse of one of Nysa's satyrs," Hades gave her the answer. "She banned the Olympians from entering Nysa… and killed the nymph."

Persephone pondered for a bit. "I can't really blame her."

Silenus led them towards a grand temple overrun by the roots of a pine tree. Ivy neatly coiled up the pillars. A nice aroma came from the temple, the mixture of fresh plants, herbs, and somebody cooking.

"Gaia's temple." Persephone marveled.

"I took up residence here when I got the boys." Silenus headed towards the main entrance. "Regardless of what happened on Olympus, you two must have had a rough night and Xenia is requested. The best I can offer right now is hosting you for lunch." Silenus clasped his hands and gave out a big smile. "And a small amicable congratulations! Rumors spread that you two are engaged!"

Hades and Persephone smiled, holding hands.

"POPS! The amygdalopita is cooking! Dionysus says it's lunch time!" Pan's voice echoed from the temple, scaring off some birds.

"PAN! No shouting over the walls! You want the Thracians to know what we're eating?" Silenus shouted back.

"POPS! Dionysus says you need to come in! Like, NOW! We just put the pita and nettle soups at the table! DODO! STAY AWAY FROM THAT! DIO! SHE'S GOING FOR THE KOTSIFALI!"

"POOOOOPSS!" Dionysus' shout shook the temple walls.

"Dionysus! Don't you dare!" Silenus ran into the temple.

"DON'T I DARE WHAT? I'M GONNA FUCKING FLAY THAT DONKEY IF SHE TOUCHES MY GRAPES AGAIN!"

Dishes were heard crashing. A donkey brayed. Hades and Persephone ran after Silenus. They caught up when Silenus ripped a tray of grapes out of a donkey's mouth.

"Dodo! Bad!" Silenus chided. He wrestled with the impatient donkey. Hades quickly stabilized the table Dodo nearly hit and Persephone kept the food from falling. "DODO! Courtyard! Now!"

"POPS! NO!" Pan called out. "The kitchen's in the same direction as the courtyard!"

"Is Dionysus calm?"

"You THINK I'm calm! THAT DONKEY NEARLY TOUCHED THE GRAPES!" Dionysus shouted.
"Was the Kotsifali for the lunch wine?" Silenus' question met silence. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Dodo, go see Ganymede. And boys?"

"We got goat milk!" Pan quickly trotted into the temple room, a pitcher of goat milk at hand and his hair quite wild. Dionysus struggled to come in.

He stepped in, trying to pull off horns that somehow stuck out of his hair. Said horns were living Vitaceae growing in the spiral formation of a horn. Dionysus kept trying to pull them off, staining his hands and some of his hair with his blood.

Red mortal blood mixed with divine ichor.

"Oh, don't do that, sweetie!" Persephone rushed to keep Dionysus' hands away from his horns. "It'll damage your scalp!"

"I've been doing that every time!" As he pulled on his horns, it became harder for him to hide his tears.

He felt a leaf falling on his nose. When he looked up, Persephone manifested her true form. Her branch wings bloomed some red and blue flowers. Each time they ruffled, leaves flew everywhere.

"Wow…" Dionysus let go of his horns. "You look like a fairy."

"And you look like a little imp!" Persephone teasingly poked his nose.

"Not fair, Auntie Persephone! I'm not that little!" Dionysus pouted.

"Is that so?" Persephone picked up Dionysus, carried him to the table, and had him sit down on the rocks the hosts used as chairs. "Persephone, 1! Dionysus, 0!"

Dionysus crossed his arms, his eyes staring at the floor and the horns retracting.

"Aw, look at that. He's calmed down." Silenus ruffled the demigod's purple locks.

"I know she cheated." Dionysus shrugged.

"Me?" Persephone beamed her eyes innocently. "NEVER!"

Hades smiled at the scene. Persephone really had a way with children.

Once they all started to sit down, Pan served the milk to their guests.

"Congrats on your getting-hitched!" Pan said. "You guys gonna do a big wedding?"

"We're still working on it," Hades said.

"How did your mother react?" Silenus asked Persephone.

Her glum expression said it all.

"I'm very sorry, Persephone. I shouldn't have…"

"It's fine."

"She didn't blackmail you with some shitstorm to get you to be single, right?" Dionysus cut up the pita and served a couple slices to Persephone. "Ya know Thor in the Norse pantheon? He had to dress up as my Uncle Freyr's sister to get his hammer back because a giant blackmailed his hammer in exchange for the lady's hand! Ya want me to ask Thor to knock some sense into Demi?"

"Dionysus!" Silenus chided.

"What?"

"It's a nice suggestion, sweetie, but I wouldn't do that. I care about my mother, but she needs to respect my wishes." Persephone took a bite of the pita. "Wow! Delicious!"

"Ya do? It's one of the few things I can make that isn't wine, red wine, white wine, pink wine, purple wine, Chardonnay wine, Cabernet Sauvignon…"

Dionysus passed the pita plate to Pan and started making endless roundtrips from the living room to wherever he had his homemade stock. "Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, Sangiovese, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Nebbiolo, Riesling, Syrah, Kosher Wine, Pyment, Santorini, Grenache, Semillon, Folle Blanche, Öküzgözü,"

Nearly 10,000 wine varieties, grape desserts, and grape extract varieties

"And of course, grapeseed extract can be used for healing stuff like cancer!" Dionysus caught on to the snoring. Only Hades was awake while the others had fallen sleep on the table. All the dishes, cups, and pitcher were empty, save for the two slices of amygdalopita on Hades' plate.

"Guys?" Dionysus sighed. "I bored them, didn't I?"

"A nap isn't harmful." Hades covered Persephone with his cloak. Under the warmth of her shivered cape, she shivered less. At one point during Dionysus' rambling, her branch wings had disappeared.

"Is Auntie Persephone gonna be OK?" The small demigod expressed his worry.

"It's been rough for her, lately." Hades offered his plate of amygdalopita to Dionysus. Dionysus smiled and accepted it. "She's very sweet on you. I've never really seen Persephone interact with kids."

"Are you and Auntie Persephone gonna have kids?"

Hades stared at the demigod chewing through the pastry.

Sensitivity wasn't really a thing in Zeus' bloodline. Well, maybe except Hebe. When it was Dionysus, however, it could easily be dismissed as the innocent curiosity of a ten-year-old.

"I'd think more about it." He said.

Dionysus shrugged. "Ya wanna see some of Nysa? They might be napping for a long while."

Hades blinked in surprise. "You… let your family sleep just like that on the table?"

"Big whoop. We sleep in huts while traveling and I've slept in trees so long, I scared off any nesting birds. They think I'm a cat. And in case ya haven't noticed, we don't do cushy mattresses like, as Pops would say, 'snobby Olympian elitists.'"

Touché, Hades thought. God and demigod exited the temple. Few rays of sunlight passed the trees. The retinue was out and about. Dionysus licked off any food scrap on his fingers.

"What do ya wanna see, Uncle Hades? We can head straight for the lake and the wild places if ya want!" Dionysus stood on his bare tiptoes.

"What's the lake like?"

"REALLY big! Like so big, you can find seashells, which makes no sense! But nothing really makes sense in Nysa! Ya wanna go there?"

Hades shrugged. "I don't see why not."

On Olympus, meanwhile

If it was now sunny in the Mortal Realm, a thunderstorm was occurring in Olympus.

The hurricane, symbol of Olympian disbalance, had eased down, but now the metropolis took cover from the lightning and rain coming from Zeus' anger towards Hera.

"YOU COULD HAVE TOLD ME!"

"I DID TELL YOU! BUT NO! YOU CHOSE FVORITISM! YOU CHOSE YOUR EGO! YOU CHOSE TO BANISH THEM AND UPSET HADES!"

In her home, Hestia was curled up, crying on her bed. Athena couldn't console her partner. Hestia felt like she had failed. Failed to maintain the representation of their organization. Failed to see right through the lies. In the end, failed to protect Persephone until the best solution was to support her path.

In the hotel room she had rented, Demeter sobbed, all alone.

In Eros and Psyche's home, a heated conversation occurred. Eros had to confess what he knew. What he did to maintain Persephone's trust and friendship. What he couldn't tell Artemis about her twin all these years. Psyche and Aphrodite cautiously looked from the doorway while Hephaestus tucked his step-granddaughter to bed.

In some bar, Ares was drinking.

In his new apartment in the Underworld, Hermes shook on the sofa. His eyes could barely focus after reading the paperwork Nemesis gave him.

In his home, Poseidon couldn't really sleep, even with Amphitrite giving him plenty to drink.

In his own home, Apollo faced the disappointment of his mother, Leto.

"Assault?" Leto crossed her arms, pacing angrily. Her feet torched the floor underneath them. "What we're you thinking?"

"I was thinking of what you told me!" Apollo protested.

"I told you to charm and court a fertility goddess! Create a progressive relationship, which eventually leads to marriage and you leading Olympus! And you lied to me!"

"But…"

Leto shushed her son.

"It's over with Persephone. With your presidential campaign tarnished by your little stunt, your only option now is to find the other fertility goddess! And this time, you will do it correctly! Understand?"

Apollo sighed. "Yes, mother…"

"Good…" Leto sighed and grabbed a veiled hat. "Don't leave except if it will clean your reputation. I'm going to go investigate how that nymph managed to swindle that information out of the Fates and give it to Nemesis."

"What about Artemis?" Apollo asked. "Can I…"

"YOU do nothing!" Leto hissed beneath her veil. "At least your sister can gain Zeus' favoritism without pulling the crap you did! And do me a favor, son. If you plan on jeopardizing our plans, don't assault the other fertility goddess in your sister's own house!"

In a burst of light, Leto teleported away from the living room. Now alone, Apollo gripped his hair and bent down.

Why was this happening?

How could it happen?

Why would the nymph do that to him?

How could they all…?

His cellphone rang. Apollo pulled it up and aw the caller's name.

"Oh shit…" Apollo gulped and answered it. "H… Hello?"

"Well, if it isn't my buddy the cheap flame discus! Fun news, I just watched RUMORS AND LIES last night! LOVED the way you handled the humiliation like a pro!"

"What do you want?" Apollo spoke back.

"What? Can't I call an old friend? Especially the ones who can't say no to my call? Take a chill pill, Phoebus. Since you're on duty embargo, come join me at Sparta. My future cousin-in-law is hosting another party. Watching mortal humiliation will make you feel better. You can also watch me and my future fiancé rehearse while you and I talk!"

"Look, I know we haven't talked in, like, 200 years, but can you PLEASE spare me your request! I need to clear the trouble…"

"Gee, I wonder which bigger trouble you'd get in. The scandal with Persephone or the one that could REALLY cost you your Olympian status AND your divinity? You know, the ONE THING I can easily report to Zeus due to concrete evidence? The ONE THING I have on you but withheld for such a long time, since, you know, your mom and my grandpa were such good friends?"

If Apollo's purple skin could pale out of terror, he'd be the color of a mortal skeleton right now. And the voice of the Anemoi on the other line had dropped all humor.

"Alright…" He sighed. "I'll be at Sparta after sunset… Zephyrus."