Chapter 10: Hearth
When Hestia said 'cooking for six people is easy for me', it translated into 'cooking double of the actual serving size.'
Hades and Persephone had given her a ride to the grocery store to acquire the things she needed after their meeting. They were kind enough to help her unload the groceries in their kitchen before quickly heading out. Persephone had managed to convince her fiancée that they get some presents for the boys… especially Dionysus.
Hestia could think of several topics while physically concentrating on chopping leaks for the nettle soup.
Kore's a darling, but I've never seen her like this about children. VERY different compared to Demeter.
She started boiling some water in a pot.
I don't know how Artemis views Hades now that everyone knows she's Zeus' daughter. Most of Zeus' children adore him as their uncle.
She started tossing nettles into the pot.
Apollo, on the other hand…
Flashback to MANY years WAY before LORE OLYMPUS
The 1940s. Hestia was quite proud of the progress TGOEM was making. More women in the Mortal Realm were becoming committed to serving their communities while vowing celibacy. A rise in single, pre goddesses were rising in the industrial workforce. Athena had even worked with Hephaestus to hire many new budding engineers.
In Zeus' palace, Hestia had come to visit Hera. Though their duties and preferences were quite a contrast, Hera was always interested in the feminist rises among TGOEM.
What she witnessed firsthand in Zeus' palace was beyond comprehension. Diverse sunrays reflected against nearly every staircase. Various languages were echoing against the hallways. Zeus' lightning did nothing to calm down the chaotic sunlight.
Hestia found Hera and the latter's son, Ares, sitting on the main steps. Hera was smoking her leaking mascara off. Ares, on the other hand, eagerly clapped as his eyes darted towards the direction of Zeus' office.
"What's going on?" Hestia dropped her documents.
"You want me to tell Hestia, Ma?" Ares chuckled.
Hera just shrugged and smoked.
"Ares?" Hestia winced at the sound of an explosion.
"OOOOOH, I guess you haven't heard the juice Apollo spilled all over Olympus." Ares chuckled.
"What 'juice'?"
"That good ol' Uncle Hades can NEVER have heirs for the Underworld. Talk about a way to eliminate competition! And NOW? Hades put a ban on ALL SUN GODS in the Underworld!"
"WHAT?" Hestia exclaimed.
"Yes…" Hera grumbled.
"Why would Apollo do that? Hades' medical business is none of his business!"
"And get this!" Ares got really excited. "Since MANY of the other pantheons sent sun gods to our Underworld for transactions and trades, Apollo accidentally angered all of his fellow members in the Solar Guild! They are REALLLY angered on behalf of themselves AND their rulers!"
Hestia hiccupped in shock.
With the existence of multiple pantheons for the millions of mortals, inter-pantheon organizations had to be formed to aid the diverse gods in proper communicating and trading. Many of said organizations were entirely composed of gods within the same duties. The Solar Guild was entirely composed of sun deities. A respected guild to discuss sunshine for the mortals, equinox, eclipse schedules and locations, and Daylight Savings Time to save energy. Another particular feature with the Solar Guild was that a majority of the members were the only ones with the bravery and diplomacy to travel to the Greek Underworld to negotiate with Hades on behalf of their pantheons.
And Apollo was the only Greek God in the Solar Guild.
With so many solar deities existing within their own groups, it was easy for them to gang up against Apollo. From what Hestia had heard, it wasn't the first time the young Olympian had irritated them and Zeus washed away his favorite Olympian's responsibility.
The sight of all the SG members storming down the steps proved it to be the final straw. Ares pulled his mother and aunt away from the gods.
Zeus floated over the steps and stood before the Guild members. "Look, can't we discuss this more?"
"NOPE!" The Slavic god Hors gave Zeus a backhanded wave and left.
Zeus opened his mouth.
"Keep dreaming!" The Sami goddess Beiwe gave him the middle finger, shocking him.
"We made it clear, Zeus!" The Nordic god Sól exclaimed. "Your FAVORITE! RUINED! OUR! TRADES! Now I need to get cheaper products from Hel!"
"Well, Poseidon has some very good resources!" Zeus offered.
"Not to the same technological functions as the Underworld." The Celtic goddess Étain said indifferently.
"And at least Hades gave tasty goody-bags!" The Gaulish god Belenos held on to his hungry stomach.
"Apollo's in his own clout." The Mesopotamian god Utu wrote down a large 'FUCK YOU' on a notepad and tossed the note onto Zeus' forehead.
"Ama?" Zeus begged the Japanese goddess Amaterasu.
"You don't get to call me that." Her cold response earned her a smile from Hera.
"We'll make this clear!" The Hittite goddess Istanu declared. "As off now, Apollo is revoked from the Solar Guild!"
"Agreed!" The Hindu deities Surya, Aruna, and Tapati agreed together.
"Xihe? Doumu?" Zeus begged the Chinese goddesses, but they just shook their heads.
"And we Americans will make it easy for you!" The Aztec god Tonatiuh pointed to his fellow Western deities. "Guaraci?"
"Apollo's out." The Brazilian god nodded.
"Inti?"
"Same." The Incan god gave a thumbs up.
"Akycha and Malina?"
"Don't care about that gross fucker." The Inuit goddesses spat at Zeus' feet before leaving.
"Ah Kin?"
The Mayan god just left. As did the African gods Anyanwu and Mawu.
The worst part were the Egyptian members of the Solar Guild. Compared to all the aforementioned pantheons, the Egyptians were a dozen altogether in the Solar Guild. Even Ra, the eldest and busiest among them was a member. Zeus had always found himself at odds with their leaders, whom he deemed as showoffs while they all viewed him as a privileged manchild. However, Zeus knew better than to tick off his best competitors.
Clearly, Apollo did not get the memo.
"Zeus… we were VERY clear with you," Ra spoke firmly. "And you chose to not listen."
"And he's the only Sun God we have!"
"That's rich!" Bast was filing her nails. Just behind her, Sekhmet had given Ares a flirtatious wave, nearly grossing out Hestia. Ares winked back.
Bast kept hissing. "I don't see Apollo being chained and walking around the Greek Mortal Realm! Last time I checked, we all agreed when you first introduced Apollo to us that Helios was a better option. But your ego said Apollo would bring us a better rep."
"Our rep ruined faster than a bloody war." Sekhmet agreed.
"But you said a Titan would be a bad fit." Ra shook his head.
"But! Without Apollo in the guild…"
"Great Amun, you and that shithead can't take a no!" Ra got angry, scaring his own teenaged daughter Hathor into hiding behind a protective Bast. "We'll pass on Apollo! Isis and Osiris' son Horus is the newest, YOUNGEST sun deity among us, and he and MY DAUGHTER Hathor are getting married next year, so he'll replace Apollo!"
"But you need a Greek deity among the Guild!" Zeus insisted.
"And we wanted Helios, not Apollo! Or at the very least, one of the members of Helios' legacy!"
"Aren't these gals a bit crazy?" Tonatiuh pointed out.
"They might be psychos, but at least Pasiphaë and Circe know how to do their fucking jobs and keep their mind shut about others' business!" Ra took a deep breath, but gave Zeus a murderous glare. "Here's your options, Zeus. You can either get Helios or one of his family members to join the Solar Guild as the Greek representative, and give Apollo a fitting punishment so that Hades can remove his ban on us… or you can keep your pathetic favorite and earn the eternal disdain and disrespect of all the other gods."
That was the very moment Hestia was further convinced by Zeus' lack of diplomacy and inability to let go of his ego. Hera had stormed off to her room.
Hestia watched all of the Solar Guild members leave the palace, furious with Zeus silent answer. An answer that would put a great strain between the Olympians.
His obvious favoritism had earned him inter-pantheon ostracization.
Zeus angrily stormed back to his office.
Ares noticed Hestia's anguished expression at the drama. Without even asking or properly organizing, he picked up her documents.
"You know… I thought TGOEM's newest polls were pretty amazing," Ares told Hestia.
Hestia sighed.
"Uh… you ever considered encouraging Athena and Artemis to establish a military unit for virgins? I bet the Amazons and Sparta would love that! Chaste warriors focused solely on the glory of war…"
Hestia silently left the palace.
Flashback ended
Just as the nettle soup was done boiling, the timer on for the baking focaccia beeped.
Hestia brought the focaccia to the counter right next to a platter of vegan falafel and a bowl of tabbouleh.
"… hopefully he feels better after tonight."
Hestia feigned to not listen to Hades and Persephone talking to one another.
"I'm a bit nervously." Persephone arranged the utensils. "I don't want to turn it into an intervention. I just want Dionysus to understand that nothing's wrong with him. She can be however she wants."
"Let's not make it awkward." Hades organized the glasses. "Give him some space to relax and have some fun. Maybe after she decompresses, Dionysus will want to talk."
"You think I should ask Chiron if her services include child therapy?"
"Kore."
"Not what you think. Maybe Dionysus needs a safe space outside of his family or us to properly express her feelings. It helped me when I first took therapy." Persephone sighed. "I don't want Dionysus to go through what I did. He doesn't deserve to feel like something's wrong with him."
Hestia turned her back on them to pour the nettle soup into a nice dish. A good way for her to hide her smile.
"And…" She heard Persephone hesitate. "I don't know how to handle the situation… if Dionysus gets bullied for it. You heard how Pan's accidental words affected her! I don't know what to tell Dionysus in standing up for himself in that kind of matter! What if the other gods bully her for being who he is?"
"Well, either they lose our favor or WE lose it." Hestia could hear Hades' teeth grit. "You ever heard of Loki?"
"The Nordic mischief deity? Hermes used to be pen pals with him."
"Loki's a bit like how Dionysus is developing right now. Some moments, god of mischief, and others, goddess of mischief. Fathered many monsters and the Nordic death goddess, but also mothered Odin's steed. The Nordic pantheon had no problem with Loki… but…"
"But what?"
"Let's just say only Hermes and Hephaestus could really shut up among the male Olympians… Odin ceased to come to Olympus in person due to the lack of respect Zeus gave his sibling-in-arms." Hestia heard him hesitate. "The Nordic pantheon was angered when Apollo asked why they couldn't avoid an inter-pantheon dispute by simply requesting Loki to be one gender… permanently."
Hestia carried the nettle soup dish to the counter. Persephone's red eyes glowed and thorned vines nearly messed up her updo bun.
"Please calm down," Hades patiently told Persephone.
"You THINK I won't drain the immortality out of Apollo before I toss him into Tartarus IF he SO MUCH as gets near Dionysus?" Persephone hissed. "Oh, and I'd contort his shitty lyre around his neck while I'm at it."
And I thought Demeter was scary… Hestia thought.
Cerberus and all the other dogs barked and ran for the ringing doorbell. Such excitable growls…
"Oh, that must be…" Hades looked towards the door.
Persephone pulled him out of the way just as vines burst from the front door up to the dining room! Hestia was startled by the vines' thickness matching that of an anaconda. Downstairs, the dogs were heard stampeding away, their whining sounding terrified.
"GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU RABIES DISTRIBUTORS!"
"DIONYSUS! I LITERALLY TOLD YOU TWO SECONDS AGO TO KEEP IT TOGETHER! AND THAT CERBERUS MIGHT BE IN THE HOUSE!"
"ONE DOG AIN'T A PACK!"
Up the stairs came a small red satyr in a black tunic, dragging a leashed pig on one hand and holding a wildflower bouquet in the other.
"Pan! What's going on?" Hades knelt down next to him.
"Dio's… SERIOUSLY… entering puberty. BIG TIME!" Pan hyperventilated. "Oh, and we got this bouquet for you and Persephone."
"They're lovely, thank you. But what about Dionysus?"
"I don't know! He was fine when we left Nysa. She was fine when we took the train. But then when we got off and we were in the taxi…"
Hestia checked the window after hearing some car's alarm. Pitch-black grapevines zigzagged in the city. For some reason, the civilians were either cheering their heads off at the carnage or angrily destroying windows.
Silenus got up the stairs. The small child he carried was in a twisted, cuddled position. The black grapevines growing out of his purple locks coiled and moved like a Fury's serpent hair, even wrapping around his horns. Dark purple and green roots grew from every inch of his skin towards the ground. No matter the steps Silenus took, ripping roots along the way, more grew towards the ground.
"Glory of Gaia…" Hades gasped. "How… Dionysus is developing a double puberty!"
"Double what?" Silenus asked.
"Double puberty. Gods on their own have peculiar puberties based on their natures, but when associated with a classification, either their puberty is different than expected or they experience a double puberty. Hermes had it as well. The born puberty he expected doubled up in agony and pain when it was revealed he became a chthonic god. A deity associated with the Underworld."
"Wait…" Silenus shook his head. "This is literally his first time in the Underworld! Why is this all happening so fast?"
Like a hissing cat, Dionysus aimlessly waved his clawed hands. Actual feline claws replaced her fingernails while she hissed.
"Well… Hermes also felt a need to kill people once he got his double puberty," Hades said.
Hestia filled a mug with nettle soup. Her hands patiently held onto it as she made her way to Silenus, the demigod still wiggling in his hold. Her arm stretched out, presenting the mug.
"Ooh, nettle soup!" Pan licked his lips.
"Not just any." Hestia looked at Dionysus. Her fingers gently tucked his vine-infested hair away from his face. Fangs hissed at her. The mortal brown eyes kept changing from purple to green in an endless vortex. Tired bags rested underneath his eyes. Trailing tears stained his cheeks like Hera's mascara dripping from her sorrow. "Hi, little one."
The demigod growled at her.
"Dionysus…" Silenus shushed.
Hestia showed the demigod her mug, giving him time to sniff before licking his lips.
"This nettle soup is for you…" Hestia let Dionysus cautiously grab hold of the mug. The demigod gave the soup a small lick…
In light's speed, Dionysus jumped off Silenus and ran towards the counter. Pan caught the mug… while Dionysus gluttonously drank the entirety of the nettle soup from its dish.
"DIONYSUS!" Silenus and Persephone exclaimed.
Pan drank from the mug. "Wow! This is WAY too good!"
"Thank you," Hestia said.
Dionysus burped. The dish had been licked clean and the vines disappeared out of his hair. Claws retracted and the ground shook from the wild vines shrinking throughout the Underworld. Dionysus licked whatever soup he could find on his fingers.
"That was good." Dionysus sucked the last bit of soup on his thumb. He scratched behind his horns.
"I knew the nettle soup would work. I gave Kore the same recipe when SHE had her puberty." Hestia summoned a second dish of nettle soup into her hands. "And I always cook double my recipes."
Pan had to restrain Dionysus when the demigod tried to run for the nettle soup refill.
"Eh, eh!" Silenus picked up Dionysus and forced him onto the chair. "Let the other goats have their servings, you crazy Bovidae! You can have some more AFTER eating your serving of each dish."
…
The first few minutes of dinner were met with an awkward silence. Even with their eager expressions at each bite, the children were just as quiet as the adults.
Maybe my presence is too intimidating? Hestia passed the focaccia to Persephone. Even the Underworld's co-rulers were hesitating to start. Then again, when was the last time the leaders of Olympus, the Underworld, and Nysa had a meal together without being caused by Zeus' latest mortal affair or Olympians butting into Silenus' business? And Silenus probably has questions concerning her resignation.
Dionysus ate through his seventh vegan falafel, licking his lips constantly.
Politics aren't the focus, here. Do your job as the Goddess of the Hearth.
"So, Silenus… How long have you been a parent?" Hestia asked.
"Since your brother-in-law shut the borders," Silenus flatly responded. "The most peaceful decade for me, actually. Dionysus' birth mother relinquished him to the retinue several months after the trial. I found Pan in the middle of a mudslide in Attica."
"And we TOTALLY make you miserable!" Dionysus snarked.
"I probably was… until keeping you two out of trouble kept me busy!" Since both children sat by his sides, Silenus reached out and ruffled their hair.
Persephone and Hades chuckled at the scene.
"Don't beat yourself up, old friend." Hades chuckled after a bite of tabbouleh. "You probably beat my brother and father as Father of the Year."
"Too late for that. Dio's been commissioning statues for Pops for Father's Day since kindergarten." Pan giggled. "Dio, remember three years ago? When we tried to put a statue of Pops right above the Colossus of Rhodes? And you accidentally broke the Colossus' head?"
The major gods at the table widened their eyes in shock.
"Eh! They got over it! That statue looked a whole lot better with Helios' face than the purple doodoo." Dionysus shrugged. Silenus' laughter caused him to accidentally cough out his soup.
"'Purple doodoo'?" Persephone snorted.
"What? That's what Apollo is."
"Good thing I bought permanent markers and plain T-shirts, I might need you to draw an…" Persephone burst into laughter. "I'm sorry! I need an 'Apollo's a purple doodoo' T-Shirt."
"Dio almost said 'purple Dodo' once, and our donkey Dodo branded him with a big kick in the right butt," Pan said. "I don't think she liked being compared to Apollo… or being called purple."
"Or being referenced to a dodo, but unfortunately, the purple doodoo actually embarrasses real dodos. Even the purple-feathered ones!"
The Underworld co-rulers laughed at the children's goofiness, particularly Dionysus' blunt amusement. Hestia finished her plate in thought.
A demigod awakening as a potential future chthonic deity. Cute. Loves nettle soup. Hates Apollo enough to make snarky comments that entertain Kore. Both her and Hades have an affection rate for him/her.
Silenus poured half a bowl with nettle soup and gave it to Dionysus, who gave a polite thanks. Hades passed the remaining falafel to his fiancée.
Silenus appears to be a very good parent… but with Hades' condition, he and Kore don't have many options.
This would have been easier if, for once, Silenus had been a terrible father like nearly every god in this damn pantheon!
"And how are your classes?" Persephone asked.
"What, the retinue group classes or Dio's private tutoring?" Pan finished his tabouleh.
"Ugh. My newest issues made it hard for me to focus in my classes…" Dionysus groaned.
"These things happen…" Silenus tried to reassure her.
"I nearly suffocated Auntie Shaushka and Auntie Manasa in corpse flowers, gave Auntie Epona a concussion, and accidentally broke Uncle Freyr's leg!"
"You also made Tawaret cry," Pan snorted.
"That hippo had it coming!" Dionysus took her plate and jumped off her chair. Pan followed with his dishes as well.
"Kids." Silenus didn't bother looking at them. "Did you ask Hades and Persephone if you could clear the dishes in their house?"
"Oh, it's alright." Hades got up his chair.
"Keep your butt on your chair, Uncle Hades. The hosts cook, the guests do the dishes." Dionysus stacked dirty dishes onto her arms. Pan ran in circles, replacing the glasses with cleaner ones and wiping away any loose food on the table. He quickly turned on the sink's hot water, squirted a soap bottle dry, and rapidly wiped and dried the dishes. Pan smiled at his reflection on the dishes.
"Dude, they have a dishwasher!" Dionysus pointed at the machine.
"Pal, we don't have those in Nysa!" Pan retorted.
The children hissed at each other.
"Good thing I put tonight's dessert in Hades' basement ambrosia reserve and not the fridge. Those brownies work really well with vanilla ice cream and root beer soda…" Hestia pointed out, her finger showing the direction of the basement.
It soon became a shoving battle between the children.
"DIBS ON THE BROWNIES!" Dionysus kicked the door open.
"GO EAT CERBERUS' POOP, YOU GLUTTON!" Pan shouted.
"No! Boys!" Silenus got up. "Hades! Your ambrosia reserve is in trouble!"
A shattering noise resonated.
"They're not going to trash my house, are they?" Hades got up as well.
"Hades… Dionysus hates any Greek booze that wasn't made by him! He will sniff at your ambrosia, gag at the first one, and dunk out every last drop into the toilet until he replaces it with BETTER ONE!"
Hades ran faster than Silenus to prevent the potential vandalism, leaving the women alone.
"The brownies are in the fridge?" Persephone asked.
"You know me." Hestia went to pull out the necessities for dessert. Persephone put away the clean, sparkly dishes. "The children are sweet. You and Hades seem really fond of that Dionysus."
"He's a darling." Persephone chuckled. "And he likes Hades a lot. I don't remember seeing Hebe being as excited as Dionysus is." She sighed. "Hades seems to like him more than his actual nephews."
The bloodthirsty masochist, the antisocial mechanic, and the traitorous douchebag. No kidding, Hestia thought.
"It's a bit petty on my end… when I first heard about Dio's inter-pantheon tutors, I was upset at my mother…" Persephone placed the small dessert plates. "She never told me once that there were fertility gods outside our pantheon… Gods that could have helped me… I'm glad Silenus is giving Dionysus the resources he needs."
Hestia sighed. "That night… you got tricked into the intervention… Demeter wanted her way rather than suggesting options… Before you came, she was quite angry about one suggestion I gave her…" Hestia put down the tray of brownies and prepared to cut them.
"She didn't want me to befriend any other fertility god?" Persephone guessed.
"She was adamant that you didn't apply for the Fertility Fellowship. Did Hades explain to you how inter-pantheon organizations work?" Persephone's blanked out blinking was all Hestia needed. "Mortals believe in so many deities, IPOs had to be founded to aid in proper diplomacy and trading. The groups are classified based on deities' duties. Decades ago, the Solar Guild members banned Apollo after he caused Hades' Underworld ban on all sun deities. Other pantheons only sent out their sun gods for diplomatic negotiations and trading until Apollo messed it up."
Persephone rolled her eyes. "I am not surprised."
While she brought the brownie plates to the table, Hestia started scooping vanilla ice cream on top of the pastries. "When Zeus couldn't let go of his favoritism, the other pantheons started ostracizing ours and outright avoiding us. They seemed intent on refusing any Greco-Roman deity into the INOs until Zeus recognized his faults. SG was still ticked that they couldn't get Helios. Zeus made it clear that only an Olympian of his choice could join the INOs…"
"What is this leading to?" Persephone politely asked.
"The cycle of doomed Greco-Roman fertility goddesses left a bad number between Zeus and the Fertility Fellowship. Terrible label on fertility goddesses being objectified as sources of life power. They first asked Hera to join them as our representative… Zeus said no on her behalf."
Persephone skeptically frowned.
"Artemis and Aphrodite were their next ideal candidates, but… Apollo and Ares 'said no on their behalf'. The FF didn't want to, but Demeter was their last option. Unfortunately, she's just as mistrustful of foreign gods as she is with ours."
Hestia heard Persephone's anxious tapping on the table.
"Something wrong?" Hestia asked.
"How old… can deities be to join an inter-pantheon group?"
Hestia saw the sweat threat on her forehead.
"Well… any age, really. After Apollo was booted off the Solar Guild, the Egyptian god Horus took his seat in the organization. He was a couple years younger than you when you were a TGOEM candidate… But I mostly think Isis and Osiris had his seat secured because they and Ra, the Guild's eldest sun deity, betrothed them to Ra's daughter Hathor…" Hestia paused. "Now that I think about it, both Hathor and her in-laws are members of the Fertility Fellowship. And Tawaret is one of them."
"You don't think… Silenus is using his connections to… nudge Dionysus to join them?"
Worried about the child, huh? Hestia smirked mentally.
"Doubtful!" Hestia finished scooping the ice cream and went to get the root beer. "A, inter-pantheon orgs do not take demigods. B, even with those vine talents of his, I should hope he isn't a fertility god. He's too young to deal with what happened to you and the others. And C, even if he supposedly was a fertility god AND was a god, Dionysus would still need the recommendation of a divine king to join an inter-pantheon org. So… might be fun for him to get teachers and friends, but it's not like they might actually consider him."
They'd consider you, though.
"I guess… I just don' want to start overreacting. Silenus is so kind to Dionysus' growth…"
The satyr himself and Dark Zeus stormed in, carrying each a child in bundled towels.
"WHAT HAPPENED?" Persephone gasped.
"Fell in the pool…" Hades shuddered at the sudden electricity going through him. "I might need to recheck the pool's systems. Experienced a shock, somehow…"
"But we are A-OK!" Dionysus wiggled out of her towel. She shook her hair dry like a wild animal. "No cake though…"
"My bad… Had to make sure you wouldn't devour dessert before I could even set it down." Hestia showed the treats.
"And you WAIT until everyone sits down before you start eating like pigs!" Silenus warned the children.
A burp escaped Dionysus. His dessert plate and root beer were drier than a desert. Brownie crumbs coated his lips.
"DIONYSUS!" Silenus exclaimed.
"What?" The demigod whined. He grimaced and held his tummy.
"Sweetie, fast eating will give you a stomachache." Persephone wiped Dionysus' mouth with a napkin.
Hestia noticed the smell. Dionysus looked down and quickly looked back up. Her cheeks burned in embarrassment.
"Uh…" She whimpered.
Persephone picked up the child in her arms.
Hades, Silenus, and Pan began to look worried when they saw some blood on Persephone's sleeve. Right underneath…
"Mind your own business!" Persephone snapped. The men quickly focused on their desserts. She toyed with Dionysus' nose. "Let's go to the bathroom, Dio. Fix you up with some pads and a bath. And go through some crazy fitting on all the clothes Hades and I got for you! Capitalism can be a good distraction from hygiene!"
Dionysus giggled. "You're materialistic, Auntie Persephone!"
"And you're a crazy thing. Guess we're even." The two got out, the queen distracting the demigod into laughter.
"I must thank you, Hades, for you and Persephone's caregiving," Silenus spoke gratefully. "I think Dionysus will feel better."
"Of course." Hades smiled. "And since she has attained a double puberty, perhaps Persephone and I could make weekly visits to Nysa to check on Dionysus' chthonic development."
"Keep that out of your brother's business, and I'd much appreciate it. Speaking of which." Silenus made a 90-degree angle turn towards Hestia. "Hestia, I hate to blunt… Why the Tartarus are you thinking of resigning?"
Hestia nearly missed her bite of vanilla ice cream. "Uh…"
"Don't get me wrong. You're on my extremely limited list of tolerated Olympians. I generally wouldn't trust you due to your snitch rep, but… you are one of the VERY microscopic Olympians who isn't mentally twisted or… uncontrollably physically."
"Pops doesn't think that you should quit," Pan interrupted. "Dio would agree. If an Olympian should quit, it's Apollo. Everyone in Nysa and the Mortal Realm heard what happened on TV."
"Aw, that's sweet of you, dear," Hestia said. "But… being the Goddess of the Hearth and Home hasn't done me wonders. I'm the lowest in the 6 Traitors Dynasty… And I'm still not over the fact that… Well…" Hestia sighed. "Let's just say I'm not the right model."
"And APOLLO is the right model?" Silenus raised his arms in the hair. "Hestia, you must be joking!"
"It's her decision," Hades said patiently. Hestia gave him a thankful nod.
"But… If Lady Hestia resigns but Apollo stays, doesn't the Olympian order go off scale?" Pan asked. "It's the twelve Olympians, not the eleven Olympians. Won't there be an off-balance?"
The adults stopped their feasting.
They hadn't expected such accurate words to come from the lips of a ten-year-old satyr. And all three adults currently at the table were immortals!
Hestia wanted to slap herself. She REALLY hadn't thought of the potential consequences her resignation could bring… if she went through with it.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but my son's right…" Silenus scoffed. "Apollo being stripped of his title or Hestia resigning… Any case scenario, a new god would have to be selected as a twelfth Olympian."
"And most of the Olympians are members of the 6 Traitors Dynasty… or Zeus' offspring." Hades shook his head. "With the recent events, the citizens won't trust Zeus to select a new Olympian."
"Amphitrite is technically of Olympian-rank by being Poseidon's wife. She could qualify."
"She's still Zeus' sister-in-law AND adding another sea deity would cause an imbalance. Thunder and hospitality. Marriage and family. Oceans and storms. Nature and agriculture. Hearth and home. Beauty and love. Sun, music, and medicine. Bloodthirsty warfare. Strategic warfare and wisdom. Hunting and maidenhood. Fire and craftsmanship. Messages and death guidance. If you are going to take one of them out, what will you pick to fill the space without destabilizing the order?"
Hestia bit down on a brownie.
Chaotic, yet sweet with a pinch of entertainment. Talented with plants. Greedy, with a touch of thought. Not to mention developing chthonic divinity, she thought. Tutored by members of the Fertility Fellowship. Has an obvious spot in Hades and Persephone's hearts.
If Demeter could be cruel in her smothering, Hestia could be sick in rational logic. Dating the goddess of wisdom did come with learning a few tricks in chess.
Hades is infertile, but at one point, his upcoming marriage with Persephone would bring the expectation of an heir.
If Apollo or Hestia no longer bared the Olympian title, somebody else would have to be selected for the empty throne.
Dionysus was still young and could have another decade of teaching and molding before ascending. If either he or Persephone wound up affiliating with the FF, other pantheons' disdain towards Olympus would decrease. The Underworld could reopen for proper trading with or without the Solar Guild.
And a chthonic god among the Olympians would strengthen diplomacy between Olympus and the Underworld.
Silenus was nice, but Dionysus would probably be better off with Hades and Persephone. Persephone could be a better mother than Demeter ever was. Hades could let go of his fears implemented by Kronos.
I've got to ensure that these two have Dionysus, Hestia came up with her resolution. I need to talk to Hebe.