Next chapter! Been a hot minute hasn't it! Hope the wait was worth it. Hope you enjoy!

"It was so nice to meet you," Hestia said as she left the house.

Kaira leaned against the door frame and smiled. "It was nice to meet the Lady of the Hearth," She said.

Hestia looked hesitant to leave. "I find myself unwilling to leave the sister I just met"

"You have not just met me," Kaira said. "I held you in my arms, once, cradled you as a nymph was sent to find father."

Hestia sighed. "You know what I mean, Kaira, oldest born"

Kaira leaned against the house. "Thank you for coming to visit me," Kaira said.

"Can you not come?" Hestia said, "Leave this house, and visit Olympus."

Kaira shook her head, "I am cursed." She said, "I cannot leave until the right conditions are met, and even if they are… this house has been my home for so long… I don't know if I would leave even if I could."

Hestia looked at the house. "Home is where the heart is," Hestia said looking at Kaira.

Kaira smiled softly, "It is. Home is also were the memories are, and this house… this house has so many memories, it would be heard to leave it behind."

"But for now, it's a cage." Hestia said, "You can't leave it, but you should be able to. That's what a home is, not a cage, but a place to come back to, should you want to."

Kaira smiled softly, "You make a fair point." She said, she looked up at the sky. "You should go, Lady Hestia, our youngest brother will be waiting for your stories."

Hestia nodded once hurried away, teleporting away when they went back inside and closed the door.

888

Hestia arrived in the middle of the throne room, right next to the hearth as was her place, she looked up at Zeus.

"Well?"

"She appears to be who she says she is," Hestia said, refusing to be cowed. "She is our eldest sister. Imprisoned in that house since I was swallowed."

"Indeed," Zeus said. "It does not explain why she was not swallowed"

"Father was cursed after she was born," Hestia said crossing her arms in front of her chest. "It's possible that the prophecy he was given stated that his younger children would bring about his ruin. Because Kaira is the eldest born, she is naturally exempted."

"That is possible." Zeus said, "However it does leave us with another question. What should we do about her now that she has been revealed to us."

"Must we do anything?" Hades said looking bored. "Seems to me that her exile does the work for us."

"Yes, but should the curse break, we'll have a powerful goddess of time on our hands."

"She's family." Hestia said, "She fought to protect me., and I'm certain that she would have fought to protect the rest of you—"

"That was over 6000 years ago." Athena said, "We have no idea what her mental state is like now. Or whether or not she holds any ill will for what happened to her. It is entirely possible she may be holding on to resentment, and will lash out when she is freed."

"She won't."

"And how could you know that?" Athena asked her eyebrow raised, as she stared down at Hestia from atop her throne. "She is a goddess, it could have been easy for her to mask her emotions from you."

"Indeed." Zeus said, "Apologies Lady Hestia, but we can't possibly know if her intentions toward us are good, just based on the word of you."

Hestia rolled her eyes. "Then why bother asking me to find out more about her, if you weren't going to listen to a single word I say?"

She loved her brothers. She really and truly did, but there were days when they were so condescending towards her. Even Hades and Poseidon. Even though she had been the one to raise the two of them from practically the moment they were born.

She was the eldest.

Or well second eldest now, but eldest for the longest time, she wasn't naive like they liked to make her think she was.

The Olympians looked at each other. "We hoped as the kindest and most understanding of us all you could get her to let her guard down just enough for her to reveal a bit more of herself." Athena said, "And fortunately for us, she's given you quite a bit of detail."

"So long as we don't break her curse. She'll no longer be a threat." Zeus said, "And as long as the rest of her siblings don't try to get to know her. To bother meeting her. We shall be alright."

Hestia resisted the urge to scoff. No matter how many millennia they lived, how many prophecies they had failed to prevent they still believed they could control fate.

Hestia knew that Zeus didn't believe it, but he also knew that an older child of Kronos. A child with the ability over time, would not be easy to subdue. So, he was putting faith in his and his sibling's abilities to avoid the house.

Hestia shared a look with Artemis, Artemis just rolled her eyes.

At least one other Olympian realized how stupid this plan was.

888

As much as Zeus wanted to believe that as long as they kept their nose clean, and didn't go anywhere near the house that held their sister they would be fine.

What Zeus hadn't realized was that sending Hestia (even disguised as a demigod) had already done work to weaken the curse, Kaira could exit the house for moments at a time, not for long, but for a few minutes at a time.

It had been during one of these jaunts the house had appeared right next to the ocean where Kaira had decided to soak her feet in the water.

Kaira being unaware of the rules of the gods, could not break them, having not been there when they were created.

So, she sat at the edge of her house, and gently placed her feet in the water, her eyes closed as she leaned against the wall over her house enjoying the feeling of the cool water against her skin.

Poseidon however noticed right away, that a powerful being was disturbing his domain, and while normally that would be a cause for war, he didn't recognize this being and decided to check it out.

A woman appearing to be in her mid to late 20s was dipping her toes in the water, lightly kicking the water.

She looked up surprised. "Hello." She said, her head tilted in curiously. "What's your name?"

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