Chapter 63: full Buffet.
Meanwhile, Aphrodite and Nyx's family were at the centre of Olympus, everyone was scattered about with Styx watching some of the gods put on a street show and receiving coins for it, she found it entertaining and enjoyable, Bia was surrounded by various Gods all seemingly trying to court her, and she seemed to be enjoying the attention and only Aphrodite, Nyx and Nike were present were still together.
The three of them were now seated in at a table outside what looked to be a restaurant. It was a restaurant one that was run by Hestia with the help of Demeter. The two goddesses thought it was a good a idea, Demeter provides the necessary ingredients, and Hestia cooks them. It was a fairly popular restaurant around Olympus rumored to have the best food in all of Olympus.
"Hmm! This is amazingly delicious."
Nyx exclaimed as she enjoyed a delicious blackberry short cake that was layered with white cream and Nike beside her was enjoying a peach, the restaurant was the type that served any kind of food, Hestia can cook anything, and Demeter can provide the ingredients for anything. While enjoying her cake, Nyx could not help but notice the glum look on Aphrodite's face, which was one she had been sporting for a while now.
"So, what seems to be the problem, even though you are supposed to be our guide, you seem unenthusiastic about the whole ordeal".
Nyx questioned, whilst taking a glance at the whereabouts both Bia and Styx, of course she was not worried about their safety or something like that but as a mother she often looks to see what they are doing. Nike, on the other hand, looked away from the conversation. As her eyes were focused elsewhere, she sensed something coming. But she ignored it and turned her head back and spoke.
"Yes, I also noticed that you weren't in a good mood, but I chose not to ask since it was none of my business".
Nike stated having been seated to the left side of the table with Nyx seating opposing to Aphrodite. Aphrodite looked to the side avoiding their eye contact, she did not feel like sharing how she felt but at the same time it was obvious to anyone who saw her that there was something on her mind, it also didn't help that Nyx was seemingly staring directly into her soul demanding she speak about it, After a few seconds of silence Nyx spoke curtly.
"Listen, girl. I'm not one to give advice or anything of the sort however I am willing to listen to your troubles and offer my thoughts but if you don't want to talk about that then as our tour guide get your act together, your pride in your home should show in your face and not ruin the experience for us."
Nyx bluntly spoke, it was obvious to the titaness that the people of Olympus held zero respect for Aphrodite, and it seemed that Aphrodite herself knows this but is unable to fix the situation, she maybe a queen but nothing can make others respect you if they have no reason to do so.
"How do I gain the respect of the gods that live here, my people? All I'm known for is being a whore who slept with any god that was willing, I've been trying to think of how to change and be better but how can I do that if that image of myself keeps following me, how can I erase the stain of my past?"
Aphrodite pleaded, as her face was marred with a look of sadness and regret her voice was calm, but it carried the sombreness of her emotions, she felt sadness because she cannot change what she used to be and regret because the people's opinions about her also bleed over to their opinions about her husband. "Hephaestus the god king who married a whore." Her darling suffering such shame was unbearable to her. At the back of her mind, she could not help but wonder if it would have been better if he had married someone purer, someone better suited for him.
"I'm afraid there is nothing I can say that would be a solution to that. All of us are forced to live with our past and there's nothing we can do to change that and even if we did, we wouldn't be the same person. The only thing I can say is that learn to live with yourself and your past and if you want respect then you need to earn it."
Nyx shrugged her shoulders as she spoke, if Aphrodite wanted the people of Olympus to respect her then she would need to do something that will overshadow the image the Olympians have of her something worthy of respect, she would suggest that that she just let that image slowly die out overtime, but gods are long lived and hardly ever forget.
"How can I live with myself when I don't like myself, am I supposed to just muddle through it all without care?"
She asked this time her brows furrowed slightly as she showed a small tinge of frustration, what Nyx was suggesting was not a solution at all but instead was essentially telling her to give up, something Aphrodite did not want to do.
'So, she wants the approval of others and not her own?'
Nyx thought to herself before responding.
"You are the queen; you can always enforce it in the law so that everyone can like you."
Nyx suggested as her line of sight went from Aphrodite to the different locations her children were, Styx was now gorging herself with food and fruits while watching performers, the tour had stop at the centre of the city where there was plenty of food vendors and people preforming, Nyx could not help but find it ironic that the city of gods looked more like a human city, although she can't say that was a bad thing, the life of most gods is incredibly boring so this was a good thing.
"I can't do tha-"
*BOOOM!!!*
Before She could finish her sentence she was interrupted by the sudden sound of something crashing down hard on Olympus the force of the object caused a minor shockwave to travel through the city centre and force everyone to be on high alert, the gods most inclined toward battle were quick to tense up and the police quickly to scrambled on to the scene and tried to disperse the crowd as they went to inspect the scene. Aphrodite quickly flew over to the scene while surprisingly Nyx and her children to stayed behind.
Arriving at the scene Aphrodite was met with the figure of apollo, the young god was panting heavily as he laid there on his knees, she quirked her brow at him, she hasn't seen him in a while so seeing him arrive in such a way was something unexpected.
"Something is coming"
He spoke in a whisper and before anyone could ask for clarification another crashing sound reverberated throughout the city this time the ground shook heavily, everyone looked around, but no one saw anything until they looked up.
And there it was, a hideous creature with tentacles, its form was gigantic, and its body sparked with electricity. The creature floated above Olympus as it its hand touched the barrier that protected the city, it could see the countless beings that crawled just beyond the barrier that had blocked its path, it could only smile showing its hideous jagged teeth, it seemed to realize that letting go of Hercules to chase apollo was a good move as that led it to a full course buffet.
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Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone