章 49: a year later
Hestia was seated in a chair in front of a bright flame that illuminated and warmed the entire room she occupied, the flame was a mixture of various colours and it switched from colour to colour from bright red, to yellow to bright orange and pale blue. The flame radiated a warmth that could never be felt anywhere, a warmth one receives when they are at home a warmth that only family can give and a warmth that was comforting and soothing.
She sat in her chair staring at it, looking at it unblinkingly, Her brother and Her nephew are gone, completely, while her relationship with Zeus was not the best he was still her youngest brother and she loved him, the same was true for Ares as well, she believed that given enough time she could have had a proper familial relationship with both of the and now she never will and that had made her quite sad. The feeling of loss was only compounded by the sense of guilt that weighed heavily on her heart.
As the eldest in the family it was her responsibility as the big sister to resolve any and all conflicts within the family, however she was careless she thought the situation would resolve itself after all it has been like that before, no ever gets hurt permanently and those who die come back eventually however right she new, Her power as the goddess of the hearth made it so she can always know the location of the souls of her family and right now she could not locate the neither Zeus or Ares, they were dead in the truest sense of the word.
"How will I tell them?"
She wondered, most of her family probably will not care as much as she does but she still felt that it would be difficult to say that both Zeus and Ares are completely dead with no way to come back, or rather admitting that was something difficult for her.
She turned her head outside and through the window and saw that everything was still, the people had suddenly stopped moving. Turn her head to her flame she saw that it too was still, completely frozen. She also felt a chill as it suddenly became colder or rather the was a lack of heat.
"Huh? Did I use it unconsciously?"
"No, you didn't, I'm the one who did,"
A voice sounded right beside her. She simply turned her head to look. Rather than be shocked about the sudden appearance of someone in her home, she turned around as if she were expecting them.
"Lord Chronos, what brings you to my humble home?"
"Greetings to you too, firstborn daughter of Cronus."
The bearded primordial titan of time made himself known to her, and Hestia stood up from her seat and offered him to have it as she bowed to show her respect. Chronos denied her offer.
"I'm not here for pleasantries, and besides, your cookies and tea will make me stay longer than I need to."
Despite never having served the primordial any cookies or tea as the who governs over time, it should be easy for him to know about them or, at the very least, that was her guess.
"I appreciate the compliment. Are you here for that, Athena informed me about it"
"Oh no, you can keep the power as it's related to what I came here for,"
"Oh then, what is it that you came here for?"
" just so you know I didn't refuse your tea because of thought, I no longer look into future that is boring, it is because your mother's has excellent cooking skills too and with you being the goddess of the hearth it's only natural you'd inherit them"
"Oh, how is Mother? I haven't seen her in a while. "
She asked, Her mother Rhea didn't actually live in Olympus with them. The reason for that was because of Zeus's antics of insisting on wanting to bed every woman possible so Rhea had to move.
"She's fine, although are you going to tell her that her son is dead?"
"No, not really. It's been a year since then, and I don't think I need to say anything."
"Well, anyway, I won't be staying long, so I just came to give you a warning concerning your new king, Hephaestus,"
"What about him?"
She asked, despite Hephaestus having killed both Ares and Zeus, Hestia didn't hold that against him after all both Zeus and Ares were the type to aggravate others, if anything she just feels sad that Hephaestus was put in sit were he had to kill them.
" To put it simply, your nephew is dangerous. He doesn't know the temptation of power. That is my warning, pay close attention to him"
"I don't understand. What do you mean?"
Unfortunately Chronos disappeared from her and time once again move forward and her room once again regained its heat however Hestia was quite confused as she didn't understand what he meant, he didn't like how Chronos never gave clear answers but she'll just have to ask Hephaestus about plus she needs another dress from him so there's an excuse to visit them.
"I'm sure he'll be happy to see his Aunty."
With that in mind she proceeded to exit her home and made her way towards the royal palace, consequently she had forgotten that Hephaestus removed the anti teleportation Magic from the security system as such walked to her Destination.
…..
Shards of broken mirrors floated in front of Aphrodite's face as she sat on the king's throne. The throne room was empty with only her inside. Her face did not look pleased, not at all. The shards were jumbled together to form one single mirror. which, in turn, showed entire landscapes of human settlement.
"Where is he? Mirror locate Hephaestus right now"
The mirror faded to black before showing her the same landscape, this caused to bite her luscious pink lower lip as she tried to hold in her displeasure, the mirror was supposed to always show her his whereabouts, it was a more compact version of the one he made for a year ago since that one was quite large and inconvenient.
"By Tartarus, this thing is Useless."
She said as she slumped on the throne as she gave up, if the mirror couldn't reach him then that meant she couldn't reach him with [thought speech] nor could she use her abilities to find him. Slouching on the throne was her giving up on searching. It wasn't like he was lost, nor does she need him right now. However, she does want him back before something that requires the king to happen.
"My king!!"
Themis entered the room, and the throne room had no door. As such, anyone can enter anytime. She looked a bit off as her hair was a bit disheveled and unkempt.
"he's not here. What do you need Themis?"
"Oh! apologies, my queen, since the king isn't here, you shall suffice as a proxy. "
"A proxy for what?"
She didn't like this, what she didn't want to happen actually happening.
"We need to settle a dispute."
"I thought my husband left all law related matters to you? Also, if its one of those inane dispute about infidelity, you know not to entertain them. "
"I understand my queen but it's not any of those, it actually pertains theft and we don't have enough evidence to convict the accused not only that but the accused is also accusing the accuser of the same accusations she's being accused of"
"What?"
"Yes, it's quite the conundrum, so we need the king to pass judgment, just listen and decide whichever story sounds believable,"
"That sounds a bit unfair, don't you think?"
"Yes it is, but we can't gather anymore evidence, and the supposed witnesses aren't helpful and are saying conflicting things, and I'm pretty sure some of them are being paid to be witnesses.
"Then dismiss the whole case? Also, I thought you were supposed to arrest people who accept the bribes. Also, how come the accused can accuse the accuser?"
"I don't know it was an oversight on my part when I reviewed the law last year."
"Then I'm pretty sure you can dismiss the case or just arrest them both. Who are they anyway?".
"it's Theia…"
"Hyperion's wife?"
"Yes, it's her and Aurras,"
"Aren't they friends?"
"Yes, they are it seems they had a falling out some kind,"
Theia is wife to Hyperion and reigns over the concept of sight while Aurras reigns over the concept of sound, the two of them are usually seen together, Aphrodite put her hands up her chin considering her options, with Hephaestus gone she's in charge while she'd prefer to not get involved in important stuff meant for the king, she felt thus case wasn't at that level of importance.
"Okay, I'll listen and pass the judgment. It is better than staying here waiting for Hephaestus"
...….
Deep within the earth's core, Hephaestus stood om what looked to be a walkway that led to a river of lava, the river surrounded everything leaving only the spaces he stood om as a safe space, it was searing hot a level of heat not even some gods could Endure. The entire space glowed red due to the colour of the magma, Hephaestus however was alone on the very centre of the river was a Giant woman, she was much larger than him by leaps and bounds if he had to guess she was as big as the Olympus royal palace. She was submerged in the lava in such a way that it looked like she was taking a bath, her eyes Emerald crystal like eyes that glowed as she stared at the young god in front of her
"What brings you here, child of Zeus?"
She spoke with a gentleman and melodious voice that also boomed in Mezzo soprano-esque way that was nearly enchanting.
"I offer my greetings to you, great lady Gaia, as you are aware I am Hephaestus, child of Zeus, I've come to you to ask something of you?"
"I see you have inherited you'd Father's boldness, but no matter, tell me what you want,"
"I wish to know the location for the root of existence"
She frowned at his words, he seems to be very presumptuous for a young god. Hephaestus noted her from and quickly stood on guard. She's a primordial. Being careless might actually get him killed. Hopefully, this new time of immortality he has can survive an attack from a primordial.
"Why would I tell you that?"
She kicked the lava at him as she placed her leg over the other, and Hephaestus took a step back dodging the splash but found himself missing Aphrodite once he caught a glimpse of The primordial's giant thighs
"What do you want in exchange?"
"So you didn't come here already prepared on what to offer me?"
"I did not wish to assume the likes and dislikes of someone such as yourself, apologies if I offended you."
"Huh, politeness, something you don't share with your father very well, I do have something I want,"
Hephaestus braced himself for the worst. He understood that whatever she would ask for wasn't going to be something easy to do or acquire.
"I'm listening,"
"Free my children from Tartarus, and perhaps then I'll consider telling you the location of the root of existence."
"I'm afraid I can't do that, especially so since you're saying you'll consider it, meaning that you might not tell me even if I do as you ask."
He's seen situations like this before , and hearing her say that she'll tell him what he wants to know is what he wants to hear. Of course, she could lie to him, but then she'd be in the wrong, and he highly doubts that she's keen on being called a liar.
"Very well then I'll tell you what you want if you free my children."
"Which ones, the giants or titans?"
"All of them."
"I'm afraid I can't do that,"
"Then leave me be, I was having a peaceful slumber before you arrived,"
"A compromise, maybe?"
"Go on?"
"There are humans in the world now as well as other creatures, as such I can't just free everyone on Tartarus, how about we create a place for them, a place that won't disrupt the creatures of the world"
"you misunderstand Hephaestus, the world you all live in is me, why should my children be unable to live in the world, I can very well just remove the humans and have my children occupy the world"
"How about we only free the ones you picked rather than all of them?"
"Hephaestus leave, it is clear that you weren't prepared to negotiate, so exit my abode and come back when you're willing to accept my terms."
She said before waving her hand and forcefully teleporting him away in a random location. Once Hephaestus was gone, someone else showed up. It was Chronos.
"Chronos, is there something you need?"
"Can't I visit my sister when I want to?"
"No, you can't."
Chronos rolled his eyes before materializing a crystal marble in his hand. It was the oracle. He then enlarged it to be the size of his hand, effectively turning it into a crystal ball.
"I have something to show you"
...
A/N:Has it been two weeks already ?
S/N: the lore surrounding Chronos is pretty weird, as he is oftentimes said to be cronus son of Ouranos, but then there's a myth about him never being born and always existing in fact he existed before the cosmic egg that that birthed Phanes the guy birthed the universe, but I think I can do something with that though his lore is giving me ideas about a 3rd arc so we'll see.
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