Artemis stared at the lowering sun deep in thought, Zeus had made her realise that men like him didn't deserve to rule and it made her angry that the gods did nothing about rulers who were horrible. She stood up with her thoughts in order, she had reached a decision and she wouldn't let Zeus not comply with her decision.
-Line Break-
Maia softly sang her lullaby to the baby that lay in her hands. She knew that she should have refused the advances of Zeus but she was afraid of what would have happened if she had refused. But now she was okay with it as he had given her a son whom she had grown to love with all her heart. She had decided on the name of Hermes. She looked down upon the sleeping form of Hermes and couldn't help the smile that graced her lips.
A few days later
Hermes looked upon the cows with a mischievous grin, his mother had fallen asleep exhausted from taking care of him. The cows were strangely red and stood out on the lush green field that lay all around them. Without a second to consider the consequences of his actions he ran up to the cows.
Apollo frowned when he counted his cattle, he was missing around 50 cows and he knew that none of the cows would have just wander off. Zeus had given both Artemis and him a gift in order to make up for abandoning them and their mother. Artemis had asked to form a group of girls that would swear off men or something of the like.
But he asked for something or someone to keep him company and so for some reason he had gotten red cows. He had led the cattle to a place no one lived but now he was sure that someone had taken the meaning that there were in fact people who lived out here. He grabbed the reins of his chariot which all gods were given when they became full fledged gods. He gripped the reins and the horses that pulled them flew off into the air.
He looked around the area for anyone who could have taken his sheep and to his dismay, he couldn't find anything that was until he looked closer and saw footprints. He brought the chariot down and as soon as it touched the ground he leapt out. He was excited about finding who had stolen his cows since he was sure it was either a demigod or god.
But to his disappointment there were too many footsteps for him to be able to find the ones that led to the correct place. There were some footprints that went to the left while others went to the right. He let out a breath as he tried to tap into the power he had discovered a few days ago. His eyes glowed as he looked at the world around him, except now he saw a boy who looked like he was around 13 stealing his cows.
Apollo had discovered his ability to take a glimpse into the past and he guessed it was from his domain of prophecy which was a domain focused on the future but based on the past. (What I mean is that for example when someone went to see an oracle that was based on a past decision and resulted in them knowing what they should not, does that make sense?)
The power was limited though as he couldn't see where the kid had gone, all he got was what he looked like. Based on how he looked young he was probably still in the area so with the sthought of getting back his cattle Apollo decided to look around the area for the boy.
Hermes with his sharp mind whirling at how he was going to get away with the cattle, he grinned as he came up with the idea. Apollo after the sun had gone down, had finally found somewhere where the kid lived or stayed. What he found was a woman sleeping with a child in her arms, he stood at the entrance of the cave unsure as to what he should do. He finally decided that he would wait till the morning and so he took one last look and then flashed away.
As soon as the bright light stopped illuminating the room, Hermes sat up with a grin on his face as he looked to where the man had stood. Hermes looked to where he covered what he had made with a sheet that was disguised to look like dirt and rocks. He pulled the sheets off and there lay an item never seen before.
Hermes let a proud smile take over his face as he stared at the instrument that he planned on using to bribe the man with. He could tell that the man had a taste in sound and music and so he knew that the bribe had a good chance of working.
The next day
Maia woke up the next day to see her son holding something she had never seen before but before she could say anything to him a bright light descended upon the cave. She knew that the bright light was a symbol of a flash meaning a god or immortal had come into the cave. When the light died down, there stood a man of about 19 with blonde hair, tan skin, and sky blue eyes.
She bowed before him as was customary after the defeat of the titans and as she was a titan she had to bow. The man seemed to be startled and she wondered if it was her but when she looked up and behind her, she found over 40 red cows sitting there and for a second she wondered if perhaps they were dead.
That thought went to the back of her mind as she tried to think of how the cows had gotten in here and how the previously small cave was now huge. She looked over at her son but she wasn't the only one as she saw the god (for he was one from what she could tell) glaring at Hermes and she got a motherly urge to shield her son from his glare.
"I will ask only once to give back my cows" the god threatened and she was about to reply but her son reached behind his back and pulled out the thing she had saw him with earlier but to a position that the god couldn't see it. Now that she had a better look, it looked quite well done and she wondered if her son had made it and if so then he had a talent she had seen only once before.
Her son gave the man a grin that said 'come and get me' and the god didn't waste a second as he started towards her son. He reached out his hand but that was the moment that Hermes had been waiting for as he shoved the instrument into the man's hand. The man's face turned to confusion then fascination as he looked at the instrument up and down.
He seemed to completely forget about the world around him as he stared at the instrument. "Where did you get this?" the god asked as he looked up for the first time in a minute. Hermes gave a mischievous grin that seemed to stick to his face as said "I'm afraid I can't tell you that but if you would let me keep the cows then it's all yours."
Apollo nodded as he didn't seem to think much on it as he started to try and figure out how to play the instrument as Maia just looked confused as to what was going on. "What do you call this?" Hermes smile dwindled down as he grew a thoughtful look on his face. "I call it a lyre."
Olympus, a day later
Hermes looked in wonder at Olympus as Maia smiled at her son as she too had the same reaction at first. It had always been a wonderful sight to see and Maia was glad to see it did not change much since she was last there. The god she and Hermes had found out was named Apollo and was also a son of Zeus though he said he preferred being known as the son of Leto.
Apollo was going to first bring them to meet Leto then bring Hermes to Zeus to see what the King of the Gods wanted to do with him, Maia couldn't help but be a little nervous about what Zeus would do. Zeus was after all known for his temper and known to react violently to anyone that may threaten power over the throne.
Apollo led them over to where Maia knew Hestia lived and when they entered Maia once again felt the feeling as if she was at home. She saw Hestia as well as two others, one was a woman that Maia assumed was Leto while the other was a man that she didn't know. Perseus turned to see Apollo along with two others that Perseus knew looked familiar but couldn't place it.
Perseus noticed how the woman seemed nervous and he wasn't sure why but he tried to put her more at ease by smiling at them and greeting them with a warm wave. Hermes looked at the man who smiled at them and greeted them with a wave in suspiciousness on the inside but was equally warm on the outside.
The man approached Maia as she was the adult and held out his hand for a handshake which she took. "Perseus" he told her his name while she said "Maia" and now Perseus knew why she looked familiar. He had figured out that the boy was another son of Zeus and Perseus was starting to think they would never stop coming since this was the third one he had met in a manner of weeks.
Leto, to Apollo's disappointment was still resting after the healing Apollo and Hestia had done. Since Leto wasn't awake Apollo asked Maia to stay here while he took Hermes to Zeus. Perseus noticed that she seemed to grow even more nervous after Apollo had said Zeus but before he could think on it Apollo had asked him if he would join them since Zeus also had question about him.
Perseus simply nodded as he introduced himself to Hermes, the minute he touched Hermes palm he knew he needed to watch him. Whenever he grinned or really did anything it put you on edge and while it wasn't an uncomfortable feeling, it didn't make you feel relaxed either. Perseus, Apollo, and Hermes then headed in the direction of the throne room where Zeus was.
By the time they had gotten to the throne room,, Perses could tell that Apollo felt a sort of kinship with Hermes. Since Apollo was leading them, he was the one to push open the doors and Hermes looked around in amazement. Perseus had seen more beautiful things then the throne room of the gods so he didn't react other than let his eyes seek out the legendary Zeus. Of course he wasn't legendary for really anything good, he was known for his temper, for his hate of anything more powerful than him. But he was legendary for his greed and arrogance even though it didn't show, it was always there.
There were only 2 people in the throne room with one being Zeus and the other being Hera. Perseus needed to watch what Hera did with caution because what she was known for was her jealousness but Perseus knew it was just the fact that she had married a guy who had like 6 wives before her and cheated a lot.
It didn't help that there were two sons of Zeus but not here walking towards her and Zeus. Her already sour expression grew even more sour when she saw Apollo and Hermes but she only looked curiously at Perseus.
Zeus seemed relieved to see them until that was, he saw Hermes who already knew what to do. Not really wanting to talk to him, Hermes quickly started the ceremony. By the time Zeus had to speak his parts he had already grown back to normal or what Perseus thought was his normal.
Zeus to no one's surprise, asked Hermes to be on the council and Hermes hesitated then agreed to become a member. There were two reasons he asked Hermes, one was so he had the councils agreement since they were all his children and the other was that he needed people to fight with him against Gaea.
Hera stepped forward towards Perseus, "Could I speak to you" she looked at Zeus, Apollo, Hermes and added "In private?" Perseus wasn't sure why she wanted to but agreed and they both looked towards Zeus since he was King and had to dismiss them when they were in his presence.
He gave Hera a suspicious glance but nodded and Hera led Perseus away from the throne room. She led him to some sort of garden which Perseus couldn't help but admire and Hera seeing how he was looking at the garden, laughed and said "Demeter made this." Perseus smiled at her and then looked at her in confusion. "What did you need to talk to me about?" He asked her as she let the smile fall from her face.
"I want you to break my marriage with Zeus" Perseus looked at her in surprise "What makes you ask me to do this?" He asked her cautiously, "You are a first generation deity, surely you have enough power to overcome my marriage with Zeus even with whatever Hestia said you did."
Perseus wondered what Hestia had said about him but shook it off as he looked seriously at Hera. "You are correct that I can do that but are you sure, if I break it then you can never get back together with Zeus through marriage." She nodded and Perseus sighed, "Did Zeus agree to this?" She gave him a look as she said "Not at all."
Perseus knew that she would find a way to break her marriage if he did this or not, so with his mind decided he put his hand on her forehead while he muttered words to old for any immortal but Perseus and Chaos to recognize. The language was called the ancient tongue and Chaos had meant for it to be the main language but couldn't make it happen and instead Greek had become the main one in Greece.
Hera glowed a warm creamy color as she felt the ring on her left ring finger crack then break completely. When the soft glow died down she smiled as she no longer felt like she had a chain stuck on her throat as she did when she was married to Zeus. "Thank you" she said as she looked towards where Perseus was only to find that he was gone, leaving only the scent of salt water and the smell of freshly fallen rain.
Zeus
Zeus watched as his wife and the supposed primordial left and he couldn't help but feel anger that his wife wouldn't say whatever she had to say to the primordial in front of him. He pushed the anger to the side for now because he didn't want to explode because then he would lose respect that took a decent amount of time to earn.
He turned to Apollo and his new son whose name he had just found out was Hermes and that he was indeed the son of Maia. "As a member of the council, you have to follow certain rules. While yes this is a council it does not mean that you can tell me what to do as I am in fact King." He gave them both a look, he could tell that Hermes wasn't really paying attention.
"Hermes" at the sound of his name, the son of Maia tuned back into what Zeus was saying. "As the god of travels and messengers, I wish to have you as just that. The messenger of the gods." Hermes looked intrigued by what Zeus was now saying.
"As messenger you will deliver messages between gods and you will be the main messenger and carry mainly things dealin with the council. So do you agree?" Zeus asked Hermes who thought about it then nodded. "Good now let's tal-" he stopped mid sentence when he felt his ring that lay on his left ring finger crack.
There was only one reason it would crack and that was if his wife was trying to get out of their marriage without him knowing but if it broke, well that would mean that she was successful. Next thing Zeus knew his ring had completely broke off his finger as his sons watched confused.
Anger flooded him as he cursed Perseus both in his head and outloud and his sons looked at him in shock, not that he noticed. The sky started to darken when suddenly the sun spilt the clouds as they went back to normal and Zeus with his anger temporarily forgotten looked confused. With his anger the sky should have turned stormy and at first it seemed it would but now it did not.
That's the end of chapter 21 I think though i'm not sure since I'm not really keeping track. I hope you enjoyed and I hope you have a great weekend. I hope everyone will have a great Christmas since it is my favorite holiday.