Thief Of Truth's Heart

Chapter 13

After that particular introduction of the Goddess that had emerged from the head of Zeus, Hera threw a tantrum, worthy of her title as the 'Queen of the Heavens', and accused Zeus of cheating on her and having spawns from his mistresses. But that was of course after Atlanta was quickly escorted out of the Council Hall by Poseidon and Apollo, seeing that the girl had loyalty as her domain, and understanding the fact that Athena was the result of infidelity on her Uncle's side, would not be beneficial to the health of the bride-to-be.

There was a noticeable tension between the nervous God of the Sky and the enraged Goddess of Marriage, but they both took their screaming matches to behind the safety of their bedroom doors, while ignoring each other as much as possible in the public to keep up with their image. And with Apollo and Atlanta's marriage being merely three days away now, they couldn't do anything which could prove to be damaging to the flow of the marriage rituals.

Because they both knew that if the marriage was put to hold because of their own personal issues, no matter how much they might try to defend themselves, Apollo would burn the couple down in his rage and would not heed to anybody's words.

And Atlanta was truly precious to both Zeus and Hera. The girl had asked both Hera and Zeus the next day whether they could hold a small birthday party for Athena, because she might be sad otherwise. When she was told that  Athena didn't like meaningless celebrations, not that they asked the Goddess for her opinion on the matter in the first place, Atlanta had innocently asked whether everything was alright since her daddy was going on about how Zeus needed to learn 'to keep it in his pants', and then curiously asked whether he had an ache there as well.

An embarrassed moment of silence later, Zeus had told her that he was perfectly fine, and had then proceeded along with Hera to usher the oblivious girl out of the room.

Athena had proven herself to be truly wise, when she had not made an appearance in front of Hera any more after their initial meeting to avoid conflict. After being informed about the impending marriage of Apollo and Atlanta, the Goddess had taken it upon herself to plan the wedding necessities and arrange everything to be perfect for the final day, as well as acquire a worthy gift  within such a short amount of time. It was also a silent apology from her side about her appalling behavior towards the wonderful woman that Athena had gotten to know during their planning sessions, when the older goddess continued to joke while correctly giving her preference regarding her marriage, to keep the mood lighter and more jovial.

But Athena did not know that Atlanta had actually forgiven her the moment she had apologized to her.

The Goddess of Wisdom had been spotted quite frequently accompanying the daughter of Poseidon, enjoying the witty conversation that the Goddess of Victory could offer. That made Ares a bit mad on having to share Attah with yet another person, but he was quickly assured that he still held her affection when Attah had come running to his room to hold him when he had screamed in fear of the huge eagle that his father had sent to his room to scare him to sleep.

Artemis and Athena got along with each other quite well. Both had no desire to get married ever, and bonded over the fact that all males were indeed, stupid. That did not hinder their relationship with Atlanta however, as the girl would technically become Artemis' sister-in-law, and Athena, much to her own embarrassment, saw Atlanta as the caring mother she never had. When everyone was asking her about how far she was with her planning of the decorations of the reception venue, Atlanta had asked her whether she had her lunch in concern.

Siblings almost always have something in common with each other, and Ares and Enyo shared the same train of thought with Athena in regards to Atlanta.

If it was observed carefully, Ares actually clinged to Atlanta's side just like a petulant son would cling to his mother. He hated Apollo because he saw him as a competitor for Atlanta's affection. Hera was never around, and Atlanta having been the first person to hold the little War God, the first person that he saw, the first person to tell him a story and the first and only person to show him love made Ares think of Atlanta as someone on whom he could depend on and a person he could make proud with his abilities and personality.