||Koi No Yokan|| Park Seonghwa

||Chapter 37||

WARNING: nothing major, but there are some suggestive bits...enjoy!

Quiet was never the right adjective to describe Zeus's castle. Even more so when he was irritated. And that night, sitting on his throne in the Temple with the thunder in his hand crackling with energy at his every move, he was particularly irritated.

"This whole situation is ridiculous. And none of you even bothered to tell me?"

"We were trying to-"

"No more of your excuses, Poseidon!" Zeus replied, his voice getting louder and louder with every word that rumbled out of his mouth.

"We were respecting his will, father," Hermes said "He probably hoped to find reconciliation with his mother on his own"

"He should have known he was just delaying the inevitable...you all should've known"

Apollo shifted uncomfortably in his throne as Zeus's eyes finally landed on him.

"And you...that's why you were allegedly summoned by the Fates in such a haste"

"I was summoned, father" Apollo replied "Albeit their means of communication may have been unorthodox"

"Tell me about it" Hades quipped from his seat beside Zeus "Worst headache of my existence"

"Thanks for your input, Hades, I'll put it on the list of things that don't matter right now"

The sarcastic tone in Zeus's voice was enough for Hades to roll his eyes. As much as one might hate to admit it, he was right: the massive shitshow that was about to be witnessed in that very room three days from then was definitely more important.

"Has Aphrodite already been notified?" Hera asked.

"I'll do it in the morning..." Hermes sighed, already seeming exhausted because of the task at hand "...don't need the gift of clairvoyance to know how that's going to end"

"What about the mortal woman?"

Zeus passed a hand on his eyes at his wife's words, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Then, a voice spoke from the edge of the room.

"If Eros is willing to go to war against his mother for her, then her safety needs to be ensured," it said "and having the mortal so close to Aphrodite does not ensure that"

All the eyes in the room fell on Athena who was sitting on her throne, carved in a single slab of marble with golden specks and grey/blue veining, shining almost as much as the war helmet that covered a good portion of her long, white hair. Her grey eyes, identical to her father's, scanned the room quickly, only to stop over the Sun god's amusingly confused expression.

"When did you even get here?"

"I was already here, Apollo"

"Then why are you here?" Dionysus asked from his throne.

"I summoned her. Her insight on the matter might be useful"

"Of course..." Hermes muttered under his breath at Zeus's explanation. The goddess ignored his evident annoyance and kept speaking.

"As I was saying, bringing her here would be way too risky, but she can't stay at her current location without some sort of protection either"

"I could shield her with the clouds so that she can't see her...It worked the other times..."