Hell Is An Empty Heart (Book One of The Triple Moon's Chronicles)

24 | Demeter's Reasons IX - Greek Fire 🏳️‍🌈

Of all the gods, Hestia suffered the most from Demeter's absence. Ever since the latter exiled herself on her island, Hestia had roamed around Mount Olympus without ever finding her place.

She didn't fit in with the followers of Themis. She wasn't brave enough to engage in a conversation with Hera. It wouldn't have been a good idea to sit next to Aphrodite either, and at last, she was too mature to rub shoulders with the second generation of Olympians.

Hestia's involvement in a recent embarrassing incident made matters even worse. At the foot of her bed, in the middle of the night, Hestia caught Apollo and Aphrodite's pet, Priapus wrestling each other. Her piercing shouts quickly drove them away, but the damage had already been done on her privacy.

Hestia barricaded herself in her own home for days on end, using only her voice to scare any souls away, but no one was ever there, apart from birds. The more she fretted over it, the more she placed the weight of her protection on the shoulders of the only man she knew who could rescue her — Zeus.

Hestia walked from her distant home to the heart of Mount Olympus without a rest. She dragged a shawl wrapped around her head to hide her messy hair and the huge dark rings under her eyes, but she couldn't conceal her shabby clothes. She stepped into Zeus' huge abode with no appointment; they were close enough for her to never have to wait in line for him.

Yet, when she reached Zeus' palace, it was no longer the same since Demeter was gone.

Athena was the only one in the main chamber, sitting on Zeus' throne with crossed legs while sorting out for his many issues with the other gods. Her authoritarian tone impressed Hestia, for she had always believed that a woman could not have a place in a man's world.

She strolled further away and found herself in the only place that remained unchanged: Demeter's garden. Everything the goddess had created was now at its best, and Hestia couldn't help but shed a tear.

Biting on her lips, guilt thickened on the back of her throat, forcing her chin to collapse on her chest. The imagined sight was perfect. Her best friend and her child loved and cuddled, but Hestia couldn't cease the quivering in her hand, as she was weak at the tears welling up behind her eyes.

Hestia knew she had ruined it all.

If only Demeter had accepted the offer from Zeus, they would have all been living in happiness together under his roof. Suddenly, a nymph shoved Hestia to the ground. The naked spirit of nature was too busy laughing away to feel sorry for anything.

Where could she have come from?

Hestia stood up and followed the denuded woman's wet footprints to the open door of Zeus' private chamber. He was lying on his enormous rectangular bed, completely naked and unashamed, with only his eyes gazing up at his tall golden fresco ceiling.

He still could not figure out what went wrong, for he was the master of everything and nothing, the one that none had ever crossed or resisted except that one goddess, Demeter.

Zeus couldn't forget her name.

The last person to dare stare at Zeus in this state was the prude Hestia, who turned her gaze away from him. She was about to leave, resigning on her demand, when he called her out.

"Hestia, why don't you come in?"

Her body stalled, and unwillingness, discomfort, and a bit of aversion took hold of her. "I might come back later."

"I insist, come in!"

Her look became pained as she turned around with Zeus now sitting up at the edge of his bed. He pulled a crimson silk blanket over himself and tapped his hand on a spot next to him.