Abaddon (BoyxBoy)

ένα: One God Against Us All

A meeting was called on Mount Olympus. The usual tranquil and gay atmosphere of the holy mountain was now tense with an undercurrent of malicious glee that would make many a mortal shiver. The leaders of the meeting, Zeus and Hera, stood above the others and looked on over their fellow gods. Zeus's golden locks cascaded down upon his shoulders like waves upon a sandy shore.

His handsome and timeless face was pinched with aggravation. His wife, sister and queen, Hera, held no emotion on her gorgeous face. Her red hair was held up by a clasp and reached the middle of her back. Beside them sat the mischievous messenger Hermes. He bobbed his head from side to side, humming a tune to himself and swishing his bronze curls with his every movement.

The others looked at him with distaste. There was something teeth grindingly annoying about one that was far too optimistic. Next to him was Poseidon, Hades, Apollo and Ares. Hades' face was also pinched, matching his brother Zeus's. He wished to be anywhere but here. Poseidon, whom had a beard of dark auburn, Apollo, with his hair of gold that nearly rivaled his father's, and the other deities all crowded about as tightly packed as a festival. The only one who looked more displeased than him was Ares who wore a clouded and stormy expression and sat away from the others in a dark corner.

No one said a word and the silence was irritating. Zeus appeared to be all too weary and Hera all too giddy for some nefarious reason or another. Hermes scowled and uncrossed his legs, hovering several inches off the ground.

"Well, are we going to talk or not?" he asked impatiently.

"You are very much welcome to leave and go back to your harp Hermes," Hera replied curtly.

He opened his mouth to retort, thought about it and then clamped his mouth shut. He couldn't play his music in such a stifling atmosphere, and, besides, he was curious about why Hera and Zeus had called them. With his silence, Hera faintly smiled.

"I'm sure you are all wondering why I called you," her voice was sharper than knives.

"Helen has birthed a child. The child comes from the seed of the fallen royal family of Troy, the seed of Deiphobus," her voice became higher and more frustrated with each word. Hades was the only one unaffected by her hysterics.

He saw right through her. Since she had not won that confounded golden apple for being the most beautiful from Paris, Hera had been on a vengeful vendetta against all connected to the man who did not choose her. Even though the war was over and Paris long since dead, he had seen his soul himself, she still felt it necessary to go after those closest to him, which was his cousin Aeneas and now this unnamed infant. He found it all very petty.

"...The midwife was close to being rid of it, however," she snarled.

"Solon of Crete got in her way," she said with a voice that was laced with the breathy tones of one that was maniacal.

Hades had heard enough, and he stared her straight in the eyes. He was taken aback by how much hatred there was inside her smoky gray eyes, and it was all for a new born child. A sense of dismay and pity washed over him like cold water over the dangerous life the poor boy was set to have.

"You are being irrational Hera," Hades hissed to her.

"I agree," spoke up Poseidon. "You speak with much hatred over a small child you have not seen."

Hera whipped around to Poseidon's direction and glared at him.

"You speak of irrational hatred and yet you still keep Odysseus away from his home for something he has already apologized for," she said coldly.

Zeus's eyes shot back and forth between the three of them, his anger mounting. He watched Hera, Hades and Poseidon argue while the other gods chatted amongst themselves. They were frivolous that way, nothing ever keeping their attention for long. Zeus had seen enough. The meeting had gone way out of hand to the point of madness. He rose abruptly from his throne, and the noise around him stopped.