Dangerous Gods (Completed)

Difficult Choices

We were all silent during the meal, and it was only when we had all finished and Bo had led me to the lounge that the silence broke.
"Nettie.." Bo started then looked at the others for help.
I held up my hand "how are you here, I dreamt you, why didn't you tell me it was real"
They exchanged looks each pleading with the others to answer
"Pan?" I prompted
He looked at me and sighed " we didn't know who you were at first, we just enjoyed your visits, none of us really considered how you came to us we just liked that you did, it was only when your mark was discovered things changed, we all have the same mark, and well, there's a ..., well umm" he stopped
"I know about the prophecy, we will get to that soon, how did you get here?"
"We waited for you to come back after I had sent you away and you didn't show, we waited for you, praying to the gods for help, then we got a postcard from here, from Leto, she led us to you, but when we requested a portal to earth Zeus appeared and demanded we had to bring you to him after we had explained about you, when we arrived Leisel was waiting for us, Leto had planned for us to come and we were just waiting to meet you naturally when you were taken" Mo replied.
"Would you have taken me to him?" I asked remembering what Bo had told me in the temple about Zeus hating humans.
"NO" they all exclaimed together.
"We would never, we would have kept you safe, even if it meant exile" Bo added.
I looked at them watching me, "he's my father" I told them.
"We know, he summoned us and told us after you had seen him in the temple, he wanted us to help Leto keep you safe here on earth" Eb told me.
"What happened to the professor and his men?" I questioned.
Helios growled at the question, "his two helpers have been dealt with, your father sent Thanatos to deal with them, but the professor got away"
I thought about the name Thanatos , death, the underworlds collector of souls.
"Will he come after me again?"
Silence, they looked down, sad.
"Will he come after me again?" I repeated " Ati?"
Ati raised his she's to mine "yes, given he has seen what you are, I think he will try again and again till he is stopped"
I groan, great another problem on top of everything else.
"Tell me about Rhea?"
"Total psycho, she is evil and the god she hates above all other is Zeus, if she knows about you then she will be out for your blood, she may not know about you though, Zeus didn't know about you till now, but Leto's been with you all this time so I don't know" Ati explains
"And the prophecy, what do we know about that?"
They fidget in their seats " all we know is the rhyme, until we saw your mark it was only assumed it was us but with you having the seventh mark and our birthdays matching I think we can all say it's us, together we will either bring down or save the gods once we are twenty one" Pan tells me.
"How could we alter the future, what could we possibly do that could bring down the gods, why would they need to be brought down?" I muse mainly to myself.
Eb chuckled darkly "Nettie the gods are a callous, arrogant bunch of selfish fools who fight amongst themselves not recognising what they have, trust me when I say there is a lot that needs to change"
I looked at him curiously "do you include yourself in that"
"Yes, all of us have these traits, we are far from perfect and would fight, even each other, to get what we want" he replied
"What do you want" I asked them looking around the room "you act like brothers, what could you possibly want that could risk that"
Eb looked at the ground and the others wouldn't meet my eyes, why, what was their problem.
"Eb?" I questioned but he just shook his head
"Mo, what could be so bad that you won't tell me?" I turned to ask him
Mo sighed "Nettie, you don't want to know the answer, leave it be"
I jumped up and moved to the window "please, tell me" I ask looking out and away from them.
I could sense the tension in the room rising, the room felt hot and my breath caught as Ati spoke "You Nettie, we all want you and we would fight everything and everyone for you"
I froze at his words "no" I whispered "you cannot fight your brothers over me"
"Would you, could you, choose one of us" Bo questioned quietly.
I shook my head "no"
A loud laugh and clapping sounded from the doorway and we all turned to watch a tall woman walk in "Bravo child, I won't need to do anything to bring down the gods, you will do it for me" she moved closer and looked me up and down, the boys seemed frozen in their seats as they looked at her.
"Who are you" I asked looking back at her and then glancing at the men who had followed her into the room, men who were pointing guns at me.
"Rhea" Pan said and started to get up.
"Stay seated boys or we will shoot her" she said and Pan sat back down.
I looked at her, this woman was Rhea who had ruined the relationship between Zeus and Faith, I felt my anger rising towards her and now she was threatening me and my boys, no one was hurting them.
"What do you want" I ask her coldly.
"I want the gods to fall, I want Zeus on his knees, I want my power back, he took it from me and I want it back, and you, little half breed are going to help me"
"No" I said looking her in the eye.
"You have no choice, you will help me or I will kill you"
"Kill me then" I told her smiling at her fury. "I am not afraid to die"
I watched Rhea stomp her foot, shaking with rage before turning to her men a wide smile on her face.
"Shoot the boys then, hmm, which one first, who do you want the most," she moved behind Pan and I growled as she gripped his hair and tilted his head back "this one maybe" she said before letting go and moving round to Ati who flinched as she dragged her hand across his shoulders "this one, or both"
"No" I cried tears steaming down my face. "Kill me not them"
I heard her men move forward aiming guns now at Pan and Ati "choose to help me or I'll kill them all"
I looked at them "no Nettie don't do it, you cannot help her, please" Ati shouted
"Quiet" Rhea screamed at him.
I looked at the others who all shook their heads at me, I could save them all by giving Rhea what she wants but they didn't want me too and my gut feeling was telling me that she would not keep her side of any bargain, so whilst she needed me the boys were safe.
I needed to keep her talking, to draw her out more till someone came up with a plan to get us out of this mess "why did you lie to my mother."
"What?" She looked shocked at the question.
"You drove Faith away from Zeus, why, now she's trapped in the between, alone"
"Rubbish, your mother is in purgatory where she belongs, in love with a God, you stupid humans have no idea, you're not worthy to be in our presence" she ground back.
I looked at her letting her words sink in, she didn't know about Faith being part Angel, about my angel side, I looked at the boys who were exchanging looks, Eb caught my eye and nodded, eyes flicking between me and Rhea.
"I met my mother in the between, she is not in purgatory, she cannot go there but she now knows what you did to her, Zeus now knows what you did to them" I taunt her.
Her men fidget at the mention of Zeus knowing.
"And my boys" I tell her gesturing around the room "they are gods and your threats to them will not go down well with their families, how many of them are you prepared to take on"
She looks around "I don't care about them" she screeches.
A movement out of the corner of my eye made me turn towards the door, where I could see a glow. What was out there, I looked at the boys and Pan shook his head, no one else had noticed.
Suddenly Bo and Helios started arguing drawing all the attention to them and then the room swarmed with people.
Rhea's men were quickly disarmed and led out and She was on her knees in front of three tall men.
"Rhea, what are you doing here" Zeus asked looking down at her.
She sneered up at him "Zeus, Hades, Poseidon how good of you to come down off your mountain for me"
"Cut the crap Rhea, you threatened my daughter" Zeus growled."and that's without what I have found out about what you did to Faith"
Rhea laughed cruelly "did you care for the little human Zeus, did your heart bleed when she left you"
I looked at her in anger, my mother was so much more "my mother was not human" I growled at her, "I lost my mother because of you, she is trapped because of you, your lies, your hatred, I lost both my parents before I could know them, my history, my family because you are an evil bitch" I had moved forward and was now stood next to Zeus, I could feel the emotion within me and see some of the glow surrounding me.
Hera looked at me and I could see the fear on her face.
"My mother was part angel and you took her from me and my father" I shouted at her. I felt Zeus's surprise next to me when I called him my father, he reached for my hand only to gasp at the shock he received.
"Serenity, my child you need to calm down" he instructed stepping away.
"I'm calm" I ground out still watching Rhea, the glow reflecting in her fearful eyes.
"Nettie, come back to us, baby please" I heard Mo call me.
I reached out to him and fell into his arms before we were surrounded by the others each wanting to hold me.
A discreet threat clearing brought our focus back to the room.
My father faced me and the boys "she threatened you all, the choice of punishment is yours"
"But.." I started to say before Pan moved in front of me "no this is your punishment to give, we know what she has done to you, and How it has hurt Nettie, we couldn't give a fair judgement it must come from you and the council"
Zeus nodded and turned back to Hades and Poseidon who smiled in our direction before directing the guards to take Rhea away.
"We will leave you for now but I want to see you all very soon" he looked at me "Serenity, Leto will be back soon but if you need me at all, please just call"
I reached out a hand to him "thank you" he squeezed mine back before departing.