When Lady Hecate fades due to a particularly nasty slow-working poison, Olympus has no choice but to announce their existence to the mortals, which goes about as well as one might expect.
Then the Olympians, finally realising it might be time for a...
Eleven of the twelve Olympians were sitting on their thrones on Olympus, chatting amicably.
'Apollo, get it through your thick skull. My huntresses are not interested in a relationship!'
'Ares, those countries are allies. A war between them would be an unnecessary waste of life!'
'That prank was not funny, Hermes. My third favourite toga is ruined!'
'Hephaestus, please be more respectful. That flower was one-of-a-kind and now it's destroyed!'
'Is it so hard to not screw every mortal in America? I mean, really, Zeus? Another one?'
Dionysus was fast asleep, happily drunk (he'd been reappointed his position on Olympus for his work in the second giant war).
Suddenly, a loud thrashing could be heard from outside. Zeus sat up from where he'd been lying sideways on his throne, opening the door with a flick of his fingers. Poseidon strode in, holding a limp Hecate in her arms. Apollo hurried down from his throne and took Hecate's cold hand in his own.
'Botulinum Toxin,' the god whispered, 'it's an untraceable, slow-acting poison, deadly to all. Including immortals.' He looked to Zeus, horror clear on his features. 'If I'd caught it sooner, I might have been able to reverse the effects, but at this point...' he trailed off.
'Thank you, Apollo.' Zeus nodded, descending the steps to where Poseidon stood. 'My dear lady, who did this to you?' He asked, uncharacteristically gently, cupping Hecate's chin in his large hand. 'G-giants, my lord. Along with some rogue demigods.' Her usually melodic voice was rough and scratchy,' They- they injected me with poison and chained me for weeks. I managed to kill them all and escape once Gaea was defeated, but by then...' she bowed her head as much as she could in Zeus's grip.
'I understand. Apollo, how much longer does she have to live?'
'Minutes.' Apollo took a step forward. 'If that.'
'Ok.' Zeus sighed. 'Make it as comfortable as possible for her.'
'Yes, father.'
'Father, do you understand what this means?' Zeus looked to the source of the noise. Athena stood in front of her throne, anger and misery mixing on her face. She, out of all the Olympians, had been closest to Hecate. 'The mist will fade. Mortals will be able to see monsters. The gods will be exposed!'
'Yes, daughter. I will begin an international broadcast, explaining everything as soon as we've paid our dues.'
'I don't want to do this anymore.' The fury faded from her eyes, leaving only sadness. 'The second titan war, the giant war, now this...' she crumpled onto the floor, her eyes dewy with tears. 'I'm done. And I think everyone else is too.' To their astonishment, the other Olympians found that they agreed with her, humming assent and nodding along to her words. For a few seconds, there was silence.
'OK.' Zeus replied at last. 'Once this mess is sorted out, I'll address your concerns. But for-'
'Father.' Apollo interrupted, looking up from where he'd been tending to Hecate on the floor, 'It's over. She's gone.'
Thoughts?
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