What's going on?
Does Zeus not remember that he owes me BIG time?
He's making it very difficult for me to keep a straight face. My eyes narrow slightly from feeling incredibly let down.
Has he no shame? What a bastard. There are still a lot of those 'favors' that he has yet to fulfill.
I should've never waited this long to use any of them, but what's done is done.
... I honestly just had no reason to, until now.
I just can't believe that the one who is the most capable of meeting my request, or even ALL my requests, is declining me already?
Of course, I wouldn't ask for something THAT easy, or else it wouldn't be a favor in the first place!
Is this how they're like when they're no longer desperate?
I see.
Thanks to this, though, I won't be as complacent anymore whenever people ask me again in the future. I'll be taking note of this for my sake, lesson learned.
Does he think that there are no consequences for turning me down this quickly, and without hesitation, I might add? Goes to show how little he thinks of me.
He may be the ruler of all, but I've never been afraid of him. Zeus is aware of this.
I'm not usually the vengeful sort. I've never cared about 'power' or amassing a needless abundance of anything.
I've kept myself calm and logical for most of my existence. It looks like it doesn't pay to be too consistent, after all.
Ever since I came to being, I guess I've yet to want something bad enough to put in the effort.
The effort to attain something that's supposedly the unattainable.
In other words, none of these so-called omniscient gods or goddesses know what I'm like.
I laugh derisively at myself, as it's only the first real step I've taken towards reaching my goal, and I'm already being given a setback that shouldn't even have been one in the first place.
...
The more I dive deeper into my pool of thoughts, the harder it is to maintain being courteous towards this douchebag of a god.
I'm still simmering from being severely disappointed. Witnessing how easy it is for Zeus to go back on his word is making my blood boil.
I've zero plans causing trouble right now for no reason, though, so I take a deep breath to collect myself.
I try to reason with him while being as polite as I can, "I distinctively remember that you said: If it's 'literally' possible for me to do, then I will do it - no questions asked."
"Telling me the Fates' current residence is clearly something that falls under that list of doables." Despite calming myself earlier, my lips still curve upwards as it turns into a barely noticeable sneer.
My gaze changes to something more piercing, as I await this liar of a king to respond.
Zeus runs his fingers through his silvery-white locks and heaves a sigh out of slight exasperation. He looks torn somehow.
The divine king looks off to the distance as he tries to explain further, "Khirelle... no one, I mean NO one, messes with the Fates. Surely, you know this?"
I don't budge and refuse to say a word.
He stares at me in disbelief. It's as if he doesn't understand why he has to explain this to me, of all people. "Of course, you would 'cos EVERYONE does. Not even I, the ruler of all, would ever want to get on their bad side."
I'm genuinely speechless now.
Is he this much of a coward that he's deathly afraid just to give out their current location? If he were, he wouldn't even have them followed in the first place. Zeus is ridiculous right now!
I'm about to give him a piece of my mind when I feel some slender arms snake around my torso.
In an effort to calm me down, Hera wraps me up in a gentle, but firm hug.
She turns me around so she can rest her forehead on mine, effectively shifting all my attention towards her, instead of Zeus.
"Khiri, forget about him. He's scared witless. How about you talk to me first? Hmm? What do you say?" Hera bats her eyes at me and smiles sweetly. "Who knows? Maybe I can help."
Zeus frowns and becomes slightly upset.
In the guise of a simple warning, he starts to threaten me, "If I weren't sure that both of you were only into men, all favors be damned, I'd most likely try to devise a way to kill Khi-... OW!"
The sultry woman, who was holding me in her arms just a split second ago, smacks her husband square across the face.
"You've been rude enough to our dearest Khiri already. I dare you to finish that sentence! I dare you!" Hera matches his intensity and shouts back at him.
It's a bit unnerving to see Zeus' favorite wife, ruthlessly yelling at him in my defense.
I'm worried about things getting out of hand, so I need to think fast and placate both of them.
However, Hera is determined to see this through.
"You know, Khiri?" She asks as she twirls some of my hair around her finger. "You're one of the VERY few, even among other divine beings, that I consider to be still worthy of respect among us. You deserve to be happy. You deserve so much better. That's why I want to help you."
Upon hearing those words, a sharp pain strikes me deep inside my heart. There's absolutely no doubt in my mind that she's incredibly sincere.
I haven't felt this touched in a long time. Feeling a sharp prick at the corner of my eye, they remain wide open as some tears slowly glide down my cheeks.
"Look at this precious baby! How could your heart not melt from this? You'd have to be a monster not to feel a thing, ESPECIALLY when she deserves the world!" Hera clicks her tongue several times, sighs, and looks at me with worry.
"Khirelle, the war goddess, from this day forward, I will do everything in my power to help you lead a life you'll be satisfied with." After gently wiping off the tears that stream down my cheeks, she beams at me before turning once again towards Zeus, who has been quiet ever since he got hit earlier.
Hera lifts one of her hands and places it on his shoulder before speaking to him, "My one and only husband, I hate to bring this up now, but you leave me no choice. It's time for me to milk this for all its worth."
Her head turns towards me, and she gives me a wink that says, 'I got this.'
Hera swings her head back and stares earnestly into his eyes.
It's the type of gaze that grows increasingly more intense as time goes by. "Remember all those times you've cheated on me, and you've always gotten away with it?"
Hera's smile transforms into something so frightening that even I would think twice before challenging her.
A severely pissed off wife who has yet to release the full brunt of her wrath is one of the scariest things any serial-cheater of a husband will ever encounter.
She glares at him so menacingly that it even sends shivers down my spine. "Well, you better uphold your end of the deal with Khiri. Or I'll make sure to make your life so miserable and devoid of any female contact, that you'd end up begging your father, Kronos, to take back the throne and ask him to make a meal out of you instead."
... And that's all it took for the cowardly and most supreme god to materialize a feather quill, ink, and parchment paper to quickly jot down the address of the Fates' living quarters.