Hades, "Hermes."
"I am here by my fathers will."
"And what is his will?"
"He wants to know where your allegiance lies." Hades leaned forward from his throne and smiled.
"A little coup is brewing up I presume?"
"I can neither confirm nor deny."
"You don't have to. My little spirits tell me everything they hear." Leaning back into in his throne, "Tell your master he has nothing to fear from me."
There was a slight silence before Hades spoke up again. "Is there anything else you wanted?"
Hermes quickly ran out of the throne room and faster than any god could ever hope to perceive, he run back to Ouranos and vanished into the Aether.
Arriving on Olympus, he was met with a flurry of activity as several supernatural, and lesser gods were busy walking from room to room doing practically nothing.
Cornering Kratos, "what's going on?" he asked him.
"Word is, there is a fight taking place as we speak."
"Where?"
"In the Pacific. I hear Sky Father is going toe to toe with the Earthshaker."
"That was quick. So, what now?"
"We don't know, but knowing the rumors, everyone is weary, I heard Apollo received a prophecy. One of the gods is going to die, so most of us are going into hiding and wait the fight out."
Just as they were talking, there was a blinding white light coming from the horizon followed by an ear-shattering thunder that made everyone clutch their ears closed except Hermes who only winced.
"You could be right. You need to find the other three and guard the throne."
"What! What if Poseidon wins. He will surely kill us all." Kratos squealed.
"Then you shall guard the throne with your life. If you run, I will send Artemis after you. Trust me there is no place in the cosmos that she won't find you. Then I will personally kill you. Your choice." Hermes finished and left the throne.
"Where are you going?"
Hermes stopped and turned his head sideways, "to ensure no human remembers what happened this day. Everyone has a job to do." He finished by diving through the skies. Wings emerged from his Achilles' tendons as he broke into a sprint through the air building up his momentum, by the time he arrived on earth he was easily cruising past the speed of light going from human to human and erasing their short-term memories.
***
"You know you can't sneak up on me. Thanks to your shameless father, I know every trick you could possibly imagine."
"I was being cautious, believe me, I have no intentions of sneaking up on you, and even if I wanted you wouldn't see me coming," Artemis responded as she came into view. "Zeus is looking for you."
"And out of all the gods and goddesses, he sends you."
"I really had no choice. It was an order from my king."
"He is not the king he was before, and you know that."
"That is not my call to make. If you have a problem with his rule take it up with him."
"Watch your tone," Hera glared.
"Either way I have delivered his message, you should—" Before she could finish, there was a bright flash of white before a thunderous boom followed.
"It has begun," Hera said noncommittally.
"What has?"
"A revolution you could call it."
"What have you done?" Artemis eyes grew wide.
"Nothing…yet."
"Father will certainly make you pay for this."
"If he lives long enough."
Artemis eyes grew even wider as she quickly vanished. Appearing in Olympus, she singled out one of his father's lackeys; Kratos out of the four. The rest of the palace was vacated.
"Has my father returned yet?"
"No goddess."
Artemis could finally feel her dread sinking in. She now believed the rumors. She had to find a way to stop it, but she didn't know how, only Athena would know, she always knew what to do. The only thing she could do was hope she wasn't too late.
While mulling her predicament, she sensed another god in the palace. Probing through her senses, she discovered it was Ares. She tracked him down using her Hunter's Pull to her father's chambers. He was standing and inspecting the whole room as if planning out a strategy.
"You shouldn't be here," Artemis said, "especially after the stunt you and the rest pulled today." "I'm not here for you, get lost," Ares replied without turning.
"What are you here for?"
"Nothing that concerns you."
"Did the queen put you up to this? She's manipulating you. It's what she does."
"You should go back to skinning your silly animals. This is out of your depth." Ares said this time turning to face Artemis, his eyes glowing red.
Drawing his war hammer, he gave out a menacing inhuman growl that shook the room.
"Leave!"
Artemis just smiled. "Make me."
Before anyone of them made the first move. Hera appeared behind Artemis and grabbed her forearm. Opening the palm of her other hand, she released a blast of power that turned the younger goddess into mist.
"I could've handled her."
"And ruin the whole plan," Hera chided, "I need you at full power otherwise you wouldn't last a minute against your father."
"How many times do I have to keep telling you not to underestimate me, mother?"
"Don't overestimate yourself. Between the two of us, only I have seen the full wrath of you father, so I know how you compare and trust me when I say you have so little to offer regarding power."
"Yeah, yeah, you keep saying that and all I see is streaks of lightning flashes and a few claps of thunder, nothing I can't handle."
There was another boom of thunder as the two talked that made Ares raise both his brows.
"The plan is going as scheduled. He is battling your uncle."
"It should have been me, or I should at least be there to feed off their strife to fuel me further. I'm sure I would gain a lot judging by how you keep fawning over them."
"Don't make me impale you with this sword," Hera replied, brandishing the God-Slayer that she had just materialized and threw it at Ares who caught it. "Now make yourself scarce and get ready as we've planned."
Ares quickly vanished without a word. Once left alone, Hera went back into the throne room and straight to the balcony that oversaw the world below. She raised her hands and clouds gathered to cover the whole earth within a matter of hours.
Hera then solidified the clouds into thick solid blocks and infusing it with a bit of the Aether, effectively separating the heavens from the earth. She then turned to face the four Zeus' personal bodyguards who up to now were just staring at her.
"Now, about you four,"
The four deities shrank back in fear as they prepared for what they knew was to come judging by the devious smile Hera wore.