"I'm actually quite hurt that none of you recognize me"
The stranger voiced with a chuckle, earning even more confused looks from everyone but Aphrodite and Hestia who surprisingly smiled at his words but didn't say anything.
"speak identify yourself or else"
Ares again spoke, this time standing up to face his the stranger, he was already seeing this man as an enemy as such he was ready to break him apart.
"Voila, in view a⁷ humble vaudevillian veteran cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of fate, This Visage no mere veneer of vanity is vestige of…"
Before he could continue any further, the sound of an arrow hitting the wall behind him interrupted him.
"Enough, state your name and business"
Artemis, a white haired Goddess Similar to Athena in Stature and looks spoke as she drew her bow, letting an unknown person suddenly speak freely was a dangerous game.
"How boring, instead of answering, how about you all use your divine sight, to identify me?"
He asked, he figured it would be easier to have them see who he is rather than him telling them, that way it's faster. It was before anyone could do anything drastic, that the gentle and melodic voice of the greatest beauty in all of Olympus spoke.
"put down you weapon Artemis, it's Hephaestus"
The Goddess of Beauty shook her head as she spoke, She didn't understand why He decided to put on such a farce.
"huh?"
Everyone in the room with the Exception of Hestia collectively Exclaimed in confusion. They looked at Aphrodite with disbelief waiting for her to say something that made more sense.
"she telling the truth, that is Hephaestus"
Hestia backed her words up and stood up and walked towards Hephaestus and gave him a nice hug that Hephaestus reciprocated without struggle.
"yep I am Hephaestus"
He confirmed pulling everyone back from their stupor.
...
Once Hephaestus sat down on his seat, Everyone was ready to ask their own questions, Athena especially curious about his sudden change the most.
"Hephaestus how di—"
"Alright Everyone settle down we will start the meeting"
Zeus suddenly Entered and interrupted Athena before she could finish her sentence, Zeus walked in with Hera walking behind him, If this was a public space with various Gods present the entrance of both the God king and queen would cause loud cheers but unfortunately no one in the room is impressed by their arrival.
Hera who walked right behind Zeus was immediately struck by shock as she saw her Son, Hephaestus. Unlike the others Hera could easily recognize her Son regardless of his changes, this was not because she loved him but rather she had learned to recognize him by his presence rather than his face, his face was too disgusting to look at but that doesn't seem to be the case any more hence the cause of her shock.
"You finally decided to show yourself, now tell us the reason you called this meeting"
Hades leaned back on his chair and asked, he crossed his arms and scowled at his little brother, he didn't hate Zeus not at all but that didn't mean he has to agree with everything he says or does and that is where his displeasure comes from, Zeus had the impression that he can do anything without consequence and Hades found that distasteful.
"there is a reason, however once I tell you, I need All you to swear to Make a promise and swear to the river of Styx"
Zeus stated and earned frowns from everyone in the room, swearing to the river of Styx is a dangerous thing because if you break the promise you made the consequences are very dire. The consequences are a curse that will forever weaken you until you die. Of course unlike Mortals Gods have extremely long life spans as such they would live in a state of weakened and fragility for a very long time, in fact each day they live would make them weaker and weaker. The only known way of having the curse removed is to earned the favor of The Goddess Styx or at the very least have her mother Nyx ask her to remove the curse but that's nearly impossible to do.
"Are you serious, your majesty?"
Leto asked, she was a rather well endowed lady with shoulder length hair that was dirt blonde and had golden brown Eyes and boasted a beauty that could rival Hera's. For Zeus to ask them to swear on the river of Styx that must mean whatever he is about to reveal is of great importance.
"Yes, I know most of you probably wouldn't do that under normal circumstances but please listen first"
Zeus spoke and looked around the room, getting a quick glance at everyone present, he had to do a double take once he glanced at Hephaestus but he stifled his questions for later.
"according to the fates someone amongst my children will dethrone me and take the throne from me."
"What!!!"
A few of the people in the room uttered in shock as their eyes grew wide. Of course there were others who seemed to not be shocked by this, Athena, Hades, Poseidon, Demeter along with Hestia did not seem to be that shocked.
"Father! none of us would ever do such a thing"
"Indeed, are you sure the fates said it was going to be one of us?
Both Apollo and Ares stood up and quickly spoke trying to understand what their father had said, none of his children would ever think of such a thing or so that was the case until recently.
"How history repeats itself, honestly I'm not surprised, being a king is more than just sitting on a throne"
Hades voiced, once again leaning forward and placing his elbows on to the table and intertwining his fingers.
"What does that mean?"
Zeus asked with a frown, he did not like what his brother was implying and wanted to hear him make things clear, he didn't like misunderstandings.
"Oh nothing brother, I'll be taking my leave now"
Hades pushed his chair back and proceeded to stand up and was about to leave, however Poseidon spoke and stopped him in his tracks
"You can't leave yet, we need to figure out the possible traitor and their plans"
"Sorry brother but this seems like a Zeus and his children problem and besides I am not swearing to the river of Styx the consequences are something I can't afford."
A frown on Zeus deepened and his eyes shone an electric blue and the Sounds of thunder were heard from above the room.
"Hades you would willingly refuse to aid Olympus despite being one of us? You would let Olympus fall in its time of need? Despite all we've done to establish it?"
"Olympus won't fall, Zeus. It will simply go through a change, do you think you can stop a prophecy? It's already been set in stone and it is unchangeable, if it's your destiny to be dethroned then it is, fighting against destiny is a fools errand."
Hades explained and Zeus did not appreciate that, the Skies above became clouded and thunder roared, Zeus's body began to produce sparks of Electricity all over. He could not believe that his very own brother would let his throne be taken from him.
"Father, I have to agree with Uncle on this, not on the matter of letting someone take your throne but on the matter concerning the river of Styx."
Athena capture the attention of everyone in the room as she stood up and spoke.
"while swearing on the river of Styx would guarantee your trust in us, it is very detrimental. Should our enemies find out about it they would surely go out of their way to manipulate things and ensure at Least one of us breaks the oath"
She gave her argument, while most of the enemies of Olympus are defeated and are in Tartarus that doesn't mean they are safe, new enemies come in all forms. Having defeated your previous foes doesn't mean won't have any more.
"So you are saying it is safer to let a someone take my throne from me than it is to swear on the river?"
"Yes, think of it like this. Would you rather have Olympus fall in the hands of an enemy or have it simply change rulers and still stand strong?"
"Do not be ridiculous Athena, Father's reign is eternal, he has earned the throne, to merely suggest he let a traitor take it should be grounds for treason"
"Ares is correct, we cannot simply let such a possibility linger in the air"
An exasperated sigh escaped Athena, as it seems her brothers were idiots, they should be aware that there are plenty of people who wish for Olympus to fall, granted most are locked up in Tartarus but that doesn't mean all of the people who are against Olympus are in Tartarus infact those in Tartarus might get freed by someone else. Even if one of the Olympians is weakened that gives enemies grounds to attack, it's more practical to change ruler than to let the possibility of everyone being weakened increase.
"This room is protected by all kinds of magic including anti-scrying and divination, Hecate made sure it was protected against any attacks of a similar nature"
He explained, Hecate was the Goddess of magic and witchcraft, as such she is the most well versed in magic in all of Olympus.
"That is true…"
The Goddess Demeter spoke, Her Emerald green eyes held a stern expression as she kept a professional and serious look on her. Demeter was a petite Goddess with a slightly tall frame and envied Leto's well developed chest on occasion, she was also fairly beautiful.
"however, it would be truly foolish for us to think that there aren't any methods to bypass Hecate's magic, not mention that some of us are vital to the continued existence of humans, I can't afford to be suddenly weakened that would be a disaster."
As Goddess of agriculture and harvest without her the poor humans would starve themselves to death. Plus she's not really keen on losing her power considering That the Queen might be bearing a grudge against her for Persephone's birth.
"plus Zeus you have many children, the possibility of anyone of them dethroning you is just as great as any of your children currently here not to mention some of us aren't your children so it makes no sense for us to swear on the river of Styx."
Hestia offered while also laying her head onto the table, she was beginning to get tired of this meeting, she wished nothing more for it to end so she could make some small talk with everyone and spend sometime with them.
While the meeting was taking place, Hephaestus sat in silence, he was feeling a little nervous. His nervousness was not because of anything said with the meeting, Zeus or Hera but rather Aphrodite, the Goddess of Beauty was seemingly staring daggers at him and he was trying to not look at her, he is aware he hasn't done anything to earn her ire and it seemed that she had forgiven him when he left her abode so the stare from her was because of something else.
Aphrodite was curious, very curious. She herself isn't really a curious person by nature infact and will not actively look for something unless necessary however right now it was necessary to know Hephaestus. What she wanted was to know him better once she came back to the public around everyone else she finally became curious about why Hephaestus was acting so different from other Gods.
Before their Marriage the two hardly ever spoke and she had assumed that he was just as the other Gods were completely captured by her beauty and natural charm yet not Hephaestus. Earlier today she hadn't figured if she like it or not certainly it was refreshing and welcomed but at the same time it was strange and not something she was used to, why was he so different?
"If I may offer a suggestion…"
Everyone' attention was directed towards Leto and her well endowed figure the Goddess of motherhood folded her arms.
"Why don't we just find the oracle, the fates give vague descriptions of what destiny will lead us to but they don't necessarily give details, so how about one of us goes out into the cosmos to find it"
Everyone in the room went silent as they suddenly heard the great idea to come from Leto. Ares however frowned he was hoping to find it before he even came here but now someone else might find it
...
AN: Did you know that Chronos and Cronus are different People, one is the personification of time itself and the other is just a God of Harvest.
also Hax characters will appear soon, I learned that original Greek myth has some broken Gods.
I said this before it will take longer to update since the word increased so be patient pls.
the vote was in favor of Athena so okay you got it, but it's not gonna be instant, I'll try and make it as realistic as I can if the patrons on board as well.
powerstones??