“When it was discovered what she was doing, it was also entirely possible that she intended to take over the Underworld. A weapon was forged that could kill an Olympian. I think we can all agree Hades had every right to defend his realm, his people, and his wife.
“That weapon would never have seen Olympus, but Zeus went to the Underworld to kidnap its maker. It wasn’t to punish him. Zeus attempted to torture him to get one. Zeus would have used it to secure his throne, and several of you would have died because you disagreed with him. Several of us would have wanted to get their hands on it to seize the throne.
“They are now out of the equation, and Dionysus is correct. A new society can begin. We should have a government instead of all our decisions being in the hands of one person. We should be allowed to have children. We should be allowed to leave if we want, and we should let new people in. We need to treat humans here better and allow them to go home if they want.”
“Are you going to kill us if we don’t agree?” someone yelled.
“Not at all. The Underworld will have one of these weapons under lock and key, and so will we. That way, both realms are safe from each other. We don’t want to kill anyone, and we will mourn the lives that were lost today. But you have to know that if Zeus, Ares, Athena, or Poseidon got their hands on one of these weapons, even more people would have died,” Dionysus said.
“He’s right,” Hestia said. “If that weapon has to exist, I wouldn’t want it in their hands.”
Okay, she was acting rational, but I still wanted to kill her.
This shrieking woman came flying forwards and starting attacking Hephaestus with her fists. Finally! An Olympian that knew how to throw a punch.
“You killed Ares! It was his weapon! He made it. You’re such a shit. I hate you, Hephaestus. I was miserable being married to you.”
So, this was Aphrodite. Sure, she was pretty, but that shrieking had to stop. If she did that while they were married, then he had to be pretty miserable married to her too. Hephaestus pinned her arms to her side and held her still.
“Enough! You can go back to Earth now, Aphrodite. Nothing is keeping you here. I think everyone knows I made the weapon. I’m the only one capable. Ares never loved you. You were a plaything, and he would have killed you if he had his hands on it.”
Aphrodite stomped her foot.
“I loathe you!”
River stepped forward and tapped her on the shoulder. This should be good. River made it a point to want to hurt anyone that hurt Hephaestus. I saw her open one of her Hell portals to Earth. Was that San Francisco? Oh! And she punched Aphrodite straight through it! This was better than any Underworld television show. I would have paid money to see this on the screen.
River changed into her demonic form and hissed at the crowd. They cowered back because she was clearly not an Olympian or a monster. She switched back and glared at everyone with her hands on her hips.
“Anyone else have anything negative to say about my boyfriend?”
“I have something to say about you,” Hestia said.
Yeah, she better watch it because I’d kill her if someone insulted my mate too.
River whirled around and glared at her.
“What?”
Hestia gave her a kind smile, but I knew that smile. She’d used it to make me her slave.
“You’re injured, child. Let me heal you and your group. You too, Demos. I can see you want to hurt me, but I mean you no harm.”
What the fuck? She remembered my name? I thought we were all the same to her. Pavlina let out a snort.
“Athena didn’t remember me at all, but it sounds like she remembers you, Demos. Let her.”
Athena didn’t fucking remember Pavlina? Did she remember the Gorgon sisters? After everything Athena did to them, she could at least have the decency to remember them. Still, I’d already told myself I wasn’t going to kill Hestia in front of all these people. I could at least let her heal everyone. And I’d give her a cookie for remembering my name and putting a face with it.
Hestia didn’t heal us right away. She got up and stood next to Dionysus and Hera.
“I am the oldest one here. I was older than Zeus, and I’m older than Hera. I agree with this new society they are talking about. Were we any better under Zeus than we were with the Titans? A lot of you don’t remember them, but I do. Zeus tried very hard for us not to rise against him as he did with his parents. They are right. If he had gotten his hands on that weapon, he would have killed anyone who disagreed with him. We need this. We should burn our dead and move forward. This is for the betterment of us all.”
I noticed the crowd warming. They all started nodding their heads like they agreed with her. I didn’t take fucking Hestia for stopping another revolt, but I wasn’t complaining. She finally turned to us with a smile on her face.
“Who’s first?”
We all demanded she heal River first. I kept moving myself to the back of the line because there was a part of me that expected another cage and being stuck here as her pet. When there was no one left to heal, I couldn’t put it off anymore. I looked at her warily.
“I’m not going to hurt you, Demos. I’ve done that enough. I regret what I did to your family, but I can’t change the past. I apologize to you profusely. If you still have family, please pass this on to them.”
She looked serious about her apology too. Was the great Hestia sorry for trying to keep us as pets? It looked to be so. I didn’t have to be a petty bitch all the time. Even though she had done horrible things to us, she’d blessed me in some ways. I wasn’t angry about the change, and neither was my family. We considered being phoenixes a gift because we were just so superior to anyone else.
I could be a grown-up and accept her apology. Maybe I didn’t need to kill her. Perhaps I just needed to hear her say she was sorry.
“Apology accepted. Being turned into phoenixes is amazing. Everything that happened after that wasn’t, but you turned us into superior beings.”
Pavlina snorted.
“You’re such an arrogant fuck.”
Hestia just grinned and defended me.
“I created phoenixes, and they have every right to be arrogant fucks. They are pretty spectacular.”
She knew right where to hit me in the feels. Compliments were totally the way to my heart. And my ribs felt much better.
Yeah, this was the closure I needed. Sometimes, talking was better than killing.
Chapter 27
River
H
oly shit. I’d never been punched in the face before in my entire life. My first time was by some weird Olympian magic, and it fucking hurt. How did my monsters do this all the time? I knew they picked their share of Underworld pub fights. I had all this bravado coming here, and I liked a little pain with my pleasure, but I was going to avoid getting punched again, whether by magic or by fists.
Still, I knew how much it hurt when I punched Aphrodite right in the face, and I did it anyway. I was pretty sure I broke my hand before Hestia healed me. Why did so many people pick fights in bars if getting punched hurt and punching people hurt too?
Still, it was super satisfying to feel her nose break right along with my hand as I knocked her through my portal back to Earth. We didn’t need those awful shrieks coming out her mouth nor her getting the crowd out there angry at Hephaestus for making the weapon. Ares alone maimed every last one of us when he started flinging magic. We could have lost Solron and Finn. Those of us that weren’t Olympian could die if it were more than one throwing magic.