Chapter 25: The King and Queen of the Gods (2)
With a strange crash, Poseidon was sent flying somewhere out of sight.
As the goddesses stared blankly in the direction he’d disappeared, Hera’s lion-drawn chariot smoothly took his place.
“It’s been a while, Hestia. Did I just hear some fool’s voice, or do I need to clean my ears?”
Hestia, accustomed to Hera’s demeanor, chuckled warmly.
“My, you’re early today!”
“Some idiot had the gall to send a letter demanding my gold.”
“Heh.”
As if this were a routine occurrence, the attendants preparing the meeting and the veteran goddesses in attendance carried on without batting an eye.
However, the two goddesses Poseidon had brought along stood frozen, unsure how to react to the spectacle.
After greeting Hestia, Hera turned her attention to the two goddesses Poseidon had introduced.
One was Hecate, a goddess Hera had heard of and seen on the battlefield—a wielder of rare and powerful domains: magic, night, the moon, the dead, and necromancy.
Her presence at this meeting was unexpected, given her quiet role on Poseidon’s side during the Titanomachy.
The other was a stranger.
With golden hair, skin like polished marble, vivid green eyes, and cherry-red lips, her beauty was a weapon in itself.
Even the attendants and other goddesses couldn’t help stealing glances at her.
“Hmm, the goddess with dark curls must be Lady Hecate,” Hera said.
“Yes, a pleasure to meet you, Lady Hera. I’ve heard much about you from Lord Poseidon,” Hecate replied.
“Of course, I couldn’t forget someone who aided us during the Titanomachy. Though, it’s always been a pity that someone of your caliber serves under Poseidon.”
Hecate gave an awkward smile at Hera’s casual jab at Poseidon, who was still nowhere to be seen.
She couldn’t deny occasionally thinking Poseidon deserved a good knock or two, but he was also the only god who had approached her when others shunned her for her forgotten arts of necromancy and ancient magic.
Hera, aware of this, didn’t press further.
“And who is this radiant goddess? I don’t believe we’ve met,”
Hera said, turning to the golden-haired beauty.
“It’s an honor, Lady Hera. Your fame reaches even the seas. My name is Aphrodite, and I’d be honored if you remembered me.”
Aphrodite, born from the blood of Uranus’ severed genitals scattered into the sea, was both a sea nymph and a goddess of love and beauty, a child or avatar of the Protogenoi Eros.
“With beauty like that, forgetting you would be the challenge. You’re still under Poseidon, I presume? That must be tough,” Hera remarked, nodding.
She likely recalled Poseidon mentioning this goddess before.
Though aware of Aphrodite’s origins, Hera didn’t see her as someone above her or deserving special reverence. After all, while Aphrodite was a child of Uranus, she hadn’t sided with the Titans who fought for Zeus’ cause.
“Not at all. Thanks to Lord Poseidon, I can safely spread my love,” Aphrodite replied smoothly.
She had anticipated Hera’s reaction, knowing she was Poseidon’s sister.
Thud.
As the goddesses finished their introductions, Poseidon returned, looking like a drowned rat.
“Well, were you all getting acquainted?”
“…”
The room fell silent as everyone took in his bedraggled appearance.
No one dared comment on one of the three chief gods looking so pitiful.
While the goddesses stood speechless at Poseidon’s sorry state, Hera calmly announced the start of the meeting.
With a wave of her magic, she tidied his appearance.
To the other gods, the scene was bizarre, but the two siblings acted as if it were nothing.
“Demeter’s almost here, so let’s begin with the simpler matters,” Hera said.
Tap, tap, tap!
Hera struck her scepter, and a round table with chairs materialized in Hestia’s palace, modeled after the meeting hall in Poseidon’s domain—a design Hera had borrowed after finding it practical.
The gods, still uneasy from Hera and Poseidon’s interaction, gradually took their seats.
Though they witnessed this dynamic often, many still found it hard to adjust.
“What’s today’s agenda, Iris?” Hera asked.
Snapping to attention, Iris recited, “Yes… there are two main topics. First, Zeus’ increasing sensitivity and his growing pursuit of women. Second, the rising number of goddesses requesting the formal establishment of the Olympian Divine Authority Committee, which played a significant role during the recent Metis incident.”
As Iris finished, the gathered goddesses fell into serious contemplation—except for one.
“Pfft!”
Poseidon stifled a laugh, quickly covering his mouth.
All eyes turned to him, glaring like fish caught in a net.
“…”
A tense silence hung in the air, and Poseidon began to sweat.
Just then, the meeting hall’s door opened with a click, and Demeter entered.
“Sorry I’m late! I was evaluating crops made by goblin children,” she said with an apologetic smile.
Her arrival diverted the glares from Poseidon, who welcomed her as if she’d saved him from a decade of torment.
“Phew, Demeter!”
“Did you cause trouble again?”
Demeter, used to such antics, shielded Poseidon as he cowered behind her, though his towering frame—nearly twice her size—made hiding impossible.
Hera ignored him and warmly greeted Demeter.
“You arrived just in time. We were about to discuss the agenda.”
“Oh? What’s on the table?”
After Hera explained, Demeter nodded and said casually, “The second item doesn’t need much discussion.”
“Why’s that?”
“Well, we’re already actively using Poseidon’s name for the committee’s work.”
The goddesses in the room were stunned.
‘Already active?’
“Didn’t you know? Hestia and I have been using Poseidon as the advisory chairman. Check the stats—unfair treatment of goddesses and weaker gods has dropped by 40%.”
Even Hera was taken aback.
“When did this happen behind my back? And if it’s already active, why is it on the agenda?”
Hestia chimed in, “Oh, Hera, you’re the official chairperson, but we couldn’t use your name. Poseidon’s, though? We used it freely.”
“Exactly,” Demeter added. “Hestia and I have been operating under our names too, but for the committee to be official, we need the chairperson’s name and seal, don’t we?”
Hera, flustered by her sisters’ audacity, glared at Poseidon, who was scratching his head with a clueless expression.
‘By Gaia, what is this?!’
The other goddesses were even more shocked.
‘Who would’ve thought the god least likely to care about divine politics was so involved?’
Some felt guilty for glaring at Poseidon earlier.
‘We didn’t even know…’
Aphrodite and Hecate, brought by Poseidon, nodded with pride.
Meanwhile, Poseidon himself was dumbfounded.
‘Did I ever lend my name to this?’
No matter how he racked his brain, he couldn’t recall.
Yet, Demeter and Hestia weren’t the types to use his name recklessly—well, mostly.
As if reading his thoughts, Demeter whispered,
“You gave us free rein during the Titanomachy, remember?”
‘Oh!’
Poseidon slapped his knee.
“Right, I did!”
During the war, annoyed by constant approvals and paperwork, he’d granted a few trusted gods permission to use his name.
He vaguely recalled giving them limited uses.
‘Back then, I thought it was a brilliant idea—and it worked.’
Hera clutched her forehead.
She, too, had received such permission, assuming it was just for wartime logistics.
“How many of those did that idiot hand out?” she muttered.
Hestia sidled up and whispered, “I’ve still got five left.”
Hera’s headache worsened.
The permissions were still valid post-war, with no expiration date.
Thanks to Poseidon’s unexpected contributions, the second agenda item wrapped up quickly.
For Hera, though, it only added to her headaches with new variables to consider.
‘At least only our sisters would dare use his name so freely. He’s a chief god, after all.’
The Divine Authority Committee was formalized under Hera and Poseidon’s names, with Hera as chairwoman, Hestia as vice-chair, Demeter as treasurer, and Poseidon as advisory chairman.
Hecate, the most versatile goddess, was tasked with managing paperwork, using her necromancy to command tireless undead for efficiency.
‘Though it’s a bit unsettling,’ Hera thought.
With the second item resolved more easily than expected, they moved to the first, which promised to be far trickier.
“Let’s discuss Zeus’ womanizing. Anyone with opinions, raise your hand.”
Aphrodite was the first to speak.
As the goddess of love and beauty, she didn’t see Zeus’ actions as entirely wrong.
She argued that the issue wasn’t his pursuits but rather that Zeus, like a being walking on two legs or flying with two wings, was missing one half—his queen.
“We should focus less on Zeus’ dalliances and more on the fact that he’s searching for a queen to stand as the goddess of the gods.”
“Are you saying we should just let his recklessness slide?” Hera countered.
As the mother of Eileithyia and goddess of marriage and family, she disapproved of Zeus’ behavior.
Aphrodite remained composed.
“Not exactly. I’m saying the absence of a divine spouse is the bigger issue, leading to unfortunate consequences.”
The other goddesses nodded in agreement.
They all knew Zeus’ behavior had escalated since Metis’ departure.
‘Though, it could just be that he loves women,’ some thought privately.
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