Chapter Text
2 Hecate
Hecate holds a private meeting
With my wife, myself, and Hephaestus
A few days after what we're now
All calling the "Second Incident."
The light of Elysium shines
Through the branches that form
The roof above our heads in what
Persephone and I call the Bower:
A fine residence she created herself
And in which we are housed until
I've finished enough physical therapy
To walk with the aid of a cane.
Persephone and I hold hands.
Simply from the medical fallout alone,
From the household's grief for Melinoë's
Passing into deep hibernation so young,
And, naturally, the Kronos in the room --
Or rather, within me -- we know
Hecate's updates can only be dire.
And that is the first subject we tackle.
Thus far Kronos is quiescent, and seems
Capable of bothering no one but myself.
Every night my dreams must be guarded.
Every day my mental state must be watched.
These measures are meant to protect me;
Thanks to what Erebos has done to my body,
I'm not a threat to any other being, even
The humblest, weakest mortal.
I am grateful, though I don't say it out loud.
I can't hurt my wife, at least not physically.
However, there is the matter of our bond.
Its nature is such that my weakened state
Might encourage my body to take from her
Without my conscious knowledge.
Hephaestus presents us with new wedding rings,
Forged with the help of Hecate herself.
Now our connection has consent enforced,
And my goddess controls the flow entirely.
I asked that there never be the opportunity
For that power to flow to myself. Ever.
It's still a new, soft-shelled idea:
That I am, perhaps, not a monster,
Not a rabid dog to be chained.
That perhaps, I am a... decent... being,
In spite of my lineage of monsters.
After all, within my ichor also flows
That of Gaia, she who at one time united all;
And that of Rhea, she who sacrificed all.
It would be, I am assured, disrespect to ignore
The influence of my mother and grandmother
And only think about that of their foul partners.
I do agree with this idea, except for where
It forbids me from being certain I'm a monster.
And no one is perfect, after all.
I don't know.
It's difficult to ignore the centuries
Of what my brother told me,
Of what society said that I was.
It's difficult to forget long-lived habits
Of self-sabotage, self-destruction,
Of fearing receiving any kindness.
Persephone strokes my hair, and, away
From the austerity of the boardroom,
I lean into her neck, as if hiding from all
Others, including my own self.
(I am hiding.)
"I know you don't trust yourself.
Far be it from me to alter your mind.
But know that I trust you; and
That I would never forgive myself,
That Hecate would forever grieve,
That Hephaestus would forever regret,
If by some chance you were in trouble
And could never call upon me to help you."
"Then let it be the last, final resort.
Let it be only possible if I am on
The very verge of deep hibernation.
Let it only be possible if I am entirely
Within control of my own mind, and
There's no deceit involved, not even
That forced by coercion. I refuse
To accept anything else, my wife."
Persephone sighs. "If that cannot convince
Anyone, including you, that your intentions
Are pure towards me, that you are... soft...
Then I have no idea what will."
I grace her lovely neck with soft little kisses,
And ignore any uncomfortable thoughts.
She laughs, and gently scolds me.
"No distracting me from telling you truths.
But... you may continue doing that."
Hecate facepalms.
"Next time this is going
To be in an actual office,
Where you two might
Have *some* levels
Of propriety."
Hephaestus just nods, because this isn't
Really relevant to the work conversation
And gives him time to debug some code.
3 Hephaestus
Months later, I am still in Elysium,
More or less under a forced order
Of a vacation from Aunt Hecate,
Who has threatened me with
Multiple additional weeks off
Should I try to sneak in some work.
My wife conspires with her --
But I could never blame either.
I can walk with a cane quite well.
I can still create diamonds and more,
And even the rare earth elements
That our modern society requires
In seemingly infinite quantities.
Of least concern to me, my scars,
Now far more expansive and deep,
No longer pain me as much,
And I hide as best as I can
How much rest I still require.
But there are other things that,
Under more scrutiny, it's obvious
I can no longer do, even as a King.
I can no longer teleport -- which
Seems purely enforced by Erebos --
And I can no longer put up a fight,
Which makes it dangerous to speak
With Zeus at times. Indeed, I should
Never, ever negotiate with him without
Either another King or Queen with me.
One day, Hephaestus came to me,
With a very special gift: a new cane,
Fashioned from titanium, with an
Exquisite yet comfortable handle
Crafted after the fashion of a
Hellhound's black head, complete
With sapphire eyes and a ruby tongue.
I love it.
"Uncle, I want to let you know,"
Says my brilliant, wonderful nephew,
"That this is no ordinary cane."
"I can see that."
"I mean, there's special... capabilities
That it has. You'll always be able
To summon it from nothing, and
To hide it in nothingness as well.
Pocket dimension, you see, simple."
I smile and nod, not following.
"You and you alone can set it as
A beacon, so that we may always
Find you, wherever you may be.
It will also serve as a black box.
A way to record what happens."
I frown. "That seems excessive."
Hephaestus shrugs.
"You know me.
I watch a lot of things.
I do my best to anticipate."
"Such as your father's actions."
"... yes. Force of habit, really."
There's so much unsaid there.
Zeus is presented in many shows
And publications as a most ideal
Model of a good father -- well.
To his daughters, at least,
As long as they're not Eris.
Not much is said of his sons.
Ares truly chafes at this, and so
Wanders off to fight for fame.
Hephaestus is secretly glad
To be so overlooked.
And there is an advantage to being
Considered someone worthless to
Society, as long as you have someone
Who knows that you are not so.
4 Zeus
No sooner than Spring starts, it feels,
And I receive a strange summons
From Zeus.
It feels as if it's been both forever
And yet also yesterday that at last
Persephone and I had kissed goodbye
Holding onto each other as long
As we could, until the last moment
When she vanished from my arms
And I vanished from hers.
"[I command you to come to Olympus.
We need to renegotiate our treaty.
You are to leave now.
You are to come alone.]
I want to prove to you that
You can trust me completely
And that I'll always be the one
Who really takes care of you."
No one can disobey Zeus when
He commands us so; not even his
Supposed equal Kings and Queens.
This seems suspicious.
I have no idea why he wishes to
Revisit the treaty, doing such work
Really isn't my brother's thing.
I wonder if this has something to do
With Poseidon's anger over what
Sisyphus had been blackmailing
Our dear youngest brother over.
Probably Poseidon will be there,
And this won't be just myself.
Zeus seems to have forgotten
The Second Incident with Kronos,
As he prefers not to confront
Anything unless it's absolutely needed.
Zeus hasn't asked for any assistants,
So this change is *probably* small,
But if it isn't I can always ask that we
Have more meetings in the Underworld.
Although of late he's been insufferable,
Perhaps this indicates an end to his
Recent snit period. I'm still angry at him,
And frequently he keeps reawakening
My anger, and Poseidon's anger, and...
Well. He's feeling quite isolated.
I can't help but feel sorry for him still.
I can't help but hope again and again
That perhaps this is the time when
He at last begins to see sense.
It's been 2000 years.
It has to start some time.
I am, also, very very very very very bored.
I get up, taking my quite stylish cane,
And peek out into the Bower's hallway.
No Hecate; I think she mentioned some
Kind of flash sale today she must catch.
This won't take long.
I will have gotten
*Something* done,
Even as I am now.
I'll be very careful, beloved.