Chapter Text
Athena was panicking. Zeus had ordered her to either marry Hephaestus or be disowned, and she had to figure out a solution within two weeks. She couldn't marry her friend, they were both in love with other people and she's pretty sure they'd end up divorced, Hera wouldn't be happy about her son screwing up two marriages.
And then there was Pallas. It would break her heart to watch Athena marry someone else but it might be for the best. The former nymph had constantly complained about the people on Olympus, being a literal fish out of water, and Athena hadn't helped that by making her a goddess.
She was now starting to think that the marriage wasn't the worst idea. Sure her and Hephaestus would be trapped in a loveless marriage, but at least Pallas would be able to go home and be happy.
"Hi honey!" Speak of the daimon. Pallas walked onto the balcony she was standing on and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "What's wrong?" The goddess of loyalty asked after looking at her for a second.
"Nothing." Athena said. "…I've just been thinking."
"About what?" Pallas asked.
"Marriage." The goddess of wisdom started. "I think I have to-"
"Hold on, I need to grab something." Her lover rudely interrupted before going back into the palace.
"Darling." Athena called. "I'm trying to have a serious conversation with you."
"I know!" Pallas yelled back. "Gimme one second."
"Love." Athena said sternly.
"One second!" The other woman replied.
Athena rolled her eyes. "Pallas."
Pallas came out of the palace holding a small wooden box and handed it to Athena. "A present? Really?" The owl eyed goddess asked.
"Yes." Pallas said with a crooked smile. "Open it."
Athena sighed and started opening it. "I don't know if this will do what you want it t-" The box was open and inside was a golden ring with a hexagonal piece of lapis in it. It took the goddess a second to realize fully what it meant. "Is this an engagement ring?"
Pallas nodded. "I had a whole speech planned but I got nervous and forgot." She admitted.
Athena laughed and admired the ring a bit more. "It's beautiful…" she hesitated for a moment. "But… can't accept this."
"Yes you can." Pallas said, looking confused.
The goddess of wisdom sighed. "Love, I can't. The laws say-"
"Which law, Olympian or Oceanic?" Pallas interrupted, for the second time that night, it was getting a little annoying.
"Oceanic law doesn't apply up here." Athena explained.
"Doesn't it?" Pallas said, teasingly. She summoned a scroll and handed it to her lover.
Athena opened the scroll and immediately recognized her mother's handwriting. Reading the scroll, it described a new addition to Olympian marriage law. Essentially, if one or both spouses were of Oceanic decent, then they could be wed under the Oceanic laws. She reread the scroll then looked at the other goddess
"Is this real?" She asked.
Pallas nodded. "Yep! I had to go through a bunch of records to find it. Someone wanted to keep it hidden." she fidgeted with her hands. "So…will you marry me?"
Athena took a deep breath. "Yes. Of course I will."
She had barely gotten the words out before her now fiance practically jumped onto her. They held each other in an embrace for a few minutes before pulling away and kissing before resting their foreheads together. At some point the ring ended up on Athena's finger and they went to bed, ready to start a new chapter of their lives together.
***
The next few days were normal. Nobody noticed the ring on Athena's finger and she was fine with it. Her and Pallas had agreed not to tell anyone until they were ready. That is until Artemis noticed it at one of their get togethers with Persephone.
"Where'd that ring come from?" The goddess of the hunt asked.
Athena looked down at her finger. "I found it." She lied.
"You found it?" Persephone repeated, raising an eyebrow.
The goddess of wisdom nodded. Then her older sister grabbed her hand and looked at it.
"This looks like an engagement ring." Persephone said.
Fuck. If Athena denied it they'd know immediately, somehow the two of them saw through her like she was a pane of glass. "Ok, it is." She stated. That made Artemis's jaw drop and Persephone went several shades paler. "I'm engaged to Pallas, calm down."
Her sisters breathed out sighs of relief and immediately started asking questions. Athena very quickly explained the whole Oceanic law thing and by the time she was done half the family had shown up because Persephone 'thought it would be fun'. By the time she was done Hera had fainted, Aphrodite was already planning the guest list, Ares and Hermes were confused, and Dionysus was passed out on the couch.
"So we don't have to get married?" Hephaestus asked.
"No." Athena said. "You can do whatever you want to with Aglaia."
He and everyone else in the room sighed in relief, which was nice Athena supposed, the only one in the family who actually liked the idea of her being married to a man was her father.
Hopefully her actual wedding would go well, as long as her family didn't ruin it.