I’d ever heard in my entire life, and I once listened to a yellow lab try to apologize for fear peeing on my shoe when he wasn’t used to me yet. The lab also ended up pooping on my floor before I calmed him down, and he profusely apologized for that too because it mortified him.
“I’ve long stopped caring what Olympians think about my limp. There were plenty of opportunities to show me kindness when Zeus wasn’t around, and none of you took it. We have a job to do, and I don’t care who gets to kill Zeus as long as the job gets done. I’m only turning my weapon over to your side if it’s agreed that they are returned to me to be destroyed.”
What Dionysus said next was going to change everything. I think we were all leaning forwards a little waiting. Were we going to have to kill both of them in this room because they tried to take them by force? I realized he was smarter than they had ever taught me.
“Hephaestus, I totally understand why you don’t want that weapon out in the world, but people are going to find out about it once Olympians die. I know you don’t want us to keep one because you wouldn’t feel safe. I know you might intend to destroy all of them when this is over. But think about this from our side.
“You’ll still know how to make them. You have monsters with you, so I’m guessing you’ve aligned yourself with Hades and the Underworld. Hades controls the Titans and a lot of monsters. We know he wasn’t happy getting banished there. We’d totally allow him back if he wanted, but he’s a king of this own realm now.
“We don’t want kings and queens anymore. We don’t want power and all our decisions in the hand of one person. We want a council to vote on things for the betterment of all. If Hades wants to come home, he can’t be king. Most of us agree with what Hades was trying to say before they banished him, but we don’t want him as our king.
“We also don’t want him bringing an army of monsters with those weapons to insert himself as one either. You also know how to make the weapon, and you have plenty of reasons to hate us. You might feel safe if we don’t have that weapon at all, but we wouldn’t feel safe knowing you can make more, and Hades could bring an army of monsters here.”
I think that offended every single person in the room that wasn’t an Olympian. I know Hephaestus told them not to, but my monsters were vehemently defending Hades. Hades kidnapped me to serve a purpose, but I knew he wouldn’t come here with an army of monsters to make himself king. It just wasn’t his style. My father interjected.
“Hello. May I speak? I’ve been planning most of this with Hades. I was with him when we plotted to get rid of Demeter. Hades has an alliance with my realm, but we wouldn’t help him slaughter you to make himself king. Several of the people in this room wanted to wipe you all out because of what you did when you were off pretending to be gods, but it was Hades that wanted to spare as many people as possible.
“It was Hades’s idea to do exactly what you are talking about here and spare as many people as possible. He wants to open the gates and give the humans here the option of going home. Hell also has an alliance with the Fae, and our trade has benefitted both realms. Hades hopes you’ll be open to opening your gates to several realms and the supernatural community. I am a duke in Hell and have the ears of the kings. We have a well-respected Fae ambassador in Hell. We can try to make trade happen with all three realms. This was Hades’s plan, not inserting himself as king.”
“I also have no intention of returning for revenge for how I was treated over my limp. I started working on this weapon to protect myself from Zeus. He has a long memory and a bad temper. I didn’t want to risk him remembering throwing me through several realms and getting mad enough about it to come to do it again. I perfected it when I found out Demeter was terrorizing the Underworld. I didn’t make this weapon so I could