Chapter 29 Taking Care of Idiots

{General POV}

"Everyone get back to your seats, now!" The lord of the END had calmed down after getting over the most part of his anger and confusion. He was still angry about the deaths of so many mortals. These last few months have been a roller coaster of emotions for him.

While he had gone and found peace with himself with Budha, he had never prepared himself for this. Hades has long since been calm and withdrawn from the world, and through this, many problems had arisen which he could have taken care of, if not for his detachment.

When everyone had finally gotten to their seats the true meeting began.

"Demeter, explain this situation clearly and all the events leading up to this point. Then, Aphrodite, I want you to explain why you have caused this, for you have known about the whereabouts of Persephone this entire time, and did not notify anyone, letting this situation escalate. If you do not give me the truth, I will personally see to your punishment." Hades looked to both Demeter and Aphrodite, clearly showing his disappointment in them, and turning to the other gods, "after they are dealt with, there will be some major changes in how this council will be run."

Demeter then explained the events leading up to the point of her swearing on the River Styx that she won't do her job until Persephone is found. Telling of how Aphrodite had sabotaged any search for her daughter, and how every time she came to Olympus, the person responsible for finding her daughter was sleeping with Aphrodite.

This led Hades to direct his stare at Aphrodite. His stare was deep and the aura he was emitting was unnaturally gloomy and fearful. He wanted to know the truth, and it wasn't looking that good for her.

"Aphrodite, you better have a good explanation for your actions, or else you will be spending a hundred years in Tartarus." The god of fear looked deeply into her eyes, making it clear he was in no mood for any bullshit, and if he wasn't satisfied with the answer, there would be punishment.

"Well, it all started when you were not paying attention to me. For years I have been trying to get your attention to look at me. I have made gods follow me around, doing anything for me to sleep with them, but you didn't even acknowledge my advances. Then this hussy comes along and you immediately invite her back to your home. People have laughed at me because of you and I thought I could get back at her. So I thought, why don't I drive her mother insane? It worked and would have continued to work if not for her swearing to not bring any more vegetation back to the Earth." The more she talked, the more Hades was infuriated. Persephone felt ashamed of herself and was guilt-written by the fact that this was partially her fault. Hades noticed this and decided enough was enough.

"Do you know the amount of damage you have caused? I have heard complaints of many of you Olympians ignoring your responsibilities. This council has gotten out of hand and needs to change." Giving every god on the council a glower, he focused back on the two responsible for this mess, "you both have caused major problems for Earth. Since you decided to ruin mortal lives, you shall be stripped of your godly powers and live as mortals for a hundred years. That means you will be forced to walk, eat, sleep and do everything else like normal people, with no help from any of the gods.

"Aphrodite, you will be created as old and ugly for your period on Earth. Demeter, your job will be continued by an aspect of yourself, while you are gone. But before this, you two will have to apologise to every man, woman, child and baby that died due to your shenanigans, one at a time. You both will then be lectured on the hardships each mortal has faced from either them or someone else. This is your punishment and my decree!" Hades had made this punishment as a way to make them see the pain and suffering that they had brought to the mortals.

"Wait a minute, I cannot be ugly! Who do you think I am? Hephaestus?" The goddess of love was infuriated by the fact that she would be made ugly. Her? Ugly? Impossible!

"Hades! Only I can give their punishments, and I say they will get none! They are Olympians and shall not be looked at any other way!" The king of Olympus will not be defied. Giving punishments to other gods is his job as king, not Hades's. He felt insulted by the thought of someone else having the same amount of power as someone as him.

"Zeus, we have not begun to discuss your transgressions. I have heard many complaints from other goddesses of your crimes of r***, and you're supposed to be the god of justice, what irony. There will be a change and I will be bringing it. You have fucked up in many of your decisions, and have led to this catastrophe. You do not realise the damage all of you have caused," Hades had had enough and decided that Zeus as well needed to be humbled.

"Who cares what others think? I am their king and they should do what I say. If I want to bed someone, I bed them. It is my rule Hades, not yours." The god of the sky had enough of this and raised his bolt, ready to blast him off Olympus.

But before anything could happen, Poseidon had raised his trident and blasted Zeus out of his throne. This shocked many of the gods. The older ones were definitely surprised, as they knew Poseidon and his loyalty to the position of king, as well as his own attitude being very similar to Zeus. Zeus had always believed that Poseidon would never betray him while he was king, but he was proven wrong today.

"Zeus, you are wrong. I have had a great deal of time to think about my past actions. I have made many mistakes, and my greatest one was following your example. My kingdom is in disarray, and it has taken much effort just to fix a small portion of the problems I have caused. Nymphs and goddesses run at the sight of me, and I have to deal with many political decisions and promises I have made during those awful times. In simpler times, I fucked up and now I have to fight back for control of the seas. We need to change, right now." The lord of the seas, still pointing his weapon at Zeus, exhaled a deep breath after releasing his pent up stress.

Poseidon had learned being a king, meant having a responsibility to his people and protecting them. Looking at Zeus, he realised that he was a terrible king and emulating him had cost him dearly. After looking back and reflecting upon his past actions, they were terrible and are still biting him back.

Zeus knew he could take on Hades if his kids and Poseidon were on his side, but he never expected to be betrayed, and definitely not by his brother. He had always been cautious of Hades' power, and he knew he couldn't do anything at the moment. He had to regain the trust of his family in order to rival hades. Right now he was cornered and could do nothing. He knew he was beaten and did not want another of his balls annihilated, so he did the smart option, and shut the fuck up for once.

Hades was given the floor by Poseidon. The lord of the dead proposed to have a meeting three times a year, instead of one. Two from Earth and one in Hades realm. The meetings shall be held during the Winter Solstice, Summer solstice, and Hadeseus Solstice. The Hadeseus shall happen during an eclipse, which will allow gods easy access to END where the meeting shall take place. It will occur once a year, at any time of Hades' choosing. The Summer Solstice at Poseidon's realm, and the Winter Solstice back on Olympus. There will be no more carelessness when taking care of their duties anymore.

All the gods had no choice but to agree with these terms. The god will learn from their actions because of today's actions.

A/N:

I lost my work because I was logged out and could not save it so I had lost my train of thought and had to start over.

Trying a new writing style after reading some books and going over grammar. Probably in the near future, I will go back and edit my chapters. (E/N: I got you ^o^)

The Persephone living situation and the weather will be addressed after Demeter's punishment is fulfilled.

Zeus will not be trapped under a golden net and promise to be a better ruler. This scene has replaced that.

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(Edited by Slammeron00)