24 chapter 23

Arriving at the palace both Aphrodite and Hephaestus were quite startled by the sound of someone laughing, the laugh was surprisingly deep and whoever It was it seemed that they  weren't stopping soon. They had assumed that meeting wouldn't be jovial but it seems they were wrong.

"I thought you  said  this  was a serious meeting"

"someone must have said  something humorous in  my  absence"

Hephaestus asked and Hermes responded, it  didn't take long  for the three of them to make it to the meeting room where everyone had gather and  Ares  was already there as well, Hephaestus frowned at his  presence, however his displeasure was immediately dispelled as he  laid eyes on Athena.

"Athena!!!"

Hephaestus voiced in shock, the Goddess was wrapped in  bandages and it looked like her arm  was broken and  there were bruises on her face,  she looked like she had been in a battle, he held himself from running to her side and enquire about what happened. He took a glance around the room and  saw  that  everyone was present, there  was a great sense of tension in the  air, as Zeus stared daggers at the laughing Hades.

"What's Going? What happened "

He  asked while  standing with  Aphrodite beside him, She  was also curious about what happened, as far as she knows Athena  was among the strongest in Olympus so for her to  suffer such injury was quite shocking  and  cause for  concern.

"I'm sure Hermes told you that Apollo Betrayed us"

"my  son would never–"

"QUIET!! It's been revealed that  he would and did, unless you have proof that Athena is lying."

Zeus spoke with  a grave tone in his voice and  the anger in his eyes was palpable. Leto shuddered as he looked at her, the possibility of her being blamed for  this was high, she's the one who suggested they  search  for the Oracle in the first place and being in bed with  Zeus didn't mean he  would give you special treatment at least not when you might be a traitor. It  wasn't just Zeus's anger she was afraid of, it was also the enforcers that stood unmoving behind him, any order Zeus gave they would carry out.

"I must say Zeus this  was wildly unexpected, truly. Your favorite son being a traitor, that's so outrageous its damn right comical"

Hades expressed while wiping a single tear from his eyes and finally settling down after a bout of laughter. Out of all the possibilities he never would gave guessed Apollo being as traitor, in fact he struggled thinking who had the highest possibility of being a traitor, maybe Hephaestus on the count of what Hera did.

"done laughing at my expense, brother"

"Yes, what do we do? With the Oracle in his hands planning against him will be a hassle"

"hold on a minute"

Before Zeus could answer Hades, Hera interrupted as she stood up from her seat garnering everyone's attention.

"While I trust Athena to a degree and believe that she works in the interest of Olympus, I believe this matter deserves to be investigated further"

Hera paused and took a glance at Leto, one thing was for sure Zeus would use her any way he sees fit to lure out Apollo, he isn't above torture or even sending her to Tartarus however this wasn't why she spoke, it wasn't to save Leto but she was suspicious of Athena.

"Athena said she got knocked out and woke up when Apollo was gone, this doesn't necessarily mean he's a traitor after all there might be some other reason why he would want to oracle himself"

"Yes that's right I'm sure there's a good reason for this"

Hearing Hera's words Leto clung to them  as hope was returned to her eyes, she chimed in and hurriedly agreed with Hera, she looked straight towards Zeus with desperate eyes. Everyone in the room gave each other glances  as they pondered the God queen's words. Hephaestus on the other hand was feeling a certain type of way, was she really defending Apollo? But then again did she have a reason not to defend him?

 This also raised the question of whether or not she would defend him, she's his mother after all so she aught to or at least he expects that she would. Perhaps he hadn't given up on her as hid mother and he had hope that one day she'd want to fulfill her role or maybe he was being stupid to expect anything from her.

"What other reason could he have? The oracle is a device that shows the  future, why would he suddenly harm Athena and go so far as to poison her with water from the river? "

"Hades is right, whether Apollo has a different reason for his actions is irrelevant we will work under the assumption that he is guilty."

Zeus finished and surveyed the room, Leto had cast her gaze downward no longer feeling the need to look anyone in the eyes. Her son was now an enemy of Olympus and there was nothing she could do about it, surprisingly she didn't hear any complaints from Artemis but she's sure that they both feel they same way.

With no one objecting to his words Zeus once again spoke, this time Addressing his enforcers that stood behind him.

"Nike, Kratos you two will go to Tartarus and stand guard incase Apollo tries to free  some of the prisoners there. Bia and Zelus you two will search for him but don't engage simply report his  location. Athena said He betrayed us near the island of Crete that's where you'll begin."

"Yes milord"

With their order orders given the enforcers abruptly vanished from within Olympus, of course this wasn't Teleportation just pure speed. Ares and Athena shared a quick glance at each other once the enforcers were gone, that was an abrupt and unwise decision on Zeus's part but with the enforcers gone they have less worries.

"With that settled, let's discuss a plan of action, no doubt Apollo with the Oracle Already knows what we'll do and no only that but he plans on gathering allies if he wishes to overthrow Me so we need to prepare for war."

"what plan of action, there's absolutely nothing we can do to plan against a person who can see the future, I'm fairly certain he foresaw us having this discussion."

Hades expressed, truly there was nothing he could think of that would give them an advantage over Apollo  having the oracle means he can prepare in advance for any plan of action that they come up with.

"Actually there's something we can do"

Athena raised her head from the table and spoke, he energy has been drained significantly so she feels the need to sleep right now but she's fighting it off.

"on our journey, Apollo told me that the Oracle cannot be wielded by one person for too long as such it disappears after a while, so if he doesn't attack within some days or a week we can then start preparing as the oracle will no longer be in his hands although this means we  won't have plans against him if he does attack while still having the oracle"

She explained and began breathing heavily almost as if the act of talking was tiresome all by itself, she rested her head on to the table once again making sure to keep her eyes open and awake. She had only consumed a drop so the effects should be temporary, same with Apollo although they'll last longer on him, a month or so.

"so what we wait with our hands in our pockets?"

Ares comments and glanced at both Aphrodite, incidentally the Goddess of love wore some conservative clothing today, her cleavage was covered up quite a bit. That glance towards Her was a way to avoid Eye contact with his father, he was rather quite nervous now that he was in front of him and Hera right beside him seemed to be staring straight into Athena who  sat next to him.

"The only thing we can do is make war preparations and be as prepared as possible. So we'll  do just that, all of you go prepare"

Zeus commanded and got none–verbal confirmation of his command and everyone proceeded to exit the room leaving him to sit there by himself. The situation was very serious, a threat to his kingdom yet he had no idea how to deal with it, he needed time to think and consult with Athena later today after she has rested.

"perhaps Hecate's magic will be helpful as well"

...….

Ares was helping Athena walk as he escorted her towards her chambers, Athena and Apollo were the only ones amongst his siblings that lived within the royal  and it was fortunate since that  meant he wouldn't traverse a long distance just to get to her home however it was unfortunate because it meant they couldn't discuss a plan of action.

"Since it was a drop, this should be over in a day or two"

She expressed in a very weak voice, if Ares had to be honest the fact that she was weak made him tempted to just throw her into the ground and maybe push her around a bit just for the sake of it, bullying her while she's still weak but he refrained from that, he  not necessarily like her but she'll be a great help.

"That's great, however after this I'll go retrieve the apple from her and then start the next step of the  plan."

He whispered into her ear, informing her about the next step, the oracle's  main purpose here isn't all that major,  it's simply a device that'll be used to confirm and check if everything will go as planned and also see where they might fail. Athena simply nodded her head not feeling like talking at the moment.

"What are you two whispering about?"

The familiar voice of the God queen sounded from behind them, completely shocking them with Ares nearly dropping Athena, his back straightened and became stiff as a board.

"it's nothing important"

Athena spoke straining her head to look behind her and urging Ares to do the same, internally however she cursed, any normal day she would have sensed anyone following her but she couldn't today and as always Ares was useless.

"Really? OK, although I'm quite shocked to see you two get along, Ares is even helping you walk any day he would have mocked or ridiculed you for this"

'Damn I was careless'

Athena cursed in her head, of course it would be out of character for Ares to be helpful towards her and it would be out of character for her to accept his help.

"what? I can't be generous to my sister in her time of need?  Plus there's a crisis better than us approaching so solidarity is important"

The stiffness of his body betrayed his words, it wasn't that he can't lie but rather he was simply caught unprepared plus he was quite nervous already considering he's betraying his father and all that.

"I suppose, but I must ask. Where was this attitude during the Gigantomachy? After all the giants were a greater threat to Olympus than Apollo"

"Ah-"

"Ares you can never lie to your mother so don't even try, I know what you two might possibly be up to but we'll talk outside the castle, so follow me"

She said and spun on her heels and walked towards the exit to the royal,  it wasn't Hephaestus but that was irrelevant, if it means she gets to be end her farce of a marriage with Zeus then it didn't matter.

"mother what are–"

"just follow me will you"

....

A/N: none of you got the bleach reference last chapter, the reference was to a scene during the soul society arc where ikaku cuts ichigo above the eye and blood keep blocking his vision.

anyone watching Zom 100? I liked the first episode and the animation looks good.