The Gift of the Lethe

A Blast of Thunder's Light

Energy spills into her, out of her, around her. It's the only thing she can feel, the only thing she can see. Bright, golden light. When it fades, she slumps back into the ground, panting, her every nerve thrumming. But everything is silent. No, not silent, exactly. Her nerves are tingling at the energy that had just been coursing through her, but it has taken with it what energy was within her from the last attack.

It has taken the energy she'd absorbed. The gods around her lie scattered across the floor, Artemis and Dionysus picking themselves up. Ares' vines are charred, but he remains bound. Athena is still fighting Zeus alongside Apollo, but she's advanced now. Zeus must have been knocked back, but by the blast?

Athena's gaze flickers towards Pallas in concern and she shouts, "Apollo, with me. Triton, go!"

Triton peels off to run towards Pallas, and Apollo flanks Athena to stalk towards Zeus. Pallas tries to push herself upright, but she cries out. Her body is weak, and the movement brings nothing but pain. Someone touches her shoulders and speaks to Triton, who is now moving to crouch at Pallas' side, concern swimming in his gaze.

"Help me move her, Triton."

The person behind Pallas worms their hands under her armpits and pulls her up, letting Pallas' father taking her feet. Together, they drag her over to the wall by Hestia's hearth and set her down. She's propped up against the wall so she can still see what's going on, and her father crouches beside her.

"Pallas? Are you alright?"

She tries to shift but finds her body to be unresposponsive now, still trying to recover from the lightning. But it's more shock than any actual damage that has paralyzed her this time around.

"I- I think so?"

He reaches out to smooth her hair down. "You scared me. You're very lucky the master bolt didn't kill you outright."

Before Pallas can respond, Hestia is lifting a cup of something to her lips. Holding herself back from protest, Pallas takes a sip of the nectar, feeling the warmth of it rush through her body and sooth her raw nerves. She keeps drinking from the cup until it is empty and Hestia vanishes again, possibly to refill it. Pallas takes the chance to speak.

"I was struck before."

Triton's hands freeze in her hair and the expression on his face drifts towards lethal calm. "You what."

"Thene told you that Zeus tried to kill me again, right?"

"She didn't tell me how."

"Oh. Well-"

Pallas tries to reach for the hem of her shirt. Her hands move this time, albeit shakingly. Slowly, she pulls the fabric up to reveal the fractal patterns of the scarring across her belly. Triton gasps and stands, trying to turn towards Zeus and exact his revenge, but Pallas grasps for his wrist, halting his muttering about killing Zeus.

"I think Thene's got it, Father."

Speaking of, Pallas searches for Athena and finds her still attacking Zeus, her brother by her side. All the other gods have stopped to watch this battle, as Zeus' allies are now defeated. They seem aware that this fight is Athena's now, she has just chosen an ally to assist her. The two of them push Zeus back in Pallas' direction, and with a swooping motion Athena ducks down to swipe a weapon from the floor.

It's only when it gleams with golden light as she stabs Zeus in the side with it that Pallas recognizes it. It's Pallas' spear that deals the final blow. But Athena isn't done there. She pulls it from the wound with a jerk and a pained scream wrenches itself from Zeus' throat along with the ichor pouring from his side. He falls, unable to hold himself up. Athena raises the spear to point it down at his throat.

Her words are quiet but audible to everyone in the room. "You're done, Zeus. One move and this goes down your throat. You can't recover from that, I don't think. Not when your body is busy trying to heal your heart."

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Yeah, don't piss off Athena or Triton. What do you think of Zeus' defeat? Was it fitting? What do you think will happen next? Tell me your thoughts!

Happy reading and I'll see you next chapter!

~ Goddess of Fate, signing out