Nadia is a young Daughter of Poseidon at the time the oath of the Big Three is made. In order to protect her from a lethal fate, Poseidon hides her away in stasis, only for the labyrinth to steal her away. Decades later, Percy Jackson is sent on a q...
Athena leads Pallas over to her throne, the both of them pointedly not looking at the god chained in the center of the throne room, ichor still pouring out of him. Any mortal would have already died from blood loss, and many an immortal as well. But Zeus has always been stubborn. Pallas can't help but feel a conflicted jumble of emotions.
Satisfaction that he now feels what she felt when she died, anger that he can survive it when she couldn't, and relief at it all being over. There is a ripple in the air as Hestia's hearth shifts back to the center of the room, just behind Zeus. Pallas almost twists to look back at it, but she's stopped by Athena's tug on her arm. She looks forward again to find that they have reached Athena's throne.
She frowns for a moment, not sure why they're just standing there, but then it ripples and expands slightly with a flick of Athena's hand. Athena perches on one side and pulls Pallas down beside her. Pallas freezes as she makes contact with the silver of the seat. Surely she isn't allowed to be sitting on a god's throne. Athena nudges her.
"You're fine, Pallas. Relax."
Pallas hisses at her. "Am I even allowed to be sitting here?!"
Athena gives her a blank look before snorting in laughter. "It's my throne, Pallas. If I say you're fine, then you're fine."
There is a shout from Ares, who is sitting against the wall, still wrapped in grapevines. "Shall we get to it?" Hera gives him a cross look from beside him, only her hands bound.
Athena sighs, and looks to Apollo, inclining her head. "Shall we?"
He nods, and as one they look down at Zeus and intone, "Do you know of your crimes?"
He glares up at them the best he can. "I have committed no crimes, no treason. I am the king of the gods, I am free to do as I wish."
Athena smoothly pushes to her feet and paces across the marble floor. "So you deny them. Very well. Zeus, Lord of the Sky and King of Olympus, you have become a tyrant. Abusing your power to do as you please, ignoring the council that has existed as long as your position.
"You have disregarded the design of the fates themselves, attacking with the intent to kill one who is not meant to ever die, knowing of the role the fates chose for her. Even the king of the gods has no place in defying fate. Here you stand accused, with no true reason for why you have done what you have." She turns back to the curve of thrones. "Who finds Zeus guilty of the crimes he stands accused of?"
Pallas watches as each sitting god raises their hand, and so too does Hera raise her own from where she sits against the wall, bound as she may be. Athena nods.
"We, the Olympian Council, Find you guilty of your crimes by a majority vote. Does nay member of this council have a suggestion for his punishment?"
On the other side of the ring of thrones, Pallas catches her father and grandfather in the midst of a whispered conversation, Poseidon leaning to listen to Triton who is sitting at the foot of the throne. After a moment, Poseidon looks up.
"I suggest that as a form of poetic justice, for his crime of defying the fates that my brother be subjected to a mortal life, perhaps without his memories? And that he remains in the cycle of death and rebirth until my brother Hades is able to determine that he has learned the error of his ways."
Hades nods from his stone guest throne, Persephone perched beside him on her own throne. "Perhaps after his mortal self reaches Elysium? Or the Isles of the Blest."
Athena nods back to him. "As Poseidon said, when you feel he is fit to return. If that is your requirement, then very well. All in favor for this punishment?"
Most of the gods raise their hands to that, only Aphrodite and Hera don't, and Dionysus is a little hesitant. But he raises his hands, nad that's all Athena seems to need.
"Zeus, we sentence you to a mortal life and death cycle for your crime against the fates, to be lifted upon Hades' decision. Any suggestions for his abuse of power?"
"May I, Sister?" It's Apollo, who is giving Athena a mischievous smirk that Pallas thinks should belong on Hermes' face.
Athena inclines her head to her younger brother. "You may."
"We can't trust him with power, so let's strip him of it. Take his role as king, perhaps even take his domain as Lord of the Sky and give him a wholly different one if he ever passes Hades' scrutiny. I'm aware it's severe, but he's been abusing his power longer than I've been alive, so I think it's warranted. We can vote after this for what will happen within the council, and with what will happen with Father's domain."
The room is so silent that Pallas can hear her heartbeat hammering in her chest. Taking away Zeus' domain is drastic, and she wasn't expecting them to even propose it. Yet they're definitely pondering it now. Athena turns to the seated gods, her gaze lingering on Pallas for a moment, silently questioning if she's alright. Pallas nods back and Athena exhales.
Her voice is shaky, but still strong. "What say you?"
Slowly, Poseidon, Triton, and Hades raise their hands. They are followed by Artemis, Apollo of course, as he suggested it, and Hermes. Hephaestus is next, and Demeter. Persephone is last, refusing to look at her father as she does so. Athena nods, her face pale, and steps forward to stare at Zeus' throne. The other gods turn their gazes toward it, seeming to be doing something that Pallas doesn't know.
The platinum throne begins to shake before in a whisper, it crumbles into metallic dust that is quick to blow away in the wind. The master bolt falls to the floor from where it had been resting on the seat of the throne, making a thudding sound when it hits the marble and rolls. Zeus lets out an agonizing cry from the floor and sags against the ground.
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I thought you guys would enjoy this comment from the ao3 version of this story.
Do you think Zeus' punishment is fitting? Do you think he will ever pass the requirements to end his punishment? What do you think will happen to his domain? What will happen next? Tell me your thoughts!
