New God of the forge.

chapter 24

The clouds in the sky  were dark with  traces of lightning flashing here and  there and  thunder roared each time there was a flash of lightning. The  atmosphere  was quite  gloomy with the air being still and lukewarm. The skies were a good indicator of  Zeus's mood at the current moment. As a  sky father his emotions are very well tied to  the weather and  one can easily determine his mood just by looking at the sky, of course clear skies don't always mean he's in  a good mood but cloudy skies always mean he's in  a bad mood.

"nice place, I didn't think you would have a whole house to yourself, mother"

Ares compliments as he looked around the very comfortable and  homely house that Hera had lead them to, it was a couple of meters away from the royal palace and on their way here they made sure they weren't followed. Themis who  was now  the one  helping Athena walk, guided the young Goddess to a chair in the table  that  was located at the  center of  the room. The house was not overly large and  seemed to have only two rooms,  it  was sparsely decorated with only the necessary furniture inside.

"I suppose, this is where I came to… calm myself down whenever Zeus would sleep with  another Goddess"

She  answered,  the  correct answer would have  been that,  the house was where she came to  calm herself whenever Zeus slept with another Goddess and then  when  she got mad he'd tell her to come here and calm down.  She took  a look at the house her eyes wondering  around as unpleasant memories flashed in her mind.

"I don't have much fond memories of this place"

Her voice was laced with  a trace of sadness that was undetectable to anyone but Themis. Hera took her seat as she and beckoned Ares to take a seat as well right beside Athena.

"Themis could you keep watch? I'll relay the details to you later"

Themis gave a nod before exiting the room, in all honesty it  was better she not get involved, if this meeting was about what she thought it was about she'd rather not get involved until at least she's sure which side to join. Joining a side prematurely can end badly for her. With a glance at Athena she  then  exited the house leaving the three to discuss whatever they wanted.

"so  is  there a reason you  called us here"

Athena asked with an abrasive tone, it's best she not try and  seem defensive or deceptive but instead be confident and show an air that suggested that she has nothing to hide  although  Ares doesn't seem well versed in hiding his emotions.

"well I'm curious about something, which one of you has the oracle…?

She marked a pause and didn't finished her sentence but instead let the words linger in the Air. Athena understood what she was doing and she won't fall for it, she kept quiet and  waited for her finish. Unfortunately Ares could  not.

"How did you know?"

He asked and  a groan escaped from  Athena and  a smile crept on Hera's face, Her information wasn't very reliable considering that things didn't turn out how they were supposed to  as such  she didn't know if Apollo actually did betray Olympus but she did know that Athena was lying since the confrontation with Hephaestus was supposed to happen in Delos but  since the  traitor isn't Hephaestus she figured the locations should be the same or at least hoped they were.

"so you do have it?"

"before we answer anything, what will you do if we don't have it?"

Athena asked, caution in her voice as she stared the God queen straight in the eyes. Hera is the wife of Zeus she is more likely to be on his side than anything else meaning they need to be careful before making it seem that they do Have the oracle, Ares's blunder a moment ago can be explained away as him playing along with her interrogation not mention it's possible they aren't talking about the same thing and thus can be framed as a misunderstanding.