(Aden's P.O.V)

One thing slightly bothered me as I stepped out from the boom tube and into the hall of the gods. I had released them all after my conversation with Diana and during that time, they seemed to have cleaned up. Cleaned up and very unhappy.

What bothered me however was unrelated to that. What bothered me was how and why Rao reached out to Match. It didn't make any sense. My realm was impossible to break into without my permission. Even my yet to meet sister, death was barred from entering. Death was not present in my realm. Not really.

When the creatures died, their fading consciousness would meld with the realm, purifying and adding to the life force of the entire dimension as well as getting stored for a future project I had. It wasn't a true death, they just lived on in another sort of existence. It was like the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly.

When the demons had all died, I had just harvested their consciousness into a super dense ball of unified energy that would be used for eh, 'something.'

The familiar blimps of divine signature from the gods brought my mind back to the issue at hand. The aura of power coming off of them was weak however. That had been a consequence of the fact that I had drained them of almost all of their divine energy.

Luckily the few hours I'd been gone were enough for them to recover. Though Athena still looked injured by Ares sneak attack. Speaking of whom, with his divine essence, I could make a god. Crazy huh? Or a never ending source of divine energy. We'll close that bridge when we get there.

It was time to choose the next Sky Father. Zeus was no longer seated on the throne. Something that brought a smile to my face. Though by the subtle tightening of the former godking's hand on the frame of his new seat, the action was noticed.

Meh, he could sulk at his new throne that was between Hera and Demeter. I ran my eyes across the whole gathered hall, noticing each placement and the general mood of the room.

The twin gods, particularly Artemis glared at me with a mixture of deep fear and hate. Apollo on the other hand was pensive and thoughtful. I had to look out for him. I was always wary of people who could put aside their hate or anger and think clearly. The logic driven ones were truly who to be careful of because they could come up with ways to efficiently take you out.

Back to the general atmosphere in the hall, One side was angry, mad or dejected and crazily enough, the other side was a little happy. Though that side was only occupied by 4 gods. Aphrodite, who threw me a kiss when she caught my eye, I answered with a small polite wave. No way I'm eveeeeer tapping that.

Persephone who still had her camera and was busy taking pictures of Demeter and Vaatu, I'll get to why in a second, Poseidon whose face was alternating between glaring at me and smugly looking at Zeus and funnily enough, Hera. There was a...a certain glint in her eyes that told me, losing the title of Queen was nothing to the joy of Zeus losing something.

Wonder Woman stood at the foot of Zeus' new throne along with Superboy, Vaatu and Darken. Vaatu was currently occupied by throwing stares of intrigue Demeter's way and by the glow in the goddess of harvest' eyes, something had happened between them. I narrowed my eyes. Was she taking advantage of him to get to me? That only reinforced my confidence in my next move. Vaatu was just a new born. Despite being a god and having innate understanding of the world, he was still naive.

I winked at Darken telepathically.

'you must be tired of all this, don't worry it's all about to end.'

The corner of her lips twitched as she answered back.

'Its cool. Besides, I like to see this as a vacation.'

The flame burning on the hearth rose up dramatically as Hestia's body changed in a flash. From 14 years old to her 20's, the power of the eldest Olympian spread out across the hall. Every single member of her family seated behind her, stiffened.

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Hestia was not one to act so...dominant. So her wildly blazing aura must have caught them unaware.

"Aden Strong, you stand before the gods of Olympus. As per the bargain, it is your choice on who sits next on the throne of the Sky Father."

I bowed, noticing the look of well hidden pain, twisting around with resolve. She had betrayed her family for their own good. She knew what would happen had Zeus stayed on the throne. He would have pushed back. Tried to get his way with me. And I...I would have destroyed them all. But with someone else on the throne, someone who understood restraint and was wise, the Olympians would continue to live.

I briefly made eye contact with Athena and nodded. Being the goddess of wisdom, she knew I didn't want to pursue this matter again. She nodded back. A subtle yes to accepting what had happened had happened and that they would honor the deal. How sincere she was...I had no idea.

Zeus on the other hand, had stormy eyes that looked far off. The fact that the Fates had been the ones behind all this...that they had been controlling him must have left a bitter taste. Even without doing anything, I could tell that they were fucked. Zeus rage was legendary and his mercy unheard of.

"Thank you Hestia." I rose up from my bow and walked closer to the hearth. Wonder Woman copied me and stepped up beside her Aunt. It was not that known but the hearth of Olympus was very important. Were it to go out, a catastrophe would strike. Did she think that that was what I was going to do?

I snorted and raised my head to address the gods.

"Conflict proves whose ideals are stronger. And violence is the purest expression of conflict and defender of one's ideals. Therefore I am stronger and more powerful."

I paused to let that sink in.

"You all must be Wondering what I'm trying to say. Simple, our positions will never change. I will always be ahead because I never plan on stopping or growing content with the power I have. I shall never be complacent like you gods. That is simply not the kind of person I am. So this is a warning for whoever I install on that throne..." I particularly looked at Athena.

"You better be smart enough to understand what you're up against. And if you ever think of directly or indirectly scheming against me..."

At this I released the careful hold on my true power. Or rather the potential for my true power.

It grew so silent that a ringing sound was all everyone's ears could perceive. Dionysus, Artemis and Haephestus who were probably the weakest overall almost passed out as the rest of the gods were suppressed in their seats.

"Enough!"

Wonder Woman grit her teeth from her forced crouch. I frowned seeing that Darken and Superion were also similarly affected by my aura.

Superion gazed me with a slightly complicated gaze but Darken simply threw me a look filled with amazement in her eyes. She knew what our larger plan was. She knew what I had promised her and to see that I more than had the power to deliver it made her happy. Vaatu matched her look as well. He knew I was powerful but due to the link we both possessed, he could even more clearly perceive the true depths of my power.

I called back my aura and breathed out to calm my nerves as well.

"I do not want to fight you any more."

I shook my head.

"I have a lot more on my mind than to counter whatever schemes you might come up with." I looked to the God of The Sun.

"Apollo, this warning is mostly directed at you." He stiffened as I called him out. "Don't fuck with me and mine, man. Next time I promise there will not be anything for Artemis to try and save."

"This is pointless posturing! Get on with it."

Hera impatiently said. Instead of talking back at her I simply smiled. She was going to be sooo mad soon enough anyway.

"Fine. The queen has spoken." I spread out my hands as Iris' rainbow washed over me through her pact with Persephone. Worth that, I knew my figure was being projected to every god in mount Olympus.

"Gods of Mighty Olympus. Minor and Major alike, I am Aden Strong." I announced myself yet again. They needed to memorize my image and name into their heads so that next time when the greeks fucked with me, they wouldn't have an excuse while I completely destroyed them.

"As per the agreement made with Zeus, I will now pick who I believe to be the most worthy candidate to seat on his throne as the next Sky Father."

"And the goddess I choose is the daughter of Zeus himself..." A look of pride crossed Athena's face as we looked at each other. I could practically feel Poseidon gritting his teeth. He probably thought he was the one who should have naturally sat on the throne.

The fact that he thought I picked Athena over him was laughably wrong. That was not the plan you see. After all, Athena had been a massive bitch to me. Just for that alone, I knew she wouldn't let go of her hate just because she got the seat. No matter how much she tried to assure me our grudge was over, she had inherited most of her father's mannerisms minus the whole sex mania part. She was conniving, smart and ruthless. Ask Medusa. No, for this to work, I needed someone who knew I don't bluff and someone I could actually use.

"...Diana of Themyscira. The new goddess of heroes." I finished.

The whole hall exploded in an uproar.