Chapter 75: Tensions (842 BC)

842 BC, Mount Olympus

(Zeus POV)

Zeus knew that he wasn't the smartest Olympian around. This title belonged to his daughter Athena, who prided herself for her skill in strategy and her wisdom. It didn't mean that he was an idiot, one did not stay king for as long as he did if he committed one blunder after another. He would admit, never in public though, that his behavior is fit for a king. His numerous extramarital dalliances were a clear example of that. It didn't help that his wife Hera was an obnoxious, horrible woman that only cared for her illusion of perfect family. He had been forced to marry her, to present a united front to the rest of Olympus after the war with the Titans. Zeus could barely stand the woman and it was surprising that they were able to have children together. It was no wonder that he took every opportunity to sleep with mortal women, if only to escape the bitch.

Having children with mortals was a way to gain some influence in the mortal words. His children's deeds often reflect onto him. Zeus had forbidden his subjects from using their powers in front of the mortals. Not that he could realistically enforce it, but if someone did a highly impressive feat, tales usually traveled all the way to Olympus, where he would punish the perpetrator.

He had done so because he would lose a lot of control if his subjects were allowed to walk around freely and perform miracles left and right. He would be king in name only and he would barely be able to govern them. And without control, he would be susceptible to be overthrown, or worse be forced into a civil war. This was why Zeus created the council in the first place. It gives all of his subject hope into getting a small piece of power. However, the influence needed to enter the council was the amount of mortal that worship you, build you temples, make sacrifices in your name…

Zeus had made sure that his demigod children spread the tales of his godly children in the mortal world, to make sure no one would object at their appointment. This made it almost impossible for some random god to obtain a seat, considering the competition, the only exception being Aphrodite, who used her physical beauty to ensnare kings into worshipping her and created a race of beautiful women she called Veela that spread her name to every man they meet. Other than Aphrodite, the entire council was comprised of either his children or his siblings, and even then, his siblings were slowly being forced out. Zeus had maneuvered himself brilliantly, making any sort of attempt to overthrow him very unlikely to succeed.

Which brings him to his current dilemma, the daughter of the last king of Atlantis. He hadn't expected that little revelation when he sent Hestia to that new up and coming city that came out of nowhere. He had wanted to distance her from the affairs of Olympus for a while, in an attempt to move things along and pressure her into marrying his son Apollo. He had asked Zeus many times for this union, absolutely infatuated with his aunt. This would have been the final nail in the coffin, with Hestia being married to Apollo, and Demeter pretty much agreeing to everything he said, he had planned to remove Poseidon from the council as he had done with Hades previously, but Hestia had to ruin everything.

She agreed to give up her position in the council. This was something that was coveted by every single God on Olympus, and she gave it away like it was nothing. She already had a reputation as a gentle benevolent goddess, but now, she accidentally became the picture of kindness and gained the respect of every minor god out there.

He couldn't even ask for her to marry Apollo anymore since her price for leaving her seat in the council was to stay an eternal maiden. He couldn't refuse because he had granted both his daughters the same boon, which was advantageous for him since he would always stay as the most influential male in their lives, pretty much guaranteeing their votes. With her last action during the council meeting, Hestia had put him in quite the conundrum, not that he would ever do anything about it; his eldest sister asking for a favor was a very rare event and he didn't have it in his heart to refuse her, even if he could.

Now back to this Medusa, should Hestia's words be correct, she could become either his greatest boon or his worst nightmare. One thing was for certain and that was to not make her an enemy. Zeus had heard his mother's tales when he was younger, and while he dismissed most of them as children's tales, he still remembers the awe in his mother's eyes as she retold the feats of famous Atlanteans.

His father, as terrifying as he was back then, was very unskilled in term of magical knowledge and Zeus did not dare to even attempt to fight him directly, choosing to assassinate him instead. This Medusa was a full fledged Atlantean and if Hestia was correct, far more powerful, and knowledgeable than Kronos. He could not afford a direct conflict, so he will use the same tactic as his father. Having her support would elevate his status to the very few that know of their true origins, and she would protect Olympus from any other surviving Atlantean, like the mysterious Typhon who created all these monsters in an effort to weaken Olympus. But should she refuse to submit under his rule, she shall meet the same fate as his father. He could not allow of someone with such power to remain unsupervised. Not that anyone would care, now that Atlantis was gone, she had no supporters and no one to avenge her death.

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It was time for the meeting now; they had agreed to meet on an empty beach, giving Zeus the biggest advantage. He had invited Athena, one of his most powerful warriors, and Poseidon, with how powerful he would be this close to the sea. Together, all three of them teleported to their destination.

The scene they found was not as expected, instead of the terrifying warrior he expected, he saw a breathtakingly beautiful woman, with purple hair and purple eyes. She was wearing a white dress, that was simple but elegant, reminding him a bit of Hestia. She was sitting down, drinking some wine facing the sea. This was not the feared foe he expected.

She seemed to sense their presence and turned around. She waved at them and then made other chairs appear out of nowhere.

"Hello there, it's very nice to meet you all." She greeted.

Zeus was still too dumbstruck to answer, and he wasn't the only one; Athena was openly gaping at the purple haired woman. For all her intelligence, she had no idea how to deal with surprises. Poseidon on the other hand was the first to regain his voice, "Greetings! I'm Poseidon, lord of the sea. I have to say, I did not expect the mighty Medusa, defeater of Typhon to be such a beautiful and radiant woman."

Damn, he knew when Poseidon acted like this, the idiot was already infatuated with the woman and all she said was greeting them. Athena unfroze from her stupor, looking annoyed from his actions. Her feelings for the god of the sea were so obvious that everyone on the council apart from them already knew. However, Athena's vow to stay a maiden had stopped her from pursuing a relationship with him, and probably the fact that he's married. Not that Poseidon gave a damn about his marriages; he almost slept around as much as Zeus did.

Medusa responded, "Why thank you, Poseidon. As you probably know, I'm Medusa. I'm guessing that you're Zeus," she pointed at Zeus, "and you're Athena." She pointed at Athena.

At their nod, she continued, "Why don't you sit down." She motioned towards the seats she conjured, and they obeyed and sat down.

"So, what are we talking about?" she questioned.

Zeus and Athena looked puzzled at her question while Poseidon was still leering at her, "You asked for the meeting."

"Ah, yes. It was mostly to set you at ease. Ask whatever you want, I'll answer if I can."

Athena was the one who asked the first question, "What are your intentions towards Olympus."

"As far as I know, every descendant of Atlantis has joined your clan under your leadership. The had done so willingly, and whatever you do is due to their choices. You might have imprisoned the older generation in your precious little dimensional prison that your father made, but as far as I know, Atlantis is gone and so did their values, their traditions and so on. I have no right to judge you for your actions using the laws of Atlantis."

Zeus perked up, "So, you do not want revenge for what I did to my father?"

Medusa laughed melodiously, "I don't care that you killed that brat. He was already very arrogant back in Atlantis. He was the ticket for your clan to gain influence and he knew it. Time elementals are rare, but his behavior would have repelled a lot of instructors and he wouldn't have gained any apprenticeship. Most of the Titans were born because of the sudden death of a generation of elders that were tired of life. Over three hundred new children were born a century or so before the fall of Atlantis. I used to be the younger one for a while before that happened, the population in Atlantis was controlled, you see. Besides, even if I cared about it, I'm not in charge of them. My father might have been the king of Atlantis but the throne wasn't hereditary, every king was voted in by the clans."

The king of gods was very frustrated by her answers, she tended to stray from the topic, not that Athena and Poseidon cared. The wisdom goddess was fascinated with ancient history and Poseidon just kept nodding and smiling with that silly lovesick expression of his. He couldn't believe that he invited them for this. It might not like it, but this was an official alliance meeting.

Grumbling under his breath about the uselessness of his companion, he spoke, "So you have no desire to interfere with the affairs of the gods of Olympus?"

She chuckled and answered, "I really don't care about what you Olympians are doing but calling yourselves gods is a very arrogant and pretentious thing to do. If a true god were to hear you call yourself King of Gods, I fear they would not be as understanding about it as I am. However, should any Olympian interfere in my affairs, or that of my city, I will respond accordingly."

Zeus ignored the comment about gods, this wasn't the time to address more issues, "How about you join Olympus. It's only right that you take a place with the few survivors of your people. Your city could benefit from our protection. No one would ever dare to attack it, if they know that it's under the supervision of Olympus."

Here it was, he gave her the offer to submit to him, to avoid any sort of conflict.

"And what would that entail?"

Zeus responded, "We can't just give you a seat on the council, you're relatively unknown outside of your city, even if it would elevate your status. With a bit of time and patience, there is a good chance that you would be inducted into the council."

He had no intention of ever inviting her to join the council, but it was as good incentive as ever and every other survivor of Atlantis agreed to the terms. He would remove her influence from Korinthos by introducing the Olympian gods to them, which would lower her status even further.

Medusa just laughed, "You want me to become your subject, obey your rules and decrees, give you control over my city, just for the chance of joining a council that I don't care about. I haven't heard a joke like that in years. No, my boy, you'll have to do better than that. Every other survivor was too young to even think about politics, but I lived in Atlan's court. I know what you're doing, Zeus, don't get smart with me. My city will stay under my protection, I will take offense if anyone doesn't respect that."

There it was, the implied threat. Medusa will never be an ally, he recognized it now. He gave her a choice between submission and death. She chose death, not that she knows it.

"I'll consider my proposal refused then," Zeus stated, "Athena, Poseidon, we're done here."

Poseidon responded, "No, brother, I wish to speak with the lovely lady Medusa further."

Zeus nodded and grimaced inwardly. He whispered to Athena, "Make sure the idiot doesn't ruin things for us."

She nodded and Zeus teleported. Now to think of a way to kill that troublesome purple haired woman.