The beeping of a heart monitor was the first thing she heard as she regained consciousness. The smell of disinfectant and the slightest hints of warm vanilla came next. A soft groan escaped her chapped lips as she tried to move but her body was barely responding, almost as if she was caked in lead and too tired to respond. She heard a shuffle off to the side before a hand came up under her head and lifted it up as the edge of a glass was pressed to her mouth.
Without instruction her lips parted as a cool liquid slipped in and she greedily swallowed it, almost humming at the hints of apple taste. She could sense the power in the drink as her body rapidly absorbed it and a sense of relief spread throughout her form. Once the glass was pulled away, she sighed as her head was gently rested back on the pillows.
For a few moments there was only silence as she tested her body, wiggling her toes and clenching her hands before trying to open her eyes. It was slow, but she managed and looked up to see a cream ceiling hidden in shadow meaning the main lights were off. Blinking again as tried lifting her head but stopped as she felt a twinge of pain in her neck and groaned as she let her head fall back.
"I wouldn't try moving too much Athena, you've already stressed out your body as is."
Athena gave a near full-body flinch in surprise before her head snapped to the side, eyes wide. She'd almost forgotten that someone had to be in the room to have given her whatever she drank. However, with the only light coming from somewhere off past the foot of the bed, the side Athena looked to was mostly shrouded in shadow.
That did nothing to hide the familiar, glowing pair of crimson eyes looking right back at her.
"Easy there," Hestia said before Athena could so much as shriek, a pair of fingers pressing to her lips.
With her heart hammering away in her chest the goddess barely made out the silhouette of winged goddess as another switch was clicked turning on a lamp off to Hestia's side as the goddess pulled back her other hand. Now seeing the goddess properly, Athena felt herself calm somewhat as Hestia remained silent, simply looking at her.
The quiet was only disturbed by the heart monitor as the pair looked at each other, the blonde goddess feeling unnerved as those glowing orbs with crimson flames dancing within stared at her, unblinking. After what felt like hours Athena had to look away, her fingers fidgeting under the sheets as she scanned around while trying not to move her head too much. Most of the room was still dark and one glance to the only window on her other side told her it was nighttime. A glance at the wall across from her to find the clock told her it was almost midnight.
After looking around her gaze returned to Hestia and found that the winged goddess hadn't moved at all. She was just watching, her face giving nothing away. Now the silence was getting suffocating, so Athena had to break it.
"How long have you been here?"
Hestia briefly glanced at the clock on the far wall before answering, "Several hours."
Athena blinked slowly as she looked at the primordial, wondering if that was all she was going to say. The silence returned so Athena took that as a yes before she asked another question, "Why?"
"I wanted some alone time to think while I waited for you to wake up, so we could talk," the queen responded.
"About what?" Athena asked as she looked away as she tried to move so that she was sitting up even with her body protesting.
"Cloelia and what we're going to do about her."
At the mention of her granddaughter Athena snapped to attention, her eyes narrowing as she looked at one of the women who had the power to help save or doom the godling. Hestia looked back at her calmly even as Athena felt her fingers twitch, her nerves on end as she dared herself to ask, "… Will he save her?"
Hestia didn't answer, instead moving as she turned her head away to look at the far-off wall, her own eyes unmoving from a certain spot. As she waited Athena let her own senses spread out, tracking her own connections to check on her granddaughter. It took her a minute, but she found Cloelia several rooms down in the direction Hestia was looking and from what she could read, her granddaughter's condition hadn't improved.
Pulling back her senses Athena's face fell before she looked at the primordial goddess, her voice coming out bitter as she asked, "Or is he going to let a child die because he hates her parents?"
Hestia sighed as she closed her eyes and lightly shook her head before returning her gaze to Athena.
"He didn't hate Annabeth," she said and before Athena could throw back a biting retort she continued, "He resented her choices and was disappointed with her, sure, but I don't think hatred was ever on that list."
Athena scuffed as she looked away, unbelieving of the primordial.
"After all, if he'd truly hated her, she would have been killed or alive and wishing she was dead," the goddess continued, her voice rather cold as Athena shot her a heated glare for but a moment before looking away again.
She heard the goddess sigh again.
"Tell me, did you ever teach Chase to Memory Walk?"
At the sudden question Athena begrudgingly looked back at the queen, one eyebrow raised before she answered, "I think you know as well as I that certain laws forbade teaching that …" Athena then paused as she glanced down at her own lap as she thought back to her lessons with her daughter. "… But if by chance she found some old books and guides in my library to learn on her own time, then I don't know."
"Clever way of getting around that bastard's laws," Hestia said with a ghost of a smirk before her lips thinned. "Percy did with Nyx and he made some discoveries."
Now Hestia had Athena's attention, her natural curiosity starting to get the better of her as she looked at the primordial.
Hestia gave her a mirthless smile as her eyes locked with the blonde goddess. "Aphrodite messed with Chase's emotions during the war. Those two getting together wasn't by organic means, at least on your daughter's part," she said as Athena felt a red-hot rage beginning to boil within her, her fists clenching as she pictured the willy and intrusive goddess. "I'd bet she's also the reason your daughter spread for the likes of Apollo too."
"… That utter bitch," Athena hissed, cursing the goddess in her head and wishing she could ring Aphrodite's neck right now.
She didn't even need to think on it long for the idea of Aphrodite having a hand in it making far too much sense.
"Agreed," Hestia quipped before shrugging. "Regardless, what's done is done and we have to live with the consequences," she said before her eyes gained a heated glint. "One of which was Percy regaining hope in her."
Athena looked questioningly at Hestia, unsure of how that mattered but Hestia continued, nonetheless.
"The heart wants what the heart wants," Hestia said with a slight, bitter smile. "Chase's feeling might have been fabricated or at least guided by a meddling goddess, but Percy's were genuine. She became his world and reason for pushing on through all the madness and danger. He dared to hope and dream of a future, something that until a point had been considered impossible for Greek demigods. The one-person Hera couldn't make him forget and when she abandoned him, when she ran away like a coward to hide her shame and lies, it broke him."
Hestia took a deep breath that sounded more like a rumbling growl as steam billowed off her form for a moment. She held it for a few seconds before finally releasing it as a lick of flame escaped her parted lips making Athena flinch at the sudden spike in heat.
"And even then, he couldn't bring himself to hate her. After everything he'd gone through and faced, from the whole Master Bolt debacle to the two wars, he clung on to hope right up until that last award ceremony. And in the end was left alone and heartbroken," she said as she then leaned forward, elbows rested on her knees as she looked at the blonde goddess.
"I remember having him in my arms, listening as he let it all out and wondering where he went wrong. He knew it was over and it was coming the moment he discovered what she did, but he'd still hoped she'd at least tell him to his face… And then that council meeting."
The cracking of knuckles drew Athena's gaze down for a moment, her eyes widening as she saw ruby-like scales forming along Hestia's hands and her nails going a deep red. However, she looked to Hestia's face again as the goddess gave a dismissive snort.
...
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