Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Zeus was walking through the gates of Olympus, with every step he made, the white marble ground enriched with gold filled cracks shook and trembled. His white robe, now barely holding on the two buttons after just being taken off minutes ago, dragged on the floor as he walked slow footsteps. Although his steps made the ground tremble like thunder hitting the ground, there was one thing scarier than the thunder-like noise of him walking. It was the thought of what his wife, Queen Hera, would do when she hears of this new affair.
,,Will she be angry? She gets angrier every time, after all.'' Zeus wondered, as he walked around the gardens of Olympus ,,Or will she... No, no way, that isn't possible at all."
,,Would she be sad?'' A familiar voice uttered in the background, making the god king turn swiftly, lifting his fist up in the air, preparing for combating at whoever or whatever just scared him.
What he didn't expect is to see Eris, the daughter of dark Nyx, banished from the Mount Olympus for the chaos she likes to start for pure fun.
,,Eris... What are you doing here?'' The thundery god, now tired of everything, face palmed with the same hand he wanted to punch Eris with. He didn't want to risk having problems with Nyx and Erebus again, not after the incident with Hypnos.
,,Would Hera be sad that you broke her trust for the 20th time this year?'' The pale skinned goddess grinned, strands of her charcoal black hair falling onto her face as she slowly lowered her head. Eris didn't seem to be scared of Zeus, or maybe her desire to stir the pot was bigger than the fear of being struck down by a thunderbolt. So she ignored his question, still grinning at him, which made the god confused. But seemingly noticing that the goddess of strife wasn't going to answer his question, Zeus still didn't want to entertain Eris' desire for chaos.
,,Eris. Leave.'' King Zeus made his words clear. He looked at the goddess for a moment, who still didn't lower her grin. In fact, she chuckled for a moment.
,,Hera is sad.'' Eris gave an equally short answer, which annoyed Zeus even more, but he persisted on not giving her what she wants.

They both stood there for a moment, looking at each other, like a pair of marble statues that Zeus sees in his temples everyday. Except for the fact that instead of Eris there would be Hera.
Eris saw that Zeus wasn't going to give her an immediate reaction. She chuckled again, finally lowering her grin into a smug smile. She knew that her words will be stuck in Zeus' head. That's her sneakiest method of stirring up chaos.
Eris then disappeared into thin air, slowly turning into ashes that flew to Zeus' left...
As Zeus turned to see the remains of the goddess of chaos flying around like a tornado, he saw the ashes flying away next to Hera's part of the garden, close to her favorite peacock, Oleana. A small detail about Hera that Zeus knew, she loved that peacock.

Maybe Eris was right. Perhaps Zeus was too focused on himself being yelled at by Hera for the consequences of his actions, that he forgot to acknowledge how she felt.

Chapter Text

Today is a new day, the glowing Eos had already done her part in the daily routine of the day-night cycle. Hera had just woken up though, despite it being around 2 o'clock in the noon. She put on her favorite indigo robe, adorned with pure gold waist chains and necklaces. Putting on her favorite golden peacock feather shaped hairclip, the goddess was in full glory despite just getting out of bed. She opened the curtains of her room, being struck by the shining Sun. The Sun became brighter every second, as if it was moving forward towards her. But that wasn't an illusion, or just her imagining things. Hera knew what this meant. She opened the window to let in a shiny mist of light and energy get in. As the Sun rays headed into the room, forming a humanoid figure, the face of a familiar deity looked straight at Hera, with a soft smile. Not that the intentions behind the smile were the purest.
The rays of Sun's light then became even brighter, and from them a tall male figure emerged. Long blonde hair, golden silk robes and Sun imagery on his golden bracelets and crown. An ordinary mortal would have guessed this was Apollo. But still, this tall, blonde man was no one else but Helios himself. The titan god of the Sun, now the same height as Hera, and not in his golden chariot. His bright smile still on his face, ready to catch Hera up with the newest gossip that he caught from above.
,,Alright, so here is all that happened...'' The Sun titan wasted no time ,,Eris was seen at the Olympus's gardens-''
,,Helios that isn't what I am here for and you know that." He was interrupted by the queen of heavens ,,Just tell me about Zeus!''
,,That's the thing!'' Helios replied excitedly ,,I saw Zeus talking to Eris and-''
,,Huh?'' The goddess queen interrupted again ,,Are you saying that Zeus is cheating on me with that daimon this time?'' She looked at him confusedly, not entirely believing what she heard.
,,No no no! I just saw them talking!'' Helios turned around towards the open window, light shining on his tan skin and wind gently caressing his long blonde hair ,,This time it was a mortal woman. I don't know her whereabouts but I believe she lives somewhere near Sparta.''
Hera's eyes widened ,,I thought this time it was a nymph...'' She muttered, the worst thoughts going around in her mind.
Helios looked at her, softly smiling. But this time it wasn't a smug smile ready for gossiping, it was more like a gentle smile, almost pitiful. He couldn't possibly pity the queen of the gods herself.
,,This could only mean there was a new one already...'' Hera sighed.
They stood there, a few meters away from one another in this awkward situation. But as the silence continued for some time, perhaps five whole minutes, Helios turned to Hera in a shy stance.
,,I'm going to go now, my charioteer is waiting for me.'' Helios waited for a response but Hera just looked at one dot, not saying anything, so he left.

The queen of heavens did look in her full glory, undoubtedly, but did she truly feel that way?

Chapter Text

Author's note: I finally came back lol.. sorry to the *check notes* maximum four people that actually enjoyed this fanfic!! love yall. i will try my best to be more active with updates!

It's been ten days since Zeus' conversation with Eris, and it's been a handful for the god king. Cold sweat constantly dripping down his neck, eyes always looking down from that same deity who once had his chin up all the time proudly... Glorious Zeus didn't have a new affair in those ten days, which is almost breaking his new record. But yearning wasn't his biggest problem right now, and it wasn't even in his thoughts... 

He was just nervous about his wife and queen Hera. He hadn't heard from her since he came back. Usually Hera, rightfully so, had huge arguments about Zeus's affairs with him, usually leading to whatever happened with Heracles, but they don't talk about that on Olympus. It's a sensitive topic that leads to Dionysus' wine cellars being unusually empty, as gods don't like talking about such complex topics without some fine wine.

Nonetheless, Hera and Zeus didn't see each other face to face in a long time. Which is unusual. Not only that, but the Olympians noticed that Zeus has been acting strangely too. Ganymede and Hermes have just been discussing about it, the messenger god noticing Zeus didn't send his queen another apology letter, and the young cupbearer talking about Zeus not requesting any wine, not even water, and even his favorite strawberry and cherry granola that Ganymede has to beg Demeter make for him (it wasn't written in his j*b application when he was (willingly) taken to be a cupbearer....)

So Zeus did what every youngest child would do: ask his older brothers for advice. So he invited his surfer brother and his goth brother for a meeting that they totally won't get scared about (he just sent them a ,,We need to talk'') message...

And they did come to Olympus to see him quite quickly, Poseidon's charioteer, Nerites, being as afraid that something bad happened as Poseidon himself. 

,,Update me on how it goes.'' The young charioteer looked nervously, plucking a random carrot from Demeter's garden to give it to his horses. 

,,Alright, love you, see you Nerites!'' The Earth-shaker sea king replied, probably not hearing his own words, even though Nerites did, now with a bright smile on his face.

As Poseidon went up the stairs to Zeus' usual place of dwelling, he met Hades, the underworld king. Without saying anything, they knocked on Zeus' door. 

,,Come in!'' A male voice echoed through the door. The two gods hesitated, as they were usually greeted by Zeus' louder, happier sounding voice, but Hades reached out for the door handle anyway. As the door opened, the sea god and the goth god saw their brother covered in a silk blue cloak over his usually revealing clothes, his eyes on the blink of tears and uncombed hair. No crown to be seen on his head.

,,I need advice.'' Zeus muttered, then sighed. 

Chapter Text

,,Uh... Zeus, what happened to you brother?"' the sea god stood at the doorstep, confused and concerned.
,,Come in brothers'' Zeus ignored his brother's concerns, seemingly tired of people asking him the same thing. Poseidon stepped inside Zeus' favorite living room, and Hades following him.
They sat down on each side of the bed , Zeus between them. They sat there for a few moments, not saying a word. Only breathing sounds echoing throughout the room.
,,So... Tell us what happened?'' Hades finally broke the ice ,,What made you so...'' he looked up and down, examining Zeus head to toe, trying to find the right word.
,,So miserably looking'' Poseidon broke the rest of the ice that no one knew was there.
But Zeus was silent for a moment, looking to the ground. What would he even say? That he cheated on his wife once more and now actually feels bad? The odds weren't looking good for the thunder god.
,, You know Zeus, I've just been wondering...'' Hades took the hint that this had something to do with his marriage (but this time more serious) as it wasn't the first time this happened, but never been this bad. Usually Zeus just complained about his wife...
,, Have you seen Hera leave her chambers yet?'' Hades turned his head towards his youngest brother, whose eyes already widened and whole body flinched at just the mention of Hera's name ,,Me and Persephone just visited Demeter a few days ago and decided to stay on Olympus for a few days, but haven't seen Hera leave her room yet. Hebe has brought her countless of dishes to eat everyday since we came here, but Persephone noticed Hebe always brings back whole dishes untouched.''
Yet the thunder god said nothing. Many thoughts on his mind, yet no words to come out.
,,Maybe you should check up on her!'' Poseidon implied, to which Zeus just flinched again. It's not that he was scared of what Hera would do concerning his newest affair. The problem was what she wouldn't like Zeus' proposal.
The proposal to fix their relationship.

The three brothers sat there for a few minutes. Or was it more than a few minute? Still, Zeus' brothers understood the severity of the situation, despite his lack of communication with them. So they sat there for as much as he needed. Despite their differences in personality, the trio cared deeply for each other and was always there to help (ever since the Titanomachy, even).
Finally, Zeus slowly got up, one arm on Poseidon's shoulder for support not to fall due to lack of energy.
,,Thank you for getting all the way here brothers... I deeply appreciate your aid.'' Zeus turned to his brothers, slight smile on his face, which didn't really make the sea god and the underworld god worry less ,,I will be checking up on... my consort now... I will call Hermes to accompany you to the gardens, and Ganymede will bring you two some drinks. It's better for them not to gossip about me and actually get back to work.''

And so the king of the gods excused himself, and went into the unknown (his wife's bedroom).