New God of the forge.

chapter 23

Arriving at the palace both Aphrodite and Hephaestus were quite startled by the sound of someone laughing, the laugh was surprisingly deep and whoever It was it seemed that they  weren't stopping soon. They had assumed that meeting wouldn't be jovial but it seems they were wrong.

"I thought you  said  this  was a serious meeting"

"someone must have said  something humorous in  my  absence"

Hephaestus asked and Hermes responded, it  didn't take long  for the three of them to make it to the meeting room where everyone had gather and  Ares  was already there as well, Hephaestus frowned at his  presence, however his displeasure was immediately dispelled as he  laid eyes on Athena.

"Athena!!!"

Hephaestus voiced in shock, the Goddess was wrapped in  bandages and it looked like her arm  was broken and  there were bruises on her face,  she looked like she had been in a battle, he held himself from running to her side and enquire about what happened. He took a glance around the room and  saw  that  everyone was present, there  was a great sense of tension in the  air, as Zeus stared daggers at the laughing Hades.

"What's Going? What happened "

He  asked while  standing with  Aphrodite beside him, She  was also curious about what happened, as far as she knows Athena  was among the strongest in Olympus so for her to  suffer such injury was quite shocking  and  cause for  concern.

"I'm sure Hermes told you that Apollo Betrayed us"

"my  son would never–"

"QUIET!! It's been revealed that  he would and did, unless you have proof that Athena is lying."

Zeus spoke with  a grave tone in his voice and  the anger in his eyes was palpable. Leto shuddered as he looked at her, the possibility of her being blamed for  this was high, she's the one who suggested they  search  for the Oracle in the first place and being in bed with  Zeus didn't mean he  would give you special treatment at least not when you might be a traitor. It  wasn't just Zeus's anger she was afraid of, it was also the enforcers that stood unmoving behind him, any order Zeus gave they would carry out.

"I must say Zeus this  was wildly unexpected, truly. Your favorite son being a traitor, that's so outrageous its damn right comical"

Hades expressed while wiping a single tear from his eyes and finally settling down after a bout of laughter. Out of all the possibilities he never would gave guessed Apollo being as traitor, in fact he struggled thinking who had the highest possibility of being a traitor, maybe Hephaestus on the count of what Hera did.

"done laughing at my expense, brother"

"Yes, what do we do? With the Oracle in his hands planning against him will be a hassle"

"hold on a minute"

Before Zeus could answer Hades, Hera interrupted as she stood up from her seat garnering everyone's attention.

"While I trust Athena to a degree and believe that she works in the interest of Olympus, I believe this matter deserves to be investigated further"

Hera paused and took a glance at Leto, one thing was for sure Zeus would use her any way he sees fit to lure out Apollo, he isn't above torture or even sending her to Tartarus however this wasn't why she spoke, it wasn't to save Leto but she was suspicious of Athena.

"Athena said she got knocked out and woke up when Apollo was gone, this doesn't necessarily mean he's a traitor after all there might be some other reason why he would want to oracle himself"