“Hephaestus, you, too, please.” Nyx looked over to the god, who didn’t seem surprised or concerned as he came forward. She took another slow breath as if this was taking all her patience and kept speaking.
“Zeus, is it true that you plotted to imprison both Erebus and me? And you brought Hephaestus into it by soliciting a weapon that would contain any god?”
Zeus’s eyes got wide as the chorus of gods erupted around him. The shouting carried up to the rafters, and Erebus chuckled to himself. Nyx had exposed not only Zeus’s attempts to imprison them, but she revealed his plan to have a weapon that would controlanyimmortal. Even if no one care that he had gone after them, they will certainly care that he was interested in a weapon that could control them.
“N-no, that’s not…” Zeus attempted to defend himself, but Hephaestus raised a hand politely. Nyx held her arms up for silence, and all the gods quieted. She nodded at Hephaestus to speak. He cleared his throat, his eyes shining with something unknown from behind his helmet.
“I’m happy to corroborate that. It’s true. Zeus engaged Kronos as a distraction to take down you, Nyx, and Erebus. He was after absolute power asking of the gods,” Hephaestus said the words with a sneer, “and knew that it would be easy to consolidate power with yours out of the way.”
“Out of the way,” Nyx repeated and raised her eyebrows as she hummed, playing with the chains in her hands. “You agreed to make these chains for him?” Hephaestus nodded without hesitation.
“I did. I made them with a loophole. Any god would have a way to get out of them if they were clever enough.”
“Why did you do this?” Nyx pressed again, and all the gods were on edge as they stared at Zeus and Hephaestus. Erebus could’ve sworn that he saw Ares crack his knuckles a few times. Poseidon and Hades were fighting to keep their anxiety off their faces, wondering if Nyx was going to call them forth to atone for their sins. Hephaestus seemed to be choosing his words very carefully, and when he spoke, it sounded personal.
“Choice matters.” His voice was rough. “I’ll never create something that renders absolute power or takes away someone’s choice.”
Nyx took in his answer and saw Aphrodite shifting uncomfortably in the background. There was a story there for another day when her patience with the gods wasn’t completely spent.
“Thank you, Hephaestus. You may go.” Nyx gave him a thousand-watt smile, and Hephaestus stepped out of the circle before turning his back and leaving the room entirely. He wanted to be back under the mountain like Nyx wanted to be back in the Underworld. She turned to Zeus and the smile on her face vanished.
“What do you have to say for yourself? To your brothers and sisters?” Nyx gestured at the gods standing around him. “You propelled them into this war with delusions of grandeur and made yourself a king. How did that go for you?”
Zeus said nothing, staring down at the ground. Nyx shook her head and pushed him again.
“I’m going to need an answer, Zeus. How did that work out for you?” Erebus stood off to the side, wondering what was wrong with him that he found the sight of Nyx taking Zeus to task sohot.Zeus coughed, shaking his shoulders and picking his head up.
“I failed.”
“That’s right!” Nyx clapped her hands together. “You did. Then you got Erebus involved, which got me involved, and now I’m here ironing out your mess. Do you think that’s what I want to be doing right now?” Nyx pressed again, and Zeus shook his head.
“Out loud, Zeus.”
Fuck.Erebus was a few seconds away from having to adjust himself.Yeah, I don’t want to know why that’s doing it for me.
Zeus coughed. “No, I do not think that you want to be doing this right now.”
“You are correct,” Nyx nodded, turning to look at the other gods. None of them raised any objection, and she knew that she would not be defied. “Zeus, as a punishment for your scheming and treachery, I’m going to give you exactly what you wanted.”
There were gasps of shock from all the gods, but no one dared challenge Nyx, and even Erebus’s head snapped up in surprise. Poseidon and Hades tossed him a confused stare, but he held his hand out at his side as if to convey ‘wait a minute.’ Nyx waited for a heartbeat, letting her words sink in before she continued.
“Zeus, you are welcome to the title of ‘King of the Gods.’ Of course, that means you will be burdened with all the responsibilities of a king… with some stipulations of course.” Erebus had to bite his lip to temper his smile as Nyx spoke. “Ask me what they are, please.”
“What are they?” Zeus choked on the words, his face red and enflamed.
“You are to remain imprisoned on the mountain for the rest of your days, no matter how many they may be. A king should never leave his throne or abandon his subjects. Everyone will speak for an eternity of how Zeus ruled from Mt. Olympus.”
She made a motion to the dais behind them, and Erebus tried to subtly pull at the folds of his chlamys. Zeus’s eyes got wide in shock, but he dared not open his mouth to speak. Nyx leaned forward, her voice taking on a deliciously wicked tone as the true nature of her verdict came through.
“Tell them whatever they want. Spin whatever myths about yourself that you would like. Whatever you want to do to help you sleep at night, do it. At the end of the day, you and I will both fall into our respective beds at night, and we will all know the truth. You will be a prisoner, a mock king.”
There was a beat of silence, and the other gods’ expressions ranged from impressed to stunned, yet there was not a voice raised in dissonance. Nyx began walking in a slow circle around Zeus, sounding positively melodic.
“I suppose I’ll offer you some conditions, of course. Once a year, you’ll be allowed off Mt. Olympus for one day, but you must not go as a god or in your mortal body. You’ll have to sneak off this mountain as a beast, as a bird, as an animal. I don’t trust you to not get in too much trouble otherwise.”
There were a few more moments of silence, and Erebus watched as Zeus’s face got redder and redder. The other gods all now shared the same expression, one of contentment. No one was speaking up for Zeus. Finally, the tension cracked, and Zeus spun on his heel and looked at Nyx.
“Is that all?” His voice was angry, but Nyx only smiled.
