“I have a condition for you goddess, if I am to marry your son.” The beautiful water nymph stood in all her splendour, in front of the most formidable goddess. Outwardly the nymph knew that she looked calm, but she shook with fear on the inside.

She had for all intents and purpose just shortened her life by challenging the goddess of life. A primordial’s beloved wife. An elemental's cherished mother.

Yet her potential mother-in-law smiled at her with utter kindness. Yet she could not bring herself to believe in Goddess Hera's kindness and benevolence. “What do you wish for dear child?”

“Protection for your son’s life.” Even at the cost of yours, she silently added, sure the goddess would know what she truly meant. The goddess gave her a measuring look, her eyes shrewd as she responded “Who are you child? Or should I rather ask, what are you?”

“Simply somone who lives once again.” She admitted, but she could not disclose what she had seen in her past life. Of that which would happen to Hera's son. Or her soon to be husband.

And she would protect him, the one she loved, at all costs.

x

“You aren’t going to take your shot at me?” I broached, while watching him dig holes into the floor. He only glared at me in response. “If you do not talk to me Shu, how are we going to resolve this?”

"Do you think after what you did, it is easy to forgive you, Azar, just like that?” He hissed as his anger intensified.

“And what exactly have I done?” It was not my intention to sound callous. I genuinely needed to know what he held me the most responsible for. Which of my actions had hurt him the most?

“It’s fortunate that I know you brother. Because I truly want to kick your face in. But I’ll spare us both the pain from that fruitless endeavor.” Any other time, I would have smiled at the truth in his words. My primordial father made me stronger than him, at least in my true form. But right now, in my cursed form, I likely was the weakest in our family of twelve deities.

“And are you the same Shu I knew my friend?” I asked. He always carried a carefree look in front of the rest, but with just the two of us, he could not keep it up. Not for too long.“Of course, Azar. Why would you even ask?” The sincerity in his eyes told me he was not lying. I waited to speak until he sat down.

“Because I do not know who I am anymore.” The great war had left me changed completely. It was difficult for me to believe that it had not done the same to my family. My ‘siblings’ I could not understand the change in them, because they had been protected from most of the harshness. At least I could argue that the change in my character was not as immoral as the Queen had implied my siblings had undergone.

“You never have Azar.” He said with sympathy, before looking away from me. “My parents, uncle Aiden and Sephie, both couples, at the root have the same set of values. It made growing up easy for me and the twins.” He paused there, bringing his eyes to mine. “You, however, have struggled between Hera’s kindness, and your father’s indifference.”

This was Shu, both my best friend and brother in spirit. Though being first cousins almost made us as good as blood brothers. While Shu was generally impulsive, he was one of the few people who truly understood me.

“But they truly loved each other despite their severe differences.” A fact that had been hard for me to understand in my younger years. Especially, when it came to the old man. I had never doubted my mother’s love, but my father on the other hand? I would have lost my sanity because of him, if it weren’t for my cousins, and later on when she had come to me.

The one I had loved more than anyone. The very one who had betrayed me in the worst way possible. It was because of her that I now sat here like this, so weak, and incapable now, than how I used to be.

“But you still do not understand their relationship, do you?” It was not a question, so much as a statement.

“Let’s just say, you do not know the entirety of it.” A child was the first witness to his or her parents’ relationship after all. It was generally frowned upon for a child to comment on their parents marriage. Though for the four of us, we did not crticize our parents faults in their marriages, simply out of respect.

He gave me a considering look before nodding, “You are right. And we are not here to talk about your parents anyways. Are you finally ready to tell me, where you have been for well over a century Azar?”

A decade or two worth of absence was not a big deal for us, but a little over ten of them? That was truly thoughtless. But I did have my reasons, the question was would he even believe me? After thousands of years in the world, how could I expect him to believe the very thing I had taken for granted for so long had not helped me overcome my weaknesses.

“She died that day Shu.” And with her my life had been forfeit as well. Until I had been awakened to find myself in one of my disguises. A disguise I now found myself unable to revert back from. At least not at will.

Furthermore, I had no answers as to how I had been revived. I had my doubts, but no certainties.

“That is not possible, she is the goddess of all life. There is no way…” He paused at the look of seriousness of my face.

“My father is the only primordial left. The titans are as good as gone, except the few who still have not been punished.” And if the King of all things dark could contain such powerful beings, the only one capable to do so, the rest of us were truly small fries for King Hades.

Even time could not compete with death. And I had learned that lesson the hard way.

“Still souls do go on to exist Azar, and we have ways to create new forms. And uncle Aiden would most certainly release her soul back. He loved her just as much as any of us. It would hurt him as well to loose her in such a capacity. Perhaps our parents are scheming something.”

That was why Shu could never be as conniving as us, he was always the beacon of hope in our group. The one with the most heart. He had been well protected from the pains of the world in his Sea Kingdom.

“She wanted to die Shu.” I admitted to at least that much. The goddess of life, who had always been comforted by life itself and argued for it, had finally also succumbed to the lure of eternal peace. It was obvious, that my words shocked Shu. He had known my of mother’s zest for life and to live every moment happily.

“Azar I am not sure I can believe this. But I will trust you on this. Tell me cuz, why would she do this?” Of course while he found it unbelievable he knew that Hera's death would not have come without her own willingness for it.

“To protect me,” and to punish father, I silently thought. But I could never tell anyone about that.

The silence was deafening. Of course, Shu would understand the implications of that admission. He now knew how I had failed in my duty. Causing the death of the very one I had been brought into this world to protect.

“Don’t tell me that you blame yourself Azar? You have to know you were in no frame of mind at the time to even take part in the war.”

“Am I not a god Shu? The heir of heavens? The bearer of progression? I have no excuses for my failure.” I replied coldly, words that my father had ingrained in me from my childhood. I could see the weariness settle in him at my spiel. But I could never let it go.

“And yet, we are far better in disposition than even most of the elders Azar. You should have stayed here with us to look for a solution. You are also the god of creations. I am certain you would have figured out a way to bring her back.”

Oh but I already had. I had figured out a way to bring her back. But before that Zeus had to be taken care of. So my mother's revival was a subject that could wait till a more approrpriate date.

“You are one of the only three that has seen this present form of mine before Shu.” He looked disgruntled at the change of subject but still waited for me to continue. “When we transition to our guise forms, despite housing the same soul, we do in a sense become a different being. Same yet different.”

It was an interesting phenomenon, but I still had not been able to grasp the entire nature of it. From what I had so far understood, my, Azar’s form had morphed into Hephaestus. And because of the curse I was frozen into this weak form until I could...

And the it was with that that the thought of that water sprite came to mind. Her vivid red hair and green eyes. He forced himself to stop thinking about her, before he went too far down the rabbit hole.

My only path for now was to have my mother’s revenge. To destroy Zeus.

“And your point is Azar?”

“In a sense, I am a reincarnation of your cousin Azar. I am still Azar, Hera's son. But I am just as much Hepheastus.” For now, soon he would be back to being himself again.

He understood, of course he would.

“Are you telling me you were paralysed?” The note of fear in his voice would have been amusing if I had not been the reason for his terror.

“The twins have no idea. I want this to be just between us.” Cal, and especially Cara had too much to deal with already. And I would not have told Shu either, if I could help it. But we always knew everything about each other.

“Azar, I don’t think that’s a great idea. They will be upset when they find out.” And it would upset things far more for them to bother their parents about this.

“Well another choking is not going to ruin me that much. Uncle Aiden and Sephie have enough trouble as it is. Do you think they would not have done something if they could? Furthermore, uncle's made it quite clear, that saving mother is my responsibility.”

“I hate that you are right. But I don’t like it.” He crossed his arms before raising an eyebrow. “So Cal did that to you, did he?” He pointed at the marks around me neck. “He’s gotten even stronger.” I grunted out.

“Well we have Ariadne to thank for that.” He smirked at me to rub the fact in that I may be stronger than him, but I was not the strongest in our little happy foursome.

Hardy har har.

“So tell me Azar what do you plan to do about Zeus’s demand about you slumming it with Aphrodite.”

Fuck. I had forgotten about that. And how I hated the Queen for even agreeing to it before I could even refuse.

Trust me with this boy, she had whispered. But that was the issue, I did not trust her at all, when it came to my sanity. Not one bit.

He maybe wearing Poseidon’s face right now with the dark blonde hair and golden skin. But that salacious grin gave him away. Anyone who knew Shu, knew he obsessively played the field with the women. And it seemed Triton farcing around as Poseidon, had only levelled up with his sexcepades.

To each their own, I supposed.

“And how do you like slumming it with the mortals?” I volleyed back, and he was well aware which kind of mortals I was talking about. Nymphs were one thing, but humans were a different matter entirely.

“Ah you will eat your words Azar the day your child falls in love.” Ah that. One of the crones had predicted that my child would be bonded to a human. Well my daughter still had a long way before she reached her third millennia. She had promised me after all. By the time she turned three thousand humans possibly would have develop a satisfactory intellect. Or one could hope.

“Let’s just hope that you do not get bonded with a human Sea Prince.” No I seriously hoped for him that he didn’t. Keeping humans under the sea was not a good idea. Possible but messy.

“With my luck, I’ll probably get stuck with an ugly monster.” He paused as if he just realized what I looked like now, before shrugging apologetically. “You know what I mean.”

Oh I did, but I was not bothered by it. I knew very well Shu liked his bed mates to be pretty. And if they were readily willing, who was I to judge? Not that I had the right anyways.

But sweet Hera, it struck me, the water god did not realize it, but he had just made his own prophecy.

I’ll probably get stuck with an ugly monster, beauty was indeed in the eye of the beholder. Still, I hoped for my cousin's sake that his fated monster would not be too monstrous.

Now this, I could not wait to tell the twins. A monster for a fated sister-in-law? How interesting. But I sobered at the thought of fated bonds.

I could easily be rid of Aphrodite, I had no need for her or our so called connection. But killing her for something that was not her fault, was something I could have never done anyways.

Still, I honestly didn't know what to do about her.