Persephone smiled towards Ares and then froze when she saw her husband walk in as if nothing was the matter. She flashed a small smile towards her mother and wandered over to her husbands side, ready to perhaps speak on his behalf should her father become too angry. She looked directly at her father and straightened up."I..I am no fighter but I will do my best to help us win this war. I will join with you all."

Her emerald green eye flickered brightly with the hope of everyone finally being mature and settling their differences . Persephone stepped slightly close towards her husband and almost nervously brushed her hand against his."Your....your so.....INTOLERABLE!" She said scrunching up her face and then lightly poking her husband in the arm. She flung her arm's around him tightly and then blushed when she realized that they weren't exactly alone.

"Pardon me....ahem..." She said coughing slightly in order to hide her embarrassment.She smiled up towards her husband and then whispered towards him."Your intolerable...but I still love you." She crossed her arms and looked away from him, and almost as if she was on some sort of a childish streak she gave a grin towards Dionysus and stuck her tongue out at him.

We may actually win this thing.

Adrik just sat by and absentmindedly looked around while the others quarreled, he listened to them sometimes, but like usual his mind was somewhere else. He felt oddly small in the chair made for a god, his feet didn't even reach the floor. He felt like he should return to his godly state, but he just enjoyed being human, or at least appearing human, unlike the others.
When Zeus came into the room, brightly dressed, Adrik restrained a smile. He understood there was a time to be serious and a time for joking, and this wasn't a time to joke. While Zeus spoke of his plan Adrik twiddled his thumbs, looking in his lap.
"I don’t care what kind of mortal schedule you had planned: photo shoots, school, sports, dating…it doesn’t matter anymore. " Adrik's godly father said, and Adrik's eyes finally met his father's. He opened his mouth as if he was going to talk, but no words could come out. He didn't think about how much the war would take from him, he didn't think that he would have to take human interaction to a stop, but he understood if he didn't help then he wouldn't have any humans to know. Adrik just shut his mouth and went back to looking at the table.
When Hades walked in Persephone found her place at his side. That's how it always was, they were together as long as Hades wasn't off killing someone. They spoke for a moment and Adrik just sat there, awkwardly.
"I'll help, with the fighting" he said, Adrik wasn't very confrontational, but Adrik knew that Apollo was, at least marginally more than Adrik. "I mean, I can shoot some arrows, that would count for something" he said, and gave a smile. the thought of winning didn't even cross his mind.

Dionysus rolled his eyes at Ares and then chuckled when he looked at him and said."Except you, your still just an ass."."I can handle that I suppose. Been called much worse." He flashed a grin and then chuckled when Persephone stuck her tongue out at him."Don't go wagging that little thing my dear little flower, not unless you intend to use it of course!" It was of course a innuendo and he figured either Hades, Demeter, or Persephone herself would yell at him but at the moment he didn't care quite so much.

"Oh! Is this where Uncle Sam comes out and says "WE WANT YOU!". He stood up in his chair and then pointed towards Persephone wagging his eyebrows."Oh well...I might as well jump on the band wagon. I however refuse to wear a UNIFORM! " He flashed another grin towards his fellow Immortals and then sat back down in his chair.

He waved his hand once and on the table appeared a goblet filled with wine. He quickly grabbed it and took a large gulp."I think as a plan...we take Persephone, dress her in rather revealing clothing, give her kegs of wine, and then have her get the Titans drunk. It's a perfect plan! Foolproof of course. What do you say about that little flower hmmm?"

He did enjoy teasing the woman, and he even more so liked teasing the rest of the Gods. Except Hera. She scared the shit out of him.

Zeus & Hades – Brandon Stone & Dmitri Ruslan

Pegasus Manor

As a few of his children announced their roles in the war, the dark figure of a certain god appeared before the table, causing Zeus’s upper lip to twist upward in abhorrence. “Hades,” he hissed. If Persephone hadn’t happily rushed over to wrap her arms about the god, he might have launched across the room to tear him to pieces!

Dmitri smiled softly turning toward his wife as the delicate flower prodded at him in a light scolding. She tried to glower at him, but her soft and pleasant features came off as a pout that sent the mafia boss’s lips, cocking to the side in amusement. Willow didn’t have the face for anger. She was a rose, beautiful yet if not careful, could prick and make one bleed. When she flung her arms around him, Dmitri embraced her about the small of her back, holding her warmly. He whispered back, “And I you.”

Willow then thrust her tongue like a spear toward Dionysus, and Dmitri’s eyes sailed across the room to the party god who was leaping to his feet in his seat and clamoring as loud as a drunk. After taking in his words, he had better been in an intoxicated stupor.

Brandon’s fist came down like a hammer upon the banquet table as he snapped, “Enough!” His feral eyes darted to Dionysus. “If you can’t take this meeting seriously, then GET OUT!” They then flicked to Willow as he demanded, “Persephone; not now. Hades and I have much to discuss as I am sure everyone is wondering why we were pulled into a war.”

The ceiling lamps flickered and Brandon’s face was red with growing aggravation. Dmitri glanced down to Willow and kissed the corner of her lips before ushering her aside to give them space as he needed to converse with The Father of the Gods. He slipped his right hand into his pants pocket as his left lolled at his side. Tilting his head to the side, he asked, “What does my little brother desire?”

There was a flash as the lamps throughout the banquet room lit so brightly the entire room had become white. Dmitri, even with his sunglasses on, squint his eyes from the glare until his head snapped to the side. Brandon’s fist had collided with his jaw, the force making the mafia boss’s sunglasses nearly fly off his face as its legs still stubbornly clung to his ears. The god’s fist met his face with a clap of thunder that sent Dmitri flying across the room. His back slammed into the far wall as it cracked upon his impact and his teeth clinched into a grin as a dribble of mortal blood spilled free from the corner of his lip.

Brandon’s strength had not weakened over the years as he marched across the room toward Dmitri and grasped him by the lapels of his suit, easily lifting the mafia boss until he was two feet above him. His knuckles were beneath his chin, forcing Dmitri to raise it slightly upwards as his hazel eyes stared down at the god with eyes gleaming with excitement.

“You wonder what started the war,” Dmitri began with a chuckle. “Your temper is hardly unlike my own and Ares.”

Brandon’s eyelids suddenly softened as his muscles grew weak and almost numb. His strength was leaving him as he lowered Dmitri and slowly lowered to his knees. Dmitri now stood before the kneeling god, running his hands over his suit and frowning at the wrinkles left by his brother’s herculean grip. His eyes lowered to the businessman as he wiped the blood from his chin with the back of his hand.

“The Titan interrupted the lunch between I and my wife. The war started when the enemy strode into the restaurant and not only attempted to lull her away from me with words. He mesmerized one of the mortals, forcing me to kill him.”

Brandon clinched his eyes tightly as he continued to feel the drain on his body. It felt as though every pain receptor in his flesh were screaming. “You killed a mortal?”

Dmitri sneered. “I had to do what had to be done. I have killed many mortals and so has Ares, all of which you wished for us rid you of. The mortal was mesmerized to kill every single being within the restaurant if I was to lay a hand on the Titan. It was either Coeus or my wife.” His dark brows then furrowed with malice. “And Persephone is mine!”

Dmitri swung his right leg and the bridge of his foot smashed against Brandon’s face, knocking the god backwards as he slid across the floor upon his back and stopped half way before reaching the table. The mafia boss strode toward his downed form as Brandon was rising to his knees, narrowing his eyes as he felt his energy rushing back to him now that he was no longer near Hades.

Dmitri looped his arm about Brandon’s neck and locked it. Brandon felt his jugular being squeezed within the crook of Hades’s arm. As his arm curled, the muscles of his bicep and forearm slowly crushed Brandon’s throat like steel nutcrackers. The brothers were locked in a wrestling match. To the other gods, seeing their father and uncle rough house might have seemed like a serious brawl, but none had the intention to take the life of the other as they relished more the other submitting or losing over all.

Brandon’s eyes watered and his left hand grasped Dmitri’s elbow as he tried to pry his arm free but his full strength had yet to return. He made a motion to elbow Dmitri in the stomach with his right elbow, but Dmitri had caught the elbow in his palm and spoke sympathetically, “Looks like your mortal skin lacks the abilities to defend himself. How about you let me take my wife and continue your little meeting, My Dear Brother.”

The god was growing tired of the few gods within the room not taking the conference seriously. His brown eyes faded into white as lightning began to leap from them, popping at the air. His left hand moved from Dmitri’s elbow to slide back the mafia boss’s sleeve as flesh made contact with flesh. At that moment, Dmitri’s brows lifted in dread as he felt his spirit sink within his chest. Brandon flashed a triumphant grin over his shoulder as lightning then flooded Dmitri’s body. The mafia boss lit up like a Christmas tree, and a tortured scream rang throughout the banquet hall.

When he felt his brother had had enough, Brandon removed his hand from Dmitri’s wrist as his arm slid free of Brandon’s neck. His body fumed with burnt smoke. His sunglasses had melted off his face, his suit singed, and hair gave off a roasted odor. The mafia boss staggered backwards and collapsed upon his side as he gazed across the floor, his body still trembling from the remaining volts that passed through it. He refused to admit that he had lost for if he had been provoked any further, he might have actually attempted to kill Zeus.

Brandon lowered his hand as strings of lightning raced along his fingers and up his arms before they were absorbed back into his being. He turned his back to Dmitri and pointed a finger to Persephone as he ordered—just in case she made a motion to—“Don’t touch him!” He strode toward the table and rested his hands upon it as he declared, “I don’t know what to say to you, Hades. You killed a mortal and destroyed a Titan out of fear that he might have taken or harmed Persephone? Did the Titan make any motion to harm my daughter? Did you demand that he leave or else?”

Dmitri laughed, “Are you serious? Ask a Titan to leave? This is a war!”

Brandon angrily whirled around, “It just became a war!”

“It was always a war, you fool! I won’t risk the life of my wife for you or for anyone. She is MINE!” Dmitri bore his teeth as he painfully rose to his knees and roared at all the gods, especially Demeter, “All of you get that through your fucking heads. She is MY wife! No one will lay a hand on her, speak ill of her, threaten to touch or harm her in any way around me. NO ONE!”

“Then for the safety of my children and my siblings, you will not partake in this war.”

“WHAT?”

“You will be bound to your throne in The Underworld until the war is over, and Persephone shall stay in the manor in the care and protection of her mother and the other gods.”

“And when will this war end? Months? Years? I have two months left. Based on our agreement she is to remain with me!”

“I do not know when this war will end. It may not end for several years, but until it does, Persephone shall remain here.”

“How dare you go against our agreement…she is safer with me. Didn’t I kill the Titan? No other mortals were harmed though they could have been if Coeus didn’t die…”

“We don’t know that for certain. The Titan may have only provoked you to do what he had intended for you to do.”

“The war has begun. You need me and my minions. You need my strength as you did in the first Titanomachy. You cannot win this without Hades. Not without the God of the Underworld!”

Brandon then frowned, speaking no more on his decision. He gazed over his shoulder at the other gods and queried, “You have heard my conviction for my brother. If any object, speak now; but if there are not enough objections, then Hades shall be sentenced to remain in The Underworld for the duration of the war, and Persephone shall remain in our care.”

Everything happened so fast; from blinding light protruding insanely everywhere to the trial and fight between Zeus and Hades. Anette looked in total shock as she witness the whole scene from start to finish. Hades was in the lead but Zeus instantly knocked him back to the ground, obliterating all hopes for Hades to overcome his younger brother in the massive brawl.

As the whole ordeal came to a close, Hades laid sprawled on the floor in much supernatural agonizing pain, feeling much defeated or so it looked. When Zeus announced that Hades was suspended to the Underworld and not to fight along side with the other gods, Hades' heart immediately sunk. His heart sunk even lower when Zeus forbade Hades to go any where near Persephone until the war was sometime finished or passed over.

Anette started to feel a little remorseful for Hades even though she was still highly furious at him. It was fallacious enough that he had to be on punishment throughout the rest of the war but did her father, Zeus, had to prehend Persephone away from him just like that? Anette shook her head in shame as she watched Hades beg and plead to have Persephone for himself but Zeus embedded his mighty foot down and wouldn't have any of it. Zeus remained with his decision and it was either his way or no way at all.

Anette knew that Demeter was going to be highly jovial about Zeus' choice and would mostly thank him to death later on but Persephone would be mostly upset about it and probably wouldn't even speak with Zeus for a while. The meeting was beginning to adjourn and Anette still didn't have any complaints or regards about the whole procedure that everyone was set out to do pertaining to the fated animosity engagement with the Titans.

"Father, I'm with you on the punishment upon uncle Hades but why must you go to extremes and break the married couple apart? Please don't do it over personal issues just because of your unruly anger and impertinent impatience got the best of you. Have mercy!", Anette pleaded loudly while everybody else continued to be either vexatiously mortified or have pleads for or against Zeus' decision.

Will everybody appeal to Zeus' arbitration or will some of them object to his hearing?

Persephone could only watch in horror as her husband, her strong and dark husband's screams echoed through the Manor.She had moved away from Hades when he had told her to but she instantly regretted it when she saw what her father was doing to him. Her heart seemed to stop completely when her father spoke those dreaded words.The awful conversation she was forced to listen to between her husband and her father."“You will be bound to your throne in The Underworld until the war is over, and Persephone shall stay in the manor in the care and protection of her mother and the other gods.”

“And when will this war end? Months? Years? I have two months left. Based on our agreement she is to remain with me!”

“I do not know when this war will end. It may not end for several years, but until it does, Persephone shall remain here.”

“How dare you go against our agreement…she is safer with me. Didn’t I kill the Titan? No other mortals were harmed though they could have been if Coeus didn’t die…”

“We don’t know that for certain. The Titan may have only provoked you to do what he had intended for you to do.”

“The war has begun. You need me and my minions. You need my strength as you did in the first Titanomachy. You cannot win this without Hades. Not without the God of the Underworld!”

Persephone sank to the ground, having barely any words to speak but only small sobs. Her father would tear her away from the man she loved as a punishment?

She placed her pale hands on the floor, palms facing down and looked up at her father with tears once again falling down her angelic face."This....is your punishment for him? Did you ever think....how much this would wound me? How much sorrow I would endure while being away from the man I have loved for centuries?!"

She stood up wobbly and then turned to address all the Gods, her emerald eyes so filled with tears it became more difficult to see. " Mother, Aphrodite, Ares, and all of you. I love this man to my very core. There is no one else I can imagine spending..an..an Immortal life with!" She crossed her arms and clutched herself as the tears still continued to pour.

She turned towards Zeus and wiped the tears from her eyes and face."You who I have called Father, you who have given me life. I am the most disappointed with you. Hades is not a perfect man NOR GOD BUT NEITHER ARE YOU!."

Persephone's eyes momentarily lost their angelic gleam as anger took over her."I am done here. You can tell Hermes or one of the others to come get me when you have made your decision "Father"." She spat out the word and then her eye softened when she turned to look at her husband."No matter what our family decides, my thoughts and my heart will always revolve around you." She nodded her head towards him and then turned to give a small smile towards the rest of the Gods and her mother."I will see you all later..."

Persephone's body seemed to shake slightly and the scent of spring flowers began to swirl around the room, and within seconds she had disappeared.

Minutes Later

Persephone had managed to successfully transport herself to beach and was now laying down on the sand in her rather expensive Marc Jacobs dress, not caring at the moment about anything other then what had just happened at the manor. She sighed and sat up wrapping her arms around her knees and hiding her face."I wonder what everyone's choice will be...."

Dionysus watched the whole Pay Per View show with his arms crossed and his eyes wide.He was about to grab some popcorn when he saw that Persephone was now weeping on the floor and his heart sank. Sure he was a complete asshole a lot of the time but he was pretty sure only a person with a heart of stone wasn't going to be affected by the Goddess's crying like that. He had never actually knew she loved him that much, especially since he technically kidnapped her all those years ago.

He watched as Persephone shimmered out of the Manor and then stood up deciding that now was the time to become slightly more serious."To start off, Hades I fucking hate your existence. HOWEVER! You do protect your wife, and seem to...love her as much as that thought sickens me, I don't like..to...see her sad." He turned away so no one could see the almost sad expression on his usually bright and cheerful face.

"So I vote to overrule Dad's little punishment, and allow the two lovebirds to stay together. Whether it's the Underworld or Earth, I mean come on Dad think about it. You, Poseidon, and Hades are pretty much the main people we need to kill the Titans right? What the hell are Hera, Persephone, Hestia, and I going to do? Want me to throw grapes at them? Want Hera to make them get some marital issues? Or perhaps have our dear Persephone throw some flowers? No, we need the more po...powerful Gods involved."

This was probably the first more serious discussion Dionysus had been in since being awake from their slumber."So you got my vote Mr. Lighting Bolt Man." He turned to the other Gods and Goddesses' and held up his hands."What are your votes then? By the way any volunteers for going to find our little Goddess? Since y'know I'm pretty sure she's on the verge of a panic attack.."

Ares was enjoying the bout of his Uncle and Dad.espescially when Hades got the upper hand, but then Zues decided to pull a dick move and fry him. The scowl that appeared when Zeus came in, reappeared tenfold when he announce his desicion to suspend Hades. Persephone was horrified by this and implored Zeus to reconsider, and at last saw the truth of their "Father's" nature. Even Dionysus the family duche sidded with her and against Zeus.

If one thought Ares was angry before, it compared little to the infuration he felt now. "You want my vote? Here it is." The God of War strode over to "Brandon" and the next thing he was about to do was without a doubt, the most incomprehensible, audatious, and probably thick headed thing he had ever done. He with little mercy, promptly bashed his sheild against his skull with enough force to send him across the room, of course the only reason he could do so was because it was completely unexpected, other wise the results would be far less dramatic.

His voice became the most venomous, hatful tone he had ever spoken in,"You...single minded, petty, undeserving, weak minded waste if existence! I have my complaints about the others but you...its things like this that make me hate you the most. Its just like with Prometheus! You claim to be the wisest and a true leader to us, yet you still continue to prove other wise. I not only vote against your ruling, but I also call into question your right to lead us.

How can a god who can't even control his loins lead us? To pretend otherwise is an insult! If Hades is to be banished then I will not fight, not for you, I believe the wrong god was assigned to Olympus. I do not fear you, or your wrath, if you wish to test your feebleness against more of your kin then go right ahead. I now understand why Cronos loathes you!"

Audatious.

Life changing.

Shear gall.

Zeus – Brandon Stone

Pegasus Manor

Brandon didn’t even regard his son Ares, when the god chimed to have a say on the situation. When he came around to stand by his side, his son attacked him and his shield rang upon impact with the god’s cranium. Brandon was dropped to his knees and he slapped his left hand upon the floor as his right brushed over the spot where he had been struck. Ares was hardly unpredictable when it came to any sort of violence, but he hadn’t expected his son to dare attack him. He wasn’t going to provoke him, knowing Ares was a special case, and unlike Hades, would not be able to stop once someone excited him to fight.

Brandon slowly rose, and as he did, his mortal flesh was shed as the towering form of the father stood to his sandaled feet with hair as white as clouds and skin gently aglow with his divine radiance. Zeus faced Ares with a deep frown on his face, his eyes comprised of electricity, flickering within his sockets. “You, Ares, are one of my most foolish and ignorant of sons. You would claim to know the meaning of the cosmos without having been created during that time. I am ruler of the gods because The Fates had made it so. I, too, am not perfect, but I take care of all my children. If there is one thing that I have seen while living as a mortal is that there are mortal men who sprout children all over and raise none.”

Zeus held his hand out to the other gods. “Have I not taken care of all of you? My children are the reason why there is still a world today. So hold your tongue when you dare curse my loins or my reasons for it is all determined by The Fates!”

“I am a judge, and I will not allow a crime to go unpunished. There are three objections and two for. I await the decisions of all of you, and as for Ares…if you so believe that my father Cronus is a better ruler than I, then go join him. If you plan to betray me or your family at the end of this war for your words are treacherous, then be a traitor now and not later. I would rather see my son’s true skin here and now! Cronus devoured my brothers and sisters when they were just babes out of fear that one of us would be king. Your uncles and aunts would not dare prefer Cronus over me. He is a monster, and if you’d rather him, then so be it! I will not allow this war to continue amongst my kin anymore!”

"At least for once you admit your faults!" The audacity had yet to ceace, after all this time the straws on his back had officially broken it. He called his spear to him which flew into his hand booming as he struck it to the ground,"I side not with Cronos, I only understand his hatred for you, he is a monster and I will slay him by myself if I have to. But I will not do so under your banner with this desicion you're making. You taught me to fight and that is all, you left us all to ourselves and popped in every once in a while when it was conveinent."

Ares had one more statement to make, "If there is one thing that I have learned from the mortals its that Fate is in our own hands, and I shall forge my own destiny, instead of blindly following a petty god and the words of shrivled old women. I was ignorant once, but now my eyes are open and so are Persephone's and Hades, Aphrodite, and even Dionysus! So damn you, damn Cronos and damn the Fates. The mortals are better then you are or I. Should this decision go through look not to me to save you from Cronos' mouth."

And with those last blasphemous words Ares dissapeared from the manor, leaving behind either a crowd of awe or anger.

Anette watched her father, Zeus, be struck to the ground momentarily by Ares' heavy shield. She jumped up from her seat and was about to walk at her father's side to help assist him but stopped when he got up and tarried tiresomely back over to the head of the table. Anette couldn't say anything but listened to the conversation Ares and Zeus were arguing about.

After Ares said his last, meaningful and regretful words, he flashed out of existence and left the others to contemplate about their own decisions and well beings. Anette turned her heavy exhausted head back to Zeus, "I really have nothing more to say....But one person who taught me very well on how to forgive and love with all of my heart was my....sweet beautiful most dear mother.....I remember that now....".

Anette tried not to let tears convey themselves to anyone as she wanted to remain strong-minded in any situations that held tearjerking moments. Anette had enough and needed time by herself in her room so she straightened herself out and scanned her now disturbed dark lavender eyes at the remaining gods and goddesses, "May hope beautifully come our way and peace, which is the brilliant light, will magnificently stay....", she added as she faded out of existence with shimmers of pink and platinum sweet smelling sparkles of radiant luster.

He casually strode, equipped with a backpack in his unassuming form avoiding contact as he made his way through the underbelly of the building that most people never see, only its employees. The walls were lined with pipes and insulated wires; the veins of the building. His face grew a familiar devilish smile as he slinked into a restricted area, two men in staff uniform were there, and when they noticed him they were taken aback by the presence of non-personnel.

One opened his mouth to state the obvious, “Um sir you’re not supposed to be-” In less time then they could perceive and react Cronos unveiled a silenced pistol, not his weapon of choice mind you, but he was here for business first and pleasure later. He smacked his lips in a rhythm one would recognize as “Shave and a Haircut” and proceeded into the restricted chamber. There another staff member was there and of course at the sight of the man he uttered “What-” before a bullet penetrated his lower left leg.

He predictably howled in agony and attempted to reach for his radio, but Cronos was quick to remove it from him and destroy it. The madman unsheathed his knife and grasped the face of the staff member as he mumbled in fear and disbelief under his hand. Cronos made shushing sounds at him as if it would comfort him, “Don’t worry I won’t be cruel, I’d just like to get to know you. Tell me, what is your name?” His voice was honeyed and almost affectionate, but when the man was hesitant to answer he venomously shouted, “YOUR NAME!”

Feebly the hostage responded, “D-David Miles Sir.” David had never considered the possibility of a psychopath ever coming into contact with him; this was just a regular day job there was no reason for anyone with any history to be here.

But Cronos didn’t need a reason.

“Tell me David,” his tone was honeyed once more, “what do you fear most, and don’t say it’s me I’ve heard that one a million times.” No exaggeration.

David was still much paralyzed to speak, but not wishing to test his assailant’s patience he managed, “N-Never seeing my wife and daughters again.”

Cronos smiled at him, “Ah yes, another family man, in that case you have little to fear.”
A feeling of relief began to well within David, maybe this man had some sort of decency though warped they may be. But such feelings left him when Cronos raised the knife and said continuing his honeyed tone, “They won’t miss you for long.”

David’s eyes were the size of dinner plates as he faced his mortality, “Wait! Please, my family needs me-” Cronos was deaf to his pleas as he punctured David’s abdomen mercilessly and in repetition, “Please stop…don’t do this…” David’s breath left him as Cronos carved though his flesh, tears pouring from its origin glands as regret for never completing his plans in life settled in his mind, and eventually he simply ceased to move.

Cronos removed the knife from David’s body and did a quick taste of the fluids present on it. Sheathing the weapon, the mad Titan unequipped his backpack and brought out its contents. It wouldn’t take an expert to determine the object as such a device was usually not very subtle considering the size.

An explosive, one of many Cronos had placed all over the city, sure doing it all himself took what many would consider to be forever the Titan did have all of the time in the world. He alone knew of their existence, and he alone possessed the detonator, meaning that at his leisure… that is to say when his Titan brethren were ready.

The city would be engulfed in flames and chaos. All explosives cleverly placed at a great number of response centers and traffic junctions, inhibiting peoples’ ability to fend for themselves. The ensuing panic would be ripe and he could already hear their cries of anguish and despair. The Olympians would have no choice but to respond and in full force on his terms.

Glorious.

After setting the device the Titan took out his phone planning on making a call and “removing the evidence” soon after. As he waited the call to go through he vibrated his lips and hummed, effectively trumpeting a song one would recognize as “Camptown Races”. Growing impatient he muttered, “C’mon Iapetus pickup, pickup pickup.”

Zeus & Hades – Brandon Stone & Dmitri Ruslan

Pegasus Manor

Dmitri coughed raggedly as the smoke from his clothes pungently filled his nostrils. He had watched the dispute between his brother and his ungrateful son. Patting his hands across his knees, the mafia boss straightened as he gazed sympathetically at Zeus. He might have been King of the Gods, but he was still his little brother. Dmitri could tell how upset he was even through his hard, masking exterior. He didn’t think that he was on trial anymore.

“Your children have turned their backs on you,” Dmitri obviously noted. “They know nothing of your prowess. You might be terribly annoying at times, but you are still Zeus. That is what the Fates said you would be.”

Dmitri turned his back to Zeus and reached his hand inside his suit, pulling free a new pair of sunglasses that he slid onto his face. “Do not try to win back their faith. Wars are not won that way. As you said before, everything is going as planned. Protect your children and win the war. I’ll do my part as usual.”

Zeus watched Dmitri in silence. Had he over-reacted? He had desired for his siblings not to fight and war, but they were still torn apart. There was nothing he could do to stop it. Zeus closed his eyes before he announced quietly, “This meeting’s adjourned.” Everyone was worried and perhaps afraid of what the future held. He shrank back to Brandon Stone and left the banquet hall to seek solitude in his room.

Hades – Dmitri Ruslan

The Beach

Bernard opened the door for his boss. Dmitri stepped from the black Ford, folding the collar of his shirt. For once, he hadn’t been wearing a suit. On the ride over to the beach, he had changed his clothes to something more casual and not too cheap to make him feel low-class. He had gone through three, expensive suits in one day. They weren’t Armani, but they were still phenomenally expensive.

The salty, ocean breeze caressed his cheeks and made his clothes flag as he gazed upon his lotus seated upon the shore. He smiled with slight anticipation. He had every intention to surprise her. “How do I look?” Dmitri asked Bernard haphazardly.

Bernard blinked in surprise. The god’s question had caught him off guard. It wasn’t an unexpected question, but it seemed worrisome. “Excellent as always, Sir,” the chauffeur replied. He then walked to the passenger side of the car to procure the bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon and two tulip glasses. He returned to Dmitri, offering the dark bottle to Dmitri like a goose, and then the two glasses.

Dmitri smirked and muttered as he took the bottle and wine glasses from the chauffeur, “Ass-kissing answer as usual,” before he walked around the metal rail to the cement steps that would take him down to the sand bank.

Bernard merely returned a smirk as he watched his boss stride down the sand bank.

The sand hushed his steps and the thundering waves and hiss of the sea foam silenced his approach. The weather felt cool against his white, button-up shirt. Burgundy khakis clung to his hips suspended by a black leather belt and leather sandals held to his feet. Dmitri stopped behind Willow and took a seat behind her, stretching his legs out to her left and right as he leaned forward to rest his chest against her back. He wrapped his arms around her as the spice of his cologne gently wafted about them, mingling with her sweet, honeysuckle aroma. His cheek rested against her own, the light stubble prickling her soft skin as he rested his chin upon her shoulder, the wine glasses and bottle visible for her to see.

“Where were we?” he spoke quietly, a smile curling at his lips.

Persephone smiled as she felt the familiar security and warmth of her husband wrapping his arms around her. "Where were we?"His smooth voice had said into her ears causing a small shiver of delight to spread across her body. She turned her head slowly to look at him and then smiled.

"I'm assuming by you following me, Father has let go of that ridiculous punishment?" She wasn't about to let him answer, but instead pressed her soft lips against his own.

She pulled back after a few seconds and then closed her eyes, grabbing his hand and gently holding it in her own."We are Gods and yet we bicker like unruly children. We demand respect and yet we act as we like, doing whatever we please." She let out a deep sigh and then moved her body backwards, closer against his firm and warm chest.


The smell of the ocean , the warm feeling of the sun on her skin, and her Mother's embrace. Those were the things she had cherished above all else when she came to Earth." I do not know whether to stay on Earth or to go back to the Underworld and avoid all of this, because even now I feel weakened.

I am not used to being on Earth during the time I should be in the Underworld. I can feel my strength leaking out of every pore on my body." She turned her gaze towards the ocean and smiled." So what will we do my love? Will we stay on Earth or shall we go back home?"

Hades – Dmitri Ruslan

The Beach

I'm assuming by you following me, Father has let go of that ridiculous punishment?

Dmitri had parted his lips to reply when she quickly turned and pressed her lips against his own. As their kiss broke with a soft smack, he couldn’t help but smile for she aroused him so greatly. She was so sneaky. He eased back like a recliner for her and set the wine glasses carefully upon the sand so no grains dumped within their bowls. He traced circles upon the back of her hand with his thumb as he listened to her words.

So what will we do my love? Will we stay on Earth or shall we go back home?

He set down the Cabernet and lifted his fingers to stroke her wheat strands behind her ear, and then caressed the side of her neck. “I can take you back to The Underworld if you wish. You will be safe there, but I must help my brother and his children in the war. The armies of The Underworld are crucial in this fight if it is to ever conclude. The Titans know that you are my weakness. I cannot fathom anything happening to you. If you were to be killed…” His eyes trembled and pupils shrank at the thought. “I would go insane. You are my sanity for my rage would set the world ablaze.”

Holding her hair away from her neck, he gently placed kisses along the side of it as his embrace became firm, crossing her arms against her chest as he massaged his fingers into her forearms and wrists.

Adrik's unusual silence stopped when Zeus left the room. A small grimace was plastered on his face. "Well" he started off, slowly rising from his chair. "This is it I guess. I mean. its starting. this war is actually going to continue" he said, standing, the table oddly high because it was made for gods, not gods in human form. He thought of all the human casualties, all the lives, as insignificant as some may be, and shrugged. The anti-climactic reaction was his way of showing he understood. he knew that he wouldn't be able to see all the humans he'd gotten to know over all the years, some of them would probably die, if not all of them if they didn't win this war.
"You know, fuck this" he said, leaning forward, putting his hands on the table. "I mean, I get that we have to do this, but god dammit, let me whine" he said, but didn't continue. "I'm gonna go find a party and get as drunk as I can" he said quietly with a smirk and shrug. "Come with me" he said, to all of them, even though he knew none of them would. Adrik slumped out of the room, not even waiting for any of them to reply, already feeling guilty about whining. He went to his room quickly, and changed. He switched out his triforce shirt for an Arctic Monkeys band shirt. He kept the same tight jeans he wore through most of the day, plus the teal hoodie. He slipped on black vans and started for the door of his room. He reached for the handle, but hesitated. He went back to his closet and pulled his messenger bag out from the back. He filled it with what he felt was necessary. It had the usuals, money, his ipod, along with other miscellaneous objects.
He grabbed the pair of drumsticks that were always on his bedside table. He looked at them for a moment and they started to grow. He smiled faintly and watched them extend. They shined brightly, and one started to curve, a string reaching from the top to the bottom of it, made from weaved gold. Adrik had no idea how the gold was elastic, but it worked for him. The drumsticks turned into a golden bow and quiver. they shined dully and he felt powerful with them in his hands. He willed them to go turn back into drumsticks and they changed quickly. He threw the drumsticks in the bottom of his messenger bag and left his room.
"If anyone's coming hurry up" he said, at the door of the mansion, he quickly slipped out the door.

Fully rested in her room, Anette, or should we now call her, Aphrodite rose up gracefully from her luxurious silk pink heart-shaped four-poster bed, feeling relaxed and rejuvenated from her recent ordeal pertaining to the "brutally harsh" conference between the gods and Zeus. She sat up in all her ethereal beautiful glory and leaned her delicate back against the headboard as her sliver glittery lavender irises took in her modern-styled bedroom wholeheartedly.

Aphrodite needed some nap time, or her infamous "beauty rest", after dealing arduously with her temperamental family. The meeting took a lot out of her and she needed to get away from the tensions that were sparking around the dining room table. She still had to converse with Athena one-on-one and made a memo of it, making sure that she was going to catch up with her later on when she had more "convenient" time. Aphrodite sidled out of bed and got up with much poise and finesse.

Everything she did had much grace and agility that she integrated in her daily life; never in a day did she let that strong character of confidence lapse on her. In her victorian-styled bathroom, after taking off her silk pale pink short length robe and letting her long platinum blond hair down from being tied up in a white ribbon that it was confined in, Aphrodite slipped into the platinum-crowned porcelain hot tub, breathing shallow heavy tranquil breaths, "Now this is more like it....", she murmured as she let the steam of water open up her soft pores skin.

Before she could hum a silent tune to herself, a dull flash of light shot down from the ceiling with a sheen of white luster. Aphrodite rose a delicate arched eyebrow as she now looked in her long time devoted follower Eros' face. He smiled at her warmly and couldn't help but chuckle momentarily, "Well if it isn't my most humble bubbly servant. How are you, my dear Eros?", she languidly mentioned him as her slender french manicured hands smoothed warm soapy fragrant water over her white creamy skinned arms.

"Most fair and gorgeous goddess, I am completely fine and goes for the same with the temple goers in Cythera. I heard everything that is going on between the gods and the Titans; it's very ashame that it has happened without full warning....", Eros affirmed to Aphrodite as he sat gently next to her hot tub. Aphrodite half smiled, "That is very good that you and everyone in Cyprus are doing well. But alas, your prediction is all too true; the war has increasingly waged on and it's now turned for the worse. I'm at my wit's end about this", she replied, frustrated that she still didn't have a definite plan that might help end the bloody engagement between the brutal rivals.

Eros shook his head in shame and tried to make light of the situation, "Don't worry your pretty little head so much, my most dear goddess, just worry about what you can do to help your family keep safe". Eros was painfully right and Aphrodite couldn't blame him for it but she still wanted to help out as best as she could with all her might instead of siting in the background, not taking immediate action. But what could she do to help stop the war all together?

Aphrodite nodded an agreement with Eros' advice, "Your right.....I just hope this war will finally cease soon....", she trailed off slipping her wavy platinum blond head beneath the lukewarm water. Eros giggled again as he waved his pearly white hands over Aphrodite's bathtub, creating white rose petals to rain softly all over it.

(OOC: This is going to be a really short post. My apologies, but I don't really have that much to work with and too little time has passed since my last post IC.)

After sending off an explanatory email to Wendy, along with some recommendations as to going about spreading the word of former Congressman Hanson's "grand reentry" into the public view, Iapetus stood on the roof of the Typhoon Hotel. He stared off across the city, not for the purpose of actually trying to see what the Olympians were doing (as the Titan had no knowledge of their location, nor would he actually be able to see the Olympians from this distance), but to gauge the subtle reactions of the environment around them. Such was the price they payed for being the lords of the earth: their domain tended to betray feelings comparatively easily (at least easy compared to the impossibility of such a thing).The air bristled with the feeling of dissent among their ranks, but the whole thing was a difficult process, and required the utmost concentration to pick up anything apart from the strongest, most extreme feelings...

Which of course, meant that it was the perfect time for Gregor's cell phone to go off. Very much annoyed by the disruption of his activity, Iapetus answered the phone, only to hear his lord and brother on the other end of the line. With a touch of sarcasm, the Lord of the West responded:

"You know Cronus, most of us only pretend to use these things... To what do I owe the honor of your call, since we both know this isn't about Coeus."

Athena left the dinner table as Zeus announced "This meeting’s adjourned". She felt very uneasy about this situation.. they hadn't even planned carefully a strategy. She went back to her room aware that she was late for her part time job at the lawyer's office. Not that it was important now with an upcoming war. As she entered her room, she held up her spear to the ceiling. It would be time to use it once again to fight for the greater good.
She lowered the spear somewhat disappointed at how the Gods had turned out. There was a lacking in unity which made them weaker compared to the years before. She frowned somewhat craddling the spear. They still had a good chance of winning this war against the Titans although they weren't sure what was in store for them. The Titans were too few compared to the number of Gods and Goddesses. Fighting alongside Ares would be a pain in the arse.. She couldn't help but think.

Her thoughts drifted back to the meeting as she placed her spear back into its glass case. She had noticed Aphrodite stare in her direction a few times. Was there something she wanted to ask me about...?

Persephone merely smiled under her husbands strong embrace, savoring the feeling of his warm arms around her."I suppose I could go back to the Underworld, for I surely doubt I would be much use here." She looked down at the sand beneath their feet and sighed."I do wish I had been born as Artemis, or even Athena. Not some silly Goddess who can create flowers and such!"

She was Queen of the Underworld and had received powers merely from that title, but surprisingly she only used them when she was in a very awful mood. In fact the only time she seemed to use it is when Hades looks and grins had attracted human girl to bat their eyelashes at him and seduce him. Persephone chuckled at the thought of what she would do to them and then shook her head before twisting her body around and jumping on top of him.


"Will you visit me often if I go back to the Underworld? I will be even more lonely without you there....."She pouted slightly and then rested her right ear to where his heart was."Charon isn't exactly the best conversationalist I've met, and Cerberus isn't the kind of dog I can have cuddle up in bed with me when your not there.."

Hades – Dmitri Ruslan

The Beach

Dmitri stilled his lips as he listened to her woes. "If you had been born Artemis or Athena, I wouldn't be in love with you," he informed. "You are beautiful and that trait is dangerous in itself."

His arms loosened when he felt Willow twisting around to face him and smirked softly when she pounced upon him. Dmitri almost fell back across the sand as his arms locked about the small of her back. "I will visit you and sleep with you [nonsexual of course] every night when my work is done. You should visit the manor when you're bored. You always seemed to like Artemis and Aphrodite, and your hag of a mother."

"Are you hungry?" he questioned. As soon as the mafia boss had asked such a question, Bernard walked from behind him to lower a bag from the New York Bistro. Within it were wrapped deli sandwiches, with homemade chips, and cheesecakes for dessert. Dmitri took the bag and frowned in slight disappointment. "It's not Giovanni's, but it’s not fast-food either." He glanced up to the chauffeur. "If you had brought me McDonalds, you'd be fired and your soul mended into a carpet for the steps of my throne."

Bernard smirked as he jested, "I was at the counter about to order off the Dollar Menu, and then I remembered those exact words, Sir." The chauffer walked off, feeling accomplished for having made his boss smile. It wasn't an easy task, and in fact, he felt as though he were playing with his very life. Dmitri knew he had, which was what made it funny—in a dark way.

Dmitri lowered the bag to Persephone to allow her to dig through it and pick what she liked.