Chapter 223: A Place for Monsters

Chapter 223: Chapter 223: A Place for Monsters

Olympus

Yeah... I’m definitely not a fan of this.

That was the thought running through the Goddess of Wisdom’s mind as she stood with her arms crossed, looking at the enormous pale-skinned woman sitting on the other side of the hall. Even knowing who she was, it was still strange to connect that human appearance with the immense creature she remembered from more than four thousand years ago.

Typhon...

Just thinking about the name sent chills through Athena, and it certainly didn’t bring back any pleasant memories.

The stories of the mortal world presented that battle as one of the greatest victories of the Olympians, mostly portraying Zeus as the one who ultimately defeated Typhon. Athena had always found that version amusing for the simple reason that she knew the reality of the beating Typhon had given them. Sure, they had fought and given everything they had, but it hadn’t been remotely enough to stop the King of Monsters... or Queen, rather, Athena corrected herself mentally.

Zeus in particular had received a brutal beating, one that the former God of Thunder had made sure no one dared to even mention afterward. Talking about those dark moments for the Olympians, especially in Zeus’s presence, had never been a good idea.

Athena honestly didn’t blame her father. Even she had felt extremely embarrassed back then. It had happened during a time when the Olympian deities were at their peak, convinced they were practically the rulers of the world, only to receive a harsh dose of reality that taught them something rather humiliating: compared to existences like Typhon, they were nothing more than ants.

If Hades hadn’t eventually intervened when the battle reached its worst point, Athena wasn’t sure what would have become of the Greek pantheon. Her uncle had been the difference needed to turn a battle that until then had seemed lost and, as usual, his name was barely mentioned. In fact, in the version told by mortals, Hades hadn’t even taken part in the battle.

That left a bitter taste in Athena’s mouth, especially now that she had gained a very different perspective on many things thanks to Damon.

Athena slowly let out a sigh, pushing those memories aside so she could focus on the fact that the cause of all of them was sitting right in front of her, completely free as if nothing had happened.

All thanks to her dearest Uncle Damon.

"Yeah... I’m definitely not a fan of this," Athena muttered with little enthusiasm.

Beside her, Aphrodite seemed considerably more relaxed. Her eyes shone with curiosity as she looked at the two women responsible for bringing a large portion of the monsters in Greek mythology into the world.

"Athena, could you stop saying the same thing every five minutes? Please? Besides, don’t be such a killjoy. Can’t you see how pretty they are?" As far as the Goddess of Love was concerned, anything beautiful already started with several points in its favor.

Athena rolled her eyes. "Easy for you to say when you didn’t even take part in the beating we got. If you had been there with us, I’m sure you’d be cursing our dear guest right now."

"Athena, you know I don’t like fighting. Besides, I already told you a long time ago that I’m sorry, okay?" the Goddess of Love replied to her companion’s bitterness.

Even so, the words made Aphrodite wonder what would have happened if she had actually decided to defend her home alongside the rest of the Olympians. After all, she too had been born from the essence of a Primordial. In a sense, both Typhon and she could trace their origins directly back to an existence of that level, even if their natures and powers were completely different. Would it really be that crazy to think they might be equally strong?

Aphrodite blinked at the thought, keeping her eyes on the Queen of Monsters.

Typhon, feeling the Goddess of Love’s eyes on her for a while now, instinctively returned the stare. For a few moments neither woman looked away, their completely different natures clashing without either of them really trying to make it happen. Typhon eventually gave her a toothy smile, clearly entertained by the attention, while Aphrodite returned it with a small, somewhat nervous laugh.

The exchange didn’t last long. The reddish eyes of the personification of volcanic fury eventually met Ares’s, and an amused expression appeared on her face the moment she recognized him.

"Well..." Typhon tilted her head slightly before turning her attention toward Damon. "Damon, out of all the gods you could have left alive, I didn’t expect this one to be among them."

Ares frowned, losing much of the interest he had been showing toward the woman for a while now. Until that point, the God of War had been shamelessly appreciating Typhon’s body, along with Echidna’s sitting beside her, but the Queen of Monsters’ comment caused his expression to harden.

Ares clicked his tongue. "Did you really have to free this damn thing, Damon?"

Typhon let out a small laugh at the God of War’s obvious displeasure, seeming to enjoy quite a bit that her mere presence could still irritate him after so many years.

"As much as it pains me to say it, I have to agree with Ares, brother." Poseidon spoke from his seat, keeping all of his attention on Typhon. "Typhon is..."

The God of the Sea didn’t even finish the sentence. He really didn’t need to. The silence dominating much of the hall made it quite clear that the feeling was shared by most of those present. Typhon was still the existence that had once been prophesied to destroy them.

Damon allowed the murmurs to continue a little longer before rising from his seat.

"Brothers, sisters, nephews... let’s put aside for a moment the disputes and grudges that have divided this pantheon for so long." The God of the Sky’s voice carried throughout the hall, gradually silencing the conversations until every deity present was paying attention to him. "I know perfectly well what happened more than four thousand years ago, and I understand why some of you aren’t happy with my decision."

Damon looked across the hall before continuing. "But I’m not going to allow us to remain trapped in conflicts from the past. Titans, gods, and even monsters... all of them are Greek. And unfortunately, far too much Greek blood has been spilled by other Greeks. Our pantheon has paid the price for that for far too long."

Typhon remained calm in her seat, letting Damon deal with his family. She still found it entertaining to provoke several of the Olympians and certainly hadn’t forgotten the contempt she felt for some of them, but the desire she had once possessed to destroy Olympus and rule over its ruins had lost much of its strength over the years. Zeus was no longer on the throne and, in her opinion, that improved the situation considerably.

Echidna seemed to share a similar opinion. Neither of them had any particular desire to cause Damon problems... unless, of course, he ended up giving them a reason to.

"And before anyone comes to the conclusion that Typhon is going to betray us or anything along those lines..." Damon continued in a much more serious tone. "Let me tell you that she and I have already discussed that."

The eyes of several deities shifted toward the Queen of Monsters.

"Typhon knows the rules we’re working under, and she knows perfectly well that as long as I’m here, no one is going to use this opportunity to settle personal grudges." Damon let his words carry across the hall. "That applies to her and to every one of you as well."

He didn’t need to explain much more.

Demeter drummed her fingers against her throne. "Well, we understand your point, brother," the goddess said. "But what exactly are you trying to accomplish with all of this?"

Damon closed his eyes, thinking carefully before answering. He had already expected that question.

"As you all know, we have plenty of enemies lurking around. And I’m not talking only about Kronos and the Titans. There are many other forces waiting for any opportunity to take advantage of our pantheon’s situation." Damon opened his eyes again. "That’s why, in my opinion, this is the perfect opportunity to unite the pantheon under a single goal and come out of all of this much stronger than we were going in."

His blue eyes eventually met Typhon’s blood-red ones.

"My plan is fairly simple. Give a second chance not only to Typhon and Echidna, but also to all those Greek entities that even now remain hidden or refuse to return because they’re afraid of being hunted for their past actions."

Damon allowed his words to settle in the minds of the Olympians present.

For thousands of years, Olympus had dealt with far too many problems the same way. If a creature, a Titan, or any other entity became an enemy, they usually ended up dead, imprisoned, or hunted until they disappeared from the pantheon’s world entirely. Sometimes it had been necessary. Other times, probably not.

Damon had no intention of repeating the same mistakes forever.

"And you." Damon pointed directly at Typhon. "You’re going to be a great help in putting an end to much of the hostility that exists between Olympus and the monsters."

Typhon raised an eyebrow, though she didn’t interrupt him.

"After all, you’re their queen." Damon continued. "I’m more than certain you have plenty of influence over them, and Echidna isn’t far behind. If we can get the monsters to stop viewing Olympus as an enemy waiting for the chance to exterminate them, that’s one less problem we’ll have to worry about."

His eyes passed over all the deities present. "And this way, without even having to lift a finger, even your own demigod children will have much less to worry about."

What Damon said seemed to appeal to more than one person in the room. After all, Damon could talk as much as he wanted about strengthening the pantheon, but he knew there were few things that could get the attention of the deities present more effectively than directly mentioning their children.

For her part, Typhon didn’t seem indifferent to the idea either. "Hmm..." she murmured while studying Damon. "So basically you want me to get the monsters to stop trying to rip your family’s heads off every chance they get."

Damon nodded calmly. "Preferably, yes."

A small laugh escaped Typhon. "I suppose I could do something about that."

"We could," Echidna interjected from her seat, drawing the attention of the hall toward her. "But we also shouldn’t make them believe that Typhon and I can simply give an order and expect every Greek monster to obey without question."

Typhon turned toward her companion, though she didn’t seem bothered by the correction.

Echidna continued. "Many respect Typhon, and a great number of them are our descendants, so our word will carry weight. But it has been more than four thousand years since the two of us were together leading anything resembling a family. The monsters have lived on their own all that time, created their own customs, and many barely know our names beyond the stories."

Her golden eyes passed over several of the gods present before stopping on Damon. "And then there’s the problem of your children."

More than one person in the hall began paying closer attention.

"For thousands of years, demigods have been prey to many monsters. Some hunt them because they hate Olympus, others because they find their essence especially appealing, and for weaker monsters, feeding on a demigod can even help them grow stronger." Echidna crossed her legs. "After so long, you can’t expect all of them to abandon that habit just because Typhon returns and tells them to stop."

Typhon snorted. "The smart ones will."

"The smart ones, yes," Echidna replied without arguing. "The others are precisely the ones I’m worried about."

Damon listened in silence.

Echidna was right and, honestly, it was something he had already considered. There was a major difference between gaining the support of monsters capable of thinking, forming communities, and understanding the benefits of cooperating with Olympus, and expecting the same behavior from creatures that had spent centuries functioning almost entirely on instinct.

"Especially those at the very bottom," the Mother of Monsters continued. "There are monsters capable of speaking, negotiating, and fully understanding the consequences of their actions. They’ll be much easier to deal with. But there are also beasts that barely possess more thought than a wild animal. They won’t care who rules Olympus or how powerful Typhon is."

Typhon tilted her head, entertained. "Then we kill the ones stupid enough not to understand."

Echidna brought two fingers to her temple. "That kind of solution is exactly why I’m not letting you handle everything."

Several laughs sounded throughout the hall. Typhon narrowed her eyes at her companion. "It would work."

"That doesn’t make it a good idea."

Damon had to hold back a laugh before speaking again. "I don’t expect every monster to change overnight, Echidna. Nor do I expect the two of you to control every last creature that exists."

The god’s tone became more serious. "What I want is to establish a difference between the monsters willing to live under new rules and those who decide to continue attacking our people. The first group can be given a place within the pantheon. The second will have to accept the consequences of their decisions."

Echidna listened to his words and eventually nodded. That was much more reasonable.

"Then yes," the Mother of Monsters replied. "If that’s the goal, I believe we can help you. I can’t guarantee every monster, but I can guarantee that many of them will listen."

Typhon rested her face against one of her hands. "And the ones who don’t want to listen will learn pretty quickly." Echidna closed her eyes wearily, not bothering to argue with her again.

Damon nodded. "Whatever way you think is best. I’ll support you."

All the redhead wanted was for the two of them, if possible, to help him weaken even the armies of Kronos and Tartarus. Of course, Damon knew there were still many creatures in the Abyss born directly from the latter, but having hordes of monsters fighting alongside demigods would be a great help. Not to mention that, in the long run, it could also create bonds between the two groups.

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