Aetherion held his shoulder with a grieving look on his face, as if he had done nothing wrong and was being punished for something he hadn't even committed.
"Why are you hitting me, Hera!?"
he asked in an accusing tone.
Hera, a vein popping on her forehead, snapped back,
"Why do you think I hit you, you shameless idiot!? Do you want another punch to make the pain sink in?"
Hearing that, Aetherion gave a nervous smile and took a step back, trembling slightly.
"Haha—no, nothing, haha. I deserve that punch. Yeah, yeah, I deserve it,"
he said, an awkward, escaping laugh slipping from his lips.
Themis, who had witnessed this kind of interaction countless times over the years, simply shook her head.
"Anyway," she said calmly, "how did your hunt go? Were you too defeat the enemies?"
Hera, hearing this, also grew curious.
Aetherion's hunts always intrigued her—especially the thought of defeating powerful opponents.
She had wanted to accompany him herself to wipe out some of Kronos' forces.
Aetherion gave Themis a smug smile and puffed out his chest proudly.
"Of course it went well. You're talking about me, after all. It was easy—like slipping into a nymph's—"
Hera's expression darkened immediately.
"Don't say something so crude. You sound like Poseidon."
Aetherion froze on the spot, his face turning pale as if he had just been cursed with the worst insult imaginable.
"Don't you dare," he said stiffly. "Say I'm like that idiot. That's the worst thing you could ever call me."
However, Hera had a small smile on her face.
She looked at Aetherion with a glint of mischief in her eyes.
"Why not? You two are brothers. It's only natural you'd be similar."
Aetherion immediately covered his ears.
"Nope. I'm not listening to your bullshit anymore,"
he muttered.
But then, another voice chimed in.
"Yeah, brother, what's wrong with being similar to Poseidon?"
It was Demeter, who had just walked up to them, her expression innocent as always.
Aetherion, caught off guard, didn't know what to say.
He gave an awkward chuckle.
"Y-Yeah, nothing wrong with that,"
he muttered, turning away quickly, unable to handle the purity and innocence of Demeter's gaze.
"Yes, exactly! Nothing wrong at all,"
she said with a cheerful nod.
Themis and Hera both exchanged amused glances and chuckled softly at the sight of Aetherion's awkward, almost pained expression—like someone forced to chew something unbearably salty.
Then Themis spoke.
Even with the cloth wrapped over her eyes, she turned toward Aetherion.
"Anyway, I'm glad you're okay, Aetherion," she said, her voice calm and soothing. "And that everything went well."
Aetherion's expression shifted.
A small smile stretched across his lips—subtle, but sincere.
"Yeah," he said gently. "I'm glad to be back. And in one piece."
To a mortal, the scene might have seemed bizarre—two people with cloth over their eyes gazing at each other with meaning.
But to them, it made perfect sense.
Hera, watching the quiet exchange, suddenly stepped forward with mild irritation and grabbed Aetherion's arm.
"Alright, that's enough of that," she said. "Let's go. Back to the palace—we've got things to discuss."
She pulled Aetherion away, tugging him along.
"Why the rush?"
he asked, confused by her sudden urgency.
Themis simply smiled faintly and followed without a word.
She seemed to understand Hera's mood.
Demeter, as usual, followed behind them innocently, humming a soft tune to herself.
All four of them continued walking, completely forgetting one small—well, loud—detail behind them.
"Hey! You guys! Are you seriously just going to leave me here?! Come on, free me! Ow! It still hurts!"
Helios' voice echoed from behind, filled with both pain and disbelief.
Not one of them looked back.
They simply kept walking as if this sort of thing had happened far too many times already.
"My rival…"
Helios muttered in defeat.
***
As they walked through the trees, chatting with each other and not caring about much else, Aetherion asked a question.
"But why did you two come together?"
He was curious.
Normally, Hera was with her followers and companions, giving orders or overseeing something, while Themis was more focused on training, honing her skills, or planning with the others.
"We were training," Hera answered. "I needed to better control my abilities."
Aetherion's eyes widened slightly, and then a look of realization crossed his face.
He understood.
After all, Hera's domain was probably the trickiest—and in many ways, one of the most powerful ones.
Aetherion never believed that any one domain was truly better than another.
As long as you trained hard and mastered your power, you could defeat anyone.
But Hera's domain was something else entirely.
It wasn't ordinary.
It made her a jack-of-all-trades, and potentially a master of all.
She was, in many ways, the joker on their side.
Surprisingly, among all his siblings, Hera was the strongest after him.
True, she wasn't on Themis' level, nor one of the Great Twelve Titans, but she could certainly throw a punch—and she was powerful in her own right.
With a look of understanding, he asked,
"So, how did it go?"
"It went well. I feel like I've made some progress," she said, clenching her fist. "I want to join the battles to come. After all, I won't allow anyone else to be seen as the representative of all women but me."
Aetherion watched her as she walked past, her posture straight, hair flowing with the breeze, light practically radiating off of her.
Her pride and determination were unmistakable.
He simply chuckled.
It was just like her—never wanting to be beneath anyone.
Always looking ahead, or above.
That trait both made her shine… and pushed her to grow stronger.
Demeter, walking beside her, gave a cheerful smile.
"Yes, sister! You can do it. And even if you get injured, I'll heal you!"
Hera's lips stretched into a rare, grateful smile.
"Thank you, Demeter. Really."
As the two sisters chatted, Aetherion walked quietly beside Themis, not minding the cheerful atmosphere around them.
"We'll start the meeting once we return, right?"
Themis asked.
Aetherion nodded, his expression turning serious.
"Yes. I believe it's time we make our real move."
——
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