The air in the cave was thick, heavy with the scent of ozone and the essence of my other companions.
Hestia, Demeter, and Hera stood frozen at my command.
Their bodies trembled, their pupils dilated, but the fear of the unknown, of the magnitude of my ambition, acted as a barrier they hadn’t crossed.
Hera, though she was the one who most desired power, was the first to try to break the spell.
She took a step back, shaking her head, though her hands trembled on her chest.
“It’s not just desire, Zeus,” she said, her voice laden with a fragility I had never known in her.
“It’s what you represent. You saved us from one monster, but now you ask us to surrender to another. How can we know that under your rule we will be nothing more than trophies in your collection of conquests?”
Demeter lowered her gaze, visibly distressed.
Her hands moved over her belly, as if she were seeking solace in her own divinity.
“I’m afraid of what will come after the war,” she admitted, her voice barely audible. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
“I’ve seen how you treat them. You’re a sun that burns everything it touches. What will be left of us when you’re done claiming us?”
Hestia silently approached slowly, observing Metis’s sleeping, contented face.
She looked conflicted: the desire to be loved by the most powerful man she would ever know, versus the terror of losing her identity in the fire of my divinity.
I saw the exact moment doubt gripped them.
It wasn’t a refusal, it was a plea: they needed me to be more than just strength and domination.
They needed me to conquer them emotionally, to give them a reason to believe in my world beyond physical submission.
I let out a deep sigh, allowing the electricity surrounding my skin to subside.
I approached them, not with the air of a conquering king, but with a calmness they had never known.
I stopped before Hera and gently brushed a strand of hair from her face, watching her breath quicken at the touch, despite her doubts.
“But who would rule at my side if that’s all you were? An empty throne needs only a king, but an eternal empire needs a queen who is not only powerful, but who understands my vision.”
I looked at Demeter, then at Hestia.
“I don’t want to subdue you because you are weak, but because you are the only ones who can bear the weight of eternity with me. If you have doubts, it is because you fear that this power will destroy you. But you don’t have to carry this burden alone.”
I offered them my hands, open, waiting for them to decide to take the step.
“I won’t force you to do anything tonight. But I assure you of this: before Cronus falls, each of you will know that my love, though as scorching as lightning, is the only thing that will keep you safe when the old world crumbles.”
Hera looked at me, searching for a lie in my eyes, and finding none, a trace of doubt mingled with her desire.
She knew that, though fear lingered, the seed of devotion had already been planted.
Now it was my turn: the conqueror had to become the lover, and I had all eternity to win them over.