a promise

in unison.

Zeus, knowing that everyone was expecting him (and also because he was an asshole), cleared his throat and summoned his golden throne.

"Geez, Zeus!" I stifled a groan and failed miserably. "Do you really have to bring your golden chair everywhere?"

Adrian muttered under his breath, "if I am a King I would only sit on a golden chair as well." I gave him an eye roll.

"That's not just a golden chair," said Vlad with a smile.

Adrian's eyes widened in disbelief. "It's not?"

"It's one of the Thrones of Gods. They're all located on Mount Olympus. Each Olympian god God uses for sitting. Zeus and Hera's thrones were both at the far end of the council hall. Their thrones were also the only two that faced the doors." As Vlad was explaining, I continued to stare at him, trying to convince myself that this was not a goodbye.

I knew we were out of the original topic but I didn't care as long as I could hear his voice and watch his face a little bit longer.

"The legend said if you walk through the door, you'll be able to see Zeus' throne on your left and Hera's throne on your right," Vlad continued to explain. "All the male Olympian's thrones were all on the left facing the right and the female Olympian's thrones were all on the right facing the left."

Adrian lifted one quizzical brow. "Oh, dude, is it like the one in the Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief?""

"No." Vlad chuckled. "It's a bit different. You see, in the Percy Jackson's movie—"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. We all know that, nerd boy," said Zeus with an eye roll, looking annoyed now that Vlad had everyone's attention.

Vlad presses his lips together as his cheeks reddened. I glared at Zeus but he was too busy being an asshole to care.

Geez, sometimes he could be very narcissistic and ignorant. "I don't," I said defiantly.

"Me neither," my father chimed in. Being an outcast, he didn't have a throne in Mount Olympus. Hell, they didn't even consider him as one of the Olympian Gods.

"Fine." Zeus pouted. "Do you want to continue listening to nerdy boy talks about Thrones of Gods or listen to me explaining ways for him to meet his child?"

We all stayed quiet until Vlad broke the silence, answering him, "please do explain, Lord Zeus."

"King," Zeus corrected. "You should start calling me King." He slid his gaze to Adrian and added, "you as well, boy."

He cleared his throat dramatically and I refrained myself from rolling my eyes again.

"Well, since you're an immortal, your child will be half-immortal, just like Cassandrhea's children." He turned to her and asked, "what was the name of your last child?"

"Scarlet," I provided. I still didn't know how on Earth he could say that he loved her when he knew so little about her.

"Yes. Scarlet. Your child will be like Scarlet. And since you have the key, you can bring your child here to meet his father."

"But Scarlet," I paused and glanced at Queen Rhea. Was it okay for me to mention her daughter's death?

She offered me a small smile. "Half-immortal could die if the soul was detached from the body more than seven hours." Her smile faltered a little as she continued, "that time, at your funeral, there was chaos. Explosions, gunshots, bodies everywhere. It was more than seven hours later when we found her body."

"I'm sorry," I muttered. Scarlet was the kind of person you wanted to be your best friend, the kind you would miss being around. I missed her terribly and I only knew her for a short amount of time, I couldn't imagine what her mother who'd spend decades would feel like when she died.

"Wait, dude," Adrian raised his hand. "I mean," he coughed, "King, what's half-immortal? Are they like Hercules or Percy?"

Zeus lifted one brow. "Who?"

"You know, Percy Jackson, Annabeth, Luke?" When Zeus didn't look like he knew any of them, Adrian grimaced. "Okay, never mind."

Feeling bad for Adrian who glanced at me with a save-me look I commented, "I don't think they're the same, Adrian. Those you mentioned are demigods. Rhea isn't a goddess."

"But she could be," Zeus declared. His eyes looked deeply into hers. "I told you before, if you accept, I'll make you a goddess and you'll be my Queen."

Queen Rhea shook her head. "And I've said no. I was born a mortal. Despite gaining immortality, I have no intention to be a goddess. Moreover, I won't ruin someone's marriage."

"But it's already crashed and burnt!" said Zeus exasperatedly. "And I want you! I love you!"

"No, you don't." Queen Rhea tilted her head to the right. "I was going to mention this later when all of this over but now seems a perfect time." Taking a deep breath, she clasped her hands together and let it all out. "I want you to take back my immortality."

Zeus took a sharp breath and stepped back. "No."

"Please," begged Queen Rhea. "I don't want to live like this anymore. I don't want to stay alive while everyone I love dies. I don't want to be left behind. Immortality doesn't suit me as it does you."

"But I love you, Cassandrhea!" Zeus jumped to his feet. "Can't you see that? I can't lose you." His stance was wide and angry, and his arms were crossed across his chest.

While the rest of us kept our mouth shut, the couple continued to argue. "You've said it yourself that you could never understand me. This is just another proof that you can't." With tears glistening her eyes, she took a step back and placed her hand on her chest as if her heart ached. "You don't love me, Zeus."

"I love you!" growled Zeus, nearly losing his patience.

"No. You're just using me to get back at your wife. You used me to cause a stir." One tear slipped from one corner of her eye and I watched Zeus lifted his hand as if he wanted to catch it but then he curled it into a fist. "There was peace. After you defeated the Titans, split the humans into two, there was nothing left to do. You want drama, you want to have something occupying your day. Unlike Lord Hades, you don't have to judge the dead so you got bored."

She swallowed. "When you knew one of the offerings ran away, refused to perform her duty, it hurt your pride so you chased after her, disguised as an innocent boy." Tears started to fall but she didn't seem to care as she continued to talk, "I love you. I truly do."

I saw Zeus trying to reach for her but dropped his hands in the end. Somehow watching this made my heart ache.

"I even betrayed my promise to be with Zeus for you. Of course, at that time I didn't know that you were him. But," she tucked her hair behind one ear, "the point is, I do love you but I don't think you love me."

"I do love you. Damn it, Cass! You know I do!" Zeus was losing his patient as he ran his hand through his wavy blonde hair out of frustration.

"No. If you love me," Queen Rhea took a step forward, closing the gap between them, and put her hand on top of his. Zeus immediately held her hand with both hands as if holding his dear life. "If you truly do, you'll let me go."

I swore I saw his eyes wet. Could gods cry? Even someone as selfish as Zeus?

When he let out a deep thunderous sigh that made the floor beneath us quaked. "I'll let you go but with one condition," he came to a decision. "You'll have your memory."

Queen Rhea shook her head. "I don't want to remember my previous lives. I don't want to remember the pain. I want to start fresh every time I reborn."

"Not that kind of memory," Zeus gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "I want you to remember our first meeting. That sunny day by the river, you were on your white dress. You put some flowers in your hair and dance around without a care."

Queen Rhea gasped. "You remember!"

"How could I forget," Zeus dreamily sighed. "It was the first time I fell in love."

She smiled then rose to her toes. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she kissed him with all her might. The rest of us looked away. Vlad and I locked our gaze on each other, Spyridon suddenly found interest in the granite floor, while Persephone and Hades crouched on the floor, caressing Cerberus. Yes, the rest of us looked away. All except Adrian who found our Queen kissing King of Gods fascinating and blatantly staring.

"Okay, I agree to your condition with one condition," said Queen Rhea once they pulled away from each other.

Zeus chuckled. "Let's hear it."

"I don't want to remember that in the next life or the next one or the one after that."

A frown formed on Zeus' forehead, making one curly blonde hair fell upon that frown. "Then when will you remember?"

Queen Rhea shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe in one of those lives but definitely not the next one. That's too soon."

A playful smile crept into Zeus' lips. "I take that as a challenge." He dipped his head and kissed the top of her head. "I will definitely make you fall in love with me again."

"The chase is always the fun part," mused Queen Rhea. She turned to her right, realizing that they were not alone, she covered her face with her hands. Zeus used one hand wrapping around her shoulders and brought her close to his chest. He clearly wasn't embarrassed.

Adrian frowned. "Did we just lose our Queen?"

"Oh!" Queen Rhea stepped away from his embrace and walked towards me. "Sienna," she paused, smiled, then corrected herself, "Avery, I want you to be the next Queen."

I froze, unable to speak for a full minute. "What?"

"I gave my crown to you a long time ago and you brought peace to the world. You're wise beyond your age, wiser than you realized." Spyridon walked to her, handing her the crown which she then placed on top of my head. "I want you to be the Hellenicus' Queen."

Now, this was too much, definitely not something I could handle so I shook my head, declining her offer. "I can't. I'm not Queen material." I was about to take off the crown when her hand stopped me.

"But you are." Queen Rhea squeezed my hand gently. "I've told Spyridon about this before that you're our people's only hope. I meant that. You're the only one who could restore the peace. There's only one you."

I didn't know if I was good enough to have this kind of responsibility. I wasn't sure if I was the right person but once I glanced at my father, watching him smile and give me the I-believe-in-you look, I finally bobbed my head. Queen Rhea smiled then pulled me into a hug. "Oh, sister, I hope I'll see you in my next life!"

"I hope to see you too," I replied.

Feeling the weight of the crown on my head, I turned around and watched Adrian giving me a thumbs up while Vlad has that encouraging smile plastered on his face.

I was walking towards them, careful not to drop the crown, when Adrian yelled, "Damn, Montgomery, thanks to you now I can say I'm bestie with the Queen."

Typical Adrian. I rolled my eyes, making him smile. "Is that all you care about?" I joked.

His smile turned into a full-fledged grin. "Long live the Queen."

* * *