Chapter 336: Hera’s Warning
The fracture had finally steadied.
Not healed. Not closed. Just... stopped spreading. Zeus had been standing at its edge for hours, pushing his will against the wound, forcing the light to hold. His head ached. His hands trembled. But the crack had stopped growing.
He stepped back from the edge.
The camp was quiet. Not the quiet of peace. The quiet of exhaustion. Gods moved between tents with their heads down, their shoulders heavy. Angels stood at their posts with hollow eyes. The healers had stopped rushing. There was nothing left to rush for.
Zeus walked toward his tent.
He didn’t make it.
Hera stepped out of the shadows between two tents. Her arms were crossed. Her face was unreadable. She had been waiting for him.
"We need to talk."
"Now?"
"Now."
He stopped. Looked at her. She didn’t look away.
They stood in silence for a moment. The camp moved around them, gods and angels flowing past like water around stones. No one stopped. No one looked. No one wanted to be part of whatever was coming.
Hera spoke first.
"They’re plotting."
Zeus closed his eyes.
"Who?"
"Everyone."
He opened his eyes. She was still watching him.
"Ares has his supporters. He doesn’t say much, but he doesn’t have to. The ones who want war, who want revenge, who think you’re moving too slowly—they gather around him when they think no one is watching."
Zeus nodded slowly.
"Odin is playing a long game. He’s not plotting against you. Not yet. But he’s watching. Waiting. Seeing how this plays out before he decides where to stand."
"And Michael?"
Hera’s jaw tightened.
"Michael’s angels are split. The ones who stayed are loyal to him. But they’re scared. The rogue faction proved that Heaven’s host isn’t united anymore. Some of them are starting to wonder if Michael is strong enough to hold them together."
Zeus was silent.
"The rogue faction is still out there," Hera continued. "Azrael is hiding. Waiting. Building something. We don’t know where, we don’t know how, but we know he’s not done."
She paused.
"And that’s just the ones we can see. The old pantheons are watching. The mortal world is watching. Everyone is waiting to see what you do."
Zeus looked at the cracked sky.
"I know."
"Then why aren’t you doing anything?"
He looked at her.
"Because I don’t know what to do without becoming the thing we fought against."
Hera’s expression softened. Just a fraction.
"Zeus—"
"I watched the Father sit on His throne and declare Himself the center of everything. I watched Him erase entire pantheons because they didn’t fit His order. I watched Him imprison souls and call it salvation."
He stepped closer.
"I killed Him because He wouldn’t stop. And now everyone wants me to take His place."
"No one wants you to take His place."
"They want someone to sit on the throne."
"They want someone to hold things together. That’s not the same thing."
"Feels the same."
Hera was quiet for a moment.
"The Father never doubted Himself. He never questioned. He never wondered if He was wrong."
"And I doubt everything."
"And that’s why you’re different."
Zeus looked at her.
"Different isn’t the same as capable."
"No. But it’s a start."
The camp moved around them. A group of healers walked past, carrying supplies to the eastern sector. A pair of angels flew overhead, their wings silent in the thin air. No one looked at the king and queen standing in the shadows.
"They’re not going to wait forever," Hera said.
"I know."
"Ares is patient, but his supporters aren’t. Odin is watching, but he’s also planning. Michael is trying to hold his angels together, but every day another one slips away."
She stepped closer.
"The rogue faction is out there, growing stronger. And the mortal world is starting to worship you. Do you understand what that means?"
Zeus’s jaw tightened.
"They’re praying to me."
"They’re dying for you. Killing for you. Building temples and burning offerings and crying your name in their dreams."
"I didn’t ask for that."
"Neither did the Father."
The words landed like stones.
Zeus was silent.
Hera touched his arm. Her hand was warm. Steady.
"You don’t have to be Him. You don’t have to sit on a throne and declare yourself the center of everything. But you have to do something. Because if you don’t, someone else will."
"Who?"
"I don’t know. That’s what scares me."
Zeus looked at the cracked sky. At the light bleeding through. At the wounds that wouldn’t close.
"What do you want me to do?"
Hera’s grip tightened on his arm.
"I want you to lead. Not like a king. Like yourself. The way you led us through the war. The way you stood against the Tribunal when no one else would."
"That was different."
"Was it?"
Zeus thought about it. About the war. About the moment he stood in front of the Father and didn’t blink. About the chaos inside him, the hunger, the power, the thing that wasn’t quite him anymore.
He had been certain then.
Not about the outcome. About the need to act.
Now he wasn’t certain about anything.
"I’ll figure it out," he said.
Hera studied him.
"Fast."
"I’ll figure it out fast."
She held his gaze for a long moment. Then she nodded. Stepped back. Let her hand fall to her side.
"The council meets at dawn. Athena has a proposal. You should be there."
"I will be."
Hera turned to leave. Stopped.
"Zeus."
"Yes?"
"Don’t wait too long. They’re running out of patience. So am I."
She walked away.
Zeus stood in the shadows, watching her go.
The camp moved around him. Gods and angels flowing past like water around stones.
He had been standing still for too long.
It was time to move.
A/N
Thanks for reading this far, I know it’s mid, but this is the best I can do with the little time I have.
I Will try in the future to do more better when I have free time.
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