Once he had gone deep enough into the forest, he found a small clearing where birds seemed to fly and play among themselves without worrying about any nearby predator. Nature had always relaxed him; he did not know why. It felt like home. Later, he would discover that he needed that peace more than he thought.
He sat down, leaning against a large tree, and got comfortable. The book was right under his nose… there was no turning back now. He opened it, and all the information overwhelmed him.
Thousands upon thousands of names appeared in the index: different gods and monsters, along with the page number where each one's story was told. There were some he knew, like Leto. How could he forget her? But there were also names he did not know, like Hebe.
Out of pure curiosity, he continued looking through the names, each one different from the last… until he reached the section of wars or mythological objects important enough to be recorded in the book as examples.
"Pandora's Box," the blond said to himself.
He did not like how that sounded.
He also did not like how so many wars, punishments, and tragedies were arranged so naturally, as if they were simple chapters in a book and not open wounds in the history of his family.
He ran his finger over a few names.
Prometheus.
Medusa.
Metis…
A part of him told him not to keep reading. To close the book, breathe… But Damon had never been good at looking away when something smelled like trouble, especially when he did not like it at all.
And much less when that problem had the face of his family.
He turned another page.
The Trojan War
Damon stared at the title for a few seconds before reading the first lines.
It all began with an apple.
A simple apple thrown by Eris during a wedding she had not been invited to. Written on it were the words: to the fairest…
Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite claimed the title for themselves, and instead of resolving it among themselves, they brought the problem before Paris, prince of Troy.
A mortal.
Damon tightened his grip on the edges of the book. A mortal deciding because of the simple whim of three women who called themselves goddesses… He really could not believe Hera was involved in something like this.
He kept reading.
Hera and Athena presented their offers, but in the end, Aphrodite promised him Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world, even though Helen was already married to Menelaus, king of Sparta. Paris accepted, took Helen, and the Greeks used that as a reason to gather armies and cross the sea toward Troy.
All of that could have been avoided. He wanted to laugh from the disbelief he was feeling right now. A war over an apple…..... Actually, he wanted to cry....
It was completely simple. Eris should not have turned her resentment into a public provocation. Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite could have rejected the apple or, at the very least, not dragged a mortal into deciding a dispute between goddesses. Aphrodite should not have promised a married woman as if she were an object.
In short, as goddesses, they should have been above such stupidity.
On the other hand, Paris could have returned Helen before the situation escalated. Menelaus and Agamemnon could have demanded compensation, a trial, or a duel, not a ten-year war.
But Damon could not fully blame those mortals.
It was clear to him that all of this had simply been entertainment for some members of his family. The simple fact that several of them took sides in the war made that far too clear.
Absolutely no one chose the sensible option. Each of them made the decision that fed their pride the most.
His eyes continued moving down the index until they stopped on a name.
Hestia.
For a moment, his fingers froze on the page.
Then he turned to the indicated page number.
At first, he found nothing that worried him too much. Hestia was described as the goddess of the hearth, the first daughter of Kronos and Rhea, a calm presence within Olympus.
That almost made him relax.
Almost.
Then his eyes reached a name he did not recognize.
Priapus.
"Who the fuck is Priapus?" Damon growled under his breath.
Priapus. A minor rustic god of fertility.
A god who tried to violate Hestia while she slept.
Everything had been fine until he reached that point.
Damon's killing intent became palpable throughout the forest. The birds flew away, putting as much distance between themselves and him as possible, and not only because Hestia had nearly been violated.
What the hell were his siblings doing?
Drunk enough not to notice? A donkey saved Hestia? Are you telling me a donkey was better than anyone else present at that party?
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, to the point where he was unconsciously making his divine energy flow.
"Relax, Damon," a woman's soft voice was heard.
Damon looked toward where the voice came from and saw an incredibly beautiful woman with white skin, long green hair, a crown of flowers, and a white-and-blue dress adorned with flowers of all kinds.
Barefoot and unconcerned with anything, she looked as if the ground itself was not worthy of touching her feet.
The woman's arrival also brought vegetation and wildlife with her. The birds that had fled earlier now seemed to have multiplied. Deer could be seen watching the two of them, and there was a feeling of nature that would have been suffocating for anyone else, but not for Damon.
For him, it was something that calmed him second by second. The rage he had felt after learning that his sister had nearly been violated was fading, but he knew this would not be left alone.
"Gaea."
The primordial did not answer immediately.
She simply approached the blond slowly. When she was close enough, she lifted both hands and placed them on his cheeks, caressing them with her thumbs while watching him with a soft, almost nostalgic smile.
Too many years had passed.
"You've grown," Gaea whispered, clear happiness in her voice.
Damon said nothing for a moment. He only looked at her, feeling how the natural energy emanating from her continued calming the rage boiling inside his chest.
"Hestia had it the easiest," Gaea finally said, without removing her hands from his face.
Damon's jaw tightened beneath her fingers.
"If you're about to destroy half the forest because you found out Hestia was almost violated," she continued, caressing his cheeks even more gently, "I don't want to know what you'll do when you keep reading."
"Tell me this is a joke," Damon said.
—Pffffffff—
Damon rested his head against the tree, closed his eyes, and breathed deeply.
A long sigh meant to release all the frustration, wishing he was wrong.
But basically, Gaea had just told him that one of his sisters had been violated. It had not remained an attempt. It had actually happened… Could someone explain how he was supposed to deal with that?
Damon opened his eyes.
His iconic blue eyes were gone. They had changed into a savage red, giving him a much more bestial appearance.
Everyone who knew Damon even a little knew he had enough control to prevent this from happening, and if it did happen, it only meant one thing.
He was very pissed off.
Hatred was taking over his senses.
"Who?" the blond asked, his voice slightly deeper than usual.
Gaea did not answer. Without Damon noticing, she created a transparent dome so Damon's power could not be sensed by the gods, then sat beside him.
She stretched out a hand and began turning the pages of the book still resting on the blond's lap, one by one, until she reached her objective.
Hera and the bird
>>>>>
Man, bout to get fck up,🥲 lol some stones would be appreciated. Thank you to all of you who have supported me so far.
https://discord.gg/QNDhBWR2j
P@treon: Up to chapter 98