Damon remained silent for a few seconds, going over in his mind just how screwed up things were in the place he had once called home.
Gaea, for her part, did not speak. She preferred to observe him in silence and wait to see what he would say.
"I'm not going to become the same thing I hate, Gaea," he finally said. "I'm not going to enter Olympus killing everyone who gets in my way just because Zeus hides behind them."
The primordial watched him carefully.
"Damon…"
"No," the blond interrupted her, this time without raising his voice. "I made it very clear before I left for the Shinto pantheon all those years ago. I told Ananke. I told all of you."
Gaea remained silent.
"When I returned, I would not listen to this again. I'm not going to stay still while you ask me for patience."
Damon lowered his gaze to the book.
"And I did not say it because I wanted to destroy everything. I said it because I knew that if I ever returned and found my home like this, I would not have the conscience to look the other way."
His red eyes fixed on the primordial's.
"Lastly, there is something you are confusing, Gaea. Zeus is not Olympus."
Damon paused for a moment, letting those words settle.
"You said it yourself. Zeus has done atrocious things. I am completely sure many are not satisfied with his rule, even if they do not have the courage to say it out loud. And yes, many of them have also done questionable things, but that does not mean they are willing to sink with him."
His gaze hardened.
"And you know it perfectly well, Gaea. It is the same thing that happened to Uranus. The same thing that happened to Kronos. And now it is repeating with Zeus."
Gaea did not answer because there was no need. History had already proven Damon right.
"If Zeus keeps rotting everything from the throne, sooner or later someone will take advantage of the cracks he himself is creating. Today, I may be the one to confront him. Tomorrow, it may be someone with no interest in the well-being of the pantheon."
"Kronos, for example."
The silence between them was sepulchral, but it did not last long…
"I have seen the demigods. I have spoken with them. I have seen the children of Hephaestus work until they forget the world exists. I have seen Percy trying to understand rules no one bothers to explain to him."
He slowly clenched his fists.
"In the end, they are just children training to survive in a world their parents left on their shoulders… only so that, when the time comes, those same parents can use them as pieces in their wars…"
"Children killing each other just so their parents can prove who has the bigger dick," Damon finished, his voice full of disgust.
Damon let out a sigh.
"What I mean is that a king can rule a kingdom, but he is not the kingdom," Damon continued. "Zeus has not destroyed Olympus. He has twisted it little by little with his rules and arrogance."
He paused, and a dry smile appeared on his face.
"And we have to admit, he has done it splendidly. It seems to be the only thing he knows how to do well, aside from fucking anyone who crosses his path, from what I know."
Gaea let out a small smile.
"Well, if that is the conclusion you have reached, who am I to stop you?"
The forest seemed to fall silent again.
"Thank you, Gaea," the blond said quietly.
"Now, what I don't understand is why you would tell me all this. I know you want Zeus dead, but that excuse about not wanting innocents dead does not convince me entirely." Damon looked at her directly. "I know you well. Since when does a primordial care so much about the lives of people she does not even really know?"
A smile appeared on Gaea's face, and she took a step closer to Damon.
Sharp as always, thought the mother of nature.
"You found me out," she said with a small laugh. "You're right. I'm not going to pretend all of them matter to me. Some do, others don't. But nature matters to me, Damon. And if the pantheon falls into total chaos, nature will pay the price too."
Damon raised an eyebrow.
"I can't do it now, Gaea," he replied.
"I'm not telling you to do it now," Gaea said as she lifted a hand and touched the fang necklace Damon wore around his neck. "I can feel it, Damon. Your love for nature is too great. While you are here, you will not let it die."
She said that while caressing the fang, drawing a small smile from him.
"That is enough for me."
"It was you, wasn't it?" the blond asked. "The one who allowed Orien and Kaia to enter the Greek pantheon to look for me."
The question made Gaea's smile widen completely.
"Did you like it?"
Damon let out a small laugh. "Let's just say it was a pleasant surprise. I certainly thank you for it."
Gaea moved slightly away from Damon and said the following:
"Do not abandon me," Gaea said, sadness in her voice as she lowered her gaze. "Please."
"I won't," Damon replied.
Damon let out a small laugh. "After everything you have done for me and my mother, how could I?" Damon said with a soft smile, gently tapping her forehead with two fingers, making the primordial lift her gaze, confused by the sudden action.
"When I present myself before the gods and finish with them, look for me," he told her with a small smile. "I have a way to help nature."
"How?" Gaea asked, curious.
"Destruction and creation," the blond replied.
Damon lifted one hand and, without any exaggerated gesture, a small white flower appeared between his fingers.
Gaea stared at the flower, slightly surprised by the mastery Damon had over his own powers.
She knew gods capable of creating. More than one could form weapons, tools, or small objects without too much effort, but creating life was different. For that, most needed a base: earth, seeds, roots, natural energy, or some element upon which to impose their will.
Damon, on the other hand, had used nothing.
"My destructive power can corrode the impurities, poisons, and waste humans release into nature," Damon explained. "And afterward, I can slowly rebuild what is missing. It will take time, but it is possible."
He looked at the flower for a moment before offering it to Gaea.
"In short, I clean the wound and then close it."
Damon began walking toward the place where he had thrown the book moments earlier.
After picking it up from the ground, he sealed it into the seal tattooed on one finger of his left hand and approached Gaea again.
Gaea nodded; it made sense…
"Thank you for—"
She could not finish her sentence... Something happened that she had not expected.
In truth, something happened that no one, in all her long life, had ever had the balls to do..... She felt the blond's left hand rest on her head.
And then Damon began to gently pat her.
"There is no need to thank me, Gaea," the blond said with his usual smile as he continued patting her head. "Like you said before, I love nature. I do not want to see it suffer, and I definitely will not let it die."
Gaea froze completely.
"I owe you a lot," Damon continued. "Kaia, Orien, the wolves, the pack… they are my second family. The day I met them changed my life. And that was thanks to you."
Damon removed his hand from her head and took a step away. knew Olympus was hidden beyond mortal sight.
Gaea felt divine energy begin to gather around the blond, wrapping around his body. This time, she said nothing. She only watched him in silence, understanding that she had already said everything she could.
Damon's body was covered by a golden flash and disappeared from the clearing, leaving no trace behind except the movement of the leaves around him.
Gaea let out a sigh, worried about what was about to happen.
A light appeared beside her, revealing the figure of a woman completely covered and hooded by a black trench coat.
"What do you think of him, Ananke?" Gaea asked. "Interesting, isn't he?"
"More than I anticipated in my visions," Ananke replied while glancing at the woman beside her.
The now-known Ananke smiled and looked in the direction of Olympus.
She placed a hand over her mouth, trying to hide her laughter.
"I never imagined I would live long enough to see someone treat you like a little girl," Ananke teased, making one of Gaea's eyebrows twitch.
"You looked so cute when he patted your head."
"Shut up!" Gaea shouted, frowning at her friend's teasing.
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Bro said fck everything ? lol stay tuned for the next chapter, cause its the one fr drop stones
https://discord.gg/QNDhBWR2j
P@treon