The Council of Terra - Part 9

⛓Progenitor⛓

TW: 18+ | Slight Descriptions of Violence | Mature Language

Hestia Lorenz

PT 394, Dimension Y-496

Overlooking the balcony of The Heart was a never-ending mass of clouds with a faint visage of human civilization visible underneath. Hestia couldn’t decide if the view from up above was better or worse than an actual prison. She could look down on the humans, but she’d never be able to join them.

Hestia was walking beside the Terra of this dimension. The true Goddess of Earth. Gaia. They passed by a collection of Olympian statues. Zeus, Hera, even Hades. In the middle sat a statue of Terra, which wasn’t new to Hestia, there was one in the Olympus Hestia had been to as a child, it was more about the look combined with the plaque outlining her importance to history. She wore new armor that enhanced this fact. Even the statue's eyes glowed with an extraterrestrial amount of green. She looked slightly aged, about fifty years old or so, but the full power of Olympus likely made her immortal.

Even though Hestia’d never really met her, she felt the embrace of the Earth’s atmosphere as she revolved around her. Like after the many days she’d spent shaded under a tree, reading, finally, the Earth stood up, personified as her grandmother. Her voice was majestic, with a motherly tone that rang out into the heavens, she spoke to her the way she’d always wished Rhea’d speak to her.

“You are from a different dimension, are you not?”

Hestia nearly bit her tongue when she was so quick to find out. She felt stupid for even trying this. As if Terra, never mind another Olympian would be tricked by her. She nodded, there was nothing to hide.

“There was a council of my selves that came here, one day. They tried to recruit me to their cause. They said I’d be a great help in defeating an organization out there. They told me that it was run by an evil god, who only cared about himself.”

“Why didn’t you help?”

Their walk turned into a talk as Hestia leaned over the railing to look over the clouds, she quickly recoiled when she realized how high up they were as a result. Terra leaned right over, looking down at her baby. “I have too many obligations here, and doesn’t a party with nobody but yourself to keep you company sound a little…egotistical?”

“You would’ve had me, too.” Hestia blurted.

It came out like a waterfall of words, and tears. Something about the personification of Earth being around her just made her talk. As Hestia explained how her life was in the council, she could only think about her own grandmother. She wondered of she’d be as radiant as this one, if she’d be understanding the same way this version of her is.

Through tears, she continued, “I left because I wanted to find somewhere else to live. I don’t want to be Hestia Lorenz anymore.”

“This council…I don’t agree with their motives. Hestia, killing my daughter will not bring you happiness, either.”

Hestia froze. She nearly forgot who she was talking to. It seemed that she’d also deduced the only way she could truly set herself free.

“Happiness isn’t something that appears one day, like a gift from the gods. What are you going to do if you escape the council? Will you be happy then?”

“I don’t know…” She muttered. “I don’t know what makes me happy…”

Trapped, even above all of humanity, Hestia felt nothing but stuck.

“You were going to kill Hestia…?” The voice of Phobos echoed out over the clouds. “Mother Gaia, why hear out this impersonator?”

“This Hestia is just as real as your mother. She’s from a different world, she’s just a little confused, is all.”

Phobos’s skin seemed to be scalding to the touch. He had beady eyes that seemed to look straight through Hestia. Like she was a target to be plowed through.

“Terra, I want you to stay out of this. You are a cosmic deity, not to interfere with the fates of gods. I, however, have the power to stop this.” Phobos approached Hestia, who was wholly unprepared for an actual fight. She was in heels, a dress, and still soaked. She kicked off her heels as Phobos began to approach her.

As Phobos neared, she felt her heart begin to pound ecstatically. Unknown to her, Phobos was the God of Fear. Even if he wasn’t, she’d still be horrified of the six-foot man lumbering towards her.

There was one ability she was able to learn besides her healing. It was the power to shoot small energy blasts from her hands when throwing a punch.

“We have a rule. Gods are not allowed to kill on castle grounds. This is okay.” He proclaimed with a sadistic smile.

Hestia held up both hands, ready for a fight. Phobos simply reached down towards her, like he was preparing to swat a fly. At that moment, she felt her heart swell and nearly shatter in her chest. She ducked around his legs and began a full sprint towards the stairs. The fellow gods around the castle looked in awe as she ran out of the building.

After this, came the trampling down the stairs. She rushed as fast as her legs could carry her down the stairs. Not daring to look back to see if Phobos had followed her. Finally, she tripped over her own weight on the last flight of stairs, falling into a tumble until she cracked her shoulder on the ground upon landing.

Hestia sat up, many inhabitants of Olympus staring at her. She rolled up to sit down with her legs pressed against her chest. Thoughts that plagued her mind echoed about how she was a pure idiot. Of course, if the gods wanted to, they could follow her, and kill her!

“Earth. Maybe they won’t find me on Earth.”

Hestia had kept it all these years. The last gift that her mom had given her, shortly before she’d died. The phoenix necklace that was passed down by the Lorenz family. It was able to transport someone from Earth to Olympus and vice versa. Hestia held it up, and thought hard about Earth. She thought about Enzo, and Terra’s house. The only place that she knew seemed to be a staple in all of these dimensions.

In a flash of light, she was there.

The house was like a restored version of the one that She, Enzo, and Petra had stayed in. Even though Rhea seemed to be absent, she thought about how this world may not be so bad. She caught her breath and saw herself in the reflection of the TV. She was sopping wet, with scrapes and cuts all over from her tumble. Her hair was orange at her scalp, with streaks of blonde mostly at the tips of her hair. For some reason, she felt more like herself.

She heard the door to the house open. Instantly, she felt her heart drop into her lower intestine. She ducked behind a chair, light on her bare feet, when she heard someone step throughout the home. Judging by the way they walked, they seemed to know their way around the house. Hestia realized that the person who had just entered had left the front door cracked open, so she began to slink that way.

When cold hands covered her mouth.

They were a man’s hands. Rough and cold. She struggled for a second, with a quick push, she let her teeth sink into his arm, causing the man to let go of her. Hestia turned to see Nova. “The rest of your council seemed to neglect doing research on your mannerisms. Want to know one thing I learned? You’re too sentimental.”

Hestia was shaking, like a poor dog who’d been left to starve, her eyes were practically popping out of her head and her heart beat one-thousand miles a minute. She wasn’t even fast enough to see Nova land a roundhouse kick directly to her temple, knocking her out.