“Than that failing is his, not yours,” she insisted, probably a bit firmer than was necessary for the conversation. So, for a moment, she stood and went to fetch a small, shallow bowl, and a painted amphoriskoi that was filled with olive oil. “Speaking as a parent,” she said a few moments later, giving a bit more thought to her words as she poured oil from the amphoriskoi into the bowl, broke apart some more bread and then some cheese as well. “Whether our children believe it or not, we do what we believe is best for them. It might not actually be what is best in the long run, but it what we believe at the time for whatever reason.”
Styx took a small piece of bread, dipped it lightly in the oil and ate it. “When I sent mine to Olympus, to serve Zeus, I thought that I sent the away for their benefit. And it was hard, coming back here after the war without them. I lost their father in that war, no one will see Pallas ever again.” Hate didn't particularly like getting soft or emotional. She didn't like oversharing, and for as much as she had liked the emotional undercurrent she had originally felt with the Nord, Styx was less pleased to hear that it might involved the girl's father.
Family was so important. Hel had not mentioned her mother. Styx thought better of bringing it up. “I hid away for a long time. I am not proud to say that I avoided my children whenever I was summoned to Olympus, or at least kept my visits as short as I could.” She shook her head and started picking apart a piece of cheese. “They were reminders of things I could not do. By giving them what I thought would be a better life -with honor and status that they could never get down here, I could not also keep their father.” She would not look up. As a general rule, even after the long years that had passed since the Titan War, Styx very rarely spoke of Pallas to anyone.
“I could not bear to look at them without seeing his face or hearing his voice. Nike was the worst, she looked so much like him. I still don't know to this day if the really know the hand I had in Pallas' fall during that war that ensured their position.” There was the smallest of cracks in her voice. Sacrifice. She gave up one love for another. As a parent, her children had to come first. “It is possible, and I cannot say for sure, of course, that something similar is happening? “