Who: Zeus and Athena What: Welcome home Where: Airport, then a Burger King When: Today, afternoon Warnings: None
The huge crowd stood in wait in front of the gate, either waiting to get on or waiting for family members, all unaware that an immortal sat among them. He was reading his dog-eared book of 'The Once and Future King', occasionally looking up to people watch. So much for fun, he'd decided, than doing it from the clouds.
A bell chimed and he looked up as the stewardess announced the arrival of the plane from Athens. Ah. Finally.
She had been rather annoyed, but not surprised, that getting a plane home had not been as quick as she expected due to the American holiday. Flight transfers had been delayed; some for several hours at a time. Athena already had a nice kink in her neck and sore back from sleeping in the terminal.
The sight of her father waiting for her once she escaped luggage claim was the best sight she'd seen in two days. With her suitcase rolling along behind her, Athena weaved through the people standing around, yawning all the way. After their chat, she was going to need the longest nap she'd had in years.
He chuckled and, once she was close enough, wrapped her up in the sort of bear hugs only old fathers seemed capable of giving. "How I've missed you," he said after he'd let her go again. "I'm guessing the flight wasn't so fun, though."
Athena smiled in the hug and had returned it as best she could with what little energy she had leftover from being able to move and stay on her feet. Goddess or not, jet lag sucked.
"No, it wasn't." She admitted. "Delays, cramped naps, horrid company, that sort of thing." Athena waved her hand as if it was nothing. A Greek accent had already begun to peek through; no matter how much time she spent other places, she had a habit of picking up her natural Greek accent within a few days of being surrounded by it. "And I've missed you too, old man. I hope Miami hasn't come crashing to the ground while I was gone."
He chuckled. "Nope, but we're going to keep trying." Before she could, he grabbed the handle of her suitcase and started heading to the parking lot. "Any other luggage we need to pick up, or is this it? We're going to grab some food on the way back."
The response received a snicker from her, but little more. Food, however, did manage to catch her attention. "That's it. I had been in a rush to get over there. Where are we stopping?"
He shrugged. "I'm thinking something junk food. Not in the mood for a sit-down place. Burger King or something." Mmm... carbs. And ketchup. "Any preferences yourself?"
"Quick is good, Greek is bad." Cheap and greasy was just fine with her at this point; she overdid the intake of traditional Greek food while she was able to. Now she would be sick of the stuff for a few weeks.
The god chuckled again and led her out to his car. A short wait and soon they were out back into the city again. He sighed happily at that; the covered parking lots, so dark and filled with car fumes, made him nauseous. "So. How is [home]?" he asked, tone just slightly envious.
Cars were much better than planes. Less cramped. She gave a small shrug in response to Zeus and leaned her head back against the seat. "Same as usual. Not as grand as it used to be, but it has hope yet."
"Hm. Let's hope they have a good winter's season," Zeus said as if he were going to be there himself to oversee it. "But in any case. I'm glad you're back..." He glanced to her out of the corner of his blue eye. "I would seek your opinion. On many things."
Athena had seen that coming the moment she received the text message. But, still, she had to get back here eventually. "Get me a pot of strong coffee and you can ask me whatever you want."
He nodded, and drove off to the nearest junk food place. And gods bless, it was Burger King. A good sign, right? He got himself two nice fat burgers and a coke, relishing in the simple delight of food that was bad for you, and headed out to an outdoor table back along the side of the building away from the sidewalk. Privacy was a must.
She got herself a rather large burger as well as an iced coffee and seated herself across the table from her father. "I've probably missed quite a lot, haven't I?" Athena asked, unwrapping her sandwich. Hopefully the coffee and food would help to wake her up a bit.
He nodded and, after swallowing a bite, said quite flatly, "We have entered into an alliance with the Norse."
Athena arched an eyebrow at Zeus, delaying the sandwich for a brief moment. "When did they pop up? And what sort of alliance?"
"They're situated in Washington D.C., for the time being, and apparently have been there longer than we have been in Miami," he replied. "And an alliance of convenience is the best I can describe it; a raid was made against the Egyptians, and one of their gods, Freyr, was rescued. Odin and I have known each other since the forties. He and I hope to put an end to the danger of our common enemies like the Egyptians, and others."
Her burger one, and she cast a last glance at her father before she began to eat. "Do you have any fear that they will turn on us in the future?" She asked between bites.
"Perhaps. They're a warrior people, even moreso than us. They found each other far earlier than us... and their ties are stronger," he said with a slight grumble. Yes, he was quite aware of the chaos that was his clans' inner relations. "If they would see us as weak and seek to strike, they would have no trouble in doing so."
She knew the concern as much as he did; as a family, the Greeks were separated and weak. It usually took something highly threatening for them to band together at all, and it never lasted. "Then I think we have a bit of worrying to do."
He nodded. "It goes further. The Subrosa know already."
Subrosa. Not a word she heard in awhile, but not a word she necessarily liked. "Lovely," more growled and less spoken was her best response considering their proximity to a family friendly joint.
He nodded. "Remember Freyr? Your sister, Erato, has had a slight romance with him apparently..." The god of thunder paused to sip his soda. "While still apparently dating Herakles. The two are on thin ice, it seems, already. Subrosa didn't like the looks of our joining together and attempted to take matters into their own hand. They took her and made it appear as though the Norse were to blame."
He sighed. "And you know your brother's temper. He flew right up and came quite close to beating in a skull or two. Thankfully, the situation was avoided."
Athena sighed. "So, the Subrosa have to be taken care of. Shut down." She didn't necessarily mean killed, but taken out of the equation. Especially if they would try to pit the two families against one another. "Then we can worry about the Norse, and hopefully our standing with them improves."
Zeus nodded in agreement. "The problem is, we know so little of Subrosa. How do they work, or even how long have they been in operation, and how deep into the system do they go. Provided they are even in the system..." He sighed. "And this trouble with Erato and the Norseman is still ongoing. I don't think anything like this will end well." He paused, then shrugged. "Though a political marriage would up our standing just a bit, but that's too old a tradition, I think."
"Perhaps presenting the idea to Odin would not be a bad idea. As to the situation with our sister, you are King. There is a problem, two really, that could potentially threaten the family and it needs to be fixed. Herakles' temper is a problem."
"It always will be a weakness as well as a strength," Zeus agreed. "This problem must be squashed and quickly before it becomes some lengthy court drama, and I"m sure it will."
Athena nodded. "Exactly. Things have a tendency to get dramatic and disastrous with our family quickly; and this time it is not only us." She paused to take a few gulps of her coffee. Ah, sweet caffeine! "The rift between our family and theirs has to be mended, problem starters in our family have to be quieted, and the society must be taken care of."
He nodded. The possibility of giving a bride... it seemed outdated to him. But he'd heard Herakles speak of how strongly Erato favored Freyr, obviously a great pain to the seemingly painless former mortal... He'd remember to consider it.
"There was another event that greatly worried me... Though it is far more personal," he murmured.
In the midst of one of the final bites of her food, Athena lifted a hand, moving her fingers as if to say "Bring it on". Personal concerned her a little bit, but personal matters did she have that could be worse than the family problems?
"You probably heard the news while you were there... One of my temples was destroyed. And more than a few of my followers, the ones from that court battle, died."
Ah, good. His personal stuff. "Heard about it vaguely, I'm afraid I did not get much of the details, though."
"At the same hour, almost the same second, I had what I can only describe as a heart attack." Though he was still strong and confident to the eye as ever, there was a slight paling in his cheeks, a new age to his eyes. "I could feel it. And I could hear them screaming as they died..."
Athena cringed, quite visibly. She had a similar experience in the past, but nothing that seemed to really compare. "I'm sorry," was really the best answer she could come up with. Then, her eyes seemed to darken a bit. "Do you have any idea as to who did it?" Athena was not a believer of freak accidents, and wasn't going to start now.
"A few ideas. Egyptians, Subrosa are the obvious ones," he said. "But I could find no evidence damning either of them."
She frowned. Well that was no good. "That will have to be figured out as well, then. I take it we have no idea as to the current whereabouts of the Egyptians that survived the blast?"
Zeus sighed. "No. They've all but scattered to the wind and all attempts, at least of mine, to locate them has come up a dud. I can only hope it means they've moved on to easier targets for now. They'll be back, though. I can feel it."
"Of course they will. In the mean time, we have to take care of other matters while keeping our eyes and ears open." She nodded.
The god nodded again, though he was again staring off into space for a second, clearly thinking deeply.
Athena allowed herself a moment to shake her head and grumble, "Been away for too long," before she finished off her coffee and crunched her sandwich wrapper into a tight little ball. "Anything else I should be aware of?"
Zeus shook his head free of those thoughts on his own brief mortality. They only sickened his soul. "I believe that's it. Though I'm sure something will come up. Something always does."
"Always." She nodded in agreement and packed up her trash in a neat little pile on the tray. "I'll probably be more useful once I get some sleep. I probably haven't helped much."
He chuckled and gave her a pat on the shoulder, a friendly gesture from father to daughter. "I'm glad you're here. There are so few I can so trustfully rely on, [my eldest]."
She gave the best smile she could offer at the moment, which really wasn't much. "I do what I can."
Summary: The eldest daughter returns home, much to Zeus' joy.