She stared intensely at Zeus, as if hoping to find an answer, but each time her hands came to rest upon his chest, once home to his beating heart, the light within her eyes would vanish.
Then she rose her eyes to the ruins, and the tears began to stream down her face. The hope in her eyes slowly diminished, leaving behind nothing more but agony.
For the first time since the Kosmos had existed, the only goddess who kept the equilibrium of everything good began to see the world as gray and desolate. Although she could still feel the hope that surged inside her, the truth of the situationwas more complicated—she found herself anticipating her own death.
One could almost feel his soul shatter at the sight of Hestia wavering between hope and despair, swinging like a fragile pendulum between choosing life or death.
“I-I shall come with you, my beloved. I shall see what is awaiting us after our death. I was a fool for thinking that I could do something . . .” And then she stopped, unable to hold back the sobs that were clawing their way out.
With slow, delicate movements, she pulled Zeus’s hand between her slight palms, caressing his cold fingers as she chewed on her lower lip, desperate not to fall prey to the agonizing feelings that threatened to overwhelm her.
“I can hear your pleas to stop me from what I am about to do, yet my existence is inextricably bound to yours, my dearest. I cannot be whole without you,” she uttered, gripping at his fingers as if she hoped that he would wake up. “The world cannot be whole without you.”
And her eyelids fell, not as a sign of peace, but of surrender.
As she kept one of his hands in her grasp, she brought her other hand to her chest and began desperately scratching her skin with her nails. She didn’t stop. She pushed forward relentlessly, and a blinding light suddenly burst from her fingertips, cutting through the darkness that surrounded them. Her nails pierced through her own flesh in a desperate search for the last remaining beating heart in Elythra.
Her mouth opened, and a scream of pain resonated through the ruins. Hestia let her hand sink deeper, seeking her own heart. The tears relentlessly rolled down her cheeks, her eyes widening as death gripped at her soul.
Another howl poured out of her lips as if ripped from her empty chest, her body trembling from the unbearable pain thatengulfed her. In the open air, her heart was now pounding, with the wind whispering over it.
She had performed the unthinkable act of sbennymi?*—the goddess of the eternal flame of peace had extinguished her flame as she removed her hand from her chest. Her eyes finally shifted to her open palm, where the soft light that had streamed through her fingers tenderly caressed the pulsating heart she was holding.
The pain faded away—or perhaps she stopped feeling it as her almighty body realized that it had to embrace eternal death.
A smile graced her lips before she collapsed onto Zeus’s chest as the light emanating from her hand faded away. Her body melted into itself, drained of all the fights it had been carrying as her fingers eased, letting go of the heart that pulsed within her chest.
As her heart hit the cold ground, the remnants of their world recoiled under the crushing weight of grief, and it appeared the sky was about to come crashing down upon them. The atmosphere dispersed, and they were completely absorbed by the Kosmos’s mysterious nature.
And there was no light, nor darkness—only nothingness.
In the absence of light, the darkness returned, engulfing his void entirely. Shadow hadn’t realized how quickly he had distanced himself from Eros, but he did observe how quickly Eros turned on his feet as if he were trying to catch him lurking behind him.
Eros searched, his eyes darting around the room and his labored breathing merged with the breathing of the other gods, yet he appeared unable to see Shadow. The God of Love’s fists tightened as he saw Artemis, Athena, and Hades looking at him, knowing that Shadow had been there the entire time. Even though his peony scent remained in the air and theyall recognized it, the enormity of what they had just seen overshadowed his presence.
“That . . .” Artemis began, but she couldn’t get any other words out of her mouth.
A hesitant pool of tears glistened in her widened eyes, and it seemed as if she was trying to decide whether to let them fall or to keep them locked away. Despite her hatred for her father, the genuine love she witnessed between him and Hestia had touched her. With her eyebrows creased in profound disbelief, she rested her trembling hands upon the table’s edge, bending forward to get a better look at the ancient book.
The deadly silence persisted among them and Eros, his face pale, seemed to cease his search for Shadow.
Hades’ typical calm and shadowy demeanor had completely disappeared; his eyes were now open wide, locked on the book.
Athena was the only person in the room who did not seem to be as puzzled as the other people; the events in the vision were no mystery to her. She swallowed the lump in her throat and took a step back; her gaze fixed on the other three gods.
“I advise against moving forward with this plan,” she stated, her voice heavy and solemn. “With the death of Zeus, our own end is imminent, as you have witnessed.”
“But how is this possible? Why?” Artemis briefly asked, still keeping her gaze locked on the table as if she was struggling to find a solution to what Athena had just shown them.
With a tightened mouth, Athena drew her shoulders back and directed her gaze to the old floor. She was avoiding any eye contact as she continued to hold still—too still—as if any movement of her body might give away what she knew.
“I am unable to provide any further information,” she finally stated, and with quick steps, she left the room, leaving the other gods in total silence.
Shadow observed the strained atmosphere that lingered between them, as they all bore the burden of what they had seen. A sense of unspoken concern hung in the air, and no one seemed ready to break the silence.
The death of Zeus would result in the obliteration of the divine realm, encompassing all deities and creatures within, with the exception of Hestia. She was still present, mourning the man she secretly loved and for whom she chose to commit the ultimate sacrifice.
This was, without a doubt, a very disturbing scenario.
