Silence descended after Paul stopped, the goddess frozen as what he said played over and over in her head.
… How?
...
How could she have missed such a simple yet crucial fact? This wasn't just a matter of agreeing for Percy to save the child or not but a full on commitment that included Rhea, Andromeda and herself as his wives. She knew her husband, understood where his heart rested, and the very principles he tried to live by.
If he adopted Cloelia, the child would be irrevocably in their lives. Percy wouldn't even entertain the thought of saving the child only to leave her in Leto's Orphanage or under the care of servants. He would take responsibility, even with his time already stretched thin as it was with the war. And yet, it wasn't feasible for him to do it alone, especially with the condition Cloelia could be in due to the adoption.
Young godlings needed to maintain close contact with their divine parents, their domains, or others of similar essence to help stabilize them as they grew into themselves. For most gods, who matured from infant to young adult in as short as a few months to a couple of years, it was a but a blink of their immortal lives. Cloelia wasn't so lucky in such regards.
Being the rare case of enduring maturation at a near mortal pace, her stabilization would take significantly longer and with the power she could inherit, that could make her presence potentially volatile to most of the lower tier gods.
She would need near constant watch of at least one of the primordial just to make sure her core didn't flare up and if it did, to contain the fallout. Better yet would be if Percy or maybe one of his Shadows to be around since the feel of his presence would naturally calm Cloelia and the chance of Cloelia's new power harming him was near zero.
And yet, they were at war. Percy simply did not have the time to be a constant presence and the idea of splitting himself into multiple bodies was off the table. The last thing they needed was their king and strongest warrior fighting at anything less than full capacity should Pontus or one of the stronger sea deities make a move.
No. That risk was too great but that still left them with the need to have someone close to the child that was either powerful enough or similar in essence to safely interact and if necessary restrain her but also capable of comforting the godling. The list of possible candidates was already slim as is and even then, it pointed to the very fact Paul had brought up.
Cloelia would need a second adoptive parent, someone that could be with her when Percy wasn't. But then, that need cut the list even more since two adopting divine beings needed to have some form of bond between each other to begin with. Otherwise the risk of Essence Rejection could occur within the adopted being in question and results could get messy. Even more so considering Cloelia had already assimilated some of Percy's essence and was practically a pseudo-daughter as is.
That meant that only three actual options existed; Rhea, Andromeda, and … herself.
'B-but … could—would one of us do it?' she thought only to shake her head as the answer immediately came to her.
Andromeda.
While Rhea was neutral in regards to Cloelia, Hestia didn't doubt that Andromeda had closely monitored the young godling since Chase had visited their mountain. If asked Andromeda wouldn't even hesitate to go and adopt Cloelia with Percy.
'Would Andy even tolerate the thought of not doing anything for Cloelia?' she wondered, having not considered her second wife's feelings on the matter. Sure, Andy might not be queen like herself and Rhea but then this wasn't a council issue.
This was personal to them and so Andy's stance and voice was equal to herself, Rhea, and Percy. And now Hestia felt a sinking in her gut as she realized it and was appalled. Yes she had her own misgivings left even with Annabeth gone but to think she'd just assumed her choice alone mattered most? That sinking sensation went straight to knotting.
"Hestia?" Paul asked, breaking her from her thoughts as she looked at him.
He had a small frown of concern and now she just realized he'd been holding her hand too.
"Are you okay? You got very pale suddenly," he said.
"I'm …" she was about to say 'fine' but one look at the worry in Paul's eyes did away with it, making her relent. "No. I just … I don't know what to do or how to feel about all this."
Paul remained silent as she gave a tired sigh, her shoulders dropping as she looked at her own hands. Did Rhea and Andromeda even know about Cloelia's condition yet? They were aware of the godling being present, that was assured, but they still needed to know this and discuss it all together.
"I need to talk to the others too," she found herself saying, her gaze still low. "But I'm scared," she said, a slight tremble to her voice. "Scared of telling them how I feel and how they'll take it. I'm already disgusted with myself … who's to say they won't be too?"
She sniffed a little as she tapered off, imagining those very reactions. And worse was that no matter how much she may want to hide it, Andromeda could get a read on her all too easily and know exactly how she felt. However she was broken out of her thoughts as Paul squeezed her hands, gaining her attention.
"Hestia … I can understand that you're worried but I need you to do something for me," he said gently, looking straight into her eyes as she slowly nodded. "I need you to have faith. I know how hard grudges can be and what they do to you, after all, I see it in Percy's eyes every time Poseidon is mentioned," he continued, his own eyes darkening for a moment as well.
"Fears too, regardless if they are irrational or not and no matter what you feel, its the actions that you take that matter. That's why I need you to have faith and trust in your husband and wives. Trust them to hear you and understand where you are coming from, trust so that you can all work towards a solution because this is not a choice any of you can or should make alone."
As he finished he slowly stood up and guiding Hestia to do the same before he pulled her into a hug.
"Can you do that for me?" he asked as he rubbed circles into her back.
Her eyes stung at his words but so did it warm her heart. She took a shaky breath before she nodded into his shoulder.
"Good."
With that he pulled back and pulled a handkerchief from a vest pocket to lightly dab at her eyes and clearing the few tears that formed.
"Now, I believe Sally should be getting back from meeting with the judges for the morning trails so why don't we head back to our house and get some tea?" he asked, his voice more uplifting as he tucked away the handkerchief. "You look like you could use the pick-me up before returning to the upper world."
As he said that he guided her through the room and out of the school, another breeze rolling over them as Paul turned them towards a path leading off to the rolling hills. As they walked Hestia glanced at him as a soft smile played on her lips, her shoulders feeling just a little lighter after their talk.
She knew he was right and that she needed to trust in her spouses but knowing that she already had his understanding and support helped. 'I'll go straight to telling them the moment I return to the surface,' she promised herself as she let the soft breezes and warmth of the plains soothe her…
...
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