23 – A New Problem

ONE YEAR LATER

It has been exactly one year since the marriage of Athena and Poseidon and Apollo and Artemis. Dionysus was still with Hestia and Demeter, and to the surprise of some, Iris is now a couple with Aphrodite and Hephaestus.

The communication device between the realms has not yet been used or is not working.

Greece was developing well, but the Gods, or rather Aprodithe, discovered a serious problem.

This brings us to the present moment, where Aphrodite was in a meeting with Poseidon and Athena. The place was in the middle of Olympus and was known as the Hall of Meetings.

''So you are telling me that something is wrong with the Mortals' fertility?'' Poseidon asked Aphrodite.

The Goddess of Love nodded, ''Yes! I have received many prayers about this. The mortals have taken seriously the task of repopulating Greece, but the young people are not getting pregnant.''

''I even sent my powers to some Mortals, to see if the problem would be solved, but nothing worked. With no options, I've come to you two to discuss a solution.''

Athena and Poseidon looked at each other, '' Say, could this affect even the gods?''

Aphrodite took a second to understand, "Oh... How long have you been trying to have a child?''

Athena counted the days, 'We've been trying for 53 days... non-stop.''

Athena didn't move a facial muscle as she told them that.

Aphrodite, who usually would joke with Athena, realized that this was a big problem, ''If even the gods can be affected... Yes, all of us may be affected... but the question still remains, why and how?''

'' Have you checked the mortal bodies?'' Poseidon asked.

''Yes. After the third time I sent my powers and they didn't work, I decided to go down personally and check the mortals. They are completely healthy. I also checked the historians who stayed in Olympus, and they are normal.''

Although many people might think Aprodithe was useless, without her many things wouldn't work.

''Can you check me out?'' Poseidon held out his arm.

Aphrodite nodded and approached Poseidon. Then she took his arm and inspected his body with her powers.

After 30 seconds, Aprodithe released his arm, '' You are healthy, and your reproductive organs are working just fine.''

Poseidon nodded, and Athena approached with her arm extended. Aphrodite did the same procedure, '' You are also healthy. No problem with fertility either.''

After hearing the confirmation, Athena said in a worried voice, '' Then we have a problem!''

Poseidon got quiet, '' This calls for a full meeting.''

To be clear, this would be the first time since the wedding that a full meeting would be held.

Rising from his chair, Poseidon used his powers to amplify his voice, ''We have an emergency!''

Not even ten seconds passed, and Iris was already on the scene, '' What happened!''

Poseidon told her to sit down, '' I'll explain when the others arrive.''

After three minutes, all the Gods were in the meeting room.

Poseidon looked at them and passed the word to Aphrodite, '' I could explain everything, but I'll leave it to the specialist.''

Aphrodite then began to explain the situation. That no mortal or God was managing to get pregnant.

After five minutes and after Aprodithe had finished speaking, the mood in the room was heavy.

''Does anyone have any idea what might be going on?'' Poseidon looked at the gods.

''Did you check the mortal bodies, to see if there were any problems with them?'' Hestia asked

Aphrodite nodded, ''I checked a whole city, and there was no problem with them.''

''And how do you know about the gods?'' This time it was Artemis who asked.

''She checked our bodies, and there was nothing wrong,'' Athena said and looked at Aphrodite.

Aphrodite understood the signal and went in front of Artemis. The goddess didn't understand anything until Aprodithe asked for her hand, ''Give me your hand.''

Artemis trusted everyone in the room, so she gave her hand. She felt the power of Aphrodite pass through her body.

After 30 seconds, Aprodithe released Artemis' hand, '' You are healthy and able to bear many children.''

Aphrodite then went from God to God, until all of them were checked. The result was the same, healthy but for some reason, unable to bear children.

'' ... That's a problem.''

Everyone nodded at Hephaesutus' statement.

They were silent until Iris said quickly, ''Wait! If the problem isn't the body... it must be the soul.''

Poseidon tilted his head, '' But what would it have to do with not having children?''

Aphrodite then explained, '' For a being to be born, it needs a soul. It doesn't matter if the body is good, without the soul the being doesn't even begin to be produced.''

''Okay, so we have a clue where to start investigating. Who is our soul expert?'' Poseidon asked and noticed that everyone made a face as if they had realized something.

"What is it?'' Poseidon was also curious.

Athena was the one who explained, '' The only being that controls the souls in our realm is ... Hades.''

Poseidon paused, 'I forgot about Hades!!!!'

He looked around and understood the look on the gods' faces, '' Has everyone here forgotten about Hades?''

The gods nodded. Poseidon sighed, '' So the fact that no one is born is because of Hades?''

Athena shook her head, '' We don't know. Maybe there was a problem with him, as we did not extinguish Evil from him, maybe he became full Evil like Zeus under Evil's influence and prevented the souls from leaving the Underworld.''

Poseidon sighed, '' Okay, and how do we talk to him?

"Leave it to me!'' Iris said and closed her eyes. Since she was the Messenger of the Gods, the way to communicate with Hades was simple. The Gods waited five minutes until Iris opened her eyes with a strange face.

'' What did he say?''

Iris looked at Poseidon, '' He said that he will only talk about this matter personally with the new King of Olympus.''

The Gods looked at Poseidon, who had already picked up his Trident and Shield, '' How do I get there?

Athena explained, '' As you know, the Underworld is only for the dead, the rule applies even to the Gods. Hades is a special case, so you would have to use an entrance from the river Styx... The problem is that everything was destroyed when Zeus died, and we don't know where the new entrance to the Underworld is, if we even have one.''

'' How come the Underworld wasn't destroyed?''

"Different rules than ours. It's practically a separate realm from ours.''

Poseidon was at loss, '' So how can I go there?''

Iris intervened, "Let me ask Hades again.''

The Messenger of the Gods closed her eyes. After a few moments, she opened them again, '' Hades said he will send someone in a day to pick you up. He said you can take some visitors with you.''

Poseidon nodded, '' Who wants to come?''

No one volunteered. Poseidon looked at the gods and smiled at their refusal.

'' Ok, but Hephaestus.'' The Blacksmith paled immediately, thinking Poseidon would call him, '' I need some of the Flame of Olympus, to cleanse Hades if he is corrupted.''

Hephaestus sighed in relief, '' Leave it to me!''

''Okay, you guys can leave. If Anything else happens, I'll let you know!'' Poseidon ended the meeting.

After all of the Gods left, Poseidon and Athena were the only ones left in the place, '' Are you coming?''

''Of course, I'm going. Do you think I'd let you go alone?'' Athena kissed Poseidon.

"Then why didn't you say so before? You had me worried for a second.''

'''It was just to get you agitated...''' Athena said and ran towards their house.

Poseidon smiled, 'She's a sweetheart.'

Poseidon followed Athena and saw her entering the house. He entered soon after and closed the door.

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1 DAY LATER

Poseidon and Athena were dressed for war and waiting to be picked up by Hades' contact.

''Ready?''

"Ready!''