"Alas! Life is a tea table, covered with teacups, and we, who are already teacups ourselves, insist on adding tea leaves and having no teaware (gap) compared to others, with the result that everyone now says we use tableware (tragedy) for our meals."
"We perish in silence, becoming stationery."
"We erupt in silence, becoming torches."
"We try to be prudent, but all become masks."
"We want to make a splash, but all become Peking (jing) opera."
"Unable to reunite, holding hands and looking at each other through tears, becoming a tragedy."
"Life is our own teacup, and a washbasin (comedy) in the eyes of others."
Three months later, Zeus, with a small belly, sighed while drinking red tea in a sea of flowers.
"Are you satisfied this time, Big Sister?"
Slapping away Hades' hands that were embracing her lower abdomen, Zeus looked at this demonic sister with dissatisfaction. I'm your younger sister! How could you do this? And not only did you do it, but you also made me bear your children. There's a phrase, 'motherf*cker,' that I don't know whether to say or not.
Not directly answering Zeus, Hades' emotions on her face had become increasingly rich lately. Now, she lived every day in such happiness that she almost thought she was dreaming. But every morning, seeing Zeus, who had fainted from being 'satisfied' by her at the bedside, she dared to believe this was reality. Thanks to this 'satisfaction,' Zeus's belly, which had just barely 'slimmed down,' had grown large again.
"At this point, I don't want to say anything more about you! Big Sister, you truly are a hentai."
Looking at Hades' blissfully 'silly' expression, Zeus glared at her in annoyance. In these past few months, Hades had not consulted those 'unwholesome' books any less, playing with her until she completely lost her mind and didn't know who she was. In this situation, she had unlocked quite a few new positions.
It was utterly infuriating, making Zeus gnash her teeth in anger every time she woke up to find things amiss.
"This time it's twins, that's a bit much."
Feeling the two small lives in her abdomen, Zeus's face twitched. Was this going to be the end of her, Zeus?
"Have you thought of names for the children, Hades?"
"Not yet."
Zeus asked Hades helplessly. As it turned out, this fellow had no excitement at all about being a 'father.' When she learned Zeus was pregnant, she was still very troubled about whether to keep the child or not. But in the end, to keep Zeus by her side, this child, she decided, had to be kept!
"If you can't think of one, don't sleep in my bed tonight."
"I've thought of it."
"Hmph! You're truly shameless."
Upon hearing Zeus's words, Hades' expression changed instantly, but such a thing couldn't stump her. Although it felt a bit thick-skinned, for the 'happiness' of the night, she resolutely chose to be 'shameless.' Clearly, compared to 'happiness,' what was a little bit of face?
"Tell me, don't let it be some trashy name you just came up with on the spot."
Zeus squinted at Hades, clearly not believing this person could come up with good names in such a short time.
"Little Gold, Little Silver."
"Do you think they're Gold Horn and Silver Horn?"
"Little White, Little Black."
"Are the ones in my belly pets?"
"Jack, Barbossa."
"Do you think they're pirates?"
After a strenuous round of complaints, Zeus leaned on her waist, panting (from anger), and grumbled to Hades.
"The older one will be named Apollo."
"The younger one will be named Artemis."
"What do you think, Zeus?"
Hearing these two names, Zeus paused, they sounded familiar, but never mind, it was time to rest! Pregnancy was exhausting for anyone, let alone with twins, so Zeus, under Hades's careful attention, returned to her room to rest. Although Hades lay beside her, she knew what was important and stayed still, not disturbing Zeus.
This allowed Zeus to get a peaceful sleep.
While Zeus rested, Athena and Demeter began their legendary plan. They transformed into their respective avatars and started causing trouble everywhere, then modified and spread the stories, slowly making humans accept these legends. These legends began to become subconscious things, gathering faith.
"The success of these days wasn't in vain. No, it should be said it was very successful."
Athena looked at the golden faith condensing in her hand with satisfaction. She was very pleased with this result and didn't even need to come up with stories herself. It turned out that by letting people 'see' and 'hear,' she could do this much better. It seemed she had been overthinking things; otherwise, such a simple matter would have been done long ago, and she wouldn't have needed to owe anyone favors.
"However, to create constellations, I still need more; this is far from enough."
Athena looked at the faith in her hand with regret and said helplessly, faith wasn't that easy to collect. Otherwise, she wouldn't have gone to such great lengths, even fabricating stories. These things existed in people's perceptions; if people believed it existed, then it existed. It was very ethereal, very fragile; once people stopped believing, it would cease to exist.
"I need to speed up!"
Thinking this, Athena turned and walked into the depths of the temple, where she had placed the statue she found in the village—a statue of her Mother Goddess Zeus. Every day, she would look at it, using the object to remember the person.
"I must find you, Mother Goddess. You must wait for me to save you."
With determination in her eyes, Athena spoke to the statue. After caressing the statue's cheek, Athena finally went to rest.
She could never have imagined that the Mother Goddess she wanted to save was right there, in her great aunt's Underworld.
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