Tike kissed the foreheads of the two brothers with affection. Before leaving, she offered Zeus a meaningful piece of advice: "Time is short. Do not let the temple on Mount Othrys remain vacant for too long."
The God of Thunder had never visited his temple on the divine mountain. After getting to know the gods of the heavens and the seas, it was time to meet the gods of the earth.
The goddess returned to the Invisible Island, where a long-awaited visitor greeted her with a sigh of helplessness.
"Tike, Aphrodite's banishment was your doing, wasn't it?"
Tike replied helplessly, "She made the first move."
Pontus was not surprised that Aphrodite dared to attack Tike. Eos had bestowed upon her mother the powers of beauty and love, but not enough wisdom.
The primordial sea god let out a bitter laugh. "Gaia has spoken with me. She hopes Aphrodite can return to the divine mountain."
"That will depend on Princess Rhea," Tike said, her interest piqued. "We are powerless in this matter!"
"The Queen of the Gods has not heeded Gaia's request." Pontus was also puzzled. "What surprised me was that Gaia did not get angry at her daughter's defiance. The shock on her face was unconcealed when she came before me."
Tike's heart tightened. The Earth Mother must have discovered the anomaly with the King and Queen of the Gods.
"Perhaps it's because she finally realized she can no longer control her children."
Tike quickly found an excuse to change the subject. "She should have understood this when she forced Mnemosyne, the Memory Goddess, to relinquish her position as the primary deity, disregarding Mnemosyne's own interests."
"Why would she think I could accomplish what even Gaia herself cannot?" Pontus complained, his eyebrows furrowed in distress.
Tike's heart sank. Indeed, if even the will of Gaia, a primordial god, could not make the Queen of the Gods obey, why would she assign this task to Pontus?
A flash of inspiration struck the goddess. Gaia probably wasn't assigning the task to Pontus, but to Eros, the primordial god of love, who stood behind Pontus and Aphrodite!
Gaia knew! She knew everything Rhea had done!
Her thoughts suddenly cleared. Gaia must know that Rhea had devoured Cronus! She wanted to tell the primordial god of love that to have Aphrodite return to the divine mountain, Rhea's love must be taken away!
Tike was about to speak to Pontus but swallowed her words. She couldn't explain how she knew this!
In a flash, Tike also understood Gaia's other intention. The Earth Mother was showing her dominance! She was telling her that she knew Tike was aware of the inside story!
Now it was Tike's turn to wear a bitter smile. What good would it do to tell Pontus the truth? The primordial sea god would surely seize this leverage and force the Queen of the Gods to withdraw her punishment of Aphrodite. Rhea, in turn, would likely believe that Tike, as the sole confidante, had revealed the news to Pontus, and would resent her. She might even persuade Gaia to act, using Aphrodite's return to the divine mountain as a condition, and together they would silence Tike!
But if she didn't tell Pontus the truth, the desperate primordial sea god would seek Eros's help. The origin of desire, once it noticed the Queen of the Gods, would understand Gaia's intentions. The primordial god of love would take away Rhea's twisted love, and the Earth Mother would step in, using the fact that Rhea had devoured Cronus to threaten the Queen of the Gods into recalling the banished Aphrodite, and perhaps kick out Mnemosyne, allowing the goddess of love to exclusively hold the primary deity position.
With both primordial gods achieving a win-win situation, Eros would surely align himself with Gaia, and this event would become the dawn of an alliance between Earth and Desire.
Gaia had calculated that the primordial sea god would seek her help and had thrown this dilemma at her.
Tike, finding the situation extremely difficult, pondered a solution. After much thought, she couldn't find a way to satisfy both parties. As time ticked by, the hope in Pontus's eyes gradually faded. Suddenly, Tike had an idea.
No matter what, since a perfect solution was impossible, she would win over one side first! httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět
Tike closed her eyes slightly, and white light once again shone from them. This invigorated Pontus, who eagerly awaited the solution from the goddess of fate.
The sudden increase in divine power of fate captured the primordial sea god's gaze and diverted his attention. Under the cover of the mist, the temperature avatars guarding the Invisible Island quietly approached the pool and retrieved the hourglass of time. Tike had heavily sealed Rhea's hourglass of time with her divine power and hidden it at the bottom of the pool.
While the main body was delaying, the avatars unsealed the golden hourglass and turned it, anxiously awaiting a response from the Queen of the Gods.
Rhea, on the divine mountain, sensed the hourglass's call and cautiously sent down a wisp of her consciousness, which manifested in the mist.
Tike, who was feigning composure in front of Pontus, felt a surge of confidence. The white light in her eyes dissipated, and she offered her advice from fate.
"Primordial sea god, go seek the help of Aphrodite's unborn child."
Pontus immediately returned to the deep sea to contact Eros. After confirming that the primordial sea god had departed, Tike welcomed her second visitor.
Without dwelling on preamble, Tike directly told the Queen of the Gods the reason for Pontus's visit, and seemingly casually mentioned Gaia's unusual behavior.
Rhea ignored Aphrodite and Pontus, her calm eyes flashing with a cold, faint light.
"Princess Tike, did you summon me just to tell me this?"
Tike replied without reservation, "I suspect the Earth Goddess already knows what you've been doing! She might use it to threaten you into rescinding your punishment of Aphrodite."
The Queen of the Gods suddenly smiled gently. "Then, for what purpose do you tell me this?"
Looking at the mad goddess with some apprehension, Tike showed no fear. "I only wish to avoid unnecessary conflict! After all, until now, only I knew these things. If Gaia tells you I leaked it, you would likely pretend to believe it and feign enmity towards me to cause trouble."
"This benefits neither you nor me!"
Tike met Rhea's gaze head-on, their sharp, cold eyes locked in a dangerous stare.
The tense confrontation ended with both goddesses offering a fake smile. The Queen of the Gods expressed her seemingly sincere gratitude, and Tike, to show courtesy, put on a stiff smile, acknowledging the Queen's thanks.
Rhea's conscious avatar slowly dissipated. Tike couldn't help but raise her voice and exclaim, "Rhea! You are a formidable and serious opponent. You are capable of far more than this; you shouldn't be consumed by love and live in constant anxiety."
The dissipating figure of the Queen of the Gods paused. Tike said softly, "None of this was your fault. Cronus was not worthy of you. Can't you forget him and start anew?"
Rhea's reply was resolute and pained, "I cannot."