#kymopoleia

Don't get me wrong, Poseidon loves his kids but he was arrogant and assumed that they would be protected by virtue of being his and that if by some impossibility something did happen he would know/they would tell him.

This neglects to consider alot of things: a)that most gods are arrogant and driven by their vices so don't always care to consider risks when indulging their desires, as such his protection means less than he thinks; b)the real reality that Poseidon's own actions had left his daughters uncertain in his love for them and unwilling to risk further rejection, meaning that they stayed silent; and c)that for them to actually tell him anything they needed to be able to speak with him(see Kym constantly being banished and Perse living/trapped on Olympus).

Were Kym present for the dressing down Athena gives them all, you are right in thinking that she would also hit her father and the rest of the royals of atlantis over the head with the truth of their estrangement from her and her favourite sister but Poseidon has also failed spectacularly at knowing and in turn being known by his storm born daughter.

Kym feels deeply and is alot more vulnerable than people think. When it comes to her father she equally LoveHateFears him.

At this point he had been King Poseidon in her thoughts longer than he ever held the title pateras.

By the time Poseidon realises just how badly he and the rest of the sea fucked up with the two Perse has killed herself and Kym has fled due to a misunderstand where she thought Poseidon wanted her to leave and never come back in return for him intervening to save Dionysus life.

Kym was supposed to be banished but broke into the palace to plead with the King to save Dio life. Poseidon was too overwhelmed by seeing her crying and learning that his grandson Dionysus was on trial and at risk of being executed to truly process what Kym was asking and offering in return (they don't know Persedione is dead yet, he doesn't understand that his littlest storm isn't hurt but grieving).

All Poseidon knows is that his angriest baby who is normally so unbreakable is crying and he needs her to stop as soon as possible before he drowns the coast.

The impossibility of the situation caused all of them to freeze up, panic and then forget to clarify anything before running for Olympus.

Poseidon and Triton head off together and from their perspective they barely manage to save Dio's life with Athena support but as the trial ends, their grandson/nephew is not relieved or greatful but furious.

As far as Dionysus is concerned if he can't avenge his mother then he should atleast be alowed to join her and when that doesn't happen he crashes out in a way that reminds everyone on Olympus of his mother during one of her more fragile moments.

Dionysus form is glitching, his voice splitting and ichor begins to spill as he tears at his own skin.

The god of madness rants and raves about how although Apollo and his abuse may have been what drove his mother to kill herself, they were all equally responsible as they stood by and let him.

Zeus orders him gagged as he begins spitting curses, unwilling to risk that the bound god might yet still succeed at laying a spell on those present.

Poseidon is simultaniously being hit with more horrid information about his daughter that he somehow missed whilst also being shown a side of his grandson he has never known.

He is lost and worried and somewhat in denial over how little he actually new his youngest child.

Though Triton was somewhat of aware of Dionysus instability after stumbling across the clean up of a few... incidents during his duties as messenger of the seas, hewas also unprepared for the raw hate and grief being spewed at everyone. He had assumed Dio mental state wasn't a problem because Perse had assured him it was fine with mild amusement the one time he brought it up.

Knowing now that his sister had been in a similar or more likely even worse place mentally reignites his concerns because how often had she claimed to be fine? He hadn't noticed that something was wrong with her and now she's gone.

Dio is going to be stuck with his uncle bothering him for the next few centuries and he doesn't know whether to love or hate it.

With the trial over there is little the Sea king and heir can do in Olympus.

Dio punishment means he will be beyond their reach and Athena fled at some point with Persedione's body so they head back to Atlantis.

Upon arrival the duo intend to inform the rest of the family of Persedione's passing and Dionysus punishment before questioning Kym on what she knows only to find the palace in a state of panic.

Kymopoleia is gone and its only now as he has a moment to breathe and think back on what Kym said that Poseidon remembers what she had offered in return for helping Dionysus (and how badly had he failed his daughters that one was suicidal without him noticing and the other had so little faith in his love that she had sought to bargain for his protection?)

Triton is sent to retrieve his sister as he will have a better chance of tracking her due to his title of Messenger of the Seas. It takes a while and by the time he manages to track his sister down his grief and guilt have been pushed aside to focus on the irritation and anger that is so much easier to handle.

Whatever anger he holds at her for running fades though when he realises that it is not defiance in her eyes but fear.

Fear of him.

Kym is irritating and loud.

She's a brat who's behaviour has often lead to him joking about them getting rid on her (the question of whether she had known it was a joke or thought he meant it will haunt him for decades after this), but she's his sister.

His little sister whom he swore to protect, love and care for.

At what point did he fail so terribly as a big brother than his baby storm had grown to fear him.

Why hadn't he noticed?!

Triton allows the goddess of Storms to flee and finally allows himself to weep as the grief becomes too much.

Eventually he will track down Athena in hopes of making her answer in Kyms stead but for now he grieves alone and out of sight.

They will spend decades attempting to tempt Kymopoleia back home.

Each time she runs from them as she had today will further break his heart.

Athena lays out in brutal terms how Poseidon had failed not just Persedione but both his daughters in a myriad of ways.

His sins against Persedione all come back to ignorance, arrogance and a failure to listen.

His sins against Kymopoleia are more complicated.

However, his primary crime against Kym from which every other betrayal had stemmed had been not just how often he punished her for minor slip ups in court and the hypocrisy of it, but the method he had used to do it.

The first few incidents were admittedly Kym's fault but they were accidents. The ones that followed though? not so much.

Of all her siblings Kym is the most like her father in temperament.

Feeling deeply and acting without thought she cared little for the backhanded and twofaced dealings of the Atlantean court and its politics. As such whenever she was forced to attend it usually ended in some kind of disaster, something that many older deities noted made her just like her father during his first few years of ruling. Still feral as he was from his imprisonment in his fathers stomach. (So why was Kym harshly punished when she knows from Oceanus that he always tried to gently guide her lord father and never responded so cruely to his mistakes?)

With Kym being more Isolated from the public than her siblings and Poseidon only ever forcing her to interact during important events where a united front was needed, her mess ups whilst usually unintentional were always blown out of proportion and made into a spectacle. The court would howl and slander and Kym's family? Not only would they let them drag her reputation but Poseidon would often capitulate to their demands for punishment to get them to shut up.

In Poseidon's mind banishment was not a big deal as it's not like Kym cared much for Atlantis but what he neglected to consider was that the Palace was Kym's home. In banishing Kym he cut her off from most of her family and the vast majority of her worship given she was technically a lesser deity and drew most of her power from the people of Atlantis.

This is made infinitely worse by the fact that that during those first few banishments(some lasting decades or even centuries), Kymopoleia was essentially homeless. it was only after Persedione learned of what was going on and her sisters plight that Kym had a place to stay during these periods. What Poseidon failed to consider was that Kym is not his first born so she does not have her own palace as heir. Nor is she married like Rhodes to another god who's temple and lodgings could serve as her own. Kym had been forced to marry Briares, a being that had taken to sleeping on his workshop in the Atlantean palace not long into their marriage.

As if being Banished so often wasn't enough, Kym is the only one subjected to such treatment even though Triton and Rhodes actions are usually intentional unlike her own. Their digs at father thanks to being planned are usually subtle and not so easily linked to them. Even when their mistakes and hissy fits have serious consequences they remain unnamed and their punishments quiet affairs.

When faced with such double standards it is hardly a surprise that Kym believes herself unloved and unwanted?

This does not even take into account the times that Triton and Rhodes (who like their father do not believe Kym cares about being banished) have blamed their actions on her. Nor does it consider how the court has noticed and taken to copying them, framing her for crimes she did not commit. It is Poseidon's refusal to listen to her side during these incidents that leaders her to truly thinks he hates her and wishes her gone.

Persedione has stood by Kymopoleia's side through all of this and much like her sister assumed ill intent where nought but stupidity and shortsightedness ruled.

It was her fathers cold behaviour to her favoured sibling that lead to her furthering the distance between them and not asking for help as she feared what he would do if he decided her complaints were a problem for him or her failures at marriage an embarissement/spectacle.

The 2 fed into each others doubts and fears when it came to Poseidon and his court, all while the Sea god remained blissfully unaware of the hurt he had levied on his youngest daughters.

Athena as Persedione's mother is aware of all of this, even Kyms side as she noticed when the storm goddess started staying with her daughter. Athena ended up feeling somewhat protective of Kym, seeing similarities in how they were both thrown away by the sea for mistakes and accidents that weren't their fault.

As far as Athena is concerned (something that she outright hisses at the sea gods) the only reason Poseidon hadn't permanently banished Kym from the sea like he had her was because cutting her off from all her domains so completely would have lead to her fading and caused an uproar. Instead he chose the far crueller path of drawing it out and watching her slowly crumble without worship under the weight of being forgotten.

Poseidon damn near kills his niece for that accusation and only Amphrite's unexpected intervention stops him.

His Queen is cry but she does not let Poseidon hurt Athena.

They had forced the Wisdom goddess to speak on this matter and she had told no lies. Kymopoleia is fading, something they should have noticed.

As much as it hurts it is understandable that Athena thought their actions intentional. Their behaviour goes beyond accidental harm or gross negligence.

They had failed their daughters completely and as Athena leaves the Sea Queen can only pray to Chaos that they can still fix things with the child they have left.

An investigation into Kyms treatment at the hands of the court is held and many lose their positions (and some their heads) after being forced to admit the truth of their accusations against their princess. Their spy networks are also torn apart in search of answers over why not even a rumour of their daughters treatment on Olympus reached them.

Water is everywhere and despite Zeus decrees, the suns craftiness and Apollo's siblings covering for him something should have reached them.

More heads role, they do not feel any better.

Rhodes marriage had fallen apart not long after hers began.

Helios had outed his Mother In Law to her husband at the Wedding Celebration and been cursed by Aphrodite for it.

Not even a few days later their once happy marriage had been in ruins as Helios galavanted off to follow an arrogant mortal around like a lost puppy.

Hephestus had divorced Aphrodite for her infidelity but not before embarising her and Ares before the whole Pantheon and making them both a laughing stock.

Two marriages destroyed. One joyous, the other already on the rocks.

Two centuries later and Rhodes was still furious over the situation.

The enchantment had eventually broken but Helios refusal to cast asside the children and grandchildren he had sired during his infidelity had Rhodes roth with rage.

Her Temper was egged on by their Father and his Lady Wife, both of whom were furious over their daughters treatment at the hands of her husband.

The seas themselves responded to their rulers rage. Even two centuries later, ship wrecks and drownings at an all time high

With so much death and horror taking place within the Seas currents, Perse had been at first unable and later unwilling to draw her Oceanic parents attention to her own predicament.

There was little her father could do and his intervention would not be worth the innocent lives it cost.

And if a part of her cried over her Fathers indifference and negligence towards her well being, she never voiced it. After all, better to suffer in silence then risk discovering that Poseidon had known and simply hadn't cared.

Apollo's behaviour hadn't been too terrible at first, the sun god content to ignore his new Wife's existance for the first decade of their marriage.

They hadn't even consumated the union!

Persedione had tentatively begun to accept the idea that she should treat their relationship as a rather odd vow of chastity that came with a absent boss when Apollo came barelling back into her life.

The god had been consumed by wrath, convinced that she had somehow betrayed her marital vows to sleep with another.

Her desperate pleas of innocence had fallen on death ears and it hadn't been until the god felt her virginity shatter under his own ministrations that he believed her.

Her Lord Husband had been apologetic in the aftermath, tending to her every injury with gentle hands and gentler words but the damage was done.

Intentionally or not Apollo had set the tone for their relationship with his jealous rage and need to own every part of her.

Noone who knew what he had done would be suprised by what followed, for as much as Apollo was lauded as the god of Healing and Poetry he was also the god of Plagues and Curses.

Divine retribution was an artform that he had perfected.

Apollo began taking an interest in his wife but where once Sweet Persedione of the Tranquil Waters would have tentatively encouraged and welcomed her Husband's presence, now she dreaded every interaction.

Every moment between them was marred by violence as Apollo's jealousy and need for control took root and grew into something ugly and cruel.

The Sea did not like to be restrained and Apollo wanted a wife who would submit, not a Riptide that would buck and fight every command.

In the aftermath of that first night Perse had fled to Hera. The goddess had held her as she broke apart before piecing her back together into something presentable that could face her mother without shame.

Athena may be a virgin goddess but her primary Domain was Wisdom for a reason, all it had taken was one look at her daughter to understand what had occured.

Athena had raged, cursed and fumed. Only the knowledge that her daughter needed her more than vengeance had kept her from enacting violence upon her half brother in that moment. - that and the knowledge that if her brother chose to punish her daughter for her mothers behaviour there would be nothing Athena could do to stop him.

Once her little dove slumbered in her Stepmothers embrace Athena had attempted to hunt down her daughters no good father to no avail.

Poseidon refused to answer her calls, most likely believing she was there to 'talk sense' into him over his bastard and her jilted husband. Fool.

With the men proving to be less than useless Athena and Hera worked together to come up with reasons for Perse to leave Olympus and when all else failed, spirited her away to places where Apollo couldn't find her.

By the end of their first century of marriage all of the Olympian Council save her Father were aware of the tragedy her marriage had become.

Apollo had grown sloppy about healing his wifes bruises and it become near impossible to justify how her father had remained ignorant.

Persedione told herself that this was a good thing, her fathers wrath could drown whole continents and she could not bear to carry so many deaths upon her conscience. But the part of her that would always crave her parents love could not help but question why her suffering was so easily dismissed by her sea born kin.

Eventually even Zeus became concerned for the petite goddess, partnering with Hades to grant her a Chthonic domain.

He claimed that it was so she could help clean up after her fathers tantrums but the all saw the satisfied glint in his eyes as he ignored Apollo's silent fuming to softly explain to his granddaughter that the domain allowed her to guide drowned souls and any who died without proper buriel rites to the Underworld for judgement.

It would be alot of extra work, far away from Olympus.

Perse was exstatic, forgetting decorumn for a moment to hug her grandfather tightly as she professed her thanks. No one commented on the tears that spilled from sea green eyes, just as noone had commented on the burnt bronze band of bruising still visoble on her wrists.

It was not just the escape from her hisband that had the Sea goddess so excited, but the fact that these new duties allowed her to help her poor sister Kymopoleia who had been terribly overworked these last century as the only Chthonic god able to gather drowned souls.

The 2 had always gotten along but quickly became close working togethwr as thwy realised how kuch they had in common. Kym's feelings of isolation from the family were a mirror to her own and the storm goddess's position as an outcast from the atlantean court placed her firmly within Perse domains and made her easy to relate to and love.

Kym brought out the rebellious part of her and never shied away from the more wild parts of her nature.

In the long hours thet worked side by side it was easy to admit to her troubles and worries.

Kym was the only member of hwr Sea born kin to realise the state of her marriage and often caused storms to batter Delos as retribution for Apollos brutish behaviour.

The realisation of her younger sisters state and how their parents had failed to pick up on it due to their focus still being on Rhodes furthered the divide between Poseidon and the eldest of his children.

Kym had never quite forgiven him for dismissing her anger over her forced marriage so readily. The fact he was indulging Rhodes as she shrieked about her husband but had little time for Kyms concerns over her own marriage had hurt. Learning that his continued indulgence of her least favourite sibling was not only causing her more work but had left Perse ignored and vulnerable to a husband who had turned violent turned that pain into seeds of hate, not that their father had noticed.

By the end of Perse's second century of marriage Rhode final began to calm and their parents were able to look away from their middle child long enough to realise that it had been almost 70 years since either their youngest or oldest daughter had visited atlantis