TITLE: Secrets 4 - Watery Kingdom
SERIES: Shifting Tides (part 4.4)
AUTHOR: Scorpio
ARCHIVE: To anyone who archived the other stories in this series. {Hollow, Mourning Glory, Three Kings, Secrets 1, Secrets 2, Secrets 3}
FANDOM: Herc/Xenaverse
PAIRING: Cupid/Strife, Poseidon/Amphitrite, Poseidon/Uranus implied
RATING: R (adult themes - see warning)
CATEGORY: Mpreg, Angst, Darkfic

DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the characters. They belong to various myths, legends and Ren Pics/Flat Earth Prod.

WARNING * WARNING * WARNING * WARNING
This series deals with an Mpreg that resulted in a Miscarriage due to gross negligence and cruelty. The story-tone is very dark and angsty and the subject matter is one that is extremely sensitive. Please don't feel obligated to read this if it is not something you are comfortable with.

SUMMARY: Cupid's heritage is revealed by a loving Grandfather. Hope is slowly rebuilt in those who are broken.

Shifting Tides
Secrets 4 - Watery Kingdom

Poseidon's underwater palace was situated right in the middle of the great ocean city of Atlantis. It was otherworldly, ethereal and breath takingly beautiful with it's alien architecture and fanciful adornment. The city, and the palace itself, was an odd mixture of delicate twisting spires and large rounded domes. The buildings were built from the rock that spilled forth from underwater volcanoes and then was sheathed in brilliant multicolored mother-of-pearl. Brightly colored coral was used as lacy trim around archways and windows. Underwater gardens were a riot of seaweed, sea cucumbers and other saltwater fronds.

The palace was a marvel in and of itself. The lower levels were open to the ocean and filled with it's chill water. The midlevels contained rooms that were either mostly water filled, but with small pockets of air along the ceiling, or they were mostly air filled, but with wide mouthed pools of water that led into the oceany rooms below. The upper levels were dry, and filled with those things too delicate to survive in the chill waters for long.

The Throne Room of the Sea God was capable of being completely submerged or completely dry, all at the will of Poseidon himself. Today, it was mostly dry and filled with warm air. Only a wide mosaic lined pool in the middle of the room was filled with the clean salt water of the ocean. Today, Poseidon had called a gathering of only the most trusted of his advisors and the closets of his family members together. It was time to reveal a secret that exposed one of Zeus' lies and gave light to the darkness of one of his greatest treacheries.

Poseidon himself, sat upon his shell encrusted throne. His wife Amphitrite and their son Triton lounged in the bejeweled pool of water, their human seeming upper bodies exposed to the air. His eldest child, Epaphos, sat on the steps leading up to his throne. Cupid and Strife were ensconced on a pile of fluffy pillows on the floor between the dais and the pool. Cupid's darkened wings wrapped protectively around his unresponsive mate.

"I've called you all here today because there have been too many lies left to sit unpunished for far too long. Recent events," the Sea God rubbed his swollen stomach gently, "demand that some action be taken. The truth must be known."

Everyone except for the God of Mischief seemed to be interested in whatever secret that Poseidon was willing to tell.

"It all started before the war with the Titans. Chronos, in his madness was said to have eaten myself, Hades and our sisters with only Zeus being spared this fate. In truth, it was not our physical bodies that he devoured, but our godly powers. Stealing our godhoods, but leaving us immortal, we were abandoned by him. Gaia spared Zeus this fate and taught him how to use his own godly gifts to restore the rest of us. However, when he gave us back our godhoods, they had been changed by Zeus in order to make sure that *he* would be the strongest of us all."

Cupid growled, "Sounds like something the old goat would do."

Poseidon nodded. "Indeed, young Cupid. At the time, I was with my first love. My grandfather Uranus. He had taken me in and sheltered me from my insane sire and we had fallen in love. When Zeus restored my godhood, he bound it to the Ocean for all time. Then Uranus, who was the Titan of the Sky, came to me and we made love upon the surf in a beautiful melding of sea and sky. It was only afterwards that my lover was revealed to be Zeus in disguise. Earlier, he had caught and killed Uranus and now he threw my lover's body into the ocean to torment me."

Cupid and Triton gasped, but Amphitrite and Epaphos merely seemed sad.

"Shortly after that, I found that I was with child. Twins." Poseidon gestured to his eldest son, "Epaphos here is one of those children. I was able to keep him sheltered here under the ocean. His sister was not so fortunate. When Zeus found out about her, he stole her from my court and claimed her for his own."

Poseidon looked directly into Cupid's green eyes. "Epaphos' sisters' name is Aphrodite."

"What?!?!" Cupid was shocked, his face paling beneath the remains of his tan.

"Yes, child. You're mother is my daughter. Zeus pulled her from Atlantis when she was only twenty years old. She did not rise out of the sea fully grown on the day of her birth, but two decades after that day."

Cupid sputtered slightly, his mind racing to catch up. "But, but...that would mean..."

Poseidon smiled gently, "Yes to that as well, young Cupid. I *am* your grandfather." His smile grew sad and haunted. "Zeus took on the form of my lover Uranus when your mother was conceived. Uranus was the Titan of the Sky and he had wings. Snowy wings of purest white."

It was Triton who voiced the question that hovered about in Cupid's mind, "Why? Why keep the secret that Aphrodite is your daughter? Why not simply claim her as kin?"

Poseidon sighed sadly, but it was his wife that answered. "My son, you are safe from Zeus by simple fact that you are *my* child. Zeus has no interest in you. But Epaphos is *also* a child of Zeus, just as Aphrodite is. Zeus rejected Epaphos because of his close ties to the water. As a God of the Rivers and with his physical resemblance to your father, there is no way that he could deny Epaphos' heritage the way he did with Aphrodite. When Zeus stole your older half-sister from Atlantis, he made all here swear to never speak of her birth or her blood ties to Poseidon. If anyone did, Zeus swore to kill Epaphos."

Cupid became frantic at that point. "Then why tell us? I mean, not that I'm not grateful to know that you are my grandfather or that I have two new uncles, but...Zeus will do it. He's ruthless and arrogant. A life means *nothing* to him."

Epaphos smiled and waved Cupid back onto his pillows before he could fully rise. "It is my choice to break the silence. You needed to know for several reasons and I am not as helpless as I once was. I am no longer a little godling freshly born. I am a full God, recognized by the Royal Court of Atlantis, the Olympians and the Asphodelians. Also, I have recently wed an Egyptian Goddess and if Zeus were to attack me for no reason, the Egyptian Pantheon would take it personally. Zeus will not want to start at war with them over this. Especially since he could not guarantee that all of Olympus would follow him."

"Oh."

Cupid seemed stunned, but Strife didn't even appear to be listening. Poseidon worried about both of them. His next bit of news was going to be both a relief and a huge shock and he wasn't sure how either of them would take it. However, they needed to know and he was hoping that it would help them to heal.

"The reason that we, all of us, wanted the both of you to finally know the truth about Aphrodite's heritage is because it is allowing me to do something that none other can do." Cupid's eyebrow arched up in a questioning manner, but he didn't interrupt. The Sea God rubbed his stomach unconsciously. "I'm not sure how she did it, but Persephone came up with a way to bring Glory back to life."

That got a reaction from both Cupid and Strife. Both young gods swung their heads up and around to stare at him with hungry hopeful eyes. "She is, ultimately, of my bloodline. I am strong enough to support her life force with my own until she is truly ready to be born and I am *not* under the subject of Zeus here in Atlantis."

Strife's gaze dipped from Poseidon's face to his swollen middle. With a burst of speed and a tiny smile on his face, he dashed over to the King of the Ocean and knelt before him. Reaching out with one shaking hand, Strife gently touched the rounded stomach of his great Uncle. "Oh!" It was a soft cry of delight and then Strife leaned forward and placed the side of his head tightly against the Sea God as if to listen to his child's heart beating from beneath the skin that protected her. Poseidon ran gentle fingers through Strife's black spiky hair as the young godling showed happiness for the first time in far too long.

Cupid's confused voice whispered through the room, "But how can she be safe, even here? Zeus took mom, didn't he?"

Amphitrite reached out and squeezed the winged god's shoulder gently. "It's different now, sweetie. Poseidon's power base was still small, he was still learning his powers and the war against the Titans was just being wrapped up. Zeus caught your grandfather at a bad time and in a position of weakness. That is no longer the case. Poseidon is not bowed down by grief, injury or a lack of followers. And unlike Olympus, the Court of Atlantis is not divided by suspicion and greed."

Cupid turned a hope filled green gaze on her at her words. Triton echoed them, "I swear to you as the Heir of Atlantis that I will defend you, your mate and your child as I would my mother, father and brother. If Zeus dares to come here to take any of you away without my father's permission, I will personally lead the hosts of Atlantis against him."

Cupid looked over at the God who was, at the moment, half man and half fish and smiled. "Thank you."

Cupid, Triton and Poseidon didn't notice in their moment of bonding, but Amphitrite was watching Strife carefully as he petted Poseidon's swollen stomach, an odd look of wondering and confusion on her face.