After hearing Athena's plan, Zeus clapped his hands and laughed heartily, exclaiming, "Good, good, Athena, you truly are a clever daughter; you have perfectly inherited your mother's wisdom."
Poseidon, however, was somewhat displeased: "What do you mean by 'forcibly snatched'? Amphitrite and I have true love, alright? She's living very happily now."
Ares looked at Athena and saw that the Goddess was smiling silently, like a military advisor strategizing on Olympus. However, Ares remembered the heartfelt words of Athena he had overheard from Prometheus, and he knew that the Goddess's heart was certainly not as calm as she appeared. He estimated that at this moment, the Goddess was probably furiously cursing Zeus's eighteen generations of ancestors, as the unfaithful man dared to mention her poor mother in front of her.
Afterward, Athena smiled and added some specific details, and then Zeus finalized the plan. However, he did not reveal who the "lucky one" to be married to Hades would be, only telling the Gods that he already had a candidate in mind.
At the end of the meeting, Zeus also threatened the main Gods:
"Remember, before this matter is settled, everyone must keep it a secret. No one is allowed to spread it to outsiders, and especially, Hades must absolutely not know about this plan. If anyone dares to leak it to Hades, humph, then let them taste the flavor of my divine lightning."
The Gods naturally assented verbally, but what they truly thought in their hearts was something no one else could know.
No one knew what the others were thinking, but the moment Ares walked out of the God King's Hall, he had already decided to tip off Hades.
What a joke! It was precisely because Hades, this lenient leader, was in charge of the Underworld that he and Hecate were able to, well, make a mess... *cough*, work together as teacher and student, pushing forward so many major plans in the Underworld.
If Zeus were to insert an informant into the Underworld, especially in such an important position as Queen of the Underworld, then he and Hecate wouldn't even be able to secretly cause trouble in the Underworld, let alone live peacefully there.
Hmph, Zeus, what you're doing is wrong. A forced melon isn't sweet. Hades clearly already has a lover, and you still want to mess with him. Even I, Ares, who values righteousness, can't stand it.
Ares thought to himself.
Moreover, Ares was very clear about who Queen of the Underworld Persephone was—a notorious promiscuous figure in myths, whose wantonness could even rival Aphrodite. Not only did she have an affair and bear children with her birth father Zeus by the River Styx, but she also openly competed with Aphrodite for a beautiful mortal youth while already having a husband.
In all the myths Ares had read, there was never a single myth that spoke well of the Queen of the Underworld. In myths, the forgiving actions were basically all done by the King of the Underworld, while the Queen of the Underworld's actions were either greedy demands or harsh restraints. Even Orpheus, son of Apollo, when he descended into the Underworld, dared not call the Queen of the Underworld by her name, because he felt that the Queen of the Underworld was truly too terrifying.
Such a Queen of the Underworld, sitting in that position, would be bad for everyone except Zeus. Ares's intervention to help Hades this time was also helping himself and Hecate.
However, although he intended to tip off Hades, Ares was not so foolish as to actually run up to Hades and ask him:
"Uncle, uncle, how many girlfriends do you have? Zeus says he wants to add one for you, do you think that's okay?"
That would simply be ridiculous.
Although he had already decided that his goal was to destroy the corrupt divine system led by Zeus and ultimately achieve the goal of confronting Gaia, the planetary inhibitory force, his strategy against the Olympus Gods so far was still to stir up conflicts and make them attack each other, in order to divide them.
A united Olympus was indeed a tough nut to crack, but thanks to Zeus, his existence made the division of Olympus no longer an impossible task.
So now, after returning to the God of War's divine throne, Ares began to carefully ponder which lucky friend he should find this time to take the fall.
He instinctively first thought of Athena, but if Athena were to do such a thing, it would be too out of character for the Goddess of Wisdom; no one would believe it if word got out. So Ares turned to consider other main Gods.
Hera and Hephaestus, mother and son, as well as Apollo and Artemis, these main Gods with whom he had good relations, were excluded first. Next, Hestia, a respectable Goddess, he also did not intend to consider, and the Goddess of the Hearth had long since descended to the mortal realm years ago, not on Olympus, and was unaware of the Gods' secret plotting.
Thus, the remaining candidates were Hermes, Aphrodite, Demeter, and Poseidon, these four main Gods.
After careful consideration, Ares then removed Aphrodite and Hermes. The former two were now completely loyal to Zeus and unlikely to dare to do such a audacious thing. The latter was busy with tasks assigned by Zeus, and should not appear before the Gods for a short time, having neither reason nor opportunity.
Between Demeter and Poseidon, Ares began to hesitate. Both of these main Gods had motives to oppose Zeus. The latter had always regarded Zeus as an imaginary enemy, which was a semi-open secret among the Gods. It would not be surprising for him to try to tell his elder brother this secret and then win over Hades to oppose Zeus. As for Demeter, it was because the Queen of the Underworld chosen by Zeus this time was her most beloved daughter, Persephone, who was currently the Goddess of Seeds. The Goddess of Agriculture would certainly not agree to this plan after knowing about it, sending her lovely daughter to the cold Underworld.
However, after thinking for a long time, Ares still chose Poseidon, his "old friend." After all, Demeter and Zeus were husband and wife. Given her temperament, she would likely directly confront Zeus about such a matter, rather than resorting to such behind-the-scenes scheming.
Moreover, many of Poseidon's Atlanteans had recently died. First, they were attacked by the Spartans and Pelasgians when they went to war, and after returning, they were punished by an enraged Poseidon with divine retribution for their incompetence.
The specters of these Atlanteans should have also arrived in the Underworld, queuing in the barren garden in front of the Underworld King's palace, awaiting judgment from the Gods of the Underworld to see if they would go to Elysium or Tartarus.
Many of these Atlanteans harbored resentment towards the Sea King, especially the Atlantean commander who was speared to death by the Spartans. If Poseidon hadn't insisted on interfering and ordered them to attack quickly, they wouldn't have been cornered into such a predicament by the Spartans and Athenians.
But after his death, Poseidon still wanted to blame him and his compatriots, which would certainly infuriate anyone.
So, after some thought, Ares settled on a plan in his mind.