The room was coated in a thick silence, one that felt unnatural, sticky, hanging heavily on the five figures. Each held a unbreakable stare at the others, somehow connecting the gaze with all, though they were seated in a circle. Their thrones, shining with a thin coating of gold, seemed out of place in the center of the hall, but the statures on them were sitting tall and comfortably, radiating a sheen almost like that of the chairs.
One figure was lounged slightly back, tan legs folded in his khaki shorts and sandals. He looked a bit out of place, shirt a dark pink with white prints of palm trees, black beard spilling into the collar, one hand holding a giant trident in his fingertips, twirling it in smooth rings, a half a grin on his face though his sea green eyes were serious. He was Poseidon, god of the sea.
Then next god did not look nearly as good natured. His thick gray brows burrowed them selves deep between his stormy gray eyes, betraying an incredulous look on his proud face. His black suit clad form perched on the edge of his throne, hands gripping the armrests as if he were about to jump up and smite someone, particularly with a stylish array of lightening. This was Zeus, god of the skies.
The man to the right of Zeus was the only one who looked thoroughly amused. He had albino white skin and dark black eyes that were clearly laughing silently at the others. His hair was jet silk and hung to his shoulders where it brushed along a very peculiar robe. The cloth was black and had small wisps of a lighter color swirling through them. If examined closer, one would realize they were faces, lost souls woven into the man clothing, for this was Hades the god of the underworld.
Completing the circle were two who looked just as alike as they did different. They both appeared in their early teens, though true to the others, they were gods as well, and were really much older.
The boy,-man-, was athletic looking, with sandy blonde hair and a tense smile. He was dressed casually enough, in black jeans and a green T-shirt, but he radiated an aura golder than any of the more powerful gods, nearly blending with the gold of the chair. He was Apollo, god of the sun.
The girl shared Apollo's general look, but her hair was auburn pulled pack into a ponytail. Her eyes shone a silvery yellow, and her slim fingers gripped the bow on her lap like a life line. She was Artemis, goddess of the hunt and moon. Usually a fierce woman, she now looked strained.
The five made a strange gathering, but then, when it came to gods, nothing was too strange.
"This idea." Zeus mumbled, through gritted teeth. His voice was like thunder, rumbling around the room to demand authority. "Is lunacy."
"This idea might save us all." Artemis responded, sounding almost as though she was explaining something to a small child for a third or fourth time. The sky god didn't seem to appreciate the tone, lightening sparking off his fingers.
"I believe this idea is marvelous!" Hades chuckled, giving his brother a look that dared him to deny it.
"She made an oath on the river Styx!" The lightening cracked as Zeus rose to the defiance. "She is not to have children!"
"It'd be more like...adoption." Poseidon said cautiously, still twirling his trident. "But like... blood adoption."
The god of lightening threw up his hands glaring at his brothers and the twins. "You support this, yet it could be our undoing!"
"It could also be our salvation." Apollo said slowly. "Zeus, you know the prophecy we spoke of beforehand! It is beyond clear what it asks and entails, and yet you still cannot see this is a gamble we must take?"
"Olympus is closed." The gray haired man growled. His voice crushed over them like a verbal Niagara Falls, reverberating everywhere in the room. More lights flashed outside. "And from what I can tell, all we must do is wait until the demigods have solved this problem- And you still want to interfere! Besides the fact our constant help is probably summoning these ancient powers, they need to know their place. We will not always step in to save them, help them-"
"Oh, you stubborn old coot."
A wave of water washed over Zeus, thoroughly drenching him and the spot in the center of the circle where he had lept up to rant. His entire body sparked and smoked for a few seconds like an electronic sputtering out, before it was just the god, standing drenched and casting a very ominous look towards Poseidon.
The sea man ignored him, just grinning and continuing to play with his trident.
"As the 'Big Three'," He began, raising his free hands to make air quotes with his fingers around big three, "We will hereby vote in decision of this request... which is actually for once resulting in a fair, even vote...without Zeus taking charge... ahem, Brothers, raise your arm in favor of?"
Poseidon raised his hand higher, ignoring the death glare and literal sparks that were being sent his way.
Hades gleefully shot his arm in the air, completely entertained by the argument between his younger siblings, and still in favor of the vote.
"It's settled then!" The god of death said with a smile, also ignoring Zeus as the man turned on him, choosing to continue talking. "I'm not exactly sure how it will work, bu-u-ut I'm sure it will be interesting."
"You may go through with your act." Poseidon clarified for a finale.
Artemis smiled once, a grim little twist of the lips to her brother, before standing and bowing slightly towards Zeus.
"Thank you father."
Apollo followed suit and they bowed to Poseidon and Hades as well. "Thank you, uncles."
Hades wriggled his fingers in a wave like 'toodles!' as Artemis disappeared in a little twinkle of silver. Before going after her, Apollo looked at Zeus, who was, by a judge by his literally smoking person, about to electrocute one of his brothers. Apollo bit back a laugh, keeping his face stony and voice monotone.
"Father, do not forget I am also a prophet. In time, you will see and be thankful. Besides, this isn't really a break in her oath. I mean, su-u-ure, the kid will be hers, but it'll have my blessing, and Arty will still be a virg-"
A bolt of lightening hit the floor, shattering a ceiling window with a pop, smoldering the floor dangerously close to the sun gods feet.
"Er, right, thanks pops, bye!"
The goddess stood upon a slim obsidian rock, starring up at the full moon. It's light washed over her like warm rays of the sun, sliding over her pale skin like liquid. She let out a small sigh of content, and a small wolf howled in response. Artemis slid her moon colored eyes to the animal, who was emerging slowly from the woods. Her lips slid into a thin smile as she observed the animal, who stared back at her in an unblinking challenge.
"Begone lovely. This is no place for you, not now."
The wolf bowed it's head with a whimper, backing into the surrounding forest once more.
The woman looked utterly serene, standing tall on her bare legs and feet, short snow white tunic flickering in the gentle breeze. Her bow was slung across her back along side her quiver, each a flash of silver in the illuminated night. There was a nearly invisible fluctuate in the light as her brother appeared next to her, taking up the remaining room on the pedestal. He now wore his own bow and quiver over his human clothes, identical to his sisters in all but color, as his were a warm gold hue.
"Shall I begin, little sister?"
Artemis raised one thin eyebrow. "I'm older than you, little brother. And yes. We need to be ready when the moon is at it's highest."
They each reached into their quivers, pulling out one arrow each. One silver, one gold.
Apollo knelt cupping his arrow as his hands began to glow with warm sunshine. The arrow was bathed in the light, blending and twisting into the gold, under the arrow was a spiral of the metal, and glistening, warm sunshine. He rose and presented it to Artemis, who took it gingerly in her free hand.
"Thank you brother. You may depart."
"Anytime. Know for their life, this child will have protection in the day, as well as night."
The woman nodded gratitude, the light bent again and then he was gone.
Artemis turned her attention to the two arrows in her hands. She squeezed the silver arrows tip in her palm until it was coated in her godly blood. The tip shone the color of the other arrow, as gods blood was an immortal golden. She let a small bit more well into her cupped hand before the wound closed.
The goddess tilted her head back slightly, basking in the moonlight. Suddenly, each of the arrows began to melt.
Her silver arrow liquified, spilling into her palm to swirl with the immortals blood. Apollo's arrow looked the equivalent of fire.
She quickly cupped her hands together, tightly sealing the liquids inside. Artemis kissed the back of each of her palms. When she opened her hands, a tiny golden seed was all that remained.
Artemis stepped to the edge of the obsidian rock column. She knelt and put a hand down on the rock, and suddenly a small hole appeared. The huntress gently pressed the seed in the hole, buried and, and proceeded to pull a small knife from her belt.
She cut a deep gash in her arm, 'watering' the plant with her life force, and it began to grow.
A cool purple stem branched from the ground, growing rapidly up about a foot before spiraling back towards the ground. Then a small blossom appeared at the end.
It grew and drew into a silver bud about the size of a head, settling on the ground and bending the stem. Still, the bud continued getting larger.
Artemis watched, biting her lip as the stem turned golden as her blood flowed through it. Slowly, the giant silver bud, about the size of two basketballs, began taking on a golden sheen. At that point, the goddess let out a sigh of relief, and allowed her blood to stop flowing into the plant.
She kneeled still, leaning forward as the blossom began to pull open, as if it were to reveal a flower.
Instead however, the petals peeled back and showed a still newborn child.
Artemis picker her up gently, but the babe didn't even breath in response. She appeared dead.
Then, the goddess of the moon kissed her forehead, and raised her up, drenching her in silver moonlight. The child shot to life, crying and screaming.
Artemis smiled and brought her close, cuddling the baby into her godly warmth.
"You are my first born. Welcome, little one."
And the goddess gently lulled her to sleep, singing the prophecy that had resulted in her birth. Little did the babe know, it already hinted at her death.
"A Half-Blood of the Virgin Goddess,
blessed by the light, blessed by the sun,
Born of the moon, born of the hunt;
Trying to fix what is amiss,
In the process saving Olympus.
Follow the trail of the falling dust,
Hidden where the snake heads lie,
No one will answer her final cry. "
PLEASE READ Down here!
Yes this is a daughter of Artemis OC type of story, and my plot really does hinge on her, but please don't throw me to the wolves just yet! Because a lot of Artemis children stories fail, I'd really like STRONG FEEDBACK! In other words, please feel free to flame as long as it's semi constructively! I really want to work to make this story a success because I feel like I have an interesting plot planned.
Also, anyone who has any contributions or knows a lot about the PJatO/HoO series, and wants to help me out, that'd be great!
FINALLY, this fanfiction is taking place (as of chapter 1) as Son of Neptune ends, and throughout the next book, but no events from SoN or Mark of Athena will be mentioned. Obviously, this event in the prologue is taking place years years before either series.
Thanks for reading!
-Jen