Mount Olympus-Present Day (Summer Solstice Meeting):
The nymphs looked at one another. What was all that screaming? Oh, the gods were having their annual Summer Solstice Meeting. With all the gods present, there was no doubt an argument would arise.
Inside the throne room:
"He's my child!"
"No, he's mine!" Aphrodite huffed with frustration as her face turned beet red, something she normally would've never allowed.
"How does that work? He has all characteristics of ME!"
"He doesn't have any of your characteristics. He's sensitive and understanding like a child of mine should be like." Aphrodite crossed her arms in a most Athena-like pose.
"So I'm not sensitive and understanding?"
"SILENCE! I will not have gods screaming in my home." Zeus slammed his fist down on the arm rest of his throne and stood up.
"Gods? I'm a goddess!"
"Aphrodite. You are a deranged maniac at the moment. I do not believe you should be correcting me." He replied, somewhat calmly.
"Father, I should look into this. It appears that there has been a misunderstanding." Athena raised her head towards Zeus in a knowing manner.
Zeus sighed, knowing there was nothing else to do. "Very well, Athena. I will give you one week to fix this problem. You have my permission to go to Camp Half-Blood."
"Apollo, Aphrodite, I trust you two will play nice and listen to Zeus while I am gone."
"Like you're the one holding us down," Apollo rolled his eyes.
Athena's eyes pierced him like daggers, "I am the goddess of wisdom."
"Doesn't mean we won't continue to live without you," Apollo retorted.
Athena gave him one last glaring look and walked swiftly out of Olympus.
Zeus gazed at the two immortals locked in silent combat, and asked, "What really happened?"
"Well-"
"No! Let me-"
"Absolute no-"
"Stop it you two." Zeus sighed again.
"Bu-"
"NO! Did you forget I am the leader here?"
"Not a very good one at that, you can't even settle the smallest argument about a mortal." Hera muttered under her breath.
Zeus turned his head sharply, his eyes locking onto his immortal wife. "I heard that!"
"That was the point." She said, getting up and walking towards the door, "I shall not be bothered with demigod matters; I prefer to leave now while the fire is still an ember."
Ares, Hephaestus, Poseidon, Hades, and Dionysus followed suit and left as well without a word.
"Okay, now we are down to me, Artemis, Hermes, Apollo, Aphrodite, and Hestia." Zeus said after the other gods had all left.
"Artemis, Hermes, Apollo, Aphrodite, Hestia, and I," Hestia corrected.
"Whatever!" Zeus said, exhausted with the previous arguing. "It doesn't matter. We just need to find out exactly what happened."
"Fine, I'll go first." Aphrodite said, looking at Apollo as if daring him to say something.
And of course, he took the dare. "No, I'll go. You'll just twist the story to make me the bad guy."
"You are the bad guy."
"Hestia, you're fair. So you choose." Apollo said, giving her the sweetest smile he could manage.
She looked into the fire she was tending and thought for a moment. "If I choose, then nothing will get accomplished. Both sides will argue. Why not just flip a drachma?"
"Oh alright. Does anyone have a coin?" Zeus said, being too lazy to summon a servant.
They looked around at each other and discovered that their eyes had found Hermes.
"What?"
"You got a drachma?" Apollo asked, sarcasm dripping like honey through his voice.
"Yeah, of course, why wouldn't I have one? Why do you ask?" Hermes said and gave them the most innocent look he could manage.
"Because we need one, Hermes," Aphrodite spoke with exasperation.
"Well I'm not giving it to you," Hermes pointed a finger at Aphrodite, "Or you," pointing at Apollo. "Or anyone else in this room for that matter."
"Oh, just forget it." Zeus put his face in his hands.
"Let me decide then, you were about to take a drachma from me," Hermes said with a sly grin.
"Just get on with it!" Artemis shouted, annoyed with the male mind.
"Whoa, no need to get pushy there, sis," Apollo grinned.
"Jeez! For once I agree with Artemis. JUST GET ON WITH IT!" Zeus thundered.
"Okay. Ee ni my ni mo, catch a tiger by its toe, if he hollers let him go, ee ni my ni mo." Hermes said in a sing-song voice with his eyes closed.
"Really Hermes? That thing?" Aphrodite rolled her eyes.
"My mother told me to pick the very best one, and you are it!" Hermes' finger landed on the far corner of the room. "Who'd I pick?" He said with a childish voice.
"YES!" Aphrodite shouted.
"So guys? Who'd I pick?" Hermes said again with his eyes still closed.
"Well who do you think you big dummy?" Apollo stamped his foot angrily.
"We've wasted enough time already, Athena is probably already talking to that centaur and on her way to finding the solution." The Lord of the Sky sighed.
Aphrodite started to talk. "Well, it all started about three weeks ago when that satyr Jeremiah went to Anderson High to pick up my son…"
Aphrodite explained it in such detail that it was like watching the story on Hephaestus TV.
Tyler was going to 5th period Algebra with one of his friends, Jeremiah (the satyr, though Tyler didn't know it yet). The hallways were crowded with a thousand people trying to get through at once, Tyler and Jeremiah included.
"It's not like she checks the homework!" Tyler was saying.
"Well you still have to do it, you're never going to pass Algebra if you don't do any of the work," Jeremiah replied, knowingly.
"The only reason I do my homework-" Tyler started to protest.
"Ha! You never do your homework. It just sits in your room like dust; you're never going to clean it off."
"Fine, the only reason I do some-"
"Some?" Jeremiah replied and raised his eyebrow.
"Oh, alright. Barely do any of my homework is because I don't want Ms. Larson to give me a twenty minute lecture on how I'll never succeed if I don't do my homework, blah, blah, blah."
The two boys reached the door to their Algebra classroom and continued to talk just to take their seats on the opposite corners of the room.
-End of Scene-