The Hall of the Gods was fuller than it had ever been! It wasn't even this bad when Apollo accidentally sung that 'growing chant' that made the gods uncontrollably big, even for their standards, but that's another story. Anyway, everybody was here. The heroes from Camp Half-Blood were closer to the front while the centaurs were towards the back. The wind spirits and immortal birds packed the air and the nature spirits sat at the foot of Dionysus' vacant throne. Percy, Annabeth, Grover and Nico stood in the middle of the room, by the fire, only this time they weren't in trouble. Chiron continued to pace the length of the hall. Hades and Persephone sat on the guest thrones that had been erected for them beside the horse-shoe of Olympian thrones.
"Why is it always me?" Grover lamented. "First Thalia, then Percy and now, him!" He whispered the word, like it scared him to say it. Percy and Annabeth knew why. Grover's first job turned Thalia, daughter of Zeus, into a tree. His second transformed Percy, son of Poseidon, into one of the greatest heroes of all time. His third was close to neither, but if you had to choose, it would be closer to the chaos of his first job. Chiron still paced, his hand resting on his bow. What danger could he possibly sense in the Hall of the Gods? Suddenly the huge room shook. Dionysus' scream of pain resonated around the throne room. All at once, the gods fainted.
As quickly as they fainted, the gods awoke, dazed and confused. Madness reigned supreme (no pun intended) as Dionysus, the God of Wine, slowly walked through the doorway, his face ashen. His hands shaking, Dionysus tried to calm himself enough to concentrate on growing to god-size. Once seated on his throne, the gods began.
"Well, Dionysus?" Inquired Zeus, God of the Sky, "Care to explain our little nap?"
"The boy is unlike anything I have ever encountered, Father. I was not able to cure him. However..." The God of Wine, still trying to show no outward display of terror (and failing miserably), started, until he was rudely interrupted by...
"Oh my! How is it that the God of Madness can't cure some little insane boy?" Ares, God of War clearly thought this was very funny, at least until the grapevines started crawling up his throne.
"As I was saying, I was not able to cure him. However, I was able to get some information about the boy. Only part of his mind is insane. The two parts of his mind swap at irregular intervals. One moment you may be having a conversation worthy of Athena. The next he's a raving lunatic." Dionysus finished.
"Hey! I take umbrage at that statement!" Clearly, the Goddess of Wisdom was not impressed.
The God of Wine explained, "Well you shouldn't. If that boy was not insane, he could be the next Daedalus, and that's only with half his brain!"
"Really?" This had peaked Athena's interest significantly.
"That still doesn't answer my question," Zeus stated exasperatedly, "Why did we faint, Dionysus?"
"That is what I was leading up to, Father. We didn't faint. We were put into a very short coma. You see, the part of the child's brain that functions properly, works at such a high frequency, that he can use other peoples thoughts as a channel to their powers. For instance, he took my powers to the extreme and put us all in comas." Dionysus shuddered as he relived the feeling of his powers being used against him.
"I think it's all just a load of mumbo jumbo." Hera calmly stated. "I suggest we get rid of the boy then go have dinner."
Hermes whispered under his breath, "You think?" Apollo snickered.
"What was that?" Hera's voice went up a few octaves.
"I think we should have a look at the boy before we make any rash moves." Hades cut in before a fight could ensue. Everybody, even Hades, backs away when Hera's pissed.
"Brother? You, cautioning others of rashness?" Demeter made it sound so sweet, although the mocking tone was still there.
"I have but one more thing to add before we make a decision." Dionysus readied himself to deliver his final discovery. "The boy is not a demigod."
The room was silent for the tiniest part of a second. Outcries of "WHAT?" and "HUH?" were heard all around the hall. Finally Dionysus explained.
"He is a god, one of extraordinary power. Two godly parents and a lot of 'abracadabra'. He may be the stronger than all of us combined!"
During all of this, the audience just listened. Chiron focused on Dionysus, taking in every word. Grover was nervous, eating some tin cans he'd brought with him. Annabeth was just as interested as her mother when Dionysus had mentioned how smart this boy apparently was. Percy was thinking back to the summer before last, when he had forced the gods into an agreement to do good by their children and not just by themselves. Things had been much simpler then, he thought. The world was safe, he wasn't dead, he was the world's greatest hero (Zeus' words, not his) and, other than one spot on the small of his back, he was invincible. He continued to watch his best friend, Grover, eat tin cans. He wondered why satyrs ate tin cans.
As the gods' discussion got more heated, they began to shout and, naturally, attack each other. Finally this all got too much and...
"SILENCE!" Nobody thought to question the outburst of the eight-year-old girl sitting in the fire at the centre of the room. "If you all want to fight, be my guests, but do it after we have decided what to do!" Once again, no one spoke back. Hestia, Goddess of the Hearth, was even scarier than Hera when she got mad.
"Okay. Everybody sit down." Zeus thundered, "Bring in the child!"