A God's Grief
Chapter I
[Scene opens to the throne room on Mt. Olympus]
The annual Council of Gods were meeting and things were getting worse by the second;
as per usual most of the friction was caused by the typical bickering, Athena arguing with Poseidon, Aphrodite taking shots at Artemis, Dionysus getting chewed out by Hermes while Zeus, Hera and Hades were squaring off against Ares and Hephaestus and Demeter was offering cereal to her grandchild.
"Granny D if I eat any more Lucky Charms® I'm gonna turn into a leprechaun!"
Demeter huffed.
For the first time in his immortal existence Apollo was silent, just watching, and his iPod earphones for once in his pocket.
A toxic and sharpened rose stem whizzes by the sun god's left shoulder and lodges itself into Artemis's shoulder; golden ichor leaking from the wound.
Artemis answers back with an arrow which shears off Aphrodite's bangs.
The Goddess of Love gets a murderous look in her eyes and her whole form starts to shimmer.
As Aphrodite begins to glow Apollo was starting to become irritated. Surprisingly the only person who seemed to notice the growing frustration in the Sun Lord, it was the son of Hades; Nico Di Angelo.
As far as Nico knew Apollo was a mild-mannered, laidback and cheerful type of god but the Lord of Music was quickly losing his composure.
The arguing seemed to magnify as Apollo had had enough.
The Lord of Prophecy rises from his golden throne and in a voice thought only possible by Zeus commanded:
"ENOUGH!"
The entire council stared at Apollo in amazement none more shocked than Artemis.
"All you do is bicker, fight and argue. I cannot stand this another two seconds"
the sun god continued then he feels a sting of pain in his shoulder to see one of Aphrodite's toxic rose stems imbedded in his shoulder.
He pulls it out, ichor streams down his arm and a slight tingling sets in.
Apollo looks up to see who threw it, he knew the Goddess of Love would never do that because she would die by the hand of his "lil' sister"
However Ares is smiling and holding back laughter.
He dismissed it.
"Look, you're all so busy arguing you don't even remember what this meeting is about, I'm tired of the same old fights." Apollo stated simply.
"What's the matter Sunshine; could the almighty Lord of the Sun be afraid" Ares inquired maliciously
"Afraid for your last half-blood?"
That statement hits particularly hard as the look on Apollo's face turned to one of pain.
"What do you mean, when you say last half-blood Ares?" Artemis asks shock clearly evident on her face.
Ares sneers
"I mean as in the last of Shinny's mortal brats."
The Moon Goddess looked the God of War with utter disbelief.
"You would know wouldn't you Ares!" Apollo growled as he shook with rage; his radiant sun flashing ominously.
Zeus and Hera just sat back and watched as Apollo was trying to keep control of his emotions.
"You killed off all of my children"
then the real shock came when Apollo lunged at the God of War but Artemis intercepted him and attempted to restrain the irate sun god.
"Apollo, think for a second, as powerful as you are; you are no match for Ares"
"I don't care! He's going to pay for this Artemis!" Apollo shouts while straining against his sisters restraints.
Artemis continues to hold her brother back.
"Brother, I know you're upset and Ares will pay for this horrific transgression, but this is not the way to do this" the Moon Goddess whispers gently.
Apollo realizes that Artemis is right and stops trying to kill Ares, however what occurs next shocks council more than they'll ever be able to admit.
Apollo, the laidback yet strong God of the Sun started braking down all the pent up grief coming out at once. Apollo maintains enough composure to teleport and vanishes in a flash of golden light.
Once Apollo disappears Artemis is still for a moment; the council backs up because they all know of Artemis's temper and this won't be pretty.
The Goddess of the Hunt turns around and sends a chilling glare at Ares
"Ares, you have made the worst mistake in your history" Artemis says in lethally calm voice
"If you think my temper is something to be feared than you'll be terrified when Apollo unleashes his, and know this you haven't made just one new enemy this day, you've made two!"
Ares had a stony look on his face.
"That was not what he was expecting" whispers Hera deviously.