FIRELIGHT

-APOLLO-

"Congratulations, Athena. You have doomed us all." I muttered before flashing out.

I had made my decision, along with Artemis and Hermes, to find him. Hestia is right, we will not succeed without him, especially against Gaea. I paced my room, mulling over ideas of where he could be hiding. I heard a sudden crackling noise as Hestia appeared in a column of towering flames.

"Ironic, isn't it?" she asked

"What is?"

"The fact that the Goddess who is supposed to give us a battle strategy, has taken away the only plausible one." She smiled faintly

I grunted in reply.

"Apollo, I know what you are going to do."

I stopped pacing "You didn't tell Zeus, did you?"

"Now why would I tell my least favourite brother, that my favourite nephew was going against his all-powerful orders?" she smirked, reaching up to ruffle my hair "No, nephew, I want to help you. I was planning to ask Artemis if could accompany her huntresses, and I have told Poseidon about your plan as well. You know he was fond of Perseus."

"Thank you, Aunt Hestia." I breathed a sigh of relief and pulled her into a hug.

"It is of no consequence Apollo. Perseus will be our saving grace. Whether he wants it or not." She said, kneeling down by the hearth.

I sat down beside her, feeling unnaturally cold all of a sudden.

"What actually happened all those years ago? Athena never told us the full story… only that he wasn't coming back and that it was her fault…" I trailed off

"I-I am … aware of what Athena did, yes. And believe me when I tell you that they- she deserves this."

"Can you tell me? I need to kn-"

"Do you remember Perseus? Really remember him? His habits, his appearance, his flaws?" Hestia interrupted.

I thought hard. He hated when you called him Perseus. He loved the colour blue, the colour of the sky on a cloudless day. He had ebony hair, bright green eyes with small flecks of gold. He always wore a sea-blue chiton with a celestial bronze chest plate on top, and his sword Anaklusmos strapped to his side. He always spent as much time as he could outside, even sleeping under the stars whenever possible. He could make anyone happy, things became… brighter and clearer when he was around. His fatal flaw was loyalty (not much of a flaw if you ask me) and he was never particularly good at solving problems (he was usually the cause of them) but he was always, always, always there for you.

"Yes, I remember him. What was your point?"

"The point is, Phoebus Apollo, that although you and the other Olympians have not changed in the past 300 years, Perseus has changed beyond all recognition." A chilling voice said behind me

"Nyx, what brings you here today?" said Hestia

"What, does he have blonde hair now or something?" I asked, in hindsight, stupidly

Hestia and Nyx sent glares in my direction. Woops.

"I have come to ask for your help." Nyx explained, turning away from me to face my eight year old aunt, "I told Perseus about your… situation. I think I could get him to help you again."

"Wait, wait, wait. How do you know about our problem?"

"It's no secret Apollo." Hestia rolled her eyes, and gave me a look which asked 'really? Has someone taken their stupid pills today?'

"Perseus said he would help?" she asked hopefully

"No. In fact, he said quite the opposite. But he would do anything for his darling sister." Nyx smirked "If I decide to fight, he will to. But before I make my decision, I need you to do something for me."

"What would you have us do, Nyx?" asked Hestia wearily

"I want that Athena brat punished for what she did. I want her brought to her knees before my brother, and made to apologise. I want her to beg and grovel for his forgiveness at his feet." She spat, radiating darkness

Yeah, good luck with that. I may not have spoken to Athena much lately, but I know that there is no way in Tartarus that she will 'beg and grovel for his forgiveness'. Gods, you would have a hard time just getting her to apologise for whatever the Zeus she did.

"Ummm… Lady Nyx?" I questioned "I don't think that will happen."

"Then you can forget having our help." She uttered, before dissolving into shadows

I turned to Hestia, who was still sitting at the hearth.

"What do we do?"

"We call another meeting of the council" she said, waving her hand over the hearth and engulfing us both in flames.