Disclaimer: PJO/HOO belongs to Rick Riordan not me. AN: OMG thank you all so much for your lovely reviews. They're all really encouraging and I hope you continue to enjoy the Goddess of Heroes and keep reviewing.
Chapter One
A glow appeared in the chambers of Poseidon's Atlantian palace belonging to the Lady Akantha. It quickly formed into the goddess herself and as soon as she appeared she left the room, heading to her father's throne room.
She passed various servants and courtiers, all doing their best to avoid the Sea God's wrath.
"Lady Akantha," Delphin chirped as he swam up beside her. She nodded to him in greeting. "We did not expect you."
Akantha didn't blame him for being surprised. She hardly ever risked encountering her father's wife and children. It rarely ended well. Today it couldn't be helped however. "How is my father?" She asked him. "Will he speak with me?" Delphin hesitated.
"He rarely refuses you," Delphin answered diplomatically. Akantha gave a tense smile at this. That was Delphin's way of saying that Poseidon would see her, but it wasn't likely that he would hear her. Akantha didn't reply to him however, as they had arrived at the throne room. Delphin swam ahead to announce her.
"The Lady Akantha, Goddess of Heroes, Loyalty, Bravery and Strength!"
Akantha hid a grimace when she entered. Both Amphitrite and Triton were just leaving as she arrived. Akantha had a cordial relationship with Kympoleia but that was it. It was a known fact that Amphitrite, Triton and Rhode had always hated her, even before she became a goddess.
"Daughter," Poseidon greeted her with a curt nod. Akantha knew instantly that he wouldn't listen to her pleas. He was too furious at the insult to his honour and no doubt Triton had been stoking his anger. She had to try though.
"My Lord," she said, giving a deeper then needed curtsy to hopefully soften him. "I would like to speak to you."
"We have spoken already, Daughter." Poseidon's voice was cold. "I will not change my mind. Zeus will either issue an apology by the Winter Solstice or there will be war."
"But Father you know he will not do so!" Akantha exclaimed. She cut herself off to make herself calm down. Poseidon would definitely not listen if she got frustrated. "Lord Zeus will never do what he considers lowering himself by admitting he was wrong. If you would just-" he cut her off.
"My honour has never been so insulted!" He boomed. Despite herself, Akantha flinched at the sight of her father's rage. "Zeus has made outrageous insults before but this! To call me a thief! I will not stand for it! No, Akantha, Zeus will apologize or it will be war."
Akantha felt her shoulders slip. But, she still had her trump card to play. "If the Master Bolt is returned and the true thief revealed by the Solstice, will that suffice to stop the war declaration?" Poseidon gave her a stony frown but nodded.
"Should Zeus admit that I am not a thief, I will accept it in lieu of an outright apology," the God agreed after a moment and Akantha sighed slightly in relief. "You may go," he dismissed and Akantha curtsied again to avoid him seeing her hurt at the coldness he gave her. As she began to change into her true form, she heard callout to her. "I hope you know what you're doing Akantha." Her surroundings changed from the under seas palace to the simple marble columns of her Olympian chambers.
Akantha sighed as she appeared in the temple. She hoped she knew what she was doing as well. She was Goddess of Loyalty, she was loyal to both her father as her father and to Zeus as her king. She didn't know what she would do if her plan failed and she feared what would happen to her children if war began. War between immortals was never anything less an apocalypse. Akantha knew for a fact that outright war between any of the Elder Three would be more catastrophic then a dozen atomic bombs.
Akantha remembered the Gigantomachy vividly. She closed her eyes and felt herself return to Greece, millennia ago. To when she was a mortal sixteen-year-old, battling the Giants alongside her Gods and comrades.
The earth trembled from the combined force of Gaea and the battling immortals. Akantha took cover with some of the others near the wreckage of what might once have been a building to catch their breath and regroup.
"What now?" Alexandra, a daughter of Ares asked Akantha's husband. Adrianna, Apollo's daughter was working to heal her injured shoulder. Her bowstring was broken and her quiver empty. Alexandra's spear was shattered as well. Lysander frowned grimly.
"I'm not sure." The son of Athena admitted. "Heracles and Adrastus are both dead. Elias lost his leg and Agapios is missing."
The rest of the group exchanged grim looks. They had brought the thirteen strongest demigods currently alive to face the Gigantes. Of the thirteen enemies, the Twin Giants, Polybotes, Alcyoneus, Periboia and Orion had been defeated. Six of the thirteen.
But they had been fighting non-stop for almost two days. Everyone had reached their tolerance for ambrosia and nectar and the loss of their fellows, especially Heracles, disliked though he may have been, were great blows to the groups' morale. Even as they watched, Akantha spotted Clytius fall at the hands of Hecate and her son, Silas, only for Silas to collapse seconds later from his injuries. Cletus, Hephaestus' son was battling Mimas alongside his father and Bernadine, Artemis' Lieutenant was firing arrows at Thoon alongside her mistress. Kalika and her father, Hermes were struggling against Hippolytus.
Her gaze turned to where she could Lord Zeus fighting Porphyrion with his surviving son, Damianos. Porphyrion and Enceladus were the greatest threats left. If they could be defeated the others would be demoralized and more easily defeated. She set her jaw in detemination, turning to her husband.
"Akantha?" He asked her worriedly and she took a moment to memorize his face and voice.
"I will see you in Elysium, my love," she told him, pressing their lips together. "The gods truly blessed me, to give us our time together. Make sure our son knows I love him." Then, before he could try and stop her, she raced away, towards where the kings fought. Damianos was lying on the ground and Akantha knew it was fatal. She threw herself into the battle beside the Lord of the Skies, thankful they were fighting on the coast.
Even after she became an immortal, Akantha was never able to clearly recall the fight. Only the sound of clashing weapons and yelling. And the pain as Porphyrion's weapon pierced her stomach, even as she stabbed his leg and Zeus hit him with a blast of lightning. She never forgot that. Nor did she forget Lysander's griefstricken face leaning over her as her world turned to black.
As she returned to the present, Akantha opened her eyes and set her jaw. No, not another war. Akantha would do whatever necessary to ensure that peace was kept between the Olympians. She could never allow another Giant or Trojan War to occur. She defintely couldn't let her three living children, thirteen-year-old Roman Claudia and the ten-year-old Greek twins Lukas and Lena, to be caught in the crossfire. Concentrating she flashed to Camp Half-Blood to order a quest. War had to be prevented.