Chapter 8
Artemis POV
Everybody sat on their respective thrones as well as the minor gods and goddesses who were given a spot in the council after the second giant war, a wish Perseus asked for. The minor gods and goddesses sat around the respective Olympian who they are connected to through their domains. Hecate was the only one sitting beside me, considering her powers over the night and the moon were her strongest domains. She nodded to me and I nodded back, acknowledging her presence.
As the rest of the gods had flashed in, Zeus cleared his throat asking for silence. He glances over to me, "alright, to begin, my daughter, why have you called upon the council?"
"There's going to be a next war," murmurs erupted from everybody. Zeus slammed his master bolt on to his armrest, successfully silencing everyone.
"We know that, but it is possible it is not going to happen in at least another century," Athena said.
"No, it will happen soon, and Zeus can feel it," he nodded.
"Yes, there has been a lot of disturbance in the skies," he said as he gestured to the 5 smaller thrones around him. Only one was occupied, the wind god, Aeolus, sat on his seat, his face bearing a grim expression. The other 4 were empty, the cardinal wind gods weren't present.
"Where are they?" Athena asked Aeolus.
"I do not know. I have not been able to contact them for quite some time now," he said, his voice hardly audible for any mortal ears.
"I think I know where they could possibly be," I spoke up. Zeus and Aeolus had looked up to me and then I stared over to the hearth where Hestia flashed to from her throne. She waved her hand over the bright orange flame and then the image of the 4 hurricanes coming from the cardinal direction appeared. Aeolus gasped in shock, not knowing how to react.
"Am I seeing another treason committed to Olympus?" Zeus said through gritted teeth. Aeolus kept muttering "no, no, no."
"Possibly not Zeus," Hecate suddenly spoke up. Zeus looked at her in shock. I did the same, not really expecting her to speak up.
"Why do you think so?" Zeus asked her. She shrugged.
"I have a feeling, plus, I want my champion to deal with this. We need to get ready for the war and we would need all the help we can get," Hecate spoke like she was a goddess of war. Athena looked at her and showed her approval with a nod.
"We need Perseus," Hades murmured while looking down on to his helm that was sitting on his lap.
"We don't!" Zeus slammed his bolt, his eyes flaring with electricity, literally. "He is a good for nothing brat. My son is way better than him," his pride speaking.
"You dare mock my son, Zeus?" Poseidon's face darkened, his hand gripping his trident so hard that his knuckles were turning white.
"Yes, Poseidon! I do! He embarrassed the whole Olympian council by declining our generous offer! Twice!" he roared and thunder cracked in the background.
"Then if you think of him like that, then I guess you don't need my help in this war," he said monotonously. He suddenly slammed his trident down and he disappeared in breeze of sea mist.
"I just told you guys we need all the help we can get and you just go around start threatening one of the most powerful assets we have, Zeus!" Hecate screamed.
"If my brother is not fighting, then I too will not fight. Nobody disrespects my nephew just like that," and he too disappeared, shadows crawling up from his feet and pulling him into his own shadow.
"You guys are hopeless," Hecate grumbled.
"Zeus, I think you went too far," said Hestia in a whisper. Zeus turned to her, anger in his eyes.
"I am the king of the gods! My word is law! My judgment is final!" he shouted.
Hestia disappeared as well in a flash of bright red flame, her expression sad. "This will be the downfall of the gods," she said before completely erupting in flames.
"How many more allies are you going to lose before you realize that it is not always about you?!" Hera and Athena screamed at Zeus. Said god suddenly shrinking into his throne not wanting to face the wrath of the goddesses. He nodded cautiously.
"Okay, for now. I'll be the one making the decisions," Hera said while eyeing Zeus with a stern look that said he could definitely not do a thing about it. He nodded again, as well as the remaining gods and goddesses of the council who were scared to feel the wrath of the queen of the gods. "Athena, you say if what I'll be commanding is a bad decision," she said, thinking it to be wise not to interrupt the Hera especially when she is in a really bad mood.
"Okay. Zeus and Aeolus, go and take care of the 4 hurricanes, I suggest you deal with Boreas first before the other 3. Get on to it now," she glared at them, daring them to make a single remark. Thankfully, none were given. They both disappeared in bright flash, no theatrics at all coming from Zeus. He must be really shaken up from Hera's outburst. "Persephone, return to the underworld and try to get Hades to change his mind. Dionysus, Bellona, Mars and Hermes, gather the demigods, the satyrs, the nymphs and any other monsters that can help. Bring to the Olympian courtyard immediately." Immediately alarms blared everywhere. Ares changed into his roman form and those who were called flashed off to where they were sent. "Athena, bring up the war map as soon as you finish convincing Poseidon to rejoin us again." I stared at my sister in shock to see her grimly nod. She seemed forced to do it but I guess whoever can talk some sense into Uncle P would be his rival.
"Yes, code alpha?" Athena asked as I looked at her confusedly.
"Yes, code alpha," Hera nodded grimly. Athena flashed away.
So many questions swirled in my head right now, giving me a major migraine. What's happening? What's code alpha? Why is Hera suddenly good at making commands? I gripped my head tightly, feeling a bit dizzy.
"Hephaestus, start making weapons, gather your kids, all of them. Make as much as you can. We need supplies and we need them everywhere, scatter the armories around Olympus. Apollo, set up the medical tents and position them around Olympus. Morpheus and Hypno, bring your kids. Put Manhattan into complete slumber and wait for my signal to do so. Just be ready with the spell that will be strong enough for the whole Manhattan. We're making our stand here. Iris, we need portals. Station them, one in the courtyard while you scatter more below around Manhattan, we need quick transportation in and out of the battle. While the rest of you, go back to your domains and check for any signs of disturbances. Report them here immediately. Artemis, Demeter and Hecate, stay for a while," she had taken a seat back on her throne again. Her face had aged by about 20 years already and she was taking big breaths, noticeably tired.
"Hera, are you alright? And what was that?" Demeter asked.
"Yeah, I'm okay. Just really tired while being in between my roman and greek form. Juno was always the better one in dealing with war," she said as she rested her back.
"What's code alpha?" I asked, blurting it out disrespectfully. I had thought that Hera would have exploded at me as well but apparently she was too tired to do so.
"It's a system. Athena had replaced the automatons that have been used during the titan war with the help of Hephaestus and that Annabeth girl," my face darkened as I remember what she did to my Percy- Wait?! What?! My Percy? Nope, he isn't mine. I didn't realize my cheeks were golden from blushing.
"So, what will she do?" I said while trying to hide the blush that Hecate had already seen.
"She'll activate them and we will have an army of automatons as our first line of defense," she answered. I nodded in understanding.
"That was pretty surprising by the way. The thing where you suddenly changed into a leader and all. Haven't seen that side of you since you had helped Britain and France to be able to beat Germany during the world war," Demeter said in praise.
"Hahahaha! Yeah it has. Anyways, Demeter, I need you to go to Hestia and try to get her back as well. You two were always the closest between us 6," Demeter nodded and disappeared in a tornado of wheat.
"Hecate, who is that champion you were speaking about a while ago?" Hera asked. "We would probably need him in the war as well."
"He is currently in a mission. So, I will mention him once the time comes," Hecate answered with a brief nod.
Hera nodded back. "Alright. Go on with your duty," both of them bowed respectfully to eachother which was quite a sight for me considering I have never seen and Olympian other than Hestia to think of them as equals to a minor god. Hecate as well disappeared in an explosion of smoke.
Now, I looked over to Hera. We were the only two beings inside of the throne room other than Bessie the Ophiotaurus who was swimming happily in her aquarium. We were never in good conditions, after what she made my mother go through while she was giving birth to me and Apollo. I knew she always hated me.
"I never hated any of you," to say that I was surprised was a complete understatement. "I was just angry that Zeus had cheated on me again."
"It's okay. Now, what am I going to be doing?" I said trying to remove the awkward tension between us.
"We need you hunters in top notch. They are our best scouts after all. As well as I recently heard from Lupa that Lycaon and his werewolves have been going rampant. Their size have going greatly ever since the end of the second giant war. Just in case they decided to join the fight, I need your hunters as strong as possible for this war. And as I recall, you and your hunters are the only ones armed with silver. So, get ready. We do not know when or where they will attack so it is best we are not caught off-guard or else we will be giving them an advantage," she said. Her face growing more tired than it already was a while ago.
"I will go immediately," and I left with a blinding flash of silver light.
Author's Note - Hey guys! It really is great to be back and take you so much for the views as well as the reviews. :) Though I need your help because I need ideas and lots of them, so please leave a review because it will really help a lot with writing as well as my morale to keep this story going.
And to other related news, shoutout to DoomSkullTheBane for writing one of my favorite fanfics at the moment, Immortal Guardian, keep up the good work dude. :)
Anyways, that's it for now and peace out!
