Authors Note: Alright we'll be continuing from where we left off from the last chapter. Hope you guys like this one and thank you all you readers out there for checking out my story. On with the show. (Lovely AN, I know).
Chapter 7: An eventful day (For Hestia at least)
At a particular area in the sea next to the island of Lemnos, deep below in the sea shielded from mortal eyes and intrusion is a forge. What they don't know is that this is where the Elder Cyclops reside, using the volcanic heat to power up their forge and make weapons and armor for the Olympian gods. Another secret was that there was a wormhole within the forge which allowed the cyclops direct contact with their triplet set of brothers, the Hundred-Handed Ones who watch over the imprisoned titans, who fought in the first Titan war against the Olympians as their jailers. That's right, the wormhole gives a person a direct access to Tartarus which Zeus also uses sometimes when he checks on the prisoners annually, while also helping the Hundred-Handed Ones when one of their prisoner's escape, which while uncommon, was something that is rectified within minutes (especially if they carry spiked clubs). This also allows the Elder Cyclops to have specific weapons of theirs to be tempered and cooled using the five rivers of the underworld which are Primarily found in Tartarus. And now the forge is being visited by a certain goddess of the Hearth.
Hestia emerged in a column of flames, and while the forge may be a bit humid due to the volcanic heat, she still felt an involuntary shiver run up her body as she felt the presence of the pit within the forge. She then composed herself and walked on ahead to a cyclops who was peering over a lump of steel.
"Hello Brontes, it's been a while." she said.
The Elder Cyclops looked up from his project and grunted. "If 'been a while' means half a century, then no it hasn't. But I'm quite surprised that you came by ma'am, what's the occasion" he asked.
"I actually wanted to know about the progress about the platinum, the one that made up the cradle which my son came from. Has anything happened of it or...?"
Brontes glared at her when he listened to what she said. "Nexus Platinum?! Anything happened of it?! Ma'am, that blasted thing has remained in cube form ever since the Fates brought it to us one and a half years ago!" he ranted.
Hestia was quite shocked to learn of this. "It's still as it is? I mean no offense to you or your brothers but how come none of you'll managed to do anything with it?"
Brontes sighed and went on another rant. "I have no clue ma'am; your brother had the same reaction when he came here three months ago when we IM'd him telling him we found a way to smelt that damn metal. Submerged it in the core of Mt. Etna for over forty-eight hours, made that thing the hottest substance in the planet as well. But did it even melt or even break a tiny piece? NO! Instead, it melted through the floors of our forge, creating a large hole that led to the water outside the forge, coming in and flooding our workspace. It took us a month to fix up everything let me tell you and that damn cube was still heated, sitting innocently at the bottom of the ocean floor. We ended up trading in a favor with the wind spirits to take it to the coldest area on the planet in hopes that it will finally cool off, which thank the Fates it did, but it didn't turn brittle either which my brother Steropes thought it would. Because one strike from his hammer on the metal later didn't just break the hammer, oh no. It super-heated it, turning it into this heap of slag you can see on this table!" he gestured widely on the lump of metal as he finished ranting, breathing heavily as well.
Meanwhile, Hestia was just standing there awkwardly, not sure as to what to do about this situation. Instead, she sent soothing energy waves to Brontes, effectively calming him down.
"Thank you, ma'am, really needed that." he said appreciatively.
Hestia gave a tentative smile. "It's alright, but does that mean there is really nothing we could do with the cradle...cube? Whatever form it is now?" she asked.
Brontes shook his head. "Nothing I can think of ma'am, there is the possibility of submerging it in the rivers of the underworld but who knows what good it'll do. They might render the magical properties of the metal drastically, or increase it, the risk is too high since we barely know anything about it and this is our only specimen. My brother Arges did propose that we could go to the hypothetical source of the metal, that is the realm of Nyx. But I'll doubt they'll reveal anything since they want nothing to do with anything related to Olympus. A real shame if you ask me."
Hestia nodded, a grave look on her face. "It is a shame, I really thought I would have something for my son once he becomes of age." she sighed. "Anyways, I have another reason for coming here. Two children of Zeus have been born, twins actually, and they are quite keen on archery it seems. I was wondering if you can make the pair their own bows and arrow sets."
"Now that's something I can definitely do. It will take a while ma'am, unless I can get my brother from down there." Brontes said, gesturing his head towards the wormhole. "He's finalizing a top notch, state of the art security system for the Titan Koios. With his foresight and all, that guy is really slippery to trick or catch. Good thing the Fates pummeled him though, won't wake up for another century I reckon." Brontes said, as he flipped a switch causing a fine mist to come out from a vent, making a rainbow. He fished out a drachma from his Pouch and threw it at the rainbow saying, "Oh Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow. Show me my brother Steropes, down in Tartarus please."
The mist shimmered and an image was formed showcasing another cyclops that looked similar to Brontes, overseeing a pulley system. He sensed a presence behind him and turned to face his brother and the goddess of the Hearth.
"Brother." he rumbled. "Ma'am." The mist shimmered and an image was formed showcasing another cyclops that looked similar to Brontes, overseeing a pulley system. He sensed a presence behind him and turned to face his brother and the goddess of the Hearth.
"Steropes, are you free now? We have an order for two archery sets. Ma'am is in a bit of a hurry so..." Brontes asked.
Steropes grunted, "I'm not busy...I'll join you in a minute." he waved his hand over the mist, breaking the connection.
Moments later, the cyclops returned, already carrying equipment's to make the bows and proceeding towards his workplace.
"Any specific colors ma'am." Steropes asked.
"Oh, well I'm not sure really. They'll probably add their own colors when they get them."
Five minutes later, two bows made of the finest dark oakwood were ready for use. "Built from the finest wood, and easily repairable as well. Arrows vary from the standard wood, stone, and a couple of celestial bronze ones as well. Blunt arrows are also included and if those godlings have a good sense of humor, then I have added stink arrows as well.
"Hera would definitely not like them for that, oh what am I thinking, she already hates them." Hestia thought, thinking of the various shenanigans the twins and her son will get to.
"Thank you so much for your service Elder Cyclops. And if you'll wouldn't mind, I would also like to get updates on the Nexus Platinum as well, alongside Zeus of course." Hestia said.
"Will do ma'am, and we are still up for commissioning a weapon for you ma'am." Brontes said grinning.
Hestia gave a small smile. "And once again I have to deny it. Farewell." and she once again disappeared in a column of flames.
Athena didn't mind babysitting. Probably because Perseus was more or less a well-behaved child, even with his underlying mischief. But her newly born half related twin siblings? They definitely will give the citizens of Olympus a migraine if they don't speed up their age and after meeting Perseus, it didn't seem like it would happen anytime soon. She definitely felt a headache approaching, probably shouldn't have confiscated the bow she thought.
"Please nice lady, can you give us Perseus's bow, we won't fight over it this time, right Apollo." Artemis said, while simultaneously glaring at her brother.
"Yeah, bird lady, we'll be good." said Apollo, vigorously nodding his head.
Perseus sighed. "Do I even get a say as to whether you can use my bow or not." but was ignored by the twins.
Athena narrowed her eyes. "First off, my name is Athena. I already told you this but you both were bickering. Second, yes, you do get a say in this Perseus since this is your bow. And third, don't call me bird lady if you don't want to wake up by being pecked by owls."
"What's an owl?" Apollo asked.
"It's a nocturnal bird, my sacred symbol or animal as well."
"So... are you the goddess of owls?"
"Not exactly, the owl is just my symbol. You could say the same for my uncle Hades as well, he has the screech owl as his symbol."
"...That doesn't make sense."
Perseus grinned. "Nothing makes sense, Athena here is the wisdom goddess but can't even come up with clever comebacks for herself and for others."
Athena glared at him. "Oh I definitely can, and I would watch my mouth young man, seeing that I currently have your bow in my possession."
Perseus wisely kept quiet. Artemis looked back and forth at the two and said the first thing that came in her mind. "Are you two siblings?"
Athena rolled her eyes while Perseus pretended to puke. "Yeah right, she, MY sibling? Puh-lease."
"It's please Perseus, eight years old and you still don't know your pronunciations." Athena said smirking.
"i know my pronunciations, and see what I meant! That's not a good comeback." Perseus said.
"What's a pronounciation?" Apollo asked.
Athena would probably have exploded from frustration there only, literally, if it weren't for Hestia flashing back here with her package.
"Hello everyone, I hope you two were well behaved because I got some special gifts for you all." Hestia said warmly.
"Well behaved?! Those two made sure to-"
"Nope, I already listened to one big rant, I am not going through another one." Hestia exclaimed, tapping Athena once on her forehead, making her disappear.
"An effective trick which us elder gods have." Hestia explained to the shocked godlings. "Now, Apollo and Artemis, I believe these will be of great use to you. Happy... "birthday" if you get what I'm saying." she said, giving the wide-eyed twins what they were fighting over for the last ten minutes.
"Oh, thank you so much Aunt Hestia, this is perfect!" Artemis gleefully said. " And look we are matching!" she said, showing the bow off to Perseus.
"Hey, I'm matching as well. And yeah, thanks a lot fire lady, you are definitely awesome." Apollo said, smiling too brightly.
Hestia smiled but then turned her head to the side, as if she was listening to someone. She then straightened up and addressed the twins. "Your father, Zeus the king of Olympus, wants to meet the two of you. Are both of you ready for that?" she asked.
The twins on hearing this, seemed to have a silent conversation between themselves, occasionally talking in hushed whispers as well. The two then looked up at Hestia. "We are ready." They said simultaneously.
"Very well then, close your eyes, it will help with the nausea since this is going to be your first time teleporting somewhere." Hestia said, hiding a smile when she saw her son grimace, no doubt remembering his first teleportation.
"Has our mother been informed." Apollo asked.
"Yes, your father has already informed her." Hestia replied. "Now, hold out your arms."
She then took hold of each twin's arms, who also took hold of Perseus, and disappeared in flames.
Moments later, the hearth that was centered in the town square of Olympus, erupted. Four figures emerged out from the flame, two of them groaning and clutching their stomachs. Hestia sent calming pulses of energy towards them and helped her son from falling on the road due to being dizzy.
"I hate teleporting and flashing. I'll rather shadow travel next time mom." Perseus grumbled.
"Don't you even think about it young man, not without Hades's supervision as I definitely don't want a repeat incident of you turning up in the bottom of the ocean. Thank immortals for Poseidon who immediately sensed you and gave you a breathing pearl or who knows what would have happened." Hestia replied.
"Shadow travel? What's that?" Artemis asked, momentarily distracted from admiring Olympus.
"It's this cool travelling eques method where I can go through one shadow and come out from another. I could show you now but my mother won't be happy." Perseus said apologetically.
"You're right, I would not. And we are anyways in a hurry so come on hurry up." Hestia said, ushering the kids up the marble steps towards the throne room.
The large oak doors of the throne room opened to reveal seven large golden thrones, the one at the head being occupied by Zeus. He looked up from his weekly master bolt inspection and smiled brightly when he saw who entered.
"Sister, nephew, good afternoon. And look who are here, my first set of twins." he said grinning.
"My lord, this is Apollo and Artemis. Kids, this is your father Zeus." Hestia introduced.
"DAD!" the twins cried as they rushed to greet their father, who immediately gathered them in a big hug. Perseus looked at the scene with a sad smile but immediately removed it. He was content with not having a father, three uncles around him every day definitely made up for having a male figure in his life though Hera and Demeter would definitely disagree on his that. They weren't of course a fan of either of them
"Well look at you two, already become kids I see." Zeus exclaimed. "Looks like you have my eyes kiddo." he said, playfully ruffling his son's head. "As for you my little girl, hmm. No similar features... oh wait, you definitely have my nose!"
Artemis just stared at her father. "I have your nose?" she said deadpanned.
"Well among other things I'm sure but anyways, I'm sure your powers and maybe domains might be acting up now. It will be a bit scary, but we'll be there to guide you both until you can fully grasp it. Now tell me, what can you'll sense within yourselves? It will help us understand your domains but not all. That we would need the Fates to find out.
Artemis and Apollo nodded and concentrated deeply. A few minutes later they opened their eyes which were glowing silver and gold respectively.
"I can sense the wildlife everywhere." Artemis stated. "The feeling to hunt, and protect them both. I can sense young children as well, in each city, in their homes. And also, a weird connection to something in the...sky."
"Same, even I'm sensing some weird connection related to the sky. I can even sense some plants and ingredients, not sure why but I feel that they can be useful, or harmful. Also, I have the sudden urge to start spouting...poetry? And songs? Apollo stated.
"Hmm, I see." Zeus said, stroking his beard. "Well, I'm no prophet so we'll leave this to the Fates to finalize. As for the weird connection to the sky, I would probably chalk it up to you two being my kids and all, since I am the god of the sky. But young Perseus over here also stated that he felt a weird connection to the sky, maybe similar to yours. But we of course thought it might have something to do with his birth mother."
"Oh yeah, Aunt Hestia mentioned that you are adopted." Artemis said turning to Perseus, not noticing the look of discomfort forming on Hestia's face.
"Oh, um...yeah." Perseus slowly said, glancing nervously at his mother. "It's, um...Nyx. Primordial goddess of the night."
"What's a primordial?" Apollo asked confused.
Zeus noticing the looks of discomfort on his sister and nephews faces, immediately cleared his throat. "You'll learn one day son, soon enough. Well, now that all this is done and over, how about I call over the rest of the council and Fates so that the two of you can become fully fledged gods huh?" he said.
The twins' eyes widened on hearing this and quickly shook their heads. "Can we do that, like, in a long time." Artemis said. "We uh, talked with Perseus and found out that..."
Zeus smiled, understanding in his eyes. "You both want to grow alongside Perseus, right? That's quite alright."
Artemis smiled. "Yeah, it will be rude to leave my new friend behind with me probably being busy." she said, smiling at Perseus who returned it.
"Yup! It'll be kinda weird hanging out with Percy as an adult. Plus, he can't always have my little sister for company, he needs guy time as well."
"Percy?!" Perseus exclaimed; a bit shocked.
"Yup, Perseus is too long. That's why I shortened it to- AH!"
Sadly, Apollo wasn't able to finish his sentence as he got a stink arrow on him from his fuming sister.
"What did you call me?!" Artemis said, fritting her teeth.
Apollo gulped. "My...adorable sister?" he nervously said.
"No, you called me little, when I was the one who helped mother deliver you so I'm older!" Artemis shouted.
Perseus was now simultaneously scared and confused. "Wait...delivered? Like you delivered Apollo through Iris Messaging?" he asked.
Artemis stared at him like as if Perseus grew an extra eyeball. "What?!"
Zeus facepalmed. "Hestia, he still doesn't know?!"
Hestia glared at her brother. "Di immortals Zeus, he's only eight. I'll tell him once he's a teenager, definitely not now."
Meanwhile, Apollo had already went up to Perseus. "My sister is definitely scary right." he whispered to him.
"No way, you should see my Aunt Hera. SHE is like the unofficial goddess of scary." Perseus whispered back.
Artemis took one look at her friend and brother, clearly hearing what they were saying. "Boys." she muttered shaking her head, but smiling nonetheless when she heard that Perseus didn't find her scary.
"Alright, I'm sure all three of you are tired now after all this. Come I'll drop you off to your mothers, Perseus don't try to shadow travel away, you are coming with me. Say goodbye to Zeus." And after a chorus of goodbyes, the throne room became empty, with Zeus going oof to test his bolt on a poor unsuspecting monster down in the mortal world.
3.K.+.WORDS. It's a new personal best everyone, man this chapter was a lot to write, I'm literally tired. And I thought my uni prepared me with all those 4K+ assignments lol, but it has been a while so a bit rusty. Also, if you are wondering why Artemis and Apollo delayed their inauguration ceremony when they could just change their form into kids, well its simple. If they got their domains and what not, they would be busy overseeing them, right? Plus, they were just born cut them some slack Zeus but hey, it seems like he's now a bit more caring huh. Anyways nothing else to note, questions will be answered if you'll have any but won't reveal anything spoilery so bye! \/