p class="p1"span class="s1"strongPrologue/strong/span/p
p class="p1" /p
p class="p2"span class="s1" Tremors shook the city of the gods. All around Olympus, minor gods and nature spirits stumbled and fell, several gripping on to whatever was around them in an effort to keep them upright. The sound was deafening; objects clattered to the floor, tables and chairs broke down, and even some buildings class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" Inside the throne room of the gods, 11 gods sat in council. All of them were worried. Although the creator of this earthquake was usually a very temperamental person, this particular time seemed worse than any other time before, except perhaps during the lightning bolt incident./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" Zeus, king of the gods, had an expressionless face on as he surveyed the rest of the Olympians. His wife, Hera, worriedly looked at him. He revealed nothing to her, and the rest of the gods./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" Finally, Athena, goddess of wisdom and battle strategy, broke the silence. "What is wrong with the dimwit this time? What did you do, father?" Her bored tone did not waver; however, those who had known her for some time knew that she was slightly wary of whatever had caused her eternal rival such grief./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" "Yeah, dad," started an ever cheerful Apollo, god of the sun, music, poetry, healing, and a host of other things "What did you do to Uncle P this time? Accuse him of stealing your master bolt again?" The snark was not lost on anyone./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" "Be serious for once," chastised his twin, Artemis, goddess of the moon and the hunt, before turning back to her father. "He seems to be in a —"span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" Her sentence was interrupted by large boom, as the throne room doors slammed open with a boom. There, in all of his furious glory, stood the god who caused the tremors./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" Poseidon, god of the seas, had arrived, and he did not look happy./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" "You dare?" Questioned the god in voice as cold as ice. "You dare harm her, Zeus?"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" "What are you talking about, Poseidon?" Replied the god of the sky. "I did not d—"span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" "You know well what I speak of. Do not play innocent," said Poseidon, in the same tone of cold hatred. His glare radiated towards Zeus, displaying such contempt that it seemed to actually heat up the room./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" "Are you perhaps referring to your illegal spawn? It is gone," responded Zeus in an uncaring tone./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" "YOU MURDERED AN INNOCENT CHILD, ZEUS!" Yelled Poseidon, finally exploding. His rage flooded the throne room even as the other gods began to understand why they were there. "YOU KILLED HER FOR NO CRIME OTHER THAN BEING BORN, AND BEING MINE!"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" "She was a threat to my throne, she —"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" "SHE WAS TWO!" Bellowed the sea god./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" "Father," began Artemis, "Did you kill an innocent two year old girl?" Her glare turned towards the king of the gods./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" "She was a threat. She would have been too powerful to keep alive. Just look at that boy of yours."/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" "That boy of mine, as you call him, saved us twice," interjected Poseidon, "and you would do well to remember that, embrother/em. As it is, I have had enough of your tyranny Zeus."/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" "Are you threatening me, Poseidon?" Asked Zeus in a deadly voice. "Or are you planning something more?"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" "Brother," called Hestia, goddess of the hearth, "Please don't do anything rash. Anything that you do today will affect us later." She walked over and put her hand on his arm and looked him in the eye pleadingly./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" Poseidon looked down at Hestia. Although she was at a god's height, she was still only in her 8 year old form. His eyes softened, but as she watched, his eyes glowed red for a moment, and unexpectedly class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" "No, Hestia," he said as he pushed her away. "He has abused his station for the last time. Too many of my children, Hades's children have fallen to his hands for no fault of theirs, while his continued to live happy lives as children of the king of the gods."/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" He then moved to stand in the centre of the room, and sent a mental message to Hades to appear. Soon enough a disgruntled lord of the dead appeared. Before he could speak, Poseidon continued./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" "I, Poseidon, god of the seas, hereby renounce my seat in the Olympian council, and declare war on its king. All those who would stand with me, say so now."/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" Hera quickly clutched on to Zeus. "Husband," she pleaded, "simply apologise and we will be free from another infernal war. Admit your mistake. Please, for the sake of the world."/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" "No, Hera. He stands against me? Let him burn," Zeus stated. He then turned to his brother. "Because you are my brother, I will ignore this once. Sit back down, or you will have war with the mightiest council on Earth, a war you will be hard pressed to win."/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" "Poseidon," started Athena, "do not be foolish. You cannot win a war against us by yourself, no matter which domain you rule. Just sit down, and it will all be forgotten."/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" "Are you two truly so arrogant that you believe that you can absolve me? What gives you the right to give me chance, as if you are above me? No, there will be war. As I said before, all those who would stand with me, do so now."/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" After a long silence, Hades moved forward. "While I dislike you as well, Poseidon, you are a much better god and brother than that arrogant fool. I stand with you, brother."/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" Demeter then rose from her throne. "If Hades is joining that side, then so is Persephone. If that is the case, then I will not stand against my daughter. I will side with you, Poseidon." She walked to the middle and stood next to Hades and Poseidon./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" The mighty sea god looked around. "Anyone else?" He asked./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" After a lot of deep thinking, Artemis rose as well. "Harming an innocent maiden goes against everything I stand for. And that, father, is what you have done. I cannot, in good conscience, stand with you in this war. I am sorry."/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" Immediately after she moved to the centre, Apollo walked out too. "Well if Arty over here is joining Uncle P, then I can't let my baby sister go alone. I stand with you, Lord Poseidon."/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" Zeus was seething with rage. "My own children go against me! Treason, then!"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" Hera looked apologetically at Poseidon. "Although I agree with you, I cannot leave my husband. I'm sorry brother."/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" Hermes looked extremely conflicted. "I don't want to fight my father, but I don't want to fight my brother either," he muttered. After several seconds, he looked apologetically at his father. "I'm sorry, father, but I cannot fight against my favourite siblings."span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" Poseidon nodded towards Hermes as he walked towards the centre of the room. He then looked at Hestia. "And you, sister? Where does your allegiance lie. Will you side with me, or with that pathetic excuse for a king?"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" Hestia looked expressionlessly back at him. "I will not side with Zeus, but I will not side with you either. I am the hearth. All of us have a hearth, even if they may be separate ones now. I will keep the hearth regardless of who wins and who loses."/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" Zeus looked even more livid than before. "Fine then. Begone from my throne room, all of you. Remember, this is war. There will be no mercy for any of you."/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" With that, Poseidon and his supporters disappeared from the throne room, just as their thrones were transported to Atlantis for safekeeping./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" Zeus looked around at who was remaining on his side. Hera, his wife stood with him, as did Athena, his favourite daughter. Ares was with him as well, along with his brother Hephaestus, and his sister-in-law/secret girlfriend Aphrodite. Finally, his youngest Olympian son Dionysus was there as well./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" He turned towards Athena. "What should our first move be, daughter?"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" Athena looked thoughtful. "Well, the minor gods should be our first priority, and then the demigods. The minor gods should be easy, as some coercion along with a few favours should get us most of them. However, the demigods are a different problem. There are a few demigod leaders that all the demigods follow. The romans, to a great extent follow your son, Jason Grace, as well as their other praetor, Reyna Ramirez-Arellano. The greeks follow the spawn of Ares, Clarisse La Rue, and my own daughter, Annabeth Chase. However, there is only one demigod that we need to ensure that most of the demigods, and even some of the minor gods, come to us."/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" All the rest of the council seemed to realise who she was talking about after a second. Athena said it anyway. "We need Percy Jackson."/span/p
p class="p3" /p
p class="p2"span class="s1"strongLines are drawn. Brother against brother. Sister against sister. Father against son. This is war. With Poseidon stand Hades, Demeter, Artemis, Apollo, and Hermes. With Zeus stand Hera, Ares, Athena, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, and Dionysus. Hestia is neutral./strong/span/p
p class="p1" /p
p class="p2"span class="s1" Tremors shook the city of the gods. All around Olympus, minor gods and nature spirits stumbled and fell, several gripping on to whatever was around them in an effort to keep them upright. The sound was deafening; objects clattered to the floor, tables and chairs broke down, and even some buildings class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" Inside the throne room of the gods, 11 gods sat in council. All of them were worried. Although the creator of this earthquake was usually a very temperamental person, this particular time seemed worse than any other time before, except perhaps during the lightning bolt incident./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" Zeus, king of the gods, had an expressionless face on as he surveyed the rest of the Olympians. His wife, Hera, worriedly looked at him. He revealed nothing to her, and the rest of the gods./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" Finally, Athena, goddess of wisdom and battle strategy, broke the silence. "What is wrong with the dimwit this time? What did you do, father?" Her bored tone did not waver; however, those who had known her for some time knew that she was slightly wary of whatever had caused her eternal rival such grief./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" "Yeah, dad," started an ever cheerful Apollo, god of the sun, music, poetry, healing, and a host of other things "What did you do to Uncle P this time? Accuse him of stealing your master bolt again?" The snark was not lost on anyone./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" "Be serious for once," chastised his twin, Artemis, goddess of the moon and the hunt, before turning back to her father. "He seems to be in a —"span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" Her sentence was interrupted by large boom, as the throne room doors slammed open with a boom. There, in all of his furious glory, stood the god who caused the tremors./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" Poseidon, god of the seas, had arrived, and he did not look happy./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" "You dare?" Questioned the god in voice as cold as ice. "You dare harm her, Zeus?"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" "What are you talking about, Poseidon?" Replied the god of the sky. "I did not d—"span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" "You know well what I speak of. Do not play innocent," said Poseidon, in the same tone of cold hatred. His glare radiated towards Zeus, displaying such contempt that it seemed to actually heat up the room./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" "Are you perhaps referring to your illegal spawn? It is gone," responded Zeus in an uncaring tone./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" "YOU MURDERED AN INNOCENT CHILD, ZEUS!" Yelled Poseidon, finally exploding. His rage flooded the throne room even as the other gods began to understand why they were there. "YOU KILLED HER FOR NO CRIME OTHER THAN BEING BORN, AND BEING MINE!"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" "She was a threat to my throne, she —"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" "SHE WAS TWO!" Bellowed the sea god./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" "Father," began Artemis, "Did you kill an innocent two year old girl?" Her glare turned towards the king of the gods./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" "She was a threat. She would have been too powerful to keep alive. Just look at that boy of yours."/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" "That boy of mine, as you call him, saved us twice," interjected Poseidon, "and you would do well to remember that, embrother/em. As it is, I have had enough of your tyranny Zeus."/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" "Are you threatening me, Poseidon?" Asked Zeus in a deadly voice. "Or are you planning something more?"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" "Brother," called Hestia, goddess of the hearth, "Please don't do anything rash. Anything that you do today will affect us later." She walked over and put her hand on his arm and looked him in the eye pleadingly./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" Poseidon looked down at Hestia. Although she was at a god's height, she was still only in her 8 year old form. His eyes softened, but as she watched, his eyes glowed red for a moment, and unexpectedly class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" "No, Hestia," he said as he pushed her away. "He has abused his station for the last time. Too many of my children, Hades's children have fallen to his hands for no fault of theirs, while his continued to live happy lives as children of the king of the gods."/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" He then moved to stand in the centre of the room, and sent a mental message to Hades to appear. Soon enough a disgruntled lord of the dead appeared. Before he could speak, Poseidon continued./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" "I, Poseidon, god of the seas, hereby renounce my seat in the Olympian council, and declare war on its king. All those who would stand with me, say so now."/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" Hera quickly clutched on to Zeus. "Husband," she pleaded, "simply apologise and we will be free from another infernal war. Admit your mistake. Please, for the sake of the world."/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" "No, Hera. He stands against me? Let him burn," Zeus stated. He then turned to his brother. "Because you are my brother, I will ignore this once. Sit back down, or you will have war with the mightiest council on Earth, a war you will be hard pressed to win."/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" "Poseidon," started Athena, "do not be foolish. You cannot win a war against us by yourself, no matter which domain you rule. Just sit down, and it will all be forgotten."/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" "Are you two truly so arrogant that you believe that you can absolve me? What gives you the right to give me chance, as if you are above me? No, there will be war. As I said before, all those who would stand with me, do so now."/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" After a long silence, Hades moved forward. "While I dislike you as well, Poseidon, you are a much better god and brother than that arrogant fool. I stand with you, brother."/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" Demeter then rose from her throne. "If Hades is joining that side, then so is Persephone. If that is the case, then I will not stand against my daughter. I will side with you, Poseidon." She walked to the middle and stood next to Hades and Poseidon./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" The mighty sea god looked around. "Anyone else?" He asked./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" After a lot of deep thinking, Artemis rose as well. "Harming an innocent maiden goes against everything I stand for. And that, father, is what you have done. I cannot, in good conscience, stand with you in this war. I am sorry."/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" Immediately after she moved to the centre, Apollo walked out too. "Well if Arty over here is joining Uncle P, then I can't let my baby sister go alone. I stand with you, Lord Poseidon."/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" Zeus was seething with rage. "My own children go against me! Treason, then!"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" Hera looked apologetically at Poseidon. "Although I agree with you, I cannot leave my husband. I'm sorry brother."/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" Hermes looked extremely conflicted. "I don't want to fight my father, but I don't want to fight my brother either," he muttered. After several seconds, he looked apologetically at his father. "I'm sorry, father, but I cannot fight against my favourite siblings."span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" Poseidon nodded towards Hermes as he walked towards the centre of the room. He then looked at Hestia. "And you, sister? Where does your allegiance lie. Will you side with me, or with that pathetic excuse for a king?"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" Hestia looked expressionlessly back at him. "I will not side with Zeus, but I will not side with you either. I am the hearth. All of us have a hearth, even if they may be separate ones now. I will keep the hearth regardless of who wins and who loses."/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" Zeus looked even more livid than before. "Fine then. Begone from my throne room, all of you. Remember, this is war. There will be no mercy for any of you."/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" With that, Poseidon and his supporters disappeared from the throne room, just as their thrones were transported to Atlantis for safekeeping./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" Zeus looked around at who was remaining on his side. Hera, his wife stood with him, as did Athena, his favourite daughter. Ares was with him as well, along with his brother Hephaestus, and his sister-in-law/secret girlfriend Aphrodite. Finally, his youngest Olympian son Dionysus was there as well./span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" He turned towards Athena. "What should our first move be, daughter?"/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" Athena looked thoughtful. "Well, the minor gods should be our first priority, and then the demigods. The minor gods should be easy, as some coercion along with a few favours should get us most of them. However, the demigods are a different problem. There are a few demigod leaders that all the demigods follow. The romans, to a great extent follow your son, Jason Grace, as well as their other praetor, Reyna Ramirez-Arellano. The greeks follow the spawn of Ares, Clarisse La Rue, and my own daughter, Annabeth Chase. However, there is only one demigod that we need to ensure that most of the demigods, and even some of the minor gods, come to us."/span/p
p class="p2"span class="s1" All the rest of the council seemed to realise who she was talking about after a second. Athena said it anyway. "We need Percy Jackson."/span/p
p class="p3" /p
p class="p2"span class="s1"strongLines are drawn. Brother against brother. Sister against sister. Father against son. This is war. With Poseidon stand Hades, Demeter, Artemis, Apollo, and Hermes. With Zeus stand Hera, Ares, Athena, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, and Dionysus. Hestia is neutral./strong/span/p