Chapter 2: Fallout
All the gods stared at the sword on the ground in shock as they realize that the former king is now gone. Perseus the God of Time, Energy, Heroes and Night is gone Zeus is now the King of the Gods. Zeus now has all the power in the world now that Perseus is gone.
"I am finally king! Now everyone let us go back to the throne room and certain changes have to be made" said Zeus with the brightest smile he has ever done.
First thing he did was rearrange the thrones where Hera and his throne is now in the middle of the room. Next was demote Hestia into a minor goddess and take her out of the council placing his son, Dionysus, into the council. After that he banished Hades from Olympus and only allowed him to go during the winter solstice. Then there was the erasing of Perseus from history and essentially rewriting it where it was him who led the Gods and that Perseus never existed. Finally, he erased Perseus from the minds of every being in the world except from the Olympians, Hestia, and Hades.
"We are now the ultimate power in this world fellow council members, but as King my votes count as two votes and I have the power to overturn and overrule any decision made by the council as I am the King" Zeus proclaimed looking at each of the council members daring them to say something.
"For those who may have doubts or second guessing what we have done, just think for a second and realize that we don't have anyone who will stop us from doing whatever we want. Do you want to go and have mortals build temples for you? Go ahead. Do you want to curse somebody just because they pissed you off? Go and do it. We are the absolute in this world and no matter what we do we are always right" Zeus continued after looking at all his fellow council members.
"Now, no one better mention Perseus ever again to anyone, we will make sure that he is erased from history and no one remembers him. Let this be a reminder as well, it was me who dealt the final blow to him with my Master Bolt. That means I have the ultimate weapon that can cause anyone to fade, if you so as think to go against me I will not hesitate to throw this at you and make you join Perseus, now let us all adjourn and show the world why we are absolute" Zeus said and with a crack of thunder flashed out of the room as well as all the Olympians except Hera, Athena, Artemis, and Apollo.
"Why did I agree to this? I should've interfered and did something, anything against this" cried Artemis thinking about how her father figure must have felt in his last few moments, that his family betrayed him.
"We had no choice Artemis, we all know what Zeus would have done if we did not follow his plan" Apollo tried comforting her but failing as well because of the guilt he was feeling about betraying his father figure, betraying the man who was essentially his father in everything but blood.
"I should not have let my pride get in the way. I knew Zeus was going to do something but my pride prevented me from seeing that this will cause our end" Athena said trying to keep her emotions in check but failing due to the tears threatening to fall from her eyes.
"I am deeply sorry you three, you were practically his children, doing this to him must deeply hurt you all. I should have fought against Zeus but my domains keep me from doing it" Hera says approaching the three unsure if she should hug them or not.
"He was the one who took the time to teach us and train us, and this is how we repay him… we should have trusted that he would have been able to protect the hunters, Artemis" Apollo voiced out his regret with his usually bright eyes dimming, remembering his childhood with Perseus.
"Uncle Perseus, I don't get it! I'm doing everything right why can't I get a bullseye every time?" A younger Apollo said to his uncle with frustration in his voice.
"Uncle Perseus, am I doing it correctly as well? I also haven't hit as much bullseyes as I want to" A younger Artemis asked her uncle in a calmer way but with a bit of a discouraged tone in her voice.
"It's ok you two if you don't get as much bullseyes as you want now, you two are still very young and still need to practice I also started like you two and when I was your age I was worse. Here's what we will do to help you practice: first one to hit ten bullseyes will have their favorite food made by your favorite aunt Hestia" Perseus told his niece and nephew encouraging them and knowing that they are very competitive with one another will help them improve.
After hearing that Artemis and Apollo started firing arrows into their targets, Apollo focusing on speed and going as fast as he can but losing his form and Artemis taking her time and making sure her form was right before firing. As the day continue Artemis and Apollo got their tenth at the same time so they both get to have their favorite foods made by their favorite aunt and spent the rest of the day laughing and enjoying the time spent with their uncle.
Athena finally starts to cry openly despite all her efforts to keep her emotions at bay and this surprised her half-siblings and Hera. Athena as well started to remember a memory she had with Perseus
"Uncle Perseus what does this word mean?" A child aged Athena looked up at her uncle while pointing out a word she read from the scroll they were both reading from.
"That's the word serene, that is another word for peaceful or calm" Perseus replied watching his niece's eyes shine from curiosity and amazement.
"Wow! What about this one uncle?" Athena pointed out at another word at the scroll.
Perseus chuckled and continued on with answering the different questions of the young curious godling.
"Hey uncle will I ever be as smart and wise as you are?" Athena asked her uncle with genuine curiosity in her eyes.
"I'm sure you will be sweetie; you have someone teaching you all this. When I was your age I had no one to ask any of this and had to learn on my own. I will always be here to help you Athena, all you need to do is ask" Perseus told her with a smile on his face.
Athena's face smiled and hugged her uncle which made Perseus smile as well and hug her back.
"Now Athena let's grab some food, you must be hungry by now" said Perseus while picking his niece up.
"But Uncle just one more scroll please" said Athena trying to convince her uncle to let her continue reading using something similar to a puppy dog eyes look.
"Ok Athena let's get some food first and then we can read as much scrolls as you want" Percy told his niece while carrying her.
"Pinky Promise?"
"Pinky Promise Athena."
"I know things may be bleak now but we must do the best we can to remember the Fallen King and live out the lessons he taught us" Hera told the three sad gods trying to cheer them up.
"We must live everyday of our immortal life for the person who has given us the opportunity to do so. Things may get harder from here on out because of my husband but we have to remain strong. That way Perseus' legacy may remain in a way" said Hera as she hugged each god before flashing away.
The three remaining gods flashed to the stadium where Perseus' sword remains looking at it once more before leaving the area.
