Every year, the Olympian gods have two meetings called the Solstice meetings. These meeting are the most important of Olympus; one which is celebrated on the summer solstice and the other is celebrated on the winter. Attendance is mandatory for all Olympians, and if it is not complied by, then the god who had been absent would suffer a great punishment. Last time it happened was when Dionysus kindly ignored the meetings due to a personal reason, and he was sentenced to 50 years without consuming alcohol.
However, this solstice meeting was supposed to be far more important than a usual one. This is due to a main event happening, the end of the Second World War, or how many gods liked to call it, the petty demigod Great War 5.0.
Many of the Olympians arrived alone at the meeting, simply flashing on their thrones and wait patiently for the meeting to begin. Some others chose to walk in by themselves or with some other god by their side. The twin Olympians were no exception to this, always choosing to keep each other's company as they entered the throne room.
Every year was the same. They would meet up in front of Apollo's palace and walk together to the throne room, talking about recent events or simply fighting about nonsense. Still, even if they fought the whole way, walking together to the throne room has become a tradition much too sacred to be broken.
Artemis waited patiently for her brother outside of his palace. Fifteen minutes had gone by and she was getting very impatient, tapping her foot on the floor and checking her internal clock to check the time. Apollo was never the most punctual god, and much less in the winter. Due to this, Artemis knew that she had to wait a little more time for her brother to arrive. Worst case scenario, they arrive late for the meeting and she would kill Apollo.
"Nice of you to show up Apollo" Artemis said as she saw her brother come out of his palace. He was wearing some long pants that reached all the way to his belly button, a long sleeve shirt with a sweater on top and a hello tie. The goddess of the hunt had no doubt that this decade had been one of the blandest in terms of fashion, and she wasn't even a gal that paid much attention to it.
"Sorry, I was just getting ready. Tying a tie is still so hard, they should invent some sort of clip, just so you can put it on fast and it won't choke you"
"Over fifty years have passed since they were invented, let it go"
"I'll let it go when they invent my clip-on tie idea"
Artemis rolled her eyes "alright alright, lets just get going to the meeting"
The two of them began to walk towards the throne room, talking about Apollo's recent love conquest and about the hunt's life. Out of nowhere, Apollo put his hand on Artemis shoulder, forcing her into a full stop.
"What are you doing Apollo? We're going to be really late"
"I know about your plan to tell our family about your marriage today, but today is not the day, trust me. I would want nothing more than for you to be happy with your husband and walk together around Olympus, but just don't do it until it's absolutely necessary."
Artemis tried to check any insecurity or lies in Apollo's reason, but she couldn't find any. "Why can't I tell them today?"
"My oracle has just received the next Great Prophecy, and it has to do with him. I'm going to tell the council another version just so-"
Artemis grabbed Apollo's shoulders "Apollo that's crazy! Don't do anything harsh, and don't lie about a prophecy! You know what father will do if he finds out"
"But he won't find out if you don't tell him"
The goddess of the hunt stayed staring at her brother, until she sighed in defeat. "I promise I won't tell him, or anybody for that matter"
Apollo nodded, taking his twin promise into account, and began walking towards the hall of gods. The moon goddess quickly followed suit, speed walking all the way to their destination.
The letoids were the last to arrive to the meeting. Every god was already present and Zeus had his bolt in hand, signaling the start of the meeting.
"Just in time. A few seconds later and consequences would have been placed upon you two" Zeus said seriously
"I apologize in place of my brother and I. We promise it won't happen again father" Artemis said
"I would hope so. Now, sit down and let's get this meeting in order" the twins sat down in their respective thrones and the meeting began.
"This is the solstice meeting since the Second World War finished. We can all agree that the Hades child was much too power-hungry, and so I propose that all of his offspring are terminated and for him to be prohibited from having children ever again." Zeus began the meeting
"I object!" Hades yelled from his makeshift throne, as his throne was removed from the council millennia before. "My children are not the only ones at fault. If I recall, your child dropped not one, but two nuclear bombs even when he believed that it could light up the entire world on fire"
"But it didn't" Zeus replied
"It could have, Zeus!"
"Don't yell brother!" The king of gods threw his bolt to the ground, asserting dominance. The rest of the gods sat quietly, much too afraid to say something that would make Zeus anger direct itself towards them.
"And don't get me started on the Russians who raped every young woman they could get their hands onto when they arrived, or how they killed their own people just so they would attack with even more fury to my children!" Hades said
At the accusation, Poseidon's face turned red in anger. "Are you kidding right now? If we're going to talk about rape, we are are going to talk about what your children did in Nanking and Korea, or what your children did to their own people!"
"They weren't the only ones who sent their own people to concentration camps just because they were the same ethnicity as my children? And Poseidon's kids set fire to almost every village they occupied, so in retrospect my kids weren't that bad"
"Your son was Hitler" Poseidon said
"Well yours is Stalin. That's not much better"
"We can all conclude that my children are the best behaved and best of them all" Zeus then said proudly
The two brothers stared at the King of Gods, "you're joking. Your kids are the ones who say they're the good guys but will stab you in the back at the end. Plus you're the only ones who don't have plans to get rid of your colonies. I mean my children are trying to get rid of them and Hades children don't have colonies anymore."
"They are for vacation" Zeus defended his children
"Bullshit" Poseidon said
The Big three kept staring at each other, daring for one of them to open their mouth and say another thing. The tension in the throne room was almost unbearable for the gods, feeling like it was a dense gas chamber.
"Lord Zeus, can I have the floor?" Athena asked from her throne
"Of course daughter" Athena stood up and began to speak with great ease.
"As we know, the children of the Big Three have been guilty of starting numerous wars over the years. While some of us may not think much of it, the reality of the situation is that in order to maintain our power, the west itself must stay in power, and that is improbable when it is in a constant state of war. That is why I propose we pass a motion. I propose that the Big Three be precluded from having demigod children" Athena said seriously. There were many gasp at this, mixed with some angry faces from the big three.
"What does precluded mean?" Hermes asked
"It means that they would be prohibited from having any more children" Aphrodite shivered
"Oof, that's a tough one" Hermes then muttered
"You sure have some moxie, don't you Owl Face? Wanting to make me sterile just so your little brain children can run around without having someone better than them steal their spotlight. Tell me I'm wrong" Poseidon roared
"Father, if I may talk" Apollo said, earning a nod from Zeus, "I have just received the new Great Prophecy"
All the gods turned to look at Apollo, surprised about what the sun god had just said. It had been millennia since a Great Prophecy had been issued, and most of the times, those types of prophecies are not to be taken lightly.
"Well what does it say?" Zeus asked the golden god
"Well, it goes like this:
A half-blood of the eldest gods
Shall reach sixteen against all odds
And see the world in endless sleep
The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap
A single choice shall end his days
Olympus to preserve or raze"
"So basically, we gotta do Athena's plan now" Demeter said from her throne
"That's correct sister" Zeus said, standing up. "Brothers, if you will, I believe there is an oath that we must make"
"But I don't want to" Hades protested
"Are you conspiring against Olympus?" Zeus threatened
"Not at all, but I don't want to be forced into an oath that you will be the first to break"
"Nonsense, I swear on my honor that I will not be the first to break the oath. In fact, I will never break the oath" Every god in the throne room stared at the God of Thunder in disbelief. "Let's just make this oath once and for all. Poseidon, Hades, father with me in the center"
The two aforementioned gods stood up from their thrones and stood in the middle of the hall.
"Brothers, repeat my words. I, Zeus, swear on the river styx not to conceive any more demigods from this moment on"
The brothers repeated the oath (each changing the name, of course) and went to sat down in their respective thrones. The rest of the meeting went by normally, with no bigger incidents or secrets which had been spilled. Soon enough, the meeting was called to an end and all the gods flashed or walked out of the room.
The twin gods shrunk to their human sizes and walked out of the throne room in complete unison. Minutes of complete silence passed until Artemis could not conceal her curiosity any more.
"Are you going to tell me the real prophecy?" Artemis asked her brother, who was staring at nothing
"Inside either one of our palaces. There could be someone hearing us right now" Apollo replied telepathically. Artemis simply nodded and continued walking East, to where their palaces stood.
They first arrived at Apollo's home, entering from the main entrance of the palace towards the great hall. The siblings sat down in the dining hall, with a platter of food appearing in front of them.
"So, what is the reason why I could not tell the council about my marriage?" Artemis asked her brother
"As you know, the prophecy I told the council is not 100% correct. The real thing goes like this:
A child of the eldest full-blooded god
Shall reach sixteen against all odds
And see the world in endless sleep
The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap
A single choice shall end his days
Olympus to preserve or raze"
"And what exactly does it mean?"
"It means that the child of your husband will be the one who decides if Olympus is destroyed or saved. If I had told this prophecy, then father would've killed your husband without a second doubt. He knows who the eldest full-blooded god is, it's Perseus! He's the first one to be born out of two gods. Not even us, Artemis, are full blooded gods. Mom is a titan. A peaceful one at that, but a titan nonetheless." Apollo explained
Artemis took a bite from her steak. "But if you told the prophecy in an altered way, why couldn't I have told them about my marriage? I mean, nobody would think that his child would mean the eventual death of us all, he would just be my husband"
Apollo sighed "I know what you mean Artemis, but there was a reason why he was a prisoner in the island. If someone knew that he escaped, then gods know what would happen to him. Father never kept an eye on him, or he would've seen that you visited him very frequently. So, in order to keep him in a low profile, we couldn't say anything that might come as a shock to anybody"
Artemis stayed silent and slowly nodded her head. She understood why her brother had decided that it was not time to tell her secret to anybody yet, but that didn't mean that she did not wish for the opposite. Two years had passed in this realm since her wedding, and she had not being able to tell anybody about it.
"I understand...I have to get going now. Good bye Apollo"
"See you later sister"
Artemis got up from the table and walked out. She headed towards her own palace, where she had been hiding her secret for around six months, more or less. Opening the door and closing it quickly, she ran up the stairs and headed towards the master bedroom.
"So, did you tell them?"
"Not yet, but I promise that I will tell them soon. You just have to be patient" Artemis replied
"Alright, but only because I love you"
