Chapter 7 (Artemis POV)
When I woke the next morning, I had forgotten about the previous day's events. As I sat up, I thought of asking Percy and Bryan to join Apollo and me in another game of basketball. I got up from my bed, sighed, and flashed out. I appeared outside of Percy's palace, and I was about to knock on his door when all the events of last night came crashing into my mind again.
I choked back a sob, as I remembered my utter failure to stop the council, which was under Gaia, Erebus, and Ouranos's control, from banishing my two best friends. I flashed back to my palace, as silent tears fell out of my eyes.
I sat on my throne as the gods flashed in. All of the thrones were full except for Hestia's. Athena looked terrible, her eyes were puffy, and she looked like she hadn't slept for even a minute. I sighed as we waited for Hestia to flash in. I didn't think she would because her emotions were probably the most messed up out of anyone in the council. When she did, her eyes were puffy, and she just hung her head, and her eyes were unfocused.
"I believe we should at least try to release Bryan and Perseus," Zeus said, cutting straight to the point, "There is a chance that Erebus said they put a primordial lock to stop us from even trying to free them,"
I sat up, trying not to get hopeful, but a chance is a chance. Zeus sat up,
"I call for a vote, who wishes to free Bryan and Perseus from their banishment to Tartarus?" Zeus called as if this was an actual case of banishment that we planned to revoke.
All 13 of the hands went up. Zeus then glowed, "Then I, Zeus, king of the gods, hereby free Perseus and Bryan of their banishment, as is the will of the council," he glowed, then the glow died down. Nothing happened. Zeus's head hung.
"It was not a lie. There is a primordial lock on their banishment," Zeus whispered
I closed my eyes, trying to reel in my emotions. I had told myself not to get hopeful, and yet here I was, getting sad because I thought there was a chance.
A glow in the middle of the council room made all the gods wince, and as it subsided, three figures stood there, smiling evilly. The same three beings that caused this whole mess.
"So, you thought I lied?" Ouranos smiled, "No, of course, I didn't,"
"How did you probe our minds, Gaia?" Zeus growled
"Oh, did I hurt your pride?" she asked mockingly, "Well, using our combined powers we were able to, and we were greatly helped by the fact that you Olympians were, well, exhausted."
Everything started to make sense, why they decided to do this now, instead of before their armies were ready, which would take another year at least, and how they were able to probe 11 god's minds.
"Well, I must say, this visit has been...interesting," Erebus said, a devilish smirk on his face, "but I have something to make it even better!"
He clapped his hands, and an imagine shone in the room, like an iris message, but this was different. It showed a cliffside of red rock, with red haze, focused on the entrance to a cave, where a figure was sitting. It hit me hard. Tartarus. I could tell from the man's eyes and hair that it was none other than Bryan. Athena choked out a sob, and I was barely holding back my own as Bryan slowly walked into the cave and returned a moment later followed by his twin brother, who also happened to be my best friend.
Erebus smiled widely and clapped again, and now we could hear them too.
"Perce, you were saying it yesterday, the god's aura seemed off. I was thinking about it, and you're right! Maybe it wasn't them," Bryan said, but I could tell he wasn't too enthusiastic.
"I wish, Bry, I do. There's just no way. No one has enough power to control the entire council," Percy sighed and Bryan nodded
"I'm sorry Bry," Percy said, "I just don't want to get more hurt. I guess what we heard was what they actually think of us,"
Hestia sobbed as she whispered that it wasn't true and that she loved them so much.
Gaia smiled widely, "This is fun, but I have an idea to make it even more fun,"
A sense of dread filled me. Nothing good could come out of this. In the video, Percy and Bryan's eyes drifted towards the camera. I thought that maybe they could see us, but then another video opened to the side.
Gaia laughed with glee, "This is what they are seeing,"
The video showed Hestia walking into the council with a demigod who had black hair and brown eyes. She said, "I have adopted this demigod, hopefully, he will be better than those disgraces who tarnished my name."
The real Hestia lost it, sobbing uncontrollably, and screaming that she wouldn't do that.
In the video, Athena ran up to the demigod and kissed him, as the two of them walked away happily. The video faded, as our attention was turned back to the video of Bryan and Percy. Bryan's face was contorted in shock, as tears fell down his face. His head fell into his hands as he cried.
Percy's face was red in anger, and his eyes were slits as he glared at the camera. He started glowing, and fires started erupting around him. Then he calmed himself, probably because he didn't want to attract attention, and turned to his brother.
"I'm so sorry Bryan," he said as tears fell from his eyes as he hugged his brother, who sobbed onto his shoulder. They held each other as they both cried over the pain they were both feeling.
The video disappeared, and we were left shocked, as the primordials stood with maniacal smiles on their faces.
"YOU BITCH!" Hestia screamed, jumping at Gaia.
The primordials disappeared, as Hestia tackled air. She fell, crying. The gods flashed out once again, despair taking over all of them.
I turned to Athena, who looked like she was having a heart attack. Then again, it seems Percy and Bryan were the ones who were having their hearts attacked.
I wrapped my arms around my sister, who finally cracked, and tears started leaking out of her eyes. She sobbed into my ear, and whispered,
"Bryan is going to hate me now," she wailed.
I had never seen her like this. My sister was the proud goddess of wisdom, and she never got this emotional. She loved him, I could tell. She loved him with all her heart and she hated to see him hurt. Overwhelming anger flooded through me. They don't deserve this. Bryan, Percy, Athena, Me. We don't deserve to be hurt like this. I continued to hold Athena, whispering words of encouragement to her and wishing those words would resonate with me as well.
(Bryan POV)
I cried into Percy's shoulder, as my thoughts were going at 1,000 MPH. Did Athena ever really love me? It just doesn't make sense. I tried to think rationally, that it was a fake video meant to hurt us, but who would send that? I decided that there is no way it is Athena. Maybe it's just me hoping that she didn't betray me as well, but it just wouldn't make sense either way.
My anger was directed at my mother. I loved her more than anyone else, except for Percy. The way she turned us away like we were trash hurt worse than anything I have ever felt before. She hurt me, and she hurt my brother.
"It's okay, Bryan, I don't think that was actually Athena," Percy said quietly
"I know, but mother..." I said
"Don't talk about her," Percy interrupted, and I could see in his eyes that it broke him just like it broke me.
"I'm sorry, Percy, that we both had to get stuck in this situation," I said
He shook his head, "I'm actually a little thankful," he said
I looked at him incredulously, what does he have to be thankful for...even after all that we've gone through these last few days.
"I'm thankful that even though I'm in a lot of pain, I'm going through it with you," he said, "I'm always stronger when I'm with you, I love you bro, and I will always stand with you,"
I smiled, and embraced him, "love you, bro,"
He stood, holding his hand out, "C'mon, let's go inside to eat," he said
I grabbed his arm and he pulled me up. I nodded, and we walked into the cave to eat.
"So, I was thinking we go explore a little more today," Percy said as he bit into his sandwich
I raised an eyebrow at him, and he shrugged, "I figure we're going to be here a while, so might as well learn the environment,"
I nodded, then continued to eat my sandwich. It was a bbq brisket sandwich and, well, it was really good. Tartarus hasn't been terrible for us.
Ok, that was a lie. It's been bad, it's just that I can imagine it being much much worse for others. Other than the images and a few monsters, nothing really bad has come to us.
A roar from outside shook me out of my thoughts. Oh of course I had to jinx it.
We ran outside with our weapons in our hands. I saw a Drakon slithering along the floor, then it turned to us and roared. It started charging toward us, and we got ready to kill it. The Drakon reached us, and we jumped to the side, dodging the attack.
"Drakon's are annoying," Percy grumbled, and I nodded in agreement.
The dragon attacked again and would've cut me in half if Percy hadn't shoved me out of the way.
"Be careful," he grumbled,
"Sorry," I said sheepishly
"Wait," Percy said as we continued to dodge, "We're making this way harder than it needs to be," then he concentrated and the Drakon froze
"There," he said
I admired the Drakon. It was a beautiful creature, and I didn't want it to suffer, it didn't deserve it.
"Give me your sword, please," I said, and Percy handed it to me
I quickly stabbed the sword through its heart, and it disintegrated into gold dust. I handed Percy his sword, and he made it disappear.
"So, you wanna go?" Percy asked
I nodded, and we set off into the depths of Tartarus.
(Artemis POV)
I sighed, as I got out of bed, again. Moping around isn't going to do anything for me. It won't help Percy and Bryan, it won't make me feel better, it won't help anyone deal with their pain. I washed my face, then teleported to Athena's palace, hoping that spending some time together will help both of us. I knocked on the door, and she opened it, smiling weakly when she saw me. I could tell that she had been crying. I hugged her, and I felt her shake in my arms.
"Are you okay, 'thena?" I asked softly
She nodded, so I grabbed her hand and pulled her out of her palace.
"Come, let's do something together, as sisters. We both need it," I said, and Athena softly smiled.
"Okay, Artemis, what do you have planned," she asked
"I don't know," I admitted, "I just wanted company, and I assumed you would want it too,"
"I do," she said, "I really do. I'm scared for them Artemis, what if...what if they never get out?"
I shook my head, "I've learned to never doubt them. They'll make it out, I believe."
(Hestia POV) (WARNING, SELF-HARM IN THIS PART! SKIP TO THE NEXT POV CHANGE IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ IT)
The pain was all I felt. All I knew what that I was a disgrace. A failure. Everything Gaia told my sons is what I am. I broke them, and now my children, my soul, my life, probably hate me.
A sob escaped my throat, as I fell onto my bed, crying into my pillow. I wanted nothing more than Perseus and Bryan to hug me, to sit next to me, and just talk. I want them to lay on my lap and sleep, the way they did when they were younger. I wanted to see their eyes light up when I told them a story of their uncles or demigod heroes. I want my sons back.
I pulled my knife out and looked at the blade. It was so similar to the blades I had given Bryan so long ago. Another ugly sob escaped my mouth. I hate myself. I hate life. I want to die.
But the world hates me. I am a goddess and I will never die, I will live with my pain for eternity. I hate every fiber of my being. I am the most unworthy woman to have the title of being a goddess
My blade cut into my wrist, as ichor splattered onto my bed. I continued crying, screaming in pain, both physical and mental. My baby boys...sent to Tartarus by my hand. Another cut. The look of hurt and betrayal that shone in their tear-covered face. Another cut. The vision that showed me replacing them, and the way their hope completely left their bodies. Another cut. My babies, my children, a piece of my soul, gone.
I fell onto my bed unconscious, with my ichor pooling around me.
(Posiedon POV) (if you skipped the last part, basically Hestia cut herself.)
I walked through Olympus toward my sister's palace. The banishment of my nephews is our greatest failure, and I knew she would be taking it the worst. I was worried about her. She might need company, and it is my job to help her, as her brother.
I knocked on her door, to no response. I knocked again, no response. I opened the door and walked in.
"Sister?" I asked loudly, once again, no answer, "Hestia, are you here?"
The lights were on which meant she was here. I walked up the palace steps, to get to her room. 'She must be sleeping,' I thought to myself
I opened the door, and my heart stopped. Hestia was unconscious on her bed, with blood pooling around her from her wrist, I saw her bloody knife on her bed next to her.
"Oh, Hestia what have you done!" I whispered, with tears falling from my eyes. I picked my sister up in my arms and teleported to the throne room. I quickly called a meeting, without even sitting on my throne. Zeus was the first to flash in. When he saw me, he jumped from his throne and ran to me.
"What happened to her!" he yelled
I looked at him, with tears falling from both of our eyes, "She cut herself, Zeus," I whispered
Most of the gods were here now. Apollo quickly ran to us, wide-eyed, and conjured a stretcher.
"Lay her on here," he ordered, "Gently,"
I put her on the stretcher and properly looked at her face for the first time today. She looked terrible. Her dark hair was not brushed, and she had bags under her eyes. I could see the line of tears running down her face, and I could see marks on her arms where she clawed herself.
"Oh, Hestia, why why why would you do this," I whispered, even though I already knew the answer
Apollo flashed out and back in, getting whatever he would need to heal her. He understood the unspoken message. Heal her now, and do it in front of us. I slumped into my throne, so thankful that I had gone to check on her because I don't want to think about what could have happened if I didn't
Apollo got to work, pouring nectar on her wrist. I saw that Athena and Artemis looked like they saw a ghost, and I don't blame them. Hestia had always been the most levelheaded Olympian. She was the one who stopped arguments, who came up with non-violent solutions that almost everyone liked. For her to cut herself...let's just say it's unheard of.
Apollo started murmuring something under his breath, as Hestia started glowing. I could see her arms healing, but the scars were there. Lines randomly strung across her wrist. She stirred in her sleep and woke up. She looked at us for a moment confused, then the realization hit her. She looked around wildly and flashed out.
"No! Hestia...sister wait!" Hades yelled but it was too late. She was gone
"We have to find her again," Zeus said, "Find her and bring her here again!"
(Hestia POV)
The last thing I expected when I woke up was the eyes of the council on me. Really, I had hoped I would wake up on the banks of the River Styx, in front of Charon, but I knew that was impossible. The only thing that could truly heal me, would be my children back in my arms.
When I saw them, I acted on impulse and teleported out. I went straight to Perseus's palace. I laid on his bed and cried. It smelled like gentle smoke, the kind you smell when walking toward a campfire. It smelled exactly like Percy and Bryan. I fell asleep, the exhaustion and ichor-loss draining me.
(Zeus POV)
To say I was worried for my sister, would be an understatement. She was very important to the council, and she was in a very extreme condition. It was my job as king of the gods to make sure that she was safe. Poseidon went to her palace again, Hades went to Bryan's palace, and I went to Perseus's. The other gods spread out, searching through Olympus. I walked into Perseus's palace and sighed. I love him like a son, even if we do have the occasional argument.
I couldn't help but feel like I had failed him and Bryan personally when I was controlled like that. I wanted nothing more than for them to be back.
I walked through his palace, trying to find Hestia. I came to a room on the second floor, which I guessed was his bedroom, and saw Hestia sleeping on his bed, thankfully not in a pool of ichor.
I sighed, sitting on the bed next to her. While she was sleeping, she almost looked like she normally did, as if she wasn't suffering from depression. The sunken look her eyes had taken was gone, and she looked calm. I quietly sat by her, letting her get the rest she needed.
Hestia was always the levelheaded one in our family. Maybe it was because she was the oldest, or because she always kept a positive outlook on life (which was probably also the reason one of her domains is hope). That is also a reason that her current situation affected everyone so deeply. When the goddess of hope goes into depression...well let's just say that isn't good.
Hestia stirred next to me. She lifted her head, then frowned.
"Hello, Brother," she said
"Hestia," I started
"No, I don't want to hear it," she cut me off, "I did what I did, and now it's over,"
"No, it isn't!" I argued, "You are the goddess of hope, Hestia, don't tell me you've lost hope!"
"YOU DIDN'T BANISH YOUR CHILDREN ZEUS!" she screamed, "DON'T ACT LIKE YOU UNDERSTAND!"
At her explosion, I knew her mind was in a bad place right now, and I knew what to do.
"Hestia, I don't understand, I know that," I said, "But I need you to understand, Perseus and Bryan wouldn't want this,"
She sighed, then started shaking. I wrapped my arms around my older sister, as she broke down, sobbing into my shoulder. I rubbed her back comfortingly.
"I miss them, Zeus," she sobbed,
"I know, I do too," I said
(Percy POV)
Our travels through Tartarus led us far. At this point, we had both forgotten how to get back to the cave, which I guess is fine, we'll just find another one. We walked along the Acheron river, talking and trying to push out negative thoughts, and pointing out anything interesting we saw. There was a mountain, a massive cave that probably had thousands of monsters, among other things.
"Percy, we need to go, now," Bryan said suddenly, grabbing my arm.
"What?" I asked, and he pointed
A massive mansion was in front of us, so dark, and majestic, I knew exactly what it was.
"The mansion of night, Nyx!" I mumbled, then nodded, and we turned away. We didn't get far, though, because we were stopped by shades on horses.
"Stop! Lady Nyx requests your presence," he said
I looked at Bryan and asked him, "Do you want to go?" I asked
"I don't know, I feel like Nyx can get us there forcefully too, might as well go peacefully," he said
I nodded, then turned to the shade. "Alright, take us to your mistress,"
We followed the shade into the mansion. I felt my sides shaking, because Nyx is, well, VERY powerful, if not the most powerful primordial. If she decides she wants to kill us, then we're...fucked.
We walked into a room that was softly lighted, just barely enough to see each other. Three chairs were surrounding a table, and sitting on one of the chairs was a woman with pale skin, black eyes, and black hair. She was wearing a black dress that was covered in crystals. Nyx.
I bowed my head, "Lady Nyx,"
She looked surprised, "Perseus, Bryan, you two are gods, yet you are in Tartarus, and you are bowing to me. You two truly are different," she said. Her voice was quiet and soft, and for some reason reminded me of Hestia. "Please, sit down, we have much to talk about,"
We both nervously sat down, and Nyx smiled at us. Bryan slowly smiled back, and I could feel all my nervousness starting to leave.
"I know a lot about how you two got down here, actually," she started
I nodded, "Yeah, the council betrayed and...and here we are,"
She looked confused, "You don't know?" she asked
"Well, yeah we know, they cast us out for no reason," Bryan said
"No," Nyx smiled sadly, "They were under the control of my siblings,"
"But no one is powerful enough to control the entire council!" I said
"Erebus, Ouranos, and Gaia are working together, and it only worked for them because the Olympians were tired," she said
I processed what she just said, the Olympians didn't betray us. They were under mind control.
"And our mother?" Bryan asked
"Oh, she was mind-controlled too, and that image you saw was fake. If you are wondering, I can see the council when they make a connection to Tartarus. So I saw when you two got banished, then when Gaia, Erebus, and Ouranos sent you that image, I saw them talking. Your mother is quite distraught." she said
Words couldn't express the way I felt. The relief was seeping through every ounce of my body. My mother, she didn't mean it. We were so happy we jumped forward and threw our arms around Nyx.
Suddenly we realized what we did, and instantly jumped back,
"I'm sorry Lady Nyx...I don't know what we were thinking," Bryan said
Nyx smiled at us, "No, it's quite alright. Also, that's just Nyx to you,"
Then I surprised myself by hugging her again. Bryan joined me a second later. Nyx hugged us back, and it felt surprisingly similar to our mother.
"Nyx, you are a lot like my mother," I said
She smiled, "I know, she is a remarkable goddess,"
We smiled, then sat back down.
"Okay, now that that is done, let's get to business shall we?" Nyx asked, and we nodded, "Your banishment is under a primordial lock, the Olympians have already tried getting you out, and it didn't work. I will let you out of Tartarus, but first, you need to train."
"Train? For what?" Bryan asked
"Well for starters, I am going to bless both of you. You will have to train with your new abilities and become even more powerful than you were before," she said
"You're going to bless us?" Bryan asked, and Nyx nodded, "Why?:
"You two surprise me, you are different from the other Olympians, just like your mother. I also believe you will need it in the war against my siblings," she said
He nodded, and she waved her hand, pressing her fingers to each of our foreheads. Instantly I was hit with a splitting headache. Then she did the same to Bryan.
"Dude, you're eyes are red and purple now!" Bryan said, looking at me,
"Yes," Nyx said, "My blessing for him had changed his fire domain into hellfire,"
I grinned, as I felt the power change. Hellfire was like a normal fire, but it could burn and kill immortals.
"Also, you still have control over the regular fire too, if you want to use it for heat or something," she said
I nodded, then she turned to Bryan, "As for you, your sense have been greatly increased at night. You can see better, hear better, blend in with the darkness, and your footsteps will be silent." she said
Bryan nodded, and I grinned at him. He smiled back, and for the first time since the end of the titan war, I felt good. I felt really good.
"Well then," Nyx smiled, "Let's start your training shall we?"
Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Thank you to everyone who reviewed!
Pls, review, they give me motivation. If you guys review, maybe I'll update quicker than I already am. ;)
Love you guys, bye!
