Wow a new chapter already? I must be on so much caffeine my heart feels like it's gonna pop.
…
Don't try this at home kids.
"Ugh…"
Persephone's vision swam as she slowly came to in the infirmary upon Olympus. Everything…felt great actually. The last thing she could remember was her grandfather speaking to her and then. Light. Pain. And then…?
"Luke…" she gasped, remembering. The vision played out clearly in her head now. Kronos' divine light spreading. Luke's form fragmenting, exploding outwards with such intensity…
"Luke…" she whispered again. Though he had been a traitor, he had still been her friend before that. He didn't deserve to.
"I'm sorry Seph." She dimly recognized Apollo's voice, though it seemed far more haggard than usual. She sat up swiftly, looking around and meeting Apollo's eye. The sun god was sitting in a chair nearby, observing her.
"When we arrived, Luke's body was already dispersed by Kronos' true form. There was nothing left." The god sighed. "Hermes hasn't been taking it well."
"He saved me…at the very end." She whispered quietly. "He guided me to his mortal point." Apollo nodded slowly. "I see. I'm sure that that will add favorably to his judgment." He replied. "So how does everything feel?"
"Everything feels good. Everything feels great actually. Healing up on Olympus is something else actually." Apollo nodded again, but something in his eyes made her pause. "Is something the matter?" she asked.
"I…I wish that were the case." Apollo stammered over his words. Though Seph had only spoken to the god once or twice, she had never known him to stammer. Apollo was one of those supremely confident gods, perfectly aware of his position. For him to seem so unsure… "What do you mean?" she asked cautiously.
"Apollo leaned forwards. "Persephone. By the time we arrived, you had glimpsed upon a titan's true form for…too long. Kronos' power had consumed your mortal body and your soul…well Hades basically said that you were already dead."
Seph frowned. "Wait so…am I dead?" Apollo shook his head. "No. Quite the opposite actually. Your father. He…well actually it was Hades who suggested the whole thing. But since we couldn't let the Hero of Olympus die…" he flashed his trademark grin, though it seemed somewhat dimmer than usual. "…we simply made it so that you couldn't."
"Wait. What?" Seph began to connect the dots. "Are you saying that I'm…" Apollo nodded. "Immortal. A god." Though that was the conclusion that Seph had already reached, hearing it from Apollo himself somehow…
"No…" she whispered. Her hands tightened into fists, clenching around the blankets of her bed. "No. No…." she shuddered. Suddenly her body which had felt so good before felt off. Different. She could feel unnatural blood, suffused with divine power flowing through her veins. Her flesh didn't feel like flesh. Her senses felt…off, perfected in godhood.
"No." She repeated, beginning to tremble. Apollo's eyes widened in worry. "Seph you need to calm down." He told her gently. But she couldn't hear him. The room around her began to tremble. The blanket grasped so tightly in her hands began to smolder as her divinity began to leak from her body.
"Seph. Seph. Look at me." Apollo's voice began to grow louder, more urgent. "Seph!" he shouted, lunging forwards and grasping her by the shoulders. This sudden physical interaction jolted Seph, and she screamed in shock. The touch was light. Apollo hadn't been meaning to harm her in any way, but unstable as her physical form was at the moment, the touch alone was enough.
Her physical form expanded as brilliant light pulsed outwards, sending Apollo careening backwards, slamming into the wall. The room began to crumble, unable to support Seph's godly outburst. Apollo's eyes widened in…fear. But Persephone still couldn't see him.
Persephone was lost in her true form. Forced into it rather ironically by her rejection of it, she was stuck somewhere in between transition. Her mortal frame was continuously trying to reassemble itself. Her divine form was continuously trying to escape. And Seph herself was lost in the cycle.
"Persephone." Another hand upon her shoulder, firmer than Apollo's, somehow pushing her down, back into herself. The room began to settle as Persephone's power began to recede. "D-dad?" she asked, recognizing the voice. Poseidon nodded and as her mortal eyes returned, she could see her father, his typically merry face creased with worry. Behind him she could see Apollo picking himself up off the ground. "Are you alright Seph?" he asked. She hesitantly nodded and he gathered her into a hug.
"It's alright. It's going to be okay." Seph felt a little overwhelmed. Never before had Poseidon truly embraced her. He couldn't have. She supposed that…as a god now…the Ancient Rules no longer truly applied in the same way. She nodded slowly, enjoying the hug while it lasted. When Poseidon drew away she turned to Apollo. "I'm uh…sorry." She hoped her apology didn't sound insincere, but she didn't really know what else to say. She could only hope he wasn't upset.
To her relief, Apollo grinned. "Don't worry about it. Everyone has a moment or two." He chuckled. "Though I must admit, Dad isn't gonna be happy about how strong you've gotten. You completely suppressed me for just a moment when you caught me by surprise."
Persephone's face must have faltered because Apollo rushed to reassure her. "Don't worry don't worry. Even Dad was on board with this whole thing. He can't turn back now anyways."
"Wait so…I…I can't go back?" Persephone asked.
-Line Break-
"Of course you cannot!" Zeus thundered as Persephone stood before him several hours later. "We have granted you our greatest gift. And you would turn it back on us?" Though he spoke with anger, he too seemed worried. Something that disturbed Seph a little.
"Milord…" Seph didn't know how to say this. She was standing before the entire council…again. And she didn't want to piss them off. Especially now that she had to spend forever with them. "I am truly grateful to you….to you all for saving my life. But-"
"But what? What else is there to say?" Zeus rose and demanded and Hera placed a hand on his arm, calming him down.
"Dear, remember what Hades said." Hera gently reminded him and he nodded slowly, slumping back into his throne. "I…" he choked for a moment on the words. "…apologize niece. Hades and…several other gods suggested it might be like this." He sighed.
"This is one of the many reasons that we do not offer the gift of godhood very often. As Athena put it, the mortal psyche and the immortal psyche are not the same." Athena nodded, adding to the conversation. "Yes. Persephone. Your new state will take a while to adjust to. As well as the new idea of immortality itself."
Poseidon leaned forwards. "I want to emphasize this however Seph. We would not have considered this if we did not think you were worthy of it. It will take some getting used to, but you will adapt. We believe that."
"Thank you." Seph replied gratefully. A thought then struck her.
"So…I am an immortal now?" She asked. "Or am I a goddess?"
"An excellent question." Zeus grumbled. "I'd like to know that myself." Persephone did a double take. "What?"
"Yep. We dunno." Hermes chimed in from his throne. Persephone paled. "How…how can you not know?
"Shut up Hermes you're going to frighten her." Athena glared at her brother. "Persephone when we took the steps to immortalize you, we had planned on giving you godhood. Truly our greatest gift, well deserved for the services you performed. This much we know." Seph nodded. "I see. But then…?"
"Yes. The problem is that you weren't dying or alive. You were as close to dead as one might get. Even Heracles, when he was immortalized, was still fully conscious. A fundamental concept of godhood, especially for us Greeks, is belief, as I'm sure you've been taught in camp." Seph nodded again.
"Us gods remain in existence because of the belief of our followers. When we lose those followers, or lose the will to go on, we…fade." Many gods shivered as Athena spoke. "You saw as much with Pan."
"Right. I remember that."
"The problem is…" Apollo cut in. Though Athena seemed surprised, she let him without complaint. "You weren't conscious of this change, and you don't seem to have accepted it now. We essentially forced the change upon you."
"But what does that have to do with you not knowing what I am?" Seph asked.
"We do know what you are." Athena replied. "Somewhat. We made you a goddess. But your subconscious rejected this even as it occurred. As a result, we do not know exactly what you are the goddess of."
"How does that….can't you just find out somehow?" Seph asked.
"We could have you release your divine form in its full might and you'd probably find out. But seeing as you are now, and from what Apollo told us, your divine form is….volatile at the moment." Hera replied. "It isn't safe without the proper measures, even for you, or us."
Persephone nodded. "So I'm…basically a god with no domain at the moment?" Zeus nodded slowly. "Essentially."
A thought occurred to Persephone. "But wait. Gods…exist off of belief right? So won't I just…end up…. fading? No one worships me."
"An excellent question again." Athena replied. "But incorrect. Don't forget all of the quests you've been on Persephone. You may not think of them as such because you yourself went on them, but those are your legends and myths."
"W-what?" Persephone asked. "Those were just quests."
"Yes." Apollo replied. "But so were Heracles' tasks. So was Jason's quest with the Argonauts." Ares chuckled. "And quite frankly Jackson…" Persephone turned to him, and shivered. His eyes were aflame, glimmering with an untold power that she hadn't quite been able to see in her encounters with him.
"You are one of the most prolific of them all. Think about it." Persephone did. She thought back as Ares' voice, almost hypnotizing, took her. "The minotaur. The furies. Medusa. Procrustes. All on your first quest."
"That's right." Artemis added. "Not to mention that you entered the Underworld and escaped unscathed. You fought Ares in single combat and won." Ares scowled, but didn't deny it. "You've held both the Master Bolt and the Helm of Darkness at once. Those three facts alone would have cemented you in Ancient Greece as a hero beyond compare. And again, only on your first quest."
"Don't sell yourself or your companions short Persephone." Hestia spoke, her voice pulling both the attention of the girl in question and the Olympians. "Together you and your friends defended Olympus itself, and you slew the titan king. Such is a feat that even us gods could not do alone. Remember that."
Seph shakily nodded. Now that she thought…really thought about it. Her life for the past five years had been nothing short of insane, regardless of whether or not they were impressive. "Your exploits will be remembered, even if not by the mortal world, then by us and by demigods for ages to come. It's a little strange, but essentially your legend exists within the Greek world."
"That kinda makes sense. But uhh what am I going to do now?" Seph asked. "If I don't know what I'm the goddess of how am I going to er….perform my godly duties?"
Zeus sighed and leaned back into his chair. "We don't really know. We've only granted godhood a very slim number of times and this has never happened. A god does not simply not have domains. It's at that point that they fade." A shiver ran through the council.
"Well I don't know either. I didn't even want to be a god. I don't know the first thing about it." Persephone crossed her arms. "Are you sure you can't just…take it back?"
"We cannot." Zeus replied. "Your body was so damaged that even if we had the means to revert you to your mortal form, you'd likely die."
"Yeah." Apollo butt in. "Though your body has been repaired, we can't assume it would remain that way if you were to become mortal again. Also as Pops said, we literally don't know how."
"Well…" Athena began. "…the problem is that Persephone doesn't understand godhood. She is still looking upon her godly state from a mortal mind. So what if we taught her?"
"Taught her?" Poseidon asked. "What do you mean?"
"I mean exactly what I say. We quite literally teach her what it means to be a god. Her current state is on us. And as a potentially powerful goddess, we should take steps to ensure that she is able to properly take her place amongst us."
"Hmmm…" Zeus stroked his beard. "That does sound like a good idea." He looked around the council. "All in favor?"
One by one the council raised their hands in favor.
"So…who's first?" Persephone asked.
"That's a good question. I'd like to suggest your father, but Poseidon's role as one of the Big Three is larger than you might be able to comprehend at the moment." Athena replied. "We should probably go in order of…" she paused.
"Why don't I go first?" Dionysus spoke up from his throne where he was reading his wine magazine. The council turned to him in shock.
"Dionysus? Why do you think that you should go first?" Zeus asked.
"I mean the kid is gonna want to visit camp right? She's gonna need to say her goodbyes. I'm going to be there. I might as well get this out of the way first." Dionysus sighed.
"That…actually makes a lot of sense." Athena concluded.
"Hmm. Alright. Does that sound alright with you Persephone? The rest of us can determine who should pick you up after while Dionysus takes you down to Camp Half Blood." Zeus asked.
Persephone nodded. "Yeah that sounds fine I guess." She did want to go to Camp. She had missed the award ceremony for her friends. "When do we go?" She asked.
"Well if no one objects…now." Dionysus replied as he rose, pulling himself off his throne and tossing the magazine onto the seat. "Come here Jackson."
Persephone noted with pleasant surprise that he called her by her actual name. Her last name at least. She made her way over and he placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Let's be off."
And they were gone, leaving behind the smell of freshly pressed grapes.
Once they were gone, Zeus looked around for a few moments. "As we teach Persephone what it means to be a goddess, I need you all to keep a close eye on her."
"Why? Do you not trust her?" Poseidon asked with something of an edge in his voice.
"That is not it. Persephone has performed a great service for us. But something about her at the moment…" Zeus hesitated. "…I do not know. Something about all this unsettles me. I want your daughter to take her place amongst the gods. But she herself does not. And I think…that isn't going to change anytime soon."
"She just needs a little time." Artemis spoke up. "Many of my girls struggle with the idea of immortality after the shock and awe wears off, and they willingly accepted it." Many of the gods nodded in agreement.
"But what if she doesn't?"
The council turned to Hephaestus. He rarely spoke up in councils, only voting when necessary and often preferring to tinker with whatever mechanism he brought with him.
"What do you mean?" Apollo asked. "Sure she's a little disconcerted now but…"
"A machine that's designed to swim can't be so easily changed and made to fly." Hephaestus set his tools down for a moment. "We can't just assume this'll work out with time. And even if it will, who knows how long it'll take?"
"Heph does kinda make a good point." Hermes added. "Regardless of whether or not we know what it is, she does control a domain now. And since she can't perform her godly duties it's possible it'll run all out of control."
"All the more reason to watch her as you guide her." Zeus replied. "Perhaps we can even determine her domain ourselves. It will be a major help both to us and to her. Does anyone else have any questions?" No one spoke.
"Then I will leave it to you all to determine who is picking her up next. The older gods will be going last, so you younger ones can determine amongst yourselves. If you can, whoever is going next provide a schedule to Persephone."
"It might help to go in an order of familiarity." Athena suggested. Zeus nodded. "That might work. Anything further?" Once again, no one spoke.
"Very well. This meeting is adjourned."
A second chapter within 2 weeks?
Huh. Never thought I'd see the day.
So I guess this story will be played out sort of like a POV format, with each god trying to instill a little personal wisdom in Persephone. We'll see how it goes.
Leave a review if you liked the story.
Also perhaps leave a review suggesting potential minor gods who might also be interested in sharing a little about their domain and godly duties with her that you might like seeing.
I have been considering how HOO would play out without Persephone, since that is something that may come up down the line. I'm not really sure. If you have any ideas, feel free to PM me or leave a review.
In short, reviews are nice. I like them.