Thalia POV

I feel like I'm to blame for this. Why did I have to get angry at Percy? Why? He had every right to be angry, but I just HAD to push him past the limit. I know I would be infuriated had a man slept with me. Therefore Artemis had no right to sleep with him.

But why did I have to push him.

A God NEEDS their symbol of power the same way a person NEEDS his legs to walk. I mean, everyone knows the commotion the lightning bolt caused a couple years back. I wasn't there, but everyone told me about how a third world war had been coming until Perseus had rescued the bolt from quite literally the depths of hell. How can he live without his Riptide. It is practically the source of his power. And now, he's gone. For all I know, he could be in Tartarus, vibing with Kronos and the other Titans!

I just fell to the floor, tears streaming down my face. How are we going to explain this mess to the other Gods when Percy doesn't appear at the next meeting. I can't imagine how they'll all react, especially Hestia and Poseidon. CRAP POSEIDON! He will slaughter us all, and I can't imagine how badly Lady Artemis will get it! Right now she can't be taking it any better than I am. I may have loved him as a sister, but she truly loved him, regardless of whether or not anyone will admit it or if the hunters will believe it. That one talk with Aphrodite explained enough to me.

She was curled up in the corner of the room in her 7 year old self. Now this is rare. She doesn't usually go under the age of 11. The last time she did.. Well it was when she met her mother Leto again last week. But it only happens during dramatic emotional changes or traumas. Tears fell down her cheeks faster than Hermes could fly with his winged sandals, and even more were forming. Her cuts were still there, but she wasn't paying them any attention.

All the hunters just stared, bewildered that their man-hating mistress was crying… over a man. It was certainly a weird time to be a hunter. None of them knew what to do. Their Lady NEVER cried, or at least had never been seen crying by anyone but me, when Zoe had died. Perhaps she feels like that all over again. Lost and hopeless as the person she once loved abandoned her purely because of our own stupidity. The mistakes we made ked to this horrible outcome. I am hugely to blame. The least I can do is cheer Millady up.

Turns out that would be much harder than expected. She refused to say anything to me except from, "Go away Thalia." Sobbing quietly, it was all I could get out of her.

It wasn't so long after than a small hunter, the youngest we have, 6, nearly 7 years old, walked up to Lady Artemis and sat down next to her, giving Artemis a big hug. When she didn't pull away after a bit, I realised that she was actually crying. Artemis and the young hunter were both crying.

"What's wrong child?" Artemis quietly asked the girl once she had finished crying.

"Is the nice man going to come back," she whispered to Artemis. There was silence as this information was processed.

"No," I replied, more tears swelling in Lady Artemis's eyes. "He never will."

"But why did he leave? I loved his cookies!," she asked, and Artemis gave her a watery smile.

"Lady Aphrodite made him," she replied, sighing and rubbing her eyes.

"Aphrodite made Perseus leave," Artemis repeated, suddenly sitting up straight and thinking.

"Aphrodite made Perseus leave!" she said louder.

Oh Gods no! This is going to end badly.

Zeus POV

The main gods that I talk to are my family and the 12 main Olympians… which also seem to be my family, but you get what I mean. Basically, I never really end up talking to other gods such as them minor gods. I only started talking to them after Percy made us pass the law to support them. Ever since, I talk to them a bit, but a very little bit. So I think you know just how surprised I was when Eleos, Goddess of Pity and Empathy came to visit me.

The only people in the throne room were me, Poseidon and Apollo. Still, Eleos came rushing towards me, a look of importance on her face. The minor gods never disturbed me unless it was an emergency. Therefore, I didn't stop them from cutting right to the chase.

"My Lord," she quickly said to me as soon as she arrived. "There has been a powerful change in emotions today." I frowned. Emotions change all the time.

"What makes this one so important?" I asked her, still trying to understand what the problem is.

"I feel so much pity for these people. It feels like 5 Gods have fallen into the deepest depression possible, along with many other souls." Now this took my interest. 5 Gods falling into a depression could mean a range of realms falling into Chaos.

"I thought you were the goddess of pity, not depression?" I asked her, trying to make sure that these gods weren't trying to play any games with me as that would end up pretty bad.

"I feel pity FOR the depressed souls," she said, irritated. "Besided, you don't just have to hear it from me…" The sound of a flash grabbed my attention as Oizys, minor god of depression approached me, looking moody and depressed.

"My Lord, I sense a deep depression forming around some strong beings," Oizys said glumly. So they weren't playing games. Depression was forming, and we needed to act on it fast. I must call the council immediately.

"Apollo, call the council immediately," I ordered. "There has been a mix of emotions in 5 gods or something. Point is that it is URGENT! Oizys, Eleos, where is this depression thing coming from?"

They both looked at each other uneasily, before speaking in unison.

"A mortal forest, somewhere near snow." It creeped me out. Why were 5 Gods gathering around a forest in the middle of nowhere, on Earth too! Olympus had much better forests, I think. I don't really go near those areas so it may have changed over the times.

"Feels like 10 Gods and a bunch of humans," Eleos murmured looking down. "Pity their souls."

I nearly spat out my abrossia. 10 Gods AND humans! What happened to 5 Gods?

"Where did you say they were," Poseidon asked, a sense of fear in his voice. Eleos shifted uneasily on her feet.

"A forest… but it could be any forest on earth-" Poseidon suddenly stood up while grabbing his trident. At the same time, Apollo appeared again, followed by the council, minus Aphrodite who was probably still putting makeup on so I didn't give it any thought. The bright lights blinded me as I looked away, waiting for the light to subside. By the time I could see, Poseidon was already making his way to the door.

"Whoa brother!" I exclaimed, standing up and blocking his way to the door. Why didn't he just flash out? Perhaps it was just for the effect. "Let's discuss this as a council," I reasoned. Instead, Poseidon yanked his arm away from me and continued walking out.

"Those aren't 10 Gods!" Poseidon hissed at me. "It's Perseus and the hunt!" I suddenly froze as I processed that information. It seemed like the other gods were too, as the whole throne room was quiet. I mean, it did make sense, but how did the hunters fall into depression too? Surely only Perseus would've. I sighed. Either way, we needed to start a search and rescue mission immediately.

"I'm not sure if this is the right time, but 9 of the Gods have moved somewhere else," Oizys mumbled. Still, I heard her straight away. Kinda hard not to when you're a god.

"Where did they go, Oizys?" I asked impatiently, knowing that we were already failing our search and rescue.

Both Oizys and Eleos seemed to be thinking hard, but I wasn't getting any response from them. They just looked ahead and thought, HARD.

"They've masked their auran, my Lord," Eleos spoke after some time. "I can't sense them anywhere. Perhaps they've come out of their depression…" I didn't think that was the case. So our extraction was already failing. We had failed to recover one of the strongest Olympains in history. What could be worse!

"Okay guys," I spoke, addressing everyone. "As you've probably heard, a depression is falling around the hunters, Perseus and Artemis. Perseus has left the hunt, but Artemis is still there and is falling into a deeper depression by the second. Our job is a simple extraction: We go in, grab her, flash out, and do this nice and quickly to minimize the following tantrum Artemis will have. Now let's-" I was interrupted by Eleos once again.

"My Lord," she started, looking down for some reason. "It pains me to say that the last God has left the forest." This time I actually DID spit out the nectar I had been sipping on. Alarm bells were ringing in my ears now.

"Where is she now," I hissed.

"A-Aphrodite's Palace," she stuttered out. Crap. The one God that was still doing makeup. If only I'd saved my speech for later!

If she was responsible for the events of Perseus, then we were going to have much bigger problems and thus, bigger consequences.

Any goodguys?