PART 2 - THE WAR
Zeus POV
If anyone ever asked me what the most annoying thing for a God was, I would straight out say that it is when someone points out the most obvious thing. Here we all are, getting ready to start the council meeting, and Apollo can't help but point out the one thing everyone already knows.
"Artemis isn't here yet."
Why thanks Apollo for telling me the one thing that I don't want to know. As if I couldn't tell myself from the obviously vacant silver throne. Nowadays, controlling my anger was much harder than it was before, and it had already been difficult. Taking a deep breath, I said in a totally calm voice to him, "She will come."
"You know what day it is," Hestia said from her throne. Out of everyone, Hestia had changed the most from the disappearance. Everyone had been affected, especially Poseidon, but no one more than Hestia. Nowadays, the Hearth was higher than it had ever been, but it was a cold blue, not the usual warm orange. Hestia sat at her throne, talking to almost no one. She was almost always in her 30 year old form, which definitely put me off, seeing as I was used to her previous 8 year old form. Her eyes contained little warmth, and she was rarely seen by anyone outside of the throne room.
Hades had changed too, whether that was for the better or worse I was still debating. He had a very cheery mood nowadays. Even Demeter's constant complaints about keeping Persephone 'locked up' didn't annoy him. Sometimes, he even let Persephone walk with him outside the Underworld, which no one had expected. He still wore his signature black robe, but didn't stare deathly at people, unless Percy or Nico's names were used rudely. He also loved talking to us gods, especially Hestia, Poseidon and Apollo.
Ahhhhh Poseidon, I almost forgot. Poseidon was the other major change that had occurred over the last few years. It would be incorrect to say that he's always sulking, but he's not cheerful anymore, and barely tries to mock me. Most of the time, he's in the ocean and, according to Triton, he doesn't show any signs of enthusiasm, at anything. Some say that he's gone depressed. Even now, he's just staring at the floor, hands fiddling with some kind of fishing net. Of course I don't blame him. The blame is for someone else…
She flashed in, and that got everyone's attention. Artemis was here. Let's hope we can have a meeting of remembrance without any interruption… from ANY side.
"Hello, Artemis," I said.
"Yeah, hello Artemis," Apollo spat, filling her name with venom. "How are you and the killer gang doing?" She looked as if she were debating whether or not to attack Apollo, before slumping her head in despair, and looking away from the other Gods down at the floor.
"Apollo!" I yelled, stunned that he would say something like that. He loved Artemis, but I suppose the disappearance had some effect on that. Artemis couldn't be bothered to deal with him. She was going through a rough time. It had taken half a year of coaxing before she could even leave her palace. Even when she did, I remember the looks she had got from everyone.
It had taken a lot of effort, bribery and threatening for me to ban those petitions to ban the hunt and force Artemis to marry. The least she could do is go to Hestia and Poseidon and apologize. I've told her too many times, but she won't. She lives in her own world, her and her hunt.
"Today is a memorable day," I started, standing up, and addressing the entire council. Today, the council was much larger than usual. In fact, today, the council consisted of Gods, minor gods, demi gods and basically every word with God in it. While not many had come from Camp Half Blood after the Annabeth incident, it looked as if the whole of Camp Jupiter, along with basically every minor god that existed (okay that was a bit of an exaggeration) came. Percy had always been a respected member of the Olympian society.
"I know that some people will see today as a sad day, and you have every right to, but I see it differently."
"You also saw Aphrodite's terrible idea of expanding make-up shops differently, so that isn't saying much," I heard Hermes mutter from my left. Ignoring him, I continued.
"I feel as if today is a day where we learn from our mistakes over the last year, and learn how to fix them. Think of it as a New Years Resolution, which you can't break. It's what… he would've wanted." I wasn't too surprised to see tears in Hestia's ideas, and was quite shocked that there were tears in my eyes too!
"We will, remember, but not mourn. Morning is the one thing he wouldn't want. Yes, we should remember, but there is no need to start the waterworks show. Let us think about the things he did for us, and the little we did for him, and that included demigods too. Now, before we can start the memorance, I want to be filled in quickly on any events regarding him that have occurred since the disappearance."
There was silence, which meant one thing. No one had any news of Perseus.
"Do you have something to say, Hestia?" Hera asked. I turned and saw that Hestia was certainly acting odd. She was looking at me, almost as if I had something on my face, in that weird way, ya know. Upon hearing her name, Hestia leaped up and looked around, as if startled. This was certainly strange, but I let it slip, seeing as it was probably due to mental problems.
"No, I would tell you if I had met my son," she declared confidently. My wife wasn't too convinced however.
"Are you sure? You do know that it is treason if you are found guilty of knowing information regarding Perseus, but not sharing it, right?" That was too much for Hestia, who stood up, looking irritated. She stared at Hera, as if she was some kind of filth. Honestly, sometimes I think that too, but don't tell the wife.
"If you are threatening me, then I suggest you sit down really fast, sister," Hestia quietly said. Then, as if things couldn't get stranger, Hades and Aphrodite got up too.
"Today is a special day, as our all Almighty Lord Zeus previously said," Hades began. Whether or not that was sarcasm, I couldn't tell. "Let's not put false accusations on each other and tarnish Percy's memories, by fighting with each other, our family."
"You wouldn't want Perseus to see this," Aphrodite regarded. "Lady Hestia said she doesn't know anything about Percy, and we will take her word, unless you are calling her a liar, which I would strongly advise against." While us Gods don't have to call each other with our titles, such as Lady and Lord, most gods call Hestia 'Lady Hestia' because of how deserving she is of that title. Most demigods nodded, agreeing with Aphrodite's statement, including a large majority of Gods and minor Gods.
The four gods standing up regarded each other, before sitting down at their respected thrones. That was when Artemis raised her hand.
"Father, I want to inform you that, over the last year or so, I have occasionally been seeing a group of hunters wearing pitch black. Sometimes, they have aided us, other times, they have raided our arrows and food, and collapsed our tents which costs us time.
I could tell that every soul inside the throne room was dying to start booing Artemis. Only my authority, if you could call it that, prevented them. Anyway, it was a big thing, seeing as she barely talks anymore.
"I hate to barge in, but I must say that I have also encountered some people dressed in black as I deliver my messages," Hermes said. "Usually, they just wave or salute me, which I find weird, but I don't question it." Apollo snickered.
"Imagine getting saluted by a bunch of rando's who are dressed in black," he laughed. Hermes glared at him, but a lot of the demigods found it pretty hilarious too, somehow, and started laughing along with Apollo. I had to wait several minutes before getting silence.
"Have you seen their faces?" I asked. "What do they look like?" Both of them shook their heads.
"They always wear dark masks, but each mask is different. They all have the same blackness to them, but have some kind of sprinkled glitter on them. One has red glitter, another has purple, another has gold and another has light blue and… you get it," Artemis abruptly finished off, looking light headed.
"I'm sorry but how many lego ninjagos are we talking about?" I asked. Hermes looked at me curiously, almost as if to say, 'Wow Zeus actually did a joke,' but eventually just shrugged.
"I dunno, about 8 or 9, I guess," Hermes guessed.
"Have you ever tried to make contact with them," I asked my daughter, curious. Hestia leaned forward in her throne, almost as if she was interested.
"The whole hunt approached them after a raid, but we could never reach them. I can't explain it. We just couldn't reach them, so I sent a solo hunter…"
"And…" I persisted, needing to know who these people were. Artemis looked put off, but continued her story.
"She… returned differently. She had a message in her hand. It was a crumpled piece of paper, and it said something like, 'Don't make contact again, or I'll sell you on ebay for a cannabis farm."
Well I've definitely heard worse threats, I thought drily.
"The leader wears a mask with every glitter on it. I've seen him a few times, but never dare to approach him. He's different. He has…. These…"
"Eyes?" Hestia interrupted, suddenly looking alarmed. Artemis nodded.
"One eye is all golden, and the other is green," she finished. "I've never seen anything like it, and it creeps me out." I nodded, then turned to Hestia.
"D'you know who they are?" I asked. She nodded.
"They call themselves 'The Revenant', and do as they wish. They don't care whether or not it's good or bad. They just do whatever they want to, usually good, but whatever they want to."
I thought about that for a moment. Later on, I'll probably need to send out a group of soldiers to find them. It's dangerous having what could be a group of Gods and demigods just roaming around, thinking that they are in charge. I sighed. Sometimes, being the King Of Olympus has its downsides, and this was definitely one of them. It's not like I could just recruit some demigods to find him. He seems dangerous, especially if he could avoid Artemis and the entire hunt, which, as much as I hate to admit, are pretty good at tracking, then what hope do we have? My mind is too tired right now. I'll think about it when I get back to my palace with Hera.
These last few years have been pretty tough on the whole of Olympus. Each time we have a meeting, I see everyone eyeing the empty throne of Perseus, as if they are expecting him to just flash in and throw around some crackers, laughing about how it had always been a joke and how he forgave the Olympian council for all of their mistakes. I would be a downright liar if I said that I didn't want it. I missed him too. He had a good balance of humor and seriousness, something the council needed. Then, there was the bedding, the pissing, the failed rescuing, which all led to the ultimate disappearance. The council is not complete unless everyone is here, and Perseus is most definitely not here. I don't even know where to search anymore. We've checked everywhere, but can't find him. I know that I can't give up. Apollo, Hades, Poseidon, Hestia, Artemis and so many more would skewer me if I did. Gods, this is too much pressure.
"Err Zeus?" Someone asked. Looking around I saw most of the throne room looking at me, curious. Damn! I must've zoned off… again.
"My apologies," I quickly said to avoid any questioning or speculations. "As I was saying, I will send out a group of demigods to find these Revenant people. I highly doubt tha they actually are revenants, but, nevertheless, I will find them.
"And make them give me back my food and arrows-" Artemis started, but she was quickly interrupted.
"He said he will find them," Poseidon hissed, which was unusual because A, Poseidon never stood up for me and B, he never spoke much nowadays. She immediately shrunk down, back into her throne.
"Yeah shut up smarties," Someone said, and that was followed by a lot of snickering. I knew that this was bullying, but I also knew that I couldn't interfere. She had brought this… curse on the whole Council. I'm drowning in complaints about her, so much that I don't even know what to say anymore.
"Alright silence," Hephaestus said. He wasn't someone who talked much, but when he did, people listened. "If you remember, Perseus spent this last few days in the hunt with Artemis. Now, she may have caused the disappearance, but, regardless, you can't treat her like this. I didn't know Perseus too well. I mean, I did say hello to him in the Olympian council, but I didn't really know him well. Still, I can assure you that the last thing he wants is a civil war where everyone is abusing Artemis. When Perseus comes, we can sort things out."
I gotta admit, that was a good speech (like father like son, eh), but he ruined it at the end. 'When Perseus Comes…'. We don't know where he is. For all we know, he could be all the way in Alaska, coming back in 69 years. It didn't take long for others to click onto it.
"How do you know when Percy's even coming back?" Someone asked from far back in the crowd.
"Wel, I don't, but it can't be too long-"
"Alright so you don't know?"
"Well not technically but trust me-"
"Great for all we know he'll be back next century to check in on us, and why's that? Because of HER!"
"Stop!" A voice yelled. I knew who it was. I could never forget his voice. The voice of Chiron, Percy's mentor. He galloped up, towards the center of the room, and every eye was upon him. I could see people, demigods and gods, leaning forwards.
"I've lost one of my favourite students. Perseus Jackson was more than a student for me. He was my friend, my companion. Now, I came here to remember how good of a warrior he was. He never cried, never showed cowardice and never put his own wants in front of others. I did not come all the way up here to hear everyone blaming each other for Perseus's disappearance. I say that until we hear the full story from Perseus himself, we don't jump to any conclusions, no matter how accurate they sound. The one thing Perseus never did was accuse someone of wrongdoing, without any evidence. She may have been the last person with him, but we must not argue, especially on this special day.
Murmurs of agreement echoed around the large throne room, and many nods too. I should thank Chiron later for solving this problem for now. Then again, I know exactly what he will say. 'I didn't do it for her.'
Shaking everyone up, the bells suddenly started ringing, and we all went silent. I knew what it meant. In fact, we all did. Before this meeting, I had made sure that the bells would be the only thing audible in the whole of Olympus at 11:34 AM, the time Perseus left. Each soul went quiet. Anyone who had little respect for anything would know to respect this one moment. We didn't have any minute of silence, like the mortals. We had silence until someone felt like breaking it. That could be from ten minutes to ten days, which had happened before.
The facts are broken up. People guess what happened and, by doing so, they forget the most important thing. It's not important that Artemis made Perseus leave. What is important is that he did disappear….
… 5 years and 22 seconds ago… 23 seconds… 24 seconds… 25 seconds.
Well, so that's part 2, how is it for a start? I hope someone enjoys it.