Chapter 22
Apollo POV
I wiped my brow as I finished stitching up Hephaestus' arm "You've got to start using safer materials in your shops." I said. "Ambrosia and nectar can't fix everything."
"Well it's surprisingly difficult to a sword that can stand up to Ares' brutal fighting style. Why was I trying to make him a whole new sword again." Hephaestus asked slowly stretching his arm.
"Because yesterday he swore on styx that he hadn't so much as kissed your wife since you married." I said putting together the last of his medicine.
"Oh right, I still don't know how I'm going to make it up to Eos. I spent all that time ignoring because I believed he wasn't mine." Hephaestus said returning to his old nervous habit of fiddling with pieces of scrap metal.
"You could take him to the movies." Triton offered as he walked into the room. "From what I hear he's a big fan of horror films."
Hephaestus nodded to himself like he was considering the idea. "So what can I do for ya T-dog." I asked
Triton gave me a mock glare "First I've told you over and over not to call me that and I need some help with Percy."
"What kind of help?" I asked.
"What can you do about nightmares" Triton asked
"Nightmares?" I laughed "Triton I'm glad to see you taking the role of the big brother for once but there's nothing I can do about nightmares all mortals have them."
"Not Percy I asked him, he never had a single dream good or bad till he caused that earthquake in the summer." Triton said.
"Okay I'll admit that's kinda weird...bring him in after your training tonight and I'll run some tests." Triton nodded and walked out. "Hey Hephaestus did you ever build that dream viewer?" I asked.
"Yes why?"
"So what are you going to do again" Percy asked.
"We're just going to attach a few electrodes to your head just to give us an idea of what's going on in there and then you're going to take a nap and give us a bunch of data." I said.
"And this is all you're gonna do?" Triton asked.
"Relax man I'm not gonna hurt him, once we finish putting these on Percy goes to bed for the night and you pick him up in the morning simple as that." I said handing Percy two pills and a glass of water. "Here take these they'll help you fall asleep."
Triton excused himself a few minutes later after Percy fell asleep. "So how long till your TV calibrates to him?" I asked tapping the screen.
"An hour at most." Hephaestus said. Seeing as we had some time to kill I pulled out a marker and drew whiskers on his cheeks. I added a mustache, a monocle, and wrote (Apollo's 1 fan) on his forehead. "Hey Apollo what does a spike in the Helin waves mean?" He asked.
"Helin waves? Demigods aren't supposed to have Helin waves, those are Unique to Orcales and Requiem!" I said. Just then the TV screen flipped on reveling Hermes sneaking into the Olympian throne room with Eris the goddess of discord. Their was a party going and some where in the back of my mind I felt I should recognize this for some reason. He helped to disguise her and brought her in where she through a golden apple into the crowed, when the apple finally land three words could be seen 'for the fairest'. 'it couldn't be?' I thought.
"Hey Hephaestus go to the cupboard in the supply room marked 'heart and mind' a grab the bottle labeled Tilct. It looks like a pepto bismol bottle." I said putting a little bit of rubbing alcohol on Percy's arm. Once the spot was sterilized I pricked it with a syringe a drew about half a tablespoon worth of blood.
"So what is a Requiem any way?" Hephaestus asked.
"It's like an Oracle except for the past. Kronos used them as the perfect witness in trials. They could literally look into the past and see what happened from an unbiased point of view." I said "The one catch though was it couldn't be something mundane like what you ate for dinner the night before. It had to be something big, something that really could change the future."
I mixed a few drops of Percy's blood with the Tilct in a test tube "Eris almost got exiled for the whole golden apple incident if Hermes was involved he would have probably lost his seat on the council. However he and Eris were dating at the time she might of covered for him." I said hold the tube up to a fire. "Now if this little cocktail I have here turns green Percy has the power of an Oracle, blue is Requiem, red is negative, black means I burned it."
I smiled to myself as the liquid turned blue "Percy is the first Requiem since Metis! Hades everybody thought Selene, Metis, and Themis were the last three. The gift is supposed to transferred from parent to child so how did Percy get it?" I half yelled.
"Themis did have a few mortal children." Hephaestus pointed out. "The trait could have been passed on dormant for a couple hundred generations till Poseidon's blood reactivated it."
I nodded uncertainly, it was a long shot but the only plausible one. We already knew Athena couldn't use it and she couldn't pass it on to her brainchildren, and Selene never had kids at all. "Okay the how aside, as of right now we know that as long as the Helin waves are spiking everything we see actually happen. Can you build a mobile version of this dreamweaver to transmit this back?".
"Give me a few day's and su.." Hephaestus trailed off while staring the monitor. I turned to take a look, Hera was now on the screen in labor being seen from a modest point of view. A few more minutes and a child was born, a boy.
The boy was fairly normal looking and actually kinda cute "So what do you plan to name him your highness?" the midwife asked.
"Hephaestus." Hera said softly, I'd never seen such a kind look on her face. Wasn't she supposed to toss him because she couldn't stand how ugly he was, where's that?
The midwife let Zeus in the room "Boy looks well enough." He said flatly after the midwife left the two of them alone. "He should be fine after a bit of training." Zeus added taking Hephaestus from his mother
"No!" Hera said in a low but firm voice. "I've tried to put up with your temper and your obsession with power but no more. I'm going to Hestia tomorrow, having our marriage annulled, and taking Ares and Hephaestus with me." She said.
Zeus walked over to the balcony in the room "And there's nothing I can do to stop you?" he asked receiving small yes. "Then if you want Hephaestus you'll have to find him first!".
Before Hera could even ask what he meant Zeus tossed his newborn son like a football off the balcony letting the wind catch and carry him farther. "Hephaestus NO!" Hera screamed flashing out. The scene changed and Hera was sneaking into her palace covered in mud, cuts, and several other things I couldn't identify. Tucked neatly in her arms was a small lump of cloth.
Seconds after the door to her palace closed Zeus stepped out of the shadows, ripped Hephaestus from her arms, and shoved her to the ground. "Did you really think I wouldn't know of your return."
Hephaestus started crying and I could see Zeus bending his arm in an unnatural way. "Zeus please stop?" Hera cried "I'll stay with you as long as you want just stop."
"No if you want this to end I want an oath on styx that you'll remain until I release you and you must take the blame for what happened to Hephaestus. In exchange I'll make sure he's safe and even put on the council when he's older." Zeus said in a tone that sent shivers down my spine.
Hera nodded and quickly muttered the oath. Zeus dropped Hephaestus who was caught by his mother "It's okay." Hera said rockinging her crying son back and forth "mommy's here."
Hephaestus' face flashed through a series of emotions such as shock, fear, and regret before finally settling on pure rage. I knew he was about to do something rash "Hephaestus calm down."
"You want me to calm down!" He shouted "Didn't you see what happened I'll have his head on a plate by the time morning comes!"
"Yes I saw what happened but we can't come right out and just announce this or try to rush him with it. We wait a little while, gather evidence and build a case then on a winter solstice we slam him with everything we've got while we have all the other major gods and a few minor ones to back us up and prevent his escape." I said. Hephaestus excused himself so he could get started on the dreamweaver.
Apollo POV
I practically threw myself on my bed. After an extremely long night of watching Percy I could barely even stand. At first all his dreams were random but they slowly began to focus on me and Hephaestus. As best I can tell he can feel whose around him and that influences his visions. Maybe I could train him to control that but how would I do so without putting him in danger.
Hephaestus had finished his dream viewer that night minutes before Triton arrived to pick up Percy. The odd machine looked like a bulky ipod from five or six years ago, looking back that was probably a good thing. I handed it to Triton and said 'have Percy listen to this when he sleeps, it should take care of his nightmares for the most part. Also fair warning it's supposed to sound like static, just so you don't think it's broken.' Triton then left with a very groggy Percy.
I was pulled out of my thoughts when I noticed another weight enter my bed. Tiredly I rolled over to see my girlfriend, Persephone, laying there. "Tired there handsome" she said running her fingers through my hair.
"Very" I said quietly.
"So I guess that means you forgot about our plans for the day?" She asked.
I cringed when I realized she was right "Sorry I just got so caught up helping Triton I completely forgot. Give me five minutes and I'll be rea…" She silenced me with a kiss.
"It's fine we can take a nap first, I never really liked breakfast place anyway". She said curling up on my side.
"If you hate it why do we always go there?" I asked closing my eyes.
"Because I like annoying that waitress that hit on you." She said calmly.
I chuckled slightly and put my arm around her, taking in that smell of lavender that always seemed to be with her. Man I loved this woman, I just wish I knew how to free her from Hades.
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AN: next chapter I should be at least starting titans curse.
