Chapter Three
Despite all of the surprising introductions, each Olympian and partial immortal in the room remained glued to their seats, but whether or not it was by force or fear, they didn't have the current brain capacity to decipher.
Isaiah's declaration of his top assassins certainly made Artemis happy. She was elated to realize that her hunters were reincarnated and were doing something that was similar enough to what she had them doing. The only thing that made her uneasy was their leader. She has an internal sensor for disgusting males, after all, she has been surrounded by them all her life. She aims it towards him and sees his exterior emanating everything she hates about men… but a good man under all of that. The same thing she saw in Percy almost five years ago.
The worst part was the way they stood next to him. Bianca stood to his right, every few seconds her eyes flicked in several directions as if checking for any danger directed at him. Zoe to his left has not relaxed her muscles since entering the room and has not cleaned the blood off her hands, suggesting that she is ready to add more if needed. And neither have even given Artemis a mere look over unless it was to assess her danger to Isaiah.
"Percy, will your Captains be attending this short meeting? Might as well get all the dramatics out now while the Olympians are already about to piss themselves."
"No, they are wrapping up on systems A to K, should arrive by tomorrow if they're punctual as usual."
"Hmm, I wonder how they did that so efficiently, care to enlighten everyone buddy?" Isaiah chimes in.
"Fuck off, your assassins were not needed. Though… they may have expedited the process in a rather strategic way, you can still go fuck yourself." At this, a rather surprising event took place, in which Lady Hestia glared at Percy for his excessive use of profanity, and he actually faltered and bowed his head in apology. Not only did this display the amount of power that Hestia still had over him, but also gave the Olympians hope that the Percy they knew was still there.
"It's about time we got to the point about why we are here and not laughing as all of you are hopelessly murdered. As stated before, I do not wish to see this planet perish. Not a single person in this room would be able to take on my son's top monsters or deities, much less him. As a result, you need help from people who are light years ahead of you in the art of battle and war. Athena and Ares may feel insulted at this, but with the current war advisors Olympus has, Tartarus would be able to take this planet in less than a week."
"Not to mention that you barely were able to defeat Kronos and Gaia, whose war experience is that of the turtle. And the brains of a turtle….. And the face of turtle feces. And the smell of-" Zoe steps forward and whispers something to Isaiah while Bianca attempts to stifle her laughter. He steps back, coughs, and gestures for Chaos to continue.
"As I was saying," she says as she gives her assassin a dirty look, "this is why I am lending the services of two of the most powerful and skilled men in the universe. Given how powerful they are, I'd advise that none of you," multiple occupants of the room look at Zeus and Ares, "even attempt to counter them. Else, you may just not see the end of this war, and not as a result of Tartarus."
"I now open this space for questions because you all seem smothered by the amount of power standing before you. Don't be shy, I'm not gonna be here for long because I'm currently in 4,567 different places right now, but most of my presence is here."
Everyone uneasily looks at each other until Artemis speaks up, with a topic that's not necessarily relevant to the war, "How is it that two of my hunters are alive and in front of me, and presumably are immortal? I understand that you are the creator but are you allowed to bypass the ancient laws?"
"Not really expecting to hear that first but okay. I gave life to every planet and if a life is taken, I have every right to resupply it when needed. These two were specifically requested by Frost and after all, he's done for me and the universe, who am I to deny him anything he wants?"
"Well can I ask them a question Lady Chaos?" Artemis nervously asked, worried that she may be wasting the creator's time,
"They may answer to me but they do have a primary authority that you should ask before I give my input," Chaos gestured towards her assassin.
Artemis slightly bristled at that but knew that she had to show respect to someone who is powerful enough to potentially defeat Tartarus. "I wanted to know if after the war, or at least after their service if they could be returned to me and their sisters? I'm sure that they are great assassins, but I would feel better if they were with me."
"Umm, while that may sound good, I'm gonna have to go with no. They are my assassins and are no longer your hunters. Therefore, they will be staying with me, not going back to you," Isaiah says with clear finality in his voice.
When Artemis heard no she was already angry, but when the moon goddess heard "my," she snapped and erased the facts that Lady Chaos was present, they needed these deities to help them win the war, and that they were all far more powerful than her. She stood up bow in hand and aimed at Isaiah, ready to release the might of her symbol of power.
But the shock was able to knock her out of her anger rather quickly. The shock in the speed of her former hunters. The shock in the look of anger and danger in her former hunter's eyes. The very fact that her former hunters drew their weapons, and not to support her, but instead to protect their leader. She didn't lower her weapon but instead looked at them with a betrayed look, hurt that Zoë of all people would raise her weapon against her old mistress.
"Drop your weapon before we begin firing on you," Bianca says with two pistols similar to her leader aimed directly at Artemis' leg and heart.
"Any threat to Abyss will be met with lethal action," Zoë says with her longbow aimed directly at her former mistress' head.
"Even though a bow of that caliber wouldn't even pierce his skin, but nobody's thinking about that right now," Percy muttered seemingly to himself.
Isaiah stood still and watched with interest, not knowing Artemis as a person, so not knowing what she was going to do in this situation. He was also feeling a little smug, it's not often that a hunter, former or not, would betray their mistress in order to protect a male.
Apollo knew that if Artemis attacked, she would definitely die, and he knew that would cause him to snap immediately and get killed too. "Artemis please stand down, you cannot possibly make it out of this situation alive. They made their decision, please make a smarter one." He glared at Zoë for betraying Artemis in not only a public but also in an inconsiderate way. How dare she throw thousands of years of companionship away for a man she couldn't have known for more than a few years, given that she died about six years ago.
"I will give you to the count of 3 to stand down Artemis, or you will die, and these weapons do not allow you to reform. Do I need to countdown? I do not want to kill you but I will," Zoë sternly stated with her arrow tight against the bow.
Artemis gained a slightly broken look in her eyes, the same look she had when Percy "died" in her arms almost two years prior, and her bow disappeared as she sat down dejectedly.
"It's nothing personal Artemis, I wouldn't have allowed her to kill you anyway, it would haunt her for the rest of her life. I understand that they were your hunters, but when I said 'my' assassins, I meant that they work under me in the same way that the girl next to your throne works for you. Besides, I could never replace you in Zoë's life, especially all those late-night 'talks' y'all had. Only a woman can truly understand how to work another woman," and at this Zoë slugged him in his shoulder. And to everyone's surprise, even Artemis cracked a smile at his antics.
"Mr. Kee, stop being weird and budget time for Artemis and Zoë to catch up. Are there any other questions and they do not have to pertain to the war, but order must be maintained, despite my name…" Chaos was clearly a little impatient, but she blamed it on her assassin, as she always does.
"Considering that the monsters will arrive in about 3 hours, how can we defeat them if the captains are showing up tomorrow? That means the troops may take even longer to show up, then we will get attacked and the war is-" Annabeth was going to continue to ramble, but Percy got really mad, really fast.
"If you're so fucking worried then why don't you do something about it, hmm? Don't give me a look, you said that my troops are gonna take a while to show up and you're correct as usual, but where did that baseline analysis get you, huh? Maybe instead of sitting there complaining, why do you make use of your resources to ensure the survival of the campers who look up to you to be a hero to save them!" Percy had ice crawling up his arms at that point and realized that he would kill the Olympians and their children so he calmed down, but only enough to make sure he doesn't explode.
"That's a great segway into the next steps!" Isaiah says cheerily even though the tension in the room is tangible enough you could feel it. "We can handle the monsters right now and the troops can definitely handle the monsters. Once they are dealt with, we will begin training the campers to be at the same level as entry-level soldiers into Frost's army. This will guarantee that each camper above the age of 12 will be able to take on at least a thousand monsters single-handedly. As a full group, the army of monsters wouldn't even have a chance."
With a clear air of authority that the room's occupants have only seen on the battlefield, Percy continues, "That does not exclude the children, they will be trained by Chaotica's best medics and be able to jump in and out of a battlefield unscathed. The training of the campers as a whole will be done by my captains. I will be training a select few campers that are of a higher caliber than the others. If you do not understand, pay attention. Each Olympian God and Goddess has the ability to give birth to a child that can grow to be as powerful as them in their prime. Yes, that means stronger than you weaklings are right now and while not all of you currently have one, the ones that are here will be trained by me and Abyss personally."
"I will only be taking two because my task is not to train the campers, but instead to train the hunters… well more like Bianca and Zoë will train them because I'm knee-deep in what your planet calls "paperwork." For me, it's more like… like in all those Marvel movies that have S.H.I.E.L.D in it and the technology they use." Chaos gives Isaiah a look for getting off-task. "Anyway, the campers will be divided up when the captains arrive. The hunters, including Artemis, will be coming with me along with," he lifts his right arm and a screen projects from it with a list, "Thalia Grace and Alíra Valentina."
At this Zeus and Aphrodite's heads shot up, surprised that he would train their strongest child and that the child mentioned was their strongest child. Piper was never one for attention but did feel hurt that her little sister was the strongest and not her.
"Ahm, not to be rude to Alíra, that's my little cupcake after all, but I thought that Piper was my strongest child. Or is it more that she got more training than the rest of my children?" Aphrodite inquired.
"You're smarter than the people in this room give you credit for, yes it is due to the lack of training, but I can promise you that once she finishes her training, she will make sure that you and your cabin gets the respect that you deserve." Isaiah clearly has respect for the love goddess, although not many other occupants of the room do.
"By the end of the summer the campers should be ready to participate in a full-fledged war, but do not fear that aspect because it is our goal to ensure that no camper dies in battle. Do not worry about how that will happen, just know that you will owe us if this goal is met." Percy says, not leaving any room for comments about what he meant by "owe."
The Olympians clearly had a bunch of questions, but for once in their lives, they were the ones that were too scared to ask. Annabeth kept opening her mouth, but nothing came out, she was still too shell-shocked by Percy's outburst against her.
"Okay Olympians, this is where I take my leave, I wish you luck in the war and hope that everyone makes it out fine. Zoë, I trust you to ensure that these two," she points to her commander and assassin, "do not unjustly kill any campers because you know they work on a kill first, ask later basis. Goodbye Olympians, later Percy." But then she did something that many people in the room found strange. She put on a flirty face and sultrily said, "Byeeee Isaiah." And was gone with no portal or anything that left traces of her leaving. Apollo and Hermes had to wonder if she was there at all, or if this whole time, she was in their imagination… cause she's hot as fuck.
After Chaos' strange exit had left the room silent, even the assassin who never seems to shut up, was too embarrassed to make a snide comment.
"Ahem, well I guess this is where we can drop formalities and open the room up for free discussion. If you talk to me and I do not like the conversation, I will-" Percy was cut off with a sharp look from Zoë who was entrusted to keep him in check, "I will not be happy, so do not test me with an idiotic conversation. You may commence!"
The Olympians who were quiet and tentative all broke out into conversation, calmly talking considering that Percy didn't want to be annoyed. Zoë went straight to Artemis with the full intent of explaining her newfound loyalty. Isaiah was yanked into conversation with Athena and Aphrodite, who seem to be good friends. Poseidon clearly wanted to approach Percy but one look from him made him reconsider and continue talking to Zeus and Hera. Percy instead sat next to Hestia who loved that after what was thousands of years for Percy, he still liked her company, but strangely Bianca felt drawn to her as well.
With Zoë and Artemis
"Milady I apologize for the disrespect I showed you just now, but I refuse to allow anyone and I mean anyone to even threaten Abyss."
"But why? I've only seen you act that way once and that was when that foolish mortal raised a gun to me. Your voice emanated that you felt that a threat from someone that weak was more of an insult. That really hurt Zoë."
"You have to understand, Isaiah was the one who showed up in Ouranos' realm and with one hand, removed Orion from existence, then whisked me away to Chaotica where I was brought to life and strengthened beyond my imagination. He taught me how to unlock my father's titan powers, and then surpass it. He taught me accuracy like no other hunter could match. It was him and Percy who taught me that there are men out in the universe that aren't complete pigs. Despite the way he acts and talks, I know you can sense the same goodness that's in Percy in Isaiah."
"He must've done a lot more for you than you're telling me but okay, I accept the relationship you guys have, though it seems to be a bit more than just a mentor and student thing going on…"
"Yeah about that… Artemis I think I can talk to you about this, it's pretty hard to talk about with anyone else…"
With Poseidon, Zeus, and Hera
"My son is alive and stronger than ever, and you want him dead again?!"
"Do you not feel the power rolling off of him? We can not let someone that powerful just waltz around and own our planet!"
"And while I did grow fond of that young man after a while, he has thousands of soldiers at his disposal, a crazy assassin for a brother, the creator on his side, and enough power of his own. It would be wise to at least caution ourselves against him, especially since the only person he cares for out of us is Hestia."
"And if you somehow succeed? What then? You'll have the force of their whole planet coming at you and there's nothing you'd be able to do."
"That's why we won't do it, we aren't even strong enough to scratch him clearly, we just have to sabotage him during a battle…"
"Hey guys, those three are looking at us. One, they are extremely skilled so I'm sure that their ears pick up everything. And two, we aren't exactly being very quiet…"
With Percy, Bianca, and Hestia
"It's great to see you again Lady Hestia, if it weren't for your presence, I'm not sure that half the people in this room would be alive right now."
"Hello Lady Hestia, I'm not sure why I came here, but I just felt like I should be over here, by your throne."
"Percy, you know you don't have to address me with such formalities, and I missed you too. Bianca, it's a pleasure to meet you, and you came here because your heart is looking for comfort."
"Sorry to intrude on what seems to become a deeper conversation, but I'm getting annoyed hearing Zeus' useless plan to try to kill me. Like why is he worried about me, Isaiah is more powerful than me!"
"Yeah I picked on their convo too, and it's just so flawed. But maybe your dad isn't as bad as you told us he was. He seems to be ready to prevent Zeus from attempting his useless scheme."
"Poseidon has his moments where he makes terrible choices, but the one time he is genuine is when one of his children's lives are in danger. If not for that, you wouldn't be impressed with him at all."
"Thank Chaos Hera had the brain cells to realize that we were listening to their horrible attempt at formulating a plan. Now, as you were saying Lady Hestia, I didn't mean to be rude."
"It's perfectly fine Percy, though it is rather humorous to see Bianca's reaction to you being respectful. I'm guessing they don't see that side often. Now onto you, Ms. D'Angelo, your heart is hurt and seeking comfort. Not hurt as in, someone broke your heart but hurt as in, it's confused as to why the affections that it's sending out isn't being returned."
"I'm gonna put a barrier over our conversation, seeing how it's getting private. I do understand that, but I don't understand why it's hurt, or why the affections aren't fully being returned. I feel like he's naturally a tease and flirts with any female he feels is a friend to him so I can't even pretend like the little romantic things he does is real because he'll do it to one of Percy's female captains too."
"Just to be clear, you're talking about your best friend, right? I may have an IQ higher than Athena, but when it comes to knowledge of the heart, I'm still pretty lost…"
"Yes Percy, she is talking about Isaiah, who appears to be a very difficult person to figure out. I think that you need to really look for any signs that he returns your feelings by being a little extra on the romance and once you see it, corner him about it until he is forced to lay his heart out for you. He is clearly a bold man so that should be the best way to do it. From what I just overheard, you'll get a pink tint in your eyes after the romantic event. Perhaps he'll get that pink tint too, so look out for that."
"How do you do that? You just looked into the hearth and told me the best way to get what I want?"
"Are you really gonna question it? Or are you gonna find a way to ride my brother's dick like it's that pony you wanted when you were eight?"
"Percy! Language! Now look what you've done, she's all red now."
"I was seven to be exact, asshole!"
Everyone back together
After successfully disengaging from his attackers, Isaiah brought everyone to attention, but not by calling for them like a normal person. No, he had to pull an AA-12 from seemingly out of nowhere and empty the entire clip into the ceiling. Rather obnoxious in my opinion, tsk tsk tsk.
"No that I have your attention," he receives a bunch of dirty looks as people's ears are still ringing from the sound, "we must address the small army of monsters heading toward your pitiful camp, and discuss war strategy!"
Annabeth, who used that break to recover from Percy's berating, inquires, "The army should almost be at the Camp by now! You have to get there quick, then we can talk about how to handle the war!"
"Calm down blondie, we'll just have to do both," Zoë says with a smirk.
Grover, who started this whole shindig started to get annoyed at the way Annabeth was spoken to asks, "And just how are you gonna do that huh? Duplicate yourselves and fly off into battle?"
"Ah Grover, you never change. Always says exactly what a person's gonna do right before they do it," Percy says as he splits into two. And when I say split in two, I mean there was a literal split as if he were cut from the forehead to the balls. Then both halves began to regenerate until there were two identical copies of him there.
Everyone started looking around as each disciple of Chaos split into two and one looked ready to fight while the other looked ready for a business meeting.
"Anything else you have to say little goat?" Both Isaiah's ask while smirking.