Again, there are no god/goddess OCs in this.
I saw Zeus, at the very end of the long table, obviously sitting on his throne. Beside him was his wife Hera, looking even more grim than the last time I saw her. At the opposite side of the table was Apollo, who was the only person who did not seem to be in a bad mood. Then there was Dionysus; he had his arms crossed and looked to be the most irritated and angry person in the room. They were all in their full size; possibly gloating at the fact they weren't personifications, and could reach the height of up to ten feet.
Isn't Dionysus supposed to be with the demigods at their camp, I thought.
"Well, we do try our best," Phobos replied to Hera softly, keeping his voice and face emotionless. I saw all four Olympians cringe slightly at his voice. You did not often see something like that from them. Nevertheless, what else did you expect from Fear? I had to suppress a small chuckle as this occurred.
Zeus blinked his eyes a few times, almost like he trying to snap out of the fog that Phobos' voice put him in, and then cleared his throat. "Well, I must get on with it before Dionysus complains anymore," Zeus said to us, then shot an irritated look at the god of wine, who in return, gave him a glare.
I looked between them for a few moments, and started to wonder what had happened here before we showed up. I glanced over at Deimos, who just shrugged his shoulders at me.
After a few more seconds of this, Zeus broke from his son's glower and looked at us. "I am sure you all know why you are here," he said to us bitterly then glanced at Hecate for a moment. "You choose the wrong side," he told us in an as-a-matter-of-fact way.
"So, obviously," Zeus continued, "you are here to be punished." His eyes then shot over to Nemesis, who at the time was staring at a hole in the floor with a depressed look written all over her face.
"Nemesis," he said loudly, making her jump a little. Apparently, she was not paying attention. "I thought that I would give you your punishment first, being that you were an… ample part in turning people against us," Zeus said to her coldly and looked at me for a brief second then focused his attention back to my aunt.
For a moment, I thought I was seeing things, but now I actually saw amusement in his eyes. I immediately tried to think of what would he would find amusing about her punishment. Nemesis must have seen this as well, because she shot nervous glances over at Hecate, and me.
"So, I thought what a better idea than put your 'vengeful' tendencies to good use," he said, looking like he was doing his best to suppress a smirk. "We have all noticed that you have seemed to care to some extent about the gods and goddess that joined my father's side. Even a demigod," he told her, now slowly starting to return to his bad mood.
Zeus paused for a moment, maybe to add a dramatic effect to what he had said. "Anyway, Hera, Athena and I came to the conclusion that it would be a good idea for you to physically punish them for us," he said then looked at Hecate, Deimos, Phobos and me. "We have other plans for them though," he remarked then looked back at my aunt once more and started to sway his head slightly.
"Dionysus will explain more to you when he drops you off," he said with an unusual glint in his eyes. I glanced over at Nemesis, remembering her, and even my, utter distaste for Dionysus.
Is that what he is so angry about? Dropping her off? I though and looked of at him. No.
"Deimos and Phobos," Zeus said wearily as he now set his eyes on his twin grandchildren. "Even though I know for a fact that you two couldn't help yourselves, you both still caused quite a bit of problems siding with Kronos," he said, seeming to be looking at Phobos the whole time he was saying this. "So, you have to put on these," he said then suddenly I saw an iron ring materialize on the palm of both Deimos and Phobos' right hands.
They both looked at each other with unhappy faces, almost like they both had expected this would happen, and then put the rings on their right middle finger, the only finger that would fit them. The moment they put them on their faces cringed with pain.
"Those rings," Nemesis whispered into my left ear, "are pain rings. They make you feel like your insides are on fire," she explained to me, apparently noticing that I had a confused expression on my face.
"It's new?" I whispered back to her softly.
She shrugged her shoulders then replied quietly, "Hephaestus made them a couple of years ago."
"You both get to wear them for a hundred years each. Fun, huh?" Zeus said to my half-cousins with a nasty smirk, then he set his eyes on me.
He opened his mouth to talk, but he was interrupted by Apollo, who cleared his throat unusually loudly and looked at his father with a cocked eyebrow. Zeus rolled his eyes and nodded at him, unwillingly.
"Morpheus," he said to me with an irritated tone in his voice. "You were responsible for making all of the humans in New York City fall asleep, then waking them back up at a really bad time," he said then paused for a moment. "And you still gave the demigods their dreams… to help them," he continued with a puzzled expression on his face.
I shifted uncomfortably at the stares I was getting from all the gods and goddesses in the room. "You did what?" Deimos asked me loudly, as he winced with agony.
Phobos chuckled, even though he clenched his fists because of his obvious pain. "You're lucky that this did not come out when he was still around," he commented, clearly amused.
"That is why I didn't say anything to anyone," I told him. "But apparently Poseidon's kid said something anyway. People are so unappreciative," I said bitterly.
"Okay; that is enough," I heard someone say. This time it was Hera again.
Zeus sighed then continued on once we where all silent again. "Anyway, it's clear to everyone that you'll still do your job. So, since the majority of your more important dreams are for demigods, you will be staying at Camp Half-Blood for your punishment. Basically, you'll be the person who will watch over all the minor gods and goddesses cabins. There's just too many cabins now for one god and a centaur to handle," he said in a weary tone.
Damn it. That's why Dionysus looks angry, I thought sourly as I glanced over at him.
You see, back in the 17th century he was after a mortal woman by the name of Catherine. I don't even remember what this woman looked like; the only thing that I do remember about her was that she disliked him as much as Nemesis and I did.
So, being that it was my job to give people prophetic dreams, and because I did not like a certain god of wine, I decided to give her a dream about what he was planning for her. Needless to say, it screwed up his day, and he's hated- or rather loathed me ever since. In all honesty, I thought it would just infuriate him for a few decades. Instead of me being loathed for centuries.
"I was going to send you there for seventy-five years," Zeus said to me, breaking my train of concentration. "However, Apollo thinks it would somehow be harder to pan out prophecies without you," he continued with a sour note in his voice.
"Hey, even Athena agreed with me," Apollo said defensively to his father.
Zeus must have decided to take the I'm-not-going-to-answer approach, because he definitely heard him, but didn't answer. "So, you will only be staying there for twenty-five years," he said to me. "The only time you can leave the camp is when either the Fates, or one of the Olympians want you to give someone a dream. Once you're done giving it to whomever it is, you will go back to Camp Half-Blood immediately. The only other exception is for emergencies," Zeus finished then let out a deep breath.
"Hera and I would like to talk to Hecate alone," he said and looked at all of us, even Apollo and Dionysus. "Dionysus, go drop Nemesis off and go back to the camp with Morpheus. Apollo, I don't care what you do. Just go," he said to them, but they just sat their, looking surprised at his words. "GO!" he shouted and both Apollo and Dionysus stood up automatically, changed into their regular human heights, and walked over to us.
Nemesis, Phobos, Deimos and I took the hint as well and started to climb back up the huge pile of metal. I stole a glance at Hecate once I was at the top of the pile. She seemed to be no less than terrified. Then, I slid down the pile and out of the Palace, followed closely by Dionysus and Nemesis.