Chapter 3

As I went deeper into my slumber the dreams started and they were not pleasant in any way. I quickly found myself back on the beach of the gulf coast with my father, Lord Poseidon, arguing with Lady Artemis and my mother, Lady Hestia, watching on with a torn look. "Artemis, what have you done with him?" My father demanded of the goddess of the hunt.

I do not know what you are talking about, uncle." Artemis said with a strained calm in her voice. It seemed she was about to snap and start yelling back at the lord of the seas.

Poseidon did not seemed appeased by her answer. "I know he was here I felt the disturbance in my domain that only he could cause and I know that it is he who has been messing with the waters around the country, even if the nereids deny it." He hollered at the moon goddess, but barely whispered the last part in his frustration. Great I guess I have to avoid messing with water at all now.

Hestia let out a sigh and stood before she started to approach the two arguing deities to resolve the situation, before it started a new war amongst the gods at least. Artemis' eyes started to glisten as if they were holding back tears of sorrow and rage as her body started to pulse with a silvery light. "Your son Perseus was nothing more than a stupid boy, and he died five years ago because of his inadequacies. We all attended his funeral, or have you forgotten you hoarse freak." She ranted as tears slipped from her beautiful silver eyes. Wait, did I just think her as beautiful? I need to get it together or I will get hurt either by her if she hears me think that or worse by the rejection again.

I was pulled out of my fearful thoughts by hearing my mother's commanding tone. "Peace, you two are bickering like little children and if it does not stop I will put the both of you over my knee and spank you. Now Artemis, do not insult Percy Jackson he is a good man, all be it he can be a little dense, and you know it to be true. As for you Poseidon, you need to calm down and apologize to your niece for yelling at her unjustifiably and she shall apologize for insulting you in your grieving state. Once that is done I will call upon another member of the council to help explain the situation to the both of you." She said in her stern motherly voice as she had aged herself to look like a woman in her early thirties. Give her a wooden spoon and the demeanor and everyone would run away covering their backsides out of fear.

Poseidon shuffled his feet his rage seemed to be quelled by his older sister's scolding. "Artemis I am sorry for yelling at you." He mumbled in a defeated tone.

It took a minute for the goddess to recover from her shock, and she was able to trust her voice to from a reply. "Apology accepted uncle." She said simply, only for Hestia to clear her throat and summon a wooden spoon in her hand looking at Artemis, who was in her usual twelve year old form, expectantly. "I am sorry for insulting you Lord Poseidon." Artemis finally relented with a cringe evident on her face.

Hestia gave a satisfied nod and walked over to the fire the hunters' had made. "Brother, if you could do me a favor and form a rainbow that would be quite helpful in expediting the process of an explanation." Hestia said in a kind voice. It was scary how fast her moods could change. My dad gave a sigh in defeat and formed a mist over the fire causing a rainbow to appear. "O Fleecy, do me a solid. Show me the grouch Hades in his throne room." Hestia said with a bit of a chuckle causing both Artemis and Poseidon to stare at the goddess of hearth and home, but it was unclear whether they were laughing about how she messaged my patron or how she referred to her brother. After a moment the image of the underworld throne room appeared. "Hades I need you to get back here once the guest in your house has left." Hestia said simply and quickly to a scowling lord of the underworld.

He sighed before answering. "You are in luck, my guest has already left for your domain and should be resting peacefully. I will be there in a moment." He said in a worn out tone as if he knew he was not going to enjoy this conversation. He swiped his hand through the message ending the current conversation. It did not take a minute longer for him to come walking out of the woods with a blank expression on his face. "I am here as you asked sister." He announced himself giving a slightly worried look at the other two Olympians present.

Artemis was more that a little curious as to why Hades would help in explaining the situation and it showed in her next question. "What is this about Hestia, and how is having Hades here going to clear things up?"

"There is much that has been kept hidden from and amongst the council. I will help Hestia explain one bit of this to the two of you. First I believe that Hestia and I should tell you that, Perseus did not actually die in Gaia's final attempt to kill him and his family after he was betrayed by that brat of Athena's." Hades said while keeping a watchful eye on Poseidon and Hestia looked remorsefully at her brother.

Poseidon's face was a mask of barely controlled rage. "You mean to tell me that you allowed me to believe that my son has been dead for five years as I had to mourn the passing of both his mother and my son at the same time. I demand to see him this instant." He said in a deadly calm voice that meant trouble to his enemies.

Hestia shook her head. "We cannot allow that brother. He is sleeping in my temple at the moment and He does not want to be around the mythological world yet. It is a difficult thing to get him to talk to us as it is. After he was betrayed by the gods and everyone touched by them in his mind he was distraught and went to see his mother. Upon arriving there he witnessed his step-father and mother be murdered and he retaliated and killed the ones responsible." Hestia said with her head hanging low.

Hades put a comforting hand on his sister's shoulder. "It was so horrifying to watch him like that. We arrived to see him distribute his justice and after he finished and took notice of us he asked for us to kill him and make it so he joins his parents in Thanatos' embrace." He explained sadly as if he was still scared of my actions half a decade later.

Hestia wiped her eyes before she looked up at my father and Artemis who for their part were remaining quiet and listening to the elder god and goddess. We gave him some training and sent him to different lands to learn their ways, and he did well in his training. He was even slowly getting over the pain of being betrayed. So after three years of travelling and training we stroke a bargain with your son Poseidon. He became our champion and we gave him a mission creating the identity of Blaze Thorn. He took to our blessings quickly adapting to fire well and our brother has always seen him, unjustly if I may say so, as a thorn in his side. We thought the name was appropriate, and we sent him on missions to rescue demigods in danger and take them to the most appropriate location for them either it be Camp Half-Blood for the Greeks, the Wolf House for the Romans, or even in a few special young girls here with the hunters. He is fully responsible for getting them to safety." She explained softly to the other Olympians present.

They looked to be thinking for a moment before Artemis spoke. "My father will not like this when he hears about what you two have done. I am sure he will order Perseus' death once he finds out and find out he will, because I am sure that he will demand the boy be found and brought to Olympus." She said with a hint of concern in her voice.

The males present chuckled at her fears. "You forget Artemis, you are already under orders, for the last two years if I am not mistaken, to keep an eye out for the boy on your hunts across the country to find what the missing titans are up to since their king is still missing." The lord of the seas said with a smile on his face which quickly faded before he turned to observe the waves flowing in the gulf once more.

I woke with a start that had me breathing heavily and covered in a cold sweat. "This sucks I am back in the sight of that stupid thundering fool. I asked for peace and he banished me out of spite because I saved him twice." I grabbed a bag of godly and mortal money along with some godly food I kept hidden in my room here and Hestia's apartment and left as quickly as I could I saw Apollo was just bringing his Sun Chariot over the horizon. I tried to blend in with the mortals as I moved to the edge of the city. New York welcomed my presence as it always did. I made my way to the edge of the lovely city that harbored me most of my life. I stopped at a small place on the edge of Hudson River. I opened the garage and pulled out my bike I rode when I was trying to blend in somewhat. A blacked out Harley Davidson Night Rod, I had Blackjack etched on to the side of the tank as a memento to my faithful Pegasus that from the rumors I heard in the equestrian world would not let anyone ride him and only let my little sister brush or feed him. I went and crossed the rebuilt Williamsburg Bridge. As I crossed the bridge I felt as though everything slowed down around me momentarily before resuming its former speed. I was the only one not affected by the temporary temporal distortion. It was an odd feeling I have been getting more and more lately. Once I cleared the bridge I speed off towards the west as though I were trying to out run the foolish lord of healing who cannot remember that he is younger than his sister. I think I will go and hang out near the roman camp for a little while. Maybe I can avoid the gods out there and I miss seeing the pacific coast. I guess I will not be able to return to my home town for a while at least not until they forget about me the greatest fool in all Greek Mythology. Percy Jackson the boy that saved Olympus only to be banished from it by his girlfriend and the prideful king of the gods.

Why did my life have to be such a mess? Oh yeah, I am loyal to a fault and I am the son of arguably the most powerful member of the Olympian council and adopted by his eldest sister not to mention champion of his slightly younger brother making me by far the strongest demigod in history easily able to beat most any minor god or goddess. I am just too powerful for the fates to let me have a normal life. This sucks.