Thalia:

Making amends with my father at long last

Hermes grabbed me and Gabriel in each hand and we were quickly transported to the top of the Empire State Building. Gabriel was not surprised by how fast we arrived but it took a little adjusting for me since it was a little too quick. "C'mon Thalia, our father is not one to be kept waiting and neither is our uncle," Hermes said, referring to Gabriel. I hurried as quickly as I could and we were soon on the elevator that led to the hidden 600th floor of the Empire State Building a.k.a. Mount Olympus.

When the elevator stopped at our destination, we stepped out and took a good view of the repairs and upgrades that Annabeth had made in the last three weeks on Olympus. "Annabeth has about the same genius as her half-brother Daedalus, something that makes her mother proud," Gabriel said, complimenting Annabeth. I too was impressed by the improvements because instead of stone, the walls were solid stainless steel compacted with many collapse portholes for Gatling guns, M16 machine guns, and bazookas. Soldiers marched on top of the walls and kept regular patrols at the gate which made the outer layer of Olympus seem more like a military base than a home to Olympian gods.

The inside was pretty much the same, especially the Palace where all of the gods met for Council meetings. There were still satyrs, nymphs, and other creatures playing games or watching TV unless they had duties to do on Olympus. Hermes guided me and Gabriel to the Throne Room of the Gods and before long, we were in the presence of all twelve of the Council members from Zeus to Hephaestus. Hestia was also present as was Hades, both of whom were an unusual sight to see on Mount Olympus or even in the throne room for that matter.

Gabriel and I knelt in respect after Hermes took his seat then my dad Zeus began the session with a speech. "For five years Gabriel Johnson, half-brother of myself, my five siblings, and Chiron, has shown us the courage that comes from within the heart through his actions on the behalf of five gods: Hera, Hestia, Helios, Eos, and Selene. Single-handedly, he saw to the end of the Myrmekes in New York City and has also seen the final stand of resurrected Trojan soldiers at the ruins of their country. When he first came to us, he was no better than any other demigod who was not trained to serve us but the fierce fire of loyalty and honesty burned off of him when we saw him.

"Never once did he complain about any of his missions nor did he ever think about the risk to his own life, all in the name of avenging his mother's family and destroying the Titans. That is why today, I would like to call attention to one important detail that has been overlooked by my wife and his present mistress: his time is up and yet Hera insists that he still has to serve her. First, I will let my wife state her case as to why she has turned her back on the promise we made Gabriel when he was just a twelve-year-old boy and insisted that he continue to serve her then I will let him explain his case as to why he should be freed," he said to open up the meeting.

"Well, (in case none of you remember) he betrayed my trust a year ago when he tried to turn his back against his promise to take revenge against the Titan. He called it carving out a normal life for himself and letting go of the one thing that kept him going for five years. May I add that he was under my service when he came to this decision to rebel against me and forget everything he had promised to do? On top of that, he managed to slip away from my grasp for four months before I found him and was forced to resort to coercion and threats to bring him back to service.

"I felt betrayed then and I still feel betrayed now by his actions against me. There is not a thing in the world that could make me care about Eos', Helios', Selene's, or Hestia's opinions of how I am treating him for he rightfully deserves it," she explained. "We have heard from Hera, now let us hear from our mortal half-brother Gabriel," Zeus said. "My lord Zeus, I will not even deny that I had betrayed Hera but as we all know, Hera has a big problem with accepting small requests so I could not even ask her for at least a temporary reprieve.

"I will also confirm that I tried to carve out a normal life for myself in the hopes of avoiding going insane with the desire for revenge in my heart. It began when I was on a mission in Tibet and a priest looked into my soul, seeing it for what it really was: a scarred thing that refused to let its wounds heal, taking satisfaction in destroying the cause of the wound. For too long, I had been fighting fire with fire when I had the chance to fight it with water so I tried to find peace in Turkey after I had completed my mission in the ruins of Troy. And for the first time in my life, I knew love but more importantly I knew peace from all the insanity and war going on in my life.

"At this point, I would like to deny that Hera was forced to resort to coercion and threats because it was a situation where she could very easily have just asked me if I wish to return to service. She had no more missions for me after I recovered the armor in Troy so I took a vacation as a result thus starting this whole mess. Instead of having been forced to resort to coercion, she immediately went to it and gave me a choice. First, I could leave the woman I loved, return to service, and be forgiven of my crime against her or I could refuse and be forced to kill her before living a life of misery that followed me even into death, casting my soul into Tartarus.

"Because I loved my ex-wife (I married young as was wanted in Turkey), I left her with tears escaping my eyes and I returned to service again. At first, I thought I was just making up the four months then serving the final eight months of my five-year service. Instead, I found myself in a bondage that extended past my oath but never once did I complain nor speak out because I realized that when I had betrayed Hera, I had betrayed myself as well as the woman I loved. Though I still love her, I doubt she has continued waiting for me thanks to Hera holding me in this bondage that puts me five months overdue to end my service.

"However, I should thank Hera because I found out my true family in the other four gods I served. I found a father in Helios while under his service, a mother in Hestia while under hers, sisters in Eos and Selene while under their service. Strike me down for saying this if you wish but I do not care: I found more of a family in those four gods than in the rest of the Olympians combined," Gabriel spoke, unafraid and calm. My dad hesitated to continue, taking in the full impact of the last comment Gabriel mentioned more than anything else but taking the whole speech well.

"Eos, Selene, Helios, Hestia, what do you four think of what this mortal has said?" he asked after a moment. Eos spoke first but what she had to say amazed me because of its bravery. "I too loved him as more than just servant, I loved him as brother like Helios but for a while, I think I loved him romantically as well. If he had not been under my service, I would have made him immortal and been married to him for eternity," Eos said, a tear rolling down her cheek from remembering the happiness he brought her.

Helios spoke next after wiping the tear from his sister's face and having Selene sooth her. "My lord, I loved him as a little brother as he loved me as an older brother. Call me a fool but never has anyone warmed my heart like he has since Phaethon was alive," Helios said. Then it was Selene who said that she also loved Gabriel as a brother and begged him to be released.

"He is far overdue for a reprieve from serving the gods against his will. I beg you Zeus, since I too ask for so little, to judge wisely and release him from service," Helios said. Lastly, there was Hestia and she had the finest speech in his defense of all the rest. "I have asked nothing of Olympus in all of my years as the goddess who protects the very flames of Olympus themselves.

"When Gabriel came to me to serve me, I immediately saw the makings of the greatest demigod champion there ever was. While under my wing, he was taught to do what he thought was right even if it wasn't always what was necessary. He became like a son to me and I believe I have learned what it means to be a mother through him. I have not asked for anything since the day I was born so I will make this one request: spare him punishment for doing what he felt was right," she said with humility and a mother's love in her voice.

After pondering what to do for while, my dad was quick to make a decision. "Because Hera has violated an agreement made by her and four other gods and because this quest for vengeance was more the mortal's choice than his vow, I deem him innocent of any crimes against Olympus and release him from our service. What he does for us from here shall be his own choice," he declared. All four of the gods who defended Gabriel rushed to hug him and all of Olympus applauded in honor of my father's benevolence.

"Congratulations Gabriel, I hope I get something like that someday," I whispered before trying to make my exit. But quicker than I could reach the door, I felt one of my father's strong hands gently come down on my shoulder. "May I speak with you before you leave daughter?" he asked. I turned around and asked him what he wanted to say to me that would be important.

"When I saw you for the first time and had named you, I saw the makings of the greatest demigod I had ever helped conceive. Believe me when I say that I would have loved to stay with you and see you grow up and believe me when I say that I wish I had been there for you," he answered. I took what he had just said to heart and I realized that in some small way, I had always had him beside me. "You were always there for me dad, in here," I replied, pointing to my heart.

"I turned you into a pine tree to protect you and to allow you an opportunity to play a big role for the Camp. Pity was not the only thing that made me do it nor were those things. There is so much to talk about but not enough time so I should just get this off my chest: can you forgive me ever having done you wrong? My mistake with Hercules, the twins Castor and Pollux, Clytemnestra, and Helen was that I was not there for them nor was I even a part of their lives.

"I don't want it to be the same with you nor did I want it to be that way with Perseus. Can you ever forgive me for making you doubt me or making you like I had deserted you?" he asked. I answered with a nod and hugged my father, having at last come to understand that he did love me and would have given up everything for me if he only could. "I will continue to make you proud dad, you can be sure of that," I said.

After Gabriel returned from talking with four of his Special Five and making Hera apologize in front of him, we returned to Earth and were taken back to Camp by Hermes. This day was one I would never forget but before we left, I asked my father if it was possible to find out where Prometheus was as well as the other Titans. "If there is anyone who would know better than me, it would be Hades. He sees what I cannot and knows what I do not," my dad answered.

Along the way back to Earth, I told Gabriel what my father had told me. When he figured out that he was going to have to visit Hades, his response was like that of a general. "I'm not surprised that Hades would know these things because anytime you hide yourself from sky gods, you expose yourself to the gods of the earth," he said. "Then Nico will be taking you to the Underworld to find out what you can about Prometheus' present status?" I asked and he answered with a nod.

"I think I'm going to check on my Hunters when we return to camp. I will see if they're ready to move out; might even help you if I told then to," I said. "Thanks for that offer but I wouldn't push it on them. Even if they recover from their physical injuries, they'll wanna get back at me for injuring their pride," Gabe said.

"Not if I told them to forget their grievances against you and fight besides us," I told him. "Even if they swear to fight alongside me, at least one of them will be secretly conspiring to avenge the pride of the Hunters. Artemis' group is found solely on the belief that men cannot do nearly half as good in anything as women can. Okay, so men are not good at just attempting suicide as many times as women are," he replied.

"Women attempt suicide more than men do?" I asked. "In just America, women are four times more likely to attempt suicide but a man is four times more likely to actually commit the deed but that's a little beside the point," Gabe answered. That was a statistic that I had never thought about and it showed me something: men had their imperfections but Artemis was wrong that they were the worst creatures on the planet. "Then what point are you trying to make?" I inquired, hoping to settle his opinion of Artemis once and for all.

"While Artemis has the kind of tempered and disciplined character that I think my sisters Demeter and Hera need, she uses it for the wrong reasons. Her chastity is admirable but it's not always the best thing for every single girl who joins her. What about you, do you think you can remain chaste forever or avoid some minor form of pleasure with a man? Do you think you can avoid desiring to be with a man forever because that's the biggest thing about girls: they are inevitably tempted by the charms of men but it's also vice versa," Gabe explained.

That made sense and now I understood why I had that warm feeling when I first met him. I understood now that to an extent, it was both love and pity for him. The truth was, it was too hard to explain it to him without revealing this developing malcontent with life as a Hunter of Artemis. We arrived at Camp and I went with my Hunters while Gabe did not even wait a moment to find Nico and have him take him to the Underworld. Luckily, I had the chance to say goodbye before they went but that's all we had time for since they were soon on their way after I said goodbye to them without revealing myself.