Ladies, gentlemen and all creatures alike, I am very glad to be attainable to present chapter 4 of Pothena moments. I got this idea after reading a fic from HolaitsCiara called just let me out. So ehhm, thanks for giving me the idea! Oh and I don't own Percy Jackson & the Olympians. Rick Riordan does. Enjoy!
Athena sighed. She, along with all the other Olympian gods and goddesses, was in the throne room. They were present for another so-called important meeting, Zeus talking all the time. And she was extremely bored.
Even Athena despised Zeus' boring and peeving speeches. He spoke in a montonic voice and the subjects were mostly the same. Besides, it always took hours before he was finished. No one was able to keep listening for long.
He had been speaking for a really long time- Athena had lost track of time, but it felt like days- and Athena found it unattainable to concentrate on Zeus' speech.
She looked around, inspecting the other Olympian gods and goddesses and discovered they seemed to be just as bored as she was.
Aphrodite seemed to be checking her make-up and blowing herself kisses. Athena rolled her eyes when she saw that. If goddesses had flaws, vanity would be on top of Aphrodite's list. Or maybe narcissism.
Deciding to ignore Aphrodite since it would only succeed in provoking Athena, she looked at Hepheastus to see what he was thinking of his vain and selfish wife. It turned out that he was ignoring her, tickling with something in his hands. It seemed really complicated,although Athena failed to see what exactly it was from this angle.
Ares was grinning, looking at Aphrodite and flexing his muscles- no doubt trying to catch her attention. Athena shook her head at his stupidity. Aphrodite was too occupied with smiling at herself to notice him and Athena didn't comprehend how Aphrodite could find that idiot appealing when he did that. He looked like he had some mental problem, if you asked her.
Demeter and Hades were glaring at each other while Demeter was eating a lot of cereal and kept throwing bits of it at Hades, smirking every time she succeeded in hitting him. Hades kept glancing at her, while trying to avoid the cereal.
Apollo was listening to music, his head bobbing, while he read a magazine about the coolest cars- which Athena could indicate from the title; the coolest cars ever.
Artemis was sharpening her arrows while glaring at her brother. She seemed even more bored than Athena. Athena smiled at her before observing Hermes.
Hermes was talking softly in his phone, like usual. His face showed he was very agitated, he was frowing and gesturing while talking. He didn't seem to acknowledge the other gods at all.
Hestia was busy with the heart, like always, and shook her head, obviously provoked by Zeus boring speech.
Hera was reading a book called; how to stop your cheating husband, sometimes putting it down to glare at Zeus.
Poseidon was using the small amounts of water in the air to make water figures. Athena smiled when she saw he was making a little water Zeus , running away from a furious Hera.
She was busy watching Poseidon and his water figures and didn't notice Dionysos, who had been sleeping a minute before, suddenly awoke and smirked. The look in his eyes told he was going to do something crazy and infuriating soon.
At that moment, Zeus finsihed his speech about who-knows-what and cleared his throat. " All right, now I have finished my very important announcement, is there anyone who wants to comment or say anything else?".
He looked around the room and the gods stopped their previous activities to appear interested. No one said something until Dionysos suddenly smiled, a very evil smile may I add, and got from his throne. "I do have us all to show something, in fact. Something we will all find very amusing. It's almost as good as wine" he said.
Athena narrowed her eyes when she saw him look her way briefly. She certainly didn't like the way he looked at her, his eyes sparkling misschieviously. What reason would that puny god have to speculate me in that way? It indicates sadistic pleasure, like he has something embarressing to say that regards and- oh no.
Athena's eyes widened when she realized his intention and she quickly got up herself, hoping to avoid the shame that would follow. " Father. I actually have an announcement to make myself, a very significant one. I honestly contemplate we don't have the time to examine and be entertained by whatever Dionysos had to show us and-".
" Oh believe me, everyone wants to see this" Dionysos interrupted her.
" I honestly don't contemplate-".
" Well, I think everyone should see this. Or aren't you willing to absorb new knowledge?" Dionysos said, smirking. He was obviously enjoying himself. Which was never a particulary good sign.
Athena sighed. " Naturally, anything that is unknown to me, piques my interest, but this isn't interesting at all and we have more significant matters to discuss, so-".
" Nonsense, sis. Dad has already been talking for hours, we don't need another boring speech. Show us Dionysos!" Apollo cut her off, earning an extremely provoked and insulted look from Athena. He flinched.
Artemis sighed. " You are such an idiot. But once, I agree. More or less. Sorry Athena, but I don't think I am willing to listen to another speech. Besides, my hunters are waiting for me".
All the gods nodded, obviously interested. After Zeus' boring speech, they all were craving for some amusement.
Dionysos smirked. " Great. I am sure you will all enjoy this".
Athena tried one last time. " Dionysos, just listen to me , I-".
"Too late Athena. You haven't been able to lower my sentence". No one, except Athena, understood what he said , but they all bent forward a little when Dionysos snapped his fingers, eager to get something entertaining.
A screen appeared in the air, showing Athena. She was wearing a short cocktail dress- forced by Aphrodite to wear it of course- together with silver high heels. Her outfit was already shocking,but the Olympians had already seen her wearing it at a party, so they weren't really surprised.
What was surprising though, was the fact that Athena had a full glass of Dionysos' s special wine in her hand and was giggling. Athena never giggled. She didn't even smile a lot.
Dionysos paused the scene, smirking. " This was recorded a few weeks ago, when we celebrated Zeus' and Hera's marriage day. No one noticed what exactly our dear Athena was doing, but I was so kind to catch it all on tape. Enjoy". And he sat down, allowing the video to be played. Athena watched, frozen. She was horrified, because she knew - more or less- what she would say. It would be utterly embarressing. She couldn't stop it though.
The screen showed the following. Athena was talking to one of her architects, smiling and giggling. He was looking at her with wide eyes, inspecting every inch of her. She didn't even punsih him, like normally, showing she had had quite some wine already.
You saw Athena dance with different gods- both minor and Olympian- , swirling around on all different kind of music. It was a miracle she didn't fall now she was wearing high heels and clearly tipsy. She did stagger every now and then though, her dance partners catching her.
After the dancing, Athena walked towards the bar and started talking to Aphrodite. They were both laughing instead of fighting, what surprised most gods. They exactly seemed to be good friends, opposed to rivals like they normally were.
Athena's sentences became unarticulated and she even staggered a bit, causing Ares to snicker. But what was the really shocking part, the part that made Athena turn redder than a tomato, was when Poseidon- also tipsy, but less than Athena- walked towards and asked her to dance.
"Hey owl head, wannah dance?".
Athena smiled broadly at him and took his hand. "Sure! I looove dancing! Have I ever told ya that?".
"No. You haven't, in fact. You do look very beautiful , have I ever told you that?".
Athena giggled. " N-no. You call me a lot of things, but never beautiful. Thanks". She was a bit hard to understand because she slurred slightly.
Poseidon shrugged and started walking towards the dance floor. " It's the truth. You should wear this more often".
Athena giggled again, even staggering a bit. It was painfully clear she was tipsy. " I can't. It's too short! Only Aphro- hihi Afro- Aphrodite would wear something this- this revealing!".
"Well, you should be more revealing".
" I don't think a person can be revealing Posy". Poseidon only smiled and they danced to the slow and romantic music.
Every gods, except Poseidon, Athena and Dionysos, was staring at the scene with widened eyes and their mouth open. And their jaws almost hit the ground when the screen showed Poseidon pulling Athena against him, his hand firmly on her but and Athena laying her head on his shoulder.
Zeus narrowed his eyes, gripping his master bolt really tight. Poseidon shot a nervous look towards his brother, gripping his trident tightly. He obviously expected Zeus to attack him any minute.
The rest of the gods just looked at the screen with varied emotions. Mostly shock. Although Aphrodite looked excited while Artemis and Hestia looked disappointed.
The screen showed Athena and Poseidon dancing for a few minutes, before they walked off the dance floor and Poseidon pulled her towards the gardens. Athena giggled and almost fell, having trouble walking on her high heels. "Where are we going kep head?" she managed to say.
Poseidon smiled at her. "Somewhere quiet".
"Why?". Athena was frowning, clearly not understanding why they would go somehwere quit while she normally wouldn't have danced with him or at least walked away by now.
Poseidon frowned when she staggered again, this time falling against him. Surprising the most gods, and angering Zeus and Artemis, he picked Athena up and started carrying her bridal style.
Athena laughed and punched him on his shoulder. "Don't do that! That is inappropriate!"she said, but it wasn't very audible. She was both talking soft and not really understandable because she slurred.
Poseidon kept walking. " It isn't. I'm just trying to make sure you don't break anything. And I just want to get away from all the people".
" Oh all right" Athena said, laying her head on Poseidon's shoulder again.
They walked in silence for a few minutes before they reached a very quiet place. There was a fountain, some trees and a bench.
Poseidon careful lowered Athena, holding her close to him. She looked around and smiled. " It's really beautiful here. Do you come here often Posy?".
Poseidon smiled and nodded. " I do. You really like it here?".
Athena didn't even seem to notice, like she normally would, that he said you really instead of do you really ( she was always pointing out little mistakes like that). She just nodded. " Mmm. Yes. I do". she simply said.
They stayed like that for a moment, just standing close together- staring at the stars, until Athena turned to face Poseidon. " Why did you bring me here?"she asked, sounding less drunk this the fresh air was clearing her head.
Poseidon smiled and took a step towards her. " To be alone with you. I want to have you all for myself".
Athena blinked, confused, when he bent towards her, intending to kiss her. " What are you doing ? Posy, we hate each other , right?". The last part sounded more like a question and very confused.
Poseidon halted. " Tonight, we don't" was all he said before kissing her.
Athena blushed even more when she saw herself. Instead of pushing him away and punishing him- like she normally would- she immediately put her arms around Poseidon and kissed him back.
The next thing the screen showed was Poseidon and Athena kissing until Poseidon picked her up again and carried her to her managed to open the door, and still kissing each other, the two gods walked inside. That was when the screen went black.
All the gods were deadly silent, looking at Athena and Poseidon with mixed emotions. Demeter looked shocked, actually stopping eating her cereal.
Hades looked mildly impressed when he looked at Poseidon, but also shocked.
Hepheastus didn't seem really interested, although he did look slightly jealous and shocked.
Aphrodite was beaming, her expression one of joy and satisfaction.
Ares was smirking, obviously anticipating hell to break loose any second. And probably right, for once in his life.
Hestia seemed worried, shocked and a little bit disappointed.
Apollo smirked at Poseidon, giving him a thumbs up ( and earning a hateful glare from Athena).
Artemis looked extremely disappointed, shocked and angry. Dionysos was smirking.
Hermes had dropped his phone, now staring at Athena and Poseidon like they had suddenly exploded or something.
Hera was smiling, obviously enjoying the idea of Athena getting into trouble.
And Zeus looked angrier than ever before, his entire body tense and his face redder than any tomato possibly could be. " Brother. What on earth does this mean"he said in a soft very scary and ominous voice. He wasn't screaming, but that only made him scarier.
Athena, still blushing, cleared her throat. " Father. This situation can be easily elucidated by me, if you are willing to-". Athena froze when her father looked at her. The look in his eyes was a mix of anger and disappointment.
" Athena. Stay out of this. This is between my brother and me". He turned towards Poseidon again. " Brother. Do explain. I hope for you that this is some trick performed by Hermes or anything, because if it is real, I will punish you". The look in his eyes promised punishment indeed.
All the other gods remained silent, the air thick with tension. Poseidon gripped his trident a little tighter and smiled weakly. " I am afraid it isn't brother, but I can easily explain-". That as far as he got before Zeus raised his master bolt and Poseidon was hit by it. He flew through the air until he was slammed against the wall.
Zeus immediately raised his master bolt again, but Athena- without thinking about what exactly she was doing, ran towards him and used her momentum to push him over. Zeus, not anticipating the attack, fell to the ground and lost grip on his master bolt.
She ran towards Poseidon, who was already on his feet and raised his trident. "STOP!" Athena yelled, positioning herself between Poseidon and Zeus.
Zeus was outraged, his eyes flashing murderously and his master bolt raised, while Poseidon was pale, but looked angry too. He had raised his trident, the ground already shaking while thunder was heard outside.
Both gods stopped to look at her. " Father. Poseidon. Fighting isn't the option" she said, making eye-contact with her father. She had never seen him this angry before. It was quite unnerving.
Ares groaned. " Ah come on! Fighting is always the option. Kill it each other!".
Aphrodite narrowed her eyes at him. " Fighting isn't always the option , love is. And I don't want them to fight! Pothena might not surive that. Although it would be an awesome love story, Athena being forced to choose her love over her father...".
Aphrodite sighed dreamily while Athena rolled her eyes. " Please. I am not in love with kelp head. Love is feckless. And this fight won't solve anything, it will only destroy a lot. So stop fighting both of you".
Artemis narrowed her eyes at Athena. " Then why did you kiss him sister?" she asked, her voice sharp. She seemed angry and disappointed at the same time.
Athena met her gaze calmly, although she was blushing. " I behaved, unlike my normal behavior, unwise and absorbed too much alcohol. That is the reason I didn't stop him. I am not in love".
Zeus took a step forward. " I don't care! He took advantage of you"he growled.
Poseidon froze before his earlier expression was replaced by one of absolute outrage. " HOW DARE YOU! I DIDN'T TAKE ADVANTAGE OF HER!".
" SHE WAS DRUNK AND YOU KISSED HER!".
" I WAS DRUNK MYSELF!".
" STILL, YOU HAD NO RIGHT TO TAKE HER VIRGINITY POSEIDON!".
" I DIDN'T! WE NEVER GOT TO THE GOOD PART!".
Zeus fell silent, looking extremely surprised. " You didn't?".
Athena, trying to fight the stubborn blush that wouldn't disappear, shook her head. " We didn't father. We passed out before anything like that happened".
Zeus still looked angry, so she added " and he didn't take advantage of me".
Zeus calmed down a little. " All right, I believe you. Be glad my daughter is so nice, Poseidon. Otherways, I would have destroyed you".
Poseidon snickered. " Like you are able to".
Athena punched him. " Shut up kelp head!" she hissed. Poseidon looked at her, offended, but didn't say anything. Probably because he didn't want to anger her.
Zeus sighed and turned to the rest of the gods. They all looked relieved no major harm had been done. " Well, if this really is the case, let's go all right? Meeting dismissed".
All the gods disappeared until only Zeus, Athena and Poseidon were left. Zeus turned towards them. " Brother, don't ever try something like this again".
He turned towards Athena. " You are grounded young lady" he said before disappearing.
Athena rolled her eyes. Like that would be such a horrible punishment. She could just read or something. She spent most of her time in her palace anyway.
Poseidon walked towards her and smiled sheepishly. " Thanks for helping me out" he muttered. It clearly wasn't easy for him to thank her.
Athena shrugged. " If I hadn't, you and my father would have destroyed everything".
Poseidon laughed. "Possibly. We would continue fighting forever".
Athena smiled. " Likely, since you have equal powers".
They stood together for a while, an uncomfortable silence between them. Both occasionaly glanced sideways, but didn't dare to say anything.
Poseidon cleared his throat. " Right. time to go, I suppose. I suspect Zeus will want another word with me".
Athena sighed. " Artemis and Hestia probably want to talk to me. And Aphrodite".
Poseidon nodded. " Good luck with that"he said, smiling slightly. And added, almost inaudible; " You are an amazing kisser".
Then, he flashed away, leaving Athena standing there for another minute, smiling.
That week, she took revenge on Dionysos, got a lecture from Artemis and was locked in her room by her dad while Aphrodite kept bothering her until the point Athena actually tried to kill her - hoping it was possible somehow. Sadly, it didn't work.