The years away and the return!
Enjoy.
THE GAME OF DIVINITY
CHAPTER 24: The years away and world building
(1 Day after the Solstice - 26 of December 2005)
(POV Pallas Athena)
How could things go so wrong, so fast?
One moment we were waiting for Alexandra to come out of the Gate and the next she is swallowed by a dimensional destabilization making everyone freeze. I couldn't understand how such a thing could be possible. Not that I had all that much time to figure it out considering Ares went berserk and attacked Zeus.
By the time we had managed to subdue him, that accursed Sky God chose to prove once and for all that there is no limit on how much of an imbecilic moron he could be by actually firing his Master Bolt to full power inside an enclosed space and as a result killing most of the poor demigods that didn't have a chance to defend themselves against it. The moment the lightning hit the children I felt my connection with 6 of my 7 children in Olympus snap and sever bringing a cold chill down my spine.
After that everything was hazy and I lost myself in my emotions, something that hadn't happened since the death of Pallas all those millennia ago. Unfortunately for Zeus, this time instead of just sorrow, I also felt rage. Pure encompassing maddening rage and as a result I no longer felt the need to hold Ares back. In contrast I joined him together with a few other Gods, including Hermes, Hecate and surprisingly enough Hades.
By the time some of my fellow Olympians and minor Gods managed to snap us out of our grief filled fury, the Sky God had lost his genitals, eyes and good arm from the shoulders and had enough holes and lacerations along with broken bones to make even the most experienced surgeons throw up in mortification. Not that I regret it. The only reason that he still breathes the air outside of the Pit was the other Gods intervention.
Hestia and Poseidon had taken charge amidst the chaos. The Sea God had ordered a silent Hephaestus to use chains to keep Zeus and the rampaging Gods (me amongst them) in place to keep us from causing anymore problems, something that back then rankled me but going over it now that I am calm I think that it was a wise decision. I was not in a state mind to be given free reign. None of us were.
After that, Hestia together with Apollo tried to stabilize as many demigods as they could and teleported them in the Camps infirmary together with a host of his healers. Though inspecting the list of the dead now, I can't help the tears gathering in my eyes. So many demigods dead because an irrational childish God threw a temper tantrum.
A couple of hours later when everyone had calmed down sufficiently we convened to decide how to proceed. Hestia had taken a seat once more while Dionysus and Hades were bound to their thrones and Zeus was kneeling before the council unconscious in order for his fate to be decided.
"Considering the circumstances we find ourselves in I am obliged to take temporary role as the head of the council until a more permanent solution is found. If there anyone who would like to object now is the time of it." said Poseidon sitting after many millennia once again in the middle of the council table with Hestia on his right and Hera on his left. He was clad in a gold and green Antlantean armor that looked like the scales of fish with a great trident symbol on his chest and a golden crown encrusted with emeralds that matched his eyes. In his hands was his trident in all its glory pulsing with power and his expression was one of cold calculation instead of the laid back one he was known to have in recent years. His ever present smile nowhere to be found.
Waiting for 1 minute and after none spoke up against him, he continued.
"Very well. Since there are no objections we should start addressing the events that happened today, the repercussions that will come from these events and our course of action."
"What is there to consider? This was literally a royal screw up that will bite us on the ass. We all know that the Titans are stirring more than ever before since their confinement, no need to pretend anymore and Zeus actions might as well have given them the keys to Olympus as well as the nooses to hang us with." said Hermes a scowl of barely suppressed rage on his face getting nods from many of the others.
"Hermes's words may have been crude but there is truth in them all the same. The reason we are gathered here though is to find solutions and minimize the problems that Zeus actions has brought us." said Hestia always the peacemaker.
"If that is the case then the first thing we must do is deal with the idiots amongst us I say. It is better to solidify our positions between us before we take further actions in a wider circle." I said wanting to deal with the traitors and imbeciles and send them away to whatever hole they deserve to get before we speak about things that they ought not to know.
"I never expected to so wholeheartedly agree with you sister. There is no reason to think too much about what we have to do. Let's do away with their heads I say. Maybe some vacation time in Tartarus will give them the wakeup call they need." said my ever brash brother his hand never leaving the pommel of his sword and his whole body being continuously a hair trigger away from assuming his true form. I couldn't exactly judge him either. Out of the 26 children he had in camp he lost all of them (amongst them being the one he loved the most) except one and even then, the survivor is practically a cripple which for a warrior is a fate worse than death.
"And have them escape or join the Titans in a bid for revenge? As if we didn't have enough enemies as it is. I propose we rip their domains from them and chuck them in the void to be devoured. With a full council and if everyone agrees it is possible to do so. It will give some well deserved vindication for the demigods as well." state Hephaestus, his voice while low and near toneless couldn't completely hide his inner rage at the decimation of his children and caused everyone to freeze for a moment before Ares started laughing.
"Hahaha I can say without shame that the cripple's proposal has truly surpassed mine with a great margin. I didn't know you had it in you. Truly marvelous."
This exchange caused everyone to start muttering and discussing the merits of this course. The latest atrocities had completely spent whatever notions of mercy we would usually have for one of our own but a slight tremor and an explosion of fire from the central hearth put a stop to the chattering.
"While both your proposals have merit." said Poseidon, getting a warning glare from Hestia and then he continued.
"I believe these punishments need some alterations because while ripping their domains from them is something I am more than happy to vote for, forcing them to fade will have repercussions that we do not need. No matter how wretched, forcing a God to fade outside of battle or indirectly is against the Divine Laws and I don't know about you but I have no desire for Rudra or Void forbid Shiva actually deciding to do away with us. The fate of the South Americans is not one I would wish on my worst enemy after all." he said with a shudder and a slight foreign pressure engulfed the whole room giving everyone goosebumps.
The Aztecs and the Mayans had been practicing mass human sacrifices for centuries but the coming of the Spanish and the decimation of their culture had caused them to lose a lot of power and influence. To reverse this power loss they joined forces and they decided to start eating humans and consuming their souls and ordering their demigods and few followers to follow along with the practice.
As a result and to no one's surprise, they fell to the path of Asura becoming demonic Gods with an eternal hunger for everything living, their very presence causing corruption and making anything weaker than a God near them to be consumed by their sins.
They didn't get much time to enjoy their newfound strength though because Shiva the united personification of Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver and Rudar the Destroyer came upon them and erased them from existence with a wave of his hands. This being was above the existence of Titans or Gods and more akin to the Primordials like Gaia or Nyx whose power is truly absolute. After he was done he gathered the domains of all these fallen Gods and shared them between the cardinal pantheons.
The pantheons are the Norse of the North which consist of the Aesir and the Vanir with Odin All-Father as their leader and one of the most cunning and conniving individuals I had the misfortune of meeting. Many talk about the duplicitous nature of Loki but he has nothing on the Crow-father, either in personal power or vicious cunning.
Then come the Shinto of the East, the Japanese religion with its leader being Amaterasu-Omikami, the Goddess of the Sun and an extremely powerful one at that considering the number of worshippers the religion has even in this day and age, being an active one.
After them are the Egyptians of the South with their Supreme leader being Amun Ra. Of course the Sun God is too preoccupied with his feud with Apophis his arch-enemy also known as Apep God of Chaos and as a result gave rule to his son Osiris who after his unfortunate dismemberment passed down to Horus.
Next are of course us, the Greco-Roman pantheon of the West led until today (but not for much longer) by Zeus.
Last are the Hindu of the Middle with their Supreme Deity being Shiva who split himself into Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra 'in order to be able to contain his power while on the material plane without extinguishing the planet' was his words and if that is not the scariest thing someone can hear from a God's mouth then I don't know what is. The 'leader' of the pantheon is Indra the Sky God but that is only because the aforementioned Gods can't be bothered with administrating matters. He is practically a glorified steward and secretary for the true leaders which none has left him forget in all the time since he ascended on his 'throne'.
The four first pantheons have connected with the Cardinal Flames of Civilizations taking the accumulated power of worship from them in order to empower themselves even if we are not actively worshiped with the Norse and the Shinto being more of placeholders than anything considering that the former have many mortals in their personal realms and 8 worlds to worship them and the latter is still an 'alive' religion. The Hindu of the Middle regulate this power of worship and keep everyone in check. About 2 thousand years ago the Christian God tried to usurp the Middle from the Hindus but after a smackdown of epic proportions he was banished from this plane of existence with his tail between his legs taking with him all his winged creations, never to be heard again. Anyway I went into a tangent so I digress.
After Shiva took the domain power of the Mayans and Aztecs he gave the Norse the earth, fertility and nature ones,to the Shinto he gave the death, sun and fire, to the Egyptians gave the War and sky and last to us gave the seas, storm, justice and intelligence ones. He kept the more powerful ones of time and space and some others for himself of course. There had never been a 'modern' deity with such domains since the Persians but they are now all dead via suicide by Vishnu which was impressive on its own because he is the preserver instead of the destroyer, so someone can only imagine the heights of stupidity they reached in order to force the 'peaceful one' of the trimurti to erase them.
Time and space were usually seen in older religions like the Mesopotamians and the Titans but the former have all faded and the latter are caged (for how long they will stay such remains to be seen).
This distribution of power was part of the cause for Zeus latent excessive paranoia as well. With Poseidon getting empowered in two of his domains, me in one and last Themis being given the Justice domain instead of him he was frothing at the mouth in rage. Wounded pride and deluded fear at his 'rival' becoming 'almost' as powerful as him (which was false because Poseidon is the strongest deity after Hestia who is the most powerful in the council, peaceful nature or not).
Considering all these facts, the idea of going against the Divine Laws and drawing the Middle's attention to us was extremely moronic and as a result was quickly given up on the spot.
"I want to say a few things before a decision is made." said Hades, his face looking like it was carved from stone.
"Speak." said Hestia, a blue flamed glare in her eyes making Poseidon who was seated besides het to gulp silently in reflex.
Not wanting to turn into cinders the God of the Dead started quickly speaking. First he talked about the real reason for World War 2 and the actions of Zeus, something that aside from Demeter, Hera and Dionysus everyone else already knew because Freyja had told me and I shared with the others. Then he continued with the threat of Persephone and the threat of annulment of his marriage, something that Hera confirmed.
As a result he was let free and a permanent seat in the Council was made for him. It was a travesty for Death to not be represented in the center of our religion for so long but now this was rectified.
With Hades done and over with, it was time for Dionysus to be judged. The sniveling worm was actually cowering bound in his seat, drawing disgusted looks from the rest of the Gods at the pitiful sight.
Not wanting to suffer his sorry presence any longer he was given an ultimatum. He will swear an oath of loyalty to the Styx thrice uttered and thrice bound and give up his seat in the council and his domain of Freedom, the domain that was responsible for allowing him a seat in the first place (contrary to popular belief we didn't accept him for his very good wine making skills or his madness inducing ones). In exchange he will be removed from the demigod camp and his restrictions lifted without further punishment. Of course if he commits a crime in the future our judgment will be harsher than what it would normally be.
Quickly accepting, the chains binding him were removed and his throne crumbled into dust. Reluctantly pulling a white orb that represented his Freedom domain and shakily giving it to Hestia for safekeeping, he flashed out of the room to probably go cry to his wife's lap.
"Damn. I never expected the day that we would get rid of that idiot would finally come." said Apollo with a whistle.
"If you are feeling relief then I can only imagine the reactions of the demigods when they find out that they won't have to interact with him any longer." replied Artemis with a snort and bringing a somber mood back into the room.
"Talking of the demigods we have to act soon. The flames of unity inside the camps are almost nonexistent. I am afraid if reparations aren't made as fast as possible then they will flock to father's side like moths to a flame, and you all know what the flame does to the moths." warned the Goddess of the Hearth drawing nods of understanding for everyone.
"Yes we will sister, but first we have to put some measure of order between us and solidify our authority with the minor Gods." replied Poseidon.
"For this reason I propose to invite Hecate as the newest member of the council as the representative of Magic as well as Freedom. Her domain of Crossroads and hence choices will resonate acceptably with it. She is the one who can give us more ideas on how we are to alter the regulation of mystical knowledge to the demigods as well as pacifying the minor Gods by elevating one of them. We need one more person after all to have a tie-breaker number now that we no longer have a King with two votes to act like one." said Hera, proving that she deserved the title of Queen. She was after all an old hand at politicking, both inside Olympus and after the creation of that accursed Roman civilization becoming one of the leading figures in the creation of the state.
After Hera's proposition got a unanimous agreement, Hermes was assigned to send a message to the soon to be Olympian Goddess and we retired until the next day in order to take care of our domains. Zeus was agreed that he would stay sedated and guarded by Hestia in order to prevent another Golden Net situation (though with so many Gods against him and a lost Master Blot it was unlikely but once bitten twice shy.)
(End POV - Pallas Athena)
(POV - Phoebus Apollo)
The second day A.Z. (After Zeus), after a gob smacked Hecate got her new domain and an obsidian throne surrounded by visible violet Mist, we moved on with the rest the immediate problems.
First we had to decide on who would act as head of the council and "Ruler" of the Greco-Roman Pantheon. After a vote was made, Hestia was the definite winner. Considering how much damage our power-base and reputation had taken after Zeus latest stunt, we needed our strongest and arguably wisest deity to take the reins, something everyone (except for Hestia herself who was too busy hyperventilating) happily agreed. Poseidon and Hades actually sighed in relief at not having to take the responsibility causing Athena and Artemis to roll their eyes in tandem probably thinking something along the lines of 'Men' which would have been funny but I was not in the mood for it right now. One thing in our agenda was finally done and now somewhere upwards to one million more left. Fucking brilliant.
The next one had to do with the demigods. Hermes proposed we make it law that all demigods that enter camp are to be claimed by their eleventh birthday at the latest, an issue that in my opinion had been left unresolved for far too long even though the solution was incredibly easy. It doesn't take more than 3 seconds for a God to check the camp if any of their energy resides inside one of the kids and just make a claiming.
The whole situation was created because some (mostly the minor Gods) didn't think there was a point to do so if there wasn't a Cabin for their kids and some Olympians refusing to do so until the kids 'proved' themselves which was absurd. A child should never have to prove themselves in order for their parents to notice them. I personally make sure to claim all my children within a week of them entering camp at the latest.
Speaking of Cabins, Hestia decided that there will be one built for any deity major and minor in order to pacify and give respect to everyone and after some grumbling from the more proud Gods coughAphroditecoughHeracough it was agreed upon and Athena had taken the responsibility to assign one of her kids to begin the designing and building and hopefully bringing some needed distraction to the demigods.
Done with the infrastructure we moved to the proper manning of the Camp. Until this point Zeus had decided that our mortal children could get by on their own with only Chiron and later Dionysus as authority figures which was another scheme to keep them drifting and weakened. Now though, things have changed and as a result more 'faculty' is going to come in to help.
Contrary to popular belief we Gods don't take care of all of our domains on our own. While yes we can split ourselves to deal with most of the most important and serious jobs needed, we also use 'employees' under our jurisdiction (usually partially immortal demigods or even very talented mortals). Hermes for example has hundreds of messengers equipped with bottomless bags and winged shoes to make deliveries and Athena has even more scholars and researchers in many places advancing knowledge and deciding on the time humanity will be ready to receive such knowledge.
She also is responsible for the suppression of certain dangerous knowledge that some genius mortals manage to uncover from time to time though the use of Mist or more often than not by employing them herself. (The knowledge on how to create an atomic bomb and its results has caused a vital need for the foundation of such a sub-department no matter how much she hates it.)
As such the Camp received half a dozen new scholars along with a new great library building (when it is constructed) that will help with properly educating young demigods both in their mortal subjects as well as broadening their knowledge in the divine world. Hecate had requested for a part of the library to be used for the safekeeping of the magical texts that are going to be needed if the kids are going to learn to use their magic. She also sent two of her handmaidens (non-Empousai handmaidens) to teach them.
Ares had retrofitted the weapons stash inside the camp with new weapons. Both blunt for training purposes as well as real ones for new demigods to choose from, something that both Hades and Poseidon added to, because children from their respective domains find it hard to use weapons that are not made in the Underworld or Sea respectively and Hephaestus did the same with armors and shields as well as new state of the art training automatons.
The seven ladies of the council sprouted 1 of their sacred trees around the borders of the camp, creating a barrier strong enough to keep even an army of monsters out without a problem. (Though Aphrodite started pouting when the sex-drive suppression wasn't removed and complained about it to the ire of the rest of the ladies and the amusement of everyone else.)
Next we had to deliberate a lot and there were many who were afraid about the interference clause (me amongst them) in the Ancient Laws when a decision was made to quickly send all demigods that have not yet gone to camp from ages of 8 and above to be trained. The crux of the matter was that while we can enforce this, we can't expect them to actually reach the place on their own in such tender ages. Not everyone can be such freaks of nature as Alexandra was after all. That's why a decision was finally made though extremely reluctantly and it was decided that we will transport and explain the situation to each other's children ourselves. For example, Aphrodite will be responsible for Hermes children or Poseidon for mine and so on and so forth, bypassing that way the Gods inability to interfere with their own children.
The reason for this is that we were afraid that Titans would start hunting or forcefully recruiting our defenseless offspring and that is something we can't allow, both because they are our kids and from a strategic point of view as well (Athena's words not mine). Hopefully, all this new faces will manage to bring some dearly needed laughter and morale back inside the camp.
Done for now with the demigod issue, I decided that it was now a good time to some urgent changes that occurred when nobody was looking.
"There are some dire changes that occurred that the council should be informed about. It happened at the day of the Solstice but I was not able to detect it until yesterday night." I said making everyone look in my direction.
"Of course there are because it is obvious that we cannot catch a break. Go on, get on with it." said Poseidon with a groan and before I could speak a green haze came over my vision, I lost control of my body and the smell of serpents and burned daphne leafs filled the room.
50 half-bloods head to Olympus on a bus.
1 is lost insidiously in the Gate with a flash.
8 were dusted cowardly in the rush
and 30 perished by the lightning blast.
The Sky God's atrocities make the Gods in rage boil
Olympian's and not fury cause the heavens to recoil
The children's spilled blood dyes red the earthen soil.
The Great Stirring these fallen souls awaken
Monsters horrific and ancient evils the shadows strengthen
and cruel Golden eyes in the darkness beckon the forsaken.
Sister against sister, brother against brother
bronze arms and the spirits of peace before the Mountain's feet shatter
innocent blood both red and gold the Usurped spill with glee and laughter
the future of the West shall rule the ones who will prevail the slaughter
Fate is broken, the future is a mystery
War's daughter holds the keys of victory
Her great spear and shield the evil must withstand
and her fiery soul will be set aflame in the final stand.
"What does this mean Apollo?" said Hera horrified.
"Well fellas, that is Fate speak for 'we got nothing, you better wing it'."
"SHIT." said Hades, managing to describe completely our collective thoughts in one word.
(End - POV Phoebus Apollo)
(1 Month after the Solstice - 26 of January 2006)
(POV Thalia Grace)
1 month.
That's how long it has been since that disastrous Winter Solstice. Gods what a great gift did my sperm donor give me for my birthday. I couldn't help think deprecatingly.
His lightning took away 31 demigods because he couldn't stand the fact that he was wounded by an angry father that watched his daughter being blatantly assassinated in front of the whole pantheon. Dionysus the coward together with another couple spineless fools killed another 8 in their panic to save their own hide by flashing away uncaring about the consequences.
The first thing I remember after the clap of thunder was waking up on the charred black marble of the Council room holding Annabeth in my arms and covering her with my body. Someone else was on top of me while the only thing I could hear was an unending ringing.
As I looked around all that I was able to see was the whole demigod group fallen to the ground either dead or barely living with burn scars and melted body parts. When I turned to dislodge the person who had collapsed on my back I was met with the most soul crushing sight someone could have shown me.
Luke, the goofy, charming son of Hermes that I had fallen in love with. The boy that I had gone through thick and thin with. One of the only three people that still gave light in my life was dead. He used his own body to protect me and paid the price for it. He was charred black from head to toe. The lightning had hit him directly and the only things that were left unscathed were his two blue eyes that were now empty and dull in death.
At the beginning I was unable to comprehend what I was seeing. I thought that I was hallucinating, that all this was a bad dream that I would soon wake up from but the pain from my wounds didn't let me delude myself anymore and the only thing I managed to do was scream Luke's name in horror before I passed out once more.
It took me 30 hours to wake up.
When I opened my eyes once more I found myself in the camp's infirmary. I was lying on one of the beds and Annabeth was sleeping by my bedside tear tracks dried on her cheeks.
The rest of the beds were separated into two different groups. On the one I was in, the beds were filled with bandaged and moaning in pain demigods that numbered to less than 10 while the other group was filled with beds that were covering the occupants from head to toe in white blankets. I didn't need to be a genius to understand that these were all dead.
Immediately after watching this heartbreaking sight I started sobbing. Luke was dead, Alex was dead, the Camp was broken and the only ones left from our little family were me and Annabeth.
My crying woke up the daughter of Athena who instantly flew into my arms and started shaking, her tears soaking my shirt and I didn't know what to say. I wanted to say that everything would be better in time, that we would manage to move through the pain but I couldn't do that because it would be but empty words. The pain will never go away and the hole in our souls will never truly mend, so I just held her in my arms tighter and cried with her for all the people that we lost, for all the suffering we had to endure because of Zeus tyranny and I cursed him to the deepest pits of Tartarus.
It was about a week later that everyone was deemed healed enough and the summer campers to return in order to conduct the funeral pyres ceremony. The only one not attending was Clarisse but I couldn't fault her. The Ares Cabin suffered the worst out of all others. Out of the 26 children of Ares only her survived. Being the most numerous they had taken the front row seats and as a result they were the first to feel the power of Zeus Master Bolt. She only survived because all her siblings created a dog pile on top of her to protect her and even then she lost her left leg from her knee and down and her back was scarred from her nape of her neck to her waist full of electrical burns.
The only reason she is still mobile even if she needs a crutch was the quick healing of Apollo but even then, her time as a warrior has ended. Without her leg it would be impossible to fight anymore and for a daughter of War this was a fate worse than death. The shock of what happened had made her catatonic and Silena, her best friend and Cabin Ten's councilor had to stay by her side 24/7 because we were afraid that she would kill herself if she was left alone.
The other cabins that suffered the greatest losses were the Hephaestus and Athena Cabins with the former losing all 5 of its members making it officially an empty one and the latter lost 6 of its 7 year round members with only Annabeth surviving due to me guarding her with my body.
The rest of the dead was L-Luke Castellan son of Hermes and an unclaimed demigod from Cabin 11 and last a son and a daughter of Apollo with the latter being only 8 years old. She had only been in camp for only 3 weeks and been claimed for only a couple of days before that disastrous trip. Michael Yew the Councilor of Cabin 8 was inconsolable by the loss, focusing in his work in the infirmary in order to be able to function and his siblings had to force him to eat and sleep because they are afraid that he will collapse from the exhaustion.
As the shroud covered bodies were set on fire all the 112 demigods in attendance were silent. When before the camp felt like a sanctuary, a safe haven and home for demigods, now it felt cold. Even the hearth was barely crackling and Chiron had barely managed to give a half hearted eulogy before he silently sat down on his wheelchair and just stared at the fires.
Watching the fires burning Luke's body and Alex's empty shroud while holding a sobbing Annabeth in my hands I couldn't help but feel like a failure. I had made a promise of getting strong. Strong enough to protect those I held dear and I couldn't keep it even for a day. Now with only my last friend by my side I can only wonder how will I be able to live on inside this Camp that is filled with the happy memories of those that had been taken from me so cruely.
(End -POV Thalia Grace)
(POV Aristomache)
It has been one month since my Mistress disappeared. Yes I say disappeared because she is not dead and this is not me being in denial. When my Lady transformed me into this greater form, she also bound my life to hers so the fact that I am not in the Underworld waiting to be judged at this moment means that she has not perished. In addition, a few hours after the disaster I received a humongous power boost and since then I noticed that my parameters are increasing. Very slowly yes, but still increasing all the same. Lady Alexandra may be lost but she still fights, she hasn't surrendered and I am sure that she is searching for a way back, so I will wait and in the meantime I will make sure those she holds dearest to her heart are taken care of.
The creation of our bond didn't give me only a new form and some extra abilities. Amongst the many gifts, I also received a lot of her memories and knowledge. Knowledge that I will now use to reignite some of the fire in her families weary hearts.
After that stupid tree forced me to reform (which took me half a month), I found myself naked in my human form on top of my Ladies bed in her Cabin. Thankfully, it was the middle of the night so her sister and her chaperone were both fast asleep making it easy for me to sneak out and stumble into the forest unnoticed. From there I took my greatly diminished dragon form and flew away to Caldera, Yellowstone where I took a dive inside the lava. It took me 3 days to reach it because of my weakness and another 11 days of eating the flames and sleeping to restore myself completely and now after I managed to permanently borrow some human clothes from a women's clothes shop (nothing special, a red T-shirt, some underwear and blue skintight jeans and black boots) I am back to camp. Since I was inside the boundaries when the new powerful wards were created now I have unrestricted access to the place.
Passing through using my human and thus more subtle form a few minutes before midnight, I first entered the Cabin of that accursed Sky God, may he forever rot in the deepest pit. Since he is probably quite preoccupied being caged and all, it was the only cabin I could enter without getting smote by an angry deity.
The whole place had the look of a mausoleum and I had to hold my snicker when I saw the big ass statue that was positioned in the middle have its cheeks decorated with male genitalia. Its chiton was painted in pink with red heart shaped polka dots along with scorch marks that were probably made by lightning generated by an angry demigoddess with an axe to grind.
Making sure to record that hilarious image to memory to share with my Mistress when she returns, I continued with my self-imposed mission. Getting beside the panty clad and nothing else sleeping girl and talking a few moments to admire the view, I conjured some mist form ropes around her body and a silk wrap around her mouth. I wouldn't want her to wake up the whole fucking camp in her panic after all (also I wanted to draw some amusement from her panicking face not to mention how hot it was but no one has to know that).
Thalia Grace woke up with a start. Quickly figuring out that she was tied and gagged on her own bed she started thrashing around trying to get free while lightning currents were coursing around her body. Unfortunately for her, her bindings while they looked like ropes where actually crystallized magical energy.
"Give it a rest will ya. You are not getting free of these ropes unless I will it so." I said making her focus on me while I was sitting a meter on her right on a conjured fluffy armchair and immediately started glaring at me and mumbling what is more than likely insults and threats through her gag.
"Oh I am not a bitch, I am a dragon. Most particularly I am the dragon servant of my Lady Alexandra. My name is Aristomache." I said getting a disbelieving look from the demigoddess and tried to speak but her gag didn't exactly help her.
"Dam bmm afff dafon. Meah Mhhg"
(That big ass Dragon? Yeah Right.)
"I will have you know that I am no big ass dragon girly. My butt is perfectly proportionate to my body. As for my human form, you can thank my Mistress greatness for giving me this ability." I replied slightly insulted while standing up and showing her my pants clad perfectly shaped butt and then I continued.
"I also wouldn't start throwing rocks when I am living in a glass house little pear. You should definitely cut back on bread if you catch my drift." I mocked her while crossing my hands below my bosom and raising them slightly to show her my 'superiority'. A mocking smirk never leaving my face for a second.
By the redness of her face and the vain that was furiously throbbing on her temple I believe I sent the message across and now that I satiated my amusement by annoying the girl it is time to get to business.
"Now that we had our fun, I believe it is time to explain my presence here and my reason for my peculiar visit yes?"
Getting a roll of her eyes and a reluctant nod, I continued.
"The first thing you have to know is that my Lady is not dead. She is very much alive and while she is lost somewhere that I am blocked from following, I am sure sooner than later she will return."
My words made her freeze for a second and after looking at me like I sprouted a second head she begun thrashing and mumbling questions once more.
"Okay that's enough. I am going to remove the gag and I will answer all of your questions. When I am done, I will make an offer and if you accept we can go from there if not I will leave you unharmed and depart from the camp and after 5 minutes your bonds will disappear never to see me again until my Mistress returns at the earliest. If you start shouting though and cause a scene I swear I will burn your hair bald. In order to reassure you I will swear my terms on the Styx." I said and a rumble of thunder was heard sealing my oath.
After gauging me for a moment the daughter of Zeus released a sigh and a nod prompting me to remove her gag.
"Okay then. Say your piece."
"Excellent. I came here today to make a proposition to both you and the other two girls that are very close to my Mistress. Annabeth Chase and Clarisse La Rue I believe are their names."
"Yes, you got it right and the proposition is?" asked the tied up girl impatiently.
"I want all three of you to follow me in order to go on a training trip of sort. Even now worlds away I can feel my Lady getting stronger by the second. By the time she returns she will probably be strong enough that the Gods will regard her both as a powerful pawn to use her as well as a threat to be bound and removed when her uses are over with."
"Some yes, but I don't believe that her father or some of her friends in the council will allow it and Alex is not naïve enough to fall for false promises." Interrupted the girl, her inexperience shown clearly in her words.
"My Lady may be not naïve but she has a dangerous weakness of turning people she trusts into her blind spots. She has a great respect for the Owl Goddess for example or even her Father but I have lived for a long time even if my intelligence until a little while ago was barely great enough to comprehend the world around me. The Gods and any deity for that matter no matter how much they say they have changed have proved that they are both selfish in their actions and uncaring of mortal lives time and time again.
"That's not true. Zeus and a few others may be exactly as you say but we all saw Ares rage when Alex disappeared in that black hole thingy. These were not the actions of an uncaring God."
"The War God's actions were nothing but pure selfishness. He lost control of his emotions causing a fight in the middle of the crowded council room uncaring about what a divine battle will do to the mortals in the room. Hell for all we know if he kept his calm one of the more magic savvy deities may have been able to find a clue about my Mistresses whereabouts or even able to retrieve her. Because of him only my bond with her stands as proof that she still lives and she will have to find her way back on her own." I could see that my words had shocked her into silence by finally understanding the situation a little bit.
"That's why I need to collect as many people as I can who are loyal to my Mistress to stand by her side and protect her back. That's where you three come in and I will try my best to make you as powerful as possible. So what do you say? Are you in?" I finished, releasing her from her bonds and giving her my hand a neutral expression on my face and waiting for her response.
After contemplating my offer for a couple of minutes she looked at me in the eyes and took my hand, a determined look on her face. "I am in."
Waiting for the morning to come, Thalia went on with her daily routine to not draw attention and by launch time she was able to bring Annabeth discretely in her Cabin. After explaining my identity and my reason for my presence here and barely managing to keep her squeals of happiness at the news of my Ladies survival from being heard, she eagerly joined us.
The daughter of Athena had managed by the time dinner had come to convince a reluctant Silena who acted as Clarisse keeper to trade places with her for the night. When everyone went to sleep they brought Alexandra's little sister in Cabin 1. Half an hour later they were riding on my dragon form as we flew away from the Greek Camp and its stagnation.
(End - POC Aristomache)
(Olympian Council - Summer Solstice - 25 June 2007)
(POV - Poseidon, King of Atlantis)
Things have been hectic since that accursed Winter Solstice almost two years ago. We had managed to organize ourselves as quickly as possible and Hestia's proposal has managed to pacify the Minor Gods, improving our relations with them by a lot but the biggest change has been with the demigods.
The new Cabins and the certain claiming had brought great relief in the hearts of our mortal children. The new faculties and knowledge shared with them had also made them much stronger and well rounder than the past. The fatality rates have been starting to decrease optimistically, thought since the changes are still in their infancy we have a good way to go but it had not been easy and the disappearance of Thalia Grace together with the last child of Ares and Athena's favorite daughter had crushed the morale of the Camp particularly hard considering how close it was to the 'Crimson Solstice' as it has now been named. A name that is equally appropriate in my opinion in order to describe that stupid incident.
To this day their whereabouts are unknown and even Artemis had failed to find a single clue of them, much to her consternation and the two war deities grief. The only clue we have is the scent of a dragon inside Cabin 1 (now renamed Cabin 21), which is not particularly encouraging.
Their disappearance had been seen as a sign by the rest of the demigods to start abandoning the camp and it was only our fast actions in making the necessary changes and the arrival of the youngest demigods by divine intervention that prevented the place from becoming a ghost town. Even then, by the time we learned of it and acted 50 of the 110 remaining demigods had already left and from the 50 adult demigods that had graduated camp and left to make a life on the mortal world not even one had we managed to locate. Considering that 2-5 demigods had been going MIA from Camp every year for more than 30 years from what Athena's calculation has shown, then there are at best if we are extremely lucky more than 120 demigods that are members of the Titan army, worshiping them and as a result helping our accursed father to reform bit by bit.
Right now we have 109 demigods in Camp but the crux of the matter is that a good percentage of them are younger than 13 years old and no matter how talented they won't be able to easily stand against experienced and adult demigods.
What we are hoping for is to delay the true battles of the inevitable war that is to come as long as possible to give time to our children to sharpen themselves and grow older and prepare the rest of our assets as much as possible.
That's why we have kept the fact that the previous Great Prophecy has been negated from even our most loyal vassals. None outside the Council knows about the new one and we had all swore the most binding divine oaths to make sure that there will be no spreading of that knowledge. While the newest one is in everyone's opinion even more grim and foreboding than the previous one, I personally felt relief when I heard it. No longer will Fate's shears stand as a sword of Damocles above my precious son's neck. Now Alexandra Bellum had taken his place. At least that's what Apollo and a few others had theorized though I still have my doubts. The girl had been consumed by the void between dimensions and even Gods are incapable of surviving inside it. What chance a simple mortal no matter how exceptional have.
Thankfully my son Perseus has done a great job in leading the camp and keeping the morale high after his success in retrieving Zeus fancy vibrator (and by the void I had almost broken my rib in laughter when I heard the boy calling the Master Bolt by that name). Hermes had brought him to camp in the middle of April and by the time June had come he had managed to improve a lot both with Anaklusmos that he won in the first of the two Green dungeons he cleared. The other being a comprehensive book on how to train and improve his gifts as a demigod son of mine with a big warning about his Earthshaker powers that Athena forced me to include because 'none wants what happened with the Roman one all those decades ago to occur again' which was something I had grudgingly accepted.
So by the time 13 of June had come and 12 days before the Solstice a prophecy was made by Apollo and was then repeated by his mummified Oracle to my son.
The Son of the Sea west he shall head
With love and death through danger he shall tread
The stolen lightning to the Gods he must return
for by Sun's peak day to the Crooked One's hand it shall descent.
Considering that most prophecies we have heard until now weren't complete unless they had at least two 'doom' interpretations, this one was practically a joyful one by the Fates standards.
He was joined by the councilor of Aphrodite's and Hades Cabins named Silena and Bianca respectively (both I and his mother teased him so much for being surrounded by so many girls). On their way they had to fight through a Griffin that crushed on their bus, Medusa (and Athena's face when we received the 'impertinent' package was hilarious), Echidna and Chimera sent by 'Zeus' (read Kronos, the schemer trying to create as much conflict between the 'child of prophecy' and the Gods as possible) and Ares challenge (which was meant to be a slight help for them to be able to continue their journey west).
By the time they had reached Las Vegas they had no money to spend for transportation and as such they had to head to Los Angeles on foot. I wanted to help him but we had already intervened twice with me healing him in the river when Chimera's snake bit him and through Ares.
It took them 3 days to walk the distance and they had to fight two different packs of hellhounds in between. By the time they reached L.A. it was night and the next day was the Summer Solstice. After a night spent in the presidential suits of a 5 star hotel because Hades is a show off they descended to the Underworld.
From what Hades relayed to us after the event, Ethan Nakamura a son of Nemesis and one of the thought until then victims of the Crimson Solstice had stolen the bolt and tried to use the questing party's entrance through Erebus to conceal his, using an invisibility ring. Bianca had managed to easily make Cerberus to stand down being her father's daughter and the magical items detector in the passage through Erebus only detected the existence of them not the number so he thought that if he passed invisibly at the same time he could fool the system and chuck the bolt into Tartarus with no problems.
It was a good plan but unfortunately for him, Hades had made many upgrades to it so the moment he passed through, his ring's effects were negated and was found out. Seeing that he was about to fail he made a run for the Pit's entrance but Perseus managed to fight him off in the last minute and Bianca used a shadow whip to catch the sheath moments before it was lost into the Abyss.
The traitor demigod unfortunately had managed to escape using a transportation marble but at least now we have more than enough solid proof for the rise of the Titans and the Master Bolt is safe. The only issue was that Perseus had managed to accidentally activate his Earthshaker powers in the battle and now I have to pay for the damages or suffer a frothing Hades rage for the next couple millennia. I of course fake-threatened that all his drachma allowances had a 90% reduction for the next 300 years because of the damages and took great amusement from his embarrassment. It is a parent's job after all to tease their children every chance they get.
Since Zeus was no longer in charge, we could now once again use the old custom of rewards for our questing demigods. Depending on the difficulty and importance of the quest, it is tradition for the parents of the questers or the contracting God to reward them appropriately. Aphrodite gave her daughter a Hephaestus made armor that is far superior to anything the demigods had up until this moment (in gold and hot pink color *shudders*) and was capable to transform into whatever style of clothes the user desired, Hades gifted his only daughter with an advanced tome about the usage of her powers and told her to regulate what her brother read from it until he became more mature.
Last, I gave my son a trident made from the forges of Atlantis capable of turning into a bracelet and always returning to its owner. Furthermore, it had been charged with a miniscule amount of power from my own trident in order to help him advance his mastery over my domains faster.
With the Master Bolt retrieved and our relationships with our subjects both immortal and mortal becoming better by the day as well as the fact that the Kronos still subtly attempts at consolidating his powers we hoped that we could at least look forward to a less stressful year and until the middle of autumn it looked as such but it wasn't meant to be. Odin sent a recording projection stone through one of his ravens requesting (read: demanding) a meeting and he looked furious.
He joined us about a week later with Freyja and 21 Valkyries escorting him. There was not even a hint of the fake joviality he was usually sporting which was a very big sign that he meant business but the angrier of the two was Freyja. You could feel her power rolling barely suppressed just beneath her skin, her eyes had a constant glow with no pupil and her hand was gripping her sword sheathed at her waist intensely, something that was imitated by all her winged fully armored escorts behind her.
The reason of this surprise meeting? Alexandra Bellum.
Apparently, Odin may have released her from his service even after he blessed her but after her years of service in the war and her time in the Valkyries she is considered a child of the North (has legitimate citizenry papers too) all the same and she also has the title of ambassador responsible with maintaining Asgard's relations with our pantheon. So the events of her death that had somehow traveled as far as Vanaheim reached the ears of Odin who was really pissed at the demise of one of his Valkyries retired or not and Freyja being something like a honorary older sister and teacher to Alexandra was even less amused. Zeus apparently had been informed of that little detail in an official message that was sent to him by the All-Father. Another screw up in the great lists of screw ups that we are slowing unraveling now that he can no longer hide them.
This particular one we paid dearly as well because when Odin demanded the soul of 'his' warrior and he learned that we don't know where it is because she never appeared in the Underworld he threatened to convene a Cardinal Flame Council in order for us to answer for the disappearance of one of his ambassadors (one of the few titles that hold almost absolute immunity in inter-pantheon relations). In order to pacify him we had to give up the states of Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine to his rule as well as three Blessing Orbs with a sky, sea and earth/nature alignment. These things are extremely rare and are capable of making a minor demigod as powerful as an average Big Three one. Gods are extremely possessive of them because they contain what is practically their power but unlike normal blessing, the orbs completely separate their authority from them and while the drain is akin to having a demigod child and it regenerates easily, the giver will have no influence on the blessed or be capable to take it back if they were betrayed or defied.
By the time the negotiations were done and the snake in a raven's body left we were 4 States poorer and our ego had taken a very thorough beating but we were much wiser from it.
In a completely unrelated topic, let's talk about Zeus. Before the Crimson Solstice he was the King of the Olympians and God of the Sky, Weather, Thunderstorms, Lightning, Winds, Clouds, Law, Order, Justice, Power and the Human Race. A pretty significant resume to be sure.
After he was judged by the Council for his crimes, he lost his throne, his Sky, Lightning and Order domains went to Hera as consolation prize for putting up with him for all those years, Weather was given to Demeter, I got Winds and Thunderstorms and as a result Susanno'o can go fuck himself because I am no longer 'just' a Stormbringer but a legitimate God of Storms and also Aeolus is now my bitch (let him try to pull the shit he did with Odysseus for now on, I dare him), Justice was given to Themis to make the minor Gods happy and last but certainly not least Law, Power and the patronage of the Human Race went to Hestia as the Head-deity of our pantheon increasing her already fearsome power by magnitudes.
As a result he became the minor God of Clouds, lost his seat in the Council and was sentenced to be imprisoned in the bedroom of his temple with power suppressing cuffs for 4.000 years, 1 century for every demigod that died on the Solstice.
After Odin left, the Clouds domain went to Hera and he was chained with powerful God suppression chains from his hands and legs in the bowels of Olympus suspended above the flowing lava that feeds Hephaestus forges in order to keep him warm with an added 16.000 years to his punishment, 4.000 years for its state lost. So unfortunately, we won't be seeing him for the next 20 millennia. And no Hades and Hera's cackling was absolutely a form of grief and sorrow about our brothers necessary but heart-retching fate and if anyone claims differently, then they are filthy, stinky liars.
After that the Winter Solstice of 2006 came and went, Winter became Spring and as a result Demeter temporarily ceased her incessant whining and we hoped that everything would be peaceful for a little while but no, some annoying son of a bitch that was later revealed to be Ethan Nakamura (Hades has created a special place for him in the fields of Punishment) thought it was a good idea to poison Hestia's tree with Elder Python's Poison directly from Tartarus because we can't catch a break.
By the time June came, a cure had still not be found and since the nexus tree was poisoned the wards were beginning to deteriorate rapidly so after Perseus gave them the coordinates for the Golden Fleece it was decided that someone had to quest for it.
The one chosen was a daughter of Nike that had won the Capture the Flag game the night previously and for companions she chose my son Perseus and a son of my heir Triton which were brilliant choices considering they headed to the Sea of Monsters and the words of the prophecy.
You shall sail the iron ship with warriors of bone,
You shall find what you seek and make it your own,
The masked Captains power will supersede your own
And fail without friends, to fly home alone.
The contractor of the quest was Hermes who gave them a bag with a few must haves for that particular Sea (never step foot those waters inside without the multivitamins) and me and Triton combined our boons in order to give them a perfect condition Union Sea water battleship with a skeleton (in more than one way) crew to get them to their destination as safely as possible.
They passed through the terrible duo and after some arguing they choose Skylla as their trial. Using her 'Victory sense' as Nike calls her mortal children's expression of power, she ordered only some of the skeletons to stay visible on the main deck with Percy hiding inside a holed box while the rest were to get inside with the son of Triton using his powers to accelerate the ship as much as he could. A moment before Skylla attacked, Perseus created a wall of sea water and tried to block her as much as possible. By the time they got away only two skeletons had been snatched by the monster and while the demigods were celebrating the successful strategy we couldn't help but be impressed by the ingenuity and teamwork of the questing party.
Sadly they had the bad luck to meet Chrysaor, one of my most powerful children and unfortunately for them one of the more vicious and self-centered as well. The demigods fought well and the more advanced ships cannons managed to equalize the two sides for a while but the centuries of experience and the ichor in his veins proved too much a boon and as a result Perseus and Joan (the daughter of Nike) fell into the sea while Mark (the son of Triton) was captured by Chrysaor.
The two escapes found themselves in the island of Circe where Percy had to spend some time as a guinea pig which Aphrodite found particularly cute and even promised to make a commiserating plushy to gift the Camp in his image and I made sure to ask her to make another 2, one for me and one for his mother. After a while Joan got suspicious and through a series of half amusing and half terrifying events (stumbling in the female-only bath-house of the island while it was in use is the definition of both halves) they managed to escape the island on top of Queen Ann's Revenge while they left a no longer pig shaped (by a point of view) Blackbeard, son of Ares and his crew to raise havoc on the island.
Passing through the sirens quickly while using candle wax to keep their song from affecting them, they reached their destination. The Island of Polyphemous.
For a while everything had been going perfectly. They waited until the Cyclops had left to graze his sheep and used some powerful sleeping concoction that Joan made from some flowers in the island to roofie both his stew and his wine cask. By the time night came, Polyphemus was sleeping like a baby and now that his man eating sheep were caged inside his cave they easily snatched the unguarded Fleece and hightailed it towards their 'borrowed' pirate ship.
Once they reached Miami Percy sent Joan back alone as per the prophecies words but got captured by Ethan Nakamura and led towards his personal ship Princess Andromeda. There he was reunited with Mark that had been sold to the Titans by Chrysaor for gold apparently.
Subtly managing to create a rainbow and an Iris message he managed to make him admit that he was the one that poisoned the guardian tree alienating all the camp's demigods in one move. After all, he endangered their only safe haven that has finally become a place where they could be proud to reside unlike the past but the son of Nemesis words after brought a somber mood and once again we all cursed Zeus for all the problems he has caused us.
(FLASHBACK)
" Why Ethan? Why continue with this madness when things are becoming so much better for us in Camp?" said Percy trying to understand the motives of his adversary.
" Why you ask? Because I want the Gods to be punished for their crimes. For all the demigods that I had to watch throw their lives away into danger year after year just for their parents to notice them. I remember every name of every demigod that died unlamented, not even an empty funeral pyre to ease their way into the Underworld. Charon probably still tortures them by having them wait in line in order to reach their peaceful death because apparently 'Death isn't fair' ain't it Percy. Didn't Charon say that to you when you were searching for Zeus precious Master Bolt." mocked the boy with a grin.
" I understand your pain Ethan, but now things have changed. Zeus is gone and the Gods have learned from their mistakes. If you come back now I will stand by your side and plead your case. I just helped save camp I will ask for my reward to be the pardon of all demigods that joined the Titans if they return. There is still hope." promised Percy trying to get through to the misguided demigod but all he got in return was uproarious laughter.
" Hahahahahaha hope you say. You think there is still hope?" asked in disbelief the son of Nemesis and continued.
" You are a good kid Percy. One of the few truly kind souls that I have ever met like my girlfriend Astraea the now dead daughter of Elpis, the daughter of Hope." he said making the son of Poseidon wince internally.
" She was a truly kind girl. Barely strong enough to be a demigod but that didn't matter because she could light up the world of even the most depressed of people just with her smile and for a time as I was by her side I truly felt peace. The constant pain of our parents rejection had dulled and I thought that if I couldn't get recognition for them then I at least will build a happy life with Astraea."
" But three years ago on my 17 birthday to be precise, as she went to visit her father, she used a plane in order to be safe from the monsters that walk the land but unfortunately for her the plane was struck in a freak lightning storm and was destroyed, taking 200 passengers to the grave amongst them being Astraea."
" A few days later I went to visit the Big House in order to use the phone so I could call her and it was there that I heard the happy laughter of Dionysus talking about how he had to deal with one less brat because Zeus killed her for daring to step into his domain without a proper sacrifice." finished Ethan.
Percy couldn't speak. There wasn't anything to say to that. How can you make someone rationalize such brutality without your words sounding empty and he was ready to make a bid for escape when Nakamura started speaking again.
" My girlfriend's namesake Astraea was the goddess of innocence and she was on the earth alongside humans during the Golden Age of Man. When the Iron Age, the Age of the Gods dawned, bringing along misery and wickedness, Astraea abandoned the earth and went to the skies where she transformed into the constellation Virgo. According to a prophecy, when Astraea returns to Earth one day, she will once again bring the utopia that was during the Golden Age, bringing an end to human suffering. So in her name I am going to bring back that utopia and I will crush Olympus brick by brick, stone by stone until not even dust remains to hint to their existence. I will be the Herald of the Golden Age so I give you one last chance, join me and prosper or refuse and die. Choose now before is too late Percy."
Thankfully at that moment a black Pegasus that he had helped free earlier charged through the monsters holding them and after quickly getting on top Percy and Mark flew away and escaping while behind them an enraged son of Nemesis screamed in rage and cursed them.
(End - FLASHBACK)
(End - POV Poseidon, King of Atlantis)
As the Gods watched the daughter of Nike position the Golden Fleece on top of one of the branches of Hestia's Chaste-tree revitalizing the land and powering the wards, they were happy that their children would remain protected inside the formidable wards but a sudden sound akin to glass distracted them from the iris view.
Space started to twist and distort as a multi colored kaleidoscopic portal opened before the thrones of the Gods. Everyone stood up weapons in hands and spells on their lips the being that emerged from the portal did not look hostile.
It was a woman looking to be in her early twenties wearing red old style dress robes with a longsword sheathed on her waist. She was very voluptuous with pale blonde hair and violet eyes and was extremely beautiful, more akin to a Goddess of beauty than the mortal she was. And she was mortal, the Gods could easily sense it even though her mortality existed only by a thread. Hades, the only male God capable of keeping his ichor on his more important head was about to demand her identity but he was interrupted by Ares of all people.
"SUPER-BRAT. Is that you?" his shock was prevalent for all to see. The flames of his eyes completely extinguished and for the first time the Gods were able to see the violet natural color of his orbs. Making the connection between the shared eye color between the intruder and the War God, they all figured out the identity of the 'intruder'.
"Heya guys, long time no see. What did I miss?" said cheekily the demigoddess.
"Oh you have no idea." replied Hermes with a shake of his head and a rueful grin.
"We will fill her in on the situation here Hermes but first I really have to know, how did you escape the dimensional void?" interrupted Athena a curious gleam in her eyes.
"That's a very long story and in order to explain everything then I will need a seat and a drink."
With a snap of her fingers Aphrodite created a comfortable chair and a small side table with a jug of wine and a crystal tumbler and after everyone got comfortable she started her tale.
"Well first of all in order to understand the situation you have to learn what exactly happened when I was about to exit the challenge Gate. As I was ready to come through…." and from there Alexandra talked about her whole sordid tale, from the existence of the hidden Goddess of Betrayal and daughter of Zeus named Prodosia and how after they fought for a bit she lost control of the hidden dimension causing a space destabilization that chucked them both inside the dimensional gap to how she was saved by a foreign supreme deity and was given a quest as her ticket to home while the Goddess was left to be consumed by the void.
Then after answering some questions about the name of the God and his domains, she talked about her quest and her adventures in Arda, describing the places she saw and the many different races that lived there.
Throughout her story the Gods were dazzled about a whole world that the wild was still prominent and untouched by man, with the environment clean and the star filled sky visible to all every night in its entire splendor.
When she was done, she was congratulated for her accomplishment and then Hestia spoke.
"Now that we have been informed of your spectacular adventures I think it is time for you to ask us for a boon of your choice. After all, you managed to stand victorious against a Gate challenge than no one short of a God would have been able to prevail, something that qualified you for a gift anyway and even had to suffer for our former Kings paranoia." the Queens words getting nod from the rest of the council.
"As such you can request a greater boon than you would have originally been rewarded with and since the council had been sworn on the Styx when you accepted the challenge we will make sure to deliver. It will have to be within our power though, you cannot ask for something that we are unable to do either because it is impossible or it is forbidden by the Ancient Laws." as the Goddess of Fore finished many in the council were expecting to welcome a new Goddess into the fold. After all, with a chance of a carte blanche request from them what else would someone ask for? It was only logical that she would ask to become a Goddess.
Unfortunately for them, Alexandra was not so predictable.
"If that is the case then I want a full powered blessing orb from each Olympian."
The whole Council froze in their place and Artemis tried to dissuade her from that course.
"Alexandra, no matter how strong you are, you will never be able to handle the power of so many domains in your body. If you use all these blessing orbs you will explode from the inside out. If power is what you wish for, we would be more than happy to make you a Goddess to stand amongst us."
"Oh don't worry my lady, aside from two orbs I have no intention of using the rest on myself. The rest I am going to use to advance my forging and enchanting skills. As I said before, in the near 150 years I spent in Arda I gained a true appreciation for these crafts and what a better way to create a true master piece than the power of a true God. The reason I want so many of them is that I have no experience in using them and I am afraid most of them will be wasted in the manufacturing and testing process. To prove my sincerity I will swear here and now on the Styx that I will absorb only two of the blessing orbs I will be given today from you here and not any of the others." the moment she swore the oath, a distant clap of thunder sealed it and the Gods relaxed, no longer afraid that they would have a whole pantheon of blessings combined into one demigod, a powerful one at that in the first place. This much power unregulated by the Ancient Laws would have been too dangerous. The whole exploding thing a mere misdirection of the thruth.
"If that is the case then why didn't you ask for a powerful artifact to be given to you. I am sure my son Hephaestus would be more than happy to gift you one."
"That's because I am an artist my lady. I am sure that your son would have been able to give me an artifact that far surpasses anything that I will be able to accomplish but the crux of the matter is that it wouldn't have been created by my own hands. There would be no challenge and no knowledge and wisdom gained from it." finished Alexandra and waited for the verdict.
"Well, I don't know about the rest of you but after hearing such passionate words from someone wishing to further my craft, I am more than happy to indulge her." said Hephaestus a ghost of a smile on his face.
"Indeed, as a Goddess of knowledge and wisdom it would be a travesty to prevent someone from seeking to further themselves intellectually." Athena added a proud look in her eyes.
"If that is the case then we will be more than happy to grant your wish child." said Hestia, a knowing look in her eyes that the rest didn't notice aside from Hades whose cunning didn't get suppressed by flattery unlike a certain wisdom Goddess he could mention.
After all Alexandra swore that she herself wouldn't use more than two orbs, she never said anything about giving it to someone else. Not that he cared. Unlike the others, his domains would make anyone not having a true death affinity go suicidal, unable to withstand the deathly energies. There is a reason after all that so many of his children go on the deep end when they overuse their powers. Their mortal blood is incapable to keep the aftereffects completely in check.
With a sheepish but happy smile she received the 13 blessing orbs and put them in her inventory for later use. Seeing as they were done for now and with the camps quest over most Gods choose to leave in order to go back to their duty or inside someone's bed for depending on the individual.
The only ones that stayed behind were Ares, Athena and Hephaestus with the latter wishing her luck in her crafting and then going on his way.
As they approached her, her smiling visage disappeared and she spoke.
"Okay what the fuck happened? Why is Hestia a Queen and where is the sky asshole?"
"Eloquent as ever eh brat?" smirked Ares
"Oh my, you can use words like eloquent in a sentence correctly now daddy dearest? Did you beg Athena to tutor you or something?" mocked Alex with an identical grin.
"What was that brat? Did you just say 'Please Father I want to get my teeth kicked in?' because that is what I heard." replied the God of War his eyebrow twitching uncontrollably and before his daughter could reply, they were interrupted by Athena.
"As entertaining it would be to watch you two bicker like toddlers, I believe we have a few things that we must inform Alexandra about, so keep your parent-child reunion for later." and with a grip on both the hot headed idiots shoulders she teleported them to her temple in Olympus.
A few hours later a shell-shocked and red-eyed demigoddess was seen exiting the Empire State Building in New York. The knowledge of the fate of her siblings and the disappearance of her 'sisters' heavy on her mind.
Considering her age, she could no longer stay in her Cabin in the Camp. This place was meant for children to learn about the divine world and after getting old enough to make their own way, armed with the necessary skills to survive.
As such, she decided to rent a room in one of the hotels in town for the night and figure out her course of action the next day. After getting inside her room, she made sure to place some rudimentary bounded fields and decided to distract herself with her newest perk.
WIS 250 = Personal Domain (I): You have attained the ability to become the Master of your own Realm. Depending on the population and the prosperity of your Realm you increase your influence in your domain and pave the direction of your realm.
Damn if this wasn't a fucking shock when she first saw it. A whole fucking world completely formed and fully stocked with both flora and fauna for her to rule over and direct on her whims. The only thing missing was humans or other sapient beings on their level and above, but she wasn't really in a hurry to fill the place with those. After all, humanity didn't exactly appreciate Gaia all that much considering the state of the environment.
Activating the perk, a white haze surrounded her right hand and with a vertical slash on the air a portal opened for her to step through.
Once she reached the other side she found herself on the peak of the great mountain she fought Zeus eagle nearly a century and a half ago by her perspective. Using one of her domain powers she summoned a holographic map of her dimension.
From what she was able to deduce, it was slightly bigger that the size of the Earth with both a North and South Pole that was predictably iced over and a landmass connected to the North Pole that had almost identical shape to America (both North and South).
The differences where many though. First as I said before there was no Arctic sea between the north pole and the mainland. Where it was supposed to be the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea was actually fully land. In contrast, at the position of the USA and a big part of Canada there was a humongous Gulf that inside was an island big enough for USA to fit inside surrounded by a Narrow Sea and with a Bay on the East side to connect it to the wider Ocean. Last, there was a humongous chain of mountains that went from almost the top of the continent to the very tip at the bottom.
Happy with what she had observed for now she was ready to summon her wings and fly around a bit when a voice behind her made her freeze.
"You took your sweet time in finally stepping in you realm didn't you love? For a moment I thought you would never visit." said a sweet tinkling familiar voice.
Turning slowly around still in disbelief she gazed at a beautiful smile she thought she would never get to see again.
"ARWEN!?"
~ChildeOfWar