Authors Note: Hey guys! So, this chapter is a bit of a weird one. Like, not plot wise, just, how I wrote is is a bit strange. Maybe you guys should just read it to see what I'm talking about. PS- There's going to be a small time jump in the beginning :)
Chapter 32: Never let Frothy do the talking
Seventeen Years Later
"This drink, I quite like it." Apollo said with a grin. "Another!" he yelled out, throwing the glass at the ceiling.
"Dude." Hermes said with a wince as he covered his head from the raining glass. "You don't have to act like some donkey, throwing things everywhere, and basically acting like a lunatic."
"But where's the fun in that?" Apollo said with a grin. "If we behave like a pair of goody gods. Plus, this is a nice drinking establishment, which has seen its fair share of destruction. Raining glass never hurt anyone."
"Right." Hermes said with a sigh, dusting the broken pieces from his shoulder. "So, what's bothering you?"
"Why do you ask?" Apollo replied. "I mean, why are you assuming something is bothering me?"
"Because you always take me and Perseus to spell out your troubles somewhere. Though I'm glad you stopped causing mayhem in cities, that was a true pain to bear."
Apollo waved his hand dismissively. "That was young me. Now I'm...older than young, so that phase has gone away. But, Skiágis never had the pleasure of my presence. We may have to rectify that someday."
"Skiágis? I'm telling you now only, I am not dealing with another golden net situation. That one time was enough for me." Hermes said with a shudder.
"Golden net...I hate that stupid thing. Curse Hephaestus, why did he have to create that stupid thing anyway." Apollo muttered.
"In order to catch Aphrodite and Ares together." Hermes replied, a dreamy smile setting on his face. "Oh, that day felt like it only happened yesterday..."
Flashback
It was a few years after the formation of Skiágis. After numerous wooing tactics, one failed attempt of serenading by the window, and a promise of a chariot ride over corpses later, Ares had finally managed to convince Aphrodite to try going out with him, behind Hephaestus's back of course. One week of that later, and the rest was history. The two had two children over the course of the next few years, Eros and Harmonia. Poor Hephaestus figured that the goddess maybe created them by herself, like his own mother did with him. But the continued hushed whispers, snickers, and pitying glances from the gods whenever he mentioned his 'kids' and his relationship with Aphrodite made him hesitate and weary. Apollo and Hermes found it assuming. Perseus was torn between telling Hephaestus, or to just ignore the whole situation. Artemis was in a similar boat, though she was favoring for the telling part. Rest of the gods were baffled at Hephaestus's obliviousness, thinking he would have put two and two together since Ares was always after his wife. Finally, Perseus cracked, and pulled Hephaestus aside.
It was only a week later, when Hephaestus lumbered into the dining hall for an Olympian Sunday breakfast, an axe slung behind his back.
"Stop!" Hephaestus announced. "Don't eat, I have something to show you all."
"Oh come on big guy, I can't not eat this flat bread." Apollo protested.
"Trust me, you don't want to eat. Because what I am going to show you all will make you hurl." Hephaestus stated, making his way outside. The gods glanced at each other and shrugged, deciding to humor Hephaestus this one time. The group followed Hephaestus down the hill, where his palace was located.
"I swear, if he's going to show that cooking machine he once made, I am going to hurl." Demeter said with a shudder. "The food was covered in oil. And not the cooking kind."
"I think I may have an idea where this is going." Perseus whispered to Artemis, on seeing that they were entering the house, and not the back workshop.
"Is it something bad or good..." Artemis whispered back, making Perseus nervously rub the back of his neck. "It's up to interpretation, I guess." he finally said.
"Behold." Hephaestus grumbled, gesturing to his shut bedroom door. "A bane of my existence."
Artemis, being the brave one out of the group stepped up to open the door. She hardly took a peek inside, when she immediately slammed the door shut, cringed and muttered an 'ew', and then walked away. Getting antsy, the Olympians barged into the room, and were greeted by one of the most extraordinary sights they have ever seen.
"Oh bloody Fates no." Perseus cried, turning away. "Damn it, I just got a mental picture!"
For inside the room, was Ares and Aphrodite in their underwear, plastered like flies on the bed, courtesy of a golden glowing net that was keeping them bound. Aphrodite's hair was sprawled around, and her makeup messed up. While Ares was whimpering and had a weird expression on his face, and probably had imprints from the net.
"This is what I came home to one day. If it weren't for Perseus already telling me about the infidelity, these...imbeciles would have gotten away again with their...fooling around again!" Hephaestus cried. "I am shocked, I am disgusted. Don't you all feel the same way?!"
The gods were all silent during all this, just staring at the trapped gods. Slowly, but surely, most of them were starting to tremble, and as soon as Zeus and Poseidon caught each other's eyes, it was all over.
"BWA! BWA-HA! BWAHAHAHAHA!" Zeus and Poseidon howled together in laughter, doubling down to the ground. The goddesses immediately started giggling and laughing, except for Hestia who had a disappointed look on her face, but for who know one knows. Artemis's mouth twitched, and soon enough she was laughing out loud as well, grasping Perseus's hand so she won't fall down.
"Oh, I take back what I said earlier. This is seriously too hilarious." Artemis said with a chuckle.
"Well I'm not going to!" Perseus said with frown. "Like...oh come on, cover them up at least, that's my sister. Unfortunately." Perseus said, summoning a blanket and putting it over Aphrodite. Though he left Ares out.
"Look at his underwear, look at it!" Hermes exclaimed. "I don't believe it, who puts 'This is Sparta!" on their underwear?!" he cried out, making everyone laugh out again.
"Aphrodite, you look simply lovely." Athena giggled. "Oh, what I would do for some device that can capture moments permanently."
"...Well, I am kind of working on a prototype that allows light to-" Hephaestus began to say, until he slapped himself. "What am I saying! You guys are not supposed to laugh!" he cried out.
"Come on Heph, don't tell me you can't see the humor in this situation. You must have broken into a slight grin when you first saw them at least." Apollo said with a laugh.
Hephaestus huffed. "Of course I broke into a grin on seeing them." he grumbled, taking out his axe. "When I contemplated on slicing and dicing them on the spot! Step aside everyone, I have a job to fin-"
"Woah! Hold it big guy! Hephaestus stop!" everyone cried as they pulled Hephaestus away from butchering his captives.
"Heheheheh, oh, thank you for making me laugh." Apollo said with a smile, wiping a tear from his eye. "That day was truly something else. Heck, people are still talking about it to this day."
"It truly was. And people will talk about it for centuries to come." Hermes said, handing Apollo a drink, and then raised his. "Not only did we see Ares in his worse, and Sparta underwear, we also saw Aphrodite half naked. Cheers man!"
"I will drink to that." Apollo said with a grin, clinking his glass. "Hmm...I don't like this drink."
"Good, you spared the establishment a glass." Hermes mumbled.
"Tell me more funny stuff, at least until Percy gets here." Apollo whined. "Why did that idiot have to ditch us for his girlfriend again. It's so annoying..."
"And you going on random dates and coming back blackout drunk is not." Hermes thought, but kept it to himself. "What you want a retelling of then huh? I have lots of material, some stories not about us but of other people as well, which I heard while travelling."
"Hmm, tell me about that time we went to investigate Poseidon's horror!" Apollo said.
"Poseidon's horror it is then..."
Flashback
Taking place another few years from the Ares/Aphrodite incident, the younger gods were present in the dining room, waiting for food to arrive. Hestia had the brilliant (possibly disastrous) idea of making the elder male gods make dinner today, which meant Hades was coming over as well, with Persephone. No one knew what the brothers were making, but the slight smell of smoke may not bode well for today's meal. Ares and Athena were arguing about a war taking place between Athens and Sparta, while Apollo was trying to unsuccessfully play a duet with his Keras and Lyre. Hermes was trying to sell makeup to Aphrodite, while Hephaestus was tinkering, and simultaneously glaring at Ares. Perseus and Artemis were looking through an Iris message of their hunters, and talking in hushed whispers. A loud bang then came from the kitchen, along with some swearing, making the gods jump. The scent of the sea then wafted through the room, making the gods relax and then perk up. Poseidon soon flashed inside the room, though his face was showing immense panic and horror.
"Uncle Poseidon?" Perseus said, immediately noticing that his uncle was shuddering all over. "Are you feeling alr-"
"The horror, the monstrosity!" Poseidon wailed, falling to his knees. "I want my mind wiped out, and my tongue cleansed!"
"What did you see, Amphitrite without makeup?" Apollo quipped, Hermes sniggering beside him.
"That's not even comparable to what I witnessed. And I know who's responsible for this." Poseidon said, his eyes trained on Athena who was the only one had a blank look on her face. "You." Poseidon said with a snarl.
Athena blinked. "Me." she said coolly.
"You turned her into a freakshow!" Poseidon yelled. "What did I ever do to you?!"
Athena had a thoughtful look on her face as she taped her finger to her chin. "Hmm, I don't know honestly. Oh wait, yes...you were making out with my high priestess, who took a vow of chastity, just below my statue, in my temple, and you expect me to ignore that?! I didn't even do anything to you to incur that."
"You turned the girl I was after that one time into a bloody crow." Poseidon yelled out. "Why would you do that?"
"So that she wouldn't experience the horridness of having a godly lover. Especially you, not even married for ten years and-"
"It was only going to be a stupid fling with the mortal-"
"Exactly, that's why-"
"Everyone be quiet, or you will only get leftovers!" Hera yelled, frying pan in hand. "One more shout, and I will smack the speaker upside down. Poseidon, where's our dinner?"
"Oh, uh, just a second." Poseidon muttered, taking out a box. "This is a starter, basically seaweed wrapped around rice. And there is raw seafood stuffed inside."
"Pass." Aphrodite, Ares and Hephaestus said. The rest tried out the dish, to generally positive reviews. Hades then arrived, holding a platter of beef stew and Zeus later came into the hall, carrying a smoking piece of full roast chicken.
"I zapped the entire thing, thinking it may cook the meat faster." Zeus said with a chuckle. "I managed to salvage it though, so enjoy."
"My dish is finely cut meats from my freshest cows," Hades said. "The sauce is an underworld specialty, grounded marrow-"
"Brother." Hestia interrupted. "Didn't I specifically tell you to not use underworld ingredients when making your dish? If we eat food from the underworld, we would have to stay down there."
"Oh..." Hades simply said, his pale face coloring a bit as he blushed in embarrassment. "I guess me and Persephone would have to eat this then..."
"Does that mean Poseidon has the best dish? That's a first." Hera said in surprise.
"So Poseidon, what is this horror exactly that got you so riled up. And what did you create Athena, that had Poseidon so riled up." Artemis asked.
"Just something to let him know that he should never mess with me." Athen simply said.
Poseidon shuddered. "Like I said, it was horrible. Athena turned a woman I was...uh...seeing, into a monster. The most horrifying and ugliest monster I have ever laid my eyes upon." Poseidon finished with a whimper.
"Cool!" Apollo and Ares said together.
"I didn't know you had it in you to create monster Athena. Why not turn the woman into a plant?" Hermes asked with a smirk.
"A plant is too generous. Also, she needed a lesson for breaking her vow. She was my priestess after all, and shouldn't have gone for this fool's advances anyway." Athena replied. Perseus wanted to open his mouth about the situation as a whole, but didn't. He knew that no matter what, Athena's pride and stubbornness will get in the way when arguing. And it was really irritating when that happened.
"What does the monster look like?" Perseus asked curiously.
"Uh, I'm not so sure exactly. I left at first glance. But I did notice snakes on her head." Poseidon replied. "I think... there was a lot of hissing."
Perseus's right eye twitched as he stared at Athena, who raised an eyebrow at his stare. "What? If you are so curious, why don't you see her for yourself. Kill it if you want to, I guess. That is your job, right?"
"I don't kill monsters for sport." Perseus muttered.
"What were you even doing in Athena's temple anyway." Demeter asked. "Weren't you supposed to be preparing for our dinner?"
"I did." Poseidon said indignantly. "I just thought I'll have dinner with you guys' and...the other woman." he then muttered.
"Unbelievable." Demeter and Hera muttered.
"I ruined your dinner then? Good job me." Athena said with a smile, patting her own back.
"Hey Perseus, you want to check out this new monster? Artemis asked.
"Maybe just a quick peek. I have to go patrol Thrace later in the night, and that place is always nasty." Perseus replied, wiping his mouth. He glanced up from the table, only to see the expectant looks on Apollo, Hermes, and Aphrodite's faces staring at him.
"No." Perseus immediately said.
"Yes!" Apollo, Hermes and Aphrodite said together.
"Look Percy, you either allow us to see this monster, or, we will tag along with you to Thrace. It's your choice." Hermes said.
"How about, none of those choices." Perseus said.
"Come on, don't be so lame." Apollo whined. "Tell him sis...ter, tell him he's being lame."
Artemis had a thoughtful look on her face as she stared at Perseus, who vehemently shook his head. "How about this, you three can join me and Percy for our monster watch. But, you have to swear on the Styx that you will not spy on us during our dates ever again. Deal?"
Apollo and Aphrodite were about to open their mouths to protest, but were stopped by Hermes, who clamped their mouths shut with his hands. "That's a fair deal. We accept." a few mutterings later, thunder boomed overhead and the oath was sealed.
"Amazing." Artemis said, pointedly glancing at Perseus, the latter sighing. "I guess no more spying and interrupting will be a literal godsend." Perseus replied.
"It's for our best." Artemis said with a wink, bopping Perseus on the nose.
Later on after dinner, Perseus and his friends were flying over the Mediterranean, somewhat searching for the cave that was now being occupied by the monster Medusa. After some digging with the help of Iris, the gods narrowed the possible location to be in the far east of the island Seriphos, the island just being passed by them. Half an hour later, the gods found a small mountain jutting out of the sea, where they found a pathway leading to a small cave. And in that cave, was a signature that the gods faintly recognized.
"Yep, I can sense a monster alright." Perseus said. "The question is, how did she land up here in the first place? There's no way she could have taken the entire early night to reach here.
"Maybe she could swim really fast? Could be a possibility." Artemis muttered. A loud shriek was then heard, making Artemis turn around and draw her bow, only to find Apollo jumping into her arms and clutching her tight.
"What the- Apollo?! What in our uncles name is wrong with-"
"Ghost! There's a ghost here!" Apollo shouted, pointing at a slowly elongating humanoid shadow. "It almost got me!"
Perseus scoffed. "Ghosts don't have shadows Apollo; believe me I know. You probably saw some bush or...woah."
"What did you see Per- oh wow, look at the craftsmanship. It looks so lifelike." Aphrodite commented.
"Huh?" the others said, slowly walking to where Perseus and Aphrodite were looking at. There, they saw a stone statue of a guy, who looked like he was going to kill something as he had knife drawn out. And while the gods had seen their fair share of statues (since they did model for some), this statue looked eerily life like. As if someone just dumped a coat of cement on the person, and told him to stay still.
"Is it just me, or am I getting chills." Hermes said with a shudder. "And what is a statue doing out here in the middle of nowhere?"
"Especially in a place where a monster is." Apollo said quietly, glancing at the entrance of the cave. "You guys think this Medusa person carried the statue along with her?" he asked, making everyone facepalm.
"Or what if, she turned this once alive poor person, into a statue." Aphrodite whispered.
"Yeah right, a monster that can turn people into stone. What's next, a monster that is a flying pig?" Hermes joked.
"Guys, shush! I think I hear something." Perseus said, as he slowly made his way to the cave. The gods had just reached the entrance when a piercing wail shot out of the cave, followed by a series of crashes and yells.
"That was something." Perseus muttered, stepping inside. After going through a narrow corridor, he found himself in a relatively big chasm, filled with stalactites and stalagmites. Another wail filled the cave, prompting Perseus to duck behind a rock. Soft footsteps filled his senses as he glanced the gods making their way through the corridor. Artemis was the first to emerge, bow and arrow drawn out, and nervously glanced around. Aphrodite then poked her head out, her eyes trained on Perseus.
"Psst, did you see the monster?" she asked. "Because I really want to get out of here."
"No, not yet..." Perseus said, trailing off as he saw a large shadow cover the place where he and the gods were. Artemis immediately looked up; her mouth agape as she clutched her bow tightly. Perseus then moved forward where Artemis was, turning around to see what was causing the shadow. And what he saw, probably gave him a guess as to why Poseidon was freaked out in the first place.
Perseus could only see the back view, but he can clearly see that Medusa had wings of a bat, brass talons, and snakes where her hair should be. Instead of legs, there was a moving snake tail, as thick as the leg of an elephant. She was carrying a bunch of stalagmites in her hand, and chucking them at the ceiling.
"So that's how she got here. She has wings." Perseus thought, slowly taking out his bow incase things got worse.
Medusa then paused, her head nodding off to the side. She then immediately turned around, giving the gods a very good look at her face. And Aphrodite's scream was enough to convey what everyone was thinking.
Along with snakes for hair, Medusa had pale grey skin, with boar tusks jutting out of her mouth. Her eyes were bulged out, making her look vaguely amphibian. Her facial features were so misshapen and disproportionate, it almost made Perseus want to take a really closer look to see how she really looked like. Medusa let out a bellowing screech as she raised her hands filled with stalagmites, aiming straight at the gods.
"Leave me alone you scorners!" Medusa yelled, throwing her projectiles. Perseus raised his arm in one swift motion, and suspended the stalagmites in the air. He wondered if he should retaliate, but seeing Medusa in distress and what looked like pain made him stop. The poor woman did turn into the hideous beast today itself, and here Perseus was, probably going to send it to Tartarus in a few minutes.
"I-" Perseus began to say, but then stopped. He let go of the control he had on the stalagmites, making them drop to the ground. "Come on everyone, we're leaving. Now."
Apollo stared at him as if he had gone mad. "B-But the monster-"
"I said we're leaving now!" Perseus growled, grabbing Apollo and a fear petrified Aphrodite out of the chasm, with Hermes and Artemis quickly following behind. The group were soon way away from the cave, though that didn't stop the haunting image of Medusa and her cries from leaving the gods minds.
"I just have this to say." Hermes gasped out. "If Athena had any hand in picking how the monster looks, then she did a...what is the word I'm looking for. Can't say horrifying, even though the monster does look-"
"Her name is Medusa." Perseus said through clenched teeth. "What was Athena even thinking, turning her into that. And it wasn't even really her fault, uncle Poseidon, he- Gods..."
Artemis had a sad expression on her face. "I agree with you, even though she broke her vow, no one deserves to have a fate worse than death."
"I'm going to go talk to her, see if she would change her mind at least." Perseus said. "Let's just hope the curse doesn't set fully..."
"Yeah...what happened after that? I didn't bother to ask about it later on." Apollo asked, slight guilt evident in his voice.
"From what I remember, Athena promised that she would personally select a hero to end Medusa's torture. Though I'm not sure if she will ever turn back to human at all." Hermes said with a sigh. "She has turned into a very feared beast, that's for sure. The stories, the people who went to fight her, I can write a whole book on it."
"Yeah, that would be nice. Man, what is taking Percy so long. I called him like, four seconds ago. That's it, I'm going to see where he is." Apollo muttered as he began to get up.
"Don't you fool! Perce and Artemis are definitely on a date, and don't tell me you forgot what happened the last time when we went to spy on them?! Not only did we break our Styx oath, which was horrible as it's, we got our arses handed to ourselves from those two. You really want a repeat of that?!"
"Well...we aren't on Styx oath now." Apollo mumbled.
Hermes narrowed his eyes. "Fine, let me recount you again what exactly happened that day. And I hope you come to your senses after this..."
Flashback: Two years before present time
Apollo and Hermes were out on the chariot racetracks, about to do a foot race. And while everyone knew better than to race against Hermes, Apollo's claim on being the sun god, hence being light and no one can beat the speed of light, prompted the two of them to have the race. Which in turn was a private affair, so that the loser wouldn't feel any shame from the onlooking crowd. (Apollo's idea)
The two had just finished their preparations when Aphrodite flashed in with a flurry rose petals, clutching a dove in her hands.
"You guys will not believe what I'm going to tell you today." Aphrodite said, a giddy smile on her face.
"Oh, hey Aphro. Sorry, but we're in the middle of something right now." Hermes replied.
"I doubt it's as important as this. Okay, so I just got this dove back from its usual trip. This is my gossip dove by the way, brings me all the juiciest information, and dirt, on the fellow people of Gre-"
"Aphro. We're busy." Apollo said, getting into position.
Aphrodite puffed up her cheeks. "This is serious talk. And I can't believe how I didn't connect it sooner, it was...so...obvious!"
"Ignore her?" Hermes asked.
"Ignore her." Apollo confirmed. "On three. One...two..."
Aphrodite threw her arms into the air, as she indignantly glared at Apollo and Hermes. "You idiots!"
"...Three!"
"Percy is going to propose to Artemis today itself!"
As soon as Aphrodite said those words, Apollo, who had already begun to run, tripped on his own feet and fell flat on his face. While Hermes immediately skidded to a stop, and promptly fell on his backside as the momentum made him fall behind.
"What?!" Apollo and Hermes shouted together; the formers voice muffled by the ground.
"You heard me. But since you two are so fixated on your race..."
"What do you mean by Percy is going to propose to my sister?!" Apollo said, scrambling up. "Did he tell you about it?"
"Of course he would have asked her about it. Love goddess, hello." Hermes said with a sigh.
Aphrodite sniffled. "He didn't actually, which I'm actually very pissed about. I only got to know from various snippets of conversation, and my gossip dove."
Apollo narrowed his eyes. "Your primary source of information...is a dumb bird?"
"And what do you mean by various 'snippets' of conversation?" Hermes asked.
"I will explain everything. But not here, too much public eye for something that should be private. We have to go somewhere discreet." Aphrodite said, making Apollo tilt his head to the side, and then slowly grin.
"I know just the place...to Hecate's den!"
One trip to the Underworld later, and Apollo, Hermes and Aphrodite were waiting outside Hecate's door, in order to be let in. Hecate then opened her newly installed safety window on her door, took one look at her visitors, and immediately shut the door.
"And if you try to bust in, I will burn you alive with my torches!" Hecate yelled.
"Hecate, open up, please." Apollo yelled. "We are here without permission, and I doubt Hades is going to be happy about that."
"You guys are here without permission?" Hecate said from the other side. "Good, I should call over the Furies then. Thy need more livestock for their dungeons anyways."
Aphrodite huffed. "Did she just call me livestock. Okay you creepy lady, I'm going to-"
"Is my own trainee trying to challenge me? How hilarious." Hecate mocked.
"Look, we're only here because we need a quiet place to discuss something. And this will pique your interest, and that is Percy is going to propose to Artemis." Hermes said.
A brief silence stretched out, until Hecate replied. "He is? About damn time for sure."
"No. Nonononono. Not about damn time, too soon, very too soon." Apollo said, vehemently shaking his head left and right.
"Eh, they've been dating for fifteen years. Question really was when the big swords were coming up." Aphrodite muttered.
"Come on, aren't you a tiny bit curious as to how we know this? Since Percy has obviously never mentioned it to any of us." Hermes said. Another brief silence enveloped the area, making the gods sigh. "Maybe I should open the lock myself." Hermes mumbled.
Before he could do anything, the sounds of locks opening were heard, making the gods jump back. The door then swung open, revealing Hecate surrounded by a cloud of mist, her piercing eyes trained on the group.
"What do you mean by...'Perseus never mentioning this'?" Hecate said slowly.
"We got to know from a third party." Apollo blurted out. "Percy kept this as a secret from us."
"Smart move, seeing the way you three are behaving." Hecate said coolly. "But are you telling me, he didn't ask his pseudo sister, the love goddess for advice?'
"That's the thing!" Aphrodite said excitedly. "He didn't, but he also did. He was being very sneaky about it, which was mean. But we figured it out, and we are going to be the first people to ever witness it!"
"I still think they should maybe wait." Apollo muttered.
"You three are going to do something stupid." Hecate said in a matter-of-fact tone. "So come on in, so that I can hopefully convince you idiots why whatever you three are planning, is going to be a bad idea..."
"That's impossible. We are quite responsible adults." Hermes said, though he sounded unconvinced himself.
"Uh-huh. And I don't wield hellfire." Hecate said snapping her fingers. Four glasses and a kettle emerged out of thin air, laying down their 'discussion' drinks.
"So tell me. What makes you think that Percy is going to pop the question. And that to today itself." Hecate asked.
Aphrodite cleared her throat. "So, I got word from my gossip dove that Skiágis, is preparing for a big event. Like really big. I'm talking about festival level big. And as we all know; our dear friend is the patron of Skiágis. Oh oh, I bet he's going to propose there! Hence, the festivities."
Hecate raised an eyebrow. "That sounds...very farfetched. Mostly because, why would the city celebrate a godly proposal. That implies that Perseus told everyone in the city to prepare for something big-"
"And there's nothing big that is going to happen today relating him or Artemis. Today is basically a random every day for them, but not for long. Today is going to mean something special for them. A day of joy, love, and hope." Aphrodite replied with a sigh, a dreamy smile on her face. "It's going to be so romantic, I- Ohhh, I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about it."
Hecate stared at Apollo and Hermes, trying to gouge their reactions. To her surprise, they seemed to be convinced that whatever she was saying was in fact, true. Though, why were they staring at Aphrodite with glazed eyes and a bit of a dopey expression on their faces?
"I'm still not convinced at all. I need more proof that is what Perseus is going to do. Otherwise, you're grasping at hay over here." Hecate replied.
"Hmm...did I mention the snippets' part? Okay, so basically Percy had started to come by my place during the past week, asking some pretty suspicious questions. Like, what to expect from a wedding, what gifts should be usually given. Any tips on location, invites, what's the position on the common folk. And I gave my answers to the best of my ability, which was easy anyway, I have become a marriage expert. Then he said something about seeing Hera, and what is Hera the goddess of?"
"Problems?" Hecate answered.
"Marriage! And then he also mentioned Hades in passing. Do you know what Hades is the god of?" Aphrodite said, leaning over the table as she peered down at Hecate.
"Bad Iris message service?
"Wealth! Precious metal, gems, all those are under his control. You cannot tell me that Percy hadn't gone to him to ask for the perfect gemstone for..."
"..."
"For..."
"...a ring?"
"Ex-actly!" Aphrodite shouted triumphantly, her hands on her hips. "I am so smart! I should be the goddess of smartness. We don't even have one for that."
"Yeah." "She's right." "Much better smart god." Apollo and Hermes said, grinning stupidly.
Hecate frowned as she stared at Aphrodite. There was no way her allure was active; Apollo and Hermes would have been drooling messes by now. But there was something weird going on, something weird whenever Aphrodite spoke...
"Hmm, you might be on to something here Aphrodite. Maybe Perseus might be proposing to Artemis. But if that's the case, I'm not going to go spying on them or something like that. If you want to do it, then do it. Just don't fall into trouble.
Aphrodite blinked in surprise. "What? Of course not, we wouldn't do such a thing. That's preposterous." she replied, twirling her hair with a finger nervously. "But now that I told you all, my work here is done. Come on boys, let's go and prepare for...your race! Yeah, I want to see how that foot race will go. By Hex, see you later." Aphrodite called out, trailing towards the door. Hecate watched in amusement as Hermes almost tripped over his feet, and then let out a sigh on seeing them flash away.
"If my guesses are correct, she's developing quite an ability. Probably doesn't even know about it." Hecate muttered to herself. She rummaged inside her robe for a drachma, and after multiple attempts, got a rainbow going.
"Iris, show me Perseus wherever he is please."
A few hours after the discussion, Aphrodite, Apollo and Hermes had made their way to Skiágis, where the city was in fact decorated and lighted up for an event.
"This. Is. Foolproof! No one is going to catch us at all." Aphrodite said with a giggle.
"Probably because we're invisible." Hermes said with a sigh. "Seriously Aphrodite, I don't think we should be wasting our time over something like this. Maybe we should-"
"Shhhh, I see Percy, I see Percy!" Aphrodite said excitedly, pointing up. Hermes and Apollo looked up to see the moon chariot, lazily making circles around the island. They could also make out the occupants of the chariot, which was no doubt Perseus and Artemis.
"He's on the moon chariot, they are both on the moon chariot. And then Percy is going to say something romantic, he's going to bring out ring. Oh my me, he's going to propose on the moon chariot, there's going to be cheers and joy, oh this is going to be so romantic!' Aphrodite cried out, and was now straight up bawling her eyes out and fanning her face. Apollo and Hermes were staring at her with a mixture of fear and bewilderness.
"There's still time to flash away." Hermes whispered to Apollo.
"True...but what if she is correct?" Apollo whispered back.
"Maybe, but still! And I can't help but forget some sort of important detail..."
"Okay, places you two. I'm going to scout around the city, get some reactions on the current happenings. You two, are going to of course be on lookout in the forest. See what Percy and Artemis are up to, and check if they are going to possibly make a descent. Good luck and bye!" Aphrodite said, skipping out of view before she can notice Apollo's and Hermes's eyes glazing. The two let out collective sighs of tiredness as hey trudged into the forest, and perched themselves beneath a dolem, where they had a clear view of the chariot.
"This is dumb. Why are we on lookout duty again?" Apollo asked.
"Better than to be potentially spotted. And knowing you, you would love to cause a scene, thus prompting Perce's attention. It's best if we stay out of trouble." Hermes replied, cocking his head to the side.
"Not the answer I was looking for." Apollo said, taking a rock in his hand. He noticed Hermes staring at something at scooted over to him. "What are you looking at?"
"Hmm? Oh, just these two snakes fighting over a dead rat." Hermes simply said. Apollo glanced to where Hermes was looking, and noticed a red and sea green respectively colored snakes indeed fighting over a dead rat. The snakes were slithering in circles around, hissed at each other and semi-lunged, their antics making Hermes let a chuckle. The snakes stopped their movements on hearing the god laugh, and peered over at him, their yellow slitted eyes looking at Hermes curiously. Hermes let out a low hum as he slowly got up and approached the snakes, extending his arm out as well. The snakes slowly slithered up Hermes's arm, pausing in between until they had fully wrapped themselves around his arm.
"Aw, aren't you two cute." Hermes said with a chuckle, scratching the snakes' heads. "You know, I wouldn't mind having some companions with me during my travels."
"You're keeping them? Percy is going to be so pleased." Apollo said with a grin.
"That's not the reason." Hermes chided. "Well, first things first, you guys can hang on my caduceus. And second, I should probably make you both immortal, wouldn't want any accidents to happen."
Hermes then summoned his caduceus and held it out. The snakes began to untangle themselves from Hermes's hand and began to entwine themselves on the staff. After the snakes had intertwined themselves, the caduceus began to glow along with the snakes.
"Woah, that felt delightful." the red snake hissed. "Thanksss a lot for the juice human."
"I don't think that'sss a human." the sea green snake hissed back. "I think thisss isss a god."
"You are correct, I am a god. The name's Hermes, messenger god, travel, thieves, and a whole lot of other stuff. And yes Apollo, you can hear them speaking in your head." Hermes replied.
"Oh, ssso you can understand usss? Nice, can I have a rat?" the red snake asked.
"Do you guys have names?" Hermes asked, receiving two no's in return. "Well then, how about I call you two, Georgios." Hermes said, pointing at the red snake. "And Márta." Hermes said, pointing at the sea green snake.
"I very much like the name Márta."
"Georgios?! I sound like an old dumb human."
"Uh Hermes? Is it just me, or is the moon chariot not up in the air right now?" Apollo said, already looking up. Hermes glanced at where Apollo was looking, and sure enough, the moon chariot was not there.
"They descended? Oh great, where did they go now." Hermes exclaimed. The bushes next to them started rustling, making Hermes and Apollo wary of what was approaching them. The bushes then stopped rustling, confusing the gods until they heard a series of clicks beneath their feet. Glancing down, they saw Aphrodite's crab Sebastianos, clicking its pincers in a series of clicks.
"Uh, is it trying to communicate to us or?" Apollo asked. Georgios and Márta bent down to where Sebastianos was, and slowly nodded.
"Crab over here saysss, 'Aphy coming. Don't move. Mad at both'. That isss, the rough translation I can get." Georgios stated.
"How lovely." Apollo said in a deadpanned voice. The bushes then started rustling again, soon revealing a frazzled looking Aphrodite, a hard gleam in her eyes.
"You two were supposed to alert me! But you didn't which means you got distracted. Come on, they descended down here only, so I'm not that mad at the two of you. For now."
'Gee, thanks." Hermes and Apollo said, following Aphrodite through the woods. While they were running, the gods suddenly felt some sort of compelling force flow through them, making them wince in pain. Though they still continued on, but this time, they changed directions, and soon enough, they could make out the outline of the moon chariot among the trees.
"We're here, we're here! Okay, places. We don't want to be seen, and get the confetti ready- WAAHH!" Aphrodite cried out. Apollo and Hermes were stunned as they watched Aphrodite shoot up into the air. Before they could even move, the same thing happened to them as well, the two of them being launched into the air. After getting their bearings together, it was only then that the gods realized the predicament they were in right now. They had been captured.
"What, how?! I didn't notice any traps." Hermes cried out, struggling against the net he was in. He tried to flash away and change shape, but the net was closing in on him, making him unable to use any powers.
"Oh no, oh nononono! Not this thing again!" Aphrodite wailed, struggling to get into a comfortable position. On seeing Aphrodite's distress, it was only then that Hermes and Apollo realized what they have been captured by.
"Hephaestus's golden net! This sucks, this truly sucks!" Apollo cried out, moving up and about in order to break the rope, but it wouldn't budge. Underneath them, the shadows began to collect themselves into a portal, and soon enough, Perseus and Artemis emerged from it, with shit eating grins on their faces.
"One of your best ideas ever Artemis." Perseus said with a grin. "I can't believe it worked out so perfectly."
"Well, we have Hecate to thank for. And the Styx oath we made them take." Artemis replied.
"The oath! I knew I was forgetting something." Hermes exclaimed. "No wonder I wasn't unable to detect anything wrong, the broken oath was acting up."
"Why are you three even here anyway? I asked Hecate, but she said to ask you guys, so..."
"To witness the proposal of course." Aphrodite said haughtily.
Perseus frowned. "You mean, the marriage?"
"Marriage?" the gods exclaimed together.
"Yeah. The marriage of the new king and queen of Skiágis, Astor and Penelope." Perseus replied, still frowning. "Why do I have a feeling that there's something more to this."
"Uh..." Aphrodite trailed off, nervously glancing at Apollo and Hermes, who were now glaring at her. "Why were you asking me about marriage and love stuff back then?"
Perseus blinked in surprise. "That? I just needed input on how a mortal wedding should go. The king didn't want to pray to you for help, seeing that he felt it was embarrassing, so I took it upon myself to do it for him. Also, fact checked with Hera later on, which was a good thing I did."
"No wonder the people were giving me funny looks when I asked about you and Artemis. B-But, what about Hades? You mentioned him a couple of times?!" Aphrodite sputtered. "For a ring, right?"
"Ring? No, I just needed his help in making the precious metal and stones develop faster. Skiágis needed something to export other than herbs and spices, so I added in metals and gems as well." Perseus said simply.
Artemis was staring at Aphrodite with a thoughtful look on her face, and then her eyes lit up. "Wait. Don't tell me you thought Perseus was going to propose to me?! That's why you all came down here, to spy on us."
A brief silence filled the area, making the captured gods squirm nervously. On seeing that Artemis's assumption was indeed correct, Perseus and Artemis bursted out laughing.
"Holy Zeus, I can't believe you guys! And you two believed her? No offense sis."
"Come on Apollo, aren't you supposed to be the truth god? And Hermes, what happened to see a hoax from a mile?"
"Shut up." Apollo and Hermes muttered, blushing gold. "She bewitched us, it's the only explanation."
"I did not." Aphrodite exclaimed. "Percy, can you please let me down."
"I'm sorry but, I'm still recovering from the stupidity I'm witnessing. Come on, there's no way I'm going to propose to Artemis. … I mean, I'm going to propose, just not today, it's a yet matter. It may, no, will, probably? It will happen, if she agrees of course, but not anytime soon. I mean, we have all the time in the world, there's no need to rush at all, I will do it somewhere down the line-"
"Percy dear?"
"Yes Artemis?"
"Stop rambling."
"Yes honey."
"Anyway, what shall we do with these three? Should we let them go, or let them stay the night here?" Artemis asked.
"Hmm." Perseus mused, glancing at the spot where the moon chariot was kept. "I may have an idea on what we can do." Perseus replied, grinning evilly.
"Ahh, I always love these rides of ours." Perseus said, sighing in content as Artemis pulled him closer to her chest. He watched along with Artemis as the constellations up above slowly moved, their stars shining brightly. He wondered how the sky would look up above, though that was Ouranos's realm. And, he definitely didn't want to deal with the possibility of Mados like winged-people up there.
"I agree. Though I think we should spice it up a bit." Artemis said, resting her chin on Perseus's head. She then whipped the reigns, making the speed of the chariot increase as it slowly made a descent.
"Is that fine what you're doing? We don't want another 'loopy sun' incident." Perseus asked, a bit worried.
"Relax, I know what I'm doing. As long as we stay within the trail, we can do whatever tricks we want with the chariot. Besides, we have to show our passengers that this is not some joyride. We are teaching them a lesson." Artemis replied, the two of them glancing back. Attached to the back of the chariot with rope was Apollo, Hermes, and Aphrodite, still stuck in their golden nets, and with permanent screaming faces as they got suspended fully back. Their screams were drowned by the howling wind as their faces experienced gravitational force.
"And, stop." Artemis said, setting the chariot to rest. The nets then began to swing fully ahead, this time with the screams audible. Perseus and Artemis watched in amusement as their friends became visible for a moment, and then descended back down again.
"This, is another great idea you thought of." Artemis said, patting Perseus's head. "Good job."
"Why thank you milady." Perseus said with a grin. The two fell into comfortable silence as they continued their trip across the sky, pointing at various cities they passed by. It was only when the two were leaning for a kiss, did they hear a snapping noise.
"...Was it just me, or did I hear a rope snap?" Perseus slowly asked, as he watched Artemis's eyes slowly widen. The two scrambled up from their position on the chariot and leaned down from the side of the chariot, and watched Apollo slowly plummet back to the earth, still trapped inside the golden net.
"Of course, it had to be my brother." Artemis groaned, jumping out of the chariot, Perseus right behind her. Hermes and Aphrodite watched with stupefied expressions at Artemis and Perseus, descending down to earth. It was only when the chariot nudged downwards that they realized something. No one was up controlling the chariot...
"You know what, you already convinced me at golden net." Apollo said, looking a bit green. "That was one of the most horrible days of my life. Maybe I won't see where Perseus is now..."
"Smartest choice you ever made today." Hermes said happily. "And don't worry, Percy will come soon. As for me, while that day did suck, I got to meet my two new best friends."
"You know, I should get an animal companion as well. But really, Percy is always with Arty, and not with his bros." Apollo grumbled. "And to think, they're not even sharing a tent, even though they are mostly attached to the hip."
"You want Percy and your sister...to share the same tent?" Hermes asked slowly.
Apollo frowned a bit. "Not exactly...no. Plus, when will I get to pry the juicy information from Percy, if he isn't going to share a tent with Artemis?"
Hermes blinked. "You want to talk 'juicy' information...regarding Percy... and your twin sister?"
Apollo had a deep frown on his face. "Dammit, now that I think about it... . Way to Perce, now I can't talk about all those stuff with you without feeling sick, blegh!"
"Thank the Fates." Hermes muttered, raising his glass.
"Hmm, this drink, I love it. Another!" Apollo yelled, throwing the glass behind him. Hermes sighed when he heard the glass breaking and various shouts, but what he didn't expect was a shadow to descend over him, and very heavy breathing.
"Alright, which of you brutes threw the glass." a gruff voice said. Hermes and Apollo turned around to find a Laistrygonian giant, peering down at them with its beady eyes.
"Since when did Olympus allow cannibals to roam freely?" Apollo asked, making Hermes facepalm. "We're in an open caravan in the far east, anyone can come here Apollo."
"So...we have bigshot gods coming here now huh. Killing will be a piece of cake. And I like cake." the Laistrygonian giant rumbled, cracking it's knuckles.
Apollo snorted. "Uh, like you so eloquently put it, we're bigshot gods. If we wanted to, we could vaporize all of you within seconds."
"And risk killing these innocent bystanders? And I'm not the only one who wants a piece of cake." the giant said. Behind him, there were a bunch of Laistrygonian giants hollering and shouting at the scene."
"Very well than." Hermes said, summoning his caduceus. "We will do this the old fashioned way. A bar fight."
"*sniff* *sniff* I smell ratsss. Lotsss of ratsss."
"Patience Georgiusss. Hermesss needsss our assistance."
"And then he'll assist in finding ratsss? Good, then let'sss do thisss!"
And done. So yeah, what did you guys think about this chapter? I never relied on flashbacks before, so this was something new to write. And the story kinda progressed? In a way? Well, I wanted to write about these aforementioned stories, but I didn't know what would be the best possible way to come by it. So, I really hope you guys liked this style. This is not something I'm going to do all the time, maybe when big(or small ;) ) time jumps take place. And that won't be all the time, just sprinkled here and there.
Alright, this little segment is for Mark Andrew. So, I already selected the name for the island. It is indeed Skiágis, I thought the last chapter conveyed it. But no worries, and yeah, people are now living on it. Also, I wouldn't call Gaia a semi-villain per say. She definitely is a villain, but maybe not the main villain?. Also, I'm not sure if I get your comment on Percy being a bane. Do you mean Forbidden Being? Or like, a bane to Foteinós, like she is to him and vice versa? I also don't mind answering all you readers' questions, as long as they don't delve into potential spoiler realm, so bring them on XD
Once again, thank you guys so much for reading my fic and this chapter, and I will see you all in the next update. Bye!...\/