The Arrogance of Man Personified

by SimplyMk

Aiden is a demigod who has seen many things, having lived in an orphanage his whole life had left him exposed to the dark side of the world. One day on his way to his usual spot of solitude, he witnesses a battle between people just like him and a beast he's only ever heard of. Read how Aiden ventures throughout this unknown yet known territory of demigods, gods and monsters.

3. Shadows of Truth

"Different Paths, same destination; In the realm of truths, all equations balance"

Despite assurance from Artemis herself that dawn was approaching, the cold and darkness would make you think otherwise.

I laid beside a tree, my mind a whirlwind of thoughts as I assimilated all the information I had garnered throughout the past few hours.

I made sure to tie everything together with appropriate reasons and such.

Two of the first things I had taken care of, were my fear of Artemis reading my mind and whether she could detect lies.

Despite all the thoughts in my mind which weren't fair to maidens at all, she gave no reaction. It's also worth mentioning that I refer to her in my mind with a much lower degree of respect than when I speak to her, something I'm confident that the goddess who would turn a man into a jackalope wouldn't let slide, especially since I'm male.

Her not doing a single thing told me quite clearly that she couldn't read minds.

Or of course there's the possibility that she was just tolerating me. Although that was extremely unlikely, but it wasn't impossible.

But that didn't mean I still didn't have some sort of reason for reaching that conclusion, my reason was simple.

Her questioning.

If she could read minds, she would've known that I wasn't entirely honest with her and was clearly hiding things when she was questioning me.

But that's not all, if she could read my mind, she would understand how different Percy and I were. I understood that she had tasked Percy with helping her Hunters because there was at the very least some degree of trust, not to mention Percy's heroic personality.

But I was neither heroic nor had I built any trust with her.

She neither knew me nor my personality so there was no reason for me to be given the same task unless it was so that her Hunters could watch out for me with ease.

The second thing I was able to confirm was whether or not she could discern truth from lie.

Of course someone with enough experience would be able to, but I've never met a god before and it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility that they have some built in lie detector now would it?

Yet she didn't have any.

If she did then she wouldn't have looked at Bianca and I so skeptically when we spoke about being orphans or when I mentioned that I grew stronger all on my own.

There were possibly a multitude of reasons why, but the one that stands out the most to me is simply that—

It has nothing to do with her domain.

Every god and goddess have some sort of domains that worshippers attributed to them, the sky, the sea, beauty, fire and much more.

Although I don't know every god's domain, all I can do with my limited information is merely discern that the domain of truth is not within her domain.

Which was why she was unable to discern truth from lie without using her sheer instincts.

Unfortunately, my face, heart rate and body would never fidget or react weirdly when I was lying or hiding something.

Everything for me flowed as naturally as breathing or sleeping.

But it wouldn't do me any good to be conceited, there's chance that Artemis would question me in front of a god whose domain is truth.

Then I would have to maneuver carefully.

"Aiden." I was taken out of my thoughts by Percy, Thalia and Grover who were approaching me, Percy was the one who had called out to me.

"Yes?" I answered.

"Why would you let Bianca join the hunters? She'd be abandoning her brother." Percy questioned.

Thalia looked at me with some disdain on her face while Grover looked to the sky dreamily.

I saw this coming.

"Because she wanted to figure herself out. I don't know what sort of relationship her and Nico have, but it's clear Bianca for some reason wanted to be free from her responsibility and was finally able to do so in a way that even though Nico would get hurt, he'd be safe. And please don't forget, I explicitly reminded her to see Nico anytime she can, regardless of her choice Nico is family and such a thing should never be ignored." I spoke, revealing my thoughts on the matter.

Thalia's gaze softened, it seemed she understood the need for self-reflection in a demigod. Her reaction made me think back to our conversation when she said the Hunters tried to coerce her into doing something she didn't want to do.

Perhaps did she have someone she liked? A male perhaps that the Hunters told her she'd have to abandon in order to join their ranks?

If so, then her reaction was understood.

"But still…" Percy looked towards Nico and Bianca who were talking together. Nico's face was gloomy, it was clear that she was explaining her decision to join the hunt.

"I understand your thoughts on this Percy. But I've never had family before so I don't know much about it at all and because of that I only gave advice from what I personally understood." I explained. Bianca hadn't turned to me because I was her best friend or something, not in the slightest.

We had just met after all.

She turned to me because just like how I was totally alone, she felt alone as well. Despite Nico being in her life, his childishness and naivety have led her to believe she wasn't understood and had no place since Nico himself didn't seem to understand her and his childlike mind only kept him focused on himself.

Of course anyone could tell Nico loved her.

But what was the point if he was annoying and couldn't express it properly.

Regardless, this has nothing to do with me.

I noticed Percy's eyes softened as he listened to me.

Good, meant he would stop asking questions.

"Sorry about that, guess I'm just agitated." Percy apologized.

"It's fine Percy." I shrugged uncaring.

"I don't see what's so bad about eternity with Artemis…" Grover sighed.

"You satyrs. You're all in love with Artemis. Don't you get that she'll never love you back?" Thalia rolled her eyes.

It was a harsh but truthful statement.

Satyrs were men after all.

"But she's so… into nature." Grover swooned.

"Do you feel the same about Demeter?" I questioned, I faintly recalled that she too was all about nature, no?

Grover shuddered, his face paled as I mentioned the goddess.

"Y-yeah…" He stammered.

It was clear that he was lying.

Then, I noticed the sky began to lighten.

"About time. He's so-o-o lazy during the winter." Artemis muttered.

I had a bad feeling about this.

No, it wasn't a bad feeling, I was just extremely cautious about meeting another god so quickly.

Every god came with their own troubles due to their varying domains.

I needed information now more than ever.

"Hey Thalia." I turned to the person I knew trusted me the most for now and had the most information.

"What's up?" She answered me, I noticed she wasn't sulking about Annabeth anymore, guess my words of hope had some effect.

"The god Apollo, what exactly is he the god of aside from the sun and archery?" I asked, making sure to remain as casual as possible.

I couldn't pull Thalia to the side as that would make things incredibly suspicious in the eyes of Artemis who I was sure was skeptical about me as whole.

So unfortunately I would have to risk her hearing this conversation.

Thalia sighed and had a tired look in her eyes.

"The god of the sun has… a lot of domains." She sighed.

"Really? That's cool." I said.

That wasn't cool at all.

"Yeah, it's kinda amazing that he has that many talents, but I guess he's a god no? He has the sun, music, archery, truth—"

Excuse me?

Did she just say truth?

I refrained from asking her about details on this truth domain.

Regardless I was royally screwed if—

Suddenly I felt a gaze on me and turned.

It was Artemis.

She was smirking.

Damn, it seems I've been had.

I guess now it makes sense why she had me sit in her tent and absorb all of that information without asking me a single thing.

She was waiting for this moment to force me to reveal my thoughts.

Of course I could still lie if I was questioned in Apollo's presence, but that would only earn me scorn from the gods.

What a shrewd goddess.

But I guess it was my fault for being so immersed in my curiosity and my newfound knowledge that I had momentarily looked down on this millennia old goddess who most likely had a plethora of experiences with people at the very least similar to me.

But it was okay.

I wouldn't despair or anything, there was no reason to.

After all, I had anticipated this earlier.

It's just unfortunate that it would have to happen so soon.

What to do…..

"Aiden." I felt a nudge and was brought out of my thoughts.

I had mistakenly drowned Thalia out.

"Sorry, I kinda lost my concentration." I stated.

She nodded in understanding.

"Yeah, it happens when you have ADHD." She chuckled.

I raised an eyebrow.

"You have ADHD too?" I asked. She mentioned it as if it were something casual, something she was used to. But how did she know I had ADHD? I never told her.

"Oh yeah, we didn't tell you did we? Demigods all have ADHD and Dyslexia." Thalia explained.

Oh, that explains it then.

"You know what they're for?" She questioned.

It was clear she wanted to probe me to use my brain, perhaps to make sure that my thoughts on Annabeth weren't just some strung up conclusions that sounded good.

Or maybe I'm just overthinking all of this.

"Letters float off a page and shift into Greek letters. My brain is hardwired for Greek, that's for dyslexia." I explained.

It was something I noticed quite quickly but only ever understood it fully once I was introduced to Greek letters which was when I was about six or seven.

"And for ADHD, it keeps me on my toes, helps me in battle, so battle senses or something?" I shrugged.

I didn't want to think hard about it right now, I was currently discussing naturally with her while simultaneously running countless simulations of my future conversation with Apollo and Artemis.

"You're right, not bad." She grinned.

I sighed.

"You already know I'm smart, was this a test?" I asked.

She shook her head.

"No, I just want to talk." Thalia admitted.

"Is… that so?" I was caught of guard, she didn't have a hidden agenda?

"Yeah, that so bad?" She questioned.

I shook my head.

No, it wasn't bad.

"No, not at all." I admitted.

"Hmm, how do you keep your face so still anyways?" She suddenly asked.

"Well I—"

Suddenly there was a burst of light on the horizon, a blast of warmth consumed my whole body.

Even though I was already quite warm.

Thalia and I averted our eyes, and I noticed everyone else did the same. The light and warmth kept intensifying until I began to feel hot instead of warm.

Then suddenly the light died just as quickly as it had appeared.

I looked, and for some reason there was red convertible Maserati Spyder glowing in the snow. I quickly surmised that the glow was caused by the heat the metal of the car emitted, it was so hot the snow melted around the car in a perfect circle.

I felt the snow under my feet begin to melt, even though I was quite a few ways away from the car.

The door opened, I kept my eyes fixed on the car as the driver got out, smiling.

He looked about seventeen or eighteen, with sandy hair and the aura of an extrovert.

My natural enemy.

"Wow, Apollo is so hot." Thalia said beside me.

"He's the sun god." Percy responded.

I looked at him confused, how did he come to the conclusion that of all things, that was what she meant?

How innocent of you Percy.

"That's not what I meant." Thalia retorted.

"Little sister!" Apollo called, his teeth shone bright like the sun, but not enough to take away eyesight.

"What's up? You never call. You never write. I was getting worried!" Apollo cried.

"I'm fine, Apollo. And I am not your little sister." Artemis sighed.

"Hey, I was born first."

"We're twins! How many millennia do we have to argue—"

This was quite a fun interaction. To think I'd see gods acting like your average human twins.

They reminded me of some twins I lived with at the orphanage, constantly arguing, annoying and harboring contrasting personalities.

I wonder, how would it feel if I had a twin?

Would she be smiling and dancing all around?

How would that make me feel?

"So what's up?" Apollo interrupted Artemis, cutting their banter short.

"Got the girls with you, I see. You all need some tips on archery?" He asked, indirectly stating that he believed he was better at his sister at archery.

Well I had no idea whether Artemis had an archery domain as well, but since she's got a hunting domain one would assume she would have natural proficiency, yes?

Although it probably didn't compare to the literal god of archery but what do I know?

"I need a favor or two. I have some hunting to do, alone. I need you to take my companions to Camp Half-Blood." Artemis spoke through gritted teeth.

I could see what she meant by having an annoying brother same as how Bianca had Nico.

But unlike Nico who was literally still a child, this guy is a millennia old.

But well he's also a god.

"Sure, sis! I feel a haiku coming on." Apollo said as he raised his hand in a stopping gesture.

A haiku? What?

I noticed the Hunters all groaning, looks like they've met him before.

And they don't like him too.

"Green grass breaks through snow.
Artemis pleads for my help.
I am so cool."

Apollo grinned at us waiting for applause.

I was rather confused, was that supposed to be some sort of poetry?

"That last line was only four syllables." Artemis scoffed.

"Was it?" Apollo frowned.

"Yes. What about I am so big-headed?" She glared.

Six syllables? Perhaps, was the last line supposed to be exactly six syllables?

"No, no, that's six syllables. Hmm." Apolo started muttering to himself.

Guess I was wrong, five syllables then?

For some reason Zoe turned to us exasperated. To think Apollo's haiku would lead her to converse with us.

What a phenomenal god.

"Lord Apollo has been going through this haiku phase ever since he visited Japan. Tis not as bad as the time he visited Limerick. If I'd had to hear one more poem that started with, There was once a goddess from Sparta—"

"What about I am so awesome?" I cut Zoe off by giving Apollo a good ending for his haiku.

It was rather obvious that his haiku was to hype himself, but it could neither be four nor six syllables so I decided to play it safe using five. Of course I could be wrong, but what if I was right?

"That's… amazing! That's five syllables and almost exactly what I had in mind. You have talent kid!" Apollo praised.

"Thank you." I bowed.

"Hmm, wait what's your name?" He asked.

"Aiden, Lord Apollo." I answered.

"Aiden… Aiden… alright I'll remember you for that awesome ending, could've fooled me that you were related to me with such talent." Apollo laughed.

Artemis groaned before she coughed, bringing him back to the situation at hand.

"Ah yes, sis. Transportation for the Hunters, you say? Good timing. I was just about ready to roll." Apollo stated.

"These demigods will also need a ride. Some of Chiron's campers." Artemis added.

"No problem! Let's see… Thalia, right? I've heard all about you." Apollo said.

"Hi, Lord Apollo." Thalia blushed.

Who the hell is this?

Was this the same hotheaded punk girl that spat out snarky remarks at any opportunity?

It's like I just blinked and now she's someone else.

"Zeus's girl, yes? Makes you my half sister. Used to be a tree, didn't you? Glad you're back. I hate it when pretty girls turn into trees. Man, I remember that one time—"

"Brother, you should get going." Artemis cut him off.

Zeus's girl huh? So Percy and Thalia were the kids of Poseidon and Zeus respectively.

Damn, that's actually impressive.

But what did he mean by she used to be a tree?

Well I could always find out later, either through her or her friends.

I glanced at Bianca and Nico.

Imagine how funny it'd be if they were kids of Hades.

Ha, I probably couldn't even laugh if I tried.

"Oh, right." Apollo turned to Percy.

"Percy Jackson?" He asked.

"Yeah. I mean…. Yes sir." Percy fumbled.

Apollo merely stared at him, he didn't say anything for a while.

"Well! We'd better load up, huh? Ride only goes one way—west. And if you miss it, you miss it." Apollo said.

I guess it only goes West because of the sun?

Either way, I looked at the Maserati which clearly didn't have enough space for all of us here, we were about twenty of us after all.

"Cool car." Nico commented.

"Thanks, kid." Apollo grinned.

"But how will we all fit?" Percy asked.

"Oh…" Apollo's voice trailed off as if he had just noticed that the car was indeed too small for us all.

"Well, yeah. I hate to change out of sports-car mode, but I suppose." Apollo took out his car keys and beeped the security alarm button.

Once again his car glowed brightly forcing me to cover my eyes, and when the glare died the Maserati had been completely replaced by a school shuttle bus.

"Right, Everybody in." He ushered.

Zoe and the hunters began to start loading their things.

"Here, sweetheart. Let me get that." Apollo said as Zoe picked up her camping pack.

"Brother. You do not help my Hunters. You do not look at, talk to, or flirt with my Hunters. And you do not call them sweetheart." Artemis warned with a glare that sent shivers down my spine despite not being target.

"Sorry. I forgot. Hey, sis, where are you off to anyway?" Apollo asked.

It was at this moment that I realized that he was flirting with someone who looked to be about my age…

I knew he was a god but…

I don't know seems weird.

But oh well, not my problem.

"Hunting. It's none of your business." Artemis responded.

"I'll find out. I see all. Know all." Apollo shrugged.

See all? Know all?

Interesting.

He didn't even know my name.

So what exactly is this "all" he speaks off?

"Just drop them off, Apollo. And no messing around!" She warned.

"No, no! I never mess around." Apollo joked but I could see he was panicking.

Artemis rolled her eyes and turned towards us.

"I will see you by the winter solstice. Zoe, you are in charge of the Hunters. Do well. Do as I would do." Artemis advised.

"Yes, my lady." Zoe straightened.

Artemis knelt and touched the ground as if looking for tracks yet I couldn't see any. When she rose, she looked quite troubled.

"So much danger. The beast must be found." She said before she turned to me.

"But before that, I'd like to talk to you Aiden."

I sighed, I guess it's time.

"Alright guys, give us a moment!" Apollo said excitedly and it was enough for me to know that they had planned this.

So he did know my name.

But still…

We walked a bit to the side, far enough that no one could hear us.

"I'm sure you know why I called you here. I'll just get to the matter at hand. I do not trust you." Artemis stated.

There was no need to lie here, in fact could I even lie if I wanted to? Apollo was looking at me with that same radiant smile on his face, but just like for humans, it should be applicable to gods as well that looks could be deceiving.

Especially since they shapeshift.

"I know that." I responded.

"I'm not sure what you did to get my sister's scorn. But let's try to do this without bloodshed yeah?" Apollo chided in, but it was clear that by bloodshed he meant me dying.

"Of course." I responded.

Artemis simply scoffed.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't shoot you down here?" She asked as her bow glowed dangerously.

I wanted to sigh, but I had to be cautious of every single action here.

Even a slight moment of hesitation or speaking too fast might agitate these beings who I know virtually nothing of personality wise.

Or maybe I already knew enough.

"You have none. Lady Artemis." I answered honestly. There was absolutely no reason why she should trust me and there was no need to beg for my life.

If this was a test then—

"Good, I thought you'd make a retarded excuse like the other males I've met, good that you have a tolerable head on your shoulders." She stated.

That was probably as far as compliments to males would go for her.

"Damn, to think my sister complimented you." Apollo whined.

"Shhh Apollo, I only need you here as a lie detector, this is necessary." Artemis said.

"Damn, is that what you see me as?" He whined in response.

Artemis grit her teeth but ignored him.

"Well Aiden, I know you're smart so you must've seen this coming. Regardless I'm sure you've surmised why I had invited you into tent yesterday without saying anything to you. Am I right?" She asked.

I nodded.

"Good." She answered without even turning to her brother for confirmation.

Either something physically happened when I lied or perhaps they had a signa—

"Even now you're analyzing aren't you, child." Artemis spoke.

She didn't have mind reading, but this woman had clearly read 99% of my thoughts with pure intuition and experience alone.

I couldn't help but be amazed.

"Either way, tell me all of your deductions from start to finish." She said causing me to sigh.

I mean I already expected this, but I'd rather she didn't—

"What? My dear sister wants a man's opinion?" Apollo looked at her shocked as if he were looking at an alien.

But he was wrong, that wasn't her intention.

"Shut up! As if I would want that. I simply cannot allow a man so untrustworthy to be anywhere near my Hunters without my presence. I'm sure you've realized. But I've trapped you. I gave you an interesting topic to think about and formulate whatever strategies you wanted. Now speak, reveal all your thoughts or I'll have to kill you, lie and I will kill you as well and if your truthful deductions and strategies are dangerous, I'll still kill you." She stated.

I won't even lie, she was right, I had been trapped.

She'd laid the bait for me and I bit it like prey.

She really was the goddess of the Hunt huh, I felt like a tricked animal right now.

But this was the type of trap that one could not avoid but simply fall into and mediate the damage.

I couldn't have abruptly left her tent yesterday, would've been suspicious and disrespectful.

I knew I was only allowed to leave if she allowed it and she only did so after revealing something intricate to me which was basically the current state of affairs and the information pertaining to Dr. Thorn and his goals.

Now I had no choice but to reveal all of my thoughts and hope they didn't get me killed.

Well played goddess Artemis, extremely well played.

Thousands of years of experience weren't for nothing huh…

This woman was certainly not to be trifled with.

Even now, I felt as if she's barely holding herself back from turning me into a jackalope.

The way she stares at me quite clearly says she'd rather just transform me and leave but she wants probe into my mind, to discern whether I was an ally or an enemy.

Despite her intuition and experience, she couldn't read minds after all.

"Damn kid, you a kid of Athena or something? I didn't think she'd emphasize on your intelligence so much" Apollo commented.

For a moment I considered it, perhaps I was.

Perhaps all of this intelligence I harbored was due to my lineage which pertained to Athena.

But at the same time his words meant something else.

Unless this was a joke, his words meant that Athena was capable of having children. Before I filed that out believing she couldn't due to her status as a virgin goddess, but either the beliefs themselves are wrong, or the gods simply have some other way to create kids without having to necessarily go through the same procedure mortals d—

A slap on my head brought me back to reality.

"If you lose yourself in your thoughts again, I'll stab you." Artemis warned.

This was clearly a promise and not a warning, but my mind unfortunately drifted again.

Would I get killed if I mentioned that she looked really cute, in my point of view there as a twelve year old pouting in front of me.

Yeah, I'd probably get killed.

"My sister is so c—"

"Shut up!" Artemis cut Apollo off before she turned back towards me with a glare.

"Now speak." Artemis demanded.

"Understood."

I began to talk.

I was by no means worried.

The same way 1 plus 1 is equal to two is the same way three minus 1 is equal to two or two is equal to four minus two.

There are multiple lies but only a single truth, yet that didn't mean that the truth could not be twisted and interwoven in several different ways.

Although it was a risky thing to do, I felt like testing my theory.

Undeterred, I continued to speak, exposing the deepest parts of my mind with ease.

There was no need to hold back my deductions, this wasn't something that could incriminate me in any way or make me look terrible in her eyes.

Because not only were they simply deductions, but they were also just deductions based solely on the "topic" she "gave" me, which I believe was simply what Percy was talking about.

As I kept talking, Artemis' face kept frowning more and more as time passed whereas Apollo seemed more and more appalled.

It seemed my intelligence was both frightening and interesting in their eyes respectively.

From time to time, Artemis would interrupt me before turning to Apollo and he would simply nod before she'd motion for me to continue.

This was clearly the lie detector check, to make sure that every word that came out of my mouth was true.

But there was no need to lie.

They were simply deductions after all.

"And that concludes my deductions." I stated.

Apollo clapped.

"Amazing! You might really be a kid of Athena, an exceptional one too!" He praised, yet the glint in his eyes told me that he acknowledged how much of a double-edged sword I was.

On one hand my intelligence was extremely helpful, but if I turned out to be an enemy then my intelligence was a powerful weapon against them.

"To think you'd already have a basic understanding of the ancient laws despite having only heard about it once." Artemis muttered.

I was pretty sure at this point that my danger level in her head rose.

"Is that all?" I asked, I really wanted to leave this place and stop this questioning.

Artemis smirked.

"What's wrong? Feeling exposed?" She questioned.

Yes, I felt very exposed.

"No, I'm just cold." I responded.

"Lie." Apollo spoke instantly.

My composure cracked.

"Pardon?" I raised an eyebrow.

"That was a lie kid. Not only can I sense it, but both Artemis and I know that your clothes are filled with magical energy which warms you up. Even now you're still training your magical energy, expanding it by the second…. You're quite frankly a monster." Apollo spoke in a serious tone before he brightened up.

"But regardless how could you be cold when the sun god is here!" Apollo grinned as he suddenly began to glow.

"Apollo!" Artemis sneered.

"Man, you really need to chill out sis, sheesh." Apollo's light died down and he shrugged at Artemis' attitude.

"Don't man me, I'll put an arrow through your skull." Artemis warned Apollo who put his arms up.

"Sheesh, my bad." He whined playfully.

Despite the warning, I could tell that this was just playful banter.

From what it seemed, even if Artemis hated men, she didn't really hate her sibling.

Perhaps this is how Bianca and Nico's relationship is like? Perhaps something similar?

Nico is annoying and a handful to take care of, causing her to lash out at him sometimes but yet she still loves him dearly and would be willing to help him and protect him whenever he needs it.

But at the same time doesn't necessarily have to be by his side all the time.

I think… I'm finally getting to understand the dynamic here.

"Now then Aiden." Artemis spoke in her usual serious tone, her gaze remained that of a predator, as if trying to make sure I wouldn't forget my place.

I straightened up.

"Your origin as an orphan, the truth behind your expertise of your powers, are they all true?" Artemis questioned.

"Yes." I replied without hesitation.

She glanced at Apollo who nodded.

"Next, will you ever endanger my Hunters?" She questioned.

"Not willingly, no." I responded once again.

Her eye twitched, she probably wanted to hear an exact no, but what could I do if I was mind controlled and ended up hurting them? That wouldn't be my fault but it would still be my body which hurt them.

She turned to Apollo who nodded.

"Finally, do you care for Bianca and Thalia?" She asked.

Her question didn't catch me off guard, I sort of saw this coming.

This whole conversation—I mean interrogation was to gauge my personality and skills.

It wouldn't be weird for her to ask me such a question in order to confirm whether I approached Bianca and Thalia with nefarious purposes or not.

"I care for them a bit, not much since I just met them. But I care for them the same way any other human being would care for another human who they're slightly familiar with." I answered.

Artemis looked at Apollo.

He nodded.

"Alright then… although I still cannot trust you as you're male, I will refrain from killing you. But before I leave, follow me." Artemis stated as she began to walk towards Apollo's shuttle.

I followed behind her, walking side by side with the god of the sun himself.

"You're really lucky kid, I could tell she struggled not to kill you there." Apollo chuckled despite how unfunny his words were to me.

"Is that so?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Don't play games with me, you know damn well she got more wary of you after hearing your deductions, regardless she chose not to kill you in the end because you didn't lie in either your deductions or your final answers." Apollo explained.

"I underst—"

"But."

I felt a sudden chill go down my spine as I glanced at Apollo who stared down at me with glowing yellow eyes which seemed to reflect the power of the sun itself.

"Don't test my domain of truth again child. I allowed it because it's funny, but it wouldn't do the world any good if everyone started playing games with my domain now would it?" He smiled at me with the brightest smile I'd ever seen, but the underlying threat in his words resonated within me.

"Understood. I apologize." I said.

Not only Artemis but Apollo as well was extremely smart.

I've already decided not to underestimate them but sheesh these gods are something else.

I wonder what would happen if I met Athena.

"Good! Now come on, go to the car, and pick a spot." Apollo ushered playfully.

Was this man bipolar?

On one hand it was like he could kill you by looking at you and on the other hand he was your annoying older brother who's narcissistic but still really fun to be around.

The gods are weird.

"What?! But why?!" I heard a scream from the shuttle as Apollo and I approached, it was Zoe.

"It's for the best, he's dangerous but he could also be a useful asset to camp half-blood. Unfortunately that's how far he could hope to go as a male." Artemis explained.

Wow, she didn't have to add that part now did she?

"But milady, to have me keep watch on him would mean—"

"I don't mean that he will stay with you in Cabin Eight, of course not. But you must watch him at all times aside from when you're in the cabin. Gauge his personality and see if he's fit to be trusted. Once I return, report everything to me." Artemis stated.

Zoe glared at me as if I had done something terrible to her.

I narrowed my eyes as if to glare back but her glare intensified.

"Well damn." I muttered as I gave up.

It wasn't that deep, sheesh.

Apollo laughed at our exchange.

"You." Artemis said looking towards me.

"If you try anything with my Hunters I will hunt you and I will enjoy it, understood?" She warned.

How sadistic.

"Understood Lady Artemis." I answered respectfully.

"Stay by Zoe's side and do not cause any trouble. If she deems you worth trusting then you shall receive my trust." Artemis stated.

I raised an eyebrow.

It was impossible for Zoe to deem me trustworthy.

Why? Because she hated men, duh.

This meant that Artemis really just wanted to make sure I was under surveillance, I wouldn't garner her trust regardless but it was better to have me watched than not.

"Understood Lady Artemis." I responded respectfully.

"Good." Artemis said before she turned to Apollo who grinned.

"Come on little sis, lemme here it." Apollo snickered.

Artemis grit her teeth.

She seemed to be struggling and contemplating.

"Make sure you do your job and your job only Apollo." She said before she sprinted towards the woods and melted into the surroundings.

"Man, what a shy little sister I have." Apollo snickered.

I blinked slightly confused.

Was she struggling like that because she wanted to thank him?

Didn't think Artemis had a cute si—

Another chill ran down my spine.

I glanced towards Apollo who looked down at me with his powerful gaze once again.

"You're thinking about my sister aren't you?" He questioned.

"Yes." I responded instantly.

Apollo can't read minds, meaning he read my thoughts through sheer instinct.

Hmm….

His glare died down and he grinned again.

"She's just the cutest isn't she? Now get in there." He ushered.

What a weirdo.

I entered the shuttle, Zoe who was seated beside her fellow hunters was now seated around the back, with an empty seat on her right.

She scowled as we met eyes and I calmly walked to the free seat beside her and sat down.

"Don't get any weird ideas boy, if it weren't for my lady's wishes—"

"You wouldn't even sit near me yeah? I know." I cut her off.

Zoe's eyebrow twitched.

"How rude." She commented.

"Sorry, I guess I'm just tired of your indirect hate speech." I shrugged.

Zoe's eyebrow twitched even more.

"You—"

"Okay! No fighting in my car!" Apollo interjected as he walked into the shuttle, swinging his keys on his index finger.

"This is so cool!" Nico commented as he saw him.

Why was he sitting on the driver's seat?

"Is this really the sun? I thought Helios and Selene were the sun and moon gods. How come sometimes it's them and sometimes it's you and Artemis?" Nico questioned.

"Downsizing. Romans started it. They couldn't afford all those temple sacrifices, so they laid off Helios and Selene and folded their duties into our job descriptions. My sis got the moon. I got the sun. It was pretty annoying at first, but at least I go this cool car." Apollo answered.

Weird, weren't gods defined by their domains?

What happens to a god who's stripped of their domain?

"What happens to a god who's stripped of their domain? Do they remain domainless? If so what happens to them? If not, do they just adopt a new one?" I spoke out loud but kept my voice low.

"Quiet male, don't ask me anything." Zoe sneered.

"I didn't though." I raised an eyebrow at her.

She ignored me.

"So how does it work? I thought the sun was a big fiery ball of gas!" Nico asked, his curiosity seemed to have no bounds, but I guess he was just excited that gods existed.

Apollo chuckled.

"That rumor probably started because Artemis used to call me a big fiery ball of gas. Seriously, kid, it depends on whether you're talking astronomy or philosophy. You want to talk astronomy? Bah, what fun is that? You want to talk about how humans think about the sun? Ah, now that's more interesting. They've got a lot riding on the sun…er, so to speak. It keeps them warm, grows their crops, powers engines, makes everything look, well, sunnier. This chariot was built out of human dreams about the sun, kid. It's as old as Western Civilization. Every day, it drives across the sky from east to west, lighting up all those puny little mortal lives. The chariot is a manifestation of the sun's power, the way mortals perceive it. Make sense?" Apollo spoke as he ruffled Nico's hair.

"No." Nico shook his head.

"Well then, just think of it as a really powerful, really dangerous solar car." Apollo shrugged.

"Can I drive?" Nico asked with an excited glint in his eyes.

"No. Too young." Apollo rejected the idea instantly.

"Oo! Oo!" Grover raised his hand.

"Mn, no. Too furry." Apollo commented before he looked around, his eyes glanced at me before he turned towards Thalia.

"Daughter of Zeus! Lord of the sky. Perfect." Apollo said.

"Oh, no. No thanks." Thalia shook her head.

Hmm…

I analyzed her expression, she seemed a little scared for some reason, she wasn't sweating yet nor was she pale which meant whatever it was wasn't really serious at the moment, but I couldn't help but wonder why.

"C'mon. How old are you?" Apollo questioned.

"I don't know…" Thalia spoke after hesitating a little.

She doesn't know?

How weird….

Does it have to do with being turned into a tree? Apollo had mentioned earlier that was turned into one after all.

Perhaps she was turned into a tree at a certain age and remained unconscious until she was finally liberated.

Now if she looked exactly as she did now before and after the tree situation then it would be okay to class her as the exact age in which she was transformed.

Which would be around my age, around fourteen or so, maybe fifteen, maybe sixteen.

But what if while she was turned into a tree she was still aging? Well now that would depend on whether she was aging at the same rate before she was turned, at a faster rate or at a slower rate.

I don't know what the conditions were for her tree transformation, everything I've thought of just now was merely speculative but it would make sense that she wouldn't know her age due to being transformed into a tree which led to an inconsistency in her aging characteristic.

"You're fifteen, almost sixteen." Apollo tapped his finger to his lips as he spoke.

"How do you know that?" Thalia looked at him shocked.

"Hey, I'm the god of prophecy. I know stuff. You'll turn sixteen in about a week." Apollo answered.

"That's my birthday! December twenty-second." Thalia said.

I drowned out her words, my focus primarily on Apollo's words.

I couldn't help it, anything in this world could either be a hint or nothing, there was perhaps no point in my analyzing the god of the sun's words, but for some reason I couldn't understand why exactly he mentioned prophecy and her age in the same sentence.

Why would him being the god of prophecy allow him to know Thalia's age?

That wouldn't make sense unless Thalia's particular age had something to do with prophecies.

Either this man was bluffing, or there was something specific to the age of sixteen pertaining towards Thalia either specifically or perhaps sixteen year old demigods.

But there was no way that she was the first sixteen year old demigod, meaning that there was a chance that whatever prophecy Apollo was talking about was fairly recent and pertained to her only.

Of course it could be that it pertained only to demigods that were currently under the age of sixteen, but there was no way a prophecy could be so abstract.

There were perhaps countless demigods that weren't at Camp Half-Blood that were about to reach the age of sixteen which meant that perhaps there were some other filters I wasn't considering.

Let's keep filtering.

He mentioned Thalia specifically, I'll center my thoughts around her for a moment.

Thalia, prophecy, sixteen.

There was a connection here that I was incapable of seeing due to my limited knowledge on all of this mythological things.

But I could feel it, I was getting close.

There's nothing I love more than thinking about a multitude of possibilities.

I ran several thoughts in my head, one after the other, weighing each and every option, applying several filters in order to find a plausible connection that would make Apollo's statement seem worth mentioning.

There was no need for him to mention prophecy and Thalia's age in the same sentence unless there was a connection.

So as I surmised before, there was something to do with a prophecy that must have some sort of impact at least else it wouldn't really be a prophecy now would it?

I've only ever heard the basic definition of these things from the nun who took care of me, she taught me the bare minimum of Greek myth, why? I don't even care.

All that mattered was how I made use of the information I had.

Everything started from the basics, although with time the things may get shafted or edited, some core aspects will remain.

Prophecies were a tool that sort of judged fate vs free will.

Something like that could be life changing, existence defining even so there was no way that whatever this prophecy was, was something miniature.

Of course perhaps I'm just overthinking.

No, that doesn't mean I should stop.

I remembered the words from the nun who took care of me for most of my life.

"Your strongest tool is your mind, don't ever stop using it even if you're in danger." Were words she loved to say to me.

Perhaps without her teachings I wouldn't be as smart as I currently am?

No, as long as someone or I myself brought out my potential the same way she did, I would've ended up this smart but perhaps with a different perspective in life.

But regardless, I've made a connection between Prophecy and sixteen.

Now for Thalia.

Why did he mention Thalia specifically? Perhaps she had some sort of destiny to fulfil which was entirely plausible

But what if there was something more to it?

At this point I was just bored but I couldn't stop thinking.

Each and every move I made in life was calculated, using magic to refresh my brain everyday has allowed me to think at capacities people couldn't imagine.

It wasn't the reason for my intelligence of course, but the reason why I could think so much in so little time.

It definitely helped with decision making.

But back to the main point.

If there was something more to it, then I would need to filter "Thalia" as a person and judge based on her character.

Daughter of Zeus.

Daughter of an Olympian.

Demigod.

Powerful demigod.

These were the more prominent characteristics of Thalia Grace that I knew.

If I wasn't wrong, one of these would allow me to understand the prophecy.

I'll start from the first one.

Daughter of Zeus. Zeus is the head of the gods no? That should be considered special enough to single her out.

Perhaps the prophecy pertained to her being a child of Zeus, which would mean that any of Zeus's kids under the age of sixteen would apply to this prophecy.

But, Apollo didn't seem worried about anything, meaning two things.

This prophecy is not that serious.

Or the gods already have their sights on whoever is closest to reaching the age of sixteen for the fulfillment of the prophecy.

I don't know any other child of Zeus, so Thalia is my first suspect here.

Second, child of an Olympian.

I wasn't informed whether gods that weren't Olympians weren't allowed to have kids, but assuming they were, then Thalia being the child of an Olympian would be extremely important.

Important enough to make a prophecy centered around her.

But that would mean that Olympian kids that were all under the age of sixteen were allowed to fulfil the prophecy.

Issue is, there's likely a lot of demigods that fall into this category, with I myself being a possible candidate depending on my parent god.

Regardless this can also be broken down into a second filter.

The most important of the Olympians are the big three.

Zeus, Poseidon and Hades.

While I have no idea if Hades has kids, both a child of Poseidon and a child of Zeus were currently in this bus with me.

Percy looked fourteen meaning he was eligible for the sixteen year old dependent prophecy but that was in the case that it wasn't a one time prophecy and if it were then Thalia doesn't claim it.

Regardless—

For a moment I was dragged out of my thoughts.

My ADHD had distracted me, but I wasn't annoyed, it meant I was being warned about something.

I raised my head and focused in front of me.

Huh?

While I was thinking Thalia had taken the wheel and had driven us to who knows where, regardless we were currently about to plumet into the woods.

"Brake." I heard Apollo say.

"I can do this." Thalia said, seemingly trying to convince herself.

"BRAKE!" Apollo shouted.

Thalia slammed her foot on the break, the shuttle pitched forward at a forty-five-degree angle and was about to slam into a lake.

I had no intention of getting wet.

I slowly stood up, preparing to burst out through the window.

But as I jumped I felt someone grab my shirt.

"Where doth thee think they're going?" Zoe looked at me with a crazed look in her eyes.

Curse this girl.

We crashed into the Lake.

Due to the shuttle's high temperature, steam billowed as the bus crashed into the lake. I noticed frightened beings scrambling out of the water with half-woven wicker baskets.

Who were they?

The bus bobbed to the surface, along with a couple of capsized, half-melted canoes.

"Well. You were right my dear. You had everything under control! Let's go see if we boiled anyone important, shall we?' Apollo said with a brave smile.

What a weirdo.

Sorry for the late chapter, been a bit busy. Hope y'all enjoy! This chapter is kinda just mainly to show Aiden's abilities, well mental wise of course.