The scythe of Olympus.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Watching closely as Hestia summons a magic circle underneath the both of us I assume is for a teleportation spell. I feel a strange sensation come over me, feeling similar to the energy she sent into me earlier. Observing the circle I can see it starting to glow brighter and rise. Feeling the energy getting more active I brace myself for my first teleportation.
Immediately closing my eyes as the difference between the somewhat bright forest and the extremely bright light that is currently in front of me flashbangs me. Opening them a second later to see a beautiful sight.
In front of me is a large pathway made of marble leading to a large city made of the same marble in a classical greek style. Looking at the plethora of large temple like buildings and the clouds surrounding everything I can't help but be amazed by the beauty of it all.
Feeling a hand land on my shoulder I look to the left seeing Hestia still beside me, still with the same beautiful small smile she has had for a while now.
"Welcome to Olympus, my home as well as the home of other Olympian gods."
Having my suspicions confirmed take a second to look behind me and see an enormous gate made of gold. So she teleported us to the entrance.
"What do you think of it?" She asks me in a curious tone.
"It's beautiful." I can't help but answer truthfully.
"Even after all these years I can't help but enter from here to see this sight again and allow myself the pleasure of slowly walking through it all again, just looking at the scenery and talking to its people for what feels like the millionth time."
As Hestia talks I notice the people walking through the streets, noticing centaurs, satyrs, nymphs, and what look to be humans, although I can't be sure of that because Hestia also looks like one.
"Even though my brother would want you to reach the council chambers as soon as possible, I wanted you to experience this sight and the walk to the main temple before you have to make what will be some of the most important decisions of your life."
Every time I think my opinion of her can't get any higher she does something like this. I have known her for less than 30 minutes and she keeps doing things for me that most people would never do.
The decisions she mentioned are probably what I'm going to do with this second life and where my loyalties are going to lie. If it were anyone but her I would be suspicious they would be doing this to gain my loyalties, but I just can't see her doing that.
Having that feeling confirmed by the sixth sense I now know is Kronos I can't help but wonder why he is helping me.
"Let us go towards the chambers, making them wait more than we are already doing would not be pleasant."
Seeing her start to walk towards the buildings in front of me I start to walk beside her and ask her a couple of questions I have.
"Is there anything I should be aware of while I am meeting the council?"
"There is nothing specific, but you should pay attention not to offend any of the members. While I and a few others on the council are not easily offended, some are and your fate may depend on their opinion of you. Although as I have told you earlier they aren't as bad as they used to be"
Great, My fate is going to be decided by the people who hate the being that my sacred gear holds. I have to confirm something about that while I still have the time.
"Are any of them going to hold any resentment towards me because of my sacred gear?"
"I can't speak for the whole council but I along with most of the council will not judge you for it. You had nothing to do with his actions back then and didn't choose to have his sacred gear. The only ones who may hold a grudge may be my three brothers, but even then they will not treat you badly because of it, I will make sure of that.
"I find myself saying this a lot but thank you, Hestia."
"You are not the only one who does." I hear a new voice saying from the left of us.
Looking in the direction of the voice I see a tall beautiful woman with long black hair approaching us, looking down slightly I notice 2 black dogs walking on either side of her.
Quickly looking at Hestia to see her reaction to the new figure I relax at seeing her continuing to smile and seeing her start to greet the new woman.
"Hello, it has been a while Hecate."
Hecate, you mean the goddess of magic? If there is anybody I would want on my side beside the gods in the council, she is one of the ones I would want the most.
"It has indeed been a while Hestia, I have been awfully busy after there was a magician organization that demanded they get my blessing and access to my library and have just gotten back from dealing with that mess."
"Are there really people that are that stupid?" I can't help but ask her.
"Unfortunately there are, sometimes I wonder how they have gotten far enough to pester me with such a small amount of self preservation. But enough about suicidal magicians, you must be Virgil, the holder of the sacred gear that contains the crooked one."
Guess she was too busy to join the rest of the gods in watching me.
"Yes, I am lady Hecate."
"Are you interested in magic, in any case? You happen to have extremely large reserves of magical energy, And the quality of it is also superb."
So I have large reserves of good quality magic energy. This will certainly help me in getting stronger, which is a necessity in this world.
"He is, the first thing he asked when he got the opportunity was if he could learn it"
I don't know if she is teasing me or helping me with that, probably both at the same time if I go by her tone and the small giggle she gives after she is done talking.
"In that case, if you ever want to learn more about it, I have a few tasks that you could do in exchange for a few lessons in magic."
Nice, this is a good opportunity if I get the chance. Magic lessons from the goddess of magic herself. Thank you, Hestia, if you didn't mention my interest in magic I don't think she would have offered it.
"Thank you for the opportunity lady Hecate, I appreciate it."
"It seems we have reached my destination, so I will have to say goodbye to the both of you. Virgil if you want to contact me to take me up on my offer, ask Hestia and she will tell you how. And Hestia I will talk to you later to catch up on all of the things I have missed."
"Goodbye Hecate"
"Goodbye lady Hecate"
Looking at her walking away I can't help but look at her amazing ass, seeing her sway her hips a couple of times as she walks away. Did she notice me looking?
"You do know she noticed you looking at her behind right?"
"I know" But I don't think she minded.
Continuing to walk towards the temples in front of us I can't help but notice we are going straight towards the one at the top. And taking it as a good opportunity to change to topic I ask.
"Where are we going, to the temple of a certain god, or is there a specific building for the council?"
"The council meetings are held at the highest point in Olympus, the temple of Zeus. We don't come together enough for council meetings to have another building made, instead my brother added another area to his temple for us to meet together."
Looking at the temples we are passing I notice the symbols on them, the smaller ones have symbols I don't recognize but a few of the symbols on the bigger ones I recognize. The bow and arrow and the staff with snakes are hard to miss after all.
Even if the symbols weren't on the temples I could take a guess as to who they belonged to due to the difference in the look of the temples.
Finally reaching the temple we needed to get to, I see a huge lightning bolt symbol on it. We walk through the gate into the temple. Seeing a woman with long purple hair approach us.
"Hello, Hestia, the rest of the council has been awaiting your arrival along with your companion. They have asked you to come alone so they can discuss your findings in detail before they meet the person in question."
"In that case, this is where we go our separate ways for a short while Virgil. Don't worry, when you enter the council chambers I will also be there so it will only be for a short while. Goodbye for now. O and Iris would you please keep him company while he has to wait for the council?"
"I will Hestia"
"Goodbye Hestia"
Seeing her walk away through another gate that presumably leads to the council chambers I turn to who I now know is Iris.
"Hello lady Iris"
"So you are Virgil, the one who carries Kronos, it is good to meet you even if your appearance on our territory has caused quite a commotion. And by the way, you don't have to call me lady if we are not in a formal setting, I quite dislike these kinds of formalities like Hestia. But a quick tip for when you enter the council, even if Hestia is okay with you addressing her like that, others may not be."
That's good to know, I wouldn't want to anger someone here, especially not if they are going to decide what they are going to do with me. I also note she talks really fast to the point it is kind of hard to keep up with.
"Thank you for the advice, Iris. So what happens now?"
"Let us go to one of the waiting rooms, standing around here is not going to help anyone. But first, let me call one of the attendants to notify us when the council is ready to receive you."
Seeing her call over what I think is a nymph and telling her something and turning back to me after a few seconds and signaling for me to follow me. I start doing just that.
Walking into a small and cozy room that contains a few couches, tables, and even something similar to a tv but far more advanced.
"Feel free to sit down, do you want anything to drink, maybe some wine or something else?"
Something to drink would be nice, but I don't think drinking alcohol at this moment would be the best.
"Or do you want something else like juice?"
She really is rather talkative, It's different from the way the other gods I have talked with talk, she talks less like someone from the past would talk and more like someone from where I come from would talk.
Now that I think about it, is it even the same year as I'm used to? Feeling Kronos sending me a negative feeling I decide to figure that one out after I have dealt with the more important things.
"Some water would be nice"
I don't know what else there is so I just decide to take the safe option.
Seeing her open a cabinet and pull a glass of water out of it and hand it to me as I sit down on one of the couches I don't even wonder about why there is ice cold water in a cabinet and decide it's probably just magic.
"Thank you"
"Don't worry about it, and by the way, you don't have to worry about being judged because of holding Kronos by the younger gods like me. Most of us haven't ever met him much less suffered because of him so we don't mind you holding his sacred gear"
"Thank you for telling me, Iris"
Slowly drinking my water while thinking about how I'm going to approach the situation with the council, forcing myself to calm down before I let my paranoia get ahold of me and fuck things up.
"So what did you do before you ended up on the beach, how old are you, tell me about yourself?"
Deciding it couldn't do any harm in telling her some details about myself as long as they are not too personal.
"I used to be a college student before this and am currently 21 years old. I don't really have any interesting things to tell about myself, I am not really that special if you remove me holding Kronos from the equation. I do have an interest in mythology which has helped me a lot today. Knowing the names of most of the people I've met today and who they are has at least made sure I don't do something stupid."
"An interest in mythology huh, so you know who I am and what I'm the goddess of?"
"I at least think I do, Iris, the goddess of rainbows and a messenger of the gods. Although you are usually depicted with having wings so I can't be too sure."
Watching her stand up and fiddling around with her dress I suddenly see two large golden wings appear on her back.
"I can hide them for convenience, this place wasn't made for people with wings so they constantly bump against everything. So what do you think of them"
Seeing her and those wings I can't lie and just decide to answer truthfully.
"Your wings are as beautiful as you are Iris."
Seeing her start to blush, and feeling Kronos give me a feeling of amusement I can't help but think I made the best choice possible in answering like that.
after about a minute of her blushing and being unable to look at me, I hear the door opening. Seeing the nymph Iris talked to earlier entering.
"The council has requested your presence, lord Virgil"
Lord Virgil huh, but anyway, time to face the music.
Silently following the nymph as she takes me to the council chambers I can't help but be anxious, I am meeting with beings that could vaporize me before I know what is happening.
Feeling a feeling of support coming from Kronos helps me somewhat regain my calm and not freak out.
Coming to a stop in front of a set of large doors that presumably lead to the council chambers the nymph begins to speak.
"We have reached the council lord Virgil, I recommend you be respectful at all times and speak the truth, I wish you the best of luck."
"Thank you for the advice" Nymph I don't know the name of.
Seeing the doors open and starting to feel kind of nauseous due to the amount of power that is leaking from the room. Thankfully Kronos helps me by sending a small bit of his energy into me with a feeling of protectiveness.
starting to walk through the doors and into the room I'm greeted by the twelve gods of the council sitting on beautifully designed thrones made of different materials for every god.
Seeing Hestia and Artemis sitting on their respective thrones calms me down a bit knowing that I at least have talked to two of the people here before.
Deciding to take the initiative to be polite and introduce myself, even if it is probably redundant it could still give me a couple of good points with some of them.
Walking to the middle of the half circle of thrones I take a bow and introduce myself.
"It is an honor to be here, my name is Virgil Helden, what does the council require of me?" I ask as politely as possible.
Still having my head down from the bow I can't see their reactions, but at least I haven't heard or felt anything negative.
"You may rise young man" I hear a low and powerful male voice say from in front of me, so either Zeus or Poseidon.
Rising like I am told I am finally able to take a good look at the council. Seeing their symbols above their heads on their thrones I'm able to recognise who they are.
In the middle is Zeus, he looks like a muscular man forties with long white hair and a long white beard with a pleased expression. Wearing the same ancient greek looking clothing as the rest of the gods here.
To the left of him is Poseidon, he looks like a muscular man in his thirties with short blond hair and a stern look.
To the left of Poseidon sits Demeter, who looks to be in her thirties with brown hair done up in a knot and wearing a crown made out of plants and grains, having a small smile on her face, and an hourglass figure like almost all of the goddesses here,
To the left of her sits Artemis, who also has a small smile on her face.
Next to her sits Apollo, being less muscular than both Zeus and Poseidon having a more lean build, possessing short blond hair and a smile that gives of warmth.
On the last seat on the left of the room sits Hephaestus, looking extremely muscular with short brown hair and multiple scars across his face, having a disinterested look.
To the right of Zeus sits his wife, Hera, having long brown hair and a pleasant expression on her face. Who has a similar figure to both Demeter and Hestia.
To the right of her sits Hestia wearing an even bigger smile than earlier.
Next to her sits Athena, having long brown hair and looking at me like she is dissecting me in her mind, while not having the same amount of curves as Hestia and her sisters she still has an amazing figure.
To the right of her sits Aphrodite, having long blond hair and the most beautiful face and figure I have ever seen, looking at me like a new target for her antics.
Next to her sits Ares, being less muscular than both Zeus and Poseidon but having even more definition in his muscles, having short black hair and being the only one not wearing those ancient greek robes, instead wearing bronze armor, looking at me with a bloodthirsty grin.
And at the end of the row sits Hermes, having short blond hair and a build similar to Apollo, wearing a smile on his face.
Looking back at Zeus I notice him still looking as pleased as a few seconds ago. Seeing him notice my attention is back on him I see and hear him starting to speak again.
"The council has decided on what to do with you, Hestia and Artemis have both spoken highly of you and told us you are not a threat to Olympus. I am going to give you a choice, one which will forever alter the course of your life. The first option is that we remove your sacred gear, allowing us to give it to a trusted follower of Olympus. You won't die but you will need to recover from it, afterwards, we will use our influence to allow you to choose your own path, as Hestia has told us you have great potential for magic so if you wanted we could recommend you to a magicians organization or any other thing you want whether in the supernatural or not."
So this is my out, an opportunity to not link myself with this pantheon, but to do it I would have to give up my greatest asset. Even then it would be far safer than what I think the second choice is.
"The second option is that you join Olympus. You would become a vassal under the council and do missions for us, you would of course be fairly compensated for the work that you do and would be able to refuse any mission you get, the only caveat is that you would need to stay loyal to Olympus. In addition to that you would get training from us to make sure you are properly prepared for the jobs, we would have you do. You would be treated similarly to a minor god of our pantheon and be allowed to grow under our protection. Which means that you would be safe from most dangers as long as you stay in Olympus."
This is better than the option two I would get, I thought it would be the same basics but far fewer benefits. But hearing this has just reinforced my choice.
"So, which option are you choosing young man"
"I humbly accept the second option, lord Zeus"
I never even considered option one, even if it is the safer one. And even Kronos seems to agree with me based on the feeling I'm getting from him.
"Does any member of this council have a problem with this decision?"
Looking around and seeing Hestia, Artemis, Demeter, and Apollo kindly smiling at me, I continue to look for anybody who would speak up but even Ares and Poseidon with their bloodthirsty or stern expressions don't say anything.
"In that case let me welcome you into our panthion, Virgil Helden. As long as you continue to serve Olympus loyally you will be considered one of its own and protected as such."
"Thank you for your kind words, lord Zeus."
"Now that that issue is resolved does any council member have anything to say that is important enough to discuss between all of us?"
Hearing no one speak up for a second time I see Zeus start to speak again.
"In that case, this council meeting has ended. Virgil come see me after you are done talking to the others."
"I will lord Zeus."
Seeing both him and Hera leave through a door behind their thrones I turn towards the other gods that are either leaving or coming towards me. Noticing that Hestia, Artemis, Demeter, and Apollo are coming towards me. Before I can say anything Hestia starts talking.
"You did well Virgil, you managed what most people back then couldn't, not offend one of us due to their pride or narcissism."
"Thank you for your praise, Hestia."
"I told you two he was a good man."
Awkwardly stumbling for a second after hearing that from Hestia, I see a grin on the three that came with her and before I can take the initiative Demeter starts talking.
"It is good to see a mortal that knows what they are doing for once. While most of your kind is quite agreeable, the ones that often reach us gods are not in that category.
"Thank you for the praise lady Demeter."
"You don't have to call me so formally Virgil, Hestia endorses you and that combined with how you have acted up until now is enough for me to like you enough to allow you to talk to me casually."
"You also don't have to be so formal with me or my sister, Virgil."
"While my idiotic brother doesn't speak for me, I will allow you to refer to me more casually from now on."
From what I can gather from their expressions and the way they came with Hestia, they are probably the ones she is closest to and because I'm allowed to call her just Hestia they are allowing me to do the same to them.
Seeing Artemis starting to talk again I am kind of shocked by what she is saying.
"You should be grateful to Hestia, the reason the terms my father gave you were so generous was because she took you under her protection and vouched for you and asked the three of us and a few others to do the same."
So that was the reason the terms were so good, I was right to put my trust in her.
"For what feels like the hundredth time today, thank you, Hestia."
"You don't need to thank me, Virgil, I'm just doing what I think is right."
"We should go, sis, wouldn't want Dad to get annoyed at the new guy for keeping him waiting for too long."
"Call me that again and I will turn every little thing in your collection into target practice for my hunters."
Seeing them walk away while still arguing I look towards Demeter and Hestia who are also looking at the two arguing. before they turn to me and Demeter starts talking.
"Don't let me hold you two up any longer, I will come by later to talk more, goodbye for now."
"Goodbye," Me and Hestia say at the same time.
Seeing her walk away I can't help but ask.
"Why did she say hold us up, are you coming with me to meet Zeus?"
"Of course I am, I am the one who is going to house you and teach you the basic things you need to know after all."
I was wondering about that. I mean I would need a place to sleep and someone to teach me more about this place. Having Hestia fill that role is the best option I could have gotten.
"But let's get going, we wouldn't want my brother to wait for too long.
Walking to the doors behind the thrones of Zeus and Hera with Hestia I wonder what Zeus would want to talk to me about. I can think of a few things but I can't pinpoint which one he would find the most important.
Opening the doors for me and Hestia and going into the room I notice it is far less formal and more designed for comfort.
"It is good you came Virgil" I hear Zeus say.
Seeing both him and Hera sitting on a large couch right in front of me, seeing him signal for me and Hestia to sit down on the couch before him, we do just that.
"I wanted to discuss a few things with you before the end of the day, such as your accommodations and your responsibilities."
"I understand lord Zeus."
"Good, for the accommodations you will be staying with Hestia in the beginning. She will also be the one who will teach you the basics about our pantheon and other things she thinks will be important for you."
"I see, thank you for this opportunity, lord Zeus."
"It is nothing but expected, from now on you are part of our pantheon and are expected to have a sufficient amount of knowledge to support it. Now on to your duties, currently I have none that you will be expected to do. At this point in time, you don't have the strength or knowledge to help in any of them. So you will be expected to train to grow stronger and more knowledgeable, and in the meantime complete some small tasks for us when you are able to. But talking about strength, it is about time for a family reunion. So let us try to activate your sacred gear."
So it is time for that. Hopefully, it will be easier because I already identified the feeling Kronos gives off.
"Have you had any contact with my father yet?" Zeus asks.
Deciding to answer truthfully I answer after feeling Kronos send me a feeling of conformation.
"I haven't had true contact with him, but I am able to sense what he feels when he sends me his feelings."
"I see, so you haven't fully activated the sacred gear. Then let us help you activate it so I can have a conversation I have been waiting for for thousands of years."
Yeah, this can either go really badly or really well.
"I understand lord Zeus, how would I activate it? Do I need to do it on my own or is there anything you are going to do to make it activate?"
"Both ways are viable but you should first try to activate it yourself. Focus on the location of where the feelings of my father were coming from and try to draw them out."
Doing what is asked of me I close my eyes and focus on that feeling I have felt a few times now. Thankfully Kronos is helping me by sending me feelings right now to make it easier to locate or I would be searching for a while.
Finally finding it after a few minutes have passed I take hold of the feeling and begin to tug on it to try and pull it out. Feeling a bit of resistance I start pulling harder but it feels like I'm trying to pull something halfway stuck free. Giving it one last massive tug I manage to get it free.
Suddenly hearing a deep voice inside of my head say "Hello, my name is Kronos, titan of time and the harvest."
deciding to try and communicate without talking as that would make me seem insane I focus on the sacred gear I can sense inside of me now and think
"Hello, lord Kronos, my name is Virgil Helden"
"Yes, Virgil Helden, the current and first wielder of the sacred gear I'm sealed in. While I am angry about the fact that I am imprisoned in my own scythe I won't hold it against you. You have done everything I tried to have you do for our survival by sending you my feelings"
"Thank you for that, it really helped me."
"But now that we can talk like this you don't need to concentrate this much to allow us to have conversations. So I recommend you tell my children in the room you have managed to make contact with me."
Deciding to do just that I open my eyes and begin to talk.
"I managed to make contact with Kronos."
Seeing all three of the gods get slightly uncomfortable but still seeing Zeus respond.
"That is good, would you be able to summon the sacred gear? Most of the other sacred gears with beings in them can talk with other people when summoned. And this conversation is long overdue."
"I will try lord Zeus."
Using Kronos's advice and contacting him like this I start talking to him.
"How would I summon your scythe, lord Kronos?"
"You are able to summon the sacred gear by focussing on the feeling of me and pulling like you just did a minute ago, except try to pull it outside of your body."
Doing just that and starting to pull on the feeling I immediately notice it's far easier than the first time. With one last pull, I feel something heavy appearing in my hands.
Looking down and seeing a massive scythe in my hands. So this is my sacred gear.
Looking up and seeing the faces of three startled and slightly afraid gods I can't help but get anxious. That feeling gets even worse when I start hearing Kronos talk through the scythe.
"Hello my children, It has been a while hasn't it? It's about time we had this conversation, isn't it?
So this is my second chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed it, and feel free to leave a review. I appreciate them a lot so thanks to the guys that left one. The next update will probably take a little longer cause of exams and such.
See you guys next time.