Artemis:

Zeus was not a happy god. While he was a grumpy, vindictive man with a thunderous temper at the best of times. Recently he had truly spiralled in a way that had not been seen in a long, long time.

Hera said he'd been having dreams, seeing things and hearing voices. He'd frequently wake up screaming, so frequently the goddess of marriage herself had vacated their marital bed. This lead to his already overwhelming sense of paranoia growing tenfold, now believing everyone, even his own wife, is plotting against him. Apollo, being the healer he is, tried repeatedly to aid him, but rather simply brushed him off. Insisting that no does not require help from a junior Olympian. Apollo stopped offering to help after that which only fuelled father's paranoia further.

Slowly, over the previous few months Zeus had withdrawn further and further from society. His weekly dinners with Rhea and Hera became monthly, then ceased altogether. He had completely stopped with public appearances. His vacant box at the theatre being a standout for all of Olympus. Even in the darkest of times Father made time for the theatre.

Even his beloved council has felt his absence. Previously, Zeus, being ever the authoritarian, insisted on being the first into all council meetings, no matter how trivial, he always wanted to be there, to say piece, make his decision. His grasp on power was absolute. But recently he'd been sporadically absent from the weekly council meetings. On the rare occasion he did make an appearance, he was moody, disinterested and would depart with haste the moment the opportunity presented itself. He cared little for the issues discussed, or what way the council swayed. He either would overrule everyone and demand his word be final, or he would completely tune out and refuse to even participate.

So, when he called an emergency council meeting I was surprised to say the least. Whatever the reason for it was had me concerned. What concerned me even more is I had absolutely no clue what the reason in question was. If there is one thing I truly hate, it's being clueless.

Apollo. I thought to myself. While my idiot younger brother was often clueless, this was an area in which he may have some insight. As much as I loathed to admit it, his contacts in the wider world were far beyond mine, and as such information travelled to him before most gods, aside from Hermes of course. But he wasn't an option, I could never trust him to be honest with me. I sighed and resigned myself to the fact that if I didn't want to walk into this meeting blind, I'd need my brother's help.

I walked through my palace hallways, ignoring the rows of paintings that covered the walls. I'd hand little say in the design of this place, I hated it here. My home was the wilds, not cooped up in a stuffy palace. The sooner I leave here the better. I thought. I'd been here far too long now, normally I capped my stays on Olympus at a couple of nights, but I'd been here for five moons now, Zeus's absences had meant we had all had to shoulder the burden his absences created. A reality I hated beyond words. I detest politics.

Finally, the tedium of hallways ended and the exit neared, I went through it and entered my gardens. Despite the ever looming stress, I allowed myself to smile. I'd not had the chance to come here since arriving on Olympus. This was the one place on this infernal mountain that I didn't loathe. While nothing compared to the wilds, this at least came close. To my left was a small forest of pine trees, modest in size, but beautiful nonetheless. Within it was a small stream that sustained all the life that grew here. Everything from common grouse to unicorns could be found here. These woods were special, and as such all manner of animals spent time there.

I breathed in the scent of pine trees before turning away and approaching the centrepiece of my gardens. The fountain. Usually beautiful, but today an eyesore, basked in an obnoxious orange glow as the sun harshly bore down on it. Well at least I know he's in his chariot. I thought to myself. I waved my hand, summoning the mist. "Iris, show me Apollo".

Silence.

I tried again. "Iris, show me Apollo".

Still nothing.

I sighed. "Where is he?"

"He's on do not disturb, My Lady. He cannot be reached."

Oh I'll reach him alright. I thought to myself as I drew my bow and glared at his stupid, over indulgent ball of gas in the sky.

"Thank you, Iris. That will be all."

"Would you like me to try again?"

"No, thank you, Iris. I'll make contact with him myself."

"Okay. Good luck, My Lady." Iris said, before cutting the connection. I turned away and looked up at the sky once again. Squinting my eyes, I zeroed in on the sun. I notched an arrow, dropped to one knee and aimed upwards.

"Coordinates." I said simply.

"λ 0 07' 12. φ 0 04' 06. Milady. Target distance, 93 million miles. Target speed. 483 000mph." The bow replied.

I drew the arrow back, anchored myself and waited. Any second now… I followed the movement of the sun, subtle though it may be, I could see it just fine. There. I thought to myself, releasing the arrow. Within seconds it would be in orbit, seconds after that it would have gained enough speed to hit my idiot of a brother square on his stupid forehead.

Wait for it. I thought to myself, grinning internally.

"ARTEMIS" I heard a panicked voice shriek from somewhere in the sky. And there it is.

"Hello brother," Distant though he may be, once I had his attention the idiot could hear me just fine from anywhere in the world "I need to speak to you at once".

"Yes Artemis, I got that". The aforementioned idiot muttered from behind me. I spun around expecting yet another retina frying grin. Instead Apollo greeted me with a rather unpleasant sight. Possibly the tackiest tracksuit I had ever seen. It was black, gold, yellow and purple, a mash of colours smattered together with no regard for taste. To top it off it was somehow baggy and tight in all the wrong areas, it looked highly uncomfortable, I had seen more classy outfits on Aphrodite. This tracksuit was simply... wrong. Thankfully it appeared his stupid Gucci sunglasses had not survived my arrow, as they were conspicuously absent from his face. I thanked my lucky stars for that blessing.

He spoke again, causing me to finally stop eyeing his vile costume. "That was not funny sis. I was driving. I could have crashed."

I merely shrugged. "You didn't though."

"But I could have".

"But you didn't."

"But I could have".

"But you didn't. Want an ice pack?"

"I'm the god of the sun, Artemis. No, I don't want an ice pack."

"You sure?" I said teasingly, holding it out for him. "That's a nasty bump, can't be going into a council meeting covered in bruises. God of healing and all, just looks shoddy."

"Hmph".

"It's got nectar in it." I added.

That got Apollo's attention. "Fine," he conceded. "Give it here". Snatching the ice pack from my hand with a scowl. "But this stays between us sis.".

"Mhmm. Just like Santorini stayed between us?"

Apollo's scowl flipped upside down as he flashed me an annoyingly punchable grin. "Hey, I was drunk. I take no blame for that. Plus you were the one who-"

I raised my hand to cut him off. "I know what I did. But your drunkness is no excuse, you're always drunk".

"Am not"

"Are too".

"Am not:"

"Am not". I said. mimicking him.

"Are too", the fool replied. Falling for the obvious bait. He frowned. "Wait…"

"Anyway," I interjected, cutting off what was sure to be more childish quips. "Now that we've established you are an alcoholic. Let's discuss the reason I called you".

"You shot me".

I shrugged. "I tried to call you too". Apollo glared at me but stayed silent so I continued. "Father has called an emergency meeting.

All traces of fun and games vanished from Apollo instantly. "Did he say why?"

I shook my head. "No. I was hoping perhaps you knew something."

Apollo looked troubled. "I felt… something. Hours ago when I last crossed the east coast. But I don't think that would be reason for father to summon us."

"What did you feel?"

"I don't know how to describe it sis… sad? I just felt empty? It's why I was on do not disturb. I needed some time to think, it was very confusing."

That's concerning. I thought to myself. My brother is many things, but depressed and hopeless he is not.

"Any idea what caused it?"

He shook his head. "No clue, sis. Whatever it was, it's gone now. I feel fine now". He flashed me a reassuring grin which concerned me even further. While Apollo wouldn't outright lie, he's not above keeping things from me. It was rare, true, but on the seldom occasion it did happen, it was a bad omen. Whatever caused this, clearly had him worried. I decided to park the issue for now and focus on the matter at hand. Zeus hated tardiness, we had little time left until the council met, being late was unacceptable.

"So brother. I think we've wasted enough time, we have a meeting to get to."

Apollo nodded, tossing the ice pack aside. The ugly bump on his forehead was now gone. "Race you there?"

"Sure", I said. "You're on. Wager?"

"If I win, can I have a Hunter?"

I wrinkled my nose in disgust. Not only was that disrespectful to me, my Hunters and women worldwide but well over half my hunt were Apollo's children, though I sometimes suspected he'd long forgotten that. "Ugh, no Apollo. You are foul".

"Okay how about-" he began.

"No." I cut him off. "No wager. No race. You've ruined it. We'll walk."

Apollo threw his arms up in defeat. "Okay sis, whatever you say". He took two steps forward and then began to sprint away as fast as he could manage in his poorly fitted tracksuit. To his credit, he made it further than one would expect in such a restricted set of clothes, eventually though, gravity won and he fell face first into the dirt. "Fine". He muttered, truly defeated now. "We'll walk."

I raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Is that so?"

"Yes," he replied sadly as he rose to his feet, dusting himself off. "Let's go."

I grinned victoriously. "I'll follow your lead then, brother. Set the pace, I'll follow you.". Gesturing for him to walk ahead of me.

Apollo looked like he wanted to say something but he begrudgingly sighed and began to trudge towards the Hall of the gods.

We made it to the meeting in good time. Only Hera and Athena had arrived prior to us which was to be expected. Hera, as Queen and an elder Olympian, was obligated to to set a good example and Athena was, well Athena. On time is late to that woman.

Apollo and I took our seats and waited. I for my part, kept good posture but Apollo, being Apollo slumped into his throne and began fiddling with a loose shoelace on his equally hideous shoes. How had I not noticed those before? "Nice shoes, brother" I said sarcastically.

Apollo beamed so widely the whole of Olympus lit up. "You like the Jordans? Thanks sis!! DJ Khaled designed them."

I looked at the shoes once again in disgust. I had no clue who this Khaled man was but he deserved Tartarus for creating such an eyesore.

Apollo continued. "I managed to get every pair in the store! I got lucky, no one had snatched them up yet! I don't know why"

Athena broke her silence and spoke. "Yes Apollo, it is truly a mystery. Though not one this council has been called to solve so perhaps we can refrain from delving down this fascinating road for now?" Athena said in a tone that made it very clear it wasn't a question. Hera nodded in agreement and the four of us fell back into a silence, waiting for the others to arrive.

Thankfully we didn't have to wait too long. Hephaestus arrived next, followed by Hermes, Demeter and Dionysnus. Four left. I wonder what's - the arrival of Ares and Aphrodite snapped me out of my thoughts. Her hair was a mess, his neck was covered in scratches. The both of them were caked in sweat. Subtle. I thought to myself in disgust. Judging by Hephaestus's expression, he echoed my thoughts. Though he kept them to himself and merely grumbled to himself, refusing to look at either of them.

With everyone but my father and Uncle now seated, talk began. I paid little to heed to it at first as it was clearly just gossip, more talk about Poseidon ignoring his summons. Rather dull talk given that Poseidon, like the sea, was unruly at the best of times, he danced to his own tune. If he felt the matter was important, he'd have been here.

Dionysus mention something about an incident at Camp Half Blood got my attention. Some of my Hunters were there, anything that happened to them was my business.

"Dionysus", I said loudly, cutting off the chatter in the room. "You spoke of an incident at your Camp? What happened?"

The rest of our fellow Olympians turned to face him, causing the wine god to shift uncomfortably in his seat. "I am not sure, I've heard conflicting reports but haven't been down to check for myself yet.".

Athena raised an eyebrow at this. "Reports? Do go on, I'm sure we're all curious." She said, gesturing around, at which several members of the council nodded their agreement.

Dionysus nodded quickly and continued, while he'd never admit it, Athena had always intimidated him. "I don't know all the details, but I do know that many have died. Some kind of mass suicide in the night."

At this, the hall fell silent, we were all thinking the same thing. Mass suicide carried out by Demigods? Depression rarely had a chance to fester within them, their lives were so brief and so chaotic that they rarely had time to stop and process their emotions. Though recently they'd had nothing but time.

Athena spoke again, snapping me from my train of thought. "Was this a… natural phenomenon?"

Dionysus shrugged meekly. "I don't know, but I struggle to believe it could be. I know my campers, this is unimaginable. Just last night they were celebrating-"

Ares cut in. "You know your campers? Really Dionysus. All you know is the bottom of a bottle, though you cannot even seem to do that right these days".

Dionysus glowered angrily at the god of war. "Don't push me Ares, I have limited patience for your buffoonery."

"Oh?" Ares grinned arrogantly, sensing a challenge. "And what if I keep pushing?" In answer to his question. A barbed grapevine wrapped around his ankle tightly, breaking the skin. Ares drew his sword, sliced the vine and grinned, moving to stand from his throne. "Well come on then. Bring it punk."

Thankfully, before things spiralled further out of control, Aphrodite cut in. "Ares, shush." Sitting him back down in an instant. "You can continue your little macho measuring contest later." Dismissing the idiot of a war god, she turned to Dionysus. "Do you know who's died?"

Despite my distaste for her character, behaviour and general personality. I felt for Aphrodite in the moment, despite her best efforts, she was a good mother, and she loved her children. A look of worry painted her features, a look she very rarely showed for fear of wrinkles.

Dionysus shifted in his throne. "I've yet to be properly briefed, but from what I've heare the death count is high and some bodies are not... easily identifiable so I do not possess all the names. But I know some. Chris Rodriguez and Travis Stoll, both sons of Hermes."

My eyes darted to Hermes, who simply clutched his Caduceus tightly and stared blankly straight ahead. He's lost far too many children in recent years.

Dionysus continued. "Katie Gardner, daughter of Demeter."

"Oh…" was all Demeter managed. She, like Hermes, didn't show much, but we all knew how much she loved her children. She isn't going to take this well. I thought to myself. Her wrath will come later. She would not let this go lightly, no woman who would render the earth barren would.

Juniper, a Dryad". Dionysus trailed on listing names. A Dryad. What a loss. I thought to myself sadly. They were a beautiful expression of nature, the loss of even one was a huge blow for the wilds. "Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena". I heard Dionysus say.

At the mention of Annabeth's name my eyes snapped to Athena, she just remained in place, her face not giving away a thing. Though her body language betrayed her as she gripped the armrests of her throne so tightly I could see the whites of her knuckles. Her reaction was understandable, Annabeth was one of the greatest demigods of recent times, instrumental in not one, but two Great Prophecies. I'd always been upset that she rejected my offer to join the Hunt, she would have been a fine addition, but I respected the girl for taking her own path.

My Hunters. My mind instantly went back to my girls. "Dionysus," I said quickly. "What of my Hunt. Thalia, Phoebe, Aleka and Katerina were all there last night."

"You can relax, Artemis," Dionysus said. "From what I've heard, they're all fine and have been assisting with the… clean up effort".

Relief washed over my body. Thank the gods. I'd been separated from my girls for too long, I was not ready to lose them permanently so soon after just getting them back. As soon as the opportunity presented itself I would collect them myself. Whatever was happening down there, I wanted them as far away from it as possible.

Athena broke her silence. "Well Dionysus, I'm glad you can feel relaxed. But I'm not hearing much in the ways of what your plan is moving forward. They are your charges, the camp is your responsibility."

Anger flickered in Dionysus's eyes. "I am well aware of my responsibilities, Athena. I do not need reminding from the likes of you. I take this matter more seriously than you'd know."

"Oh please," Athena said airily, rolling her eyes. "It's been millennia since you've taken anything truly seriously. Spare us."

"Has it ever crossed your mind, Wisdom Goddess", Dionysus muttered, the anger is his eyes growing tenfold. "That if father knows I care, he will cease to see my presence at the camp as a punishment. Don't mistake my apparent apathy for a lack of caring, you are not alone in your grief. They are my responsibility. I feel each and every loss acutely."

There was a stunned silence for several moments before Athena found her voice. "Then… forgive me Dionysus, I spoke out of turn. Emotions are… charged today."

Dionysus nodded, his rage subsiding. "I am sorry too, for your loss." He turned and looked around the whole council. "For all our losses-"

He was cut off by a blinding flash of light, followed by a loud series of crashes. Father had arrived.

"Thank you all for waiting," Zeus began, taking no time for small talk or pleasantries. "So kind of you all to begin without me."

"Husband… we waited quite some-" Hera began, speaking for the first time.

"SILENCE!" Zeus roared. "I am speaking, wife! Do not interrupt me." An uncomfortable silence enveloped the room, evidently there was trouble in paradise. Hera shuffled in her throne, inching as far away from her husband as she could manage.

"As I was saying…" Zeus continued. "Given that you all saw it fit to call this council into session without me, I'll dispense with the pleasantries. I trust you have all been informed about what occurred at the demigod camp last night?"

An awkward series of ayes rang from the rest of the council.

Zeus nodded. "Good. Then I'll get down to the matter at hand. I have it on good authority that Perseus Jackson is behind this."

"Who's authority, father?" Athena asked, seemingly sceptical.

Zeus sighed in frustration, closing his eyes for several moments, going completely quiet, almost as if he was listening to something. He briefly mumbled something under his breath before opening his eyes again. I don't like this. I thought to myself. Looking around the room, I wasn't alone in that sentiment. Nearly everyone looked alarmed, this was decidedly not normal.

Finally he spoke aloud. "My authority, daughter. Which is absolute. Are you questioning it?"

Athena, to her credit, seemed unfazed. "I am not questioning you, father. Merely the source. The idea that Perseus would harm any of his friends, let alone my daughter is very difficult to believe. The boy is loyal to a fault."

Thunder rumbled overhead and Zeus grew visibly more frustrated. "Athena. I am certain. The source is someone I trust implicitly. You have your spies, I have mine. We are not here to debate the validity of my information, merely to decide a reasonable course of action. Personally I'm for blasting the boy from here, summary judgement."

"This is irrational, father. At least listen to what he has to say first. You cannot -"

Zeus eyed Athena down, silencing her, for a moment I could swear his eyes, usually a vibrant electric blue, were a deep black. But when I focused my vision on him they appeared normal. "I can do whatever I like, daughter. Do not forget yourself".

Athena held his gaze. "Out of respect for all the boy has done for us, for you, father. I implore you. Let us not rush this decision. We can bring the boy here. I can bring him here myself. There is no logical reason to simply destroy him without so much as a conversation."

"Athena speaks with reason". Hera added, finding her courage to speak once again. Much to my father's displeasure. "He has done much for us and asked for so little in return. Surely giving him a chance to explain himself won't-"

Zeus raised a hand to silence her, causing her to flinch. "I was speaking with my daughter, wife. Not you."

Hera, albeit flustered, found her voice once again. "I am on this council just as much as-" Zeus cut her off with a look.

"This matter is between my daughter and I, stay out of it." He hissed.

"I am involving myself in the matter as you are being irrational!" Hera replied.

"IRRATIONAL!"

I decided to interrupt before this escalated dangerously out of control. Father was clearly unable to think rationally here. "Father…" I began gingerly. "With respect, are you certain that-"

"I am fine". Zeus replied coolly.

I carried on. "I'm just... concerned. You have not been yourself recently, we've all noticed it. And what with your dreams…" I faltered, this was a dangerous path to go down and in truth I was nervous. Nevertheless I continued. "I'm worried that your haste to destroy the boy is influenced by something else."

His eyes met mine, his gaze made me alarm bells ring in my head. It was like I wasn't there at all, his eyes were locked onto mine, but it felt like he was looking through me. If looks could kill, I'd be dust in Tartarus now.

"Daughter". Zeus said slowly, anger bubbling at the surface of his words. "I am not influenced by anything or anyone." The rest of the council looked uncomfortable at his words. He was beginning to sound more and more like a dictator with every word. "It is time you realise this area of discussion is over." He paused for a moment before continuing. "Athena, wife. I will grant your request. I will hear the boy out before executing final judgement. Artemis, seeing as you are so desperate to involve yourself in this situation. You can bring the boy here."

"Yes father." I said quickly, not wanting to fuel the fire further.

"Good. Do not take no for an answer, use whatever force is necessary. His condition upon arrival is of no concern to me."

Zeus caught Athena's eye, who was glaring daggers at him. "Fine, daughter. Fine!. Artemis, if the boy protests, you may use force. But do not harm him. And will someone please bring Poseidon here, now is not the time for one of his little boycotts, I have questions for him too."

Hermes rose to his feet. "I will fetch Poseidon at once, father." Hermes bowed quickly and flashed out of the throne room.

I made to stand. "Very well, father. I will leave for Camp Half Blood now."

"I will join her." Athena added quickly. "I too wish to speak to the boy."

Zeus shook his head. "You may speak to him once he is brought here."

"He will be more receptive in private. I am going father, I was not asking." Athena replied simply.

Zeus's form flicked briefly, the thick stench of ozone filled the air.

"Fine, fine, Daughter". Zeus spat. "I will acquiesce to your request for the simple reason that these discussions tire me. You may accompany Artemis and speak with him briefly, but not alone. And you are not to interfere further, the boy is to be brought here, today. Have I made myself clear?"

We both nodded quickly.

"Very well, I need to be alone. Notify me when the boy arrived."

"Yes father." We said in unison.

Zeus nodded before disappearing in another flash, thunder quickly following his wake.

I turned to Athena. "Are you ready?"

Athena paused for a moment before replying. "Actually, I would prefer that you stay here, at least for a short while."

I opened my mouth to speak but Athena cut me off and continued.

"Artemis, I do not ask for much here. Give me an hour. I just need to see my daughter, and speak to the boy before you take him. He is more likely to be honest if is just I alone, and not you. An hour, no longer. Please. I give you my word, no longer than an hour."

I looked into her eyes. Athena, usually impossible to read, was a colouring book in this moment. There was no scheme here, no master plan. She was hurting, and it was clear she was being truthful.

"Fine," I replied. "I can give you an hour, no more. It isn't up to me, you know this. I will wait outside the camp, father will sense me if I remain here".

Athena nodded her understanding. "Thank you sister, truly. I will not forget this."

"Of course. We should go now then. Father's patience runs thin". Proving my words true, thunder rumbled overhead.

"Very well, I'll see you down there".

"One hour, Athena. No more."

Athena nodded once again and flashed away. Moments later I followed, appearing atop Half Blood Hill. I was instantly met by the loud roar of a dragon. Evidently he was still quite young. He was large, but clearly not fully mature, his scales had not yet hardened and if his roar was anything to go by, his voice hadn't broken yet. I smiled and looked up at him.

"Hello there. You must be Peleus, Thalia's told me about you."

The dragon huffed and approached me cautiously, I held an outstretched palm and beckoned him closer. Warily, he tapped his head to my palm before shimmying away backwards, never breaking eye contact. I chuckled to myself. Dragons. Despite all the legends, they were very skittish creatures most of the time. He grumbled to himself as he curled up into a ball, still eyeing me, warily.

"That's okay Peleus, you stay there. I'll stay here? Deal?"

Peleus huffed once before closing his eyes, I could sense he was still on edge, likely not used to an immortal presence so close by. No matter. I thought. He means me no harm. I turned away and made my way to a part of the hill where the dragon has not dried out all the grass from his heat and sat down.

I wanted to enjoy the grass and the breeze on the hill for a while. Despite the events of the last day, it was beautiful here. While no part of the world was truly untouched by man anymore, this was a nice place. I could see trees for miles, I could hear the gentle splashing of the creeks deep within the woods. The animals foraging nearby, deer grazing, a mother bear returning to her den, the birds overhead, watching the world for miles.

Even the mortal roads around here hadn't fully overrun the wilds, they were few and far between, only made for necessity, not indulgence. Excess had yet to poison this land, nature still held on here. I closed my eyes and tuned the world out. Becoming one with nature and enjoying a peaceful moment to myself, I lay back and let the breeze wash over me, carrying with it all the scents of the wilds. I smiled. Peace.

So this chapter wasn't what I'd planned when I initially created this story, there is already a completed chapter 2, but I felt that it was too rushed so I wrote this as a sort of prologue to it. I know where I want to steer this story, and what I want to do with certain characters, so proper character development means a lot to me. That being said I'm not entirely sure if I'm happy with this chapter, I may edit it further down the line but for now I want to make a good start on getting chapters out again. I hope you all like the direction this is going in so far though. If you have any thoughts, good or bad, please leave a review. I appreciate any kind of feedback and it's the only real reward we get for writing. Expect chapter 3 in the next day or so, it's all written out, just needs to be edited. Next chapter will be a Percy chapter again.