Ok, my dearest of all, My lovely and handsome readers, This is a BONUS chapter for you! Read and enjoy.
Chapter 9: The future is told
Grover's pov
"And the chapter ends." Lady Hestia said closing the book. At once the whole room erupted with questions.
" What are Planes?"
"How do these mortals not know about us?"
"Who are Romans? And what is Latin?"
"What is a skateboard ?"
It looked more like a normal summer solstice meeting except right now all the questions were towards us. These questions were so much that Lord Hephaestus's started making grinding noises similar to the one Percy described right now.
Everyone quietened looking at the ball as if it was an alien. Smoke came out of it and it died. " Oh for the sake of Hephaestus, you killed my father's gadget! " Leo cried jumping out of his seat and going to take a look at it. Lord Hephaestus joined him. The father-son duo poked it, checking its cables and other stuff.
A few seconds later, Lord Hephaestus took it, and with Leo in tow, went back to his seat. Leo sat next to him and they started doing their mechanic work.
"Moving on, I believe it lies up to the new generation of demigods to answer the questions!" Lady Hera ordered us. Andrew silently seethed at her Queenly attitude. "Sure. We will answer. Just ask all your questions altogether" I replied when Andrew didn't say something.
"Ok. Question 1. How come the mortals are unaware of us? Question 2. Who are Romans? What is Latin as they both seem related? Question 3. What are Skateboard, Planes and this book Cambridge guide to Greek mythology? Is it referring to us? Also what language is English? Where are these places 'Hiking trip to Switzerland' and ' Cruising the Caribbean? What is a Business card with a fancy script? Who are Sasq- what the father those words even spell?" Lady Athena listed a bit irritated at not knowing about them.
We all shared a look. This is going to take time!
"Ok sooo, let us start with the question Who are Romans and What is Latin?" The gods nodded. Andrew thought about it for a second and then started. " Let's see how we can explain this to you. If I am not wrong, we are around the time when the Trozen war ended, right?" " Correct, We defeated Troy twelve years," Odyssey said, nostalgic.
I can see gods winced at the reminder of the great war." Uhu! Two years of Penelope's love and care it seems." Perseus nudged. Odyssey blushed. " Oh, for father's sake, we have kids!" Thalia exclaimed covering Nico's ears as Piper did to Hazel. The old demigods gave us a weird look.
"Continuing, If you remember, there was a son of lady Aphrodite and Trojan Prince Anchises, Aeneas. He and the remaining Trojan soldiers sailed away to Italy. His descendants started another empire called Rome. Hence its people were called the Romans. It used to be a kingdom until the last king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus was overthrown through mutiny led by Lucius Junius Brutus. After overthrowing the monarchy rule, Rome became a republic, which means rule by people or their representatives. "
Reyna continued," Lucius became one of the first members of the Senate, which is a group of individuals, who are elected by citizens, and take the decision on their behalf. Soon Rome overthrew the Greeks," All the older demigods and gods eyes widened " which was pretty easy because the last Greek kings were very weak. " Romans had the same gods as the Greeks except for their forms, names and importance changed in this pantheon.
Lord Zeus became Lord Jupiter," said god nodded his approval. "Lady Hera became Lady Juno" " Oh sounds good to me " Lady Hera beamed. Lady Demeter became Lady Ceres" " Sounds Healthy!" Said the goddess. "Lord Poseidon became Lord Neptune, Lady Hestia became Lady Vestia."
" Lord Hades was named Lord Pluto. Lord Hermes, Lord Ares, Lord Hephaestus and Lord Dionysus were called Lord Mercury, Lord Mars, Lord Vulcan and Lord Bacchus respectively. Lord Apollo remained, well Lord Apollo."
"As for goddesses, Lady Athena and Lady Artemis were named Lady Minerva and Lady Diana.
" In the case of minor gods and goddesses, some were accepted in Roman culture while some didn't. Some Greek gods have Roman forms like Lord Herakles became Lord Hercules, which is what we call you if you would have noticed. Similarly, Lord Pan became Lord Faunus, Lady Amphitrite was named Lady Salacia and Lady Persephone became Proserpina.
Some gods were not accepted by Romans and their equivalent or similar gods were formed like Lady Enyo a Greek goddess who doesn't have a Roman name. She is replaced by Lady Bellona. Lord Asclepius is similar to the Roman god Vejovis. Lord Triton, well you don't have a Roman version or equivalent."
He shrugged it off as nothing. " It seems these Romans didn't have someone as great as me to make him the messenger of sea or herald to my father? Huh!" He smirked.
" Other than your names, your styles also changed. Roman gods were more organized and militarized than Greeks." Lady Hera's eyes lit up. " No that doesn't mean they didn't sleep with mortals. The Roman demigods were in the same no. as the Greeks ones. " She slumped back and glared at her husband. " Even most kings and leaders were descendants from gods. "
"So The major gods remained the same only their names were changed, right? " Asked Bellerophon.
"Well," Jason drawled, not knowing how to answer that question. Poor Romans, I am worried about how Lady Athena will react to her status in Rome.
Andrew cleared his throat " The powers of several Olympian gods were also altered." "Like?" Lord Zeus looked wary and gripped his throne firmly. " Most Gods and Goddesses have the same domains of powers. You are the king of Gods in your Roman form too," he told Lord Zeus.
" Lord Ares or more specifically Lord Mars, on the other hand, gained importance within Romans. He became one of their patron gods because he is the god of War. But in roman form, he is less destructive and more strategic. " Lord Ares puffed his chest like a peacock. Frank had an is-he-my-father look on his face.
"Similarly Lady Bellona became the goddess of warfare and battle strategy. She also gained importance in Romans." Lady Athena narrowed her eyes " Then what happened to my position as goddess of battle and strategy."
The Romans shifted in their seats. " You became the deity of wisdom, poetry, medicine, commerce, weaving, and crafts -" "What you turned me into a measly goddess of Crafts and weaving !" Lady Athena shrieked. " Weaving isn't that bad !" Andrew commented only to get a glare from his mother. " Listen to me, Ok, I know you are angry but anger loses wisdom. So cool down. And weaving saved me from your arc enemy, Arachne, so don't insult that craft."
Lady Athena was taken aback by her son's rudeness and gulped. I could feel that Andrew was not only thinking about Arachne and his quest but also about his time in the pit. I wanted to help him but knew I couldn't. No one could. Ever since Percy's coma state, Andrew hadn't been the same. And most affected was his semi-conscious brain.
In Agro-2 and quests, after returning from The Pit, he rarely got nightmares of that place. It was as if his brain had blocked that entire journey, thinking of it as a nightmare and forgetting it. But ever since the war ended he is getting tons of nightmares of the pit. Recently, he is even getting some flashbacks. It is worrying and no one has an idea how to help him. If only Percy was here!
" Ok, I am not saying anything against my powers and position but still I-I-Goddess of Battle strategy is one of my important statuses. It is not fair for me to remove one of my powers?" I came out of the depressing thought by Lady Athena's words as she tried to pacify him and prove herself at the same time.
Not fair! My ass! You, Lady Athena, are the daughter of the Titaness of Justice and still don't understand the meaning of fairness. Unfair is the fact that all the enemies you made go against your kids. Unfair is the fact that Andrew found the Athena Parthenos and still had to suffer The pit. I couldn't help but seethe silently.
Everyone in the room was silent. All the demigods from the future were having the same reactions as me. Andrew himself was biting his tongue to stop saying anything Percy-worthy. The demigods of Old were holding their breath. They didn't want to be in the middle of a mother-son fight, much less between Lady Athena and Andrew.
Andrew took a deep breath to control his temper and replied, this time in an even tone " I am not going to comment on that topic. All I know is in future you will start liking them and even help them in quests. "
" And it is not just you who was more or less offended. Lord Poseidon's Roman form Neptune is also under-appreciated. Romans hated Seas and never respected him. They feared him, yes, but for them, his kids were bad news.
The same circumstance is of Lord Pluto Lord Hades's roman form."
Lord Hades waved his hand." I don't mind. Neither does Poseidon. We are used to being under-appreciated, as you termed it, by other gods and mortals." Many gods and demigods of both times winced "It will make no difference to us if Romans like us or think of us as black cats. Right, brother? " Yep, totally!", agreed, " as long as they treat my Percy properly, I don't have a problem."
Lady Athena slumped back in her seat as if she lost the debate, but smiled nonetheless, while Hazel exclaimed" Treat properly! She was once their leader." " Oh really, tell me more- " "Poseidon, stop being single-minded and refrain from your questions about your daughter, especially in front of me. Haven't we already read about that, brat? " Lord Zeus grumbled. Lord Poseidon rolled his eyes at his brother and mouthed Hazel later. Lord Hades hid a smile.
" Back to the questions. You asked why the people of our time didn't know about you and thought of you as mythology. So when Rome was gaining attention, other cultures were emerging in the middle east.
So here is the fact you know that the world consists of Europe, Asia and some parts of Africa but for us, the world is beyond that." Andrew turned to Leo, who was now sitting on his father's armchair, and asked, "Are its monitor and microprocessors still working?" "Yes, it is. Only the cables connecting to the sound system, the entire sound system have been destroyed due to overloading. Some wires of central processors are also damaged because of the short circuit. Due to that, the main memory has been erased. Lastly, it cannot propel or transform either. As the propeller and transform unit are also damaged. Damn, if only I had my trusty keyboard." he raves. " Everyone looked at him like he was crazy. " So what is working?" Lady Hera asked annoyed by his rant. " It can only show you pictures and do nothing else. " He replied without even looking at her.
" Then show me a world map," Andrew asked unaffected by Leo. Leo nodded and typed something. Seconds later, a world map appeared from the ball. " This is our world with seven continents Asia, Europe, Australia, Africa, North America and South America. " He informed them pointing to each one." The present-day demigods live in North America in the Country, United States of America or the U.S.A. " Leo zoomed to the USA. " The greek demigods live in New York City" Leo zoomed to the said city" and Roman ones in San Francisco. " he showed San Francisco.
"Now we are in Greece. Greece was defeated by the Roman empire. As I told you earlier new religions were forming in the Middle east. These new religions were monotheistic. Meaning for them there was only one God. Unlike us with multiple gods.
These were Jews, Christians and Muslims. They fought with each other and with the Romans. The Christians were most prominent among them. While Muslims went towards Asia, the Christians attacked Europe. They defeated the Romans, ending their realm. They took the western civilization and moved over entire Europe. They colonialized and divided into countries. Then when the new continents, the Americas, were found, they went and settled down there. The same went for several Asian countries and Australia. Soon Christianity became the dominant culture all over the world, except in few Asian countries." Leo was simply typing and a pointer followed Andrew, showing them changes and how Christianity took over the world.
The gods and older demigods were stunned and a bit sad that our religion would end in a few millennia. " But the defeat of the Romans was not the end of this culture. What was not known was that western civilization was firmly attached to Greco-Roman culture. So wherever these Christians took the western civilizations, the gods followed. And where there are gods, there are always..."" demigods!" Hera finished in disdain while others looked relieved that they will not vanish.
Lady Amphitrite asked Sally, " Wait, Are you a Christian too?" Sally looked guilty and nodded hesitantly. " It is not Sally's fault. Most of us are half-Christians, except for Piper. She is native American. They were tribes native to the continents America." All the Gods nodded in approval.
"Now here is your answer to the question Why did the mortals not know about you? There is a power called mist, due to which mortals see things only they can understand without them knowing about this world. It is like a shield for us but it can also be a curse sometimes. Like you saw with Percy. She remembered Mrs. Dodds but no one in her class did. So she became an outcast. The first reference to mist comes in the book The Iliad by the poet Homer. He was the son of Lord Apollo. "
Lord Poseidon didn't look much happy about his daughter being treated as an outsider but then an imaginary light bulb switched on over his head, and he asked" Wait, then how come Sally know about us being real ?" " I was coming to that before you interrupted me! There are a few mortals who can see through the mist. They are termed, clear-sighted mortals. Sally is one of them. That's why you noticed her." " How do you know that? " " Percy. She told us everything. She loves to talk about you. " Piper told Sally. Sally beamed with joy.
" Now, you asked about Cambridge guide to Greek mythology? Yes due to the mist, mortals think you are legends to explain rain, seasons, names of places etc. Leo show the book!" Leo types again and a picture of the same book pops up. None of the gods looked happy about being called myths but they accepted it as their fate.
" What was next? Yes, What is Skateboard and Planes? A Skateboard is a short narrow board with two small wheels fixed to the bottom of either end, which is ridden in either standing or crouching position, propelling ourselves by occasionally pushing one foot against the ground. " Leo showed a picture of a kid riding a skateboard.
Planes. Planes are mortal vehicles which can is powered flying vehicle with fixed wings and has a weight greater than that of the air it displaces. " Leo showed a picture of a plane moving.
Lady Athena and Lord Hephaestus looked like their eyeballs would fall out of their sockets anytime soon. " What is left? Yes, English is a Christian language. Which we speak in our day-to-day lives.
Hiking in Switzerland- Leo show them Switzerland - hiking means taking long walks across the countryside. Cruising in the Caribbean- Cruising means travelling by sea in a luxurious ship and the Caribbean is a sea. Leo! " Leo did his bidding showing stuff Andrew was telling them.
" Also show them a business card with a fancy script. It is like an introductory card. You will understand it better when you see them. " Leo showed them some cards. " But fancy scripts are so hard to read for demigods. Why do they keep it like that? " Sally asked. " That is our Camp director's sadistic way to torture the demigods!" Conner exclaimed. " Then who is your Comp director?" "You will see!"
" Lastly Sasquatch and Godzilla. Sasquatch is another name for bigfoot. It is a large, hairy, ape-like creature resembling a yeti, supposedly found in north-western America." Lady Aphrodite looked ready to faint again. " Godzilla is nothing but an imagination. It is a monster which is large enough to be a whale and looks like a gorilla. It is compared to Typhoons sometimes. "
" There you are all questions answered. Now shall we continue?" " No! We want to know how is your culture. How do people treat each other?" All the future ones groaned. " Let's keep that question for the next break, Ok! Right now, Andrew must be tired of speaking. Also, I think we should ask questions where we wish to not at the last of the chapter. It will be a lot easier." Lady Hestia told everyone. Now, who will read? Yes, Hera will, won't you dear !" Lady Hera grumbled but took the book eventually. She read...
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Ok, So sorry I wanted to write the whole story from the end of Greece to the 21st-century explanation and some part of Grover loses his pants in the same chapter but I realized that the explanation is quite large. If you know what I mean.
Also, if you think this made me a mythology and mechanic geek. Then, yes that is who I am. No turning back.
There is a surprise in the next chapter. Which is related to many reviews I have gotten on that topic.
Lastly Sorry if I posted it a day late but I had a few chores to do on Sunday. Hopefully no bad feelings,right?