The Forgotten Olympian |BOOK 1| PJO X HP | Alexandra Marine

Chapter 1 - LIVE on Hephaestus TV

"HOT NEWS," bellowed the cloud nymph on the TV as the Olympians discussed very seriously on the thumbnail hovering above him on the side, something that never actually happened unless it was one of the solstices. "Our ever so good leader, Zeus has been faced by the biggest decision that he must make!"

The thumbnail zoomed in, and to every viewer's surprise, two gods kneeling on the ground, their bodies in bruises, and the queen- the queen of the gods, Hera, was missing.

"YOU TRIED TO OVERTHROW ME, AGAIN, DO YOU DENY IT?" a man wearing a blue suit and a neat red tie roared, his beard superbly groomed and his bright blue eyes sparkling with joy, excited to see the people he wanted to get rid of the most in his council on their knees, on the verge of collapsing, getting out of his gaze- forever.

"Father," a woman called calmly. "Do not get so angry," she said, and Zeus' head snapped to her. She was young, not older than thirteen, and she had such a sweet, convincing voice, that oozed out her mouth like honey.

"Oh, my dear Artemis," Zeus said softly, "I understand your pain, my dear. Apollo is rather very dear to you, isn't he?" And his head turned back to the two gods kneeling, "But no. THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME I'VE PARDONED YOU! YOU HAVE HAD ENOUGH CHANCES, THE TWO OF YOU!"

Apollo flinched, and the god next to him, a man who looked like he could be the summer breeze, eternal joy, his green eyes that seemed to contain the power of the sea, Poseidon, stared at the ground in shame, his powers wilted, and his trident gone.

"No, no, no," said Zeus, "you must be punished! YES." 

Zeus had quite the habit of roaring at even the smallest things. 

"I know just what to do. There will no longer be a council of thirteen Olympians," he said, and all the other gods stared at him, as though Zeus had just killed 300 people with one lightning bolt. "Ah yes, you both are going to have such fun, being plain old regular demigod mortals," he sneered, his face drawing into a satisfied smile.

"NO!" another woman roared, "NO! THAT'S NOT FAIR!"

Zeus' abnormally long neck now snapped towards her. His face seemed to hold some sympathy for her, but not as much as it did when he talked to Artemis. "Ah, my sweet," he said, almost as though he had forgotten his own daughter-in-law's name.

"Alexandra, if you've forgotten, DAD," she replied through gritted teeth.

"Yes, Alexandra," Zeus said, his mouth forming a small smile. "I'm sorry dear, but your favorite Poseidon must go."

"NO," said Alexandra, "he's important to the people out there. Without him the seas will fail. Ships will sink, and the monsters of the sea will rise, and let me tell you, even the great King of the heavens won't be able to stop them!"

Poseidon was looking at Alexandra with grateful eyes, filled with tears.

"I don't think Poseidon is my favorite," she continued, pretending to ignore him, "I respect and love you all equally. Every one of you, the first Olympians," she pointed at Demeter, Zeus, Poseidon, the empty throne of Hera and Hestia, along with the dark corner of Hades, "created me to help the people, not gods, and I am doing exactly what is good for them."

Zeus raised his eyebrows. "Really? Fine. Then we shall still have only Twelve Olympians," he said coolly, sitting back on his throne and relaxing. Apollo seemed to be on the verge of crying out loud, and Artemis looked as red as a cherry.

Alexandra may not have liked the fact that Artemis got all of Zeus' attention, but she felt pity for her. Artemis loved Apollo dearly, as any sister would her brother. They may not get along really well, but to split them apart- that would plain cruel. She looked back at Zeus.

"Yes," she agreed with the King. "There will be Twelve Olympians. And Apollo will be a part of them," she said plainly, and all eyes turned to Alexandra, goddess of warriors, time, power, seasons, sacrifice and peace. Hephaestus was waving his hand at the camera as though telling them to end the streaming right then and there, but the scene continued to roll on TV.

"I will be needing my trident and my powers, of course-" she continued.

"No," said Zeus, his eyebrows furrowed. "You cannot take up the place of Apollo. He MUST be punished."

"And his punishment has been given. Have you looked at him?" she asked sharply. "And he will also take care of my duties as the supervisor of the Horae and making sure the seasons are on time."

Zeus seemed to consider this. "And what do we get in return?"

Alexandra sighed. "In return, I will give up my position, authority over the seasons and-- my memory. And if that's not enough, I'm okay with people thinking that over the years there have been only Twelve Olympians. I'm fine with people forgetting me."

"Seems like you know how to make a deal, dear," Athena mumbled silently, her lips a thin line.

"Zeus," Aphrodite, the goddess of love, started. Alexandra usually got along well with Aphrodite, and she looked at the lettuce-loving goddess with big hopeful eyes.

Zeus' face snapped once more to the other side, and in an instant, he became dreamy, and love-struck with Aphrodite. "Yes, dear," he said, "how can I help you?"

"Don't you think that Alexandra has struck a good deal?" she asked sweetly, a fake smile plastered to her face. "If I were you, I would have agreed with her."

Alexandra breathed a sigh of relief. She was worried that Aphrodite would ask Zeus to send Apollo away. Zeus stared at Aphrodite for a long moment and Alexandra saw that Aphrodite was using all her power to sway the god.

"O-of course, you are correct," Zeus said. "Of course," he whispered, and still looking at Aphrodite, he spoke in loud, clear words. "We have a deal, Alexandra."

"Good," Alexandra replied, getting up from her throne- and Hephaestus did the same too, running awkwardly to the corner of the room and switching off the camera. And the screen went blank.

"When will their drama ever end?" sighed Chiron as he turned off the TV. And he closed his eyes, waves of sleep washing over him, and went into a slumber so deep, that when he woke up the next morning, he had forgotten something important- he had forgotten the Thirteenth Olympian, Alexandra.

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