Betrayed To Frosting Point

Chapter Five - Return

Percy, Piper, the hunters, and Artemis walked up to the throne room, worried about what was about to happen. Out of all of them, Artemis seemed the most nervous. She knew that most of the council still wanted to kill Percy and Piper, including Athena, even when reason was presented to the council. It seemed like the only ones who didn’t want to kill them were Hestia, herself, and surprisingly Zeus. She knew that Zeus tried to hide that fact that he didn’t want to kill them, but Artemis could tell, given how he would act during any council meeting where the subject of Percy and Piper came up. Artemis and the hunters had agreed to come with Percy and Piper to Olympus, so Artemis could explain some things, while making sure that, for one, no one killed the two powerful demigods, and so that she could make sure that the hunters used the ‘code names’, Polaris for Percy, and Ivory for Piper. Artemis didn’t know why they chose those names, but they did, so she and the hunters would call them that to protect their identities for the time being, until they were ready to revel themselves.

Artemis pushed to throne room doors open, and was startled to find that the throne room was empty except for Zeus, who was looking worried.

“Father?” Artemis asked her voice soft and worried. She knew that it took a lot for Zeus to look worried. “What is wrong?”  Zeus looked up, surprised to find Artemis at the doors.

“Daughter, it has begun. We found out that Nyx is the primordial that we are fighting.” Artemis was saddened by this, before she realized the reason why she was here in the first place.

“Father, I must ask, after these five years, what do you think of Percy Jackson and Piper Mclean?” Zeus looked startled. It had been a while since anyone had talked about them, even in the council. He decided that it was time to share his true feelings towards them, especially since it was just Artemis who was asking. 

“To say the truth, I am saddened. They were heroes, and we treated Percy like he was a traitor. At first, I thought that I was doing the world a favor, but as I thought about it, it made less and less sense. Percy’s fatal flaw was enough to convince me that I had made a mistake. If they were here, I would want to apologies to them, and try to make their lives as nice as possible. May I ask why did you ask?” Zeus said. Then, he noticed the two new people in the ranks of the hunters, but wearing different clothes, and what surprised him most was the fact that one was a male. “And who are they?” He said, pointing to Percy and Piper.

Artemis walked over to them, and whispered something in their ears, and they nodded, much to the confusion of Zeus. He had never seen Artemis act this way to a male. Artemis turned to Zeus.

Percy was nervous about what Zeus would say, even if he had said that he wanted to apologize. He knew that it was good that Zeus didn’t want to kill him, but he was still nervous, until Thalia put a hand on his shoulder, before whispering “Don’t worry, the hunt will protect you if need be.” Percy smiled at that.

Artemis started off slowly. “Father, I need you to promise me something.”

“What?” Zeus asked, getting more and more curious.

“I need you to keep your head about you, swear it on the Styx.” Zeus looked confused, but none the less agreed to her terms.

“Father,” Artemis said before she lost her nerve. “Over the past five years, I have been able to locate Percy and Piper.”  Zeus looked shocked, and was about to yell at his daughter, before remembering his promise. “They ran away to Alaska to escape the wrath of the council. After about a week, I heard from Hermes about a car crash near the boundary of Alaska and Canada, involving two teenagers. As you know, the hunters and I did not believe that Percy and Piper were traitors. When we heard about the crash, we immediately made a beeline for the crash site. When we got to the hospital, Percy and Piper were being treated for minor injuries. I helped disguise them from the gods. When we finally saw Percy and Piper, they had been treated and had walked out of the hospital, I then noticed their eyes. Father, do you know of the ancient prophecy about the two heroes that would receive the blessing of Chaos?”