First Lie || Deception Book I ||

Stolen Pt. 1

I jolted awake and immediately leaped out of bed.

Shit.

I wasn't expecting something to happen, despite the nerves that had nagged me all day. I had put it up to stress and tiredness and my annoyance at being stuck inside the throne room and hadn't even bothered to sleep in my gear, so I wasted precious minutes changing outfits. After all, no matter how urgent a scenario, a girl can't go anywhere in her pyjamas. I put on my weapons as well and dashed out of my room towards the throne room. Halfway there, I stopped. What was I doing? I did not doubt that I could handle whoever the demigod was, but what if someone else saw me? My cover would be blown.

I hissed in frustration and turned around, switching between running and using my shadows to teleport towards Zeus's rooms. I also sent out shadow messages towards the rest of the gods and goddess rooms to alert them. Reaching Zeus residence, A.K.A. the second floor of the central palace, I knocked on the door loudly. No response. I knocked again, louder. There was no response, again. Fuck it, I snarled in my head. To Tartarus with proper behaviour. He can turn me into a rodent after, but the lightning bolt is more important. I unsheathed my sword and slammed the hilt into the lock, breaking it. I shoved against the door, pushing myself against it. Who knew that Zeus' door could be so heavy? Finally, it opened, so abruptly that I almost fell over. Stumbling inside, I immediately started checking every room. And yes, when I say every room, I meant every room. It took me about a frickin hour and a half! That's how big his home was. Why would you need such a big house?

No surprise, it was complete water of time. Zeus was nowhere to be found.

I had woken up at midnight. It was now about two o'clock. Two hours gone.

Oh, my gods, I thought. What in Tartarus could the Lord of the Sky possibly be doing at two in the morning?

Many things, my unhelpful brain whispered.

Shut up, I said mentally. You're so not helping.

"Clarianna?"

I whipped around to see Hera standing in the doorway, looking at me with a flabbergasted expression.

"What are you doing?"

"Did you get my message?"

"What message? And give me one good reason to not smite you all over the floor."

"Someone stole Zeus' master bolt."

Well. That got her attention. Hera's eyes widened in shock and disbelief. She looked absolutely stupefied. "Is that why you broke down his door?" She asked carefully like she was worried that I'd go all nuts over her.

"Yes," I said. "Where is Zeus at this moment?"

Hera shook her head. "I have no idea."

Just then, the rest of the gods except for Artemis, Zeus, and Hermes flashed into existence behind Hera and froze as they took in the scene. It would have been hilarious, the expressions on their faces, if the moment hadn't been so desperate.

"What in the name of Styx did you do?" Poseidon said, staring at me in disbelief.

"She said someone stole Zeus' bolt."

"And Hades' helm," I added.

"What!!!???" Hades roared, shocking everyone out of their stupor.

"Guys, guys," Athena said. "Be quiet, for a moment." She turned to me. "Are you positive about this?"

I hesitated. "Well, no. But I do know that a demigod went into the throne room. I don't know if they stole anything. Though," I added in my defence. "Why else would someone go to the throne room at midnight?"