The Awakening

Why Can't You Get It Yourself?

Sophie's POV

"Hera? Like the goddess of marriage and family?" I asked.

'Gisela' had morphed into the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen. Her long licorice-black hair flowed behind her in its own breeze. She had soft brown eyes and the regal beauty of a supermodel. The soft, yet defined features of her face looked too perfect to belong to any one person.

A flowing white dress clung to her figure, with a peacock belt cinched at the waist. On her head, she wore a beautiful gold crown that emitted a soft glow, like a halo.

"Yes, and Queen of the Gods," she confirmed, her voice like a soft melody, although I imagined she could raise her voice into something sinister if she wanted to.

"What's your game this time, Hera?" Annabeth sneered.

"Now, that is no way to talk to someone who's offering their help. You'll want the majority of the gods on your side, if you wish to win this war," Hera warned, ignoring Annabeth's question.

"Why did you help me?" I asked, wrapping my arm around Keefe's waist as he wrapped his around my shoulders.

"I needed to gain your trust and test you, Sophie Foster. That ogre king was possessed by a spirit named Dolos. He tricked you into thinking an audience of ogres and guards was there to watch the fight and tried to distract you so members of the Neverseen and their allies could capture you. I knocked out the king and freed the spirit, relinquishing any tricks he pulled. The memories you saw in that woman's head were a test to deceive you and your friends, which you passed. Barely," Hera explained.

"That doesn't make any sense," Percy countered. "You'd never help us, unless we gave you something in return."

"Well, now that you've mentioned it," Hera clapped her hands together excitedly. "I need you to steal my staff back from one of the titans on the Neverseen's side."

"Why can't you just get it yourself?" Percy and I asked at the same time.

Hera rolled her eyes and muttered, "You guys really are twins, aren't you?"

"And proud of it, too," Percy smiled, punching my shoulder lightly. I grinned back, before looking back at Hera.

"Which titan has it?" Annabeth asked tiredly. I felt the same; we already had so much to worry about, and now this goddess was trying to dump more on our plates.

"I believe it's Koios. Or, maybe Hyperion. I can't remember clearly," Hera pondered, rapping her chin with her perfectly thin fingers.

Percy and Annabeth groaned, as if they were used to not getting many details for this sort of thing.

"That's it? We don't get any more information, like where you got it stolen, where this titan is, why they stole it . . ?" I grew so aggravated. I mean, I was used to Forkle failing to give much information, but I was had kinda hoped the gods would be different.

"Child, we need to work on your respect when you talk to the gods," Hera chastised me, making me bite my lip to hold back any nasty comments I had for her at the moment. "I'll only tell you that the titans and their Neverseen allies are residing in a part of the Lost Cities. They have become quite close with a certain crown."

My eyes widened and I looked up at Keefe to see him mimicking my expression. We were both thinking the same thing. The ogres had to be tricked to go against us and the goblins and gnomes were still working closely with us on assignments. That left the trolls and the dwarves, but I knew which group was the least reliable between the two.

The trolls had to be helping the Neverseen. They'd been distant since we broke their alliance with the discovery of the hive. Our Council had been trying to contact them to make amends, but they'd completely ghosted us. This could explain their recent behavior.