daylight | percy jackson

a little party never killed nobody

Grover trotted over. None of the gods spoke. Every clop of Grover's hooves echoed on the marble floor. Bessie splashed in his bubble of water. The hearth fire crackled.

Grover gave Annabeth, Aria and Thalia a joint hug, limbs crashing into limbs as he squeezed them (almost) to death.

He turned to Sam. "You're not dead."

The boy grimaced. "No. I'm not."

Grover said nothing else.

Then the satyr grasped Percy's arms. "Percy, Bessie and I made it! But you have to convince them! They can't do it!"

"Do what?" the son of Poseidon asked.

"Heroes," Artemis called.

The goddess slid down from her throne and turned to human size, a young auburn-haired girl, perfectly at ease in the midst of the giant Olympians. She walked towards them, her silver robes shimmering. There was no emotion in her face. She seemed to walk in a column of moonlight.

"The Council has been informed of your deeds," Artemis told them. "They know that Mount Othrys is rising in the West. They know of Atlas's attempt for freedom, and the gathering armies of Kronos. We have voted to act."

Sam let out a sound of surprise.

Aria leant closer to him, ignoring the furious glares from a certain demigod. "What's wrong?" she asked, and Sam curled his hands into fists.

He blinked for a few seconds before responding. "Oh...uh, nothing. I was just surprised, that's all."

"Surprised about what?"

Sam didn't get a chance to answer though, a cacophony of mumbling and shuffling among the gods drowning out the sound of their conversation.

"At my Lord Zeus's command," Artemis said, "my brother Apollo and I shall hunt the most powerful monsters, seeking to strike them down before they can join the Titans' cause. Lady Athena shall personally check on the other Titans to make sure they do not escape their various prisons. Lord Poseidon has been given permission to unleash his full fury on the cruise ship Princess Andromeda and send it to the bottom of the sea. And as for you, my heroes..."

She turned to face the other immortals. "These half-bloods have done Olympus a great service. Would any here deny that?"

She looked around at the assembled gods, meeting their faces individually. Zeus in his dark pinstriped suit, his black beard neatly trimmed, and his eyes sparking with energy. Next to him sat a beautiful woman with silver hair braided over one shoulder and a dress that shimmered with colours like peacock feathers. The Lady Hera.

On Zeus's right, a man, who looked like Percy if he was 50, sat there, poised and confident, the god exuding the same energy as the boy beside her did. Lord Poseidon. Next to him, a huge lump of a man with a leg in a steel brace, a misshapen head and a wild brown beard, fire flickering through his whiskers. The Lord of the Forges, Hephaestus.

Hermes sat there, shellshocked. He was wearing a business suit today, checking messages on his caduceus cell phone. As soon as he saw Sam though, he looked up from his device.

"Sam?" he uttered, the word like a curse coming from his mouth.

His son glowered, shooting daggers into the person he had once been proud to call his father. He looked resentful now, almost tormented, by the sight of the very person who had helped bring him into this world.

"Hermes," he growled, raising his slouched posture.

"I thought you were dead?" the god said in awe, although, he was still not bothering to shut off his cell phone.