The Missing Gods

Chapter 7 - We Go Thrift Shopping on Olympus

By my calculation it was either very late at night, or very early in the morning by the time we got to the Empire State building. Annabeth and I stood for a moment outside the glass doors and gathered our thoughts before trudging into the gods' domain.

The doorman looked up at us from his coffee and gave us a patronizing look before putting a hand up like he was going to stop us. "Look, they told me not to let you in after what happened the last time."

"That was one time! And Zeus forgave me for it anyway," I scoffed, leaning forward and peering over his desk for the key.

"I thought it was Ares that you lit on fire?" He replied, narrowing his eyes at us. I decided not to answer while Annabeth took my arm and steered me away.

"What are you doing?" I whispered to her. "We didn't get the elevator key!"

"While you were busy arguing, the rest of us were using our brains," she muttered, deftly showing me the key in her coat pocket. I raised my eyebrows, but couldn't stay impressed for very long because the elevator dinged a few feet to our left. We were several hundred floors up before the elevator shuddered, which I guessed meant the doorman was missing his key.

The doors swiftly opened on our floor and we stepped out, gazing over Manhattan from the 600th floor. I sneaked a glance at Annabeth and immediately felt a warming sensation as I watched her grey eyes glitter with the hundreds of lights in the city below.

We slowly started up the marble steps toward Olympus, careful to stay away from the edge. Annabeth and I talked softly about different things as we walked, sometimes commenting on a new building façade she expertly created for the Olympians, and sometimes making remarks about the time Grover had tried to eat the shrubbery next to the Muses' recording studio. By the time we reached the throne room, we were quiet, looking for any sign of the gods.

Annabeth stepped forward into the dark entrance and called out, which I thought was a dumb move, since that's how the main character always gets killed in horror movies. There was a slight rustle towards the back of the room, and Annabeth and I hesitated, drawing our weapons to let the celestial bronze light the way. Out of all the things I've hesitated to face, it's probably something making noise in an empty black throne room meant for immortal gods.

Annabeth and I slowly approach the corner of the throne room holding our breath, until I catch sight of Hestia bathed in a glow from the dying coals in the fireplace. I quickly capped my sword while Annabeth stowed her knife and reached a hand toward Hestia, who looked particularly gross-looking. I retracted my hand fast when I felt heat coming off of her, composing myself as she turned her sickly face towards me.

"Perseus Jackson?" She rasped. She looked like a kid on her deathbed. I knew this had to do with my dad missing, since her domain was over home.

"Hello, goddess," I replied, and Annabeth issued her greeting as well. We both snuck a quick look at each other and I knew she was thinking the same thing as me—can gods get sick?

"I know I am not my usual appearance," Hestia began, her chest struggling to rise with every word. "I know you once saw your father in a state like this as well, Perseus." She added, and I remember that I had, when I visited my father's domain before the battle of New York and convinced him to let it fall in exchange for fighting Typhon. It hadn't been easy seeing my father as a fractured old man, just as it wasn't easy seeing Hestia as a sickly child.

"The items that you seek are here, in the coals, my throne," Hestia continued, banishing my thoughts of my father from my mind. Annabeth nudged forward and threw a questioning look at me.

"Er, what items?" I asked, which probably wasn't subtle enough, because Annabeth elbowed me in the ribs. Hestia didn't answer, and her breathing became even more labored. I decided I wasn't getting any more answers from her, so I stared into the coals, hoping I'd figure out what items I was seeking.

Annabeth gasped and pointed into the coals, too shocked to say anything for the moment, which I understood because I was currently gaping like a fish into the fireplace too.

I'd seen the master bolt before, but sticking my hand into hot burning coals to retrieve it was never something I saw coming. The fire tickled me, rather than burned, which I knew was due to my father's nature. I had learned that unfortunate and volcanic lesson several years before. I pulled the master bolt out of the coals, careful to keep it at an arm's length as it crackled and spit tiny bolts of electricity. Annabeth gingerly took it from me and just said "items?" I turned back to the fire when I realized her meaning, looking for another item in the coals. I plunged my hand in and retrieved the helm of darkness, my entire arm now dangerously red. Annabeth gaped at the coals as another item peeked through, and I dove my hand into the fire once more, wincing at the screaming nerves in my arm.

As my fingers closed around my father's trident, strength flooded through me like a current, and my arm felt like it had been doused in cold water. I retrieved what I knew was the final item from Hestia's coals and held the trident close to my heart, reveling in the familiar ocean scent that always reminded me of my father.

Hestia closed her eyes and smiled slightly, which I took to be a goodbye, so Annabeth and I thanked her and quickly backed out of the throne room.

"Was she protecting the items?" Annabeth pondered, dropping the helm of darkness into her backpack with an undignified shove.

"I guess so," I replied, thinking about Hestia's speech about home a few years ago. A flash erupted behind us and Annabeth and I swiveled to see what happened.

"Hello Annabeth. Perseus." Athena stared at us with her mouth in a thin line, reminding me of some of my old teachers who sent me into the hallway for disrupting class. "Just what do you think you're doing?"