The Olympians' Quest

Chapter 9 ~ To Hell with Zeus

3rd pers. POV

The next morning, after the gods awoke, Hestia returned briefly with food for breakfast, before returning to her hearth once more. Currently, they were discussing splitting into smaller groups so as to spread out and search for clues of the culprit's last known location.

"Percy, Ana, Nico and I will go east; the same direction the monsters came from last night." said Thalia.

Zeus nodded and the demigods set off. Meanwhile, the gods separated themselves and left in different directions.

Apollo, Artemis and Ares went South, Hermes, Athena and Aphrodite went West and Zeus, Poseidon and Hades went North. They were all grateful that Hestia thought to bring their preferred weapons during her morning visit. (She couldn't exactly give Poseidon his trident, for example. It was kind of taken, after all.)

With the demigods

"How long do you think it'll take before they find their symbols of power?" asked Ana.

Nico snorted. "Like a month... or four."

Percy raised an eyebrow. "No faith at all, huh Nico?"

"I gotta agree with Neeks on this one," said Thalia, "They fight horribly on Olympus without any problems. Now you expect them to bond as they argue over whose symbol they should find first. Good luck with that."

"Thank you Thalia. At least someone sees sense. And don't call me Neeks."

Thalia did the mature thing and stuck her tongue out at him.

Ana rolled her eyes at them all. "What are we supposed to do in the meantime? We already know there's nothing here."

The other three exchanged smirks before they all started racing around through the trees. Ana grinned before looking at her watch and setting a timer.

"Last one standing gets one favour from each of us!", she called out, watching excitedly as her family chased each other to the brink of exhaustion.

In the end, it was Nico who won. He hid in the shadows, running around every once in a while as he watched his cousins tire each other out. Just as they were reaching their limits, he swooped down, catching them by surprise and chased them 'till they collapsed.

"Woooo! That was fun!" cried Nico.

"Oh sure, for you maybe. I, on the other hand, am way too tired to even stand."

"Aren't the Hunters of Artemis supposed to be wicked fast and strong? Especially the lieutenant?"

Thalia scowled at him, but didn't budge from her spot. At least, not until Percy dumped a bunch of water on her... again.

"PERCY!"

"Haha!"

Ana placed her hand on Thalia's shoulder, rejuvenating her, before the girl attempted to murder her brother. (Again.)

For the next hour, the four of them sat, exchanging stories and theories as to how this quest would end.

Thalia sighed. "I'm gonna be honest: I don't know how much longer I can keep this up. Being anywhere near my dad is enough to drive me up the wall, but all of them... uh uh. No way. My sanity can only handle so much."

"I won't fault you there, Thals," said Percy "I don't think I can stay much longer either. This isn't my or our quest anyway. I was 'voluntold' to come along because I had experience. We've been through two wars and dozens of quests. I am not going on another."