Chapter Text
Artemis was sick of waiting for answers that Zeus would not give.
She waited, waited for him to finally tell her what happened to her brother.
And yet, he ignored her, or deflected her questions.
So, when he summoned a meeting, she was the first to arrive, never mind that he did so at the ungodly hour of 6 in the morning.
She was so early, that Zeus hadn’t even arrived. Strange, since Zeus always would be the first, to “assert dominance” like an animal.
Impatiently, she tapped her foot on the ground (Apollo used to tease her so much about it - oh, how she missed him) as gods arrived in dribs and drabs, waiting for Zeus to finally come in.
When he eventually strode in, casting that “grand and imposing” image with thunder and lightning (specially tailored for arriving late!), she rolled her eyes, but hopped on her feet.
“Father, where’s-” she began.
“Silence, Daughter,” he thundered.
He glared around at the Council.
“Who summoned this meeting?” he demanded, scowling when no one answered.
“We did,” a voice trilled, melodic and sweet.
“Show yourself!” Zeus roared.
“As you wish,” the voice replied. Artemis heard the sound of flapping, and a child flew down from wherever they were perching.
She was a maiden. She had long, silky bubble-gum pink hair, wings that sustained her flight and her irises are ever-changing.
For her sake, she hoped that she was divine.
Although, she did have wings (how could you possibly ignore them? They were huge, bright. They resembled one of these fairies from some mortal stories), so she probably was.
“Who are you? Who were your co-conspirators in this distasteful prank?” Zeus frowned, “rest assured, you will all be punished.”
She laughed, “Oh, you dare punish the Moirai? That’s quite bold of you.”
She smiled patronizingly as Zeus started to resemble a goldfish gasping for water.
“You are not one of the Three,” Athena noted.
“How astute,” the newcomer drawled, “I indeed am not part of the Divine Spinners. However, I am blessed by them. That means, Zeus, you cannot punish me in any way.”
Zeus stared with his eyes popping, shocked to be outranked by what appeared to be a thirteen year-old child.
“How are we sure that you’re not lying?” he finally found his words.
She raised her eyebrows, but clapped her hands. A spindle appeared over her head.
“Oh,” Zeus muttered, cowed.
“So, what are you doing here, and does it have anything to do with my brother?” Artemis finally couldn’t take it anymore.
“Yes. You have been wondering what your father had done to Apollo, am I correct? Well, I deliver news of the most unwelcome kind. The Fates had woven a web of tragedy and violence. Of regret, and sorrow. I am from the future. Apollo died.”
“NO!! This could not BE!” Artemis screamed.
“Thankfully, it can be reversed,” the girl blessed by the Three said, “the Fates decreed that I go back to this time, when Apollo just got punished, and give you these.”
The girl flicked her wrist with a flourish, and books appeared, stacking over each other.
“Only then, can his death be reversed. Only then, can the future look bright. And, to witness the change that must occur, the Fates have decreed that certain mortals will join you. They will be from the future. They will know the result of decisions made by certain… individuals,” the girl glared at Zeus.
She snapped her fingers, and some demigods appeared.
Artemis glanced at Thalia and Jason Grace, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Piper McLean, Leo Valdez, Hazel Levesque, Frank Zhang, Will Solace, Nico Di Angelo, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Kayla Knowles and Austin Lake.
There was another girl - a girl with dark hair in a pageboy cut. She had black, cat-eye glasses with rhinestones studded at the edges, and her sense of style was outrageous. She was decidedly not Aphrodite, but green jeans and a unicorn T-shirt? That was unconventional and migraine-inducing.
“Now, let’s make introductions,” the girl blessed by Fate declared.
“My name is Cat, blessed by the Fates. I am here to supervise this session, and to stop things when they get out of hand,” she added.
“My name is Jason, son of Jupiter, champion of Juno, Child of Rome, former praetor of New Rome. But I belong to both camps. Also, wasn’t I supposed to be dead?”
Hera (or Juno), who smiled proudly, quickly gasped, before turning her features into a cold mask.
Zeus (Jupiter maybe?) just grunted and signalled to carry on, much to Hera’s disgust, which she also masked swiftly.
“Thalia Grace, Lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis, daughter of Zeus.”
Zeus glared at Artemis, jealous that he was placed below her.
“My name is Perseus Jackson, though you SHOULD call me Percy. Son of Poseidon. And why? I thought I could finally have some rest.”
Cat spoke up, “Don’t worry, Percy. We made this monster-proof, no fighting, and time will go on as the books are happening. This is just you in a clone version, with the same memories intact!”
“Oh, fine.”
“My name is Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, Architect of Olympus.”
Athena nodded regally at Annabeth.
“My name is Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Oracle of Delphi, Priestess of Apollo, who died, by the way,” she glared at Zeus too.
Artemis did not understand why two people were glaring at her father. Sure, he did something, but he didn’t kill Apollo, surely!
“I am Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite.”
Aphrodite cooed as she waved at her daughter.
“Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus.”
Hephaestus gave a gruff hello.
“Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto, current praetor of Camp Jupiter.”
Hades nodded approvingly.
“Frank Zhang, legacy of Poseidon, son of Mars, praetor of Camp Jupiter.”
Percy glared at Poseidon jealously (probably something to do with the turning-into-animals part) while Mars grinned at Frank.
“My name is Reyna, daughter of Bellona. Do NOT call me by my last name. Former praetor of Camp Jupiter, currently member of the Hunters of Artemis.”
Athena, who rarely gave Romans her blessing, inclined her head gracefully.
“Kayla Knowles, daughter of Apollo. My father is dead,” she also glared at Zeus.
“Austin Lake, son of Apollo.” Another pointed glare.
“Will Solace, son of Apollo.” This time, the expected glare wasn’t as severe.
“Nico Di Angelo, son of Hades, the Ghost King. Congratulations. You made my boyfriend, one of the most forgiving people, angry.” This time, the glare was huge.
“Meg McCaffery, Daughter of Demeter,” she glared at Zeus too.
Right off the bat, that was seven people glaring at her father.
She was confused, but she won’t ask for clarification any time soon.
“Great, now that the demigods have made their introduction, I will state the purpose of summoning you here. But first, we need to get rid of this whole setup,” Cat announced.
She beckoned at the gods to stand up, which they did with confusion.
Then, she waved her hands.
The thrones disappeared, replaced with comfortable beanbags and sofas.
“No hounding space!” she ordered, “everybody must share, unless you are so revolting that your own children won’t sit with you.” another pointed look at Zeus.
Now that, Artemis could get behind.
“Do not attempt to resize these. The Moirai and I have spent ages working on it, adding thread made with Celestial Bronze to prevent godly interference.”
“Also, do not physically or emotionally harm anyone else in this room, unless I approve of it. That means, do not use your powers in any way. Do not use your weapons in any way. Do not use harmful words in any way. Unless I approve of it.” another emphatic glare at Zeus.
“You are here to read the Trials of Apollo - Apollo’s journals during his stint as a mortal, after Zeus punished him for having Octavian as his descendent,” she gestured at the pile of books in the middle of the room, “then, you are to read what happened, that caused Apollo to die. After that, you’ll read what should have happened in the Fates’ string, before someone changed it. Finally, you will watch some eye-opening videos that may or may not cause an existential crisis to some people, if they didn’t already have one by that point.”
“Enjoy, and behave. I’ll be watching,” she disappeared in a flash of bright pink, leaving everyone to look around, confused.
“So, who’ll read first?” Artemis forced out.
“I will,” Hera said regally.
“Let’s make it ‘first come, first served’ after Hera reads it,” Athena suggested.
Everyone nodded.
Hera picked up the book and read: The Trials of Apollo: The Hidden Oracle.