Chapter 5

POV: Perseus Heitor Jackson

I'm here in Hera's palace, she told me there's going to be a meeting, and that I'm going to take part, she's there now, and she told me to wait here, it's been about 10 minutes since I said goodbye to my mother, I'm very shaken and confused, I just feel like crying, but I'm not going to show it, enough of being weak, enough of being a coward, I don't want to be a burden anymore. My mother's funeral was like a flashback for me, I don't remember much, I just remember setting fire to a gray towel with a gold drawing of an Owl, they told me that it's called a shroud, I thought it was strange, but who am I to argue, during the whole funeral I didn't let any tears fall. Well, Poseidon and I "made up". And he told me that he's having some problems at sea, and said that I won't be able to live with him, but I'll spend the weekends with him, so that I can train my powers with the sea, I have no idea what that means, and he said that he's very proud to say that he's my father, but if they find out that I'm his son, I'll have a lot of enemies, and without knowing how to defend myself I'll do very badly, he's right, but at the time I thought he was ashamed of me. I'm snapped out of my reverie when a woman enters and speaks:

"Your presence is being requested at the meeting." She said, and seeing that I didn't understand a word she said again. "The Olympians are calling you." She said impatiently, and I got up and followed her. We walked until we reached the Hall of Thrones. I was thirsty and asked the girl for water, she gave me an 800 ml bottle of mineral water. When I got there I admit I was very surprised, to begin with the door was pure gold and gigantic, in fact the whole place was gigantic, all in white marble, with gold details, these people here love white and gold, the door was all made of gold with drawings of battles, it was pretty cool, but when the doors opened I got the real shock, where to begin to explain what my eyes were seeing, well I guess the 12 beings at least 6 meters tall, well it was separated into a kind of U, which is called Omega Ω, the Gods were separated into a female side and a male side, but there was a man on the female side who was Dionysus, because before there were 6 Gods and 6 Goddesses, but Lady Hestia ceded her throne to Lord Dionysus so as not to cause any more problems.

The male side was represented by Hermes, he appeared to be 21 years old, he was blond, apparently ordinary, slim and slender, like one of those professional runners. He had a triangular face with pointed ears, he looked a bit like an Elf from the movies I'd seen. With those blue eyes, he had a constant look and smile, as if he were going to crack a joke or rummage through his pockets at any moment. He looked at me sympathetically.

On the other throne was Hephaestus. He appeared to be about 20 years old. He was exactly the opposite of what they said in the stories, he wasn't ugly, well I'm a man but he wasn't hideous with a deformed face like they said, he was strong, he was wearing ordinary light blue jeans, a simple black V-neck shirt, and white Nike sneakers. He was stylish, with a big beard, long black hair and a small flame crackling in his beard. He looked at me with a kind of sympathy.

The other throne god was Apollo, who appeared to be 18 years old, with curly blond hair, eyes as golden as the sun and carrying his power, tanned, with an athletic build like Hermes, a little stronger and more defined, and a smile with a glow that would follow anyone. He wore typical rebellious teenage clothes, a white dress shirt with a few open buttons that showed his chest, black jeans and black and white Adidas sneakers. He gave me one of those smiles that make people smile.

The other throne was Ares, a guy who looked about 25, BIG, very muscular, but my father thought he had a body like the Minotaur's. I see that Aphrodite likes big, strong men like him and Hephaestus. His face was covered in scars from many fights, and his eyes were fiery red spheres. He was dressed like a biker, with a tight red shirt that showed off his muscles, a black leather jacket and black leather pants, with leather boots. A cool look. He looked at me with enthusiasm in his eyes and a little smile in his corner.

On the other throne was my father Poseidon, apparently 22 years old, with unruly black hair just like mine and sea green eyes just like mine, I really am a younger copy of him, but his body is muscular and tanned, he wore a simple outfit, a black polo shirt and white surfer shorts and a black flip-flop, also very simple, surfer or fisherman style, she winked at me, but he looked serious.

And on the most centralized throne was Zeus, he was wearing a Chalk suit, very elegant, his hair was black and combed, he looked 25, and he was muscular too, not as muscular as my father and Ares, for example, but muscular, with electric blue eyes, and a beautiful face. He looked at me with hatred, come on, he doesn't even know me.

Now the Goddesses, in Hestia's place was Dionysus, apparently 30 years old, overweight, with a plump neck, red cheeks, curly black hair like an angel from the Cherub cartoons, wearing a T-shirt with an orange tiger, shorts and sandals, his way of dressing looked like a tourist, he had piercing purple eyes, the color of wine and a sarcastic smile. He was reading a wine magazine and looking at me with boredom.

On the other throne was an extremely beautiful woman, I'm sure Aphrodite, in her 20s, with long black and blonde hair, very white, with a sculpted body, lots of curves, full breasts, green and blue kaleidoscope eyes, wearing a long hot pink dress. She looked at me with a strange glint in her eyes, a glint that said I'm going to do something, she gave me a very white smile too and a wink, I blushed a little, but as I'm tanned I don't think anyone noticed. And she looked in the mirror again.

On the other throne was Artemis, although she was in divine form, she was a little shorter than the others, very childlike, I think she was 13. She was a redhead, with a very beautiful face, but with eyes as silver as the moon, she was a redhead, and a little tanned, wearing a simple silver dress and feminine sandals. she looked at me curiously, I have no idea why.

On the other hand, I knew right away who it was, those eyes, just like my mother's, that stormy gray, he was beautiful and intelligent, he looked 22, she was white with black hair, a sculptural body, lots of curves, she wore jeans, a white blouse with a red owl print and women's sandals. I let a tear run down my cheek, she looked so much like my mother. She looked at me with compassion.

On the other throne was Demeter, who appeared to be 24 years old. Demeter had blonde or red hair, dark forest green eyes, a shapely body, and wore a green dress, she looked at me appraisingly.

And in last place was Hera, around 25, with a Queen's posture, with lots of curves that left her with a perfect body, a beautiful face, with powerful and beautiful brown eyes and hair of the same color, her white skin highlighted the green dress in the Greek style, she looked at me with compassion, she gave me a smile.

POV: Zeus

A few minutes before Perseus arrived

We were arguing about the young demigod son of Poseidon, I knew it was a losing argument, because Athena was against me, Poseidon, Aphrodite, Artemis had just said that he was different, and oddly enough Hera was also in favor of the boy.

"Well, now let's settle the main issue, whether or not we should leave the Son of Poseidon and grandson of Athena alive. All those in favor of killing him, raise your hand." I said starting the vote, no hands were raised, only Dionysus and I raised our hands. "But we must kill him, he's too strong, he could become a threat. Not even you Ares?" excited, Ares says:

"No my father, he's strong and powerful, and he's motivated by the death of his mother, he'll be quite a warrior, let's hope he learns to use a spear, or if not a sword." Says the god of war, looking a bit dreamy, FUCK, shitty Ares. He always likes to see death, but I think he'd even rather see a good warrior, a prodigy develop.

"Stop it brother, he'll be a great warrior, if he trains hard and eats cereal of course." Says Demeter with little interest. All right, Demeter always thinks of that, maybe Artemis, she hates men.

"Artemis, don't you hate men, my child?" I ask hopefully, she nods positively at my question and replies:

"Yes, my father, I hate all filthy men, but this boy is different, he protected his mother tooth and nail. He may have failed, but he tried with everything he had and more. And he's already a much better man than anyone else in this room." Said the Goddess of the moon would be, UIII that hurt. Great loss. Dionysus only voted in favor because it would mean one less demigod in his camp. I'll try one last time.

"But we must kill him, he's too strong, he could become a threat to our domain." I say without much hope.

"He's my son, his mortal flaw is Loyalty, we just need to make sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands, if it's up to me, it won't fall." He says and turns to Athena and says. "Isn't that right Athena? Isn't that the wisest thing to do?" Poseidon asks her.

"Yes, it's the wisest thing to do, Poseidon. If we kill him, the titans will seek him out somehow, to make him join their side, or any other enemy of ours, he's very powerful, surely a future God." Says Athena. They've agreed on something, and I don't think there's any way around it. FUCK. He'll still be here in Olympus, and in Hera's Palace. But she's not very good with me, so I'd better leave him here. Damn

"But..."

"STOP ZEUS, SHUT UP AND LET'S DECIDE WHERE HE'LL STAY, AND WHO'LL TRAIN HIM." Yells Hera, I'd better keep quiet. She's not in a good mood with me these last few days, with the discovery of my two sons with a mortal.

"Poseidon." Call Ares, Poseidon looks at him seriously. "I'd like to train the boy in combat, hand-to-hand fighting." Ares asks, offering himself. I'm a little surprised at his willingness to train the little demigod.

"Yes, Ares." Says Poseidon, Ares gives a happy smile, and this boy is already changing some things here, Ares is in a good mood and even wants to train someone. Poseidon looks at Athena and says. "Athena, since you're his grandmother, do you want to teach him more about our world and everything else?" Poseidon asks, and like so long ago, Athena gives a spontaneous and beautiful smile. She quickly agrees with a nod. And Poseidon continues to turn. "As Hera has already asked me, he will stay in her palace." And as I thought it was absurd, I was going to complain, but I felt Hera's glare on me and I thought it best not to look to confirm it, let alone speak. Poseidon continued. "Apollo, if you want, of course, I could teach you archery." The sun god gives a radiant smile and nods quickly, Artemis looks at her uncle in disbelief and he jumps in. "I'm sorry Artemis, I know you're as good or better than Apollo, but you already have the huntresses and Apollo is better suited because he's almost always at Olympus, that's the only reason I offered it to him and not to you, Alright?" Artemis seemed to moderate the idea and agreed with a nod of assent and apology. "Perfect." exclaims Poseidon smiling.

"But just for the record, I'm the oldest, the best looking and the best at archery." says Apollo with a sarcastic smile. Artemis turns red with anger and replies:

"TWINS APOLLO, WE ARE TWINS. AND I'M THE BEST AT ARCHERY, YOU KNOW THAT." Write Artemis, these two love each other and they fight all the time. The whole council sighs impatiently at this silly new argument.

"I'd like to teach him the art of forging, Uncle Poseidon, if you'll allow the boy to stay with me." Hephaestus likes to be alone, he doesn't even like the company of his own children.

"Of course, Hephaestus, you'll be a great help to him." Says Poseidon smiling. "He'll be going to my kingdom in a few weekends so that I can train him and show him his future kingdom." Said Poseidon smiling proudly. Well, at least I have to show some respect.

"Whoever doesn't agree, raise your hand." I asked hopelessly, fuck it, better him here than with Poseidon, so I can keep an eye on him and see how he develops. No one was against Poseidon's requests. "Great, get the boy over here."

POV: Hephaestus

The boy who arrived was an identical copy of Poseidon, but those eyes had something different from Poseidon's, despite the same color, they had a light typical of Athena, of course he was her grandson. He was 1 meter tall, maybe a little taller. Once inside the hall, he began to look at the gods and said:

"Hello to all the Gods and Goddesses, it's an honor." Says Perseus bowing to everyone.

"Of course it's an honor, spawn of the sea." Says Zeus with disdain, he doesn't like the idea of bringing the boy to Olympus, he doesn't like it at all.

"What is it Zeus, he was polite." Says Poseidon nervously.

"So what? I've already had demigod children and I've never brought them to Olympus. And you know he's a mistake, a freak even, even though he's my great-grandson." He said dismissively.

"He was never a mistake, I'm proud of my son." Says Poseidon seriously. After all, Zeus was right, this boy is a demigod unlike any other.

"Yes, my father, Perseus is not a mistake." Says Athena angrily, Zeus always listens to her.

"Come on Zeus, you never wanted to vote for us to kill your demigod sons." Says Poseidon angrily. And they started that usual "war" between them, exchanging insults and everything, Athena and Hera were also in the discussion, they were fighting about things from before I was even born, then suddenly Zeus says the wrong thing, very wrong:

"Your children are a mistake Poseidon, they're very powerful, he's not weak, it's not my fault if you go around picking on any mortal." Says Zeus, it was at that moment that a jet of water hit Zeus in the face, I confess I laughed at that. All the Olympians laughed except for Poseidon, Hera and Athena.

"DON'T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT MY MOTHER!" Perseus shouted, red with anger. I like that boy, very brave indeed. "You damn God, she sacrificed herself for me, if you want to say that I'm a mistake, fine, I don't care, but don't say that my mother is "just anyone", she's not just anyone." He says crying with hatred, he wasn't joking. Zeus gets up and the Master Ray appears in his hand, he points it at Perseus, but before Poseidon can defend his son, something happens that surprises me, Hera gets up and stands between Zeus and Perseus, she calmly walks over to Zeus and says something in his ear, Hera turns away and walks back to her throne, everyone's eyes are amazed, Hera sits down as if she's expecting something, she gives Zeus a glare and he shrinks back, and says against his will:

"Well, I didn't mean to say that, I'm sorry, kid." Says Zeus begrudgingly, everyone stares in amazement. And even more so at Perseus' reaction. He comes closer to Zeus. And says:

"Lord Zeus, I wanted to apologize for what I did, I lost my temper, and although I know you were wrong and everything, I shouldn't have done it, after all you are a God and my Great Grandfather, I wanted to be your friend not your enemy, and I think you should punish me." Says Perseus causing astonishment in everyone. Damn, this kid is different.

"What are you talking about, Perseus?" Astonished Athena asks.

"That he should punish me, even though he's a very proud god, he apologized in front of all of you and that must have been very difficult for him. He does a lot of things that I don't think are right, but I owe him respect, I think I should be punished, not with death of course, but punished." He says seriously, damn he's brave and fair, even admitting he's wrong, he's going to be a great man. Zeus shrank down to his normal size and walked over to the demigod in front of him, and we all thought it was to punish him. Poseidon stood up and returned to his human size, but Zeus looked at him and he stopped, seeing that his brother hadn't intended to hurt his son, but what he did shocked everyone. He embraced him. Even Perseus didn't react, as he was expecting a blow or whatever his punishment might be.

"Congratulations, MY GRANDSON. You've shown something I value very highly, Loyalty. I'm going to give you something much better than a punishment." Says Zeus and casts a blue Aura crackling with energy at Perseus, wow, Zeus giving his blessing to a son of Poseidon, that's never happened before, never. "My blessing, and I'm going to teach you how to use it, correctly, and I'm sorry now with sincerity, you're not a mistake, and your mother isn't just anyone, that's for sure." says Zeus still in front of the little demigod, kneeling down to be at his height, and that's when I laughed and everyone present, Perseus kicks Zeus' ass, weakly, with a scolding look and says:

"Don't ever speak badly of my mother again." he says amused, and everyone laughs, even Zeus.

"Don't push your luck, Perseus." Says Zeus, getting up.

"I'd like to ask you something, and it's quite simple really." Everyone nodded at his request. "For the love of the gods." Everyone laughed at his phrase. "Just call me Percy, I don't like Perseus very much." He says with a funny look, and we all laugh again.

"WOW." Exclaims Poseidon, after we all nod to Perseus' request, I mean Percy. "Right my son, we've had a meeting and we've decided a few things. First of all, you're going to live in Hera's palace as we agreed, and you're going to spend some weekends with me, training and studying daily with Ares and Athena. Hephaestus has offered to teach you a few things about forging too." Poseidon said seriously, and Percy nodded. "And let's see... of course Apollo will teach you archery and Zeus now."

"When do we start?" Percy asked seriously.

"Tomorrow, my grandson." Says Athena seriously. "The first part of the morning you will study with me, then with Ares and Apollo, and then Zeus, anything, we'll improve the divisions over time." Says the goddess with a happy gleam in her eye.

"Well, now that we're all clear." Said Zeus happily, for the first time in every meeting. "I think this meeting should be closed." Well, now it's my turn.

"And father." Everyone looked at me in amazement, I hardly ever spoke up, I never thought it was necessary, but this time it was. "I wanted to tell you that I'm officially separating from Aphrodite." Aphrodite, who was absent-mindedly looking at herself in the mirror, choked on her words. "I'll be back tomorrow to sort everything out. Mom." She had given me that idea the day she saw me crying, because of that damned goddess, because I love her. But I'm not going to lower myself any more, ever.

"You're kidding, you're kidding, I know you love me." She exclaims with disdain. Thinking it was a joke.

"I do, I won't lie." I said seriously, and she looked at me relieved and satisfied with what I'd said. "But I'm tired of being humiliated by you, you don't deserve me, Goddess of love, I hope you fuck off." Everyone stares at me in amazement, and Aphrodite, seeing that this is no joke, begins to cry. Well, she cries about everything and Ares gets up and says:

"My brother, you shouldn't say that to...." He didn't finish speaking, my body acted before my head, I stepped forward and punched his face so hard that he fell on the first punch. He was always weak compared to me, but I was never as violent as him.

"I wish I'd done this sooner. I don't want "war" against you, my brother, it's not worth it, she's yours." I looked at Aphrodite, who was crying desperately. "You can go help him, you whore, I didn't want any of this that happened here today, I loved my brother. But he's just as garbage as you are. I want you to keep that in the back of your head, that you only think about bullshit and how you're going to betray me, no more, I gave you every possible chance and you wasted them all." She came to my side crying, I thought she was going to help Ares, but she stopped in front of me, she still thinks it's a joke. She was crying, but it was a fake cry. And she says:

"I know you'll come back. You love me." She hugs me and I don't reciprocate, she tries to kiss me and I turn my face away, she squeezes my member through my pants and says in a seductive voice, full of charm in my ear. "I know you want me." I confess I almost weakened, but I was used to her charm, I'm a son of Hera too, my mind is strong. I pushed her, she stepped on the hem of her dress and fell to the ground and I said:

"Shut up Goddess of "love", you're nothing but a whore, and you've just proved it in front of everyone here." I said angrily, and she saw that I wasn't joking and cried her eyes out on the floor. "My message has been given, stay away from me, I'm going to my forge, I'll come back for Percy to help you, and at the meetings, goodbye." I was about to teleport out of there, when I heard the voice of that incredible boy.

"WAIT." I stopped and looked at him seriously, and he approached me. "Stay smaller, please." I obeyed him, he came close to me and hugged me, at first I didn't reciprocate, I was taken by surprise, and he said in my ear. "I don't like to see women mistreated, but she deserved it, don't cry, you're an incredible god, I wanted to be trained only by you, but I can't refuse the words of the Olympians, you're incredible, and I look forward to going with you to the forges." He broke off and said for everyone to hear. "I hope I never fall in love." I had to smile, he is amazing, but Aphrodite had even more drama to play.

"YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME." She screams nervously, showing her true face, her monster face, she has never accepted rejection, never. "You love me. I love you." It was the first time she'd ever said that to anyone, at least as far as I know, but it could just be another trick, I wasn't going to give in to it, I'd already made up my mind.

"Prove it." I say seriously, and she speaks up,

"I'm not going to sign the divorce, I love you, and you're not going to marry another goddess." She says outraged.

"Stop putting on your little show Aphrodite. You may not sign it, I don't care, I really don't want to marry another immortal, maybe Calypso." She turned red with anger at what he said. "Thinking about it, it would be nice to marry her, but I want to and I'm going to enjoy life without remorse, yes I've always had remorse for betraying you, but never with other goddesses, you've never given me a child, you scoundrel, even my shit of a brother your filthy womb gave you. If you really love me, which I very much doubt, you'll suffer as much as I did for you."