Simplicity | Book 1

Cleverly Spun Plans

Solace clipped her heels before she left her dorm.

Lucy approached her immediately. "How do you get rid of a boy?" she demanded.

Solace shrugged. "That's one thing I can't help you with."

She groaned. "Does anyone know?"

"Sorry, Lucy. I'm just a fighter. I will literally say to punch him and—ooh! Do you want me to contact Artemis? If the single life of a mortal-immortal appeals to you, you can join the Hunt."

"Uh, maybe."

"Okay, tell me if Peter goes too far."

"See you later!" Lucy skipped off, looking pretty content with the answer.

Solace sighed and walked to the head table and plopped down in between Kane and Ash.

"Whoa, what's with the outfit?" Julian asked.

"I gotta go to Olympus, demand an audience with Zeus, yadda, yadda, yadda."

"Oh, right. Hypnos." Kane muttered.

"If Hera goes into the proper marriage stuff I'm going to stop; I don't care if Kronos kills me, I'm not doing it."

"That's dangerous," Cassie warned.

"I don't want to lose my cousin, Sol," Ash joked.

"I'm marrying my cousin," Solace said. "It's not exactly something I would recommend."

Kane rolled his eyes. "I still say don't go with it."

"Shut up."

Solace hurriedly finished her breakfast and and slipped back into her dorm.

She closed her eyes and felt her body disappear into a figure of light. Her eyes snapped open when she felt her feet touch marble.

"Solace!" Zeus snapped.

"I have much to tell. I need to have an Olympian Council Meeting."

"You—" Zeus spluttered. "You cannot do this!"

"Watch me," Solace scowled. "It's about Kronos."

Zeus went pale. "I'll call a meeting to order," he decided.

Gods started to appear in the Throne Room.

"What is it, Zeus?" Aphrodite complained.

"Aphrodite!" Hera barked. "Sit down! Solace has information to give us!"

Artemis leaned forward. "Do tell us, dear cousin."

Solace sighed. "Well, it's a long story, so you might want to sit back and take notes."

Hades sighed. "Daughter, please."

"Sorry, Dad." Solace smiled innocently. "It's from Hypnos and you know he likes to draw things out."

She took a deep breath and everyone fell silent.

"Hypnos entered my sleep last night with information about Kronos. Morpheus owed him a favor. As that favor, Morpheus managed to change my sleep pattern to allow me to dream of Hypnos.

"Morpheus has joined Kronos. He owed Hypnos the favor, but now there's nothing we can do to get in intact with him. He's bitter. I must marry Mace for the time being to make Kronos think he's killed two birds with one stone. He told me to tell Zeus what he'd told you, so Athena can weave it into her plan.

"He's under the rule of my parents, so he wouldn't do anything. Dad is extremely powerful. He offered Hypnos something Kronos couldn't: a home. He was forced to wander the earth before your Dad found him. He offered to let him choose a cave in the Underworld in exchange for his loyalty."

"Wait—" Apollo interrupted.

"Don't interrupt me. Anyway, uh, Hypnos is on our side. There will be a marriage that means nothing, and we have to offer better things to minor gods. Like, to Hecate, greater power and more control over the supernatural shield."

"I'll ask Persephone to do it," Hades said. "Hecate likes her better, anyway."

Solace nodded and waited for the gods to pitch in.

No one did.

"We need to work together," Solace said. "So what are you all going to help?"

Athena cleared her throat. "I can speak to our fighters within the nature world. Artemis, you're free to join."

"Of course," the archer said. "Apollo?"

"I'll work on finding young demigods before Kronos."

"Great idea!" Solace smirked. "Zeus, Hera? Hephaestus? Ares, Aphrodite, Dionysus, Poseidon? Hermes? Hestia, do you have anything to add?"

"I can forge weapons for the CHFH armory," Hephaestus suggested. "Hermes and Dionysus could help." He gave a pointed look at his brothers.

"I'll ask Eros to convince demigods that the gods are the right choice," Aphrodite blew on her nails.

"I can talk to the minor gods. They might listen to me," Hestia said.

"Great! Poseidon?"

"The forges of the cyclops are under the ocean. Hephaestus, maybe you, Hermes, and Dionysus could come down there. Oceanus is close to me, he might not even visit if I ask for some time to prepare for the coming war," Poseidon offered.

"We're making progress!" Solace nodded.

"We'll need specific directions," Hermes said. "But Dionysus and I could help."

"I can help train the demigods. Only the older ones, though, the newbies are too weak," Ares announced.

"I'll have our senior campers start up with the training," Solace said. "The senior campers would be the ones to be trained and trainers. Wait—"

Solace tilted her head to the side at the same time Artemis cringed.

"A girl—"

"Lanabeth," Solace said. "And Lucas. They're in trouble."

She turned her dress into a skirt and sweater and started running. She opened the mind link and started shouting at Kane to get to her location as soon as possible.

"Kane! Kane Glahn! Get to my location! Lucas and Lanabeth are in trouble!"

She cringed. She's meant to put Lanabeth first priority because she was a child, but Lukas came out first.

"Sol?"

Kane's voice was groggy and tired. He seemed so out of it.

"The two you found the other day! They're in trouble!"

Kane didn't respond and Solace growled in annoyance. She let the mind link close and continued running. All the way from Canada to Massachusetts. The snow and ice around her seemed to come out of nowhere, and when she crossed the border into the U.S., she remembered that she could teleport. She visualized the two's faces and landed five miles away.

She could hear a little girl screaming and crying. A teenage boy was struggling against a Chimera. Solace's attention turned to the one in immediate danger. The girl seemed okay for the time being.

She ran through the woods and broke into a clearing. The boy was about to be taken out, when Solace drew her sword.

Mwahaha! Cliffhanger. I'm sorry for leaving for so long, I lost inspiration for a while. It took me a while just to grab onto that tiny spark of inspiration to finish this chapter.
~ Ella