Lieutenant

Chapter 28

The stirrings of Gaea were felt early on, but they seemed like nothing more than bad luck. There were small indications at first, Zeus' anger. It was most frustrating when the king of the sky was on edge because everyone else suffered as well.

Thalia was a lot antsier, nervous, anxious, and irritated, all because the weather insisted on shifting in a sporadic schedule. It was no different than Nico Di Angelo's temperament shifting when his own father was agitated, or Percy's for that matter.

What was worse, the gods suffered from it as well. When storm clouds brewed and the sun was covered Apollo became a whiny emotional mess, Athena was frustrated at Zeus' ignorance, Demeter and Persephone grew agitated as the lack of sun was a necessity for plant life, and so on.

"I have half a mind to march up to Olympus and slap father with a sandal!" Thalia growled. Her leg bounced a million miles a minute as she aggressively sharpened a knife.

"Oh whine all you want there's no suuun!" Apollo wailed, throwing an arm over his eyes. "What am I supposed to do? That's my job and he ruined it! Stupid cloud bearded butt head."

Thalia's eyes glinted angrily and the speed at which she sharpened the knife only increased. "I didn't sign up for babysitting."

"I didn't sign up for your rudeness! You're just a punk wannabe. 'I'm so sad I was born in the wrong era, I just make mean comments and complain all the time'!" Apollo mocked before sticking out his tongue.

"That's it you piece of shit!" Thalia lunges and Apollo screamed in fright.

"Agh, you're killing me!" His voice reached an impossibly high octave.

"Enough, the both of you." Artemis had been patient enough, but her nerves had worn thin. She picked Thalia up with ease by the back of her jacket and dragged Apollo to his feet.

"I can't do this, he's absolutely ridiculous! If I have to hear him sniveling one more second I'll carve him like a bird!" Thalia snarled.

"You wouldn't." Apollo frowned. An evil gleam caught in Thalia's eyes and she made an attempt to get at him again.

"Thalia drop it. Drop the knife." Artemis ordered. The youngest sibling pouted but did as she was told.

"Hah! Suck my dick!" Apollo laughed. Thalia looked so disgusted Artemis thought she was actually going to puke.

"Apollo do not make me-"

"What? You gonna call Mom?" He asked arching a brow.

"That's a wonderful idea actually." The look of fear on his face was comical. "Unless you can behave."

"Fiiiine." He sighed dramatically.

"Good." Artemis smiled with fake sweetness. She let both of them go and they were wise to head in separate directions.

Thalia flipped Apollo off for emphasis before disappearing into the woods. Apollo sighed and flopped onto the ground. The other hunters looked at him and moved away as though they wouldn't touch him with a thirty-two-foot pole. Completely understandable.

What else was understandable, was Thalia's frustration. Artemis didn't want to be babysitting her brother either but if she didn't keep an eye on him...well who knew what would happen? He wasn't the, brightest, if you will.

---

Of course, the small things grew into larger things. Issues developed that Artemis had been far removed from. She did not spend much time on Olympus, therefore she was not aware of the odd personalities taking over. Of course, she knew of the Greek and Roman situation but it wasn't as much of a problem for her. She'd always had more prevalence in Greek culture than Roman culture, always overshadowed by her brother. It made sense; people feared the dark, people adored the light.