The Battle of Olympus | III

13. I Argue With Two Wisdom Gods

Warning: short chapter, terrible name, writing, and the occasional edit. I changed up the ending of this chapter (ish) so some things might not add up perfectly, but that's okay, lol. You guys will get the gist.

"You're not actually considering it, are you?" When I didn't answer, Athena's frown deepened. "Eden, you can't be serious."

"They said they have more primordials on their side than us, and I, unfortunately, know Claudius—or whatever stupid name he goes by—and his battle habits. He obliterates his enemies. Even if we win, I don't doubt that he'd go through with Paris—sorry, Penn and Harper's threat. I'm not having thousands die for a war I could've prevented."

"Paris started a war because he wanted a pretty wife," she said in exasperation. "It wasn't for anything noble. Pretty big of a difference."

"Maybe Claudius would be a good ruler."

She gave me a look. "Just to be clear, you're talking about the guy who revived decimation just to defeat Spartacus, right?"

"Then what am I supposed to do? I don't want to go to war—for the first time in my life, I don't want to fight, nor do I want thousands dead because of me, so please, Athena, tell me, what would you have me do?"

There was a moment of silence.

"I don't know," she admitted, "but I know that letting Claudius get what he wants isn't the right thing to do."

I wanted to throw something, though I managed to resist the urge. Of course it wasn't the right thing to do—only a madman would've thought handing power to another madman would be a good idea. Then again, I was still a Galerii, and that streak of madness still ran through me. Anyway, the point was, I didn't have any other ideas. Every moment I delayed was another person Claudius forcibly turned into those supersoldiers he created. How many would he have? I didn't want to know how much blood it took to turn them.

"Then I don't know what to do. Claudius is always a step in front of me—he lured me to Boston to receive the message. He knows my every move. He knows exactly what we were planning. And before you ask," I added when I saw her open her mouth, "it's not impossible for him to guess without a traitor in our midst. After all, we were known for being able to strategize against enemies we had never met before."

Athena sighed. "Well, at least Father agreed to my plan. That's one good thing among a thousand bad, I guess."

"Athena... if I can't track Claudius, how am I supposed to stop him? If he gets his army—"

"And he won't."

"How do you know that? The ones Apollo and I faced—they might not have had my ability to manipulate chaos, but they're still stronger and faster than the average human. Claudius might've even given them his own blood to increase their durability and stuff—things I didn't have. If Claudius manages to get his hands on thousands of them... Not only does it mean that he has an army of supersoldiers, but he also just killed thousands of people."

"Look, we don't—"

The door swung open.

"Oh, bad time, is it?"

"Momus," Athena said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm supposed to be getting you."

Momus. I distantly recalled reading the name somewhere—or, at least, I might've—though I didn't know who he was. He looked perhaps as if he were in his early thirties, with the same golden hair every god seemed to have, though his purple eyes were a strange deviation.

"For what?"

"Your plan." He shrugged. "Or something like that. Zeus wasn't very clear."

"My plan?" she asked. "What about—oh. Right. That." She rose, though her troubled expression didn't leave. "Sorry, Eden, I have to go—Father's been on his own nerves lately and I really wouldn't risk him unleashing his temper. But just... don't, okay? You don't have to give up. I promise, we'll think of a better solution."