The second the lights faded away... the gods only had but a second to realize that everything was about to be shot to tartarus.
There were Greeks and Romans in the room.
The Romans had immediately grasped their weapons while the Greeks looked at them in suspicion, hands twitching towards their own.
And then the mist fell away from both sets of gods letting the other pantheon's children bear witness to them.
Minerva sat calmly in her seat, staring at Athena in disdain as her eyes glared poisoned at the Romans. The children of Camp Jupiter immediately sank to their knees while the Greeks moved slower as they looked between the gods before them in confusion.
Zeus and Jove shared looks when Hermes' and Mercury's phones beeped. The messengers blinked, eyes widening as they read the message. "Father-Kings, it seems to be a package from xe Phanês." All the gods immediately sat straighter in their seat, looking at the package that Hermes pulled out like it was a bomb.
Hermes handed it to his Father who looked at it perplexed. "It's a book titled Surface Pressure." He ran his hand over latin lettering, noting that it must have something to do with the Roman children, But why were the greek children present?
"We may as well read it," Jupiter told him. "Phanes would not reach out from xe and Chaos resided unless 'twas important."
Zeus inclined his head in agreement looking at the other gods before them. With a flick of his finger, the Olympian and Dii Consentes Minors walked out of the room. They looked both frustrated and scared at the package. Only the wives of the ones present stayed.
"What about the children," Vesta questioned. They were still bowing before them. The gods looked at them.
"Rise," Jupiter commanded. "Come forth. State your names and your parents."
The children shared looks even though the Romans still looked one second from attacking. The boy who held his own power stepped forward. "Jason Grace, son of Jupiter, champion of Juno." Jove glanced down to his arm to see the truth of those words. The dark haired girl that held the power of the sky twitched. The Kings and the queens of the sky glanced at her. She should not be born at all and yet—
"Don't you mean Zeus and Hera," one of the greeks questioned. She was blonde, hair pinned to the top of her head in curls. Her fair eyes made it quite easy to know whose child she was.
"No," Jason replied sharply. "I mean Jupiter and Juno."
The next child to step forward, bore a remarkable appearance to the boy on the greeks side. The only difference would be her breasts, longer hair, and eyes. Though she was still somewhat androgynous. "Livia. Daughter of Neptune, champion of Salacia."
"No last name," Mercury questioned. Her eyes moved to his, a flash of affection moving through them. "Not one that I care for."
The god hummed and she stepped aside to allow another to move forward.
The nymph shrugged her shoulders happily, "Kalina. I'm just a dryad."
She smiled at the boy who stepped to her side as he said: "You're more than that. You're our friend."
He then turned to look at the gods. "Octavian, legacy of Apollo."
The boy paused before his eyes fluttered over to Athena's with a keen eye. "Octavian Verus, legacy of Apollo." The greek goddess stood in rage and she was matched in pace by Apollo moving out of his seat, Mercury and Diana at his sides. Jason and Livia flanked Octavian quickly, gold flashing until weapons formed in their hands. The dryad and the other unnamed girl moved to their sides protectively. From the look in their eyes, they knew themselves to not be able to fight a god at full strength but they would go down protecting their friend.
It was nice to see.
"Sit down, daughter," Zeus ordered at the same time Jove commanded his own children to stand down. It took a moment as it looked as if Athena was going to ignore her father before she sat back down in irritation. Minerva laughed lightly from her own seat, reaching over to pat Apollo's shoulder reassuringly.
"Children," Jove commanded. "Continue."
"I am Reyna," the last Roman stated. "Daughter of Bellona."
"Those are roman names," the assumed child of Athena noted. Livia sneered, "Because they're Roman gods."
"They're just greek gods with different names," the girl argued. The roman children scoffed. Octavian stepped forward, "On a surface level, sure. But as you dig deeper within the myths, there are key differences."
"Like what?"
Octavian's smirk was dark, "Athena is a chaste goddess. Sworn off love. Never to have children. She's a war goddess. She's one of the war gods. She and Ares go hand in hand. Whereas Minerva is a chaste goddess. Sworn off love. Never to have children. But she is the goddess of crafts. Her domain is firmly fixated on what made Rome so great with our buildings and styles that still could be found in the United States today."
"Athena is the goddess of crafts also."
Livia rolled her eyes, "And the greeks worshiped her mainly as a war goddess, upholder of the patriarchy, and of her wisdom. She was a goddess of the craft, but the greeks focused more on Hephaistos for that. Who also by the greek poet claimed to be 'lame' and unattractive when before that theogeony, that was never an issue. So while the greeks went on to worship him as lame and misshapen, the Romans did not see Vulcan as unattractive because we have common sense and know that there are no imperfections amongst the gods. They are born from celestial dust and cosmic energy. Your view of them matches what you believe them to be."
She flushed angrily. "I've met the gods before. I know what I'm talking about."
Jason placed calming hands on the other two romans. "So have we. Does the champion of Queen Juno and Queen Salacia mean nothing to you?" He shook his head, eyeing them in disdain. "You're arguing much too strongly about this. Who are you?"
She pushed her shoulders back, turning to look at the gods once more. "My name is Annabeth Chase. Daughter of Athena."
It was like a bong went off as the two pantheons immediately sprung into action. The Romans demigods had lunged forward in a blink of an eye.
A wave of power forced them back as the greek demigods immediately moved to defend themselves. "Enough," Jove ordered as he looked at his people. "She is who she claims to be. Athena has not broken her vow."
The roman demigods still did not understand that, but they also did not care since she was not their maiden goddess. Jove looked back at the people of Camp Half-Blood, "Continue with your introductions."
The satyr stepped forward, "Grover Underwood. I'm just a satyr."
"You're more than that," the child with the power of Zeus stated. "You're our friend."
She bowed in front of her Father, "Thalia Grace. Daughter of Zeus."
Hera's jaw clenched tightly, eyes narrowing in rage. She knew that Zeus' affairs were just for prophecy sake but that did not mean she had to like it. A hand pressed against hers and she looked to see that Juno was looking at her in understanding. Of course, her friend would understand. She too had the same issue with Jove.
Jason, Livia, and Octavian shared looks. The last name was too coincidental.
And then finally, the last boy stepped forward. Livia looked carefully away from him, already knowing what he was going to say. "Percy Jackson. Son of Poseidon."
Livia sneered, looking away when he turned to her. She shot a glare at Reyna when it seemed the other girl would say something.
The gods began to argue in the tongue of the ancients as they shared looks and angry glances.
"Now that that is out of the way," Vesta commented dryly after they all stopped. She summoned seats for the children to sit in... separately. "We may as well begin. Brother Zeus. If you will."
Zeus flipped open the book. "First chapter is just three dots."
