𝐒𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐎𝐖 ༄ ᴘercy ᴊᴀᴄᴋꜱᴏɴ

does my life have value? discuss.

Twelve enormous thrones made a U around a central hearth, just like the placement of
the cabins at camp. I glanced up at the ceiling above, which glittered with constellations. Suddenly, I realised that a girl with a bow, was up there too. Zoë the Huntress, making her way across the sky with her bow drawn, her fierce expression on her face. On seeing her, I felt a lot braver.

All of the seats were occupied. Each god and goddess was about a house tall, and each of them were exuded magic and radiance with every movement they made. My mother wasn't here. Hades wasn't either. I didn't know if he was allowed to be here, or if he was still mourning the death of his daughter.

Apart from the four I had met, I couldn't recognise any of the other Gods in the room, apart from the symbols that lay beside them.

"Welcome, heroes," Artemis said.

"Mooo!"

That's when I noticed Bessie and Grover.
A sphere of water was hovering in the center of the room, next to the hearth fire. Bessie was swimming happily around, swishing his serpent tail and poking his head out the sides and bottom of the sphere. He seemed to be enjoying the novelty of swimming in a magic bubble.

Grover was kneeling at Zeus's throne, the god with a lighting bolt, as if he'd just been giving a report, but when he saw us, he cried, "You made it!" He started to run toward us, then remembered he was turning his back on Zeus, and looked for permission.

"Go on," Zeus said. But he wasn't really paying attention to Grover. The lord of the sky was staring intently at Thalia.

Zeus was not what I had imagined. None of the Gods were. I had thought they'd all wear the white ancient clothing, that the Greeks and the very old people wore in paintings. Instead each of them were dressed modernly, as if they walked amongst humans regularly. I guess I should have seen it coming. I mean, Aphrodite and Ares had been wearing normal human clothes - why wouldn't the rest of them be any different?

Still, it was weird to think that even though they walked, talked and dressed like I did, like humans and mortals - they'd actually been around forever. Like... even in medieval times which was old as fuck.

Grover trotted over. None of the gods spoke. Every clop of Grover's hooves echoed on
the marble floor. Bessie splashed in his bubble of water. The hearth fire crackled.

Grover reached Thalia and Annabeth first. He hugged them both tightly, and then he turned to me. He hugged me without a second thought, and it warmed me to think I meant something to him. I hugged him back, just as tightly, hoping I conveyed comfort.

Then he grasped Percy's arms. "Percy, Bessie and I made it! But you have to convince them! They can't do it!"

"Do what?" he asked.

"Heroes," Artemis called.

The goddess slid down from her throne and turned to human size, a young auburn-
haired girl, perfectly at ease in the midst of the giant Olympians. She walked toward us, her silver robes shimmering. There was no emotion in her face. She seemed to walk in a column of moonlight.

"The Council has been informed of your deeds," Artemis told us. "They know that
Mount Othrys is rising in the West. They know of Atlas's attempt for freedom, and the gathering armies of Kronos. We have voted to act."

There was some mumbling and shuffling among the gods, as if they weren't all happy
with this plan, but nobody protested.

"At my Lord Zeus's command," Artemis said, "my brother Apollo and I shall hunt the
most powerful monsters, seeking to strike them down before they can join the Titans' cause. Lady Athena shall personally check on the other Titans to make sure they do not escape their various prisons. Lord Poseidon has been given permission to unleash his full fury on the cruise ship Princess Andromeda and send it to the bottom of the sea. And as for you, my heroes..."