A Second Life

7. The Dying Flames

Zeus (unexpected, ikr?)

I had quickly grown irritated with the bickering, something that happens only on the rarest occasions. I looked towards my sister, Hestia, for she was always one of the only people who could keep me calm. Despite the beliefs others had about me, I did care about my sister.

As if my thoughts had cursed her, she erupted into a coughing fit, her form flickering and turning from her usual 8-year-old self to a fluctuation of many different ages. Don't get me wrong, she was beautiful either way, but her form shouldn't be flickering.

I didn't expect Dionysus to speak up and take charge. "Lady Hestia, are you ok? Do you need my help?"

She replied, her voice sounding far too hoarse and old for her to be fine. "Yes. Please."

The council watched as he placed a hand on her head, and how she managed to stop her flickering form, pausing it at 18.

"What's going on?" Artemis asked, concern lacing her voice.

"The hearth is dying. You can all feel it too, isn't it? The hearth is dying and we are growing weaker. If the hearth doesn't recover we could lose all our powers. Permanently. "

"Why?" Many heads peered at Hades, not used to his interference during council meetings.

However it wasn't Hestia who answered, but Hera. "It was Jackson and Di Angelo. They stayed true to us, the gods, and they are losing hope. They only have each other. The camps have loose bonds to the Hearth. After all, Jackson, as much as I am not fond of him, he was the one to return Hestia's throne. And the Di Angelo kid was special since the start. He was the first person in decades to notice Hestia by the Camp fire." She shrugged at the end of her speech as if the information was self-explanatory.

She got many glares from the way she addressed the two, but apart from that, understanding started to bloom on their faces. They were all that stayed true to the Hearth. Despite Hestia being the Goddess of the Hearth, it was a power from before the gods. If the Hearth died, their powers would go haywire.

Demeter shuffled uncomfortably. "We could just use Hecate to cast a spell on them. That way they would never lose loyalty to Olympus."

"No, " Hestia objected, "we need to let them learn how to find their hope again, for them to regain faith and feel like family again. To feel loved and wanted. To finally heal from the wounds. They are stronger than you believe. Nico survived weeks at the entrance of Tartarus with 7 pomegranate seeds. Weeks. Percy spent Tartarus knows how long in the actual place. Alone. No one comes back from either of those sane. They are our last hope, the campers are too far gone in their own ignorance to realise, but slowly, slowly, they will start to lose their powers."

Artemis shifted slightly in her throne, her face not betraying any emotions, but the worry in her tone was plain to hear. "What about my Hunters? If my blessing fades and they start to age, or they die, and if-"

Apollo placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'll give your hunters an additional blessing. That way even if either of our blessings fade, one blessing will remain. It'll last us long enough to fix the problems at Camp."

"Dionysus, could you manage camp? Maybe try to see how many would pledge their loyalty to Olympus." Zeus said, about to dismiss the council.

"I have an idea." Everyone looked at Aphrodite, but only one god understood what she planned on doing.

Aphrodite and Apollo were in for a long conversation.

a/n This chapter effectively sucked. I'm sorry :/