gilded lily, p.jackson

019, the olympains

CHAPTER NINETEEN.
the olympians

—— The minute they were in the sky, Thalia
crashed, not literally, but she fell asleep as soon as the Pegasi took off. Danica rode Blackjack with Percy, after he had convinced the Pegasus to let her join him. The girl fell asleep about half an hour into the flight. Percy made sure Blackjack wasn't going to drop her, his arms tightly holding onto her.

Percy had awoken her just before they reached Olympus, although he was tempted to just let her sleep.

Olympus was truly extraordinary. The torches were all up in different colours. Gardens were in full bloom despite it being winter and released beautiful scents of jasmine, rose and lavender. Music drifted up from the indies, preformed by magical instruments.

Demigods, nature spirits and goslings roamed the streets or were carried by cyclopes.

Their pegasi sat them down in the courtyard of Zeus' palace, the highest of them all, resting on the peak of the mountain. The silver gates opened before they could knock.

The pegasi flew away, heading back to camp as they stood in front of Zeus's palace. Danica felt some deja vu as they stood there, remembering her of how they had stood for a moment outside westover hall before this adventure had even started. She wasn't sure if anybody else felt it.

Without a word, the four of them stepped, side by side, into the throne room.

The throne room looked like a luxurious version of camp half blood. All the cabins, well, thrones, had their respective god or goddesss on it, all about five metres tall. Danica couldn't stare at them for long, because after a while her neck began to get sore.

"Welcome, heroes," Artemis said.

"Moo!"

Danica and Annabeth looked startled, not expecting a cow to be in the throne room. But as they spotted the creature, they both realised that it wasn't exactly a cow.

The front half of the creature looked like a cow, or more accurately a calf with its big brown eyes and white snout. But the back half of it changed into an eel with its long brown or black tail and fins jutting out the side.

The deadly Ophiotaurus.

Grover was kneeling at Zeus' throne, looking like he was about to be knighted but when he saw them, his mouth morphed into a big smile.

"You made it!" he cried, getting ready to run over to them, before halting himself. He looked to Zeus for permission otherwise the king of the gods would blast him for turning his back on him.

But Zeus wasn't even looking at Grover as he said, "Go on." he was staring at Thalia.

The three were all looking at their parents as Danica fiddled with her fingers, staring down at the floor. She felt awkward, as her mother wasn't one of the Olympians.

Grover reached them and hugged Danica first, squeezing her so hard that she felt her already bruised body would crumble.

He hugged Thalia too before turning to grasp percy's arm. "Percy, Bessie and i made it! But you have to convince them! They can't do it!"

"Do what?" Percy asked.

"Heroes," Artemis called, bringing their attention back to the gods.

She slid of her chair and as she touched the ground, she changed form her womanly goddess form to human size. She looked now as she did when Danica first saw her at Maine, a twelve year old girl with auburn hair dressed in sliver. She didn't seem to care that she looked younger than them, or was smaller than the gods as she walked towards them.

"At my lord Zeus' command," Artemis continued. "My brother Apollo and i shall hunt down 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..."

Danica felt her heard in her mouth as she turned to face the rest of the gods. "These half bloods have done Olympus a great service. Would any here deny that?"

Danica took in all the gods, her eyes settled on Aphrodite. Her appearance kept changing until she settled on dark hair and green eyes. Danica watched as she strangely smiled at percy with a knowing sort of look, who shifted by her side.

"I gotta say," Apollo said, breaking the long silence, "These kids did okay." he cleaned his throat and she and Percy groaned faintly, while thalia sighed. Apollo recited, seemingly making it up on the spot. "Heroes win laurels —"

"Um, yes, first class," Hermes anxiously interrupted. "All in favour for not disintegrating them?"

Demeter raised her hand. apollos raised his hand with and his fingers splayed like a rock symbol. Aphrodite's hand went up too, although a little tentatively as she looked across at Ares.

He objected immediately. "Wait a minute." he pointed at Thalia and Percy. "these two are dangerous. And her too. I'd feel much safer while we've got them here —"

"Ares," Poseidon interrupted. "They are worthy heroes. We will not blast my son to bits."

"Nor my daughter," Zeus added. "she has done well."

Danica stared at the ground, her mother was dangerous. They once considered her dangerous as well. A voice broke Dani's gaze.

"I'll Vouch for the girl!" Apollo said, looking at the girl. "This quest, and the ones before proved to us all, that she is not like her mother."