The Unclaimed

Chapter 21: A vow on the River Styx is made

Hello everyone, I hope you are enjoying the story. This is just a heads up that the point of view for this chapter is not Jessica's. I hope you like it.
   To say Artemis was mad would not even qualify as an understatement. Her current emotion would better fall under the category of livid. As she paced in  the council room of Olympus, waiting for her family to show up, she started to think of what approach she would take. She could act casual and ask nicely. Or she start screaming the second all of them were in the room together. Her comments could be nice or they could consist of painful threats that would traumatize her family for the rest of eternity. Artemis tried to calm herself, she knew her family well enough that they did not respond well to ill-worded discussions. As angry as she was, Artemis knew that she had to be able to present this issue in a rational matter (or at least in a way that sounded rationally) She was still pacing when, one by one the other gods joined her in the council room. It wasn't until everyone was present and silent that Artemis stopped pacing and stared at them.
   "Why did you call this meeting daughter," Zeus asked confused. The alert that Artemis had sent all of the Olympians had come very early in the morning. It had stated that the meeting would be on an urgent topic but it provided very little information; that was against Artemis's normal way of operating. 
   "Yeah sis, your alert woke me up way earlier than I needed to be," Apollo said lightly. His tone was playful but he also recognized that his twin seemed to be distressed.
   "I'm sorry if you lost some of your beauty sleep because I sent an alert for an urgent meeting that everyone needed to be here for." For a split second Apollo smiled when he heard his sisters joking tone but as quickly as it came, it fell off his face as she got serious.
   "Well, tell us what this urgent issue is." Athena said, clearly interested. Artemis was about to start speaking when she realized something; she couldn't trust anyone in the room with the whole story. Not even Jessica's dad  could be viewed as trustworthy until the quest was over. As far as Artemis knew, Jessica's dad did not know that Artemis knew who he was. She hadn't meant to discover Jessica's dad, to figure out who he was, but it just happened. No one else knew who her father was, everyone claimed that they had never heard of her before she got to camp.
   "As I'm sure you all know, a new demigod has recently joined the Hunt." All the gods murmured and looked to be at unease. "This new demigod, Jessica, has had a really hard life. She is unclaimed, was treaty poorly by the other campers, and her half-brother who is her whole world lost his  memory of her." Artemis looked all of the gods in the eyes one-by-one, trying to read their expressions. A few members of the Olympian council shifted uncomfortably but no one reaction stood out to Artemis.
   "If you're here to try and guilt trip us into saying who her father is, you might as well leave." Hera said coldly. "Chiron already tried to guilt trip us into admitting it yesterday. But what both of you are forgetting is that none of us knew of her before she got to the camp; whoever is her dad will claim her if and when he wants to." Artemis nodded slowly.
   "Even if he doesn't claim her, she'll find out who he is when she succeeds on her quest," Artemis put extra emphasis on the word when. This got the reaction she was looking for.
   "If she succeeds on her quest," Ares shouted loudly, his fist banged on the arm rest of his throne. Realizing that every pair of eyes was now on him, he continued. "What, I'm just being honest. Quests are dangerous, there's no guarantee that she'll actually succeed. We always say if when we talk about other demigods; why is this girl so special that we treat the idea of her succeeding at this quest as a guarantee?" The other gods nodded as they listened to Ares logic and then turned back to Artemis. Artemis remained confident, she didn't let the stares of the other gods bring her down.
   "Perhaps you are right," Artemis said confidently. "But I do not think you are. Jessica is different from other demigods. She has a sense of power and confidence that radiates off of her. Her quest could be near impossible for all I care and I would still believe that she would succeed." The power in Artemis's voice caused the others gods to shrink in their seats. In all their times as gods, no one could remember Artemis ever speaking with as much authority and control as she was at the moment. Which said something because she always spoke with authority.
   "Well if that's all you brought us here  to talk about, your message is delivered and this meeting can be over," Hera said rather coldly. "I do not understand how this qualifies as urgent information but," Artemis tried to keep her cool but she hated being talked down here.
   "There's one last thing," Hera stopped speaking and motioned for Artemis to continue. Now Artemis knew that she had to proceed with caution; none of the gods liked being ratted out. If she mentioned that Jessica had a dream, they'd be mad. If she mentioned to many specifics from the dream, they'd be mad. If she wasn't careful, Artemis would bring the wrath of the gods onto her hunters. Slowly, she started talking. "With all the drama that has surrounded Jessica ever since she entered this world, I figured with her having joined the Hunt this would be a good time to issue a reminder." Her relatives looked at her, confused.
   "A reminder about what sis?" Apollo asked.
   "A reminder that my hunters are my second family," Artemis said. "And if anyone, even any of you, did anything to intentionally harm them or make them fail at a quest then I would be forced to spend the rest of eternity making you miserable. You may be my relatives but that does not make any of you exempt from my fury if did something to any of my hunters. Is that understood?" As she gave her protective rant, Artemis made eye contact with every Olympian in the room. She noted how the color drained  from all of their faces. Some made clear attempts to try and speak, but failed. Others looked furious, like they were ready to fight Artemis over what she had just said. A few of them just seemed bored, like they were ready to leave the meeting. The most interesting reaction, at least to Artemis, was that made by Jessica's father. He didn't fall under one category: he looked mad while also remaining calm, he seemed intrigued but not desperate for information. Artemis was skilled at judging people's thoughts based off of their body actions, but she couldn't figure out what he was thinking. Finally, Zeus broke the silence and spoke.
   "Is that all," he asked. It was obvious that he was in shock that Artemis had the audacity to speak to him, and the other gods, like that.
    "Yes sir," When he heard Artemis call him sir, Zeus automatically relaxed. Artemis mentally rolled her eyes, he father never failed to succumb to compliments. "I thank you all for your audience and request that you keep my warning in mind. Because I swear on the River Styx that if anything happens to Jessica or any of my other hunters because you tamper with fate at any point, I will avenge them just as I promised." With that, Artemis spun around and walked out of the room. She left all the other Olympians sitting on their thrones in silence, shocked at Artemis's behavior. Three gods in particular started to feel worry creep up into them; none of them had expected Artemis to be so attached to Jessica. One by one, as they started to recover from their shock, the gods left the throne room. As they tried to go about their daily schedules, not one of them could shake the sense of unease that Artemis had left them with.