Heirs of Olympus

Chapter 2

Pacing the floor in frustration, he is deeply frustrated with his confinement. He has been ordered to put his daily duty put aside by his father's closing of Olympus which has made it difficult for him not to go stir crazy. He is used to being free and joyful, this incarceration in his temple-home is maddening. He knows that a great deal of the frustration is from his father's refusal to understand a fundamental truth: that while he is the bearer of prophecy, the words woven from him, their truth is deeper and greater than that. Apollo gives rise to the words, but not to the truth behind them. Throughout the Ages that truth has always existed but only a cherished few can understand and help deliver it to those who must hear it. It is not his choice the timing of things, but the inevitability of fate that moves things forward.

Stomping across the room, his chiton swaying with the suddenness of his movements, he raises the chalice of Nectar as he watches the lights of the eternal city. He should be driving his chariot across the skies but with his father's edict he cannot and thus cannot find the calm that task brings him. He grumbles...the Prophecy of the Seven was old, far older than his father remembered, it wasn't something Apollo decided upon. The Sibylline Books, from ancient times, even contained a version, but beyond that, the first speaking of those words predated the fall of the Titans! Apollo knew this but his father was determined to blame him for having his Oracle speak them.

Shaking his head he knew that while this was bothering him, it was not the source of his current unease...no this was different. There was something else, something deeper, which remained beyond his reach, nagging for attention but skipping away whenever he tried to focus on it but he needed to find it somehow. The words were beyond his reach lost in a place of darkness that his light could not reach.

Closing his eyes he reached out to see the world, everywhere the sun touched was within his vision and he looked, closely and fully, upon the world. Just before the edge of nightfall he found the Seven upon their ship.

ABOARD THE ARGO II

Apollo saw the demigods standing together on the deck of the ship with Leo at the helm. Jason appears to be speaking so he focuses his ears and the words become clear.

"So according to Nico, Percy and Annabeth will be moving through Tartarus towards the Doors of Death on that side. We will head for them on this side and then we will seal them from both sides. Hazel has information that we may be facing magic and possibly a giant when we get there" Jason said carefully.

"I hate to say this" Piper barely says, the sadness in her voice clear "but are we even sure that Percy and Annabeth are alive?"

"They are" Nico and Hazel both say at the same time.

"I can feel their spirits" Nico clarifies for Piper. "If either of them had died, even in Tartarus, I would have felt it" he said assuredly.

Jason frowns at that comment like he is surprised at the confidence Nico has in his senses especially as it is obvious that Hazel doesn't feel quite the same.

"Okay, but getting to the House of Hades will not be easy" Frank says when the quiet has gone on too long. "Even if we get this..." he turns toward Jason.

"Scepter of Diocletian" Jason provides

"Right. Anyway how will this get us past everything waiting for us" Frank asks.

"The Scepter will raise Roman dead" Nico explains. "It will allow me to raise them without draining my powers and they will fight for us...hopefully."

"What do you mean hopefully" Leo calls out suddenly nervous.

"Well, when I summon the dead I have a connection to them" Nico says with a sigh. "But using the Scepter, it will be different. Hopefully once they are called I can use my power to direct them, but I can't be totally sure."