Percy Jackson, the Son of Olympus: The Lightning Thief

| Chapter VII || Who Stole It? |

*December 22 XXXX*

***

The next morning, Artemis walked to the throne room, where the gods would say goodbye to the campers. As soon as she stepped even closer to the doors, she heard shouting. She entered to see Zeus and Poseidon yelling at each other.

Poseidon was gripping his trident so tightly, his fingers were turning white.

When Artemis looked up at her father, she immediately noticed that he didn't have his master bolt with him. Instead, he was just yelling at Poseidon, something about stealing and power.

Hades was sitting in his temporary throne－annoyance, mute anger, and worry flashing in his eyes. His eyes were darting around the throne room as if looking for something.

Artemis suddenly focused on what her father and uncle were arguing about, "-eus would never do that! How could even consider that?" Poseidon asked.

"He did it yesterday as a prank! And he kept being Chaos' heir a secret! I can't trust him anymore!" Zeus yelled back.

Artemis was trying to figure out what they meant as she sat on her throne.

Poseidon glared at his younger brother. "You've known him for eight years! Eight years, and you let one little prank get in the way of your trust for him?" he questioned angrily.

Zeus glared right back. "Yes! And you're working with him! Don't think that I don't know your plan! You just want my throne!" he accused.

At that moment, Hestia, Hera, and Demeter walked in. They saw the two brothers fighting and ran up to them, trying to stop them and get them to listen to reason. They were mostly ignored, and their attempts were failing miserably.

Suddenly, everything clicked in Artemis' head－her father's anger, the reason why he didn't have his master bolt, and his accusations against his brother. Someone had stolen his master bolt and he was blaming Poseidon for its theft.

The doors were thrown open and a very tired looking Percy walked in. Zeus immediately looked over and glared. Percy's hair was a mess, he had dark bags under his eyes, and his clothes were rumpled. He looked as if he hadn't slept a wink. He walked over and collapsed in his throne, not even bothering to acknowledge anyone in the room. He only briefly looked up and gave Artemis a small smile, but that was it before he fell backward into his throne and started snoring quietly.

Zeus glared and stomped over to his nephew's throne, stomping his foot so hard, the throne room shook.

Percy almost fell out of his throne. He woke with a start and looked up at his uncle's angered face. "What's the matter uncle?" he asked sleepily.

"Where is it?" Zeus demanded.

"Where is what?" Percy asked, now confused and tired at the same time. That was a bad combination. Artemis couldn't look away. She was worried for Percy's well-being.

Zeus' face turned gold with anger again. "You know exactly what I'm talking about Perseus!" he yelled, sounding furious.

Percy just stared up at him blankly. He was quiet for a few seconds before he said, "Do you mind telling me what we are talking about?"

That blew Zeus over the top. "You stole my master bolt!" he yelled.

"Oh that," Percy mumbled sleepily. "It was only for a few minutes. I gave it back... I'm pretty sure I left it on your bedside table; you should have seen it when you woke up..." Percy trailed off, falling back to sleep.

His quiet snores were the only things heard in the throne room as Zeus seethed silently. Everyone else held his or her breath.

Suddenly Apollo spoke up. "He's telling the truth father. I should know; I'm the god of Truth," he said.

Hera also spoke up. "Yes Zeus, I saw your master bolt last night. It appeared exactly where Perseus said he put it," she said.

"Then why isn't it there now?" Zeus demanded. "It wasn't anywhere when I woke up!" he said.

"It must've been taken by someone else, because Percy gave it back, and didn't steal it," Poseidon said. He had calmed down slightly, enough to see reason and realize how foolish their argument was.

"But it's still missing!" Zeus said, now more worried than angry. "We have to search for it! Everyone hurry! Ares, Athena, and Hermes－search the city, Poseidon－the seas, Demeter－the forests. Apollo－keep a close eye out when you drive across the sky, and Artemis－take your hunters and search everywhere else. The rest of you － do the same as Artemis," Zeus demanded, pacing the room nervously.

With that, everyone set out, not even noticing that one of the campers was absent...

***

Published: Saturday, October 29, 2016

~CSP2708~