The Daughter Of Olympus

Chapter 2: The Quest

Zeus paced his office, muttering to himself. His office was a large oval room; its roof painted like the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel, with floors of marble and walls lined with shelves that held books, weapons, and large collections of lightning bolts, with the master bolt proudly hanging behind his desk. Zeus ran his hands through his grey hair, frustrated. He trudged over to his desk and plopped into his seat of clouds, just as Artemis entered the room. She looked him over and made her way forward.

“Zeus, you look stressed, what’s bothering you?” Artemis asked, sitting in a chair that was placed in front of Zeus’s desk.

“There’s so much, Artemis, I don’t know where to start.” Zeus sighed, leaning back in his chair. Artemis stared at him, patiently waiting for her answer.

“Well," he started, "there are the giants that are planning another attack."

"They are always planning attacks." Artemis stated, not seeing the problem.

"My son will be leading them-”

“Which son?” Artemis cut in. Zeus took a deep breath, and wearily looked into Artemis’s eyes.

“Hercules.” A tense silence entered the room. Artemis shifted uncomfortably. 

“Zeus, he was made a protector, he can’t leave the island where you placed him. How could he possibly-”

“I don’t know!” Zeus roared, slamming his fist on his oak desk, creating a slight dent. Artemis didn't move, she didn't even blink, she just looked at Zeus with sympathy.

 "Forgive me, I'm just stressed." Zeus said huffily, "Other than the giants, and Hercules- I also have to worry about the girl."

"You mean Zan?"

"Yes, yes- her."

"Why are you worried about her?"Artemis asked, curiously. Zeus sat back in his chair again.

"Chiron will be looking for someone to lead the campers into war with the giants, and when we send her down- well, who better than a human like creature that contains so much power? But I'm not sure if she'll do as well as I planned..."  Zues trailed off. The light danced dangerously in Artemis's eyes.

"Are you implying that she's weak? Is it because she's a girl?" She asked, her nails digging into the oak. The topic of gender was very sensitive.

"You forget, Artemis, she is also only a week old, and females are so fragile-"

Artemis stood up, "Fragile! Maybe she is a fragile girl, but has it ever occurred to you that she has eons of knowledge in her brain and golden blood running through her veins?" Artemis asked, trying to keep her temper. 

"Are you suggesting that she can fight the giants?"

"With the proper training, and with the right allies, of course she can!"

Zeus smiled. He opened a drawer and pulled out a piece of parchment and a feathered pen. He wrote quickly, rolled it up, and handed it to Artemis. She stared at the rolled parchment for a second, then looked at Zeus.

"What is this?" She asked.

"A quest. You said she was strong enough. Let's see how well she'll do." He smirked, "Now please leave, I have other work to attend to."

Artemis gave Zeus the death stare then turned and stormed out. She was tired of Zeus being so stereotypical about not only girls, but everything that was different from him. Like, for example, he thought children of Hades where all goth, Aphrodite children did nothing but flirt, Athena kids where brainiacs and terrible fighters, etc. This was the time that she was finally going to prove him wrong.