Legends Never Die

Meeting on Olympus

Perseus glared around the throne room, clearly not pleased with being back. "Percy!" came the squeal of a little eight year old girl. He turned, his eyes and face instantly losing the hard edge. The girl seemed to change as she ran to him, soon becoming a woman in her early thirties. She swept him into a tight hug which he instantly returned.

"Mom. How are you?"

"I'm good, Percy. I'm surprised you came back so soon. What happened?"

"Selene and an order from a being not even I would dare talk back to. I was warned of an enemy older than the Titans who's an enemy to the Moon. And the other one made me swear to create a group to protect each of the Olympians. And he was very specific on the directions."

"So would you like me to call them?"

"No need, Aunt. I already did," came Artemis' voice.

Soon, thirteen flashes came sporadically over the course of five minutes. Zeus looked down and saw the hooded man, his youngest daughter, and the son of Hades and was suspicious. "What is going on here? Why have you called this meeting, my daughter?"

Artemis just looked pointedly at the hooded man. "I was asked to come back here, under guidance from a deceased Titaness."

Zeus looked bewildered. "Since when could a deceased Titan ask for help?"

"I thought the same thing, since she faded shortly before Artemis became an Olympian, taking over as the keeper of the moon. But through a dream from the realm of the faded, she contacted me. Apparently she faded due to an enemy of the moon. One older than the Titans.

"She demanded I come back and protect Artemis. And then as soon as her dream faded, a being older than time itself came to me and ordered me to create a group of demigods that guarded each one of you Olympians.

"He set very strict rules on how it was supposed to be done. A demigod can't protect their own parent, and they can't be the same gender as their charge. Not to mention that I have to train the other fourteen of them..."

Athena took all the information in. "Okay, may we ask questions now?" The hooded man nodded. "Okay, let's start at the beginning. Who are you? Who was the one asking you to protect Artemis? Who is the enemy? Who asked you to create these...Guardians? And what do you mean fourteen? There are fifteen Olympians now, as you can very well see," she asked in rapid fire succession.

The man nodded. "Obviously if I say I came back, you all know me. I'm the only living demigod son of Poseidon, Percy Jackson at your service," he said, bowing with a flourish in just a way that his hood fell down and everyone could see him.

"As to whom asked me, it was Selene, the keeper of the moon prior to Artemis. The Creator himself asked me to set up the Guardian Program, insisting that it was supposed to be done after the first Titan War, but he spaced out and forgot to. Apparently a lot was going on with him at the time. And obviously only fourteen are needed. It's clear that I need to protect Artemis, so wouldn't it just make sense to be her guardian at that point?

"Seeing as she has to have a male be her guardian per the Creator, it would make sense to have someone she could trust. I already have to build it while protecting her from this enemy, so I doubt she would want to have to introduce a new male to the Hunters and deal with those issues all over again."

Athena nodded, respecting Percy's knowledge and thought processes. "Do you happen to know the name of the enemy?"

Percy just shook his head no. "But legends and old scripts call him 'The Man in the Moon,' whatever that means."

The Olympians all looked at each other, but none could come up with any ideas. "Why would you assume I would allow a male guardian?" Artemis asked.

"You don't have a choice. The Creator makes the Primordials look like children. Just his thoughts from slumber coming into my dreams nearly ripped my consciousness apart. If that's just his thoughts while he sleeps, I would have no desire to face him...ever."

Artemis looked down, clearly not liking the idea, but knowing she wouldn't win. The other gods continued to discuss these new revelations. Zeus slammed his bolt into the floor, silencing the room. "Well then, since Perseus–"

"Percy," came his interjection.

"–here will be training these guardians," Zeus steamrollered on, knowing his nephew all too well. "We should bring up our best to be picked from."

"No," came Percy's immediate reply. "I'll go pick them myself. There'll be a set of trials they have to complete. I want to weed out anyone not worthy. I've been tasked with your protection, and I will see to it that you have the best, not who you think is best. No doubt some of who you think will be on there, but not all."

To everyone's surprise, Zeus just nodded. "All in favor of letting Perseus handle his tasks without interference?" All hands went up. "Then Perseus, go take care of what you need to."

Percy bowed. "I'll have the demigods squared away. In three months you guys will be choosing who guards you. Remember, not your own children, and has to be an opposite gender."

With that, he disappeared into mist again, a pair of silver eyes staring at the spot he had vacated for a long time afterwards.