Troubled Olympians

Guilt is a silver lining of the cloud

"So do you like him?" Annabeth whispered to Thalia during English. Thalia sighed.

"For the millionth time, no." Thalia hissed back. Aphrodite and Artemis was sitting behind them, and naturally Aphrodite couldn't help but overhear their conversation. She had always thought about putting Thalia and Nico together, but if she did Zeus, Hades, and Artemis would start another civil war.

"Ooh, who's the cute boy?" Aphrodite whispered at the girls, who jumped in surprise. Annabeth turned around to face Aphrodite.

"Di Angelo" Annabeth nodded her head towards Nico, who was staring blankly at the board. Thalia sighed.

"Ooh! Yes, ask him out!" Aphrodite squealed, louder than anticipated. The whole class turned to stare at Aphrodite in confusion, as Thalia turned into a bright colour of crimson. "Sorry" Aphrodite blushed.

"No, I am not asking him out." Thalia said firmly and turned her attention back to the board. Aphrodite sighed as Artemis kicked Aphrodite under her desk.

"Ow!" Aphrodite yelped silently, and turned to glare at Artemis. Artemis however was giving Aphrodite a death stare.

"Keep your love games away from my Lieutenant" She hissed angrily. Aphrodite shrugged.

"Love is like water Arty, it goes where ever it wishes" Aphrodite flashed her winning smile at Artemis and went back to flipping her magazine. Artemis couldn't believe Aphrodite's nerve! How many times has she messed with her hunters? How many times has she told her to stop? Yet she never did! She could never stop! Artemis lunged for Aphrodite's magazine and ripped it in one swift move. Aphrodite gasped in horror. "You-you" She stuttered angrily at Artemis. Artemis smirked at Aphrodite.

"Lost for words?" Artemis asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You know how hard it was finding this limited magazine!?" Aphrodite asked angrily.

"Not as hard as finding a bitch!" Artemis spat back. The two goddesses got the classes attention again, but they were to busy bickering to notice.

"Oh, you are getting me a new copy of this magazine...or else!" Aphrodite snapped. Artemis threw her head back, laughing at Aphrodite's weak threat.

"Or what? Remember last time we fought? I won and you were a hot bloody MESS!" Artemis snarled at Aphrodite. Aphrodite launched herself at Artemis. The two fell onto the floor. Artemis was pulling Aphrodite's golden locks, and Aphrodite was kicking and screaming at Artemis. Annabeth and Thalia looked at the two in horror, some of the boys were yelling 'CAT FIGHT'. Zeus groaned at buried his face in his hands. Thalia and Annabeth got up and attempted to break up the fight while the teacher was trying to get the class to calm down. Thalia picked up Artemis and tried to restrain her from pulling out more of Aphrodite's hair. Artemis was kicking wildly in Thalia's grasp. Annabeth scooped up Aphrodite, who was also kicking madly.

"STOP IT!" Thalia roared at the two goddesses. For a second, Artemis and Aphrodite thought she was Zeus and stopped for fear of being blown up. They both stopped and caught their breathes. They both looked like a mess, torn clothes and tangled hair.

"Office! Now!" the teacher told the two goddesses.

-Troubled Olympians-

After their last class of the day, Zeus was determined to find Thalia. He knew it was a lame way of trying to get closer to your daughter, but it wasn't like he had any better options. He's done some bad things to Thalia...somethings so horrible Zeus felt horrible guilt looking at her now. His daughter was so strong, and she deserves to be happier than anybody. He found Thalia at her locker, she was almost ready to leave she closed her locker door, and Zeus walked up behind her.

"Hey." He tapped on her shoulder. Thalia turned around and smiled.

"Oh, hey" She said and started to walk, Zeus followed her.

"Wanna hang out today? Get some Starbucks?" He asked her. Thalia sighed.

"Sure, why not? My friends are pestering me about some boy anyways." She shrugged and smiled at Zeus. Zeus stopped walking. A boy? Oh Zeus had many questions for Thalia today alright.

After a few minutes of walking to Starbucks, and waiting in line. He and Thalia both had a Caramel Frap. They both started to walk while sipping on their drinks.

"So, what your favourite colour?" Zeus asked.

"Black, and don't say some crap about how black is a shade not a colour." Thalia said, sipping on her drink.

"Oh, I like grey, like storm clouds." Zeus said, as he admired the New York lights.

"I hate storm clouds." Thalia shivered. This caused Zeus to fall silent. How could his daughter not like storm clouds? Is it because she hates him? Or did it tie in to her hell like childhood?

"So, you never explained to me how you never celebrated your birthday." Zeus asked. Thalia looked at her feet.

"Oh, yeah I guess it was because of my mom...she'd say things...bad things." Thalia muttered.

"What kind of things?" Zeus asked, eager for more information.

"Things like how I wasn't supposed to be born. Just a mistake" Thalia whispered quietly. Anger boiled up in Zeus, his daughter was more than just a mistake, if Ms. Grace was still alive, Zeus would smack her in the face silly.

"Oh. I'm sorry" Zeus choked out.

"It's not your fault." Thalia gave him a sad smile.

"Do you blame anyone?" Zeus asked.

"My dad" Thalia bit her lip. "I blame him. He left me with her. He didn't care." Zeus felt as if a tidal wave of guilt and misery crashed on him. She was right though, it was his fault. Zeus was so confused at the time, Hera was yelling at him, and Poseidon and Hades were furious that he broke the oath, he had forgotten about her, and he would never forgive himself for that.

"I'm sure he cares." Zeus smiled at Thalia, who was wiping away a tear.

"Yeah, well if he did he wouldn't have taken away-" Thalia sighed. "Never mind" Zeus felt another horrible tug in his gut. He knew who she was talking about, the person who he toke away from her. Her brother.

-Troubled Olympians-

Nico really never knew how to ask a girl out before, he figured that texting would be easier, but it would make him seem lazy. He picked a few flowers from the schools indoor garden and went out looking for Luna. Girls like romantic stuff right? So what's more romantic than flowers? He looked for her on the same path that Luna had shown him that night when he walked her home. The bell rang a few minutes ago, surely she couldn't be to far away. Soon enough, she found him walking with her twin brother, Drew. Nico ran towards them and tapped Luna on the shoulder. The two twins stopped walking.

"Hey Nics!" Apollo grinned at Nico. "Who are the flowers for?" He asked, gesturing to Nico's roses and lilacs. Nico blushed.

"They're for Luna..." Nico looked away from the goddess, who probably would've turned Nico into a moose by now. Apollo did his best to stop himself from laughing. Oh if only Nico knew that Luna was actually Artemis, the eternal maiden who lead a bunch of other maidens. "Wanna go out sometime?" He asked. Artemis sighed, and Apollo doubled over.

Artemis considered Nico's offer for a bit. Going out on one date wasn't anything...sexual right? And the way Nico talked to her when she was upset proved that Nico was not like other men. He was kind, and caring. Any girl would actually be really lucky to go out with him. And it wasn't like Nico was following his fathers footsteps, with the kidnapping and all. Artemis smiled.

"Sure why not?" She accepted, and Nico breathed a sigh of relief.