ATN: THE ELEMENTS OF BEAUTY

THE MEETING DISCUSSION

If Zeus welcoming demigods to a place only for gods was weird, imagine being almost six feet tall, and standing in the middle of a massive hall, and being surrounded by fifteen feet tall deities. That makes you question yourself. From our childhood, we were told that if you reach six feet, you are categorized as tall. But here, seeing these twelve Olympians seemed to redefine the mortal idea of being 'tall'. Yes, they could manipulate their heights, but this was a little too much.

Anyway, Zeus looked at us with his piercing eyes in such a way as if he would strike us with a lightning bolt then and there. But then again, those were his normal looks. We bowed in front of all the gods, and then stood up. Then, Zeus addressed to the rest of the council, "Today hasn't exactly been a happy day for two of my sons. They have lost their children, and no father likes to see that. But, the two lay their lives to give us a very important lead over the giants. Is it agreed?"

All the gods nodded in agreement. "Now," Zeus said, "children, we would like to talk about some..."

"You two are my granddaughters, you know that?" Poseidon said to Riya and Hiya, interrupting Zeus. Only him. Only him. No one else dared to interrupt Zeus.

"Alright, boggle-head." Zeus said, "Do not interrupt."

"My apologies, brother." Poseidon said, and then he looked at my sisters as if saying, 'later'. Zeus went on, "So, though we know what happened at the battle of Atlantis, the council would like to hear it from your words."

Tina started the story, and I finished it, with my cousins chipping in with important informations. When we were done, Artemis spoke up, "It was really brave of you to accept your identity, humans."

"Thank you, Lady Artemis." I said.

"Yes, yes." Aphrodite said, "Though it didn't thrill me to send them on a quest of such danger, I believed my children will do it."

"Thank you, Mom." Abhro said.

"And my granddaughters too." Poseidon said, as the entire council looked at him, "Sorry, I don't have demigod granddaughters. So, I am very excited to finally meet them."

"We are excited to see you too, Lord Poseidon." Riya said.

Now it was Athena's turn to speak, "Well, Juan, son of Hermes, has also shown equal bravery, going alone to check the borders, with his damaged armor. Really brave of him."

"Yeah! And what about my niece?" Artemis asked, "She laid down her life too, in this war. Excellent archer she was. Wasn't she?"

"She was." Apollo said, "She was my daughter."

"Hey, my girl also did some good, right?" Ares said.

"Dad, please." Tina smiled shyly, and addressed to Zeus, "Lord Zeus! We really appreciate the praise, but we need to discuss some stuff. Actually, Jay does."

Wait, what did I have to discuss with the council? Well, I did, but I didn't tell anyone. How did she know? "Speak, Jay. What do you have to say?" Zeus asked, more like thundered.

"Sire! When Aunt Aphria and my brothers were fighting Periboea..." I began.

"Aunt Aphria?"

"That would be me." Aphrodite said, with a smile.

"Oh-okay. Continue, boy."

I told him everything about what Periboea had said, and what I had made out of it. "Impossible. Absolutely impossible." Zeus replied, "Don't dare question my security processes."

There you go. You touch his vanity, and Zeus explodes. "Stop it, dear." Hera, finally, spoke, "You'll scare the kids."

"Lord Zeus, I had no intention of questioning your deeds." I tried to handle the situation, "Atlantis is super safe. But maybe, when this person came to Atlantis, he/she had not known much, but now has been manipulated by the giants?"

"That does seem possible, father." Athena said, "Jay's words do seem logical. Good thinking, Jay." Ever since I had started studying the pantheon, Athena had been one of my most favorite goddesses. A praise from her was very difficult to get, so it was a huge deal. "Thank you, Lady Athena." I said, bowing my head.

"Alright, then." Zeus said, "Try finding out who that is. That's a job for you all. Keep an eye on all of your peers. Get to know them, their back story. Perhaps you'll find a clue. Any news from the god living closest to the pit of Tartarus?"

"You mean our other brother?" Poseidon asked.

"Yes."

"Yeah, well, they are still rising, as Hades says. He's keeping track. There won't be any problems soon. A year or so, maybe." Hermes said.

"Well, then, demigods." Hera said to us, "Looks like you have a bit of time to prepare."

"And why has there been no prophecy?" Zeus growled, "Apollo?"

"Oh! Yeah, right. That's on me." Apollo said, "I didn't have a feeling, father. I just don't make prophecies. These things happened very suddenly. And the Fates have been out of contact."

"That seems far-fetched." Hera said.

"Anyway," Zeus said, "I see that there is no need to hurry about things for now. So, demigods, go back to Atlantis. Honor the dead, give them a proper funeral, and rest for now. You'll know when things happen again. The council's meeting is over."

The gods got up, turned to normal size, and started to leave. We also started to leave, when someone called us from behind, "Hold on, chunks." We turned and found Ares walking towards us. He brushed his hands on Tina, winked at me, and frowned at the others. "Tina, you use a sword?" he asked.

"Yes, Dad." Tina answered.

"Show it to me." Tina showed Ares her sword. Ares spread his hand in the air, and a similar looking sword arrived on his hand. "Use two, from now. Gives you an advantage over your opponents." He gave Tina the sword, which seemed to make Tina very happy. "Will do, Dad."

"Ah, Lord Ares?" I asked, "Weren't you grounded? How are you here?"

"Why do you care?" Ares asked back.

"Sorry, just asking."

"Don't ask. I am grounded Troy-level. Which means, locked in Olympus. There is a Sparta-level, which means only house and council meetings. There is a Mycenaea-level, only house."

"Okay."

"Lord Ares," Dadai asked.

"Oh, more questions?"

"Yes, sorry. But what were the other two chairs for?"

"Oh, that?" Ares sighed, "That's for the two guest majors when they come to Olympus. That happens rarely. But hold on, why am I answering questions to you kids? I got work to do." 

And he left. We stood at the door of the Olympian hall for a few seconds, and then, left. "The other two majors." Dadai said, "Who are those?"

"Hades is one, I'm sure." I said.

"The other one must be Hestia. She used to have a throne at the council, but she gave it to Dionysus." Hiya said. I was impressed of how much she had learned. She was pretty quiet, but still, she always made her presence feel.

"A year." I said, "We have a bit of time to know the others and know their back stories. We need to find out who the giants' ally is." 

"Yes." Tina said, "We must. I fear Juan had been killed by that same person."

We reached the elevator, as we brushed past the twin sons of Heracles who waved at us. We did the same, and entered the elevator, which was empty this time. We reached down, and jumped into Iris's portal, and landed back in Atlantis. We had a funeral to attend, two friends to honor, a queen to mourn.