Guys i am Kronos-Poseidon and changed my profile to Ray-Kronos my story is finished please give your views....




 




Nature, the most powerful force on this planet; to think that the forces of nature are actually controlled by beings ancient and superior to mortals. Gods, the ultimate controllers of these forces have been having their influence over humans from a very long time. The power of these forces, when rests in your hands not only gives you immense strength but also equally immense responsibility. Imagine, if by some unfortunate conflict, these gods were to have a war. What would be humanity’s future? What would be the fate of our world? Dwelling into those thoughts, I came up with this book where in I wanted to show that no matter how powerful a god is, he still is bound by the power of man’s greatest weapon….. Courage…..


1 I know nothing
I woke up suddenly. I didn’t know why, but I didn’t open my eyes; my eyes I thought; the word my sounded strange. I felt a severe pain at the back of my head and I jumped. I could not register my surroundings, the pain reached a peak and then as I buckled under it, it subsided. I fell back panting at the pain. I sat up and opened my eyes and I gasped. I was standing in the middle of an island, an island so beautifully pure that it would make satyrs faint in awe.
Satyrs? I didn’t know where from I got that idea, but it was strange. What was I? Then it struck me, I didn’t know who I was! I didn’t know why I was here. I was a bit scared, ok come on you wake up one day to find yourself in a place which is extremely alien-like, with your memories erased, it wouldn’t exactly be a peaceful day right? I looked around to find clues of how I ended up here.
Ok this place is amazingly beautiful I thought. Acers of lush green grass stretched to eternity in front of my eyes. Flowers of amazing varieties adorned the twisting vines and hanging branches of olives. Waterfalls surrounded the place. Now when I say waterfalls, I don’t mean those teeny tiny branches of falling waters that give a wisp of mist, no, these waterfalls extended to the heights beyond my vision and the water fell ferociously into the sea below sending droplets of water swirling into the air where, catching the light of the dawn, they sparkled like crystals in sky and resulted in the formation of a rainbow so beautiful it was hard to avert my eyes from it. Then there was the sea. A magnanimous water body that swirled and flowed in every direction. Waves danced along its glossy surface as water sparkled over it. I stood up and scrutinized myself, I was wearing a mosaic blue t-shirt and a deep blue jeans. I smelled of fresh water and ozone. The only thing that was out of place was a simple golden bracelet on my left wrist. I felt the urge to touch it. I was about to act over my impulse when my senses opened wide and shouted only one word at me DANGER! I spun around and saw nothing. My surroundings were just as peaceful as before. Trees were bellowing in the blowing wind, the sea sat silently as if in anticipation of something, the sky was clear, a half man half bull was charging at me with its double faced axe held high in the air and its ferocious red eyes fixed on me, lush green grass and tall- whoa!!! Wait a minute!! Half-man half-bull?? I stood there transfixed when a voice in my head said “tap the damn bracelet”. I didn’t need telling twice. I tapped the thin ornament and fell back as a shield appeared in my right hand and a trident appeared in my other. Now when I say Trident, I don’t mean an iron cast triple toothed stick. It was a two meter long dark metal cast, wickedly sharp trident whose tips ended in lightning shape edges. I stepped aside as the Minotaur, don’t ask me how I know it, I just do, swung its axe wildly. The Minotaur smelled like a sewage bonanza! If it were not for the fact that I was afraid of certain death, I would have sprayed a decent scent all over its fur. I confess I didn’t discard that thought. The beast spun around and lunged at me, I blocked the attack with my shield and felt my teeth rattle at the impact. Nevertheless I jumped over the beast and hit it with the butt of my trident. It howled and whirled over and I jumped back to avoid the beast’s wild axe. It opened its mouth and roared. Ok! I was wrong, sewage bonanza was an understatement.
I staggered back and said, “Yew! Dude do you even know something like tooth brush exists?”
The beast, for a second grunted stupidly.
Then, whether it understood what I said or it realized I said something rude I don’t know, but next second it opened its mouth and realizing what was about to happen I jumped aside. Next second a beam of burning hot fire seared the place where I was standing.
Anger ringed in my ears and I said, “Hey! Fire-breathing-shit man! You want a toast?”
I stood tall and smiled, “Fine!” and pointed my trident to the sky.
Dark clouds appeared out of nowhere and at the same time the sea rumbled and lightning thundered.
“Ready?” I said and the Minotaur charged at me.
I willed the thunder to come to me and the sea to lunge. Once again my instinct was the one that aided me and then it happened. Imagine a tornado, not the ones that are a few hundred meters in width, a gigantic tornado that is at least a mile wide and that reached to the heavens and could crumble mountains, now imagine its centre constantly being supplied with streaks of thousand volt lightning and its periphery lined with gigantic water. This was what I created and the creature was swallowed into this. With a final stupid grunt the beast disappeared amidst the tornado. Problem solved.
At least that’s what I thought until I saw the storm was still raging, building up constantly. Ok wasn’t the tornado supposed to have gone by now? Big problem!! I lifted my trident once again and with all my might I concentrated on pulling the storm apart. After few tensed moments, I was finally able to calm down the tornado and the dark clouds parted to reveal the deep blue sky and the sea returned to its calm self again.
But where the Minotaur must have been there, there the land was torn apart and all around me trees were uprooted and crumbs, huge pieces of rocks littered the place. The beautiful island was no more beautiful. I stood there gaping at what I did. Then I did the only thing that was normal. I blacked out.
I woke up after what felt like hours. My head felt heavy, as though it was made of lead. I opened my eyes and almost blacked out. It’s not funny. I dare you to wake up and find yourself facing a twenty foot long DRAGON and stay calm!!!
“AAArrrghhhh!!!” I said and backed away pointing at it and jumping up onto my feet.
The dragon looked puzzled. I stood a long way back and scrutinized the beast. It was pearl black, the kind that would give creeps to any strong man. And its back and tail were lined with ten foot long shiny white spikes, and it had blood red eyes with slit like pupils. The dragon looked at me and blinked. Then it yawned and stretched itself and slept. I sat there for a long time looking at it. Then I heard flapping noise and turned around.
My jaw literally fell down on the ground. I pinched myself hard and howled in pain confirming that what I was seeing was real. But it couldn’t be.
This is what I saw: a girl sat on the back of a beautiful white unicorn! And the even more bizarre part was that the unicorn had wings and it was gliding in the air. This had to be enough, but my day was full of surprises. Right beneath her, galloping towards me, was a something. Wait a minute, that’s a centaur; yeah definitely half-man half-horse.
Now I know my memory was gone, but still I knew that these were not the creatures that were supposed to be existing in real. But still, there he or it I don’t know was walking towards me and I was gaping stupidly.
The centaur came up to me. Close by I could see a well shaved beard and sharp keen brown eyes that scrutinized me from the top to the bottom.
The girl on the other hand, just landed smoothly onto the ground, left the flying unicorn to graze on the grass and walked lithely. She was radiating a kind of energy that gave life to her surroundings. The grass lived at her touch, the air itself felt fresh and rejuvenated. She passed me and went on to pat the dragon who grumbled happily at her touch.
I noticed her smooth white skin, her deep green eyes and her lovely long mane of golden hair. I started suddenly as the centaur spoke:
“Let’s go”, he said, his voice was deep.
“Go where?” I asked.
“Do you know what you are?” he asked.
Of course I am a fourteen year old kid who lost his way home and landed up in a weird place I wanted to say. But something told me that’s not the answer. The same voice in my mind that said DANGER before spoke to me and it said –
“Half blood”, I spoke out.
I half hoped the centaur would turn into a normal human and say “you lost it kid half blood? Yeah. Hahaha. You lost your mind.” But he simply nodded.
“Come on”, I said. “Half -blood? You got to be kidding me”.
“Tap your bracelet”, he said.
“Why?” I said. I didn’t like the idea of showing off then.
He didn’t say anything; simply looked at me in a do-it-already style.
I tapped my bracelet and sure enough, the spear and the shield materialized out of thin air. The centaur watched them closely and then something happened. His face expression changed from a frown to a gasp and his eyes were fixed on my spear. I looked at it and something caught my eyes, writing, tiny little words were inscribed into the spear’s stem.
“Titan”, I said, though I can’t imagine how I could read it.
“It’s him”, said the centaur.
“It can’t be Chiron”, said the girl.
“Whoa! Wait a minute CHIRON!!?” I said astonished. “You are that centaur who taught Hercules and Odysseus?” I didn’t know how on earth I knew all this, but the words kept coming out of my mouth, as if I was the doll of a very clever ventriloquist.
“Yeah”, said the centaur as a matter-of-factly.
“So it’s true that you have the gift of immortality!” I said.
“Yes kid”, said Chiron this time looking at me more closely, “but it’s not as great as you think it is, to be able to live forever.”
I did not say anything, but somehow the prospect of being immortal felt somewhat familiar.
“We cannot waste any time Rose”, said Chiron turning to the girl, “the boy must be taken to the camp and the gods will then decide upon his fate.”
“Wait a minute, I am not going anywhere unless I found some answers”, I said. “Who am I and what GODS? What’s this camp? Why’d you say “it’s him”? And what in the world is my name?!”
Chiron looked at me intently, as if thinking how best to answer my questions, then he spoke, “You are a half blood as you said yourselves. It means that part of you is human and the other part is well a god.”
“God?” I said perplexed.
“Yeah gods infact; the forces of nature that govern the proper running of the planet are controlled by beings so powerful that man can’t even fathom. These beings are the gods, the Greek Gods.”
“Ok! That is a bit of a shocker, so basically you are saying that the gods like Zeus, Poseidon etc.. are real”, I confirmed.
“Yes, and you are definitely a child of the gods”, said Chiron.
I did not know which part of it was crazy, the fact that I knew the names of the gods or the part that they are real or the part that I am one of their children. But I had to know more.
“Ok, what’s this camp?” I said moving on.
“It’s the place where the half-bloods are trained to become heroes like Hercules, Thesus and many others,” said Chiron.
“Why’d you say ‘It’s him?’”, I asked, and I could immediately sense the atmosphere change, the clouds gathered and the sky darkened, Chiron and the girl named Rose, both looked at the sky nervously.
“It’s better we leave that question until we can obtain further information”, said Chiron. I wanted to know more, but I sensed I wouldn’t be successful in gaining any response on that topic, so I let it go.
“Who-?” I began but Chiron cut me off.
“As for who you are”, he said, “I think you know it already, at least your name.”
“What do you-?” I began, but then the same voice that spoke to me earlier, the voice that helped me with the Minotaur, the voice that told that I am a Half-blood, the voice that guided me along the conversation, it told me my name, and I knew that even in the normal human world, the name stirred fear and despair.
“What is your name child?” asked Chiron, but I knew that somehow he already knew it, and I had a feeling he knew a lot more about me and my lost memories. There was no point lying to him.
“Kronos”, I said, “My name is Kronos.”







1 I have a chat with a god

Rose gasped and the sky rumbled. I stood waiting for Chiron to slash me into pieces with his two awesome blades and say Yo man how’d ya like that?
But he simply walked past me and took out a huge shell from his shirt pocket. He pulled out a bag of water and poured it into the shell and then he said something. The water in the plate turned velvety black and Chiron pulled out his sword and touched its tip to the water. Then he did something very weird. He slashed the air in front of him with the sword.
At first nothing happened. Ok crazy old pony, what are you trying to do? I thought. But then I felt the air vibrate, the whole place was humming and then the space in front of Chiron, where he slashed the sword, began to tear apart. It was as if two hands, two giant and powerful hands were tearing the air apart to reveal something dark and creepy.
“Come on”, said Chiron.
“Wait a minute”, I said stepping back, “Oh no. I am so not going to go into that thing!”
“This seems scary but it’s just a portal through the Underworld that I have opened to make a quicker presence at the camp”, said Chiron.
“Underworld? Oh yeah, that sure should really inspire me”, I said nodding my head.
Rose choked as if to suppress a giggle, but when I looked at her she quickly composed herself and walked towards the fissure. Even as I looked, she walked happily into the chasm as if it was a nice little, cozy restaurant.
The fissure seemed to flicker for a second, and then it became its normal spooky self again. I looked at Chiron and he nodded encouragingly. Yeah what could go wrong, I would probably just wind up wandering in the Underworld. Yeah man the Underworld is my summer camp no problem. I walked up to the fissure and then I simply slipped into it.
This was definitely not going to be in my top ten best and awesome ways to travel. The moment I entered the chasm I felt I was dead. It was pitch black and it was as if something or someone was pushing two gigantic pillows on the either side of my body and I was being squashed like a cheese slice between two bread pieces. And the worst part was yet to come, at the end of the travel, I felt as if I was dozed in a sudden burst of icy cold water, but I was definitely not wet.
Finally the ride ended and I stood gasping on firm ground again and felt very happy for that. The next moment, the centaur came striding into the space beside me, so elegantly, next to him I felt like an idiot.
I stood back and looked at my surroundings. It was night here, so definitely we travelled many miles. But I could hear the rush of the waves and smell the sea that was flowing just beyond my range of vision. Before me stood a small building, all broken and tattered, a cottage to be specific. The roof was made of asbestos sheets that had huge holes in them, as if someone threw rocks the size of pumpkins on them. The door hung back on its hinges and the windows were empty with their glasses shattered. Just before the cottage was a board on which, in faded peeling paint, was written: House of Patrons.
I looked at Chiron and raised my eyebrows.
“It’s to keep the mortals away from it”, he said.
“Oh!” I said and looked back at the board.
House of Patrons I felt a sharp blow pierce through my head and the little voice in me said patience do not push yourselves. Something in the word Patron struck very familiar to me.
“You alright?” said Rose.
This was the first time she spoke to me and I was catching my head and looking from between my hands at her. I stood up immediately and said
“Yeah, just a minor headache.”
She looked at me for a moment and I saw concern flicker in her eyes. Then she turned away and walked towards the house.
Chiron followed her, and having not want to be left behind in the dark all by myself, I followed him and walked into the rusty old house. I passed the door and walked into the house, my heart beating hard in my chest. And the moment passed, I crossed the threshold, I reached into the hallway.
What were you expecting? Musical background and Rose petals falling at your feet? I thought. The hallway was extremely shabby. Springs shot out from the pillows of the sofa and the paint on the wall was peeling. I was a bit scared, but I followed the centaur nevertheless. Finally we stopped at another door and Rose held her hand up. Vines twisted around her fingers and formed into a thin rectangular card. Then the vines retreated and she was holding an actual plastic card that was like your ATM credit cards. She held out the card and next moment a slot opened beside the door a 1mm thin and 10cm long slot projected out of the wall.
Rose slid the card in the slot and swiped it. A green light flashed and the door swung open. I was staring at Chiron.
“Hmmm you don’t think we still follow the old Morse code knock-knock do you?” he said, “We move along with the time. Why, we were the ones who created these things, so why not use them.” He beamed and walked into the next room.
Rose followed and I walked as if in some kind of a trance into the room.
Well I thought it was a room. But I was to have another little shock. When I passed the door, I was no longer in the house. The hut disappeared to reveal a scene that I never would have thought could exist in my life.
In front of me was a- what should I call it? Town? Village? A cluster of houses?
“Welcome”, said Chiron, “To the only place which any demigod can call his home: Camp Half Blood.”
“Camp”, I muttered. The place looked nothing like a camp. There were around thirty cottages built at regular intervals, at the farther end. Ahead of that and towards where we were standing was a strange looking mansion. It had an eagle, a horse and a dog I guess stamped onto a triangular slab on top of it. It was mosaic blue in color and it occupied the central portion of the camp. The weird part was that, around this mansion were thirteen magnificent cottages. They were identical in their shape except for their appearance, and they formed a gigantic inverted U around the house.
“Come now”, said Chiron and walked towards the mansion in the middle. There was pin drop silence. I could see a lamp flickering in a few of the cottages behind the house, but the thirteen cabins bore no sign of any life within them.
Or maybe they are sleeping I thought.
“What time is it?” I asked Chiron.
He looked at his watch and said, “Almost two in the morning.”
I looked around. Every cabin was different in its style. Starting from the left, the first one was pearl white and so smoothly polished, I could see the starry sky glimmering on the walls. The second one was a deep sea blue in color; the walls were literally flowing, as if they were made of water. I could pick up the smell of the sea emanating from it. The third one was black, lined with red tiles around the walls and I could make out a small figurine inscribed into the wall side though I didn’t know what it was. I was examining the walls of it more closely when I sensed someone approach me from behind and I jumped and turned around. It was only Rose.
She was about to say something when Chiron said, “You should get some sleep. Tomorrow morning when you wake up, we have matters to discuss”, his tone was hard to understand, was that grief or anger or joy, I couldn’t understand, but it was definitely not encouraging.
“Rose”, he said turning to her, “please escort him to the guest cabins. Later in the morning, get him to the Big House. We shall have a small gathering after the breakfast and see what we can do”, he said pointedly.
Rose nodded and Chiron, giving me a last glance of desperation, walked away into the mansion which, I now understood, was the Big House.
Normally, a girl beside me, in the moonlight walking aside, it would have made my day; especially if that girl was someone like Rose. She was stunningly beautiful, no doubt about that, but she was also mysterious and I could tell she was tough and brave too, not to mention clever. Beauty, Brains and Bravery; very hard to find such a girl.
So as I was saying, on any other normal, well, night, I would have loved the situation. But right now I had many questions that buzzed through my head.
Chiron simply walked away saying that he would pass judgment tomorrow, but I had still 6 hours at least to pass before that tomorrow. And the fact still remains that my name was Kronos. Ok that was all dramatic and all but Kronos? Seriously? My parents had no other name to choose? Speaking of parents, who were they?
The thought that one of my parent was a god, well it would seem superb to many. But trust me; it’s not that good a feeling to know that your Dad or Mom could control the forces of nature. It made them more distant and non-connected to you.
“It’s ok”, said Rose.
“I-what?” I said and realized that my face must have shown my concern.
“I know how it feels the first time when you know about it”, she said. And there was truth in her voice. It was not as if she was just saying those words, she meant them and that really made me feel a bit better.
“Yeah”, I said, “But the bigger problem is that I don’t remember anything.”
She bit her lips and looked into my eyes. Then she said, “You speak the truth.”
“Of course I do”, I said a bit hurt, “Why would I lie?”
“At first when you said you remember nothing”, said Rose looking ahead, “I thought you were just bluffing. But now I know that you were truthful, I could see it in your heart. I am the daughter of Demeter you see,” she said.
“The Goddess of Nature”, I said instinctively.
Rose looked at me in surprise, “Your memories are gone, no doubt, but you can still remember most of the facts.”
“I know, that’s the most disturbing thing. It’s not as if I am unfamiliar with all of this. The Greek gods, the monsters, the dragons, it feels as if I have seen all these before. But I can’t tell when or where, no memories of them or anything.”
“But you remember your name”, said Rose and she looked at me with the same concern as before when I came out of the Underworld Travel.
I didn’t say anything.
“Kronos”, she said. And I looked up instinctively.
“Yeah my name, Kronos”, I said dully.
“It is a very powerful name”, she said, “Not something that anyone would give their son.”
“Ha ha”, I laughed, “Maybe the one who gave it to me just picked it up somewhere and thought it was a fancy name.”
Rose did not smile.
“Come on!” I protested, “Is it really that bad?”
“Kronos was the Titan King, the darkest, most evil ruler the world has ever witnessed. He was brutal but powerful. Extremely powerful. To hold his name, is not a joke. Especially...” she stopped suddenly.
“Especially?” I asked.
“Nothing”, said Rose.
“It’s about what Chiron said earlier right?” I said. “‘It’s him’”, I repeated.
Rose did not respond. She merely kept fidgeting with her fingers.
“What is it?” I asked desperately. It must have been shown on my face how worried I was, because Rose looked thoroughly disturbed.
“I am sorry Kro- oh god!” she shuddered.
“Great, now even my name sucks”, I muttered, it came out louder than I thought, and more depressed too.
“Oh! I am sorry”, said Rose in earnest, “But the name needs time to get used to.”
I could understand her. It was not easy to call someone with such names. Hey bro what’s up Kronos! The sentence seemed stupid even in my mind!
“Hey”, said Rose and came closer, “Don’t worry, I’ll get used to it soon, but frankly, I don’t think it’s such a good idea to tell everyone that your name is K-Kronos”, she managed and smiled.
I smiled too, “You are right, it’d probably make me an outcast quite instantaneously”, I said.
Rose nodded and said, “So let’s create a fake name for you for the time being, if necessity arises, then we can reveal your true name.”
I didn’t like the idea much, but I knew she was right so I said, “OK, so what could be my name?” I wondered.
And all the way to the guest house we wondered which name to pick. There were so many; john, “Nah too common”… Michael, “Not your kind”…. Peter… James… even Isaac “Yeah a great name that would be”…. By the time we reached the far end of the line of cottages, we were laughing and also thought about a fifty different names. Finally we decided on “Ray”.
“Ray”, I said, letting the name ink into my mind.
“Nice name”, said Rose, “And quite appropriate too.”
I smiled slightly. We took a right turn and walked passing three more cottages. Then Rose stopped and said:
“This is the guest house.”
It was in no way different from the other cottages. Then I remembered about the thirteen different cabins that I saw at the entrance.
“Rose?” I asked.
“Hmmm?” she said looking at me.
“The thirteen cabins back there”, I started.
“Later hero”, said Rose and smiled, “Right now you need a good night’s sleep. All your questions would probably be answered tomorrow.”
I nodded; then I said, “Just one favor.”
“Yeah?” she said.
“All this, whatever happened today, it’s not a dream right?” I said.
She studied me carefully then she said smiling fully, “You wish it were. Goodnight Kay.”
And with that she simply turned into a bunch of wines and disappeared into the ground.
“Sweet”, I said and walked into the Guest House, looking forward for a fantastic night.
I entered the room and did not even pause to see my surroundings. All the fatigue of my fight with the Minotaur, my travel through the Underworld, and my stress immediately put me into a wonderful sleep.
I was in a room full of glass windows and outside I could see gigantic sharks and other smaller fishes swimming silently. I was in some kind of an underwater building. I turned around and leapt. Right in the center of the room was a man so huge, that it was impossible not to be scared of him. He was tanned and his dark hair was tied back in a pony. He wore shorts and a Plain white T-shirt, which was straining slightly under his well built muscles. His eyes were a fantastic blue in color and in his hand was a trident much like mine. OKay not my daddy!!! I thought.
Then he looked directly into my eyes and spoke:
“Come forth boy.”
His voice rumbled like the sea, and the way he said Boy, it was as if I was a sea serpent he was trying to tame. Nevertheless I moved towards him into the light.
“Who are you?” he said, his eyes still fixed on me.
“Er- frankly speaking, I don’t know sir”, I said.
His eyes bore into mine and I felt a presence inside me, he was reading my thoughts, my mind and I couldn’t do anything.
“You speak the truth”, he said in the exact same way that Rose did. And his face changed a bit. He was no longer threatening.
“Of course I am! Why would I li-“, I began in exasperation.
“Your arrival has caused a stir among us Gods”, he said.
“Gods… wait a minute, GODS? Holy… You are a God!” I exclaimed.
“Yes,” he said simply, “And I think you know who I am.”
“Poseidon”, I said, once again it was that little voice inside my mind that guided me.
“You look surprised”, said Poseidon.
“Well I didn’t expect you to be this, well, Cool”, I said.
“Ha ha”, he laughed and his eyes had a glint in them, “I prefer to be on par with the going time. Something that my brethren couldn’t do, sadly”, he winked.
“So you were saying, some stirring?” I said curiously.
“Ah yes, you see your arrival was foreseen”, he said and he stood up, as tall as any mountain and right before my eyes, he shrunk into a normal human form and walked up towards me.
“You are not a normal child boy”, he said, “and you will play a very major role in the upcoming events.”
“You know who I am”, I said. It was not a question, I knew it.
“And so do you”, he said smiling, “Do not rush yourselves, follow your instincts and you will find the correct path. I am not one to take favorites boy, but I will tell you this; you hold the key to a very important phase of this planet.”
“Uhuh”, I said, “I hold nothing sir, I don’t even know my whereabouts.”
“Your name holds a great power boy; do not judge yourselves by your past but by your abilities and your future. I shall allow you to go back for now, but remember, tomorrow you will be in for a surprise. This is the first time that such a thing has ever happened. And if everything goes well, then you would probably live to tell the tale. Goodbye and take your parting gift”, he said and threw a bag to me.
“Keep it with you, I think you’ll need it”, he said. He turned around and started walking towards the door. He stopped suddenly and said:
“Good luck Kid.”
And he snapped his fingers and everything went black and I woke up with a start and found the dusty brown bag right in my lap.





1 I almost get toasted

Ok that was weird I thought.
Sun rays broke through the open window onto the floor beside my bed illuminating the room slightly. It was still very early in the morning.
But my mind was still in a state of darkness. I tried to think and argue with my logic to deduce a conclusion.
You hold the key to a very important phase of this planet. That really was some statement Poseidon made. What could I probably do? The only thing I have been capable of doing till now was create some impressive tornadoes and then follow it by fainting.
Even Chiron said the same thing when he saw me, ‘it’s him’. Something was definitely going on and my amnesia was not making things any better for me. I looked over at the bag and pulled it up. It was like a normal school bag, brown and warm, with the everlasting smell of the sea. I felt for the zip to open it, but to my surprise there was no zip. The bag was locked and I didn’t understand what I was supposed to do.
I turned around and said loudly in frustration:
“Why would you give me something that cannot be opened?”
No answer, I did not expect any either. I left the bag there and walked towards the window stretching myself slightly. The sky outside showed the first hints of warmness. I turned around to find a clock and in the process examined the room for the first time since I entered it yesterday.
The Guest House was more like a circular room, with neatly polished marble flooring and tinted tiled walls. There was an attached bathroom and even a cute little TV set. On a wardrobe beside the bed was perched a wall clock and the time read, 5: 00 am in the morning.
I slept for a little over two hours but felt wide awake. The dream had stirred my insides. Stirred,
Your arrival has caused a stir among the Gods. I could remember every statement that Poseidon said. The more I thought about it, the more scared I got. And then there was the little hearing that I had today at the Big House. Didn’t Poseidon say about some surprise waiting for me?
“Great”, I said to myself.
I passed my time by looking around the cabin. The wardrobe was full of extremely wired to totally awesome dresses (There was one that resembled superman’s costume, except for the trousers he wore beneath his stockings). I had my bath and put on a black t-shirt and jeans that I found in the cupboard. Surprisingly, they fit me well.
I walked to a mirror to check my reflection and realized that this was the first time I was looking at myself in the life that I remembered. I must say: I was a total mess. I was 5’8’’ and rather slim. My brownish black hair stuck up in odd places. I was neither too dark, nor too fair. But the most prominent part of my face was my deep sky blue eyes.
I took a comb and tried to straighten my hair. It worked and now I looked somewhat better. At least the hair didn’t stick out. It was nearly 8o’ clock in the morning when I heard a knock on my door. Knowing only too well who it was, I opened the door. And sure enough there was Rose standing and smiling. She wore a blue t-shirt and a black jeans and looked more stunning in the true light. Her very skin was glowing in the sun and her brown hair sparkled.
“I didn’t think you’d be up so early”, she said.
“Yeah, neither did I, courtesy Mr. Poseidon”, I said.
“What?” said Rose, her eyes wide.
So I sat about explaining her everything. By the time I finished, she was sitting on my bed and I pulled out a chair and was sitting right in front of her.
“Spooky definitely”, she said.
I nodded.
The clock chimed eight and Rose got up suddenly.
“Come on Kay, you’ve to be at the Big House. Maybe Chiron could help us, I hope you get claimed today,” she said.
“Claimed? What do you mean claimed?” I asked.
“You’ll see, now come on!” she said and walked briskly to the door. I followed and together we walked back to the Big House.
Now it felt more like a camp. Children not younger than thirteen and not older than fifteen were running in all directions. Some were searching for their lost possessions, others were simply playing. When we walked through, a few of them stopped to look at us. I felt kind of uncomfortable and started walking a bit faster. Finally we reached the Big House. Breakfast was already being served by a:
“What is that?” I said incredulously.
“He is a Cyclops”, said Rose as a matter-of-factly.
I could see the one eye , not blinking even once. The Cyclops was huge, probably fifteen foot big.
“He is huge”, I said.
“Oh no! He is just a child”, said Rose, “The fully grown Cyclops would at least be thirty feet long.”
Yeah that did make him look like a child.
We stood in the small line to collect our breakfast.
“Hello Bruce”, said Rose greeting the chef Cyclops.
He grunted and gave a toothy smile. Then he looked at me and his smile turned into a frown.
“New comer”, said Rose and I raised my hand and smiled bleakly.
For a second the Cyclops looked like he’d kick me out of the Big House, then his smile reappeared and he gave me a plate full of sandwiches and a mug of pumpkin juice.
“Bruce is a nice guy”, said Rose walking to a nearby table, I followed her and said, “Hmmm he cooks well too”, I added. The sandwiches seemed too welcoming. I was ravenous.
“Yeah”, said Rose smiling. Finally we found a table which was occupied by only one guy.
“Hi Steve”, said Rose.
The guy looked up; he was a normal kid of my age, probably a bit younger to me. He was thin but not slim and he was wearing a denim jumper and a yellow t-shirt and shorts.
When he heard Rose, he smiled and said:
“Hey there.”
“Mind if we joined you?” asked Rose.
“Nah, help yourselves”, he said pointing to the two empty seats. He looked at me and said, “New entry?” I nodded.
“Whose kid?” he asked Rose.
She shrugged; apparently her mouth was full of sandwich and pumpkin juice.
“Not claimed yet huh? Well that happens. No worries”, said Steve.
“What about you?” I blurted out.
“I am son of Athena, the-”
“Goddess of wisdom”, I said.
“Yeah”, said Steve, “So what’s your name?”
This was the tricky part. Rose choked a little on her sandwich and looked at me. I gave a slight glance at her and then said:
“Ray, the name’s Ray.”
“Ok”, beamed Steve, “My name’s Steve and welcome to Camp Half Blood. I am the battle strategist here and also the arsenal chief, you good with any weapons?”
“Er, I don’t know exactly”, I said. I still didn’t want to reveal my trident to anyone.
“Ah! No worries, we’ll find one that suits you”, said Steve and gulped his final bit of pumpkin juice.
We ate in silence, the sandwiches were really very good and my stomach felt full and my mood lifted a bit. We cracked some jokes for a while and just when I thought everything was going well, Chiron entered.
It was amazing; every demigod sat in abrupt silence, as if Chiron's appearance rendered them mute. He walked up to the aisle and cleared his throat.
“Good morning everyone”, said Chiron, everyone gave him their undivided attention.
“Today the Apollo cabin has to clear up the mess they made of their little experiment yesterday, Jim please take care of it”, he said addressing a particularly surly looking guy who sat among the other Apollo members.
“The naiads are continuously requesting me to stop the fire users from entering the forests and play “Flame Me.” And it’s seriously starting to bug me,” he said looking at a bunch of guilty and sad looking kids.
“I see that the fields beyond the cottages are free why don’t you amuse yourselves there”, he added, peering at them and smiling.
The group jumped in joy and I couldn’t help but smile. Chiron was a good leader.
“Fire users?” I whispered.
“Brats of Hephaestus, they can conjure fire and are really good at making things”, said Steve.
Chiron continued:
“On a different matter, we have a new comer today”, said Chiron and my heart started racing a bit.
I looked at Rose and she reflected the same horror I was masking. We did not tell Chiron about the name change.
Nevertheless, at the mention of a newcomer the camp started buzzing. Some of the students looked expectantly, some looked apprehensively and a few simply stared at Chiron. Chiron cleared his throat and started speaking:
Here he goes, I thought dreading.
“Ray could you come forward please?” he said.
I didn’t move. For a second I forgot that Ray was supposed to be my name. A full minute passed and then Rose elbowed me so hard, that I gasped out loud. Every head in the room turned towards me and I said:
“Er- yeah hi.”
“Could you please come over her”, said Chiron again.
I looked at Rose and she nodded, so I moved forward, how on earth did Chiron know that my name was changed? Whatever the reason was, I was happy that he didn’t disclose my name. Didn’t want to start my life here as an outcast.
I reached the aisle and turned back to see at least sixty faces looking at me.
“This is Ray”, said Chiron, “I’ll be truthful to you; Ray here is an unclaimed demigod and has lost his memories.”
Everyone stared at me. Then the guy named Jim spoke:
“If he lost his memories then how can you tell that his name is Ray?”
This time I spoke:
“I do not remember my past, what I did or where I was and all, but I remember my name and the Greek Gods. All this does seem familiar, but sadly, I cannot tell you anything much.”
No one spoke.
“So that’s that. I’d like all of you to show the same courtesy to him that you have been showing to everyone else,” said Chiron.
I thought they would shout: “Get lost you freak!”
But they all smiled, some of them shouted, “Yo man! Welcome!” some were saying, “Hi Bro!” some just gave me the looks that suggested they did not despise me, that I was allowed into them. And for the first time in many hours, my heart felt light, and I knew that this moment would be one that I cannot forget.
I walked into my fellow brethren and felt many hands patting me; I swear I heard a few girls saying, “Aw! He is cute,” as I reached Rose. She shot a glance at the group of giggling girls and muttered, “Aphrodite’s kids.”
I couldn’t help but smile when I saw the look of intense dislike pass over her. Then we walked out together along with Steve, who unmistakably became a part of our little gang now.
“So?” he said, “Wanna have a little morning brunch?”
I looked confused, then he pointed to a smooth land surrounded by a few seats and a sitting pavement encircling it. There were white lines drawn along the borders and a huge circle at the centre. That was definitely not the place where you saw open air movies.
“Arena, battle arena”, said Steve proudly, “I made the little decorations as you can see.”
“Cool!” I said truthfully.
“So, would you like to stretch your arms a bit?” said Steve again.
“I don’t know-,” I began.
“Oh come ON! Just a warm up, and let’s find which weapon best suits you”, he insisted.
“Go on Ray, it’ll be a good exercise”, said Rose.
So we padded ourselves and stepped onto the arena. Steve pulled out a sword which was definitely not sticking out a moment before, from his belt. It was wickedly sharp and at least three foot long. Its hilt was made of bronze, and the newly polished blade glared in the sunlight.
“Nice sword”, I said.
“Yeah, forged-” began Steve.
“Forged from the sacred celestial bronze, found under Mount Olympus itself, a fifteen grade weapon with a reach of about 1m and a weight of 700 Gms and also carrying the capacity to slice a fifteen inch thick concrete wall, like it was made of butter,” I said.
For a moment no one spoke. Both Steve and Rose looked at me as if I was a crazy alien dropped over onto their planet. Then Steve stirred.
“Yeah! How in the name of Zeus did you know all this?” he exclaimed.
“Er, no idea”, I said.
“Man you are a natural, never saw anyone so sharp at recognizing weapons, perhaps you are Athena’s, I hope so”, Steve beamed.
I stole a glance at Rose, who was frowning slightly and biting her lips.
Steve dragged me along to the place where the weapons were stored. There were all sorts of arms, guns, swords, spears, laser guns, shot guns even the Bazookas. There were no tridents I noticed. I picked up a few spears, didn’t find them too friendly. I went through the swords and was just thinking to give up, when my hand fell on a three and a half foot long, golden polished and brass hilted sword. It was amazingly light. I could tell its proportions quite clearly. It was made of Greek Gold and forged by the hands of the Cyclops in Poseidon's forges. It was 500 Gms in weight and whistled through the air, almost slashing it when swung.
“This one’s good”, I said.
“Oh hey! Where did that come from?” said Steve. He frowned then he shrugged and said, “Crazy place all sorts of weird things wind up here”, he smiled. “Let’s try it out then shall we?” he said.
I nodded; somehow the feel of the sword in my hands gave me the confidence to fight. It was once again the same feeling; this was not the first time I was yielding a sword.
We walked into the circle and Rose made herself comfortable under a tree she just grew.
I put up my sword and waited. Steve charged; his technique was impeccable; every blow he inflicted upon my sword was teeth shattering. It was only because my sword was light that I could manage to deflect his attacks. But soon I got used to his style. I could see holes and open spaces; my senses woke up, just like when I was fighting the Minotaur. Steve did a double flap and plunged at my chest, I rolled aside using him as support and hit his back with my hilt, he staggered forward and turned around crying out loud. He was mad, his eyes showed it. But something told me I was not going to lose to this guy. As he charged, he slid along the ground and before I could get over this unexpected move, he slashed, I managed to leap aside but his attack ripped open my shirt and my shoulder was bleeding.
That was it, anger ringed in my ears, I stood tall and turned around. The pain in my arm seemed distant. Steve approached with lightning speed, a smug smile on his face. But as he reached me, time slowed down, I could see his leg muscles tightening and relaxing as he ran, I simply dodged his attack and hit his sword with tremendous force. The blast sent a shock wave spreading across the arena and Steve was blown off. The whole camp was around us watching. My sword was broken into pieces. But Steve’s weapon was really good. All I could do was put a dent in it.
Enraged, he screamed, “That was my favorite sword Ray! And for that you’ll pay!” forgetting that I was standing in front of a huge crowd, forgetting that I was not supposed to do this, I tapped my bracelet and felt the shield and surprisingly a sword this time, appear in my hands. For a second I was taken aback and so was Steve. He almost stopped in mid air saying, “How’d you-?”
Then he plunged himself and I dodged, I threw my shield aside and turned the sword. It was amazing, as if made for me. I felt life emerge from it. Strength radiated. I charged and with a single blow I plucked the sword out of Steve’s hand and he was on the ground, my sword pointing at his throat.
Silence followed this scene. I was panting slightly. Then I removed my sword and walked back to pick my shield. Perhaps it was because he never tasted defeat before, but Steve didn’t give up, he pulled out a little dagger and charged at me when my back was to him. The voice inside my head spoke Turn and I turned just in time to avoid the attack.
“You asked for it!” I said and I felt the familiar tug in my stomach. Dark clouds emerged over the camp. Steve looked scared, but it didn’t matter. I willed the sky to come down and a lightning streak that would have crumbled a mountain blasted the ground that we were standing. Steve was blown back thirty meters but the lightning passed through me as if I was a conductor and every part in my body screamed. I fell down in agony and knew I should have been dead. But miraculously I was not. I opened my eyes slightly and stood up, my legs shaking. I looked at the arena and it wasn’t pretty. The ground broke apart to form a gigantic crater and the campers were on all fours. Slowly everyone stood up, even Chiron was there and Rose was staring stupidly at me. Then I heard them gasp, I looked around to see what was wrong. There was nothing there. Then I realized they were pointing at me. I looked up and my heart stopped. A symbol was floating there. The hologram of a lightning, no not a hologram, a lightning bolt was floating inches above my head. I touched it and it did not electrocute me. It was mine; I knew it a gift sent to me by my dad. I knew then what claiming was. Chiron spoke:
“All Hail Ray! The Son of Zeus, the King of the Gods, the Lord of the Sky”, and everyone bowed.
Then it happened, as I willed the lightning to disappear, I felt a faint light, I looked up and this time I gasped. Chiron was the only one who saw it apart from me. Even before I registered it, the symbol fainted and as the campers all lifted their heads again to look at me, I stood there rooted to the ground. What had happened just now? I thought. Chiron looked at me; our eyes met and the message was quite clear, shut your mouth! And I obliged.
Oh yeah, this was what I saw the second time; a small holographic projection of a double toothed spear was rotating above my head, faint yellow light was emitting from it. And I knew that it was NOT a god’s symbol. It was different, definitely not godly.
Slightly tensed, I looked around and saw that Steve was still flat on the ground. I ran to him, followed by Chiron and Rose. He was alright, just knocked out because of the force of the lightning. Chiron carried him over into the Big House and I walked back out of the arena. Demigods all around looked at me with a new respect and fear now.
“Son of Zeus huh?” smiled Rose.
“Hmmm, yeah kind of”, I said.
“What do you mean?” said Rose raising her eyebrows.
“We’d better go to the Big House, I’ll explain everything there”, I said and ran after Chiron, Rose following me.
By the time we reached the medical ward, Steve was set in a nice cozy bed and was being fed something.
“Ambrosia,” said Rose, “Healing food for demigods.”
I nodded, I knew it.
“Is he going to be alright?” I asked Chiron.
“Yes, he’ll be fine. Being blasted off by a ten thousand volt lightning beam is not something that is easy to handle”, smiled Chiron.
“Chiron I wanted to-” I began but Chiron stopped me.
“Not here child, come with me, we need to discuss things in private, you can bring Rose if you want I trust her and I think you do too.”
I nodded and together we followed Chiron to his room. His private, was more like a Greek museum. Every lost artifact from the ancient times was preserved in here. But on the contrast, every new technology could also be seen, there was the X-box, the Nintendo; a plasma TV and even a Mac Air!
He sat down on the chair adjacent to his desk, shrinking into a human form. We took the other two empty seats.
“Juice?” he offered two glasses of pumpkin juice. We took it.
“So now”, he said.
“The mark, what was it?” I asked.
Chiron sipped his glass and looked beyond us.
“What mark?” asked Rose.
I explained her everything. She looked aghast.
“That’s impossible!” she said shaking her head and turning to Chiron, “How can he be claimed twice?”
“It’s happening Rose, the prophecy”, said Chiron.
Rose’s eyes widened, “A demigod unlike anyone yet”, she recited.
“Ok! What’s this all about? What prophecy?” I asked.
“That you will shortly know but first the symbol,” said Chiron.
“Yeah?” I said and Rose was paying utmost attention.
“It is the spear of the ocean’s greatest force, one that rivals that of Poseidon,” said Chiron.
Rose gasped, I was at a loss.
“What is that force?” I asked.
“It is the weapon of the Lord of the oceans, the counterpart of Poseidon; it is the symbol of Oceanus, the Titan Lord of the Oceans,” finished Chiron. And I sat there, too stunned to speak.















1 The king of gods goes haywire
Form the point where I sat stunned and aghast, many miles up in the sky sat 5 gods, waiting for the others. One of them was sitting in his golden throne and snoring slightly, beside him his sister was looking at him in disgust.
Artemis was nothing like her brother. Where Apollo wore a Hawaii T-shirt and goggles and a denim jeans, Artemis was wearing a silk gown that seemed as if it was woven from the moonlight itself. Where the sun god was having a juvenile face, bright skin tone and dark yellow eyes with blonde hair, the Goddess of the Night was more sober.
Her skin glowed pearly white even in broad daylight and her eyes were deep silver. She had a long mane of black hair and on her head was a crown that had a crescent moon on it and around her neck was a thin silver necklace with a locket resembling the full moon and which glowed oddly.
Apollo was holding a car key in his hand which kept slipping slightly every time he snore. On the other hand Artemis was holding a beautiful ivory bow and a quiver full of silver arrows was lying beside her silver throne. She kept glancing at the other three gods; one of them wore a pure, dazzling white suit and was busy doing something on his laptop. The goddess rolled her eyes; Hermes she thought. The god of thieves and messages was definitely quite preoccupied.
The other two though were in some serious discussion; one of them was the Lord of the Seas, The Earth Shaker: Poseidon. The other one was well built and wore a leather jacket over his night shirt and had goggles too, but beneath those glasses, Artemis knew, were two cruel red eyes which always craved for watching wars and fights; he was the God of War: Ares.
From the past fifteen minutes Artemis was sitting idle, looking t her stupid brother picking his nose or yawning widely in his sleep, making her sleepy too! Yesterday night Artemis received a call from Zeus himself asking her to make her presence in Mount Olympus at any cost and that was exactly what she did. But unfortunately, due to an early accomplishment of her previous work, she reached the venue twenty minutes before the required time.
Any time now, the other gods would arrive and the meeting would commence. Artemis had other works to do and she wanted this meeting to finish as soon as possible. Just when she was reaching her limit of tolerance, a bright light illuminated the room.
None of the other gods even showed signs of a supernova exploding right before them. Apollo kept snoring; Hermes was still busy with his work on the laptop. But Poseidon and Ares stopped speaking. Artemis felt relieved to see a new arrival.
“Hi there Art”, said the new comer.
She was slim and had dark black hair that was tied back in a pony tail. Her eyes were a light shade of gray and her skin was tanned a bit. She was wearing a tomboy dress and cowboy shoes. Clipped to her belt was a fifteen foot long sword. She herself was about fifty foot tall.
“Good morning Athena”, said Artemis, “Just as expected, on time exactly.”
The goddess of wisdom smiled and bowed.
“I have to set an example”, she said with a glint in her gray eyes.
Artemis nodded.
Athena looked at the others. She saw that Apollo was sleeping and a funny look crossed over her. Before Artemis could recognize what it was, she turned to Hermes. She saw him working vigorously.
“Hikes going well Hermes?” she asked.
Hermes nodded, but did not elaborate. Athena looked at Artemis who shrugged. Then she looked over at the other two. Poseidon saw her and jerked his head in a curt nod. Athena mirrored it. Artemis knew that they never worked out together much.
Ares on the other hand, put up his hand in acknowledgment.
“Hi there brains”, he said smiling.
Athena gave him a cold smile, “Hi brawny what’s new?” she said.
Ares eyes flashed momentarily, but he simply gave a spectacular toothy smile and Athena rolled her eyes. She took her glass chair beside Artemis.
“So what’s all the hurry huh?” she said raising her eyebrows.
Artemis shrugged again, “I dunno ‘come to mount Olympus tomorrow at any cost’”, she said in a deep rumbling voice. Athena laughed and Apollo woke up suddenly.
“Ah I thought I smelled beauty”, he said winking at Athena.
“Here he goes again”, said Artemis, but Athena giggled and Artemis frowned a little. She was about to ask Athena something when three things happened:
A cluster of thick grape vines erupted from the floor beside Hermes, making him jump so badly that he fell out of his throne. There was a bright light on the other side of Artemis and a smell of Roses filled the air. Ares smiled again as Artemis’s least favorite goddess appeared beside her in stunning pink robes and gave Ares a flying kiss.
Artemis felt like gagging.
Immediately, Apollo was knocked out of his golden throne and he fell yelling “AAAARGH”, as a chauffeur the size of a huge bird landed right beside him and unfolded itself into a throne in which was sitting a gigantic ugly and plump man.
He chuckled as Apollo got to his feet.
“Sorry sunny”, he said.
Apollo looked at the man so pointedly that out in the human world, the sun almost scorched the city of Hyderabad.
“Next time”, he said dusting himself, “Have a simple entrance feastus.” The man looked sober and grunted. A tag on his shirt read Hephaestus. He started fiddling with some machine in his hands.
Artemis always liked Hephaestus, despite his appearance, he was a sensitive God and kept to his business and did not interfere in anything else unlike her brother Apollo. That was one of the major reasons why Artemis did not like her brother. Behind the childish and fun loving face of Apollo was a brilliant and cunning mind. Artemis never accepted this, but the truth was that she was afraid of her brother, not angry.
The goddess beside Artemis chuckled, “Dear dear, love is really weird right? And some things never change”, she added looking at Hephaestus.
He shot a glance at her and said, “Ah Aphrodite, my sweet wife.” There was nothing sweet in his voice.
“Hello sweetie”, said Aphrodite, her voice was so beautiful and her appearance so stunning, it was impossible to believe that she was the wife of someone as ugly as the God of Fire and Black smithy.
Aphrodite had long curly blonde hair which was left open and her eyes were a gorgeous blue in color. Her skin radiated and she was so delicate that it felt as if looking at her would hurt her. There was no wonder why she was the Goddess of Beauty and Love.
Hephaestus on the other hand was huge and raw. His rough hands were always busy building something. His face was a mess of hair and wounds and it was impossible to decipher his expression when Aphrodite called him “sweetie.”
“Ah, what a nice little reunion”, said a surly voice somewhere.
Artemis, Aphrodite, even Apollo and Athena who were busy laughing at something stopped abruptly and looked around to find the source of the voice.
At first Artemis saw nothing but an entanglement of grape vines and twisted branches. Then she saw a man among the leaves of the vines.
He was dark, tall and sturdy. He wore a silk shirt that was left unbuttoned and his denim shorts only covered him up to his thighs. He was smoking a cigar; he leaned back in his chair and put his legs on the Great Table and his attitude very casual. His deep green eyes were glinting maliciously.
“Dionysus”, said Aphrodite and Artemis was pleased to hear a hint of fear in her voice.
“Hello beauty queen”, said Dionysus and Aphrodite flinched slightly.
He smiled and looked at Hephaestus, “How are you big man?” he said winking.
“Very well my friend”, said Hephaestus giving him a toothy smile.
Then Dionysus spotted Ares and his green eyes literally turned red and murderous. And Ares the God of War almost backed out at the look in Dionysus's eyes. He looked around nervously.
“Hello D”, he said.
Dionysus did not respond but he gave him a piercing smile. Then he turned to Poseidon who was smiling gladly at him.
“How are you doing wine man?” said Poseidon.
Artemis couldn’t help but smile. Perhaps only Poseidon, after Zeus could actually speak to Dionysus like that.
Dionysus grinned in earnest and said, “Not bad uncle.”
“Now now”, said Poseidon still smiling, “Just because I’m your father’s brother, don’t start calling me uncle boy.”
Dionysus laughed aloud but his died almost instantly as a second later the sky rumbled, thunder shook the very foundations of Mount Olympus and all the Gods stood up, even Poseidon though with a little grunt.
Lightning bolt that could have crumbled Mount Everest to shambles, struck the floor of the room with tremendous force and a blinding light, more brighter than that when the Gods appeared, illuminated the courtyard. A second later, as the light subsided and the rumbling reduced, two bodies emerged. One was a woman Greek tunic, she had a beautiful but cunning face and her eyes were brown and hawk like. Artemis saw Hera come out of the smoke and behind her came the King of Gods. He too was wearing a Greek tunic and in his hand was gigantic lightning streak. His gray hair fell onto his shoulders and his gray beard looked as if it wasn’t’t shaved from weeks. His dark grey and stormy eyes scrutinized the gathering and he said in the same deep rumbling voice that Artemis imitated, “Where are my other brother and the Lady of The Lands?”
As if his question triggered it, a hole, a magnanimous hole erupted at the base of the floor beside Poseidon and a dark satin throne Rose up to the ceiling. In it was a man so deadly looking, that Artemis shivered a little. He was tall, thin and deadly pale. But it was his eyes, they were a velvety black and his long spidery fingers were holding a dark sword. It was called, Artemis knew, as the Soul Bitter. And under his arm was his symbol of Power, a dark war helmet: The Helm of Darkness.
The Lord of Death looked at Zeus and Hades spoke, “My apologies brother for the late arrival, but I was stuck in an important matter.”
Zeus looked agitated. Thunder rumbled outside. Poseidon and Hades both looked at each other and Poseidon shrugged. Hades was about to open his mouth when Zeus spoke, “Ah Demeter.”
A throne emerged besides Hades’ made of fresh trees and blooming flowers. And a woman so beautiful, so radiant and so amazing was sitting in the throne, that Artemis and the other Gods bowed a little, even Zeus.
She was wearing a green t-shirt and jeans. Her eyes were a light shade of green as that of a new formed leaf. She had long, slender, red hair and her fair skin glowed with radiance unlike any yet. She looked at every one and smiled.
“Sorry for being late”, she said, her voice tinkling melodiously.
Zeus sat in his throne and everyone followed suit. Every God looked at Zeus. Even Hermes stopped working on his laptop and fixed his eyes on Zeus. Artemis was looking at the Lord of the Sky.
“I have commissioned this meeting on such short notice for a very important reason,” he said.
“What is it brother?” asked Poseidon. He sat back in his sea shell throne and looked at his brother pointedly.
Zeus bit his lips.
“A demigod has made his presence”, said Zeus.
“What do you mean?” said Hades, “They pop out of somewhere always. Why does that bother you?”
“Because he is different from the others”, said Poseidon.
Zeus looked at Poseidon so intently, that Artemis was really amazed that Poseidon didn’t avert his eyes. Instead he looked at Zeus amused.
“Yes”, said Zeus, “He is not like the other demigods.”
“He is your boy”, said Apollo casually.
All the thirteen pairs of eyes fell on Zeus. And he looked taken aback for a moment. Artemis was shocked to hear this.
Gosh! Another one! Seriously Zeus! She thought shaking her head a little.
“Yes he is my kid”, said Zeus.
Hades looked murderous and so did Athena and Hermes. But Aphrodite looked amused and Hephaestus was simply staring. Dionysus snorted and Poseidon was smiling. Demeter had no expression at all. Hera was rolling her eyes.
“But that doesn’t mean I have any sympathies for the boy”, said Zeus.
Poseidon frowned a little. But he did not speak. Zeus continued.
“The kid is dangerous”, he said.
“What do you mean?” said Ares.
“It’s his parentage,” said Poseidon still looking a bit disturbed.
“You seem to know a lot about this kid”, said Zeus, his voice rumbling and for a second Artemis thought she saw a yellow shade in those gray eyes. And she almost gasped in horror. The shade lasted only momentarily, it’s an illusion she thought, just an illusion.
Poseidon’s frown deepened as he said, “Everything that happens in the sea, comes to me brother.”
Everyone was looking from Poseidon to Zeus, not a tiring feat as Poseidon sat right next to Zeus.
“Who is this demigod’s mother?” asked Demeter.
“For the first time something different has happened in the history of us Gods”, said Zeus. Everyone showed utmost attention. And as Zeus told them the story, Artemis could hardly even believe it. Finally Zeus stopped talking. There was amazing silence succeeding his talk. Even Dionysus was left stunned.
Then Hera spoke, “Th-That’s impossible!” she said.
“Now that I have told you everything what shall we do?” said Zeus ignoring Hera.
Everyone in the room looked at each other.
“You claimed him”, said Poseidon, “That means everyone now knows him as your son. No one knows about his mother, even the boy himself. I don’t think he is much of a threat.”
“I agree”, said Aphrodite, “The poor boy doesn’t even know where he is from or what he is capable of. I don’t think he deserves to die just like that.”
“All those in favor of letting the kid survive”, called Athena.
Poseidon, Athena, Aphrodite, Demeter, Ares and Hermes lifted their hands.
“All those against it?” called Athena again.
Hades and Hera lifted their hands.
“What about you Dionysus?” asked Artemis.
“I prefer not to vote. If the kid’s good enough he’ll survive his struggles”, he said.
“Hephaestus?” asked Zeus.
“Huh- what? Yeah let him be. Not much of a bother”, he said absent mindedly. Aphrodite shook her head in despair.
“So there it goes”, said Poseidon clapping his hands and catching his trident that was leaning on his throne, “The kid survives. And I guess that concludes the meeting?”
Zeus looked at him and said, “Yes that does.”
Then something happened. The courtyard darkened. The sky rumbled and the time almost froze. Zeus floated a few feet above the ground, his hair bellowing in the tremendous breeze that was flowing. Every God stepped back from him except Poseidon, who was looking at Zeus intently.
Zeus opened his eyes and all the Gods gasped. His gray eyes turned a deep Yellow in color. His voice became a crisp rasp and he spoke, “For too long I have taken the imprisonment. For too long you have bothered me. It is now time that we settled this once and for all. On the 21st of this year’s last month, we