Chapter 51: An Untenable Situation
A/N: Here's the new Chapter! Which also means the next four chapters are up on my for early access as well as the chance to vote on the direction of the story!
Hestia Perspective~
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Hestia had never felt stretched thinner than now. As she sits there in the Big House’s living room, she can feel the monsters at the gates, testing the promise of a safe and happy hearth. Normally, they would never be so bold. Even with Thalia’s Tree dying, they would never be so bold.
It was only further confirmation of what they’d known all year long now. Their father was on the move. Kronos, the Titan King, was finally making a proper attempt at regaining his freedom at long last.
Mount Olympus had not been idle over the past several months, but they also hadn’t gotten quite as much done as she would have liked. Even now though, Hestia couldn’t bring herself to really regret what she’d done to Zeus. She wasn’t at all convinced that his leadership would have been any better in these trying times compared to the democratic council setup they’d had atop Mount Olympus ever since his… removal.
If they hadn’t done what they’d done, Hades would probably still be ostracized, and Poseidon and Zeus might very well be at war because of Percy’s death. All the while, their titan father would have continued to move in the background, entirely unopposed. At least without Zeus in the way, they’d been able to focus as much as they could on what really mattered, even if at times it felt like they were moving at the speed of molasses as a result of their new style of governance.
Unfortunately, Luke Castellan remained in the wind. The Son of Hermes and traitor to Camp Half-Blood was still nowhere to be seen even now, and Hestia greatly suspected him or his allies of poisoning Thalia’s Tree. It was hard to accept that Luke would personally do such a thing given how close he and Thalia had been before her demise, but then, a year ago Hestia would have said it was impossible for Luke to betray them altogether.
Obviously, the Crooked One had not just hidden away, but successfully twisted his mind. At this point, Hestia couldn’t assume anything about what Luke was or wasn’t capable of. He wasn’t the young, respectful man she’d known anymore.
Meanwhile, the monsters at Camp Half-Blood’s border were relentless. Killing them all didn’t do much either. They just came back hours or days later, reborn and ready to go again. Tartarus was clearly leaking like an open sieve, but while Hades now had a place once more in the Hall of the Gods, finding and plugging the leak had proven impossible even with his aid.
It only meant the threat was all the more real, Hestia recognized. Kronos was doing everything he could to return, and while there had been stirrings from their titan father from time to time over the millennia, never before had it been as concentrated and focused as this.
At the same time, Hestia couldn’t just abandon Camp Half-Blood to rot. The existence of the Camp was always based on Hestia’s belief that demigods deserved a place of safety, of sanctuary. That wasn’t less true now… if anything, it was truer than ever before.
She also had to be here for more than just to make sure the borders of the Camp stayed up. There had been whispers… murmurings of removing Chiron from his post and replacing him with another. There were those who believed that just because Chiron was a Son of Kronos, he was not to be trusted.
… What fools her brothers and sisters could be sometimes. Did they forget that they were ALL descended from Kronos? All save for Aphrodite, anyways. They were all sons and daughters, or grandsons and granddaughters of Kronos. The Titan King had spawned the original gods and goddesses, who had gone on to create the others. Outside of Aphrodite, every Olympian could trace their lineage back to the Crooked One.
To doubt Chiron when he had never been anything but loyal to them wasn’t just an insult to the centaur, but an insult to her as well. Especially when Ares, who had in fact fallen under Kronos’ influence for a time, had been given barely more than a slap on the wrist once he’d recovered.
No. Hestia would not have Chiron persecuted for things outside of his control. She’d shut down even those who believed he should be held accountable for the poisoning of Thalia’s Tree, because ultimately, the blame there lay at her feet. When Zeus had turned his daughter into a tree and tied the magical pine into the protective Domain that Hestia had constructed over Camp Half-Blood, Hestia had been grateful for it. She’d recognized it as both the attempt at a gift it was, as well as a request.
Zeus had been asking, in his own way that didn’t involve much asking at all, for Hestia to look after his daughter’s memory in perpetuity. Hestia had been more than happy to do so. Thalia’s death had struck her in the heart, just as every demigod’s demise did. The Goddess of the Hearth had not hesitated to accept Zeus’ ‘gift’.
Unfortunately, though she doubted her brother meant it this way, Thalia’s Tree had turned out to be quite the Trojan Horse. It represented an opportunity for their enemies to attack Hestia in a way she never would have expected. The heart of her Hearth itself.
Under normal circumstances, dozens of monsters beating themselves against the edge of her domain would have had no effect, no matter how long they tried. But with Thalia’s Tree poisoned and dying, and no cure found as of yet, Hestia found herself in quite the unenviable position.
“Goddess? Are you in there?”
Despite the melancholic and morose thoughts filling her mind however, Hestia can’t help but perk up when she hears Percy Jackson’s voice. She shouldn’t play favorites of course, and she really does try not to… but as the Reincarnation of Adonis turns the corner and enters the living room, Hestia can’t help but smile at the sight of him.
“Percy… I’m glad you’re here.”
He, on the other hand, does not smile back. Instead, his eyes widen and he rushes to her side, looking worried. Which… is probably fair. Hestia is currently sat in the living room’s rocking chair, swaddled in blankets with a thermos of chicken noodle soup at her side. She knows how she looks, really, but…
“Do not fret, Percy. It’s not as bad as it appears. The worst of it is only skin deep.”
Percy swallows thickly, his hands closing around her own. She doesn’t realize how clammy her hands are until the warmth from his palms is spreading through her.
“It looks pretty bad, Goddess…”
But Hestia shakes her head.
“I know. Like I said, it’s only skin deep. I am still a Goddess, after all.”
Reaching out, she makes the hearth flare up, the flames inside becoming that of a bonfire as Percy whips his head around and stares in wonder. The bonfire should set the room ablaze, but it doesn’t of course. While she had acquired her brother’s domains of Thunder and Lightning all those months ago, Hestia had absolute control over whether her flames harmed or helped. And the Hearth… the Hearth was sacred. That was a warmth that could never be violent.
No, instead, Hestia would direct what power she could spare towards helping to wipe out the monsters chewing on the boundaries of her domain every once in a while.
Turning back towards her, Percy swallows thickly.
“So… you’re not dying?”
Hestia chuckles and shakes her head. In all fairness, she knows how it looks. For poor Percy, who has just arrived, it probably seems like she’s as poisoned as Thalia’s Tree, and dying right alongside it. But… if it were that easy to kill a god or goddess, there wouldn’t be any left at this point.
“No, Percy. I am simply sharing the burden with Thalia’s Tree right now, helping it survive a little longer in case a cure can be found. If it dies, I will not die with it. I will shed this visage and return to my power in full, and the monsters of this world will tremble in fear, because I will be wrathful indeed.”
Unfortunately, that won’t mean much for her beloved demigods. If such a thing does come to pass, Camp Half-Blood will still die off. Hestia will be able to rebuild of course, to recreate her domain and eventually remake the Camp in all of its former glory. But it will likely take years… years that the current generation of demigods will have to survive the dangers of the broader world without the safety and protection her domain provides.
Hestia remembers what it was like for demigods before she created Camp Half-Blood. Even the ones who went on to become Heroes and had myths and tales spun up about them had not all met with very happy endings. And that was saying nothing of the countless others who did not make it far enough to even accomplish deeds worthy of story before the monsters found them.
She was proud to acknowledge that monsters, by and large, had had a lot less opportunity to sup on demigod flesh in the last several centuries since Camp Half-Blood’s founding.
There’s a moment before Percy chooses to believe her, his shoulders dropping in relief. Hestia smiles, but that smile drops when they tense up again and he looks at her with worry in his eyes.
“Goddess, I…”
He trails off, whatever he has to tell her clearly weighing on him greatly. She can feel anxiety roiling off of Percy in waves and can tell that he’s afraid of burdening her further with whatever he has to say. This time, Hestia is the one who squeezes his hands, showing far more strength in her grasp than her current visage of a sickly chair-ridden woman would possess.
"What is it, Percy?"
Swallowing thickly, he looks at her for a long moment before making a decision.
"There’s so much I have to tell you, Hestia. But much of it must be for your ears alone.”
Ah. Yes, even now she can feel the eyes of her siblings on this conversation. And not all of the attention is for her, nor is it all worry for her health. Hestia is well aware that Percy Jackson has the attention of multiple Olympians at this point. It would be impossible for him not to. Still…
With a flex of her divinity, she gently slaps away those prying eyes, a chastisement that the others are well used to. They draw away one by one, with Hestia putting up a veil to prevent any further snooping. When she focuses back on Percy again, he’s looking at her with wide eyes that make Hestia smile sadly. He should not have been able to feel what she’d just done… but the Domain of Kingship he now carries has only grown since they last saw each other. Percy’s ascent to godhood can only be slowed, never halted.
“We may talk freely with each other now, Percy. Come and tell me what is on your mind. Let there be no secrets between us.”
That last line seems to do the trick. Percy inhales deeply, but then nods and begins speaking. As he explains everything that has happened since they last saw each other, Hestia… well, she wishes she could say she was surprised. She is not.
A visit from Aphrodite in Percy’s dreams was to be expected, given the Goddess of Love’s prior relationship with Adonis. Her warning that Hera was plotting something involving Percy was more surprising, but in hindsight it shouldn’t have been.
Hera had taken her dethronement as Queen of the Gods with shockingly good grace. Part of this was because she hadn’t really lost much power. Her position as Zeus’ wife should technically have put her above the others on Mount Olympus, but while it did do so at times, that was as fickle as Zeus himself. Their relationship had been a rocky one from start to finish, and in the end, Hera had just about as much power on the newly instated democratic council as she'd had as Zeus’ Queen.
… But what if she could have more power? It was clear she was plotting something in that regard if it involved Percy. The Domain of Kingship… someone like Hera would be able to figure out where it had gone rather easily, in the end. And if she could somehow ensnare Percy, then… well, Hestia didn’t know what Hera would be capable of achieving, but it was clear that the former Queen of the Gods had ideas.
Hera’s scheming, while irritating and alarming, was ultimately in line with what Hestia should have expected of her. When Percy gets to the part about Hades and his children however, Hestia really wishes she could get out of this chair and go and smack her brother upside the head. Seriously?!
It was bad enough that he’d given his children to the Lotus Eaters for over seventy years. But to send Percy in blind in the hopes that they would keep him tied up for another couple of decades as well… Hestia didn’t know what Hades was thinking, she really didn’t. What she did know was that this couldn’t be allowed to continue.
As Percy gets to the end of his story, finishing up with telling her about how he and Bianca were able to get past the monsters and into Camp today, Hestia lets out a rattling sigh.
“Thank you Percy, for telling me all of this. Now I must tell you something and ask your advice.”
Percy blinks, before emphatically nodding.
“Anything, Goddess.”
Lips pursed, Hestia looks towards the window. If she were standing at it, she would be able to see all of Camp Half-Blood. As it is, she can only see the sky at the moment.
“It is obvious I must make a decision, Percy. I cannot spend all of my time here, protecting the Camp, when forces are at work elsewhere. I must decide whether to let the Camp go… or save it.”
The Son of Poseidon’s eyes widen at that.
“You can save it, Goddess?!”
But Hestia shakes her head.
“There… is a way to save it, Percy. I cannot do it myself. Someone would have to go and do it for me. But there is a problem. The solution to our current situation is obvious. Too obvious. At this point, there is only one possible way to save Thalia’s Tree. I fear that that is by design though. By HIS design.”
Percy is a smart young man. Hestia sees the light of understanding dawn in his eyes as he gets what she’s thinking.
“You think if we save Thalia’s Tree, we might be playing right into our enemies’ hands, Goddess?”
Hestia nods tiredly, appreciating Percy’s quick mind as she sighs and leans back in the rocking chair. She watches him consider her words carefully and waits to see what advice for her that he might have.
[ ] Percy advises giving up the Camp so they can go on the offensive and take their enemies by surprise - 4%
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