34A/N: Um…so my bad…? I thought it would be up sooner but I hated this chapter before so I rewrote it… still, it shouldn't have taken me this long!
Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you to my first reviewers:
ColdnessOfLove, HoneyGoddess57, kaithelonechampion, irish-table, and historian girl
Love you guys so much! This chapter is dedicated to you!
So anyway, here we are gorgeous people! Chapter 2!
The gods filed into Hera's solarium, some chose to sit on the couches, while others stood, lingering near the back. They were all slightly nervous about the impending conversation. They had all been previously informed of the situation at hand, but they would soon discover just how real the issue actually is.
"You all know why we are here. We all need to be aware of the situation at hand so that we can be prudent in stopping it before it spreads and gets out of control," Hera spoke in her usual calm, commanding tone. All the gods were listening intently to the goddess. "Persephone has brought to my attention that our young Fighter is beginning to show signs. The stress these mortals need to endure is contributing to the intensity of this situation and we suspect that it will be only a matter of time before it…consumes her."
"How do we stop it?" Hermes piped up, hovering in the air with his winged shoes. How he hated such young people to experience what they have and will. They have the fate of the world resting on their shoulders…not to mention special abilities that set them apart from other mortals, alienating them. It is not fair, Hermes thought, attempting to keep a blank, emotionless face. Hera turned to face him directly.
"We catch it in time. I want you all to keep an eye on her, especially when she is under your supervision. If her powers do come into conflict with each other and the dark side overcomes the good, she will become extremely dangerous and probably unstoppable. We have to restrain her before it spreads. If it takes over her entire body and nothing is holding her back, she will attack, feeding these dark powers even more."
"Well…why is this happening to her anyway?" Aphrodite ventured, raising her hand slightly in the air to attract Hera's attention. Aphrodite cared deeply for these children. Many considered her to be self-centred, vain, uncaring and superior (at least in her opinion). Although she had been that way in the past, she had grown to love the young children as if they were her own. She was, of course, still vain, being the goddess of love and beauty did sort of require that, but that didn't mean she did not care for others. She did relate to Neil the most, but the others were unique and beautiful in their own way which Aphrodite was beginning to love more and more. Being the goddess of beauty, she was starting to realize and appreciate the fact that can take many forms.
"Persephone and I hypothesize that it is because some of Cronus' evil magic is inside of her. She is a good human, but we all have dark and light inside of us and the stress she is experiencing is only fueling the dark magic. But the vast majority of those mortals who possess magical powers will experience the same thing. And we've been, for the most part, able to save these people. Of course there have only been a handful of mortals in all of history with magical powers, but we feel confident in our ability to control the process."
"She will be alright, won't she?" Hephaestus questioned his voice rough and raspy. The young heroes always brightened up his day when he saw their innocent, almost childish, faces smiling at him as he created a new gadget for them to use. It pained him that they had to defeat an immortal, all to protect gods who hid out in a secret wing of a high school. Sometimes, he just wanted to tell them to stay put while the gods fought their own battles, but as Hera said, a prophesy is a prophesy. You cannot take away another's destiny.
Hera paused briefly then nodded. "If we catch it in time. But helping her won't be easy. She'll be in for a rough few days."
"Shouldn't we tell the young heroes?" Ares voice bellowed throughout the room. He always tried his best not to show concern for the young heroes. It was in his nature to be aggressive and hostile and oftentimes, uncaring. However, he had come to care for these young mortals. Sometimes, although he would never admit it, he would feel sorry for them. He was no stranger to violence or chaos, but they were just children. They should not have to fight the gods' battles, and yet here they were risking their lives to protect immortals. He hated how they were making him soft, but then again, maybe his time of fighting and violence and emotional detachment was over. Maybe now he had something that he could care for, something he could truly live for. He almost regretted the fact that they were mortals and would eventually move on with their lives, leaving the gods behind.
Hera contemplated his comment for a moment before answering. "No. There is no point in worrying them. They have enough stress to deal with for now. We do not need to frighten the young Fighter; that will only cause the process to happen sooner. When the time comes, we will explain it to them. We can only hope that they will understand."
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A/N: so here's my idea of gods see heroes! I know that in the show, the gods didn't seem to care too much for them (*cough* Phantom Rising *cough*) so I kinda wanted to do this to show their more "human" side. I felt that they could be like the parents to the heroes while they were away from home, but that didn't always happen in the show…still, the show was perfect and I wouldn't change a thing! This is just an idea of mine!
Mandy AK