Olympus
When my feet touched solid ground again, I was no longer in the camp forest. In front of me stood two enormous gates, beautiful and worthy of being the doors that protected the home of the Olympian gods. Around them, there was nothing but an endless sky.
The sky had been his long before Zeus ever sat on a throne, so entering Olympus was child's play for him. It was his domain, after all. If he wanted, he could create his own kingdom in the sky, similar to what Hades had in the Underworld and Poseidon had in Atlantis.
Putting those thoughts aside, the wind around him began to move. At first, it moved softly, passing through his hair, brushing against his clothes, and caressing the golden doors. With a gentle demonstration of control, the doors simply opened.
Damon walked forward; the seriousness on his face was palpable.
Olympus was certainly beautiful. He could admit that. Marble paths, golden towers, fountains shining with divine light, gardens untouched by time, and a clear night sky with no clouds, probably full of stars. If there was one thing Damon was proud of, it was Greek architecture. It had nothing to envy from pantheons like the Egyptians or the Shinto pantheon.
He followed the strongest concentration of divine power without asking for directions.
The minor gods, spirits, and servants passing by stopped as soon as they saw him. Some looked at him in confusion, wondering if he was a demigod returning from a mission given by the gods and what he was doing here.
Some nymphs recognized him because other nymphs at Camp Half-Blood had spread word about the champion of Chaos, and they looked at him with fear. A few simply stood there watching him, unable to understand what a mortal was doing here. But seeing that he seemed to know where he was going, no one tried to stop him out of fear of invoking the anger of a major god.
By the time Damon reached the throne room, Zeus's voice was already shaking the walls.
"...AND I WILL NOT TOLERATE ANY MORE EXCUSES, POSEIDON. My bolt is missing, your son has appeared, and now Hades is sending monsters through the mortal world as if he were preparing for war."
Poseidon was standing with his trident in hand, clear annoyance visible on his face. Another useless meeting between the Olympian gods.
"Accuse me again without proof, brother, and your missing bolt will be the least of your problems."
Several gods watched in silence. Some seemed annoyed, like Hephaestus, who would rather be in his workshop than here. Others looked entertained, like Ares, who wanted nothing more than for a war to break out. And others, like Demeter, looked worried, but none of them moved to stop the argument.
Hera sat with an unreadable face. She had just found out Zeus had been unfaithful to her again, and honestly, she was tired of all this drama.
Hestia remained near the hearth, her gaze lowered, though it was clear she was restless. As the goddess of the hearth, the last thing she wanted was for her family to fight among themselves, though that was becoming more and more common. Athena was silent, watching everything with the expression of someone already searching for answers in an intelligent and strategic way.
Without warning, the wind struck the throne room as the doors opened with enough force to make the divine flames in the hearths bend to one side. The sound cut through Poseidon and Zeus's argument and drew the gods' attention.
All of them turned toward the entrance… only to see the king of Rome.
With his hands in his pockets, Damon stood at the entrance.
For a moment, no one spoke. Surprise could be seen on Hera and Hestia's faces. Not long ago, they had been talking about this boy. They had grown somewhat attached to him, and now here he was, standing in front of the throne room as if it were nothing. Was being able to enter Olympus a blessing from Chaos for being her champion? Because they could not understand how the hell a mortal had reached Olympus.
The same thought was also in the minds of the other Olympians, their thoughts moving quickly. A mortal should not be able to enter Olympus. A demigod would have needed permission. A spirit would have needed a summons. Even many minor gods would have thought twice before entering the throne room uninvited.
Damon slowly walked to the center of the room as if the entire hall belonged to him.
Zeus did not like this at all. The eyes of the king of Olympus narrowed immediately.
"You."
"Who, me?" the blond said mockingly, pointing at himself before looking behind him as if he were actually searching for someone else.
A couple of laughs broke the silence.
Hermes was the first to let out a small laugh, bringing a hand to his mouth as if that were enough to hide it. Apollo soon followed, turning his face to the side with a smile that was difficult to conceal.
It was not the best time to laugh.
But unfortunately for Zeus, both of them had a sense of humor too damaged to ignore such a blatant mockery in the middle of the throne room.
Dionysus, on the other hand, did not seem amused.
"Boy, this is not funny. How did you get here?" the god of wine asked, now more serious. "You should be at camp doing the tasks assigned to you."
Damon ignored the god of wine and simply turned his gaze back to the room, taking in every throne, every god, and every face with a disappointment so serious it could barely be called that.
"HE SHOULD BE KNEELING BEFORE THE KING OF THE GODS, AS IS PROPER!" Zeus shouted, seeing this as an opportunity to crush and get rid of the champion. Mentioning Damon's name the other day was driving him insane. He was a no-good to Olympus.
Damon said nothing at first.
"When I came here, I expected arrogance. I expected pride. I even expected stupidity. But this..." Damon said calmly, his voice echoing throughout the entire hall.
His eyes moved from Zeus to Poseidon and then to the rest of the gods who had been watching the argument as if it were just another spectacle.
"This is pathetic."
Ares was the first to react. His hand moved toward his weapon while his eyes burned with flames, melting the sunglasses on his face as he glared furiously at Damon.
"Watch your mouth, mortal."
Damon's eyes shifted toward the god of war, feeling his disgust toward him as clearly as daylight. Damon's cold eyes stopped the god of war in place. A drop of sweat formed on his forehead, his battle instincts screaming.
At the same time, Zeus rose from his throne. The grinding of his teeth could be heard in the main temple, a grinding that, if it grew even slightly stronger, everyone present would swear would end up cracking his molars.
"You dare enter my throne room uninvited and insult the gods?" he asked, his voice loaded with anger and arrogance.
Damon looked at him fully now. "Since when does the throne room have Zeus's name written on its walls?"
Every god felt the disdain in the blond's voice. It was not only the disrespect. It was the familiarity. The way he spoke of Olympus did not sound like an invader looking at someone else's home, but like someone who had returned and found his home in the wrong hands.
That set off alarms for many.
But it left one goddess in particular frozen.
Demeter.
The goddess of the harvest looked at the blond's face at first. If Damon had something from his original body, it was his blue eyes. But that was not what truly alarmed the goddess. It was that connection only she and her brother had with nature.
And as the goddess of harvest and fertility, Demeter felt that connection in the deepest part of her body. After so many years. It could not be true.
No, not after crying in silence until everyone thought she had simply become strange. Many mocked her for her obsession with cereal, as if it were a meaningless eccentricity of a bored goddess. None of them understood that habit had been a clumsy way to keep herself occupied, to hold on to something simple so she would not sink completely into the absence of her brother.
Damon had been the only one who understood her before the world reduced her to a goddess of harvests and fields. He had shared with her a deep connection to nature, one none of their other siblings had felt in the same way. He had spoiled her, protected her, and when she tried to hide behind her rejection of violence, he had also taught her how to defend herself.
Everyone believed Demeter was a weak goddess, when the truth was the complete opposite.
Her domain over the earth, the harvests, and the life born from the soil made her one of the most dangerous goddesses in Olympus if she ever decided to fight seriously. In many ways, she was the closest thing to a small Gaea within Olympus.
But all that strength meant nothing when her own soul had withered. Damon's loss had left an emptiness that never fully closed, and over the years, that wound became something others confused with weakness.
A sad reality.
All this time, she had only been a broken goddess whom others mistook for madness. And that was why she clung so tightly to Persephone. It was not because she did not want her daughter to be with Hades. It was simply the terror of losing someone she loved and never seeing her again, the same way it had happened with Damon.
Demeter took a step forward without realizing it.
Her eyes filled with tears before she could stop them.
"It's you, isn't it?"
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Not gonna lie, I feel like Demeter is underrepresented, like bro, I feel like she's always forgotten and sht. We gotta put some respect on her name HAHAHA I dont give a fck if you dont agree lol
Drop stones
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P@treon: Brotato Up to chapter 100