The Throne Room of Olympus was considerably more crowded than usual. Several gods had taken their respective seats from the moment Damon announced that he would be carrying out the first official distribution of Sacred Gears. No one seemed willing to miss the opportunity to see what the new King of Olympus had created.
Annabeth and Selene stood in the center of the hall, in front of the throne, trying to ignore the numerous deities watching them from every direction. Neither of them looked particularly comfortable with the amount of attention they were receiving.
"Before you start worrying, neither of you is in trouble," Damon clarified from his throne.
Annabeth relaxed her shoulders slightly while Selene let out the breath she had been holding. "It would've been nice to know that before you suddenly summoned us to the Throne Room," Annabeth complained.
Damon smirked. "But that would've taken all the excitement out of the moment, don't you think?" Athena's daughter gave him an unimpressed look, drawing a few laughs from the gods present.
Damon finally stood up. "All right. I brought you both here because you've done far more than what was expected of you. You've worked, trained, and helped keep the camp running even when no one asked you to. You didn't just fulfill your responsibilities. You went well beyond them."
Annabeth and Selene exchanged a brief glance.
Damon brought a hand to his chin as if considering something deeply important. "Maybe I should start thinking of you two as future instructors... or even directors of Camp Half-Blood once we finally decide to retire Chiron and Dionysus."
"Wait, wait, wait," Dionysus cut in almost immediately, straightening in his seat. "I think we should reconsider that last part."
Hermes needed no further invitation to join the conversation. A fox-like grin appeared on his face as he leaned forward. "Come on, Dionysus. You're getting old. Personally, I fully support the idea. We need to give the younger generation some opportunities."
"Old?" repeated the God of Wine, turning toward him with an offended expression.
Apollo wasn't about to let the opportunity pass either. "Besides, weren't you the one constantly complaining about having to run the camp? Now you suddenly don't even want to give up the position."
"Well, that's because..." Dionysus opened his mouth, but the words got stuck before he could come up with an answer that sounded even remotely convincing.
The truth was that, for a long time, he had hated being the director of Camp Half-Blood. But that was because back then, the position had been little more than a punishment imposed on him by Zeus, and Dionysus had never had any problem making it clear just how much he hated it. Things had changed quite a bit since then, however.
The camp had gained importance under the new Olympus; his position now gave him a certain level of status within the pantheon that went beyond simply being another minor god. That also made him somewhat more attractive in the eyes of other minor goddesses and, if he was being completely honest, he had also grown far too accustomed to being able to do practically whatever he wanted around the place.
Not to mention that now he could drink as much wine as he wanted... Suddenly losing all of that didn't sound nearly as appealing anymore.
Dionysus's lack of an answer was enough to send a wave of laughter through the hall. Dionysus simply sank a little farther into his seat, growing increasingly annoyed.
Damon let out a couple of laughs before raising a hand. "Hmg... hmg... all right, all right. I was just messing with you, man. You can keep your precious position."
Dionysus gave him an irritated look but said nothing. Annabeth and Selene, on the other hand, let out sighs of relief almost at the exact same time.
Damon allowed the laughter to die down before his expression turned serious once again and he focused on the two demigoddesses in front of him. "Now then. Seriously... because of your work and performance throughout all this time, consider yourselves the first Greek demigoddesses to receive this privilege. Starting today, both of you will officially become part of Sacred Link and receive abilities capable of considerably increasing your strength."
His words echoed throughout the Throne Room. Damon extended a hand toward Annabeth, and a small sphere of light appeared above his palm before separating from it and moving directly toward her. Athena's daughter barely had time to react before the energy entered her body. A completely unfamiliar sensation spread through every part of her being, forcing her to close her eyes for a few moments as she tried to understand what she had just received.
"Your Sacred Link is called Aegis."
Annabeth immediately raised her head at the name. Athena did exactly the same from her throne.
"Obviously, it's inspired by your mother's shield," Damon explained. "Considering you're her daughter, I thought it was pretty fitting."
One of Athena's eyes seemed to twitch slightly before the goddess looked toward her daughter with her chest proudly raised. To absolutely no one's surprise, considering just how proud the Goddess of Wisdom could be, especially whenever something associated with her received recognition.
"Its primary function is defensive," Damon continued, "but that doesn't mean you're meant to hide behind a shield. The better you learn to use Aegis, the more capable it'll become of receiving attacks, analyzing them, and responding. Depending on your mastery, you'll even be able to redirect part of an attack's force back at whoever launched it."
"Aegis..." Annabeth repeated quietly as she processed Damon's words. A smile slowly began to form on her face, and her eyes lit up with happiness at what the god was implying. "Thank you so much."
Annabeth couldn't help bowing slightly. As a demigod, she knew perfectly well that she was intelligent thanks to her mother and that she was skilled with a sword, but compared to Thalia's control over lightning or Percy's manipulation of water, sometimes she couldn't help feeling a little useless despite all of her intelligence. Even Leo, from the Hephaestus Cabin, had a certain degree of control over fire.
Damon nodded. "You earned it."
Athena had perfectly sensed the conflicting emotions within her daughter. She said nothing from her throne, but the smile that appeared on her lips made it clear that she wasn't bothered by Annabeth's thoughts in the slightest. If anything, she seemed even more satisfied with Damon's choice.
A round of clapping quickly erupted among several of the gods present. Selene looked at Annabeth and then toward Damon before discreetly pointing at herself. "I'm guessing I get something too, right?"
"Very observant," Damon replied. "Exactly what I'd expect from a daughter of Aphrodite."
"What can I say? I try my best to be the perfect example of my mother," the black-haired girl replied without the slightest hint of shame.
This time it was Aphrodite who proudly puffed out her chest from her throne.
Damon let out a small laugh and raised his hand again, repeating the same process he had used with Annabeth. A second sphere of light appeared and moved toward Selene before disappearing into her body.
"I'm still trying to come up with a name I really like for yours," Damon admitted. "But its main ability revolves around illusions. Being a daughter of Aphrodite, I thought it suited your nature pretty well."
Selene's eyes immediately lit up with interest.
Damon noticed her reaction and continued explaining. "At first, they'll be relatively simple illusions, mostly visual. But as your synchronization with Sacred Link increases and your control improves, you'll be able to alter how a person interprets what they're seeing. Eventually, you'll even be able to influence their emotions to a certain degree."
Selene raised an eyebrow.
"Fear, calm, confusion, attraction... things like that," Damon clarified. "If you use it properly, it can become a pretty troublesome ability for anyone who has to fight you."
Applause once again spread through the hall as Selene returned to Annabeth's side, though not before properly thanking the King of Olympus.
"That's my girl!" Aphrodite exclaimed from her throne, practically bouncing up and down in excitement.
The goddess's enthusiasm attracted considerably more attention than necessary, especially with every movement she made. More than one head ended up turning in her direction, watching her ample chest bounce up and down.
Even Damon nearly made the mistake of looking for longer than necessary. Unfortunately, he could feel Hera's eyes boring into the side of his head.
Damon quickly turned his gaze forward. "Ehhh... all right. Everyone calm down," he said, clearing his throat slightly. "I'm not finished yet."
He then turned his attention toward Medusa, who remained off to one side of the hall. Most people hadn't paid her much attention until now, but everyone knew perfectly well who she was and who she had once been. Even so, no one would dare disrespect her considering who her patron was now.
The purple-haired woman tensed slightly when Damon fixed his eyes on her. She didn't need him to say anything to understand that he wanted her to step forward. With a faint blush appearing on her cheeks, Medusa obeyed and walked toward him, still not entirely sure why she had been called.
Damon raised a hand. "As my servant, and because of your loyalty, I have one for you as well."
Medusa's eyes widened in surprise. "For me?"
"You've been working with me ever since you came to Olympus. Considering everything you've done, it would be pretty unfair to leave you defenseless."
The third sphere of light left Damon's hand and entered Medusa's body. The young woman closed her eyes as a completely new sensation spread through her. When she opened them again, Damon already had a nostalgic expression on his face as memories of the old days crossed his mind and he spoke the name, "Adamantine Chains."
Medusa lowered her gaze toward her hands as Damon continued. "I based them on something I knew a long time ago," he explained, inevitably remembering the Uzumaki. "You can summon them directly from your body and use them to restrain enemies. The stronger you become, the harder they'll be to break."
Medusa extended one hand almost instinctively. A reddish chain shot out from behind her and crossed several meters of the hall before stopping in midair. Several deities leaned forward with interest.
"But there's a second part," Damon continued. "The chains can generate an enormous amount of heat around anything they capture. In your case, that heat interacts with your own nature and accelerates the petrification process."
Apollo straightened slightly in his seat. "Whoa! It's like Ghost Rider!"
The hall fell silent as everyone turned toward the God of the Sun, as if trying to figure out whether he was actually serious. Apollo raised both hands. "What? The chains, the fire... come on, you can't tell me no one else thought of it. It's obvious."
Artemis partially covered her face with one hand while applause began breaking out throughout the hall again. Everyone collectively decided to ignore the God of the Sun, causing one of his eyebrows to twitch slightly.
Damon, for his part, wore a satisfied expression. Everything was working exactly as he had planned. But just as quickly as the celebrations and congratulations began, envy wasn't far behind.
"Lord Damon," one of the minor gods called from his seat, causing part of the room to quiet down again. "What about our children? I imagine many of us have demigods who could also benefit from abilities like these."
Several deities seemed to agree with the question. Damon didn't need to hear every single one of them to understand what they were thinking. They had just watched Annabeth, Selene, and Medusa receive new abilities directly from him; naturally, more than one of them wanted the same for their own descendants.
"Eventually," Damon replied calmly. "But I want to make something clear from the beginning. Having divine blood doesn't mean I'm going to hand out Sacred Links like candy. Annabeth and Selene received theirs because they earned them through their work. Medusa has also proven her loyalty and fulfilled everything I've asked of her. I'm not going to hand out power simply because someone comes asking for it."
Some of the smiles around the hall faded at his answer, but Damon continued before anyone could complain. "Besides, the system doesn't depend entirely on me. Sacred Link is designed to develop over time and can awaken abilities on its own in future Greek demigods without me having to personally intervene. Not everyone will receive something, and not everyone will have the same abilities, but the possibility will exist."
That seemed to spark even more interest among those present.
Damon swept his gaze across the Throne Room before continuing. "So from now on, it'll mainly depend on your children proving what they're capable of. Let them train, let them work, and let them push themselves to improve. If we hold competitions, tournaments, or any other kind of event and one of them demonstrates exceptional performance, then I'll consider a Sacred Link as a reward. The same will apply to those who consistently distinguish themselves through their actions outside of competitions."
The minor god who had asked the question slowly nodded. It wasn't exactly the answer he had hoped for, but he couldn't exactly call it unfair either.
"I want everyone to understand something," Damon added. "A Sacred Link will not be a birthright simply because someone was born the child of a god. It will be something they have to earn. If your children are truly as capable as you believe they are, then they shouldn't have any trouble proving they deserve one."
A murmur briefly spread through the hall before several voices began answering from the different thrones.
"Understood...."
"Yes, Lord Damon..."
Damon nodded in satisfaction. That was all he needed to hear. "Perfect. Then we're done for today."
The god fell silent for a moment before sweeping his gaze across everyone present. "Long live the Greek Pantheon. From this day forward, strength will be the only language we speak."
The declaration echoed throughout the Throne Room, provoking another wave of approval among the gods and demigods present.
Without adding anything else, the King of Olympus disappeared from his place in a current of air that swept through the center of the hall and vanished almost as quickly as it had appeared, leaving behind the gods, the demigods, and three new Sacred Link wielders.
Thus marking the beginning of a new golden age for the Greek Pantheon.
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