Olympus - Greeks [Summer 2018]

It was that Gottverdammt time of the year again. Ah, well, at least she’s still family, he thought.

“You owe me, Rey.” he said as his twin sister dragged him along the hallway to the elevator that would take them straight to Olympus. Rick wore a green jacket over a red t-shirt and jeans, while Rey was clad in shorts and an orange CHB t-shirt.

“Geez, Rick, brighten up a bit, will you? At least we’re getting to see Mom!”

“Yeah, our last meeting with Mum at this exact time of the year didn’t go so well.”

“I’m sure she doesn’t mind it.”

The two stepped out into the entrance to Olympus. The hallway was bustling with other demigods coming to meet their godly parents. Rey rushed ahead, Rick keeping his pace behind, until they finally saw a familiar woman, whose several physical features they share.

“Hey, Mum.” Rick was the first to call out, even though Reyna was the more enthusiastic one of them lot.

Valerie grumbled as she dragged herself around Olympus. Sure, it was supposed to be exciting. Yet as the hours passed, she was still searching for her father’s shrine. Being a minor god had its perks of having the smallest shrines in the most glossed over places in the Olympus, Gods! And you guidebook she was holding. Not at all exciting. Especially since her father had claimed so many of the people around her. Still... She hasn’t seen him before, and as much as she didn’t want to admit it, she was a bit excited.

Arriving at Olympus was somewhat of a surreal experience for Jin. He would be getting to see his mom for the first time since he was a baby, so he was feeling unexpectedly a little nervous about the whole thing.

As it was his and a few others first times at Olympus they were each given the Olympus, Gods! And you guidebook and were left to their own devices, only problem was that the guidebook wasn't exactly the easiest to follow. He had managed to find himself in this exact spot twice now back at the entrance to Olympus, and he could feel his patience depleting.

"Reyna. Rick." Athena gazed down at her children from atop her throne. She was dressed in modern, smart casual clothes, her owl sitting over her shoulder. "Welcome to Olympus," she smiled. "It has been a while." She gave them a sharp look, especially Rick. She had not forgotten their previous encounter, but decided not to address the matter. Today was for family and reunion, and she hoped her children would prove, ah.... wiser… than they had been in the past.
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Thanatos was taking a break from work, scrolling through images of Italian suits on Pinterest, when something alerted his godly senses. Intrigued, he glanced through the marble streets towards the elevator. Was it...? Why yes indeed, it was his daughter Valerie. A warm smile spread to his lips and he stood up from the fountain he'd been sitting on.
_______

Oizys was not expecting her son to come visit her on this day. There again, she was not expecting much these days. With human trafficking, children put in cages at the border, war and the GOP, it seemed like misery was alive and well!
Yet here he was. Looking quite lost and confused, holding a map of Olympus and a guide. Oizys took a moment as she looked at him - she had been watching him of course, but this would be their first encounter in... sixteen years? Seventeen years? The goddess felt a weird sensation in her chest, something she wasn't supposed to feel. Was it excitement? Joy? Whatever it was, it was a nice break from the hopelessness she usually revelled in.

"Welcome, child," she said, materializing a few feet away from him.

Valerie was about to give up. Sure, Olympus was meant to be for every god or goddess that existed to have their own luxury condo of their own, but it seemed ever expanding. Just as she passed a fountain, she saw a man stand up after putting away his phone he was scrolling with. Wait... That was her father, right?

“Aye, Mum, it’s good to see you.” he said, while looking up. “Wow, this is kinda awkward. Most generations of children are supposed to be taller than their parents. But ah well.”

“Hi, Mom!” Reyna greeted her mother. She was absolutely fine with her giant mother. A bit too carefree for Rick. “We brought presents. Like we do every year, really, as you already know.”

Reyna took from her rucksack a hardcover book, the title “Kissinger: A Biography” and the author’s name printed onto the top, with a photo of the titular character in the middle.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure you know 100% who Henry Kissinger is. And since you’re the goddess of knowledge, Mom, and from what I’ve guessed, can read an entire book and understand everything just by quickly skimming all of the pages in 5 seconds, and probably read a crap ton of books, you probably read this already. But eh—it’s phenomenal, and something to remember me by.”

Rick was next.

“So, uh, I bought a $13,000 dictionary with good speakers. Good, at least for its time.” he quickly ran back to the entrance and returned seconds later dragging a heavy cart with. On the top were engraved the logo of NeXT.

“Of course, this is the only product ever made by NeXT Computer under Steve Jobs after his firing from Apple, as you already know. So—uh, I managed to scam a guy on Craiglist into giving me this completely unopened box of fully upgraded NeXT Black Cube that has survived 30 years: for free. I know it’s sh!t, Mum, but well: it’s souvenir. And you can resell it on Amazon for at least ten times the price for its historical significance, but well—gods don’t really need money, do they?” he shrugged.

"Valerie." Thanatos smiled, his eyes glowing like molten gold. "Welcome to Olympus." It was a strange feeling to stand in front of his daughter and be visible. As the god of death, he was quite busy. His job was... well, everything Hades didn't want to do. Flying around the world, reaping the souls of the dead, double-checking everything with the Fates (he had them on speed dial). It was a lot.
But that didn't mean he never had the time to check in on his children. He just couldn't let them know he was there, otherwise he'd get a call from the discipline office.

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Athena accepted the gifts with a smile and a nod, "Thank you, dear. Thank you Rick. I am sure I will find them very entertaining." It was always touching when her children gave her items. "But remember: the best gifts you can give me is putting your knowledge to good use. How are you doing on that front?"

Reyna thought for a moment. “Well, I got a job! Helping a man launder money, as I like to call it. No, in reality, I can already do accounting so well, a guy at a bank is paying me half his salary to secretly do everything for him. He doesn’t mind because the paycheck is huge, and I’m rather good at keeping secrets. If we do ever get caught, which has a mathematical probability of close to 0, I’ll get clean away, anyway. I have Rick for that. I also finished with Italian. Grazie, Rick.”

“Prego. Well—uh—“ Rick pondered for a moment trying to think of any worthy accomplishments he’s done in the past year. Killing Rey’s boyfr—no, too dark, and murderous, and sociopathic. Robbing an entire car dealership with mortals in broad daylight, only to get double crossed and nearly caught by the police. Nah, too criminalistic.

“Well, Mum, I supposed you already know about all the sh!tty things I do. You’re an omnipotent goddess, after all. So uh, well,
I suppose there is that one time where I—uh—.” he shook his head. “It’s kinda difficult to recall, really. Maybe I haven’t really done anything new that’s beneficial for the future of the human race.”

Looking lost and confused, Jin was moments away from giving up on his quest on looking for his mother convinced she didn't want to meet him however just as he turned to leave his current location a woman materialized right in front of him. "Welcome, child," she had said in a tone only a loving mother could muster, and straight away Jin knew instictively that this woman was his mother.

"Err..Umm.. Hi, Jin replied shly which was uncharacteristic for the seventeen year old, not knowing what to say to her after his initial greeting he merely kept quite drinking in all her features committing them to memory

Athena nodded, her mouth twisting. "Cash and Italian. Is that how you make the world a wiser place, Reyna?" she asked sharply, her eyes glowing like storm clouds. "And you, Rick? Criminal activities galore, but have you done anything useful with that brain of yours? Have either of you brought any notable science to the edge?" She paused, giving them time to reply at their leisure.

_________________


Oizys smiled. It was not a gesture she often did, she was more into howling and scratching her cheeks out.
But not today.

"Walk with me," she said, and moved towards a little portico behind which an olive grove swayed in the breeze. There was every amount of lush gardens and pleasure parks on Mount Olympus but this little place with its gnarled trunks and silvery branches was her favourite. Quiet, peaceful, unpretentious. No one would disturb them here.

“Precisely.” Rick replied immediately, but Reyna kicked his foot.

“Well, of course not, Mom. You don’t invent time travel overnight. Not in one year or a decade for that matter. It would be—ehem—very unrealistic and out of character, wouldn’t it? Plus, it’d break all kinds of rules. Rules of physics, I mean. Ehem. And the Fates would hate us too. But then again, it’s not happened yet.” Reyna shrugged.

“But yeah, if you do ask about it, Mum,” Rick continued “then we do do some “useful” stuff when we’re not out doing criminal activity or trying to learn as many languages as possible to talk behind people’s backs, knowing fully well they won’t understand. I thought you kinda wanted an update on that part, but eh: I’ve been tinkling around a bit with some old stuff in the Athena cabin basement and making questionable gadgets out of them. None of them work yet, but well, it’s only the Beta phase.”

“As for me, aside from doing tax evasion and money laundering, me and Rick have literally been doing research about time travel. Like, it won’t work for another 27 quintillion years, but it’s still a good revision of quantum physics and such. Then again, magic is real, with us and you, Mom, being the evidence, soooo this won’t be the strangest thing ever. But again, like I said, if we try to screw with the Fates’ tapestry of reality, they’d just cut our strings for revenge and welp.”

Still unsure about what to say to his mother as his thoughts were swirling chaotically in his mind, all of his doubts and worries were washed away as she smiled at him.

Smiling back unconsciously Jin followed after her no longer worried about what she thought of him, the smile she had shown him was all the proof he needed so with that he was able to appreciate the beautiful scenery as while walking comfortably alongside his mom.

So.. Um.. Jin began awkwardly before mumbling quietly. Fidgeting in place, Jin tried to muster the courage to speak once again as while he was sure his mother loved him or at least he convinced himself that she did, he was still insecure as he heard stories from some kids at camp which hadn't ended happily at all.

Trying once again, Jin began his sentences as awkwardly as the first time but was finally able to speak to her while maintaining eye contact. "So.. Um.. How did you and my father meet. Jin asked as it was one of the questions he swore he would ask if he ever met his mother.

"Excuses," Athena sighed and petted her owl. "Children, your obsession with time travel is laudable, but you are not trying hard enough. The Fates, the time, this, and that…" She shook her head, her eyes flashing sharply. "I don't want to hear any more excuses from either of you. Make it work. It doesn't have to be time travel - just stop wasting your brain cells doing tax evasion and questionable gadgets. Are you humans, or demigods?"

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Oizys stroked a branch as she walked, the bark cracking and decaying under her fingers. How did she and Akatsuchi meet? She took her time replying, trying to find the right words for her son. "Your father was an extraordinary man," she finally said. "He had a lot of demons in him, yet he still fought every day." She smiled nostalgically. "Akatsuchi…. He was part of Tokyo's underworld. I had rarely seen so much darkness in a mortal before - he understood me. We understood each other. I'm not sure our first meeting is something to tell your children about, though," she said with a raspy chuckle.

As he listened to his mother talk about his father, he hadn't realised that a smile had graced his lips. As much as he loved Jace hearing about his biological father was still a happy moment for him.

*He was apart of the underworld too huh* Jin couldn't say he was all that surprised, but he guessed the saying the apple doesn't fall far from the tree was rather true in his case. Entranced by her short but sweet story, he couldn't stop the blush that crept up on him despite not being visible left him feeling flushed at the obvious innuendo.

“Well, they’re not excuses, Mum. They’re actual obstacles. The Fates could drop an airplane over our heads if they find out that we managed to send something back in time and mess up their weaving of reality. Of course, that doesn’t stop us from looking further into it, but we always try to be careful—just in case, you know.”

“Yeah, and we’ve also considered things that would probably get us turned into frogs by you, Mom, or by Zeus or the gods. For example, we even considered the possibility of Kronos making time travel possible, since he’s the literal god of time. Evil time, that is, but time regardless. Of course, we don’t plan on aligning with him, nor have we even managed to find him, though we’re trying, so don’t turn us into dust just yet, but well—in the name of science and all.” Reyna shrugged.

Oizys noticed her son's silence and turned to face him, the bitter lines etching her face almost disappearing in a smile. "But tell me about you, Jin." Her hand extended to touch his cheek, but she stopped herself. She didn't want to cause him more misery. "I can't always check on you, you see. My attention is the opposite of beneficial."

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Athena tapped her throne in annoyance. "And I could turn you two into mice for my owl to feed on if I wanted to. Welcome to the world, Rick! Gods can hate you. Well done for figuring it out," she mocked, her voice cutting through the air like acid. "Your job as heroes isn't to avoid problems, but to solve them. And Reyna, you might want to pick up a history book. Or ask any of your little friends at camp, so they can tell you what happened the last time a demigod sought out Kronos." She glanced at the messenger god across the room. "The Hermes cabin should be more than able to answer your questions."

"Well, of course we know exactly what happened the last time some bloke tried to go after Kronos, Mum. Or rather, a bloke resenting the gods, leading to Kronos coming to him to exploit his hatred for Olympus in order to make a comeback. Me and Reyna, we don't give enough of a f*ck about conquering the world or family abandonment to even be on his scope, assuming he has a scope anyway with his mangled form and destroyed army and allies. So yes, I do think it's kinda safe to go and exploit Kronos to find out his secret. Then again, I'm cheap as hell, so the moment he opens his mouth demanding me to do something that needs at least an ounce of effort to spill it, I'm out. No joke. I could just steal the secret from him instead and get away with 500% profit and 0 consequences. So you don't need to worry about us." Rick shrugged.

"And yeah, we do know gods can hate us. Then again, we'd rather not spend a lifetime as a frog. We don't avoid problems, we avoid consequences while trying to solve a problem, Mom. Would Luke Castellan charging right into Kronos' manipulation to solve his abandonment problem while ignoring all consequences be a shining example of 'solve the problem, don't avoid it'? The gods would be so happy if we ended up leading Kronos' army for the second time and razing Olympus for real by charging in to get what we want without calculating all of the 14 million possible negative outcomes resulting in our death, or the demise of the entire universe." Reyna took a breath. "Again, like I said, we are trying to solve the problem, but not watching out if it kicks you in the @rse or not is pure insanity."

Valerie stared awkwardly at her father. All her other mortal friends had busy dads, sure, but she’d seen them drop around to see them every once in a while, while she couldn’t even find a shrine to offer things to hers. “Oh, umm...” Valerie rummaged around in her backpack. Sure, she had only known who her father was, but not a word from him had ever reached her ears, or had she ever seen him anywhere before. Fellow campers who have been to the Underworld claim to have never seen him. “I thought you’d like this, Thanatos, dad.” She brought out a small obsidian block she had carefully carved into a crumbling skeleton with a scythe planted next to it. Now that she thought about it, it felt awkward in her hands. What was she thinking? He was a god, after all, he could have everything he wants.

Keeley walked in way after everyone else. She had been waiting just outside of the doors, waiting to see how the Gods and Goddesses would react, before stepping into Olympus herself. She looked around in wonder, then shook her head, getting back on track. She gazed, observing everyone, but searching for the mother that she hadn't seen since she was a baby.

Keeley didn't know how to feel. She figured she should be excited, but it was also sort of difficult to be excited when you're meeting your mother for the first time. She took another deep breath, preparing herself.

As his mother's hand extended to touch his cheek, Jin's heart raced wondering what the touch of a mother felt like before she pulled back. Feeling of doubt festered in Jin's heart as he wondered why she hadn't touched him, did she realise that she didn't want him, but those thoughts of self doubt vanished as he saw the pain of her face that she quickly masked before asking him about himself. Temporarily stunned by the question, Jin disregarded it for a minute before he pulled on all his inner courage and reached out and grabbed his mothers hand.

Me? You want to know about me Jin asked stunned even though he shouldn't have been, logically he knew this question would have popped up but what was he to say that he was a thief and proud of it too, that he was a street rat and would probably fall deeper into the world of criminals.

Well I'm seventeen years old now, I live in London with my guardian Jace Daniels which I also adopted as my surname along with dads, their hyphenated he explained. Um I lived in an orphanage most of my life but ran away when I was fifteen because I was tired of always ending back at the orphanage. I lived on my own for a while stealing to survive when I met Jace, long story short he thought me to steal better and became my dad basically.

I don't have many friends, well barely any but I do have one best friend though although I've only admitted it once and will probably wont again either, Jin said chuckling to himself.

After that the words seem to just flow out of Jin's mouth as he described himself and his likes and dislikes, his dreams and aspirations as well as fears to his mother all the while still holding her hand.