𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄 | Family drama for both Freyja and Percy

FREYJA was not a patient goddess. After having learnt about Kronos and his plan to destroy the gods, something that seemed vaguely similar to the words of the prophecy that Freyja had discovered six years earlier, he patience was even worse.

"Frey," Layla placed a hand on her shoulder as the elevator shot up the Empire State building. It had taken one look from the three battle worn demigods for the concierge to hand over the elevator key. "You're no use if you're like this. Calm down."

"I am calm." Freyja growled, her eyebrows furrowed together as she thought of what she was going to say.

Layla had Iris messaged Connor and Travis last night, to tell them that she would be coming back to camp as soon as she could, having just heard of the situation. Freyja had sat out of view of the IM, smiling as she listened in to their voices though it hurt. She missed them so much and Luke.

She really missed Luke.

"So, what are you going to say?" Zac asked, his arm around Layla's waist as Freyja shrugged.

"That, regardless of my punishment, I need to go back and help out." Freyja listed off on her fingers. "They shouldn't have kept any of us out of the loop, especially if it's as serious as we think it might be, and full use of powers to help in the fight."

"They're going to reject that last one." Layla shrugged as Freyja shot her a glare. "Come on. They've been incredibly stingy about you using any of your godly powers, even the minor parts of it, what makes you think that they'll let you expose yourself like that?"

"I can hope."

"Yeah, and I can also hope that I'm not butchered for making everyone think that you're dead." Layla muttered. "Gods, Luke is going to kill me."

"On the positive side, maybe they'll give you an Oscar because it was a hell of a performance." Zac began to laugh, in turn causing the women to laugh as well.

The elevator doors opened once more, and the trio stepped out onto Olympus, looking around at the war preparations. Everything was colder and less like the Olympus that Freyja had grown up on. She patted the pack on her leg, wondering what her mother would say.

They hadn't spoken since she had been banished, and even then, Artemis had basically told her that she was incredibly disappointed in her for breaking an oath. 

"Stars above." Freyja muttered, before leading Zac and Layla to the main council room, where lighting was already sparking above it. "It might be best if you two wait outside whilst I handle this. It has the possibility to go terribly wrong."

"Good luck."

"Stay calm." Layla reminded. "Don't get angry."

"I'll try not to." Freyja muttered, before stalking away from them to push open the main council doors. The hinges groaned, as Freyja took a deep breath, her eyes falling on her family. She expected something, maybe a small smile or a wink, but they looked at her like she should have been dead.

Freyja's heart sank but she continued until she stood in the middle of the throne room, bowing to her grandfather (who looked furious) and then her mother. Artemis spared her one glance, before turning away and shaking her head. Freyja scrunched her nose, biting back anger, as she felt her mother's disappointment wash over her.

She was breaking her punishment.

"What are you doing here?" Zeus' voice echoed around the throne room, as Freyja stood and turned back to him. "You're banished for another four years."

"From what it sounds like, we might not have another four years." Freyja sighed, before biting back a retort and maintaining her politeness. "I heard about Kronos. I've come to offer my assistance in the fight, seeing as you forgot to tell me about this."

Zeus bristled but Freyja continued. He couldn't force her to bend to his will like he'd been able to do when Freyja was fifteen and worried sick about Luke and her friends.

"I know what Kronos rising means. It means that the first great prophecy is coming into play. You need me on the battlefield." Freyja didn't bother to mention that her own prophecy was technically also in play now. If Freyja could prevent the destruction of Olympus and end of the era of peace, then she would.

Maybe it would make her mother look at her with less disappointment in her eyes.

"We don't need you..." Zeus began, but Apollo, uncharacteristically, cut him off. Out of her entire family, Apollo was the one god that Freyja least expected to stand up for himself against Zeus. He didn't like conflict and arguments all that much nowadays, but he looked serious now.

He took his sunglasses off, rubbing at his nose before nodding his head.

"Freyja is right, and you know she is." Apollo turned, catching eyes with Hermes and then Zeus. "We need her on the battlefield and fighting if we want any chance of stopping Kronos. Let her go back. She most likely still has the trust at camp, and they know her abilities. It makes sense."

Freyja sent her uncle a thankful look. Apollo winked, before turning back as Zeus stuttered and stumbled for a moment, before finally finding his voice.

"There's one problem. She's over sixteen, and supposedly the daughter of Poseidon after losing her temper..."

"I was twelve."

"That goes against the prophecy." Zeus ignored Freyja's protest as she ground her teeth together and glared at the floor.

"She can be a Hunter of Artemis." Freyja looked up at her mother's voice, watching her with furrowed eyebrows. "It'll make the most sense if my daughter does decide to forgo her punishment and go back. She can get in contact with me from there."

Zeus glowered for a moment, before calling a vote. Most voted in favour of the plan, but Freyja was shocked to see that Poseidon, Zeus, Artemis and Hermes voted against it. Turning to Hermes, she cocked an eyebrow, but the god shook his head sadly and turned away.

"He doesn't want you to get hurt." Apollo caught her arm, having shrunk down to a more human size and was tugging her away.

"Wait, is mother not going to...?" Freyja looked around, but her mother had already disappeared and her heart sank. "I see."

"Freyja, it's..."

"Don't say complicated." Freyja tugged her arm free, exiting the building. "I know when she's upset me. It's kind of clear."

"Your mother is just struggling." Apollo tried to find the right word, but Freyja shot him a glare. The man sighed and quietened down. "Freyja, the prophecy. Your one. You've got to be careful now. Anything you do will be make or break."

"Yeah, yeah, keep my oaths or more punishments. I get it." Freyja rolled her eyes, heading down to Zac and Layla as Apollo rolled his eyes.

"I know that you know, but Freyja, this is the time to be banding together, not falling apart." Apollo growled, as Freyja cocked an eyebrow. "Don't give me that look. You know that I never wanted you punished in the slightest. That wasn't my intention and I would have preferred you back at Camp Half-Blood."

"Lord Apollo." Layla cut in, bowing her head as Zac followed suit. "So, are we going back?"

"Yeah, we're going back." Freyja nodded, as Apollo sighed, before pulling a Hunter's jacket and crown from nowhere and presenting it to her. "This won't be suspicious in the slightest."

"Don't be sassy with me, be sassy with your mother."

"Yeah, I would if she was speaking to me."

"Arty just needs a little time."

"It's been six years." Freyja snapped back, as Layla and Zac watched the pair with wide eyes. "But sure, fine."

Apollo sighed again, before pulling her into a hug.

"I did miss you, Trouble." Freyja relented, hugging the man back. "I'm sorry."

"What for?" But Apollo was already gone, and Freyja sighed and rolled her eyes, before turning to look back at Layla and Zac. "What?"

"What the actual...?" Zac trailed off. "Artemis is your mother."

"Artemis is your mother!" Layla cried, tilting her head. "I knew you were a goddess, but how? What?"

"It's a really, really long story." Freyja shook her head, not wanting to speak on it. "She's still kept her oath, that's what matters, but she had me with another god for who knows what reason."

Layla wanted to ask more, but Zac put his hand out and shook his head. Freyja looked upset, and angry, which is something he wasn't used to seeing on the goddess' face. It was rare for her to look angry, and he knew to leave this topic alone. They didn't need her being unstable before they returned to camp.

"Come on. Let's get back down, grab the car and go." Zac shot Layla another look, as both of them led the young goddess back to the elevator.

☾☼☽

"Layla said she's coming back to fight with some other demigods." Travis repeated himself again, looking up at Chiron with wide eyes. "They said that they didn't know about Kronos until now, which is why she didn't come back earlier. But now she does, so she's coming."

"Who's coming back with her?" Chiron was pacing, his tail flicking nervously from side to side. Percy's eyebrows furrowed with confusion. Who was Layla? "When?"

"Zac Prudens, I thinks." Travis glanced at Connor as he nodded. "She said there might be a third, but she's still working out the details for that and I think maybe a day, two days time."

"Who's Layla?" Percy spoke up, his eyebrows furrowed. "Why is she important to this?"

"He needs to know. It's time." Chiron turned to mutter at Annabeth, who had gone pale. She sat down heavily, her hands starting to tremble. "He's going to be very confused otherwise and Layla will be asking questions as well."

"Tell him." Beckendorf spoke this time, nodding his head. 

"What...?" Percy trailed off, as a chair was brought to his side and Lee Fletcher began to pull some ambrosia from his pocket. Chiron trotted over, sighing deeply.

"Layla Tribulatio was the head of the Hermes Cabin before Luke." Chiron started to explain. "She left when she turned eighteen and after the failed quest to retrieve the golden apples from the Garden of Hesperides."

Percy nodded, following along so far as Chiron sent one final look around the group. Connor and Travis were both looking down, faces pale.

"The last person that went on that quest, with Luke and Layla, was someone called Freyja." Chiron stated, and Percy watched as Annabeth flinched at the name. "Freyja Leto. She died on that quest. She was killed by the dragon, Ladon, who guards the apples."

"Is that why there were no quests after that?" Quintus asked quietly, looking at Chiron. The centaur nodded, but Percy was still confused. 

"Okay, so why is Layla going to ask awkward questions?"

"Freyja..." Chiron trailed off. "Freyja was your half-sister, Percy. She died weeks before she could turn sixteen."

Suddenly the medical supplied were making sense. Percy felt dizzy, like he was going to faint or keel over at some point. He had a sister? He had family? 

"I had a sister?" He could taste bile in his mouth as everything began to fall into place. The uneasiness, the sad looks, all of it. They had lied to him when he'd asked if there was anyone else.

Annabeth nodded, looking like she wanted to talk to him but Chiron placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Come. We'll talk in the Big House. This isn't a light conversation." Chiron announced, leading Percy up the stairs and into the main living room. Percy slumped on the couch, his head in his hands. This was a lot to process at the moment.

"Why did no one ever tell me?" Percy began, looking at Chiron with wide eyes. "We were related, shouldn't I have known?"

"Freyja's a sore subject." Chiron sighed, settling back into his wheelchair. "When she died, it hit a lot of us very hard. We didn't think she would, you see. She was one of the best warriors that we had. Then, you came to camp and everyone was confused. No one really knew what to think."

"Why?"

"Because you act like her." Chiron smiled. "You two are very similar. Your fighting style, how you hold yourself, how you act and then, there was your father. Everything you did was very reminiscent of her and it brought back memories, painful memories, of her death."

"They wanted to know why I was alive and she wasn't?" Percy questioned, before sighing. They'd kept his sister from him. Something that they truly should have told him.

"That's not the case at all, Percy. You are both unique in your own special way." Chiron smiled, before leading Percy down the hall to another door. He opened it, ushering the younger teenager inside.

It was full of memorabilia, but Percy didn't recognise any of the names on the boxes.

"We keep these things for the demigods who died but had no one left to send their things onto." Chiron stated, leading him to a far corner and opening one of the boxes. He reached inside, before pulling out a photo and handing it to Percy. "That's Freyja."

Percy picked it up gently, looking down at his sister with sad eyes. So this was her. They had the same dark hair and lightly tanned skin, but where his eyes were sea green, hers were crystal blue. It was like looking at a stream in the mountains, or a glacier.

"Wow." Percy muttered, tracing his sister's face as he found tears welling up in his eyes. He could have had an older sister. Ever since he was young, he'd wanted someone to be able to look up to, to protect him and help him with the things that he was forced to learn at a young age. Everyone else had a family, siblings that could help them, but he had no one. Percy had to learn on his own because the only person who could have helped him betrayed camp.

He'd almost had a chance for this, except he'd lost it. All because of a prophecy.

"What was she like?" Chiron looked at the photo, shaking his head and laughing.

"She was a little rough around the edges, a little snappy and quick to argue, but fiercely loyal to her friends." He pressed a hand to the box that had her name on it, beside someone called Wiley's. "Freyja was good at pranks, but you could never quite pin the blame on her and she adored training and fighting. Layla and her were normally sparring with one another, or trying to get Connor and Travis to train. She was good, and kind and very like you."

Percy smiled at the thought, setting the photo back into the box, before looking at the sword above it. He'd only seen one like this once before, in the hands of Nico di Angelo.

"Was that hers?" The blade glinted, the dark iron glowing in the little light provided. 

"Epilogue." Chiron admired it as well. "That was it's name. It was her pride and joy. She loved it."

Percy smiled, holding onto Riptide in his pocket, before turning to ask the question that had been bugging his mind all the while. "Why was she there? On that quest?"

"Well, she was one of the best fighters we had." Chiron admitted, before sighing. "But she was Luke's girlfriend."

"What?"

"They'd been dating for, I believe, two years at that point in time." Chiron shook his head sadly. "He brought her out of his shell, and she helped him get over his grief of losing Thalia. After she died, he was never quite the same. It's my fault truly, I never checked on him after Freyja died, grieving myself, and I suppose that's what drove him to this extreme."

Hiya,

I can not wait for Percy and Freyja to meet, which is gonna be chaos, and Freyja's relationship with Apollo is brilliant. But Artemis is ignoring Freyja now, so that should add some spice to the timeline. I'm super hyped for the next few chapters.

Question of the Day ; Best dad joke that you know?

Let me know what you think,

Love Li xx