Chapter 3

Artemis

I appeared in the throne room shortly after sending the emergency call for a council meeting.  My father, Zeus was the first to appear followed by Hera who gave me a brief glare. After all these years, she was still bitter about my father cheating on her. I understood that, but I didn't really have a say in whether or not I was to be born or not.

Soon enough the rest of the Olympian council took their seats in their thrones.

"My daughter, why have you called us here?" my father asked me.

"I have discovered that both the Huntress and the Hunter constellations are missing from the sky. It is quite worrying. If their constellation isn't there, it means that their soul isn't there either."

Immediately, half of the council went to stare at the sky in search of those constellations. However, they received the same results that I did.

"Yes...this is quite worrying. But where could their souls could have gone?" Zeus asked.

"I was thinking that possibly Krios took them out of the sky. However, he is in Tartarus right now, so that shouldn't be possible," I replied.

"Is it possible to contact Uranus?" Athena questioned. "I believe he is the one that looks after the souls that reside in the sky."

At these questions everyone turned toward Hestia. The goddess of the hearth was the only one out of all of us that kept some contact with the primordial gods.

"I can ask if you want me to," she responded to the looks given to her. "You know, you could simply Iris message them. It isn't that hard."

Grabbing a drachma from a pocket of her dress, she turned towards Poseidon who immediately created some mist.

"O Fleecy, do me a solid," she stated, throwing the coin into the mist while getting several strange looks from the rest of the council. "Show me the primordial god, Uranus."

Soon the translucent mist was replaced by an image.

"Hestia?" Uranus asked. "It has been a while since you have called me. I assume that you didn't Iris message me to chat about the weather."

"No," she replied. "I am afraid not. As you can see, I am here on Olympus in the middle of a meeting."

The figure in the mist shot a glance at the figures in the background.

"Um...well, okay then," he stated, clearly not knowing what to say. "How can I help you?"

I smiled. Although I didn't talk to him often, I liked my great grandfather. He was pretty nice for a male.

"Did you notice the disappearance of a couple of souls in your realm?" Athena questioned. "The constellations known as the Hunter and the Huntress have disappeared. Therefore their souls have vanished as well."

"Wait. What? They're missing?" From the mist he could be seen looking around frantically. "Oh...Yeah...They're not here at the moment..." my great grandfather stated nervously. "Well, I wasn't really paying attention...I was...Well...Um...I was...playing Clash of Clans. I'm sorry," he said, looking ashamed.

"You play? You have to add me to your clan!" my idiotic brother exclaimed.

"Oh yeah! I knew that I forgot to add someone," my great grandfather said, all guilt forgotten.

Athena cleared her throat loudly.

"Oh...um...sorry?" Uranus replied to her strict gaze sheepishly.

"Well, getting back to the problem at hand, I am sure that the Hunter and the Huntress are fine even though I do not know where they are or who took them."

Most of us looked at him questioningly. How did he know if they were safe? There were many things that could harm a soul.

"My new alarm system would have gone off if a malevolent deity entered my realm. That alarm system is pretty good. The alarm is kind of annoying when it goes off though. Anyways, thanks Hephaestus."

He threw a grateful glance towards my half-brother, Hephaestus and the forge god grunted in response.

"Therefore, I can conclude that the being that took them meant no harm. I wouldn't worry," Uranus concluded. "Well, I do not think that I can provide anymore information that is useful. I need to check up on my clan."

With that his image in the mist faded.

"Woah!" My brother exclaimed, glancing at the screen of his IPhone. "That was fast."

I shook my head. There were much more important matters at hand than his stupid clan.

"Perseus and Zoe are missing! Does that not worry you?" I shouted at him, frustrated as well as angry.

"Chillax sis. You heard what Uranus said. They are probably safe somewhere," my brother dismissed my enraged yell.

"Daughter, the Hunter and the Huntress will probably appear sooner or later. You heard Uranus. You shouldn't worry," my father told me.

I looked around the council of gods and goddesses around me. The only one that looked as worried as me was Poseidon. As I glanced at Hestia's face, it almost seemed as if she had a mischievous glint in her warm flame colored eyes. I narrowed my eyes. My aunt knew something. She probably knew where Perseus and Zoe were. If Hestia wasn't worried, then I suppose it was okay. My aunt had good judgment.

I relaxed my tense shoulders.

"Fine," I said tersely. "Hestia, a word."

The goddess of the hearth followed me out of the throne room and out of the gazes of the various gods and goddesses.

"Yes, niece?" my aunt questioned, putting an innocent look on her eight year old face.

"You know something," I stated simply.

All I received in return was a short nod.

"Well, tell me. Where have Zoe and Perseus gone?"

"That would ruin the wishes of the supreme deity," Hestia answered.

My jaw dropped. Chaos. They were with Chaos. For what reason? At least Chaos was a benevolent being. Well, he was a pretty good deity as far as I knew.

But why would he need to take Perseus and Zoe from their place in the sky? I couldn't help but wonder if their disappearance from the sky was linked to the groups of monster attacks. Chaos would have a good reason to take them out of the sky. Was another war coming? If so, against who? These thoughts were quite worrying. Why else would Chaos take those two warriors out of the sky? I suddenly recalled that Perseus was Chaos's champion.

I shook my head. If another battle was coming, then we better be ready.