First Lie || Deception Book I ||

The Thief Pt. 1

Olympus looked as pristine as ever, with the white and gold buildings and exquisite flora. However, the atmosphere seemed more charged than normal. I stopped in front of the council room, bracing myself. Zeus was in a stormy mood this close to the solstice, and who knew if he'd zap me.

"Better go in," someone whispered from behind me.

My dagger was in my hand in an instant and I whirled around, blade first, and would have decapitated Apollo if he hadn't ducked.

I dropped my dagger. "Oh my gods, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to. . ."

Apollo slowly stood up. "Good to see that you're as cranky as ever, Clari."

I sheathed my knife. "Hmph. One would think that after twelve years, you'd know to not scare me."

"Ah, so you were scared," Apollo smirked.

"Nope," I replied. "Startled maybe. Not scared."

He rolled his eyes. "Go in before Zeus throws a hissy fit."

I sighed. "Way to ruin my day." I nudged open the door, Apollo slipping in behind me.

All the gods were already here and everyone's face was carefully blank. Artemis nodded at me in reassurance and I took a deep breath before kneeling. "Lord. May I ask, where's my mother?"

"She has a business to deal with," Hermes answered. "She told me to give you her love and to be careful, and good luck."

I nodded. "Thanks."

There was a beat of silence, then Zeus finally spoke. "Clarianna, I've called you here today to report your discoveries."

Oh, fantastic. More like an interrogation. I sighed, then launched into an account of everything that had happened since my mother had dropped me off in front of st. Anne's orphanage. I described meeting Ally, Grover, Chiron, and then Alecto, the training with Ally, the museum trip and Alecto again, searching for Percy and the encounter with the Minotaur, and finally, my arrival at camp.

I paused before I mentioned Luke. I didn't want to say anything that might cause the gods to strike him down but at the same time, I had a job to do. Right now, I was experiencing an internal struggle of what to say, and it was giving me a headache. He was starting to grow on me. On the other hand, he was with Kronos.

"Clarianna?" Athena asked. "You got to camp safely with Grover, Ally, and Percy. What then?"

I made my choice. "We got settled in and nothing happened for the next few days. Training with the Hermes cabin and such. Then, on Friday's capture the flag, a trio of hellhounds attacked Percy. Thankfully, Ally and I, along with Chiron, solved the issue. But the question is, why would Hades have someone summon hellhounds?"

"Because he wants the bolt," Poseidon grumbled from his seat.

"But his helm is gone, too," Demeter reminded him.

"Unless he faked that," Hephestus added.

"It's possible," Athena mused thoughtfully. "But Hades doesn't have any children."

"He has the helm," Poseidon countered. "As long as someone could have turned invisible, they could have easily done it. He could simply ask anyone to do it."

Athena shot up and glared at Poseidon. "Are you accusing my daughter?"

Oh, shit. This was not going to end well.

"Guys, shut up," Artemis interjected. "Pointless arguing will get us nowhere."

Thank the gods. "It wasn't Annabeth, Lord Poseidon," I said carefully. "Though Hades could be the one who ordered a demigod to steal it, he didn't do it through Annabeth, and I don't see why Hades would do that."