Chapter 81

[Third Person's PoV]

The sound of lightning and thunder grew louder and more intimidating, causing some of the other gods on their thrones to look towards the skies apprehensively.

Zeus stood up from the throne, taking hold of his thunderbolt. "That is enough! You have no respect for the gods, you make a mockery out of us and dare to think you can scheme against us without any consequences. At such a young age, such a mentality is dangerous to Olympus."

His lightning bolt crackled with electricity and power. Zeus pulled his thunderbolt back, shocking everyone, including Lucian. He felt cold sweat upon feeling its power, something he hadn't anticipated.

"So with my Authority, I, Zeus, GodKing of Olympus, hereby sentence you to death for the act of killing another God and for your act of disrespect. Do you have any last words, boy?"

Lucian could hear the sound of his heart beating in his own chest. 'This isn't going exactly as I predicted… am I seriously going to die…' Lucian thought, his eyes wide with fear.

'He's right… I haven't been taking the gods seriously at all… and for that, I'm going to pay the price. Well, shit, shit, shit, I'm seriously going to die… I'm gonna die… I'm gonna die…' Lucian repeated the same phrase over and over inside his mind.

Taking a deep breath, Lucian looked up towards Zeus with a defiant look. 'If I'm going down, I won't give him the satisfaction of seeing me in despair.'

Lucian widened his arms, breaking the chains of the cuffs, and spread his arms towards Zeus, grinning furiously. "Do your fucking worst!" he growled with a crazed look as he and Zeus maintained eye contact.

All of the other gods in the back went silent. Ares had a large smile, finding Lucian interesting and pitiful since his life was going to end so early, when he had so much potential.

Zeus just looked at Lucian coldly. "Very well." A white light flashed as Zeus struck down his bolt, causing Lucian to close his eyes and accept his fate.

"That's enough…" Lucian heard four voices say in equal coldness. One of them was male, sounding colder and much more deadly than the other three, sending a shiver down anyone's spine who heard it.

Not feeling any pain and hearing the voices, Lucian's eyes snapped back open. His eyes widened further, seeing the man in front of him.

He had his back turned towards Lucian, wearing a dark purple button-down dress shirt, with dark dress pants, and a helm on his head. He was holding Zeus' wrist, looking at him coldly while his other hand rested in his pockets. Apart from that, there were three glowing golden strings wrapped around Zeus' forearm, being pulled back.

Lucian followed the string, confused as he didn't think he recognized them. They were very beautiful women, one with white hair, another with gray, and the last one, the most beautiful, had black hair. They all glared coldly towards Zeus.

'Who are they?'

"I can understand, You, Hades, for stopping me…" Zeus then looked towards the three and glared back, "But you three as well, Moiria? What's the meaning of this?"

'The Fates!? What happened to the grannies? Did they kick the bucket and these three take their place?'

"It's not his time to die yet," they replied coldly. "You would have been interfering with his fate and the fate of Olympus,"

Athena put on a pondering expression. 'It's him then, he's the child of the prophecy,' she immediately concluded upon hearing them.

Meanwhile, Artemis secretly let out a sigh of relief. 'He isn't dead… wait, why am I feeling relief? What is seriously going on? I'm going to have to research this.'

Zeus scoffed as he whipped his arms free from Hades' grasp, causing the string to unwrap itself and fly back towards the Fates.

Lucian looked towards Hades' back, "So this is Hades... this is my father..."

"You've been coming out from your realm more and more, Hades. I hope you aren't planning something," Zeus glared towards Hades and Lucian.

Hades positioned himself in front of Zeus, blocking his view from Lucian with a scoff. "Oh please, you're the one causing me to leave my realm in the first place with your idiotic decisions."

"You better watch that brat of yours, Hades, and about what you say," Zeus warned.

"Or what?" Hades challenged.

"Be prepared to suffer my wrath," Zeus' eyes sparkled with lightning.

"Oh please, like I'll be scared of that. I'll truly show you why every brother always fears the oldest," Hades declared with a wisp of black smoke slowly escaping his hands.

"Alright, that's enough you two," Poseidon said, putting his hands between them and spreading them apart.

"We aren't children; we are Gods. We don't need to resort to violence to resolve our issues," Poseidon said, looking back and forth between Zeus and Hades.

Zeus scoffed again as he went back and sat on his throne, with Poseidon nodding and doing the same.

"That brat of yours still needs to be punished for his actions," Zeus said, leaning on his fist.

Before Hades had a chance to retort, it was the Moirai who intervened. "He does not. You have no real reason to offer punishment," they said simultaneously.

"And on what do you three base that on?" Zeus asked, looking at them with a raised brow.

"As it has already been said, Lucian killed that God in self-defense. You have no right to hold him accountable," Clotho said, revealing the fact that they had been present since the very beginning.

"As for the matter regarding the golden fruit... if you don't want them stolen, why place them there where they're easily accessible? Put them here on Olympus or something if you don't want them to be taken," Lachesis said while shrugging her shoulders.

"Apart from that, the matter regarding the disrespect... Grow up," Atropos said coldly, looking at Zeus, which took him by surprise.

"If you seriously think what he has done compared to what has been previously done to you all in all of history, his actions are very mild. And if you seriously get outwitted by a 10-year-old child, that says more about your competence than anything else."

A bolt of lightning hit Atropos by her feet, but she didn't seem phased by that and continued looking at Zeus coldly.

"Watch it. You will not be disrespecting me in my own home."

Lucian looked at the three Fates with suspicion, 'What's up with them and their obsession with me? They're not thinking of making me their toy, are they? Where they could do whatever they want with me and make me suffer?'

'Why the hell are we even here!?' Dionysus inwardly groaned, wanting to escape.

"Tell me, what role does he play that you three are willing to protect him?" Zeus asked coldly after regaining his composure rather quickly.

"We can't say," Clotho replied, pulling out a gold string and stretching it between her fingers.

"You, of all people, should know that some fates are better left unsaid. After all, Fate is like a linear path; knowing what's in store for the future ahead of time could have unimaginable consequences," Lachesis explained.

Zeus let out a thunderous groan, "Answer me this, then: does it involve the betterment of Olympus?"

The three sisters looked at each other as if communicating telepathically before turning their gaze towards Zeus. "Yes, it does, but that is all we're willing to share. Anymore and..." Atropos stopped her sentence, letting the empty threat hang in the air.

Zeus narrowed his eyes towards Lucian for a few seconds, causing him to meet Zeus's gaze with his chin held high.

Zeus rubbed his forehead before addressing the other gods, "I want to hear your opinions on the matter first before making a decision."

Hera barely let Zeus finish his words before pointing angrily towards Lucian, "I say off with his head!"

"Bitch," Lucian muttered under his breath.

Luckily, Hades managed to stop his voice from being heard by the other gods. He gave Lucian a side-eye and felt like smacking him upside the head. 'Have you learnt nothing from this experience, brat?' Hades inwardly grumbled.

"I say let the kid be; he's got spunk. I like him," Ares said with an interested look.

Lucian bowed his head towards Ares in appreciation.

"I said it once, and I'll say it again: he's a little cutie. It would be such a shame for him to die so early. I want to see how good he looks when he's older, so I say let the kid be," Aphrodite chimed in.

'Plus, with what's happening with Artemis and him, there's just no way I can allow him to die so early.'

Lucian just smiled towards her, 'Hope you choke on the all the dicks you suck and die, you cock sucking slut'

Aphrodite's eyebrow started to twitch. 'This brat... he's definitely thinking something bad about me,' she inwardly muttered.

"Doing something to him would just lead to more conflict. I say let's drop the matter," Poseidon said with a nod.

Lucian bowed his head in appreciation.

"Let him be and let's get this over with. I just want to spend the little bit of time I have left with my daughter," Demeter said before glaring at Hades.

"Don't even think for a second I'm doing this for you. Persephone just can't seem to shut up about the kid, so if anything happens to him, she'll be sad, which is something I want to try and avoid."

Hephaestus announced, "He spends some of his time inside my children's cabin helping them out with crafting and blacksmithing, making them improve. It would be a shame if something happens which stops him from continuing, so let him be."

"I don't see a reason for anything to happen to him, so let him be," Apollo said quickly.

"Let him be," Artemis said, keeping it short and simple, trying to hide the unexpected emotions blossoming in her heart.

"I couldn't care any less," Dionysus groaned loudly.

"Your words hurt my poor little heart, Mr. D," Lucian said sarcastically.

To which he just scoffed, "You could have a heart attack this very moment for all I care."

"He has impressed me with his wits during the quest, so let him be," Athena said with a nod

Lucian bowed his head in appreciation. "Is there anything you would like me to say to Annabeth on your behalf, Lady Athena?"

Athena just smiled and shook her head. "Just tell me, how is she?"

Lucian put on an awkward expression. "Well… feisty is one word I would use to describe her."

Athena chuckled. "Well, I hope you can continue looking after my daughter, you rebel child."

Lucian just smiled and nodded his head in understanding.

"Luke is good friends with Lucian. If anything happens to him, I doubt he would forgive me," Hermes said with an awkward expression. "So let him be."

Lucian bowed his head in appreciation.

Zeus nodded, seeing their stance on the matter. "Very well... with most of the gods in agreement, Lucian's crimes are hereby forgiven! You are all dismissed," Zeus announced, causing thunder and lightning to resound throughout the room.

"We'll be leaving then," Hades said as he grabbed Lucian by the back of his toga, twisting it slightly and hanging him by the back of his shoulder. "Let's go, boy."

"What–! the hell!? Put me down, old man!" Lucian tried to wiggle out, but Hades just kept him there. Lucian saw some of the gods chuckling as he was leaving, causing him to grow red in the face.

"Oi! You're embarrassing me, old man! This is the first time we're meeting face to face, and this is how you treat me, like some sort of bag! I said release me!"

As Hades walked out, Lucian saw the Fates. The white-haired one blew Lucian a kiss, the gray-haired one wiggled her fingers in farewell, while the black-haired one just winked at him as the door closed behind them. Lucian found it weird that none of the gods reacted to what they did, as if they couldn't see them.

"Oi, old man, I don't care if you're a god or my father. I'll fight you, so you better let me go," Lucian demanded as Hades made his way towards the elevator.

"Lucian…" Hades coldly called out, causing some of Lucian's hair to stand up.

"Yeah…?"

"Shut it."

"Yes, sir," Lucian timidly said as he continued being carried.