Chapter 80

[Third Person's PoV]

Lucian curled to the side as a lightning bolt landed right next to him.

"Damn, unc, is that really how you welcome family?"

Lucian heard the sound of beautiful laughter, which was then interrupted by Zeus.

"You Dare Act Such A Way Before the Gods, Boy!" Zeus' thunderous voice resounded throughout the room.

Lucian just closed his eyes and sighed before doing a gentlemanly bow. "Your Grace, Lord Zeus, it's a great and honorable honor to be in your presence. I was just very excited to finally meet the gods I heard so many stories about. I couldn't control my behavior," Lucian said in a very serious manner, surprising the others at how sincere he sounded.

Even Aphrodite, who was laughing earlier, just wiped a tear from the corner of her eyes and sighed.

Meanwhile, Apollo just raised an eyebrow, since as the God of Truth, no lies could escape his sight, and Lucian was clearly lying… But ultimately, he chose not to say anything about it.

Zeus scoffed before nodding his head. "You may raise your head, boy," Zeus demanded.

Lucian nodded and did as he was told. Slowly, he started to look at all the other gods. His expression turned into a grimace as he saw Aphrodite. It was no doubt she was beautiful… but the reason she was beautiful to Lucian was for a different matter. Ever so slightly, her image flickered to that of his mother.

His grimace didn't escape their eyes, causing them to be somewhat confused, but they chose to ignore it. Aphrodite, however, couldn't ignore it.

After all, when any mortal sees her, she's able to detect a hint of lust or love, be it familial, platonic, or just straight up love, towards whoever they see in her. But she didn't detect any of that with Lucian; she felt plain annoyance and irritation.

She smirked as she put a finger near her lips. 'Interesting.'

As Lucian continued looking, he stopped at one of the goddesses…

*Zing*

*Zing*

Lucian grew confused. As soon as he was here, he became fascinated with her. Even if they met before, he suddenly felt extremely attracted to her, but it wasn't in a lustful sense either.

Artemis wasn't any different. 'W-W-What's going on? What is this feeling… It feels so foreign. I didn't have this feeling when I met him earlier!' Artemis inwardly yelled while maintaining an indifferent expression outward.

The only one who noticed something between the two of them was Aphrodite, who nearly leapt out of her throne in surprise. Luckily, she kept herself in check before she embarrassed herself. 'Oh my, Oh my, Oh my, What's this? Why are… they don't fully love each other, but it's there, a spark!' Aphrodite almost started foaming at the mouth.

'FORBIDDEN LOVE! THE ONE THAT ENDS IN A TRAGEDY! MY FAVORITE. I can't believe it, spring has finally come for the prude princess!' Aphrodite started fan-girling about what was occurring between Lucian and Artemis.

Lucian's gaze lingered on Artemis for a while longer before continuing on to follow the other gods. When he looked towards Demeter, she gave him a displeased look.

When his eyes finally landed on Hera, both of their gazes filled with animosity.

But at the end, he couldn't help but be disappointed as he didn't see his father anywhere.

Hermes went and sat down on his throne before Zeus then asked in a dignified voice, "Do you know why you're here?"

Lucian looked down, brought his hands together, before extending them, showing handcuffs that were tying his hands together.

"N-N-No, sir. Please have Mercy, I'm just a 10-year-old boy, I don't know any better," Lucian said in a small, scared, childish voice, with tears pooling in his eyes.

"Drop the act. Don't think we don't know how you truly are," Hera coldly said, causing Lucian to look to the side and click his tongue.

"I plead the fifth, your honor," Lucian said, raising his hand while they were still cuffed.

"You are making a mockery out of us, boy! I told you to show some respect. Stop acting foolish; you are to be punished for eliminating a God, such is a very serious offense," Zeus said as the sound of thunder and lightning reverberated all around.

"Don't forget about the theft of my golden apples; they are the properties of the gods," Hera added.

"Lord Zeus, I have my rights to the sixth amendment, thus I can't say anything without a lawyer present," Lucian said, 'Woah do I hate calling him Lord Zeus, eughhh.'

Dark thunderous clouds appeared overhead as a lightning bolt shot down from the skies, striking Lucian where he stood.

Lucian gritted his teeth as he felt the lightning pulse through his body. Lucian almost knelt down as he felt the lightning continue coursing through his skin. As one of his knees almost gave out, he bit his lip to keep himself sane and readjusted his footing, standing back up.

"Father, I believe that's enough!" Athena said.

"Yes, father, that's too much. Please stop," Artemis called in, unable to bear seeing him hurt.

As the lightning stopped, steam flowed up from Lucian's body while he stood up straight, straightening his back.

'If I didn't drink the stuntman potion, I think some of my skin would have been burnt off,' Lucian thought with a serious expression.

Not seeing any injuries on Lucian left all the other gods stunned, even impressed.

"Next time, the punishment for your insolence shall be far greater," Zeus said with authority.

Lucian just looked at Zeus without any expression on his face, before sighing and lowering his head slightly. 'Keep it together, keep it together, keep it together, bow with my head not with my being, after all it's all an act…' Just then, Lucian felt a part of the stuntman potion being digested.

'Stuntman, even through the pain pushes forward and continues acting while keeping it together, holding back their pain and discomfort.'

"Lord Zeus, I know you are fair and just, so please let me plead my case and explain myself."

'He's lying again,' Apollo thought.

Zeus leaned back, resting an elbow on the throne and his head on his fist. "Fine, speak. If your story does not please me, your punishment shall increase even further."

"For the matter of Ourae, he attacked us first. We were provoked into fighting him. I stayed behind to fight him to give Luke, Thalia, and Annabeth a chance to go ahead and complete their quest," Lucian explained.

"Apollo," Zeus called out.

"He's telling the truth…" Apollo confirmed.

Lucian continued, "I had to finish him off, otherwise he wouldn't have given us a chance to rest or let the others complete the mission in peace."

"Truth once again," Apollo stated.

"I see…" Zeus said with a hand on his chin.

Athena then intervened, "Lord Zeus, may I have permission to speak?"

Zeus looked at Athena before nodding his head, "Go ahead."

"It's a great offense for a demigod to attack a god, yes, but it's also a great crime for a god to attack demigods without any provocation," Athena said in a serious manner.

"So are you saying he should be forgiven…" Zeus said, looking at Athena with narrow eyes.

"I'm saying that both crimes cancel each other out, instead of forgiven, it's more like his crime turned null, having never existed in the first place," Athena explained.

"That's all fine and dandy, but don't forget about the golden apples he stole! I demand them back! They're my property in the first place!" Hera screeched.

"Sorry," Lucian said with a smirk as he looked at Hera, shrugging his shoulders, "But that's impossible. I can't give them back to you."

"And why is that!" Hera once again screeched.

"Because I don't have them, I'm sorry to say, but they're not mine. I can't possibly give you something that doesn't belong to me," Lucian explained with a smirk.

"He's… He's telling the truth," Apollo confirmed in astonishment.

"WHAT!" Hera roared. "What did you do!" Hera demanded to know.

Lucian beamed a smile at her. "I gave them all away. I can't return something that isn't with me or in my possession…"

Lucian then felt all the stuntman potion being digested, causing him to close his eyes and bask in the feeling.

'I took a risk when coming here, that much is obvious. It would be stupid of me if I believed I would come out of this without a scratch. I knew they would demand the apples back, I couldn't let that happen, so I formally gave them to Annabeth when Hermes called for me.

She owns those golden apples, no matter from what angle you look at it, those apples don't belong to me… and that's the true essence of a stuntman.

Stuntmen know they are taking risks, but do you just charge in through? Of course not. You make preparations, a safety net, so to say, you plan ahead while knowing you're going to be hurt in the process.

I made more preparations for what's to come as well, so when all the preparations and safety nets are in place, you can act without fear…' Lucian thought as he teasingly smirked towards Hera.

*************************

A/N: He DiGeStEd It ToO qUiCkLy, Stfu

I previously said he's been studying the essences of a stuntman for a whole year right? So let it be, it's all part of the plan 😤