Chapter Text
The crystal nexus, as the news was starting to call it, shone brightly in the sky above New Olympus. It’s crystal like appearance sent rainbow light arching into the air in a beautiful display. The fact it was brightest over New Olympus, a city quoted as one of the most beautiful in Canada with its neo-traditional Greek architecture and inclination for art-nouveau decoration, made influencers, celebrities and brands race to its location in hopes of using it for clout or to get the ‘unique’ shot they all desperately wanted.
Neil slurped on his iced coffee obnoxiously as he relaxed on a sun bed by the penthouse pool, watching the nexus with sharp eyes. Whilst he was used to good accommodation when the Nexus had erupted his managed had been inundated with pleas for him to do a modelling job or advertisement in New Olympus. The brilliant manager she was Adeline had taken them for all they were worth before finally deciding on a reputable and famous jewellery brand that had promised him not only a hefty pay-check but also top-notch accommodation.
He had arrived at five in the morning and had been shooting all day and, needless to say, the brand was ecstatic with the result, as his clients always were.
However, he was far from happy.
When he had first seen the pictures of the nexus he had been over the fucking moon, so excited to get out here and do a shoot in front of something so beautiful. When he had seen the thing in the flesh however, well, the only way he could describe it was like being suddenly faced with your own mortality. Dread inducing, anxiety causing and downright unpleasant.
It had taken all his experience to get through the shoot today, to force himself to smile perfectly and complete his job as quickly as possible so he could retreat to his hotel room and enjoy the paid weekend holiday. Luck had been on his side once more, thankfully.
He had managed to get it done by noon, grabbed some coffee and was now relaxing at a lovely pool.
If only he could get rid of that ugly nexus.
He groaned, turning over to tan his back, determined to ignore the source of his anxiety and hopefully sleep off his headache. This allowed the figure who just entered the hotel room to slowly make her way to the balcony, studying him with bright eyes as they slowly approached.
“Hey pretty boy, I thought you would be a little while longer. I would have waited for you if I knew you’d be back so soon.” Came the lyrical voice of the teen who stood by him and Neil immediately perked up, twisting his head to face her with a bright and true smile.
“Orella!”
Orella Konstantinidis was the only other person his age Neil would say was as beautiful as him, both inside and out. With a Greek father and Lebanese mother, her skin was a light brown colour matched by long thick curly dark brown hair and bright green eyes. She was a head shorter than him but equally as muscled, they took all their classes together of course. She was currently dressed in a pair of soft pink fabric shorts and a white tank-top, her hair done up tightly in a thick braid and carrying something wonderful smelling along with two huge drinks.
He quickly sat up and moved aside on the sun bed, letting her get comfortable and set down her presents, quickly digging his gentle and experienced fingers into her braid to begin untangling it.
Orella was his best friend after all, he would do anything for her.
“So where were you, young lady.” He asked jokingly and Orella sighed loudly as she relaxed back, letting him gently release her hair from its braid and giving a little sigh of relief as he did.
“Well after trying a failing to get some more sleep, I decided that making sure you had lunch would be the best thing. So, I grabbed one of the bodyguards and we went hunting for a good restaurant and managed to find this pretty nice BBQ place. I got lunch for them to so he was pretty happy.” She said with a wide smile and Neil grinned as his loosened the last bit of the braid, running his fingers through her scalp to make sure no knots were trapped there and that the hair was no longer being pulled, letting it relax back into its natural wavy curls.
“So, what you get me.” He asked, chinning at her shoulder until she snorted.
“Only a strawberry chocolate milkshake, double fried fries, a double cheese burger and fried pickles and onion rings to share. Oh, also I found a French bakery which sold Breton butter cake.”
Neil gave a shrill excited noise and hugged Orella tightly to his chest, smile wide on his face.
“Babe! Thank you!” He said, truly grateful and already feeling the negative energy fade away as he held her.
“It’s fine Neil, I think we were both having pretty bad days so I thought we could use a treat.” She said honestly and Neil immediately paused and focused in on the tiredness he heard in her voice. Neil had often been accused of being self-involved or selfish, unempathetic. The truth was that he was just selective with who he cared for. Orella was the one with the big fat heart who hurt for everyone, Neil was the asshole who let only those worthy close to them. Orella was one of the people at the top of his list, so intertwined in his heart he could usually tell instantly when something was wrong.
But clearly, he had missed something this time.
“Orella, what’s wrong?”
She bit her lip, eyes looking at the floor until she finally sighed and looked at him.
“It’s stupid.”
“it’s not stupid if it’s making you feel bad. I feel bad too for something stupid so I can’t really judge.”
Orella sighed, puffing her cheeks before she spoke.
“I didn’t want to bother you because you seemed to tired but ever since we got here and I saw that thing in the sky…” and Neil went rigid “Well I’ve just felt really anxious. I could not get a wink of sleep earlier while you were working. I feel like there’s an axe over my head or something.” She said with a groan and Neil gave a disbelieving noise.
“Oh my god, you too?! I’ve felt the same all day, it’s awful.” Neil confessed and Orella turned her wide eyes to him before laughing.
“That’s a relief, I thought I was going crazy.” She said with relief and Neil shook his head before letting it rest on her shoulder.
“At least we’d be crazy together.” He said and she smiled at him before a look of determination on her face.
“Ok, plan. We go inside and shut all the curtains, eat our food, and try to get some sleep. Mom managed to get us two days here so we may as well try and enjoy it. Even if it’s just by abusing room service and watching shit tv.” She said and Neil was up and grabbing the food and her wrist before she even finished.
“Come on then! We need to call the momager and tell her I’m all done anyway!”
“Mom hates it when you call her that.”
“Lies, she loves it really.” Neil said breezily, dragging his best friend inside and away from the Nexus and back inside, completely unaware of the man far below studying their room with piercing and deadly golden eyes and a wide terrible smile.
Within the corridors of the famed New Olympus high school there was a door.
It was not considered an important door by the school populace, a simple wooden door emblazoned with the words ‘Janitor’s closet’ in bright gold. The student populace and many of the staff never paid much attention to it, passing by it daily and never once even regarding it with more than a glance out of the corner of their eyes.
But they were never meant to.
If they did, they would notice how the door always seemed to be shut, that a janitor never appeared from its depths, and that the lock upon it was strange and unique. Only a rare few had access to this door and 6 of them currently stood within the realm it led to, listening to a person none of them ever thought could be real.
Hera regarded the six new heroes with sharp and sad eyes. The heroes of the past had been adults in their prime, fully prepped and trained, and never had they had to face something quite as terrible as this. Even Hera herself shuddered at the thought of her father and now they were sending children to fight their battle for them.
But the Oracle of Delphi had been clear, and to go against her warnings would mean death for them all. Kronos already knew of the prophecy and she could either train these new heroes or leaved them to her father’s wrath.
The choice was easy and clear to her.
Jay stared back at the Goddess with a sense of awe and disbelief. All the legends his mother had taught him since birth, all the tales and stories he had grown up with were real. Actual gods and goddesses stood around them, they had fought the Titan Kronos.
He was the descendent of Jason. Leader of the Argonauts, the man who found the Golden Fleece.
And now he was meant to be a hero. It was almost too much to even comprehend. Thankfully before his mind could spiral down into a complete mental meltdown Hera spoke.
“You did well today young heroes.” She said, a sad smile on her lips but pride in her eyes, regarding them all. Instantly Archie scoffed, eyes down and shoulders tense as he spoke.
“Are you kidding, we nearly got creamed out there.” He said, voice scathing and despondent and all of them internally winced. They had barely managed to get away from this guy for the first time and they were expected to defeat him?
Areas interrupted with a loud sharp laugh.
“Don’t be too hard on yourself kid! You did fine especially considering you lot are mostly untrained. Going against something like Typhoeus and Kronos and coming out alive? That’s no small feat!” He shouted encouragingly, slapping Archie's shoulders roughly and nearly sending him off the sofa.
“Especially considering you are also missing two of your group.” Athena continued, countenance calmer than her brothers and Jay immediately turned to her with wide eyes.
“Where are they then? They are out there right now with no idea what’s coming for them!” he said desperately, and Atlanta turned to the gods anxiously.
“Yeah Kronos could already have them!”
The group of teens erupted into questions, voices overlapping each other as they got louder.
“Calm yourselves young heroes!” Hera finally interrupted, voice cutting through their anxious questioning in a way only an experienced queen could perfect. “Your fellow heroes are well; their mentors are keeping a keen eye on them and they are safe for now.”
“Their mentors?” Herry questioned, looking around at the accumulated gods curiously.
“Us darling us!” Aphrodite said excitedly, gesturing to herself the Apollo “Me and Polly been keeping an eye on the little darlings since we got the news of Kronos’s escape.”
“What Aphrodite is saying is that we know where they are, it is only a matter of reaching them before Kronos does.” Apollo said, interrupting his sister before she could begin cooing over her hero.
“Little Neil and Orella are just darlings! Neil is a model in the making you know, been modelling since he was little, it’s how he met Orella!” Aphrodite cooed like a proud mother and Apollo smiled.
“Wait they know each other?” Jay asked.
“A Chance of fate, Orella’s mother is a popular agent and she managed to snag Neil when he was starting out so he and Orella grew up together. She often travels with him on his jobs and the pair have rarely been apart since they met as children.” Apollo explained.
“Just look at them!” Aphrodite said excitedly, gesturing at the centre of the room.
Suddenly an image appeared in the centre of the group showing the image of two distinct people. One was a tall and handsome young man, skin perfectly bronzed, with golden curls and bright blue eyes and pearly white teeth. He was fit, but not overly muscled, the perfect balance that made him startling and alluring. However, model like he looked however, was shattered by the smile on his face, natural and wide eyes bright with joy. He was leaning against his companion, a young woman a head and a half shorter than him. Her skin was a lovely light brown shade, which complimented her wild dark brown curls and bright green eyes. She was muscled like her friend, and curvaceous, with legs that went on for miles.
Both teens were beautiful and graceful in a way that made them all feel pale and awkward in response and all six would never admit to gaping at the sight of them.
“Aren’t they just darling!” Aphrodite squealed, Apollo sighing in delighted paternal agreement.
The group of teens simply looked at each other awkwardly and turned their attention back to Hera.
“So, who are they the descendants of anyway? Perseus? Bellerophon?” Archie asked.
“Neil and Orella are the descendent of Narcissus and Orpheus.” Hera told them, smiling indulgently at the two images.
“Are you kidding me!” Odie sighed, Atalanta and Herry groaning in agreement.
“No offence Hera, but how is a pretty boy and a musician gonna help us?” Archie questioned, wincing when Aphrodite and Apollo turned to glare at him, but Hera simply laughed in amusement.
“Winning a battle is not all up to pure strength my young heroes. The ability to be creative, intuition, the ability to charm and persuade, to trick your enemy and yes even a bit of luck are al necessary skills that these two have in spades. Narcissus and Orpheus were Argonauts in their own right, each skilled in their own ways. Narcissus was Tyche’s beloved son, Aphrodite’s grandson, and he was brilliantly lucky and a quick shot unlike any other, he was also able to charm anyone he met with a few words, very agile and good with ranged weapons like throwing daggers. Orpheus was a son of the Muse Calliope and grandson of Apollo. He musically gifted yes but also a natural diplomat, a prophet in his own right and naturally intuitive, though he tried to avoid fighting he was excellent with a spear and shield. You all have your talents, and though it may not be as obvious, these two have talents that will help you win this fight, without them you will not succeed.” She told them and the group stood straighter in attention, shifting guiltily.
“You’re right Hera, we’re sorry.” Theresa said and the Queen of the gods smiled.
“Your lack of understanding is only natural. You are young, untrained. Most of you are unfamiliar with the tales of Greece and its heroes. I simply ask you keep an open mind. Our success will require all your skills and talents, and your ability to work together. You have a great destiny ahead of you, one that we will do all we can to fulfil and ensure your success. For now, focus on retrieving your teammates, we shall work out the rest later.”
“So where are they, and why couldn’t you guys grab them?” Odie questioned.
“Neil and Orella have bodyguards and were being watched closely whilst he was working, luckily he finished quickly, and both are currently at the Lotus Hotel just across town.” Hermes explained “You will need to go in and get them, we have transport waiting for you outside.”
“Come on then guys, we have no idea when Kronos will strike next. Let’s go!” Jay yelled and the other five teens leapt to their feet with smiles on their faces, racing after Hermes as he lead them away, leaving behind hopeful and worried gods.
Would this fail before it could even begin, they wondered, or would all their hopes be realised?
Only time would tell.