Chapter Text
The first thing Athena noticed when she woke up was the pain. She was no stranger to pain, she’d felt its sting before during training and combat. However, she usually knew the reason for her pain, that wasn’t the case this time. A spark of annoyance popped in her forehead as she tried to avoid letting out a pained moan.
She sat up in her bed, wincing at the aching in her back and neck as the sheets fell from around her body. It felt like she’d been body-slammed by Ares the night before. She was honestly tempted to just flop back down and bury her face in her pillows. Maybe a few extra hours of sleep would do her some good, hopefully it’d take the infernal pain away entirely.
Sleeping in wasn’t something she did all too often, it always seemed like a waste of time when the bigger picture was considered. She could barely remember the last time she even slept in, all she knew was that the last time had been years ago during the Titan War, when the stress of fighting a war was getting to her.
At the same time, she couldn’t help but think about her pain. She’d heard about back pain in the mortal world, particularly the kind that came with sleeping wrong or getting old. However, neither of those things could be the cause in this case. It was concerning.
As a goddess, she didn’t suffer the same physical ailments that mortals often complained about. For starters, her body couldn’t age, that was the reason why she never had wrinkles unless she wanted them. In terms of sleeping wrong, she made sure that never happened, she always slept in the most optimal way possible. Not to mention, she never did anything wrong, that just wasn’t in her nature, it didn’t matter how mundane the task was at hand, it was always done correctly.
Athena looked around her room, her eyes passing the lines of bookshelves and art pieces that she’d personally crafted before landing on her mirror. She frowned when she got a good look at herself.
She was in teenaged form, not any older than nineteen. Changing form in her sleep wasn’t exactly the weirdest thing that had ever happened to her, she recalled turning into an owl once because of a rather vivid dream. Not to mention, other gods had the same problem, like the time Poseidon accidentally transformed into a great white shark while he was napping during one of Zeus’s boring speeches or the time Hephaestus woke up in the form of a DeWalt cordless drill next to Aphrodite.
However, it wasn’t the new form that disturbed her. It was the bags under her eyes and the absolutely horrid state her hair was in. Her hair pointed in all sorts of different directions, it was like she’d been zapped in her sleep. The bags under her eyes made her look like a highschooler who’d been woken up far too early. Thankfully, she wasn’t developing acne. She could make do with looking like a teenager but living like one was far too much.
She wasn’t a stickler for beauty, at least, not when compared to someone like Aphrodite, but she still cared about how she looked. Being called ugly would only draw the worst reaction out of her just like it would with any other goddess, even the ugly ones.
Climbing out of bed, Athena hissed when her feet landed on the cold marble floor. Now that she thought about it, her entire room was far too cold. She didn’t recall changing the temperature the night before but now it felt like she’d woken up in the middle of Siberia. The goosebumps forming all over her exposed ivory skin were only further proof of her discomfort.
She sighed and waved her hand. Her appearance should’ve changed in an instant to how she always looked, regal and beautiful. Yet shortly after she waved her hand, nothing happened. She blinked at herself in the mirror. She was still a teenager, still had blonde hair, and still looked horrible. She waved her hand again, only to get the same result.
It didn’t take long for frustration to set in. She waved her hand in front of her face like an idiot before finally giving up. She stomped over to her wardrobe and threw it open to reveal all sorts of different clothes like her signature white toga to various different military uniforms. The idea floated around in her mind that she could be getting pranked, perhaps Hermes placed some sort of spell on her clothes to make it so she couldn’t summon them. It wouldn’t have been the first time she’d been a victim of his.
Plucking out her toga, she expertly put it on. If this was some sort of prank, Hermes left her intelligence intact thankfully. Now all she needed to do was find that annoying god and ring his neck a couple of times until he reversed whatever stupid spell he’d set upon her.
Speaking of doing harm to her immortal family, Athena quickly realized her weapons were nowhere to be seen. Her anger faded into concern as she looked all over her room for her spear and shield. She knelt down and looked under her bed and of course found nothing, it was a dumb idea but she had to check. Usually, she had her weapons neatly hung up on the wall but they weren’t there.
Sitting back up and running a hand through her hair, she couldn’t help but worry. Sure, not being able to use her magic in order to dress herself was annoying but missing her weapons was an entirely different monster. Her weapons weren’t just for show, they had some power to them, power that could very easily be abused. Very few people knew the extent of her weapons’ powers and even fewer knew how to use them. She really didn’t want some moron accidentally shooting down an airliner with her spear if she could help it.
By now, she was convinced that all of this was nothing but the work of Hermes. Thievery, pranks, all of those were a part of his domain. Not to mention, he had a keen interest in irritating her for some reason. It seemed like he chose to target the few people who just couldn’t stand being pranked. She thought he would’ve learned his lesson after she threw him off Olympus after his last prank but it appeared he’d learned absolutely nothing. Perhaps a few weeks tied up in a swamp would get the lesson across.
After searching for a while, she gave up. It was abundantly clear that her weapons were nowhere in her room. She wasn’t even sure if they were in her temple either. For all she knew, they were sitting in a dumpster in some nasty New York alleyway.
With a determined glint in her eyes and gritted teeth, she stormed out of her room. There was going to be Tartarus to pay for whoever was responsible for her shitty morning.
Ω
When Athena finally reached the throne room, she was filled with the hope that she might finally get some answers. Frankly, part of her had hoped this was all just a prank. During her walk through Olympus, she couldn’t help but think about what else could be causing all of these things to happen to her but nothing came to mind. All she knew was that something had happened to her powers and divinity, whatever it was wasn’t good.
Her sandals slapped the marble as she ascended the steps towards the throne room doors. Now that she was in teenaged form, she totally understood what the demigods meant when they said the throne room doors were comically huge. Even now, she couldn’t help but think that if the gods weren’t as tall as they were the doors would look impractical.
Once she reached the doors, she took a deep breath. She could already tell she was going to do quite a lot of yelling, especially if Hermes started acting dumb.
She placed her palms on the doors and started to push, expecting them to fly open like they always did. Instead of flying open though, she was surprised to find they weren’t budging. She pushed harder and harder, only for the doors to stay put like they themselves were pushing back against her. It was as if someone had taken a tube of super glue, no, an entire bucket of super glue and greased the hinges.
“What is going on here?!” She shouted, slamming her fist against the hard wood of the doors.
The doors rumbled like they were laughing at her punch. She stepped back and stared at them with wide eyes, hoping they didn’t fall on top of her. She wasn’t sure if she could die in this form and she really didn’t want to find out.
Then with a loud creak, the doors slowly swung open.
The inside of the throne room was much quieter than usual. Usually, it was filled with the sounds of laughter and bickering. Even in the mornings, the throne room was usually buzzing. It made sense for Olympus to hover above New York City, neither city seemed to ever go to sleep. This time though, there was only the quiet cackling of the hearth and a couple of hushed voices whispering to one another.
Stepping into the throne room, Athena was instantly greeted to the sight of several empty thrones. It was like every god and goddess was on vacation except for two.
Zeus was sitting on his throne like always, she often wondered if he ever left his throne save for during wartime. He was dressed in a simple sky-blue toga that was slightly parted to reveal two muscular calves. His beard was a cloud, billowing from his chin down to his upper chest. He looked exactly like how most artists painted him, old yet muscular with that dangerous gleam in his electric blue eyes. His master bolt rested on his lap, sparking and crackling with enough electricity to vaporize an entire city, just the general shape was enough to make anyone weary of its power.
Hera sat to his right on her own throne, one leg lazily crossed over the other. Unlike Zeus, her toga was a pure white. She looked like the model American housewife on some random TV drama. Her walnut brown hair was tied in a bun, save for a few strands dangling down near her eyes. Her eyes themselves were more subdued than her husband’s but there was still something in them that would’ve made anyone with common sense uneasy, especially Athena. She wasn’t wearing any makeup and frankly she didn’t need to. If only her personality was as pleasant as her appearance.
“Athena.” Zeus nodded at her, “What brings you here?”
“I need to speak with Hermes.” She said in a matter-of-fact tone. Normally, her requests were more polite but this was not the time for such mannerisms.
He cocked an eyebrow, “Hermes? What quarrel would you have with him?”
Athena glanced at the empty throne of the messenger god. He had a lot of nerve to pull something like this and leave. She turned back to Zeus, “I believe I am being pranked.”
“How so?” Zeus asked.
“Well, it appears my divinity has been completely weakened. I can’t even use the most basic of godly abilities. Not to mention, I couldn’t open the throne room doors.” She said.
“Hm.” Hera hummed with an amused smile. Athena narrowed her eyes at her, of course she’d be content with this. That goddess had been holding a grudge against her for thousands of years but it only intensified after the Apple of Deceit had reformed a summer ago.
Zeus rubbed his chin, “This is troubling. I can sense your divinity but it is much weaker. You seem to have the same amount of power as a demigod.”
“Can you restore me?” She asked, an almost desperate tone taking over her normally stoic voice.
He shook his head, “I’m afraid not. I’m not the one responsible for your loss of divinity and I don’t know the cause for it.”
Athena clenched her fists. It annoyed her beyond belief knowing that she couldn’t tell him what the cause was because she didn’t know it either. She’d never dealt with something like this so falling back on prior experience wasn’t an option. However, she needed to do something, she couldn’t just mope around Olympus and hope her divinity would somehow return.
“I have to do something.” She said, “I can’t just stand by and let this go on.”
“Neither can we.” Hera agreed. For a moment, Athena was surprised. Maybe she’d found an unlikely ally in her but that thought was cut short when she said, “The celebration of Kronos’s defeat draws near and we must have all gods in attendance. Seeing as how you are no longer a goddess, that means your throne is vacant. We must fill the vacancy.”
“You can’t be serious.” Athena growled, “I have served Olympus faithfully since my birth, replacing me would be the most unwise move you’ve ever made.”
“Perhaps it’s unwise to you. I see it differently.” Hera sneered, her tone dripping with enough venom to make even a rattlesnake blush.
There were no words that could describe the sheer hatred that Athena held for Hera. She had many enemies but she was perhaps the most annoying one she’d ever had to face. Ever since her birth, the matriarch of Olympus had always had it out for her. She always saw her as nothing more than an unwelcome byproduct of one of Zeus’s many affairs. Even despite everything she’d done, Hera still looked down upon her.
Zeus sighed, “Unfortunately, Hera is correct. Your position is too important to be left vacant. I’m sorry but we must—”
“Don’t replace me.” Athena cut him off sharply. She knew it wasn’t wise to interrupt him while he was speaking but she also knew if she didn’t speak up, she was going to lose everything. She caught Zeus’s quirked eyebrow and sighed, “My apologies but I have an idea.”
Hera scoffed and crossed her arms, “Perhaps replacing you would be for the best. Maybe there’s a more polite and respectful goddess out there.”
“Silence, I want to hear her suggestion.” Zeus scolded before motioning for Athena to go on.
She smiled gratefully, “I propose a quest. I still have the power of a demigod so I can lead it myself. Just give me until midnight before the celebrations and I will find a way to restore myself.”
Zeus rubbed his forehead, “Well, the celebration is only two months away. You do realize you are taking on a monumental task, correct? This quest of yours may very well be impossible to complete, even if you had more time.”
“Exactly.” Hera said, “You must also be aware that this quest of yours must be approved by the gods to begin with. That means we must have a vote.”
Athena clenched her fists so hard she could feel her nails splitting the skin of her palms. She didn’t care what she needed to do, she was going to get her divinity back whether Olympus approved or not. She never backed down from challenges before and she wasn’t about to start now.
“Call your vote.” She challenged.
Hera shrugged, “So be it,” she nodded to Zeus, “Call the gods.”
Zeus grunted and shortly after, a loud roar of thunder shook the ceiling of the throne room. The constellations on the ceiling danced like they were about to fall to the floor and the pillars themselves trembled.
The flames of the hearth rose sharply before shooting out of the hearth and onto the floor. The flames danced and expanded until taking the form of a little girl. Then as quickly as they shot out of the hearth, they returned back to their normal state, leaving Hestia sitting on the floor. Athena couldn’t help but smile, of course she’d be the first to appear. Hestia smiled back at her and for a second, everything felt alright.
Soon the other thrones started to fill up. Some gods chose to flash in with impatient looks on their faces, no doubt irritated with the summons. Others appeared on their thrones with more dramatic flairs, like Poseidon forming out of a nearby fountain or Ares appearing on his throne to the sound of jet engines. The only god missing was Hades, who either wasn’t invited or didn’t care enough to show up.
It felt like an eternity but finally all of the gods had arrived. A couple gave Athena weird looks like they’d sensed something off about her. The weirdest of looks came from Artemis, who tensed up in her throne shortly after her arrival.
“Is there a reason we’ve been called?” Dionysus groaned. His eyes were bloodshot and his curly hair was all over the place. His leopard shirt was unbuttoned in some spots like he’d struggled to put it on. “Some of us do like to sleep in, you know?”
“Yeah, I was in the middle of something.” Ares complained.
“Not starting another war, were you?” Hera chided in a motherly tone. Ares’s silence was all she needed for an answer.
“You’ve all been called here for a very important reason.” Zeus said, “Athena has lost her godhood.”
A few of the gods murmured amongst themselves while some stared at her with wide and disbelieving eyes. Even Poseidon looked shocked and he usually pretended she didn’t exist or went out of his way to annoy her.
“How did this happen?” Artemis demanded as she reached for her hunting knife at her hip, “Who was responsible?”
Athena smiled, leave it to her old friend to instantly seek justice on her behalf. At least she had one friend on Olympus. She wasn’t too sure about the rest of the Olympians, she had plenty of enemies.
“We aren’t sure.” Zeus said, glancing over at Hermes, “We have theories but I will not sow discord amongst us by sharing them. Instead, we are here to vote on whether or not Athena should be allowed to embark on a quest to hopefully restore her godly status.”
“I vote in favor.” Artemis said without hesitation.
“Are we allowed to abstain?” Demeter asked, “This is none of my business and it has no effect on me whatsoever.”
Athena tried to hide her irritation by biting her lip. She never really considered herself friends with Demeter but she didn’t recall any bad blood between them either.
Zeus sighed, “You may abstain but if we tie, you must vote.”
Dionysus groaned and put his head down, “I abstain. Wake me whenever.”
“Really picking up some bad habits from the demigods, aren’t you?” Hermes chuckled. A snore was all he got in response, much to his amazement. He shook his head and turned to Zeus, “I vote yes. Pranking Athena is timeless form of entertainment and I’d rather not lose it.”
Athena huffed, she was glad he found her entertaining. He was going to be the first target of her quest.
“Well, she hasn’t really done anything to upset me so I vote in favor.” Apollo said, “Besides, I totally get it.”
Ares snorted, “I’ve been waiting for something like this for a long time. I vote no, you bird-brained punk—”
“Enough!” Zeus thundered, “You’ve made your point.” He looked to the few remaining gods, “Your votes?”
Aphrodite smiled and Athena’s heart dropped into her stomach. Her smile was anything but friendly. It was the type of smile that someone had when they were about to make someone else’s life so much harder. It wasn’t exactly a surprise when she said, “I vote no. Consider that revenge for the Apple.”
Athena gritted her teeth. “You act like I stole the Apple from you.”
“You tried.” She sang before taking out a pocket mirror and admiring her appearance.
“Hephaestus?” Zeus moved on.
Hephaestus leaned forward in his throne. His mechanical eye seemed to zoom in and out. He looked over at Aphrodite, much to Athena’s disappointment. She had hoped that he would vote in favor of their friendship and shared collaboration on certain projects but alas, happy wife happy life.
“I vote in favor.” He said, much to her and Aphrodite’s surprise. She made a mental note to thank him later.
“Very well. Hera? Poseidon?” Zeus said.
Poseidon leaned on his forearm and stared at Athena. She couldn’t help but feel the urge to scream at him. She already knew how he was going to vote, he might as well just come out and say it.
Perhaps that was why she was surprised when he said, “I vote yes.”
“Surprising. I figured you’d vote no like me considering your past together.” Hera said, sounding more amused than angry.
“I have my reasons.” He looked over at Zeus, “How do you vote, brother?”
“Yes, of course.” Zeus said, “Athena’s contributions during the Titan War were valuable. She has earned this at least.”
It felt like the entire world was lifted off of Athena’s shoulders. When she saw Hephaestus look over at his wife, she was sure her quest was doomed before it even started. Thankfully, she hadn’t burned all of her bridges. Though she was curious as to why Poseidon voted in her favor. She didn’t recall doing any favors for him recently. In fact, she’d been hounding him over Percy’s relationship with her daughter since the end of the Titan War, something which she knew annoyed him.
Zeus stood and cleared his throat, “The council has voted. Let the Fates bear witness to the results. Athena, you are hereby authorized to descend to the mortal world. You have until the 18th of August to regain your divinity. Good luck.”
Before Athena could even open her mouth to ask for her spear and shield, everything went white.
Ω
When Athena came to, she wasn’t on Olympus anymore. In fact, she wasn’t even sure where she was. She sat up and looked around, her face morphing into an expression of disgust as she took in her surroundings.
She was in an alleyway, a very neglected and nasty alleyway at that. The ground was covered in some sort of mystery liquid that she genuinely hoped was water considering she’d been lying in it. The dumpsters lining either side of the alley were all filled to the brim with black garbage bags, some of the bags had burst to reveal rotten food and other stomach-churning trash. Mysterious green goo ran lines down the side of the dumpsters.
Athena resisted the urge to gag as she breathed in the foul air. The entire alleyway smelled like a mix between cigarette smoke and rotten eggs. It all smelled so sour and gross, it almost made her wonder how anyone or anything could stand to live there. She got her answer when a rat scurried from one dumpster to the next, holding a piece of rotting fruit in its jaws. It made sense then, the occupants had to be just as disgusting as the place they lived in.
Just as she was about to start walking towards the street, she noticed something was wrapped around her ankle. She looked down to see a simple black backpack. There wasn’t even any branding on it which in of itself was odd since she always figured mortals loved putting their company names on everything they ever made.
The bag was so light that when she knelt down to open it, she was sure that there was nothing in it. Yet when she opened a small pocket on the side, she was surprised to find three things. First was a silver watch which she noticed had an owl as the watch face. The second was a ring with a small button in the shape of a book resting on the top. Third was a crumpled piece of notebook paper.
Unfolding the piece of paper, it became clear to her who exactly left all of these things for her.
Daughter, as one last parting gift, we have delivered you your shield and spear. Good luck.
Athena sighed and folded the note. She kind of wished Zeus had at least teleported her to Camp Half-Blood but it seemed that was a luxury she just wasn’t worthy of for whatever reason. At least she had her weapons though. She had some comfort in that, however little it may be.
While she untangled the backpack from her ankle, she also realized her clothes had changed. Gone was her elegant white toga. Now she was wearing a pair of blue jeans, an old pair of red Converses, and a purple plaid shirt. She really did look like a typical American teenager, no one could ever guess that she was actually a war goddess in mortal form.
Just as she slid the backpack onto her shoulders, she heard a voice behind her say, “Oh, you’re finally awake.”
Perhaps it was centuries worth of looking over her shoulder or just jumpy nerves that caused her to spin around, her hands raised and clenched in fists. She paused for a moment when she saw that the person standing behind her wasn’t a monster or Hera.
Instead, the person standing before her was just a simple old lady. Her wrinkled skin was covered with grime and dirt. Her clothes were in tatters with the sleeves of her jacket being on the edge of completely torn off. The only part of her outfit that seemed to be in somewhat good condition was the red beanie she had drooping off to one side.
“Who are you?” Athena asked.
The lady raised an eyebrow, “I should be asking you that. This is my alleyway.”
“Your alleyway? What—”
“Did you think everyone had a home?” The lady snorted before walking over to a dumpster and digging around, “If I had to guess, you’re really far from yours. How you found yourself here, I have no idea.”
Athena clenched her jaw. She couldn’t just tell this random woman that she was a goddess sent down from Olympus in search of her divinity. Saying that would probably lead to her being sent to a mental institution and she highly doubted that the secret to getting her divinity back was there.
“Sorry to bother you.” She said, “I was just passing by.”
The lady grunted, “Fair enough. You aren’t the first person to end up here. What’s your name?”
“My name?” Athena blinked.
“Yes, your name. You do have one, don’t you?”
She eyed the lady carefully, “Athena.”
The lady looked over at her, “Athena? What kind of name is that?”
Athena felt her eye twitch. How dare this mortal disrespect her this way? She had half a mind to vaporize her on the spot. That’d teach her to act with more respect when she was around. “It’s Greek.”
“Huh. That’s nice.” The lady said in a distracted voice before pulling out a jar of expired pickles, “Ah, lunch!”
Athena actually gagged when she took the lid off. The smell was so rancid that just smelling it had her ready to vomit. She threw up a little bit when she watched the lady pluck a pickle out and eat it. How could anyone live like this? She understood poverty was a way of life for some people but it’d been so long since she’d actually witnessed some of the things they had to do. To be honest, the daily lives of mortals wasn’t something she really cared to observe for long.
“Want one?” The lady offered.
“No, thank you.” She shook her head, “I should get going now.”
“I wouldn’t go that way if were you.” The lady’s words stopped her in her tracks.
“What?” She looked over her shoulder.
The lady screwed the lid onto the pickle jar, “There were three rough-looking men hanging around that exit. They didn’t care about little old me but they might be interested in you.”
“Ah, there she is!”
Athena’s head spun to face the new voice and sure enough, three older men were standing at the entrance to the alleyway. All three of them had unkept beards and sideburns. Their wolfish smiles told her that these men were not to be trusted. Their black leather jackets practically screamed trouble. She didn’t see any weapons but she wouldn’t have been surprised if they had some tucked away somewhere.
The one in the middle, the leader she assumed, stepped forward. “We’ve been tracking a demigod scent all morning and we finally found you.”