Zeus has PERISHED!

The Valley of Hecate? I looked all around me it was simply "Awesome." I said and I totally meant it. After traveling in the god-pig's car this place was simply heaven and a gazillion times more better than the untrustworthy and full-of-deadly-buttons car that Apollo drove.

"Come on, lad. Let's pay Hecate a visit." and the god moved forward and I followed him.

The more closer I got the more I realized how magical the valley was. The grass was greener, the flowers were shining, I mean... they were literally shining.

There were kids all around, some were my age, some were younger while the others were older than me. And you won't believe they were doing all sorts of... magical stuff. A bunch of kids were riding winged horses, what were they called? pega... um...yes!

"They are pegasi (plural of pegasus)!" I exclaimed. "They're real?"

"Of course they are real. An hour earlier you thought that we gods are just myths, right. Be ready, kid because the world that you know will never be the same once you meet Hecate." the god said .

"Sure, totally excited for it." I said unenthusiastically. We passed a bunch of teenagers. What were they doing? I couldn't quite understand. I looked at the only source of knowledge that was available.

"Um, Apollo what are they doing?"

"Oh, they are just practicing magic. Come we're there. " he said it so casually like seeing a bunch of kids do magical stuff is completely normal. But still why do so many children know about the Greek Gods. And most importantly if they normal human how are they able to perform magic. And just like everytime, Apollo knew what I was thinking.

"Oh, don't think they are regular mortals. Of course they are humans but they are descendents of gods and demigods." he said in a low voice.

"What do you mean?" I asked. The god looked at me and just for a moment I saw pain and suffering in his eyes.

"Tell me kid. What do you exactly know about us?" the god asked.

Other than that you guys are a bunch of pigs with some serious ego problems, nothing. I know nothing about you. I thought but decided to keep it in mind.

"Um...I know that the gods defeated Kronos, the King of Titans and the lord of time. I mean, he could control time. After the gods won, the most powerful of them the Big Three: Zeus, Poseidon and Hades divided the earth. Zeus got the sky, Poseidon got the ocean and Hades got the underworld. And now the gods roam among mortals and often falls in love with them. This results in the birth of offsprings with godly powers in them and are half human, half gods. Am I right?"

"Yes. But one correction. After World War II, the gods swore an oath on the waters of river Styx. That they no one will have any affair with the mortals." the god said. What? If the gods are not allowed to have affairs with mortals, how come I'm alive. After a long pause the god spoke again.

"That's why today there's no half-blood walking on earth, except... you. The children that you see here are descendents of half-bloods." he said.

But why? Why did Zeus break such a sacred oath? And then I realized something, something that felt like someone just electrocuted me. Was I a curse for Zeus?

And of course the god beside me was not helping by constantly reading my mind.

"It's not your fault, kid."

"Hey, stop reading my mind, already. There's something known as privacy. You understand." l said but looking at his emotionless face, the message was quite obvious: he didn't understand a thing.

"I can't help it. Your brain's quite restless." The god smiled.

I was about to protest just then I saw someone approaching us. A girl about my age or maybe a year younger. She had light auburn hair and very attractive honey coloured eyes. Simply put: the beautifullest of all. Beautifullest? Is this even a word? Well I guess this describes her. There was no known word with which I could describe her beauty so I had to use an out-of-this-world word to describe her.

I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't notice that she was already standing in front of us. She looked at me with uncertainty in her beautiful honey coloured eyes. "She's waiting for you." she said and gestured at us to follow her.

We followed the girl into a large room. All around were strange stuff like this place had been used for some high-level black magic stuff. Whosoever lived here he or she had been really busy making this place a nightmare. This place can even scare off a ghost!

"Is that so?" A women's voice said. I looked at the direction of the sound and a familiar face appeared. The same timeless face, almond eyes and caramel-coloured hair. She was the women I saw today in the library, talking to my mom. She wore the same clothes but something has changed. Back in the library when I saw her, she seemed normal but now she was radiating power. I resisted my urge to bow down and worship her. But now I knew who she was.

"You're Hecate, the goddess of magic and witchcraft." I said and the goddess smiled.

"Indeed. I see that you don't like this place much so why don't we change it a bit." she said and raised her hand. And just as she did that, the started to transform into something normal. Now, at least, I wasn't getting the feeling that I am stuck in a horror show on the contrary, the room looked more like a business man's mansion.

"Um... it's cool." was all I could say. Just then Apollo cleared his throat "Back to business, please." he said as he rolled his eyes.

"Oh, Apollo, always in a hurry. But you must learn that some things require time as well as focus." Hecate said like an experienced old woman and then she looked at me like I was her magic item and she was thinking whether I was useful or not.

"Adrian, from now on you will be practicing here. I will teach you my magic and also to use the powers that you inherit from your father. You will learn about yourself and us."

Great this is exactly what I wanted. Right? Wrong. Nobody is telling me the whole truth and they expect me to follow their instructions. No, I am not anyone's puppet. I have decided and no-one can change my decision. No matter what.

And like it was not enough for one person to be in my head, so the Fates sent me another annoying gift.

"You're no one's puppet. Stop thinking that way." the goddess said.

"Hey, what is it with you guys and reading minds? I'm telling you, if you both didn't stop this nonsense, I'm leaving. Don't you know something... anything about privacy."

After saying this I was immediately regretting it. The way Hecate was glaring at me, I felt like falling on my knees and begging for my dear life. The goddess was looking just that intimidating. After an immeasurable amount of time she said with a serious tone.

"Adrian, do you know what is at stake here? Without knowing the full picture how can you decide to leave. We are not using you as a puppet and the reason that you are here is that we want you to know everything. I am also the goddess of crossroads and no one can know better than me the value of even a single decision. It can define or... destroy you." Hecate said and her deadly tone made it crystal clear that there's no room for joke around here.

But this also made me wonder that if gods themselves are this much terrified then... the situation seems to be much worse than I was told. I had to know the truth.

"Okay so, can you tell me what exactly is going on around here? I mean the way you are behaving, it seems like the world has already ended."

"Not yet. But if you didn't stop Ares then it'll definitely happen." Apollo said but this time he wasn't talking like a pig. That means he's serious.

"Kid, do you know what Ares actually did to your father? " Apollo asked.

"He...he dethroned him. Right?" I hesitantly said and the seriousness in their faces deepened.

"That's the problem, kid. Zeus hadn't just been dethroned. He...has perished." Hecate said.