CHAPTER XXXVIII:The Eight Pillars Of Olympus.

I was sitting on my knees in front of a shrine. The shrines offerings consisted of a glass of red wine, a black apple, golden coins for the dead, long black candles, dark jagged crystals, dirt (probably from a cemetery), and a broken piece of dark orange pottery with a black painting of Cerberus on it.

This was a shrine meant for Hades, my father, with coins for the dead. The dead actually depended on shrines like these to pass on. It costed two drachmas for the ferry ride unless you were a demigod, a hero, or going to Tartarus.

My snake slithered across my lap, and curled up next to me "like it?" She asked.

I nodded looking around seeing braziers burn with an opal colored flame, "What can I call you? Snake seems wrong." I asked looking at her.

"Draco if you want." She said.

"Like Malfoy? From Harry Potter?" I asked confused.

"Yes and no. It means snake or dragon when translated from Latin." Draco said moving through the hall past the braziers.

I followed her past them all to a small room that was off to the right of the altar for Hades. The air was a spring fresh smell, with a metallic odor following.

It was a garden, similar to my step mother's in the old palace. However, there were no brightly colored wildflowers. Instead there were Violets, Roses, Mint, Cypress flower, and Black Knight Hollyhock. A great mix of flowers and herbs spread throughout the garden.

I took a piece of mint, rolled it between my finger, and smelled the herb relaxing me. I sat down in front of an apple tree in the middle of the garden that held black diamond apples.

"You enjoying the garden that I made for you?" Draco asked slithering next to me.

"It's nice, I also love the altar for my father. The coins were a nice touch. I really hope some of the dead can pass on." I answered.

I stood up, and took a ripe apple off the tree. I bit into it, expecting a sweet sugary fruit that I had grown used to, but I tasted nothing. No ash, no sweetness, no bitterness it was just nothing. It was like every bit of flavor was taken from the apple.

"You've never had one. It's not in your memory, so you can't taste it." Draco stated looking up at me.

I nodded and walked out of the garden. I walked past braziers, to the left of the altar for my dad, into a room with several imprints marked in on the wall.

Draco slithered to me "your personal prophecy room. To make sense of everything. I set most of it up for you." Draco happily said.

"What is my prophecy?" I asked.

Draco slithered onto a small wooden table to my right. She curled up near a white candle that was burning with a dark flame similar to the braziers. It still lit up the area like a normal fire though, which I found weird.

"The Oracle told the Olympians in the nineteen twenties that a powerful demigod, with the gift of Delphi, would destroy Olympus or save it in its time of need. The years passed with several close calls, but this time the prophecy is unraveling. The gods thought they could stop it by killing you, but fate always finds a way around intervention. The Oracle gave the Olympians eight sigils, and said when these heroes stand united Olympus will follow them, rise or fall. Maybe you can make sense of them." Draco explained.

I admired the beauty of the eight sigils that would perfectly fit the imprints in the wall. I picked up the first one in the line. I did not imagine I could decipher the sigils that had taken the gods a decade to find out.

The sigil in my hand was made of silver, and the symbol carved in was a skull with flowers in the eyes, "This is me, Mary Riley, daughter of Hades." I said.

The emblem glowed, and appeared on the wall. A tree was magically painted on with a matte black ink, and eight branches moved out each of them moving through an imprint. One of the branched moved to my sigil where it was placed on the wall.

I picked up the next one. The metal on this was palladium, which was almost silver but it was cut with a white color. The symbol engraved was an owl with a Persian helmet on.

"Penny White, daughter of Athena." I answered, the sigil glowed and appeared on the tree on the opposite side of my sigil.

I grabbed another one, and this one was made from coral. The symbol carved in was a pearl behind a trident, I knew it wasn't Olivia. I just felt it wasn't, but it was a prized kid of Poseidon.

"Sara….Pearl, daughter of Poseidon." I said the sigil glowed in response, and appeared on the wall on the branch above mine.

I moved on the the next one. It was made of iron, so it was definitely supposed to be a kid of Ares, and the symbol was a wolf in a sheep's pelt.

"Leonidas Shepherd, son of Ares." I answered to the sigils riddle, it glowed as always, and appeared on the branch above Penny's.

The one after was made of silver, and the symbol was a deer with a crescent moon above it, "Luna Forest, daughter of Artemis." I answered quickly, the sigil glowed and appeared above Sara's.

I moved on to another palladium one. It was a Persian curved sword going through a polemarch's helmet.

"Chris….Fletcher, son of Athena." I answered hesitantly, the sigil glowed and appeared on the wall above Leonidas' sigil.

"Almost done Mary. Who are the last two?" Draco asked.

I grabbed the next one, and it was made of gold. The symbol was a glass of wine with a pistol.

"Alex Garner, son of Dionysus." I answered quickly, I knew it was him because of the pistol.

Hephaestus tried to modernize monster hunting with mortal weapons a few years back. He made a small arsenal of guns, but most adventurers stuck to the old fashioned stuff. Alex was not one of those adventurers.

The sigil glowed, and appeared above Luna's sigil finishing the left side of the tree. The last one was hard. It was copper, and the symbol was a heart with two daggers behind it. I thought for awhile, and all I could make out was that it was a kid of Aphrodite.

My mind wandered till I remembered that Chris and Alex were in the group.

"Amaya Evelyn, daughter of Aphrodite." I answered, and the sigil responded by glowing, and appearing above Chris' sigil completing the right side of the tree.

"Good job Mary. Now I have one last thing to show you." Draco said slithering out of the room.

She went to the right in the intersection of rooms, and I followed her to the most impressive room in my dream scape.