CHAPTER LXXII:The Unknown Order

Hades and Poseidon both looked ready to kill Zeus on the spot. Athena stared at Zeus with the same contempt, Apollo and Artemis had their hands halfway on their bows. It felt nice to know that a few gods would defend me, especially since Ares had a hand on one of his daggers.

"You're recklessness could cost Olympus dearly, brother." Poseidon said staring at Zeus.

"It'd be better than letting this brat run free with all of our secrets within reach. We made this mistake sixty years ago, and it's come back to bite us time and time again." Zeus calmly stated.

Artemis practically jumped up from his seat. "So you attempted to murder her without a vote, or her father having a say? So what she knows one of our secrets?! In case you didn't notice the minor gods announced them at San Francisco, it'd be more of a surprise if she didn't know!" She yelled, Apollo calmly put a hand on Artemis' shoulder sitting her down.

"So what would you have us do Artemis?" Aphrodite asked condescendingly.

"I make a motion on a vote to tell her everything we know about the order." Artemis responded staring at Aphrodite with nothing but hate in her eyes.

"I second the motion." Athena said sitting back in her chair.

Hades sighed. "All in favor, raise your hands." He stated.

The vote then took place. In order going around the table the gods who voted yes were Hades, Artemis, Apollo, Athena, Dionysus, Ares, Hephaestus, Hermès, Demeter, and Poseidon. It was almost unanimous. Zeus was keeping count to see which demigods he was gonna kill with storms ,Aphrodite was glaring at Ares, Artemis was as happy as could be, Poseidon was smiling while looking at Artemis, and Athena was giving Aphrodite a smug look. It was days like this where I remembered Athena and Artemis both hated Aphrodite.

"The council votes yes." Hades said with a slight smile.

Artemis stood up from her seat, "I'll tell her everything Hades."

Artemis walked over to me and smiled. It was still weird to see this personality shift in Artemis and Apollo. She gently placed her hand on my shoulder and then an overwhelming cold came over me. I looked around me to see Artemis' reserve which was a forest of eternal snow. Arrows cut through the air and snow, hitting trees or landing with a crunch in the ground.

"I've been here before….I saw Luna and Adam here." I said looking around.

"I really wish Luna wouldn't bring him here, but they've known each other since they were five so banning him outright would be pointless." Artemis answered leading me deeper into the forest.

We walked to a lake with snow on the edges and ice around it. Artemis stepped over the lake freezing it on impact. I followed Artemis as she walked to the center of the lake, careful of my steps. We both sat down opposite of each other, the lake quickly unfroze around us and then froze again just as fast.

"What do we do now?" I asked.

"Now we talk, no one will bother us here." Artemis said.

"Alright, when did the order start?" I asked.

"That parts always been blurry. The Unknown Order started in 1914 when the minor gods allied themselves with the order. However, we have evidence that The Cult of Khaos, the order's predecessor, started in 460 BC. The cult stayed out of our sight until Kori Vlahos came into play, Kori started recruitment after her mother was killed by a Child of Aphrodite, in that time the cult went from a few dozen members to a few hundred." Artemis explained.

That makes sense, Khaos did say that Kori helped her get followers. Thanatos also did say that the order caused World War One. How many other disasters or wars did the order cause?

"What is their purpose?" I asked again.

"Chaos and discord without control. They figured the only way to do this was to raise Khaos, their efforts were in vain since Khaos doesn't respond to mortals. That was until Kori Vlahos stumbled upon her temple, Kori began worshiping her for the fall of Olympus. Khaos and Kori did not share the same goals until that moment, Khaos wanted the world to fall and Kori wanted Olympus to fall. Soon the lines between the two became blurred, then they shared the same body and mind. After Khaos got her mortal form she was sent to the deepest abyss in Tartarus at only a fraction of her power." Artemis answered.

"So what woke her if mortals can't?" I continued.

"Daughters of Hades, whenever they're born Khaos wakes up. I believe that a fraction of Kori still remains in Khaos, that's why Khaos refuses to kill you. At least I think that's what it is, when a god or entity takes a mortal form they accidentally make the mortals body immortal. If the god leaves the body of the person they were inhabiting then the mortal will exist forever, that's why we refuse to give up our mortal forms. Anyway, Khaos stayed awake from events in the world pilling up. Every time Khaos rose up, especially when the minor gods allied with her worshippers, a war or some disaster happened." Artemis responded, her voice carried a stunning calmness.

"Those were to help her gain power, Thanatos told me that." I said.

"And Thanatos is a fool for helping her. Khaos doesn't care about anyone but herself, whether it's Titan or god Khaos will kill everything." Artemis said.

I looked at Artemis who still wasn't showing any anger. "So once Khaos puts Kori to rest by destroying Olympus-"

"She will destroy the world." Artemis said finishing my sentence.

I looked at my reflection in the ice. All I could see was Kori Vlahos. Then my irises slowly turned red instead of their regular white. Then crimson red highlights slowly creeped into my hair. I quickly punched the ice and Artemis grabbed me.

A voice called out. "Lady Artemis! We have an enemy force on the north side of the reserve! Should I call reinforcements!" A girl was in the tree above us in Huntress clothes.

"Call Apollo's Arrow and Neptune's Blessed! Move all the Huntresses to the south side and kill any enemy soldiers you can on the way!" Artemis commanded.

"Lady Artemis, let me help." I pleaded going to squeeze my fists.

"No, they're here for you and Luna. If neither of you are here they'll leave, besides I can easily take on Khaos in my home territory." Artemis answered, "By the way, happy birthday Mary Riley. I hope you and Seth have a great time tomorrow."

Before I could say anything else the ice opened below me. I hit the water and I was back in Penny's room. I looked around and no one was there. I stood up quickly, ignoring the room spinning for a brief second, and looked in a mirror. My hair and eyes were black and red like Khaos', that's when my reflection waved at me. I fell back as my reflection came forward.

"You have to choose eventually, why make it so hard?" My reflection asked through a deep and almost distorted voice.

My reflection vanished and I was stuck staring at myself in the mirror. The red coloring in my eyes slowly went away as I breathed heavily. My lungs felt like they were gonna burst. I could see myself breathing, I could feel myself breathing, but I didn't feel like I was pulling in air. My lungs started burning, and it felt like I was suffocating on oxygen. Penny ran in and looked at me.

"Mary?!" Penny yelled kneeling next to me.

"I….can't…..breathe." I said struggling through breaths.

Penny brought my knees up quickly and put my head between them. "Ok…ok. Deep breaths, don't try to breathe rapidly." Penny said calmly.

I tried to listen, but it was hard. I felt like I was gonna collapse on the spot. I eventually started to slowly calm down, but my chest and throat still hurt. My heart was beating fast, but it started to slow down.

"Thank...you…." I struggled to say.

Penny nodded keeping my head between my knees. "It's no problem, Mary. It's no problem at all. Want me to go get you some tea?"

I hugged Penny with any strength I had left, refusing to look at the mirror for now. "No….just….stay here." I said regaining control of my breathing.

Penny hugged me back. She helped me up and onto the bed and practically held me there. I'm pretty sure Penny didn't want me to move after a panic attack, but I would have to eventually. I continued taking deep controlled breaths as I sat on Penny's bed, slowly making the realization that a snake was next to Penny and me staring at us. Sorry Draco, I thought to myself, but I need this right now. I hugged Penny as tight as I could, continuing to calm down and continuing to take deep breaths.

"I gotcha, Mary. I gotcha." Penny said pulling me closer.

"I know you do. Penny." I said, finally getting control of my body. "Thank you."