-POV Zeus-
I hate to admit it, but I am so very afraid. Terrified, even. Throughout my reign, I have faced many adversaries. Titans, Primordial beings, and even my own children and siblings. Yet, this might truly be the end of Olympus as we know it.
By myself I am very powerful, but there are threats larger than me, my kingdom, and even my pantheon out in the cosmos, reluctant as I am to admit it. I came into this cosmic power struggle very late, and it's coming back to bite me. Despite all my training in my earlier years, I've remained stagnant since then, too focused on enjoying the pleasures of being a king above most kings.
Dark forces beyond my strength are moving their plans along. It's not paranoia, despite what Hera may say. After everything we've been through, I think I'm entitled to a little bit of caution at times. In fact, some of the more powerful leaders of the world have also taken notice as well.
Even some under my rule have noticed as well. Athena has her own theories, but I am not liable to confirm nor deny anything she may believe. Although, she is completely right, as usual.
Apollo, The Fates, Hecate, Hades, and even some of my more minor servants are steadily giving me more and more information. The Lord of the Abyss has some of his little parasites in mortal labs as of right now, the Lord of the Dark Dimension is trying harder than ever to break through into this dimension, and even mortals are beginning to cause some concern.
Now more than ever, the mortals are getting too powerful for their own good. Throughout history there have been some outliers with interesting abilities, but now they're becoming more mainstream.
Their ability to evolve has become more prominent, making the number of "mutants" even more prominent. Some mortals are even reaching such levels through intelligence alone, which somewhat makes sense, seeing as their intelligence is one of the only things they've had since their creation, even if a vast majority of them seldom possess it in these times.
Years ago, I was approached by the Fates. They looked as old as ever, their skin wrinkled beyond belief, and their hair as white as the marble of Apollo's temple. They simply appeared in the middle of the Olympian throne room while I was considering Dionysus' punishment for chasing a nymph that I had clearly stated was off limits.
Coincidentally, I was also alone for the few moments that they decided to grace me with their presence. At first, I was perplexed as to what they had meant. It's only years later that I am just beginning to understand what they had meant.
Their words were few, as usual, but they carried a weight behind them that I continue to shoulder. "In but a few years, there will be a demigod born from your son's escapades. His might will be wanting, but his potential will be felt throughout the cosmos. His birth will strengthen all who may feel it, and you will see a threat to your kingdom." They spoke in unison, as always.
I swear that they only do so as a scare tactic, but after all these years, I have no concrete evidence to point to such a thing.
I could already tell that I wouldn't like their next few words, and It's times like those that I have to remember the power difference between myself and the three.
"You will not kill the boy under any circumstances!" Their words were harsh and booming. I started opening my mouth to speak, but they cut me off. Quite rudely at that, as if I wasn't even there.
"His continued existence is the only way that Olympus will survive what's to come. It's best that you heed our warning, for without him, it will be the end of us all. You yourself do not have to protect the boy. At the very least, let him live." Their tone wass borderline disrespectful, but I could do nothing but dismiss it.
"Very well, but let me make myself very clear." They didn't seem surprised by my words in the slightest, but I continued nonetheless. "If that boy so much as breathes in a way that I believe will threaten Olympus or my reign over it, I will not hesitate to erase him."
For the first time in their abrupt appearance, the Fates smiled. It was an eerie, disgusting smile that shows just how amused they were by my statement. They didn't even grace me with their own response, as they vanished in that exact same moment.
That whole interaction aggravates me to this day, but I mustn't dwell too much on that. I must think of alternative plans, as I will not leave the future of my kingdom to some demigod, no matter what those three may say.
In other news, the Norse pantheon has made a move in recent times that's intrigued me. That unruly thunder god, Thor, has taken it upon himself to side with the mortals and reveal the Norse pantheon to the world, while he himself traipses around as a hero.
While I would usually consider storming Asgard for such a thing, Athena convinced me not to do so. The inferior god's decision has led to his pantheon getting an influx of faith energy and worshipers among the mortals, which directly increases the power of a divine being.
If my kingdom is going to survive for eons more as I've envisioned, then we must have that same power increase and more. Although, we must be very thorough on this plan of mine. To refrain from seeming like too much of an exact repeat of Thor's actions, we need to have someone marketable, but also relatively unknown. It's best if their divine origins aren't already known from the start, but revealed later on.
I believe that it will give an even bigger initial burst to our faith, which very well may soon be needed.
I think it's best if I leave such matters to Athena and Hermes, as this is more their domains than mine. Maybe that boy the fates spoke so highly of can be of some use after all. I guess we'll see.
Meanwhile, I shall use my divine senses to scour the Earth for more threats to my kingdom while my daughter is being retrieved.
The titans, while not much of a threat compared to those that may lurk outside of my field of view, are still a very real and dangerous threat. One that I will not spend my time underestimating and brushing off.
After all, who knows what my father may have in store for the future, focused as he is on controlling it. I live in such stressful times, I need to take a momentary break if I'm to think at my max capacity.
"HERA!", I bellow, my voice echoing throughout Olympus.
-POV Hades-
The very next person to speak in my presence is getting disintegrated upon their very first words.
A knock can be heard at the door to my throne room and all that can be heard is, "Lord H-"
I'm a man of my word.
I believe that it was Ulysses S. Grant that I just wiped from the face of the underworld. He should be fine; becoming another spirit in the Asphodel fields should do him some good. Anyone who knows him can tell that he might need it. Besides, it's not like I told him to stand in my favorite spot to shoot pillars of fire.
I'm quite used to being drowned in work, but these past couple years have really been testing me. Monsters have been reforming more often, and instead of only going after demigods, they've decided that they're going to actively hunt humans as well. Not to mention the fact that more humans are being made and the population's been having such massive jumps in numbers, making the number of deaths even higher.
With all the other deities with their own personal underworlds to maintain, I'm still left wondering how I've been hit with such a workload.
It's also made it increasingly difficult for Hecate to keep up the mist. It's a great thing that Zeus signed off on her "Cleanup Crew" idea. Now we don't have to micromanage every little mishap in the mortal world, and mortals get to have their horrifying experiences with monsters changed to much less insanity-inducing ones for their troubles.
Even with all my servants and the measures that have been placed, the extra work's taking a toll on me. It's even getting to the point where I'm genuinely tempted to reveal our world to the mortals myself. Maybe if they have the ability to defend themselves from monsters, then I'd have more manageable numbers of the dead to deal with.
I'm starting to wonder if I really did get the easiest kingdom to manage out of my brothers and I. In all honesty, I think Poseidon's kingdom has mine beat in the aesthetic department, even if it's just as hard to manage. I still beat him when it comes to the atmosphere of my kingdom though.
I obviously prefer it down here, but Atlantis is quite the tourist destination if I do say so myself. There's a reason why mortals have been trying to go there for as long as it's been in existence.
Interestingly enough, he doesn't even govern it himself anymore, leaving it to the little race he created called atlanteans years ago. Zeus didn't approve of Poseidon's decision, but he also refrained from opposing it, surprisingly enough.
The current king, that Namor boy, even does a somewhat respectable job of ruling Atlantis. For a mortal, at least.
Maybe I should pay my brother a visit and maybe even take some notes while I'm at it. Although, before I can do that, I'll need to finish dealing with all of our new arrivals.
You know what, screw it. Once this is all over, I'm taking a vacation. I'm not opposed to letting one of my children rule my kingdom for me either. I'm the Lord of the Underworld, and I can do whatever I damn well please!
-POV The Ancient One-
In all my years I have seen many, many things.
I have spread my senses throughout the multiverse, encountered beings beyond my comprehension, and even beings beyond the multiverse itself. I have even subjugated enough of the dark dimension to give myself eternal youth.
Yet, one singular baby has managed to stump all the wonders I've witnessed. The sheer amount of potential the child has, it's absolutely unprecedented.
Being the son of Apollo already gave the child plenty, with Apollo himself arguably being amongst the strongest amongst his own generation of divine beings. Then the boy's mutant ability comes into play. What a useful little thing. If the child was power hungry, it would spell disaster for the cosmos.
Even still, those two things alone shouldn't give this child as much potential as they seem to have. Nor should it warrant the astronomical event surrounding his birth. I believe something else is at play, but even after all these years and all my searching, I'm not sure what.
The amount of beings who can evade my senses to such a level is infinitesimal, so much so that it's incredibly worrying that the boy is tied to such an existence.
While in most situations I would take action myself, I don't have the time to do so. I've peered through the timestream enough to know that I cannot avoid my fate, nor can I change what's to come, so I must prepare Stephen for the dark times ahead.
He will do what I cannot, and hopefully he will make sure that the earth can weather all of the storms that will come its way in my absence.
I wish I could be there to witness the fate of this world I've fought so long to protect. For better or worse, the fate of our universe, and possibly many others, depends on how the next few years play out.
-POV Noah-
Good lord, armor is so odd to put on. I will NOT be wearing armor in the future, I don't even care if it's a life or death situation. You could give me the Iron Man armor, and I wouldn't put it on.
Okay, that last part may have been a lie, but still, you get the gist of what I'm saying.
Although, now that I think about it, let me just…
I proceed to throw off all of the armor I just spent 20 minutes trying to put on correctly.
They said that this capture the flag game is meant to be the biggest event I'll be a part of at the camp. Something about camp half-blood having a devious losing streak to the hunters.
That's all about to change though, because I am here. I refuse to lose even once, especially to those hunters. If I ever meet her, I'll just have to apologize to my aunty, because I'm not even gonna try to make this respectful. That's just not my style.
I didn't even care about the stupid game until I was provoked by a random thought.
I was just minding my own business, ya know? There was this giant rock shaped like a fist in the forest, and I was shadow boxing near it while testing out some moves with my star-burst energy. I had heard footsteps behind me, but I paid them no mind. I really thought it was another nymph that wanted to talk to me. (Which happened a lot for some reason).
Then, for seemingly no reason at all, I thought about just how big the world I've just been introduced to is.
I'm so used to being the best, but in reality, I was just a big fish in a really really small pond. That has to change. The only one allowed to be at the top is me, and me alone. I'll make sure of it.
I could end up stuck in a completely boring dimension, or be subjected to my own eternal torture just because of the life I live.
Others may decide to just become better people, but I will not compromise my ability to thoroughly enjoy my life just because of some rules set by someone else.
No way.
I have a real chance to rise above all of them, and I'm going to make it a reality. I have no clue how, but I will go to great lengths to make it happen.
Because push comes to shove, there's almost nothing I wouldn't do to make sure that I never end up like that. Just another mortal, limited to the whims of some higher being. I may not be there now, but just you wait.
I'll be the best there ever was. It's only a matter of time.