As much as Hestia would have loved to step back and let Percy and the others handle this… she knew she couldn't. Even if the young woman in Percy's arms right now was the daughter of the King of the Gods… the very same King of the Gods that Hestia had orchestrated a coup against just last year. A coup that ended with her effectively ensuring Zeus could never come back.
So yes, to say the least, Hestia would have preferred to fade into the background in this moment. Alas, that just wasn't in her character. She wasn't just the Goddess of the Hearth; she was the Director of Camp Half-Blood as well. This was her domain in more ways than one.
Fortunately, there is one small silver lining to this entire mess. No sooner has Thalia asked them all what happened… then the raven-haired Daughter of Zeus passes out, her eyes rolling back in her head as she slumps boneless and unconscious in Percy's strong arms. Thank the Fates for small mercies, Hestia supposed.
It's a lot easier to do her job without those electric blue eyes staring up at her so questioningly, she has to admit.
"Everyone, please return to your cabins. Percy, Annabeth, Clarisse, please take Thalia to the Big House and get her in a bed so she can rest up."
Her authority is not questioned for even a second. There is some hesitation from the more curious demigods who obviously want to stick around and see what happens next, but nobody talks back in the end. Everyone ultimately does as they're told and a minute later Hestia finds herself standing in front of Thalia's Tree.
Not alone, however. There's still Chiron to her right… and Circe to her left.
"Goddess, how can this be?"
Chiron's baffled shock is honestly very fair. Though in the end, it seems rather obvious how it could be. Hestia stares at the Golden Fleece, which hangs off of the healed Pine Tree even now.
"The Golden Fleece's properties are well-known. Thalia Grace was dying when Zeus transformed her into a Pine Tree, but she was not entirely dead… or else her soul would have gone to the Underworld. He captured and changed her at that moment just before Hades would have been able to claim her. In that regard, is it really all that surprising that the Golden Fleece was able to heal her? It can heal just about anything, after all."
Circe chuckles, drawing Hestia and Chiron's attention over to her.
"My. And to think… you were behind the death of the girl's father. This must be quite awkward for you, Lady Hestia."
Hestia's jaw clenches as Circe hits the nail right on the head with her 'idle musings'. Deciding to disregard the Goddess of Magic for the time being, she turns her attention back to the tree itself, as well as the Golden Fleece. Seeing that she's not going to respond to Circe's provocation, Chiron follows her lead. The Activities Director has always been good at that.
"What does this mean for the tree, Goddess? What does it mean for the Camp's borders?"
That's precisely what Hestia was most worried about as well. In the end though, reaching out… she breathes a sigh of relief and smiles as she shakes her head.
"Nothing bad, fortunately. The removal of Thalia's spirit from the tree has been completely counteracted by the presence of the Golden Fleece. I can use the power of this Artifact to supplement the borders and strengthen my domain. If anything… Camp Half-Blood is more protected than ever before. That said, the Golden Fleece represents a target of opportunity even greater than Thalia's Tree was in the first place. We will need a guardian permanently assigned to protect it… as soon as possible."
Chiron bows at that, sensing the dismissal and order for what it is.
"As you say Goddess. I will procure one immediately."
As the centaur moves off, Hestia focuses on putting up some temporary protections around the Golden Fleece and Thalia's Tree. Even if Thalia herself no longer resided within it, it would always be her tree. One of the last good things Hestia's brother had done in this world and if nothing else, Hestia was pleased to see the Pine Tree hail and hearty once more. Of course…
"You know, this might have been HIS plan all along."
Turning her head, Hestia regards Circe silently as the Goddess of Magic creeps ever closer. To her credit, Circe doesn't look smug, or happy, or even all that conniving. If anything, she looks… nervous.
"Thalia Grace is a Daughter of one of the Eldest Gods, after all. She could be the one spoken of in the Great Prophecy. What if this is what the Crooked One wanted all along? What if HE knew that she would come back thanks to the Golden Fleece?"
For a long moment, Hestia stands there silently. She's not alarmed by the things Circe is saying… they're all things she was already well aware of. No, rather… she's alarmed at who they're coming from more than anything else. Finally, she breaks the silence with a bemused frown.
"You're certainly well informed for being such a homebody. Get a lot of information back on that island of yours?"
Circe scoffs and crosses her arms over her chest.
"I know you don't trust me, Lady Hestia. I know you don't particularly like me either. But believe me when I say our goals are aligned in this."
With the protections around the Golden Fleece and Thalia's Tree finished and the two things secured until such a time as Chiron procures a more suitable long term protector, Hestia turns to face Circe entirely, raising an eyebrow in response.
"Oh? Why should I?"
"Because if there's one thing you can count on, it's my hatred of men. Do you think that extends only to human men? Of course not. I would sooner cut off my own head than serve the Crooked One. And… consider what you have done so far in recent times from my perspective."
Hestia's frown grows at that, even as Circe elaborates.
"I know you did not do what you did for the same reasons I would have, but you still successfully removed the male tyrant who has run roughshod over us Greek Gods for millennia. And while I would obviously prefer there be no gods on the Olympian Council, it is safe to say that the way things currently are is far better for us goddesses than it has been in a long time, no?"
That… hm. Hestia supposed, looking at it from Circe's twisted and skewed perspective, that the misandrist goddess had something of a point.
"Of course, in that regard… Percy Jackson is far more likely to fulfill the Great Prophecy at this point than Thalia Grace. I must wonder… are you absolutely certain that the Crooked One cannot sway him?"
And there it was. Hestia sighs as she turns and begins walking back to Camp. As she does so, she calls out to Circe over her shoulder.
"Tread lightly, Circe. You are permitted to stay solely because of the arrangement you've made with Annabeth Chase but know that I will be watching you… closely."
Circe doesn't respond, but then she doesn't really need to. Hestia knows that the Goddess of Magic is just getting started.
-x-X-x-
As Percy looks down at the sleeping female demigod in the bed before him, he can't help but feel rather strange.
"So… this is Thalia Grace?"
Standing at the foot of the bed with her arms crossed over her chest, Annabeth slowly nods. She hasn't stopped staring at Thalia since they set her down. Almost like she thinks if she looks away for even a second, the other woman will disappear again.
"Yeah. Yes… this is Thalia."
She was beautiful, Percy notes. Kind of in a tomboyish sort of way, but still… very pretty. Then again, most demigods were kind of hot, weren't they? Probably some of that divine power from their godly parents leaking over.
Still, Percy can tell Annabeth isn't entirely ready to talk about what Thalia being back means just yet. Instead, he figures he should ask something else. Like for instance…
"How did the Quest go, exactly? Obviously you were successful but seeing as you brought a Goddess back with you, something must have happened."
Annabeth and Clarisse share a glance at that, before Annabeth directs a somewhat dry look in Percy's direction.
"I don't think you, of all people, get to talk to us about letting a Goddess follow us home, Percy."
Raising both hands in surrender at the slight rebuke, Percy chuckles.
"Hey now! No judgment here. I certainly don't have any room to throw stones or anything like that. Just curious to hear the story."
To his and Clarisse's surprise… Annabeth looks to Clarisse, visibly ceding the floor to her. Blinking, Clarisse hesitates for a moment before straightening up and telling the whole tale.
"Well, the CSS Birmingham got us through some of the first few hurdles for sure… but then things got rather choppy. It turned out that traitor Luke was following us, probably to try to steal the Golden Fleece out from under our noses. Luckily we found Circe's Island… and I guess, even more luckily, we didn't have you with us."
Clarisse snorts at that last part, clearly over him choosing not to come on the Quest. Percy was thankful for that… he'd felt rather guilty that he'd had to tell Clarisse no back when the Daughter of Ares asked him to help her out. In the end, he would have done so in a heartbeat… if he hadn't just promised Hestia a mere hour before that he would stay in Camp Half-blood.
"Apparently, Annabeth here has some magical mojo beyond just what us demigods usually get. She caught Circe's attention and then Luke and his monster army started besieging the island. After Circe drove them all away, she decided to join us… under the condition that Annabeth would become her apprentice in magic or something."
Annabeth straightens up a little bit and interjects at that.
"Circe says I have the potential to be quite the sorceress… but more than that, we really did need her help with Luke harassing us the entire way."
Clarisse just nods before continuing the story.
"With Circe at our back, getting the Golden Fleece wasn't too difficult. And then, from there, we had one last confrontation with Luke where we sent him scurrying with his tail tucked between his legs. Then we came back."
The Daughter of Ares looks very proud as she finishes the whole tale. As well she should be. It sounds to Percy that, while Circe played a huge part in the success of their mission, there was no denying that Clarisse and Annabeth had pulled through by the skin of their teeth a few times on this Quest.
He's really just glad that they're both alright. Percy isn't sure if he ever could have forgiven himself if anything had happened to either of them.
"I'm glad you're both okay. And I'm happy you're back."
Annabeth and Clarisse both blush at that, only for Clarisse to grin wickedly.
"Surprised you missed us, heh. Lady Circe was all too willing to tell us all about what you and Lady Athena did while we were gone."
Percy sighs, rubbing the back of his head as Annabeth averts her gaze. She hadn't seemed too upset outside… she'd kissed him after slapping him silly, after all. And she'd also said that she was more upset about him wagering their time together than everything that had happened afterwards. And yet, at the same time… it was more than a tad awkward wasn't it?
"It wasn't really intentional I'll admit. I just… well, after you guys left, it didn't sit well with me that Lady Hestia was suffering so much just to keep the Camp secure. So I started trying to alleviate the burden, so to speak. And then some of the others started joining me. And I guess we… attracted Athena's gaze."
Except it wasn't just that. She hadn't come to him just because he was a warrior or anything like that. No, she'd come to him because of Annabeth. To try and break them apart. And then things had… well, they'd turned out how they had.
Annabeth finally seems to get over her discomfort as she snorts in amusement and crosses her arms over her chest.
"You're lucky you're so lovable, Percy. The last human to challenge my mother and win like that wasn't nearly so lucky."
Percy sighs and nods.
"Right. Arachne. Well, I remembered that yes… so I tried to be a lot more respectful."
Annabeth nods, but Clarisse snickers.
"'Respectful', he says… I'd like some of that 'respect' later tonight, if we're handing out rewards for a job well done or anything?"
Percy rolls his eyes but gives his former 'maid' a grin filled with promise all the same.
"I'm sure we can make something happen."
Annabeth squawks and is quick to interject.
"Hey! Don't leave me out of this!"
But Clarisse just snorts.
"Yeah? You sure your new teacher is going to allow that? We all know the legends."
Frowning, Annabeth shakes her head.
"I'm sure Lady Circe won't do anything to upset Lady Hestia while she's staying as a guest in the Goddess' Domain. It wouldn't be wise…"
Before either of them can respond to that, a fourth voice cuts in from the doorway.
"No, it would not."
All of them look over to see Hestia standing in the doorway. The Goddess of the Hearth looks rather imposing and intense for a moment… before relaxing and gracing them all with a smile as she steps into the room.
"How is she doing?"
The 'she' is obvious, with Annabeth fielding that question.
"Ah… she's still sleeping, Goddess."
Moving forward, Hestia nods.
"Yes… I imagine she would need to sleep for quite some time. We will have to set up a shift to watch over her. Can I trust the three of you to help me with that?"
Percy, Annabeth, and Clarisse all straighten up immediately at that.
"Of course!"
"Yes!"
"You can count on us!"
Hestia smiles at them all again, before glancing back down at Thalia's sleeping form with an unreadable look in her eyes. Percy is reminded of just who Thalia's godly parent was… and what had happened as a result of his stubbornness last year. How exactly was Thalia going to react when she… found out?
"Very good. And… well done, Clarisse, Annabeth. The two of you have saved Camp Half-Blood. We all owe you quite a lot."
The female demigods preen, and as well they should. Percy smiles before glancing back to Thalia's sleeping form. He can't help but wonder what's going to happen next…
(Author Cambrian. Find him on Scribblehub!)