Chapter 24: Chapter 24 But I'm just a kid!
"And…it's missing?" Said Andromeda, wondering how something like that could go missing.
"Stolen." Chiron corrected.
"By who?" Andromeda asked.
"By whom. By you two." Said Chiron, correcting her and revealing who was suspected, much to Andromeda's disbelief while Jakob didn't even blink.
"I'm not surprised he accuses me." Jakob shook his head. "I'm an Aesir demigod, and the Aesir and Olympians have never gotten along."
"At least, that's what Zeus thinks." Chiron cut in, gaining Jakob and Andromeda's attention. "During the winter solstice, at the last council of the gods, Zeus and Poseidon had an argument. The usual nonsense: "Mother Rhea always liked you best", "Air disasters are more spectacular than sea disasters", etc. Afterward, Zeus realized his Master Bolt was missing, taken from the throne room under his very nose. He immediately blamed Poseidon. Now, a god cannot usurp another god's Symbol of Power directly, that is forbidden by the most ancient of divine laws. But Zeus believes your father convinced a human hero to take it."
"But I didn't-" Andromeda said, only to be interrupted.
"Patience and listen, child. Zeus has good reason to be suspicious. The forges of the Cyclopes are under the ocean, which gives Poseidon some influence over the makers of his brother's lightning. Zeus believes Poseidon has taken the Master Bolt, and is now secretly having the Cyclopes build an arsenal of illegal copies, which might be used to topple Zeus from his throne. The only thing Zeus wasn't sure about, was which hero Poseidon used to steal the bolt until Jakob arrived. At first, he figured Jakob was here on Odin's orders and stole the Master Bolt, but the Olympians would've detected the presence of a demigod of another pantheon crossing into Olympus regardless, but that still didn't put Zeus at ease with Jakob's presence given he's of the Norse pantheon and Thor's son."
"Why am I not surprised?" Jakob muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. So he's accused of something he didn't do, then just... treated with caution given who his family were. He wasn't really surprised at Zeus being wary of his presence here.
"Now Poseidon has openly claimed you as his daughter, Andromeda. You were in New York over the winter holidays. You could easily have snuck into Olympus, so Zeus believes he has found his thief." Explained Chiron. "And he believes Jakob is in on it."
"But I've never even been to Olympus! I haven't known about any of this for even a month now! Zeus is crazy!" Andromeda shouted, not believing she's being blamed for stealing the Master Bolt, when she's barely been at camp for a month, let alone even knew Olympus was in New York.
With her words making Chiron and Grover glance nervously up at the sky, with the clouds not parting, like the satyr said they would. Instead, rolling right over the valley, as if sealing them inside a coffin.
"Er, Andie…we don't use the c-word to describe the Lord of the Sky." Grover said nervously, not her to end up being struck down.
"Neither Andromeda or I could be the thief." Jakob said firmly. "Andromeda didn't know about all of this, our world, until a month ago. As for me, I was in Asgard. Zeus is paranoid."
"Agreed there, Jakob. Then again, Poseidon has tried to unseat Zeus before. I believe that was question thirty-eight on your final exam…" Said Chiron, looking at Andromeda expectedly, making her mentally groan at now being quizzed.
"Something about a golden net? Poseidon, Hera, and a few other gods…they, like, trapped Zeus and wouldn't let him out until he promised to be a better ruler, right?" Andromeda replied, unsure if that was right, with Chiron nodding at her answer.
"Correct. And Zeus has never trusted Poseidon since. Of course, Poseidon denies stealing the Master Bolt, he took great offense at the accusation. The two have been arguing back and forth for months, threatening war. And now you've come along, as has an Aesir demigod, the proverbial last straw." Chiron said, with Andromeda frowning at how everything seemed to come back to her, and Jakob was being roped into it simply for what he is.
"But I'm just a kid!" Said Andromeda, wishing they'd see she wasn't some thief or a suspect.
"Andie, if you were Zeus, and you already thought your brother was plotting to overthrow you. Then your brother suddenly admitted he had broken the sacred oath he took after World War II, that he's fathered a new mortal hero, who might be used as a weapon against you…wouldn't that put a twist in your toga?" Said Grover, trying to get her to see things from the God of Lightning's perspective, so she didn't say anything else dangerous.
"But I didn't do anything. Poseidon, my dad, he didn't really have this Master Bolt stolen, did he?" Andromeda asked, wanting to believe her father didn't steal the Master Bolt, but she really wasn't sure what to believe at the moment, with Chiron sighing and dragging a hand down his face.
"Most thinking observers would agree that thievery is not Poseidon's style. But the Sea God is too proud to try convincing Zeus of that. Zeus has demanded that Poseidon return the bolt by the Summer Solstice, that's June twenty-first, ten days from now. Poseidon wants an apology for being called a thief by the same date. I hoped that diplomacy might prevail, that Hera, Demeter or Hestia would make the two brothers see sense. But your arrival has inflamed Zeus's temper. Now neither god will back down. Unless someone intervenes, unless the Master Bolt is found and returned to Zeus before the solstice, there will be war. And do you know what a full-fledged war would look like, Andromeda?" Chiron asked, looking her right in the eyes.
"It would be like an early Ragnarök, but only dooming Midgard and all who walk in it." Mimir said, getting a nod from Chiron.
"Not to the extent of what I've heard is to come at Ragnarök, but it's close." Chiron said.
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