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Chapter 14

Asgard-

The Gang of Gods were in the throne room in front of Odin. Thor was present as well.

"Welcome, Olympians! I see your quest was successful." Odin looked at Ares. "Gilgamesh, It has been a long time."

"Yes, yes it has Odin." Gil responded.

"Gilgamesh, dear friend!" Thor walked up to him. "You've gotten fat." He smacked on his belly."

"Well, I've been away from hero stuff and fighting for a long time. I'm not like this guy, pumping those muscles every day." He said shyly and looked at Herc. Herc smiled sheepishly.

"My two favorite drinking buddies. We are going to feast tonight! You will see Asgardian hospitality. You can rest until then."

"Great, cause I'm exhausted from our trip." Artemis sighed.

Everybody was given separate rooms. Percy's room was big, bigger than his mom's apartment. There was a balcony with a great view of outside. In the distance he could see the Rainbow Bridge and the Observatory. Suddenly a black shape appeared out of nowhere near the Observatory. Smoke started coming from it and with a blast it fell to the ground.

Just as the first black thing crashed. A huge black sword shaped ship appeared. Few more black things like the on that crashed came out of the ship. Those small fighters were speeding towards the royal palace. Mounted cannons started firing at the incoming fighters. Asgardian boat like fighter jets rose from the city and started the dogfight with the enemy fighters.

Percy noticed a glow coming from the Observatory and suddenly the orange colored transparent shield started to rise around the palace.

"Percy!" Artemis slammed the door open, "let's go!" She gestured him to come. Percy followed her, on the way Area joined them. They were going to meet Herc and Gil who were with Thor.

A servant told them that Thor, Herc and Gil went to the dungeons to stop the prisoners from escaping. They were about to go to the dungeons when the whole palace shook. Percy spotted Lady Sif coming towards them.

"Lady Artemis, the enemy has breached the palace. The shield's are down. Allfather asked me to join you. We must get to the throne room." Artemis and Ares were about to follow her.

"Wait, no! We can't go there. We need to go to the room where Thor's mom is."

"Lady Frigga's room? Why?" Sif asked.

"It's urgent, I'll tell you later, take us there quickly." Percy urged her.

"Alright, follow me." Sif led them through the corridors into the dining room.

There the enemies were already fighting Asgardian warriors. The Asgardians were almost wiped out, only three had remained and they were facing about ten of them.

"For Asgard!" Sif charged at them. Artemis shot two arrows and killed two. The enemy started shooting at them. Ares dodged the bullets and punched a guy in the face so hard that he flew back into the three guys behind him. Sif was cutting through them like grass. Percy had pulled out Riptide and joined Sif. Artemis was providing support.

Suddenly the door on the other end of the room blew up and more enemies came in. Sif called them Dark Elves.

"We have to cut through them." Ares said.

Suddenly the smell of ozone filled the air and with a loud thunder lighting struck the dark elves killing them in an instant. Followed by consecutive energy blasts.

Thor came through the window. He was holding Herc by the hand. Behind him was Gil.

"We saw you through the window, so we came to help." Herc said.

"Thor your mother, she's in danger. You need to hurry." Percy said. The smile on Thor's face vanished and he jumped from the window. Percy and others ran for the door.

When the group reached the room they noticed corpses of Dark Elves and Asgardian Warriors outside the room. The room was silent near the balcony Thor was holding someone in his arms. He was sobbing. Sif gasped loudly as she saw the person in his arms. Odin came bursting through the door and noticed his wife limp in Thor's arms.

Next Day-

Yesterday everyone was in a mood for celebration, but today they were mourning, for their queen.

Funeral last night was one of the most beautiful things Percy had ever seen. A fitting farewell to the warriors that had fallen and the queen.

In the morning Odin called Percy to talk privately.

Odin was standing in the balcony of his room and Percy was sitting on a couch.

"I thought by knowing the future I might be able to change it. I was wrong Percy Jackson, I couldn't change anything. I was prepared for everything you told me was going to happen, I tried to change it, but no matter how much I tried I couldn't change a thing. Invasion of Dark Elves, Frigga's death, I couldn't stop them. Hela is growing powerful by the day and Thor is not yet ready to face her." He turned to Percy. "I learned one thing from this. No matter what I did I couldn't change the future. You have the knowledge of the future Percy, use it wisely."

"I think the future was already changed. I mean look, I'm not in the second Thor movie, yet I'm here talking to you. That way I changed the future. There are no Olympian Gods in the MCU, but here I am with three of them. Isn't this something that changed from what I knew? I think the moment I fell in the Iron Man's pool, I changed the future of this universe. I was never supposed to be here, yet I'm sitting right here."

"Hmm…! You might be right. If that is the case, then you indeed changed the future when you arrived on Midgard." He looked at the beautiful scenery of Asgard and sighed. "Let's go the Convergence is soon upon us, you will be able to return to Midgard with you ship. It only lasts for a few hours."

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Percy followed Odin to the throne room where the other Olympians were waiting. Odin then led them to his Vault. There were many artifacts place on pedestals. There was also a replica of Infinity Gauntlet. Percy looked at Odin with surprise.

"I know it's fake, but how did you obtain it before Thanos?" Percy asked.

"I had it made by the dwarves, in case we found all of them. You cannot put two Infinity Stones in one place. But it's a fake not the real thing, so don't worry." Odin assured. Herc, Ares and Artemis looked confused. "This is the Internal Flame. Ares be careful, you have to keep your mind focused and take control of the fire." He gestured at the Brazier.

Ares nodded and stepped forward. At first he hesitated, but he took a deep breath and put his hand in fire and scooped up a portion of the fire in his hand. The fire flickered and changed color from orange to red then blue and orange again. His hand was on fire, but he felt no pain. He looked at it in amusement. He closed his fist and the fire disappeared. He opened it and the flame appeared in his palm.

"Don't play with you idiot!" Artemis scolded.

"I'm not playing with it, it's actually really hard to control. It has so much power, I can feel it coursing through my body."

While this was happening a guard came in.

"What is it?" Odin asked.

"Allfather! Lord Heimdall requires your presence."

After that Odin went to meet Heimdall and the party returned to Ares's room. Odin returned the next day and told them that Thor had escaped with Loki and Jane Foster, his girlfriend to Svartalfheim the home of the Dark Elves. There Loki was found dead.

"The Convergence is upon us, alignment of the nine realms will soon happen, you will then be able to return to Midgard." Odin said, they were walking through the streets towards where Stingray was parked.

"Thank you Lord Odin, for all you've done! We Olympians will definitely repay the favor someday." Artemis thanked him.

"We're also sorry about your loss." Gil said.

"We will meet again Olympians, sooner than you think. The Council of Godheads will reassemble, for that I have to be there." Odin said.

As they were talking, a wormhole opened in the sky, then another one opened above the previous one. Two more appeared above them. They all started to align with each other.

"The Alignment has started, go quickly before it ends." Odin warned them.

The gang thanked Odin once again and climbed aboard. Gil took the pilot seat and started the engine. He increased the speed and the ship bolted towards the wormholes. Gil started circling around the portals, they could see different worlds from the portals. The ship entered one that showed earth.

As they emerged from the portal a hammer flew by just inches away from the ship. Down on the ground the big ship of the Dark Elves had been landed.

"Should we go help? That was Thor's hammer. He's in a battle." Herc asked.

"No, we can't interfere in this fight. It's the final fight of the movie. Let him fight." Percy said. "Gil let's go, we can't stay here."

Gil turned the ship and left the area. Couple of hours later they reached Mt. Olympus and landed the ship on the plateau atop the mountain.

"See, sister? That's how you park near the entrance." Herc teased.

"Yeah! You should learn that from Gil." Percy joined in.

Artemis annoyed and a little embarrassed darted ahead. As they crossed the bridge, another horde of Minotaurs came with murderous intent. They stopped as they saw the gang.

Dario came forward and knelt. "My Lords and Lady, I'm glad you've returned. You were gone for almost a year, we were beginning to worry."

"A year?! How is that possible? It was only a few weeks not a whole year." Artemis was shocked.

"Yeah, space travel could be tricky. I once saw this movie called 'Interstellar.' in it the group goes to a planet for a couple of hours, but when they return couple of decades had already passed on the main ship. It was weird." Gil explained.

"Yeah, I saw that movie too, but I didn't understand a thing." Herc said.

"What about Hestia, I mean Vesta? Is she alright?" Percy asked.

"Lady Vesta, yes of course. The dryads are taking care of her day and night. A Minotaur is guarding the temple and won't let anyone inside besides Drassus and Dryads." He explained.

"A Minotaur? Who?" Ares asked.

"Don't know, He appeared when you left for your trip. He won't speak. We wanted to take him down, but Drassus stopped us. Umm… if you don't mind me asking, are you a friend of Lord Hercules?" Miklos asked.

"Ha! Ha! Ha!" Herc bellowed with laughter. "No, Miklos, he's not my friend, he's my half-brother, Ares, the God of War." That drew a couple of gasps and stunned face of Miklos. "I expected this reaction, don't need to be formal right now, take us to that Minotaur." Herc said.

"Yes, of course, and welcome Lord Ares." He said. After the greetings, Miklos led the gang to the Temple of Promethean Flame.

As they approached the temple they saw a Minotaur sitting on the stairs with his head down. He was wearing Greek chiton and sandals and a great axe was lying beside him. He seemed to be sleeping, but must've sensed them coming, because he quickly rose to his feet and grabbed his axe. He looked intimidating. He was taller than Darius who was the tallest and bulky like Hulk.

He grunted as he saw the gang approaching. He raised his hand gesturing them to stop. The gang stopped, but Herc came forward. "Stop!" The Minotaur bellowed.

Herc stopped, "didn't you recognize me, old friend? Hercules! But you might know me as Herakles, ring any bells?"

"Yes, I recognized you and Ares and Artemis as well. What business do you have here?" He asked in a menacing tone.

"Don't be like that, Asterius, we're all friends here!" Herc said.

"I asked what business do you have here? And who are these people?"

"They are all friends. This is Gilgamesh, you might've heard about him." The Minotaur nodded. "And this is Percy Jackson, Son of Neptune, sorry Poseidon." Herc leaned towards Percy and whispered, "he only knows Greek names."

When Herc mentioned Poseidon the Minotaur's eyes widened he opened his mouth to speak, but decided against it.

"We came to restore the Flame and wake Lady Hestia. Now that we've answered your questions, let me ask you one. Why are you here guarding the temple?" Artemis said.

Asterius grunted, "I was ordered by Lord Poseidon, before he sealed the entrance. I turned myself into stone statue outside the Palace of Zeus. I woke up when I felt the warmth of the flame and I'm guarding it ever since." He answered.

"Wait, what?! Turned yourself into stone statue?" Percy was surprised.

"Yes, I received that ability after being resurrected by Lord Hades."

"What did Poseidon tell you, before he sealed the entrance?" Ares asked.

"I was to wait for the God in the prophecy."

"Then look no further my friend, because you found him." Herc turned towards Percy.

"It is an honour to meet you Lord Percy." Asterius dropped to one knee, "I am at your service."

The gang entered the temple. It wasn't dark anymore. Torches were burning on the walls. Near the fire pit couple of dryads were standing. Artemis motioned them to go outside. As they went out Drassus entered. He stood beside Asterius without saying anything.

Ares stepped into the pit. The fire there was even smaller than before. He closed his eyes and concentrated. He held out his hand and fire flickered in his hand. He knelt in the pit and put his burning hand in the fire in the pit. For a moment nothing happened, but suddenly the fire turned red first and then blue and orange again. Ares felt a burning sensation and pulled out his hand, it was slightly burned. The fire in the pit was getting bigger each moment. Ares stepped out of the pit and suddenly the pit burst and fire rose to the roof. It was burning bright and livelier than before.

Percy felt the power surge through him and so did everyone. The temple was bathed in the golden light. Percy felt the warmth coming from the fire, it felt like he was back in the Poseidon Cabin.

Percy turned to see the fire in the Brazier was slowly getting bigger. The girl shuddered as if it was cold and opened her eyes. She looked around blinking and rubbed her eyes. She climbed off the Brazier and looked at everyone in the room. Her eyes widened as she saw Percy, her mouth fell open. She snapped her fingers and black smoke surrounded her. As the smoke cleared it revealed a beautiful woman with warm motherly smile.

"Percy!" She said. "I'm sorry my dear." She touched his chick. Tears were in her eyes, she stepped forward and embraced Percy in a hug. "She wished you good luck. she was sad, but proudest than your father." Tears filled his eyes and he sobbed in Hestia's embrace.