The Necklace of Harmonia - Chapter 1 - shiiki - Percy Jackson and the Olympians (2024)

Chapter Text

My dream started like this.

I was standing under a threatening ceiling of sky. Around me, slabs of black marble fell in a haphazard circle. They made a loose ring around a central agora like the amphitheatre at my summer camp. An audience sat on the chipped boulders and cracked rock, their eyes fixed upon a semi-circle of seats in the centre of the ruins. They were a motley group of twelve: from the tiny brunette with soft, glowing eyes on the far right, whose feet barely scraped the ground, to the bearded man near the middle with a rough, sun-kissed face and wrinkles around his sea-green eyes. They were the same shape and shade as my best friend, Percy Jackson's, and nearly as alluring.

Dead centre of the group sat a handsome, bronze-skinned man in a chiton woven of pure gold. The lady next to him wore a dress of rich, peaco*ck blue and a stern expression under her crown of dark hair. Their seats were raised just slightly above the others'.

Zeus and Hera, king and queen of Olympus. And the remaining ten seats were filled with the rest of the Olympian council.

They were all looking towards the western horizon. We must have been high in the mountains because the constellations were sinking down to us, like the world was being compressed by sky. An undercurrent of nervous anticipation flowed among the audience—a crowd holding its collective breath as they waited for a wrestler to deliver a death blow.

The howl was so loud, I nearly jumped a foot in the air. It was a roar of outrage and helplessness, echoing through the stars.

The sky jerked like it had been caught mid-fall, and retreated, rising back to a normal level. The sensation of being trapped in a shrinking box dissipated.

'It is done,' boomed Zeus. 'Bring the next supplicants forward.'

I took a seat on a marble slab next to a pretty girl with wavy, honey-blond tresses that made me think of Silena Beauregard, the camp counsellor for cabin ten. She was biting her fingernails as she leaned forward, watching the two bulky guards who now led a group of six girls towards the council.

I did a double-take. The guards had over fifty hands apiece, maybe even a hundred! Only a few of their hands were holding their prisoners; the others were fidgeting, playing with little objects, and even braiding the wispy tufts of hair that sprouted from their heads.

As far as I knew, no one had seen a Hekatonkheire—a hundred-handed giant—for two thousand years, let alone two of them.

'Daughters of Atlas,' Zeus addressed the prisoners. Five of the girls were dark-haired with maple skin. They moved with a fluid grace that made me think of the nymphs at Camp Half-Blood. They made it seem like they were dancing with the Hekatonkheires, instead of being marched to a tribunal.

The last girl was pale, with syrupy curls that fell loosely around her shoulders. She was the only one bound in chains, which held her hands behind her back and dragged from her feet. Her loose, white chiton was dirty and torn, its vine-like sash hanging crookedly around her waist.

'Your father has been punished for his crimes,' Zeus said. 'What have you to say for yourselves?'

'We played no part in the war,' said one of the sisters. She tossed her long, black braid over her shoulder in a proud, almost defiant manner.

'It is true, Father,' said an auburn-haired goddess three seats to Zeus's right. She looked no older than twelve, but she spoke with the confidence of an adult.

Of course, Artemis wasn't really twelve. She could choose to look any age she wished. Why she'd picked a twelve-year-old's appearance was beyond me. Nobody took you seriously at that age. I should know. I'd been twelve only two years ago, and I'd had the toughest time convincing people—namely my mentor, Chiron—that I was old enough for a quest.

'These maidens remained neutral despite their father's … unsavoury behaviour,' Artemis said. 'They have done nothing to merit punishment.

'They're his kids!' bellowed a beefy god with a skinhead, and tattoos running along his enormous biceps. Possibly my least favourite of the gods, Ares was the only one clad in Greek armour. He had a spear on him as well, which he was now using to dig dirt from under his fingernails. 'Throw them in the lock-up with him. Or better yet, chuck them in a pit of vipers! Let's have a battle to the death!'

My mother, Athena—though judging from the time frame of the dream, this was way before I was born—gave him a withering look.

'Punishment dealt without cause is not justice,' she told Ares sternly. Her gaze rove over the five maidens, who stood straight-backed and tall. I didn't think I'd be that calm if I were standing trial before a bunch of all-powerful Greek gods, but the sisters' faces bore no trace of anxiety. 'Father, if they had indeed done nothing, it would behove us to be fair.'

'Athena is right.' Zeus's glare quelled a grumble from Ares. 'We will not punish the children for the misdeeds of their parents.'

'Daddy's pet.' Even when muttering under his breath, Ares's voice was loud enough to carry across a football field.

'Precautions should nonetheless be taken,' Zeus continued. 'Neutral though the Hesperides have been, I insist that they prove their loyalty.'

Hera snapped her fingers. 'I have it, husband. Place them in my garden.'

'Your garden?' Hermes, thin and gangly in his brown chiton and winged sandals, scratched his head in confusion. My heart swooped when his face turned towards me. His slanted, impish eyes were very much like his future son's—Luke, who had been my friend, until … until he'd changed.

'My wedding gift from Grandmother,' Hera said.

'Wait, isn't that, like, at the edge of western civilisation?' Apollo's golden garb was even brighter than Zeus's, strategically draped to show off his finely chiselled body. 'You want to prove their loyalty by keeping them near their dad? Is that, er, wise?' He glanced at Athena.

'It is, actually.' Athena made a steeple with her fingers. 'No one can relieve Atlas's burden without chaining themselves in his place. There is little risk that his daughters would release him. It would crush them if they tried. The garden will serve as yet another barrier between him and anyone who seeks to help him. To prove their loyalty, the Hesperides can report to us anyone who approaches their father. And their proximity to him will remind them daily of the punishments that await those who dare to oppose the gods.'

'Very well, Hesperides,' Zeus announced, 'your sentence is as follows: to guard the garden of Hera on the border of the world-ocean, next to the Mountain of Despair.'

With this pronouncement, the Hekatonkheires led the four nymphs away, leaving the last, caramel-haired girl in chains. Next to me, the fingernail-biter resumed her nail-chewing in earnest.

'As for this sorceress,' Zeus said, and the magnanimous look he had adopted for the Hesperides now sharpened into a hostile glare, 'she was not neutral in the war. Calypso, daughter of Atlas, you are charged with conspiring with the Titans under the leadership of your father, applying sorcery to undermine the gods, and deploying magical servants in open warfare. How do you plead?'

Calypso straightened as much as her heavy chains would allow. 'I do not deny these charges. But Lord Zeus, I beseech you to be merciful. I have merely the misfortune of being caught on the wrong side of a war. Filial piety would have me obey the commands of my father and general.'

'Filial piety,' Ares snorted. 'Like you didn't enjoy summoning those air spirits to badger Dad.'

Calypso glared at him. 'What would you know about it? You weren't even born yet.' She turned back to Zeus. 'Have I not shown my repentance during the postbellum amnesty? Have I not tended your gardens and babysat your children?'

She looked like she had refrained from adding a none-too-complimentary adjective before children. This was probably wise, given that said children were currently sitting on her jury.

My honey-haired, nail-biting neighbour covered her face. Beneath her pale hands, her cheeks were a dull pink. Maybe she had been one of Calypso's babysitting charges. I didn't recognise her, but the gods had a lot of kids.

Zeus frowned. 'The fact remains that you fought against us in the war. All the Titans and their supporters have finally been punished. To let one of their army off scot-free would set an ugly precedent.'

'Father, she is only a maiden,' Artemis said. 'She is young—'

'Geez, sis, she's not one of your Hunters. She's older than us,' Apollo pointed out.

Artemis gave him a withering look. 'Young compared to her parents. She did as she was told.'

'If we did as we were told,' Poseidon reminded her, 'we'd still be living in the belly of our father.'