"In the near future after this rebellion they would, as a precaution, build Elysium, the home of Heroes, and on it they cast a powerful magic that used the very power of human belief directed towards the demigods trapped within to power its powerful trapping mechanisms. However, that would only help prevent future heroes from rising up in the same way, and not the current outbreak problem they were encountering."
"To fix that particular issue, they created artifacts for the newly risen demigods, cured them of their madness and granted them a place among the Gods of Olympus."
"And to prevent any other such demigods from learning magic and being able to crack the powerful protective circle around Elysium and cause another uprising. They created Camp Half-Blood seemingly to train heroes; however, its true purpose was hiding magic from their children."
"Once any demigod entered the Camp, the powerful enchantment powered by the authority of all the Olympians would take effect and cause the demigods to be utterly incapable of thinking about the true nature of the world, let alone learning any sort of magic."
"But then came the problem. How do you force all demigods to enter the camp? Well, you put their life in mortal danger, of course! In the old days, when a monster was killed, it would indeed be reborn in Tartarus; however, it would then be trapped there suffering in that hellscape for eternity. Tartarus was once an inescapable prison. "
"But the Gods couldn't have that, after all, what monster would dare hunt demigods if they knew they could be thrown into Tartarus for all of eternity if they failed. So, the Gods opened cracks and fissures in Tartarus, allowing for the comparatively small fry trapped in there to escape. This emboldened the monsters and caused an all-out frenzy where each demigod was no longer a force to be reckoned with but practically an all-you-can-eat buffet."
"And so, every demigod was forced to leave for Camp Half-Blood to seek shelter. Perfect system that empowered the Gods."
"Unfortunately for the Gods, this couldn't last forever. Their infinite growth seemingly hit a wall. The faith that they painstakingly cultivated turned out to be poisonous still. Though their attempts at filtering it worked, as the Roman Empire expanded to heights unrivalled by any other in history, the Gods found their systems overwhelmed, even with their dual personalities and their artifacts, their irrationality still grew, and so as a last-ditch effort, they created the Mist."
"According to them, it was a protection for mortals; however, in reality, it was to stop in its tracks their unchecked growth of faith. With the Mists' creation, they also drew up the Ancient Laws, a covenant among all deities to cease direct interference in mortal affairs"
"It was wildly successful, their powers were preserved through the underworld and the lingering legends of the Old days, their corruption stopped in its tracks, and they were free to… enjoy the fruit of their labour," Circe said, smirking as though in on some private joke.
"But wait a second, if they truly covered all the bases, the question still comes to mind of why still have demigods? I mean, their powers were already secured by the underworld, why would they still risk having demigod children?" Nick said, confusion rolling off of him.
"Of course, it's because the Olympian Gods were still an ambitious, greedy bunch. They were still unsatisfied with their power, and their pride couldn't fathom not being in control of the world, and so the demigods function as perfect pawns and faith filtering stations came into play." Circe frowned before continuing.
"The Gods sire demigod children and then would offer boons to help install them as some of the greatest political leaders of their time, Napoleon Bonaparte, Otto von Bismarck and many, many others. Even now, I have gotten wind that the Gods are weaving their schemes in the major European powers."
"The demigods would become famous or infamous and create their own legends, and then, as the direct extension of their parents' domain, their Godly parents would be able to absorb all of the faith flowing towards them. The perfect system, really!" Circe said, barely suppressed envy still finding its way to show in her voice.
"That all makes sense, but how do you know this? Are you a demigod? A God?" Nick said.
"I was one of the demigods who escaped the underworld in the rebellion. However, as a woman, the faith and people's perception of me was inherently more kind than what the male demigods received, not to mention that the majority of the faith was syphoned away by my parent." Circe said, showing an expression as if she had eaten a particularly sour lemon at the word kind.
"As such, my rationality wasn't impacted nearly as much, so as soon as I escaped, freeing myself from the effects of the river Lethe, I finally realised what exactly was going on, I was furious at being used as such. I scoffed at their offer to be made a Goddess and decided to take matters into my own hands."
"Even before my newly expanded authority, I was a sorceress, one of the best to ever live, in fact, and I swore never to be at the Gods' mercy again. So, I came to this island, and I constructed the ritual you saw."
"My masterpiece. It was powered by the faith that was constantly flowing towards me, but instead of powering my authority and corrupting my sanity, it powered the ritual anchoring my soul to this place, and as a bonus, the offering the ritual was had taken was my authority!"
"As only authority can use and feel the power of faith, I stripped it from my soul and integrated it into the island itself. The island, in effect, became my artifact and the greatest filter of faith!" Circe said, pride practically radiating out of her body.
"That sounds an awful lot like the descriptions of the Earthly Immortals as described in cultivation novels." Nick thought, noting that he should probably investigate if other such descriptions could be useful.
"That's how I knew about the rebellion, as for the rest of the information, it came as nuggets here and there in the last 3000 years. When you are as competent as I and live for so long, you would be surprised at what people would share in exchange for my services." Circe continued giving Nicholas a knowing look.
"But never mind that, it's all ancient history! What do you want to learn?"
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