But Percy, born of a god and a simple woman from Manhattan, bested said Titan, became the savior of Olympus, and became humanity's godsend, quite literally, with only the help of his friends, his immortal family, and his fabled sword, the sword that had once belonged to Heracles, the one known as Anaklusmos. The origin of said sword is a long, twisted path of victory, sadness, and remorse. However; this tale is not one of the savior's growth and victory, but of the aftermath. As the story starts, it leaves off from where the previous story ended. In the canoe lake of the legendary Camp Half-Blood.
[3rd Person POV]
As Percy and Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena broke their kiss in the need of air, on might question as to how such an unlikely coupling of heroes might be true, albeit even possible. The answer to that is a rocky five years that is the story for another time. Previously the couple was frowned upon by Posideon and Athena alike, and is still questionable, but is the golden couple of Aphrodite's choice. But in the stormy gray eyes of Athena, one can tell she feels the slightest bit of remorse for the man who gave up godhood for her daughter.
Said heroes, still tangled together and smiling broadly at their partner, seemed to realize that twelve minutes is quite an odd time for any couple, or any other couple, atleast, to be underwater. Percy grabbed his companion's hand and signaled his head as to say, "up". Annabeth realized his meaning, and with one last smile, kicked off from the floor of the lake.
As Percy and Annabeth surfaced, they were glad to see that they were alone, with the exception of the tall, lanky Stoll brothers, children of Hermes, who were currently tossing a football on the beach, and Will Solace, who was currently mumbling to himself of some hopelessly complicated procedure that only a medical professional might have knowledge of. The Stolls averted their attention to Percy and Annabeth walking hand-in-hand out of the lake and smiled their trademark mischevious smile at them before returning to the task at hand. When Annabeth called out to Will, he smiled wordlessly at them and produced his hand into a friendly gesture that Percy returned. After all, Will was one of those in charge of Annabeth's healing in the Battle of Manhattan.
As they passed Will, Percy spotted his favorite couple shamelessly hugging in the midst of the forest, before walking hand-in-hand in the opposite direction. Percy, who for his part was quite cheerful, cried out to Grover and Juniper in hopes that they might talk.
"Grover? Grover! Hey, man, haven't seen you since you threw us into the lake!" Percy chuckled.
"Oh, hey Perce!" Grover bleated with a grin. "You two lovebirds have fun?" At this snide comment, Percy and Annabeth reddened, but didn't lose their smiles. Percy smirked at his best friend and squeezed his lover's hand re-assuringly. Annabeth silently let out her breath, she was wondering if she had done something wrong. Before Percy could continue, however, the slow shuttling of groups on their way to the campfire suddenly came into hearing range, and still smiling, they made their way wordlessly over to the woods.
"Just don't hurt her, man." Percy looked to his side to find that Annabeth had left him to talk with Juniper, and that Grover was currently talking to him. He seemed to be struggling with a lot of emotion, because his face was all bagged up.
"Of-" Percy paused. After thinking deeply for a moment, he figured that Annabeth was the girl he wanted to spend the rest of his mortal life with. "Of course not."
Grover let out an audible intake of air that he had been holding in. He smirked over at Percy and said, "Sorry. You know, we're pretty much brother-sister now, so it'd suck if you made a commitment you would only break."
"And why is that?" Percy raised an eyebrow.
Grover chuckled. "Cause I'd have to beat you up, and I don't like that sort of stuff." He jokingly raised his fists into a fighting stance, which made the girls look over at them with a questioning look.
"Sorry", Percy grinned. "Guy stuff." Juniper, an eyebrow still raised, turned back to the path, while Annabeth winked at Percy.
Percy, for his part, had the grace not to blush and look like a complete idiot, but was struggling inside his head.
"S-So, how're things with you and Juniper?" I asked, trying to sound as casual as possible, while maintaining an interested look.
Grover blished stupidly and laughed. "Well, you know. She's great, man. . ."
"Right, right." Percy managed to break in mindlessly as his mind wandered. Wandered back to the battle. So many had been lost, including Silena, who turned out to be a hero. Lee Fletcher had disappeared. 'We should send out some search teams in Manhattan to see if he's still alive.' Percy thought as Grover continued. ". . .I was even thinking of taking her to Manhattan, she never really got to see the the mess the Demeter kids made, but of course, there's the. . ."
"Mmhm." As they reached the campfire, they spotted many of Percy's friends sitting on the benches and logs; Clarrise, daughter of Ares, who snarled at Percy, labelled 'Prissy' by the Ares folk, but it didn't take a genius to notice some happiness in her eyes. The Stolls had somehow made it before them, eying the Demeter girl in front of them's wallet, before noticing Percy and smiling.
Percy returned it, and pecked Annabeth on the mouth (with some audible "Aaaww"s) before waving her off to her cabin's bench and noticing most of the gathering's eyes were on him. Percy pulled at his shirt collar and walked to his bench, occasionally smiling to his friends. As he sat down, Chiron walked in from the woods and smiled at the audience.
"Welcome, demigods. It is nice to see you all here", and with this, some demigods looked at their shoes, mostly, to Percy's eyes, the half-brothers and sisters of those lost, a few even teared up, before Chiron realized his mistake and frowned.
"Well, demigods, I have come from the Big House, where Mr. D told me that all those lost are going to Elysium." This brought up many happy looks, though some still frowned and wiped tears out of their eyes. Percy understood. While Luke wasn't particularly his friend, he had grown to respect him in his first year at camp. And sacrificing himself for the others was heroic. As he found his mind wandering, he focused in on Chiron, he was currently leading a rendering of "The Phantom of the Opera" with his hunting knife. He even found himself joining in, even though the'd never heard the song or watched the play. It just came to him.
Minutes later, the campfire was burning brightly. The campers were humming and singing the tune of some Kid Rock song he'd never learned the name of. His eyes wandering, he found a young girl, maybe ten or twelve, poking at the fire with a stick.
Time froze, literally, and the girl turned and Percy found himself looking into the the eyes of Hestia questioningly. Hestia smiled, and spoke to him. She didn't speak loud, but Percy found he could hear her clearly.
"Greetings, Perseus. I am here to tell you that Lord Zeus has declared the construction of the new cabins, and requested that you assist. Quite possibly with the architectural knowledge of your friend," Hestia smirked knowingly at this, "Annabeth. I'm sure she could find some time to help. Now I must be off. Musn't keep the gods waiting." When Percy raised an eyebrow, she sighed. "In time, Perseus." With a loud ringing, she turned into her real form, right in time for Percy to look away. As quickly as she was there, she suddenly wasn't, and he found the campers had no knowledge of the previous events.
Several hours later, Percy found himself in a deep sleep.