Fade- A PJO Fanfic

by foulcat

Percy was believed a traitor. But after he is beyond help in Tartarus, the gods discover the truth. His escape is widely celebrated, but what follows can only be described as The End. First chapter is finished, hope you guys enjoy. Rated T for language, no lemons, though there are suggestions to sex. Characters include Percy, Artemis, Hestia, Athena, Hera, Calypso, other PJO people

1. Chapter 1

One month after the fall of Gaea, 2014

I stood in the throne room of Mount Olympus, wondering why I had been summoned. I watched the rest of the council flash into their thrones, Zeus being the last one to appear. Then, he spoke.

"Perseus Jackson! There has been evidence found that shows you worked with Gaea during the giant war. For your treason, you have been sentenced to Tartarus. Is there anyone who objects to his sentence?" I looked at Zeus shocked. Why would anyone assume I was a traitor? I'd been the one to kill Gaea, as well as four of the giants. I looked around the council, seeing if I had any supporters at all. Dionysus was asleep, Hermes was looking at me disapprovingly, Ares looked as if he wanted to kill me, Hephaestus kept catching on fire as he burned his hatred into me. I looked to my father hopefully, praying to him that he'd help me. But he looked at me like I were Kronos himself. On the female side of the room, Aphrodite was shooting me dirty looks, Athena was gripping her spear and staring straight at me like I was her next target. Artemis looked disappointed, like she thought I might have a chance. Demeter sent me several withering looks, and Hera was glaring at me as usual. Only Apollo and Hestia seemed to show any support, for they stood from their thrones.

"I watched him from my sun chariot, he's done nothing wrong!" Apollo said. Zeus sighed.

"Very well. We will put it to a vote. All in favor of Perseus staying here in the mortal world?" Only Hestia and Apollo raised their hands. Zeus smirked triumphantly

"Well traitor, any last words?" I felt like the oxygen had been sucked right out of my lungs, but I managed to speak.

"Whatever proof you have, I didn't do it!" Zeus just sent me one last hateful look, then turned to Hermes.

"Take him to Tartarus at once." Hermes nodded, and began dragging me towards a dark portal of black and red and gray. By now, I was barely whispering, the images of my last trip to Tartarus flashing through my head and making it almost impossible to speak. Just before I was shoved through the portal, I felt Riptide vanish from my pocket. And I knew then that I would die alone, killed for a crime I never knew of. And then I was falling.

I heard the wind whistling in my ears as I fell, but saw nothing moving which disoriented me. I remembered the last time I'd fallen through Tartarus, when I had Annabeth to hold on to. She was the only thing that kept me sane in this hellish place, and this time I was alone. I couldn't help but think of how I had arrived in this world alone, and I would die in it alone.

The surrounding air began to change, becoming slightly thicker and gaining a dark red tint. I knew that my one way trip down was going to end soon, and I watched below me to see if there was anything at all that I could use to save myself. Finally, I began to see the ground. The dark tube I'd fallen through opened up into the massive cavern of Tartarus. I saw the same winged creatures in the distance, which I had once thought were Furies, but turned out to be something far worse.

Down below me, I saw a dark glittering ribbon, a river. I was hoping it wasn't one of the five rivers of the underworld, but the chances of regular water existing in a place like this were nonexistent. I tried to control it, to make it reach up to me and slow my fall, but I felt nothing. No familiar tug in my gut, and I realized that my powers over water were gone. No weapons, no food, no water, no powers. I almost tried to angle myself towards the ground, so I could die instantly. But my inner personality, the hero, told me to not give up. And so I fell, watching the water below come closer. But something about it looked different. It didn't look like it had last time. Last time, it was dark and had small wisps of gray and white in it's currents. This time, it swirled orange and red and black and white and dark green. I realized just before I hit it that it was definitely not the Cocytus.

At first, I felt nothing, and thought I was lucky. But as soon as I tried to swim ashore, more pain than I'd ever thought imaginable erupted across my body. It made the Styx feel like a bubble bath. Then, I began to hurt internally too. Every memory I never wished to see again burst through my mind, playing in front of me slowly. From when I first witnessed my mother being taken by the minotaur to the the betrayal of the camp and the gods. Then, I began to forget. forget everything about myself and the people I would die for. But then I remembered it again.

Through this all, I managed to keep swimming, slowly but surely. I couldn't breathe, and my lungs were filled with the water of the five rivers of the underworld. I understood then that I had not landed in just one, but a mixture of all five, something that should never have come together. Finally, I felt the jagged glass of the ground outside the rivers. I slowly clawed my way out of the waters, and collapsed onto the ground, spewing the unholy mixture of the waters out of my lungs. I wondered why I was still alive, and still remembered who I was, when I realized the answer. The Phlegethon had healed me, keeping my memories from permanently escaping, and my body from dissolving.

I managed to sit myself up and look around me. There was very little light, but I could see enough. I looked up at the tunnel I'd fallen from, and saw a very faint light at the top. I knew that it was the portal to Olympus, and I could feel the gods watching me. I sighed, and began my journey to find a way out.

Olympus

"Zeus, how did you learn of his treachery?" Poseidon inquired as the gods watched him fall through the portal, which had converted to a television. Zeus glanced at Poseidon.

"Well, it was discovered by your other son that Perseus had helped Gaea during the war. He had used a communication device to speak to her and tell her of the plans of the demigods." Poseidon nodded, and went back to watching the portal. But then he couldn't help but ask another question.

"What was the device that he used? Was it destroyed?" Zeus looked at him, annoyed that he wouldn't stop talking.

"Well, I never actually saw the device. Your other son simply told me through a burnt offering at camp that he had found the device in Perseus's belongings." Poseidon looked worried.

"Shouldn't we have him bring it here and let us destroy it? It has traces of Gaea's magic on it, and with enough power, might bring her back." Zeus sighed and nodded. He turned to Hermes and ordered him to go get Poseidon's other child and tell him to bring the device. Hermes nodded and flashed away. The gods turned their attention back to the portal, where they watched Perseus suffer in the river.

"Athena, which river is that? I wanna know how much pain he's in." Ares asked. Athena studied the river's colors for a while before she responded.

"I think that it's not just one river, but all five of them combined into one stream. Hopefully the pain will be indescribable and kills him." Ares laughed, as did some of the other gods. Hermes flashed back in with a chubby boy with green eyes behind him. The boy looked at the council as if he were their equal, but several of the members there looked at him in mild disgust.

"Boy, bring out the communication device and hand it to me." The boy, who was named Peter, nodded and pulled out an object. It was a small golden coin, with some etchings on it. He tossed it to Zeus, who caught it and studied it closely. After a while, he froze, before crumpling the metal in his hand.

"Demigod, this is no communications device. This is a dollar coin. Give us the real communication device." Peter paled, and shuffled nervously.

"Well… there isn't one." At this, all the gods turned from the image in the portal and looked at him. Zeus spoke in a voice that sounded like the calm before a storm.

"What do you mean, there isn't one?" Peter gulped and replied.

"I mean, I-I made it all up. Gaea told me that if her plan failed, I needed to make sure that Perseus was destroyed. Not only physically but emotionally and mentally as well." The gods took a moment to realize what all had happened, before some donned horrified expressions and turned to the screen in terror. Zeus looked to Poseidon, asking a silent question. The god nodded his head, and glared at the boy before him. Without a word, Zeus raised his master bolt and smote the demigod. He vanished with a wail of agony. The rest of the council was watching Zeus, waiting to see what he would do.

"We… no, I was a fool to trust him. I should have seen the truth. I fear we have sent an innocent demigod to his death, a demigod we owe our lives to. Normally, I despise Poseidon's children, but as the god of justice, I feel something should be done. While we may not be able to save Perseus from his assured death, we can make sure the one responsible tastes his own medicine. Hermes, tell Hades to send the boy to the Fields of Punishment. Make sure he gets the worst possible tortures. And Hephaestus, make sure that whatever this portal shows us is preserved. Perseus's thoughts included. We must keep it as a reminder of how careless we have grown. And before you ask, it is impossible to get him now. Tartarus exists for one purpose, to never let anything out. Hermes, Hephaestus, attend to your duties." The two gods nodded and Hermes disappeared with a flash. The remaining gods turned their attention back to the portal image. And they watched their hero struggle through the poisonous landscape, feeling terrible for what they'd done.

Tartarus, Two Years Later

I stumbled forward across the ground that thumped beneath my feet. I had reached the heart of Tartarus, after so much time spent in this hellhole. I had met many of my old enemies, monsters and titans alike. I had managed to defeat them with my bare hands, but I knew that one day soon, I would meet a blade that I couldn't evade.

Hordes of monsters had gathered at the heart, filing into a smaller cavern which I assumed led to the doors of death. How they'd been chained again, I would never know. But I understood that I needed to close them, whether I was in them or not. I crept forward, not caring whether I made any noise. The constant drumming of the dark god's heart overwhelmed everything. I saw Arai swirling above me in the gloom, hellhounds baying and cyclopes shuffling around with celestial bronze clubs. Telekhines carried some long parcel covered in dark cloth, and I could tell what it was without needing to look closer. Kronos had returned, and his servants had reforged his weapon. I needed to stop him before he got to the mortal world. The gods and the campers may have betrayed me, but I couldn't stay angry with them if I tried.

Suddenly, movement in the corner of my eye caught my attention. I watched a huge golden chariot part the crowds and head for the doors of death. I could see three titans in it, Kronos, Hyperion and Krios. Hyperion was wearing full body armor made of imperial gold, but flames danced on the surface of it, and his whole being radiated light. In his hand, he held a large golden spear that was also ablaze. Krios was wearing pitch black armor dotted with stars. He held a giant shield, showing all the constellations. In his other hand, he held a short, black sword. Kronos was wearing golden armor that radiated an overwhelming energy, making me feel as if I were going two hundred times slower. The chariot pulled to a stop before the cavern entrance, and the telekhines presented his weapon to him. I sprinted forward, desperate to stop him from coming into contact with his symbol of power. Just before he could grasp it, I took it from the outstretched arm of the telekhine, making sure my arms didn't touch anything other than the two leather bindings that acted as grips. The monsters cried out in alarm, and the three titans regarded me coldly.

"Percy Jackson, I never thought I'd see you down here. I assume the gods sent you here for your power? Like my friend Prometheus said to you many years ago, the gods are using you. Once you defeated my mother and I, they cast you down to hell. If you join us, we will give you power and a chance to have revenge." I listened to his offer, and when he was finished I smiled at him.

"I really hope that you understand my answer after this." Once those words were out, I held the scythe over my knee and brought it down with all the force I could muster. I felt it crack, but it didn't break, so I repeated the process until it finally shattered. The two halves began to glow and smoke, until they burst with a golden wave of energy. I was thrown several feet, but managed to stand. The titans had been tossed from their chariot, and some of the closer, weaker monsters had been flung so hard they disintegrated upon hitting the jagged walls. The titans and monsters seemed stunned, but rage quickly overtook their stupefied expressions.

"You will suffer the worst tortures. Upon regaining my throne on Othrys, I will have you cast down into the void after your blood paints a tapestry of my victory." He flicked his wrist and the other titans stepped forward.

"My brothers, destroy him." Kronos barked.

"If that's how it is, Kronos, then I am so sorry for what will happen." I told him. I knew he was evil, but I also knew the importance of family.

Krios and Hyperion grinned at me, and stalked towards me. Hyperion raised his spear and shot a bolt of light and fire at me, which I barely managed to avoid. Unfortunately, I'd rolled right in front of Krios, who stabbed downward with his sword. The blade pierced my thigh, and I screamed in pain. He withdrew it, and made to cut my head off, but I tackled him around the waist. His sword slipped from his grasp, so I lunged for it, and held it up just in time to block a strike from Hyperion. I stood, trying to ignore the burning pain in my leg. Kronos watched from his chariot, which must have been lifted back up. Hyperion and Krios glared at me, and I simply twirled my blade in response. Hyperion came at me first, jabbing swiftly with his spear. I managed to deflect it into the ground, and stepped on the head of it, causing it to snap off. The flames died down on it's golden shaft, and it too burst open with energy. I managed to roll out of the way, but the two titans weren't as lucky. Krios flew one way, his shield flew the other. Hyperion landed first, but Krios crashed into him before he could stand. I rushed over to the fallen shield and strapped it to my arm. I now stood before two unarmed titans, but I knew not to underestimate them. They managed to climb to their feet.

"You may have skill in battle, but you will never defeat us. We will always return, we are immortal!" Krios boasted. I ran towards them with my blade out, ready to attack. Hyperion tried to use his power to blast me back, but he must have still been weak from regeneration, because it was like a gust of wind. I launched into a flurry of attacks against the two titans, cutting the straps of their armor until it all collapsed to the ground around their feet. I stabbed my blade into Hyperion's chest, while kicking out with both feet at Krios. The titan of constellations crashed to the ground, groaning. I turned my attention back to Hyperion, who had begun to glow faintly.

His attempt to assume his true form was cut off as I stabbed my blade into his skull, before slicing through his neck. Instead of turning into golden dust like immortals usually do when killed, his form began to flicker until it disappeared into a small ball of golden light, which then flew into my chest. I felt strange, like I'd just drunk an energy drink.

"No… NO!" Kronos yelled. I figured I'd just made his brother fade. I turned my attention back to Krios, who was standing on his feet, stunned. I used his distraction to my advantage and attacked him. I swung my blade so swiftly it seemed there was a blur of darkness between us, randomly opening the skin on his chest and face. This went on for about a minuted before he collapsed to the ground, ichor flowing from his numerous wounds.

"You may have won today, but I swear you will never find peace. I give you my final curse. You will never be accepted, loved or respected. Everywhere you go, you will be treated as an outcast. Mark my words hero." Krios spat. I heard a screech in the air, and assumed a new Arai was born from the curse. I ignored his words, and ended him in the same way I had ended Hyperion. His form flickered and disappeared into my body as well. I turned back to Kronos, who was glaring at me, but there was something different about him. He had faint streaks of gold down his face, beginning in his eyes.

"Kronos. I am sorry for what I did, but you have given me no choice. I must reunite you with your brothers." Kronos glared at me, his expression turning to one of pure fury.

"I do not need your kindness! I do not need your apologies! I need your head!" He roared. He grabbed a sword from a nearby monster, one of the many who had formed a ring around us. He charged me, and I managed to block his first strike. He seemed to have kept some of the swordsmanship from Luke Castellan. He began pushing me back with his fast strikes, until I managed to spot an opening in his defense. I blocked his strike, and lashed out with my foot, kicking him in the stomach. He doubled over from the power behind the attack, and I took my chance. I used the momentum from my kick to spin around in a circle and slash my blade across his face, drawing a large amount of ichor. He stood and glared at me, while Ochor ran down his face and into his eyes. He began clawing at them, trying to get the liquid out, but it kept flowing. I brought my blade up from below my waist and impaled him in the face. Ichor seeped from the wound, and I used my strength to rip my blade up and out of his skull. He collapsed to the ground, and his form flickered like his brothers. With one final harsh glow, he vanished, off to the realm of the faded, and his golden ball of light flew into my body like the others. The monsters surrounding me seemed stunned, before angry growls filled the air. I raised my shield of constellations and my sword, which seemed normal when looked at, but I could feel the power behind it. It had hidden magic, but I had yet to figure out what it could do. The army of monsters all shouted a battle cry and charged me. I slammed the first couple away with my shield, which blasted them off into the distance. I suddenly had an idea of what to do with the multiplied force of the shield. When I had a brief moment of not being attacked, I slammed the shield into the ground as hard as I could. The desired effect took place almost immediately, and the ground shook. Several monsters were thrown off their feet. But then something catastrophic happened.

The ground beneath us was Tartarus's heart, a thin layer of grime and dust covered it. But my shield had hit it with so much force that it began spasming. A black vortex appeared before me, and the dark god stepped through it, clutching his chest.

"I am restricted by the ancient laws, but you have attacked me, so now I can fight back with all my strength. You will die for your foolishness." I looked around to see monsters getting pulled into the vortex, and I felt myself being attracted to it. I fought against the tug with all my strength, but eventually it became too much. I was pulled off of the ground and flew towards the god. I still had my sword, and held it out in front of me, aiming for his heart. He didn't realize what was happening until it was too late, and I sunk my blade into his chest. That attack alone wouldn't be enough to finish him, but the vortex disappeared and the god fell to his knees. At this height, his head was even with my shoulders. I looked down at the sword in his chest, and channeled all my energy into it. I didn't know if I was doing the correct thing, but I tried to make the weapon's magic become known. Suddenly, the knowledge of how to use it filled my head, and I smiled inwardly. I ripped the blade from his chest, and channeled energy into the blade once more. This time, I felt it respond, and small flickering lights became present on the blade. I realized that the sword was not simply a dark blade, but the night sky itself. It, along with my shield, held all the power in the darkness of night. Just as Tartarus began to stand up, I stabbed my blade into his skull and released the power. Energy like I'd never seen before erupted from the sword, enough power to fuel a galaxy. The god's body began to flicker, but he still moved, even with the sword in his body.

"No! I… I do not fall… as easily as my nephews! I will not fade!" he roared. His form began to flicker faster and faster, but I channeled as much energy into the sword as I could without killing myself. With one final push, I shouted and the celestial power ripped through Tartarus, and the god faded. His essence was black and red, and it flew into me like the titans before it. All the monsters around me had passed out, and I felt like I was about to as well. But I turned and looked over my shoulder. In the cave entrance, was a door. The doors of death. I stumbled towards them, trying to stay awake. When I got there, I found the monster that had been holding the button down was asleep as well. I looked around for something I could use, and settled for a stalagmite. With a swipe of My sword, it was severed from the ground, and I picked it up. It was heavy, but I managed to carry it over to the elevator. I pressed the button to open the doors, and stuck my foot between them to make sure they wouldn't close. I took one last look at Tartarus, the red air and glass ground. Then, I let the stalagmite thump against the button, and quickly ducked inside the elevator.

I had to hold the doors closed, but they kept threatening to open, the void visible beyond them. For what seemed like days, I held those doors closed, but eventually, I felt the ascension stop. I waited before I had enough energy to stand, and when I did I readied my sword. Someone would have had to hold the button in the mortal world, a servant of Kronos. I braced myself for an attack, and opened the doors.

I leapt from the elevator and held my sword up, ready to kill the monster holding the button. But when I saw what it was, I dropped my blade in shock. Standing before me was Hestia, goddess of the hearth. Behind her, the rest of the Olympian council waited.

"Why… why are you all here? Are you going to send me back down?" I said. I watched the god's expressions, trying to find the disgust I knew I would see. But when I looked, I saw sadness, regret and fear. When no one spoke, I decided to try again.

"Are you going to kill me or not?" I looked at the gods, waiting for their response. I saw Dionysus looking at me with something akin to admiration. Ares looked happy for once in his life, Hermes and Apollo were barely containing their glee, Poseidon looked happier than I'd ever seen him, and Zeus looked pleased as well. Hera was smiling warmly, as was Hestia. Aphrodite looked mischievous and giddy at the same time, which worried me. Athena looked like she expected me to hate her, but I didn't. Artemis was smiling as well, which surprised me.

"Uh… why are you all smiling?" I asked. That sentence seemed to break the tension in the air as all of them shouted with joy and rushed me. I panicked, and prepared myself for an attack, but was startled when they began hugging me. I felt something inside me begin to melt, a feeling I'd been carrying around with me all through Tartarus. It was shame. I'd been ashamed of not being the hero they expected, for failing them so many times. But now, as I was nearly crushed in their embraces, I felt it slipping away.

The hug lasted for what felt like hours, before they pulled away.

"Let's take this to the Olympian council room, why don't we?" Zeus said cheerfully. There were several flashes, before Hestia grabbed my shoulder and we vanished, only to reappear on Olympus. As we walked to the council room, I saw many citizens looked out of their windows at me in shock.

"Hestia, why are they watching me like that?" I asked the goddess.

"Because, they just saw you go all the way through Tartarus and fade three titans and a primordial. They are still in shock that you're alive." I felt strange with all the stares focused on me.

We reached the council room, and Hestia sat by the hearth. I realized I still had my sword out and my shield strapped onto my arm, So I shifted the shield so it hung around my back, and my sword was in the arm guard, strapped in so it wouldn't fall out. The gods were seated in their thrones, and Zeus began to speak.

"Perseus, when you first reached Tartarus, your father was curious as to how we knew you had betrayed us. I told him of your brother's message, and we summoned him here to destroy the communication device. When he handed me a gold coin, I looked closely at it, and realized it was simply an American dollar coin. We killed the boy, and he now resides in the fields of punishment. We decided to document your journey through Tartarus, as well as your thoughts and feelings. All the minor gods, nature spirits, demigods and some clear-sighted mortals have seen what you have gone through. And on behalf of them all, we would like to apologize for not trusting you." He paused, as if waiting for my reply.

"You don't need to ask to be forgiven, I forgave you in Tartarus. I tried to be angry, but I can't hate you." The gods smiled when I said this, and Zeus continued.

"We also feel you are to be rewarded for defeating Kronos, Hyperion, Krios and tartarus. We know you will turn down immortality, so I have a different idea. You're of age now, but I'm not sure the entire council will agree. We will vote on it, and if it wins, there is nothing that can be done to veto it. Perseus, I would like to give you the honor of taking the maidenhood of the three virgin goddesses of this council." I was surprised when he said my reward. At first there was silence, before the three that had been mentioned began to protest.

"Father, you promised we would never have to give up our maidenhood!" Athena cried. Hestia looked sad, but I knew she wouldn't try to protest too much. She knew how to yield. Artemis looked furious, and was glaring daggers at Zeus.

"We will put it to a vote. All in favor of this reward?" I watched as Zeus, Aphrodite, Ares, Hephaestus, Dionysus, Hermes, Poseidon and Apollo raised their hands. I knew Demeter wouldn't vote for it, for she knew how it felt to be forced into sex. Hera didn't vote either, but I figured she must simply pity the goddesses.

"It is done, they will be waiting for you in your palace tonight. We made you one in case you ever escaped, and we hope you enjoy it." Truthfully, I didn't really care for any reward. I just wanted to live a peaceful life. But I knew arguing with Zeus would not end well, so I simply nodded. The three maiden goddesses looked angry and terrified. Zeus dismissed the council, and several gods vanished. I walked out of the large gold doors, out onto the streets of Olympus. I decided to look for my new palace, as I was curious as to what it looked like. I found it at the end of the row of palaces, and I felt my jaw drop. It was obsidian, with greenstone and gold flowing through it in between cracks in the darkness. I walked to the door as if in a trance, and when I stepped inside, I couldn't believe what I saw. There was a kitchen with a small note on one of the many counters.

Perseus,

The palace is automated. You simply ask it for something, and it will provide it in seconds. Nice job escaping Tartarus. -Hephaestus

I turned my attention to the next room, which had extremely soft carpet, white leather couches, and a massive television with multiple game consoles hooked up to it. I headed upstairs, and found guest bedrooms and my room. I had a large bed with black and green sheets and a comforter. The guest rooms were furnished similarly, except they had simple white sheets. There was a large bathroom with a big tub and a shower that sprayed water from all sides. I found a closet filled with different outfits for different purposes, casual, formal, exercise. I decided to check out what other things I could do here. I walked back downstairs, and headed out the back door. I found a large swimming pool, a big field of grass for whatever purposes I could think of, a large grill with the Hephaestus logo on it. There was an arena, a target range (even though I suck at archery) and a rock climbing wall. I looked up to my room to see a balcony, so I headed back up there. When I arrived, I watched the sun sink down through the sky, and stars began to appear.

When the sun had sunk below the horizon, and the stars should all have been visible, I noticed that many of them were missing. I thought about the fading of the four immortals earlier today, and how their essences had flown into me. I wondered if I'd somehow inherited their powers, since I could tell the names of each star for some reason.

I could feel my sword humming on my back, so I pulled it out. The stars in the blade were glowing again, so I decided to try something. I held the sword up and focused on the night sky. I focused on the light pollution, and imagined it vanishing. Slowly, more and more stars appeared until there seemed to be none of the darkness of space that had been present before. I could see billions of tiny specks of light, and the swirling of the outer edges of the Milky Way. I could tell the light pollution wasn't gone, it had just been gathered somewhere. I called out to it, and moments later, a small ball of brilliant light appeared before me. I figured it was the entire planet's light pollution and not just New York's.

I thought about what I wanted to do with it, before deciding. Hyperion had a spear of pure light energy, so I decided I'd make one too. I focused on the ball, and extended it with my mind. A harsh glowing spear shaft came from the ball, and I imagined a spearhead, sharper than anything before, and harder than diamond. The ball of light vanished as I used the last of it, but the spear had formed. It was unlike its predecessor, where that one had been gold and covered in flames. This one was pure light, shining faintly. I could feel it reacting to my presence, and when I grabbed it out of the air, it's brightness flared before dulling back down.

After that, I focused on my time powers. I felt it moving forward, burning through anything that tried to stop it. While it could never be reversed, it's energy could be taken. I took a large portion of the energy of time, and a golden ball the size of a basketball appeared. It glowed softly, and I began to contemplate what I should make it into.

I decided to turn it into a bow, even though I couldn't shoot to save my life. Maybe I could learn how to one day. I pictured the bow in my mind, and turned the sphere into the image. I then moved onto my last domain- Tartarus.

I wasn't sure what powers I had from inheriting the rule of that place, but I decided to call on some of them anyway. I focused, and a dark ball appeared before me. This one was larger than the others, since it had been the power of a primordial.

I decided to make this one into armor. I focused on it, and the ball began to split into different sections, before forming into traditional greek armor. When the dark glow died down, I imaged the armor turning into a hoodie. The armor complied, and a dark red hoodie appeared.

I reached out to it and put it on over my current outfit. I imagined it taking its true form, and in second I was wearing armor. I smiled, and changed it back.

I arranged all my weapons and my shield, and called upon my power over the stars. I turned them into small constellations so I could summon them with ease.

I took one last look at the stars, before heading back into my bedroom. When I go there, I found Hestia, Athena and Artemis waiting. They had nothing on except for their underwear, and looked extremely uncomfortable.

"Hello Percy. We are here to do whatever you wish." they said, though they sounded like they would rather drink water from the Phlegethon.

"You really don't want to say that, do you?" I asked them. They looked like they strongly agreed, but replied.

"No, we would love to do this." I shook my head.

"That's not true. Zeus is forcing you into something you don't want to do. I'm not going to make you do anything. You can go ahead and change back into your clothes and do whatever you want." I told them. They looked puzzled, but their expressions quickly changed to nervousness.

"No, we really want to do this." Hestia said, though she sounded like she was choking on the words. I scowled.

"Zeus made you promise to keep saying you wanted to, didn't he. Don't answer verbally, but nod your head if I am correct." I said. Almost immediately they nodded. I sighed.

"Stay here, I'll go talk to Zeus. Feel free to change, my wardrobe might have female clothes, I haven't seen it all yet." They nodded once more, and I walked downstairs and out of my palace. I headed up the winding streets until I reached Zeus's palace. I knocked on the door. Thirty seconds later, Zeus answered it.

"Perseus, why are you here? I sent the girls to your palace, or did they not get there?"

"Zeus, you and I both know that they strongly hate what you are doing. I don't want to make them do anything they are uncomfortable with, and I find it despicable that you made them swear not to voice their own opinions. I ask for nothing in return, but please don't make them do this." Zeus looked angry at first, but sighed.

"Alright Perseus, I'll listen just this once. You may go tell them they are no longer under orders to pleasure you. Though I can't imagine why you don't want to, they would probably be rather tight after all these years…" Zeus trailed off.

"Zeus! Two of them are your daughters, and one is your sister!" I cried indignantly. Zeus looked at me curiously.

"And?" I sighed, and thanked him for letting them go, and headed back to my palace. When I arrived at my bedroom, I found them wearing some of the female options from my wardrobe.

"Zeus says you are free to go, and are no longer under orders to do this. Have a nice night." I told them. Hestia smiled, and tackled me in a hug whispering her thanks over and over again. Artemis and Athena gave me hugs and thanked me as well. Before they could leave, I decided to invite them to dinner.

"Would you like some food? I have lots of it and no one to eat it with." They glanced at each other before agreeing. We walked downstairs and I quickly set the table before checking the kitchen. Upon entering, I found a note.

Percy,

I am a little disappointed you didn't jump into bed with them, but I think I will help you a little. After the main course, come back into the kitchen and take the dessert that will appear.

Love, Aphrodite

I wasn't sure what she was trying to do, but I decided she wouldn't try to mess with me right after I got out of Tartarus. I asked the kitchen for some menus, and the countertop opened up silently, before pushing up four tablets. Their screens came to life at the same time, and several different food choices were present. I stacked them, and carried them out to the three goddesses. We each took a few minutes to decide, and when we had, we tapped on the food we wanted. I took the tablets back to the kitchen to find the food already on the counter. I set the tablets on a section labeled 'Return', and grabbed the plates before putting them on a tray. I made sure there were glasses of nectar on the trays too, and carefully brought them in and served it to them.

"Thanks Perseus, it's been a while since I had this." Hestia said. Artemis and Athena nodded their agreement.

"It's no problem. And just call me Percy, Perseus is too former. Plus, it means 'Destroyer' in Greek, and therefore it's not a very fitting name for me." I said. Hestia, Athena and Artemis looked at me like I'd gone crazy.

"I'm not sure if that was a joke, or if you were being serious." Artemis commented.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Percy, today you faded four immortals, one of which was a primordial. While you might not know it, you have two aspects, just like the gods. Outside of battle, you are kind, gentle, funny and playful. But once you are in combat, you become an embodiment of destruction. No matter the odds, you completely demolish your opponents. If you were a god, I would think you'd become the god of destruction." Athena explained. I was still unsure of the whole split personality thing, because to me it just seemed like I was myself.

"Well, when I defeat an opponent, I don't destroy them. They just die, and in the case of monsters, come back later. A more accurate name for me would be Tycherós, considering most of my victories were luck." I told them.

"Think what you will, but someday you will need to realize how powerful you can be." Artemis said. I sighed, and decided to change the subject.

"So, what all happened while I was gone?" I asked.

"Well, Thalia has been doing well in the hunt, but we were attacked by the Roman augur in our sleep. We lost a lot of hunters that day, but thankfully we still have some." Artemis reported, but she sounded so sad about her hunters. I didn't know how to comfort her, but decided she would probably not appreciate the gesture. She is a strong woman, and if I tried to comfort her, it might hurt her pride.

"I'm sorry to hear about your hunters, did Octavian get any punishment?" I asked. Artemis shook her head sadly.

"He escaped in the chaos after the explosions. I watched him run into the woods, and I would have followed, but helping the injured hunters was more important than revenge. Now he is safe in New Rome, and since I'm immortal, I cannot do anything about it." I felt something burning inside me, like a serpent of fire. I wanted to drown the legacy of Apollo for what he had done. The war had ended, yet he still attacked the hunters. I forced myself to calm down.

"What about you Hestia?" Hestia looked a little startled, and I remembered that she was the type of person who was uncomfortable with attention, and wished to observe from the sideline instead.

"Well, not much really. Though your adventure through Tartarus did more for the hearth than one might realize. For the first few months you were down there, the gods were so depressed, it was all I could do to keep the hearth going. But after they noticed your resilience, hope began to reignite. We all believed that you could make it out, despite the odds. And as you got closer and closer to the doors, the hope grew. There was more of it than ever before, and it has united the family of the gods. Well, except Ares. He still thinks poorly of Hephaestus. I'd give anything to see those two get along." I nodded in understanding.

"Athena, anything happen with you?" I asked. Athena looked at me with her calculating grey eyes, like she were deciding something.

"Well, not much. Although, I did figure out how to melt wood and any other normally flammable substance. I'm wondering when to introduce it to the mortals."

"How does it work?" I asked. I really didn't think much of melting wood, but I figured that I'd be polite and pay attention.

"Well, you first have to remove a large amount of the total air from a sealed space. Then, when you apply heat to the object, the lack of air means that it won't catch on fire, and should melt." Athena explained. After thinking about it for a minute, it made sense to me.

"Have you tested it yet?" I asked.

"Not yet, Hephaestus says the project would take too long, and that he doesn't have enough time. But maybe one day I'll be able to get ahold of one." Athena seemed so happy whenever she talked about smart people stuff. I noticed that Artemis and Hestia also grew more pleasant whenever they discussed things that interested them.

We continued to talk after we'd finished eating the main meal, before I went to get whatever dessert Aphrodite had arranged. When I arrived, I found four plates of almost melted chocolate brownies, with hot fudge sauce on them and vanilla ice cream to the side. They had been prepared in a way that made me feel like driving to an art museum and submitting them, but I held myself back. I grabbed a tray and carefully put the plates on it. I asked the kitchen for more nectar to be sent to the table as well, and I brought the desserts out. The nectar was still rising through the table when I came in, which I thought was pretty cool. I set a plate in front of each of them, before sitting down. Hestia lifted her glass of nectar as if she were going to make a toast.

"Well, we started tonight off a little sour, but I think we can get along great now. Here's to a new friendship." She said, to which Artemis, Athena and I raised our glasses as well. We downed the nectar, though I started to feel a little warm, but the feeling passed. The goddesses each began to eat their desserts, but I continued to look at mine. I felt like I were violating artwork if I touched it, but I eventually picked up my fork. Just before I could take a bite, I heard a strange sentence.

"Percy, why don't we head up to bed now?" I slowly set the fork down and looked up at the three goddesses. They had slightly glazed eyes, which held a small amount of pink.

"APHRODITE!" I shouted. I quickly got up from my chair and tried to back away from the lust-filled goddesses, but two of them were born fast, and Hestia simply snapped her fingers and I was bound in ropes of fire. It was warm, but not too hot. I thrashed around trying to break free, but the ropes held fast. The goddesses approached me, any sign of their normal selves lost in the pinkness that had spread from their eyes until they each glowed pink softly. Then, they began to strip.

I'm not going to describe it, because If the three goddesses ever find this writing, I'll be a dead man. But it was something I wish I didn't have to go through. Not that they looked bad, they were beautiful, but we'd just become friends, and now they would assume I'd drugged them. Once they were free from the limitations of being clothed, they began to free me of mine. Soon, I was down to my boxers, and they began to tug at the waistband. I knew I wouldn't be able to escape, so there was only one thing left to do.

"Artemis, Hestia, Athena, I am so sorry." I said. I kept repeating my apology all night, as the love drug worked its magic. By the time the sun had risen, the three goddesses had passed out, each in compromising positions, Hestia being the last to fall asleep. When she went to the realm of Hypnos, my flaming bonds vanished and I fell to the ground. I was exhausted, but I couldn't just leave them there. I asked the palace to move them to guest rooms and clothe them properly to preserve any integrity they might have retained. Soon, I saw three automations roll into the room on wheels, like a segway. They each picked up a goddess and floated them upstairs.

I went up to my room and wanted nothing more to collapse into bed, but I knew that I had to stay awake for the incoming storm. I took a quick shower, and grabbed a fresh set of jeans and a sea green t-shirt.

I walked back downstairs and sat down at my dining table. Looking at its polished surface, I felt completely miserable. Here, I'd made a friendship, and here it had been brought down by Aphrodite.

I looked at the half-eaten desserts and sighed. I ordered the palace to clean up the table, as well as the floor because there were a couple… puddles. The palace obliged, and the messes were taken care of. A strange red laser shot from the ceiling and landed on the table. The table was fine, but any smudges or items on it were disintegrated. Another automation sped into the room and mopped up the puddles, leaving no evidence anything had happened. I also told it to destroy any love potions or effects, and the castle obliged. A gold pulse resonated through the walls, and I felt the spell lift from the three goddesses upstairs. At first, there was no sound. Then, I heard shouting.

I braced myself for the hate and betrayal of the three goddesses. I heard feet running down the stairs, and saw Athena, Artemis and Hestia standing in the hall, glaring at me.

"I am so sor-" I began, but Athena shut me up with a throwing knife. It ripped through my arm and pinned me to the wall.

"You promised us you would never make us do anything against our will! You said we could trust you, but you lied!" Artemis said. Each word felt like a dagger in my heart. I wanted to explain what had happened, but the words wouldn't come out. Athena was looking at me in pure rage, Artemis had her bow out and an arrow notched at me, and Hestia seemed torn between hate and sadness. Looking at their faces made me wish for Tartarus. Artemis released the arrow and it thudded into the wall next to my head, an inch away from my eye.

"If you even so much as look at me ever again, I will send another through your head!" She and Athena stormed out of my palace. Hestia looked at me with betrayal and heartbreak evident in her eyes, before leaving. I heard the broken sobs of the three goddesses echoing down my hall, and then the door slamming. But I continued to hear sobbing. I felt a sort of wetness traveling down my face, and realized that I was the one crying.

I didn't bother pulling the knife out, I simply fell to the ground crying, not from any physical pain, but from the expressions on the goddesses faces. I wanted to make things okay, I wanted to be their friend, but I was helpless to do so. If I ever went near them again, they would kill me.

I sat there for what felt like hours until I finally managed to stop the tears. I pulled the knife from my arm and quickly applied some nectar. The wound closed, but it left a bigger hole in my heart. I pulled the silver arrow from my wall and studied it sadly. Sighing in sadness and exhaustion, I lifted my head to walk upstairs, ready for my isolation.

As I was walking, something bright pink caught my eye. I took a closer look, and found a small micro camera, with a red heart on the side. The green recording light flashed, and I looked at it. Then, as fast as thought, I ripped it from the wall and crushed it with my hand. I shouted curses to the goddess of love, but I knew my anger was limited.

I told the palace to destroy any other Aphrodite products, and heard faint vaporization sounds. Aphrodite was the biggest gossip on Olympus, which meant she would probably spread the footage around. I now wished that I'd just stayed in Tartarus. I walked up the stairs, leaving the broken pieces of my heart behind me.

The next day, I woke up to find people in my room. Among them were my dad, Apollo and Hermes. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes before noticing someone behind the gods.

"Aphrodite." I spat. I shot to my feet and summoned my sword. Small particles of light flew from the corners of the room, resembling stars, before joining together and forming my sword. I pushed the other gods aside and held the blade to her neck.

"Yesterday I thought my anger towards you might have a limit, but now that you're here, I think the limit is gone."

"Percy, please put the sword down." Poseidon said. I tilted my head.

"Why? She ruined one of the few good things I had. I thought I might actually become their friend, but then she came along and drugged them!" I shouted. Poseidon, Hermes and Apollo sighed.

"We know that, but killing her won't change anything. It will only make more of the council hate you, and I know you don't want that to happen." My dad reasoned. I wanted nothing more that to cut the stupid goddess's head off, but I reluctantly willed my sword back into the sky.

"If she isn't here to die, then why is she here at all?" I asked. The three gods gestured for her to explain.

"They dragged me here. They want me to apologise for doing my job." She snorted. I was really tempted to cut her head off, but I managed to keep myself under control.

"If that's the only reason you're here, then I suggest you get out before you join the titans and Tartarus." Aphrodite paled, and quickly flashed out.

"Son, if you need anyone to talk to, I'll be an Iris message away. Don't hesitate to call me." Poseidon said. I nodded, and he flashed out. Apollo and Hermes looked at me warily.

"Sorry about Aphrodite ruining your friendship. If it's any consolation, the girls are crying too." Apollo said.

Apparently, the goddesses had been right about my split personality. One second, I was miserable, the next Apollo was pretty miserable too. He clutched his broken nose in pain.

"That was the wrong thing to say Apollo." Hermes said. I gave them both hateful looks before they flashed out as well. I wanted to go back to sleep, where the knowledge of what had happened wouldn't haunt me, but I knew that I would be unable to sleep until this evening.

As I got ready for the day, I thought back to Krios's last words: "You will never be accepted, loved or respected. Everywhere you go, you will be treated as an outcast. Mark my words hero."

Hours later, I found myself outside Hephaestus's palace. I knocked on the door, and waited for him to answer. When he arrived, his beard was on fire. When he saw me, he looked surprised before pity shown in his gaze.

"Hello Perseus. How can I help you?" he asked.

"Well, you run Hephaestus television. I was wondering, did Aphrodite put up that video?" Hephaestus looked like he really didn't want to answer, but he nodded his head.

"How many people saw it?" I asked. Hephaestus pulled out a small tablet and pressed the screen a few times.

"178 gods, 257 demigods, including both camps. 4,936 nature spirits, 62 satyrs and 8,253 other life forms. Adding up to a total of 13,686 things that know about what happened. The three others involved haven't seen it yet, but I doubt they ever will. No one would want to be reminded of something like this." the god said. I nodded, thanked him, and left.

I decided that I'd go to Camp Half-Blood to calm down and see my girlfriend, Annabeth. It had been over two years since I'd last seen her. She had been the only one out of all the campers who hadn't betrayed me. I wondered how she would react to my presence after the video. Hell, the whole camp would probably laugh at me.

I sighed, and headed to the doors of Olympus. When I got there, I stepped into the elevator. The interior brought back memories of holding the doors closed in my ascent from Tartarus. I was relieved to get out of the elevator and into the lobby of the Empire State Building. I saw the doorman wink at me and I realized that he might have seen the video too. Cursing under my breath, I whistled sharply. Soon, a black shape appeared from the clouds and down dropped Blackjack.

"Yo, Boss! You aren't dead! It's been a while, I met this nice lady horse and now I have kids!" He said in my mind. I felt happy for him, finding peace.

"Listen, I gotta get to camp to see Annabeth. Can you take me there?" I asked him. He whinnied in response, and gestured for me to climb on with his wings. Soon, we were soaring away from Manhattan and heading for the tip of Long Island. I saw familiar cabins, and the big house, the amphitheater and the forest. It had been a while since I'd last been to camp, but it hadn't changed a bit. I landed at the big house, and soon campers were everywhere, watching me curiously. I saw some familiar faces, but most of them were new. Chiron was walking through the crowd, and I smiled at him.

"Hello Chiron. Is Annabeth here?" I asked. He looked pale, but quickly rushed forward and engulfed me in a hug.

"I am so sorry that I didn't trust you, we all are. We watched you go through Tartarus, and I have to say, you make me proud to know you. As for Annabeth… you might want to check the beach. That's usually where they- where she is." Chiron said nervously. I was worried, but smiled. I was hugged by a lot of my old friends, but eventually I was allowed to go to the beach. I could feel the camp staring at me, but I didn't know why. I'd already said hello. I shook it off, and climbed the last dune. What I saw shocked me. I saw Annabeth and some… guy. They were sitting in the sand, holding hands. I forced myself to relax, maybe they were just friends. I'd been to the beach with friends before. It was a normal human thing.

But my sense of reassurance vanished when she leaned in and kissed him. I watched the two share their love, and that's when I broke. I felt the small of my back heat up like someone had injected it with molten rock. I had gotten rid of the Styx's curse, hadn't I?

Then, I remembered the river in Tartarus. A mixture of all five. Each one giving me their worst, and the Phlegethon taking their best. I regained my mortal point when I swam in those waters, and now my mortal point no longer tethered me here. I fought against the will of the Styx, trying to stay alive. I collapsed to my knees, all my energy going into pushing the river back. I felt its unrelenting force as it pounded away at my life. But I held on.

I don't know why I wanted to live so badly, I had nothing. My girlfriend betrayed me, the three goddesses I respected the most hated me, I was cursed to live this way forever by Krios.

That thought made me fight back harder. I would not fall to his curse. I would not just fight the river Styx, but the final words of the titan as well. I promised to myself that I would not die with Athena, Artemis and Hestia hating me. With one final push, I felt the curse of the Styx snap, and I collapsed into the sand. I felt hands on my back, rolling me over. I opened my eyes to see Chiron and the campers. In the back, I saw Annabeth and her new boyfriend.

"Percy, are you alright?" Chiron asked.

"I'm fine Chiron, I feel great actually." I said standing up. "I don't have anything holding me here anymore, but there's nothing pulling me away either. I can do whatever I want." I said. The campers looked at me like I'd lost it, but I was too caught in the feeling of freedom.

"Hey! Why are you reacting so badly to my girlfriend and I?" The guy shouted.

"Maybe because I have known her for years. Tell, me, did you find Zeus's master bolt with her? Did you recover the golden fleece with her? Did you hold the sky for her? Did you destroy a volcano for her? Did you turn down immortality for her? Did you lose every memory but hold on to hers? Did you fall into Tartarus with her? Did you defeat giants and primordials for her? Because when you do those things, let me know, and I'll be happy to give you my blessing." I said angrily.

I said my goodbyes, and went to the stables. I could hear Annabeth calling to me, trying to get my attention, but I ignored her. I jumped onto Blackjack's back, and we took off, heading back towards Manhattan. I landed in an alley across the street from the Empire State Building. I told Blackjack he would be welcome to stay at my palace, so long as he didn't go inside.

Walking into the building, I saw the doorman smirk. I ignored his chuckling and asked for the key to the six hundredth floor.

"What six hundredth floor?" he asked. I was beginning to grow impatient.

"Olympus. I have a palace there. I'm Percy Jackson." I told him. He tapped his pencil to the side of his head thoughtfully.

"Percy Jackson… oh yes! I remember now! You're the one who got lucky last night!" I was ready to stick his head down a toilet, but I knew I'd regret it.

"Just give me the damn key, I don't need your bullshit." I growled. He held up his hands in surrender.

"At least you're handling this better than you handled your girlfriend cheating on you." He said smugly. I really wanted to kill him at this point.

"How did you know about that already, it just happened!" I said. He just turned his monitor so I could see it. I saw myself standing in front of the desk, looking at myself standing in front of the monitor." I turned, and the air shimmered before a bronze ball with a camera lense built in was visible for a moment before vanishing.

"Just give me the key, you had your fun, now I'm six seconds away from having mine." I warned. He chuckled, and gave me the key. I flipped him and the camera off, and walked into the elevator. I tried not to think of the doors of death, but every time I looked at the black insulation between the doors, I thought of the void, churning just beyond the metal when I'd risen from Tartarus. Finally, the doors opened, and I stepped out onto Olympus, then wished I hadn't.

Hestia was standing there, waiting for the elevator. She seemed surprised when she saw me, quickly gave me a look filled with hatred. I wanted to talk to her, but I knew she would hit me, even if she were in a good mood. I scooted past her carefully, and sprinted down the road to my palace. When I got there, I collapsed to the ground, leaning against the door. Seeing Hestia's look of anger had made me sad again, and I was once again reminded of Krios's curse.

I sat on the ground, trying to think of ways I could get the goddesses to at least be back on neutral terms with me. I thought back to my conversation at the dinner table with them. They had each told me what they'd been up to, and I noticed that each of them had a problem. Artemis was missing hunters, and wanted nothing more than to put Octavian's head on a spike. Hestia wanted Ares and Hephaestus to get along, and Athena needed a vacuum. And then, I had an idea.

I began to plan my journey, and packed accordingly. I packed a bag of nonperishable foods, mortal money and drachmas, a blanket, a water container, nectar and ambrosia, and a flashlight. I reached to my pocket to check if Riptide was there when I remembered it had been taken from me before my trip to Tartarus. I wondered where it was now. I sighed, and drew the bag shut before slinging it over my back.

I grabbed my hoodie from my coat rack, wrote a quick note, and left my palace. I could feel many people watching me, wondering where I was going, but they simply went back to their own business.

My first destination was to Hephaestus's palace. I knocked on his door, and waited for a response. Soon, the door opened with a lot of different layers and locking mechanisms, and the god appeared.

"What can I help ya with?" he said. I explained to him what I was doing, and asked that he not tell anyone. I also told him that if the circular camera was still following me and reading my thoughts, to not show the footage to anyone. Then, I asked him what it would take for him to make a gift for Athena. I handed him a blueprint I'd had my palace draw up, and he took a look at it before telling me what to do. I thanked him, and he wished me luck on my quest.

Several months later, I collapsed in exhaustion. I was sweating bullets from the extreme heat, and my muscles were sore from all the fighting. Hephaestus had sent me to clear out Telekhines from several mountain forges located in The Ring of Fire.

I still had no water powers from Poseidon, but I figured that disowning someone was permanent. I still had other powers, and I learned that I could travel from place to place quickly using my light powers to go at the speed of light. At first, it made me pass out, but I'd built up stamina and resistance, and now I could do it with no problems.

I stood shakily from my resting position on the ground in the volcanic forge. I had only one more to go before he would make the gift. I took a sip of my water, which I refilled before every 'light warp' as I called them. I knew it was unnecessary, but I never wanted to risk dehydration.

If I died with the three goddesses hating me, I would never forgive myself. I traveled to Lake Tahoe, which was relatively close to the Pacific plate. I filled my water bottle, knowing that the water here was fresher than anywhere else. Once I was satisfied, I made sure no one was watching before I light warped to my final volcano.

I appeared in a rock tunnel that seemed to cave a reddish glow to it from the magma that was nearby. I summoned my sword in a whirl of starlight, and crept down the tunnel. It opened into a large, hot cavern, with molten rock churning below. I saw several catwalks where Telekhines walked around, pushing carts of bronze or carrying equipment. I saw some with weapons, and assumed they were on lookout.

After watching for a short time, I counted at least two hundred telekhines. Not an easy task, but not too difficult. Something I would have had a slight problem with as my former self, before all the power upgrades.

I focused on the power of light, and made the dull red glow of the magma become blinding to everyone except me. I heard shouting in a different language, and multiple cries of pain. Occasionally, there was a sort of splashing sound followed by sizzling and screaming, and I figured some of them fell into the lava.

I kept the light up for a minute, waiting for their eyes to adjust slightly, before turning it back down. Most of the telekhines were blinded, but some still had partial vision.

I began running around the catwalks, pushing the sea demons into the magma. Normally, they had slight resistance to the heat, but eventually they burned. I was doing well when some of the senior telekhines dropped onto the catwalk in front of me.

"We have heard whispers of what you have done to our brothers in the other stolen forges. We gathered what elders we had left and now we will destroy you." The one in front said.

"You know, I have heard that sentence a lot before. But an old friend of mine told me something that stands out to me more than any death threats. She told me one day, I'd have to realize how powerful I can be. And while we aren't on good terms now, I don't want to disappoint her." As I spoke, I channeled energy into my closed fist. I was building up the darkness of Tartarus, the blinding light of the sun, the cosmic energy of the stars and the enduring energy of time. I created a mixture of my four pools of energy, and when the Telekhines snarled and began to advance, I fired it at them.

The one in front got the worst of the deadly magic, but it spread from him to the others like flames. One by one, they dissolved into golden dust until nothing remained. I saw only a few telekhines left, but they were running around in confusion. I sighed, and quickly disposed of them with small bolts of darkness.

Finally, after months of travel and combat and endurance, I had completed the task for Hephaestus. I took a drink of my water, scanned for any remaining threats, and then light traveled to the main forge of Hephaestus, now located in Yellowstone, at the supervolcano.

I saw his legs sticking out from under a new car, which looked surprisingly like the one Apollo usually used as his sun chariot.

"Hephaestus, I have killed the telekhines. Your forges are empty of all life, and you may reclaim them." I told the god. Instantly, the hammering stopped, and he rolled out from underneath the vehicle. I studied me before letting a flicker of a smile play on his lips, which was difficult to notice through his beard.

"Well done lad. Now I suppose you will need the gift as soon as possible?" he asked, gesturing to a rolled up blueprint on a table.

"Yeah, just Iris message me when it's finished. " I said. Hephaestus nodded, and rolled back under the vehicle. I sighed in relief. One gift down, two to go.

It took a couple months, but Hephaestus came through. He called me to his forge one day and showed me what he'd made. He had a 3D printer, so Athena could make molds to put the melted objects in, and then the vacuum forge itself. I thanked him, and took the box to a safe house.

Hours Later

"Ares, she's a wonderful girl!" I said, trying to catch up with the god who had started walking away as soon as I introduced the pair. The god of war had reacted poorly when he met Lotos, who was a flower nymph, coming from the lotus flower. She was pretty, and was attracted to the god of war, which seemed unusual to me, since he was her polar opposite. I guess opposites do attract.

"Ares, name one reason why you don't want to be with her. She loves you, she's smart, beautiful, funny. She's perfect for you." I exclaimed.

"Here's a reason, punk. I'm with Aphrodite, the goddess of love. She's the best there is. Why would I give that up for a nymph?" he growled.

"Because, despite your longing, she's married already. Hephaestus has more right to be with her than you do." I reasoned. Ares simply waved his hand and kept walking.

"You aren't weak, correct?" I asked him. He faltered in his walking and looked at me.

"I am the god of war, do you think I'm weak?" He growled.

"Well, the footage of you and Aphrodite getting caught in Hephaestus's traps all the time might give someone the wrong impression." I said. "That's really the only reason someone would think of you as weak." Ares looked about six seconds away from tossing me off of Olympus, but he seemed to reign in his anger.

"Give me a reason why I should give this nymph a chance with me." He said in a slightly calmer tone, so he sounded like a Tibetan Mastiff instead of Cerberus.

"Because, she actually loves you! Aphrodite simply uses you to spite Hephaestus, because she's unhappy she was forced into her marriage. Most people get the wrong impression of you simply because you're the god of war. I know you are capable of more than that. Change what people think of you. You use fear to gain respect, why not use kindness instead?" I told him. He processed my words for a moment before glaring at me.

"You think that I will play your silly love games?"

"I know you can. As Mars, you loved Frank Zhang's mother. You love your children, even if you show it differently. You can learn to love another person, but this one will be special. You could finally be married, have a wife and children. You could be there for them in place of when you couldn't be there for your demigods." I told him, trying to put a calming sense into my words. He glared at me before sighing.

"Fine, I'll try it. Anything to get you off my back. I gotta go tell Aphrodite that we're through. She can go back to Hephaestus. Hell, I might actually get along with him now. We'll just have to see. Thanks for reminding me that there's more than bloodshed and violence in the world. As Ares, I tolerate you, but as Mars," he shifted into his roman form. "... I respect you. Good luck kid, you might need it someday." With that, he grabbed the now happy nymph's arm and they vanished in a flash of red. I smiled to myself. That makes two gifts.

Two months Later

I liked my red hoodie better, but in it's camouflage form, I could move through the woods a lot stealthier. I had been observing the hunt for a few hours now, waiting for them to make camp. Thalia had told me once that the hunters usually stayed in one spot for about two to three weeks at a time before moving again, so I knew I had a small window.

I had met Hera privately the night before, and asked for a map showing the location of the hunt, and the locations of female demigods who qualified and might want to join the hunt.

At first, Hera looked at me disapprovingly, for she still held a grudge. But through the conversation, in which I had to reveal what I was doing, she decided to give me the map. When I left, she promised that she wouldn't tell Artemis, Athena and Hestia of what I was doing. But she had a strange look in her eyes that made me wonder if they might already know.

I watched the hunt begin to make their camp, and I smiled, before traveling to one of the marks on my map that meant a demigoddess was there. When I arrived, I found a beat up house that looked like it had been in Manhattan during the war. I heard a cry of pain, and shot up the porch and slammed into the door, breaking it off its hinges. I heard sounds of struggling upstairs, so I quickly ascended to find a man, who was obviously drunk, holding a knife threateningly at a girl who looked about a year younger than me.

"Let her go." I snarled. I hated seeing people abuse others. It brought back bad memories. The drunk guy stared at me confused at first, but then angrily.

"Who are you? How did you get in?"

"Who I am is no concern of yours, dead people don't need to know who killed them." He roared in anger and charged me clumsily. I almost laughed as he barreled right past me when I dodged, and his head was buried in a wall. He emerged slowly, looking like he might explode from anger.

He held his knife out at me and tried to stab me, but I caught the blade with two fingers and pulled it from his grasp. Before he could react, I sliced open his throat and he collapsed to the ground, dying. I dropped the knife, as I didn't need it, and turned to the girl.

She was staring at me fearfully, and I held my hands up to show I was unarmed.

"I'm not going to hurt you. I know of a place where you can meet others who have been through similar events." She kept staring at me.

"Who are you? Why are you here?" She asked.

"My name is Percy Jackson. I'm here to help you. I have a friend who helps girls who have issues with men. Tell me, do you know about the Greek gods?" I asked.

"Yeah, I learned about them in history. Why?"

"Well, those gods are real. You are the daughter of one, though I don't know who. She nodded to show her comprehension.

"What's your name, by the way?" I asked her.

"Kendra Kleftis" She said. Kleftis was a rough translation of thief in Greek, so perhaps she was a daughter of Hermes.

"Alright Kendra, I can do a sort of teleportation thing but it might be bright and might make you want to pass out or throw up. Also, when we get there, I will have to go, but you should be safe there. Other girls will be joining you there as well, so please don't argue with them. In about six months, I'll come pick you all up and take you to Artemis and her hunters. Okay?" I said. She nodded.

"Alright, let's go." I said, and the world dissolved into blinding light.

Camp Jupiter, six months later

Over the course of six months, I had sent many other girls to the safehouse, and kept track of the movement of the hunt. Now, I was at Camp Jupiter to complete Artemis's gift.

"Perseus Jackson, you have committed crimes against Rome." Octavian cried. There were many faces in the legion who seemed like they were sick of him, and only about ten or so people looked like his supporters.

"Octavian, what crimes have I committed? I came here with no memories several years ago, went on a quest with Praetor Frank and Centurion Hazel. We recovered the Legion's Eagle and many imperial gold weapons. We brought the aid of the Amazons, and worked with the legion to stop Polybotes. I myself defeated him in combat with the help of Terminus. I was not the one who fired the ballistae on New Rome." I said. At this, the crowd nodded.

"You blame me for crimes that minions of Gaea committed when you have no proof. But I have some things to say about you. The first war games that I participated in, you attempted to kill former Centurion Gwen. Then, at the feast of Fortuna, you were the only other person aboard the Argo II. How can we be certain that it was the eidolon that possessed Leo, or your own actions. Augur Octavian, would you be willing to swear on the River Styx that you did not work with Gaea during the giant war?" I asked.

Octavian paled, and shuffled nervously.

"You spout nothing but Greek lies! I should kill you for your crimes!"

"Octavian, swear on the Styx that you didn't help Gaea." I repeated. He shuffled nervously again, and any casual observer could tell he looked guilty.

"What, Octavian? Why do you not tell us the truth? If you are so loyal to the legion, then swear your loyalty. Swear that you never went against the legion, never killed a Centurion, never tried to overthrow Praetor Reyna." Octavian took one look at me, then tried to run. He made it halfway across the forum before an arrow made of starlight pierced his leg.

I had taken the time to learn to shoot a bow, and I was glad I did. It had proven useful when I was out in the wild.

"Romans, Octavian has betrayed you. While many of you think death is the best punishment, I have an idea. The Greek goddess Artemis has a group of hunters who are known for their hatred of males. Not only that, but they all recognize Octavian for his act of violence against them. I say we leave him in their camp, as a sort of gift. Is there anyone who can think of a more fitting punishment?" I called to the crowd. Even Octavian's supporters didn't say anything.

"Very well, I shall take him there this evening. If any of you want to say your goodbyes, now's the chance."

After revealing the betrayal of Octavian, I found a large black bag, big enough to hold Octavian. I knocked him out and stuffed him inside before bidding farewell to the romans before traveling away.

I arrived at the safehouse again, startling some of the girls, but I asked them to knock him out if he woke up again. I set him in the private room where the gift for Athena was wrapped. All the gifts were in order. A vacuum, A boy in a bag with several potential hunters, and a photograph of Hephaestus, Ares, Aphrodite and Lotos at a beach. The two male gods were grilling all sorts of meats, while Aphrodite and Lotos talked as they prepared drinks.

I smiled at the picture. It had taken a while, but Ares and Hephaestus had become great friends. Lotos and Ares were married now, the wedding had taken place about a month ago. The gifts were prepared, and now I would deliver them.

Hours later

At about midnight, I woke everyone up, and gestured to the box and Octavian.

"I know you all are probably wondering what this box is, why I have a picture of four immortals, or why I have a boy in a bag. Well, now you will find out. The box is a gift for a friend, and the boy is too. He killed many of the hunters, who you will be joining in the morning. He worked with Gaea during the war I told you about. And I feel that the hunters will enjoy dealing with him. None of you are to tell Artemis or any of the other hunters that it was me who sent you and our friend Octavian there. None of you are to mention that box over there or the photo, as they for other friends." I paused in my speech to gauge their reactions.

"If anyone asks who sent you, simply say 'An old friend of yours. The note should explain it.' and she might understand. If not, once she talks to the other two then she'll know. So all of you, get some rest, and be up at six. We have some traveling to do!" The girls shouted their approval, and began to pack. When they were finished, they started going to sleep, or talking with each other. I smiled, and couldn't help but think that they would make great hunters. I grabbed the box, and teleported to Olympus.

It was dark, and everyone was asleep. I carefully wheeled my gift up to Athena's palace, and opened the door quietly. I slipped through her house making no noise, and crept to her bedroom. The door was open, and I could see she had passed out reading a book. I smiled, and left the box and cart in front of her bed with the note I'd written. I smiled, and crept back out of the palace and teleported back to the safehouse.

The girls had fallen asleep by now, so they didn't notice when I grabbed the black bag containing Octavian's unconscious form. I took the bag with him in it, and teleported into the center of the hunter's camp. I quietly placed the bag on the ground with a chloroform cloth draped over the bag where his mouth was. Hopefully that would keep him asleep until morning.

After writing another note, this one for Artemis, I traveled away, reappearing on Olympus. I had the photo with me, and began walking to Hestia's palace. Upon arriving, I saw no lights on, and I slipped into her palace.

Thankfully enough, Hephaestus was the only god who felt it necessary to have a security system. I walked up to Hestia's room after almost getting lost. Her door was open as well, and she lay peacefully in her bed. I set the photo in her arms as carefully as I could. She shifted in her sleep, and her arms automatically wrapped around it before she went back into a deep sleep. I smiled, and left her palace. I teleported back to the safehouse, and collapsed into my bed, setting my alarm before I fell asleep.

Olympus

At eight in the morning, Hestia woke up feeling more rested than ever. She went to stretch her arms, to find a weight on her chest. She picked up the object to find a small box, wrapped carefully in flame patterned paper. She wondered who it was from, and decided to open it. Inside, she found something that warmed her heart, thawing the frost that had been there for months. Inside, was a picture of Hephaestus, Ares, Aphrodite and a nymph who Hestia had heard was called Lotos. She smiled at the picture, but wondered who had given it to her. She was about to put it on her bedside table when a note slipped off of the back. She picked it up and read it.

Hestia

I wish there was something I could do to properly apologize to you. These past months have been worse than Tartarus. I sometimes didn't ever want to wake up and remember that you hate me, but I knew that if I die while you, Athena and Artemis despise me, then I will never find peace. I know the gift will never be enough, but it was the one thing you wanted when we toasted friendship that night. I'm sorry for what happened, and I understand if you don't care for my apology, or continue to hate me. But knowing that I tried is the only thing I have left.

Sincerely, Percy Jackson

After reading the letter, Hestia cried. The tears wouldn't stop flowing, and she didn't know how to stop them.

Most of the gods hadn't seen Percy ever since that night with the exception of Ares, Hephaestus, Hera and Aphrodite, but they revealed nothing. The council had wondered where he was and what he was doing, but now Hestia knew. He was trying to repair the broken friendships.

Athena woke up and noticed her glasses were askew and her book had fallen open on her chest. It wouldn't be the first time she'd fallen asleep reading. She put her bookmark in, marking her spot, before setting her reading glasses on her nightstand. Then, she noticed the cart at the foot of her bed, with a large box on it that was neatly wrapped in owl patterned paper. She wondered who had given her the gift, and how they had managed to get into her room without her noticing. She stood slowly and unwrapped the box. Inside, was something she'd been asking Hephaestus to make for a long time. A vacuum. She could finally test her idea of melting any object. She noticed a second box inside the first, and found a 3D printer, along with an instructions booklet. She smiled, and pulled the machines out of the box. She was about to throw the box away and send Hephaestus an Iris message, when a small envelope fell out. She picked it up and opened it.

Athena

I never got to formally apologize to you. I know you will likely burn this note and continue hating me. I'm not going to ask you to forgive me, but I want you to know that I am sorry. I am sorry for what happened, right after a great friendship was made. I am sorry for your feeling of betrayal. I am sorry for being a terrible friend. I understand if you never want to see me again, and I won't try to change your opinion. I guess the real reason I gave you this is because if I didn't I'd never forgive myself. When you, Hestia and Artemis were angry with me, I was angry with myself for not apologizing. I knew that if I didn't do this, I would fall to Krios's curse. Perhaps I still will. That might be a better gift to you. Once again, I'm so sorry. I never wanted anything like this to happen.

Sincerely, Percy Jackson

Athena had to sit down on her bed before her legs gave out. She had just woken up, but already all her energy was going towards fighting the feeling of sadness. She had assumed that after that night, Percy had just gone on with his life, not caring for their despair and betrayal. But apparently, he'd spent the months away trying to fix it.

Athena looked down at the note again, and seeing those words made the floodgates open. Tears that she'd tried to hold in for months on end were finally spilling out, but for a different reason than expected. Athena, for once in her life, had no idea what to do.

Artemis sat up in her tent, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Ever since he had betrayed Athena, Hestia and herself, she had grown numb to her surroundings. She tried to isolate herself from her hunters, so they would not notice her unusual mood. But despite her efforts, she couldn't help but cry. Every night, she would fall asleep with tears streaking down her face. And every morning she would wash them away, something she wished she could do to her sadness.

Sighing, she stood up from her bed and put on her hunting uniform. She was always the first to wake, followed shortly by Thalia. She strapped her knives to her legs and slung her quiver over her shoulder before walking out of her tent.

However, when she emerged, she found about twenty girls, none of whom were in her hunt. They were looking at her expectantly, while a black bag wiggled at their feet.

"You are Lady Artemis, correct?" One of the girls asked. Artemis's hand drifted to her bow.

"Why do you want to know?" She said, trying to keep her cool. The girls smiled.

"We would like to join your hunt. We also bear a gift from a friend of yours. The note should explain everything." She said. Artemis lowered her hand.

"How did you all come here at the same time, with the same goal? I have never had this many hunters join at once before."

"Like I said, the note should explain it." She repeated, gesturing to a slip of paper on the black bag. Artemis approached it, and picked it up.

Artemis

I know that you hate me now, and I know that trying to change your opinion of me will end badly. So I have decided that instead of changing how you think, I'm simply going to apologize as best I can. I have little hope that you will appreciate the gesture. But I know that if I don't do this, I might as well join the titans and Tartarus in a place for forgotten people. I just want you to know that I am so sorry. If I could somehow stop what happened, I would. When we ate dinner together, you each spoke of something you desired more than anything, but could not have. And even though I know you will all still despise me, I wanted to do this for you. I have sent some girls who are willing to join your hunt, who meet the qualifications, and are smart, strong, beautiful, independent- qualities I see in you, Athena and Hestia. You also mentioned your desire for revenge against the augur of Camp Jupiter. He's in the black bag at their feet. I know that this is nowhere near what I would have to do to make what happened forgivable, but It's all I can accomplish.

Sincerely, Percy Jackson

Artemis looked at the note for a few moments, before looking back at the new girls, who had started meeting the other hunters. She looked at the note again, and then rushed back into her tent, tears flowing down her face. She cried harder than she had any other night, months of pent up anger and sadness bursting out of her all at once.

Artemis cried for about an hour, while the hunters remained outside unsure of what to do. A couple of them had opened up Octavian's bag and tied him to a tree for later, but they awaited their mistress's command. A command that she was too emotionally destroyed to give.

Percy

I sat in my palace, waiting for the inevitable goddess trio to come and kill me for going near them. But as the day went on, I began to wonder if they were coming at all. I began to think that they might have simply ripped up the notes and gone on with their lives. That wasn't unlikely, their lives were a lot better without me in them. They could live forever, do whatever they pleased. I would simply be a burden. And one day, I would die, and they would move on. If I grew close to them, my death would only bring more pain.

I was brought out of my thoughts at sunset by a knocking on my door. At first, I thought I had just heard it because I wanted to, but then it sounded again. I sat up in my bed and practically skipped my staircase as I rushed to greet whoever it was. I almost tore the door off its hinges when I opened it.

"Hey Percy, You have mail." Hermes said. I tried not to let my disappointment show, but I accepted the envelope from him. He said nothing as I signed with the caduceus, and vanished. I looked to see who it was from, but there was nothing there. The envelope was plain white, giving nothing away, and it simply said 'Percy' on the front. I opened it slowly, unsure If I wanted to see what it was. Finally, I pulled the letter out. I set the envelope on the table, and unfolded the paper with shaking hands.

Percy

I really don't know what I am supposed to feel, but I'm going to stick to staying away from the chaos of others.

-Hestia

I appreciate the gesture, but I don't want to be won over by gifts.

-Athena

I can't imagine how difficult it must have been to do this, but I swore to never grow close to men.

-Artemis

Thank you for trying. We want you to know that we don't hate you.

-Former maiden goddesses

The letter felt like a punch to my throat. I felt as if I couldn't breathe, no matter how much air I was gulping down. I had tried so hard, only to be told I'd never experience friendship with them again. The signature at the bottom seemed to laugh at me, reminding me of what had happened. I looked at the letter once more before crumpling it into a ball and dropping it on the floor. I understood then, why some people lose so much until the point where they just cannot go on. The point where any and all hope has been extinguished, and they are no longer human. I was close to that point, standing on a very dangerous edge. If I fell, I wasn't sure I'd come back.

I decided to visit my mother, since she and Paul would help calm me down. I hadn't seen them ever since the giant war ended, about three and a half years ago. I wondered if they'd had any kids while I was absent.

I flashed to the apartment building I used to live in, and walked inside. I showed the lobbyman my ID, telling him I was the son of Sally and Paul Blofis.

"Oh, yes. They told me if you ever showed up to give you this." He said, handing me an envelope. I wondered why they didn't just give it to me in person.

"Thanks. Will you buzz them and let them know I'm here?" I asked. He frowned.

"I thought you would know by now. They moved out. Said something about the Mediterranean. Maybe that letter explains it." I thanked him, and left quickly. I tore open the envelope and began to read.

Percy

We heard about what you did. How you helped Gaea in the war. I can only say that you are my son, and I love you, but I don't want to see you again. I can't bear knowing that I gave birth to someone who would betray his friends and family like that.

Sincerely, Sally Jackson

At first, I wondered if I'd read it correctly, or if my dyslexia was acting up. But after re-reading it over and over again, I realized that it actually said what I thought it did. I began to feel hollow inside, like someone had drilled a hole in my chest and ripped out everything that made me human. All I could think of was Krios's final words: You will never be accepted, loved or respected. Everywhere you go, you will be treated as an outcast. Mark my words hero.

If I had known that this was how everything was going to end for me, I would have handed Elpis to Prometheus immediately in the Battle for Manhattan. I wished I had that stupid jar now so I could open it and let hope go, let everyone know that I had given up and they could kill me now. But Hestia had the jar. And I knew she didn't ever want to see me.

"'We don't hate you' I said. 'I don't want to see you again'." Those words kept playing in my head, and the angry looks of the people who said then accompanied each one. It was like getting hit with a sledgehammer over and over again until I snapped.

I flashed myself up to my palace on Olympus. A palace for one purpose now.

"Palace." I called out.

"Yes Perseus?" It replied in its monotonic voice.

"Destroy any demigods currently here." I waited for the palace to shoot down a red beam of energy that would eradicate me from the world, but nothing happened.

"Palace, shoot me." I said, agitated. Again, nothing happened.

"Palace, respond. Acknowledge the fact that I am giving you orders and shoot me already." I said. Once again, the palace didn't answer. Suddenly, a hologram of sorts appeared on the dining table. I approached it, and a man appeared in the image. He looked like the kind of person you would forget the second you looked away.

"Hello. I am Palace. I am an automated system of maintenance, service, and intelligence. I was designed by Hephaestus to follow any command except for one: A suicide command. I was not built to kill, only to help."

"Then help me die!" I yelled at the stupid guy in the screen.

"That is a suicide command, and I cannot follow it. You have issued four suicide commands, upon issuing a fifth, Hephaestus will be notified. Are you sure you want to continue?" I glared at the little blue man.

"Here's an order for you then: Shut up."

"Very well." He replied. I was agitated with his refusal to be angry, with his refusal to help me die. I would never be able to use my own weapons, I just couldn't. People might feel guilty if I was found like that. But if I were disintegrated, there would be no trace.

I punched my wall in frustration and the image flickered.

"Please refrain from hitting me." he said. I flipped him off and went up to my room. I slammed the door behind me, but it made no noise.

"Palace, give me a coil of rope." I said. An automation rolled into the room with a coil of rope before speaking.

"I know what you are trying to do. Just because I cannot kill you does not mean you should do it yourself. You might not know it, but there are plenty of people out there who love you. If you end it now, you will never love them." I walked out to my balcony, ignoring the automation.

I tied to rope to one of the balcony rails, made sure it was secure, before looping the other end into a noose.

"If you die today, You might not physically travel. But your name and story will. And if you end it this way, You will never be accepted, loved or respected. Everywhere you go, you will be treated as an outcast. Mark my words hero." I froze when Palace said this.

"What difference will it make? Everyone I once loved hates me. My mother thinks I betrayed her, Annabeth didn't love me enough to stay faithful, the three goddesses never want to see me again. Do you think I am accepted, loved, or respected now? Krios has won already! He won the second I escaped Tartarus. He won, Palace, and everyone has to admit defeat at some point. You know it's true. If you're so sure that someone out there loves me, prove it. Tell me who loves me!" I shouted at the stupid automation. He remained silent.

"I knew it. You speak great words with no meaning. Even you, the most intelligent device I have ever heard of, cannot come up with anyone who loves me!" I said. Suddenly, a hologram popped out of the automation's forehead. It showed images.

Pictures of Tyson, Ella, Nico, Thalia, Reyna and Camp Jupiter, Hylla and the Amazons, Piper, Leo, Jason, Frank, Hazel, Zoe, Calypso, Poseidon, Hades, Zeus, Hera, Hermes, Apollo, Demeter, Aphrodite, Ares, Hephaestus, Dionysus.

But then came three images that stunned me. Athena, Hestia and Artemis. I saw their reception of my gifts, saw their tears as they read my notes. I saw our toast to friendship years ago. I saw the happiness in their eyes, the spark of something great. The image slowly faded until I was standing in front of nothing but an automation.

"Does this answer your question?" Palace asked me.

"You have only shown me images of what I cannot have. The gods tolerate me, Athena, Hestia and Artemis wish to never see me again, the demigods follow me for strength, not love." I spat.

"That is where you are wrong. You are-" Palace began before I roared, and punched him in the head. His head popped off and his automation body collapsed.

"Palace, clean up the automation, and do not speak to me."

"Of course Perseus." His voice rang from somewhere in the palace.

I turned my attention back to the rope I'd prepared. I picked up the noose from where I'd dropped it. I wrote a simple note on a piece of paper, left it by the balcony railing, before jumping off with the rope around my neck.

Hermes

Hermes was approaching Percy's Palace again. This kid kept on getting mail from all over the place.

Hermes knocked on the palace door, but a male voice rang out from a hidden speaker.

"Perseus is at minimum system integrity. He has made it clear to me that he does not want company." Hermes frowned at this. Minimum system integrity… that only meant that he was unwell. Hermes opened the door, despite not having an invitation. He walked through the halls until he saw something through the doors leading to the back yard. He paled when he realized what it was, and sprinted toward it. Hermes burst through the doors with godly speed and quickly untied the rope from around Percy's neck. The demigod dropped, and would have hit the floor if Hermes hadn't caught him.

"Apollo! We need help!" Hermes called to his brother. Moments later, a flash of gold appeared.

"You rang? How can I h-HOLY SHIT!" Apollo said upon seeing Percy. He quickly took Percy's unconscious form from Hermes and laid him on the ground gently.

Apollo checked for vital signs, and didn't look pleased with his findings. A stethoscope appeared around his neck and he quickly put it on and listened.

"We need to restart his heart, go find someone willing to kiss him, because I am definitely not going to." Apollo said. Hermes nodded, and blazed through Olympus, trying to find someone.

"Hermes, what's the rush?" someone said behind him. He turned to see Hestia staring at him. She looked like she'd been crying, but she managed to pull herself together for public encounters.

"Percy tried to kill himself, he needs CPR, Apollo is squeamish about kissing him, we need someone to do it for him." Hermes said quickly. Hestia looked shocked before her face changed. She looked like she was stuck in a mixture of horror and determination.

"Well, show me the way then." She said. Hermes looked at her like she was crazy, but wasn't about to argue. He grabbed her hand and they sped back to Percy's Palace.

Hestia rushed forward, crying involuntarily when she saw him. Apollo was frantically slapping him to see if he'd wake up. Hestia pushed him aside and began to perform CPR.

Nobody really expected her to know how, since she was never around people in need of it. But apparently, she knew how to do it. The two gods watched as Hestia tried to save the life of someone who didn't want to be saved.

Percy

I felt weightless, like I was in space. I saw nothing but emptiness around me, but there was somehow light. I stayed there for what felt like eternity, and wondered if I was actually dead. Normally, Thanatos or Hermes would guide souls to the underworld, but I saw no sign of either of them.

Suddenly, I felt the effects of gravity begin to work again, and I felt tired. My chest hurt for some reason, and I felt like I could barely move. I wanted to open my eyes, but my muscles didn't work.

I felt myself breathing, but I couldn't make myself move. I heard muffled voices, but I couldn't tell what they were saying, or who they belonged to. Eventually, I began to regain motor skills, and felt my hands twitch. I worked on moving my limbs until my wrists were normal. I wanted to work on movement some more, but began to feel sleepy. I tried to stay awake in this strange dark place, but eventually I succumbed to the realm of Hypnos.

Hours later, I began to feel things again. I still couldn't open my eyes, but I could hear and smell and feel. I thought I heard laughter, or perhaps it was crying. I smelled… trees. But the trees were on fire, and someone was using old books to fuel it. What a strange smell.

I tried to remember what had happened, but the last thing I could think of was… A note. A note from my mother. I can't recall exactly what it said, but I knew it wasn't good. Was she injured?

I slowly tried to open my eyes, but as soon as I did, light poured into them, and I closed them again.

I don't know why I did, I could look at any light and be fine. I tried again, and managed to hold them open. I saw a bright white light on the ceiling above me, but then it was blocked by a humanoid figure.

"Hey, you're awake!" The ever annoying voice of Apollo said. I looked around slowly to see I was in some sort of hospital. There was no one in my room except Apollo, but I could still hear the crying out in the hall.

"How did I get here?" I asked him.

"Well, Hermes found you after your little stunt, and Hestia saved you, and then we went here." Hestia, one of the goddesses who hated me, had saved me? Why would she do that?

"What do you mean, 'stunt'? What did I do?" I asked.

"Ah… well, Hermes found you hanging by a rope…" Apollo said.

"Was I over the grand canyon or something?" I asked.

"No, you were over your backyard." He said. He looked at me like How could you forget?

"Then what was the danger? It's only about ten feet away from my balcony."

"Well, you were hanging by your neck." And suddenly, the memory came back to me. I remembered my mother's note, the note from the goddesses, my conversation with Palace, my attempted suicide. I wanted to curl up in a ball and roll into a hole and never come out.

"Who's out there crying? Are they hurt?" I asked. Apollo looked at me strangely.

"No, they are visitors. In fact, if you're feeling better, we can let some of them in to talk to you if you'd like." He offered. I nodded, and he ducked outside the door. I heard him explaining the situation, and telling someone to come in. The door opened a little more, and I saw my first visitor.

"Annabeth?" I said incredulously. She gave me a weak smile.

"Hi Percy. Just because we've had our… complications, doesn't mean I don't care about you. I tried to talk to you the day you found out, but you weren't quite… right."

"Yeah, I guess so. So, who's your new boyfriend?" I asked, trying not to sound angry or sad.

"His name is Michael, he's a son of Dionysus. He can be a little arrogant at times, but the rest of the time he's nice. He wanted me to tell you he's sorry about how he treated you that day." Annabeth said. We talked for a little while before she had to go.

"Good luck Percy! Judging by how much they're crying, you'll need it!" she said, and left the room before I could ask who.

Poseidon came into the room next.

"Percy, how are you feeling?" He said with concern.

"I'm fine, better than I was earlier." I said. He smiled, before reaching into his pocket.

"I know you already have a sword, but this one carries many memories, and was made by a former friend of your. You should have it." He said, handing me Riptide.

"Thanks. Even if you technically disowned me a couple years ago, I still see you as my dad." I told him, to which he smiled. There was a comfortable silence for a while before Apollo came in and told him his visiting time was up.

"Well Percy, be sure to Iris message me if you ever need help." Poseidon said before smiling, and walking out of the door.

For the next few hours, people came and went, among them were Grover, Thalia, Nico and the other of the seven demigods.

"Percy, you have only three more visitors left, and little time. Is it alright if they see you all at once?" Apollo said. I nodded, and he stepped out of the room. I waited for my visitors, who seemed to be the source of the crying I'd heard earlier.

When they walked into the room, I felt surprised like never before. Athena, Hestia and Artemis each sat down next to my bed, tears in their eyes.

"Hey." I said, trying to break the ice. At this, their tears began to fall and they each pulled me into a watery hug. After a while, they pulled back. My shirt was soaked, but I didn't care. It was nice to be with them without getting nervous.

"So… are you all still mad at me, or are we on neutral terms again?" I asked.

"No, we aren't mad at you." Artemis said.

"In fact, we were wondering if you'd still be interested in friendship?" Athena asked.

"I'd love to. What did you think I was doing with those gifts, confusing the date with Christmas?" I joked. They smiled, and we talked for a bit. Artemis told me the new hunters had been accepted and made friends with the older ones.

Athena told me of her plans for the vacuum forge, using it to create delicate parts for other machines.

Hestia told me she hadn't yet seen Hephaestus and Ares, but thanked me for uniting them.

"Percy, visitation time is up." Apollo said, poking his head through the door.

"No Apollo, it isn't." I said, waving my hand and freezing him in time. It didn't take too much energy, for I'd practiced over the years. The girls chuckled at the god, for his face was stuck in a confused expression.

"Alright, if we won't have any interruptions, what would you like to talk about?" I asked them. They looked thoughtful for a moment before Hestia suggested we tell each other stories about our pasts, and we had to guess if they were true or not.

"Alright. I once accidentally shot Zoe." Artemis started.

"False." I guessed, as did the others.

"Damn, how did you guys know?" She asked.

"You're too good a shot to make mistakes." I told her.

"Okay, my turn! Hm… I was once on a mortal television show called Doctor Who, and played the companion Clara Oswald." Hestia riddled. I had only seen one episode, back when I was dating Annabeth. She'd shown it to me and explained who and what everything was until my head was spinning like a top. Fortunately, I knew what Clara looked like, and she resembled Hestia a bit.

"Uhh, false?" Guessed Athena. I voted that it was true, while Artemis went with false as well.

"Percy's correct!" Hestia said.

"Hestia, I never knew you wanted to be an actress?" Artemis said. Hestia just grinned at her.

"Well, after millenia of quietly tending the hearth, I decided to be a little active in people's lives. It was fun, the actors are great. I think some of them might be children of Zeus, since he's the god of theater." Hestia explained.

"Alright Athena, your turn." I said.

"Well… I once got hit by a car." I had no idea how to tell if she was bluffing or not, but I just went with false, as did Hestia and Artemis.

"Correct. I can't really see why I would be crossing a mortal street though…" She trailed off.

"Why did the Athena cross the road? I don't know, and don't ask her, she doesn't either." Artemis joked.

"Alright Percy, your turn." Hestia said. I tried to think of something that nobody would have seen me do. Then, I had an idea. A really dumb idea looking back on it, but I wasn't thinking right when I did it.

"I once fell in love with someone I really shouldn't have." I said. The question was vague enough to not give anything too important away, but still counted as a question and not a riddle.

"Wow… this is tough." Athena said. I knew I'd scored a point if the goddess of wisdom didn't know.

"I'm going to guess that it's false. You haven't had much time to fall in love. Your first relationship took five years." Artemis said. Hestia also thought it was false, until Athena finally agreed.

"Nope! You're wrong!" I said. I really hoped I wasn't blushing when I looked at them, but thankfully, I didn't feel my face heat up. The three goddesses began asking who it was, and if they knew them.

"Well, if you don't know them, then that would be kinda sad. You're related to them after all." I said. They puzzled over this and began whispering hurriedly to each other.

"You said 'them' as in multiple. So you fell for more than one person, correct?" Athena asked after their huddle. I nodded, and they started talking again.

In all honesty, I don't know when I realized I loved them. Whether it was when we toasted friendship two years ago, or on my quests to get their gifts together. But at some point, I'd fallen hopelessly in love with the three goddesses I could never be with.

"...Percy?" Athena said, bringing me back from Lala-land.

"Sorry, spaced out. What were you saying?" I asked.

"Well, we haven't given up on trying to figure out who these people are, but we'll figure it out some other time. For now, we're going to finish the game, and you're going to give us one more hint before we part for tonight." Artemis said. I nodded, and the game went on.

There were a lot of unusual stories, and with each one we learned more about each other. For example, I learned that Athena had gotten drunk one night and woke up engaged to the Prince of England a couple hundred years ago. Or that Artemis once tried to burn down a school library after a book gave her a paper cut. Or that Hestia didn't know she had powers over fire until she tripped and fell face first into the hearth one day, and didn't burn to death.

In return, I told them many things about myself. I told them that I was ambidextrous, meaning I could use both my right and left hands equally. I told them that I used to spend summers going to swimming pools in white robes and walking on the water pretending I was Jesus.

At some point during the night, I must have accidentally let go of Apollo's time spell because we were interrupted from our laughter by his voice.

"What do you mean time isn't up. Of course it…" He faltered when he saw us, and how dark it was outside.

"You just had to flaunt your time powers, huh? Fine, I'll let it slide just this once. But you do need to finish up soon. While the girls might not need as much sleep as humans, you certainly do. If you were immortal though, then you'd only need to sleep about once a week." He scolded. We laughed at him until he left, and eventually regained control over ourselves.

"Well Percy, as much as I hate to admit it, he is right. You need sleep. But before you drift off, you still have to give us one more hint about who the people are that you're in love with." Artemis said with a grin.

"Fine. To reference the oracle, here it is:

Three beings of inner gold

In his heart they shaped a mold

Words so sharp they hurt like a knife

It brought upon the loss of a life

But hope flickers on in its empty jar

And his actions were meant to leave no scar

Three beings under the sky above

Filled that mold with nothing but love" I finished the 'prophecy' and watched the goddesses think about the information they'd received. Athena stopped recording the audio on her smartphone, while Artemis scribbled furiously on a notepad. Hestia looked deep in concentration, like she were trying to remember the words.

"Well, there's your hint. Now we don't want an angry Apollo, who knows what Haikus he has planned." I told them. They sighed in disappointment at the vagueness of the poem, but we exchanged goodbyes and they walked out of the door. Once they were gone, Apollo poked his head in and said he would be leaving for the night, and told me not to try to get out of bed. And when he closed the door, a huge grin spread across my face. I knew they would someday figure out the riddle, but at the time, I was safe. I began to drift off to sleep, my face cracked into a smile as I began to dream about love.

The next morning, I woke up to a loud knocking on my door. Apollo poked his head through .

"Rise and shine sleeping beauty, you get to leave today!" I groaned, and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes.

"You just gotta fill out a little questionnaire about your stay here, and sign yourself out with my secretary. By the way, she might fancy you a little, so be careful. If you want those girls to love you back, you gotta stay loyal." he said cheerfully.

"Wait, how do you know I love them?" I asked.

"I'm the god of poetry. By the way, nice job on that one. Came up with it rather on the spot, much like myself. If I didn't know better, I'd say I blessed you at some point. Anyway, I don't really mind you getting together with my sisters and Hestia. But if you hurt them, you'll pay the price, got it?" Apollo warned. I nodded, and he handed me a clipboard with a bunch of questions like On a scale of one to ten, how pleasant was your stay? or Only answer if it applies: How would you rate the complementary poetry battles between Apollo and the Muses?

I answered the questions as quickly as I could while Apollo unhooked me from the machines. It felt weird walking on my own feet after a while of inactivity, but I got used to it. I followed Apollo through the hospital, which I began to think was just a part of his palace, or somewhere in a special realm of his. We came up to a desk where a pretty blonde woman sat. She looked to be about my age, but I already had my sights set on a couple others.

"Hello Percy, I'm Cassandra. If you hand me that questionnaire, I'll get you your sign out sheet as quickly as possible." She said. I saw her batting her eyes at me, but I ignored it. I didn't want to be cold, but I barely knew her. While I was filling out the sign out sheet, she began preparing her lunch.

"I'm finished." I said, sliding the paper back across the desk. She immediately dropped her meal and rushed back over, smiling at me.

"You didn't need to come immediately, I can wait you know." I told her.

"Yes, but I want to come immediately." She purred. I took a step back from the desk when she started leaning over it.

"Sorry Cassandra, I can't help you if that's all you want." I told her. She looked disappointed, but sighed and filed away the sign out sheet.

"Alright, just let me cut off that hospital bracelet and you're set!" She said. I held out my wrist, albeit nervously, as I didn't know if she would try to threaten me with the scissors if I didn't have sex with her. Thankfully, she just snipped the little plastic band and I rushed out of the hospital. When I arrived on the familiar sight of Olympus, I smiled. The city of the gods was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen, right after Athena, Hestia and Artemis.

"Percy, there you are. I've been waiting for you to get out of that hospital!" Came a voice from my left. I turned to see Hermes, floating slightly with his winged sandals.

"Hey Hermes, why did you need to see me?" I asked. When a god needs to see you, it's usually never beneficial to your health. Fortunately, I was right outside a hospital in case he went nuts and tried to kill me.

"Well, I am the messenger god, and I have a delivery for you." He said. He pulled a brown box, the size of a beach ball, out of thin air and tossed it to me.

"You don't have to sign anything, I know who you are." He said cheerfully before vanishing in a flash of white light. I looked at the box in my hands, trying to see who it was from. The label said it was somewhere in France. I didn't know anyone who lived in France, for I'd never been there. But then I remembered my mom and Paul moved to Europe, according to the apartment doorman. I opened the package slowly, not sure if I wanted to see what was inside or not. Inside was another box, this one made of wood. I opened the top to find a note.

Percy

I heard what you did to those poor goddesses, and I have only one thing to say about that: You cannot be my son. If anyone were to ask, I would tell them I never had a child, and didn't know who you are. I thought you were better than this, Percy. Paul and I won't attend your funeral, which will hopefully come soon. You were once such a good child, why would you wish to hurt people like this? Fortunately, you told me the story of Pandora's pithos, and how it tempted you during the Battle of Manhattan. So I have given you a gift. In the bottom layer of this box is something you must not look at. If you do, you will regret it instantly. Whatever you do, don't look in the box!

With my deepest wishes that you look in the box, Paul and Sally Jackson

Fuck. My mom was playing a dangerous game. She knew I could never overcome curiosity. I really really wanted to know what was in the box. Was this a joke? Was there an apology in the bottom? Or was is a bomb that would go off if it detected my facial features?

With only one way to find out, I carefully opened the box, just a crack. I heard something like hissing, and smelled reptiles. I peeked inside the box to see the top of someone's head. Fortunately, I didn't see Medusa's eyes, but the snakes tried to bite my face. I quickly slammed the lid back onto the box and put it back into the original shipping container. I sat down on the steps of Apollo's palace and felt like crying. My own mother had disowned me and tried to kill me, and there was nothing I could do to try and explain everything to her.

"Are you alright Percy?" Someone said. I looked up to see Hera gazing down at me, worry on her face.

"Yeah… I'm fine. Just got a package from my mom is all." I told her.

"You don't have to answer this, but what was in the package?" Hera asked.

"Medusa's head. She heard about what happened with Hestia, Athena and Artemis, and said I was no longer her son." I explained. Hera sat down on the steps next to me.

"I'm sorry Percy. Out of curiosity, how are you not a statue?" She asked.

"In her note, she tried to pull a Pandora on me, and told me not to look in the box. So, I cracked open the lid a little and saw Medusa's scalp. Almost got bitten by one of the snakes, but I managed to close it in time." Hera seemed like she didn't know how to comfort me, so she hesitantly put her hand on my back and rubbed it soothingly. I appreciated her company, even if she didn't like me.

"By the way Hera, I'm sorry for how I spoke to you all those years ago after the Labyrinth. What I said was wrong, and I was just trying to help Annabeth."

"No Percy, I understand. I am the goddess of family, and I know you were trying to protect what you thought was yours. But thank you for the apology." Hera said kindly.

"I think that we have both changed a lot since then, so I'd like to start over. Hi, my name is Percy Jackson. I'm a son of Poseidon." I said.

"Hello, I am Hera, goddess of family and marriage, daughter of Kronos." She replied.

"That reminds me, if you're the goddess of marriage, why do you stay with Zeus? He constantly sires demigod children against your wishes, and never seems to get any consequences." I asked her. She sighed and looked out onto the horizon, where the sun was slowly rising.

"I honestly don't know. Maybe it's my pride, that I want to remain Queen of Olympus. Maybe I actually love him. I just don't know." She said. She sounded so confused, and I could relate to it. I often wondered why I loved Annabeth. Sure we were great friends, and she was undeniably beautiful, but we were very different from each other.

"Didn't Zeus trick you into marrying him? Something about a bird flying into your house and you took pity on it, and it turned out to be Zeus?" I asked. Hera nodded. That's pretty sad if you think about it. The king of Olympus turned into a bird and broke his own wing just to chase after a woman." I said. Hera laughed at the thought, and I could picture in my mind Zeus breaking his arm before turning into a bird.

"Yes, Zeus is not the perfect husband. Let's keep this between each other, but I often like to view him as an acquaintance instead of a husband. Makes tolerating him easier when you don't remind yourself that you married him." Hera said.

"Didn't he once suspend you over the void in Tartarus for trying to form an actual council instead of representatives who listen to him and then get no say?" I asked again.

"Yeah, we chained him up in his bedroom and tried to make a democracy. Unfortunately, someone freed him when he promised them some reward or something, and he punished each of us. Poseidon had to build walls around a city by hand, using none of his powers, Athena got it easy, since she's his favorite daughter. But he did hang me over the void." Hera said. The way she talked about her past made it seem like she wished it were a book or a dream instead of reality.

"So, what do you like to do for fun?" I asked her, changing the subject.

"I don't really know, Zeus just has me sit in the throne room most of the time and do nothing except wait for any news to arrive. This is my first trip out in weeks." She said. I frowned at this.

"So you just sit there… not doing anything at all except breathing?" I asked.

"That, and listening to Zeus flirt with every female that isn't one of his daughters." She sighed. I was starting to wish I'd asked for him to be more loyal as my reward for defeating the titans and Tartarus.

"You should talk to him about his faithfulness issues. Maybe he can change." I suggested.

"I doubt it would help. I believe Hermes once told you After three thousand years, you think the gods can change their nature? Zeus has been unfaithful too long to change." Hera said.

"Yes, Hermes did say that. But I replied that the gods can change their nature. You ought to try talking to Zeus, and if he won't change his nature, maybe it's time you changed yours." I said. Hera looked at me thoughtfully.

"I think I'll try talking to him about it, see how it goes. Thanks for the advice Percy." She said, standing up to go talk to Zeus.

"You're welcome, and thank you for helping me with this package. If Zeus doesn't change, you can have Medusa's head to show him if you'd like." I offered. She laughed, and ran down the road towards the throne room. I stood up, and headed off to my palace. When I got there however, I noticed one of my trees quivering slightly, even though there was no wind.

"Hello? Is someone in my tree?" I asked.

"Dammit Athena, if you hadn't slipped, he wouldn't have noticed anything." Came Artemis's voice. I looked up at the tree puzzled only to watch as Athena dropped down in front of me, followed shortly by Artemis. Hestia set down two bush branches she'd been holding in front of her convincingly.

"What are you three doing here?" I asked. I wasn't upset that they were hiding in my plants, but more curious.

"We want another hint. We were going to surprise you, but someone fucked up." Artemis said, while Athena seemed like she was trying to shrink.

"Ah, but that's not how this works. I gave you guys the poem, it's your job to solve it. I think Athena will agree with me on this, if you want the answer to something, figure it out for yourself. Besides, working at the problem makes it more fun when you find the answer." I said. Then I realized I sounded like my eighth grade math teacher. Yikes.

"Aw, come on. Just a hint, it doesn't have to be the full answer." Hestia said. I grumbled for a bit before deciding.

"Fine, here you go. Also, after this, you might want to disregard the last hint though, because some things have changed slightly." I told them.

"How? After we left, you went to sleep, and you just got out of Apollo's temple and talked to Hera for a while." Athena said.

"Unless he… No. You didn't, did you?" Hestia said grinning.

"Didn't what? What do you think happened?" Artemis said, turning to Hestia.

"How about we wait for his riddle before we decide anything, I might be wrong. But I have a hunch." Hestia said. She waved for me to start.

"Here's my final riddle for you:

The mother and queen of fire and battle

Sacred to her are the common cattle.

Our neighbor in the dark night's sky

Bane of arrogance far and wide.

Sister of the mother, both have lost much

Calming presence and soothing touch.

Knowledge beyond measure and beauty as well

Designer of monuments reaching further than hell.

Four beings of undying stature

And three it took to make a heart shatter." I finished. The goddesses looked confused except for Hestia, who was smirking.

"Just as I thought. Can you two guess anything from the poem?" Hestia said.

"Hmm… Battle could be either Ares or me, but Fire is either you or Hephaestus. Since both Ares and Hephaestus are sons of Hera, I'm going to say she's one of the people the poem indicates. Not to mention her sacred symbol is cows, for their motherly nature." Athena guess. Artemis nodded as if she were agreeing.

"Fine, you guessed correctly on that one. But promise not to tell her, at least not until you guess who the other three are." I told them. They swore on the Styx not to tell anyone unless I gave them permission, and went back to brainstorming.

"Our neighbor, and a bane of arrogance… Is it a constellation, or another planet?" Artemis said. I found it ironic that she didn't get it when the lines were talking about her.

"No, it is not a constellation or another planet." I told her.

"Well then what is it?" She asked.

"Our neighbor." I told her again, much to her annoyance.

"It's like his stay in Apollo's temple infected him with annoyance." Athena muttered.

"Well, if you four are going to continue stumbling through poetry, I'm going to go relax in my swimming pool. You're welcome to join me if you'd like, unless you have errands to run or other godly stuff." I said cheerfully. I didn't wait for a response, just turned and marched into my palace. I heard them come inside grumbling about more vague poems. I told them they could use some bathing suits from the wardrobe while I set up the pool.

It didn't take long, just inflate some pool chairs, a beach ball, and get a cooler of drinks. By the time I was done, I'd worked up a sweat, so I willed my hoodie/armor to turn into a pair of sea green swimming trunks and a white t-shirt.

It was a great day for swimming, almost as if Apollo were making the sun warmer specifically to invoke swimming. Then again, he probably was, in the hopes that he'd catch some unlucky woman in her bathing attire and give her a good night and nine months of pregnancy. I went inside to get some towels when I remembered that the pool would dispense them automatically.

When I arrived outside, I found Artemis was already changed, and laying out a towel on one of the chairs. I asked Palace for a white towel, and set it next to hers on another chair.

"Hello. Nice day, huh?" She turned, startled, and relaxed when she saw me.

"Yeah. It's a good thing Apollo isn't allowed to have too much alcohol nowadays." Artemis replied.

"Why's that?" I asked.

"He tends to turn up the heat of the sun while blasting music with bad puns about fire." Artemis said. I had never seen that happen, so I assumed that he'd done it a long time ago.

Athena and Hestia joined us shortly afterward, and I took off my shirt in preparation for swimming. I was about to jump in when...

Hey Percy

I almost tripped into the pool when the voice suddenly filled my head.

Poseidon? Is that you? I called back mentally. By now, the three goddesses were applying sunscreen.

Yeah. I forgot yesterday, but I'd like to welcome you back to the house of Poseidon. I'm sorry for not trusting you years ago, but I can only pray you'll forgive me.

It's fine dad, I forgive you. I told him. He sighed in relief, and I felt my water powers return to me.

If you ever need me, I'll be there. Goodbye Percy.

Bye dad.

Once my mental conversation was over, I decided to play a little joke on the goddesses, who were heading over to the steps to get into the pool. I couldn't help but notice how great they looked in their swimsuits. Each had a classic hourglass figure, and evenly tanned skin. In the sunlight, with the pool reflecting onto them, they looked more beautiful than Aphrodite could ever hope for.

I quickly averted my attention. Just because I loved them didn't mean I could stare at them. They aren't fond of males.

While they weren't paying attention, I stepped out onto the water, and willed my swim trunks to turn into a toga, like I'd done in the past.

"Hello, goddesses. I'm Jesus." I joked. They looked at me startled to see me standing on top of the water.

"I'm guessing this is what you were talking about last night, huh?" Athena chuckled. I nodded, and willed my armor to change back into swim trunks again. Despite their humored looks at my prank, I didn't like wearing a toga. I allowed myself to sink into the water completely, and decided to try out a power I'd heard of but never quite managed to do.

In about two seconds, I'd turned into a shark. Now a shark would ordinarily be obvious in a swimming pool, but mine was about sixty feet deep in some areas, such as where I was at the moment. I swam up from the depths, able to smell the ichor of the goddesses. I could feel their heartbeats with my electrical sensors, and it was strange at first. Suddenly, I heard a surprised shriek and felt one of the heartbeats quicken. I was still too far down to be seen by the goddesses, so I swam up faster than a bullet. I saw a male figure standing at the edge of the pool, and I aimed at him. I leapt from the water as a shark, scaring the shit out of everyone, before landing on his chest as a human, Riptide at his throat. I saw who it was and stood up.

"Nico? What are you doing here?"

"Oh my god, it's true! You're alive!" He said. He started going on and on about how he and Thalia had missed me before I shut him up with a hand over his mouth.

"Nico, calm down. Yes I'm alive, thanks for missing me, what are you doing here?" I asked.

"Well, I was told by my father that you got a place on Olympus. I thought it would be a little hut or something, but wow! This is better than my house in New Rome!" He said, looking around.

"So anyway, why are you swimming with three maiden goddesses?" He asked in a quiet tone, wiggling his eyebrows. I had to keep myself from chucking him into the pool.

"First of all, former maiden goddesses. It was Aphrodite's fault, not mine. But don't bring it up, okay? Second, we're friends. Friends go swimming all the time." I explained. Nico looked at me like I'd dropped from space.

"You… frick frack… with them?" He managed.

"Aphrodite drugged the desserts." I told him. He seemed to be chewing on the information, but he seemed to have accepted it.

"Why were you a shark just a second ago?" He asked as we walked over to a table with an umbrella.

"Well, it's a power of children of Poseidon. We can turn into marine life at will. Of course, it's difficult, and takes years to learn, but I finally did it. That was my first time actually. You should ask your dad about the possibility of you turning into some sort of demon or whatnot." I told him. Then, and idea hit me.

"Hey, a demon… Here, take a picture when I tell you to, okay?" I said. He nodded, and pulled a pitch black phone out of a shadow.

"Okay, now!" I said, before tapping into my powers over Tartarus. I imagined myself as one of the horrors I'd faced down there- Kampe. Nico took the picture, then frowned.

"Hey, for some reason the picture is K- HOLY SHIT!" He shouted, dropping the phone in the pool. I shifted back to human form and grinned at him.

"I inherited Tartarus when I killed him." I explained. He nodded weakly, still looking like he was going to pass out. The three goddesses were laughing at him, and I willed the water to shoot his phone out. I caught it, and made the water leave it.

"There you go. Might want to get a case for that." I handed him the phone.

"Cases are expensive, and besides, I'm rarely ever using it."

"Your dad is the god of wealth. Prices shouldn't be a problem to you." I reminded him. He grinned, and pulled a thin black card out of a shadow.

"You're right about that. I got this a month ago for my seventeenth birthday. Well, technically, my ninety seventh, but let's not go into that." He said cheerfully.

"Agreed. Want to swim for a while?" I invited. Nico shook his head.

"Can't. I'm going to the movies in a while, and I still have to get ready."

"Going with anyone?" I asked.

"Um… maybe." Nico said. Now it was my turn to pry into his life.

"Ooh, who is it? Are they your type?" I said jokingly, reminding him of the first thing he'd said to me at camp after the fall of Gaea.

"Relax, it's just Will from the Apollo cabin." I nodded.

"Right. 'Will'. Is it just 'Will', or does he let you call him anything special?" I said. It was fun poking at Nico. He muttered something, and I gestured for him to repeat it louder.

"Um… sometimes I call him Sunny D." Nico said, gaining some color to his normally pale face.

"Woah there Nico, too much information. Though I'd like to recommend Banana Boat sunscreen."

"Why?" Nico asked.

"Well, someone has to tell you two to use protection." I grinned, watching him comprehend. He glared at me, gave me the finger, and dissolved into a shadow. I sighed before jumping back into the pool.

Hours later, The three goddesses had left. Artemis said she needed to check on her hunters, Hestia had to make sure the hearth wasn't burning Zeus's throne, and Athena needed to talk to Hermes about delivering something. I said goodbye, and watched them flash out to their respective locations. I sighed, and leaned back in the pool. It was night time, and the lights outside the pool were on. People on Olympus usually slept only once a week, so they all coordinated it so they slept on the same day so that the other days could be spent partying or whatever fun stuff gods like to do.

After a while of working on water manipulation to sharpen my skills after a four year absence of them, I cleaned everything up and changed into black shorts and a white t-shirt. I went for a walk through Olympus, admiring Annabeth's job at redecorating. Now that there weren't any wars, she'd had time to go nuts with the architecture. She'd had plans to go help restore the Parthenon, but that was before her job as Architect of Olympus. Now, she'd rebuilt it on Olympus, and put the original Athena Parthenos back where it once stood.

I was brought out of my musings as I heard sobbing from one of the gardens. I walked through the maze of flowers and bushes until I came across a sight I'd never expected.

Hera was in tears, her face buried in her hands as she let all of her sorrows out. I wasn't sure whether I should help or sneak away, but I figured she'd sensed my presence already. I walked forward and sat down on the bench next to her. She'd comforted me earlier, it was my turn to repay the favor.

"Hera, what's wrong?" I asked gently. She just continued sobbing, though now it was on me.

"Hera, I can't comfort you if I don't know what happened." I said. She slowly looked up at me with tears in her eyes. She took several deep breaths before speaking.

"I talked to Z-Zeus like you suggested. But he just said 'If you're going to be a bitch about how I am, divorce me, see how I care.' and m-made me leave." Hera said shakily. I let her lean against my chest as I put my arm around her back and rubbed circles soothingly into her shoulder.

"Most people would say 'It's okay, you're fine.' in a situation like this, but It's obvious you're not okay right now. It's his loss in my opinion. You're a great person, and I can't see how he would ever want to do this." I soothed. Hera kept crying into my shoulder.

"No Percy, he's right. I'm nothing special, just a plain goddess without anything unique about her." Hera said, and Percy grew furious with Zeus.

"Hera, in my years of life, while they might not be many, I have never met someone who wasn't unique." I paused, trying to think of what to say next. "Every time I think about life itself, I find it to be so complex, so miraculous, that nothing about it could ever be dull, or uninteresting. You are not just a plain goddess. You are a powerful goddess. You strike fear and inspiration into those around you. You are strong, and get anything done if you want to. Out of everything I've heard about in Greek history, your unstoppable will stood out like a dark stripe on white paper. Sure, there were consequences along the way, but your goals always became fulfilled, one way or another." I was almost out of breathe at the end of my speech, but judging by the look on Hera's face, it worked. She still looked upset, but there was something different in her eyes. A new determination to get over Zeus, to find a better happiness.

"Thank you Percy. You're one of the greatest people I know, so a compliment from you is like a thousand from Zeus." She said. She was still nestled into my chest, but I allowed her to lay there at rest. She might not know it yet, but I really love her. I have know idea how or why I am falling in love with people so fast, but I'm not going to argue.

I noticed her breathing pattern had changed, and she'd fallen asleep. Even though she didn't need to sleep yet, she must have been so emotionally and mentally drained, she needed rest to recharge.

I used my light travel and reappeared in her palace bedroom. I asked her palace if it could change her into nightwear while I stepped outside the room. An automation came rolling in and took her in its arms so she wouldn't fall. I waited outside before the door opened and the automation came rolling out. I walked inside to tuck her in, since the automation had simply laid her on the bed. I was about to leave when she grabbed my arm in her sleep, and brought it close to her body. I wasn't sure how to handle the situation. Do I call for assistance? Do I sit here until morning? I was certainly tired from the long day in my pool with Athena, Artemis and Hestia. But I figured it would only make her feel worse if she woke up to find I'd left her. I sighed, and hooked my foot through a chair near her bed and dragged it over before sitting down. I didn't dare climb in bed with her, because I didn't know how she felt towards me yet. I figured I was somewhere at the 'close acquaintance' milestone with her. I thought about the other three goddesses, and where I was with them. I'd normally say 'friends', but something about the way they were staring at me at the pool when I took my shirt off made me wonder if they might be approaching a different milestone, somewhere in the area of attraction.

I was almost completely out of energy, and it took all I had not to close my eyes. Blinking was a tedious process, because every time my eyes shut it took my free hand to pry them open. I checked the time to find that it was approaching ten thirty eight. I sighed. This was going to be a long night. But no matter what, I was not going to fall asleep.

I woke up the next morning and immediately berated myself for falling asleep. I smacked myself lightly as punishment and muttered "Bad Percy. No sleeping while babysitting."

"Babysitting?" said an amused voice beside me. I jolted to the side to see Hera propped up on one elbow, watching me.

"Uh… maybe?" I said. She laughed, a sound like wind chimes in an autumn wind.

"So, care to tell me how I got here?" She asked. I explained to her that she fell asleep in the garden, and I'd used my light powers to travel here and get her ready for sleep. I made sure she knew that an automation changed her clothes, since I really was not in the mood to go on another quest for gifts.

"Well thank you for bringing me here instead of leaving me in the garden." She said with a smile. I tried not to lose myself in her eyes, but looking anywhere else was like staring at Medusa. Fortunately, I managed to wrench my gaze from her. Thankfully I hadn't done that to Hestia, Athena or Artemis yet. That would be awkward.

"Well Percy, as good a friend you are, we aren't quite at that point yet. Get out while I change." Hera said with a grin. I sighed and left the room. I headed to one of the guest rooms and brushed my teeth before disposing of the small, plastic brush.

I headed downstairs and sat in one of the chairs in her kitchen. Her palace was set up differently than mine, because she had more space. She had a large television, couches and chairs, and some coffee tables in the living room. In the dining room, she had a large, wooden table which was polished until it shined. In her kitchen, she had a similar layout to mine, but there was more room, as well as a buffet table. I looked out to her back yard to see a large garden, with all sorts of flowers and trees. I could hear birds singing, and saw a bee going towards a large red flower.

"Like it?" Hera said from behind me, startling me. I turned and nodded in approval.

"I think I'll have to plant some things in my backyard, even if I don't have much space. I stayed with Calypso once, so I know about some of the more exotic flowers." I told her. She grinned mischievously.

"Well when it's planted, let me know so I can go help the poor flowers." She teased.

We ate a nice breakfast before I left her palace for the day. I told her I'd be sure to see her again soon, and headed back home to my house. I was stopped halfway by the trio of goddesses who, by the looks on their faces, I didn't want to see.

"What were you doing in Hera's palace?" Hestia said, barely suppressing her grin.

"If you must know, I found her last night distraught from the way Zeus spoke to her, and she fell asleep in the garden, so I teleported her back to her palace. I was going to leave, but she grabbed my arm in her sleep and I couldn't get free, so I stayed the night in a chair. Then we woke up and had breakfast and I just left. Happy?" I said.

"Not quite yet. Can we have one more hint?" Athena said. I sighed. We had been walking for a while, and now we stood at a balcony overlooking Manhattan.

"What do I get out of giving you a hint?"

"If you give us one more hint, we'll give you our blessings. You'll be able to tell anything about any plant or animal, shoot a bow straight, move stealthily, your dyslexia will go away, you will be fluent in all languages, you will have the knowledge of a master's degree recipient of any field of your choice, your brain will work ten times faster than normal, the ability to give or take hope from others, and you will be able to shoot fire at people or heal them with it." Artemis said, with Athena and Hestia chipping in where their blessings were concerned.

"Fine, but this is the last hint, alright? Anymore and it'll give the answers away. Also, you have to give me your blessings first." I said. They gave me their blessings one at a time, and I spoke again. "Here you go:

Three goddesses are yet to be known

All of whom possess a throne

Each are immortal, as they have been since birth

One was forbidden from being born on earth

On a dark palace was another born

But little time was her mother given to mourn

One was born in the highest tower

Burst from a king's head in a show of power"

I finished up the poem, and watched the goddesses for a response. Athena looked like she was thinking hard, Artemis appeared to be trying to meditate, and Hestia looked unsure of something.

"Well, there's your final hint, I'm not giving any more. Have fun!" I said cheerfully.

"Ugh, I feel like I should know who they are!" Athena said frustratedly.

"Trust me, you know who they are." I said cryptically, which only increased her look of confusion.

"Well I have to go, I'm planting a garden. Hera's was really cool, so I want one too." I said. The three goddesses looked at me skeptically.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing, just trying to picture you gardening. It looks pretty funny in my head." Artemis said. I just shook my head and started walking away.

"Hey, where are you going to get the flowers? And who is going to teach you how to plant them?" Hestia said. I hadn't thought of that, but an idea came to my mind. I guess that's Athena's blessing in action.

"I have some contacts." I said before using light travel to get to Zeus's palace. I knocked, and waited for him to answer the door. Eventually, he did.

"Ah, Percy, I hope you're not here to ask for something. I had a disagreement with Hera, and I'm not in a great mood." Zeus said.

"Actually, I talked to her, and she's fine now. She isn't interested in getting back with you, but she seems like she won't hate you. Anyway, I was thinking that maybe the peaceful titans like Calypso or Leto or Rhea should be released. They never actually did any harm, and I've met Calypso, she's one of the kindest people there are." I requested. Zeus looked thoughtful.

"What do we get out of their return?" He asked.

"What don't you get in their return? They'd never harm anyone, they would be useful for keeping peace on Olympus, one of them is your mother, one of them gave you Artemis and Apollo, one of them helped Olympus in more ways than you can imagine. Without Calypso, I would have died. The child of the prophecy would have been Nico, who at the time, hated my guts, and would do anything to bring down Olympus." I said. Zeus sighed.

"Very well, I'll send Hermes to fetch them. But this is the last free favor for you, any more you'll have to earn. Got it?" Zeus said. I nodded, and he closed the door. I sighed, and headed back to my palace while the un climbed to its noon position.

Hours later, I heard a knock on my door. I got up and went to answer it. I opened it only to have a blur of caramel crash into me.

"Uh… hello. Who is this?" I asked the girl on top of me. I could tell she was a girl because of her breasts squishing against my chest. She kept whispering her thanks in my ear, but I still had no clue who she was. She sounded familiar, but I couldn't recall who she was. Eventually, she released me and I got my first look at her.

"Calypso! Why are you at my palace? I thought you'd go to someplace interesting once you got off of Ogygia." I said in surprise.

"What do you mean? You got me off of that island, I thought I'd thank you." She said.

"Well in that case you're welcome. Now what do you plan to do with your freedom?" I asked her. She looked at me strangely, and I wasn't sure what she was thinking of.

"Well, the first thing I'm going to do is thank you properly." She said, and I began to pick up on her body language. She'd stepped closer to me during our conversation, and he cleavage seemed to look more prominent. She had a lustful look in her eye, and I laughed nervously.

"Uh, that's really not necessary-" I began, but she lunged forward and kissed me. I'm not going to lie, it was great. She tasted like cinnamon, and her lips were soft. But eventually we separated for air. She gave me another sultry look and knelt down in front of me, trying to undo my belt.

"Calypso, wait. I can't do this, and I'm sorry. My heart belongs to someone else. Well, more than one person actually…" I said. She looked sad and stood up.

"Who is it? Annabeth?"

"No, she's with a son of Dionysus. I need you to promise not to tell anyone if I tell you, okay?" I asked. She nodded.

"Well, After my second trip to Tartarus, I was rewarded with a night in bed with the three maiden goddesses. But, I didn't want to make them do anything they were uncomfortable with, so we ate dinner instead. But Aphrodite drugged the desserts, and now they aren't maidens anymore. For a while, they hated me, but I got some gifts together, things they wanted more than anything. Even though I did this, they didn't want to be friends, but agreed to be on neutral terms with me. Then, I found out Annabeth had left me for the son of Dionysus, and my mother had disowned me. I tried to kill myself, but Hermes found me and Hestia saved me. In the hospital, we grew close, and now we're friends again. But I feel different towards them than they do to me. I think they are kind, smart, beautiful, funny, amazing people. After our hospital bonding, I left to receive another package from my mother. This one had a note claiming she hoped I died soon for what happened with the three goddesses. I opened the box a little to find Medusa's head in it. Thankfully, I didn't see her eyes. Hera comforted me, and I told her she should talk to Zeus about his unfaithfulness. Later that evening, I found her crying, because he'd called her some rude names and said she should just divorce him. I took her back to her palace, and was about to leave but she grabbed my arm in her sleep. I stayed the night in a chair, and we woke up and had breakfast. But I realized I was in love with her too. So to answer your question Calypso, I'm in love with Hestia, Artemis, Athena and Hera." I told her. She seemed silent for a while. Suddenly, there was a knocking at my door. I told her to make herself comfortable, and opened the door.

"Hi Percy, what was that you were saying to Calypso?" Said Artemis, with Hestia, Athena and Hera behind her.

"How did you guys know she was here and that I was talking to her about you?" I asked.

"We planned it with her when we saw her on her way to your palace. A simple mind connection is all it took for us to see and hear everything she did." Athena explained.

"Ah… Is this the part where I run for my life, or beg for forgiveness?" I asked nervously. The four goddesses looked at me wickedly.

"No, this is the part where you say it again. You tell us exactly what you told Calypso." Hestia said. I repeated to them what I'd said to Calypso and Athena was the first to respond.

"Knew it." She muttered. Artemis and Hestia looked kind of sad.

"Percy, we can't return your feelings for us. Three of us swore never to love, and even though we might not be held by that oath, we pride ourselves in our independance." Hestia said.

"And I just got out of a terrible marriage, you can't expect me to just jump into your arms and say 'I'm yours.'" Hera said. I felt like I did in the five rivers of Tartarus, when all hope and joy had been stripped from me. I felt the pure weight of Krios's curse. I was a fool to think I could escape it. I nodded numbly, and they shuffled out, sensing my need for solitude. Calypso thanked me one more time before leaving. After that, I went upstairs and cried myself to sleep.

The next day, I awoke feeling a strange coolness around me. I opened my eyes slowly and sat up to find the room pitch black. I stood up and came face to face with a blue hologram that I'd grown to hate.

"Palace? Where am I?" I asked.

"You are in a secret room below the facility. I am programmed to attempt to save you from harm in any way possible. The others have been taken." That woke me up completely.

"What others? Where were they taken? Who took them?" I asked. He looked like he was about to reply when suddenly he vanished. I looked around me but saw nothing. I willed some light into my hand and tossed it up into the air where it floated, illuminating the room. I saw a door at the far end, and walked towards it. Halfway there, something appeared in front of me. It was a figure, wearing a black cloak. They removed their hood to reveal Rachel Elizabeth Dare.

"Rachel? What are you doing here?" I asked. She didn't reply, just stared at me. I waved a hand in front of her eyes, but nothing happened. Then, she reached into her cloak and pulled out a scroll of paper. It looked old, and the paper felt leathery beneath my fingers. Before I could ask her what it was, she was gone. I sighed, and unrolled the scroll. On it was a note.

Hero

The prophecy has begun. This is the End; A prophecy issued when Chaos made her universe, this universe. The End warns of the rise of a new threat. Something never heard of before. You are the hero of this prophecy. Fail to complete it, and everything ends. This is your prophecy, and you are the Omega.

-Alpha

Fucking shit. Who does this 'Alpha' asshat think he is, giving me another prophecy. I didn't want this. I just wanted to live with the women I loved. I decided to read the prophecy and get it over with.

There is something lurking in the dark

Its presence rips whole worlds apart.

It uses shadows like a cloak

Swift and silent, a twisted ghost.

It falls to no known weapon or power

Any being near it cowers.

But one day soon it shall be erased.

Only in the lonely hero's final days.

There is something. lurking in the dark

Something born to tear you apart.

And there is the first chapter! 27,931 words, not including author's notes. I have high hopes for this story, but don't expect frequent updates. I'm juggling this and my other story, Fate's Curse, which isn't easy. Plus, writing chapters this big takes time and effort. Anyway, leave reviews please, and let me know what you think will happen!

-foulcat