A/N: A few things. 1) I am definitely continuing A New Tradition! I just had some computer trouble/was working on this. 2) This is assuming the Romans and Greeks reconcile. 3) Everyone in the seven is in this because I refuse to believe anyone dies until it actually happens. 4) I don't know if Sally can get into the camp or not? Lastly, thank you for reading! Feedback would be very appreciated!
"Frank, do me a favor and kill me now."
"I don't know, man. I think it works."
Percy and Frank were holed up in Poseidon Cabin, long unoccupied. Frank was unsuccessfully trying to tie a black tie around his neck. Percy was standing in front of a full length mirror borrowed from the Aphrodite cabin attempting to pull off the armor-over-a-tuxedo look.
"Ugh, I'd wear something else under this thing but my mom would have a fit if I didn't wear a suit to my own wedding."
The moment he and Annabeth were engaged, Sally had taken him aside and, familiar with how oddly demigods sometimes had to dress, expressed her wish to see her son married while dressed properly. That meant tux. And preferably hair not sticking up. Percy was having headway pulling off neither.
When he was considering wearing a different set of armor to see if that was better and Frank had almost choked himself several times, Hazel popped in holding a purple cape.
"Hi, boys. I brought your Praetor cape, Percy. Oh, Frank, let me help you with that."
Hazel sat down on the bunk bed next to Frank. She put the folded cape on the mattress and began working on Frank's tie.
"Why do I have to wear this? I'm not a Praetor!"
"Well technically you are a former Praetor and there will be Romans there. They'll expect you to wear it as a formality."
"Don't worry Seaweed Brain, you always look stupid and she's marrying you anyway."
A girl who looked around fifteen with black spiked hair walked in grinning.
"Very funny, Thalia. And don't call me that."
"Whatever, Seaweed Brain."
Percy sighed.
"What are you doing here, anyway?"
"Hiding from Grover. I stole his panpipes. If I hear another Taylor Swift song I will murder someone and it will probably be him."
Percy had named Grover best man. Grover had named himself in charge of music. And so instead of helping Percy get ready, he was setting amps all around the grassy lawn just outside camp where the wedding was to be held. Percy could vaguely hear Jesse McCartney blaring in the distance.
Thalia grimaced.
"He's doing this to make me angry. He knows I hate that guy."
A cloud of smoke and hacking announced two more visitors: Jason and Leo.
"Dude, I just wanted to let you know" Leo said after his hacking died down "that tonight we are going to have the best fireworks in history courtesy of yours truly, Leo Valdez, genius mechanic."
"He torched the yard again." Jason said flatly.
"Shut up bro, I did not!"
Fire danced from Leo's hands and Frank and Hazel backed away.
"Watch the cape, Leo, Percy has to wear that!" Hazel protested.
"No please, burn it, be my guest."
"The cape. Of course." Frank repeated sarcastically, eying the bulge in Hazel's coat that had his driftwood in the pocket.
"Oh Hazel's making you wear that thing, huh." Jason said sympathetically. "I know, they suck."
"I'm not making him, Jason!" Hazel said indignantly. "There are Legionnaires attending this wedding who want a retired Praetor to look civilized."
"Stupid Romans. Stupid Reyna. Stupid invading army. Stupid legion raising me Praetor." Percy muttered as Jason helped him pin it on. "Y'know, if you hadn't lost your memories I wouldn't be suffering like this right now."
"Yeah, yeah…"
"And it's not fair you guys are giving me a hard time about how I dress and nobody cares about how Annabeth looks."
"Are you kidding, man?" Jason laughed. "Pipes has to have had her try on every dress she can find. Twice. They've been in Cabin Athena for hours."
"Yeah." Thalia agreed. "I suggested that black one of mine, y'know, with the skulls and chains? But Piper vetoed it."
"There, done." Jason announced as he finished pinning the cape on correctly.
"I look like a Roman time travelled to the fifties and got a bad haircut." Percy groused.
"Yeah, your hair's still all dorky." Thalia decided. "Wanna use my hair gel?"
"Oh no." Percy said. "Ever since that one time when I was nineteen I will never trust you with hair gel around my head again."
"Fine, let Hazel do it."
Thalia took a bottle out of her jacket pocket and threw it to Hazel. Hazel caught it and stood on tiptoe to administer goo to Percy's hair and flatten it. When she finished, it looked like Elvis' pompadour in training. Where it had been frizzy and unparted, it was now greasily slicked back and parted on the right.
"Great. Now that I look more ridiculous than I could ever think possible, will you please give me some peace?"
"The service starts in less than an hour anyway." Frank noted, looking at his watch. "We all better get ready too."
When they had all left wishing him good luck and giving him their congratulations, Percy looked in the mirror in despair.
"Ha, you look like a time traveling Roman who got a bad haircut."
"Annabeth?"
Annabeth stood in the doorway, smiling radiantly. She was wearing a simple white dress with a lightweight Celestial Bronze breastplate over it. Her old owl earrings were on her ears.
"Now, see, the armor goes with that. How is that fair?" Percy complained as she kissed him.
"What are you even doing here, anyway? Jason said Piper had you hostage."
"I escaped. Her charmspeak doesn't work on me all the time."
"You are terrifying, you know that?"
"The word you better be looking for is terrific."
They both laughed as she ruffled his hair to undo Hazel's work.
"Are you nervous?" Percy asked suddenly.
"Yeah. I know I shouldn't be. I mean, I've had enough time to think about it. We basically admitted we wanted this years ago."
Percy thought back warmly to the night he and Annabeth snuck out after curfew on the Argo and he had nervously shared his hopes for the future. He thought back further to when they had opened up to each other on the back of a truck. And even further. You drool when you sleep.
This was always going to happen.
"There you two are!"
"Ahh!"
"Mom?" Percy yelped.
Sally was looking at them, amused.
"Why does this always happen to us…?" Annabeth muttered.
"How'd you get in here?" Percy wondered.
"See through the Mist, sweetheart."
"Oh, yeah."
"Piper recruited me to find our runaway bride here." Sally explained. "I thought I'd find you here. It's almost time, let's go."
She led the bride and groom across the camp grounds. They saw Grover lugging an amp from the Big House.
"Percy! Annabeth! Either of you seen my pipes?"
"No!" They both answered in unison.
Up ahead, Rachael was working on what she called a "commemorative mural" painted on her cave. It was a landscape of the grounds with the wedding guests in their chairs.
"Must you do that?" Percy whined.
"Oh c'mon you guys." Rachael grit out through the paintbrush in her teeth. "I know you don't want this to be too huge a deal but the fact is you guys are heroes. In a few hundred years the demigod kids who go here will learn about you and you will be some kid's favorite heroes. A few relics won't hurt."
"Won't hurt. Right. And let it be here recorded Perseus Jackson looked like a complete idiot on his wedding day. Thanks a bunch, Rach."
"Anytime, man. Now go get married."
When the ceremony began Sally, Professor Chase, and Tyson were already crying together in a corner of the front row.
Hazel forced Nico into a chair next to her and Frank from the tree just outside the cluster of chairs he was brooding against. Annabeth's younger stepbrothers ran around the chairs until their mother made them sit down.
Coach Hedge screamed at anyone being loud or moving to die as Professor Chase dried his face with a handkerchief and walked Annabeth down the aisle where Percy was waiting for her, Grover next to him with the rings.
When the rings which were made of coral from Poseidon's palace were exchanged, Leo accidentally set off a bum firework. Piper yelled at him.
Because the mortal guests like Paul and Annabeth's family couldn't get into camp (and some like Mr. McLean didn't even know of it) the reception was held on the lawn.
When the sun was setting, Leo announced the fireworks. Frank morphed into a bird to launch a few into the sky. Leo had designed them to explode into outlined representations of the Argo, both camps, Festus…the whistling explosions went on as the sky darkened completely.
"Hey, here's another one of the Argo!" Leo called to the six others of the prophesy who shared the adventures on the ship with him. "Let's get a picture with it!"
He pushed Percy and Annabeth to the front of the shot as he, Jason, Piper, Frank and Hazel grouped around them. Leo set a timed camera, launched the firework and the photo snapped as a bright, colorful version of their ship materialized behind them.
"And that is the story of how your mother and I got married." Percy would say years later pointing to that picture. "And yes, I know I look ridiculous."