Prologue: We win fabulous prizes

While Zeus was talking – some long speech about the bravery of the gods, etc. – Annabeth walked in and stood next to me. She looked good for someone who'd recently passed out.

"Miss much?" she whispered.

"Nobody's planning to kill us, so far," I whispered back.

"First time today."

I cracked up, but Grover nudged me because Hera was giving us a dirty look.

"As for my brothers," Zeus said, "we are thankful" - he cleared his throat like the words were hard to get out - "erm, thankful for the aid of Hades."

The lord of the dead nodded. He had a smug look on his face, but I figure he'd earned the right. He patted his son Nico on the shoulders, and Nico looked happier than I'd ever seen him.

"And, of course," Zeus continued, though he looked like his pants were smoldering, "we must… um… thank Poseidon."

"I'm sorry, brother," Poseidon said. "What was that?"

"We must thank Poseidon," Zeus growled. "Without whom… it would've been difficult-"

"Difficult?" Poseidon asked innocently.

"Impossible," Zeus said. "Impossible to defeat Typhon."

The gods murmured agreement and pounded their weapons in approval.

"This leaves us," Zeus said, "only the matter of thanking our young demigod heroes, who defended Olympus so well – even if there are a few dents in my throne."

He called Thalia forward first, since she was his daughter, and promised her help in filling the Hunters' ranks.

Artemis smiled. "You have done well, my lieutenant. You have made me proud, and all those Hunters who perished in my service will never be forgotten. They will achieve Elysium, I am sure."

She glared at Hades pointedly.

He shrugged. "Probably."

Artemis glared at him some more.

"Okay," Hades grumbled. "I'll streamline their application process."

Thalia beamed with pride. "Thank you, my lady." She bowed to the gods, even Hades, and then limped over to stand by Artemis's side.

"Tyson, son of Poseidon!" Zeus called. Tyson looked nervous, but he went to stand in the middle of the Council, and Zeus grunted. "Doesn't miss many meals, does he?" Zeus muttered.

"Tyson, for your bravery in the war, and for leading the Cyclopes, you are appointed a general in the armies of Olympus. You shall henceforth lead your brethren into war whenever required by the gods. And you shall have a new… um… what kind of weapon would you like? A sword? An axe?"

"Stick!" Tyson said, showing his broken club.

"Very well," Zeus said. "We will grant you a new, er, stick. The best stick that may be found."

"Hooray!" Tyson cried, and all the Cyclopes cheered and pounded him on the back as he rejoined them.

"Grover Underwood of the satyrs!" Dionysus called.

Grover came forward nervously.

"Oh, stop chewing your shirt," Dionysus chided. "Honestly, I'm not going to blast you. For your bravery and sacrifice, blah, blah, blah, and since we have an unfortunate vacancy, the gods have seen fit to name you a member of the Council of Cloven Elders."

Grover collapsed on the spot.

"Oh, wonderful," Dionysus sighed, as several naiads came forward to help Grover. "Well, when he wakes up, someone tell him that he will no longer be an outcast, and that all satyrs, naiads, and other spirits of nature will henceforth treat him as a lord of the Wild, with all rights, privileges, and honors, blah, blah, blah. Now please, drag him off before he wakes up and starts groveling."

"FOOOOOD," Grover moaned, as the nature spirits carried him away.

I figured he'd be okay. He would wake up as a lord of the Wild with a bunch of beautiful naiads taking care of him. Life could be worse.

Athena called, "Annabeth Chase, my own daughter."

Annabeth squeezed my arm, then walked forward and knelt at her mother's feet.

Athena smiled. "You, my daughter, have exceeded all expectations. You have used your wits, your strength, and your courage to defend this city, and our seat of power. It has come to our attention that Olympus is… well, trashed. The Titan lord did much damaged that will have to be repaired. We could rebuild it by magic, of course, and make it just as it was. But the gods feel that the city could be improved. We will take this as an opportunity. And you, my daughter, will design these improvements."

Annabeth looked up, stunned. "My… my lady?"

Athena smiled wryly. "You are an architect, are you not? You have studied the techniques of Daedalus himself. Who better to redesign Olympus and make it a monument that will last for another eon?"

"You mean… I can design whatever I want?"

"As your hearts desires," the goddess said. "Make us a city for the ages."

"As long as you have plenty of statues of me, "Apollo added.

"And me," Aphrodite agreed.

"Hey, and me!" Ares said. "Big statues with huge wicked swords and-"

"All right!" Athena interrupted- "She gets the point. Rise, my daughter, official architect of Olympus."

Annabeth rose in a trance and walked back toward me.

"Way to go," I told her, grinning.

For once she was at a loss for words. "I'll… I'll have to start planning… Drafting paper, and, um, pencils-"

"PERCY JACKSON!" Poseidon announced. My name echoed around the chamber.

All talking died down. The room was silent except for the crackle of the hearth fire. Everyone's eyes were on me – all the gods, the demigods, the Cyclopes, the spirits.

I walked into the middle of the throne room. Hestia smiled at me reassuringly. She was in the form of a girl now, and she seemed happy and content to be sitting by her fire again. Her smile gave me courage to keep walking.

First I bowed to Zeus. Then I knelt at my father's feet.

"Rise, my son," Poseidon said.

I stood uneasily.

"A great hero must be rewarded," Poseidon said. "Is there anyone here who would deny that my son is deserving?"

I waited for someone to pipe up. The gods never agreed on anything, and many of them still didn't like me, but not a single one protested.

"The Council agrees," Zeus said. "Percy Jackson, you will have one gift from the gods."

I hesitated. "Any gift?"

Zeus nodded grimly. "I know what you will ask. The greatest gift of all. Yes, if you want it, it shall be yours. The gods have not bestowed this gift on a mortal hero in many centuries, but, Perseus Jackson – if you wish it – you shall be made a god. Immortal. Undying. You shall serve as your father's lieutenant for all time."

I stared at him, stunned. "Um… a god?"

Zeus rolled his eyes. "A dimwitted god, apparently. But yes. With the consensus of the entire Council, I can make you immortal. Then I will have to put up with your forever."

"Hmm," Ares mused. "That means I can smash him to a pulp as often as I want, and he'll just keep coming back for more. I like this idea."

"I approve as well," Athena said, though she was looking at Annabeth.

I glanced back. Annabeth was trying not to meet my eyes. Her face was pale. I flashed back to two years ago, when I'd thought she was going o take the pledge to Artemis and become a Hunter. I'd been on the edge of a panic attack, thinking that I'd lose her. Now, she looked pretty much the same way.

I thought about the Three Fates, and the way I'd seen my life flash by. I could avoid all that. No aging, no death, no body in the grave. I could be a teenager forever, in top condition, powerful, and immortal, serving my father. I could have power and eternal life.

Who could refuse that?

Then I looked at Annabeth again. I thought about my friends from camp: Charles Beckendorf, Michael Yew, Silena Beauregard, so many others who were now dead. I thought about Ethan Nakamura and Luke.

And I knew what to do.

"I want it."

Behind me I heard Annabeth sob quietly and I nearly tore my heart apart. But I knew I had to do this. I had to change something in the order of things and I could only do that if I became a god. So yeah, I was going to take Zeus's offer.

"Are you sure, Percy?" my father asked worriedly, but he beamed with pride. "Once given the gift cannot be taken back. Once a god, always a god, Percy. You have to be absolutely sure that it is what you want."

I nodded. "Yeah, dad," I told him and smiled. "I am absolutely sure. I'm ready to be a god."

"Are you finished?" Zeus asked, annoyed. He raised his eyebrows and added, "I don't have all day, you know. There are things – more important things – than to make some upstart demigod hero an immortal. I would be actually pleased if we could finish this by now."

"Okay, Lord Zeus. I am ready."

Actually, I wasn't. I was sure of what I wanted, but I didn't know if I was ready for it. Would it hurt? Sure, I still had the curse of Achilles, but that didn't prevent me from feeling pain. I really hoped being made a god wouldn't hurt as much as bathing in the River Styx. But you never knew.

Zeus stood from his throne and formed his hands like a bowl. A blazing golden light appeared in there that grew and grew until it was the size of a basket ball. The Lord of Sky spoke some words in Ancient Greek, an incarnation, then he blew into the light and it flowed to me. I eyed it warily when it was in front of me and I had a strange feeling.

"Um… what am I supposed to do?" I asked because the light didn't do anything but hanging in midair and giving me a strange feeling.

Some of the gods snickered while Poseidon seemed worried and Zeus sighed. In the end, it was Ares who answered my question.

"Why, you have to breathe it in, punk," he said laughing. He really liked the idea that he would be able to beat me up every time now and I wouldn't even die because of that. I wasn't actually too fond of that.

I eyed the light and steeled my nerves. It's only light, I told myself. It can't hurt. IT isn't actually real. And then I did it. I sucked the light in.

It was cold, colder than ice and it burned. I could feel how it broke his way through my mouth, my lungs and then it finally arrived in my heart. Suddenly, it wasn't cold anymore. It was hot like fire. And then it was over. I threw up in the middle of the throne room floor.

"Percy?"

It was Annabeth. She sounded worried and threw her arms around me to see if everything was okay. I looked in her face and saw strange arrangements of feelings. Pain, anger, worry, but most of all confusion. She didn't understand why I made my choice and I couldn't explain it to her right now.

"Everything is… all right," I answered and stood straight.

That moment every god of the Olympian Council stood from his throne and I looked straight at Zeus who seemed slightly annoyed. God after god they came forward and placed their hands on my shoulders to give me a part of their blessing. When my father came forward at last, he smiled at me.

"You will do well," he assured me and pulled me in a tight hug. "I know it."

I thanked him by nodding. I was too confused to speak.

Then Zeus came and put his hands on my shoulders. He smelled like ozone and I saw lightning crackling in his blue eyes that were so much like Thalia's. "I actually have to put up with you forever, how annoying. But I guess you deserved the right. Do well."

He returned to his throne where he stood and announced to the listening gods, demigods, Cyclopes, and nature spirits. "Hail, Perseus Jackson, God of Heroes, Loyalty, Tides and new leader of Camp Half Blood."

A/N: Well, hello and thanks for reading the first Chapter / the Prologue of my first fanfic to Percy Jackson ever. I know the beginning was just a repetition of "We win fabulous prizes" of "The Last Olympian" by Rick Riordan. I don't own this part neither the characters that show up in this chapter. But I own the plot after ***.

I hope you can forgive me if my english is bad, but I am German and well... I've learned english since first grade but I'm not as good as if english was my first language. I try to give my best, but if you discover any spelling mistakes or something else, I would be pleased if you tell me. I actually try to improve my english.

So, I'm nearly finished with this author note, no worries. I just want to add that I appreciate any reviews and so on and I would also like you to give me new ideas that could come into the story because I'm not actually sure yet what this new thread will be. I just know: It WON'T be Gaia or anything that happens in HoO. I want to do something new and maybe you can help me.

Well, that's it. For this time. Until the next time (=