I do not own anything PJATO related.

"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 you 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 to 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.

"No," I said.

The Council was silent. The gods frowned at each other like they must have misheard.

"No?" Zeus said. "You are . . . turning down our generous gift?"

There was a dangerous edge to his voice, like a thunderstorm about to erupt.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not exactly turning it down. I would just like to add a few, uh, conditions to it."

There was a brief moment of silence, and I felt all eyes on me even more intently that before. I forced myself not to look around – not at Poseidon, not the other demigods, not even Annabeth. I focused on Zeus, who looked at me with an expression of annoyance. He spoke.

"And what are these conditions, demigod? Is immortality not enough for you?"

"No, I –" I paused, unsure how to phrase my request. How on earth could I say it without insulting all the gods? I glanced at Poseidon. His face showed polite interest, but his eyes were still twinkling at me. Would he be angry if I rejected helping him in the oceans? Would I lose power over water if I did? I was so used to it, it'd be hard not to fight. . . but then again, I'd be a god. And it wasn't like I could get worse at sword fighting. If I had to, I might lose Riptide, but I could always find another sword to replace it –

Zeus interrupted my thoughts with a thundering, "Well?" It was clear that his temper was rising the longer I spent thinking, and the sparks dancing along his chair didn't help my nerves.

I had to say something, and fast. I didn't think they'd kill me, since they had just offered me immortality. So what was the worst they could do? Reject my request and leave me as a normal demigod? Well, they could probably do a lot worse, said a small voice in the back of my mind. But I had to do this – it was the only way. If I died or something, then at least it could be said that I tried. I threw caution to the wind, and took a deep breath.

"With all respect, Lord Zeus, the gods haven't been the best with paying attention to their demigod children."

There were splutters all around me coming from the gods, and the sparks on Zeus's chair multiplied. I rushed on.

"The reason this second war with Kronos got so far was because there were a ton of demigods that weren't acknowledged by their immortal parents. Some weren't claimed when they got to camp or didn't even get brought to Camp-Half Blood – ever. That just made it easier to Kronos to bring them to his side, especially when he offered them a place in his new world. The whole thing was made even worse by the gods not acknowledging the minor gods and goddesses, who also sided with Kronos. They felt undervalued and ignored. Also, all demigods need their own cabin, for all the gods. Their parents need amnesty as well – including Calypso and the other peaceful immortals, or else their children will have all the more reason to hate Olympus in the future. And Hades, too. Nico has proven that more than enough."

I glanced around at Nico and Hades, the latter giving me a nod and Nico jerking his mouth into a strange sort of smile.

"Which reminds me – no more pact of the Big Three. That didn't work out anyway. Stop trying to prevent powerful demigods from being born, and accept them instead. Let them go to camp, and learn the best they can.

"Olympus needs to take responsibility for their kids and not leave them to die before they can even make it to camp. Every kid has that right, from a child of Zeus," he nodded to Thalia, "to a child of one of the Muses. They need to be watched and protected – especially when they are travelling to camp, before they get any training. And they need to be claimed when they're thirteen at the latest. They need a god – and Hermes already has enough on his plate."

I looked back at Hermes, who crooked his head to the side. I couldn't quite read his expression. When his eyes went back to look at Zeus, I turned around. Zeus's eyebrows were furrowed and he looked pretty angry. I was worried that he was about to blast me all the way back to Yancy, when Athena spoke, addressing the rest of the Olympians.

"The boy is correct. We have been unwise to ignore our children. It proved a strategic weakness in this war and almost caused our destruction. Percy Jackson, I have had my doubts about you, but perhaps I was mistaken. I move that we accept the boy's plan. Make him a god, and have him act as our liaison to all demigods"

"Humph," Zeus grumbled, "So long as I don't have to teach him all the rules."

"That can be arranged later," said Hermes. "All in favor?"

All the gods raised their hands.

"So it shall be done." Zeus raised his right hand in the air like a priest giving a blessing. "Percy Jackson, I name you God of Demigods, and Protector of the Unclaimed!"

x x x

As the echo of Zeus's voice rang throughout the hall, I prepared to be hit by a spell from his hand, my heart pounding through my ribs. But nothing came from his hand, and as he lowered it I heard a single pair of hands begin to clap. Startled, I looked to my left and saw Poseidon clapping, a wide smile across his face, and his eyes glittering merrily at me. Behind me, another pair of hands joined in, then another, and another, until the hall was filled with the sound of applause and cheering. I stared around at the Olympians, who were all looking down on me with expressions ranging from pride to amusement to annoyance. Thalia was clapping madly with a huge grin on her face. She was shouting something too, but I couldn't really hear it over the sound of all the applause. Behind me I heard the whooping of the Cyclopes, and Tyson yelling, "big brother is a god!" at the top of his lungs.

I began to grin too. I couldn't help it – the mood was infectious, and I was incredibly relieved that they hadn't decided to pulverize me into monster dust. Nico, too, was clapping, though he had an odd sort of smile on his face. As I gazed toward the back of the hall I saw a bunch of my demigod friends from camp, all sporting healing injuries but looking like they were ready to party. I noticed a few other kids standing off to the side, hanging back, unsure whether to join in the revelry or not. I recognized a few of them – former enemy demigods. But they would be accepted, and soon could join the others at Camp Half-Blood. That made me happier than anything so far.

With a jolt, I realized Annabeth wasn't there. The smile slid off my face and my happiness with it. I spun around to look at Athena's throne – maybe Annabeth had gone there to stand next to her mom?

She wasn't. I met Athena's eyes, and she looked at me a little smugly, her eyebrows raised. She nodded slightly towards the exit, and I felt a jolt in my stomach when I realized she had probably left the hall. I turned around and had taken two steps away when I heard Poseidon's voice in my mind.

Wait.

I stopped, and slowly turned back toward him. Wait for what? I wanted to ask. Annabeth was leaving. Right now. I had to stop her – to explain!

There will be time afterward. All the time you need. But right now you need to pay respect, and complete the ceremony.

I was about to argue back, but then Zeus held up his hand for silence. Most of the Olympians had stopped before this point, but the tumultuous sound was still emanating from the back. With a frenzied chorus of shushing, the crowd quieted down to hear the king of the gods speak.

"Percy Jackson." It wasn't a question. I wasn't so sure it was a question either.

"Yes, Lord Zeus?"

"My brother will preside over your change into immortality. I have enough to do without your incessant questions and dull wits."

"Um. . . thanks?"

He looked at me with slightly squinted eyes as if he was trying to decide if I was being sarcastic or not. Whatever his conclusion, he chose to ignore it as he stood and cleared his throat, which boomed rolling thunder.

"Ahem, yes. Plenty to do for all of us here. Dismissed!"

It seemed that was the cue to leave, since the gods got up and began to talk to one another, a few vanishing and others walking out the exit. The crowd began to file out, mingling, creating a general noise as their conversations merged together. If anything, this did not feel like the end of the ceremony that Poseidon told me to wait for. I peered back at the crowd, many of whom were looking back at me, a few waving when they saw I was facing their direction. I gave a half-hearted wave, now eyeing the remaining gods in the hall. Zeus had vacated his throne and was talking intently to Athena, whose back was to me, next to a pillar on the far side. Artemis, back in her Hunter's attire and size, had joined the queue leaving the hall with Thalia, and Hades and Nico were talking and heading in the same direction. A minor goddess I didn't recognize was gesticulating wildly while in conversation with Demeter, who had a slightly dazed look on her face. I'd have to figure out what that was all about later. Hermes was walking slowly, staring intently at his caduceus-phone and zipping through messages faster than I could keep track. It reminded me of those mortal teenagers you'd see walking down the street not paying any attention to anything but their phones, who I'd always privately thought were about to run into street poles and mailboxes, not to mention people. Once I had even seen a guy walk right into a monster, mutter "sorry," and keep walking.

Finally my gaze arrived at Poseidon's throne once more, and there he sat, gazing at me, a small smile on his face. He beckoned me with a jerk of his head, and I obediently walked towards him. As I approached, he stood and shrank slightly, becoming somewhat closer to a normal height. I though eight feet was kinda pushing the limit though.

"Percy."

A pause.

"Yes?" I wasn't sure what to say.

"You are the first apotheothenai in a very long time. Certainly many centuries for any of my children. You have made me – allowed me – to be the proudest Olympian today."

"Apothe-what?" I asked.

"Apotheothenai. A demigod who is made immortal, into a god. It is the greatest honor we can bestow upon any demigod."

"Right."

He looked down at me, a proud smile on his face. I didn't know if he was about to speak or if he was waiting for me to say something, but nothing came to mind. I cast around for a subject.

"So, how exactly does this work?" I asked, breaking the silence between us. "Do I like, take a bath in a special immortality pool, or do you do some god magic and suddenly I'm immortal?"

He chuckled.

"That's where Hera comes in. You don't see her in the room, do you?" I looked around, but didn't see the goddess anywhere.

"No," I answered, shaking my head.

"Hmm. Fine." He pulled out a seashell-encrusted cellphone from his pants pocket and pressed a few buttons and lifting it to his ear.

"Yes, Poseidon. I knew what was needed as soon as Zeus announced the apotheosis." I spun around. It was Hera, also eight feet tall and radiating power, holding in her hands a golden-brown muffin the size of a grapefruit. She continued, "I trust you still know the process?"

"Of course I do," answered Poseidon jovially.

Hera, it seemed, did not share his mirth. "Make sure you do it in another room. I don't want to clean up any leftover messes."

"Hey! It's not like I'm going to explode everywhere when I change!" I interrupted.

She regarded me coolly, and after a moment of silence, said flatly, "I hope not." She handed me the muffin, which was surprisingly heavy, then walked away.

I laughed weakly, turning back to Poseidon. "She doesn't really mean that, right? That doesn't actually happen to us apoth-apothentinis, does it?"

He considered me for a moment. "Apothenothenai. Maybe we ought to go to elsewhere."

I felt my stomach to a series of acrobatic flips. I hadn't even considered yet what it would feel like becoming a god. Would it hurt? Maybe I would have to like, die first and then be brought back? Did my mortal body explode and my inner-god emerge like some sort of all-powerful butterfly? And what did the muffin have to do with it?

Poseidon must have seen some of my fear, since he gave a small chuckle. "Don't worry. You won't explode, but there will likely be light similar to when we travel on the Earth, and even gods find it annoying – and if there are any demigods in the vicinity, well, it could be fatal for them."

"Oh, I see." So basically I would be shining like a supernova and no one wanted me around for it. Great. Really a warm welcome I was getting here. Poseidon started walking towards an archway I hadn't noticed before in the throne room – in fact, I think it had only just appeared. I hoped I could figure out all of these tricks when I became a god. I hurried after him, following him under the arch and into a large hallway with multiple doors on both sides.

"So, what is this giant muffin for?"

Poseidon glanced down at the pastry in my hands. "That's pure ambrosia, imbibed with nectar. Eating it will allow you to become fully immortal and access your new powers."

I was a little unsure about it. I knew that eating too much ambrosia could make demigods feverish and even kill them. I said as much to Poseidon.

"That is true," he replied, "for regular demigods. When a demigod has been given the blessing of the Olympian Council, imbibing ambrosia and nectar completes the ritual, making you a god. The ambrosia destroys the mortal remnants of your body, leaving only the godly half to mingle with your essence."

"Does it take long?" I ask, privately hoping that it wouldn't be painful, or if it was then it would be short.

"It varies, depending on the person. There's no way to tell how long it will take with anyone. I think the longest was about a day, though. Dionysus told me that they just kept fighting the process. After that we had to increase the recommended amount of ambrosia, so that Epione would get off our cases. That was a migraine full of lawsuits and ridiculous bills. Accidentally caused a few hurricanes on my part. Ah, this room should suffice"

We had stopped in front of a doorway to our left. The door was old and wooden, and looked pretty heavy. It had a large, iron keyhole under the handle. It appeared to be unlocked, however, since Poseidon reached out and swung the door open. Inside was a large, tall room that was lined with golden-colored wall lanterns, casting a warm light throughout the room. It looked fairly modern with cream-colored paint on wooden walls, but rather nondescript, as there were no other decorations, making me feel even smaller than before. I started feeling more uncomfortable too. This was a really big, empty room. . . and Poseidon had been pretty vague on the pain factor. I wasn't even sure at this point that I was doing the right thing.

"Now, Percy, you're going to go to the middle of the room and eat the entire muffin, okay?" I nodded. "You'll experience a strange sensation, or so I'm told. While this is happening, you need to focus on why you are joining the ranks of the gods. What led you here, why you chose this path, what you hope to accomplish. Your new title, what that means for your future. You can always better shape your godhood through time, but the more specific you are now, the better off you will be. Do you understand?"

I nodded again, suddenly finding my throat extremely dry. I guess I was more nervous than I thought.

"I will be just outside the room." He turned around and walked back towards the door. I stared down at the heavy muffin in my hands, wondering what I should say – if I should say – anything to him. Before I could decide however, Poseidon spoke,

"And Percy?" I jerked my head up. "Good luck."

Again I nodded, swallowing hard. Poseidon turned and closed the door with a final-sounding click, leaving me completely on my own. Once more, my attention shifted to the perfect-looking muffin in my hands. I had to focus on what was important. Why I was here. I remembered Poseidon telling me to go to the middle of the room. Probably so that I didn't blow out any of the lights, I thought.

I slowly walked to the center, taking deep breaths to calm down my racing heart. I thought I had gone through all my adrenaline during the battle, and then when I was called in front of the Olympians, but apparently I had been wrong. This was different altogether.

My thoughts jumbled together, each one vying for complete attention. One thought somehow came through - eat the muffin – and seizing onto that I took a large bite. With a sharp pain, the thought of my mom came to me. The ambrosia tasted like her chocolate chip cookies. How could I have forgotten about her in all of this? She would be worried sick! Would anyone tell her? When would anyone tell her? I had to find her, explain everything! Maybe I could wait to become immortal until after I talked to her. Yeah – Poseidon was right outside, I would go there, and—

I had taken one step forward when I fell, my right leg collapsing under me. It felt extremely odd – like when a hand or foot falls asleep and after that tingly feeling goes away the whole limb goes numb for a while. At the same time, my other foot felt like there were things crawling underneath the skin, wiggling around and burrowing into the muscle. It was too late - the process had already started.

I was becoming immortal.

x x x

Already the feeling in my left foot had spread up my leg, not necessarily painful but definitely uncomfortable. I tried to block out the sensations, attempting to remember Poseidon's words. What led you here, why you chose this path, what you hope to accomplish. Your new title, what that means for your future. I was here for all the demigods, all the unclaimed, all those kids out there who weren't even discovered so that they could try and make it to camp. For all the demigods that were crammed into the Hermes cabin because they didn't have a cabin for their parent. For all those that were convinced by Kronos that the gods didn't care about them. The ones who died in battle. For Beckendorf. For Silena. Luke.

I took a huge bite of the ambrosia. This time it tasted like the s'mores we roasted on the campfire, complete with smuggled Hershey's chocolate instead of the gross stuff they usually tried to give us. As I chewed I realized with a jolt that I would never belong in Camp again: I was no longer a camper. No longer a demigod. My mom's apartment in Manhattan wasn't my home anymore, and neither was Camp Half-Blood. The closest I would get to Camp Half-Blood being my home again would be if there was a cabin built for me. My mom would disapprove until I was at least 30 though. I could easily imagine her standing in front of me, hand on her hip, telling me that in no way would I be allowed to have any kids until I was totally grown up. Despite myself, I laughed. She'd be bossing me around for pretty much forever. Maybe I'd make the cabin blue. . .

My stomach twinged and I doubled up on the floor, feeling my insides writhe around. It felt like being on a rollercoaster and having your stomach flip over, except that mine was going in every direction at once. Both of my legs were numb at this point, the crawling sensation all but gone. I tried to move and found myself in a kneeling position, one hand clutching the oversized pastry and the other gripped around my belly. As my abdomen gave a particularly strong lurch, a feverish sensation spread from my navel to the rest of my body, rapidly enveloping me and making me uncomfortably hot, and feeling a little ill. My skin began to prickle, and a sharp pain in my lower back made me cry out. That was my Mark of Achilles! Oh gods, I didn't even think to mention that to Poseidon –what if it messed up the entire process? Would that be my own personal self-destruction spot for the rest of eternity? The heat intensified and I felt like I was back in the Styx, my skin burning and convincing my brain that I was going to die.

Then all at once, the heat, prickling sensation, and sharp pain in my back vanished. I uncurled from my kneeling position on the floor, where I realized I had bent in a fetal position. The muffin was partially crushed in my hand, a large chunk on the floor near my knee. I regarded it for a moment, then picked it up and stuffed it into my mouth, making my cheeks puff out like a chipmunk's. It tasted vaguely like strawberries. I shoved the thought aside before any more memories came to the surface.

Let's get this over with. Now, what else did Poseidon tell me to think about? I racked my brain. What I wanna do as a god. Right. I thought about it, hard, as I did my best to ignore the odd sensations creeping towards my chest and arms. I was helping demigods, especially the kids who weren't yet at camp. I wanted to make sure they were safe before it was time to go to camp, or make sure they got help if they were attracting a lot of monsters. And help them get to camp. Campers were usually safe during the summers and somewhat less so on quests, but even so there should be someone watching over them, not just taking interest when the gods had their own agenda. I learned that lesson a few dozen too many times.

In addition, someone had to make sure that the gods kept their promise and alerted Camp staff about the kids, no matter how much drama it caused on Olympus. The gods promised on the Styx to claim them and bring them in, but that didn't guarantee that it would last for long. If I had to, I would hunt down each god and make them tell me. Well, I thought, imagining me trying to intimidate Zeus with a shudder, I'll figure something out.

The muffin chunk was now gone, and a fuzzy, numb sensation was spreading through my arms and chest, inching up my neck. I figured that I should probably finish off the muffin before it messed with my head, and as I brought my hand to eat the gooey mush, I saw that parts of my hand were blackening and disintegrating, dissolving into the air. I watched it, fascinated. It didn't hurt, and as soon as the darkened skin disappeared, there was new, clean skin underneath it. The dirt and blood from my fingers and top of my hand were slowly disappearing as my hand was regenerating. Or whatever. I didn't really know what to call it. Becoming immortal? An immortal hand. I wondered what would happen if I cut off my hand right now – would it dissolve, or maybe would I grow a new one and the old one would run off being an immortal hand? Probably it would just hurt a lot. I wondered if injuries hurt less when you were a god. Maybe you just got used to it.

I raised my hand to my mouth again and as I was about to bite into the ambrosia, I smelled the most wonderful scent coming from it. It wasn't food, or anything, more like – Annabeth. It smelt exactly like her when I hugged her, back in the Athena cabin, her hair in my face and her arms tight around me. Feeling hollow, I wondered if I would ever do that again. I had promised myself not to think about anything besides my new godhood, but her face kept popping up in my mind. I could see her smile, hear her laugh, feel her hand in mine and her lips on my own. Seaweed Brain, she had called me. We had kissed, back at Mt. St. Helens – okay, she had kissed me. But that wasn't the point. She was my anchor when I bathed in the Styx. I had showed her my Achilles's heel. She took a dagger for me. She meant everything to me, and I had left her. For ALL the demigods!, a part of me argued. But it didn't help.

I felt my eyes prickle with tears, and my vision swam. I angrily wiped them away, but my eyesight didn't clear. I scrubbed at them again, but this time when I opened them I could barely see my hands in front of me. The sensation of crawling underneath my skin returned then, in both my head and chest, and I felt it inching deeper and deeper inside, into my eyes, tongue, throat; and as it reached my heart, I could feel it burst, and then everything exploded into stardust.

x x x

Outside the room, Poseidon was sitting on a pool chair, playing Angry Stymphalian Birds on his seashell-bedazzled phone. A muffled shout, followed by a bright light that illuminated the doorframe caused him to look up at the door. As the light faded, he closed out of the game and looked at the running stopwatch. He grinned.

"Three hours and twenty-two minutes. Looks like Apollo owes me thirty drachmas."

Hi! Please let me know what you think – for better or for worse. I'm considering making this into a longer fic, so let me know if that's something you'd be interested in reading. Thanks!