AN: Guys, I can never express enough gratefulness to you guys who gave my story a chance and followed, reviewed and favorited it. Shoutout to The YoLo Man and Dragonborn053 who have reviewed this story. I'll try to do my best to get chapters out as fast as possible while maintaining quality. I am a very busy person, with school and all, therefore I may not be able to update regularly. I'll try my level best to ensure weekend updates.
Now that I'm done with that long-ass authors note, let's get on with the story !
Disclaimer: All rights to the Percy Jackson universe are reserved by Rick Riordan . I do this for fun and do not gain any monetary benefits from this.
Chapter 2
Percy took a deep breath, steeling his nerves before starting.
"Lady Athena" he began, trying not to stumble over his words. "I was hoping that you would give me permission to court Annabeth, now that the war is over, and we are in relative safety for the time being, at least" said Percy, hope creeping into his voice.
Athena looked at him with her piercing grey eyes, and Percy felt as if his very soul was being analyzed. A few moments crept by and Percy began to get unsettled by Athena's piercing gaze. After what seemed like an eternity, Athena spoke.
"Perseus, I am very glad that you asked me before trying to date Annabeth even though you could have gone ahead and gone through with it without asking me" she said. "I have considered the pros and cons of this arrangement and can find nothing that would put my daughter in any particular danger. Actually, you would be a benefit as you would be able to protect my daughter and would not betray her, your fatal flaw being loyalty."
Percy's eyes lit up at Athena's statement, hoping against hope that she would give him her blessing to be with Annabeth. That is, until he realized that Athena was not going to give him her blessing as easily as that.
As if she was reading his mind, Athena said "That put aside, did you really think that I'd allow you to be with my favored daughter without testing you first?"
Percy groaned inside his head, but outwardly, he put on a confident façade. "I knew that you would want to test me, lady Athena, before you would give me your blessing, and I have readied myself for this occasion. I will do anything I can to be with Annabeth, and I'll do my best to pass your tests."
Athena nodded, pleased with his reply, and with his fiery determination to do all he could to be with Annabeth. "Meet me at the camp border one week from now and we shall begin your first test."
Percy bowed low before replying "Your will, milady" before leaving the throne room to join in the celebrations.
As soon as he exited the throne room, his senses were assaulted with wonderful smells, coming from the food, which had been set on a long table made of dark mahogany wood. Many people were talking cheerily, finally relaxing, the threat to Olympus having finally been dealt with.
Suddenly Annabeth crashed into him, hugging him with all her might. Percy hugged her back, a happy smile on his face. After a few seconds, both of them drew back, with slight blushes on their faces.
"I wanted to do that in the throne room but didn't know what the gods would say" Annabeth said shyly
"Aww, I never knew you ever felt emotion" Percy said, a teasing tone creeping into his voice.
Annabeth slugged him in the arm, making him wince.
"Aww, does the baby have a boo-hoo? " Annabeth questioned, having noticed him wince involuntarily.
Percy just huffed, choosing not to reply. Inside, he was elated that the war was over and that now he could get on with his life. He continued the banter with Annabeth, being joined by Thalia after a short period of time. A while passed before Nico arrived as well.
Percy gave Nico a tight man hug, one which Nico returned with equal fervor. The two were more than just cousins, sharing a sibling bond as Percy had filled the void in Nico's life after Bianca had died. Percy shared a similar relationship with Thalia, and the three were like close siblings, always at each others throats, arguing and making fun of each other, yet, either of them would lay down their lives for any one of the others without a hint of hesitation.
The four stayed together, enjoying each others company. Occasionally, one of the Gods would come over to congratulate Percy and Annabeth for defeating Kronos. Apollo and Hermes had a spirited, fun conversation with Percy. They finally went away, Apollo in the process of composing a haiku about the wars' end while Hermes tried to separate George and Martha, the constantly warring snakes on his caduceus.
After a few hours, as things began to wrap up, Artemis came over to collect Thalia. She gave Percy a look of grudging respect, choosing not to say anything other than a short 'thank you'.
Percy said that no thanks were necessary as he was just fighting for what he believed was right and was simply doing his duty. At this, she simply nodded regally and told Thalia to come along as they were going to join the hunt who were camped in central park for the time being.
After a last round of farewells, the quartet broke up as Thalia went with Artemis and Nico went along with Hades, who had come to collect him. Percy and Annabeth were about to head back to camp when Poseidon came over and hugged his son tightly, expressing his pride yet again. Poseidon then flashed them to camp half blood where they were met with cheers from the campers.
They were mobbed by the campers and lifted onto multiple shoulders. They were carried to the campfire before they were set down. Almost all of the campers came over to congratulate the duo and ask them multiple questions about their final defense of Olympus.
It was after a long time that Percy and Annabeth were able to break away from the still celebrating campers, and walked together with no particular location in their mind. They ended up on the beach and Percy immediately laid down on the sand near the water, and Annabeth laid down alongside him. They spent a few moments in silence as Percy took in the refreshing smell of the sea.
"So, earlier, what did you say to my mother?" Annabeth asked, a curious glint in her eye.
Percy wanted it to be a surprise however, so he merely said that Athena had wanted to congratulate him in person.
Annabeth felt suspicion, deep down, but she pushed it away, knowing that Percy would not do anything that would endanger her.
The two spent a long time together, stealing kisses here and there, just enjoying each others closeness and company.
After an indefinite amount of time, they got up and after wishing each other a good night, went back to their respective cabins.
Percy entered his cabin and undressed down to his night clothes, before falling into his bed tiredly. He was asleep within a minute of his head hitting the pillow.
TIME SKIP: (Six months)
Percy lay in his bed in the cabin, contemplating everything that had happened over the past six months.
Since the first time Athena started testing him, Percy knew that there was still a long arduous journey still left ahead of him before he could be with Annabeth.
Athena had put him through brutal tests, appearing weekly and taking him to different locations where she would test him, both mentally and physically.
Percy was made to fight hordes upon hordes of monsters all at once, do several written exams that had his head reeling and was tested mentally by Athena in real life situations. He recalled the conversation he had had last time with Athena when she dropped him off at camp after a particularly difficult challenge where he had had to fight a group of cyclopes, simultaneously answering some rather difficult questions that were being thrown at him by Athena.
Flashback ('*' indicates flashback. Present at beginning and end of flashback)
*Athena flashed them to the camp borders and turned towards the physically and mentally exhausted demigod. She was astounded that Percy had managed to overcome each and every challenge she had given him, usually with flying colors although his results could have been slightly better on his written exams which wasn't really a problem. She would never admit to Percy just how pleased she was with him.
"Perseus, next week, you will face your last challenge. If you pass this one, I will give you my full blessing to be with Annabeth, provided that you survive. You will be tested both mentally and physically and I am sure without a doubt, that this will be your toughest challenge yet, right up there with when you fought Kronos.
Percy paled dramatically. Athena's challenges had not been a walk in the park, to put it lightly, and hearing that he was going to be facing such a hard challenge caused him no small amount of anxiousness.
Even though he was worried, he nodded confidently. "I will do my level to pass your challenge, milady" he said.
Athena nodded, the corners of her mouth turning up into a small smile. "You have done admirably Perseus, and I have no doubt that if any hero can overcome the challenge I have set, it would be you."
Percy had rarely heard such praise from the Goddess of wisdom. He acknowledged it with a grateful nod of his head before saying farewell to Athena and stumbling towards his cabin, intent on getting as much sleep as he could.*
Flashback End (just making it clear :D)
As Percy broke out of his reverie he turned his thoughts to the other major problem that had been weighing heavily on his mind.
He had noticed that Annabeth was suspicious of where he would go, often for prolonged periods of time, as some of the challenges he had to face would be spaced out over periods of several days. She had taken to venturing out into the mortal world more and more, and would rarely stay around him for prolonged periods of time.
He sighed unhappily, as he recalled the last time they had had an argument. It had been two days earlier and Annabeth had come into his room, intent on getting to the bottom of his consistent disappearances.
As usual, he had brushed her questions aside, telling her as much as he could, but not telling her everything due to Athena's wish to keep silent on the matter. This had lead to Annabeth storming out of his cabin's door, leaving him confused as to what he should do.
His mind kept returning to Annabeth's suspicion which always managed to sadden him. He perked up when he realized that tomorrow, after conquering his final challenge, he would finally get Athena's blessing to be with Annabeth.
Athena found him in the same position, a few minutes later, when she came to take him to the destination of his final hurdle.
"Perseus" she said, breaking him from his reverie. "Are you ready?" she asked simply.
"I am" Percy replied, trying to be as confident as possible.
Athena flashed them to their location and Percy gasped as he realized where they were.
They were on Mt Tam, where he had come a couple of years ago with Thalia, Zöe Nightshade and Bianca di Angelo on a quest to save both Artemis and Annabeth. He recognized the garden of the Hesperides, which was directly in front of him, and he could see, from afar, the titan fortress where Atlas held up the sky.
He turned to Athena, a questioning look in his eyes, knowing that he was not going to like what he heard. In spite of that he mentally prepared himself for what was to come.
"Perseus, you must enter the garden of the Hesperides and defeat Ladon. Once you have done so, he will allow you to take golden apples from the tree of immortality, as he will recognize you as his master alongside the Hesperides.
Percy's eyes grew as wide as dinner plates as his mind grasped what Athena was telling him. An image of Luke flashed before his eyes, the scar on his face horribly ominous. Luke too, had tried to get an apple from the garden and had failed. Only the sudden arrival of Hermes had saved him from death.
Aside from that, he did not make any indication that he was alarmed by her instructions.
He simply nodded, and bowed to her. "I will do as you command, milady" he said.
Athena just nodded, and Percy was amazed by what he saw as he caught a brief flicker in her eyes. With a start he realized that the look in her eyes was one of pride. He had only seen that look in her eyes when she had been looking at Annabeth, right after they had defeated Kronos.
He mentally steeled himself and put all his focus toward the task at hand. He had to admit, that even though Athena's tests had been extremely difficult, they had given him mental skills that he had not had before. He could now multitask on several objectives without much effort and his battle sense had heightened considerably.
His body had filled out more as well, and he had developed full eight pack abs. He now had a more rugged look to his face, which too, had filled out rather well.
He entered the garden, trying to keep his composure. His eyes fell upon Ladon and he gasped, amazed at the size of the monstrosity that was curled around the tree of immortality. Ladon had rust red skin and his eyes looked evil, with red irises, surrounded by harsh orange pupils. There were spikes protruding from the top of his tail, spikes that could skewer Percy as easily as a fork would skewer tender meat.
Ladon exuded an air of evilness that Percy had only felt in one other, and that was Kronos. However, what unsettled Percy most of all was Ladon's 100 heads, lying here and there. Some of them were coiled around the tree while some rested on the ground. 10 of them, however, were in the air, looking around for a conceivable threat.
Already, Ladon had noticed Percy, and had stiffened, somehow knowing that Percy was a threat. Even though he saw Percy as a threat , Ladon did not raise his heads, thinking that Percy was not the kind of large threat that had to be dealt with immediately. The dragon waited lazily for Percy to draw near so that he could snap him up as soon as he was within reach.
Percy drew forward slowly, not wanting to spur Ladon into action first, knowing that he would get no chance to defeat Ladon if the dragon was allowed to strike first. In his peripheral vision, he saw the Hesperides in the far corner of the garden, looking at him curiously, not believing that a mortal had dared to enter the garden while Ladon kept watch.
As he drew nearer, Percy's mind went into overdrive, going through every possible way in which he could challenge Ladon and the possible outcomes.
Ladon would be hard to take down as his heads would cover all angles, with some to spare and so, it would be almost impossible to catch Ladon off guard.
His best chance would be to catch the dragon when he was unprepared and take down as any of his heads as he could before Ladon was able to respond. After that, he would have to wing it, doing all he could to not die, and dish out as much damage as he could in the meantime.
Coming to this conclusion, Percy drew riptide, and without warning, he rushed forwards and started hacking away at Ladon's heads, swishing his sword in a smooth, whirling motion from side to side, taking away six of Ladon heads. He followed up with a thrust, slashing one head off with a jerk when the sword went through another of Ladon's heads.
He was beginning to feel pretty confident about his odds, when Ladon suddenly swung into action, a dozen of his heads coming down at once, trying to trap Percy in his jaws. Percy was amazed at the coordination between his heads as one seemed to replace the other as soon as it drew back after an attack. It was all Percy could do to not be cut to ribbons by Ladon's razor sharp teeth. He frantically dived to his side, dodging one of Ladon's heads, while slashing at another, cutting it clean off. As he fell to the ground, he tried to roll, only to have the wind knocked out of him as he flew backwards, having been hit by Ladon's tail, which he had forgotten about.
His body dug a shallow furrow into the ground when it hit, rattling Percy. He painfully got to his feet and rushed Ladon again. As the fight continued, Percy noticed that Ladon would balk at moving away from the tree. Deciding to use this to his advantage, Percy attacked Ladon and when he was within reach, swung at one of his heads, severing it from his body before darting away quickly, After having 10 of his heads taken off this way, Ladon threw caution to the winds and started attacking in earnest. Percy attacked again, intending to strike before rolling away. As he struck, Percy suddenly realized his mistake. He had been so preoccupied in his attacks that'd had failed to notice Ladon shift his body away from the tree and towards him.
Ladon now attacked from all sides, pushing Percy to the max in order to defend himself. Despite Percy's best efforts, he began getting knocked around by Ladon, even though he managed to take down several of his heads. However, Percy knew that if the fight continued like this, he would be overcome quickly, so he decided to switch it up. When one of Ladon's heads swiped at him again, he jumped, catching Ladon by surprise, and hung onto his head for dear life as it flailed about, trying to throw him off. In a swift stroke, Percy cut off the heads and as he fell to the ground, threw riptide in an arc. It sliced through 6 heads before completing it's circular circuit and returning to Percy.
Percy backed away to catch a breath and in doing so , noticed that Ladon had only thirty or so heads remaining. However , Percy was tired and had numerous scrapes and cuts adorning his body. There was no water nearby from which he could rejuvenate himself. His back ached from when Ladon had thrown him and his body felt as heavy as lead.
Tiredly, he wiped the sweat from his brow and got ready to attack again. He dashed forward and slid beneath Ladon's body, stopping when he was behind the beast. He leapt to his feet and cut off a couple of Ladon's heads before being forced on the defensive as the dragon tried his best to eliminate Percy from the face of the earth.
Growing desperate, Ladon sped up his strikes even more. Percy was forced to move at superhuman speeds to avoid Ladon, even for a few seconds. Out of nowhere, one of Ladon's heads made contact with Percy's body while he was fending another and he was thrown into the air. As he fell back to the ground, Ladon got ready to finish him off. He opened one of his mouths and got ready to swallow Percy. However, Percy had not fought the titan king and lived for no reason.
He flipped in mid air until he was facing downward, and as Ladon's head snapped at him, he twirled away in midair and slashed his sword wildly. He was rewarded by the sight of Ladon's head falling to the ground. He fell to the ground, winded. He noticed that Ladon only had ten of his heads remaining. The whole of Ladon's body was covered in blood from his severed heads and one of his legs had gone limp. He was a pitiful sight to behold and he now cowered away from Percy .
Percy himself didn't look much better. He had nearly cracked a rib from when he fell to the ground after Ladon had thrown him to the ground and the wind had been knocked right out of him yet again. Despite this he threw himself at Ladon yet again, intent on finishing what he had started. He rushed forward and started hacking and slashing and had cut off three more heads when Ladon swung his whole body around and with all his power smashed his tail into Percy. One of the spikes grazed Percy making him cry out and he was thrown backwards by the crushing force of the blow.
Percy felt pain in every fiber of his being and found himself unable to get up. He was about to give up and just accept his fate when suddenly an image of Annabeth flashed into his line of sight. "you're just gonna give up seaweed brain ?" she asked furiously. "Don't you want to give this a chance ?" she said, gesturing between herself and Percy. "You can do it Percy!"
It was as if the words of the spectre-Annabeth had given him an infusion of ambrosia or nectar, filling him with energy Percy got up and charged Ladon with renewed vigor. Ladon desperately tried to fend off Percy's savage blows but failed as Percy hacked and slashed at Ladon's heads, taking them off. Percy continued wildly striking Ladon and after a final downwards slash, he stepped back to view his handiwork.
Ladon only had one head left and his body had been reduced to a bloody mess. One of his legs had gone limp and there were deep gashes across his body. He had been completed and utterly defeated. Percy capped riptide and put it into his pocket. He knew that once Ladon had only one head left , he would not show any aggression and let him take apples from the tree.
As he put riptide back into his pocket , he noticed that something was happening to Ladon . The dragons' wounds were slowly healing and the cut skin was knitting back together. Heads started popping from his neck and grew to their original size. In just a few minutes Ladon had been fully restored to his original strength and majesty.
Percy looked on apprehensively , knowing that if the dragon attacked him now , he would have no chance. However , Ladon made no move to attack Percy even when the demigod took a step towards the tree. Percy breathed a relieved sigh. He remembered that Athena had told him to collect all the apples that were presently on the tree , so he moved forwards to attempt to pick the apples.
There were 19 in all and were a rich golden in color. The apples emitted an ethereal golden sheen.
Before he could pick the apples though, the adrenaline that had been previously rushing through his system left him and he fell to the ground, letting out a painful breath. He felt a hand on his shoulder and noticed that it was one of the Hesperides kneeling by him.
She looked upon him with a look of respect and awe. "Percy Jackson, you have defeated Ladon and thus, you have proven yourself as one of the greatest demigod heroes. Therefore, we will help you to the best of our abilities" she said, speaking for herself and her sisters.
One of the other Hesperides came over with a bottle of nectar and poured it skillfully onto his wounds , effectively sealing them and rejuvenating him. Percy gave a grateful nod of thanks and sat up, noting that even though the nectar had sealed his wounds, the ache in his body had not fully subsided. He knew that despite taking the godly food, the pain would not fully subside immediately.
As he sat up, another of the Hesperides handed him a bag. Put the apples into these, hero, she said. After making sure that Percy could get up himself, the Hesperides retreated to the other side of the garden, although they continued watching him.
Percy picked the apples from the tree and then headed over to the edge of the garden where Athena was waiting for him, an impassive look upon her face. The looked changed into one of pride when Percy climbed over the short fence and bowed to her before handing her the apples.
"Perseus, you have accomplished something that has never been accomplished before and have proved yourself entirely worthy of being with Annabeth if you so wish" she said, a gentle smile adorning her face. She then handed the bag containing the apples back to him. "You have earned these Perseus. Do with them as you wish."
Percy's eyes widened comically and he nodded gratefully. "Thank you, lady Athena" he said. "If you would, please keep the apples in your possession until I need them. One of them I would like for you to take" he said humbly.
Athena's emotionless façade nearly broke in the face of her overwhelming surprise but she forced herself to keep it intact as she accepted with a nod of her head. "They will come to you when you need, Perseus."
Percy nodded his head gratefully. "I have something for you, by the way" Athena said.
Percy looked on inquisitively as Athena reached into her pocket and took out a white velvet box. She opened it and Percy gasped. Inside was a platinum ring with owls carved into the metal and wave-like patterns adorning the ring. In the middle was a single diamond which was flanked on both sides by two smaller amethysts. The whole ring looked very elegant and well designed. Inside the band, in elegant , flowing script were engraved the words "To Wise-Girl: Always and forever. Your Seaweed-Brain."
She held out the box and Percy took it from Athena with shaking fingers, not knowing what to say. Finally he managed to speak. "Ttthank you ssso much, milady" he said stammering out the words.
Athena acknowledged him with a short nod of her head as she herself wasn't an emotional, expressive person. She did however say "Good luck Perseus, but remember this. You hurt my favorite daughter and you will not like the consequences, to say the least" she said menacingly, getting her point across clearly, if Percy's rapidly paling face was any indication.
He gave an audible gulp and nodded dumbly. Athena's lips quirked upward into a satisfied smirk before she flashed Perseus back to camp and teleported herself to Olympus.
Percy was teleported onto his cabin, just as he always had been after facing every challenge set for him by Athena.
He slumped onto his bed tiredly. He had intended to find Annabeth just as soon as he came back, but a quick glance at the clock above his cabin door told him that it was past midnight. He decided that he would rest for now and find Annabeth first thing the next day. He slipped into the realm of Morpheus mere seconds after his head hit the pillow.
Meanwhile, in the Athena cabin, Annabeth sat awake, staring out of the window at the stars. She was thinking about what was going on with Percy and how they had become so distant in such a short amount of time. Just before the titan war, they used to be inseparable but now Percy would disappear for days on end and would not even tell her where he was going.
When she asked him about his disappearances, he would change the topic or brush aside her questions. She had tried to quell her doubts that he was meeting another girl behind her back. Even though she knew deep inside her that Percy would never betray her, her logical brain was winning the battle against her heart.
Her own thoughts had lately been wandering to the fact that she wanted to go to college. She had applied for several colleges and had now gotten accepted into Harvard, majoring in architecture. She had grown tired of her life in the demigod world and wanted to start a safe, secure life in the mortal world. She had waited for Percy to make a move to propose to her but it hadn't happened yet and she was tired of waiting. And so it was that Annabeth steeled herself to break up with Percy as she slipped into a troubled sleep.
Percy woke up the next morning and opened his eyes blearily. All at once, he remembered that he had passed his final test and was now free to propose to Annabeth. He put his hand into his pocket where he had put the ring Athena gave him last night, to make sure that it hadn't all been a dream.
His eyes lit up and he smiled when he saw that the box containing the ring was in fact safe in his pocket. He jumped to his feet and was about to throw open the door when a bright flash lit up his cabin. When the light dimmed again and his eyes grew accustomed to the light, he looked for the source of the flash.
Standing there together, were Hera, his least favourite Olympian goddess and Hestia, one of the deities he respected the most. Hera's expression was impassive, giving nothing away. Hestia was wearing a sad smile as she looked at him.
Hestia came forward and wrapped Percy into a hug, surprising him.
"I'm sorry for what is about to happen, Perseus" she whispered. "I did all I could to try and stop the council, but I was overruled."
Hera took a step forward and spoke. "Perseus, I know that you do not think kindly of me and I am sorry for my past actions toward you. I, being the goddess of marriage don't want the gods to have children with mortal women behind their godly spouse's back. I transfer that hate to you demigods, even though it is not your fault and none of you deserve it. After all, what choice did you have in your birth? Hestia has helped me understand and in retrospect, I am deeply ashamed of my past actions towards you and I will do my best to make amends. Perseus, please accept my heartfelt apology."
Percy was very surprised by Hera's words, nonetheless he nodded gratefully at her apology. "Lady Hera, of course I accept your apology and forgive you. I can understand how hard it would've been for you to take the gods' betrayals lightly."
Hera was awed by Percy and amazed at how easily he had forgiven her. She knew that she had made the right choice and vowed to herself that she would no longer project her hate onto demigods, them being innocent of any wrongdoing.
Outwardly, Hera simply nodded at Percy.
"This, however, is not the only reason we came here, Percy" Hestia spoke up. "The next great prophecy has been revealed. It foretells that the earth mother, Gaea will rise again. Her children, the gigantes shall rise before her, under her command. To fight them, the two camps will need to unite."
"Two camps?" questioned Percy.
"Yes Percy, two camps" said Hera. This is the first, composed of Greeks and the second is composed of Romans, and is located in the Oakland Hills near San Francisco. It is called camp Jupiter. In it reside the demigods that have been born of the gods when they were in their Roman aspects."
"Wow" Percy said, awed by this development and slightly confused as to how the gods could have two aspects. "Anyways, what's this got to do with me?" he questioned.
"Well, the gods decided that one demigod from each camp would be taken from their camp and relocated into the other" explained Hestia. "It was thought that the leaders of each camp should be transferred.
"You've got to be joking!" yelled a suddenly enraged son of Poseidon. "Why can't I ever get a break?"
Hestia and Hera both looked at him compassionately.
Hera broke the sudden silence that had descended on the trio. "The gods wanted to wipe both your memories but me, Hestia and Poseidon and Hades, along with Artemis and Apollo, demanded that we do not erase your memory. The council finally agreed to leave your memory intact. However, they will erase the memory of the demigod who will be transferred from the Roman camp to camp half-blood."
Percy nodded gratefully at the two Olympian deities. His expression changed into one of sadness. "I was going to propose to Annabeth today."
"We know about that, Perseus, and therefore, we agreed that without telling the council, we will give you a chance to talk to Annabeth before you leave" said Hera.
"Thank you, milady, I am forever in your debt" Percy said with relief and a large amount of gratitude although he was still miffed about this development.
Hera acknowledged this with a nod before saying "We will wait in your cabin, Perseus. Return here when you have talked to Annabeth."
"Good luck with the proposal!" Hestia said excitedly.
Percy bowed to each goddess, then left the cabin in search of Annabeth. After a short search, he found her near the beach, sitting in the sand.
"Hey Wise-Girl, how'r ya doing?" he questioned.
"I have to talk to you Percy" she said seriously, turning to look at him. "I've been thinking and I've decided that I want to go to college and live in the mortal world. I want to leave this world and everyone I knew in it behind. Percy, I've decided to break up with you."
"Annabeth, no !" said Percy quickly, trying to grab her hand.
She pulled it away from him and said "Percy, look, I really wanna leave all this behind. Settle in and have a normal life. Aside from that, you've been disappearing for days on end, and I don't know what you've been up to or where you've been. How do I know you weren't with someone else? I'm sorry but I just can't see this working out between us. I guess children of Athena and Poseidon just aren't meant to be" she said, pulling away from him and getting up.
"Goodbye, Seaweed-Brain" she said, turning around to leave.
"Annabeth, do you really think that after all this time, I'd betray you and throw you away like a rag doll?" Percy questioned with an expression filled with hurt and sorrow. "For your information, all this time I've been facing challenges thrown at me by Athena, just to prove that I was worthy of you. With Athena's help, I even applied for the same colleges you applied for, so that we could be together even if you wanted to go to college. I was planning to propose to you today, ring and all. I guess I'm just never going to get a break" he said sarcastically, taking a velvet box out of his pocket and tossing it to the ground near her feet.
Annabeth stopped in her tracks at his words, each of his sentences hitting her like a hammer blow to the chest. Tears formed in her eyes as she thought about her actions. She feebly tried to reach for Percy's hand, but he drew away from her, hurt and anger in his eyes.
"No, Annabeth, it's over. We're done. Maybe children of Athena aren't meant to mix with children of Poseidon after all" he said, mimicking her. He stepped away from Annabeth who was standing stock still with tears in her eyes. "Goodbye Annabeth."
Eyes filled with pain, Percy walked towards his cabin.
As he entered, both goddesses looked at him with pity. "I'm so sorry, Percy" Hestia said, wrapping Percy in a comforting hug, sending an infusion of hope into him at the same time.
"I guess we just weren't meant to be, lady Hestia. Thank you for trying to comfort me anyways."
Hera also had an empathetic look on her face. "It's time to leave, Perseus."
Percy nodded. "I'd like to see my mom before I go, to say goodbye."
"Of course" said the queen of the gods.
There was a bright flash and he was standing outside the apartment building where his mother lived with Paul.
"I will return in 15 minutes" Hera said, before flashing away.
Percy entered the building and reached his mom's apartment door a minute later, to find it wide open. A shiver of apprehension went up his spine as he entered the apartment. What he saw inside chilled him to the bone. On the ground in front of him was Paul's lifeless body. He had, it seemed, been stabbed in the chest multiple times. His throat had also been slit. There was no way he was alive.
As he looked at his step father's lifeless body, a short burst of laughter suddenly snatched him from his thoughts. He got up, uncapping riptide, as he moved into the living room. Inside, his mother was surrounded by three dracaenas.
As he began to sneak up on them, one of the snake women stabbed his mother through her abdomen, causing Sally to scream. Percy suddenly saw red at the edges of his vision as all coherent thoughts flew out of his mind. He charged forwards and decapitated two of the dracaenas with a single stroke of riptide, before, faster than thought, he whirled and stabbed the third through her heart.
In under 5 seconds, all of the dracaenas had been reduced to golden dust. Percy rushed to his mother and cradled her head in his lap. She opened her eyes weakly and looked at him with love in her eyes.
"Mom, you can't die on me! Please, just stay awake, I'll call for help" said Percy, trying to get up.
"No Percy " Sally said weakly. "We both know I'm going to die. I want you to know that I am the proudest mother to have ever lived to have you as my son. I love you so much, Percy. Please, live the life you deserve. You'd better not spend your life mourning over my death and blaming yourself for it. I love you, Percy"
"I love you too, mom, more than I'll ever be able to tell you" said Percy, a lone tear escaping his eye as the realization dawned on him. His mother was going to die.
Sally smiled contentedly and leaned her head back as her body relaxed. She smiled up at Percy with adoration and love one last time.
Percy suppressed a sob as her head fell back and Sally Jackson breathed her last. As she went limp, the dam broke and Percy wailed in grief, misery and despair.
When Hera and Hestia flashed in 15 minutes later, they found Percy clutching desperately at his mother's limp body. Immediately, they accessed the situation and Hestia came over and wrapped him into a comforting hug. She sent waves of hope into him, hoping that he had not lost his resolve and his will to live.
Percy hung onto her like a lifeline, trying to keep himself from the brink of losing himself in his despair. He stayed in her embrace for heavens knew how long. After an indefinite amount of time, Percy pulled away from Hestia. He looked at the goddess of the hearth gratefully.
"Thank you, lady Hestia. Forgive me."
"The least I could do for you, Perseus" she replied warmly.
Hera had stood by all along, looking uncomfortable. She now came forward and put her hand on Percy's shoulder, silently offering him support.
After a couple seconds, Percy spoke. "My ladies, I've got to bury them, would you please allow me to ?" he said brokenly.
This time, it was Hera who spoke. "Of course."
"Can you take us to Montauk beach please?" he asked. "I know mom would've wanted to be sent off there."
Without a word, Hestia flashed him to Montauk beach. As Percy looked around, he noticed the deserted stretch of beach where his mother used to bring him when they wanted to get away from Gabe. In the distance, about a hundred yards away, he could make out the silhouette of the small cabin where they had stayed many a summer.
He smiled weakly as joyous memories flashed by him. Swimming in the sea, talks with his mother, his mother making him blue pancakes and blue cookies. Suddenly, a wave of sadness passed through him as he recollected his mother's hugs, that made him feel warm, and comfortable and protected.
He came out of his reverie and noticed that the bodies of his parents were now encased in burial shrouds. Both Hestia and Hera were looking at him compassionately, not wanting to disturb him.
Percy went to Paul's shroud first. "Paul, I know we didn't spend nearly enough time together, but I can honestly say that you were an amazing person and I can think of no one else more worthy of marrying my mother. I'm sure you'll get into Elysium. Goodbye, Paul."
Then came the moment he had been dreading the most. As he neared his mother's shroud, his eyes teared up and he shook with sadness. "Mom, I really hate that we didn't have more time to spend with each other, and I'm really sorry for that. I know that you're going to a better place, and I'm happy for you. Even though I know that. it's still hard for me to grasp the fact that you won't be there anymore. I'll miss you so much mom" he said, tears making their way down his face. I'll try my best to do as you asked and move on. I love you mom, more than you'll ever know."
He stepped away from his mother's shroud, and nodded at the two goddesses. At the nod, Hestia laid the bodies on a wooden raft and settled the shrouds on it before materializing an intricate golden torch into her hand. She handed it to Percy solemnly before stepping back.
Percy took the torch and with reverence , touched it to his parents' shrouds one by one. He then pushed the raft outwards and willed the currents to carry the raft away from the shore. He watched silently as the raft made its way over the waves until he could see it no more.
As it disappeared from his view, Percy broke down. As he did , he noticed a pair of arms around him. With a start, he realized that the comforting embrace was just like his mother's. Warm, comforting and filled with understanding, love and care.
He looked into Hestia's eyes and saw his own face reflected back in her warm, brown eyes. He found infinite comfort and solace in her embrace.
As Hestia pulled back, Hera came forward and hesitantly, hugged him. Percy hid his surprise at the action from the queen of the gods, never having dreamt that this was going to happen. However, surprisingly, he found comfort in her hug as well. It was startlingly alike to how he felt when he was hugged by his mother. Whereas Hestia's hug had made him feel cared for and loved, Hera's hug made him feel protected and safe.
She pulled back and looked at him reassuringly.
Percy nodded at both the goddesses, being unable to speak for the moment. After a while, he broke the silence. "I know she wanted me to move and not grieve for her, but it's just so hard" he whispered.
Hestia and Hera looked into each others eyes and Percy knew that they were having a silent conversation. After a few moments, as if they had reached a silent agreement, Hestia nodded at Hera who nodded back.
"I know no one can completely fill the void in you after your mother has passed on but I… we would like it if you gave us a chance to soften the blow" said Hestia.
"Of course" said Percy, raising an eyebrow inquisitively, wondering what the goddesses were going to suggest.
Hestia looked at him hesitantly, wondering how he would react.
"We were wondering if you would like to become our champion" she said hopefully.
Percy looked at both the goddesses, an incredulous look upon his face. "I…I… I don't know what to say" he stammered out finally.
Hera hesitantly spoke "As you may know, neither of us has had a champion before, but we have both decided that you are the best to be our first champion. If you choose to become our champion, you will have access to some or all of our powers along with becoming linked to us. We will be able to communicate through our minds and whatnot along with some unknown changes."
Percy looked at both deities in awe before bowing low. "I would be honored, miladies" he said.
Hestia gave him a bright smile while Hera smiled too, although hers was more reserved than Hestia's.
"I'll go first" Hestia said excitedly.
At Percy's nod, she held out her hands, palms outward and began chanting in Greek. A bolt of warm orange light -the color of her hearth- shot out of her palms and went into Percy. Percy felt a rush of power enter him as she continued her chant. After a minute or so, she stopped her chant and stepped forward to observe Percy.
She looked into his eyes and gasped in wonder. Percy looked at her quizzically and was about to ask what was wrong when Hera cut in. She too had been looking at Percy's eyes in wonder.
She repeated the same chant as Hestia, only, the light that shot out of her palms was bright white, with a few rays of sky blue.
As she finished her chant, Percy felt another rush of power hit him.
Wordlessly, Hestia conjured a mirror and held it up for him to see his reflection. Percy gasped at the image he saw reflected back at him. His face had somehow filled out even more and his higher cheekbones put emphasis on his face. The most startling difference in his appearance however, were his eyes. They retained the same sea green around the edges but were now rimmed with orange and flecked with pure white in the middle.
They gave him an intimidating look when he glared but the ethereal orbs had a certain awe-inspiring beauty to them as well.
His arms had somehow grown even more muscled and his height had risen a couple inches, putting him at 6' 2".
He looked awed before muttering "Wicked! Wait till the guys at camp see these!"
He then looked at both goddesses like a child at Christmas before asking "What new powers do I get?"
Hestia spoke first. She reached out with her senses, feeling the powers he had gotten before answering his question. "You have received from me the ability to use fire, the ability to manipulate hope which means you can infuse someone with hope, even though all may seem to be lost. You have also received the ability to summon any meal you may be able to think of and lastly, you have got the power to heal."
She then looked at him, bemused. "I never imagined you would gain that much power. Oh and I almost forgot, your eyes can now morph into flames."
Before Percy could do more than look amazed at the new powers he now had, Hera reached out with her senses as well, before saying "From me, you have gained the power to detect the strength of bonds between members of a family. Aside from that you have gained the skill to master archery. You see, when I was inducted into the Olympian Council, I vowed to protect Olympus and so, became a warrior goddess of sorts as well. I mastered archery and I seem to have passed that ability to you as well. Lastly, your bonds of loyalty and faith have also been strengthened. These will make you defend your loved ones to your dying breath and will allow you to hold onto people with amazing mental strength."
"Wow" said an awestruck Percy. "I never thought I'd be able to learn archery, milady."
"Well you can now" smirked Hera. "After learning of your ability, I want to give you a gift" she said. As she spoke, a bow materialized into her hands. It was pure white with Hera's symbol, a peacock feather emblazoned onto the bow. It looked extremely deadly with onyx spikes protruding at both ends.
Percy ran his hands along the smooth surface, marveling at the masked beauty of the bow. With a start, he saw that Hera hadn't given him a quiver.
"Lady Hera, excuse me, but you haven't given me a quiver" he said, bemused.
"All you have to do is put your fingers on the bowstring and an arrow will appear" she said.
Suddenly, Hestia came forwards and put her hand on the bow momentarily. After she took her hand away, she smirked self satisfactorily and said "Now you have but to think of it and the arrows will turn into fire arrows" she said. "Oh and when you don't need it, just think of it and the bow will transform into a ring. When you want the bow again, twist the ring clockwise and it'll appear."
Immediately, Percy thought of the bow disappearing and it did just that. A pure white ring edged with black appeared onto his finger.
Percy also noticed that the bow now had a symbol of the hearth emblazoned onto it. The symbol of power of Hestia.
After communicating silently once more, Hestia spoke. "We have one last gift for you"
A box suddenly flashed into both the goddesses' hands.
They each came forwards and gave the boxes to Percy. He opened the one from Hestia first. Inside was an ornate Hunting knife, with a wicked, serrated edge. It was glossy black in color with dark orange flame designs etched into it. It shone with a sheen that Percy knew could only be emitted by Olympian silver. The dagger was a vision of perfection, with its black leather grip. He picked it up and flipped it into the air before catching it. It was beautifully balanced, as if it was made for him, which it probably was.
Emblazoned just below the cross hilt was Hestia's symbol of power, etched into the Olympian silver.
He then opened the box from Hera. It was a dagger that matched the other in design, but, while the other one was pure black, this one was pure white, creating a stark contrast between the two. This one was edged with stormy grey and the symbol of Hera was emblazoned under the cross hilt.
Percy was speechless, looking at the gifts the goddesses had given them. He simply stood up went over to Hestia, and pulled her into a grateful hug. He pulled back after a brief contact and then hugged Hera, slightly more hesitant. The queen of the gods was not used to such contact and didn't hug him back immediately, but did so after a brief moment of hesitation.
"Thank you so much" Percy croaked, as soon as he was able to speak.
The goddesses both nodded, accepting his thanks.
"I think I'm ready" said Percy, after a brief period of silence.
Hera smiled at him before saying "You will first be sent to Lupa, the Roman wolf goddess who brought up Romulus and Remus. If she judges you worthy, you will be allowed to move on to camp Jupiter."
Percy nodded, indicating that he understood.
Hestia also spoke up. "If you ever find yourself in need of help or comfort, come to the hearth. You will always find solace there." After saying this she put a hand on his shoulder. "Farewell for now young hero. We will meet again very soon."
Hera offered him similar reassurance before patting his hand in farewell. Before she did so however, she snapped her fingers. "I changed your eye color back for a bit. Just so that you don't stand out too much" she offered as way of explanation.
Percy nodded at her, sending her a quick smile and then nodded at Hestia, sending her a fond smile too. "I'm ready" he said.
He steeled himself for what was to come as he felt himself flashed towards his destiny.
AN: THE END ! Of chapter 2 , that is. 9k words, tho …..hope ya guys found that to your liking. Anyways, I have no intention of leaving this story until it's finished guys…. I just hope ya peps stick around for the ride. I hope ya guys liked this chapter ! I tried to change the story a bit as you may have noticed… the plots a little different and so's the timeline. Once again, like, follow and review! Reviews would really help me get better as a writer as I need tips…
Oh and, I'm really busy at the moment, so I might not update regularly… I will try ma best to get updates out each weekend tho…
HOA11 OUT !