Seventh Son of Time

Chapter 2

-Percy-

"T-the Fates?" the son of Zeus, Alex, asked in shock "S-she's the daughter of the fates?!".

"Yes," he said with a small smile at the awe-struck demigods "now come, my wife has made us a wonderful dinner and it would be incredibly rude of us to not enjoy it and shower her with praise at her skill.".

"Oh Percy," Moira said with a small smile as she kissed his cheek softly "always such a gentleman.".

"I do try my love." He said happily as he held her close, "Now come," he said with a friendly smile at their guests "the dining room is just through here.". Leading them onward he stepped into a comfortable dining room that was lined with windows showing a white sand beach.

"Why did you have that Remy guy bring us here secretly if you weren't even going to bother hiding your location outside of this place?" the girl he recognized as a daughter of Athena demanded haughtily as the other two demigods, along with his preferred brothers, sighed in exasperation.

"They're enchanted young one," he said in amusement at her attitude "they show whatever I wish them to. Right now they show a Hawaiian beach, but they could also show Paris, Alaska, the Caribbean, even China. My personal favorite though, is the view over Athens.". As he talked the windows changed to show each of the different locations he mentioned, stopping on a view of the ancient city of Athens, back when the gods still ruled there, as if looking down from the Parthenon.

"That's incredible," Alex said in awe "how did you make those?".

"Those were actually the invention of a son of Hecate about a thousand years ago," he answered with a small smile as he thought back to his old friend "who lived as a ring bearer for a time before giving his life in battle. Even mortals know of him and his legend but believe it to be just that, a legend.".

"Who was it?" Alex asked him with intrigue as they all walked over to the table.

"I always knew him as Emrys," he said with a soft smile at the young demigod's thirst for knowledge "but you probably know him…as Merlin. Now, let us enjoy our dinner and then get down to business.". Getting to the table he held Moira's chair out for her, an act he noticed Alex attempt to copy for the daughter of Athena only for her to brush him off while the daughter of Ares was actually was respectful enough to allow it.

Walking over to a cabinet he pulled out a couple of bottles of wine and some glasses, setting a glass down in front of the different places, even for the demigods, which got some protests from them, the daughter of Athena in particular. "We're underage," the girl protested angrily "we can't drink wine.".

"You're demigods," he said with a shrug as he began pouring the wine for himself and Moira "your bodies will burn through the alcohol faster than that of a Mortal so it won't be that big of a problem. Added to that if you're old enough to risk your lives on a quest to save the world then you're old enough to enjoy a good drink.".

"Can't argue with that logic." The daughter of the war god said with a smile as he grinned and filled up her cup.

"I hope you're hungry," Moira said with a smile to their guests as she waved her hand to float the food onto the table "I prepared some slow-cooked lamb along with a selection of vegetables as a side dish.".

As they sat down and began serving out the food he noticed that the demigod son of Zeus was looking at him nervously, "Is there something wrong young son of thunder?" he asked the demigod calmly as he finished helping serve the meal and sat down to enjoy it himself.

"No!" Alex said quickly "Nothing's wrong! I…it's just…you're not really what I was expecting.".

"And what were you expecting, may I ask?" he inquired with a small amused smile as he sipped his wine calmly, genuinely curious as to what the demigod would say.

"When my father and my Uncles talked about you they said how you hated Kronos and my Dad," Alex admitted "and how you had lived for thousands of years as an assassin. I don't know, I guess I just expected someone a lot more…militaristic and angry. I'm sorry if I've offended you.".

"Relax," he said with a light laugh as he waved off the demigod's concerns "I used to be much more militaristic but a few centuries of living mellowed me out. I try to keep my 'work' persona separate from when I'm not on a job. Feel free to ask any question you'd like, I might not answer it, but I won't lie or stop you from asking.".

"Can you tell me more about your order?" Alex asked quickly before any of the others could start as the daughter of Athena gave a cross look at the son of Zeus while the daughter of Ares looked intrigued as she took her first bite of the lamb and moaned softly when it melted in her mouth.

"Good isn't it?" he asked the girl with a small grin as she nodded and sped up her eating, joining Poseidon and Hades who had, a few times in the past, sampled Moira's cooking. "To answer your question though it all starts to when I lived during the reign of the Titans…or perhaps one should say shortly after their reign. I became a man on the same day that the gods were freed from Kronos and their war began and lived through it all due to being captured in the Lair of the Lotus eaters for a time. I was eventually freed by my oldest friend who is one of the warriors that helped me found my organization and another of the first Ring Bearers.".

"You were trapped with the Lotus Eaters as well?" the daughter of Athena asked in surprise.

"They weren't nearly as malicious back then as they were now daughter of Wisdom," he answered her "back then they would simply offer a person their lotus flower and tell them that, should they wish it, all their worries would wash away and they could be calm and relaxed for the rest of their lives. I met with them and helped them created the spell of time that now marks their territory. I stayed awhile with them to attempt to gain control over my powers but when I chose to leave they slipped a lotus flower into my drink without my noticing it and I became trapped. My brother Hades eventually sent his demigod son, his first demigod son, to free me from their control.".

"Was it the same man that appeared in the Throne Room a few days ago?" Alex asked before eating a bite of vegetables.

"Yes actually," Hades spoke up "Damien is my eldest child, I sired him before Persephone had even been born let alone before I had wed her.".

"After being freed I decided to travel alongside Damien for a while," he continued "we talked and shared in many wondrous adventures. As we travelled we saw how chaotic the world had become so we tried to come up with a plan to solve those problems. Around that time Zeus learned of me and attempted to kill me which brought my existence to light among the rest of the divine circles. Thus Damien and I met with the other five who would become the first Ring Bearers alongside us. The spell was one that I helped create alongside a daughter of Hecate who was the third ring bearer and we were joined by a sons of Poseidon, Hephaestus, Hermes, and Apollo.".

"So…your organization is designed to try to keep balance in the world?" the daughter of Ares asked with a small frown as she sipped her wine "I thought you were assassins and mercenaries.".

"That is only part of it," he said shaking his head "we did start out as that, yes, but that was because we needed the profits to keep ourselves afloat and even then, we were…selective about which jobs we took. Now we find clients who we know have good reasons for hiring us and…let them learn of our existence and thus we get hired. Our members do other jobs as well to earn profits to keep us funded but most of our groups kills are targets we select personally...or more specifically the ones that Moira does when she uses her gifts to see what will have the best impact on the world.".

"How did you two meet?" the daughter of Ares asked as she sipped her wine.

"Now that's a story I'd be more than happy to share." He said with a loving smile to his wife as he laced his fingers with her own. "Oh, how rude of me, I just realized that while I've introduced myself and my wife I failed to ask the names of our guest demigoddesses.".

"Annabeth Chase." The daughter of Athena said stiffly as she ate her lamb, staunchly refusing to even touch the glass of wine.

"Clarisse La Rue." The daughter of Ares said with a nod before holding the glass out to be refilled which he did so calmly.

"Well Miss La Rue," he said with a smile "I met Moira back when the gods ruled Rome and went by their Latin names. She was born when the three Fates decided to attempt to have one single form for all three and a 'shared consciousness'. In doing so 'they' felt that they would need to have a child as well as with whom and did so, thus creating Moira. I had met her when she was being held as a slave by a son of Zeus, then Jupiter, who wanted to control her powers to attempt to take control of Olympus.".

"I had been locked in a cage for several days without food and barely any water," Moira answered with a shudder as he ran his thumb across her knuckles "I had all but given up hope of being rescued when the window to the room I was being held in shattered from a stone hitting it, making the people on the street level were able to look down into my cell if they chose to…Percy was walking by when it did.".

"I heard the sound of glass breaking and looked down as my eyes locked with the most beautiful orbs I had ever seen." he picked up as he stared lovingly into those orbs once again "I stared at her, and she back at me. I could practically feel the raw power within her due to her parentage but, more than that, I could feel a…connection to her. Right away I knew that she would be important to me, that her life was intertwined with my own. When the son of Jupiter entered her room and began to yell at her I snapped. I used a spell and teleported into the room and in front of the demigod before he could kill Moira and I beheaded the bastard, able to feel his taint easily as it had corrupted his soul.".

"So he took me back with him," Moira continued "he told me about who he was, about what he did, and he offered me a place with him. I agreed in a heartbeat, having felt the same thing he did about our connection, and trained to help the order. We quickly learned about how useful my powers would be for them as I began gazing into the possibilities of fate, seeing the ripples it would produce and the futures that may or may not come to be as we selected our own targets. After a few years one of the ring bearers of the time died, a building they were in collapsing on them, and I was offered the ring. I knew at this point that I was in love with Percy so I accepted without a moment's hesitation.".

"When she accepted I was more than simply relieved," he continued "I…I had been afraid that she would say no. That I would be forced to watch the woman I loved grow old and die before me, or be killed in battle while I lived on. That night I confessed to her, I told her that I loved her and how much she meant to me…I asked her to marry me. Hearing her say yes was and still is the greatest moment of my life. Damien presided over the ceremony and we've been together ever since.". As he finished he leaned forward and stole a small kiss from his wife who happily returned the gesture.

"Now," Moira said as she pulled back "let us finish dinner and then we can retire to the lounge to talk business.".

AN: As you can see I'm trying to make this Percy calmer and more well-spoken but don't worry, he'll still have his cocky smart aleck moments.