A/N: WOAH! This took a long ass time to complete. I am so sorry. I said to a few of you that I would have it done last week, but I ended up not. It was just THAT week. A total shit show. I was tired and angry like every day. And, it was also my birthday week.

So, on to a few things you NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE STORY:

1. The different scenes, including ones in previous chapters, don't always occur at the same time.

2. That said, most occur in 2000. Both of these do, though not at exactly the same time.

3. Percy is born around 1992 in this story

4. Yes, Pallas is gonna be an important character.

5. I have a general schedule, and will be updating around 1 or 2 stories a week. Next up is Eveningshade, after that The Tyrant. Then it will go back to whatever story was updated the longest time ago.

6. I rarely keep promises or schedules, as my life is busy and sometimes really shitty. Last week was a prime example.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this newest installment!

EDIT: SUPER IMPORTANT!

Okay, I guess my clues as to who's who were too subtle.

Pallas is an actual titan/titaness of war, and Athena is actually named after her. (Athena being called Pallas Athena officially) Pallas is also the sister of the titan Perses, which is another reason I chose her as a character. She's an OC I guess, as Pallas is never mentioned in Percy Jackson. She heads a Hunt replacement called the Raiding Party, as Artemis is currently going psycho. She also, at some point, came across Jason Grace and let him join the Raiding Party, which I guess I made too subtle.

Jason Grace and Thalia Grace a good bit older, with Thalia being around 15 in 2000, and Jason actually being a slight bit older than her in the universe, at around 17 currently.

Esper is Esperanza Valdez, Leo's mom, combined with the female cyclops we meet in the Heroes of Olympus series (So she's a cyclops child of Hephaestus, as I wanted each of the heroes to be some sort of monster. We'll get into Piper and Reyna later). Leo's father is then the actual descendant of Sammy Valdez, as you can tell from my little clues, also a half Laistrygonian Giant. (His father must have had a pretty intense love life, geez!) So, there you go. That's who's who.

So sorry for the confusion

Medusa loved her son. She truly did. As she wrapped him up in her arms, head within her bosom, she smiled in contentment. His eyes were closed, and his chest rose and fell in rhythm with her own. His face pointed upwards, a smile plastered upon it. She gently caressed his cheeks, and ran her hands through his black hair. He slept peacefully now, but that hadn't always been so.

When she first made him her son, he had slept quietly, with barely a sound escaping him. But on the sixth night, he began to have nightmares. This was true for the seventh and eighth as well. Upon the ninth night, she let him sleep within her arms, and aside from soft trembling, he was still. Only by the thirteenth night did he finaly sleep peacefully, within his own bed, and with no trembling at all. She was proud of his progress, almost as proud of it as she was of his painting skill. Every statue that his brush graced looked as lifelike and lively as the moment before she froze them. Their cheeks still flushed, and eyes still bloodshot for some. It was as if she could reach out and feel their soft flesh, or caress the animals' soft fur. But, of course, that was not actually the case. She had to settle for rubbing her son's soft 'fur' instead. Gently stroking her fingers through the sea of black atop his head, she began to speak to her still resting child.

"Oh dear love." She whispered into his ear, "How will I ever give you up to the world? How shall I let you be a king one day?"

Medusa softly sighed, before a worried and bitter-sweet smile spread across her face.

"Will you love me still, then? Will I lose you to that hunter? Or to Gaea?" Medusa questioned, not expecting any answer.

And no answer came, as Percy slept on.

She wasn't really worried about the Gaea part of her question, though. But rather, she was concerned about Artemis.

Afterall, it was his fate to first marry her, before taking any other.

Now, had this been forty years prior, Medusa would have been fine with him ending up with the maiden goddess. Hades, even ten years ago was fine. Back then, Artemis hadn't been tainted by her desire for power, hadn't been driven mad with lust. Hadn't begun to forfeit her nature. Back then, she had yet to let her want to complete the prophecy, her want to be a Queen of the World, consume her. She hadn't yet drank of the foul power that so completely consumed her now.

Artemis, Medusa knew, had started with good intentions, but after her claim of a prophecy existing that called her lover the next King of Deities, she had been struck from Olympus for blasphemy. Zeus had taken the statement as an attempt at his thrown, and had showed no mercy towards the supposed traitor, smiting her from the heavenly mountain by himself. And nobody, whether in their hesitancy to fight, or their lack of care, fought for the poor maiden goddess. They just let her fall. Hestia took her place soon after, but her stay was only temporary, as she left before the summer solstice by her own choice. Only five years after that, Triton, the beloved and rule abiding son of Poseidon took the place as a permanent resident, after multiple others refused or were refused.

While this happened, the shift of events shook Artemis to her core. Her bitterness towards Olympus slowly festered though, and soon began to surface in the form of lust for the, at the time, unknown child. She had checked with Medusa yearly for the first decade, and now she checked every five. As she had checked only weeks before Percy's arrival, Medusa knew she had some time. However, when that time runs out, her precious Percy would need to leave, or lose his innocence to Artemis, and quite possibly her hunters as well.

Artemis had admitted in her last yearly visit that she wished he would come soon, and that she'd begin to change to best fit his desires. The moon goddess hadn't lost her mind by that point. Half a decade later, and the 'maiden goddess' was no longer even dressing properly for her domain, what with the very revealing clothes she had on, to 'show that she could change.' Medusa had been, while disapproving of the outfit, still happy for the gesture. She found Artemis's misguided thoughts on what men liked to be entertaining and cute. They usually were only the worst examples of them, though, so Medusa had to very often correct the maiden goddess. Stuff such as, "Men like younger girls, right? Twelve is when a female can reproduce, so that is when men wish to begin having sex with them?" or "Men like large lips, correct? For felatio!" or "Do men like women producing milk as they have sex, to know that they will make fine mothers?" Medusa loved the last one, and had practically fallen out of her chair at the thought. I mean, really, what did Artemis think men were like? Though, with only Zeus and Apolo as examples, she could somewhat see how her views were skewed.

The most recent visit, however, was when things took a turn for the worst.

Apparently, the former Olympian had drunk of the Essence of Ouroboros: the pure congealed taint that oozed from Void, sibling of Khaos. It had made her powerful, with abilities she had never dreamed of having. But it made her form that of a demon. Her Ichor was replaced with a sludgey, black liquid she called Taint; she had grown tongues in her... lower orifices, as well as retractable teeth; her sclera had turned pitch black; she'd grown a tail which could only be described as one belonging to a demon; and she had a large pair of antlers on her head. She looked both horrifying and oddly arousing, like if Aphrodite were drawn by H.R. Giger.

Oh, but of course, it couldn't stop there. No, she had forced her hunters to drink of it as well, turning them into more of these devils. She'd even told Medusa that she planned on taking more girls and doing it to them, feeding them her 'milk' or 'blood' to transform them.

To sum it up, Artemis had truly gone off the deep end. And Medusa was scared. For her child, and the world.

Medusa refused to even think about such... things having relationships with her child. Her little boy, being basically gang raped by a bunch of horrors which put the 'Love' in 'Lovecraftian' was not a happy thought for her. Even worse considering his past.

No. She would let him seek out the goddess when the time came, but for now, he was safe with her.

She held on tighter at that thought, before a knock interrupted her.

"Hey, Sally? My sister come around again recently?" A voice called out from the entryway.

Perseus stirred, but remained asleep, as Medusa slowly lowered him onto the couch.

"Apolo?" She questioned, receiving a small laugh in return.

"You know it's Apolline now... after Zeus's meltdown two years ago." A woman with golden blonde hair and soft features said to Medusa, "I still remember that like it was yesterday. 'I refuse to have any possibility of uprising blahblah I'm going to do this horrid thing yaddayadda I'm very smart and not egotistical yakyak' and then I was named as a possible traitor and now I'm this. All because he thinks I but the whole prophecy idea in Artemis's head. I didn't. Even though I knew it was a real prophecy, I didn't tell her."

Apolline stared aggressively at the floor for a moment, before humourlessly laughing.

"But the worst part? Nobody really cares! Poseidon is a great man, and he's comforted me; but he hates to cause trouble. Same with Hestia. You already know the Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Ares thing. Ares being the bitch she is, trying to get in Hephaestus's pants, as he and Aphrodite actually love eachother. And thus they have too much on their plates. The rest of the council... I don't know what the fuck they do anyway! But Hera I hate." Apolline's expression darkened considerably at that, "'A woman's job is to be obedient to her husband, she is to care for his children and household. She is to please him at his will.' All of it rubbish. Trash. Hera is an outdated bitch with no sense of actual- just- I can't- GAAAAH!"

Apolline broke down into an angry rage, smashing two centaur statues. Medusa just looked on calmly, until Percy walked into the room. At that, she quickly scooped him up, before slithering him off to bed, so he didn't hear any of the conversation. Apolline also used some godly intervention to assure the child didn't hear anything, by using magic to put him into an enchanted silence. It was the best she could do after she woke him up and most likely scared him with her outburst. Apolline felt she really needed to apologize for that. But it ended up with Medusa apologizing.

"Hey, sorry about that. I didn't want to concern him. Spent a while asking me who you were. Haha!" Medusa said to the now blushing goddess.

"No no. You did nothing wrong. I shouldn't have been so forceful or aggressive. I just wanted an outlet, and I used you as one without warning. I'm sorry." Apolline said, genuinely remorseful .

Medusa laughed.

"Oh, Apple, my good friend, it's always fine to see you, and be a shoulder for you to lean on. But what else did you come here for, i know there always is another reason." The gorgon replied happily.

Apolline sighed, before explaining a few issues she was having with disappearing girls, even with the formation of Palas's Raiding Party to help replace the hunt. It was clear Artemis had been busy. The problem, though, really stemmed from her stealing a son of Zeus and turning him. That was a big 'No-Go' when it came to Zeus.

But why would Artemis think about consequences, she was batshit crazy.

"And how does this and me relate?" Medusa asked.

Apolline rolled her eyes and sighed exasperatedly.

"THE CHILD MEDUSA! She wants him! You know this, and I'm warning you now, that she is dangerou-"

The gorgon silenced the goddess in that moment, and all sound in the room stopped. Medusa looked at Apolline with a hollow and bittersweet smile. The room stayed like this for a moment, as both parties just stared at eachother.

"I know you're concerned. I really do appreciate that, you know." Sally said, her tone dull, "But you know I already accepted that she will marry my son. You've already accepted you most likely will as well. I know what your mother is doing to you, and I know why she is doing it. I know what you've done while thinking of my child. Overall, I really know you. And you should know me enough to realize I have everything planned, somewhat, out."

Apolline just stared at Medusa, before sighing and opening up the fridge. She rummaged around for a few minutes, grumbling about something.

"What're you looking for?" Medusa asked, putting a hand on Apoline's shoulder.

The goddess of the sun sighed again, and this time brought a gold and purple can out of the fridge.

"I wanted a drink, but all you have is Bacchus Lite." Apolline said, her tone jokingly angry, "I mean, who drinks Bachus fucking Lite! Really, Bacchus is nowhere near as good as Dionysus brand, and getting the lite version is just that much worse."

Medusa laughed at her friend, who began to laugh along too after a second. The enjoyed the moment, as both of them drank together, talking idly, and trying to push the previous topic out. In the end, Apolline had to go get another pack before they had totally forgotten their worries. And this time, she chose the heavier stuff.

The dull clang of metal meeting metal echoed through the small workshop as a female cyclops in a welding mask hammered the dents out of a rather rough looking chariot. With each swing, it seemed as if the whole thing looked significantly better. Each movement of her tools and hands repaired what looked like years worth of damage.

The cyclops then stopped for a moment, lifting the mask and wiping off her brow, before returning to work. She used the rounded end of her tool to smooth out the curvature, before pulling out a smaller set of tools to fix the gold lining and replace the missing jewels.

Suddenly, the sound of a door interrupted the partial silence of her focused and precise work.

"Hey, hey, hey, Valdez!" A feminine voice called out, "You fix my chariot yet?"

The cyclops stopped her work again, but this time she removed the mask entirely, in order to talk.

"Yeah, yeah, you impatient bitch, I'm pretty close. Fact, I'd be done... if you hadn't totaled it." The cyclops replied, "What did you do, by the way? Did you get into another fight with that bitch Ares? Or did you decide to play chicken with a stubborn elephant? Come on, Pallas, fess up the details, I wanna hear about this one."

The woman in question laughed, chewing on a piece of gum. She pulled said gum out, threw it in the trash, and then put another one in her mouth.

"Nah. Just let my kids drive it." The woman, now revealed to be Pallas, replied in good humour.

"Your kids? You- Oh. You mean that Riding Group or whatever, the one that basically replaced Artemis's hunt?" Esper Valdez said back.

"They're the Raiding Party, and yes, I do mean them. I left them at the Pallas Palace while I did this and some... errands." The woman answered. She moved over to the garbage can before spitting out her gum again, this time not replacing it, and taking off the heavy winter coat.

The coat was a mix of bright purple and dark blue, and under it she wore a white sweater and some jeans. She had dark red tinted aviators on, and her short, spikey hair was silver with red coloured tips. She pulled a packet of gum out of her coat's pocket before she hung it up on a rack.

"What flavour gum you eatin' now, by the way?" Esper asked casually, changing the subject.

"Ignoring the topic change, it's Gatorade. But why ask me now? I've been chewing the same stuff for nearly a while." Pallas responded, "I got the stuff in a offering once, when, as often happens, a snooty, know-it-all child of Queen Random Facts herself, Athena, went and decided to show off how smart he was by offering it to 'Pallas', which is technically her first name. And, by the way, when I say that happens often, I mean it happens maybe once every five offerings. It's great. Gum's great, too. Discontinued, but I have Hestia make some for me once in a while."

Esper sat back into a giant chair, putting her hands behind her head as she stared at her long time friend.

"You said it yourself as to why I asked. That being, to change the topic. I know by 'errand' you mean Ares challenged you to fight again, and I didn't want to bring it up. But, you know, her you go! I did it anyways!" The cyclops said, waving her arms around in emphasis, "Or you slept with another man. Either option wouldn't suprise me."

Pallas laughed again, though this time it had a certain dryness to it that left a bad feeling in Esper's gut. The old, but young at heart, titaness had always clashed with the more aggressive war goddess. Though, Ares always seemed to fight everyone, so there wasn't much surprise. Well, everyone but her brother, and Esper's father, Hephaestus. Ares kept trying to get him to dump Aphrodite and sleep with her instead.

Didn't work.

War hated love, but loved invention. Love did not like war, but loved the ever loyal Hephaestus, who only impregnated women through mechanical means. In turn, Aphrodite only reproduced through mind-children, similar to Athena. Ares was just a rampaging hoe. All anger and primitive attempts at seduction.

"Yeah yeah. She did it again. She was drunk on Dionysus's special reserve, wanted to fight. So I kicked her ass."Pallas said with empty humour, "Again. For the fifth time this year."

Esper chuckled, before rushing off at the sound of a child crying in the background. Pallas stayed, waiting for the cyclops to return. It took nearly fifteen minutes until Esper even came back to apologize for the interruption, and nearly twenty-five for her to actually return.

"Sorry, Leo cut herself again." The cyclops mother said exasperatedly, "I wish her father was still around, but I knew what I got into when I married that man. I knew he was only half giant. I knew his father was a mortal. I knew he was mortal. I just wish that he lasted long enough to see his child."

The tone of the room went sour, and neither knew what to say for a minute. The conversation picked up eventually, but stayed at simply spreading gossip about Artemis's latest exploits, or Aphrodite's recent fashion trends. Pallas showed off her new cell-phone, a brand new Nokia, bragging that the market she invested in was really picking up now. No longer were portable phones the size of briefcases. After that, though, it just fell apart.

"Look, Pallas, I need to finish this, and Leo needs to eat soon..." Esper began.

The war titaness shook her head in response, and silenced the cyclops mechanic.

"No, I understand. I need to go as well. My kids need to eat, too." Pallas said with a large sigh.

She gathered up her stuff, and put another stick of gum in her mouth. It was late, almost dark, as Pallas walked out into Washington's cold winter air. She quickly walked to town in order to get a bite to eat herself, before she would catch the sisters' cab back home, as she was far too tired to flash there.

And as she walked towards the neon glow of the diner, she couldn't help but look back at the woods, thoughts of the perverted goddess of the hunt filling her with disgust and dread as she stared at the treetops, and out towards Mt. St. Helens resting in the distance, quietly morning the loss of one of her children to the foul goddess.

'Jason.' She spoke in her head, 'I'm so sorry I failed to protect you. I'm so sorry I just wasn't good enough.'

Afterthought: Okay, so this is gonna be brief: I really want to hear your thoughts on Pallas, Esper, Leo, and Apoline. Like really.

Thanks! Review and Favourite and whatevers.