Disclaimer: I am not Rick Riordan, which means that I do not own PJatO. Unfortunately.
Previously on Percy's 18th birthday:
Poseidon snapped out of his daydreaming, before saying, "No my son. It did happen that way I admit. But there is more to it. I loved her once. That love turned into hatred, but there isn't long from love to hatred. We feel very strongly for each other. I guess we have yet to find whether or not they are positive." I nodded, a bit saddened. They'd been along for thousands of years, seen thousands, maybe millions of humans love and hate each other, and they couldn't even after thousands of years sort out their feelings about each other. "Well, why don't you go over and dance with her? If you could get along at some point, why not try now? It is the birthday of your own son. I am sure she would like it if you would."
When we got to where Athena and her fellow goddesses were dancing, Poseidon mustered up his courage, and asked if he could borrow Athena for a dance, which they drunkenly agreed to. My mother herself was really not very sober, and was blabbering about things I was quite sure I would never put to use, but she did agree to dance with the Earthshaker himself.
And now I stood at the bar having a martini, shaken, not stirred, mind you. Yeah, apparently now, I had all sorts of movies, tv-series, comics etc. that were awesome eternally etched into my mind, so why not act like James Bond for a while. Although I wouldn't mind try out the Barney approach either, that guy was truly legen - and I just might make him my awesome lieutenant - dary. I am quite sure though, that should he ever cross Artemis, she would find some gruesome way of eternal torture suited just for him. Maybe let him watch his suits go up in flames for all eternity. Or she could just castrate him.
"Enjoying yourself aren't you?" someone behind me said. I turned around to find a twenty year old goddess. She was hauntingly beautiful, and I almost couldn't recognize my aunt for a second, when I saw the red fires ablaze in her eyes, while she smiled sweetly at me.
I gave her a huge smile, and hugged her with a "Hello Hestia. You look beautiful tonight."
"Thank you Perseus. And congratulations to you with your 18th birthday, I hope it has been a good day. And finally, I wish to welcome you into the family. I am proud of you. I know you'll make a great god." She replied.
"Would you care for a dance?" I said, putting on a fake British accent, that Sean Connery would've been very proud of.
"Why, yes Perseus, I was just waiting for you to ask me." She chuckled, and struck out her arm for me to take. I took her arm and together we went towards the dance floor, that was very occupated. There was no sign of Athena or Poseidon anywhere in the crowd though as we made our way to the center of the dance floor.
We took our stances and started to dance. I have never danced before, but when I was out there with Hestia, it all seemed so natural. I was leading her perfectly, and I have no idea how I was capable of such a thing.
This amused Hestia, because she chuckled a bit, before she answered my questioning face, "Perseus, the reason you are a natural dancer is because you are a god. We are kings and queens in our own right. It is in our blood from the very beginning. The way to act gracefully at all times is an instinct for gods. We are also born with the gift of disguising better than the best spy could ever dream of."
"I see I have yet much to learn. I can't wait to learn all the perks of being a god. I feel free for the first time in my life. It is great. I can't imagine the last time I could just let go."
"That is one of the things you have to be cautious about. Gods are often very hormonal, especially the male ones, and they are often very impulsive too. Not always the best combination, the results can be seen around here. It's just our nature." she smiled to me and continued.
"Thank you, Perseus, for dancing with old me. I hope you enjoy the rest of your birthday, if we do not meet again. Now I believe there is a certain daughter of Athena, who wish to speak with you." she said, pointing to a blonde curly haired grey-eyed woman approaching Hestia and I. With that she gave me a kiss on the cheek and left the dancefloor, whilst smiling widely to Annabeth.
"Seaweed brain. I don't know how to start..." She trailed off, and I took over "then let me start. It is weird. I know. But don't mind it. We live in a world full of gods. And I am proud to have a sister like you. You are amazing. You have helped me more than the gods ever did, everytime when I needed it. And believe me when I say, that I am not exactly looking forward to be forever young, while you and my other friends will slowly grow old and die without being able to help you." I finished my rant, and took a breath, before I gave her a huge hug, that would have rivaled that of Tysons, while I shed a tear.
"Oh seaweed brain, that is so sweet. But don't worry. I have enough buildings and temples to design for the next 2 centuries. You are not getting rid of me that easily. I will always be with you. As a girlfriend, a good friend or as your sister, I am here for you." she said, while flashing a small smile.
I gave her a big smile, and gave her another hug. "Would you like a drink?" And with that we went to the bar and had ourselves yet another martini. However this time, the bartender, my dear cousin Dionysus, was very much occupied with a nymp, big surprise there huh? I gave a little cough, which made the two look at me and Annabeth, their eyes widened as they discovered what they were trying to do in front of the king of the gods. Catching my drift, that it wasn't the smartest thing to do here in the throne room, the nymph and Dionysus hurried out of the throne room to other escapades.
I looked at Annabeth for a second or two, before we both began to laugh our asses off, and poured ourselves that martini. Suddenly two pranksters came by, both out of breath, and it was very hard to catch what they were saying because they were panting.
Yes, you might have guessed by now, it was the infamous Stolls brothers.
Travis Stoll went first, "Perce... you have to... help us.. We... tried to...", and then Connor catched on "prank Aphrodite..."
"You did what?!" Annabeth almost shouted and nearly dropped her martini. I could almost have sworn I heard her mutter in ancient greek "those two will be the death of gramp". Oh camp.
"That's awesome guys, what did you do?" I asked, almost eagerly, my awesomeness powers making my eyes flashing and ringing like a jackpot machine.
"Oh nothing much." Conner replied, "we might have.." and Travis ended his sentence, ".. dyed all her clothes black."
"That's doesn't sound like much to me" I was half-asking, that couldn't really be the reason why Aphrodite was chasing them now? I mean, she probably hadn't discovered that her clothes had been dyed yet.
"Yeaaah, about that" Travis said meekly, "it was not all we did."
Connor continued, "We might have deployed a stinkbomb on Aphrodite with the smell of a sewer with excrements of a million people"
"and it doesn't wash off. It's smell is so repulsive, you have to take a bath in the river Styx to make it go away."
This statement brought me to my knees. I lost it, I started to laugh like a maniac, and I think I saw Annabeth give a smile and chuckle a bit, until I heard a voice that literally could've frozen water. And a smell, that almost made me and Annabeth faint, accompanying it
"YOU WILL PAY!"
Not the best chapter I've written. The longest in this story though. I would really like for you to submit ideas to small events at his birthday, I have quite a few ideas, so please review or PM me, if you have any ideas.