Disclaimer: Don't own Percy Jackson or anything else except my seasons 1 and 2 of Community.
Author's Note: I got the flu, I hate my life, no really. I swear….Sorry about the lateness. So, yeah new tumblr name if you want to find me joanwatsoninthetardis and well any questions just er ask. Please review; tell me what you think of the gods I introduced. And at the end this is the song can be found here: watch?v=zH46SmVv8SU&list=WL44BFB0B82F36922D
"…And I was like, "No Tony keep your fins to yourself"."
Apollo laughed loudly as he and Percy walked up the steps to the dining hall. Apollo could barely stand he was laughing so hard. His left arm draped over Percy's shoulders was the only thing keeping him standing.
"D-Dude. That is way too funny." He gasped out.
Percy's large grin seemed to get even bigger, "It was an interesting encounter!"
Apollo caught his breath, his grin still wide. "Man, you fish people get up to some freaky things."
"Ok first of all I am not a fish person, I am a demigod. Second of all they prefer to be called mermen. If Triton heard you, you'd be impaled by his trident."
Apollo shrugged, they were almost to the dining area now, the voices and shouts echoed towards them. "Dude's got some anger and daddy issues, not my fault."
Snorting, Percy shoved the other god away.
"What?" Apollo asked, pouting.
"You're talking to a demigod, Apollo. The actual definition of person with daddy issues, I mean have you been to Camp lately?"
Apollo looked to his feet. Percy realized he'd said the wrong thing again. Sometimes it slipped his mind that Apollo basically abandoned his couple dozen children too.
"Er, sorry."
Apollo shrugged, "It's true. We're all pretty bad parents."
"It's not completely you're fault." Percy tried saying, "I mean all those ancient laws and stuff."
This seemed to make the god feel a bit better because he gave a smile.
"Yeah, I guess."
Percy sighed; he really, really disliked his mouth sometimes.
They made it to the top of the long set of steps. The dining area was big and open. It was right near the place where the Olympians held their parties. The building itself was a large rectangular shape and tall pillars lined the front and around the sides. Percy could see several gods sitting around the marble table that graced the center of the open building. Torches lit the room, as the sun set from outside. Hestia and a fire pit sat in against the back wall facing Percy.
Percy had to admit that the place was peaceful in its own way, beautiful in others. But he always preferred the temples and the stories that were carved into its walls. His father's and Hermes being his favorites because he was allowed to go inside anytime he pleased.
"Percy!" a loud voice yelled.
Percy looked up from where he was staring at the hearth. A few gods turned to wave but the others ignored the yell and continued to glare or gab to their partner.
Aphrodite came running to him. She threw her arms around him without pause. Embarrassed he returned the hug, very aware of Ares death glare.
"Hey, Aphrodite."
"Oh, Percy! How are you? I've been so worried!" She mumbled into his shoulder.
Awkwardly, Percy patted her on the shoulder. He pushed her off of him as gently as he could without seeming rude to the goddess.
Tonight, Aphrodite took the form of a young woman around Percy's age. Her skin was pale, her eyes an icy blue and her hair a dark mahogany. All in all Percy had to admit, as always, she was stunning. Then again when wasn't she?
"I'm just fine. Um, you?"
She smiled at him, perfect teeth a blinding white. "You are so sweet. I am perfectly well, but you! You and Annabeth have been separated for a few months now! How do you feel?"
"Uh," Percy looked around the room more than one god was listening in. Including Poseidon, who was very obviously trying to pretend he wasn't listening or ignoring his son. "Just fine. We're both fine. She's got a new guy, he seems cool."
In all honesty Percy couldn't even remember his name, only that he had glasses. He really should call Annabeth and check on how she is.
Aphrodite looked at him knowingly, "I'm sure."
Percy chuckled, "She's happy, that's all that matters."
"Is it?" she asked shrewdly.
Percy averted his eyes. Aphrodite could be surprisingly insightful and sharp on occasions. And sometimes, she managed to take him off guard. It freaked him out though when she dropped the ditz act. It made him feel out of place.
Someone cleared their throat and Percy turned away.
Apollo stood next to Percy, a frown etched into his handsome features. "We should find our seats."
"Yeah," Percy muttered stepping away from Aphrodite.
"Now, now," Aphrodite purred, turning to Apollo, "No need to be jealous."
Apollo's face turned red, he opened his mouth to speak but Percy was already walking away having spotted Thalia and Nico by one of the columns. He had learned years ago to run if a god began to show signs of a hissy fit.
"Percy!" Nico grinned, making Percy shiver slightly. Because when Nico Di Angelo son of Hades smiled a puppy died somewhere. Percy could confirm that Nico di Angelo had Hades' smile.
"Hey, ." Thalia smirked from next to Nico. "Saw Aphrodite groping you, feel ok? Need therapy now?"
"Ha Ha," Percy spat, ruffling Nico's hair (to which he got a "HEY!"). "Real funny, who let you watch SpongeBob? Better yet, when and where do you find the time?"
She shrugged, "Once or twice I caught it on TV. Also the internet's a thing nowadays. Wifi is everywhere."
Percy rolled his eyes, "Whatever. What are you doing here, Nico?"
He got a baleful glare for his trouble of being nice, "My father insisted I come because of the whole immortal lieutenant thing coming up."
"Oh, well it's nice to know I'm not the only guy here who was dragged by their father. I nearly was forced to come in a towel."
Nico pouted, "He threatened to make me help clean up the rivers in the Underworld."
"Oh, well that's…weird." Percy said throwing a look to Thalia who gave a shrug. "Yeah dad and I just fought. I don't think he's talking to me now. Not that I really want to talk with him either but…"
Percy cast a look a Poseidon's back. He was across the room talking to someone. Percy frowned; he had no idea who that was. He was of medium height with dark hair. Percy couldn't make out his face from where he was but there was something familiar about him.
"Hey do you guys know who that is talking to my dad?"
Thalia and Nico both looked at the guy and they both shook their heads in the negative.
"Nope, maybe Daddy's picked out a new protégé." Thalia laughed.
Nico agreed looking eager to not be the buttmonkey for once. "Yeah, everyone knows the gods pick favorites and change their minds every other day. Maybe your day finally ran up!"
Thalia glared at Nico, "Dude that wasn't funny."
"What? You just- hey, wait! Perce, where you going? Percy?"
Percy swallowed and stalked off ignoring their calls and pleas for him to return. He hated when Thalia ran her mouth off. He guessed it was a family trait.
He found himself walking outside to the fountain that was just near the old building. Sitting down he ran a hand through his hair. He was sick and tired of these people. Did he truly want an eternity of them? An eternity filled with family who would drive you nuts?
"Did you know people tend to fall in love seven times before settling down?"
Percy barely reacted to the voice or the warm hand that touched his forehead.
"Are you alright?" Aphrodite asked, concern entering her voice.
Clearing his throat, Percy turned to look at her. "Yeah, I guess."
"Stop saying you're ok. It's obvious you're not." She scolded gently sitting down next to him.
Percy gave her a half smile, "Am I truly that transparent?"
"Only to those who look."
"And you do?"
"Of course, a lot of us care for you."
"My dad's an asshole." Percy said, spinning the conversation around.
Aphrodite raised a delicate brow, "I've thought that once or twice but why now?"
"Well, I'm an asshole too," Percy conceded before telling her about their fight.
She nodded when Percy finished, "Sometimes a parent's love is always the hardest. We try our best yet sometimes it's not enough
"Pardon?"
"You're father loves you dearly Percy. He's not always good at anything that has to do with feelings. I'm sure you can relate. You and your father ignore things, you guys refuse to go head to head and hash things out. You let things build up until it becomes dangerous. Everyone fights with their family, it's inevitable and even if you get along really well, there will always be some tension. It will pass though."
Percy rolled his eyes, "Yeah, true I guess."
She sighed running a hand through her hair, "Honestly, men."
Aphrodite stood and put her hands on her hips, "Look, let me put this into simpler terms, or rather something you would understand. Two storms form and they are soon going head to head, colliding. What happens if they actually get to the point of colliding?"
"A larger one forms and more damage is dealt to the surrounding areas." Percy answered automatically.
She nodded, "Yes, exactly. And the fallout of the storm's damage is everywhere."
Percy though about this for a moment before nodding, "I'm a storm and so is dad?"
"Yes! Thank me."
"Uh, thank you?"
"What?" She looked perplexed but suddenly laughed, "No, er, just a bit of god humor but never mind that. You two will wont be perfectly fine once its all over but you will patch things up and make them better."
"I think that metaphor went away from you there."
"I think I lost it. But either way, you will always be Poseidon's son, no matter what. You two just need to talk…and try not to destroy any countries in the process."
Percy chewed on his lip. He wasn't entirely sure about talking to his father, that would be weird and awkward. He'd have to think about it. But…
"No." Percy said shaking his head, his hands clenching into fists.
"What?" Aphrodite blinked, "'No' what?"
"I refuse to be the one this time to apologize. If he wants to have a relationship with me, then he comes to me. From now on I'm not going to be the perfect son. He can apologize to me."
Aphrodite stared at him, her eyes wide and sad. All of the energy seemed to drain out of her body, a noticeable slump in her posture.
"I can see your heart is made up." She said quietly. "We can talk later. Dinner will be starting soon. Come along you can sit with me and Ares."
"Oh joy."
It was official. The fates despised him.
Percy shifted uneasily in his seat. He was placed in between Aphrodite and the black haired guy who he had just learned was Triton. Yeah apparently he went all The Little Mermaid and can walk while wearing a necklace or something. Percy didn't ask too many details. All he knew was that Triton didn't have two tails anymore.
His father was on Triton's other side and Ares was on Aphrodite's other side. So really, it was all kinds of uncomfortable.
Voices mingled together as Percy focused on his food. He ignored Triton's smugness and Ares' glare. He tried to ignore his father's laughing and praising of Triton and Aphrodite's giggle as she talked to him but it was impossible.
"Here, Percy," Aphrodite smiled, "try this."
She held a small plate in her hands. Slices of red and green apples were laid decoratively on the plate. Percy took a piece with a halfhearted smile. Aphrodite was trying to cheer him up even though Percy could tell she was upset about his decision.
"It's good." He said to her before going back to his salad. "But I've never been a fan of apples."
He heard Artemis start to snicker. Percy looked up and noticed Aphrodite frowning at him. Artemis, who was across from Percy, spoke up with a roll of her silver eyes.
"Let the man eat without you jamming your love stuff down his throat. He's obviously not listening to you, let him mope in peace." She turned to Percy with her quicksilver smile, "Ignore her, cousin. She is but a fanciful fool. Her belief that apples are still the way to win someone over hasn't change in the last millennia."
Percy raised an eyebrow, "I'm fine but what are you talking about, Artemis?"
Next to him Triton turned towards him. The sneer on his thin lips and hatred in his eyes were things Percy was use to. But the utter malignant glee in his eyes made Percy pause.
Triton and Percy never really got along. Ever since that first fateful meeting so many years ago, the two never could reconcile their differences. Triton's holier-than-thou attitude and general hatred of Poseidon's blatant favoritism of Percy did nothing for the brothers but aggravate more tensions. Poseidon had tried once, just once, to have the two get along. It resulted in a hurricane the nearly destroyed the south coast.
The blue eyes of Triton gleamed as he opened his mouth, "What a surprise Perseus knows nothing of our culture. I truly don't understand why father keeps him around."
"Oh shut up Triton. Go kiss up to dad a little more why don't you?" Percy growled as Poseidon turned to look over at them.
Percy glared at his father. He met the other's eyes and with clear intent Percy thought, I hate you.
Not staying around to see his father's reaction, Percy stood and calmly walked out. He ignored the shaking of his hands and tightening of his chest, and walked outside with a distinct purpose of going home.
No one but the people he was talking to even noticed. The gods storming away during dinner was something of norm. Nobody would give you a second glance if you screamed at the top of your lungs and stripped in front of them (Apollo, Winter Solstice 2014).
It was true that Percy Jackson was a drama queen. This has been a well known fact for many years. All of his friends and family knew this. Due to the fact that his entire family was made up of drama queens, it was a well known fact. But the thing was, Percy tended to go about his hissy fits in one of two ways. The first being, he would moan and groan to either Annabeth or Thalia and they would proceed to inform everyone that Percy was being a big baby. The second maybe way would be ignoring everyone until they realized that Percy was angry/annoyed.
Naturally, Percy favored the first but on the rare occasion he would go into the ignore mode.
It was shaping up to be one of those rare times when Percy ditched his family in favor for quiet (not for long) solitude. As annoyed as Percy was with his dick of a half-brother, he was equally pleased that he got out of a dinner filled with his godly relative's pettiness.
The cool air hit Percy's face as he hurried down the steps that led to his way out of Olympus. It felt nice on his reddened cheeks as he hustled away. He could feel his blood pressure slowly but surely going back to non-destructive levels, which was always a nice gift to the east coast.
Unfortunately, the lower his blood pressure got, the more aware Percy became. He had just told his father he hated him. And of course Percy was already feeling the regret and guilt. He was angry with his father and maybe he hated that his father just didn't feel it prudent enough to talk to him. Rather he would be petty and parade Triton around like a weird trophy. Percy was just fed up with it all.
It was dark now, the stars twinkled merrily all around him. Ghostly figures having lit lanterns down the stairs and around the winding path, gave him a bright path to follow. It was sound of voices becoming dimmer and dimmer as he moved away.
"Let the ass soak in the affections, not like I care." Percy grumbled under his breath. "If Father would like to ever talk he knows where to find me."
"Well, well, who do we have here?" A ringing voice sounded from behind a tree.
Percy's hand went immediately to the pen in his pocket.
"Who's there? Show yourself!"
A huskier voice echoed in with a chuckle, "Relax, it is only us."
The two figures stepped out into the path and Percy relaxed slightly.
The two men were of the same height, both tall and handsome. Their faces were identical, sharp, and angular and all around god like. The man on the left had curly black hair and heavy-lidded eyes. While the man on the right's own curls were dark blonde, whose smile lit the dark night.
Percy grit his teeth as heart began to beat rapidly. He hated running into these two. They made him feel utterly irrational (more so that is than usual). They had that effect on most people though.
"Shouldn't you two be at dinner?"
The man on the left moved closer to Percy, making the demigod gulp. "You know why I can't be there but shouldn't you be there as well?"
Percy's eyes narrowed, "I don't think that's any concern of yours, Himeros."
The god of lust and desire chuckled making Percy shiver.
Some gods depending on what they represented sometimes radiated their powers. Like when you were with Ares and the feelings of hate and anger came at you like an attack, this was how being around Himeros made you feel. Except instead of hate and anger you wanted to jump his bones in the middle of Olympus. It didn't matter how he looked, man or woman, you wanted him.
Himeros was not allowed to go to family dinners mostly because it could end up as an incestuous Greek god's orgy (also known as Tuesday on Olympus).
"Oh, Perseus, did you not just ask what we were doing out here? It seems to me-"
"Brother," Eros interrupted, "I believe Percy was just trying to avoid the topic of his leaving. This can no doubt be because of that upstart brother of his, the odd feud he's just begun with his father, and our mother draping herself over him like he is a hardwood floor waiting to be carpeted."
Percy felt his cheeks burn bright as Himeros gave a laugh. Did he mention how much he hated running into these two?
Eros wasn't the bad sort. He was very into the whole "soul mates "and "love was forever", no doubt because he was in fact the god of love. Eros had a tendency to over share things. But he was always friendly with Percy, even going as far to eat ice cream with him and talk about their feelings (it was a very once sided night).
"I suppose, Eros, I will have to concede. But I must say, mother does has phenomenal taste."
"Oh my gods." Percy squeaked. It was a manly sort of squeak though. "You two, are out of your minds."
Percy remembered very vividly the first time Himeros hit on him. He was eighteen and had been invited to an Olympian party. He had been hiding from Annabeth because he'd accidentally spilled something on her shirt when Himeros began his mission. Unfortunately, for Himeros Poseidon had walked by at the right time and nearly broke the west coast in his overprotective state.
Since then Himeros has been, well, has been trying to get in Percy's pants. This was despite having being in an official relationship with Athena's daughter for nearly a decade. Not that Percy minded, Himeros was amusing but he sometimes had the uncanny ability to pop up during times Percy really didn't want to see anyone.
Eros looked at him with concern, "Are you feeling alright?"
Percy nodded and slowly began to back away, "I uh, need to, um go. Er, yes, leave, lovely to see you both."
Percy managed to get three feet away before a large hand was placed on his shoulder.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Eros asked, his bright blues brimming with concern.
"Relax, Eros, Percy is perfectly fine." Himeros murmured coming up next to Percy and Eros, his arm making its way around Percy's shoulders. "He is really fine. So, is it true you finally broken up with Athena's girl?"
"Uh, yes, been months now, terribly sad, but I need to go, uh please let go. Er, now."
Another chuckle from Himeros and he was let go.
Percy nearly thanked the gods but realized that he really didn't need to alert his family that he was getting seduced by the god of lust. All he needed was for his father or Apollo or really anyone see this. It didn't matter if he was fighting with his father. Overprotective Poseidon was a scary Poseidon.
But then Percy remembered what happened. He had told his father he hated him, it was doubtful that Poseidon would care. Leaving Percy to be devoured by a god would be a blessing for the old god.
"Percy!"
Groaning internally Percy turned, well tried to turn. Himeros was so close that Percy bumped chests with him and stumbled backwards into Eros, making some kind of god with a bit of demigod in the middle sandwich.
"Yeah, hi, Aphrodite."
The goddess looked slightly winded as she looked between the three men. Admittedly it was odd. With Himeros smirking like he just did naughty things and standing so close to Percy and Eros with his hands wrapped around Percy's shoulders. Of course when you add in Percy's flushed face and slightly hoarse voice, it made a really, really bad picture.
"Have I missed something?" She asked popping an amused brow. "You three want to be alone."
"No!" Percy and Eros chorused while Himeros said, "Yes."
Casting an amused look at Himeros she said, "Well, alright I was just looking for you, Percy."
Percy shrugged out of Eros's grasp and stepped forward, careful to move away from Himeros.
"I was just leaving. What did you need?"
She held out her hand. Percy's wallet sat resting on her palm.
Percy blinked, "Oh, didn't even know I didn't have it. Thanks."
Aphrodite nodded and her brow scrunched up as if she was debating something.
"Boys, please give me and Percy a minute. I need to speak with him in private."
Himeros pouted, "But, mother…"
Aphrodite gave him a look, "Himeros."
The god sighed, "Fine. It was lovely seeing you, Percy."
Himeros winked and vanished.
Percy let out a breath, "See you later, Eros."
Eros smiled, "Goodbye, feel better. I will see you tomorrow, mother."
He vanished and Aphrodite cleared her throat. "Did you think something to Poseidon before you left?"
Percy turned away and began to walk.
"If I did?"
Aphrodite followed him and even though Percy couldn't see her face, he could feel the waves of disappointment coming off her.
"After you left, Poseidon acted oddly. He got up and just left."
Percy stopped and turned to Aphrodite, anger in his voice.
"It's none of your business, my lady. I don't care about him, I don't care if he acts odd, and I just don't care. I am done."
Aphrodite glared at him, her voice cool as ice. "You are a liar, Percy Jackson. You care far too much. That has always been your problem. Your love and loyalty being what makes you who you are. You must have done something awful because I have never seen you or Poseidon act this way before."
Percy took a deep breath and turned around. The elevator only a few feet away, he walked to it and hit the button and stepped inside.
"People change, Aphrodite, you should know that better than anyone."
The doors shut and Percy let his eyes fall shut. His heart thudding painfully in his chest, and the sounds of the folk rock song, "Cat's in the Cradle" being the only sound Percy could hear.
