||PJatO||The Nightfall||PJatO||

Title: The Nightfall

Fandoms: Percy Jackson and the Olympians/the Heroes of Olympus

Disclaimer: All rights PJO/HOO related reserved for Rick Riordan. No money is made with this, though reviews are very welcome.

Warnings: Strong language, violence, death

Summary: Percy Jackson's gone for good. He's a traitor to Olympus, or at least that's what the world believes. But once you've killed, cheated and run away, can you ever be a hero again? And when a mysterious deity from Tartarus is influencing your innermost thoughts, how can you even trust yourself? A word of warning: the Apocalypse is closing in.

The Nightfall

Part 1: The End of an Era

Chapter 13: Those Who Live Forever...

The city streets of Olympus were silent that night, save for the soft songs of the cloud nymphs up ahead.

Despite the calm, a single choice was raising Hell to the Gods.

'No one must know of this yet!' the King banged his fist against the arm of his seat. 'I demand that no riots are to be had over this boy!'

The only other immortal in the room remained quiet. She avoided the angered gaze of her king.

'Perseus is in chains, My Lord.' Athena reported to her father. 'According to the Amazons, he is being held in one of Hecate's cells to avoid any possible means of escape.'

'Excellent.' Zeus settled back in his throne. 'After tomorrow we will be able to live in peace again.'

'But My Lord,' she frowned. 'I have to ask why? Why must we chain the boy? I do not favour him in any way, but if he has been under Hades' spell, what wrong has he committed to deserve such a punishment?'

'I will demand your silence, soon enough.' Zeus scowled. 'You must stop questioning me! You know full well he is to be our downfall.'

'So as it has been foretold. Yet, to kill a loyal soldier is a shameful act on our part.'

'Loyal!' He snapped. 'He is a pawn of Hades! Such betrayal will not be tolerated by Olympus! The council already decided on his fate.'

'Yes.' Athena rose her brows. 'So why are we the only Gods here? Where is the rest of the council? Were they too ashamed to discuss the execution?'

'If they are, they are cowards. I should have them all destroyed for being so weak.'

'And how is Poseidon, father? What did he say when you told him the "council" had already met to decide on his son's fate without him?'

'Poseidon will never hear of this event!' Zeus glared her way. 'I don't need another fight on my hands. He will be told that Hades murdered his precious brat. Then he'll join our forces no matter the cost. With the demigod gone, we will surely win this war!'

'The prophecy cannot be changed or prevented, father!' the War Goddess narrowed her gaze. 'It would be delusional to try!'

'The prophecy states that the powers of Olympus will shatter, insolent chid of mine! Nations will fall, our kingdom will be crushed and the world will end, all thanks to one traitor and his lust for your daughter! Without him in the equation, no harm can come to us.'

Athena gulped back a furious retort. 'Lord Zeus. Please understand-'

'It's crystal clear, don't you see?' Zeus spat, 'Somehow the boy will destroy us trying to bring back your daughter from the grave! He's no doubt made a deal with Hades: her life for his loyalty. He will help lead the army of Hades against Olympus, and in return he will live out his numbered days with her.'

Athena's grip tightened around her signature spear.

'Father please! I believe he doesn't deserve to be put to death. We publically announced that he would be healed, not killed. The demigods would have an uprising if we went back on our word. We'd be no better than the titans! Why would we-?'

'Our children are powerless in comparison to us. They can do nothing about our final decisions. They can either support us, or watch the world crumble by the hands of Percy Jackson. I simply cannot allow it.'

Athena couldn't hold it all back much longer. She swallowed, eyes downcast, before she mustered up the strength to face her father once more.

'I believe you are afraid.'

A stony silence. And then-

'What did you say, child?'

'You are afraid of the prophecy, My Lord,' she managed, her confidence growing with every word, 'you are frightened of death, the prospect of oblivion, the idea of losing the war by the hand of a demigod-'

'HOW DARE YOU,' The King of Olympus stood, knocking the Goddess to the ground with one swift blow, 'you pretentious, foolish girl. You have the audacity to assume these things of me? And yet, you call yourself the Wisdom Goddess.'

Said Goddess gasped on the floor, trying her best not to collapse beneath the heavy weight of the God's diminishing glower.

Perhaps it was her pride, or perhaps her own morals simply wouldn't allow her to, but Athena refused to succumb to Zeus' insults and ideas.

'Lord Zeus,' she knelt reverently at his feet, uncharacteristically pleading with him, 'All I'm asking of you is to give the boy one chance. Let Apollo try and heal his mind, rid him of The Darkness. Then we shall see if he really wants to destroy the kingdom. It is only just to give him a fair trial! Good sense and good judgment is key to a successful reign.'

'Tell me, daughter, are you the Queen of Olympus? Do you command the Gods?'

She blinked. 'No father, you are the king. I simply wished to advise you on the best course of action-'

'Silence!' he berated her, 'Do not tell me how to reign my own kingdom! I will take no more advice from the likes of you, woman.'

He sat back down on his throne. 'If it weren't for the upcoming war, I should do well to revoke your Olympian title and exile you for treason. Am I understood, Wisdom Goddess? Or are you too proud to even listen to your Lord and King?'

Athena stubbornly held her father's electric gaze. 'No, my lord, I understand perfectly. I apologize.'

Her eyes told him nothing. Cold, steely, clean grey, concealing a million thoughts.

Zeus grunted in satisfaction before flashing away.

With his departure, Athena stumbled back into her throne, resting her head in her hands.

Feeling a soft brush of feathers against her neck, she glanced up as her owl companion nestled on her shoulder, looking with concern at her with large, searching eyes.

'Hello there, Guardia old friend.' The Goddess smiled, 'it seems I have lost a considerable amount of charisma in my father's eyes. I imagine he will kill the boy come sundown. Is a boy, strong or no, really worth all this trouble?'

With a sigh, Athena sat up a little straighter in her throne to stare at the ceiling, decorated with all the constellations.

The silver huntress was there, ready to unleash her next arrow into the midnight world.

'I am proud. It is a flaw of mine and my children, yet even I can admit to myself what Zeus will not. Nothing can control the Fates.'

She let her famed spear clatter to the marble floor and down the steps from her throne. She watched it roll to a gradual stop under the stars.

'I could jump to a million conclusions right now. About the boy, about the prophecy and his involvement in it. But it will all come to nothing. Just as the young oracle said: Fate is abstract. What will happen will happen, with or without our help. We simply don't know enough to change anything. I hate to say it, but no matter what I learn, I will forever know nothing of the world that is to come.'

The Owl fluttered off her, coming to rest on top of the fallen spear on the ground. It stared at her, waiting.

'Stand up,' it seemed to call, 'and take back your weapon, young Goddess. For it is all that you have left.'

'I do not much care for the boy myself, but I cannot help but empathise with him. You see I lost a child of mine, and my pride with her.'

Athena frowned.

'It is strange, I suppose. I have lost many children to death's inevitability, and I understand a mother should not favour one child over another. Yet Annabeth was brilliant, Guardia. I thought of her less as a demigod, and more of a Goddess-in-the making. That's how Perseus also seemed to perceive her. She was destined for wondrous things, we both could tell.'

Down the marble steps she went. Her feet bare, and the floor cold.

'I believe both Perseus and I loved her unconditionally, and that is where our similarities began and ended. I could blame him for her death, I know. He involved her in his world, and I never involved her in mine. As a result, he brought more pain to her.'

Athena knelt down to retrieve her spear. 'Yet whenever I saw her, it appeared as if he brought her happiness too. And for that I was grateful.'

'I cannot blame Perseus, not really. There is no one to blame but myself. I gave her life, a demigod's life, and a demigod's life was never said to be easy. Most of them live only to die for the sake of us Gods, a cruel reality I have not questioned often. I gave birth to her, I sealed her unfortunate fate, and there is nothing to be done about that now.'

Guardia returned to Athena's shoulder as she made to leave the throne room.

Suddenly, she looked like a Goddess again.

'Perhaps it is kinder to let the boy die. This is the third Great Prophecy of his lifetime now, is it not? We can spare him of that, of another dreadful war, of the bloodbath of his friends and comrades. He can be with my daughter again.'

She laughed dryly. 'It isn't fair, of course, but it is better. It is a safe and merciful option. Life? death? what does it matter anymore now that all nations are doomed to fall? We will save him from witnessing such destruction.'

With a deep, unsteady breath, Athena opened the doors, stepping into the soon-to-be dystopia of Olympus. The Olympus a child of hers had once designed.

'And I am glad she isn't here to witness it either. She worked so hard to build this city. I am glad that the best of us die before they are ruined.'

Her grief was painful, but always short-lived. With the power of logical thought and simple explanation, Athena could see enough reason to put anything behind her.

'The boy wasn't so lucky. He has already been tainted, but we will put an end to that tomorrow. Perseus, just like my children and so many others, is only a mortal, after all.'

A/N: Next chapter: ...And Those Who Don't - Featuring a short, sharp sentence.
I know, I changed the chapter title again. I'm just full of surprises.
Q&A- Should a Hero have to die with their head held high?
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~cold clouds~