Sorry for the long wait.
...
"Here?" Percy called down to Athena.
"Just a smidge more to the left." Athena called back up.
"Ugh." Percy groaned as he moved his aching right arm a fraction of a fraction of an inch to the left.
"Perfect." Athena called.
Percy had long since regretted making an open request for assistance decorating the Council Chamber for Selene's party. He placed his finger on the streamer to hold it in place on the wall as he grabbed what looked like a bottle of white glue but was actually the latest creation of the Stoll brothers. The label read "Insta-Glue! Instantly sticks two objects together for exactly 24 hours. Perfect for pranking, not for crafts you intend to cherish forever." Percy figured that using something that would give out in a day would be easier than sitting through an Athena lecture on the most effective ways to dissolve glue. He put a dab of the adhesive on the wall and pressed the end of the streamer down on it with his thumb. Once he was sure it would stay, he climbed down the ladder he had used to get up and handed Athena the oversized streamer roll.
"I'm not going through all that again." Percy commented, rubbing his aching joints.
"Understandable," Athena stated before walking to the next point, unrolling the streamer bit by bit to give it slack.
Percy looked around to see who else was in the chamber. Zeus and Hestia were there, as they normally were. There were several Minor Gods who hadn't made it to the initial celebration of the Gala, as well as other Demigods. The Stoll brothers were there, competing to see which one could do the running man the longest. Other Demigods were either caught up in conversation or simply tapping their feet to the music.
Percy hadn't realized today was a staff holiday for the restaurant he worked at until he saw Aurora with Grady and their group of friends chatting and having a fun time at the other end of the chamber. He then looked over to the ever changing yet always present group of Hunters by the punch bowl and spotted Nira among them. While the older Hunters were as stoic as ever, Nira was doing what could only be described as the "I can't dance, but I'm still having fun" shuffle.
Someone tapped Percy on the shoulder and he turned to see who it was. Zoe stood, red faced, a respectable distance from Percy who, understandably, stepped back and covered his groin.
"I'm sorry about that," Zoe gripped her arm nervously, "it's just that, after everything, I didn't know how to approach you. If it's any consolation, I regretted it when I left the school." Her eyes then widened as she seemingly remembered something, "And you don't need to worry, because I'm not pregnant." That made Percy let out a sigh of relief, "But, does this mean it's too late to ask for a spot in the harem?"
"Well..." Percy though very hard about how to word it, "it's not... that it's too late, more like... well, things will be awkward at first... my only rule for joining is that you must willing to do it of your own accord. So... I guess your in. But on a probationary period, until you properly apologize to everyone you've wronged in the harem."
Zoe stared at him for a moment, processing his words, then got a big smile on her face.
"Thank you!" She wrapped her arms around him and pressed her lips on his.
She stayed like that for a few seconds before being forcibly pulled away by Aurora and Nira.
"Hey," Zoe said as they took her place in front of Percy.
"That's not fair!" Aurora scolded Percy, "we've been nothing but loyal to you."
"And we haven't done anything wrong," Nira added.
"Where're our spots?" The two asked simultaneously.
"Didn't I already include you?" Percy asked.
"No!" They gave him what could only be described as the most adorable pouts he had ever seen in his entire life.
"Then your both in."
The two smiled triumphantly and grabbed one arm each, taking the hapless minor god away.
"Wait," he stated, "I still have things to do for the party."
The girls didn't listen, they finally had what they wanted and weren't about to let go yet.
...
"Found it!" Kira called, waving a package in the air and causing Selene to get excited.
Apparently, Percy had taken everyone's gifts to Selene and hid them all over the city, giving her a birthday scavenger hunt. Artemis had praised his first few hiding places, as they were places where mortals wouldn't stumble on the gifts accidentally. Each gift had also come with a note telling Selene not to open the gifts yet, except those from Sally and Paul, and also giving a hint to the location of the next gift.
"'Not yet,'" Kira read the note aloud, "'your next gift will be hard to spot from below, but taking a ride in a Chrysler may help you find where this cement tree has grown.' Cement Tree? What does that mean?"
"What does a car have to do with it?" Selene asked.
"He's obviously talking about the Chrysler building," Artemis told the children, "Kai," Artemis turned to the Harpy, who held the gifts they had already found, "Can you get your mother? We may need her help with this one."
The mute child nodded and handed the gifts to Artemis before excitedly flying off to get her adopted mother.
...
After setting up the party, which took way too long with all the distractions, Percy had all the party guests, as well as the Gala guests, hide as he turned the lights and music off. He then ran to his hiding spot, which granted him a perfect view of the door as well as the balcony, from which the sunset could be seen. If Artemis was helping Selene with the scavenger hunt, which Percy was one hundred percent sure she was, then they should be finished by now and will likely arrive precisely as the sun disappears beyond the horizon, knowing Artemis's sense of timing of course.
Apollo silently entered through the balcony and took his place behind the sound table, making sure he could see Percy to receive the signal to turn on the lights. They waited with bated breath as the outside light glowed with beautiful colours before fading, leaving only the blaze tended by Hestia to light the room, perfectly masking their presence. As if on cue, the chamber doors opened and the original harem members entered with the children.
"Why is it so dark in here?" Kira asked.
"How are we supposed to find the last gift like this?" Selene whined.
Percy gave Apollo a thumbs up, allowing him to hit the lights. When the lights turned on, everyone sprang from their hiding spots and yelled,
"SURPRISE!"
Selene screamed with a mix of shock, excitement and joy at the sight of all the people here to see her. In her excitement, she ran up to every party guest and gave each of them a hug, starting with the people she didn't know and making her way through to her friends from school and camp, then her family and finally, a great big hug for Percy. She didn't care much for the party afterwards, or even the gifts, though watching her parents deliver their rendition of Divine Punishment on Ares for giving her a sword did make her laugh. It was more the thought of so many people coming to see her that made her happy. It was by far the greatest birthday she had ever had, mainly because it was the first one she had with her dad.
...
Percy and Artemis watched from the balcony as Zeus and Poseidon argued over who should get the first grandfather-granddaughter dance of the night. They had fun by mimicking their respective father's by saying what they believe the brothers are saying.
"As King of the Gods," Artemis said in a high and mighty voice, matching Zeus's lip movements, "the honour of dancing with the eldest child first after her father rightfully goes to me."
"As the paternal grandfather," Percy mimicked his father as best as he could, "I beg to differ."
"Beg all you like, and while your at it, go dance with one of your other granddaughters."
"She's Percy's first child."
"As well as Artemis's."
"I never get to see her outside of those idiotic family dinners you host. Let me have this brother!"
"Over my smoldering throne!"
"Please stop FIGHTING!" Selene yelled, completely encasing her grandfathers in ice.
Percy and Artemis ran over to Selene as she began to freak out.
"Hey, it's alright," Percy gripped her shoulders, "they've been through worse."
"That's right," Artemis added, "besides, we've always said that dad needs to cool down sometimes."
"It's really ok?" Selene asked.
"Yes, just try not to do it again."
...
Percy and Apollo looked out at the city below while everyone else was busy with the party. They looked at one skyscraper in particular. It looked the same as the other office buildings in Manhattan.
"So, what's so special about an office building?" Percy asked.
"Your still using your mortal eyes bro," Apollo chuckled, "take a closer look."
Percy did as instructed. His new godly vision gave him a more detailed view of objects from farther away, almost as if zooming in on them. It was then that he noticed that every fifth floor had greek letters etched into the stone on the outside. They just repeated the same thing, "By the power of the Pantheon, no mortal shall gaze upon the true form of this temple."
"It's a temple?" Percy asked.
"Your temple," Apollo corrected him, "The only place on Earth large enough to hold your harem, at least for now."
"But how-?"
"Athena and Hephaestus. but it's really a gift from all of us. Athena plotted it's location to the smallest unit. It's the perfect distance from your mom, the camp, the sea and Olympus. You'll never be too far from anyone. As an added bonus, we've even put in a door that acts as a direct gateway to Calypso's island."
"You mean-?"
"She can come and go as she pleases, but just as she can never escape her island, she will never be able to go any further than the second floor balcony."
"You mean the one that acts as a huge awning for the entire ground level?"
"Hey, we're not cruel."
"Thank you Apollo, for everything."
"Thank you for taking care of my sister." then he yelled, "ALL PRAISE THE GOD OF HAREMS AND LOYALTY!"
"What's with that title?"
"Believe me, that's coming off easy. There was this one guy back in Greece, Col-, Cob-, it started with a 'C', anyways, Zeus dubbed him the God of Flatulence and Mishaps. Not misfortune, Mishaps. Dived right into Tartarus when he got that title."
"Yeesh."
"Yeah, well, we better get back to the party, they're probably waiting for us."
Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'll try not to take so long next time.