Alex couldn't help but grin as he looked around. Percy had won. His hero of a brother had saved them from certain death again. Or so he thought until Zeus' voice boomed out.

"PERSEUS CHEATED! HE MUST DIE! I-"

"Oh, shut up," Hera interrupted angrily. "You swore on the Styx, and unfortunately he didn't do such a thing. Now, you and I are going to talk about the activities you were engaging in before you came here." She said, her voice dropping to a low, dangerous, whisper.

Zeus' face turned pale and he immediately lightning bolted out, and Hera flashed out after him. Alex's grin grew even wider as he looked away.

And of course Dionysus chose that moment to wake up.

"Hm? Is he dead yet? Ah well, I say good riddance to bad rubbi-" He too was cut off, this time by Artemis, who just shot him with an arrow. Damn, Alex thought, god or not, an arrow there has gotta hurt.

Percy had woken up and laughed as Dionysus ran out, squealing and trying to extricate the arrow. Demeter and Hephaestus came over, and looked at Percy.

"We're sorry we voted against you, since you have done things for us. But betraying Olympus and attacking your camp cannot go unpunished." Demeter said curtly. They walked off together, Hephaestus nodding at them happily for defeating Ares.

Then the gods who had supported Percy came over, smiling, along with Hestia, who Percy knew would have voted for him as well if she'd been on the council. Apollo healed all of Percy's injuries, and the demigod jumped up to face them. "Thanks for voting for us, guys. I know it didn't matter, but still." He said, happy that he had saved his brother, but still feeling broken and betrayed deep down.

"Yo Perce! You were awesome, man!" The sun god yelled. His sister, next to him, immediately got irritated and punched him for his word choice. "Ah! What was that for, little sis?"

"If you call me little one more time..."

Apollo looked at Percy and Hermes and all three of them burst out laughing. Alex shook his head, smiling. Somehow, Percy was humble enough to just pretend nothing had happened, even though his opponent wouldn't have. If Ares had won he would definitely be swaggering around and bragging.

Percy hugged his dad and Hestia, fist bumped Apollo, Hermes and Alex, and was about to hug the two other goddesses before stopping abruptly. If he hugged Aphrodite, she would definitely try to take it further, and if he even touched Artemis he'd probably find himself missing a that vital body part.

Seeing his hesitation, both goddesses huffed. Percy thought he was definitely right about Aphrodite's intentions, but why was Artemis huffing? He shook it off. She was probably disappointed she couldn't add to the jackalope population, he thought with a small smile. He nodded to them in thanks and turned to his brother.

"What now? You got any more ideas?" He said.

Alex shifted around a bit and looked up guiltily. "I mean, I kinda led us into a trap we barely got out of, so I'm probably not the best person to ask."

Percy looked at his brother sadly. "Don't think stuff like that, man. If I was the one making that decision I'd probably have done the same. You couldn't have known they'd get a message to Olympus like that." He said quietly. Apollo and Poseidon, the only gods still there with them, nodded seriously.

The healing god stepped forward and looked at the two boys. "It looks like you guys would just want to wing it from here on out. But I have a better idea. ARTEMIS!"

The goddess in question walked back in, having evidently waiting outside for her brother. "What?" She said irritably.

"Can Percy and Alex travel with your hunt? Become kind of guardians, so to speak?" He said hopefully. The hunt had had a close shave with a group of cyclopes the other day, and he wanted to make sure his sister was always safe.

The moon goddess just scoffed. "How are they going to guard my hunt? This boy can barely defend himself!" She laughed, pointing at Alex, who looked down sadly. Percy, who knew that his brother was better than everyone actually knew, stared angrily at the moon goddess.

"Fine, brother," she said, still laughing. "I will swear that if both boys can beat me in a one on one duel, I'll do it, since you want it so much." She had been going to say both boys, but then remembered what Percy had done to Ares and realised she could lose if she did that.

Apollo nodded in agreement, and Artemis swore it on the River Styx. She then pulled out both hunting knives and faced Alex. "Ready?" She asked in politeness for once.

And that's when all three boys smirked.(Apollo is in his seventeen year old form)

"You didn't say it had to be right now," Apollo said. "Boys, off you go and train. See ya."

"Bye, Apollo," the boys said as they left the throne room. They had only walked for a few seconds before Apollo overtook them at full speed, with silver arrows flying after him. Percy deflected one that would have hit the gods butt with Riptide and grinned.

"Idiot. Way to get her riled up," Alex muttered, and they both burst out laughing. They continued laughing until they slumped against each other, gasping for breath. Percy smiled at his brother.

"Thanks. I don't think I would have been able to laugh without you around. Let's go, bro." He walked on, and Alex, grinning followed him.

They ran to Grand Central and jumped on a random train. Turns out it was to Washington DC. After sleeping most of the way there, the boys got bored. Percy started practicing vapor tricks. He did so for as long as possible, even after they got off the train. At one point he even managed to make himself hover for a moment by increasing the density of the molecules in the air under him. While they relaxed on the beach close by, suddenly the water sprayed up and a massive figure stood shadowed in front of them.

Alex pulled out Shifter, and stood in a guarded stance, while Percy just smirked and said one word.

"Finally."