Ξ Dionysus' P.O.V Ξ
It's not bad enough that I have to endure these demigods every day at that blasted camp of theirs but now I have to sit here and listen to the adventures of Perry and Annie Bell. And then act like it's not a huge surprise that the son of Poseidon has a dark side. Do they not remember Theseus?
I tried to remember my wife's words from last night as I answered my father's summons to the throne room.
"You have a chance to help this one" She'd told me.
"And why would I want to do that?" I asked her. "Heroes are all the same."
"You know that's not true of this one. When you asked him to protect Pollux, did he?" She asked. She hated bringing up my demigod children, so I knew she really wanted me to see her point because she had.
"Yes" I answered.
"Exactly and did he accept immortality just because it was offered to him?" she asked.
"No" I said, "Why do you care if he lives?" I asked.
"He has saved us, the gods, twice over and the only thing he asked for in return is that we all claim our children. Does that sound like the standard you're holding him to?" She asked and I sighed because she had a point, as much as I disliked heroes and hated Theseus. Percy wasn't him.
Assembled were the Olympians, Hades and Hestia. I assumed, due to the early summons, that father did not want the demigods and their families walking in accidently. The meeting had started but I was barely paying attention.
Ξ Hermes' P.O.V Ξ
I answered my summons to the throne room like the other Gods, but I could see none of us particularly wanted to be there.
"Right now that we're all here, we need to discuss what's to be done about the boy." Father said.
I liked Percy, he and Annabeth had made sure my son, Luke, died a hero, that he got a chance to try for rebirth like he had wanted. They'd also retrieved my caduceus almost a year ago without letting anyone else know that it had been stolen. That had been embarrassing, I'm the god of thieves and I'd had something stolen from me. Anyway they'd helped me for a fairly small price, dinner in Paris. The two of them can achieve the impossible together. What happens when we need them to do that again if father gets his way today?
"Zeus, there is nothing to discuss." Poseidon growled angrily, "My son took an oath not to over throw us, now leave him be."
"He's too powerful." Father insisted, this was shaping up to be just like last time.
"Brother, please he's clearly terrified of that power. Your own son told you he almost died because he refused to use the power again." Hestia said.
"And what of the girl, she wields power over him, what assurances do we have from her?" he demanded. And Athena will explode in 3…2…1.
"Father," Athena said sternly "She does not wield power over him."
"Does he or does he not do anything she asks?" Father asked.
"He does, if he can, because he loves her." Poseidon said. "Annabeth is not going to over throw us, nor would she ask Percy to. Have you not been paying attention brother? They don't even want us to help them through their trauma, they just want to be left in peace."
"How long do you think this will take?" Apollo whispered to me.
"Hopefully not as long as a Winter Solstice meeting." I muttered back.
"You defend, Athena's daughter brother?" Zeus asked.
"Yes, it's no secret Athena and I don't get along. But her daughter makes my son happy. You've heard yourself in this reading how much they love each other. And I'm sure Aphrodite will be happy to tell you if you haven't been paying attention." Poseidon responded.
"That's all we need Aphrodite going on about her OTP." Apollo whispered, I nodded in agreement. I liked the kids. But I didn't care for a recap of how well matched they were after hearing about it constantly for the past four years.
"Athena, if your daughter was not involved would your advice still be to leave the children be?!" Father loop hole, I thought to myself.
"Yes." Athena said, her tone was one of a controlled calm, she didn't want to fight with father anymore than the rest of us, but she wouldn't see her daughter harmed.
I knew how she felt, the council had once tried to decide whether they should kill my son, Luke, and he hadn't been loyal to us like Annabeth and Percy are.
Ξ Thalia's P.O.V Ξ
I hadn't slept, I'd spent all night trying to deal with my anger from my conversation with my 'father'. Its always about power, never a simple 'hey how you are doing?' He didn't understand everything Percy had done. I wouldn't even be here without him. You'd think he'd see that as gift, but no.
Father had gone on a huge spiel about how we should be more powerful than Percy because he was the 'King.' He seemed to forget that we were only as powerful as the gifts, that he, bestowed on us. But hey as long as we're placing blame.
I'd emptied a whole quiver of arrows into various targets in the gardens of Olympus as I worked through my anger, it still wasn't enough to dissolve it all, but it did clear a lot of it. When the sun had risen I made my way to breakfast.
I found Jason with Piper, Hazel, Frank, Nico and Will sitting together at one end of the table.
"Morning" Jason said as I sat down next to him.
"Morning" I responded. He gave me a concerned look but I waved him off, one sleepless night was nothing compared to what Percy and Annabeth had been through.
Clarisse, Malcolm, Rachel, Reyna, Leo, Calypso and Chiron sat at the other end of the table leaving the middle. Which was currently occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Chase, Aunt Sally and Paul, with two empty spaces, next to Piper, for Annabeth and Percy. But they hadn't made it to breakfast yet this morning. I hoped they would, I wanted to talk about last night and what had happened with them. By the time father had released us from his temple everyone else had gone to bed, another thing that had annoyed me. I'd wanted to check on Percy and Annabeth. It had been painfully obvious that neither of them had slept the night before. I didn't want to be the reason they prolonged sleeping last night.
As if hearing my thoughts, Annabeth and Percy made their way into the room we'd been using to eat food. Both looked like they'd managed a little sleep last night, at least, which I took as a good sign.
"Morning" they said together taking the empty seats opposite me.
"How did you sleep?" Aunt Sally asked them.
"A little better, we still had nightmares, but they weren't until a few hours ago. So that's something." Percy replied, it seemed to placate both sets of parents who nodded at his response.
"So was everyone pulled to their parent's temple last night or was that just us?" Percy asked.
"Not everyone," Piper said "You, Annabeth, Hazel, Nico, Jason and Thalia. The rest of us were left alone. Thankfully." She muttered the last word quietly so the parents present couldn't hear her. But it was no secret that Piper didn't want to spend any more time than necessary with her mom.
"Speaking of our parents, where do you reckon they are?" Annabeth asked looking behind her to the empty thrones the Gods normally sat in at meal times.
"Probably voting how to kill me." Percy said, unfortunately that probably wasn't a joke.
"Percy, sweetheart, don't say that." Aunt Sally said.
"Sorry mom, it's not like it's not happened before though." He said and then realising what he had said added. "But, Dad said they wouldn't vote on how to kill me then."
"He'll probably do it now too, if that's what all the thunder is about. Which knowing dad it is." I said.
Ξ Malcolm's P.O.V Ξ
After mother and Annabeth had finished whatever they were talking about, mother had summoned me to her temple. I'd never been summoned before. It was an odd feeling being transported from my bedroom to my mother's temple. We hadn't spent long there but it had been kind of nice to have a conversation with her. When Piper mentioned it at breakfast, I didn't correct her, I'd talk to Annabeth about it later, but I didn't want everyone to know I'd been summoned to my mother's temple, when other's hadn't. that seemed unfair.
Breakfast was a godless affair but if was actually quite normal, which was nice. There were lots of discussions going on, all of us being invited to Percy's once we were sent home from this reading. I hadn't been before, and I'd only met Mr. and Mrs. Blofis once during the aftermath of the battle of Manhattan as we made our way out of the empire state building. They had asked me if I'd seen Percy or Annabeth. They'd recognised I was a child of Athena and they'd asked my name. They were nice people and I was looking forward to dinner there.
Percy and Annabeth seemed more engaged in conversations this morning which was a tell tale sign that they had gotten a little sleep last night. I was thankful for that, they seemed to be more themselves, than they had been since we'd arrived.
Percy was still a little on edge but that was no doubt due to the constant thundering and I didn't blame him for that. I was glad I wasn't facing judgement from the gods. I'd never thought about it before, but I didn't envy Annabeth for being mother's favourite, not with what came along with it.
I was, just now, finding out how difficult my sister's life had truly been in the past few months. She'd achieved something no other Athenian child had ever achieved, she'd found the Athena Parthenos and defeated that unspeakable creature who had guarded it. I was proud of her, and I was grateful to Percy that he gave her that sense of permanence that she'd always craved. I knew Annabeth would be a legend within our cabin, even more so than she already was, for that act alone.
We spent the whole of breakfast making plans and talking about normal, camp and non-camp, life until Lady Hestia came to get us for the reading. There was a tension between the gods when we all settled down in the places we had been in yesterday. I suspected that Zeus had not gotten what he'd wanted and based on my mother's expression she wasn't happy about whatever had been discussed either.
Chapter 26 – Annabeth
Annabeth had never been scared of the dark...
...Nyx was almost too much to take in...
...as big as the Athena Parthenos statue, but very much alive...
"Fantastic" Thalia said sarcastically. I tried to recall what I knew about Nyx, much to my own annoyance, I was drawing a blank.
...Her face was hard to see except for the pinpoint eyes which shone like quasars...
"Did anyone else know that Annabeth was such a space nerd?" Leo asked teasingly. Those of us that had known Annabeth for a long time all nodded our heads. She'd always loved to study and memorise the constellations.
Ξ Annabeth's P.O.V Ξ
'Space nerd' really? I raised an eyebrow at Percy as he nodded along to Leo's question. "You've always studied the stars." He whispered, it was true I supposed, but I struggled to see how that made me a space nerd. I decided to let it go though, knowing Leo was only using humour to deflect how serious he thought the situation was.
...The goddess's chariot was made of...stygian iron...
...The horses snarled and bared their fangs at Annabeth...
"Well horses should be a non-issue right, with Percy's abilities?" Hazel asked. I shook my head, there were some horses who did not respect Percy's 'status' these unfortunately fell into that category.
...Percy eyed the horses...
...He was still shrouded in Death Mist...
...which broke Annabeth's heart every time she saw him...
"AWW!" our friends teased me. Aphrodite looked pointedly at Zeus and I wondered what that was about.
"I hated seeing you like that, made the fear of you being dead all too real to me." I whispered to Percy.
"I know exactly what you mean." He said before kissing my forehead, I loved when he did that.
...Annabeth couldn't read the expression on Percy's... face...
...Apparently he didn't like what the horses were saying...
"Why? What were they saying?" Piper asked Percy.
"I think I told Annabeth, so it should come up." Percy said and she nodded.
... "They really want to eat us."...
... "Of course not. I would not let my horses eat you, anymore than I would let Akhlys kill you. Such fine prizes, I will kill myself"...
Percy flinched at the mention of Akhlys, but it wasn't as bad as it had been before everyone knew. A small improvement, but an improvement, nonetheless. Although we possibly could have done without the reminder of the last chapter, seeing as all the gods seemed so on edge.
"As in she'll kill herself or kill you herself?" Leo asked which earned him a smack to the back of the head from Calypso. "What I'm just saying her choice of words could have been better." I smirked but said nothing, knowing what had happened next.
... "oh, don't kill yourself!"...
... "What? No I didn't mean-"...
Leo looked at Calypso with and expression that clearly meant 'see!' I saw Percy smirk and when I caught his eye, I rolled my own at him. It was nice to see him as calm as he was. Last night he had been anything but calm.
... "Well I'd hope not!"...
... "We wouldn't want to scare her, would we?"…
"You thought you'd really scare Nyx?" Hera asked with a snide edge in her voice. I ignored her, I had nothing good to say about or to her right now.
... "Do you know who I am?"...
... "Well you're Night, I suppose,"...
"You suppose?" Thalia asked me, with a raised disapproving eyebrow. I hated her mother bear mode. Our other friends just laughed at my attempt at playing dumb. I hated playing into the stereo type but sometimes it was necessary.
Ξ Percy's P.O.V Ξ
Annabeth had been an absolute genius when we'd faced Nyx. I was really proud of her ability to come up with a plan that worked so well on the spot, especially with how much I had scared her just moments before. She'd managed to push passed that in the moment and do what was needed. I knew without a doubt I'd be dead if it wasn't for her.
... "the brochure didn't say much about you."...
There was confusion amongst all who were listening to Lady Hestia. "Brochure? What Brochure?" Reyna asked.
"You'll see" I said proudly and when I did I noticed Athena's eyes glint with pride. I knew she'd caught the tone in my voice and that it was about her daughter.
...Annabeth patted her pockets. "We had one didn't we?"...
... "uh-huh"...
"Wow Percy" Jason deadpanned.
"I was watching the horses," I explained, "but I know to follow Annabeth's lead." I said kissing Annabeth's temple.
"At least you're smart enough for that." Thalia teased me. I just rolled my eyes in response. I was glad she was treating me as she always had. It settled my, now diminishing, concerns from yesterday.
...Now she had to hope she wasn't making things worse...
"I honestly don't see how things could get any worse." Frank said. Annabeth and I flinched. We both knew it got worse. I tried not to think about how they would react to Tartarus taking a humanoid form. I wasn't looking forward to that.
... "Anyway ... the brochure didn't say much...you weren't...on the tour"...
Thalia grinned at Annabeth, despite wanting to protect her, she recognised a genius Annabeth plan when she heard one.
... "we got to see the River Phlegethon, the Cocytus, the arai, the poison glade of Akhlys... some random Titans and giants, but Nyx... you weren't really featured."...
... "Yeah... we come down for the Tartarus tour – like exotic destinations, you know? The underworld is overdone, Mount Olympus is a tourist trap-"...
"The underworld is overdone by you" Hades grumbled at me. He wasn't wrong. Judging by the fact I was still sitting here, dad had stopped the Gods from killing me again, which I was thankful for. I hoped I didn't have to visit my Uncle's realm, again, for a very long time.
... "Gods, Totally! So we booked the Tartarus excursion."...
"You make it sound like a honeymoon." Piper said, I blushed instantly, it wasn't like I hadn't thought about marrying Annabeth, I'd actually thought about it quite a lot. Annabeth was as red as I was, I wondered if she was thinking about us getting married too. It was thoughts like this that were keeping me from thinking too much about my fears. I tried to focus on them.
... "Guess they didn't think you were important."...
"Annabeth," Thalia rubbed her temples, "tell me this worked." She whispered.
"We're here aren't we?" I whispered back which probably didn't inspire confidence in the plan. I probably could have phrased that better, never mind.
... "Not important!"...
...She pushed down Percy's sword arm...
...Nyx was older than any Olympian or Titan or Giant...
...She couldn't be defeated by two demigods... using force...
"You have a plan" Malcolm said with a smile looking at Annabeth proudly, Annabeth nodded and I realised that Malcolm had figured out what Annabeth was trying to do while we'd faced Nyx.
... "How many other demigods have come to see you on the tour?"...
... "None. Not one. This is unacceptable!"...
I looked up at my mom, she seemed to be doing okay this morning, I was thankful for that.
... "You haven't done anything to get in the news... Tartarus is important...or if we could meet Day-"...
... "You mean Hemera? She is my daughter! Night is much more powerful than Day!"...
"Always about the power." Thalia muttered. I got the impression she had not had a fun conversation with Zeus last night. She hadn't really mentioned it at breakfast, I hoped we could talk about it more in the break between breakfast and lunch, if we had one.
"Now you've done it, you've pissed off a primordial." Rachel said, I'd like to say Nyx was the only one, but that would've been a lie. I didn't want to scare my mom anymore that I had already, it couldn't be good for the baby. So I shrugged in response to Rachel. Unfortunately, her comment brought a nervous tension back to the throne room.
... "Eh, ...I liked the arai, or even Akhlys better."
"They are my children as well!"...
..."Got a lot of children huh?"...
"Really Percy?!" Hazel and Piper asked me, again I just shrugged, it wasn't like I'd been wrong. I was also trying really hard not to think of Akhlys, that was still a bit fresh for me.
... "I am the mother of all terrors! The Fates themselves! Hecate! Old Age! Pain! Sleep! Death! And all of the curses! Behold how newsworthy I am!"
There was laughter echoing around the throne room from our friends, alleviating the nervous tension from earlier, and for the first time in a long time, Annabeth and I found ourselves joining in.
"Old age? Really?" Leo asked.
"Don't under estimate old age, all those wrinkles? An absolutely terrifying thought." Aphrodite said which only proceeded to elicit another round of laughter from us all while Piper groaned. It wasn't necessarily that the situation that we were in was funny, but you almost had to laugh. Annabeth's plan had put a primordial on the back foot, made her think about how important her fame was instead of killing us. Not for the first time I found myself thankful for Annabeth's genius.
Ξ Paul's P.O.V Ξ
The kids seemed more at ease this morning, almost as if the events of yesterdays last chapter never happened. They were so resilient, it astounded me. The king of the Gods himself had declared Percy too powerful and that he had to die. I'd been terrified in that moment for Percy's life. Fortunately, it seemed Percy had a plan to pacify Zeus, though Annabeth seemed annoyed he'd made the oath. I'd asked Sally about it later, why Annabeth had been annoyed.
"Because it was unnecessary" she'd told me "Percy has never wanted the power the gods have." She reminded me that he'd turned down the opportunity to become a god himself and I wondered if because of how long their lifespans were that perhaps maybe the gods had forgotten that detail.
I'd managed to catch Percy before he went to bed, and I was glad I had. He'd seemed really nervous around me and I wanted to reassure him that we, his mom and I, still loved him and that that would never change. I'd quickly learnt that he was worried I wouldn't want him around the baby. I told him I absolutely did want him to know the baby and to be around the baby. It seemed to calm Percy in a way, which I was glad to see seemed to have stayed with him through breakfast and this morning's first chapter. Though I knew he'd spoken to Annabeth once I'd gone to bed and it was probably more what she had said than what I had said that was keeping him calm. But was glad he was calm regardless. I didn't know how he could be o calm about the fact the gods had maybe voted to kill him this morning or that they'd already done it once in his life time.
It all seemed unfair. Where were their childhoods? They've been robbed of so much. I understood why, Sally tried so hard to give all of the demigods a sense of normal life and love. I vowed to myself, to help more with that when we returned home.
Ξ
~Author's Note~
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