If I'm being honest, this chapter might be a disappointment to some considering the content that it contains, but I hope you like it nonetheless.

And it may or may not end in another cliffhanger, but this one isn't that big. Plus, the events foreshadowed might not even be the next chapter, so keep that in mind.

Also, nobody really guessed who was in the photo frames, which is fine by me, so I'm not going to bother putting the names here. If you really want it, you can review and ask me later.

Without further ado, here's the next chapter.

Chapter 26: A Little Tired, But Fine

Oh, what an unexpected sight Percy came back to. He hadn't really been gone that long, had he? Really, his conversation with Apollo had only taken a few minutes, and in total maybe half an hour.

So when he came back to his cabin, wading through the batches of Hunters who were lounging around his home and right outside of it, it would be an understatement to say he was a little surprised that the people he knew best were in his bedroom, staring at the wall.

He didn't really like to talk about the wall, it just felt too personal. He had collected the photos from moments before everything happened, and the sketches were a favor from Rachel after the Second Giant War (although the Oracle needed no extra motivation to draw what he wanted). He would admit, it was sort of weird. Some might see it like he was a creepy stalker in his twenties with a bunch of photos of children scattered in his bedroom, but those people didn't know how much he cared for the"children".

The wall was opposite his bedroom door, so his friends didn't notice Percy curiously and abashedly studying their expressions from behind, but in an instant it all became too much.

Percy cleared his throat, causing the four to turn around with an expression akin to sympathy and embarrassment. He gave them a weak smile and bit his lip in hesitation. What were you supposed to say in this situation that Percy had never in his right mind thought would happen?

"So… how are the Hunters?" Percy asked in an attempt to divert any possible attention away from the subject. The looks from the others told him that his efforts were futile and he wouldn't escape so easily, but they would stray away from the topic for now.

"No long-lasting injuries or casualties." Artemis said after swallowing a lump in her throat. "What did you talk about with Apollo?"

Percy bit the inside of his cheek and hesitated. He knew this question was coming, but it still managed to make him a little uncomfortable.

"Nothing important." Lies. The subject of their conversation was, in fact, extremely important. Percy awkwardly shifted to lean against the doorway and his eyes flickered to see the expressions of all the girls.

"Well then, since it seems all the Hunters are okay, I think it's time for us to leave for Olympus." Artemis said rather awkwardly. She cleared her throat and nodded towards Percy, indicating that they would be the ones to make the trip to the topmost floor of the Empire State Building.

"Wait, now? Why?" Percy asked. He scratched his chin in thought and was surprised to find a patch of scruff. Upon further inspection, Percy found that he had a thin beard growing, something he hadn't really tried to groom in all his years with the ability to grow facial hair. It dawned on him that it had been awhile since he had shaved, which was a testament to how much he had been around people as of late.

Percy realized that he must've looked as high as a kite, what with him patting his cheeks and chin in search for his beard, so he abruptly stopped and sheepishly smiled.

"In case you forgot, you killed an Olympian god." Artemis deadpanned.

"Ohhhh." Percy nodded. "Right." Percy looked to the others to see that they weren't surprised, rather they looked proud and maybe even a little satisfied at the mention of Ares' death.

"Yes. I must take you to the Olympian council to explain the situation. Hopefully they'll be understanding of the fact that you were acting out of self-defense." Artemis said.

"Hopefully." Percy repeated, swallowing the information. He shivered, realizing that there was still a chance for him to get vaporized if the gods were offended by his actions.

"You'll be fine, Kelp Head." Thalia called out. Percy rolled his eyes and scoffed.

"I'll be fine." Percy once again repeated. It felt like he was hopelessly psyching himself up for a football match against the best team in the country.

"Well, he has made a lot of enemies…" Piper threw up suggestively, letting everyone interpret it however they wanted.

"True. Very true." Thalia nodded along. Percy glanced over to see Calypso smirking at his friends' antics. He groaned, knowing that this conversation was going in a direction he didn't want to go down.

"I'm gonna die, aren't I?"

"He what!?" Zeus' booming voice caused Percy to wince as his ears were assaulted by the alarmingly loud noise.

Apparently, all the gods had felt the monumental change in the divine world, but none of them had suspected this. Frankly, Percy was just waiting for the jury to convict him as guilty of murder and have him executed immediately.

"Father, Percy was simply defending himself." Artemis pleaded. Zeus turned his gaze toward Percy, who smiled half-heartedly and resisted the stupid urge to give a thumbs up.

"By murdering an Olympian!?" Zeus said, as if he still couldn't believe this had possibly happened. To be fair, a demigod sending an Olympian god, the god of war no less, to Tartarus, probably wasn't an everyday occurrence.

"Father. Ares was a part of the betrayal that the Oracle foretold." Artemis said confidently. Percy cocked his head in thought before nodding. He hadn't really thought about the "prophecy" before now, but it made sense. An Olympian working for someone else and attempting to kill Percy had a good chance of counting as a betrayal.

Zeus seemed to rethink this, settling back into his chair and scratching the beard on his chin. Percy's eyes subconsciously scanned the entire council as Zeus seemed to quietly contemplate the odd situation.

Most of the gods looked more interested than normal, many of them actually sitting up straight and thinking about Ares themselves. He internally groaned when his eyes landed on Aphrodite, who promptly winked at him. She fluttered her fingers in a small wave and blew him a kiss. Percy rolled his eyes, but he might've been smiling just a little.

Apollo had a neutral expression, but Percy needed only a second to see his eyes to know that he was still conflicted. That was good. Him being conflicted meant that he didn't know if his actions were right, which meant that there was a very, very good chance Percy would get some more information about the threat, whether it be in 10 hours or 10 months.

Oddly enough, Poseidon looked almost proud of his son, as if killing an Olympian was all he ever wanted Percy to accomplish. The son of the sea god didn't know whether that was sadistic or just a trait of an overzealous father.

Almost ominously, the throne of the god of war was empty. The ugly piece of metal sat alone with no occupant, which probably had more political implications than Percy could care for. Percy could see the other gods' gazes flickering towards the throne, as if they were waiting for the god to just show up fashionably late.

"And he killed an Olympian? And Ares no less?" Zeus asked to interrupt the silence. Artemis sighed and nodded.

"Yes, father." Artemis said. Zeus seemed to be in an internal conflict, and Percy bit his lip with nervousness.

"Well, considering Perseus' history and that he was just acting out of self-defense, added to the fact that Ares was betraying the Olympian council, we can pardon him for this." Zeus explained. Percy breathed a sigh of relief and felt like he could just slump into an invisible chair. Now that he thought about it, why didn't he get a chair? A simple four-legged wooden stool would suffice, but instead he had to stand before the entire council in their astronomical heights feeling like an insignificant ant.

"Now that we've pardoned Percy, we move on to the matter of who Ares was working for." Zeus said. Artemis nodded in satisfaction, thankful that the king of the gods had taken the time to digest all of the information Artemis had provided.

"Surely it can't be the Titans again, can it?" Poseidon asked. "Nor the giants?"

"I highly doubt it." Hades drawled. "We just got rid of them. They couldn't have reformed so quickly."

"We can't completely disregard the possibility." Athena said. "It would be foolish to disregard it simply because of our fears."

"And yet, how would they have reformed so quickly?" Hades asked. "It was a feat on its own that we fought both of them in such a small time span, but to go to war again after a mere half decade?"

Athena glared at the god of the underworld and opened her mouth in an attempt to argue, but a stern look from Zeus forced her to relent.

"I agree with Hades." Zeus said. Hades raised an eyebrow at that, And Percy had to stifle a chuckle at the god's comical expression. "This must be some other threat."

"Do we really have any more information about the threat than last meeting?" Hermes asked. "No offense Percy, but I feel like we would know more if Ares was kept alive."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Percy smiled and rubbed his neck sheepishly. "But I think I have some more information, if I may?"

Percy didn't know why he was being so polite to the council, maybe it was the progress he had recently seen or the overall feeling of exhaustion that he had, but he just wanted whatever possible threat to be dealt with as soon as possible.

"Please, anything you have." Zeus said. Percy hesitated, his eyes flickering for a split second to Apollo before he looked back to the king of the gods.

"The person Ares was working for was female." Percy said. "Before he attacked me, Ares said that who he was working for wanted me out of the picture so I couldn't interfere, and he accidentally slipped that he was working for a female."

Percy attempted to ignore the pointed glare that Artemis was giving him, obviously angry and confused as to why Percy misheld this information from her. He tried to keep his gaze on Zeus, or Apollo, or Aphrodite, or anyone and anything that wasn't Artemis.

"A female, you say?" Poseidon asked, relaxing back into his throne in thought. "Surely not Gaea? Nor any other Primordial?"

"We can't rule that out." Athena said, a more stoic expression on her usually still serious face. This time, nobody had the heart to object. "Perhaps Rhea? Revenge for what we did to her husband?"

"She was always one of the more subdued, peaceful titans." Hades admitted. "I can't imagine her being able to reign Ares into a plot to ruin Olympus."

"That's also a question we must ask." Demeter said. "Why would Ares do this?"

Percy tuned out the gods' conversation, as usual. He could probably ask one of the gods that favored him if he missed anything important if it really came down to it.

There were a couple of things that were running through his mind, his ADHD compelling his train of thought to move from subject to subject. The sight of Aphrodite out of the side of his vision reminded him that they should probably have a talk soon, and that in turn reminded him of their trip cross-country together, which in turn compelled him to make a mental note to Iris message Helen as soon as possible.

There were also a few other things running around his head, like the fact that Artemis might do what he thought the council would, and just kill him right after the meeting. He kept shooting glances at the goddess, hoping that her calm and stormy expression would soon dissipate even though it never did.

And then the meeting ended, and the gods began to disappear, sending Percy out of his deep trance of thought. Some left immediately, others glanced at some around them before flashing out as well, and others shark down to human size and walked toward Percy.

"Talk to you soon, Percy!" Aphrodite called from her throne after most of everyone had left before she too disappeared in a flash. The demigod gave a weak smile and turned to Artemis, already knowing that she would be angry.

"We'll talk later as well, Perseus." Artemis said in a dangerously calm tone. Percy gulped and nodded vehemently as Artemis rested a hand on his shoulder and teleported them back to Purgatory.

Percy's mind was still racing with questions when they appeared inside his cabin, surrounded by the other Hunters. Percy bit his lip and grinned hesitantly before he turned toward the glowering goddess of the Hunt.

"Is it okay if I go Iris message my sister?" Percy asked politely. Even with Artemis in her young adult form, Percy was slightly taller than her, but it didn't stop him from feeling like he was looking up at her in the moment.

Thankfully, the goddess nodded, but not before giving him a look that told him he couldn't avoid the subject forever.

Percy nodded gratefully and scurried into his bedroom before closing the door behind him. Fishing a golden drachma from his nightstand and conjuring a mini-rainbow with his powers over the mist (the moisture mist, not the magical Mist), Percy sat on his bed and quickly created an Iris message that showed Helen on the beach at Camp Half-Blood, drawing in the sand.

Simply the sight of his little sister drawing blissfully in the sand beneath her was enough to make Percy smile.

"Helen!" Percy called, causing his sister to tense up and look around wildly for the source of the voice. She finally located the Iris message behind her and Percy was proud to say that her face instantly lit up in a wide toothy smile.

"Percy! What are you doing?" Helen asked with a wide grin.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Percy asked with a shrug. If it was possible, Helen smiled even wider.

"It looks like you're Iris messaging me from your bedroom." Helen stated. Percy raised an eyebrow at the oddly spot-on observation.

"Then you would be correct." Percy said. "So, how's my favorite sister doing?"

"I'm your only sister, Percy." Helen rolled her eyes and took a handful of sand before letting it drain out her fist.

"That doesn't mean you're not my favorite." Percy grinned. "But seriously. Anything new with you?" Helen smiled at Percy's enthusiasm, happy that there was someone she was genuinely happy to talk to at any moment of her day.

"Not really. Will said I'm getting pretty good at archery though. He said I'm already better than you'll ever be." Helen said. "And Clarisse said that with the rate I'm improving, I could get to your level of swordsmanship."

"Do they only compare us over there or what?" Percy asked, smiling at Helen's obviously proud expression. Helen shrugged gleefully and suddenly raised an eyebrow.

"What about you? Any particular reason you're calling me now?" Helen asked. Percy shook his head, knowing what Helen was thinking.

"I'm fine, Helen. A little tired, but fine. Just a lot going on, that's all." Percy said. "And can't I just want to see my little sister?"

"No, you can't. I'm supposed to annoy you to death every time we talk." Helen joked.

"Eh, maybe we'll get to that in a couple months. For now, I enjoy our conversations enough to Iris message you weekly." Percy said.

"Weekly?" Helen repeated. Percy nodded and smirked.

"Unless you want to see me more." Percy said. "I want to know what's going on in my little sis's life. I want updates and all the new gossip at Camp."

"No you don't." Helen said with a smile. "But I love you too." Percy smiled and nodded before he blew a kiss toward the Iris message.

Helen smiled and caught it before she threw the invisible kiss over her shoulder. Percy gasped in mock-hurt and put a hand over his heart before he wiped an invisible tear that was streaking down his cheek.

He didn't know what had gotten into him. He hadn't acted this goofy, this free in a long, long time. Maybe it was the innate feeling of freedom and lack of insecurity he felt around Helen. Whatever it was, he didn't care. This feeling of not caring what he was doing, just being himself and what he knew he should be, this was something he wanted to preserve.

"So, you're okay? You don't need anything?" Helen asked. Percy smiled to himself and shook his head.

"I just really like talking to you." Percy admitted. Helen's smile grew wider and she looked like she wanted to hug her older brother through the Iris message.

"Well. We can talk later then. Just Iris message me at anytime, but I have to go to the Dining Pavilion right now." Helen said. Percy nodded in understanding before he blew another kiss. This time, Helen caught it and stuffed it into her jeans pocket.

"Alright, I'll see you later lil sis." Percy said. Now Percy understood what compelled Apollo to annoy his sister as much as possible. It was just too enticing to resist.

"Bye, Perce." Helen waved goodbye with a wide smile before she swiped through the image and severed the connection.

Percy's grin never left his face even when he was left to stare at his wall.

A knock at Percy's door made Percy blink and turn around to see Piper leaning against his door frame, lips twisted in a smile and eyes twinkling with joy.

"She's cute." Piper commented.

"Yeah. She's great." Percy said. he sighed, and slowly came down from his high of happiness before he properly realized that Piper was at his bedroom door. "What can I do for you Piper?"

"Well…" the daughter of Aphrodite sighed and nodded, as if she was psyching herself up to give him an answer. "Have you visited our friends in the Underworld recently?"

That question caught him off guard.

He knew that he wasn't the only one to visit them from time to time, but he was by no means expecting any question similar to Piper's.

"Umm… not too recently. Why?" Percy asked, confused. Piper bit her lip in hesitation.

"You might want to visit them soon." Piper said. "Like, really, really soon."

"What?" Percy asked. "Why?"

'Just… just take my word for it." Piper pleaded. "Visit them soon."

The sincerity and pleading in Piper's kaleidoscope eyes were enough for Percy to accept her suggestion, and he nodded slowly.

"Alright. I'll visit them soon."

Little filler chapter, more action later as hinted at through the end of this one. Hope you don't mind the lull what with all the recent action, see you next time!

Review Responses:

Gibson1014: Jesus Christ, you basically reviewed every one of my chapters in the span of a day. Thank you man, having people binge-read my story and give feedback is and always will be an honor. For your review on the latest chapter, yeah, this story is basically a stockpile of shit that goes against the normal stuff in other pjo fanfictions.

KitKathy520: Hey, the superior could literally be anyone. Having an open mind and being creative with your guesses is half the battle. I hope that when it's all said and done and it's revealed who exactly the person is, you guys can look back and say that it makes sense. I don't want the person to come out of nowhere and just have nothing to do with this story, so I hope I do a good job.

TheFiction101: Hey, I mentioned Rhea in the Olympian meeting! Cool guess, and I'm glad you think there's a sort of grey area with this next threat.

Guest: One of the most well written stories you've read on pjo fanfiction? That's a high honor my friend. I don't know if I deserve it, but I'll take it. Thank you. And you've been reading fanfic for that long? Jeez. I've been reading for maybe 4 or 5 years with a break of a year or 2 in the middle, but I've never felt more confident and motivated in my writing until now. Just can't stay away from these compelling characters and stories I guess.

parallaxyt: Maybe straying away from Calypso's a good idea lol. And I get what you mean about Piper. It's been a while since I've read any of the books with her, so I might have to go back and reread the character, but I get what you're saying. And I think I've been called an evil author too many times than I can count. Don't know if that's a bad thing or not. Also sorry if there weren't many fluffy interactions in this chapter, this was a little filler chapter but there'll definitely be more down the road for you to enjoy.

Percyfanjackson: Love that you feel for the character and that you don't want anything to happen to him or Calypso, that means I'm doing a good job :)

Jontybh: Yeah, at this point it kinda feels like there's a cliff hanger every other chapter lol. And you'll get some Aphrodite and Percy fun soon, trust me.

TheFire44: There may or may not be an oath that has to do with his actions. I don't want to say too much, but I think the "her" bit was just a slip-up by Apollo, and we all know that if he was bound by an oath of the River Styx, he could still break it with minor to none repercussions (which is kinda stupid, but whatever).

PerseusPeverell092: Yeah, Apollo was kinda a cool part of the plot for me. I'll say more about that decision later, but I like how he's different.

HellRaiderS: Sorry about the kinda delayed reaction by the council lol. I kinda explained it through the dialogue in this chapter, but basically the gods could tell something was wrong, Artemis just called a meeting so that she could explain what exactly happened. If I'm being honest, I don't know entirely how everything works, so I'm kinda just going with what feels right / natural. Hope that's alright.