I would say that I couldn't believe we had won, but that wouldn't be the truth. I always knew we would win, I just didn't expect to live past it. As Nico helped walk me down to the surface again, I couldn't help but smile. Yes. Smile. With my arm missing, and the injury still bleeding, and my leg aching with ice and fire, I smiled. Luke lived and died a hero, and he would finally get the recognition he deserved. Yes, he was gone, but he wasn't alone. He was a leader, leading the fallen into the riches of Elysium with pride, knowing that he never failed his quest. I couldn't be more proud of him, or happier for him.
He saved me. Everyone did. Had it not been for the music of Camp Half-Blood, I would be dead. With my grin widened, Nico looked to me, expectantly.
"Thank you." He almost froze in the spot.
"What-"
"Thank everyone." I allowed the darkness to retreat from my skin, showing my human form. That change turned all of the heads of the camp, even the hunters. "Had it not been for everyone that sang, I would be dead. I owe my life to you all." Percy and Annabeth looked to each other, then to me.
"You already gave it to us." My happiness at the feeling of it all finally being over was overwhelming. I held Nico closer to me, which he didn't protest to. After a moment of the other demigods agreeing with the Kelp head, Nico had me face him.
"Let's call it even, Jack-o-Lantern." I grinned again, and allowed Nico to adjust his grip on my wrist. My arm was draped over his neck so I could lean on him for support, and his other arm was wrapped around my torso to hold me closer to him. Trying not to put any weight on my mangled leg, I hobbled around as he more carried and dragged me than supported my journey.
A day later in the infirmary, Will was running around, quite literally driving everyone crazy with his determination to give everyone a check up. At first, I laughed with Nico when Will asked if I would heal faster with or without the lights on. However, I grew more concerned for my half-brother when he got bitch slapped by one of the Hunters for trying to treat Thalia. Nico had escaped unscathed, just exhausted, and he stayed with me. The camp was a mess, with hardly enough space for everyone. Nico and I stayed in the infirmary, so that Will could keep me under watch, and because there weren't enough beds in the Hermes cabin for both of us.
Percy and Annabeth had visited a lot too, and I told them all about my time spent in training. All while Nico never left my side, usually asleep and curled in to my good side as I kept the blanket from sliding off his shoulders. It was nice; having someone there for me. I'm sure he felt the same. Will had cleaned up the stump where my arm used to be and mummified my torso, but couldn't begin to do anything about my mangled leg. I had slept after the battle, which Will said I was exhausted from, but didn't account for me being nocturnal, and when he went to check on it the next day, it had been cleanly amputated. A small note was at the stump of my kneecap where an amputation was fully healed.
Hey, Kids
I'm not supposed to be doing this right now, Zeus doesn't want me passing notes during meetings, but I thought that the least I could do is help out a little. Don't get me wrong, my sunshine of a son is more than capable as a healer, but even I wouldn't be able to mend 40 breaks, irreversible tissue damage, and shattered bones without major deformities and a mortal lifetime of physical therapy. Maybe if you're extra bright for me, I'll see if I can convince Hephaestus into making some cool gadget legs!
Dad
Will was shocked, at first asking why his father would choose to heal me out of everyone, and then regretting his wording. That's when the shock hit us both again.
"Will, you're my half-brother." And then hell broke loose. Not literally, of course. Nico would have prevented that. Will had immediately dropped his tray of delicately placed supplies and ran his hands through his hair.
"Of course! It explains how the campfire song healed you; Apollo is the god of music and healing, so the music healed you! And the light- Apollo is also the god of light and truth! It's why you're always honest, and the whole light thing makes so much sense!" Beside me, Nico had merely grumbled about waking him up before I bluntly told him that Apollo was my father. He looked over me for a moment longer, seeing the light underneath my human skin, and just shrugged before going back to sleep.
In about a day's time, the whole of Camp was welcomed to visit Olympus ...what was left of it, anyway. Once Dionysus arrived with the invitation, all campers were scrambling. Nico and I stuck together, and I let him support me as I hopped to get out of the infirmary. Having lost my entire left arm and my right leg from the knee down, even crutches were a struggle. That's when one of the Hephaestus kids saw me clinging to Nico and ran off in the other direction. Nico thought it was because no one had seen us outside the infirmary since the battle, and our auras were majorly different from the auras of Olympian demigods, but little did I know that the entire Hephaestus cabin rushed to make me a peg leg in 5 minutes.
They returned, and helped secure it for me to walk on. It was metal, and still wet from having been heated and then cooled in water. It did allow me to walk, though, which I was grateful for. I only then realized, when I caught the Ares kids staring, that I had no shirt on. The bandages covered so much of my torso, that I hadn't even felt the welcoming breeze roll across my shoulders. Percy laughed as he walked past, and went to grab me a shirt from his cabin. I swear it was on purpose that he handed me a bright cyan muscle tank top with dolphins on it; not exactly my style. Nico helped get it over my head, and then we walked up to meet the gods in Olympus.
Once there, Chiron ordered everyone but a few select demigods and myself to stand with their godly parent. Nico sent me a knowing smile before turning to stoically stand beside his father. It hurt knowing that Nico wasn't getting the recognition he deserved, but I was going to leave that argument for another day. He and his father stood off to the side from the Olympians and the rest of Camp Half-Blood, always outsiders. Myself, Percy, Grover, Annabeth, and Tyson-Percy's half brother and the leader of the cyclops army, were called to stand before the gods.
"The aftermath of the second Titan war has reached its close, but not without the necessary aid of these select heroes." Zeus' voice boomed through the destroyed hall, but instead of my past responses, I simply grinned to myself. "Luke Castellan, demigod son of Hermes, Hero of the Great Prophecy, was personally carried away by the Fates. The tragic loss of our allies amongst us are guaranteed peace in Elysium." As if I were holding a breath, I sighed with grateful relief. I was glad that Ethan and Selina were at peace, even after all they had been through.
"Today, the gods of Olympus shall reward these heroes for their service." I was surprised at that. Not once in my lifetime had I expected anything in return if I made it through this war, yet here I was. "Tyson, son of Poseidon, you have been promoted to General of the Cyclopes army with your father. Grover Underwood, satyr of Pan, you are named Lord protector of the Wild, and have earned your place in the Council of Cloven Elders. Annabeth Chase, demigod daughter of Athena, you are now the official architect of the new Olympus. Perseus Jackson, demigod son of Poseidon." As Grover, Tyson, and Annabeth all radiated their happiness, Percy and I awaited our turns.
"The gods of Olympus wish to offer you immortality, and become a God for your heroics." My jaw would have dropped to the Underworld and I would have hugged Percy if I had 2 arms. Something told me that Percy was different, though. He never followed the rules, and I doubted he would now.
"Lord Zeus, I decline your offer." Silence filled the skies, but Percy remained confident in his actions. "May I propose, in place of my own immortality, that you, and the Gods make an oath?" When Zeus didn't respond, still dumbfounded that someone had turned down the chance to become a god, I nudged the fish head's side, urging him on.
"I thank you for the honour of your offering, but I cannot accept it. I want to live a normal mortal life with the people I love, no matter how short it may be." The looks on Poseidon and Athena's faces when Percy held Annabeth's hand almost made me laugh. Almost. Percy looked at me, and then at Nico. "I wish for all half-bloods to be treated as they should be. No child of a god should feel abandoned or be outcast when they don't have to be. We should not feel that we do not belong because we are left unacknowledged, or do not have a cabin." I could sense Nico's heart race, but didn't dare look back. Percy is such a selfless idiot, I love it.
"I propose for you all to swear on the river Styx: no half-blood should be left unclaimed after their 13th birthday; demigods of Hades, and minor gods shall have their own cabins at camp; no child should be left abandoned; and friendly Titans should be freed." The god of the sea looked immensely proud of his son, and the unclaimed campers of the Hermes cabin were bouncing on their feet.
"I swear it on the Styx."
"I swear it on the Styx."
"I swear it on the Styx."
The 12 Olympians all swore their oath on the river Styx, and the campers were all ecstatic. I had forgotten about my own turn until Zeus softened his gaze to look at me.
"Isorreth-" Zeus realized that almost everyone was unaware of the my full name, so he tried again with a smile. "Seth, child of Nyx and Apollo, you are the embodiment of balance, and the mortal god of dark energy, and are granted free travel across all 4 realms." I stared at Zeus, not believing what he had said. A minor god? Did Zeus know what he just said!? Percy pulled me close to him, and Annabeth, Grover, and Tyson joined in with a group hug.
"I- how... What?! But-" I stuttered stupidly, still bewildered. My bewilderment only grew when Zeus nodded with a smug look in his eyes.
"There is no choice here, Isorreth. You've been this way the entire time." My eyes widened more and more, trying to conceptualize what I was hearing.
"We praise you, as heroes of Olympus." The gods and demigods cheered, joy filling the air. As demigods hugged each other and slowly flowed back to Camp Half-Blood, a few stayed and remained among the rubbles of Olympus. I saw Hades speaking with Nico, Poseidon with Percy and Tyson, and Athena with Annabeth. With all of the courage I could muster, I limped over to my father. He looked to me, turning away from his conversation with Hermes and stood before me.
"I'm so proud of you, Isorreth." He stood many heads taller than me, and I still just stared in disbelief. Minutes passed, and I didn't know what to say. Didn't know how to say it.
"Why?" I didn't know what I was asking specifically, but recieved an answer either way.
"Not even you can defy the Fates, Isorreth, although you've come very close." I continued to stare. It still hurt, knowing that he watched my life break me down, but in the end, it's what saved the world. I finally understood. As if reading my thoughts, he softly put a hand on my arm, firmly gripping it. "We should talk, sometime. After this blows over a bit, I'll teach you some archery tricks. I've always wanted to." Despite the urge to remind him that I lost an arm and a leg, my heart wasn't ready for fatherly interaction. I turned away, only to see Zeus standing behind me. Naturally, I backed up, but because of my new peg leg, I stumbled onto one knee.
"Seth." He greeted, offering a hand to stand. I once again ignored it, and adjusted the strap on the prosthetic.
"Zeus." I responded. Trying not to sound cold towards what I know guess was my king, I tried to joke a bit, "or would you prefer if I called you Grandpa?" Aphrodite giggled behind Zeus, who had his arms crossed, but she was shushed by Hephaestus before the King could turn around. Realizing what I had done, I took the ballsy move against him. "What'r you gonna do? Strike me again?" I half faked a wince as Hephaestus and Hermes watched the exchange in awe, "kinda repetitive, don't you think?" I realized that Zeus was someone who I shouldn't mess with, but now with a godly title under my belt, and my role in saving his ass, I thought I'd push my self-imposed limits. Waiting to either be banished from Olympus, or just getting kicked out, I took the chance and continued my smug look. Finally. Finally. I could just be the messed up teenager that I am. No more having to be the hero, or accepting that I had to get beaten for the greater good. I can just be a kid for once. Y'know, a kid that's a god.
"You should know that you are still mortal, Isorreth." His scowl didn't have an ounce of malice or irritation, if anything, he was happy. I saw Hermes' eyes widen in disbelief, and Apollo chuckled at his side, nudging and saying that's my kid right there to the more mature Olympian. Zeus rolled his eyes at his sons, and brought me to look out over the destroyed hall from where his throne was. "I don't hate you, Seth." His solemn honesty shocked me to the point that I checked to see if he had actually shocked me with electricity. He then chuckled. Zeus chuckled. Behind us, I heard my father rambling to his brothers, Hermes and Hephaestus, while I tried to believe anything that came out of the King's mouth.
"Then why..?" Why try to kill me 3 times with an attack that could have killed hundreds of mortals?
"I needed to test if you were strong enough. Not even the master bolt can destroy a soul, let alone the soul of a titan as powerful as Kronos." I nodded in understanding.
"Didn't I pass the first test by surviving?"
"Despite what some say, mortals don't always grow stronger with age."
"Then why did you act like you hated me?"
"I needed to see who you would side with." With that, I snorted. He looked to me, seemingly appalled by my lack of manners. Oh well. I can blame that on Apollo's absence if need be. The Olympians standing behind us all widened their eyes as I scoffed at their king.
"Are you stupid?" the words tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop them. Realizing what I said, I considered apologizing with 'I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it', but settled on 'oh well, better go all in.' "What I mean is that I was very close to going against you." Zeus still wore unmasked shock at my lack of respect for him. I turned away, saddened.
"Nico, Luke, and Percy were the main reasons I fought on this side." I noted that most of the Olympians were listening from behind us, but kept explaining. "Nyx sent Eris and Nemesis to train me to kill you. They lied to me, and used my anger to their advantage. Eris trained me, using my night vision to hide from you. Once you told me they lied, and once I found out Apollo... I was just angry at everyone. I was tired of trying to be against the world, and I couldn't think of anyone else I had to fight for other than the half-bloods." Zeus' gaze softened, and he nodded in understanding.
"I'm sorry, Seth." My heart couldn't take that. Zeus sounded so... genuine. He didn't sound like he was lying, and maybe I was just being gullible, but it sure felt genuine. I nodded. I wasn't ready to say It's okay, or I forgive you. After a few moments of silence, my father put a hand on the small of my back, turning me around to face him. The 12 Olympians along with Hades were watching the scene play out, none of their children present. Apollo kept his hand on my back, which I actively tried not to pull away from. Zeus turned to see what they had to say.
Hermes' mature and respectful tone was evident, "How do you know Luke, Balanced One?" I blinked at how he addressed me with a tip of his head, respectfully. Then, I remembered to answer his question.
"My dreams put me out of my body, like a ghost, but not dead. He was there on the island, while Kronos had complete control over his body." Hermes grimaced, and nodded. "I could see him in the waking world, but only in my normal form. He was blind in slight darkness, but we only had each other for all that time. He's a hero." My voice caught in my throat and Hermes nodded. Hades stepped forward slightly and the other gods all backed away, causing a glare to spread from him to the Olympians. I sent a 'really?' look to all of the Olympians as well, trying to stand by the King of the Underworld.
"And Nico?" Hades' voice was much less emotion filled than Hermes or Zeus, which didn't surprise me after knowing Nico. "You 2 seem... close." I grinned, recalling our first meeting with each other.
"That time I shadow travelled in early morning?" I looked to Zeus, knowing he would understand when I was talking about. He nodded, and I continued, "I was really worn out from over training. I told the truth, that I needed a break for a moment. Turns out, Nico did too. We met the day after the Battle of the Labyrinth, didn't kill each other, became friends, and made promises." Hades gaze hardened as he thought of his son. Pointedly, he avoided Zeus' eyes at all costs. "We were the only kids of the Underworld that we knew of, we have some similar powers, and can understand each other better than anyone else. He's like a brother to me, Hades. I'm not stealing your son from you." My urge to glare at Zeus when he looked off to the side or temporarily blind him was strong, but I resisted. It seems that Hades was doing the same, and he nodded to me, almost gratefully.
The gods and myself were all content for the time being, before I stopped an arrow from flying through the gap between metal beams in my prosthetic. Another arrow was literally javelin thrown at me by my father with the end covered by a yellow smiley face. My father laughed, shooting paper arrows at me and urging his fellow gods to join in. Once realizing that the arrows were harmless, I stopped blocking them and catching them to stare at my father in disbelief. How am I related to such an idiot? And how is he a god? How am I a god? Soon enough, Hephaestus chucked a spare wrench at him to get him to stop. Zeus dismisses me, and I was approached by Aphrodite and Hephaestus before leaving.
"Honey, you've gotta work on your outfit a bit." I almost choke on my own air as Aphrodite prods at my clothing; correction: Percy and Will's clothing.
"Uh..." Luckily, Hephaestus turns to his wife, pulling her prying hands away from me.
"My love, they just lost half of their limbs, they can have one mismatched day." He gave me a sympathetic look, but seemed overall helpless to keep his wife away from me. Before I knew what was happening, the love Goddess was dragging myself and her husband with her, away from the other Olympians.
I blinked, and then I was standing on a pedestal like a mannequin on display. Aphrodite was lounging on a couch, looking over me. Speaking of, my torso was wrapped entirely in bandages, and everywhere else had stitches or more bandages except for the thigh of my amputated leg.
"Hubby!" I was wide eyed at hearing one god call another god hubby. "Do make their leg accessory grey, would you? It would really bring out the outfit." Looking down, I saw myself in a light grey tank top which converged at the neck to show both of my shoulders, one bluntly ended and one extending to my stitched arm. Will's basketball shorts were replaced with black military cargo pants, and my shoes became brand new black running shoes with white highlights and orange laces. One of the legs of the pants hung loosely around the prosthetic, but what startled me more was the sudden feeling on top of my head. The goddess of beauty put a mirror in front of my face to show that she cut down my hair to what it was before my training, but with of orange-brown dyed tips on the black strands of my bangs.
"Alright, I've made the skeleton, but if you want a more natural look to cover-" Hephaestus walked back in holding a grey mechanical prosthetic before freezing at my new appearance. I gave him a look saying please help me and he got the message. "Aphrodite, my love? Could we have a moment alone to replace the appendage?" His excuse was easy to recognize, but Aphrodite nodded, rushing out the door to wherever this was. "I'm sorry for the sudden changes. My wife has the best of intentions." He sat me down to roll up the pant leg and replace the prosthetic. This one was really comfortable, as if there wasn't anything there at all, and the weight felt the same as a normal leg.
"Thank you." I was quiet. Shit-talking Zeus was a lot of disrespecting the gods for one day, and I had done plenty of that already. The deformed god just looked at me with a smile.
"It's the least I can do for a hero of Olympus." I remembered breaking his fall while we were fighting Typhon, and smiled with him. After he showed me how to take it off and put it on, I thanked him and shadow travelled my way out of there. Being around Aphrodite scared me more than being around any other god, by far.