AN: This is the rewritten chapter. The previous chapter, 'Inside the Infirmary', has also been rewritten. I hope you are okay with this story, now. Review!
Time: A Few Weeks Later
Percy was happy to say, his girls had been assimilating well with Nyx, Styx, Eris and Nemesis.
Surprisingly, they understood where he came from. To ensure his survival, they had to enter the goddesses.
The harem bond, on top of the domain bond he shared with the four Dark goddesses, constantly fed him with godly power. It was almost as if he was hooked onto a continuous supply of nectar and ambrosia. It was intoxicating, and addictive.
Hestia, of all people, was the first one to extend a friendly hand to them, befriending Nyx. Although it was to be expected of the hearth goddesses, the goddess of hope, to befriend the Dark Primordial of Night. And then, Cynthia had come close to Nemesis, though they still shared a somewhat rocky relationship.
Styx was still acting aloof, much like Athena, though Percy could see Aphrodite cracking through to her. It was ironic, the goddess of love befriending the goddess of hatred.
And Eris was getting close to Sydney, of all people, and the duo was now a trio- Sydney, Eris and Angela were always seen together, save for when they were in bed.
And then, there were the adorable Little Big Three, who were enthusiastically teaching the four ancient immortals how to play their favourite video games.
Onto other matters, yes, the four Dark goddesses were now part of Percy's harem. He had missed the entire ritual, being out for an entire two weeks.
But he was right in letting them join. They were much better suited to healing his godly diseases than Hestia or Calypso. Also, he was getting better with leaps and bounds now that he no longer had to support twenty girls. Since the four were also connected to him through their domains, each of them had to support only four girls each.
And it was not like the girls were constantly drawing on his power, they were much better now. Percy was also much healthy, something that Calypso remarked on.
Gone was the frequent nightmares, the sickly pale shade his skin assumed during the day, the dark bags due to lack of sleep. Right now, nightmares occurred only twice or thrice every day, and almost never when he was awake. He could sleep well, most of the time.
He also had greater control over his powers, and his insanity and anger management issues were also going down, luckily, with the stabilisation of his immortality.
Nobody outside the twenty-four girls and one man on the tropical island of Ogygia knew about the newest additions to Percy's harem.
But everyone admitted, allowing the three goddesses and one Primordial into the harem, without consulting them, was one of the best decisions Percy had ever made.
Apparently, there had been several shouting matches and dirty glares thrown while he was still out, but the fact that he was safe, had acted as a bandage to tie them all together.
So, right now, Percy only had to stay alive to keep them happy. A great feat most of the time, but right now, he thought he could pull it off.
He sometimes wondered how they had... just decided to join his harem. All of them, for that matter.
Did they truly love him? He thought they did, their actions told him all that he needed to know.
Did they just agree whenever it was brought up? Or was it the result of a long, drawn-out, complex thought process that Percy would never be able to follow?
He didn't know. Neither did he want to. Girls were complex beings- Annabeth had been, and they are, too. Curse the gods.
Well, ultimately, the twenty original girls in his harem- demigods, goddesses, a Titaness and an Oracle- had had a much longer period than he had originally stipulated- two weeks, instead of three days- to make their decision, whether they wanted to leave or stay.
And they stayed. All of them- his harem remained intact, and things were just as before, when he was just flirting with the girls, enjoying their bright blushes and the like. Albeit, now he had four new additions to flirt with, and he was much healthier, with almost nothing wrong physically, and improving mentally.
Apparently, they had done something on Artemis' idea- obviously with good intentions- but things had gone out of hand, and he had ended up in the hospital bed. Again. And the moon goddess was sobbing, inconsolable, and would break down crying and apologizing whenever she saw him, despite his consolations that everything was alright, nothing had happened, he was alright.
He had a tough time remembering what had happened, what he did. His memories were interspersed with periods of blank, hours wiped off his brain, and he recalled nothing.
It was the same as what always happened with Athena. She would stary speaking, and after some time, he would invariably blackout, only to discover that he had almost destroyed Ogygia, almost killed his harem, and himself, and discovered some new powers in the process. Nobody bothered to explain any more, and he was left to piece together what had happened.
He got where they came from, but it was still irritating.
At least this time, none of the girls were put in much danger. He would willingly put his body through a meat grinder if only to appease his girls.
Where was he before Artemis somehow wriggled in? Yeah, even Athena and Drew had chosen to stay. While the latter said nothing, the wisdom goddess said, "It's my decision, isn't it, Perseus? I have my own reasons for staying, reasons I'm not compelled to share with you."
He had just shrugged. "Your choice."
Ultimately, one afternoon, at lunch, Calypso finally explained what was happening to him, and why he had been attacking them so frequently before his Dark side stabilised.
"Well, we all know that you have a wide variety of mental diseases. Anger management issues, PTSD, abuse and neglect, abandonment issues, etc. etc." He stated at her with dull eyes, making her fidget uncomfortably in her seat. The Titaness stuttered, "Wha-what I mean to say, is that whenever someone, even one of us, attacks you verbally, you get defensive. It is a natural defensive reflex, and it is good that you still retain it. If you had absolutely lost every sense of self-preservation, I would have given up all hope of curing you without long, prolonged treatment over several years."
"Normally, your immortality should have stopped it, but since you are the god of Insanity and Nightmares, it might have been having an effect on your mental stability. Gods show after-effects of their domains. It's like how Ares is always angry because of his domain of war, or how Athena is intelligent because of her domain of wisdom. Dionysus as a god of wine, is perennially drunk." He did not feel like asking how she knew all that when she was imprisoned on Ogygia for millennia. He had seen worse things.
"Since you are the god of Nightmares and Insanity," she repeated, "It might be preventing you from recovering from PTSD or your... partial insanity." She hesitated at that point, and Percy understood. He knew that he had no shred of sanity or cohesive thought processes within the dark, swirling chaos of his shattered mind.
Everybody understood that part, her hesitation spoke more than words.
"Your immortality is getting in the way of your healing, Percy, and as such, you'll never be completely well." She summed up.
Percy spoke for the first time during her explanation. "And why did I..."
"I'm getting there, Percy!" Calypso said, exasperated at his impatience. "So, as I was saying, having Nyx, Styx, Nemesis and Eris in your harem is beneficial for your health, as they have similar power signatures, and if what you explained to us the other day is any true," she spoke, referring to the bonds shared by the Dark Council, "they feed you godly energy. So, basically, it is like you'll never run out of energy as long as they are alive. Accepting them into your harem means that you have five power sources to draw from. It's basically the same thing that we tried with Artemis, but this time, we had a shorter way as they already fed you their power. We only had to increase the inflow."
She took a deep breath, "And the episodes that you used to have... they are basically violent nightmares you had. Whenever you get defensive, your Dark, godly side takes over, and I think we all agree that it is violent. You view us as dangers to yourself whenever you are stuck in such nightmares... it's like sleepwalking. You think you are fighting enemies, Titans or monsters, when you are actually fighting us."
She got slight tears in her eyes. "It is not your fault, Percy. It is a basic defensive reflex that you have no control over." She took a shuddering breath, before continuing, "And now that you have more power available, your Dark, godly side is getting stabilized, comfortable in your body, and calmer. So, in a nutshell, the fact that the four joined the harem, means that you will no longer have such episodes, and will be calm, most of the time. We should thank them for this." She looked up at the four.
Styx was looking smug, while Eris and Nemesis were blushing adorably, trying to hide themselves as everyone looked at them thankfully. Nyx was not paying attention, locked in a fierce game with Ruby on her new handheld console.
The Primordial was addicted to video games, now that she was introduced to them.
Percy grumbled beneath his breath. "And they never think of thanking the one who took the decision."
Thalia smacked the back of his head. "Shut up, Percy."
Piper suddenly grinned evilly at him, before turning to Rachel, who was serving everyone ice cream. "I think we spoil him too much, what do you say?"
"We say not to give him ice cream!" Everyone else chorused, going along with the flow. Surprisingly, even the new Dark goddesses, who were still getting accustomed to living in a harem with twenty others, added to the cacophony, having gotten used to the little pranks and jokes everybody played on each other.
Rachel smiled at Percy in apology, though her bright green eyes shined with mischief. "I'm sorry, Percy." She began keeping his bowl back, when the Dark god, his eyes wide, jumped at her, grasping her slim hand tightly in his larger paw, not allowing her to keep the bowl back. Everyone laughed at his antics.
"Rachel! You won't not give me ice cream!" He gaped at her, his eyes wide and slightly teary as the Oracle laughed at his obvious distress.
These were thoughts of the past.
The present was pleasant, and peaceful again.
It was midday, again, and everyone was eating ice cream, again. It was the standard dessert after a filling lunch on the tropical island, in the cool of the air-conditioned dining room.
Someone had had the brilliant idea to install curtains in front of the sliding glass door, to block the scorching heat of the sunlight filtering in, on the tropical island. That, coupled with the air conditioning, kept the crowded dining room cool. The room was large enough to fit all of them, sitting around a massive round table on the cool, marble floor.
The room was dark, slightly illuminated by the little sunlight escaping the blinds. Even in the darkness, everyone was visible, shining white teeth and eyes glowing in the darkness. Those with golden, blonde hair shining in the darkness were visible. Creamy, pale skin glowed in the darkness, Artemis enough to illuminate her corner of the room.
A lazy smile played across Percy's lips, his dark sea-green eyes shining like two shadowy emeralds, as he glanced around the room, surveying the room as he clutched his bowl of chocolate ice cream tightly in his hand.
"What are you looking at, Percy?" Reyna asked from beside him.
He smiled softly to himself, unseen by the others in the room. "I'm looking at how happy you all are. This is a far cry from the tense, chaotic drama I had to face earlier."
"Hmm... true are the words that you speak, o all-wise, omnipotent Dark god." Athena agreed, making him elbow her with a scowl on his face.
Athena laughed at him, clutching her arm as she cracked up at his indignant expression. Her laughter was infectious, and soon, the entire room was laughing at the Dark god.
Slowly, a small smile broke through Percy's lips as he leaned down to Reyna's ear. "When was the last time you saw Athena laugh?"
She smiled back up at him. "Things are getting better."
He smiled, catching Thalia choking on her ice cream as she laughed at him. Artemis banged her lieutenant on the back, cracking up herself, making Thalia gasp and choke.
Percy laughed at her misery.
Hestia snapped at him. "You shouldn't laugh at others, Percy."
He looked at her incredulously, feeling betrayed. He looked back at Athena, then Thalia, then Hestia, shrugging his shoulders as he continued to stare at her in disbelief.
Hestia blushed bright golden at his implications, and her bright gold was as visible as Artemis' silver skin.
"Are you guys having a good time?" A head popped in through the curtains covering the glass door. Percy nearly had a heart attack at the head with no visible body.
Dirty blonde hair and blue eyes shining mischievously told everyone who it was.
"Hermes," Artemis stated, "What are you doing here?"
"I came with your stuff. Some... interesting stuff I saw, in several of your things."
Ruby squeaked indignantly. "You were not supposed to go through our stuff, Lord Hermes!"
He looked at her incredulously. "How was I supposed to pack everything up if I don't go through everything individually? Don't worry, your underwear is untouched."
"Hermes," Artemis started calmly, "If I ever find out that you went anywhere near any of our underwear, start counting down what few seconds you have with your precious genitals."
While all the girls were bickering with the god of thieves, Percy had more important things to attend to. He quickly glanced at where Eris, Nemesis, Styx and Nyx were sitting, relieved to find them not there. They had somehow managed to escape without being noticed by the messenger god. The fewer people knew about them being in his harem, the better. Especially the loose-lipped messenger god.
He let out a sigh of relief, intending on getting Hermes out of the room as soon as possible. "Now, Hermes, if you can just follow me outside, and stop leaking all the cool air of the room to the hot air of the island, I'll be much obliged."
Accordingly, he followed the messenger god outside.
Percy gulped.
Of course.
Hermes, being the god of mischief, just had to pack everything together into an enormous, ten-foot-tall, rectangular box threatening to burst at any moment.
"I nearly broke my back getting this here." He groaned, and for emphasis, rubbed his back.
"You could have just... I dunno, brought it separately, perhaps, in smaller boxes?"
Hermes ignored his sarcastic remark, instead bringing out his phone. "I should have charged you more, but fine! First, and only, time discount for you, Perseus."
Percy's mind was elsewhere, "Hey George! Hey Martha! Got some new, juicy rats lately?"
The snakes wriggled to life.
"Perseus! We hear you are a god now! Congratulations, our favourite demigod!" Martha said.
"You are our favourite demigod only because you fed us tasty rats." George corrected, but nodded his head, nonetheless. "Good job, anyways."
"There is no 's' in anyway," Athena muttered absent-mindedly, standing beside Artemis, in the shadow of the enormous box of personal stuff for the girls. Everyone was open-mouthed as they stared at the package.
"Soo... do you want me to unpack it for you?" Hermes asked, keeping George and Martha away.
"No!" All the girls shouted together, frantically waving away the god.
Hermes groaned, "I was hoping you would, Percy..."
The Dark god smirked at him. "Why do I feel like it would charge more? I think I will do it myself..." He waited for a moment. "You gotta listen to your girl- girls, man."
Hermes' eyes twinkled mischievously. "Suit yourself."
Without another word, he flashed away.
"Umm..." Percy scratched the back of his head sheepishly now that the messenger god was gone. "How do we get this inside?"
"Not we, you," Thalia smirked at him, booping his nose before she strutted in, swaying her hips enticingly as she teased him. Percy growled at her. The daughter of Zeus was just begging to be spanked.
Hestia smiled apologetically at him, before she headed off to the cool refuge of the dining room.
"Hey, guys!" Percy waved his arms, stopping them in their tracks. "I just realised something!"
Mentally, he had to give Hermes credit for coming up with such a tricky plan. "Hermes packed everything together... sooo, I can't really deliver it all to you if I don't go through your stuff personally. And you also need to be present to claim your stuff... I've got a feeling nothing will be labelled."
"What?!" Almost everyone shouted, eyes wide, then, together, they shouted at the sky, as if cursing him, "FUCK YOU, HERMES!"
Percy could swear he heard the messenger god laughing at the trick he pulled.
"Absolutely not!" Artemis protested vehemently, shaking her head and making her auburn curls bounce.
Percy grumbled, "Why are you all trying to be so secretive, anyway?"
"Because a girl's gotta keep her privacy from a male, even if it's you, Percy," Atalanta explained softly to the childish god, blushing slightly when he stared hard at her.
"Fine!" He threw his arms in exasperation, "You all do it yourself! See if you get any help from me!"
Phoebe nodded her head sagely. "That would probably be for the best."
"And I will finish all the ice cream!" He added, trying to get them to expose what they were hiding from him.
Even that threat failed to crack their staunch determination to hide their stuff from him. Even Thalia stood still when he announced that he will be eating all the ice cream, glaring murderously at him, though her lips remained tightly shut.
Slowly, a teasing smirk broke out on his face. "Even if I can't see your stuff, the other girls will. I'm sure sooner or later, I'll know."
No desirable reaction, though several of them blushed, looking at each other in embarrassment.
Percy played his final trump card.
"I know you are trying to hide your Percy Jackson merchandise from me. Percy Jackson pillows, my stolen t-shirts, boxers and sex toys."
He grinned widely when everyone, including Hestia, Artemis, the Hunters and Athena, blushed furiously at his words, protesting and denying his claims vehemently.
Even his own little sisters were not spared.
And he ducked to save himself from the things thrown at his head, and raced back to the safety of the house, followed by Thalia's angry shouts of "I'll sell your head as merchandise, come back here, stupid Jackson!"
AN: This time, I promise a 100% that there will be no more fights within the harem. Alright? Alright.
Next chapter- Hestia goes on a date!
Keep calm and CR7!! Keep calm and LM10!! (Messi)