Life after saving the world
Annabeth's P.O.V
I recalled the events of today as I laid in bed, looking at the ring on my left hand.
I couldn't sleep because I was too busy grinning to myself at how lucky I was.
~~4 hours earlier~~
Percy and I were travelling up to the 600th floor of the Empire State Building. I'd finally finished redesigning and constructing Olympus as I saw it in my mind's eye and I wanted Percy to see the finished article. I noticed something was a bit off with him tonight he had a nervous energy around him that I hadn't seen in years.
"Everything okay Seaweed Brain?" I asked him.
"Yes Wise Girl, I can't wait to see your Olympus now it's all complete." He said offering me a smile. I've known for a while that I cannot live without him, after everything we've been through together, that smile still makes my heart jump.
"I can't wait for you to see it, I hope they like it" I said.
"Wise Girl how could they not like it?! I've seen bits and pieces through this project and even then it looked amazing. I'm sure the Gods will love it." He said and squeezed my hand reassuringly before his lips pecked me on the cheek.
We finally got to the 600th floor and we stepped off into Olympus and not to toot my own horn but I'm really proud of it, and I've worked so hard on making all the little things just so. Tonight the Gods are being presented with the newly rebuilt city for the first time. My Gods, I hope they like it.
Percy and I walked hand in hand through the city until we reached the new thrown room where my mother was waiting for us.
"Mom, you're early the presentation isn't for another few minutes" I said.
"Annabeth, I am so proud of what you've accomplished here, I wanted to tell you before everyone else arrived" she said and then added "hello Percy" my mom and Percy kind of don't get on but since he'd helped save the gods several times now she was giving him a little more slack.
"Hello, Lady Athena" Percy said offering her a warm smile. He was always nervous when my mom's around and it definitely explained his behaviour in the elevator.
"Shall we get started then?" My mom asked and I nodded Gods I was nervous and for my mom to say she was proud of it too I just couldn't find the words.
The Gods appeared in the throne room one by one until they were all present. I looked at Percy nervously and he nodded reassuring before letting go of my hand.
"My Lords and Ladies welcome to your new Olympus" I said and I gestured for them to have a look around. I was particularly proud of the throne room each throne was shaped or decorated to honour the power or sacred animal of the god or goddess who sat in it. For example for Lord Zeus the back of his throne was shaped like a lightning bolt with a special compartment for his master bolt with special protections so it couldn't be stolen by someone who was not of his bloodline. (Didn't want a repeat of the last time that happened - even though it had set Percy and me on the path to where we are now). Lady Hera (as much as I didn't like her) had a ring shaped back to her throne - it was that or a cow and I seriously doubt she'd have appreciated the cow. Though Percy had said while I was sketching that the cow would have been funnier and I did agree. I had a couple of favourite thrones though- one of which was Artemis', as the goddess of the hunt the back of her throne displays many animals in a totem pole like fashion, there was a bear, a dear and a rabbit to name a few. My mother's was another, shaped like an owl.
"Impressive work Annabeth" Percy's father said to me.
"Thank you Lord Poseidon" I responded and I noticed Percy was not next to me but having a conversation with my mother which, was very unexpected.
"I particularly like the individualism you've put into each throne, the conch shell is exquisite and you included the protection for my trident." Poseidon said to me "I think Hades is particularly fond of his skull shaped throne as well."
I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks I'd added an extra feature to Poseidon's throne. "Thank you, did you notice the extra feature to yours?" I asked him.
"I did" he said "very clever adding the sound of the ocean"
"Thank you, I have to admit Percy helped with that feature" Poseidon smiled at me knowingly.
"You truly have stolen his heart" he said and it's not very often that I speak to the Gods and never about my love life.
"Erm thank you?" I said starting to get a little uncomfortable. Poseidon seemed to realise and said "And I mean that in a complimentary way, you bring out the best in him". I mean it was embarrassing to talk to him about but I appreciated him saying it all the same. The truth was Percy did the same for me.
I looked around the throne room and I couldn't see Percy anymore and I wondered where he had gone. As if reading my thoughts Poseidon said "he's out in the gardens". I thanked him and excused myself before walking out of the throne room and into the gardens of Olympus.
I found Percy by the water fountain he was watching me as walked over to him. He had a smile on his face and twinkle in those sea green eyes that I loved so much. I knew by now that he was up to something I just wasn't sure what it was.
"Hey how come you're out here?" I asked when I finally got to him.
He didn't answer me right away but instead offered me a smile and got down on one knee. "Wise girl, you designed this place to be permanent to last the ages." I could feel the heat rising to my face. "When I look at you and everything we've been through I feel like together we're building something else that's permanent" he said and he stopped talking long enough to take a box out of his pocket. "Will you marry me Wise Girl?" He asked and he opened the box the ring was so unique. It was gold with a diamond set in the middle; it was the diamond that drew my attention it was shaped like a tiny owl, my mother's sacred animal.
My heart was racing "of course I'll marry you Seaweed Brain". Percy stood up and kissed me before he placed the ring on my finger and as I looked at it I noticed something about the band. There were blue tridents etched into the gold of the band, I only noticed as he put it on my finger. "Percy it's beautiful" I said staring at the ring on finger.
"I'm glad you like it" he said "it took me ages to press that diamond into an owl, Tyson helped me set it in the imperial gold and he also helped me set the blue coral in the band without melting it."
"You made the owl yourself?" I asked, and as I asked some of my memories of the past week came back to me of Percy looking exhausted and frustrated and also wet, which as a son of Poseidon was not something Percy was often. "You cracked it on Wednesday didn't you?" I asked.
"Yes" he answered both of my questions his forehead leaning on mine. "I didn't think you'd noticed, at least I was hoping you hadn't."
"I knew you were working on something I didn't know what, I'm starting to put the pieces together now" I said.
"I had a lot of help" he said "Malcolm, Tyson, my dad, mom, Paul and your mom" he said I was surprised when he mentioned my mom.
"My mom helped?" I asked and he gave me that goofy grin that I loved so much and he nodded.
I asked how he'd worked it all out and we sat by the fountain while he filled me in.
Percy's P.O.V
She said YES! Man I'm a lucky guy; she's going to be my wife. I felt myself smiling like an idiot but I didn't care, nothing could ruin this moment for me.
I thought about all the work and effort I put into the proposal. I'd used the power of the sea to create an owl shaped diamond. It was possibly the toughest thing I have ever tried to do. The amount of pressure required to create a normal diamond was draining but to shape it into an owl during creation (especially as it wasn't my father's sacred animal) was almost impossible.
~4 weeks ago~
I had gone home to talk to my mom and Paul about what I was planning to do. I knew they would approve, they had always loved Annabeth.
"Percy, what a lovely surprise, is Annabeth with you?" My mom asked as I entered my old home.
"Hey mom" I said giving her a hug "no just me today, I wanted to talk to you about something"
My mom frowned but nodded and we sat at the kitchen table. "Where's Paul?" I asked.
"He's on a training course" my mom said "what is it that you want to talk about?"
I looked into my mother's eyes and smiled "I want to ask Annabeth to marry me, and I need your help to design her ring, I have an idea of how I want it to look but I can't put it onto paper. Annabeth is the designer not me" I said kind of embarrassed that my drawing skills were so rubbish.
"Oh Percy! Of course I'll help" and she smiled at me knowingly.
"Do you think she'll say yes?" I asked her, and I know it sounded silly after everything Annabeth and I had been through but I really wanted this.
"I do" my mom said "now tell me how you want this ring to look and we'll get it sketched out"
So I told my mom that I wanted it to represent the two of us and our godly sides because that's what had brought us together originally. I told her about the owl diamond idea and the coral tridents on the band of imperial gold. My mom sketched making a few adjusts where I needed them.
"Percy, she's going to love it" my mom said "do you have her ring size?" She asked and I told her that I did. I thanked her and asked her to say hi to Paul for me as I had more stops on my list today and I needed to make it back home before Annabeth realised I had taken a day away. Gods, I hoped I could pull this off.
My next stop was Annabeth's dad's house; Blackjack took me to the front door. I knocked twice before Mr. Chase appeared. "Percy, is Annabeth okay?" He asked.
"Yes, sir she's back at camp, she's fine" I said, he visibly relaxed and invited me in.
"What can I do for you, Percy?" He asked as we entered his home.
"I was hoping to get your blessing" I said nervously "to ask for Annabeth's hand in marriage"
"How traditional" he mused "yes of course, you have my blessing Percy" he said.
"Thank you sir" I said rubbing the back of my neck nervously I then asked "any idea how I might win Lady Athena's blessing? That's my next stop"
"You are very brave to ask for her blessing with your fathers rivalry" he said and smiled "I do believe however that you have managed to persuade her you are worthy of our daughter, and I hope she'll give you her blessing also." It wasn't exactly the answer I'd been hoping for but I appreciated it all the same. I thanked Mr. Chase and left for Olympus.
This was going to be the hardest part of the trip because Annabeth was due up to Olympus at some point today and I was praying that I wouldn't bump into her. Once I got to Olympus I went to the throne room and I prayed to Athena. It didn't take long for her to appear before me.
"Perseus Jackson" she said and I bowed before her.
"Lady Athena" I said
"Is my daughter ok?" She asked me.
"Yes Lady Athena, but she is the reason I stand before you today" I said plucking up all the courage I had to ask before I chickened out "I would like to ask for your blessing to ask for Annabeth's hand in marriage" I tried to sound determined and strong but Annabeth's mom could be very frightening when she wanted to be.
"It is traditional for you to ask the father for the daughter's hand" Athena replied.
"Yes, it is and I have. But, I would also like your blessing if you feel I am worthy of it"
She pondered that for a moment.
"Fredrick gave you his blessing didn't he?" She asked and I nodded in response, she sighed "I'll admit that I did not approve of your friendship with my daughter, but you turned down immortality for her and followed her into Tartarus. I believe that you would do anything to see her happy. Normally the godly parent does not get asked for permission, usually because the demigods that live this long have chosen to accept immortality" she paused and I wondered if I was going to have to go through a quest designed by Athena to prove I was worthy of her daughter. "You do not do things in the traditional way Perseus, but you make my daughter happy. You may have my blessing"
"Thank you, Lady Athena" I said and she looked at me for the first time in an approving manor.
"Tell me, how you plan to go about it" she said to me so I told her I wanted to do it when she reopened Olympus officially because she's worked so hard on it and I showed her the ring I wanted to create for her. "You've put a great deal of thought into this proposal, you do realise I hope how much of your power it will take to form such a diamond?" She asked.
"I do, I've been practicing with normal shaped diamonds trying to build up the strength. I'm trying not to have to ask father to help me, it's something I want to create on my own" I said.
"I do not get involved with matters of the heart normally. Love is not rational or logical. But, I can see what my daughter sees in you, you are truly pure of heart, Perseus." Wow her blessing and a compliment I must be on a roll I thought.
"Th- thank you Lady Athena" I said completely shocked. And she flashed out of the throne room leaving me in stunned silence. I checked my watch, if I hurried I'd be able to talk to Tyson and try the diamond formation for the first time. I whistled Blackjack and we set off back to camp Half-blood.
~ 2 weeks before the proposal ~
I walked back into camp drenched and exhausted - I felt completely drained. Annabeth's half brother Malcolm was waiting for me on the beach.
"Any luck this time?" He asked and I shook my head.
"No, it still looks like a deformed diamond- I will try again tomorrow" I said, accepting a square of ambrosias that Malcolm handed to me.
"You'll get there I'm sure" he said, I had always liked Malcolm he and Annabeth were the closest of the Athena children and he'd been covering for me while I snuck away to try and create the diamond.
"I just hope I manage it before I run out of Carbon" I said, I'd been trying for two weeks to form this diamond and I wasn't improving very quickly, it was frustrating. Tyson had already set the band with the blue coral tridents; all that was left was the diamond.
"Annabeth knows you're up to something" Malcolm said to me "she doesn't know what, but she knows something's happening"
"Gods, I was an idiot to think I could do this without her finding out" I said "you know I can't lie to her"
"I do, but I have a plan" he said and he proceeded to tell me that the Hunters of Artemis were in cabin eight for the night and that maybe Annabeth could be distracted by a night with her best friend. I thought it was worth a shot so I thanked Malcolm and ran in the direction of Cabin eight.
I bumped into Thalia as I approached the cabin she was on her way somewhere.
"Whoa Cus slow down" she said "I was just in my way to find you"
"You were?" I asked "why?" She looked at me with her steely gaze and I knew Annabeth had spoken to her.
"Why don't we take a walk and discuss it" she said to me and I agreed.
We walked towards the beach before we started our conversation.
"Okay" she rounded on me "what's going on? Annabeth says you've been sneaking off to do something and you won't talk to her about it"
I sighed I had hoped I'd been a little better at covering my tracks but I could see that that was not the case.
Thalia's P.O.V
~2 weeks to proposal~
I'd received an iris message from Annabeth and she was concerned. She told me Percy had been getting Malcolm to cover his camp classes and that he was going somewhere in that time but she didn't know where or what he was doing and he obviously wasn't talking to her about it. Now I knew that there was no way on this earth that Percy would every cheat on Annabeth and deep down she knew that too, but Percy was the love of her life and she couldn't bear the thought of losing him.
"Thals, what if I'm not enough anymore? What if now we've decided not to quest anymore he's got bored of me?" She asked.
"Annie that would never happen! I don't know what he's doing but I know as do you that that man is completely and totally I love with you and he would never do anything to hurt you. Look we're passing through camp over night tomorrow, I'll talk to him get to the bottom of it" I said.
"Thanks" she sighed "Gods I feel so stupid for doubting him, he's just never acted like this before"
I shook off the memory as Percy and I walked down to the beach. I had chosen a time that I knew Annabeth would be at Olympus so at least she was distracted.
"Okay" I said rounding on him "what's going on? Annabeth says you've been sneaking off to do something and you won't talk to her about it"
He sighed "how upset with me is she?" He asked and I could see the thought that he might have hurt her caused him pain.
"She's concerned that now you aren't off saving the world together that you might be bored of her" I said as we walked down the beach.
"What?! No! I could never -"he started and I put up a hand to stop him.
"I know that and so does she - but you have to admit you've been acting really strange lately"
"I wasn't -"he started "I wish I was better at covering my tracks" he sighed. And sat on the sand and shook his head. I sat next to him and waited for him to explain. "I'm sneaking off, for her" he said and sighed again. He looked out at the lake and before continuing pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to me.
I opened it and looked down at the sketch of a ring with an owl shaped diamond.
"I have been sneaking off to try and form the diamond for this ring" he said "I plan to ask Annabeth to marry me. I would never ever hurt her" he shook his head again. "Gods, I'm an idiot. The diamond is taking a lot more time and power to form than I had hoped; when I sneak off I'm taking sacks of carbon to the bottom of the ocean to form this diamond. I'm not going to lie to you Thalia I had hoped I would have had a bit more success with it by now. I just hope I can form it in time" he said.
"Wow" I said "Percy she's going to love it, you know that right?" I asked
"I really hope so" he said and he told me everything from asking Annabeth's mom and dad for their blessings to why he was coming to find me at Cabin eight.
Now I know as a hunter of Artemis I had renounced the ways of love but this soppy dope of a cousin of mine, warmed my heart. The effort he was putting into this when Annabeth finds out she's going to be so giddy.
"You're such a romantic" I said to him.
"Thanks" he said "I should have known, I'd never be able to hide this from Annabeth without her knowing I was up to something"
"Don't worry about that" I said "leave it to me, you just focus on getting that diamond right" I said.
"Thanks Thalia, I appreciate it" he said smiling again.
"Of course" I said - we carried on talking until the conch horn sounded for dinner. Percy went back to the Greek village (an idea he'd brought from Camp Jupiter to here) to eat dinner at his house. I went back to cabin eight to join the hunters for dinner only to find Annabeth waiting on the steps for me.
"Hey!" She smiled as she hugged me "it's good to see you in person" she said and I agreed I had missed my best friend.
"So do you fancy catching up over dinner at ours?" She asked me and I accepted the invitation and let my hunters know where I'd be if I was needed. We walked to the Greek village together as we spoke about her building Olympus, that she was almost done she was just finishing the throne room - honestly it sounded extraordinary.
"I would love to see the sketches for the throne room if we have time" I said as we arrived at her and Percy's home.
"Seaweed Brain? Are you home?" She called as we entered and I smirked as I knew he would be.
"In the kitchen Wise Girl" he called back.
This house was amazing I'd visited a few times since its construction. Annabeth has designed the whole village but this house had had extra attention obviously. She'd managed to combine the best parts of cabin 3 Percy's old cabin and Cabin 6 her old cabin. The outside looked very much like cabin six there was a stone carving of an owl over the door and a coral carving of a trident next to it. There was a salt water spring in the back garden for iris messaging and a room totally dedicated to books, scrolls and Annabeth's work. Really she had out done even herself on this project. As we walked into the kitchen I saw Percy had set a place for me already.
He saw Annabeth and walked over to her and gave her a hug and a kiss before pulling her chair out for her. It was very sappy. I pulled my own chair and sat before he got carried away.
"Do you want to eat without me?" He asked "y'know catch up?" He said "I'll stay in the lounge if so" he smiled.
"Do you mind?" She asked "Thalia's only here for one night"
"No not at all" he said smiling at her because he knew this was what she needed.
He picked up his plate and kissed her on the forehead before disappearing off to the living room.
"So..." Annabeth said "did you get the chance to talk to him?" She asked.
"Yes" I said "you've got nothing to worry about, he's head over heels for you."
She smiled and nodded, her spirit visibly lifted. "Did he say what he's been doing?"
Now I don't normally lie to Annabeth, ever, but this was a special circumstance.
"Just some project for his marine biology stuff" I said "something to do with an observation of something in their natural habitat?!" I said
"Why wouldn't he just tell me that?" She asked.
"I don't know - maybe he didn't think it was a big deal?" I said questionably, I knew she wasn't totally buying it but part of Percy's cover was that he'd be working on his paper in the lounge while we chatted.
"I guess you're right Thals" she said shaking her head " I'm sorry the stress of finishing the throne room must be getting to me, I left it until last knowing it would be the toughest to complete."
We chatted for a while longer before we went into Annabeth's study and she showed me the drawings for the throne room and the individuality of each of the thrones. I thought my Lady Artemis' throne looked great. She told me how Percy thought Hera's throne should have been a cow and I double over in laughter.
"Only Percy would manage to insult a god with their sacred animal" I managed to say between laughs.
"I know - I have to admit the thought was tempting but I'd rather not have cows following me around all the time again" she said.
"No" I agreed "that was bad enough last time".
We continued to catch up - I told her about our recent hunts and she told me about her collage work.
"Percy seems awfully quiet" she said frowning and got up and walked into the lounge. I followed her as I should be getting back to my hunters.
"Oh Seaweed Brain" she sighed shaking her head. Percy was asleep on the sofa with a half written report crumpling under his arm and a book on his chest. Annabeth walked over to him and removed the book and his paper placing them on the table next to him. She took a blanket out and placed it over him and kissed his forehead.
We walked to the front door and I gave my friend a hug.
"This was nice" I said "we should do it again next time I'm in the area" Annabeth agreed and waved goodbye before shutting the door as I walked back from the village to cabin 8.