(A/N Yay, time skips and filler nonsense!

Happy [belated] Birthday SSG1102!)

Percy

Some time had passed and he was seeing Estelle very little. He still sparred with Thalia, but his sister always made herself scarce. He didn't chase her, it wouldn't be fair to her and that would be a serious breach of respect towards Artemis. It hurt, but he finally accepted that she didn't want to see him. He wished he knew why though. Was it because of his death? Did she blame him for her nightmares? Did she hold his influence in their world against him? What was it?

Knowing he wasn't going to get any answers from Thalia's shield hitting his face, he focussed on the piece of his consciousness that was visiting Annabeth. She was having a bad day.

He watched Annabeth pace back and forth, muttering to herself and wringing her Yankee's ballcap in her hands. Ryan was purposely walking around New Rome with Grace while Annabeth calmed down.

"So, what happened?" he asked, even though he already knew.

"I've lived here for, what, twelve years?! And they still-" She cut herself off with a growl and threw her hat across the room where it silently hit the wall and fell anticlimactically to the floor.

Percy suppressed a sigh.

"I swear! If I have to explain that I was conceived and born in the same manner as my mother one more time-"

"You really shouldn't swear."

"-I'm going to put Greek Fire in a spray bottle and treat everyone like a cat!"

Percy busted up laughing, earning a glare from his friend.

"It's a good thing I'm here. Ryan would create that for you just to see if he could." She finally offered a smirk and he continued his earlier thought. "It's pretty easy to tell when you're just expressing, but some oaths can be held against you, even when you said them in anger. Strike that. Especially when you say them in anger."

"Sorry, Percy," she grumbled.

She didn't sound sorry. She sounded annoyed. She sounded like she missed being the one lecturing him.

He left the Philips-Chase residence in a bit more of a hurry than he would have liked. He was, by definition and heritage, a Greek god. Being in New Rome felt…off. Not necessarily in the same way that he felt off as a demigod when he'd joined the legion, but in a way that shook him to his core. He didn't feel like himself while among them.

He had been putting this off for nearly two years now, but he knew he would need to swallow his pride and discomfort and ask someone if there was something wrong. Should he be avoiding New Rome?

.

Percy

"Game night?" Styx scoffed, chuckling at his suggestion.

"Well, I wasn't sure how you and Themis got along, and I wanted to do something fun!" he defended himself.

"But game night?" she laughed. He bristled.

"What's wrong with a game night?"

"It's just so...mortal," she roared with laughter, the waters of her river bubbling.

"Dionysus plays pinochle with anyone he can find all the time."

"Yes, but he also used to be mortal." Her laughter had died to spontaneous chuckles.

"And what's wrong with that?" he demanded.

"Nothing, dear. I look forward to whatever you plan for Themis and I."

He blinked at her, surprised at the sudden shift.

"Will you be inviting anyone else?"

"Oh, uh," he scratched his neck. "I hadn't thought of it."

"Well, you must bring another to give us an even number, yes?" she said with a twinkle in her nearly black eyes.

He scowled, thinking this was a trap.

"And who should I invite?"

"Well, it's your game night."

"No, it's for us friends," he insisted. "Should I let Themis choose the one to even us out?"

"Oo, there's an idea!" His scowl deepened. She was usually lighthearted, yes, but this giddiness was unsettling. "Let us each invite another. Then we will have six."

"What are you playing at, Styx?"

"I don't know, you haven't told me the games yet," she laughed, making him roll his eyes.

"I guess I'll go ask Themis what she thinks."

.

Themis

"I'm...not sure," she told Perseus as he explained his idea of 'game night.' Yes, she and Styx got along, but they never really sought each other out. Each enjoyed their privacy and peace too much for that.

"It's no big deal. No pressure. I just- Well, I really appreciate the two of you and I...don't really know how you get along or if you have any private feuds. But I thought it'd be fun. If you don't want to then don't do it. I'm just glad for the time we do get together." He smiled at her and her heart warmed.

She'd be lying if she said she didn't think of him as a son. Strange, he'd been immortal for such a short time and she was already more attached to him than some of her own children. Though, perhaps that was his immortal role. He carried out judgment, similar to herself.

"I will consider it," she relented. "I make no promises."

"Of course. Like I said, no pressure."

"I might be more willing if it were only the three of us."

"Yeah," he scratched his neck in that mortal tic of his. "I'm not sure exactly what Styx is thinking, but she seems like she's up to something."

"Hmm," Themis chuckled. "Perhaps I will come only to keep an eye out for you then?"

He laughed and she was once again thankful that this godling had entered her life.

.

Percy

It was a bit...uncomfortable approaching the throne room. He didn't exactly have the fondest memories of this place, and frankly, just about every time he'd been here he was sent to his near death.

Well, he'd humiliated Zeus here too, so that was something it had going for it. But really, he wasn't sure he'd ever fully get over his mortal experiences in order to become more comfortable in his immortal form.

But he wasn't here to see the king of the gods, or his father, or anyone on the council. He was here to sit by the hearth.

"Percy," a young girl greeted him from the fireside.

"Lady Hestia," he bowed.

"And here I thought you'd forgotten me, as most seem to."

He cringed. Hestia was probably his favorite immortal and he'd be surprised if she wasn't severely offended by his neglect.

'I have not forgotten you," he assured her. "I simply did not know...how to approach you. Or if I'd even be welcomed."

"And why would I not welcome you?"

"Well," he began hesitantly, "at first it was just me thinking of all I'd asked of you as a demigod. Guarding hope is no small thing. And then I never checked to see that you were still attended, even if you were content with little attention."

"Mmm?"

"But then, well, after I didn't seek you out right away...I was kind of unsure of how to. And the longer I waited the more awkward I envisioned it. And now…"

"Now you're rambling and unsure of yourself?"

"Yesh," he muttered.

"I have no ill will towards you," she smiled. "I am used to such things."

"That doesn't make it okay," he grumbled to himself. Straightening up as she chuckled at him he cleared his throat and remembered why he'd come. "I'm actually here to extend an invitation."

"Oh?"

"My...mentors and I are having an evening together. Just to have fun and take a little time to be together. I wasn't entirely sure it was a good idea, because they each like their solitude, but they seem willing and I thought maybe you would enjoy the company too?"

She smiled at him kindly with an amused expression.

"Who are your mentors?"

"Styx and Themis. Though, they're each supposed to bring someone else too?"

"And what do they teach you?"

He hesitated. She still had that amused look on her face and he finally thought this encounter through. Sighing he bowed again.

"I have insulted you," he said. She raised an eyebrow. "They guide me as I pass judgment on broken oaths, but you have been an oathkeeper since there were words to swear by."

She chuckled at him and he just slumped his shoulders. He felt so stupid for not coming to her earlier.

"I am glad you didn't come, Percy. I would have wished to refuse you and at the same time would have desperately wanted to help. Keeping oaths is a precarious position that means you must have at least one member of the family upset with you at any given time. I do not miss those days of people swearing over my hearth and I do not envy you them now."

Percy sagged in relief.

"I will not, however, accept your invitation. I will attend at your hearth should you light it, but that is as far as I will go."

"Alright. Thank you. And I am sorry I forgot such an important part of your past."

"As I said, I am glad. Though, may I suggest who you should take in my stead to your get-together?"

"Of course," he smiled, glad there were no hard feelings between them.

Though when she answered he thought maybe she was seeking some interesting form of revenge.