The Broken Guardian

by Nightshade Guardian

A slightly darker take on the guardian of the hunt context. Percy is betrayed by almost everyone at camp and leaves what had been his home for the last six years and a chain of events unfold. Pertemis pairing maybe one other later in the story. I DO NOT OWN PJO OR HOO

28. Chapter 28: Donuts and negotiations

A/N: Hey guys, glad to see a positive response to my last chapter especially after I had been gone for a while. Like I said, wanting to get to chapter thirty before the end of the year so let's keep that momentum going with chapter 28, enjoy - Nightshade Guardian

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Percy POV:

I had just finished playing my guitar for the hunters and me and Diana were now on the edge of camp as I was considering which of my two options to try to get to mount Tamapalis, the current location of the titans base, Mount Othrys.

"So Percy, what is your idea? You did say you had a few options in mind" this was Diana who seemed curious as to what I had planned as I turned to face her

"Well, we have two options, considering that we can't flash over there due to it being the titans seat of power, and I doubt you would want me to carry you as I fly us there" I said and I could see her face blush gold at the thought

"As much as the idea is tempting" she said with a smirk "I would rather not have the denizens of my fathers domain tell him that they saw his maiden goddess daughter being flown across San Francisco in the arms of her guardian" she said and I looked at her in confusion

"Denizens of your fathers domain?" I asked, confused as to what she meant and she sighed

"Think about it, kelp head, you can talk to fish can't you?" she asked and I realised what she meant

"Wait, children of Zeus can understand birds?" I asked incredulously as I had never heard about this fact from either Thalia or Jason and Diana just nodded

"Yes, thankfully as I didn't inherit his powers due to being a goddess in my own right so I didn't get that particular gift as they aren't really considered wild animals, but there is a reason Thalia likes to listen to loud music. Apparently what we hear as chirping she hears as mundane and annoying conversations between the birds" she explained and I could sympathise with my cousin, hearing the fish could be annoying at times and that was only when I was in the water but birds were everywhere and I could imagine that would be a major headache

"Ok then, so sky travel is out?" I asked and Diana nodded

"Unless you have another option that doesn't involve you carrying me" she said and I smiled

"Funny you should say that" I grinned "How do you feel about pegasi?" I asked and she raised an eyebrow

"Since when did you have a pegasus? I've never seen you use one" Diana said and I shrugged

"Technically, he isn't mine but I saved him from Kronos before the second titan war and ever since then he has been willing to help me out, as long as I feed him stupid amounts of donuts anyway" I explained and Diana shook her head slightly but I could see she was smiling

"Is that why you made the donut comment?" she asked and I nodded

"Yea, Blackjack is a little bit of a greedy horse especially for long journeys but he has been invaluable over the years, I think he also helped Nico and Reyna move the Parthenos from what he told me, until Orion shot him in the ass" I said, chuckling slightly at the story but I noticed that Diana had frowned at the mention of Orion "Is something wrong Diana?" I asked and she quickly shook her head

"No, sorry. It's just thinking of Orion brings up some bad memories, I am sure you know the story or at least have heard of it" she said and I nodded

"Yea, I know the part about him joining the hunt as it's first, and only, male member back in ancient Greece after he impressed you with his skills and respect towards the hunters. However I also knew he eventually fell in love with you and Apollo, being the over protective brother he is, sent him insane and he slaughtered many animals which ended in his death at the hands of Gaia" I said, being very careful with my words and watching for Diana's reaction. She sighed slightly and nodded

"Yes, Apollo was worried he would convince me to break my oath, even though I only saw him as a friend and trusted comrade. I put him in the stars to remember his story. But it turns out he was not as good a person as I had once hoped, Gaia sent him to hunt down Reyna and Nico as they were transporting the parthenos back to camp, I had the hunters go and assist them but it cost a lot of members, even Phoebe fell at his hand" she said and I whipped my head around at this

"What did you just say?" I asked, thinking I must have heard wrong. Diana just tilted her head at me in confusion

"I said he killed a large amount of my hunters, including Phoebe, when they tried to stop him from interfering with Reyna's journey with the parthenos" she repeated before her eyes widened as she realised what she had just said

"But that can't be right, Phoebe is still alive and well as part of the hunt" I said, suddenly feeling very concerned as the same feeling I had experienced when we had briefly discussed mythologies returned. Diana looked almost panicked

"I know, but Artemis has the distinct memory of feeling her die along with other hunters, so what happened?" she asked before suddenly freezing in place. I went to ask what was wrong before I realised that everything had stopped moving, time was standing still and for once it was not because of me. I watched in fascination as everything then seemed to move backwards and then resumed as if someone had hit rewind.

"Since when did you have a pegasus? I've never seen you use one" Diana said and I stood there shocked, someone or something had managed to undo the entire conversation that had just happened, I wasn't sure that even I could do that. "Percy?" Diana asked and I shook my head, deciding to look into all of this later

"Sorry, think I zoned out for a moment, but yea, he technically isn't my pegasus but just one I rescued back before the second titan war and ever since then he has been willing to help out me and my friends, as long as we give him enough donuts" I explained once again, but leaving out the topic of Orion this time, and Diana nodded

"So that's why you made the donut comment back with the hunters?" she asked and I nodded

"Yea, Blackjack can be a bit of a greedy horse especially on long journeys. I've not actually spoken to him in a while, so we shall see how this goes" I explained and then closed my eyes and reached out to Blackjack like I had done many times before

'Blackjack? Can you hear me?' I asked, hoping that we were connected. I heard a whinny of surprise in my mind before a familiar voice could be heard

"Boss? That you?" it asked, seemingly in disbelief and I smirked slightly

'Who else buddy? I know it's been a while and I kind of vanished on you but a lot of things happened, feel like coming to meet me and giving me a hand while I explain things to you?' I said, hoping that he wasn't too angry with me.

"Alright boss, but you'd better have a good reason and even better donuts waiting for me when I get there" he said and I laughed slightly, gaining a strange look from Diana and I just shook my head, gesturing for her to wait

'Alright, I think I can manage that. Do you remember the Roman camp?' I said and I heard him whinny in surprise

"You're with the Romans boss? I thought nobody knew where you went, at least nobody I talked to did" he said and I felt slightly guilty for not contacting him for such a long time

'Not exactly, i'll tell you when you get here but I am sorry for not talking to you in ages, I'll make sure to have some donuts waiting for you when you get here' I said and I received a slight huff in return

"You'd better boss, make it two dozen sugar glazed and we are all good" he said and I sighed

'Alright, two dozen sugar glazed it is' I responded and there was a triumphant laugh in return

"Perfect, see ya soon boss. Happened to be in the area cause of some, business, I was looking into so won't be more than an hour" he said, his tone becoming slightly awkward and I could imagine what 'business' he meant so I just shook my head and turned back to Diana

"Alright, so our ride should be here within an hour but I now need to acquire two dozen donuts within that time, any ideas?" I asked and she chuckled

"There is a monster donut we could try then, shouldn't be too far away if my memory serves" she said and I raised an eyebrow

"How do you know where a monster donut is?" I asked and she looked down at her feet sheepishly for a second, something Artemis would never have done.

"Well, sometimes we don't want to hunt every night. We have visited a few stores over the years" she explained and I sighed

"Alright, I take it there is one somewhere in the city then?" I asked and she nodded

"Yea, about thirty minutes in the opposite direction to Othrys. Even monsters dislike going near there" she explained and I sighed

"Alright then, looks like we are gonna be taking option two after all" I said and she looked at me curiously

"Option two? What are you talking about?" she said and I grinned

"You don't really think I spent three years simply camping out in the wild all the time did you? I have a few places set up in different cities for when I need to stay there for more than a few days, usually when I was looking for demigods or potential hunters. Just so happens that I have one not too far away from here" I explained and she raised her eyebrows at me

"Wait, you have a hideout in the mortal world? How on earth did no one find you then? Hermes and Apollo frequent most of the major cities on their little nights out and would have run into you more than likely" she questioned and I just grinned

"Benefits of magic camouflage, I set them up after Hecate taught me some magic and, with the help of Hestia, I was able to link a few buildings to the same space" I explained and Diana just shook her head

"You are craftier than we gave you credit for Percy" she said with a smile and I just grinned

"Admit it, your impressed" I joked and received a glare from my goddess girlfriend along with a smile "Anyways, if we are going to go into the city, you might want to change outfits, you stand out a little in a silver toga" I explained and Diana nodded

"Fair point, one moment" she said and then flashed away elsewhere. A minute or two passed and she came back wearing some jeans, a silver t-shirt and a silver parka on top. "Better?" she asked, a slight golden blush on her face and I just smiled at her

"You look beautiful" I said, and I meant it. She blushed a bright gold at this then smiled back at me

"And what about you?" she asked "A bright silver trench coat isn't exactly subtle you know" she teased and I just smirked at her

"I know, that's why magic exists" I responded before activating one of the enchantments I had discovered when I was examining my new clothes a while ago and they began to shift and change. My vest morphed into a plain black t-shirt and my coat changed into a silver jacket while my trousers remained the same, albeit without all the straps and weapon sheathes. I looked pretty much like any regular guy, if rather tall and well built. "Shall we go then?" I asked Diana, holding out my arm to her, causing her to blush again but smile and take it

"Lets" she said happily and we started walking arm in arm down into the main city through the warm afternoon.

I was nervous about walking with Diana, especially as we had not actually met before other than that one time with the kiss, but she seemed happy like this and it brought a smile to my face as we traversed the streets. She noticed this and smiled back at me

"What is it Percy?" she asked and I just continued to smile at her

"Nothing, just thinking that this was a nice way to get to know you better" I said and she laughed

"You already know me through Artemis kelp head" she said and I shook my head

"No, I know Artemis. While you are both technically the same goddess, you have your own thoughts, your own feelings and your own personalities so I want to get to know you both so I can love you both the same" I said honestly, causing the goddess to turn a bright gold and hide her face in my arm which I thought was incredibly cute but decided against saying that as it might end up with an arrow or two being shot at me. Eventually Diana removed her face from my arm with a slight scowl

"When did you become such a smooth talker kelp head?" she asked and I chuckled slightly

"Sorry, I just said what I felt" I admitted and she just smiled before giving me a soft kiss. It was warm and I could taste cinnamon on my lips after we separated

"That was a compliment, learn to accept them. Now how far away are we?" she said and I just smiled and shook my head as we rounded a corner

"We are here actually" I said as we approached a side door that seemed to be connected to some sort of garage building and Diana narrowed her eyes

"This is your hideout?" she asked, seemingly underwhelmed and I just smirked as I pulled a set of keys from my pocket

"Just wait" I told her as I unlocked the door and stepped through.

Diana POV:

I didn't know what I was expecting when I stepped through the door. Perhaps a small room with a mattress and a fridge? Maybe something similar to his tent. What I was not expecting was to walk into what could be considered a penthouse apartment complete with a balcony, kitchen, living room and swimming pool with another room leading off that I presumed was connected to his bedroom

"Percy, what in the?" I asked, stunned at what I was seeing and he smirked

"I did tell you that I set this up with the help of Hestia right? Well, if you look out the balcony you might recognise where we are" he said and I immediately went over and stepped out onto the balcony and realised that it was now evening and the entire city below me was covered in twilight. I looked over to the right and realised that I was looking at the empire state building, we were in New York City. I turned back to Percy and saw a wide grin on his face

"Like it?" he said and I just smiled and shook my head

"How on earth did you afford this? Do you even have normal money?" I asked and his smile dropped slightly

"Well, turns out both mom and Paul had a rather significant life insurance policy taken out and I was the sole beneficiary. Combined with the fact that I receive the royalties from all of her book sales and I actually have a rather large amount of money stashed away even with this place, plus I still have a back up option after that" he explained and I gave him a sympathetic look

"Sorry about bringing that up" I said and he shook his head

"Its fine, you didn't know and besides, it helps me remember them and know that even now they are supporting me" he said with a sad smile and I gave him a soft hug, it was weird to do this of my own volition and not just remember it through Artemis but it was nice

"How much do you actually have then?" I asked and he shrugged

"Last I checked, my account has something around one million in it" he said and I gaped

"What?! That much?" I asked and he nodded

"Yea, the life insurance policies totalled to about a million between the both of them, and I received a large lump sum for the royalties as a sort of down payment and then get about a hundred thousand every few months after that, got quite a lot more in the year her death was released, death of an author apparently skyrockets popularity" he said with a sad smile "Mom was quite a successful novelist, she had a lot more than she let on but she was happy with what they had" he explained and I just smiled at the clear love he held for his parents even now they resided in Elysium

"As much as this is lovely, I don't think you just wanted to bring me home" I said and he suddenly blushed gold at this and coughed

"Uh, no. Not at all" he said and I just narrowed my eyes

"Something wrong Percy?" I asked and he tried to avoid my eyes

"Uh, nothing. Anyways, this way" he said as he opened a door to some stairs that led down

"Where does this go?" I asked and he smiled as we started walking down

"To option two, I did tell you that I had a back up plan if Blackjack turned out to be a problem" he said as we continued to descend the stairs. Curious, I followed him down into a large garage. When he flicked the lights on my eyes went wide at what was sitting there. In the middle of the garage was a black and silver motorbike, it was a sleek design and from the looks of it would be pretty powerful and expensive.

"When did you get that?" I asked, as far as I was aware he didn't know how to drive and he just grinned

"Back in my second year of going around helping demigods, when I first started setting this place up, I wanted to have a 'normal' method of getting around rather than anything divine as that might give me away. As such I decided to learn how to ride, and it was actually a lot of fun. After I passed a few tests I went and ordered this" he explained and I just raised an eyebrow

"I assume that this isn't one you could find in a regular store?" I asked and he shook his head

"Amazon special delivery, modified to fit any demigod's needs including increased fuel capacity, shock absorbent suspension and divine energy boosters" he said with a smile on his face

"Divine energy boosters?" I questioned and he nodded

"Yea, while it does run on gas as usual it can take a bit of divine energy and run it through the engine causing a burst of increased speed, designed to make a quick getaway from monsters when needed. The whole thing is built on a celestial bronze chassis and is a lot more durable than normal, it really does surprise me what those girls can come up with" he said and I just shook my head

"I take it this is your option two then?" I asked and he nodded

"Yep, faster than walking there and back. Hop on" he said as he walked over, opened up the seat and pulled out a black helmet and put it on.

"I do hope you have a spare" I said "I may be a goddess but even I am not stupid enough to ride one of these things without some form of protection" I was not wanting to crash and have to explain to Apollo how I managed to get injured. Percy just nodded and then walked over to a set of drawers that was at the side of the bike, opened one and pulled out a silver helmet

"Got one right here for you, hope you like the colour" he joked and I laughed slightly as I took it from him

"Why silver? You said you got this before you even came to the hunt" I asked, curious as to his colour choice and he blushed gold slightly

"I've always liked the colour silver, it reminds me of moonlight shining off the waves. Plus Thalia is a hunter so reminds me of sparky too" he said as he closed the seat and sat down on the motorbike. I pulled the helmet over my head and buckled it under my chin.

"Ready to go?" Percy asked and I nodded "Alright then, sit down behind me and hold on tight" he said and I gingerly sat behind him on the seat, suddenly feeling slightly nervous. He slowly rolled up forwards until we were just in front of the garage doors and then reached over to a dial on the side that had a ring with different runes etched into it and the names of different cities surrounding it, he turned the dial until the arrow on it was pointing at the name San Francisco and then nodded, pulled a set of keys out of his pocket and clicked a button, causing the door to begin to rise, opening up to the same street where we had walked into his apartment.

"Ready?" he asked and I nodded

"I think so" I said and while I couldn't see his face I could almost feel the grin as he slid the keys into the ignition and the bike rumbled to life under us.

"Hold on tight" he said and I wrapped my arms around him as I felt the engine hum beneath us as we rolled out of the garage and onto the road, the door closing behind us. He revved the engine and we sped off, the wind blowing past us as we raced across the roads. I felt a grin break across my face as Percy drove us across the city, driving like this felt exhilarating like nothing else I had experienced. After a while of driving I saw the monster donut sign in the distance and I tapped Percy on the shoulder, the speed at which we were travelling making communication near impossible. Percy seemed to get the message though and turned off into the parking lot of the store, turning off the engine and kicking the stand out so the bike could stand on its own before taking his helmet off and I could see the grin on his face.

"How was that?" he asked as I pulled my helmet off and replied with a grin

"I will admit, that was a lot of fun. Now let's go get your pegasus some donuts" I said and he nodded but then seemed to pause

"Can we even buy donuts here? I thought only monsters could" he said and I shook my head

"Technically, monsters and other divine beings such as gods and titans can also buy them because most monsters are not stupid enough to say no to a divine being who wants donuts" I explained, knowing from the past when I had visited, while not exactly friendly, most monsters were not stupid enough to attack gods. Percy just shrugged

"Alright then, lets see how much this will be" he said, stepping off the bike and holding his hand out to help me off the bike, I blushed slightly and took his help and dismounted the bike, handing him my helmet after

"Thanks Di" he said and I blushed again at his use of a nickname while he opened the seat of the bike and stowed the two helmets and pulled out a pouch of what I assumed were drachmas or denarii. He closed the seat again and walked over to the door and opened it. "Ladies first" he quipped and I just rolled my eyes at him and walked into the small room where a beautiful girl was manning the counter. She didn't look like a monster but as only monsters were allowed to work here I assumed that she was probably an empousa or some other female monster using the mist to hide her true appearance, she started talking in a bored tone as soon as she heard the door open

"Welcome to monster donut, how may we serve you today?" she looked up and froze at the sight of me, obviously not expecting to see a Roman goddess in the store. "Lady Diana, I do hope that we haven't done anything recently to earn a personal visit from an aspect of the goddess of the hunt" she said and I shook my head

"Luckily for you no, I was just accompanying my companion here who came to buy some donuts" I explained as Percy stepped in behind me. As soon as he saw the empousa at the counter he froze and similarly the girl behind the counter instantly paled. I frowned at this, Percy had met so many monsters in his time so why would he react to this one? My answer came as he spoke a single name, which was laced with fury and hatred.

"Keli" he said, unmoving but his fists were clenched and shaking. Keli? He knew this monster's name? That was odd, where had he met her before and why was she seemingly terrified?

"P-Percy? As in Percy Jackson?" she stuttered, her dark skin now appearing very pale as the mist hiding her began to fade and show her true appearance, complete with flaming hair and mismatched legs.

"Yes, why?" I asked, still confused as to what was going on but Percy answered my curiosity once again with a voice filled with fury.

"You killed my mom" he said and I froze. He had said that his mother had been killed by an empousa but what were the chances he would run into that same empousa here of all places? Keli was cowering behind the counter now, seemingly terrified of what Percy might do

"I-I was ordered to! Gaia made me do it! She made us all do it!" she said and this comment piqued my interest as I turned to the now very much revealed empousa

"What do you mean she made you all do it?" I questioned and she turned to me, still very wary

"She sent a bunch of us after each of the families of the seven, any of those that still had family left anyway. But after me, none of them even got close, because he was there to stop them" she explained, shakily pointing at Percy who I now noticed was glowing slightly and one eye had turned black with a golden iris, as if Perseus was taking control.

"Exactly, I slaughtered any of you that even thought about carrying out those orders" Percy said, fury still dripping off his every word which was echoed by a slightly more guttural tone "And I should do the same to you, I should boil you from the inside out, I should tear you limb from limb, over and over again until you never even think of reforming again!" he snarled, his voice becoming darker and his glow beginning to become brighter as if he was going to unleash his power. Seeing where this was going I stepped between them

"Percy, I understand your anger but remember we came here for a reason. So let's just get our donuts and leave before you reduce this place to rubble along with its employees" I said, hoping that I would get through to him before he caused a major geological event. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a handful of Drachma then tossed them onto the counter

"Two dozen sugar glazed" he said, the fury still evident but slightly restrained as his eye began to fade back to normal. Keli grabbed the coins without a word and scurried into the back, emerging moments later with two whole boxes of donuts which she placed on the counter and then ducked back down as Percy walked forwards and picked them up.

"Be thankful Diana was here, otherwise I would not be so lenient. If I ever see you again, I will destroy you so much that you will take a millennia to reform" he threatened and I could hear Keli gulp as Percy turned around and stormed out of the store.

"Th-thank you for your patronage Lady Diana but with all due respect we would request you do not visit again" the empousa said and I narrowed my eyes at her

"Rest assured, I will not. Because if I ever see you again, you will wish Percy was the one dealing with you. I would not be as kind as my boyfriend is, and if that little fact ever gets out into the world, I will personally hunt you down" I warned her as her eyes widened at what I just told her and she went as white as a sheet

"U-understood Lady Diana" she cowered and I walked out of the door to see Percy sitting against the motorbike shaking. I gently walked over and wrapped him in a hug from behind, trying to calm him down while whispering comforting words into his ear. After a few minutes I felt him stop shaking and I gently let go and walked around in front of him to see he had tear marks down his face.

"Are you okay Percy?" I asked and he slowly shook his head before unclenching his left hand to show deep gouges made by his fingernails digging into his hand and I winced at the amount of ichor flowing from them and dripping onto the ground. "Percy, please heal that" I said, concern in my voice but he just shook his head.

"The pain is helping keep me focused" he said in a quiet whisper "There are some bandages in the bike, just wrap my hand in that and we can go back to camp to meet Blackjack" he said and I nodded

"Alright Percy, if that's what you want" I said and he nodded so I opened up the seat to see a surprisingly large storage space inside with the two helmets and some medical supplies inside such as ambrosia, nectar and bandages. I grabbed a roll of bandages and gently began wrapping his hand, I wasn't a goddess of medicine but I had learned my fair share of bandages and wound treatments in all my years hunting and when I could tolerate Apollo long enough for him to give me medical advice. When I was finished his entire hand was wrapped in a few layers of bandages and then they wrapped around his wrist to keep them secured. I noticed that the ichor was beginning to stain the lower layers of bandages and hoped that it would begin to heal soon. "All done, are we taking the bike back?" I asked and he shook his head

"Not like this, would you flash us back to camp?" he asked and I nodded

"What about the bike?" I asked and he stood up and turned to the bike

"Home" he said, magic lacing the word and the bike just dissolved into mist. "Another little enchantment I added" he said, a small smile on his face "Its back in the garage" I just gave him a small hug and flashed us back to where we had been standing just half an hour earlier.

"Now we just need to wait for your Pegasus right?" I asked and Percy nodded

"Yea, he should be here soon. Actually, there he is now" he said, pointing at a black shape that was rapidly approaching from the sky and I gasped. True to his name, Blackjack was entirely black and was fairly large for a pegasus, looking to be about sixteen hands as he landed in front of me and Percy and whinnied some form of greeting at the son of Poseidon.

Third Person POV:

After Blackjack had touched his hooves to the ground and come to a stop he greeted the son of Poseidon

"Heya boss, been a while" he said and Percy cracked a small grin at the flying horses' antics

"Yea, sorry about that Black but I did bring an apology gift" he said as he opened up one of the boxes of donuts and held it out for the pegasus who happily began to devour them. After he had eaten the first box he burped, gaining a distasteful glance from the goddess watching him. And glanced hungrily at the second box.

"So boss, am I getting that box before or after your explanation as to why you up and vanished for years?" he asked and Percy sighed

"You get them now, I'm gonna give you the condensed version anyway as you'd likely just get bored halfway through" he said and the pegasus laughed

"Sounds like you still know your flying horse's boss, so what happened?" he asked as Percy opened up the second box and he began to eat them but slower than the first batch

"Long story short, stuff happened at camp and things didn't work out there anymore so I left, aiming to stay with my mom for a while and think about where to go but that didn't work out either, I found her dead. Monsters had killed both her and Paul" he explained and Blackjack reared up in shock and flapped his wings, causing the two immortals to step back slightly

"What?! Monsters got your parents boss?" he asked and Percy nodded

"Yea, understandably I wasn't in the best place after that but thanks to the intervention of some kind immortal family members I managed to keep going. I went wandering for a bit, helping people out and dealing with stuff which turned into going missing for around three years" he explained and by this point Blackjack had eaten all the donuts Percy had brought with him.

"Jeez boss, sorry to hear about all that. You said that was about three years right? You're still missing a year out, boss, so what happened there?" the pegasus asked and Percy took a deep breath

"That's when I ran into a few little hiccups which ended up with me getting a new job keeping the hunters safe. That kept me busy for another six months or so before more stuff ended up going wrong and we were forced into returning to camp. That pretty much covers all the important bits" he said and the pegasus looked at him in the eyes

"Right, and what about the part where you became an immortal boss? Or who the goddess with you is?" Blackjack asked and Percy raised an eyebrow

"I didn't know you could tell that sort of thing Black, but yea, I got turned into an immortal just before being sent to camp again and the goddess next to me is Diana, goddess of the hunt and pretty much my boss" he joked and the horse made a sound which suspiciously sounded like a laugh

"Boss has a boss, never thought that would happen" he joked before lowering his head towards the goddess in what could be considered a bow and she nodded her head back at him.

"Has he been caught up with everything now Percy?" Diana asked and he nodded

"Yea, everything important anyway thought I simplified it for him" he said and Diana nodded

"Alright then, is he willing to give us a lift then? We don't exactly have that much time left" she said, gesturing towards the sky which was beginning to turn a light orange as the sun was beginning to set, which meant there was only an hour or so before their window to get into the garden of the Hesperides would close.

"Where are you and your boss needing a lift to boss?" asked Blackjack and Percy turned back to him

"You able to get us to Mount Tamalpais Black? Shouldn't be too far from here" he said and the horse seemingly scoffed

"Easy boss, I can have you there in twenty minutes, plus that gives me time to get back to business afterwards" he said, causing Percy to pull a face

"What did he say?" asked Diana and Percy just shook his head

"You don't want to know, but he will give us a ride so let's go" he replied before placing a hand on Blackjack's side, ready to help Diana up, but the pegasus was suddenly covered in a silver-green glow before it died down. The two immortals looked at the pegasus and their eyes went wide, he was taller than he was before, nearly eighteen hands at a guess, and both his wings and hooves seemed to be made of some form of shining black metal

"Did you just get shorter, boss, or did I get taller?" Blackjack asked and Percy shook his head

"You got taller Black, not entirely sure why though" he admitted before Diana chimed in

"You've managed to turn him into your sacred animal I believe, that would explain as to why his wings and hooves are now made of adamantine" she said and Percy raised an eyebrow

"Adamantine? I don't think i've ever encountered that before" he said and Diana nodded

"You wouldn't, it's extremely uncommon, more so than any other divine metals. Not even I know much about it, you would have to ask Hephestus about it" she explained and Percy nodded

"Ok then, project for another time. If we don't set off now we are going to miss our chance" he said and Diana nodded as he swung his leg onto the now larger pegasus and held out his hand to help Diana up which she accepted with a smile. Once they were both settled on to the pegasus, Percy dug his heels in slightly. "Let's go Black" he said and the pegasus neighed in agreement before starting to gallop forwards and beating his wings before jumping and taking to the sky. They climbed higher and higher until the streets were but lines beneath them and then they levelled out, circled around once, and headed towards the mountain. Diana placed her hand on the pegasus' flank and could feel the muscles moving as they flew, the wings delivering powerful down strokes and the legs moving as if they were galloping. It didn't take long for them to reach their destination, maybe twenty minutes by which point the sun was starting to set across the horizon, they touched down on the sidewalk which was thankfully free of any pedestrians as who knows what the mist would have shown them. The two immortals dismounted from the pegasus turned sacred animal and Percy patted him on the side

"Thanks buddy, hopefully I'll be seeing you around soon" he said and the pegasus shook his mane proudly

"No problem boss, I'm off to see how the ladies like the new changes" he said and flew off, missing Percy shaking his head at the flying horse.

"Well then, been a while since we were here" Percy said, turning to face the entrance to the garden that he had once entered with Zoë when trying to save both Artemis and Annabeth. Diana slowly reached over and took his metal hand in hers

"Let's do this together" she said and he nodded as they both stepped through the doorway in front of them.

The garden was just as they remembered it, the grass shining as if bathed in evening light, the black marble stepping stones shined as they cut a path around the giant apple tree which bore a sweet smelling golden fruit and the flowers bloomed all around. As they entered, a single figure turned around and saw them and dropped the silver flowers they were holding.

"Percy?" their voice called out in shock and Percy turned to see who had called out and when he did, his eyes widened

"Calypso?" he asked, shocked, and Diana raised her eyebrows then quickly retrieved her hand before Calypso could see

"Percy! It is you! What are you doing here?" she asked as she rushed over to the pair and saw Diana with him and narrowed her eyes "Lady Diana, what a surprise to see you here" she said, curiosity in her voice and Percy smiled gently

"Hey Calypso, it's been a while" he said softly and she turned back to him with a smile

"That's an understatement! It's been what, nearly ten years by now?" she asked and he nodded

"Yea, about that by now. How has it been? I heard Leo sprung you off Ogygia" he said with a smile and Calypso nodded with a smile

"Yea, took him a while but he kept his promise. We are still working on that auto repair shop idea but it's been fun" she said with a smile on her face and it was clear she really did care for Leo but her smile turned into a frown as she rounded back onto Percy "But where on earth did you vanish to sir? Leo told me you went missing four years ago after trouble at camp, I can't say I was happy with him after he told me what had happened but he really did regret what had happened and wanted to make it up to you from what I could tell. Anyway, are you going to give me an answer?" she questioned, as she got up into Percy's face, causing him to back up slightly with his hands up, which Diana chuckled at.

"Sorry Calypso, a lot happened and I needed to deal with it so I was sort of hiding out in the mortal world a little and helping demigods here and there" he explained, causing the titaness to narrow her eyes

"Right, and now you show up here with the goddess of the hunt, in her Roman aspect no less, you are not telling me everything Percy so start talking" she said and Percy just sighed and held up his hands again, this cause Calypso to notice the bandages on his left hand. "Why is your hand bandaged? Did you hurt it?" she asked and Percy froze which did not go unnoticed. "Percy" she said, trailing off slightly with a hanging threat and Percy slumped his shoulders

"Ok fine" he said, his voice quiet "I'll show you what happened" he said but instead of unwrapping the bandages he slowly placed his hand on the side of Calypso's head

"Percy, what are you doing?" she asked and he closed his eyes

"Like I said, I'm showing you what happened" he said and his hand glowed brown for a moment as did Calypso and they stood there for a few moments before Calypso stumbled back and Percy put his hand down. Calypso just looked at him for a moment, a great sadness present in her dark eyes, before she ran forwards and embraced Percy in a tight hug

"I'm so sorry Percy" she said in barely a whisper but all three present could hear it as Percy hugged her back "No one should have to go through even a fraction of what you did" she said as Percy just stayed silent. Eventually they broke the hug and she grabbed his left hand gently and lifted it up, ichor now plainly visible on the bandages "You're immortal now? But why haven't you healed this?" she asked and Percy looked at the ground

"I did this to myself, the pain is helping keep me focused and level headed" he said and Calypso just looked at him again with sadness

"Why Percy?" she asked as he continued to look at the floor

"I saw the monster that killed my mother" he said and she gasped "I nearly lost it. This is stopping me from going back and tearing that store down over and over again until not even a speck of dust remains" he said and Calypso looked at him sympathetically but before they could say anything a roar sounded above them. Everyone looked up and saw a great bronze dragon slowly descending from the sky with a figure on its back

"It must be Leo" Calypso said and looked at Percy "I understand if you don't want to see him" she said and Percy shook his head

"You said he felt bad and wanted to apologise, if that is true then I am willing to listen to him. I owe him that" he said and both Calypso and Diana smiled at his words. Calypso then turned to face Diana

"Sorry if I was slightly ignoring you Lady Diana, I got slightly caught up in reconnecting with Percy here. Congratulations by the way" she said and Diana raised an eyebrow and turned to Percy who was currently rubbing the back of his head sheepishly

"Sorry, I basically ended up showing her most of the events up until our arrival at the Roman camp and some of our conversations may have slipped in there" he admitted and Diana narrowed her eyes at her guardian who quickly backed up in fear before smiling

"That's fine, I believe Calypso is able to keep a secret" she said and the titaness nodded

"I can do that" she said and the goddess nodded back at her as the bronze dragon touched down behind them and a skinny figure jumped down

"Hey baby, miss me?" he joked to Calypso before turning around and freezing as he saw both Percy and Diana standing there "Oh, sorry about that Percy, Lady Diana, I didn't realise you were here" he said and going to bow before Calypso stopped him

"Leo, I was just talking with Percy and I think you might have some things to say to each other" she said and Percy nodded

"Leo" he said, causing the smaller god to turn to him looking pale. "I know that Ryan influenced you, I know you were angry because forging was the one thing that allowed you to connect with people and I know that you felt awful about what happened. All I want to know is this, are you sorry?" he asked him and Leo paused before taking a deep breath

"Percy, I am so sorry for what happened and for what I said to you. I truly do regret what happened and I am sorry that we caused you to leave camp. Can you ever forgive me?" he asked, a rare tone of seriousness from the usually joking boy and Percy just smiled softly

"Leo, I was always willing to forgive you. All you needed to do was ask" he said and Leo breathed a sigh of relief

"Thank you Percy, and I suppose it's a bit late but welcome back" he said, holding his hand out, Percy smiled and took it but Leo's face immediately fell "Percy, why do you have a celestial bronze arm?" he asked and Calypso froze

"What did you say Leo? He has a celestial bronze arm?" she asked, seemingly in disbelief and he just nodded

"Yea, I could tell as soon as he took my hand, that isn't what a normal hand feels like and I've worked with enough of the metal to recognise what it feels like" he said and Percy sighed

"Yea, I forgot I left that part out, sorry Calypso" he admitted as he took of his jacket to reveal the bronze appendage to both of them and Calypso gasped

"What happened?" she asked and Percy took a deep breath

"As you both know, I was assigned as guardian of the hunt. What you don't know is that I have been its' guardian for about seven months by now, during that time there were a few major attacks and in one of them I had to fight off Gration solo. I managed to protect the hunt but lost my arm in the process" he said and both Leo and Calypso's eyes were wide.

"Jeez hermano, you really can't catch a break can you" Leo said and Percy just smiled as he pulled his jacket back on

"Unfortunately not, which is why we are here" he said and they both looked at him quizzically

"Now that you mention it, why are you here Percy?" asked Calypso "And why is Lady Diana accompanying you?" she asked and Percy cracked a grin

"Apart from being my boss and official supervisor, Zeus asked us to see to some business here while we were in the neighbourhood, do some negotiating" he said and Calypso raised an eyebrow

"Negotiating huh? Good luck with that then, currently it is just Koios here, he has been trying to rebuild Othrys since the giant war but hasn't managed much due to most of the other Titans who were not defeated in the war being in hiding" she said and Percy nodded

"Thanks for that, let's hope he has the forethought to listen to me" he said, making a small joke out of the Titan's domain and Calypso just shook her head and took Leo's hand

"Alright then, hopefully we will see you afterwards" she said and Percy nodded

"Hopefully" he said and both he and Diana began to walk along the black marble path.

Percy POV:

As we walked along the black marble path, we made sure to keep a wide berth from the giant apple tree which, as always, was guarded by Ladon. Just after we had passed the tree, we could see a figure ahead in the garden turn to us and I could almost feel the anger from here.

"We might want to be careful Diana" I said as I casually summoned Fotía to my hip "I think one of Zoë's other sisters might be rather angry at our presence" I said as the figure stormed towards us and Diana nodded

"I believe we can deal with them should the need arise" she said and I nodded

"I do not doubt that, however that might make diplomacy a tad more difficult so I would prefer to solve this peacefully if possible" I remarked just before the hesperide reached us

"How dare you show your faces in this garden, leave now or I shall have Ladon devour you" she hissed with anger in her voice but I stood firm and looked her dead in the eyes

"We are here to open diplomatic relations between the remaining titans and Olympus on official order from Zeus. I understand you may dislike us but we have a reason for being here" I calmly stated but this just seemed to infuriate her more

"Then let this be our official response. La-" she began but I simply froze her in time

"Listen here. I do not have the patience to deal with brats right now. I could have stormed in here and slaughtered every single one of you that remains, Ladon included, if I so chose. But I actually quite like not having to fight all the time so instead I have come with a proposition that will benefit both parties and am uniquely situated to do so because of who I am" I stated, my eyes turning solid gold at this point "I am Percy Jackson, lord of time, light and the tides. A surprising majority of my essence is composed of titan power and as such have a right to walk these grounds and no daughter of Atlas short of Zoë herself is going to stop me. She says hi by the way, resurrected recently and still didn't want to hang out with you, wonder what that says?" I said, my serious tone turning joking at the end before I just walked past the now immobilised hesperide and Diana walked with me. After we had left the daughter of Atlas behind us I let go of my time control and my eyes returned to normal.

"Well, at least you didn't end up killing her" Diana remarked and I nodded

"Yea, wasn't exactly peaceful but I think I got my point across" I remarked as I couldn't hear Ladon being woken up to eat us and Diana nodded

"One more obstacle left then" she remarked as we reached the bottom of the steps that lead up to what remained of the black marble palace with the mist still hanging heavy like a veil over most of it. I took a deep breath and began walking up, with Diana following just behind having summoned a bow to her hand and a quiver full of arrows on her back. Oddly enough, I noticed that she was just using a regular bow and not her true symbol of power, make that another thing to add to my growing list of side projects and investigations. It took us a good ten minutes of silent walking to reach the top of the stairs and we could finally see what remained of the once fearsome and intimidating black palace of the titans. All but one of the pillars that stood in the main room were broken and destroyed and the black throne that had once stood there was gone. What could be seen though was the figure of Atlas, still stuck holding the sky, which caused Diana to grin and walk over

"Still stuck with the same old burden are you Atlas? Such a shame" she said, the sarcasm in her voice was plain to hear and Atlas managed to turn his head to see the goddess crouched down and he snarled

"Damned goddess, it wasn't enough that you took my daughter from me, now you come to taunt me? Be gone and leave me to my task" he said and Diana grew a wolfish grin

"How mean, and here I was considering telling Zoë to come and visit sometime now she has been resurrected but I guess I won't do that now" she taunted and the titan's eyes narrowed

"Do not taunt me about the death of my daughter goddess, that is a low blow even for you" he said, rage lining his voice and I decided to step in, partly to see his reaction and partly because I didn't actually want anything to happen

"Fortunately for you Atlas, she speaks the truth" I said as Diana shot me a look that seemed to be something along the lines of killjoy as she stood up and walked back a little and I crouched down in front of the titan. He narrowed his eyes upon seeing me

"You, I know you don't I? You seem different but I am sure I fought you" he said and I cracked a grin

"Not exactly fought, more like you kicked my ass until I could free Diana over there from the sky so she could fight you" I said, having no delusions that if I had actually fought with Atlas then he would have easily beaten me. This seemed to spark recognition in his eyes and he snarled

"Percy Jackson, so has the slayer of my brothers come to gloat to me to?" he asked and I shook my head

"Actually, I have come with an offer for you and the remaining titans, I know Koios is here but I don't know about the others, you have any ideas?" I asked and he seemed suspicious but apparently couldn't sense any lies in my statement as he raised an eyebrow

"You actually have an offer for us? That is a new one, but what would a demigod have to offer us?" he asked and I grinned

"Who said I was a demigod? I'm here as a representative of Olympus as a gesture of good faith towards Othrys and its remaining occupants who did not directly oppose us in the second titan war" I said and his eyes widened for a moment

"Interesting, Zeus has actually changed if he is truly sending you to make a deal with us, no matter how unfair it may be. I am willing to listen to you however, he may not be" he said, managing a small movement of his head behind us as I whirled around to see a ten feet tall figure standing there with a sword the size of a surfboard which radiated more cold than the Hubbard Glacier. I almost cracked a smile at how similar this was to our previous encounter.

Third Person POV:

Percy locked eyes with Koios for a long moment before speaking as he stood up.

"Greetings Lord Koios, titan lord of the north and farsight. We have come on behalf of Olympus to extend you a deal" he said and Koios just scowled, his icy blue eyes never leaving Percy

"You would come here, to our last remaining seat of power, and claim to offer us some form of deal? Do you take me for a fool? Even you, granddaughter?" he said, the last comment addressed towards Diana and she shrugged

"It's up to you if you want to believe us, but if you do reject our offer then you will probably end up fighting him and I don't think that would end well for either pantheon" Diana said, gesturing towards Percy who had now fully stood up but was still dwarfed by the titan. Koios tightened his grip on his sword. The boy had not yet drawn his weapon, he had the advantage. All he needed was one strike and he could eliminate him here, but why did he hesitate? Why did he feel afraid of this boy? What would happen if he attacked Perseus Jackson? Koios suddenly leaped forwards, swinging his sword with all the speed and might he could muster but his sword had been cut in half and the boy was no longer standing there. He was falling forwards now and he realised that he had been cut in half from hip to shoulder and that Perseus Jackson was standing behind him, sheathing his golden sword. Koios blinked and he realised he had not yet moved, his stygian iron armour still unblemished and his sword still intact, ready to strike as Percy Jackson stood ready. He slowly lowered his sword and let it vanish.

"Alright, for now I will hear out your offer" he said and both Atlas and Diana's eyes went wide

"You will grandfather?" she asked in surprise and Koios slowly nodded as he regarded Percy more closely and saw his eyes flash gold

"Yes, I see now that this man carries with him the essence of three of our own and as such he deserves to be heard out" he stated and Atlas made a sound that could either be interpreted as surprise or disbelief

"Hang on, that brat carries the essence of three titans? Who in the Tartarus did he kill?" he asked and the room was clouded in shadow for a moment but it passed.

"I do not know, though I would be very interested to find out" Koios said "But that can wait, what is this offer that the Olympian council has brought forth to us?" he asked, addressing Percy who had relaxed slightly at this point.

"The offer is simple, the Olympians are willing to provide total pardon for all past actions up to but excluding the second titan war as long as all remaining Titans agree to remain neutral in any and all future conflicts, never again opposing Olympus and it's children including the hunters of Artemis and Diana" he said and the room went silent, its inhabitants not quite believing what they had just heard as Percy continued. "I understand this may be difficult to believe so I am going to show you a gesture of good faith" he said as he walked into the centre of what used to be the throne room as the rest of the occupants looked puzzled

"Percy, what are you doing?" asked Diana as Percy closed his eyes and started taking deep breaths

"Just watch" he replied before taking another deep breath and his divine aura suddenly flared up around him. Just like his eyes, it was a swirl of silver green like the sun shining off the waves. All residents of the room were left in a stunned silence as they watched his display of power. Koios spoke first

"Kronos, Oceanus and Hyperion" he said, seemingly almost wary of the power this former demigod was displaying and naming each of the three titans power that he had absorbed, before Percy began to speak

"As guardian of the world's power I command you, decipher the laws of nature and restore the monument to its former peak, reverse time and build a palace once more, true restoration!" he said, power radiating off each word as his glow got brighter and brighter until everyone was forced to shield their eyes until it died down. They spent about a minute blinking spots out of their eyes but when their vision cleared, Koios and Atlas gasped while Diana just stood there open mouthed. What was once a pile of rubble and ruins was now a full palace made of shining black marble with halls stretching off in both directions and a black throne in the middle of the central chamber with a diamond embedded in its centre. Percy stumbled for a moment and Diana quickly moved forwards and supported him

"Easy there Percy, can't have you passing out now, wouldn't look very good for Olympus would it?" she joked and Percy gave her a grin

"True, but at least the spell worked" he replied and she shook her head

"I can see that, what did you even do?" she asked as he managed to stand up on his own and she stepped back

"I basically re-wound time for Othrys back to the time of the age of the titans, about four thousand years I think" he replied and Koios frowned at this piece of information

"Did you say four thousand years, Persus Jackson?" he asked and Percy nodded

"About that, judging by what I can tell from the powers Kronos gave to me, and yes, I am aware that doesn't quite line up with Greek mythology" he replied and Diana frowned as well

"You mentioned that before, about how the existence of other mythologies throws the time scale off" she said and he nodded

"I did but now isn't the time to discuss that" he turned back to Koios who was wearing a mask of neutrality on his face "Now that I have shown you the gesture of good faith, will you hear the detailed terms of the offer from Olympus" Percy asked the elder titan and he nodded

"As long as they are reasonable then I will here them out" he said and Percy nodded back

"Understandable, I wouldn't ask you to agree before you hear the specific terms of the deal. You will each swear on the styx never to raise a hand towards the Olympians or their children, including the Roman camp and the hunters, without provocation. You are to form a council rather than being ruled by a single king as before as to foster more communication and understanding between both titans and Olympus, you are to send reports to the Olympians on events every six months at the summer and winter solstice and should any of you choose to have children with the mortals, you are to limit the number of demi-titan children you have to a reasonable number. This number can be decided at a later date once the remainder of the titans have been found and either accept or reject the deal. As they are already of no threat, this deal includes the peaceful titans such as Leto and Rhea, though I doubt they were ever really being looked for in the first place" he explained and both Koios and Diana's eyes were wide.

"That is a very generous offer, son of Poseidon, why has this deal been offered now? It would not be without some major debate to extend an olive branch to enemies as old as us" Koios asked and Percy nodded

"You are right, while Zeus has begun to change recently, outside events have forced him and the council into action more rapidly than otherwise would have happened" he explained and Koios looked deep in thought

"Outside events you say? The only thing I could think of would be a war brewing but there are not enough of the titans left to oppose the gods without major preparation and the giants have only just been dealt with" he spoke, seemingly thinking out loud and Percy nodded again

"You are correct Lord Koios, a war is brewing and it will erupt in just under ten months at this point. This war transcends Greek or Roman and even gods or titans, the one who has declared a war on Olympus and then the world was none other than the manifestation of the pit itself" he explained and both Koios and Atlas let out a surprised gasp

"You mean to say that the primordial himself has assumed a physical form?" Atlas asked, seemingly in disbelief, and Percy nodded

"Unfortunately, I saw him myself during my brief stint down there during the last war but at the time he was uninterested in the gods. Due to the actions of the gods and their children in bringing down Gaia, he changed his mind and decided he simply wanted to erase everything from what he told me. Zeus has decided he would rather not have more enemies at this point and so wanted to make a peace with the remainder of the titans. He does not expect you to fight against Tartarus with us but rather just to stay out of it as he felt this was a reasonable request of what were once long term enemies" he explained to the two titans and the room fell into silence. Atlas knelt under the sky and seemed to be absorbing the information while Koios was deep in thought. Diana just stood there, looking between her boyfriend and her grandfather, watching for any sort of reaction. Eventually, Koios broke the silence.

"Alright then son of Poseidon, I Koios, titan of farsight, intellect and knowledge and lord of the north, do hereby swear on the styx to agree to the terms set out in the agreement proposed by the Olympian council and will work to ensure the terms are met" he said and a loud rumble of thunder was heard, signifying that the oath was binding. Percy nodded in respect while Diana let out a sigh of relief

"I am glad that you agreed grandfather, hopefully this will bring forth a new age of cooperation between us" she said and Koios nodded

"It is certainly the best path forwards now, if we opposed Olympus now I am sure that we would be wiped out and that is a fate I would prefer to avoid" he replied and she nodded. Atlas then spoke up

"What about me? The terms as you have described them implied that you would pardon all of us but I am still stuck under the sky, how do you intend to fix that?" he asked and Percy smirked

"I have a few ideas about that, but unfortunately for now there is nothing I can do about your burden for the time being however, if the opportunity arises I promise that I will see what I can do" he said, causing the goddess beside him to raise an eyebrow

"You would seriously release Atlas from his burden?" she asked and Percy nodded

"Yes, while he did oppose us in the past, that was technically before the outbreak of the second titan war and therefore he is eligible as long he would follow the oath" he explained and Atlas looked surprised

"And here I thought the goddess over there would prefer to see me stuck under here for eternity after what I did to her huntress and my daughter" he said and Diana turned to face him

"You thought right, I would prefer to see you stuck holding the sky for eternity for what you did to Zoë but I cannot oppose the council alone and if they are willing to allow you your freedom then I can tolerate it as long as I do not have to engage with you often" she said in response and Atlas grinned

"I see, perhaps even the gods can change" he mocked and Diana looked furious for a second before shaking her head

"Perhaps, but whether you titans can is up for debate, so if you ever want the chance to see your daughter again I would try to be on your best behaviour" she fired back and he frowned

"So, you truly mean it when you say Zoë has returned?" he asked and both Percy and Diana nodded

"Yes, while not in the normal methods that might be expected from a deceased soul, Zoë Nightshade has been resurrected" Percy said and while Atlas seemed not to know how to respond, Koios narrowed his eyes

"Then pray tell, how did Atlas' daughter return from the stars? It was my granddaughter who placed her there correct?" he asked and Percy nodded

"Yes it was, her soul was effectively kidnapped when visiting a friend in Elysium and forcibly resurrected though I do not entirely know how, I would assume some old and forgotten magicks were used" he explained, telling mostly the truth, and Koios nodded

"That is certainly a possibility but as neither us titans nor the gods would have the power to do so it would fall to either Hecate as goddess of magic or a primordial being to do so" he spoke, demonstrating yet again why he was the titan of knowledge and intellect. Percy just nodded

"You are correct again Lord Koios, the previously mentioned primordial was the one who resurrected her in an effort to convince me to join his side in this war" he explained and both Titans eyes went wide once again

"He has taken a personal interest in you?" Koios asked and Percy nodded

"Due to some personal happenings within the past few years and our encounter back when I was first in the pit he believed that he could turn me against the gods. He was wrong and as such he decided to try and torture me into compliance both physically and mentally. Bringing Zoë back was a part of that" he explained and Atlas hurriedly spoke up

"Are you telling me that damn primordial used my daughter as a tool?" he asked, anger in his voice and Percy nodded

"That he did, but it didn't work and all it ended up doing was giving me the opportunity to escape as well as gain the power of Kronos who willingly gave his remaining power and essence to me in aid of my escape in which I also purged the essence of both Oceanus and Hyperion as they had decided to side with Tartarus, whether out of desire for revenge or fear of being absorbed by him I do not know" he explained and both Titans were quiet for a moment before Koios broke the silence

"It seems you had no choice but to destroy both Hyperion and Oceanus then, but to hear Kronos gave up his power to you is a surprise, he did not much care for others" he said and Percy nodded

"No, but it seems he held more distaste for Tartarus than he did towards me, plus due to his defeat his essence was scattered and he was fading and so he decided to bequeath what was left to me" Percy explained and Koios nodded

"I understand son of Poseidon, you never wanted to claim these powers for your own like many other demigods would but instead circumstances have forced you into this role. As a representative of Othrys, I would formally invite you to take the throne that was left vacant by our previous leader and sit as an equal upon this new titan council" he said with a small bow which left both Percy and Diana speechless for a moment

"You would invite someone who has been a consistent enemy and slain many of your own to take a place among you grandfather?" Diana asked and Koios nodded

"He has shown himself to be worthy of my respect, and I can tell that he is wrapped up in many prophecies, some that have passed, some ongoing and some that have yet to pass. I may not have always held respect towards you and your like granddaughter but your companion has shown me the way forwards and as such I believe he would be a good choice to sit on the council and help lead the titans, such as they are, into a new age" he said and Percy shook away his surprise

"Alright, I will graciously accept this offer then Lord Koios" he said and Koios nodded

"Then step forwards and sit upon the black throne, I would assume in doing so you will formally establish a seat of power here which should enable you to do the same for a Titan council" he said and Percy nodded, beginning to walk towards the throne only to be slammed against the wall as the main doors to the palace flew open and a gust of wind slammed into him.

"How dare you father" a voice called out and everyone turned to see a large man with twelve bronze wings behind him hovering in front of the door. "He and his kind have killed so many of us and you would give him a seat in our home? How far you have fallen" he said, anger clear in his voice as Percy stood up from the wall where he had crashed and brushed himself off

"Lelantos, that is enough" Koios warned but a tornado swirled into life in the middle of the room and the winds were pushing everyone back.

"Enough? This is nowhere near enough! For all the humiliation and pain we have suffered they deserve a hundred fold!" he yelled this at the top of the lungs but suddenly the tornado vanished as Percy stood there with a hand outstretched and his eyes cold

"I take it you are Lelantos, titan of the air and the hunt? What is your grudge with me?" he asked calmly, no emotion in his voice and Lelantos just laughed

"My grudge? Your very existence is my grudge Perseus Jackson, you and the other demigods have consistently slain my kin and now you wish to take a seat in governing us? Not while I draw breath" he declared and Percy just watched as he touched down in the middle of the room, his wings tucking in behind him as he stood taller than Percy yet smaller than his father. He greatly resembled Apollo which made sense as he was technically his uncle, but was more bronze than golden and his eyes held a lot more cruelty than his nephew.

"Then I take it you wish to invoke the ancient laws of challenge then?" Percy asked and the eyes of all titans present went wide. Lelantos then broke into a grin and laughed

"Alright then, I'll take your bait, I Lelantos, titan of the air and the hunt, formally challenge Perseus Jackson to single combat with the title of titan lord on the line!" he declared as he flared his wings once again as he summoned a bronze spear to his hand. It more typically resembled a hunting spear than Percy's did but it was equally as sharp

"In the name of Perseus Jackson, this challenge shall be accepted. May the ancient laws bind this fight and the victor claim their right" Percy responded and a circle of golden runes appeared surrounding the two, forming an infinity symbol on the floor around the two of them before the space warped and changed, creating a large open space for them to fight in as Diana and Koios stood to the side. Atlas however was absent from this space due to having to hold the sky but he could still see the events.

"Bring it on!" Lelantos yelled and raised his spear but Percy just smirked

"Oh, you aren't fighting me" he said, causing some confusion on the faces of the two titans but a smirk of recognition on the face of Diana.

"What? You just accepted my challenge!" Lelantos bellowed and Percy just grinned

"I said that in the name of Perseus Jackson the challenge was accepted, meaning you aren't fighting me, you are fighting Perseus" he explained and Lelantos tightened his grip on his spear

"Do not mess with me boy! I will gut you where you stand!" he yelled, flying forward as Percy closed his eyes.

"And so it is I am forced to play this dangerous game" Percy said and his physique shifted slightly. He grew slightly taller and his muscles swelled slightly. Most noticeably, the white streak in his hair darkened until it was once again pure black. His eyes snapped open as he caught the tip of the spear in his right hand and both Lelantos and Koios were shocked as his eyes were now pitch black with a bright golden iris and a grin across his face.

"Nice to meet you, my name's Perseus and I'm gonna be the one beating the shit out of you today" he quipped but before he could do anything, he was sent flying backwards with a yell from Lelantos as a wall of force slammed into him.

"Do not think for a second just because you seem to have some aspect I will not cut you down!" he yelled and threw the spear, only to have his jaw drop as Perseus let out a yell of his own and a similar wall of force slammed into the spear, sending it spinning backwards before Lelantos brought it back to his hand. Perseus' right iris had now morphed into a golden omega symbol, something everyone seemed to be wary of.

"That thing is still as annoying as the first time I got hit with it, good news is now I can do that too, so you get to experience the annoyance too" Perseus joked before he yelled out again but Lelantos answered with a yell of his own, the two waves of power crashing into each other creating a small blast of air and dust. Perseus jumped straight through this with a punch aimed towards Lelantos' head but the titan curled his bronze wings forward and blocked the punch with a clang of metal on metal.

"So, you have a metal arm, interesting. Lets see if it does you any favours!" he yelled as he summoned another spear and drove it downwards.

Perseus POV:

It really was fun to let loose like this. I was finally able to fight something myself and it was a titan, meaning they were going to be tough to kill even when I was letting loose like this. I easily blocked the downwards spear strike aimed at my neck and responded with a vicious kick to Lelantos in the abdomen, sending him stumbling backwards.

"What's wrong? Need some air?" I taunted, grinning at the look of anger that crossed his face

"As if! I will send you to the pit one way or another!" he yelled and suddenly a massive tornado engulfed the room. I had to laugh at this attempt and simply scattered the tornado with a burst of power just as Percy had done before. There was suddenly a barrage of spears flying straight towards me and I didn't have the time to dodge. I pushed my energy into my arms to reinforce them and drew fotia in one swift motion, a swathe of flames trailing behind the blade and incinerating all the spears until only ash remained to fall at my feet.

"Is this the best you got? Seems like I don't even need to use my weapons!" I taunted, stabbing the katana in the ground and raising my fists. The titan responded to this with a loud yell before beating all ten wings in unison and lunging forward with yet another spear strike. He was so simple and easy to read, all about power, not that I was any different. I let a wild grin spread across my face. This was what I existed for! The thrill of the fight, the feeling of my ichor pulsing, breath catching in my throat. The presence of death with every move we made, this was fighting! I dodged the thrust and sent another punch straight into his face then immediately went on the offensive again, sending punches and kicks infused with massive amounts of energy at the titan in front of me. He blocked half of them with his wings but others hit him squarely causing him to grunt in pain or cough up blood whereas I was untouched. Lelantos held both hands together at his side and I felt the wind start to gather around him.

"Do you really think I am just going to let you do that?" I taunted before using mana burst to launch another kick into the side of his head, but as he was sent flying, a spear of condensed air shot from his hands and pierced through my side just as he was sent slamming into a pillar and I stumbled backwards slightly. "You fucker" I swore then took a deep breath. As much as I loved the thrill of this fight, I needed to finish this up now so we could get all the damn politics over and done with. Lelantos stood up and summoned a new spear into his hands, one which seemed to be made out of pure adamantine.

"Damn you for making me use my actual spear Jackson, I'm ending this with you pierced through!" he launched forwards, clearly aiming to pierce my chest. I sunk down lower, time standing still as I focused. My legs shifted further apart, lowering my centre of gravity, and I drew back my arm. I drew all the strength from my body into my right arm and down into my clenched fist, building up as much power as I could, then focused on the force I had used before but instead of throwing it forwards, I pulled it in, concentrating it in front of my clenched fist, building up. Lelantos' spear was now beginning to press against my shirt so I knew I was out of time. I stepped forwards, my left foot impacting the floor and causing a spider web of cracks.

"This ends here" I said, twisting my body to add extra momentum to the strike "Basic punch" I said, naming the technique as my fist connected with his torso. The effect was even greater than I imagined. He was immediately sent flying backwards with the sound of bones snapping and ichor being coughed up as he slammed into a pillar, reducing it to rubble. I winced as I felt the rebound of the attack I had just used hit me, concentrating that much force into a single point was not easy and using it as a physical attack took a toll even on my immortal body, I would need to train more to get used to it. Lelantos was not moving at this point so I pulled Fotía out of the ground, sheathed it, and walked over to find him in a sorry state. Of his twelve bronze wings, only three of them were unbroken while the rest of his body hadn't fared much better.

"Hurry and kill me sea-spawn, I'll reform eventually and I'll keep trying to kill you!" he spat out, ichor leaking down his chin and I just shook my head

"As much as I would love to kill you right now, that would not impact the idiot's attempts at negotiation very well. Surrender and agree to the terms and you are free to go, refuse and I will annihilate you right here" I stated, allowing a smile to creep onto my face as I did. The titan coughed up blood and glared at me once more so I decided to stop messing around and get serious for just a moment. I allowed fotía to vanish, instead calling upon the still unnamed scythe I had inherited from kronos, its adamantine blade shining in the darkness of this space. While I did enjoy the scythe, and still questioned how its metal had changed, I wanted something that would leave more of an impact. I willed the scythe to change form and bend to my will and it did. Its long handle began to shrink down while the blade straightened and widened and grew until I was holding a large, two handed broadsword. I grinned with wild glee as I looked down at the titan.

"Have it your way" I said, grasping the sword with two hands and swinging down towards his neck.

Diana POV:

If I wanted to sum up the battle I had just witnessed in as simple terms as possible then it would have to be 'natural disaster' Perseus had made fighting a titan look like a walk in the park. I had to admit that I was slightly afraid of him, especially when I saw the wild grin on his face. The fight reached a sudden conclusion when Lelantos pulled out what I assumed to be his 'true' spear that represented his domains. He flew straight at Perseus, only to be sent hurtling back like a meteor into a pillar. I had been watching Perseus the whole fight and I had barely caught his final move, his speed and power were truly frightening at times. I watched as he walked up to the now heavily injured titan and began to talk but soon after he held out his hand and a familiar scythe manifested there before changing into a large, two handed broadsword. Before I could even make a sound, he swung the sword straight towards the titans neck. The swing only took a fraction of a second but it felt like an eternity watching as it travelled downwards, carving a path through the air and the ground without ever touching it. A massive cloud of dust was kicked up and I had to shield my eyes for a second.

"Is that it then? Did Perseus kill him?" Artemis asked in my mind and I couldn't give her an answer, I hadn't seen the end of the strike. The dust eventually settled and there I could see Perseus, with the sword held just against Lelantos' neck, a thin trickle of ichor running down the blade from a thin cut it had produced, living up to the mythical sharpness of the ancient blade.

"The fight is over" Koios announced from beside me "Perseus Jackson has won and is therefore entitled to claim the title of titan lord. Lelantos, I suggest you accept this result before he actually decides to get serious and kill you for real, with that sword I do not doubt he could do it" he said sternly and I watched as Perseus slowly moved his sword away and let it vanish before he shifted slightly and the white streak in his hair returned, signifying he had switched aspects back into Percy again. He took a deep breath before clicking his fingers, the noise echoing all around us as the space he had created before faded away, leaving us in an undamaged throne room.

"Right then, while I doubt you will be moving for a little while, I do hope you will accept the terms of the deal and swear not to attack Olympus or any affiliated parties from here on out" Percy said to Lelantos who managed a weak nod.

"Fine, I may not like it but you have made it clear the difference in strength between us, I swear on the styx to never attack Olympus or any of its affiliated groups without provocation" he spluttered out and a rumbling of thunder could be heard in the distance. Percy nodded and then turned around to look at the single black throne in the middle of the room

"Well then, I suppose I should take my seat then" he said before slowly walking forwards toward the single black throne set in the centre of the room.

"Percy Jackson, do you understand the weight of the action you are about to take?" Koios asked and Percy, still slowly walking forwards, nodded

"Yea, I know. This isn't something I can take lightly. This is a commitment, a binding oath. Once I touch that throne, it becomes mine and I become bound to it as a seat of power. Its an act entirely representative of divinity so If i'm not careful, I could end up losing my humanity right?" he said calmly and my eyes widened. Lose his humanity? What did he mean by that?

"You make it sound like you were prepared for this all along, just how far ahead did you predict Percy Jackson?" Koios asked, sounding slightly amused. Planning ahead did not really seem like Percy's style but his explanation of what this meant was certainly odd, plus he had seemed to become a lot more reserved and almost tactical ever since he had come back from Tartarus for the second time, a far cry from the impulsive and reckless demigod he had once been

"It's not exactly that I planned ahead, it's just that I know how the gods work. Zeus may be a slightly better king now, but he still is cautious, so he wants a piece on the board he thinks he can control or use. Plus, it was unlikely you guys were ever going to just let me walk in here and accept all my terms instantly, I had a feeling I would end up fighting someone to convince you. The information about the throne, I'm not actually sure where it came from honestly, I just sort of knew it. Wonder if that was part of what Ananke gave me?" The last part was almost a question to himself but none of us had the answer. "Whatever, it doesn't matter. I know what i'm getting myself into so just trust that i'll be fine" he had reached the throne by this point and turned back for just a moment and smiled at me "Be right back" he said, some of his old attitude returning just for a moment, before reaching out and touching the throne

Percy POV:

As soon as I touched the throne, I was engulfed in a stream of golden light and I felt myself falling once again. It was oddly familiar by now as I felt myself falling deeper and deeper before stopping. I opened my eyes and once again, I was floating in the endless ocean that represented me. Unlike last time however, there were a bunch of shining orbs floating alongside me in various colours and I got the feeling that each one roughly corresponded to one of my different domains. I felt another presence behind me and turned to see Perseus standing there

"Well then, looks like you've formed a proper connection to all your domains now, congrats" he said sarcastically but I just laughed

"Yea yea, that's the reason i'm here then?" I asked and he just shrugged

"How should I know? I'm just an aspect of you so I don't exactly know more than you do" he said and I sighed, he did have a point

"Yea, that makes sense" I admitted, before I felt a sort of tremble and turned back to the shining orbs. A golden stream of energy was shooting down from above before striking all of the orbs, making them glow a bright gold and I had to shield my eyes as the glow washed over me and I could feel the raw power contained in the light

"Don't let it swallow you Percy, that won't end well" Perseus commented and he was right, if I lost my humanity now, it wouldn't do well for me sticking around the hunt and Artemis as well as working with the other demigods. I could feel the sheer force of the combined divinity washing over me, trying to take control and return to what they once were but I wasn't going to let that happen.

I took a deep breath and focused on the memories and emotions that made me human; the laughter with the hunt when they did something stupid or I got into an argument with Thalia, when Artemis was scolding Chloe and Lisa for their childish behaviour, the secret smiles we would share. The love, the joy, the happiness but as well, the painful emotions that made me who i was today; The hurt and heartache at losing my parents, the hatred and wrath towards those who had once been my friends, the loss I felt at being alone and the sadness at knowing what was waiting at the end.

All of these emotions were what made me human, what grounded me and connected me to the world. I felt the power settle down again and slowly saw that all the light from the jewels in front of me had merged into what looked like a sea of stars reflected below me. Interestingly though, there seemed to be some weird shape half formed in the middle of the sea of stars but I couldn't make out what

It felt different to what my power was like before.

"Huh, well that's certainly odd" Perseus commented and I nodded in agreement. "Hey, I had an idea. Try focusing on drawing out all the power of one of your domains" he said and I looked at him quizzically, wondering why this idea had seemingly come out of nowhere "This place is basically just a manifestation of your power, soul ect, so I want to see how it changes when you draw on all the strength available to you in a certain domain, such as time or something, plus I've had a feeling that something like that might be possible for a while" he explained and I just shrugged

"Can't hurt I guess" I replied and closed my eyes, focusing on the flow of time around me and slowly pulling on it. I felt the same tugging sensation pulling on my gut but I kept at it as I could feel the power growing and building before I felt a burning sensation on my arm and my power skyrocketed and my eyes shot open. I somehow knew they were glowing gold and everything seemed to be standing still, I could clearly see the flow of time around everything and sense how much time I had stored up. This confused me for a second until I realised that I had been 'stealing' the time from things when I re-wound them so with all the time from Othrys I had about four thousand one hundred years of time. I wasn't quite sure what I could do with it all but I got the feeling that once I was more accustomed to this power I would understand. I let this new power fade and everything returned to normal, a golden light flowing back into the strange, out of focus shape in the middle of what I guess would be the floor of this place. What was with that strange shape anyway? It was very out of place compared with everything else here, plus it just felt weird, as if it held something inherently different than the rest of my power

"Well, that was interesting. Wonder if we have something similar for each of our different domains" I pondered aloud and Perseus just grinned

"Sounds like another thing to add to our to-do list" he smirked and I nodded. "One last thing though" he added and I raised my eyebrow at him. "You remember how to access that weird power where symbols appeared in your eyes?" he asked and I paused. I vaguely remembered the feeling of using that power, it was a lot different to how I usually used my powers so it had stuck with me. I took another deep breath and remembered the feeling of power welling up from deep within my soul. There was no tugging on my gut, instead it felt like my entire body was warm. Not uncomfortably hot but warm, as if I was wrapped in a blanket.

"Has that worked?" I asked and Perseus nodded

"Just as I suspected, you possess the alpha" he remarked but before I could ask what he meant, his own power exploded outwards, feeling like a violent storm as an omega symbol manifested in his right eye. "I possess the omega, the end, because I embody destruction and violence, that is what I was born from anyway. But you possess the alpha, the beginning, because you have nurtured and created so much in this world, even if you don't realise it. If we can learn to use these characteristics, then I bet we will give that pit bastard a good run for his drachma" Perseus grinned. I didn't understand all of what he had said but I did understand that somehow, we still had some things to learn about ourselves,

"But for now, we have a camp to get back to" I said, knowing full well that we had left the hunters with no direct supervision for the entire day and that could have some very disastrous consequences for the romans.

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A/N: Well, that certainly took a lot longer than I had originally intended but I really struggled to get to an ending for this chapter that I was happy with but I do think that this was quite the important chapter with what i've included and I hope you enjoyed it. I still plan to try and stick to the chapter thirty goal by the end of the year but it's going to be tough to get two, well written chapters out in two months, i'll do my best for you guys though, until next time - Nightshade_Guardian