Last update went better than I hoped. The least positive comment I got about it was that the fight could've been longer. Which is true, I won't lie. But as I've said before, writing fight scenes ain't exactly too natural to me. Plus, it was Rick's version with only some minor changes, nothing that was meant to be too major. Thank you all again, and here's the next chapter.

Olympian Reunion

Percy's POV

Apart from Kronos' servants still trying to kill us and Atlas having a pissy fit of being stuck under the sky again, there was nothing but a moment of silence on Mount Othrys. Stunned were Thalia, Annabeth, Artemis, and I as Zoe held and shed a tear or two on me. It was nice that Zoe wasn't gonna die and I guess it was nice that I had a friend in her. I guess she now knew not to make an assumption without proof on a certain matter. I just hoped she didn't try anything more than the hug. This was awkward enough with just the hug.

"It's very nice to see a man do something wonderful for a woman for a change, but we need to move. Kronos' forces are drawing closer." Artemis threw in.

Just then, the moonlight brightened, and a silver chariot appeared from the sky, drawn by the most beautiful deer I had ever seen. It landed right next to us. It looked like the sleigh form of a royal chariot.

"Get in." Artemis commanded as she got in the driver's seat.

No one said a word as we all just did as she said and got in the sleigh. We all got in a seat as Artemis pulled the reins and the chariot sped away from the mountain, straight into the air. Annabeth and Thalia sat beside each other in the back row seat while Zoe and I were beside each other in the front row seat. FYI: If this is yet another favor I was doing for Thalia, then she was gonna owe me eight now.

It must have been one of the strangest sights ever, if we were seen by any mortals that is. Behind us, the army of Kronos roared in anger as they gathered on the summit of Mount Tamalpais, but the loudest sound was the voice of Atlas, bellowing curses against the gods as he struggled under the weight of the sky. Though it became hard to pay any attention to that when a certain voice came into my head again.

"Percy Jackson, you cannot escape your destiny. You will ensure Olympus' destruction. You will serve me and my cause. And I will be waiting for your submission." Kronos said.

"Percy, are you okay?" Thalia asked, worried, as she placed a hand on my knee.

I could only imagine how hard it was to be worried about me instead of letting her fear of heights kick in.

"Our grandfather sure knows how to get into people's head." I said with gritted teeth.

I could feel all three of their concerned looks in my direction. I wish I could say it was no big deal. But it was a big deal, and now that they knew what was going on, there was no way they'd take that.

"Hopefully you'll be able to find some relief when we get to Olympus." Artemis said, which I only nodded my head to.

"This is a beautiful sleigh." Annabeth offered to Artemis, trying to change the subject.

"It's like Santa Claus's sleigh." I murmured, still dazed with pain from everything that we had been through.

"Indeed, young half-blood. And where do you think that legend came from?" Artemis took time to look back at me.

"And somehow, that seems to make the "Nicholas: The Boy Who Became Santa" movie make more sense." I commented.

""Nicholas: The Boy Who Became Santa"?" Zoe asked, confused.

"It's a half hour cartoon movie released on November 27, 2001, that you're introduced to in preschool, kindergarten, and/or your first year of elementary school. Or at least that's what I was led to believe. Long story short, it's about how Santa Claus, or as he was originally known as Nicolas, started converting citizens of Ancient Rome into Christians and had them going from worshipping the roman forms of the Olympians, to worshiping the one true God and his son Jesus Christ." I explained to Zoe.

"Really now?" Artemis asked with a raised eyebrow in my direction.

"Yep. Speaking of which, I can't help but be curious about the matter. How much of the kids show is canon to mythology and how much of it is just made up?" I asked Artemis.

"I couldn't tell you for sure since I've never seen it before. Plus, with how it leans towards our roman forms instead of our Greek forms, that might be a question you're better off asking to Diana." Artemis answered.

"Diana, Milady?" Zoe asked, confused.

"My roman personality. The personality that was made for me when the romans adopted and altered our Greek religion. When the romans started worshiping us but altered a couple of things about us, they ended up becoming real, and we were forced to live with our Greek forms and our roman forms. It can be quite a pain to deal with from time to time." Artemis explained.

"Like Smeagol when he was found by the One Ring in "The Lord of the Rings" and he had to live with dealing with the personality of Gollum for over five hundred years." I commented.

"Wait, you mean you and the other gods got a new personality when the romans started worshiping you?" Annabeth asked, astonished.

'Oh wow, who saw that coming? Annabeth eagerly wanting to learn something new.' I sarcastically thought.

"Sometimes, some beliefs, faiths, dreams, and even sometimes fairy tales are so powerful, they can become real to some degree." Artemis explained.

"And the movie "The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl" has been justified. Is it the same for "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings"? J. R. R. Tolkien's work was based on old Jewish traditions, Greek mythology, Egyptian mythology, Norse mythology, and even Celtic mythology. Is his works real to some degree to now?" I asked curious.

Tolkien's novels were always some of my favorite stories ever since I was younger. And Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy was the best. I don't care what anyone says. Peter Jackson nailed that trilogy. It the best watch ever.

"Not that I know of. But if it's based on everything you say it is, I'd be very surprised otherwise." Artemis answered.

"My thoughts exactly." I commented as the girls, and I got comfortable in our seats.

"Percy, thank you again for saving me back there." Zoe said as she looked over at me.

"As you saved me. Our scales are balanced." I replied, earning a small smile from Zoe and her placing her hand on top of mine.

"The daughter of Ares is lucky." Zoe offered and did so with complete serenity.

"Let's hope so." Artemis said with a bit of a dark edge in her voice.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"Life is a fragile thing, Percy. If the Fates will the string to be cut, there is little that can be done about it. And quite frankly, there really shouldn't ever be anything done about it. The Fates don't exactly take very kindly to those who change the fate of such things. Especially defying someone's death. The chances of what you did, regardless of for who and why, may possibly come with some sort of a price. So, you'll have to be cautious from here on out." Artemis explained.

"Great." I sarcastically grumbled.

"But for what it's worth, I appreciate what you did to. So, I to owe you my gratitude young hero. And I also thank you for saving me from bearing Atlas' burden. A feat that I will never forget and will ensure is greatly rewarded." Artemis added.

"Thank you." I replied.

We all settled for a comfortable silence then as Artemis continued taking us to Olympus. We soared over the bay and flew toward the eastern hills. Soon San Francisco was only a glittering crescent behind us, with an occasional flicker of lightning in the north. Annabeth and Zoe just sat down enjoying the view from the sleigh. Thalia ended up dozing off shortly. No doubt she was exhausted from the long day we had just faced. I was pretty tired myself and wouldn't have minded getting a little sleep too. Unfortunately, I just couldn't get any rest. Kronos was still out there, Luke was still alive and probably immortal thanks to the apple he took and ate from Ladon's tree, and by saving Zoe from dying, I probably jinxed my own janx somehow. Plus, with how things went for me back there against Atlas and everything, I had a feeling my father was in a disciplining his son mood. Just the thought that the gods would be alright with doing that to their kids just because they step out of line was sickening. I had some pretty dark and powerful words in mind for Poseidon. Hell, maybe even a lot of the other Olympians.

"Percy?" Zoe asked, breaking me from my thoughts.

"Hm?" I responded.

"Do you still have the sword, Percy?" Zoe asked.

I brought out Riptide and put the pen in her hand. She grasped it contentedly for a moment before speaking again.

"You were right Percy." Zoe said.

"About what?" I asked.

"You really are nothing like Hercules. And you truly are a great man. One of either few or many great men out there. I am honored that you carry this sword. You are the best option to wield this sword. " Zoe said as she handed me back the pen.

"With how it seemed like my father was using it against me back there, I'm not too sure about that." I commented.

Given how the titan general was Zoe's father, I had a strong suspicion that Zoe knew that the prophecy was most likely talking about her. That she was the one who was doomed to feel despair from her father. I on the other hand felt differently. I felt like the prophecy was really referring to me and that Poseidon was willing to nearly get me killed just to try and teach me a lesson. And not just with the sword, but also with the bolt of lightning. I felt like the bolt that destroyed Mr. Chase's car was thrown by Poseidon to try and discipline me. The only thing I had to say is that if he really wants to be a total dick to me, then fine. But if he ever does anything like that to Clarisse and/or my baby, then my father or not, I will personally deliver him to the depths of Tartarus.

"Much definitely lies ahead of you Percy. It seems that the Fates can't help but be cruel to you." Zoe said.

"Can't argue with that one." I replied, pinching my forehead with both my hands.

"But you're not alone Percy." Zoe said, placing her hand on my shoulder.

"I know. I have Clarisse. And the two of us are gonna have our baby in a couple months." I said.

"I mean the Hunt." Zoe said, scooching closer to me.

"I doubt the other hunters would really have any interest or even any tolerance of being around me." I commented.

"Perhaps. But it won't really matter. You're a hunter friend now." Zoe said.

"Hunter friend?" I asked as I took my face away from my hands to look at her, not quite understanding what she was getting at.

"It's an honor a man rarely ever receives. You should be flattered." Zoe said.

"The last man to ever receive this honor was Hippolytos. We even let him join the Hunt. But unfortunately for him, his desire to never fall in love with anyone incurred the wrath of Aphrodite." Artemis continued.

"I imagine he really got a spot on her hit list for that." I commented.

"When Hippolytos visited his father, King Theseus of Athens, Aphrodite heightened their anger during an argument, resulting in Theseus drawing his sword and striking his son dead." Artemis pressed on.

A father killing his own son, . . . now why does that bring a form of familiarity in me? . . . Oh, that's right. It's what Kronos is trying to do to his sons because of the offense they caused him. And one of them, who just happens to be my own father, probably has a bit of a mind to do the same to me. I just really hoped for Thalia's sake that her father Zeus wasn't getting such dark thoughts to.

"When I received word of this, I immediately rushed to Hippolytos' tomb and took his body to my nephew Asclepius, the best physician in all of Greece. Using the Physician's Cure, Asclepius brought Hippolytos back to life. Then I took Hippolytos to Italy, where he became a priest of one of my sacred shrines." Artemis finished.

"I guess then you're not quite the sexist some of the others at camp would believe you to be." I commented.

"Like you said Percy, don't judge a book by its cover." Zoe commented.

"Hey, they said it, not me." I countered.

"Why don't you all get some rest like Thalia. We'll be in the air for a while." Artemis suggested.

Zoe said nothing as she moved to get herself comfortable in her seat and tried to follow Thalia's lead in getting some sleep. Despite how tired I felt, I just couldn't bring myself to doze off and get a little sleep myself. I just had too many emotions and thoughts going on in me, it just made me pretty ill and uneasy. Annabeth seemed to have too much on her mind to get any rest to. With nothing but the wind blowing around us as we flew into the night, there was nothing but silence going on during our flight.

"You okay Percy?" Annabeth asked.

"There's still so much to do." I simply said, not really wanting to say any more than that.

Annabeth then moved towards me, with a blanket that she found in the sleigh and wrapped me in it.

"Thanks." I offered.

Although that minor gratitude quickly died down when Annabeth decided to move under the blanket with me and sat against me.

"What do you think things on Olympus will be like?" Annabeth asked, trying to start a conversation.

"I have a few theories. None of which are any good." I answered.

"That was amazing. Everything you did back there. You brought great honor to Olympus Percy." Annabeth offered.

"We'll see. But unless the gods decide to have my head, I don't think I'm as good as dead just yet." I said.

"Neither is Luke, you know. I mean he isn't dead." Annabeth hesitated.

"I know." I replied.

"You know?" Annabeth asked.

"Where else would that apple from Ladon's tree come from? Luke retrieved one before. No doubt he made himself immortal from it." I said, referring to the apple I used to save Zoe with.

"We'll see him again Percy. He's in trouble. He's under Kronos' spell." Annabeth said.

I wasn't in the mood for any arguing. But if Annabeth was gonna keep being in denial of the obvious truth, then she and I were gonna be arguing for quite a while now.

"He's under no spell Annabeth. He willingly swore his allegiance to Kronos. The Luke you once knew is dead. He's nothing but a traitor now. And like any other traitor, he must die if this conflict is ever gonna end." I said.

There was nothing but silence between us again after that. Annabeth just laid her head on my shoulder as I just looked out the sleigh and enjoyed the view. The towns were zipping by fast as we flew on, islands of light thicker together, until the whole landscape below was a glittering carpet. It kinda made me think of "Grand Theft Auto 5" to some degree. Dawn was close. The eastern sky was turning gray. And up ahead, a huge white-and-yellow glow spread out before us. The lights of New York.

"We're here." Artemis said, waking the girls up and bringing me out of my thought.

I looked where we were heading. High above the Empire State Building, Olympus was its own

island of light, a floating mountain ablaze with torches and braziers, white marble palaces gleaming in the early morning air.

'Here we go.' I thought.

Flying was bad enough for a son of Poseidon, but flying straight up to Zeus's palace, with thunder and lightning swirling around it, was even worse. We circled over midtown Manhattan, making one complete orbit around Mount Olympus. I'd only been there once before, traveling by elevator up to the secret six hundredth floor of the Empire State Building. That was when Zeus was accusing me of stealing his Master Bolt and I had to return it to prevent war. Zeus: fucking prick.

This time, if it was possible, Olympus amazed me even more. In the early-morning darkness, torches and fires made the mountainside palaces glow twenty different colors, from bloodred to indigo like what you would see on one of those Plasma Balls. Apparently, no one ever slept on Olympus. The twisting streets were full of demigods and nature spirits and minor godlings bustling about, riding chariots or sedan chairs carried by Cyclopes. Winter didn't seem to exist here. I caught the scent of the gardens in full bloom, jasmine, roses, and even sweeter things I couldn't name. Music drifted up from many windows, the soft sounds of lyres and reed pipes. Towering at the peak of the mountain was the greatest palace of all, the glowing white hall of the gods.

"Looks like we're just in time. And it seems all of Camp Half-Blood is gonna attend to." Artemis said as she set us down in the outer courtyard, behind everyone in front of huge silver gates.

Clarisse' POV

"You ready Clarisse?" Silena asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be." I answered before my attention ended up being driven away from the current moment.

So, it was winter solstice now, the gods were having their meeting in just a few minutes, and all of camp was expected to be there. It was a huge wonder what the meeting was gonna be like. There were many theories. "Zeus being pissed that Lady Artemis wasn't at the meeting" "What was going on at camp" "How chimera got in camp in the first place" or my least favorite "Deciding what to do with me, Percy, and/or our baby" We already had more than enough of that from camp. The last thing we needed was getting from the gods to.

Anyways, the rest of camp and I were all about ready to head in the throne room, when a silver chariot being driven by reindeer came into view. Everyone looked at it. Despite how it wasn't true, I heard quite a number of other half-bloods thinking it was Santa Claus. I'll only start saying Santa Claus is real when my baby is ready to hear and understand such things. Anyways, everyone backed up a few paces as to make sure no one got hit or anything. That's when everyone saw it was Lady Artemis driving the sleigh.

"Home, sweet home." Lady Artemis muttered to herself as she got out of her chariot.

As she got out, there were others getting out of the chariot with her. Much to my surprise it was Zoe, Thalia, Annabeth, . . . AND PERCY! I felt my whole world stop at seeing Percy again. He was back, but he didn't exactly look like he was in the best shape. But he was alive. Or at least I thought it was. The rest of the Hunt went to welcome back their lieutenant. The other campers went to welcome back Thalia, Annabeth, and Percy. Annabeth and Thalia were happy to acknowledge their welcome. Percy however only kept his responses to everyone brief as he tried getting through everyone and not draw any more attention to himself.

"Our prayers have been answered." Silena stated.

"I knew he was still alive." Charles added, although I wasn't paying much attention to them as I started to make my way to Percy.

Silena and Charles followed suite and made their way towards Percy to. Percy finally saw me and started making his way towards me once he saw me. No one was dumb enough to try and stop him.

"Clarisse." Percy said as he was only a few feet away from me.

When he was in reaching distance, I brought my left hand out and slapped Percy across the face.

"Not sure what I did to deserve that." Percy commented.

"Sorry. I needed to make sure you were real. These past few days have been very rough." I apologized.

"Well, I'm very real Clarisse. I gotta say, I -" Percy started, but was interrupted when I brought him in for a heated kiss.

It was the first kiss I had with Percy in quite a while, and I wanted his taste in my mouth immediately. Percy wrapped his arms around me and kissed back right away. I didn't know how long the kiss went, but I didn't care. I just wanted Percy taste in my mouth. The kiss didn't end until we needed to breath.

"As much as I love kissing you, I kinda felt like you were trying to suck the air out of my lungs. I probably deserved that though." Percy panted.

"I had to make sure you were real." I said.

"I thought we covered that." Percy said.

"Double checking." I responded.

"Well, it really is me. I'm really here." Percy replied.

"Okay." I said.

"So Clarisse -" Percy started only to feel me slap his other cheek, and much harder than the first slap.

"That's for leaving me worried sick about you Perseus Achilles Jackson!" I threw at him.

"Oh boy, full name." Silena commented.

"I suppose you didn't deserve that one Percy." Charles teased.

"No actually I did deserve that one." Percy said, rubbing his cheek.

"You're goddamn right you did! I was worried sick about you!" I exclaimed.

"I'm sorry Clarisse. Things just got out of control. I got stuck in yet another quest." Percy explained.

Before anything else was said, the gates opened. Lady Artemis went inside right away and motioned for all of us to follow her inside, which everyone started to do.

"You're not off the hook here Mr. Jackson." I threatened before turning around began making my way into the throne room, not bothering to look back at Percy.

As much as I missed him and wanted him, I was also pissed off at him, and felt the need for some distance between us so I didn't kill him. He was so going into the doghouse.

Same excuses as usual nowadays. Working a lot, waiting for new people to start working, and trying to move up the ranks. Other than that, I hope you all liked the chapter, and Happy Thanksgiving. Hopefully I'll get more work posted soon.