Authors note: Thanks guys for reading the first few chapters and thank you for the review KotItExpert521! Your input means a ton to me. Continue to critique me as I write, its the only way I can improve. Thanks for continuing to read and I don't own PJO or the characters involved.
The Olympians start to laugh at the new god's question before Apollo wipes a tear from the laughter out of his eye. "You think we are going to bed when this is the perfect chance to celebrate? Man, we are going to party till the sun comes up; It's only 12:30 after all." Percy looks around and notices the smug expressions written on everyone's face before he gets a little nervous.
Percy scratches the back of his neck while looking down at his boots "Nothing too big, its not that big of a deal…" Percy says a little exasperated. Before looking up to the eyes of Zeus.
Zeus's wide grin tells that he isn't going to listen to Percy at all regarding the celebration to welcome the new Olympian "Percy, we are obliged to celebrate this. I'm sorry nephew but you are going to be the center of attention for a while." Zeus responded with mock sympathy. Before raising his Lightning bolt to the sky overhead and sending a thundering boom out overhead before snapping his fingers and turning the throne room into a dance floor. Dyonisis stepped behind the bar and got ready for the Guests to start arriving.
Every god and goddess, satyr, and nymph that Percy could recognize and more that he didn't flood the throne room All with eyes on the new throne and the god Occupying it. Those that Recognised Percy started swarming forward to congratulate him. The first person to get to him was the Ghost King himself; Nico Di Angelo; who promptly bowed before Percy's throne and then stood with a smile. "You chose godhood," he said with a smile. Percy stood from his throne and started walking towards him shrinking with every step until he stood at a towering 6'6" and his clothes shifted back into what he was wearing before, the only difference being that his shirt and flannel had holes for his wings to protrude from.
"Long time Death Breath," Percy said with a smile before pulling his cousin into a tight embrace. "Where have you been?" Percy says as they start walking towards the bar. Percy smiles to himself as they wander over to Dyonisis. His large wings pushing the crowd apart as he apologizes for how bulky they are. Once they get to Dyonisis they see him glance their way as he is drying a glass with a rag.
"What can I get for you gentlemen?" Mr. D says as he smiles at the new Olympian and Nico alike. He wouldn't tell anyone but he always liked Percy but he couldn't show favoritism at camp so he treated him the same as he treated the rest, even after Percy had saved the Olympians twice over and if you include his countless quests; too many times to count.
Percy steps up to the bar with a smile before replying with "I'd like a scotch on the rocks." Dyonisis smiles as he steps to the side looking at the wide assortment of bottles before choosing one. Percy turns to Nico before the Party music begins blaring out the song Re-education by the offspring blares out of the speakers; a manic grin spreads across both Percy and Nico's lips before Percy calls out to Dyonisis "Make it a double!" Dionisis smiles before calling back "Heard that! Your drinks ready" Percy steps back up to the bar before grabbing his drink and nodding in thanks. Percy snickers as Nico steps up and orders sex on the beach.
"What are you laughing at Mr. Freeze?" Nico called back to him. His face reddens as he realizes the new set of nicknames that were sure to set in as soon as he saw Thalia again. At least he knew that he wouldn't be facing eternity alone.
He rolls his eyes as he looks back to Nico "Alright Walker. I have a question." he says as he looks at the much shorter teenager. Nico tentatively sips his drink before looking up at Percy "Hmmm?" Nico moans out with his lips still to the drink. "Why are you here? I was under the impression that this party was an immortal only type of thing." Percy said as he sipped from his drink.
Nico looked at him before a realization crosses his face "Oh shit man! I forgot to tell you, I am officially the prince of hell, immortal well partially; I become one of the full gods of the dead once I fall in battle… It's weird I know but you have to be a nonliving being in order to actually sit on a throne of Hades. I'll explain later, but for now, lets party. As Percy heads onto the dance floor he feels someone tap his shoulder he turns to see Aiode standing in the same chiton as before; the only difference was that she was shorter; Or he was taller, either way, It was noticeable as Percy looked down on the beautiful muse.
"You didn't give me your number," she said as she looked at the new god in awe. Percy smiled at that before replying with "All you need to do to get in touch is say my full name; Perseus Jackson. I will come whenever you call if I can." he said with a flirtatious smile before offering his arm to the goddess. She tentatively took it before leading her to the dance floor before Percy leaned over to her and apologized. "What for?" she responded with curtly before Percy turned to her and said, "I'm going to mosh with the rest; want to join?"
She laughed easily before responding with "Well duh! I wouldn't have let you take me to the dance floor if not, She looked down at herself before noticing why he would think that she wouldn't be into this type of party. She snapped her finger and suddenly her hair was up in a loose ponytail, her chiton had changed into tight curve-hugging black ripped jeans and a dropped Breaking Benjamin tee revealing her slim abdomen, her shoes turned from traditional sandals into black vans. If he thought she was beautiful before well now he was blown away.
Percy looked her up and down in amazement and as he looked at her his eyes just barely restrained themselves from popping out of his head. "You like this look better?" she sais as she sarcastically flipped her ponytail over her shoulder.
Percy Stuttered out "You are breathtaking, and a good choice of band, couldn't have picked better myself." Percy grabbed her hand as they rushed into the crowd of people that were doing a mixture of jumping, head-banging, or some group or partner dance of some sort. Percy decided that they were going to swing dance. "You know how to swing right?" He shouted over the sound of jailhouse rock beginning to play in the background.
She beamed at him; "Oh my gods, You know how to swing?" she said as they started doing the opening of the dance along with the music. People begin to step back and notice the two of them because of the space needed for Percy's wings. Once the music actually kicks in they are in full stride, they move fluently with each other catching the eyes of all. Percy used his wings to make the flips and lifts easier and even more impressive than he would have been able to do otherwise. As they dance they become one rather than two. They steal the show away from everyone else on the dance floor and once the song stops they both wipe the sweat off their brows before the impromptu audience begins applauding them for the show they had just put on.
Percy doesn't let go of Aiode's hand as they walk away from the dance floor sitting down at one of the tables lining the outskirts as he grabs two drinks from a waiter wandering around with filled champaign glasses.
Percy reached into his pocket before pulling a pack of luckys out of his flannel shirt pocket and lighting one up and then proceeding to take a sip of the Champaign. Percy offers a smoke to Aiode to which she smiles and she takes one. "I haven't seen Luckys since the '90s."
"There's a small pharmacy in Manhattan that still sells them; I have about 20 cartons stockpiled just in case they decide to stop. They are great for after a good workout." Percy says with a subtle wink.
"Well; will we be training tonight then?" Aiode says with a sultry smile. Percy smirks at her before replying with "I don't know if you can keep up; I won't be going easy on you if we do." She wraps an arm around Percys. "I wouldn't have it any other way… let's go to my palace." He smiled at her and said "Lets." and then they stood up and walked out of the throne room.
They entered the crisp night air arm in arm and talked as they went. "Okay, then what's your favorite movie then?" Percy asked as they walked the empty streets of Olympus with the only thing above them being an endless sea of stars.
"I like 'The Sound of Music' she said as they walked along.
"I guess that makes sense, a muse liking a musical," Percy said jokingly, to which she punched him in the shoulder. "Well, what's your favorite movie then?"
"I like 'The Shawshank Redemption'." He said putting his hands up. She looks at him questioningly. "Why?"
"It's about a guy that is thrown into a situation he doesn't belong in, and how he has to fight and outwit his enemies in order to make it out; and in the end, he does. I guess I can relate." Percy says after a second of thinking about it.
She leans into him as he wraps an arm around her shoulder. "I think that's deeper than mine," she says with a giggle. "I heard that the great Percy Jackson was just another Hercules from the other muses," she continues.
"Another Hercules? Come on, I have a much better back story than that. Percy says with a smile while poking fun at the muse.
"Well, I wasn't expecting someone that undermines their own feats of victory. Most heroes like to tell others of their grand story," she says playfully elbowing Percy in the abdomen.
"Well all of my," he holds up his hands and puts quotes around the words "feats of victory, came at a great cost to me, whether it was my friend's lives or my mental health from experiencing such a close call with death. Leading comes with a cost to your psyche." Percy finished looking down at the sky and spotting 'The Huntress' in the sky. Aiodes eyes follow to the constellation.
"Ah, the huntress was lost during your third quest. You held the sky for Lady Artemis to battle the Titan Atlas," she said solemnly remembering the songs that she and the other muses had come up with at the end of Percy's every success.
"They sing about my successes around the campfire back at camp, but the fact is that I am not proud of any of them. Yes, I ended out on top but at what cost. If I could go back and find a way to bring all those that I've lost back then I would." Percy said lowly with a sigh at the end of his statement. "I would give anything; including my life, just to bring back one of the other heroes that helped me along the way."
"Your life fits the mold of a Greek tragedy doesn't it?" Aiode says as she looks up at him. The tears that water in his eyes looking to a distant place show her that he is not present in the moment but rather probably having a flashback. She takes his hand in hers and squeezes it tight while calmly repeating "Percy, you are safe, the past is in the past." after about two minutes there are tears streaming down his face but he looks down at the muse holding his hand.
"Aiode, I don't think I'm ready to hook up with someone new. If you want me to leave that's fine." Percy sniffed out while wiping the tears away from his eyes.
"Percy Jackson, If you think that I am going to leave you alone in this state then you truly are out of your mind," she says with a smile before raising his hand to her lips and kissing it gently. "Now come on, I have wine inside," she says leading him down a winding path towards her palace.
The path is gravel and there is a pine forest surrounding the lamp lit path. The smell infiltrates his nose and he smiles. The smell of pine reminds him of his Christmas celebrations with his mother and his shoulders visibly relax and his wings retreat into his back. "Huh, I guess all I had to do to hide them was relax," he reported out loud.
"Quite the observation, my Lord," she says with a smile, trying to annoy him.
"Oh, don't you dare start with that" Percy responds with a slight grin before he reaches out and starts tickling the muses sides.
She starts hysterically laughing while yelling "Stop, stop, stop, Please, out of breath," when he finally stops she is draped across his lap and they are both on the floor of her front porch. Her palace is a simple wooden cabin in the woods. She just lays draped across him as she works on catching her breath before groaning out "I will never call you that again." before getting up off his lap and opening the door. Inside in the cabin, there is a fireplace roaring leaving the smell of burning pine lingering in his nose. Over the fireplace, there was a painting of a simple house on a hill with two people dancing in the yard. The cabin is lit by oil lamps and open flames and there is a large sofa covered in a fur blanket.
As he looked in awe at everything around him, its simple beauty overtaking him he hard the words "Make yourself at home" and he did, by sitting down and untieing his boots and taking them off and draping his flannel over the backrest behind him on the couch. She came back holding a bottle of red wine and two glasses and sitting close to him before proceeding to pour two glasses. Once she was finished pouring and Percy and the Muse raised their glasses to one another before taking a sip. The wine was rich and woody and had a slight oak taste. Once Percy had finished his first sip he put his glass down and exclaimed: "That is delicious."
"Think so? It's a '79 chardonet from southern Italy. It's one of my favorites." she said before taking another sip.
"Yes, It's amazing, you have good taste," Percy beamed at her as he took another sip.
"Thousands of years of experience teaches you a thing or two," she said. "How do you know to appreciate wine?" She inquired.
"My mother, Sally, taught me how to drink safely and how to enjoy it while I was growing up. "She always said I might need to know if I ever went to anything fancy."
"Being an Olympian you are going to be attending a lot of 'fancy' events," she said while continuing to sip on the wine.
"Can you bring a date?" Percy asked her. While looking her up and down realizing he was asking her out.
"Yes, you can," she replied with a sly smile pulling at her lips.
"Good, You are my date to the next one," he said raising his glass and clinking it with hers.
The conversation seemed to flow through the night as the slowly but surely got more and more wine drunk. They were up until the dead of the night enjoying each other's company and Percy felt the relief of being wanted for more than his looks for the first time since Annabeth had died, and he liked her too. They crashed on the couch that night cuddled together under the fur blanket.