7

Chapter 7

Authors note: I really loved writing the last chapter… Finally, rising action starts. I love this part of writing stories, well reading them. This is the first time I have written this long style of fiction and I am loving it. Let me know how I am doing? Letting me know what I need to fix or what you like really helps me so let me know. Thanks. Love everyone that reads this and I hope your holiday breaks go well.

As the meeting closed and a simultaneous golden light filled the room before fading back to reveal just Percy and Aiode. He smiled at her as she stood in front of him with a smile on her face before slowly walking into his personal space, once she was close enough he wrapped his arms around her as the small smile that was on his face at the end of the meeting morphed into a large and cheery one before leaning down into her and kissing her passionately. Once they had pulled apart Percy smiled at her before she asked "what's your next order of business… My King?" she was playing with her own hair in his arms as she asked the question.

Percy held the smile on his face before responding "I need to make sure all the mortals that I care about can't be used as bait for the coming war. I need to put my mother and Paul in a place where they are safe." she said semi-seriously.

Aiode smiled at that thought before saying 'You really do think of everything don't you?"

Percy smiled at the goddess in his arms before saying "When it comes to war, yes." and then he stretched and said, "I also think you should meet my mother if you want this relationship to go anywhere."

She beamed at him before offering her arm to the god and saying "Lets."

Percy looped his arm through hers and flashed them into the empty hall of his mother's apartment. The feeling of flashing; still new to Percy, felt like he was being torn apart atom by atom and moving faster than light to her apartment a few blocks away. He felt like he had moved so fast he could throw up and once they reappeared in the hall he leaned against the wall for support, he didn't realize that he was leaning into the goddess next to him though.

He looked to his right to see Aiode struggling and leaning against the wall trying her best to support his weight with her small frame. She looked at him saying "Percy…"

He steadied himself and stood up straight before saying "Sorry, I'm still getting used to that.

She laughed easily at how new he was at this all and offered her hand to him which he promptly took before walking down the narrow hallways to his mother's apartment.d once they found it Percy reached out and knocked. They heard Percy's mother, Sally, call out to them "Coming" before the door was opened and his mom smiled at the two people standing hand in hand in front of her before opening the door wider. Percy smiled at his beaming mother before saying "Mom, this is Aiode."

Sally smiled at the goddess before offering her hand to be shaken and saying "Wonderful to meet you I am Sally."

Aiode took Sally's hand and shook it tentatively while smiling at the mortal woman. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Sally," she said as she followed her king into his mother's apartment.

Percy and Aiode sat on the love seat opposite the chair that Sally sat down in. Percy smiled at his mother before starting "As you have probably guessed mom, this is my girlfriend Aiode."

Aiode blushed at this remark because he had not called her this before subtly leaning into her newfound "boyfriend" a little more. Sally smiled at this remark and she said to Aiode "Yout take care of him now he is a handful."

Aiode smiled at Sally as the butterflies that resided in her stomach were going 1000 miles a minute and the blush on her face was evident, it made it hard for her to respond with "I plan on it, Ma'am."

Sally smiled at this remark before turning to her son and saying "Now while house calls are a wonderful thing, I doubt introducing me to your new girlfriend is all that you came to do."

Percy looked down at his feet cursing to himself "Damn you are right."

Sally nodded at this remark and motioned for him to continue with whatever news he had to give. Percy smiled at his mother nervously. To Aiode, it was funny seeing Percy an Olympian and the King be nervous and she struggled to stifle her laughter, much to Percy's displeasure.

He cleared his throat before saying to his mother "Mom, this is a lot to ask, but there is trouble brewing in Olympus." before he continued he took a breath to regain his focus and wash the nerves off of him. "A good portion of my fellow Olympians and a vision I had have pointed to a shift in power, and I want you safe until it is finally safe."

Sally raised her eyebrow at Percy before saying "I need you to be more clear, I have no idea what you are telling me."

Percy took another deep breath and decided that the best way to go about this is to "rip the bandaid off" and so he went for it. "Mom, a civil war is brewing on Olympus and I need to make sure there is nothing Zeus can use against me to put me at a disadvantage. I need to put you in a safe place until this war is over and I have the crown of Olympus on my head."

Sally looked at her son incredulously, "Percy, where am I supposed to go to avoid the gods?"

Percy breathed out before saying "The land beyond the gods, Alaska. You and paul can continue to do your passions and live as mortals without worrying about the off chance a god sees you, mostly because gods don't go there, no matter what.

Sally huffed and reclined in her chair thinking it over before saying "You really think this is the best Idea?"

Percy seemed to relax as he realized that his mom wasn't going to shut him down. "Yes mom, It's not permanent, and according to my last visit to Alaska, It is beautiful."

She looked at him and said, "You will set us up with jobs and housing?"

Percy smiled at his mom before saying "Yes mom, I would make sure you guys are comfortable."

She nodded at him and said "That's fine then. When can I expect to be going?"

Percy smiled kind of sheepishly at her before asking "When does Paul get home?"

She looked at him like he was insane before saying "About an hour why?"

Percy scratched the back of his neck before a duffle bag appeared in his hand, It was weighed down with paper and he smiled to himself. "Okay, I can get you there but It is the land beyond the gods so I can't do much so I am going to take yall up there and get you guys into the best hotel up there, I'll leave you guys with plenty of money to find housing and I will go ahead and use the mist to get Paul a teaching job up there. Since you are a writer just let your publisher know that you are moving and will communicate via email and skype and all the work will be done over the internet."

Sally took a deep breath in understanding before asking "And what do we do till he gets here?"

Percy smiled at her and then at Aiode before saying "Get acquainted, I have an IM to make."

With that, he stood up and walked out of the room. He saw his mom lean in and start talking before he was out of the room but he walked into the bathroom and started the shower creating steam. Once there was enough he opened the window revealing enough sun to create a rainbow before feeling around his pocket for a dramacha and tossing it into the rainbow and asking "yo Iris, Put me through to Poseidon and don't listen to the message." The steam obviously became blue at his comment and he groaned before reaching into his pocket and pulling a handful of dramachas out and tossing them into the steam which instantly shimmered into his fathers face, he was obviously chilling on his throne in Atlantis and has his son Triton and his stepmom on either side of him, Percy waved at his dad and greeted his extended family before starting to talk. "Hey, Dad,"

Poseidon looked up at his son and smiled before saying "Percy, How can I help you today?"

Percy just continued smiling at his father before saying "My mom agreed to move into hiding, There is officially no blackmail that Zeus could use over me at the start of this upcoming war. "

Poseidon looked at his son fondly before saying "I didn't even think of that aspect, good job my son."

Percy smiled at his father's response before Poseidon said "Also I have news... " Percy motioned for him to continue on and he did "I have united the deities of the sea, titans, gods, and primordials alike to join our cause. After a council meeting, we all came to common ground in understanding that Olympus wasn't the problem but Zeus was and that was the reason for the last two wars, though everyone on the council agrees that you would make a better ruler than Gaea and Kronus."

Percy was taken back by this, he never even thought of trying to unite all deities under his call but now that he knew it was possible he surely would be putting an effort in to do so. So he smiled at his father for gathering the support of the seas. Before saying "I'm glad to hear it I am going to see if Hades can enlist the help of the dead gods."

Poseidon smiled at him before saying "Don't be a stranger Percy. I'll call you soon." Pe3rcy smiled as he watched Poseidon swipe through the call.

Percy stretched and asked, "Hey Iris did I pay you enough for two calls?"

He heard a voice go "Yeah, who do you want to talk to?"

Percy smiled at this remark and said 'Hades, and same deal, no listening in."

Iris responded, "You got boss."

Suddenly the image shifted and he saw Hades resting upon his throne talking to Nico about his duties while the war was raging. Percy smiled as he watched Nico nod along to the orders that never seemed to stop. After a second Percy cleared his throat and Hades looked up at his nephew with a smile before saying "Ah my king, How are you?"

Percy smiled in response before saying "I will never get used to that nickname but good none the less. Hey Nic,"

Nico grinned at Percy while waving and then saying "Hey Perce."

Percy grinned at that and then looked back to Hades and asked: "How are preparations going?"

Hades smiled at his Nephew before saying "Things are going well, Tartarus is locked tight and the prisoners that you wanted to be retrieved from their depths are now within my domain and are ready to swear fealty to you."

Percy smiled at this remark before asking "Any other news?"

Hades nodded and said, "The underworld is prepped for the civil war and is locked off from death gods and they are all serving me so they are all on our side."

Percy regarded his uncle before saying "I'll be down soon to retrieve my allies and visit with you, uncle, take care."

Hades nodded and swiped through the iris message leaving him alone with a steaming room and a voice entered before it faded out, It was obviously Iris, "Anyone else Percy?"

Percy regarded her "Actually yes, Id like to talk to you, any way you can come here?"

Iris laughed at that and said "Sure" suddenly the room was filled with golden light before it faded and revealed a beautiful goddess that stood at about 5'10" and had long white-blonde hair and a simple white chiton over her tanned skin. She looked at Percy waiting until she realized that he was entranced by her. She blushed realizing this and then cleared her throat getting the Olympian's attention.

Percy shook his head to clear his mind and said "Sorry I just have never seen you in person before. He then used his powers to clear the room of steam and stopped the running water before starting. "I want to talk to you about something but I need you to swear on the Styx that you will not talk to anyone about"

She nodded before saying "I swear on the Styx that I will not divulge any information presented to me in this conversation to anyone, mortal or immortal." thunder was heard in the background and Percy smiled at the goddess before starting.

"What do you think about Zeus as the king?" He said seriously.

She shrugged her shoulders before saying "He hasn't done much, I suppose he is as much of a sitting duck and has been for millennia."

Percy nodded at this comment before saying " Are you opposed to a shift in power? A shift to a leader that will take care of his gods and make our relations with mortals better?"

Iris smiled before saying "You are planning something, and if it is you leading I am for it, You did much for me as a demigod and took care of my half-blood children in the same motion."

Percy smiled at her before continuing 'I have more than half of the Olympians support and want support for my cause spread throughout the minor gods as well. Would you be willing to join my side in this war?"

Iris smiled at him and said, "So you will be the new king of gods?"

Percy nodded his head and said "Yes."

She nodded her head and said, "Yes I will join your side, what do you want me to do?"

Percy looked at her and said, "You are the main way us immortals communicate, I want you to be our spy against Zeus and his allies and I want you to give us information and their plans as the war goes on."

She nodded her head and said, "I can do that."

Percy nodded and said "I thought you could, also, you will need to swear fealty to me. I hate the formality of it but its a precaution."

She nodded and said, "I swear my loyalty to the Olympian Percy Jackson and will do his bidding to the best of my ability for the progress and betterment of Olympus."

Percy nodded and said "Thank you Iris, you will be introduced to the other players on this side of the board at our next meeting. Take care."

She nodded again and said, "Take care, my King."

Percy nodded at her and said, "Let me know if anything interesting comes up." she nodded before the golden light enveloped the room and she was gone once again. He walked out of the bathroom once again and heard voices coming from the kitchen to see his mother, Aiode, and Paul, all gathered and talking around the island in the center of the room with glasses of red wine being sipped on as Sally told Paul the circumstances and talked to Aiode about what life was like on Olympus and with Percy.

Percy made himself known in the kitchen by clearing his throat and saying "Hey Paul." a smile rose to his step-father's face and they both walked forward and hugged.

Once they pulled apart Percy smiled and Paul said: "You have some big plans ahead of you."

Percy smiled at Paul before saying "Things are falling into place just fine. You ready to go?"

Paul rolled his shoulders before saying "Yep."

Percy closed his eyes and prayed to Hestia "Hestia, please set my family up in Alaska with housing and work. I have given them some cash to keep them comfortable while the war ahead rages, I just want them out of the crossfire." by the time the prayer had finished a bright flash of golden light came from the hallway before Hestia walked in and said, "Are yall ready to go?" Sally and Paul nodded and Percy handed Paul the duffle bag full of cash before Hestia offered Sally and Paul a and with a flash, they were gone. Percy walked around the apartment and turned off lights and unplugged lamps and things of the sort until he decided it was good enough to go. He walked down into the lobby and paid to hold the apartment for them for upwards of 30 years, just in case. Offered his hand to Aiode, and they also flashed back to Olympus, to spend the rest of the day together.