5

Chapter 9

Authors Note: Wow, 20,000 words and 9 chapters later. Its been a month since I had this story Idea and to still be moving with it is something I am proud of. I almost have 20 followers for it and that is crazy to me, that's like a whole classroom of people wanting to read my work. I hope you guys enjoy this next chapter, and like always, If you have anything that could help me better my writing or an idea about the story just let me know in the reviews. Happy Holidays, and I don't own PJO or any of the characters, just this story and my OC's. Enjoy!

Percy walked out of the bar with Hermes with a smile on his face. To have this much Olympian support in his effort was a huge deal and now a vote could be presented, giving the Olympian council a chance to have a peaceful transition of power. Though he doubted Zeus would allow for it, the idea was still a pleasant idea to the Icy Olympian. As soon as Percy and Hermes passed an empty alley, Hermes disappeared down it and presumably flashed back to Olympus.

Percy decided to let himself wander the city, It was Christmas time after all and the snow was coming down overhead. As the large snowflakes came down and landed upon the god he felt rejuvenated by the feeling of the snow crunching underfoot, It was almost more reenergizing than the feeling of going for a swim and he felt himself becoming accustomed to the feeling and a smile seemed to overtake his face as he walked alone. He hated that he was alone, as he passed the people walking in couples he noticed the eyes seemed to linger on him more than usual, his large structure and handsome features seemed to make the people stare and as Percy became more and more aware of this he became ever more self-conscious. He smiled at them and waved at people who let their eyes linger for too long but in the end, he wanted to be with someone at that moment. So he did what any other person would do and he mentally connected with Aiode.

"Hey, what are you doing right now?" he asked his goddess as he continued to walk down the busy streets of manhattan.

After a short second, he felt her also connect to him and say "I'm hanging out at the house. Why?"

Percy smiled hard enough that she could probably feel it through her head and he said: "come to where I am, we are having a date now."

He heard a screech of excitement in his head before he heard "You didn't hear that did you?"

He laughed at her antics and said "Yeah I did, wear Theatre attire. I am going to buy a suit for tonight."

He heard her basically screech again and then he heard "Okay! Let me get ready Ill meet you soon."

Just as the mental call disconnected he walked into Alton Lane. The woman sitting behind the desk looked him up and down almost in awe. Her cheeks held an obvious blush as she checked out the god in front of her. She was short at about 5'2" and wore a simple navy pantsuit that kept her looking professional at her young age that seemed to be about 25.

Percy smiled at her and the blush on her cheeks only seemed to redden before Percy said, "I'm here to get fitted and get a new suit. Can you help me with that?"

The girl behind the counter seemed to try to compose herself before stuttering out "Yes, I'm a tailor, I can help you."

Percy smiled at her and they wandered towards the back of the store where fitting rooms were. The girl turned to him before saying "Could you…"

Percy almost laughed at her inability to finish her sentence and took off his jacket so she could measure him.

She seemed to go into work mode before grabbing a stepping stool and measuring him from the top of his butt to his neck, and then the length of his arm around at both the forearm and bicep, and then the length of each respectively, she then measured his legs, and his waist before saying, "Well we will have to tailor one specifically for you"

Percy looked at her and asked her "can we do that quickly?"

She looked at him and said "It's going to cost more. When do you need it by?"

Percy rolled his shoulders and scratched the back of his neck and said: "Within the hour if you can…"

She looked at him for a moment and then nodded realizing that he was serious. She told him to go sit down in the chair in the corner and let her work. Once she started she didn't stop. She used navy blue fabric and an icy blue trim on the inside and worked in silence. Watching her was like watching an orchestra play, it was art, and she was the master. She used sewing machines to put pockets in and to connect everything at the seams and soon a jacket and pants were made and all that was left was the vest. She used an ornate fabric for the vest; which was not visible from far away but it seemed to have snowflake designs stitched into it in the same color as the fabric behind it; so it wasn't explicitly obvious but it was definitely there.

As Percy watched; entranced, the door opened and a bell sounded signaling another person had entered the shop. He heard Aiodes voice call out to him and he responded and she entered the room in a navy blue dress that reached her thighs and had a long cardigan pulled over her shoulders. She sat down next to Percy and also became entranced by the tailor's work.

Percy leaned over to the goddess next to him and said: "You look amazing." Aiode blushed at the statement and slowly pulled her eyes off of the tailor that was working and looked at her Olympian before lifting her hand to his jaw and pulling him in for a kiss. Strong with emotion but quick. She smiled at him and said, "You are about to look even better."

Percy smiled at her comment noticing that the tailor was finishing up his suit and he walked over to her. The short tailor looked up at him as she was just finishing up and smiled at him. Realization suddenly crossed her face and she raced to the front of the store. Percy looked at her confused as she seemingly scurried around the store before coming back holding a pair of sleek black oxfords, a generic white dress shirt, and a tie that matched up well with the suit. Percy smiled at her and she said, "Well… Try it on!"

Percy quickly nodded and stripped down to his underwear once again and then started putting on the suit. Once he had the pants on he slipped the shoes on and then he buttoned the shirt before tucking it and transferring his black leather belt from his jeans, into the loops of the suit, He then tied the tie to the right length and then put on the vest and buttoned it up so that there was only a bit of the white shirt showing from under his tie. He fixed his collar on the shirt and then pulled on the jacket. Once he was done he looked in the mirror and almost gasped, he had never seen himself look that good.

He smiled at his reflection as his confidence rose up and up before turning to the tailor and Aiode and realizing that both were having trouble containing themselves. The tailor was literally fanning herself; Aiode was having an easier time of keeping her cool but she too was visibly taken by how her boyfriend looked, she stared for a second before saying "You sure you aren't a love god?"

Percy laughed easily at the question and looked her over and repeated her question back to her with his signature lopsided grin overtaking his face. After joking around with AIode for a second he turned to the Tailor and asked: "How much do I owe you?"

The tailor stuttered out "about $6000 if that's okay, sir?" Percy almost laughed at how easily he turned this mortal woman to jello and started to understand why the other Olympians so easily whored themselves around. It was because of how much fun it was to watch someone want you that bad. Percy nodded at her question before pulling his black leather wallet out of his used jeans pocket opening it and pulling out a wad of 100's that was exactly $6000, Handed the money to the skilled tailor with a smile, offered his arm to Aiode and then headed out of the store. As he was walking out the doors the tailor called out to him "Sir! Your Clothes!" Percy looked back at her with a lopsided grin and said: "Donate them." just before closing the door behind him.

As they walked outside Percy took his coat off his shoulders and draped it around Aiodes shoulders, to make sure she wasn't cold and then he started guiding her to the restaurant "Hardings." His plans were to treat her and enjoy their night in a romantic fashion and get his mind off of the incoming coup that he was about to commit against the king of the gods. He needed a break from the stress that had built itself up over the week that the plans had been brewing. He wanted it to be over as soon as possible but he felt like he knew that what was coming wasn't going to be easy and he knew that it was going to take a very long time for things to settle.

As he keeps walking down the street flurries came down on him and the streets seemed to clear as the snow got heavier. He realized that his somber mood was affecting the weather. Aiode stepped closer to him and grabbed his hand before asking him "Are you okay?"

Percy Smiled at her before saying "I am just stressed about it all."

She smiled at him and said "Tonight we aren't going to worry about what's coming, we are going to worry about right now, this moment, me and you, on a dinner date, with nothing to worry about because we are gods that can't be killed, not forever. We have so many moments ahead of us like this that it should set your mind at ease."

Percy smiled at his goddess and kissed her forehead before continuing down the street before steering her into the restaurant they were headed too "Hardings" once they were in the young hostess blushed looking at percy before saying "How many?"

Aiode regarded her before deciding that she was harmless and saying "table for 2 please"

The hostess seemed to notice her and said "Of course, right this way!"

Percy nodded and followed the hostess and Aiode through the restaurant to their table close to the window so they could see the snow fall and the occasional civilian passerby. The food they were given was phenomenal and their service was impeccable. The only thing that was lacking was where Percy was at mentally. This fact wasn't lost on Aiode as she watched him absentmindedly play with his food, once again distracted by the weight of the things to come and weight already on his shoulders based on those that had already sworn allegiance to him.

He was already experiencing the stress of a crown that he hadn't yet received. He was nervous, every second that passed he grew more and more anxious of the future and the problems that it held. He was a leader but every good leader is burdened by the weight of his crown and she was picking up on it and she didn't like that his stress was adding to her stress. But that is the price of love, that's what she signed up for when she chose to dance with him on the night that he became an Olympian, and she couldn't stop the downward spiral that was already spinning its way down.

He continued to play with his food for a second more before noticing her once again and asking her "What is it, Aiode?"

She nervously twirled her fork around before looking at her king and boyfriend before saying "Your stress is affecting me, Im worried about you and what is to come.

He looked her over once again and his shoulders relaxed and he said "I need to speed this process up tenfold, this is affecting both you and me greatly."

She looked taken aback by his words before asking "are you ready to start a war?"

He looked her dead in the eyes with a deadly determination playing in his serious face before saying "Are you ever?"

With that a golden light enveloped him and then her and then they were sitting in the upstairs of the now closed coffee shop that Percy had held his meeting at the beginning of all of this and he called out to all his allies to come to an impromptu meeting. After about 5 minutes the olympians were there and the main minor gods were there and Percy started talking "I'm tired of waiting for Zeus to find out"

Within seconds the room was roaring with pleas and differing opinions from the other gods in the room. Slowly everyone became silent once he met all of their eyes with his own and visually told them to shut up.

It was a subtle act of power that not even Zeus had over these Olympians and in that moment Percy's leadership powers shone through and he started once again "I don't mean that we need to overthrow zeus right this second, But I would like to by the end of the month. This stress is weighing on me and it must be crippling you all too. I can feel your nervous energy, just standing in the same room as you."

He got mostly nods in response and then said "Proceed as you were then." with that he offered his hand to Aide who took it and they flashed out. Leaving the Olympians alone to discuss how they would speed up the process, because their king was right and the pressure and stress was slowly wearing on them and they wanted it to stop.

And so they got to work on a plan.