Co-Written by VanadiumOxide
Beta'd by Praetorfable

The Twenty Ninth of May

Twenty Three Days A.B.M

Three hours after his meeting with the Romans, things were beginning to calm down. Percy had finally decided to make the Empire State Building the official seat of his power, and so they needed to move a lot of things. A lot of things.

Hundreds of years of bureaucratic infrastructure was concentrated in Washington, around the White House. Said infrastructure was now being moved to the Empire State Building for easier governance. Secure wiring, advanced satellites and special encryption technology would all come later, but it had to come eventually. As Percy had mentioned earlier, SAM turrets were being set up on the roof, with dozens of other security measures being installed courtesy of his two converted secret service agents. The Pentagon, and all its many, many functions had to essentially be picked up and moved to New York. A new capitol building would also have to be built in New York, and thousands of high up, integral government employees moved to the city.

It was a hassle. Normally, it would take months, likely years. He would have to reside in Washington for the better part of the decade until his new capital was ready. But right now, gods were attempting to one up each other in an effort to get an extra large temple somewhere, or maybe he would even mention them specifically in one of his speeches. The tens of millions of people who would have said god at the forefront of their prayers tonight was enough to give them a power boost like no other. And so, this is why Percy was currently riding up to Olympus.

Once again, Nico was with him. Percy bit back his lingering resentment at his cousin. No matter how he twisted it, Annabeth had been in Nico's hands. Security, hers and his, had been his primary responsibility and he had failed. And because he had failed, Percy had lost the love of his life.

At the same time, he couldn't entirely blame Nico. He had had so much on his plate that he had barely slept since they'd taken New York, so Percy knew that it was hardly laziness that had caused the lapse in security. No, he had been given a ragtag group of fanatics who had a few weeks of training and was asked to protect who was likely the most hated man on the planet by now. The fact that Percy or Annabeth hadn't died the first day alone was a testament to Nico's abilities. He knew that he was not being irrational blaming Nico, but he still had much larger expectations than were reasonable, and for that, he felt horrible for still holding resentment towards his cousin, but that didn't change that he felt said resentment in the first place.

Nico had been absent a lot recently, his responsibilities, just like Percy's own, had tripled over the last few weeks, but Percy knew he was always watching from the shadows. Nico's job description, other than protecting him, was putting down rebellions and dissent. Percy could imagine that about half the nation was in rebellion at the moment, keeping Nico plenty busy. That wasn't even mentioning that Nico had also just inherited the world's largest organization of spies, wiretaps, investigators, agents, and covert technology. All three branches, that being the NSA, CIA, and FBI, would be merged into one as-of-yet unnamed branch, reporting directly to Nico.

But that would be taken care of in due time, Percy reminded himself as he stepped out of the elevator which had just arrived on Olympus.

If it was possible, Olympus had turned even more beautiful since Percy's last visit. It had taken on an ethereal beauty beyond what words could do justice. He wondered if they were just further ahead in new construction, or if the beauty of Olympus was directly tied to its power in the world.

Shaking off his very brief reverie, he continued up the cobbled streets of Olympus. First stop; Zeus's place.

Olympus was organized in a rather strange fashion. Where you entered Olympus was a grand city, big enough for a hundred thousand people, occupied by thousands of nature spirits and other immortal beings. It was truly a utopia; every being had a large estate with enough land to do with as they pleased. They were still immortals, after all, and lived better than any man on earth. Shops, stores and restaurants crowded this part of the city, and hundreds of spirits and immortals walked around, minding their business.

On a summit just above that sat the palaces of the minor gods. There were hundreds, covering almost half the mountain. The palaces were the size of Beverly hills houses, with an acre of land each to boot, scattered up the mountain.

Near the tip of the mountain were twelve enormous palaces. They were reminiscent of the thrones of the gods, or even their cabins, and each had its own personality. The entire top third of the enormous mountain was covered in twelve buildings and their surrounding land. Calling them gigantic was putting it lightly.

Artemis' was reminiscent of her temple in Ephesos, with large, sprawling woods for hunting laying behind it. Ares's palace looked like a Napoleonic era fortress, canons and spikes pointing outwards on every wall. Zeus's looked like one giant bank, more like the pantheon than anything else. It was the highest on the hill, right next to the giant domed throne room which sat on its crest, which was still the largest building Percy had ever seen.

As Percy labored up the steps, through the revenant crowds of immortals not for the first time, Percy considered asking Nico to just shadow travel him to Zeus's palace. But he quite enjoyed the beautiful sites and people of Olympus, and he preferred to spend as much time as he could let himself get away with up here. He also wasn't entirely sure shadow travelling would work up here. Olympus was funky when it came to magic, some normal rules didn't apply.

Percy was here today to make a request from most major gods, and one minor goddess. He basically had a shopping list. State of the art infrastructure for the Empire State Building, a replacement for the pentagon, a forge for the Elder Cyclopes, and so on.

There was only one small, teeny weeny itsy bitsy problem. It was against the ancient laws. And as powerful as the Greek gods were, a coalition of Egyptians, Norse, Aztecs, Shinto, Zoroastrians, and who knows what else was still less than ideal. That being said, all of those same pantheons would have to step lightly around the Greeks now, after all, they were the most powerful pantheon by miles. Despite their infringements on the ancient laws, war with Olympus would likely mean complete eradication, and they knew this.

So that being said, Percy was fairly certain he could convince each god to give him a gift or two. After all, Zeus had given him his crown, and Poseidon his scepter. Hera and Athena were apparently also planning things for him as well, but the only way they would actually be able to magic up a building or throne for him was if Zeus decided it was okay.

That was half the reason Percy was heading to Zeus first. The other was that he still had several thousand nukes pointed at him, waiting for him to make a move, and Percy needed a way to deal with said nukes.

This was the one subject Percy was pretty sure that he would have no difficulty in convincing Zeus of. A nuclear apocalypse would not be pleasant for any parties involved, ancient laws be damned.

For the remainder of the long walk Percy forced himself to just enjoy the scenery, slowly making his way to the giant temple at the top of the mountain.

When he eventually got to the front doors of the god of the skies, he was faced with giant bronze doors, rivalling the throne room doors in size. Across the doors were depictions of Zeus's exploits. Being raised by Gaea and Rhea, poisoning Kronos and freeing his siblings, freeing the Hekatonheires and Elder Cyclopes, and then casting his father down from Mount Othrys. Percy didn't pay attention to any of Zeus's many other achievements carved into the door, instead standing there patiently.

Percy was under no illusion that he needed to knock. He was on the king of the sky's property, if Zeus wasn't aware of his presence as soon as he stepped foot on said property, Percy would eat his shoe.

Sure enough, soon the wide doors swung open, revealing a wind spirit on the other side.

"Right this way, your majesty," the spirit bowed, before turning and leading him into Zeus's palace.

The thing was about as bland as Percy first imagined, and he was stuck wondering not for the first time if Zeus actually had anything he did for fun. No wonder he cheated so much, it was probably the only thing he had ever found pleasure in. Poor bastard.

Eventually Percy was led to a room behind the main entrance and the giant statue of Zeus overlooking the entry hall, which was as big and multitudes of times as grand as Grand Central Station.

Zeus was sitting at a table, eating cheeses and grapes, with Hera sitting across from him. They had a small balcony overlooking Olympus next to them, and the room was only a bit large by mortal standards. Overall it was a significant step down from what Percy expected he'd see.

The table and chairs were made out of wood. Expensive wood, sure, but wood nonetheless, not marble, or gold. The table they were sat at was relatively small, and Percy was even more surprised at the casual posture Zeus and Hera were sitting in. This was the most human he had ever seen a god act, maybe only short of Dionysus cursing his luck at a pinochle table.

"Well, Jackson, what is it?" Zeus asked, and Percy quickly realized he was staring. He shook off his surprise. He was half tempted to take the open chair at the table just to piss Zeus off because he could, but figured it wouldn't be the best thing to do right before asking for a favor from the god.

"Ah, yes, um," Percy cleared his throat. "I came to report to you about a few things. The first being the very real threat of nuclear annihilation currently facing our people."

Zeus grunted, half hearing. "Those mortal weapons are irrelevant. The wind spirits will take care of them before they can get anywhere." Zeus let a small smile cross his face, popping a grape into his mouth.

Shaking off how weird that was, Percy made his second request. "My second request is a little less black and white. I'd like you to allow each deity to grant me one gift."

"Normally, I would say no to such a request from a hero." Zeus hummed, picking up his glass — alcohol in some form, Percy was sure — and taking a sip. "But you, Jackson? I know fully that you do not take such powerful gifts lightly. A request like this one? You wouldn't make this ask this of me without good reason. Tell me, why should I let them?"

"Because you already gave me a gift. You gave me my crown, one ruler to another. My father gave me my scepter, whilst giving me his own along with it. I know her majesty," he nodded towards Zeus's silent wife on the other end of the table. "Has planned to grant me a throne, and her highness Athena a throne room. I am in need of many other facilities if I am to conquer the mortal realm and have my seat of power be below Olympus. The only way that I hold on to this country for more than the next 72 hours is with divine intervention. Besides, limiting it to one and practically mandating that each god give me a gift stops the catering we both know would happen. If the deal is snapping their fingers and giving me a giant palace for a hundred million extra prayers that night, you and I both know it won't be long before that's all the gods are doing, finding new ways to get me to honor them for the extra power."

Zeus remained silent for a while, regarding his reasoning. It wasn't like Percy to do long winded speeches like that, but Annabeth wasn't here to do it for him, and he had to secure humanity's future.

Zeus looked across the table to his wife, and they seemed to have a silent conversation. Several tense moments later, Zeus nodded.

"Very well, Jackson. You may have your wishes. Make your requests, or you will be granted a gift. There will be… limits on such gifts, obviously. I am also forbidding the minor gods from giving you a gift unless you specifically ask for it. Only those on the council shall have the privilege of deciding their own gifts." Zeus told him.

"There's one more thing you need to know before you leave, as well. Styx has been in contact with me. She's not happy about your flagrant use of her river for your oaths. Do not take the river of oaths lightly."

Percy raised an eyebrow. "So what, cut back on people making oaths to me?"

Zeus shook his head. "She is happy with more people swearing over her, actually. It's what you've required people swear to you for. She does not take kindly to having you demanding people swear themselves to you. She is an arbiter for mutual agreements and promises, not your enforcer," Zeus said, before returning back to his seat and taking a sip of his drink. "And to bring up a similar point, do not expect the King of the Gods to be your liaison. While I made an exception with Styx, you will have to approach Hermes if you want to know the specifics on the proper uses of oaths."

Knowing when he was dismissed, Percy bowed, muttered, "Majesties." under his breath, before turning to leave. He did love to piss Zeus off, and he especially loved to piss off Hera, but they had both just done him a favor, he decided not to reward it by getting on their nerves.

"Perseus," Hera called him before he could step out the door. Turning back, he looked at the queen of the gods. "Consider your throne done as soon as Athena makes your throne room. I do hope you like my design." She told him with a smile. If Percy didn't know her, it would almost seem nice. Knowing her, though, the smile was the creepiest thing he had seen in a while. Nodding his head in thanks, Percy continued out the door, Nico in tow.

Percy made it out easily enough, and found himself back on the empty street of upper Olympus.

Percy looked around, saw that the nearest palace was the sprawling estate of Demeter, and held in a groan. This was going to be a bitch. If she made one comment about cereal, he was gonna punch something.

A little bit later he was walking into the open gates of the estate of Demeter. There were gardens and small fields of flowers everywhere you looked. Bees buzzed around, birds chirped, and rabbits hopped. All in all, it was pretty pleasant.

Percy didn't see the goddess, so he decided to walk behind the Beverly Hills size mansion, which was actually smaller than most Olympians.

After the few minutes it took him to get around, he saw that sure enough, Demeter was sitting on a bench feeding some birds, Persephone at her side.

The mother and daughter seemed to be talking, just enjoying the sun filled afternoon. When Percy got about a dozen feet from them, he stopped, placing his hands behind his back and waiting.

It took several minutes, but soon enough Demeter spoke loud enough for him to hear.

"Do you make a habit out of barging into goddesses' palaces unannounced?"

Percy shrugged. "The gate was open, I assumed you were welcoming visitors. Was I wrong?"

Demeter turned her head to smile slightly at him, her daughter mirroring her actions. "No. Come, sit demigod." She motioned to the open seat on the bench between her and Persephone.

Percy didn't see any harm in it, so he walked over to the bench and sat down, nearly touching each goddess. His armor clanked as he sat down, Nico in his shadow all the while.

"It is beautiful, isn't it?" Demeter asked, looking around at the sprawling fields of flowers around her.

"Certainly," Percy agreed. Percy wasn't exactly one for gardening with the exception of the moonlace flower Calypso had given him all that time ago, but Percy had to admit, the goddess had the most beautiful, varied garden that he had ever seen.

Calypso… He hadn't thought about her for months, not since that one awkward conversation with Leo.

She had always been his biggest what if. What if he'd stayed in Ogygia, in her prison/abode for the rest of eternity, gardening Moonlace with her and her servants? What if he'd never returned, never gotten closer with Annabeth and never led the defense of Manhattan?

Would Olympus have remained, embattled but alive without him? Would the Titans have taken over, and what then of the Giant War? Somehow, Percy doubted the Giants and Gaea would've called off their own war, just because of a change in leadership.

And because of these cascade of events, everything about Percy's life would've never happened. He'd never meet all his friends he cherished the most today. He wouldn't be sitting in Lady Demeter's gardens now, having to subdue the endless guilt and agony because he'd failed to protect many of them, now that they were gone, dead, or worse.

But no doubt, he would still have similar thoughts as he had now, if he'd decided to stay with her. He would've wondered what if I left to fight the Titans, what would happen to Annabeth, Grover, my other friends at Camp Half-Blood…. And my mom.'

There was a reason Percy had arrived late and left early when he went to visit his mom. He knew she knew what he had done. The acts he had committed. And Percy was afraid of that.

Of course, when she saw him she had hugged him, told him she loved him. And that was still true, it always had been. But there was a look in her eyes. A look Percy was familiar with. She was afraid. Of what he had become? Of what he might do? That he might just freak out and destroy the apartment? Percy had no idea, but he saw the fear.

Percy hadn't even been able to see his little sister. His mom had made an excuse, about letting Estelle get her rest, that she needed her sleep, and so did he. He wasn't allowed to see his little sister.

He had left before she woke up.

What about Annabeth? Part of him seemed to scream. Did the time he had spent with her mean nothing, did all the time they would spend together in the afterlife mean nothing?

Percy immediately denied the traitorous thought. Of course their time together meant something. But he had loved Calypso before he had loved Annabeth. Would his love for her be any less? Would the time spent with her mean any less than the time he spent with Annabeth?

Percy didn't know, and that scared him.

He realized now, that he had the power to free her from her prison. To ride in on a steed and take her back to the human world, to finally free her of her curse.

But then what? Would he still love her? Would he ever be able to move on from Annabeth? Percy felt the temptation might be too much, to just be in the arms of someone who loved him every night again. That scared him.

And what if he didn't love her? Or at least, could stop himself from spending the rest of his life with her. Was that what he wanted? Would that be fair to her? Rescued by the man she loved, only to be denied a future with him. Was it better to leave her on her island, alone forevermore?

And what would happen if she didn't love him? He had left her years ago, despite how strange time was on Ogygia. Had she fallen for Leo? Had the curse still applied to Leo, or was it different because Khione had sent him there, not the gods?

Percy didn't know the answer to that, either.

"It is healthy to once in a while enjoy nature's beauty, and reminisce, no?" Demeter asked cherrily.

He realized he was staring, and blinked, before turning back toward her.

"I've been told my garden is exceptional at calming the mind and letting it wander off to where it needs to be," the goddess of agriculture told him. "You humans these days and your big, tight cities! Not enough life! Not enough simplicity!"

Percy nodded, for once not just going along with the goddess so that she wouldn't vote to kill him.

"Anyway, young Perseus. Forgive me, but you don't strike me as the type for random out-of-the-blue visits to the gods. What can I do for you?" Demeter asked, slightly turning her head to look at him.

Percy looked back at her. "I needed a capitol building, actually. Zeus approved each god to give me one thing, this is what I'm asking from you. Sorry, by the way. My mind was wandering for a bit."

She smiled slightly. "Of course. I'm glad my gardens were able to allow you to reflect. Come by any time, young hero. I'll create your building next to the Empire State Building. I wish you luck." She said, smiling and turning back outwards, towards her field of flowers.

Percy sent her a smile of his own, before nodding to Persephone, who had yet to say a word, and stepping out of the garden. Next stop, Ares's palace. This visit, Percy figured, would not be nearly as pleasant.

A few minutes later, he stood in front of the giant wood and iron gates of Ares's palace, observing the many depictions of war and bloodshed that covered the gate.

"What do you want, punk."

Suddenly, the gate was gone, and he and Nico were standing in a gun range, right next to the god of war. He held an M16 in his hand, and was shooting at targets thousands of meters away. Percy didn't even think the gun went that far, much less aimed by a guy using iron sights, standing up, but Ares didn't seem to be having any trouble hitting targets, so Percy didn't comment.

Percy waited until Ares was done unloading his magazine down range before speaking.

"I came to ask for a favor," Percy said dryly, trying his hardest to ignore the irony of the situation.

Ares actually laughed at that, turning to face him, before looking at him over his sunglasses, his two balls of molten lava trying to see exactly what Percy was getting at.

"And what favor would that be?" he asked, a taunting lilt dripping off of his voice.

"A new pentagon, one in New York City. It doesn't actually have to be a pentagon, of course. In fact, I'd prefer it not be, points for originality and all that. But I need a new military headquarters in the capital, and figured you'd be the best one for the job."

Ares smirked mockingly before responding. "Sorry punk, but I think I'll pass. I'll admit, the extra juice has got me in a bit of a good mood, but that doesn't mean I'll be going around givin' out free favors or nothin."

Percy shrugged, starting to walk away. Where was he walking to? Hades if he knows, he doesn't know how to get out of this place, he was just walking away from Ares. "Oh well. You were right Nico, we were better off just talking to Athena, she's always been better on the whole military strategy thing anyway, and I'm sure she'd like the extra worshippers being the patron of the greatest military construct to ever exist will bring."

Nico smiled from where he had been standing silently next to Percy, catching on. "I told you. I mean, this building will serve as your military headquarters, which means it'll be at the center of all things military for the next… I don't know, million years? More? As long as humanity is around, probably. Athena would be all over that."

Ares's hand caught Percy's bicep, and despite knowing everything was going to plan, Nico's hand still tightened around the pommel of his sword.

"Now wait a minute punk. If this thing is gonna be as good as you say it is, then I'm gonna be the one to build it. You're not gonna go replace it or anything, right?"

Percy shook his head, still looking away from Ares. "Not if you make it as good as Athena would. If it's state of the art, I'd have no reason to replace it, I'll just upgrade it as things progress."

Of course, Athena had already decided to give him a throne room, and as such couldn't give him a second gift. That didn't mean Ares knew that, though.

Ares frowned, shaking his head. "Fine, you've convinced me, but I couldn't do something like that without father's approval. You don't just go around breaking ancient laws like that."

"He gave approval for each god to give me a gift, not ten minutes ago. Trust me, his stamp of approval is on this." Percy shot back.

Ares grunted, before spacing off a moment, perhaps checking to see if it was true. "Huh, so you have…" Releasing Percy's bicep, Ares snapped his fingers. "There. State of the art tower built in Manhattan, everything you need to run a planet wide military. Has all the bells and whistles, with all the best mortal technology, so make use of it, will ya'?"

Percy nodded, and smiled slightly, turning to face Ares. "I appreciate the gift, your highness."

"Yeah yeah, whatever, just get out of here." he said, waving his hand. And suddenly, they were on the street in front of his palace.

Percy smiled slightly. "Well, that went well enough. Athena next?"

Nico's silence was its own answer.

Athena was just across the cobbled road of Olympus from Ares, so walking across the street, Percy and Nico arrived at the gates to a large, ornately designed palace. It was a masterclass in architecture, arcs and curves were everywhere he looked, and Percy was having some seriously vivid memories about Annabeth gushing over it which he tried to suppress.

The gates swung open silently. Percy strode inside, taking it as an invitation. Sitting on a bench just inside the walls, in a miniature garden, was Athena.

She was reading a book. Percy didn't get a chance to see what the title was, but it was much newer than he expected her to be reading. The thing looked like it had been printed yesterday.

Ignoring that for now, Percy walked over to the goddess, standing a few feet from her and waiting for her to put the book down. A minute later, she did, closing the book and putting it to the side.

Taking this as his queue, Percy spoke up. "Your highness, I heard you were looking to build a throne room for me. I just came by to let you know that your father has approved the gift, and her majesty has prepared the throne, for when you are done."

Athena scoffed. "Is that why you've mentioned my name in Zeus and Ares's palace so much? It's driving me crazy. Either way," she waved her hand. "Your throne room is done. I'm sure Hera already knows and will add the throne."

Percy stood there when she was done talking. He was waiting for her to bring up the other thing. The one thing they had in common, the thing that would be difficult to talk about. It was not like he wanted Athena to pursue the topic and attack him for his failures but Percy inwardly berated himself for thinking that she had actually cared about her daughter. Percy knew before Annabeth had been killed and he knew now, the gods cared only for themselves.

Turning on his heel, Percy dismissed himself. She could snap her fingers and he would evaporate, but both she and all her power could rot in Tartarus for all he cared.

After that more sour interaction, Percy promptly walked out and continued walking down the street.

The next stop was Hephaestus's palace, so that Percy could get a forge for the cyclopes. It was several minutes later that Percy caught whiff of a very familiar perfume, and froze in his tracks.

They weren't passing Aphrodite's palace, hers was just after Demeter's — behind them. So why did Percy smell her perfume.

Fingers traced his spine from behind, long nails tantalizingly tickling his back. Metal slowly screeched, as Nico became more and more on edge, gripping his sword tightly.

No words were spoken. Percy knew who was behind him, obviously, and Aphrodite wanted her fun, so for now Percy would have to bear it. Things only turned worse if one resists Aphrodite's antics, but if this conversation was about what Percy thought it was about… He might not be able to stop himself from popping her and suffering the consequences.

Percy's breath caught in his throat, and he shut his eyes as Aphrodite traced his shoulder, coming around to his front. She let herself rest in front of him, before setting both of her hands on his shoulders, moving her thumbs on his chest slowly. Percy didn't move, as still as if he were in a pit of snakes.

Soon she pressed herself up against him, her arms, breasts, and lithe body fitted into his front. "Oh, you poor thing." she muttered, pushing one of his hairs back.

Percy tensed even more than he had before, and for a moment Aphrodite relished in the feeling of being pressed into his tightly wound muscles. His first instinct was to shove her off, but again, that would not end well. So, practicing as much self restraint as he could, he slowly put his hands on her hips, and pushed her away, firmly.

Percy could hear the pout in her voice. "Oh, don't be like that now. I'm just trying to comfort you, don't deny that you want it. Now, what is a heroic demigod like you doing in a place like this?"

Percy didn't respond, not sure he could trust himself to open his mouth right this moment. Even as his eyes were closed, he could still smell her, he could imagine her body, and hear her soft, smooth voice.

When she had been pressed up against him, the temptation he had felt had been beyond most things he had faced in his life. But Percy had turned down more tempting offers, and so he struggled through this one.

He wasn't sure if when he opened his mouth he would give in to her, or lash out at her. Either were equally as possible at this moment. Percy thanked whatever deity was above the gods that he had his eyes closed, or he wasn't sure what would become of this meeting.

Seeming to realize Percy's discomfort, Nico unsheathed his sword. He wouldn't threaten Aphrodite, not yet. She could still make their lives hell, after all. But the message was clear. Back off, or Nico would make her, regardless of how messy it got. In his hand not holding his sword, he gripped the tip of the sword of Erebus, preparing for a fight, the stygian iron cutting into his hand slightly.

Stepping back, she frowned. This was dangerous, she wasn't used to having someone basically immune to her charm. But not only was Nico more immune to her womanly persuasions than most guys, he had already sworn his soul to the boy she was trying to seduce. His resolve was absolute.

She narrowed her eyes, and her appearance changed. Where a slightly older, less imperfect version of Annabeth had once been standing, now stood a black haired, green eyed girl. She looked at Percy, who still had his eyes closed, and then looked down at herself. They could be twins.

An uncharacteristic scowl crossed her face. She wouldn't win this confrontation.

Dropping her scowl, Aphrodite's face turned into a pleasant smile. "Well, if you don't want me, then I'll be on my way Percy. I heard about that whole gift thing though, and you can count on me participating. You'll get a nice surprise soon, you can count on that!"

And like that Aphrodite disappeared in a flash, and Percy dropped his shoulders, letting out a long, long breath, and opening his eyes.

Percy locked eyes with Nico, and Nico knew what he had gone through. Nico had not had such conflicts, but he sheathed his sword, before putting a hand on the older boy's shoulder.

"Do you... Want to talk about it?"

That actually got a snort out of Percy. "Nope."

They continued walking after that, pretending that nothing had happened. It wasn't long until they reached Hephaestus's palace. The place was one giant forge. Seeing that the door was open, Percy just… walked in. Smoke poured out the roof, and dozens of cyclopes lumbered around inside, carrying metal, weapons, armor, and a bunch of other gadgets around. Percy could see that the gods weren't being entirely truthful about there being no celestial bronze left, at least. There was enough to outfit at least another section of 15.

Shrugging it off, Percy walked further into the forge. He received many hails and greetings as he walked. After all, they may work for Hepheastus, but they were Poseidon's subjects, and as such, his subjects.

It wasn't long that he spent in the sprawling forge before he came across the forge god. He was twenty feet tall, and tinkering with something on his workbench. Percy cleared his throat, and waited patiently when the god ignored him. A few minutes later, he seemed satisfied, putting down the small objects he had been tinkering with and turning his attention towards Percy, absentmindedly putting out a small flame which had started in his beard.

"Well, what do you want?" was his gruff greeting.

"A forge." Hephaestus was one of those gods where it was best to get to the point. Taking out a folded up paper from his pocket, he held it up to Hephaestus, who took it from his hands and began to pour over it. "A forge capable of arming the Gods' new empire. Near the Empire State, preferably."

The fire god raised his eyebrow, his eyes sifting through the plans. "Whoever designed these is a mighty fine smith. One of my sons, perhaps?" he asked, looking up hopefully.

Percy shook his head. "Cyclopes, from Atlantis. I have a few special projects I need them to complete and need them to have state of the art equipment near me."

The crippled god had clearly not been keeping up with current events, and was hopeful one of his children had been the one to be so promising. Percy decided to refrain from informing him that he only had a few children left above the age of twelve.

"Well, nevertheless, I'm impressed. They have the facilities here to make celestial bronze, stygian iron, even imperial gold short of the blessings necessary. You must have found yourself some mighty old cyclopes," he said, poring over the notes with hardly restrained glee.

"There are a couple problems though. I'll need some water from each of the rivers of the underworld to complete this. Except the Acheron, that is. Not necessary for these plans. I can put in the basins to hold them, but don't count on them being filled, you'll have to do that yourself," he told them.

Percy shrugged. He had Nico, getting water from the rivers of the underworld would be simple enough as long as Nico was careful.

"Other than that… I'll add in a few gadgets which your cyclops friends seem to have forgotten, and you can consider it done."

Seeming satisfied, the forge god turned back to his workbench, deciding the conversation was over. He was a god after all, that was pretty par for the course as far as conversational skills went. Shrugging it off, Percy turned around and walked out of the massive forge.

Or at least he tried to.

"Boy." Hephaestus called after him.

Percy froze, before turning to face the god, who was looking straight at him.

"I can smell her on you, you know. Be careful around her, ya' hear?" The god mumbled.

Percy clenched his fist. He was sure that if his skin wasn't as tough as steel that he'd have drawn blood.

"Trust me, I'm not exactly trying to run into her." Percy replied coldly, before turning around and leaving, for real this time.

The last Olympian he needed to talk to was Hermes. Percy was actually looking forward to the conversation, cheering him up slightly from the conversation he had just exited. In contrast to the rest, Hermes was one of the few gods that were easy to talk to. Apollo also came to mind in that list.

It wasn't too long of a walk to Hermes's palace, only having to walk past Apollo's on the way. That being said, even walking across the width of an Olympian god's palace took several minutes, so it was several minutes before they arrived in front of Hermes's palace.

Walking up to the front gate of what was essentially a bachelor pad, Percy heard the fluttering of wings before he could even get close.

"What's up, cuz?"

Percy turned to his left to see Hermes standing there, texting away at his phone even as he stood there. Martha and George twisted around the antenna of the old style flip phone, fighting to be higher up than the other.

Percy pried his eyes off of the amusing sight. "First, I heard I was supposed to come to you to know about Styx?"

Hermes nodded, momentarily taking his eyes off of his phone. "Oh yeah, terms and all that, heard you've been abusing her oath. Anyway, no more large groups swearing oaths to you. Max of a few people. Also asking you to stop swearing a bunch of people to be loyal and all that. She's allowing it, but only for very specific people, not like, every general or something like that." Hermes said, quickly looking down at his phone again when it went off, signalling he had a text message.

"Hmmm…. Oh yeah," he said distractedly. "She'll exempt your royal guards from that whole process for now. You can keep making new ones swear oaths to you. That's the only exception, though."

Percy was alright with that. Actually, the terms she'd laid out for him weren't too bad, all things considered. He had half expected something like this to happen because of how much he had been using the Styx anyway. Percy just shuddered to think what would have happened if he had gone through with making the Elder Cyclopes swear themselves to him. That would not have ended well, and Percy was glad he decided against it.

"Anyway," Percy said. "The main reason I came by was to ask for a favor. I need the Empire State's infrastructure updated. Secure lines, super fast internet, whatever. The whole shabang, whatever it takes to run a country from the thing."

Hermes, nodded, before doing a few motions with what Percy could only guess was changing the app. A chirp of a ringtone erupted.

"Done," he said, going back to texting for a moment before deciding he was done for the and putting away the phone entirely.

Looking up at his little cousin, Hermes smiled. "Hey, good seein' ya' Perce. It's been too long, really it has. We need to go to a bar some time." Hermes said.

Percy smiled slightly at the god's antics. "Maybe when everything dies down. I'm a bit busy for that at the moment."

Hermes shrugged. "Whatever bro, just let me know if you wanna tag along some time. Me and Apollo found this great new place in LA, you gotta check it out. By the way, your tower looks a bit different now. It needed a good bit more space for everything you want from it. A bit taller, to say the least. You should come up with a new name for it."

"How about, the Percy Jackson awesome tower of awesomeness." A voice spoke up from behind him. Percy turned around, suddenly aware of the presence of Apollo.

Percy shook his head, still amused. "Mhm, doesn't quite roll off of the tongue, I'll have to think of something."

Apollo wrapped his arm around Percy's shoulders. Nico tensed, but didn't make any other moves. Apollo was one of the friendlier gods, Nico wasn't all too concerned about him trying anything.

"Let me tell ya', dude, you gotta come to that bar in LA with us. Has Hermes told you about it yet?" he didn't wait for a response. "Hear me out, the ladies there—" Apollo whistled and looked into the horizon, lost in his memories or fantasies, whichever was more pleasant.

Percy tensed. Nico's grip on his sword tightened. Hermes's smile strained. Apollo was oblivious to all of this.

"Anyway," Percy spoke up, removing himself from under Apollo's arm. "I need to get going. Country to run and all that."

His voice was strained, and Apollo noticed. For a second he paused to think about why, before seeming to realize.

"Ah, right. The dead Athena girl. Don't worry bro, I get it. Let me know when you're over her though, we can go—"

Percy punched him in the face.

Ichor spilled out from his nose, and his head whipped back. His balance was thrown back, and he fell on his back. His head hit the cobbled steps below them with a crack and bricks crumbled around his head.

Percy was pissed. He had been dealing with bullshit from the gods for the better part of his day now. He could sit through threats of physical violence, through digs, through trying to seduce him, through ignoring him out right. But to talk about Annabeth as if she were just some girl of little consequence, someone he could just 'get over'.

Well, Percy had finally found an outlet for his anger.

For a moment, Percy began to advance, ready to beat him until he was a smear on the ground, before Hermes held an arm in front of him. Nico's sword was out now, just a few inches from Hermes's neck.

"Hey, he deserved a punch, I'll give you that. But quit while you're ahead. I'll let him know what an asshole he was being, but you should probably beat it for now." Hermes talked the teenager down.

Percy paused for a moment and breathed. Did he want to beat the shit out of the sun god until he couldn't eat through anything but a tube? Absolutely. But he knew the consequences would be more than it was worth. While he could maybe take on one Olympian in a fight, and Nico another, maybe, the Olympian council as a whole would not be entirely happy with him beating up gods left and right, much less Olympians.

Percy scowled, before turning and walking away from the two gods.

"Oh, and Percy." Percy stopped walking, beginning to get tired of being stopped as soon as he was about to leave.

"I delivered a package to Astraeus earlier today. I know you were friends with my aunt, you'll be glad to know that her soul is doing well in the stars."

Percy paused for a moment. He was friends with Hermes's aunt? Which titan or god did he know that was related to Hermes that way?

He thought it over. In the stars. His eyes widened. Zoe. Percy would just have to figure out the strangeness of his family tree later.

"Thanks." Percy muttered, continuing to walk down the steps bringing him further to the exit to Olympus.

He still had one more stop before he got to leave, though. Looking back at his visits, nearly all of them had gone poorly, even though he ended up getting what he wanted from every god he had come across today.

Hopefully this last interaction would go better.

Her palace was near the top of the minor god district, and considering Percy was very near the bottom of the Olympian district, it only took a couple minutes before Percy came across Hecate's palace.

Her palace was relatively modest for a goddess, especially for how high up in the ranking of minor gods she was, being perhaps the eldest which actively spent time on Olympus. Her palace was built low to the ground, with only two floors. There was a garden in the front, tended to by wisps of energy, and from what Percy could see a relatively small backyard. She had torches of purple flame and the colors purple and black everywhere, and a coating of fog sat a few inches off the ground. It looked like a graveyard that someone had decided to take residence in.

Percy was only waiting a few seconds when the front door to her palace opened, and Hecate herself came to the front gate, dressed in the robes of a monk.

As she neared the gates they opened inward, and soon she was a few feet away from them.

"Your Majesty Perseus," she greeted with a deep bow.

Percy blinked, reconsidering his place in the hierarchy. He was a mortal, right? If anything, shouldn't this exchange technically be going the other way around? Percy's thoughts flashed back to his father's words. 'The only difference between you and me is a bite from an apple.'

Or at least it was something like that, Percy didn't have a perfect memory, sue him. Percy wondered how true that was. Was Percy truly considered Olympian-tier now? Hecate, for all intents and purposes one of the most powerful minor gods, was bowing to him. But he certainly didn't have a chair on the council, the thought was pretty laughable, actually. Of course he wouldn't be on the council, not as a mortal.

But they'd treated him like a peer. Sure, Hephaestus had been a bit dismissive, but Percy wouldn't be surprised if he treated Zeus the same way. Percy especially thought back to Zeus and Hera, how casual they had been in front of him, and Percy realized that yes, he appeared to be at that level, golden blood or no.

It kind of made sense in a weird way. Percy had been around long enough to know how things worked up here. Everything was based on power. It was why Zeus was sitting in the big chair instead of, say, Hestia. It was why the Olympians had estates the size of small countries, and beings ten times older than them got sheds in comparison. Percy could say with confidence that with the worship currently being sent his way, and the crown on top of his head even now, he stacked up to the best of them, even more so if he had immortality of some sort. Not that he wanted it. No, he certainly intended to see his wise girl again.

That being said, everything kinda clicked in place regarding where he stood here, and it made a bit more sense for Hecate to be bowing to him, as uncomfortable as it was. Sure he had had hundreds of minor gods bowing to him before in the streets, but they were all faceless, nameless deities which Percy had never met and likely never would meet. Hecate was older than almost anything else on the mountain, standing right before him, and still bowing. It was new, that was for sure.

"I have a gift for you, so to speak. Not that I won't get anything out of it, of course, but still, you should enjoy it considering how much you care for your children." Percy paused to watch for a reaction, only to come away dissatisfied when she showed none. "I'd like you to teach Sasha everything you know. Well, not everything, but you get the idea. Everything you can teach her. She's your last legacy, and she has much to learn that her siblings can no longer teach her."

The ancient witch gazed at him, considering from under her hood.

"Very well," she bowed again. "I will teach her to the best of my ability and hers."

Percy smiled sincerely. "Thank you, Hecate, for making this easy." He said, and he really meant it. He was so glad to just have something be nice and simple today.

But despite how well the interaction had gone, he had no desire to drag it out. So he turned on his heel and began walking towards the elevator down to the Empire State Building. The long walk down let Percy organize his thoughts, and get his to-do list in order.

His first priority was getting the Roman administration into his tower so that he could have a functioning staff. His assistant would not be enough to organize a new government by herself, after all.

Then his next priority was actually moving the US government to New York, and all of the military staff along with it. Throwing thousands of soldiers into a building where nobody knew where anything was was bound to have a lot of short term problems. Percy would need to make sure his military wouldn't be fighting for a long while until they had become acclimated. But that was for later, that was the fourth thing he had to take care of, but there was still a problem number 3.

And that was after trying to figure out how his government was going to actually work. Sure there was a foundation for it, but that constitution they had written had said nothing about how much autonomy different areas got. Annabeth and Percy had talked about instilling viceroys in different territories, but how much autonomy should they have?

Percy knew he wanted a single military, a common economy, and one foreign policy. But what else? What other laws could they propose? How much of an administration did they need? Percy had no idea how to run a country on a base level, he was mostly relying on Annabeth for that sort of stuff.

Percy decided that would be a concern for his congress. Parliament. Whatever. Upper house? Yeah, upper house sounded about right. Either way, Percy didn't want to deal with it. Those were problems for a different kind of person.

When Percy finally stepped into the elevator at the foot of Olympus, he paused. There were 312 floors. Not 102.

Percy blinked, remembering what Hermes had said about making the Empire State Building a bit taller. He didn't mention that a bit taller was three times the size.

Sighing at the gods' antics and the permanent death of the New York skyline, Percy decided to just hit the lobby button, and maybe see all the new buildings from the street. He hoped nothing was too obnoxious but didn't hold out much hope, knowing the gods and how much they respected mortal cities.

Several long minutes later the elevator dinged, and the doors opened to a sight which was far removed from what Percy had expected.

The first thing that stood out was that there was no bustle of activity. No noise, and no doors opening and closing with dozens of voices all speaking to each other, making arrangements and creating the earliest drafts of paperwork in the lobby. Then, Percy remembered that basically all of the non military personnel had died not all that long ago, and that basically nobody was coming in or out anymore. That put a dampener on his mood.

The second thing he noticed was that he didn't actually step out into a lobby. He stepped out into a large room that had a table, a minibar, a couch, even a large TV up against one wall. It had a small kitchen as well, with a fridge and a cabinet, which Percy assumed was stacked with various foods.

"Hail, your majesty!" Two guards waiting on either side of the elevator greeted. Their spears struck the ground, and they turned 90 degrees so that their backs were against the wall instead of looking at each other from opposite sides of the elevator.

Percy looked around the room, slightly confused. This was the lobby floor, right? Was this some prank Hermes had pulled? Mislabelling his elevator buttons? Gods, that sounded like something Hermes would do. He hoped that wasn't the case.

Noticing a door towards one of the corners of the room opposite of the elevator, Percy walked towards it, opening the door and walking out, into a hallway. The hallway was mostly made out of stone, but had a red carpet along the floor. It wasn't very well lit, either. Especially towards the back of the hallway, where Percy found himself now, there was a lack of light. The only source was a passageway into another room about a dozen feet away. Curious, Percy walked towards the light.

"Hail, your majesty!"

Walking through the passageway, Percy found two guards on either side repeating the same motion those at the elevator had. They slammed their spears into the ground, and turned 90 degrees until they were facing away from the wall. This, though, seemed to alert whatever other members of his royal guard were in this room he was entering.

"Hail, your majesty!" Percy heard the pounding of a dozen spears on the ground. Did he have to hear that every time he entered a room? It was getting annoying, quick. He was starting to understand why so many emperors of old had turned to imperialism and massacres to take out their frustration. He'd have to make sure they cut that out.

When Percy entered the room the first thing he noticed was that it was huge. Now it wasn't throne room of the gods big, but it was maybe the largest indoors open space that he had ever seen short of it. Scratch that real quick, Zeus' palace had been larger. But still, the room was huge.

The ceiling stretched what seemed like miles up, dozens of columns around the rooms stretching up to support the enormous oval shaped dome that shaped the ceiling.

On the ceiling were depictions of every Greek hero Percy could think of. Name a hero from Bellephoron to Theseus, they were there. Except for Heracles, for some reason. Percy was just glad he wouldn't be honoring the guy in his building. He'd have to make sure to send Athena a gift basket for that.

The columns to his right were made of a black stone, freckled with white spots. Percy assumed that was granite, but wasn't exactly up to snuff on his geology, so he could be wrong. Looking to his left he saw a wall that sloped down as it went until it hit the floor, the edge of a large staircase.

Percy kept walking for a few feet until he had passed the wall, which put him at the bottom of said stairs.

Looking up to his left, Percy saw dozens of steps. Steps which led up to a throne.

Percy's breath was taken away as soon as he saw it.

Now, Percy hated propriety. He hated official stuff, and hated the detached elegance of luxury. Most of the time that luxury was more uncomfortable than it was worth, but when Percy laid his eyes on the very luxurious throne, he was instantly hooked.

It was made of half a dozen different things, constantly shifting from one to another in different parts of the throne. It was difficult to explain just how chaotic the throne was. The upper back of the throne was made of storm clouds, small bolts of lightning flickering within it. Then in the next moment it condensed, turning into water which flowed as it pleased, yet still kept up the form of the back of the throne. And just like that, it froze, turning into a block of ice, motionless. Percy could see other areas on the throne where solid rock formed before it shook and crumbled, turning into some other element. Percy even noticed, a chill going down his spine, that there was some crimson liquid flowing through one of his arm rests at the moment, which Percy very much doubted was hawaiian punch.

Swallowing, Percy approached the throne. It was everything he was, everything he represented on an elemental level, at the very core of his being, and Percy couldn't take his eyes off of it.

Marching up the steps, Percy noted that annoyingly, the stairs went on for about an entire story before he could finally reach his throne.

There were four of his royal guards along the steps about half way up, seemingly making sure that nobody approached his throne. They moved out of the way as he approached, and Percy continued up the steps, his eyes not leaving the throne all the while.

Soon he was close enough to sit, and so he did without hesitation. He sat down, his hands grasping the arm rests, one made out of storm clouds and the other ice. Percy leaned back into a backrest made of blood, and felt a deep, deep connection form.

Percy could feel his power exiting his body, tangibly. But Percy wasn't alarmed, he welcomed it, as odd as it felt. His throne would take good care of it, he knew. Percy knew he could still tap into his reserves at any time, it was just being held by the giant magical battery below him. Was this how the Olympians were so powerful? His reserves had been good as a demigod, but when he felt his throne, and the giant, bottomless pit just begging to be filled with his power, Percy had never felt more capable of handling whatever the fates threw at him.

Percy laughed aloud. No wonder the gods had still been able to snap their fingers and turn demigods into dolphins. They probably still had juice from when millions of people prayed at their altar. Percy understood now, why Kronos went for the thrones of the gods. Without their thrones, they were nothing. They had all of about 40 pre-pubescent teens worshipping them. For a being that wasn't reliant on worship like Kronos, a being whose rise and fall had taken place before the birth of man, smacking his children down to Tartarus would be child's play. That was why the gods needed Percy to announce their presence now. Their reserves had probably been destroyed by fighting Typhon and the giants back to back. Percy had always wondered how camp half-blood was more full of demigods than ever, and the gods still looked weaker than they ever had been. Without their thrones, gods were basically really juiced up demigods with a few more powers thrown in.

Nico took his position on Percy's left, while the dozen guards standing at attention around the room stood rigidly still, even as their emperor laughed aloud in the silent room, his amusement echoing off the walls.

Percy knew that he wanted to go out onto the street to see the other buildings which had been constructed, and get a view of the new Empire State Building. Or rather, the building which had taken its place. But his throne was too comforting. Percy felt as though he had finally found a part of himself which had always been missing. It was a dangerously addicting feeling, but Percy decided to stay in his throne for just a bit longer.

Percy took the time to observe the room in its entirety. Giant, bronze doors manned by two guards stood more than a hundred feet away from the foot of the stairs leading to his throne. The bronze doors depicted scenes of heroes with shields and swords facing off against various monsters. The Manticore, the Nemean Lion, the Hydra, the Chimera. There was even one of someone holding up the sky. But it wasn't until Percy saw one of those heroes riding the Minotaur, pulling back on it's horn, that he realized those images were of him. He saw himself against Kampe, fighting a man in shining golden armor who could only be Hyperion, and one with a scythe who could only be Kronos. He saw himself facing off against many men much larger than him, too. One with a trident and net he immediately recognized as Polybotes. It wasn't until he looked at those doors, absolutely covered in depictions of his feats that Percy realized just how much he had accomplished in his journeys.

Percy had generally considered himself just another demigod. Sure, more powerful than many, and the subject of one or two more great prophecies than the average demigod, but still just another demigod at the end of the day. Never one whose tales will be told for millennia.

It took a set of doors the size of his mom's apartment covered in his accomplishments to make him realize that he had gotten around a bit more than most demigods that had existed.

Percy tore his eyes away from the door. It shouldn't have been his deeds, when he had failed in so many ways, and had only defeated those same monsters or finished those quests because of his friends. It should be the fallen demigods who had their deeds on that door. Not him.

Percy looked down on his throne, and the steps before it. He thought about how much higher up he would be whenever he was talking to anyone. A wave of disgust overtook him. The power of his crown, the draw of his throne, the flattery of the gods and the doors before him. It had tricked him into playing a role he had no desire to play. And he had fallen for it, hook, line, and sinker.

Scowling at the floor, Percy internally debated for the umpteenth time whether this whole thing was worth it, challenging his resolve to do this 'right', the promise he had made to himself when Annabeth died.

Percy clenched his right hand into a fist, cooling his mind for just a moment. He didn't even have pros and cons to debate with himself anymore, not that he hadn't gone over a hundred times in his head. He just didn't want to do this. Would he be condemning the mortals, or saving them? Was there another way to do this, one that didn't involve so much… oppression? Or would that only do harm in the long run, if he wasn't in charge. He had no clue, and nothing to go off of. If Annabeth was here, he would talk to her. He came to her every night with his uncertainties, and she reassured him that no matter how hard it was they were on the right path. It was difficult not to give up back then, but now it seemed impossible.

Percy knew he needed some sort of drastic change of heart. He could give into becoming the villain, to go and raise his empire in the name of the gods, or he could stop right now. Take his crown off, step off his throne, and go disappear to some far flung place like Alaska. Maybe become a fisher, or a hunter if the gods wouldn't come to kill him for treason. Then again, he had never been able to stay quiet moving through the woods, and he always felt bad about killing sea creatures. Maybe he would just become a lumberjack then. Either way, Percy knew that for his own sake, and the sake of the world, he needed to decide, and commit himself to that role.

But Percy didn't want to do that. He didn't want to become that person. He refused to, until he was absolutely convinced of the necessity of this empire Zeus was ordering him to build. Percy knew it would be a long time before that happened.

He took a deep breath and stood up, finally pulling himself from the addicting comfort of his throne. He would ignore it and keep moving, as he has since the end of the giant war.

A part of Percy wanted to ask how many people he would kill before he finally decided. Another part asked how many would die due to crime, poverty, famine, and the dozens of wars taking place around the planet before he could help them.

He clamped down on both of the voices in his head. Such debate, for too long without reprieve would drive him insane. He took a shallow breath, before refocusing his attention to the guards that guarded him.

"Where's the captain?" Percy asked the open air. One of the dozen royal guards was bound to know right?

One of the four in front of him turned to face him. "Captain Beason is currently supervising the training of the 4th squad on the 22nd floor, your majesty."

Percy sighed.

"Alright, go get him." he ordered, and moved to the bronze doors he had just been admiring, not waiting for the 'at once your majesty' that he was sure would follow. Percy was already annoyed by all the formality, but he feared it would soon drive him insane if his internal argument didn't first.

Reaching the bronze doors, he wasn't even able to pull them open himself before the guard on the right pulled a small lever on the wall, and the doors opened. They were too heavy for his guards to manually open, it seemed. Athena might have momentarily forgotten that he wasn't a twenty foot tall Olympian when designing his throne room, based on the size of the doors and the height of the ceiling.

Two of his guards joined him as Percy walked outside and saw the military surrounding the building, keeping a very effective barrier to stop the masses of civilians waiting outside the tower from storming in.

Cars had started to populate the streets again now that fuel was once again entering New York City.

That being said, cars or no cars, the street and sidewalk in front of him was absolutely covered in masses of people, to the point where Percy actually couldn't see any pavement past where the crowd started.

When the doors opened and he stepped out, there was a roar of noise. Thousands of people shouting, cheering, and generally making a lot of noise.

Well, seeing anything from the front door was out. Of course, he could just have the military clear a path for him, but through New York City because he felt like taking a look around? He'd rather just try and find another angle to look at the new structures. Maybe the roof would be better. After that, he had work to do, but he was genuinely curious what the new buildings looked like.

He held in an explosive sigh at the inconvenience, knowing that everything he was currently doing was no doubt being recorded and would be shown to millions of curious people within minutes. Turning around, he headed back inside. He would have to see the interior of those other buildings another time.

"Hail—"

"Don't." Percy cut his royal guards off with a growl. He didn't say anything else, however, holding back his frustration. He knew the guards hadn't done anything to deserve his ire. It would be unjustified to take out his frustrations on them, and Percy still more or less considered himself a good guy.

Moving past them, Percy walked towards where he had come in before he heard approaching footsteps from somewhere off to the right. Percy stopped and turned slightly to see the captain of his guard speed walking towards him with two guards flanking him.

Beason knelt when he arrived before Percy. "You requested me, your majesty?"

Percy held in another sigh, but couldn't even get mad at him. Was that how you were supposed to approach an emperor? Percy had no idea, and to be honest he was pretty sure that just about nobody in the western world did either.

"Get up," He ordered. "You seem to have a better grasp on what all… This," he waved an arm around him "—than me, so explain the best you can."

The captain of his royal guard stood up and nodded. "This building has been around for a bit under an hour, and we've been able to make some… assumptions based on what we've found. There are 312 floors, and the building is, from what we've been able to guess, about 4,500 feet, making it the tallest building in the world. This is your throne room, and there are two entrances. One is yours," he gestured towards the left, where Percy was headed. "Which has an area to rest, as well as your personal elevator. And the other," this time he nodded towards where he had come from, off to the right. "Is for everyone else, with a dozen elevators going to only 311 floors.

"Access to most floors is restricted by keycards which were found in my desk. I'll make sure that all security is properly taken care of, you can be assured. That's about all we've discovered, other than that each floor we were using has been transferred to the new building, with your personal floor being the 312th. I took the liberty of a cursory security sweep through your personal quarters, but it is otherwise undisturbed."

Percy hummed. Nothing too crazy, then. He nodded. "Good work, you can go back to training new guards. Though, do me a favor and tell someone to get Lacey Green to meet me on my floor."

The captain gave a quick bow. "At once."

Percy turned back to his own private entrance and walked into the dark hallway he had come from before moving through the back room, and then into the elevator. Letting out a breath he didn't realize he was holding, Percy pressed the button to take them to the roof, and leaned back against the elevator, witnessing Nico refusing to do the same. It didn't matter that they were in a metal tube going sixty miles an hour upwards, Nico refused to so much as take his hand off of where it was resting at the pommel to his sword.

Percy played with the idea of trying to convince Nico to relax, if only just to play out the conversation he knew would happen. They knew each other far too well for anything so arbitrary to be productive. They'd work each other into corners and the argument would go nowhere. Of course, if there was an objectively right or wrong answer to something then an argument would still be worthwhile, but with something as subjective as Nico wanting to always be alert, Percy had learned it was easier just to not bother.

It's not like they hadn't had the argument in the past, either, not that it had done much good. Percy just decided to ignore it, for now. If Nico wanted to stand at attention every second of every day, that was his choice, and Percy wasn't going to force him to do otherwise.

Percy was brought out of his thoughts by the elevator doors opening with a ding.

The roof greeted him as well as two guards, who it seemed had been tasked with watching the roof. The area he was on, which was at the very tip of the building, was absolutely scattered with SAM turrets, large radars, and other turrets.

The roof, it seemed, was not intended for leisure.

The two royal guards who were on watch seemed surprised at the elevator opening, if their lowered spears were any indication. As soon as they saw him, though, their spears immediately fell back into the crook of their shoulders.

"Your majesty!"

Percy ignored them, feeling just a bit like an asshole. But if he was required to nod at everyone who hailed him whenever they saw him, he'd have arthritis in his neck by the time he was 20.

Continuing to the edge of the roof which was very much so lacking a guard rail, Percy looked over at the ground below them. He wasn't afraid of heights like Thalia, and he knew that should he fall off he had more than one option to safely stop or slow his descent, but he had to admit that being so high up was more than a bit daunting.

The next thing he noticed was the enormous building directly in front of him. It was a huge tower — certainly not as large as what had replaced the empire state, granted, but it was getting there — The capitol building would have to have large, open areas for an upper house to meet so it couldn't be a tower, which meant this had to be the new pentagon. The fact that it was blood red and incredibly angular, with it's roof being a series of spikes into the sky also lent credence to it being designed by Ares.

Percy took in the sight for a few moments before deciding to move on to other parts of the roof, looking for the other buildings he had requested.

The next one he had found was located exactly across the street from Percy's building instead of directly next to it. Looking at the enormous building with a dome on top of it, Percy blanched. Demeter, it seemed, did not understand the art of subtlety.

No, it was more than that. Percy could deal with a lack of subtlety — Hermes and Ares had hardly practiced much of it, and he was more or less fine with their towers — but Demeter also seemed not to realize that you couldn't just erase half a dozen city blocks in midtown Manhattan.

Percy put his face in his hands and let out a long sigh. Dozens of historical buildings just gone, hundreds of people and businesses displaced, because Demeter didn't understand that in certain places, land was very valuable. To her, it probably wasn't a concern. The plains of Kansas were as valuable as the cities of New York to her (Probably even less so, knowing Demeter) so she didn't understand that she had just erased billions, perhaps trillions of dollars of real estate so that she could replace it with the capitol building.

That being said, he should've clarified things while making his requests. He knew how uncaring the Gods could be sometimes, so in reality, he could only blame all of the lost properties on himself.

Percy couldn't complain much otherwise. It did need to be big (Even if he hadn't anticipated how big) and it was certainly beautiful. The entire ceiling was incredibly large and domed, with a glass ceiling, crystal arches crossing over it's roof.

Water flowed through the arches, which also acted as open canals, water flowing through each and every one of them. Percy had no idea how said water was actually moving considering the basic laws of gravity and water pressure, but it managed somehow. Said canals of water ran to pools which fed enormous gardens, with flowers of all types. The entire building was flowing with gardens almost anywhere it could get away with it. On the roofs, in empty spaces beside hallways, Percy was just glad she didn't put any in the chambers themselves.

Two large chambers took up the vast majority of the space, hundreds of chairs in each. He could barely see either from where he was on the roof of his building and so high up, but he had to admit, it looked absolutely stunning.

Turning to the other side of his tower, to the south of it, far below, Percy could make out the forge that the Elder Cyclopes had requested. They hadn't arrived yet, he could sense, but hopefully the forge would be past their expectations. The building itself, from what Percy could tell, was rather unimpressive looking while sat next to the new capitol and his own tower. It was a few stories tall, stone, with several chimneys poking out of it's roof. All in all, it was a purely functional building with nothing much going for it other than that it was made by the god of forges and had three of the oldest beings on earth working it's forges.

And yeah, that was weird to think about. The Elder Cyclopes, which were now in his employ, predated even the titans. They were the first non primordial beings other than the Hekatonheires. They didn't quite predate any of the primordials, but they were damn near close. Having three of those beings, with memories longer than perhaps everyone else in the city combined, working for him… it was just a bit humbling.

Percy shook himself head out of his reverie. The situation he was in now was absurd but he had found the only way to deal with it wasn't to accept the absurdity of his situation, but instead to keep moving forward, even if he was way out of his depth.

Satisfied with the view, Percy turned back to the elevator. He had a meeting with an assistant soon, a bunch of people to check up on, and much more. He had a long, long night before him.

Next Chapter September 30