Co-Written by Vanadium Oxide

Beta'd by PraetorFable


And today we're all brothers, tonight we're all friends,
a moment of peace in a war that never ends.
Today we're all brothers, we drink and unite.
Now Christmas has arrived and the snow turns the ground white.

A Christmas on the frontline, we walk among our friends,
we don't think about tomorrow, the battle will commence.
When we celebrated Christmas we thought about our friends,
most who never made it home when the battle then commenced.

- Joakim Broden, Christmas Truce


Chapter XXII

October 1

Four Months A.B.M.

"Announcing his imperial majesty!"

A grand welcome was laid out before him, hundreds — thousands, really — of soldiers all arrayed in their shining imperial dress uniforms. Tanks, artillery, and all sorts of military equipment were arranged in an ornamental sprawl many football fields in length in both directions.

At the bottom of the ramp several individuals kneeled. The viceroys of the various territories in Europe all prostrated before him, welcoming him to Athens. He paid them mind for a moment before observing further down the airfield. Fighter planes stood arrayed down the rest of the pavement, seemingly ready to take off at any moment.

"Quite the entrance, huh?"

Percy spared Thalia a quick grin, "How long do you think I have to stay here before I can get away with flying back to Imperial City?"

Thalia rolled her eyes. "The weekend maybe? I dunno, I'm hardly your shield because I know much about politics."

"That's true, at least," he agreed, directing his attention back to those in front of him now that they'd reached the bottom of the ramp. Thalia, in a rare occurrence, was able to come with him to Greece. Fighting, he was glad to say, was finally clearing up. Africa would be completely under their control within the month, and then all that was left was India. It would take all three of them to work together to sweep up the Hindu pantheon cleanly. He was glad that his performance in Egypt had made them hesitate to go on the offensive, at least. Now all that was left was to let them slowly lose their followers until they were weak enough to finish off without jeopardizing the entire human race.

More likely than not the Indian sub-continent would be forfeit. Near as he could tell they'd still be able to manage for some time, at least, but they would still perish all the same. The power they would be capable of wielding was nothing to him at this point. A nuisance, if anything.

"We are at your service, your majesty," greeted the one in the middle of the group, the one who'd been put in charge of Greece and its surrounding lands, stretching from western Turkey to eastern France. Perhaps the most important territory in Europe, in his eyes. After all, the vast majority of ancient artifacts of any use that they'd managed to get their hands on had come from Greece and Italy. Even now Sasha and Sadie's agents were scouring the territory for any more magic items of any use. To be quite frank the rest of Europe was peanuts in comparison. Economic power and generation of wealth kind of lost its use once you controlled the planet, all that really mattered were the interesting things they found in some of the ancient ruins and caves.

"You've served me well." Percy acknowledged. He had no idea if that was true or not. Once it was apparent all they had left to do was clean up scraps, as long as news of rebellion did not come to his desk, he paid little interest in the military and economic management of the various territories. Now, all he needed to do was wipe out any dissenters, or at least as many as possible.

Which is why he was here.

"You may rise." he granted them. They stood as calmly as they could. They were all important people in their own right. Formerly they'd been business, religious, political leaders. The thing they all had in common was that they had all proclaimed their loyalty to him far earlier than their peers. As long as they stayed loyal, that was all he cared about, everything else was irrelevant.

He walked past them and as expected they followed behind. Riptide's hilt clanked against his armor as he strolled down the path laid out, in full battle regalia. The reason he was here was more propaganda than anything, to be quite honest. He felt like a president visiting a swing state to try and collect votes, and in a way that was what he was doing. Visiting the homeland of the gods was good publicity, and at the moment that was all he cared for. A race to improve general opinion of himself and the gods so that Zeus would hesitate to wipe the world clean.

America was coming along nicely. It was his base of power, and so the former US and Canada had much higher rates of worshippers than Europe or Asia, and especially Africa or South America. If he couldn't save North America, then what could he save?

Nothing was realistically the answer.

Either way he hoped to save as much as he could. Europe and the Americas, at the least. They were the most loyal, so they were where he would concentrate. It was just… frustrating, that he had no metric for what 'loyal' meant in the eyes of Zeus.

But he was unlikely to get an answer soon, and so he could only do his best.

As he reached the end of the path laid out before him, he could only lament that doing his best meant giving speeches of all things.


"Things are progressing slowly. As I told you they would."

"He is trying his best, brother."

"We both know he is not."

"..."

"He is not incompetent, as useful as it would be for you to have me believe so. He is unwilling. I spoke to him personally, at your insistence, like he was a child who needed a warning. But perhaps that isn't such a bad comparison after all."

"He is achieving what you set out for him to do. He's accomplished the original objective, he-"

"The objective has changed. We both agreed to it, as did the council. The simple fact remains that he cannot be the one to carry out the new world we shall create. He's proving himself unwilling to play that role."

"Then who shall? Who among our children is worthy if not my son?"

"None. We can leave the mortals to their own, it will make no difference. Our kin will inevitably carve out their own swathe of the world, but that will be none of our concern. All that remains is to do what your child refuses to do, and remove the remainder."

"He hasn't refused anything. He simply… doesn't understand what you are asking of him."

"And if he did? Would he do it then?"

"..."

"You understand he has no place in the future. Not with the mortals."

"You gave him until the end of the year."

"Bah, now or a few months from now, we both know what the result will be. He has proven himself loyal, at least. Let us complete the process and give him his choice. He will finally ascend."

"We will stick to our original agreement. Give him to the end of the year. And besides, what if he says no?"

"A demigod's power comes from their parent, brother."

"No, not his. Nor those sworn to him. They are worshipped in a class all their own. His power quite possibly surpasses our own, individually. Your daughter and our nephew are not far behind, either. The three may make a match which could surpass us. As much as it may leave a bitter taste in your mouth, you must admit it."

"Powerful our children may be, they are not gods. They cannot use divine power in its raw form, all they know is the catalyst we give them to use it, through our authority. Without our blessing… Even if he rises against us, he can do nothing. We will keep them on Olympus until they've calmed down, and we can proceed with the process."

"I see… Do you truly believe this to be the only option then, brother?"

"Our children — your son especially — have already started to undertake the transformation to become divine in entirety. They will not say no. There is no reason for them to, and more importantly no reason for your son to."

"I suppose, but to use the losses he's already experienced to manipulate him like that…"

"It's not manipulation, brother. We both know this is the only way forward."

"Yes… I understand. Very well then, I agree this is the best for them all. On the mortal turn of the year we will make Perseus a god, and create the world anew."


"My reach, is global

my tower, secure.

My cause, is noble

my power, is pure."

- Jamie Laurie, Handlebars


November 1

Five Months A.B.M.

Percy looked around at the space around him, at where the subcontinent of India had existed not a day before. Now all that surrounded him was an abyss of murky water. Miles and miles of ocean where a nation had existed before.

Well, it wasn't like the entire thing had been drowned. He was sure there was some damage to the areas Nico and Thalia had ended up taking as well that didn't include drowning everything in the area, and the very northern part of the country should have been mostly left alone.

It had been so much. So much fighting and blood and death, but it was finally over.

Not his trial, or his duty to the remaining people of Earth to convert them all to worshipping the Greek gods, but the last possible threat to his person outside of the Greek gods themselves. And considering the rest of the remaining world was beginning to worship those same gods?

Percy would rather not try his hands at that one and find out what the damage looked like. Not until he had to.

He slowly let his form lower to the sea level, the impossibly complex matrix of patterns masked by a white light brighter than the sun was slowly replaced with the mortal form he was beginning to become less and less comfortable in. The only surviving items were Riptide which he held in his right hand, and the crown on his head. He'd tried using an Egyptian artifact of imprisonment to help towards the beginning of the fight, but as soon as he'd been able to separate himself from Thalia and Nico and take on his true form, it was apparent it would be of little use when it dissolved into trillions of pieces.

The water around him encroached as his true form was covered and stopped evaporating any water within miles. One thing he did really hate about his true form is the state of dress it left him in afterward, but he'd gained a different perspective on that as well. It just meant… less to him, what happened with his physical body. It was just matter. Flesh and carbon and a bunch of other stuff Percy hadn't stayed in school long enough to know about, but it was physical, like the water around him or a rock or dirt. It could never be worth as much as the spirit and soul.

Chastising himself for his internal monologuing, he submerged himself in the water and headed towards where he knew Thalia was still fighting her battle. He didn't quite want to risk showing his true form around either of his cousins as they'd yet to experience anything similar, but that didn't mean he couldn't help as he was intending to.

It was too bad, then, that by the time he reached the charred shore where Thalia had fought her swathe of gods, the battle was over. Water had also consumed a lot of the area, if only because the enormous craters which had been created either by Thalia and her spear or a Hindu god had quickly filled with the water from the surrounding ocean Percy had created. A quick flex of will told him that Nico was also no longer fighting, so he slowly pulled himself up onto one of the islands of scorched earth that still existed. He didn't expect the disappointment he felt when he realized Nico had finished as well.

Was that really it? Was that the last time he could possibly fight, and have it not be a one-sided slaughter? Don't get him wrong, the death was still horrible, but there was something about fighting someone your equal, or even someone who should have beaten you ninety nine times out of a hundred. Even if you didn't win, it was still a fight.

Thalia floated to the ground next to him, touching down with a light crunch as her boots pressed down on the scarred dirt. While her clothes were in better shape than his she was worse off physically, sporting a quickly drying bloody nose and several scratches and open wounds across her body. They healed in front of him, as if the idea of dying to a simple cut was an affront to her body itself.

They stood there silently for a few moments before Nico joined them, popping out of Percy's shadow and pointedly avoiding looking at him. Nico for his part had almost no wear and tear, but Percy could tell he was exhausted mentally. His shoulders were hunched and there was a slight heaviness to his breath. Percy knew what his cousin was capable of at the moment and he did not want to see the damage that was dealt to make Nico look like he'd run a marathon.

"Well…" Thalia began.

"It's over." Percy agreed. "There's nobody else to fight. The world… is officially united."

They stood there mulling it over for a bit. He didn't really know what they were mulling over, he'd come to terms with the concept months ago. But it was a special moment, one that might only happen once in the entirety of earth's existence. And here he was, its harbinger.

"Was it worth it?"

It was Thalia that spoke, and Percy found himself echoing the sentiment. He failed to hold back a small smile when he wondered what Nico might be thinking. Knowing his cousin, it didn't matter if their goal was accomplished so long as it was the goal Percy had given him. He was just like that. He'd given up trying to change his cousin some time ago. It was easier to accept it.

"We'll find out in a month." Percy pointed out grimly. He'd become detached from humanity over the course of the last half a year, but the thought of so many deaths…

He glanced around at a piece of land which had formerly held a billion living souls, and which now held nothing but waste, rubble, water and scattered islands of scorched, lifeless dirt. And this is just what he and Thalia had gotten up to, he didn't want to know what Nico's part of the country looked like. If Percy was willing to do this with his own hand, what was stopping him from standing by as the rest of the planet headed to the same fate?

He wouldn't — couldn't — let himself think that way. He'd committed the atrocities he had because they were necessary. Because if he hadn't done this, Zeus would have. At least this way, the few hundred million in the north might be saved. That was worth something, right?

But then, how much exactly was he alright with Zeus wiping from the planet? At what point would he put his foot down and use what influence he had to stop his manic uncle? Could he stand by as another billion people died? Two billion? Three? Five? More? He had no idea where he drew the line, and that scared him.

At the least, he decided at that moment, he would save the majority of what was left of Earth's population. That was just barely creeping over six billion now, so three billion. He sucked in a breath, imagining standing there as Zeus obliterated that many souls. It made his myriad crimes, the atrocities for which he'd sacrificed everything he'd ever known and his very base as a person, look small in comparison. Maybe, then, he should draw the line closer to his own crimes. Or should he simply demand, at least, that every person he'd killed with his own hands and by his orders, save one person. That would bring the number much lower, as high as it was.

He let out a snorted laugh. Somewhere between one and a half and four and a half billion. That was a nice range to work with. The fact that he of all people was making a decision of this level despite everything was inconceivable to him. He had no idea how many people he'd let be killed in front of him. He knew the old him would have sacrificed his life for even a single one without a second's hesitation. So much has changed since then. So much taken from him, and so much he'd taken from others. He just wanted to stop.

Was he a hypocrite? Probably, but who was left to tell him that? What was hypocrisy in a world with no equal? Retiring to Olympus rather than the mortal world when this was over was starting to sound more and more tempting about now. At least then, he'd be with beings somewhat like him.

He'd become everything he'd despised in the gods, and he had done it in their name.

He held out an arm to Nico, the silent message clear. In a whirl the three disappeared into shadows, leaving the Imperial army to invade the remnants of India and finally unite the world under one banner. His banner.


When describing the scene of a king and his most trusted knights moments after their most important victory, the height of their lives and the zenith of the king's rule, one might tell tales of a victorious toast, of a bright celebration on a battlefield where the king's men threw their arms up in celebration or swarmed their lord.

They didn't usually describe it as three teenagers sitting in a room slowly eating through a small pile of happy meals.

Nico had been the one to suggest it, if that was a surprise to anyone in the room. They'd all reappeared in Percy's room and promptly collapsed like their strings had been cut (Thalia had walked over to his dresser and threw some clothes at him at mach five first, but ended up collapsing all the same). A few moments later Nico had made a vague comment about food, to which Thalia and Percy made even vaguer sounds of affirmation. He disappeared and, within a few minutes, came back with arms full of bags all filled with happy meals, which he'd promptly dumped on Percy's kitchen table.

Thalia was laid on Percy's bed, lowering a fry into her mouth, an open bag Nico had tossed to her lying next to her spilling fries and salt all over the bed's expensive comforter. Percy was slumped over in a cushioned seat by his coffee table picking at a burger, and Nico sat munching on chicken nuggets at the table, muttering something about ranch.

There might not be anyone left to give them a good fight, but that didn't mean they hadn't had one earlier. Taking on the entire pantheon, despite their increased following, was draining. And now the adrenaline had fully waned off, leaving them exhausted. Percy dully considered in the back of his mind that this might be the last time he'd ever feel physically exhausted. For something to hand out and take that much of a beating, it had to be a pantheon of gods. He decided he'd savor this moment, then. He knew enough about not having things that every mortal took for granted to relish what little opportunity he had left to experience this feeling which had always just… been a part of life. Who knew, maybe an errant god would need putting down and Zeus wouldn't feel like doing it himself. Despite his personal feelings on the matter, he hoped not. That would only lead to more death.

A few minutes afterward Lacey entered, knocking politely and poking her head in when Percy told her she could come in. She blinked in surprise before seemingly accepting the position she'd found them all in, and entering.

"Relax," Percy bid tiredly. "I don't think anyone feels like doing work right now."

She nodded stiffly, awkwardly grabbed a chair from the kitchen table, and sat in it. From there she seemed to manually relax, one muscle group at a time slackening.

Thalia snickered as she observed the sight. "You know Lacey, I don't think I've ever seen you actually relax before. I think it might be fun to get you drunk."

Lacey frowned, but a light blush covered her cheeks. "Your highness, please-"

"Whaddaya think, Perce? Think if we get her laid she'll finally let up?" She grinned and popped a fry in her mouth, looking to Percy for a response.

Nico just rolled his eyes in the corner, taking another nibble at a leg-shaped nugget. Percy smiled indulgently and responded, burger he'd yet to swallow swelling his cheek to make room for his tongue to let him speak. "Come on Thals, lay off. I'm sure she'll relax at some point. We'll fuck off somewhere and the gods couldn't give a fuck, so she'll have nobody to prostrate to. Besides, aren't you the last person who should be telling Lacey to get laid?"

Percy cackled madly as Thalia repaid him by pelting him with an unopened cheeseburger from one of her bags, Nico watching with a small smile and Lacey looking between the two, looking herself like she'd rather be anywhere but here including Hades.

It was only a few moments later when Sasha and Sadie entered to Thalia and Percy bickering about something or the other. From the little Sadie heard, it had something to do with hunters and lesbians. But, well, it was best not to dig.

"Look at who decided to show up." Percy grinned, looking at the two new arrivals. Unfortunately because he was distracted he missed Thalia rising from his bed and running to tackle him, sending them both toppling backwards with Percy's seat. Percy yelped as he suddenly found himself on his back on the carpeted floor. Slow to react had never been something anyone had accused Percy of being, however, and soon enough he was doing his damndest to fight back, spawning an impromptu wrestling match on the floor.

Sadie did nothing to hide her own amusement, a soft smile crossing her face as she stood near the entrance to his room with her arms crossed. Sasha made a token attempt at hiding her laugh behind her hand as she watched the cousins go at it on the living room floor. Lacey rested her elbows on the table and buried her face in her hands, wondering how exactly she'd ended up here, now, with this happening in front of her.

"Settle in," Nico invited. "This may take a while."

"Don't mind if I do." Sadie said, moving to the open chair at the table in between Nico and Lacey and taking a seat. She glanced at the pile of fast food in the middle of the table before taking a fry and hesitantly biting into it. Apparently she was satisfied with what she found, because she continued to slowly munch away. Sasha sat on the corner of Percy's bed, facing the rest of them. Sadie didn't miss the way she glanced at the bed itself just a bit longer than one might expect, and felt the faintest edge of jealousy.

She shoved that down, though. From whichever angle she looked at it it didn't make sense to have bitter feelings about that whole debacle.

Eventually the wrestling was put to a halt by Thalia managing to pin Percy to the ground. She was now sitting on top of him, pinning his hands against the small of his back.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry! I take it back!" Percy said, struggling to speak through his laughter. Thalia swung her legs around and stood up with a huff, though the trace of a smile she was poorly hiding showed through.

When they'd calmed down and Percy had righted his chair, Thalia returned back to the bed and flopped down to resume her position, satisfied with her victory.

"So, what brings you guys up here?" Thalia asked, turning halfway on her side and beginning to rifle through another bag on the bed.

"No work." Nico interrupted before Sadie could speak, meaningfully taking a bite of a chicken nugget and swallowing half the thing in one gulp.

Sadie hesitated. "Then… nothing." Her face shifted from hesitant to a smile. "We're here to hang out then, aren't we?" she asked, glancing at Sasha.

Sasha nodded back slowly, her own smile still present. "Yes."

"If that's all, I'll be going then." Lacey stood and turned to Percy to bow. "Your maje-"

"Oh, sit down you." Thalia lightly pelted her in the mouth with a fry. Lacey recoiled as if Thalia had just said some rather choice words about her mother and stared at the fry which had landed on the table in offended shock. "Re. Lax. Ation time.. There's no way you're gonna wiggle your way out of this one, little miss uptight."

Lacey's protests fell on deaf ears and eventually, she collapsed into the chair with a huff.

"Good enough for me." Percy said, tossing a fry in his mouth. "So, how're things going in the basement?" he turned his attention back to Sadie.

"I thought you said no work?" Lacey raised an eyebrow.

Percy waived a lazy hand through the air. "It's only work if we actually get anything done, this is small talk."

Sadie rolled her eyes at his antics. "Sasha's actually been taking the lead on a lot of this. Most of the mortal side is set up, so Sasha's been working on magical defenses to actually defend it from anyone we're worried about. With all the stuff we've found and the things we've been able to learn, we have some nasty surprises down there. Some that would even slow you three down. And a couple that'll even stop you. So, I wouldn't recommend poking your head down there until we've given you the full tour."

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Some surprises that could stop us?" he whistled. "Don't mean to sound arrogant, but that's a serious piece of work. Good work, both of you."

"As I said, it's mostly been Sasha." she glanced at her protege, who looked at her with a mix of embarrassment and gratitude. "She's more attuned to the Greco-Roman side of things, which is what we've been focusing on in our efforts to, you know… Is the room safe?"

Percy nodded casually. "We're always cut off from the gods. I stopped hiding that a long time ago, they're well aware by now. If they were really going to do anything about it, they would have a while ago, not that I really think they will; the cowards they are."

Lacey shifted uncomfortably but since the lot of them weren't smitten in that moment, Sadie took Percy's word for it. "To continue searching for primordial artifacts. We think we've got something. Two somethings, actually."

"Oh? This I'm curious about." Percy replied, slightly straightening his posture and leaning forward.

Sadie shrugged. "Sasha said they could be, but we can't tell. We don't really know what one would look like for sure. I can't barely feel anything, but Sasha said they feel different, in the way the end of Nico's sword did before you did whatever you do to stop it from giving off divine energy."

Percy hummed, leaning forward. "Well, let's hear it. What are the items?"

"A ring, and a staff. The ring is… simple. Or would be, rather. We can't find out what metal it's made of. And the staff is…" she hesitated, but continued at his probing look. "I don't think you're going to like it. It's simple. Gold, with what looks eerily like a sundial on its tip."

Lacey sucked in a breath, and Thalia sat up in the bed, tensing.

Percy shared a confused look with Nico "What is it? What's wrong with a sundial?"

Thalia frowned. "Percy, the sundial was the first method used to measure what time of day it was, and could even be used to determine seasons. Its inception created the concept of time as we know it."

Percy paled slightly, realizing the implications but not quite buying it.

But even if it was some old symbol of Kronos' power, that was okay, right? It's not like… it's not like that meant he was coming back again. That didn't stop the chill that danced up and down his spine, or the horrible relationship he had with time as an entity.

Slowly, he forced himself to relax. Whatever, it didn't matter. He'd be able to look into it later, and until then he'd just put it out of his mind. That was a skill he'd gotten quite good at.

"I don't understand." Lacey broke the silence as the three cousins slowly relaxed themselves, looking at Percy in a bit of shock. "What use are these artifacts?"

Thalia spoke as Percy readjusted himself to lay down across his seat, legs kicking up on the armrest. "Well, the Primordials existed further in the past than any of us can really conceive of. Actually, they still exist, they've for the most part… been dormant, having less of an active hand in the world than the gods or titans did. But just because they're dormant, doesn't mean they aren't aware and don't perceive or plan. We don't have much understanding of them because of it, but we've seen what Gaea has done, directing hordes of monsters and orchestrating prophecies. And that's only when she's still asleep, and she isn't even the strongest of them."

Nico picked up from there, "The gods represent concepts and forces of nature. They're personifications of abstractions of the world and developed by our collective understanding of those concepts. Like… Zeus is a personification of the sky and lightning. He's abrasive, controlling and will strike you down like lightning if he finds you disagreeable. That's how our ancestors interpreted the sky. But Ouranos… when it comes to primordials, they simply are. He is the sky, the wind, storm and lightning and more. His all is so unfathomable, that even with all of human conscience, it's hard to give shape to how encompassing and powerful he is."

Sasha nodded. "So what I've gathered, that's why we hear and interact so little with them. While the gods are close enough to humans because they're personifications fashioned by us to understand the world — or at least, their personalities are — primordials are… something else entirely. Stories of gods make sense because we were made by the same beings the stories are about. But primordials are that and everything we can never hope to grasp. Sure, the gods can be weird. Their motivations, goals and actions make sense if you understand they're mostly detached from mortal concepts of weakness, change and mortality, and they still have personifible characteristics. Kronos swallowed his children because he wanted to remain in power. Zeus freed his siblings and rebelled because he feared of being swallowed and wanted to avenge his family. But primordials… they rarely do anything, do they? Many of them can walk down to the Earth and smack Olympus from its mountaintop with a single thought if they decided to gather the strength, but they don't."

"Point is." Percy picked up. "We barely know anything about them, but what we do know is that they're powerful. More powerful than any god or titan is capable of being."

"I recall Lady Thalia said that you've run into more of these primordials than well… anyone. How is it that you don't know anything about them?"

"It's just Thalia." Thalia gagged at the honorific. "I can't get you to quit it with the lady and highness crap when we're working, but at least take it easy here."

Lacey didn't get a chance to respond, because Percy was already in the middle of answering her question.

Percy scratched his cheek absentmindedly. "That might have been a slight exaggeration, the point is we don't really know. The first time I came into contact with a primordial was Ouranos, when I helped holding up the sky for Artemis at Mount Orthrys."

Lacey leaned forward, eyes wide at the new information. She knew he was Jason's Greek counterpart, but she hadn't realized she didn't actually know about anything he'd done. It made sense he'd accomplished feats on Jason's level — larger perhaps, considering their dynamic before Jason's death — but she hadn't really stopped to put that on a scale, or figure out what those were.

"At the time, he wasn't even remotely conscious to even notice us and our battle with Atlas. He was just… the sky. He was impossibly large and heavy, and when I had to hold him, even without the weight pressing down on me, his power and divinity was simply… awe inspiring, but that was all there was. Next wasn't for some time. I think it was…"

"Elpis." Nico supplied.

"Elpis." Percy agreed. "Not even sure if she's classified as a primordial and she definitely didn't speak, but Hestia gave me Pandora's pithos, which hosted Elpis. Elpis is apparently conscious despite the fact I didn't see it, and she's not the goddess of hope, she is hope."

"Does gender even matter to primordials?" Thalia asked offhandedly while Lacey filed away that he'd had the Pandora's jar in his possession.

Percy shrugged. "I figure it depends on if the concept they represent is more nurturing or powerful. Like a country being a motherland or fatherland. Gender is probably fairy dust to beings like them, but that's how I'd guess we got genders to assign to them."

Thalia shrugged, that was good enough for her.

"Either way, next was… Gaia? She was in my dreams for quite a bit, appeared on the hillside, and tried to convince me to join her. Et cetera et cetera. Then there was Thanatos."

"When you freed him in Alaska." Lacey realized, remembering the controversial quest.

"Yeah." he confirmed. "Then I think the next one had to be Tartarus, when I fell down there with Annabeth." If anyone noticed his face tighten a bit, nobody said anything about it. "In the pit itself, he's everywhere. Though I didn't actually speak to him until after I had a run in with Akhlys, then Nyx, Misery and Night. We even ran through the Nyx's mansion and who knows how many primordials of different fucked up shit were in there. Then… then I actually met Tartarus. We fought. Well, fought is a strong word. I tried to fight him for a few seconds, he tossed me around like a toy, Annabeth and I ran while he killed our friends." he laughed bitterly at that, though nobody in the room mistook it for humor. "And I think that wraps it up. How many is that in total?"

"Seven." Nico supplied.

Percy nodded. "So, the most? Who knows. I'd imagine some titans at least have had run-ins with more primordials than that, considering the older ones were mostly born under the reign of Ouranos. But that's a guessing game. I only met half of them because I fell into Tartarus and survived, which nobody outside of me, Annabeth, and Nico has done."

"Lot of surviving I did, getting captured in about forty seconds flat and being carried out in a jar to be used as bait to lure my friends to their death."

Percy frowned at Nico, taking a singular fry and whipping it at him. It landed softly against his chest and fell anticlimactically to the floor. "Hey, we're a long way past that Death Breath."

"Hey!" Thalia complained, "That's my line!"

Nico smiled slightly, bending over to pick up the stray fry and setting it gently on the table. "Yeah, yeah, I get it. Thanks."

Lacey, meanwhile, was still processing everything she'd been told. She had a lot of questions, but she only had a few that wouldn't take them wildly off subject. "If the primordials are so powerful, how were we able to beat Gaia? Shouldn't she have been able to just… wave a hand, and kill all of us?"

"There's a few reasons for that. The first is that Gaia was asleep, technically. Our war against her was the equivalent of us loading up with armor and weapons and getting ready to face her at our strongest, and then defending ourselves from her turning over in her sleep. Primordials, from what Sadie and Sasha's research has managed to gather so far," Percy nodded to them both. "Have just stopped caring in the last… who knows how many years, is the best we can put it. They let their consciousness, divinity, power scatter, because what do they need it for? Some, I'm sure, have done this completely. They don't exist as a conscious form anymore, is my guess. Others, like Nyx or Akhlys, have let their essence spread so thin that they, as in their actual consciousness, is just a small, shattered piece of their, for a lack of a better term, soul. Tartarus was probably the most whole I've met. He was downright coherent, not sleepy, and more powerful than anything I've ever faced before or since. Even then I doubt he was at full strength, toying with us as he was."

Lacey furrowed her eyebrows. "If they're all so… weak, then, why do you think they're that powerful?"

Percy reached out with one hand and tapped his crown, which lay on the coffee table. "This was the crown of Hydros. He was more or less the primordial god of liquids. He wore it for however long he was around, or at least felt like wearing a crown. As far as we — and Zeus and my Father — can tell, there's no enchantment, blessing, inscription, or any real power embedded in the crown. The only power it has is from being in proximity to a primordial for however long, and then sitting abandoned for however else long until I got it from Zeus.

"After all, why would you have a need for an item of power when you simply are the embodiment of it? At the level I am now I'm starting to realize that at a certain point 'power' becomes meaningless. What's a difference in power when you can kill anyone within the blink of an eye, and they can do the same to you? Or maybe when no matter how much power you could conceivably have you're never, in a hundred trillion years, going to put a scratch on any one of your peers because to do so would require reshaping the very laws that make up the universe itself." Percy fingered the crown carefully, tracing its edge. "Zeus definitely didn't realize it when he offhandedly rewarded me this, but despite there being no intended power, no magic intrinsically forged into it, by value of being worn by a major primordial, the power I feel from this crown as I hold it can easily compare to Zeus' master bolt."

Lacey froze. All the other revelations and information revealed today took a back seat to the information that had come from her emperor's mouth two seconds ago.

"And there's other items like this?!" Lacey couldn't stop herself, and couldn't even find it in herself to apologise for the outburst. She'd heard stories about the gods and their immense power all her life, chief of them all, Zeus — King of the Gods — and his Master Bolt. Capable of wielding more power in a strike than she could truly conceive, with the ability to wipe the planet clean. And sitting on a coffee table two feet away from her next to an eighteen year old with severe mental issues was an object more powerful. Briefly, she realized that she now knew what Percy meant that power only meant anything to a certain point. If the master bolt could already wipe the world clean, what use was something with more power?

Percy frowned thoughtfully. "It isn't quite as powerful but Nico's sword has a large shard of Erebus' sword, which despite our earlier reasoning might have been enchanted. Maybe for ceremonial reasons, I have no idea. But yeah. We forged it into his very own symbol of power. And we can only use these ones because we have connections to their domains of liquids and darkness. If we find some that are less attuned to our specific abilities, we want somewhere to keep them. Hence, the basement."

Lacey frowned, still wide eyed. "But… Why keep them? Wouldn't it be better to give them to the gods?"

Thalia let out a snort from where she lay on Percy's bed, to which Percy shot her a look.

"To answer your question." Percy said, "We keep them as a… contingency of sorts. I know you haven't really interacted with the gods… at all. Or even met any other than Zeus. But gods are far from perfect, and for a few reasons we have reason to think that one or more might… well, things may not stay on the up and up between us forever. They tend not to when you're dealing with our family. Sooner or later someone's going to get greedy, or paranoid, or vengeful. Or maybe they just get bored of us. And at that point, we need everything we can to be prepared, much less giving them another advantage."

Lacey slowly nodded like she understood, but Percy could see some doubt or resignation still in her eyes. Well, a lot of doubt. But it was alright, she'd been working with him for the better part of a year now, and would be for the rest of his reign, presumably.

"Alright we're straying way too much back into divine bullshit." Thalia said, popping up from the bed and walking over to the table to rifle through a bag. "I've decided I'm not doing anything else productive today, kelp head doesn't have to micromanage any wars anymore because they're all over, and you all should tag along for whatever we're doing." she paused her searching through the bag to glance up. "What are we doing?"

Percy shrugged lazily, patting his stomach. "You're the one that wanted to do something. We just ate, so that's out."

Thallia huffed. "Well, does anyone do anything other than eating and working?" she asked, glancing around. The room remained silent. "Well that's just typical. Do we all actually spend that much time working that none of us have hobbies? That's just sad. What's the point of being in charge of the planet if all we do is work?"

"Tell me about it." Percy groaned, standing up and stretching. "We're also hardly a normal group of teenagers. Anything physical is out the window, by the end of whatever fiasco we cause the surrounding zip code is likely to be forfeit. Can't do anything all that public, for obvious reasons."

"We could go shopping." Sadie suggested. Percy and Nico made a face, and Sadie rolled her eyes. "Okay fine, no shopping."

Percy thought for a minute, before perking up. "Hey Thals. Remember back in Washington, when we were heading to the west coast in Apollo's train?"

Thalia blinked. "Yeah?"

"Remember how we slept in those super expensive luxury cars, and imagined actually driving them while we were behind the wheel?"

A grin slowly appeared on Thalia's face. "Go on…"

"Well, how about finding a desert road and some nice cars to drive at incredibly unsafe speeds?"

The grin fully manifested by now across Thalia's features. "Well, there's an idea! Let's do it." she scooped up her leather jacket from where she'd tossed it to the floor and threw it on. "Come on, let's go break some speed limits."

Sasha and Sadie shared an exasperated look but both stood up, willing to use the free time they were more or less forced into taking. Not that either of them were complaining.

Nico clambered to his feet himself, stretching lightly. "I'm down."

Percy blinked. "Nico, do you even know how to drive?"

He shrugged back. "I'll figure it out. If not, I'll let Albert take the wheel, he'll probably find sentimental value in it."

Rolling his eyes, Percy caught sight of the one person who didn't look like they had any intention of joining. "Come on Lacey, it'll be fun. We need to take a break at some point."

Lacey still hesitated and looked like she was about to protest when Sadie walked up and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Come on, be a part of the group. We're not taking no for an answer."

She still looked very hesitant, but just nodded with a sigh. Smiling, Sadie urged her to her feet. "Now come on, let's go be irresponsible."

"When are you lot, responsible?" she muttered under her breath, before covering her mouth with a squeak when she realized what she'd said.

Percy and Thalia let out dual barks of laughter, and Nico was smiling near the door. Sasha was giggling lightly from where she stood, and Sadie gave her a soft smile. "See? We don't bite. Now come on, let's go."

Percy watched as they filed out one by one until he was the last one in the room, closing the door behind him and following the group to the elevator. Sure his life might be full of stress and death and other horrible stuff, but right now? Right now life was good. And he'd had enough experience with things going from bad to horrible to know the high points in life. So he'd cherish these moments — this moment — while he had it in front of him.


"Any state, any entity, any ideology that fails to recognize the work, dignity, the rights of man, is obsolete."

-Rod Sterling


November 20

Six Months A.B.M

"So, how's the last week been?" Jessica — his therapist — asked.

"Good." Percy surprised himself with his answer.

Jessica blinked. "Alright, and good as in, 'as good as can be expected,' or…?"

"Good." Percy repeated. "It's probably not healthy, but considering all the fighting is over… I'm good. I've had some time to just spend with friends and Sadie and it's just been… refreshing. I know it's not over yet, but I've… surprisingly been able to digest everything over the last week."

"The event on new year." Jessica pointed out, and Percy winced. He hadn't told her what would happen, but he'd told her, very ambiguously, that there was something happening at the end of the year that he wasn't looking forward to. It had come up quite a bit.

"Yeah. But until then…"

"Until then, you're enjoying the downtime."

Percy smiled slightly. She certainly didn't understand the nuances of… anything he had to deal with. To be quite honest she almost failed pathetically as a therapist in the conventional sense. She struggled to understand most of what he experienced, and just flat out couldn't understand most of the rest. But the few things that kept him part human? The few things that hadn't changed in him? She anchored him to that, a bit. Kept his humanity from being drowned in the sea of divinity that now filled him. Kept him in touch as the single person who wasn't a demigod, or magician, or general in charge of the armies of the world, or the prime minister of the planet- point is, she was normal. Something he had none of, without her.

"Something like that, yeah."

"And your friends that you're spending time with. Anyone other than Nico and Thalia?"

"Sasha too." he granted. "And Lacey when we can get her to join in. Sadie as well."

Jessica grabbed a sticky note and wrote something down quickly. "Normally, I'd recommend having a friend group separate from someone you're romantically engaged with, but considering the circumstances… I think it's alright. And between you and Sasha. How's that going?"

Percy let out a long sigh. "Honestly if I wasn't used to people kneeling at the sight of me by now how… deferential she is to me would be weird. But honestly, it's kind of the same for Nico. Sort of the same situation, too, now that I think of it."

Jessica raised an eyebrow. "The same situation? I know you've mentioned Nico's more subservient attitude, but Sasha doesn't seem to have the same personality. Her deference to you is out of romantic feelings she hasn't been able to — doesn't want to — let go of."

Percy chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, Nico's kind of had a crush on me too. I learned about it at the end of the giant war."

Jessica's eyes widened slightly and she wrote something down again before turning back to him. "And the giant war, that's the one that ended just a couple months before the battle of New York, right?"

Percy nodded. "Though to me the battle of New York is the one at the end of the titan war."

"So this is what, your third war now?" Jessica asked, giving up on keeping her notepad on the desk and just grabbing it to write on.

"Give or take." Percy agreed. "Though war is about as descriptive as it is with mortal wars. The couple months I spent fighting Gaea and in Tartarus was as much adventure and danger and fighting as a couple years in the titan war. It wasn't a… constant thing, for the Titan war, but it was something that cast a shadow over my life for four years. The giant war was constant fighting, but it was only for a few months."

Jessica nodded she understood, though of course she didn't. She understood the concept obviously, but she could never understand what that was like. She had never fought in a war, never lost in such quantity, never had a prophecy hanging over her head. She was just a mortal.

And that… that was alright.


December 10

Six Months A.B.M

"What's this?" Percy asked, taking the letter that Darlton handed him.

He was pretty sure this was the first time he'd spoken to the man in his office. It had always been in the spire, planning a battle or going over some other issue.

"I thought it best to deliver it in person, Your Majesty."

Percy frowned in slight confusion, ripping open the envelope and taking out the paper within. It was hand written and written in English, which meant he'd written it personally instead of getting a worker to translate it to ancient Greek.

Percy knew what the letter was as soon as he laid eyes on it, but forced himself to read the rest of the short letter at just over a paragraph. Despite the length it took him a while, his English was not at its best recently.

"I don't accept your resignation." Percy said simply, tossing the paper back down on his desk in front of Darlton.

He seemed surprised, if nothing else, but quickly gained control of himself. "Your Majesty, I-"

"I refuse to accept the resignation of the one I've trusted to run my army under false pretences. Tell me the truth, and I'll sign the paper."

Darlton stilled, before closing his eyes and letting out a deep sigh. "Permission to speak freely, Your Majesty?"

"I'm not in the military, Darlton. That's not a thing. But yes, you've earned that much, and I've asked you for the truth. Speak your mind."

"With Praetoria being captured last month, the conquests of the Empire are officially over. The planet is united. I… I've done my duty. I don't wish to be a part of this any longer. Especially now that those we're fighting will be citizens of the Empire. With so much death… I can't… I can't do it myself. I refuse to be in that position." he straightened his back. "My loyalty remains with you, Your Majesty, but I can no longer be the one to carry out death and destruction on such a scale."

Percy remained silent, staring at an increasingly nervous Darlton. "The citizens of the Empire have always been those who have proclaimed loyalty to the gods. Nothing more, nothing less. Mortal borders and laws are inconsequential. That being said…" he reached over and picked up the letter, unfolding it before him and grabbing a pen. "I understand, more than you can possibly know." he scrawled his name on the line asking for the release of service, tucking it into an envelope and pressing his royal seal onto it, handing the envelope back to Darlton. "You don't know why I've done what I have, Darlton. You were never in my inner circle, despite the importance of your role." Darlton slowly took the envelope from him. Percy had the feeling that if he had any less self control his hand would be shaking. "And yet despite that you served me well. You never faltered, and you provided unimpeachable results. You've been loyal, and steadfast in your service. You're a good man, Darlton, who deserves to live out the rest of his life in peace. I'll see to it myself that you and your family reach Elysium."

Darlton's hand was shaking now, and he quickly retracted it to hide it partially behind his leg. Suddenly, like a puppet with its strings cut, he dropped to a kneel. "Hail, Your Majesty."

"Get up, old man." Percy smiled slightly. "If there's one mortal who's earned the right, it's you. Now go enjoy retirement."

He rose and nodded to Percy gracefully, turning to the door. He hesitated once he got to the doorframe, looking back.

"Supreme Commander Ramirez-Arellano intends to resign soon as well. I wanted to tender mine first, so there was no conception that she had influenced my own." Percy nodded gratefully for the information, and the next moment Darlton was gone. Probably forever.


December 18

Seven Months A.B.M

"Majesty? Did you hear me?"

Percy blinked, glancing at Maria. "Sorry... Distracted. Can you say that again?"

Maria didn't even blink, going right back into her report. "The parliament would like to make the tenth of November a national holiday. Unification day. Some have… mentioned that it would be ideal for you to decree it yourself."

Percy waved it off. "They can have the holiday, but they'll have to 'decree' it themselves. Next?"

She nodded, moving to the next item on the list. "Everything else has to do with you making an appearance, or giving a speech, or officiating something. Am I to tell them no?"

"Yeah, tell them nothing from me until the new year."

Maria nodded and stood up, clicking shut her tablet and smoothing the creases in her dress. "Then that's all for today, Your Majesty. Thank you for your time." she began walking out of his office.

"Thank you Maria."

She tilted her head slightly and turned back to face him. "Sorry?"

"Thank you, for your service. For what you have done. The Empire is lucky to have you. I am lucky to have you."

Her face turned a deep red, but Percy had no illusion there was anything romantic about it. "Your Majesty, I'm just doing my duty-"

"Save it for the cameras." he smiled goodnaturedly. "Words don't earn points with me, only your actions. Take the thanks for what it is, Maria. I understand it's kind of redundant at this point because you're running my empire for me, but if there's anything I can do for you, you need only ask."

"I appreciate the offer, Your Majesty. I'll make sure to keep it in mind." she said with a low bow, walking out the door without another word.


December 19

Seven Months A.B.M

True to Darlton's word, Reyna was in his office a couple days later. She wasn't holding a letter in her hand, but that only made sense. For her, he was her boss, sure, but first he'd been a friend. She'd gotten to know him as Percy, not His Majesty. A letter wasn't exactly her speed.

Percy set aside the approval for the assignment of Viceroys he'd been filling out, squaring away a few remaining territories in central and southern Africa.

"Reyna." Percy greeted, gesturing for her to sit. She did so stiffly, back rigid and muscles tensed. "I don't bite, you know." he said. If he was trying to get her to relax, it didn't work.

"So you've said." Reyna responded with a nod, and Percy winced. His relationship with Reyna had hardly been a good one since he'd snapped at her, but with her resignation he wasn't sure he'd ever see her again. He didn't want them to part on bad terms, at least.

They spent a few moments in awkward silence, before Reyna finally spoke.

"I'd like to resign. Immediately."

Percy paused for a moment, and then reached over to a drawer in his desk and pulled out a folder, handing it to her.

Reyna only allowed the briefest amounts of shock to show on her face, flipping through the papers inside.

"You… knew I'd be resigning."

"I had an inkling." Percy agreed. "And no, it had nothing to do with any of Nico's agencies. But I thought I'd take the opportunity to have everything ready for you."

"Does this mean… Are you letting me resign?"

Percy curled an eyebrow at her. "Reyna, I'd hardly keep you here if you don't want to be. You know from our previous talks I'm not much one for conscription."

Tucking the papers back into the folder, she stood and nodded stiffly. Considering she stood both before him and without him telling her to in his presence, it was a breach in etiquette somewhere between 'death by execution' and 'death by execution for you and your family'. But despite all of that, it was a sign of trust. That despite their… kerfuffle, she still didn't believe him to be that much of an asshole. Percy just smiled.

Without another word, Reyna turned and left.

Percy watched with a bittersweet feeling as her form left his office.

Percy watched her go with a bittersweet feeling. If he couldn't part on good terms… he'd take that, for now.


The view, Percy found, had changed quite a bit.

He sat in the dry grass of a vista overlooking New Rome — a place he had used quite often to cool his head back during the few months he'd stayed here before the climax of the Giant War. The air was stiller than he once remembered it. The sky, without a single cloud, shone brightly casting not a single shadow into the valley below.

The city below was as busy as ever. Once a distance too far to make out the details, Percy watched in silence as demigods, legacies, spirits and really anyone with godly connections bustled about. The city markets filled as ever with stands, lines and shouting. Pavilions and amphitheatres alive with foods, arts, and worship. A small convoy filled with carts and an elephant were lined up just beyond the limits, waiting to be registered and let through Terminus' checkpoints. Young students younger than his first outing for the Master Bolt to professors old and gray all hustled around New Rome University. The city still continued seamlessly as if a seventh of the world's population hadn't met its end just a few days ago.

It was still… New Rome. The same place he'd spent a couple months in, and then left. Sure it was a little nostalgic seeing it after about a year now, but he didn't know what to feel. Should he be glad this place hadn't fallen to waste? Well, maybe a little bit. He certainly cared about it, but at the same time he couldn't find it in himself to feel good about it, though there might have been people he used to care about here. He'd even lived here for a few months, before the climax of the Giant War. It wasn't necessarily home, but it wasn't irrelevant either.

To be honest, he hadn't thought of this vista for quite some time. He hadn't needed to. But after the agonizingly short meeting he'd had with Reyna, he'd been overcome with a sort of emptiness he hadn't felt for months.

He only watched for a few more moments before pulling back his senses within himself and once again, everything was suddenly quiet. Leaning back on a pile of boulders, hands behind his head and biting the inside of his cheek, he mumbled to himself in deep thought.

Had it been the right choice, to let her go that easily? Had it been the right choice to let Darlton go without asking him to reconsider?

Don't get him wrong, they damned right deserved the retirement. All of them had. But they'd been great people to rely on these last few months and while the war for the world was coming to a close, he just couldn't help but feel like he hadn't made the right choice.

"Hmm—" Percy sighed, speaking to nobody. "Everyone's leaving…"

He's lost connections — good people — over these last few months. Piper, Carter, now Darlton and Reyna. For now, Sadie was with him. And Thalia. And Nico. Sasha and Lacey. The list might be enough for some people, but from what it used to be, and where the future could lead, how long until someone else becomes tired, bored, or alienated? When the next person leaves him, because of all of the terrible things he'd been forced to do — he chose to do, he scolded himself. He stopped shifting the blame long ago — or the insurmounting level of stress they're bound to face, could he let them go then? And then the next? And the next?

"What do I do, Annabeth?" He wondered if she would've made different decisions. No, that wasn't right. She definitely would have. Smarter ones. More logical ones. When she was with him, no matter where they were, no matter what fight they had to face, he'd never felt this lost. Never felt this lonely. He was trying to be better with Sadie, but… her and his own personalities were far too similar. He was reckless, bold and action oriented. So was she. They didn't balance each other out, far from it, their personalities went together too well. And while he's tried his best to change himself to fit this new role of ruler, administrator and overseer as well as needing to balance the lives of humanity and the ferocity of Zeus' temper, he knew full well if Annabeth was around, maybe India might've not needed to be annihilated.

Maybe Annabeth might've been able to convince the Egyptians, or the Hindus. Maybe she would've been better off planning the wars against the Shinto, and maybe been able to ease the deadlines Zeus had set on them. Maybe…

Maybes were a pointless thing to feel regret over. Ifs were far worse to agonize over.

Percy ran his hands along some sketched cracks along the bolderface behind him. Looking back down at the city below, he considered taking a stroll, maybe visiting Hazel and Frank and the oth—.

"You probably shouldn't." He felt a dense silence over his shoulders. "We still reek of death. Some death is fine, but for how many lives we've taken recently, I don't think my sister would react well."

Great, another spot of privacy ruined.

"Yeah, I'd just ruin the mood, wouldn't I?" Percy agreed, tilting his head back toward Nico.

Percy turned from the city. If he showed up now he would be greeted with no warm smiles, only awe, aspiration, probably some worship, and a couple of glares. So no, he found he had no real desire to spend time in New Rome. Home was somewhere else.

"Take me home, Nico."


Percy wasn't surprised to see the ground covered in a light feathering of snow this time of year. The lights were already up, green and red floating balls of flame flickering through the air near the cabins.

He was surprised the gods were still letting them celebrate Christmas, to be completely honest. It was a Christian holiday, and Christianity was now banned in the mortal world. Maybe he should find a way to work a new sort-of Christmas into a holiday. Of course he'd have to change the name, but the holiday itself could stay.

He brothe quickly into his hands, the mist coating over his fingers and bringing them warmth. He didn't really feel the cold anymore, but it felt like the right thing to do, considering his severely underdressed state. He wore nothing but jeans and a black T-shirt, going sans the armor today. He even went without the crown, keeping it on the chain around his neck and under his shirt along with his father's scepter. His scepter wasn't there at the moment, as he'd given it to Sadie to make sure she didn't have any trouble.

Deciding to get on with it, Percy took a slow step on the snowy grass, the 'crunch' of the snow beneath his feet a reassuring comfort.

Camp was… busier, than he remembered it this time of year. Much busier. The change was even more drastic than New Rome. He didn't remember much about all that many new demigods coming forward, but many more demigods were likely to discover their heritage now. He had no idea if the gods would let the monsters back to feast on demigods at some point, but if they did… they needed all the training they could get.

He didn't let himself think about that, though. As melancholy as this was, he was here to relax a bit, enjoy himself. Say hello to some old pals, at least. Walk around a bit to think. Then leave.

Two pairs of footsteps soon joined his own. Thalia on his right and Nico on his left. Thalia had followed his example, going bereft of any armor or jewellery, though of course she still had her symbol of power on her in the form of a tiny charm hanging from her wrist.

Nico, however, looked the same as always. His full, formal attire. Over time his jacket had begun to look more and more like a cape, and his clothes began to take on a more… Imperial branding. Percy's emblem could be found in more than a few places on Nico's clothes, and like always he kept his sword in a sheath at his side, one hand casually resting on the pommel.

Well, Nico was Nico. Couldn't very well change that.

It didn't take long before they were noticed. Campers out and around doing… something or the other, taking a class or sparring or just messing around in the snow spotted them entering the camp from a distance and grew closer, probably to see who the new arrivals to camp were. Until they got close enough to be recognized, anyway.

The first one that got close enough to recognize him was a young boy who'd been jogging up to them and promptly slid to a stop half a dozen feet away.

"Yo-your Majesty!" he collapsed to a knee, and Percy let out an explosive sigh.

Maybe Camp Half-Blood wasn't that different from New Rome, in this regard.

"Get off your knees, there's snow on the ground." he snapped, trying to keep any anger out of his voice. He wanted the boy to be casual, not the opposite.

Jerking his head to gesture that he should follow, Percy continued walking to the Big House.

Well, technically it was called 'HQ' now, but there wasn't a snowball's chance in the Phlegethon he'd be calling it that.

"What's your name?" Percy asked the kid who was now scrambling to catch up. Definitely one of the newer campers. Percy was pretty good with faces and he didn't recognize the kid.

Thalia hid her snicker behind her hand. Poorly.

"Uh, Bronson, sir- I mean, Your Majesty."

Percy rolled his eyes, not that the kid could see it. Pausing for a moment he turned back and offered a hand. "Call me Percy. After all, we're family. Right?"

Hesitantly, Bronson reached out and shook his hand, nodding. "Y-yea.. Yes, Percy!"

Satisfied, Percy turned back and once more continued walking. "Now let's go, I haven't seen the old man in too long."

Others began to recognize him as he got closer, but none that he bothered to stop for. He wanted to make it clear to everyone that he didn't want them to kneel, but if he did they'd be there all day before he got to the big house.

Listening to the familiar creak of the wooden porch under him, Percy climbed the steps two at a time, knocking briefly on the door before turning the handle and letting himself in.

The lack of Dionysus alone was almost unfamiliar, but there was still the same ambiance. Chiron sat at the table playing a game with Grover, a camper he vaguely recognized (which meant in all likelihood they'd been there for the Giant War, but not the Titanomachy.) and one he definitely didn't.

Chiron was the first to notice him, tensing briefly. He looked Percy and the others up and down quickly, before relaxing into his wheelchair. Grover glanced over quickly after. His eyes went wide and he bleated, leaping out of his chair. That drew the attention of the other two campers, who similarly quickly stood.

It was almost funny, the difference in reactions. Chiron sat there calmly, observing the room and seeming to find as much amusement in their reactions as Percy was. Grover just stared at him in a mix of disbelief and hesitance, as if he didn't know if his eyes were playing tricks on him, and even if he knew they weren't he had no idea what he'd do about it. The campers both went different directions once they'd leapt from their seats. The one who'd been there for the Giant War stood rigidly straight with his hands at his sides, a position of attention which had doubtless been drilled into him countless times.

The other one, who he didn't recognize at all, quickly fell into a kneel with her eyes to the ground.

"Apologies," Chiron calmly greeted from the end of the table. "I'd kneel, but I think you'd be bored by the time I managed to get in a position to do so."

Percy grinned back at the immortal trainer. "I'm hardly offended. Mind if I join you?"

"Please-"

"Percy?" Grover said — whimpered, really — from his left.

"Hey old pal." he replied, who was still staring at him like a ghost. He felt bad. Grover was his oldest friend. Not just in the sense of people he knew through the godly world — Grover was his first true friend he ever had.

Percy glanced down at himself, deciding to play off his thoughts. "What, did I spill some food on me?"

Grover launched at him, wrapping him in a tight hug and bleating out some weird mix of thanks and prayers in several languages, only a couple of which Percy actually recognized.

"Good to see you too, Grover." he said, awkwardly patting his friend on the back as the Satyr attempted to suffocate him. Inside, he let out a sigh of relief.

His friend Grover had always been a pacifist. He didn't like fighting, his weapon of choice was a leer. In a sense, Percy was now everything Grover fought day in and day out against. Percy had destroyed lives. Destroyed nature. Bent everyone else to his imperial will. Considering all he's done in the past few months, he'd expected Grover to berate him or shun him the first moment they met. He was glad that for once, he'd been wrong.

They spoke a bit, mainly keeping to more tame topics like how the new enchiladas the pavilion were making weren't as good as before and how busy Grover and the other Satyrs have been finding all the new demigods that seem to be popping out every other day.

After some warm welcomes, quick introductions with the other 2 campers, and some hot chocolate courtesy of the camp mess hall, Percy was glad he'd come back for a visit. He hadn't planned to find Grover here, but he was happy for the run-in all the same. Thalia had sat down to join them and he'd even managed to convince Nico to do the same. Campers came in and out throughout the afternoon but apparently after the first few the word had gotten out that he wasn't a huge fan of formalities at the moment, and he stopped having to tell people to get off the floor.

They played different card games and talked about random things in the evening. An air spirit even brought them all some dinner when the conch blew and they set aside games to eat and catch up. The three newer campers were less than talkative but they were there all the same, eating and laughing with the rest of them.

At the end of the night when they said their goodbyes and walked out into the cold weather, Percy smiled to himself. He didn't know how he'd live with himself if he hadn't decided to visit camp tonight.

This… this was home.

Or at least, one of them.


He may be out of his mind

But someday you will find

That sanity's left us all blind

And dragged us all behind

-Matthew Shadows, Save Me

He was dreading this one.

He was alone this time, Thalia and Nico having gone off to their respective duties.

Percy huffed out a loud sigh, he'd been staring at the door for close to ten minutes now, and it had gotten almost ridiculous. Percy finally steeled his nerves and knocked on the door.

He waited with baited breath after, hearing footsteps approaching the other side. For the second time in most of a year now the door opened to reveal Sally Jackson.

She froze when she saw him. One of the reactions he figured she'd have, and the most realistic at that. He'd thought about this for a while, and while he knew that it wasn't liable to end the best, he also knew that he had to do this regardless of how it may end.

He saw the open hand coming a mile away, and gently raised a hand to catch it. He'd have loved to let her slap him, but she'd have better luck penetrating the hull of a battleship with that slap than doing him any harm. Rather she'd just end up hurting herself.

She didn't seem all that pleased that he'd decided to catch her hand, but it didn't stall her.

"Don't you ever go that long without visiting again."

Scolding apparently over for the moment, Percy's mom rushed forward to hug him. He received it with wide open arms, letting himself live in this exact moment for just a few seconds. He thanked the gods — higher than the gods, the very rules of the universe themselves — that he was still mortal enough to not be omniscient, and just perceive one thing at a time. Otherwise this moment of peace, these few seconds of simple love, would be impossible to appreciate.

That single moment allowed Percy to know that his mom still loved him, loved him with all of her heart, as much as she had the day he was born. But the moment also allowed him to realize what he'd been dreading, what he'd known to be true the entire time.

While she may love him at his core with all of her being, she despised what he'd become, what he'd done, what he'd sacrificed, what he'd allowed to happen, what he'd ordered, what he'd done with his very own hands. And she hated most of all that it was someone she loved which had done so much she hated.

Pulling back slightly, Percy lightly kissed her forehead. "I love you, mom."

With a mental poke to Nico, Percy dissolved into shadows. She never got the chance to respond, but he already knew what she would say.

He didn't have the heart to watch her lie to him. Not again.


Pat reon and discord are on my profile, and my other two stories have also been updated today. There's also another chapter of Et Fide posted later today.

I recommend you read it.

Merry Christmas.