AN: Alright, here we go! Thanks to all of you for sticking with me after having to wait quite a while for the first. So we'll see the Olympian council meeting in this chapter and then we'll jump back to Perseus and Zoë which is where we'll pick off.

Slight writer's block with this chapter and I don't doubt that that'll be the last time I face it. Also, I'll be away from the internet for the next two and a half days so don't really expect another update in that timeframe, but I'll still be working on the third chapter.


While Perseus and Zoë reunited

Olympian throne room (after the battle at Othrys)

Artemis was on auto-pilot ever since she and the remaining questers left Othrys. She might have been disoriented and exhausted, but she was still partially aware of what might have transpired. Even then, Atlas's words rang in her ears even when she was miles away.

She was still somewhat present when the demigods were brought before the rest of the council and when they each gave their recount of what happened. Although, she had to try her hardest to convince them that they were simply knocked out when Atlas struck for the second time. The three of them bought it but she knew they were cautious especially since two of their numbers were missing and their bodies were nowhere to be seen.

The argument between her father and Poseidon over the latter making Corin his liaison to camp, therefore making him half-immortal, brought more trouble than necessary and was made worse when Athena and Ares suggested that they kill him.

"Either of you lay a hand on him and I will gut you two with my trident. You're just adding to my list of reasons." Poseidon grit out before looking at Zeus, pointing a finger at him, "You of all do not get to question on what I choose to do for my son when you can't even keep track of where your daughter is nor do you seem to care." he angrily accused.

Zeus boasted about his demigod daughter when he heard that she managed to knock a Titan down and planned to praise her for her achievement but his mood darkened significantly when they told him that she was missing.

"What do you mean you don't know where Thalia is?!" he asked incredulously.

Apollo scoffed, "Well with someone like you as their parent, I wouldn't want to see you if I didn't have to." he quietly said under his breath. Zeus shot him a quick glare and seethed in his throne.

"She went missing and is unaccounted for along with my lieutenant after the fight." Artemis reminded. "I will instruct my hunters to keep an eye out for either of them."

He directed his gaze at the one that should have been dead, causing most of them to still in their thrones. The fact that Corin and Annabeth both testified that Bianca was dead, brought some concern and wariness when it came to the demigod.

"I honestly can't remember much after the automaton. All I know is that I was out of the junkyard and told on a piece of paper where I would be able to find the others, like way later." was Bianca's explanation of how she lived and managed to regroup with the questers when questioned.

Hades's glare brought frost creeping into the crevices of the throne room and she knew that there would have been an explosive battle of words and perhaps even physical had she not offered to make Bianca her new lieutenant and she knew that the others were relieved when the girl accepted.

"Isn't that just convenient." Hades drawled but gave his daughter a nod nonetheless.

"That would make Thalia Grace the child of the prophecy." Athena stated.

"Indeed it would." Zeus commented as he stroked his chin thoughtfully.

The planning for war began as soon as Hermes returned from dropping off the demigods and ended in the span of twenty minutes mainly because Zeus made Athena responsible for the strategy.

"Wait." Apollo interrupted just as Zeus was about to dismiss the council. He leaned forward and placed a hand on his knee as he looked critically at Artemis, noticing how she wrung her hands nervously with her eyes darting around the room. "You're lying. Why?" he asked seriously. Heads turned towards the moon goddess.

"Apollo, what do you mean?" Poseidon inquired.

"I think he means that a certain someone is hiding something from her daddy." Hermes mocked, feeling confident even as Artemis looked at him in anger and drew her bow.

Apollo rolled his eyes and lazily summoned his, "Put that down why don't you? There's no one here that cares enough about you for you to shoot in the back like last time." seeing Artemis recoiled from the low-blow.

"OHHHHHH BURN!" Hermes yelled and high-fived Apollo.

Hades rolled his eyes before sighing, "Nephew, if you know what she's hiding, do tell. Not all of us like to be in here longer than necessary." and looked to Artemis and waved at her, "-If not, it would be in your interest to tell us."

Artemis looked around to find expectant eyes on her from everyone and had an internal debate with herself before her arms dropped to her side with her bow.

Sweat started to drip down her forehead as she exhaled deeply, trying to ignore Zeus's judging gaze. Apollo had a slight look of concern and confusion as he took notice of her actions.

She gulped visibly and looked down at her feet, "I-it was-wasn't me…" she stuttered out, gaining confusion from the others.

"What wasn't you, Artemis?" Hestia asked soothingly. Sensing the stress and worry radiating off of her.

"It wasn't me that put Atlas back under the sky nor was it any of the demigods." she admitted quietly. "Atlas had a horde of monsters and demigods in waiting for them. They for sure would have perished but…" trailing off near the end.

Zeus looked irritated and leaned forward, "But what?!" demanding to know.

Artemis clenched her eyes shut and looked away, "They all froze. Stuck in motion as if-"

"Time froze." Athena said for her in hesitation.

A collective intake of air could be heard from each of them, but the emotions that followed started to differ.

The hearth flickered briefly before returning to its previous state.

Zeus was the first to break from his stupor, looking angry, "That could mean anything! It could mean that father is rising faster than we thought and is simply playing with those demigods!" heavily in denial at the strongest possibility of his once-brother rising.

"Oh, so now you are firmly believing that our father is rising once again despite being the few to deny it." Poseidon sarcastically replied. "Don't forget that Atlas is our father's second-in-command. Reducing Atlas into a bleeding and bumbling mess hinders his army's capability and our father wouldn't have put Atlas back under since he knew what Atlas could do for him."

"There was never a body." Hades stated. "And if I remember correctly, you got your ass handed to you when Perseus almost put you under."

Zeus glared at Hades, who merely brushed his knuckles against the inside of his cloak. "Stop. Saying. His. Name." Zeus grit out and clenched the armrests of his throne tightly.

"Why ever not? He most certainly isn't your brother anymore but he's still mine. After all, you're not scared of a name are you?" Hades teased. His bident appeared in his right hand so Zeus's bolt didn't 'accidentally' slip from his hands and suddenly go towards him again.

Zeus bolted up from his chair, prompting Hades to do the same with his helmet in hand. The look on Hades' face was daring Zeus to do it. "Go ahead." Hades said, arms outstretched with a mocking grin on his face, "Do it and I'll finish what Perseus started."

"There's more. Atlas had all but confirmed it when he said it." Artemis timidly said.

"And what did the big brute say?" Poseidon asked. Hope lingered behind his eyes along with Hades, Hermes, Apollo, Hephaestus, and what looked to be in Hestia's eyes as well.

"Apollyon." she whispered barely audible, but everyone heard it loud and clear.

Fear, denial, and caution rose back up in those that fought against the one they called their king all those years ago.

Everyone looked to Apollo, who looked pensive before the corners of his mouth lifted and grinned, "She's telling the truth."

Hephaestus looked pleased and even let out a small chuckle.

Hades looked at Poseidon with a smirk, "It most certainly looks like we have our work cut out for us then."

Poseidon ran a hand down his beard, "It would explain why disappeared." he said as if he just solved every mystery in the world.

"Well… it seems that I do have something to laugh about after all." Hades commented and flashed out before Zeus could say anything. Poseidon followed suit with a grin and Hephaestus flashed out after, leaving Hermes and Apollo.

"I wonder what Uncle Perseus is doing right now?" Hermes wondered aloud before flashing out with Apollo.


A week later

The island

Like the previous days, Zoë awoke to the nude form of her husband pressing into her from behind as one of his arms was also draped over her stomach and mumbling something incoherently, subconsciously pulling her closer as the arm around her tightened slightly. She smiled when she thought of all they did the past week on their honeymoon and laid her left hand on top of his, intertwining her fingers with his. Her engagement ring and their gold wedding bands shimmered as sunlight filtered in past their curtains and bounced off of their rings.

"What time is it?" she whispered out.

"Half-past 6." her husband replied quietly. "How long have you been up?" he asked, his eyes still closed with drowsiness lacing his voice. He loosened his grip when he felt her shift in his arms to face him. She leaned up to kiss him sweetly and pulled back to meet his half-open amethyst eyes.

"Not long, but you look like you could do with a few more hours." she teased to her amusement. He chuckled and pulled her closer to him, kissing her on the forehead.

"What can I say? You wore me out." he stated and laughed at the blush on her face. She might not be a maiden anymore but she still felt a bit abashed when it came to lovemaking with Perseus, especially since she easily came undone at her husband's touch. She lost count of how many times she lost control when he was making love to her during the past week to the point where she had a goofy grin that would've definitely told all of what happened if they weren't alone, but it's not like she was the only one to react that way and was able to get herself under control after the first few times, though the grin sometimes remained.

Trying to wipe the blush from her face, she buried her face in his chest, "And don't you forget it." she muttered out.

"Wouldn't even dare think about it, my love." he replied with a short laugh, closing his eyes again while also laying a kiss on Zoë and rested his left hand to the small of her back.

She lightly scraped her nails down his back as they let the silence take over, content with just being in the arms of the one they loved while the birds whistled outside. A few moments passed before his eyes opened again. "You're doing it again." he quietly said.

Zoë was somewhat surprised when she looked down to see her body glowing with divine energy; a mix of dark purple with bits of blue, white, and red. Her normally brown eyes glowed a white that rivaled the stars on a clear night.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, exhaling softly as Perseus ran his free hand down her arm, "It's alright. You'll just need more practice so you can fully control your divinity." Perseus assured.

She leaned up to peck him on the lips playfully, bringing a smile to his face and a smirk to hers. "Well it's a good thing I have my husband to help me then, isn't it?" she asked teasingly. She tossed her right leg over his waist and pulled herself over so that she straddled him, the covers just barely remained on her as she placed both hands on his chest to prop herself up.

"And why does my wife think she needs help? You're doing wonderful on your own." he praised, making her smile. She leaned down and laid her body flat against his, placing her head in the crook of his neck, and closed her eyes. Perseus gently took hold of her right hand and started to place a kiss on each of her knuckles before doing the same to her left, the kiss lingered when his lips met her engagement and wedding band. Zoë returned the gesture of affection by intertwining his left with hers to lay a kiss on his ring finger and kept their hands intertwined.

"Know that, whatever you choose to do, I'll be right next to you the whole time." she said seriously. "I'm not letting you get away from me that easily again." she added in determination.

"I know." he replied in a similar tone, smiling softly at her after and kissed her forehead. "I love you, Zoë Nightshade." Perseus told her in a tone of admiration and adoration as he squeezed their conjoined hands.

Zoë leaned her head up and laid a hand on the side of his face, "I love you too, Perseus Apollyon." her tone was no less adoring or affectionate.

She planted her lips softly but firmly against his in a passionate kiss that soon turned heated as Zoë shuffled a bit on top of him while keeping their lips locked. Her breath hitched in her throat and soon turned into a moan of contentment as she sank her lower-half onto him, melding their bodies into one once again.


Sometime later

Zoë rolled under Perseus's swing and aimed Anaklusmos at his head. Perseus braced Leviathan's handle against his left vambrace as the sword clashed against the handle. She yanked herself back and spun around to kick him in the gut which he batted away.

Frowning, she looked at her armor, "Hmm, that's not right. It still feels a bit off." She snapped her fingers and the dense armor-plating around her waist changed into a leather pteruges that reached down to her knees instead, stretching a bit to test the flexibility. She smiled at the fitment and taunted her husband.

Her armor matched her husband's in color but looked and felt far lighter than his. The side plates were layered over each other so it provided more movement. A pair of pauldrons covered her shoulders and parts of her upper arm with a set of bracers affixed to her forearms. Two greaves were worn on her legs and contained sheathes for a pair of hunting knives on the outside.

"Better?" Perseus asked as he tossed Leviathan back and forth from his hands. Zoë nodded in relief and smirked.

"So much better. Now I can beat you without clunky armor getting in the way." she teased playfully.

Perseus gave her a smirk, "That's if you beat me, my love." taking the first step and re-engaging. Leviathan was swung wide at her, making her bend backwards to avoid the axehead before raising Anaklusmos back up for the offensive.

He raised his vambrace to deflect a sword strike and swung Leviathan diagonally while Zoë swung upwards, their weapons glancing off of each other before they started clashing at varying speeds.

The ground erupted as Perseus slammed his weapon down and spun to deliver a downward blow. His wife quickly side-stepped and twirled away.

"You really should wear a helmet." Zoë told him as she swiped Anaklusmos at his legs and caused him to leap back, catching the edge of the blade with the heel of the axe.

She pulled out one of her hunting knives from the sheathes in her greaves and swiped at his head, emphasizing her point.

"Doesn't feel right." he responded while taking a step back, using his vambraces and Leviathan to shield himself from Zoë's flurry of bladed strikes. He kicked the knife out of her hand before pinning the flat side of Anaklusmos with his foot. "Besides, if someone does try to go for the head, I'll have you with me to stop that." he reasoned.

She smiled at her husband's confidence in her as she pulled her sword out from under his foot. "Will you still be thinking that after this when I'm still standing and you're flat on your back?" poking fun at the fact that she nearly had him at times during the training.

He smirked and leaned on Leviathan as he planted the head into the ground, "I certainly wasn't complaining, nor were you, when you were above me with my face in-"

"PERSEUS!" she spluttered out. She flashed behind him and had Anaklusmos raised just as Perseus picked back up Leviathan to block her attack. He chuckled at her reaction and blocked and parried her attacks.

"Have I ever told you that you're adorable when you're flustered and embarrassed?" he teased, blocking Zoë's kick to the head with his arm and went to palm-strike her when she hooked her heel around his and tripped the both of them onto the ground, dropping their weapons.

Zoë blinked and a grin formed on her face, "HA! I WIN!" about to relish in her victory when Perseus leaned up to kiss her, breaking her train of thought. Her eyes widened in surprise before she closed them in pleasure as his tongue gently ran itself over her bottom lip and granted him access. Her hands slipped into his hair as his trailed down her backside, eliciting a mewl from his wife. Perseus struggled to control himself as Zoë moaned into the kiss, something that she knew judging by how he felt her grin.

"Uhhhh… dad? Is this a bad time for us to say that we're back?" Perseus and Zoë's eyes snapped open, their lips still firmly against each other, as they found Thalia and Jason standing a few feet away on the patio, the both of them smiling sheepishly and a bit embarrassed while the Gauntlet all turned away to look at anything but them.

Zoë was the first to break off from the liplock, picking up the fallen form of Anaklusmos that was at her side and rolled off of her husband gracefully despite the way they were seen by the two demigods and the centurions. Her messed-up dark hair served as a cover for her slightly-swollen lips and the golden-blush on her cheeks as it draped over a portion of her face.

Perseus got up as she extended a hand to him, his back turned to the others. He dusted himself off before he turned around and grabbed Zoë's hand in his left while Leviathan appeared in his right. "Hello, Thalia, Jason." he greeted as if he wasn't caught making out with his wife while in the open.

"Lord Virtus, Lady Zoë. Forgive us for returning without informing you ahead of time, but we thought that it would be appropriate before the little ones rode the lions off somewhere." Ignatius informed.

Zoë looked to see her husband wince slightly as they listened to Ignatius, "Ah… I'm glad that I don't need to fight two angry felines then." making her raise an eyebrow at her husband's comment. He pressed a kiss to the side of her head, "I'll explain later."

Thalia and Jason walked down the steps and went towards them. "So when are we returning to camp?" Jason asked, pulling his gladius out and stabbed it into the ground.

"I told Lupa I'll have you returned by the end of this week. There's only so long we could stretch out an imaginary quest before Lupa contemplates murder on the senators." Perseus told him.

The centurions behind the two demigods recoiled, "I have experienced my fair share of politicians with severe lacks of intelligence. I, for one, do not look forward to encountering them again." Cassius stated with a frown.

Aurelius snickered and looked at Magnus, "Do you remember that one governor during Nero's reign? The one that hated Nero with a passion?"

"Who could forget him? Can't remember how many times our brothers heard him ranting about Nero." Magnus replied and let out a chuckle.

Jason raised an eyebrow and looked intrigued, "Is that a new story? Tiberius and Marcus have been telling me about Galba's history and the legion's time during his reign." pointing at the two brothers.

"Galba!?" Hadrian looked offended and affronted, "Of all the people to tell, he should be learning about Emperor Hadrian! We could cut through Galba's history in a week but you insist on spending the entire year teaching him about one boring emperor." he retorted with a smirk.

Ignatius looked at Marius, "Commander, care to wager on the emperors of our day?" he asked with a grin as he ran a cloth down his spearhead, polishing it until the metal shined.

The aforementioned commanding centurion laughed as he took his helmet off, "There is nowhere near enough wine for me to comment on the politics of our age." laughing once again. He looked at Lord Virtus and Lady Zoë, "Perhaps you two would like to wager in on this?" he offered to the two Olympians.

"I think I disliked most of them." Perseus mentioned with a frown as Zoë rolled her eyes.

She tapped him on the cheek, "I remember you wanting to toss them all into a volcano whenever they prayed to you so that would be an understatement." her eyes lighting up with amusement.

Jason looked unaffected by the debating done by the centurions, "I actually don't mind learning about them at all."

Thalia ruffled up Jason's hair with a hand and gave him a small smile, "You're such a little nerd." snorting when Jason looked annoyed and pat his hair back down.

"And you're a daddy's girl." sticking his tongue out at his sister.

Thalia rolled up her sleeves and glared at him, "You little fu-"

"Ok. That's enough." Perseus interrupted, trying to hide the small smile he had as they bickered. She grumbled underneath her breath and huffed. "Why don't you and I head in for a bit to cool off, hmm?" kissing Zoë on the cheek before pulling away to wrap an arm around Thalia's shoulders. He handed Jason a drawing pad as the younger Grace grinned and walked to a spot underneath a tree.

Zoë smiled before walking back to the small arena to continue training. Just as he was heading in, out of the corner of his eye, he saw his wife wink at him before gesturing for Ignatius and Aurelius to step forward, the sounds of their groans reaching his ears as he shook his head with a grin.

They ventured into the kitchen. Thalia opened the fridge and pulled out a soda as he leaned on the counter with his back facing the living room. "Hey, dad?"

"Yes? Is something the matter?" he asked curiously and tilted his head.

Thalia scratched the back of her head and bit her lip nervously. She squirmed under his gaze, making him raise an eyebrow as he stood straight.

"DidyoueverthinkthatIwouldbetrayyoubecauseoftheprophecy?" she rushed out in one breath.

The corners of his eyes crinkled as a puzzled look appeared on his face. Picking at his ears, he blinked and craned his head forward, "Say that again?" he asked for clarification.

Thalia took a deep breath and shook her head, "Because of the prophecy, did you ever think that I would've been tempted enough to betray you?" partially mumbling out the last part.

"Because of your fatal flaw?" watching her nod glumly. He hummed contemplatively and shrugged. "Truth be told, I haven't put much thought into the possibility. That hasn't really crossed my mind all these years." he admitted.

"Really?" eyes back on him now.

He nodded, "Of course. I wouldn't exactly be a good father if I thought the worst of my kids now would I? Chaos knows I couldn't even lift a hand against you or your brother. I could barely be stern when you were younger. I would be more heartbroken than anything if I'm being honest." he told her in confidence. He turned serious for a moment, "Are you feeling bogged down by the prophecy?" he asked in concern.

She shook her head, "No… I was just thinking about it when you were away. You're really that confident that I wouldn't ever do something like that to you?" watching him nod his head.

"Of course." he said reassuringly. "You should know that I trusted you when you said you were prepared to face the prophecy and I meant it. I know that you would do the right thing, but if something changed your mind, we would've worked something out." he informed her and pulled her into an embrace, cradling the back of her head with his right as his left wrapped around her back.

"I'm your father and Jason and you are still my kids. You're practically my firstborn. Any kids that I have with Zoë won't change that." she pulled her head back to look at him.

"You and Zoë are having kids?" she asked, a part of her in shock.

"No, not yet. We talked about it in the past obviously, but we want to make sure that the time is a bit quieter first before we do anything of that sort." he explained.

"Oh." she simply let out. "Speaking of you and Zoë…"

"Yes?" he said when she hesitated.

"Since you're my dad and Zoë is now married to you, does that mean-"

Since he interrupted her, he clearly knew what she was going to ask, "Does that mean she's basically your step-mom?" She nodded in confirmation. "Yes, but that's something you'll have to talk to her about. I don't think she's expecting any changes, if any, in regards to you and her, but again, talk to her about it. She and I talked about it but only the gist of it." he explained to her. She nodded before resting her head on his shoulder again.

A few moments later, the moment between father and daughter was broken by the sound of knocking.

Perseus looked to see Iapetus with a grim line on his face. "We have something that needs your attention." he stated.


Zoë dusted her hands off as Aurelius and Ignatius groaned on the ground in exhaustion and soreness, their brothers in the back snickering. She wiped the dirt off that gathered on the end of Anaklusmos with her thumb and looked behind her to see her husband walking to her.

Perseus approached her with an indiscernible look, "I don't suppose you'll be open to going with me on a short trip?" making her look at him questioningly.


AN: And now we move onto chapter three. We see that the council is obviously still fractured after all these years with some bonds being tested to their limits and the Olympians are still firmly on their chosen sides from the first battle. Perseus and Zoë have obviously been enjoying their time on their honeymoon but we'll get into the nit and gritty within the next few chapters. We'll see what's so important that requires Perseus and Zoë to head off somewhere.

I'm about 230 words in for the first (?) Battle of the Labyrinth chapter and we might be sticking with Thalia for those chapters but I'm still thinking about that. Sticking with the books for as much as I can, there's about a seven month gap between TTC and BotL so there might be a time jump into the next chapter but I'll add some stuff in with Thalia in between that time to make it seem less bland in a way.

See you guys later.