Chapter 24

Greetings readers! I hope that all of you enjoyed the previous chapter!

In response to NotLordChaos' review, I am thrilled to hear that you enjoyed reading this series! Unfortunately, I had to take a hiatus due to some personal issues but I am back now and happy to update! Thank you for your support!

Responding to fugy's review, of course, I still have to finish this trilogy and the Justice League crossover. This is my magnum opus and the crossover is an idea that has been simmering on the backburner for a long, long time. So can't stop until I finish these :) Thank you for your continued support!

In response to Zephyr27's review, thanks a lot for your kind words and support! I may not be able to churn out weekly updates for a while but I shall certainly not take two months between updates. Thank you for your support!

In response to Walter Ha's reviews, thanks a lot for your continued support! To be honest, I don't feel pressurized when I write a new chapter. I just feel good because it helps in so many ways. It's just that this story is perhaps a bit too personal. But your concern is much appreciated!

Responding to MysteryTrident14's review, personal issues do hit really hard. And a large chunk of the past few weeks have been hellish from an emotional perspective. But I am in a better place now and as you said, things always get better. Thanks a lot for your kind words and for your continued support!

In response to Zoe Hunter of Artemis' reviews, seeing Calypso in an antagonistic role certainly feels a bit different, I admit. But it brings with it its own novelty as well as challenges which I am thoroughly enjoying while exploring. Thanks a lot for your kind words and concern! Thank you for your continued support!

I would like to thank jacobyzuke for your kind words and support! I am in a much better place now and look forward to releasing chapters earlier!

In response to the guest reviewer (the one who reviews frequently), thanks a lot for your understanding as well as for your kind words. There was a time in the past few months when I hit a really devastating low but I am in a much better place now and am thrilled to be writing again!

Coming to your review for the previous chapter, glad to see that you enjoyed the little bit of irony that I tried embedding in the previous chapter, with Calypso's actions doing the exact opposite of what she wanted to do. The battle between Percy and Atlas is going to be fantastic, at least that's what I think from the few flash notes that I have already written for it. The scene with Nico, Thalia and Luke is taking place in a timeframe slightly before the scene where Percy is finally found. That's just to aid with the storytelling and produce a parallel plot line.

I am glad that there was a heartwarming element to Calypso's and Atlas' talk. Despite Calypso being one of the main antagonists of this arc, I still want the readers to sympathize with her. You're spot on, Calypso's anger is modelled exactly after Percy's during the Triumvirate Arc. Thank you for your continued support! P.S. Thank you for your concern! I am a bit sensitive to colder weather but thankfully, now, the weather is very pleasant!

I would like to thank HellRaiderS for your continued support and your kind words! I am only happy to be updating again!

En réponse au critique invité, je suis très heureux que vous appréciez cette histoire jusqu'à présent ! J'espère que vous apprécierez le reste aussi ! Merci pour votre soutien!

In response to Ryan Fowler's review, thanks a lot for your kind words as well as your understanding. The past few weeks were hard but I am better now and am excited to be back. I really do appreciate and am very grateful for all the support you all have shown.

Coming to your review for the previous chapter, yes, I have a lot of twists and turns planned for this story. And I hope that you will enjoy all of them! Percy meeting with Nyx certainly sounds like a fantastic idea and I'll see what I can do with it! Thank you for your concern and your continued support!

In response to DaoGodPrimus' review, thanks a lot for your understanding as well as supportive words. It was hard. This break did give me some perspective and what I understood in it was that writing wasn't just some past time for me. It genuinely made me feel good and helps me in a myriad of ways. So I always knew this was going to be a temporary break. It was just that with so much going on in my life, it was very difficult to focus properly on writing and I didn't want to release a half-assed chapter. But your concern is much appreciated and I am very grateful to have such supportive readers.

Coming to your review for the previous chapter, thank you for the compliment! I do consider the twenty-third chapter of this story to be one of my best. But I have tried to go one over it with this one and I hope you like this one even more! Yes, as you have pointed out, the Olympians, and by extension, Greek and westen civilization in itself is much younger in this AU than what it is in canon. Here, the Elder Olympians are around for thousand years old. And the younger Olympians are around three and a half thousand years old, with Athena being the eldest and Ares or Hermes probably being the youngest. I took this timeline, with the Olympians being younger, so that it would be more believable that Percy could change them completely, since they were not totally set in their ways then. And yandere is probably the best way to describe Calypso in one word, although the reason for her acting like that are more complex. Thank you for your continued support!

I would like to thank MegaRayquaza8121 for your continued support!

In response to Arden2709's review, thanks a lot for your words of concern! I am happy to be back to writing! Coming to your review for the previous chapter, I am very glad to hear that you enjoyed the interactions between Percy and Poseidon in the previous chapter! Thank you for your continued support!

In response to Jubby1905's review, thanks a lot for your kind and supportive words! I really do appreciate your concern and support! I am a lot better now and am happy to be back! Coming to your review for the previous chapter, writing scenes between Percy and Poseidon is always awesome and the banter provides some much needed relief in intense chapters. A one-shot featuring the drinking competition sounds like a great idea and something I would certainly explore during the writing of this story! Luke is still a traitor on this but his reasons are a bit different. Oh no, Percy and Atlas are definitely going to fight. And it is going to be wild :) Thank you for your continued support!

Responding to Kronosbluehairbrush's review, yes, the past two months certainly were one of the roughest patches of my life and I really cannot overstate how grateful I am for all of your support. I always knew that I would be coming back to writing because this is something I love doing.

Coming to your review for the previous chapter, the interaction between Percy and Poseidon and some of Poseidon's dialogues were actually influenced by the prophecy you were referring to. Agreed, writing the interactions between demigods just provides a fresh breath of air to any chapter! Percy's spirit animal is definitely the baby seal! Suits him perfectly! I am glad that you are enjoying the complexity that I am imparting to Calypso's and Atlas' characters. It is something I feel gives more depth to this story! Thank you for your continued support!

In response to True Wielder of Riptide's review, thanks a lot for your kind words and support. It really does make me feel grateful to have such caring and understanding viewers and just amplifies my interest in my work. Thank you for taking the time out to share some kind words form me! And thank you for your continued support!

In response to viprovlad's reviews, thank you for your support and kind words! I am in a much better place now and am happy to be back to writing! And I am honoured that you think my trilogy is comparable to Everlasting Promises series, which I think is truly one of the best stories of all time. Thank you for your support!

In response to zxLupa's review, yes, I took these two months off to get my messed up personal life, back into some stable form. I am perhaps not entirely back to normal but I didn't want to put my life and my hobbies on hold indefinitely. Thank you for your kind words and for your continued support!

Responding to NormalyBeast's review, thank you so much for your kind words of support! I know it's been a long time since I previously updated and I hope it was worth it! Thank you for your support!

In response to carloramoncanales' review, I am very happy to hear that you are enjoying reading this trilogy. Yes, a main part of this trilogy is the inclusion of morality and philosophy. While it would be fun to write a superficial, action-packed, fast paced story, I like to go into the little details of character development that turn a bunch of words into a real story. And I am very happy to hear that you are liking this approach! Thank you for your continued support!

In response to Shadowhunter2077's review, yes, I did break with convention by making Atlas something of a grey character. While he isn't a protagonist by a long shot, he isn't a pure antagonist either. And it is really fun to write him like this! Yes, I did alter the final fights of the First Titanomachy a bit to better suit the narrative I am trying to build. Calypso is a bit lost at this point in time. She has gotten so used to suffering that she has not seen much happiness ever since she was sentenced to Ogygia. And the little happiness she has seen there, she associates it with Percy, which is definitely not healthy for her. And that combined with Atlas' raging fury has misguided her a lot. This is something that will be very interesting to explore in the future! Thank you for your continued support! P.S. Don't mention it! It's glad to have you back!

All credit for the characters goes exclusively to Rick Riordan.


Thalia's words got caught up in her throat as she turned to come face to face with the older and scarred son of Hermes and her eyes instantly darkened to a deep navy blue. A very long time ago, when she and Annabeth had first made it to camp, they had looked up to Luke. He was smart, he was funny and he was always interested in bettering the lives of the demigods.

Annabeth had taken to looking at him like he was an elder sibling while Thalia had developed a small crush on him which she neither admitted nor acted upon. After all, Luke was six years older than her and she had never found the courage to approach him. And then, he had turned over to the side of the Titans and that was the last they had seen of him, for two years, until today.

"Ahh, so Luke Castellan, the traitorous son of Hermes is not dead. I am disappointed." Thalia spat out with her nose scrunched in disgust.

"Thalia Grace wishing for my death." Luke paused to sigh deeply before continuing.

"It looks like the gods have changed you. And not for the better by the look of it. Tell me, does it give you any satisfaction to be Perseus Diaboles' lapdog? Does it give you any satisfaction when you kill without making a choice?" Luke intensely questioned as he took a seat across Thalia.

"You think we are Percy's lapdogs? You must be very delusional, Luke. Not the entire world is as messed up as your own world. Just because you are an ungrateful little traitor who turned his back against your own father, who mind you, was the man that saved your life, doesn't mean we all back-stabbing ingrates like you." Nico harshly answered as he glared at Luke.

"You know nothing about me, son of Hades. My father is the reason my mother died. And then, he just disappeared. After which, instead of being there for me, he just grew distant. He let her die and then abandoned me to a life of pain." Luke angrily retorted as he glared murderously at Nico.

"And he regrets that to even this day, Luke. We have talked to Hermes. And being unable to save May Castellan is one of the biggest regrets of his immortal life. He didn't distance himself from you because he wanted to abandon you. He distanced himself from you because you were a reminder of his inability to save the woman he had once loved." Thalia spoke up, in a gentler voice. And for a moment, Luke's eyes softened before regaining their hardened edge.

"Lies. Everything they say are lies, Thalia. If they knew of the dangers they unleashed, they would never sire so many demigods." Luke stated through gritted teeth.

"Who they take care of very well. The gods have not abandoned their children. On the contrary, they guide us to Camp Half-Blood or Camp Jupiter as soon as our mortal parents realise that they have to part with us. We have two magnificent cities, New Greece and New Rome, where we can see our life to a peaceful conclusion. So tell me Luke, what exactly are you fighting for?" Nico questioned with a steely gaze.

"I am fighting for a better world for mortals. A world where they don't have to fear those extremely powerful Olympian gangsters taking advantage of them and putting them in mortal danger by siring a child with them." Luke tried to conceal his true motive but failed.

"Lies. Everything that comes out of your mouth, is a lie, Luke Castellan." Nico countered with enough ferocity to make even Luke flinch a little.

"This was never about making the world a better place for demigods or mortals. No. This was about enacting revenge from Hermes. This false utopia that you promise to the poor demigods that have defected over to your side does not exist and you know that very well. These are the Titans we are talking about. A bunch of bloodthirsty, lustful, humanoid monsters. They will only take the world back to the stone ages and make life even more miserable for mortals. You are not a moral revolutionary, Luke Castellan. You are a pretender and a traitor. You are a man who sold his soul to the Titans for the sake of some convoluted idea of revenge." Nico assaulted him with a verbal barrage, leaving Luke speechless. But the son of Hermes recovered quickly.

"Do you see this Thalia? Do you see how they have demonized me? All for daring to speak out. Why fight for these people, Thalia? Join me. We can rebuild the world the right way. Side by side. As partners. As friends. Maybe as something even more." Luke tried to convince Thalia but his efforts failed.

"The Luke Castellan who was my friend, is dead. Now, all I see is an enemy. An enemy to my family." Thalia coldly replied before grabbing Nico's hand.

"Besides, I already have a partner." Thalia stated with a coy smile as she winked at Nico, who despite his best efforts, felt a sheepish smile grow on his face. And Luke's face immediately darkened at that gesture.

"Then you leave me no choice but to defeat you right here." Luke hissed in anger as his sword – backbiter, materialised in his hands. And he immediately lunged at Nico.

Thankfully, Nico had fast reflexes so he managed to draw himself and Thalia into a shadow and disappeared. They reappeared outside the pub, fully armoured and with their weapons in tow. And a few moments later, Luke burst out of the door.

He was immediately greeted with a bolt of lightning along with a ball of darkness but much to Nico and Thalia's shock, his eyes turned solid gold for a second as time slowed down around him and he zoomed towards Nico and Thalia, evading their attacks.

Despite their best efforts, Nico and Thalia felt their body respond to this too slowly. But they managed to break out of the spell and blocked Luke's sword at the nick of time. And much to their shock, Luke managed to push back against both of them.

"Surprised? You're not the only ones who have gotten stronger in these past two years." Luke stated with a smirk before twisting his way through and duelling simultaneously with Nico and Thalia.

He was extremely fast. Much faster than either Nico or Thalia. And he also seemed to hold the edge in terms of raw strength. But Nico and Thalia were no longer just new trainees. They were more battle-hardened and very powerful individuals in their own right.

Nico parried a thrust aimed at his head and shot back with a ball of darkness that sent Luke skidding backwards. Thalia capitalised on that and charged at him with her spear but Luke expertly deflected her spear away before kicking her in the gut and sending her flying through the wall of a building.

He was then forced to block a flurry of slashes, thrusts and feints from Nico, who was proving to be surprisingly agile. But much to Nico's frustration, Luke seemed to know every technique that Nico used and soon, he countered with his or ferocious barrage.

Unfortunately, Nico had neither the physical attributes nor the skill Luke possessed and was quickly overpowered, being filled with gashes and cuts. Just as he started to slow down a little, before Luke could capitalize, Thalia sprung back into action by shooting a bolt of lightning at Luke, which the son of Hermes was forced to redirect away from himself.

This provided an opportunity for Nico who made full use of it. Making use of his excellent speed and agility, he sent a roundhouse kick at Luke's face that was powerful enough to make the demigod bleed.

"Huh, not bad. Looks like you do have some fight left in you. Both of you do. It's just a pity that you are fighting for the wrong side. But if not by words, I shall make you accept the Titans as your overlords by use of force." Luke stated with his eyes darkening and was about to jump back into action when he received a message from Koios, asking him to come back to the main base. He seemed disappointed and defiant for a second but his eyes turned gold for a split second and his expression completely changed, something that did not go unnoticed by Nico and Thalia.

"As fun as this was, it seems like I am needed elsewhere. Goodbye, Thalia. Let me tell you that my offer still stands." Luke smoothly stated before disappearing in a bright white light, leaving behind a panting Nico and a troubled Thalia.


It had been a few months since the fateful day Percy had abandoned her, for the second time, and Calypso found herself back in the little island in the Aegean where she had nursed Percy back to health. And since she frequently visited the island, she had converted it into a makeshift residence.

She had not been idle the past few months. She had kept good on her promise of taking Percy back and had channelled all her grief into honing her innate skill with the spear. While she had always been very good at it, her father's intense training combined with her unwavering resilience had drastically improved her skill with the spear. In fact, it had been improved to a point where she could hold her own against him. But that wasn't the only combat related improvement that she had made.

She had improved tremendously even in her sorcery as well as her other metaphysical and healing abilities. She had always been a great healer but now, the potency of her healing was matched by only Phoebe and perhaps, Apollo.

She had learnt many other ways of using her mystiokinesis. Along with that, she had also improved her control and had increased the scope of many of her existing abilities. She could now open a portal to summon a horde of monsters, generate and manipulate fire, darkness and wind to a certain extent, much lesser than the deities with control over them but definitely in a very dangerous way.

Her abilities with the Mist were also proving to be remarkably powerful and that combined with the myriad of other abilities that she had made her a force to be reckoned with. Easily on par with one of the younger Olympians. Which is exactly where she wanted to be.

Her goal was not to harm Percy. Her goal was to take Percy back. And to do that, she first and foremost needed to get rid of the one Olympian she hated the most – Athena. She hated Athena with an intense passion because Calypso felt like it was Athena's fault that Percy had been robbed away from her. And it was her who was chaining Percy down.

In order to liberate Percy, she needed to defeat Athena and rid Percy of the wisdom goddess' corrupting influence and she had confidence in her own newly improved upon abilities to do that. It boiled her Ichor to think of that wretched wisdom goddess being intimate with her Percy and images as well as hallucinations of those two being happy around each other had relentlessly haunted Calypso for the past few months. And today was no different.

As Calypso walked into the room where she had tended to Percy, she remembered how she had sat next to him for a day, continuously tending to him and his wounds, waiting for him to wake up. At that moment, the mixture of longing, exhaustion and anguish overwhelmed her. And that was enough for her to start hallucinating.

Suddenly, she started to hear a deep humming baritone, one that could only belong to Percy and she turned, she saw him lazing on the bed, wearing just a unbuttoned, untucked white shirt folded upto his elbows and white slacks. And he had a mesmerizing, romantic smile on his face.

Unable to register that this was just a hallucination, Calypso made to move towards him but before she could reach him, seemingly out of nowhere Athena, wearing only a white sarong at the waist and a sleeveless white top that ended at her midriff, which didn't leave a lot to imagination, with her luscious raven hair falling freely on her shoulders, leaped towards Percy.

As if on reflex, Percy caught her and lifted her into air before bringing her down for a deep kiss. And with a snap of Athena's fingers, fast paced romantic music started to permeate through the air and in front of Calypso's eyes, Percy and Athena danced, in a sensual and passionate way in response to the music, humming along the way as they swirled their heads around each other in tandem in an intimate way.

Unable to take this, Calypso moved forward to try and break them apart but Percy and Athena just moved to either side of her as Percy took Athena's hand over Calypso's head and twirled her around, before putting his hands on her waist, lifting her into the air and planting kisses on her neck.

Aggravated, yet at a loss of words, Calypso stormed towards them. But as if oblivious to the outside world, Athena locked her legs around Percy's waist, running her hands through his silky hair while she steered into the couch, sitting on his lap as she peppered him with butterfly kisses, once again evading Calypso.

Her eyes raw with tears of anguish, Calypso could only watch as Percy hoisted Athena up and onto his back, while turning around on one leg and dancing to the tune of the sensual music while Athena slipped her hands under the fabric of his shirt and caressed his torso before finally peeling the fabric off of him.

Percy then held her in his hands with her body moulding around his own. They seamlessly danced around the room to the fast tune, humming along themselves and without her feet touching the ground even once, they performed an intimate mixture of salsa, ballet and waltz.

Just as the music ended, Percy finally lifted her above, with his hands caressing and supporting her toned belly as Athena spread her arms with a content, dreamy smile on her face before he let himself fall back on the bed, allowing Athena to softly land on his body as he wrapped his arms around her.

"NOOOOO!" Calypso screamed in a mixture of anguish and jealousy as she stormed towards them and brought her fist down on Athena's face, in order to prevent this sensual dance from progressing into something more.

However, Percy rolled off the bed with Athena in his arms and Calypso's fist landed on the empty bed, destroying it and bringing Calypso out of her hallucination. The Titaness collapsed to her knees, grasping the sheets tight enough for them to tear as she sobbed. That hallucination had felt far too real and far too painful. As she wailed her heart out, she felt a palm on her shoulder and looked up to see Aunt Selene sympathetically staring down at her.

"Aunt Selene." Calypso hoarsely whispered. At that point, it didn't matter that she and her aunt were on opposing sides of the war, all she wanted was solace.

"They're everywhere, Aunt Selene. This is as far as my imagination can run and I already feel shattered. I don't even want to know the sort of debauchery that accursed goddess of wisdom commits with Percy. My Percy. Only I am allowed to do that. No one else can even look at Percy that way." Calypso throatily growled.

"They love each other with all their heart, niece. Amorous activities are a natural extension of that love. You can't let that affect your own life. You really need to move on." Selene advised as she soothingly ran her fingers through Calypso's hair.

"Is this what you are here for? Another lecture as to how I should abandon my right?" Calypso quietly asked. This wasn't the first time this had happened.

They had had this conversation multiple times in the past few months. And it had always ended the same way. With Calypso coldly bidding goodbye to her aunt after asking her to keep her advise to herself.

"How much will you suffer, Calypso? I can't bear to see you like this. This desire, this want of yours, it is consuming you, niece. You may think you're harming Athena or Percy but in reality, the only person whom you are harming is yourself. Let go, Calypso. Please, for your own sake. Let go of Percy. The best revenge you can get is by living your life to the fullest extent possible. Not by subjecting yourself to mental torture." Selene pleaded with Calypso, as she tried to convince Calypso. But as always, her words fell on deaf ears.

"You know it, Aunt Selene. Me letting go of Percy, is impossible. And him letting go of me is something that I will never allow." Calypso coldly and measuredly declared after pulling away from her aunt, who could only sigh deeply.

"Our destiny is not written for us, my dear. It's bestowed upon us based on our own actions. You cannot reverse your old actions. And as such, you cannot change your current predicament. But you can change your future. More often than not, the boxes we confirm ourselves in are designed and built by our own mind. It is up to us to change that." Selene offered one last bit of wisdom before disappearing in a flash of silver leaving behind an embittered and vengeful Calypso.


Percy and Athena were cruising on a road along the Mediterranean as they tracked down two old sea deities who had joined Oceanus. In the few months since the fateful confrontation with Calypso, things had been very quiet on land, eerily quiet in fact.

Percy had no doubt that Atlas was waiting to recover to his full power and the all of the younger Olympians, barring Athena, were hunting him down. He had initially wanted to be on the same mission but that proposal had been shot down because of Calypso's involvement. They knew that he would not be able to do what was necessary if she got involved. And he had reluctantly agreed.

However, he did not want to be useless and thus, he had directed all his efforts under the sea, hunting down rogue sea deities and leading Atlantean armies to a streak of much needed victories against Oceanus' children. And of course, Athena had been with him through all this.

She had flatly refused to leave his side for the past few months, going to great lengths to stay with him at all times. Of course, he had initially resisted the idea. Even though he was a general and was hence excellent at working with others, he was also the world's best tracker. And he preferred to and had a habit of doing his missions alone.

It was partly because it gave him the flexibility to do whatever he wanted at the spur of the moment, relying on a perfect blend between his natural instincts and innate tactical intuition. And it was partly because his plans were predominantly built around his own invulnerability, allowing him to take risks that would not be possible with another person tagging along.

However, Athena had been extremely adamant that she accompany him on his missions and he had finally acquiesced. And while he had had to adopt a more cautious approach, executing his missions with Athena also had numerous benefits which he felt outweighed the disadvantages. The biggest of which was that now, he and Athena spent almost all their time with each other.

While they weren't one of those pair of lovers who constantly had to helicopter around each other, three thousand years of separation plus two years of being in a war had created an eternity of longing which they had to make up for. And this was a welcome change.

"What are you thinking about so deeply?" Athena asked with some concern twinkling in her stormy grey eyes.

"Conflicts can drive a man mad, you know." Percy replied with a with a blank expression on his face, without looking away from the road.

"I know, I've seen what they have done to you." Athena replied with a sympathetic expression on her face.

"My entire life, I have lived through physical, mental and emotional strife. And it has mostly been a self-inflicted wound. Chasing the foolish dream of trying to make the world a utopia cost me greatly. I dedicated far too much of my life to fighting. With all due respect to our family, sometimes, I wish I hadn't been made the General of the Divine Forces. What I truly regret is how much my duty affected my relationship with you." Percy stated as he breathed out a fine blue mist, something he had recently taken to doing whenever he was in a sombre mood.

"The bad days are behind us, Percy. Forget about those days of hellish existence. All that matters is that we are together now. These past few months have truly been wonderful and I hope that this is how the rest of eternity will be. As long as we are together, it doesn't matter what we do." Athena softly stated as she caressed Percy's cheek.

"Still, I can't help but wonder what our life could have been had I known where to draw the line. I can't help but think that you would be so much better off if I had not gotten so deeply involved in the wrong conflicts. Maybe then, you would not have been bound to a broken man with an eternity's supply of emotional baggage." Percy answered in a hollow voice.

"I am not bound to you, Percy. I am with you out of my own volition. I care about you and love you out of my own volition." Athena strongly responded.

"Sometimes, it feels like I forced you into this, Athena. It feels like I emotionally coerced you into this and now you have to deal with the fissures in my personality. I can see how much it hurts you when you see me suffering a nightmare or a flashback. I can see how much it hurts you to see that I am no longer the eternal optimist I once was. And I try so hard to be like my old self again. But I just can't bring myself to. I feel like you are getting much more suffering from me than joy." Percy confessed with a look of turmoil on his face.

"Calypso's words have been haunting you, haven't they?" Athena quietly asked with a knowing glint in her eyes.

"How couldn't they? She was not entirely wrong, you know." Percy stated with a heavy sigh, breathing out an even colder puff of blue mist.

"I have never felt that I am giving more than I got, Percy. Yes, those three millennia without you were hell but you sacrificed for me. Tartarus may have been severely weakened, charm spoken to sleep and on his last ropes, but we would not have won if it weren't for your sacrifice. Aphrodite and I could have taken our divine forms, but it wouldn't have been enough. You saved us, Percy. You saved me." Athena argued in a calm voice.

"And by doing that, I condemned you to millennia of pain. You didn't even know if I would ever wake up, Athena. That was the stage I had left you in." Percy answered back, tightly gripping the steering wheel.

"The first century was excruciatingly painful. But then, when I came to you, you responded to my touch, Percy. Your heart jumpstarted for me. It was an arduous wait but I knew that you would be back. Even in your comatose state, you found a way to give me hope. That is how much I meant to you. How can I then say that you have not given me happiness? No matter what, you always wanted me to be happy. You wanted me to be safe. You valued those above your own well-being." Athena recollected as she answered Percy's question.

"Be honest with me Athena, the wait, was it really worth it? You inherited a very different man. A scarred one who was burnt-out and nothing but a shadow of his old self." Percy stated with a bitter chuckle.

"I will not lie, Percy. Sometimes, I miss that fiery ambition that used to burn in your eyes. I miss the unmatched composure that was a great characteristic of yours. I miss that mirth, unbridled optimism and cheerfulness that made you a source of strength for not only me but for our entire family." Athena paused to take a deep breath before continuing.

"But then, I realise that in many ways, it was our fault for putting so much of our burden on your shoulders. You defended us against our enemies, sought to increase our influence and made us more united, all the while tending to the betterment of the lives of lesser beings. And you never said a word to me about the pressure you were feeling. You routinely did the impossible and all of us, including me, took you for granted. Instead of trying to share the burden of the man behind the armour, even I chose to bask in the warmth and safety of the Hero." Athena confessed with guilt seeping through her voice.

While it was true that even before, she had offered emotional support to Percy at times, before his coma, it was usually him who acted as the anchor point in their relationship. He had just seemed infallible. No matter what fate threw at him, he seemed to emerge victorious and she had enjoyed that feeling of safety.

It was only after that illusion had been shattered, with the death of Achilles and then Percy's own sacrifice, that she had realised that for all his courage, power and unwavering loyalty, he was only one man with one heart. And she had recognised that his heart needed time to heal. It needed love. It needed hope. It needed comfort. And she had gladly taken up that role.

Just like he had once anchored her, she anchored him. She was the one to soothe him when he was in distress. She was the one who brightened the mood when he was brooding. She was the one pushing him forward when he was stuck in the past. And she was very happy to see it working.

"I don't deserve you." Percy stated with a small chuckle, although it was thick with emotion.

"It seems more like the other way round, Percy. Even in all your pain, the only thing you can think about it not giving me more pain. What more can a person want from their lover? Our highs have been intoxicatingly high and our lows have been devastatingly low. This is not the best of times. But like all times, this too shall pass and we will be even happier." Athena stated with a radiant smile as she took one of Percy's hands and intertwined it with her own.

"Come here, you." Percy stated with a playful smile as he suddenly pulled Athena into his lap, causing the goddess to cutely squeak as he pressed her against his chest.

"Focus on the road, Percy. I don't want us to get distracted and crash into some mortals." Athena half-heartedly chastised.

"Of all people, I didn't expect you to lie, Athena. I know how much you enjoy this. I guess I'll just have to make you say it aloud. Besides, I need to get some of my cheerfulness back." Percy replied with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes as switched the car to autopilot.

"Perseus Diaboles, don't you dare think of-" Athena started out but she cut short when Percy started to tickle her all over, causing her to squeal out bursts of laughter that sounded more like music to Percy's ears.

"Percy…stop…you….win." Athena panted out in between laughs. But Percy was not satisfied.

"The exact words, Athena." Percy insisted with a big smirk on his face, refusing to stop tickling her.

"Fine! I love how intimate our current position is and like it even more when you surprise me with intimate bouts of affection like this. There. Are you happy?" Athena ranted but she then realised that she had said more than what was required.

"That's more like it." Percy stated with a triumphant smile as he finally stopped tickling her, giving her some time to recuperate.

"This was not the cheerfulness I was referring to." Athena grumbled after a few seconds.

"I love you too." Percy stated with a good natured laugh as he nuzzled her cheek and then deeply kissed her, causing her to melt in his embrace.

The two of them stayed in that position for a long time. No more words needed to be said as the pair of lovers silently enjoyed each other's company.


After a few hours of travel, Percy and Athena finally arrived at their destination – a small coastal town a few hundred kilometres south of Matera. For the past month, they had been scouring the entirety of the Italian peninsula, after receiving a titbit of information from one of the Oceanids that Phorcys and Keto were residing here.

The objective of their mission was very simple. Track down the two ancient sea deities, convince them to join the cause of Atlantis, or at the very least, convince them to stay neutral. If that failed, their objective was to neutralize the threat of two powerful sea deities before it snowballed into something bigger.

Athena's train of thought was interrupted when their warship, in its Ferrari Roma form, rolled into a halt a few hundred metres away from the coast, where a luxurious villa seemed to be built. And almost immediately, the RADAR on the dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree.

"I can sense dozens of sea monsters within a two league radius. And none of them are friendly ones. In fact, I am pretty sure I have hunted down and killed a good number of these sea monsters." Percy revealed with his lips pressed into a thin line.

Ordinarily, he would not be worried about being surrounded by sea monsters, he was more than capable of wiping out their entire population if required and if given the chance, he most certainly would. But, he was fighting two ancient sea deities, who were at the very least, on the same level of his niece and sister. Granted that he had Athena along with him but he also had to account for the possibility of any new arrivals.

"Would such a large amount of sea monsters congregate for no reason? I understand that Phorcys and Keto are their parents but this much activity seems unusual." Athena echoed his thoughts.

"Do we attack them straight away? I have my own doubts about their intentions. These two never liked the House of Poseidon. Were no-shows at every event in Atlantis. And were extremely displeased with the hunting of sea monsters. Given all that, I seriously doubt that they wouldn't have taken this as a chance to ally with the Titans. We can avoid a lot of trouble if we go in guns blazing." Percy stated in a mildly subdued voice, his proposition surprising her.

It wasn't the nature of the proposition that surprised her. She agreed with the rationale behind it. She was surprised that Percy, someone who always believed in giving people chances, was proposing something like this.

"I did not expect you to make such a proposition, Percy." Athena voiced her surprise.

"Neither did I. The old Percy would have hated such an idea. Hell, I wouldn't have accepted this even a year ago. But times change and so do people. How long can I give the benefit of doubt to potential enemies at the cost of my family's safety? This is the most difficult conflict we have ever faced, Athena." Percy answered before pausing.

"With the Gigantes, once we were unified, victory was all but assured. With Tartarus and Typhon, it was an exhausting struggle which we won by the skin of our teeth and at a great cost but, it was not a drawn out one. And the threat was single pronged. The Titans though, are proving to be more than just a match. They're stretching us mentally as well as physically. We have a slender advantage but we are giving our everything to keep that advantage. In this scenario, can we really risk giving any potential enemies a chance? You saw what happened with Calypso. War has no place for magnanimous and virtuous heroes, Athena. Only ruthless generals can win a war." Percy answered with his face hardening ever so slightly.

"I can't help but agree with you, Percy. I am certainly concerned about this change in you but we can talk about that later. But I can understand your utilitarian pragmatism very well. However, I suggest we temper our assault a little. Let us burst into the villa fully armoured and with weapons. We take an offensive threatening position and force them to accept neutrality at gunpoint. This way, we get to keep a semblance of moderation while achieving our task." Athena made her counter-proposal and Percy accepted it without any hesitation.

"Sounds like a plan. A mighty good plan." Percy stated with a smile that fully showcased his pearly whites before pressing the emblem on his shirt and being covered by his armour a second later. Athena followed suit and a moment later, both of them disappeared in a blue mist.


Keto was having a good day. She had gathered dozens of her most powerful children and along with her husband, had drawn up plans to officially join Oceanus in the war against the House of Poseidon. And during all this, they had also somehow evaded the eyes of Perseus Diaboles and Athena, who had been scouring the entire Italian peninsula in search of them.

However, her day came crashing down a few moments later when the aforementioned deities materialised a few feet in front of her, fully armoured and with their respective weapons in their before she could react, Diaboles struck his ethereally glowing spear against his shield, unleashing a monstrous radial shockwave that brought down the entire villa on her and Phorcys, who was upstairs.

This was not in line with the plan Athena had come up with and she shot Percy a disappointed look, thinking that he had lost control of himself. But he shook his head and mentally conveyed to her that he had felt malice radiating from Keto. While Athena was not entirely convinced, she decided to trust his instincts.

During that brief mental exchange, Athena had protected herself and Percy in a grey dome of energy and as soon as the dust settled, Percy and Athena jumped into action, in order to subdue the two sea deities, giving them no respite at all.

Phorcys had barely registered what was happening. He had just shrugged off slabs of debris and had risen to his height and was about to summon his weapons when he was decked in the face with a brutal right hook from Percy that broke his nose in a dozen places, causing him to scream in pain.

During that time, Athena had slammed her shield into Keto, sending the sea goddess into a large pile of debris that sent up another pile of dust into the air. However, before Athena charged, she saw plans. Battle plans drawn up for the next battle in the seas. And at that moment, Athena knew that they had made the right choice.

"Go wild Percy. Your hunch was right. They have already joined Oceanus." Athena informed Percy mentally, causing the Champion of Atlantis to smirk in a predatory fashion.

Phorcys had managed to summon his armour along with his sword and shield as he faced off against Percy while Keto did the same against Athena. The two of them were incredibly nervous but hid it well.

"What's the meaning of this, Diaboles? We are a neutral party. You cannot-" Phorcys started but Percy cut him off with a linear shockwave that Phorcys blocked with his shield at the last moment. But the sheer force behind the shockwave sent Phorcys skidding backwards.

"Spare me the lies, Porky. My girlfriend saw your plans. You're planning to join on the side of Oceanus. And it is my duty to neutralize any threat to the House of Poseidon. So, I will give you a choice. Swear an oath to never go against Olympus and Atlantis ever again and walk away from here, to some faraway land where I cannot find you. Or, get your head torn apart, have your physical form destroyed and then spend the rest of eternity in Tartarus." Percy bellowed in a deep, chilling voice that only reinforced his steely disposition.

Phorcys and Keto seemed to actually consider that proposal but they were interrupted by the voice of another sea deity. One that Percy and Athena knew all too well and one that they hated with an intense passion. And it was a voice that could only belong to Kymopoleia -

"That won't be happening, brother."


Hey guys! Phew. That last break was insanely long and I am sorry to keep you all waiting for more two months. I just saw a very important part of my life crumble before me and it was honestly one of the worst, if not the worst, experiences of my life.

The thing is, this trilogy is a deeply personal affair for me. Percy's romantic life especially, is based very much on my own, without the supernatural abilities of course. Percy and Calypso's relationship was based on one I had with a person I had known since middle school and dated through the entirety of high school. But it didn't work between us, because my family didn't accept of it and I had to choose. And that was what Percy's relationship with Calypso represented. And this was before I started writing this trilogy.

Percy and Athena were the relationship that represents the ideal scenario and coincidentally, Calypso's return into Percy's life coincided with and was inspired by the return of my own ex into my life. But her return was doomed to fail and never took off to begin with. And that broke me. Which is why I lost my will to write then. This story just reminded me way too much of all the broken dreams.

But then, it all changed a few weeks ago when I re-read it. Until this point, the Percy X Athena pairing had represented an alternate path to a future I wished was reality. And that made nigh impossible for me to write again. But then about two-three weeks ago, as I went through the story again, Percy and Athena started to represent what my future could be and filled me with hope.

I know that this is a useless rant and you can always skip reading that stupid, cheesy part. But I just felt you guys, who have all been super supportive this time, deserved a proper explanation. And I do hope that this is one, even if it's a very corny one. I hope to see you again soon. Hopefully, within the next two weeks.

Until then, read and review, I hope that all of you enjoyed this chapter! Thank you for all your unmatched support and have a fantastic day!