The Fates Want Change

by FMPtrumpets

The Fates are tired of watching it. There is a storm coming, and if they want to survive... so they force them to read what they're actions are doing to themselves and their children. And they pull Percy and a few others along for the ride.

26. I Settle My Tab

I wrote a much, much better ending to chapter 24 on paper, and then completely forgot all about it when I posted the chapter. So, it has been added on 10/22/2020. It you have not already, you might want to go check it out.

Younger kids with an older self. kids with no younger self. The Seven.

Normal talking, telepathy

Sadly, I do not and probably never will own Percy Jackson and associates. I really, really wish I did, though.

---

Chiron slowly closed the book, keeping his finger in the spot he just stopped. "That's the chapter." He said, uneasy. Hopefully Zeus would show enough restraint to not blow the plane carrying his Master Bolt out of the sky.

"You're crazy." Leo said simply, echoing Chris, and Percy shrugged.

"We had to get back quickly." He said.

"I will read next." Hades said suddenly, and retrieved the book from his half-sibling, who smiled at him. There was a reason why Chiron was everyone's favorite, alongside Hestia, even if it was grudging in some cases.

Chapter twenty-one: I Settle my Tab

"Your tab?" A few people asked, confused.

Percy shrugged. He was just as confused by the chapter title, and he knew what most likely happened in this chapter! As far as he was aware, he didn't owe anybody anything, if anything, they all owed him a bunch of apologies. Did he get an apology? No. Instead, he got a 'be grateful I do not kill you right here and now'. Would it kill them to say 'thank you' once in a while?

(It's funny how... version of reality.)

"It's amazing, is what it is." Annabeth muttered, thinking of all the things mortals had come up with to explain the various exploits they'd witnessed over the years.

"The Mist is powerful, but sometimes I think that the human mind is more powerful." Persephone suggested. "The Mist can distort things, make them see something else entirely, but there is nothing more powerful than human denial or conceptions. They will see what they want to see, and that will generally fit in with what they accept of the world around them as fact. If they refuse to accept what the Mist tries to show them, then the Mist will not work." She gestured vaguely towards Sally and Rachel, two examples of what she was talking about.

(Chiron had told... until much later.)

Chiron sighed. "Most never do." He shook his head in fond exasperation.

Children, honestly.

Said children grinned sheepishly at him, he merely smiled warmly and shook his head with a chuckle.

(According to... the earthquake.)

"Plausible." Paul commented.

"That actually sounds realistic compared to some of the theories I've heard mortals come up with." Hermes laughed.

"We have heard some interesting things over the years." Apollo snorted. Especially since mortals in general had stopped believing in them, and they started using the Mist.

"Just what kinds of theories have you heard?" Paul asked, not sure if he really wanted to know.

Hermes and Apollo glanced at each other with grins while the demigods grimaced, having been there for some of those strange theories. "How about we keep reading?" Hera asked imperiously, not wanting to go into this. She wanted to finish these books so they could get on with their lives.

(This crazy kidnapper (a.k.a. Ares))

"I'll agree with him being crazy." Hephaestus muttered. The guy was involved in the theft of their father and uncle's Symbols of Power, after all.

Ares just growled at his brother, then eyed Aphrodite in betrayal when she laughed at her husband's comment.

(was the same... odyssey of terror.)

"Excuse me?" Ares demanded, incensed that all the blame for all the monsters the boy encountered, and all the damage he caused, was being laid on him.

"While it was an odyssey of terror, I don't remember Ares being part of it." Annabeth mused. "Should I count Denver? He was only there for ten, fifteen minutes, max." She questioned, and Percy just shrugged, not really caring.

(Poor little Percy... after all.)

"'Poor little'?" Chris asked, laughing. None of the demigods had heard about this, they only knew the bolt had been recovered, and the three were on their way home.

"Oh, yeah. Those reporters laid it on thick." Annabeth laughed. "Luckily, it didn't take much effort to play it up for them." Percy shook his head with a chuckle of his own.

(He'd caused a... him before?").)

"And that is why eye-witness testimony is considered to be so unreliable in police investigations and in court." Hermes said dryly, rolling his eyes.

Ares hadn't been anywhere near that bus in Jersey, but now that they all thought Ares was involved from the beginning, he was suddenly there.

(The crazy man... could've done that.)

"Didn't they say that they had security footage of Percy in the Arch?" Chris asked, confused how Ares suddenly turned up in St. Louis.

Apollo barked out a laugh. "Welcome to a concept called 'power of suggestion'." He said. "Somebody suggested that it was all Ares, and suddenly he was everywhere, even though evidence said otherwise."

"Some of it could have also been the Mist." Dionysus mused thoughtfully, startling everyone as they'd thought he was sleeping.

(A concerned waitress... like this kid))

"So am I." Most of the demigods said solemnly, before breaking the moment by bursting out into laughter.

"Hey!" Percy protested lightly, not knowing whether he should be insulted or not by the way they said that.

Annabeth laughed and kissed him on the cheek. "Don't worry, we all love you." She grinned at him, getting a crooked grin in return.

(had stolen a... on the beach.)

"And despite the lack of cover, not a single one of them got hit by all the bullets that no doubt the mortals thought were fired off." Poseidon rolled his eyes. Mortals really amazed him sometimes.

"Hey, it's a good thing they believe what they want to believe, who knows how they would react otherwise." Persephone shrugged. The death count would certainly rise, especially once scientists started freaking out over having something new to study. They would start a witch hunt for demigods, and they may or may not actually find them, just like with the Salem Witch-trials.

(Police had arrived... fatalities had occurred.)

Sally and Paul sagged in relief to hear that. The rest of the gods were glad, too, but they didn't really care as much as the two mortals in the room. It was hard to care when you were thousands of years old, and rarely interacted with mortals... That didn't mean they tolerated unnecessary deaths like those would have been, not when the police were just trying to do their job.

(Percy Jackson... the whole story.)

"Wow, they did lay it on thick." Rachel realized. She didn't remember the entire news report, but she did remember hearing something about three kids that escaped their kidnapper or something the chaos and confusion of the earthquake. She certainly remembered the end of it, where one of the rescued kids gave out a phone number on national television, promising free appliances.

"Yup!" Percy said, going for cheerful.

"Wouldn't it have been better to interview you, and then write the story? They just told you exactly what they wanted you to say." Annabeth pointed out.

Annabeth shrugged. "Maybe, but I would have said something along the lines that they told us, anyway, so it worked out."

Percy snorted. "I was too tired to try to come up with something." He muttered.

(We just nodded... for the cameras.)

"Wasn't hard." Grover muttered. They were exhausted to the point of being tearful. All they wanted to do was sleep, which only he and Annabeth got to do a bit of during the flight.

"I can't imagine that it was." Paul muttered, eyeing the three in concern.

"Aw." Hestia couldn't resist but to coo quietly at the three. They must have just wanted to eat, and sleep by this point. Sadly, they weren't home yet.

("All I want," I... stepfather again.)

Everyone choked on air. Thalia had been about to take a drink when Hades read that.

"Excuse me?" Was the confused question from almost everybody.

"That's laying it on a little too thick, now." Sally eyed her son, concerned. To call Gabe loving...

"I know... I was trying to work the crowd." Percy shrugged. Saying those words had almost made him sick.

"Work them for what?" Thalia asked in confusion.

Percy sighed. "We needed to get to New York quickly. For that we needed to fly. That means we needed money for plane tickets." He laid it out, not the least bit ashamed of practically extorting those people of their money. They needed it, and they couldn't wait for the police to finish processing everything, and making arrangements for them to get back home. Considering he and Annabeth were twelve at the time, that meant Child Services getting involved to find out who to send them back to.

They didn't have time for that.

He ignored the shocked looks on everybodies faces, while Sally looked resigned to her son getting up to some old tricks, only this time it was perfectly justified as part of a quest.

"There's no way that will work... they have procedure's in place the way they do for a reason." Travis reasoned. His brother shrugged, just as unsure as him.

(Every time I... the phone number.")

There was stunned silence for a few moments before muffled yells and grunts came from the corner where Gabe had been sitting silently (and largely forgotten for the last day or so).

"That was..." Leo started, before he was speechless again.

"Brilliant!"

"Inspired!"

"Please teach me."

"Stupid." Everyone turned to stare at Thalia when she said that. She sighed. "We've already established that Gabe beat both him and Sally, yes? And that Hades returned Sally after getting his Helm back? Where do you think he's going to return her to?" She asked.

Everyone paled, while Sally swallowed and looked away. Thankfully, she'd been sent straight back to work almost the moment she walked in the door, and before that she was able to appease him with food, so he didn't hurt her too badly after being forced to give her insurance money back.

"He didn't know that, though." Jason reminded his sister quietly. Percy had no way of knowing that, so... this really was just him sticking it to his abusive step-father.

She sighed. "Maybe, but it was still stupid. Especially since he himself probably has to go back there at some point, to at least get his things, if nothing else." Or get a few things of Sally's, things he didn't want to lose to Gabe.

Percy snorted. "I wasn't planning on ever going back there again." He declared. If it wasn't for his mother being returned, he fully intended on being a year-round camper.

(The police and... to New York.)

The Stoll brothers were shocked. "There is no way that should have worked." Travis mumbled. Did all those police officers just completely disregard procedure (on national television), to send three minors in their care on a plane by themselves, without making sure they were safe, or that they had homes to go back to? They hadn't even identified Annabeth or Grover, they had no idea where they had been 'kidnapped' from, or if they even had anybody to go home to!

"Somebodies in trouble." Connor commented. Those officers were going to get an earful, at the very least, for this one. Child Services was not going to be happy, either.

"Three plane tickets? Those are some generous people." Clarisse muttered.

"Maybe the Mist was affecting them? Or somebody else was influencing them to help Percy along?" Chris suggested after a moment.

Everyone blinked at him in surprise. "You know, I would not be surprised." Sally muttered, and glanced at Poseidon. He couldn't interfere directly, but would influencing the people around them count?

(I knew there... the circumstances.)

"Not even he would be mad enough to shoot you down while you held his precious Bolt." Aphrodite scoffed. When he glared, she just raised an eyebrow at him.

She wasn't one of his children that he could cow with a look and a few cutting words.

(But it was... board the flight.)

"He was shaking the entire time we waited for them to announce our flight. We almost had to carry him on the plane itself." Annabeth explained with a grimace. The other demigods were concerned, not having ever heard of, or seen, their leader as anything but strong. They'd seen him grieving, they'd grieved with him, but they'd never seen him show fear like that.

"You would too if you knew that to fly is practically suicide." Percy muttered with a shudder. He was never flying like that again. The only time he was ever flying, would be with Blackjack.

"You don't have any problems with Pegasi." Chris commented.

Percy shrugged, but Triton answered. "Pegasi are... neutral territory. Because they are descendants of Pegasus, who is a son of Poseidon..." He shrugged. "Nobody would be mad enough to knock them out of the sky." Just like nobody would be mad enough to abuse a Satyr, they had Hermes protection, just like Pegasi had Poseidon's.

"It helps that I can have a pretty good conversation with them while we fly." Percy piped in with a grin.

(Takeoff was a... a Greek monster.)

"Huh?"

"Every spot of turbulence could have been Zeus knocking us out of the sky." Percy shrugged. "Not much I can do to fight against that." Monsters he could fight, a plane crash, not so much.

(I didn't unclench... outside security,)

There were some scoffs. "Of course they are."

"What, so suddenly your the boy hero, is that what this is?" Rachel sneered, well aware of how fickle the press could be.

(but we managed... baggage claim.)

That got some laughs. "Nice." Luke said simply with a grin on his face.

"Simple, yet very effective." Annabeth grinned back, letting herself forget for a moment.

(We split up... had happened.)

"So that if something happens to you, at least Chiron will know what happened." Sally murmured, knowing how her son worked.

(They protested... Chiron the truth.)

"Your father wouldn't let anything happen to you, not even if we don't believe you." Hestia smiled at him reassuringly. Well... judging by how Zeus was behaving, it was pretty clear that the boy would be dismissed.

"I know." Percy smiled back before grinning at his father. Poseidon merely nodded in agreement with Hestia.

Especially when his son hadn't done anything to warrant such extremes as what his book self feared.

(I hopped in... into Manhattan.)

Percy actually sighed. "Home sweet home." He muttered. He hadn't seen his home in so long... even though they were technically in Manhattan right now (or above it, whatever...) they were restricted to the palace and the grounds. It was just lucky for the demigods (and everyone else nearby) that the place had extensive gardens, training fields, and otherwise plenty of room for them to run around freely. He couldn't even go to the edge of the mountain to look down on his city.

(Thirty minutes... scraped-up face.)

"I know I probably did... Lee took one look at me and dragged me to the Infirmary tent." Annabeth said ruefully.

(I hadn't slept... twenty-four hours.)

"At least you two got to nap on the plane." Percy grumbled, glaring lightly at his best friends.

Annabeth grimaced. "Sorry, Percy. Not our fault Zeus hates you and doesn't care about us." She shrugged, then kissed him lightly.

(I went up... hundredth floor.")

"I hope that guy is aware of what your talking about, or..." Paul left it hanging. But the guard might call security to have Percy removed, or the police even.

"He does." Poseidon assured the mortal.

(He was reading... on the front.)

"Is he reading Harry Potter?" Thalia asked, confused.

"I think it was." He shrugged.

(I wasn't much... such floor, kiddo.")

The demigods jaws dropped. "Is he serious? Just how many mortals come up to him, and ask for the six hundredth floor?" Sally asked, incredulous. Paul was just wondering if Percy should start running before he called security. Aware or not, he could still decide to throw the boy out for whatever reason he thought up.

"None." Poseidon shrugged, not quite sure what the guard was doing either. After all, he should be able to smell the godly blood running through Percy's veins, if not sense it.

Annabeth scoffed. "He tried to do the same thing to us before the Battle of Manhattan. And there were forty of us, all armored up, not to mention we were the only things awake on the entire island." She informed Sally, shaking her head.

"Are you joking right now?" Paul asked, not sure if she was or not. She shook her head. This guy was clearly a lazy idiot.

Hera sighed. "I will speak with him." She promised. After all, if he went that far, then clearly he wasn't doing his job correctly.

("I need an audience with Zeus.")

"Excuse me? You think you can just walk up and demand to speak with me?" Zeus demanded angrily.

"Considering what I was holding, I would think that you wouldn't care." Percy said dryly.

Zeus fell silent and glared.

(He gave me a... anyone unannounced.")

"Wouldn't you have told him to expect Perseus? He is coming to return your Bolt, after all." Hades asked dryly, glancing up from the book to stare at his brother in dry amusement.

Hera sighed in exasperation. "I'm sure we did... I will keep an eye on him for a few weeks to ensure his job is being done properly." She muttered. As the Queen, 'border security' was part of her job, just like Persephone and Amphitrite helped their husbands with their kingdoms security.

The demigods didn't pay any attention to the gods discussion, and were instead discussing the guard and his statement that Zeus didn't see people unannounced. It was their experience that he did, and quite often too, considering the number of times Percy went straight to Olympus after a quest.

("Oh, I think... unzipped the top.)

"Don't pull it out in the middle of a crowded mortal area!" Zeus yelped in horror at the thought of those mortals daring to lay their unworthy eyes on his weapon, on his symbol of power.

Percy rolled his eyes. "Please, I'm not that stupid. Who knows what the mortals would have seen instead. Probably a bomb or something." He muttered.

(The guard looked... "That isn't...")

"Either he is very forgetful, or nobody bothered to let him know Percy was coming." Paul said, a little amused.

Hera sighed in frustration.

("Yes, it is," I... it out and-")

"No!" All the gods said at the same time. The mortals wouldn't be able to handle seeing something like that, who knew what the Mist would make it look like, anyway.

"That's... probably not the best idea." Poseidon smirked at his brother, who looked like he'd swallowed a very large lemon.

("No! No!" He... elevator with you.")

"What would have happened if somebody had been in the elevator?" Annabeth asked, curious.

"Nothing. The button just wouldn't have appeared, but security might have been called." Athena shrugged.

(I did as he... and waited.)

"It is not a trip that can be made in a hurry." Katie huffed.

"It's torture!" Travis whined.

"Sitting in a small enclosed space for that long?" Connor agreed with his brother.

"And the music!" All the demigods were in complete agreement. The elevator ride was long, and torturous for a bunch of ADHD demigods. Especially for ones that were slightly claustrophobic.

(Muzak played... my head...")

"You really need to get new elevator music." Thalia snorted.

All those who had been in the Battle of Manhattan agreed. It had sort of ruined the mood, to be listening to that while fully armored and armed, about to end a war.

"Hey!" Apollo protested. He was the one who chose that music.

"It's kind of annoying to listen to for six hundred floors." Thalia informed her half-brother dryly.

(Finally, ding... a heart attack.)

The demigods laughed, because they all had that reaction the first time.

"It is shocking, isn't it?" Will asked wistfully. It was beautiful, too. He wished they weren't confined to the palace, he wouldn't mind wandering the marketplace some.

"But, it's so high." Thalia muttered with a shudder. She hated visiting Olympus using the elevator. Did that walkway have to be so narrow?

(I was standing... height of an airplane.)

Thalia shuddered again and closed her eyes tight. Just the mention of it almost had her green in the face. She had to work, every time she had to come to Olympus, to convince herself that they were on solid ground. It only helped when nobody mentioned where they really were, and if she stayed far, far away from the edge.

"Thalia?" Reyna asked, concerned for the Daughter of Zeus. Zoe and Artemis looked just as concerned for their Sister.

Thalia shook it off and looked at her. "Yes?" She asked.

"You alright?" Reyna asked quietly after studying her for a moment.

"Yes... I'm just... not fond of heights." Thalia informed her slowly, and quietly. She still didn't want everyone to know about it. Her Lady knew, and tried to accommodate her whenever possible, Percy knew, and she was pretty sure Jason had figured it out. That was plenty of people in her opinion. If Reyna thought it odd that a child of Zeus was afraid of heights, she didn't mention it.

(In front of me... what I saw.)

"It was amazing." Percy shook his head. "And totally unbelievable."

"It can be overwhelming the first time." Luke admitted.

(Look again... It's really there.)

Everybody chuckled at the short commentary Percy had with himself.

"It is a sight, isn't it?" Zeus asked proudly. The demigods all nodded, while the Romans looked curious. They'd only seen a small part of the mountain, and that was just what they could see from the windows of the palace when they'd explored a bit the night before. They hadn't been able to see much, though.

They were curious about Olympus, especially since they'd never been there before, the Romans weren't allowed. They were still amazed to hear that the Greeks took field trips here, and were occasionally summoned.

Annabeth, though, was mentally running through the changes she'd made before more or less being kicked off Olympus after Zeus locked it down.

(From the top... a thousand fires.)

"Whoa." The Romans breathed. Reyna had to squash the jealousy at the thought that the Greeks were actually allowed to visit this place, actually had access to their parents, as limited as it was. However, with that access seemed to come a lot more hardship as the gods seemed to demand more from them, rather than just letting them operate on their own.

The Olympians smiled in pride at their home, just like their children had beamed in pride at the Romans reactions to their own home.

"It is beautiful, isn't it?" Athena asked smugly. She'd designed it, after all.

They hadn't even heard a full description of it, either.

(Roads wound crazily... and rosebushes.)

Gwen was going to ask how they survived at that altitude, but closed her mouth when her eyes landed on Demeter.

Right.

She could probably make anything grow anywhere if she really wanted to.

(I could make... on the other.)

"Whoa." Sally said quietly. She'd always wanted to see Olympus, but this was a good substitute for now. She would have to explore some later and see if she couldn't see any of it from windows.

Paul nodded wordlessly. Inwardly, he wondered how the mountain was kept up, and if that could ever fail.

(It was an... hundred years ago.)

"Hmm... a little. Athens was largely based on Olympus, but we've made changes over the years." Athena shrugged. Mostly the changes were influenced by the civilization they were part of at the time, just like they influenced them, they were also affected.

"That sounds amazing." Gwen murmured to Reyna, who nodded.

(This place can't... not get noticed?)

"The Mist." Nearly everyone said at the same time. It truly was a remarkable, and powerful, substance.

Percy grumbled. He hoped that they weren't going to give him the answers like that the entire time. He knew now that it was the Mist, but back then he was still wrapping his head around the whole concept of Greek gods being real. Even at the end of the quest, he still expected to wake up and find out the whole thing was a dream.

(But here it... was a daze.)

"I was still having trouble processing, I think." Percy shrugged. It had been a lot to take in, he'd wished he had about a dozen eyes so he could take it all in at once.

"It is overwhelming the first time." Clarisse admitted. The younger crowd nodded in agreement, this was their first time here, too, for most of them.

(I passed some... their garden.)

"Which is so annoying." Percy muttered to Annabeth, who smirked. He wasn't even just talking about the incident Hades just read about, either. He got a lot of attention from nature spirits, especially those of rivers and oceans. She wasn't worried, though. She knew that he would never wander, that just wasn't him.

(Hawkers in the... a new shield,)

"I could have used one of those." Percy huffed. Although, the one Tyson made for him was much, much better... until it got damaged and was no longer usable.

Annabeth laughed. "Percy, you could always use a new shield." She rolled her eyes. He went through shields like an Aphrodite girl went through make-up. Beckendorf had once threatened him if he came back with one more broken shield. (Neither Percy nor Beckendorf ever told anybody just what the threat was, either).

(and a genuine... Golden Fleece,)

For some reason that the Romans and younger Greeks could not understand, the older Greeks found this very amusing.

Percy snorted. "Who needs a replica?" He asked dryly, obviously sharing some kind of joke with the others.

"Wait 'till we get there in these books." Clarisse commented, eyes gleaming. Chris really hoped that Percy and Annabeth hadn't seen him on that cruise ship, even though he knew they would find out eventually.

(as seen on... gods and goddesses.)

"Most likely were." Annabeth shrugged. So many of them... looking around, she could care that very few on the council cared to hear about the minor gods.

(Nobody seemed... in a festive mood.)

"They must have heard that the Bolt had been found." Athena commented.

"Nah, it's probably more like they're just so used to the twelve of you fighting amongst yourselves." Rachel countered with a wave while she drew something. Where she got the supplies, nobody knew. But then again, where had the demigods been getting any of the things they'd been using to keep themselves entertained?

Apollo blinked at his Oracle, then wholeheartedly agreed. That was most likely the case, they did fight amongst themselves a lot, after all.

(Several of them... in the Underworld.)

Hades again cursed the boys powers of observation. Although, truthfully, he was surprised nobody had noticed it before, maybe the fact they rarely (if ever) came down to the Underworld...?

Hermes tilted his head to the side and thought about what Hades palace looked like, the few times he'd gone down to personally make a delivery. "Huh... I never noticed." He muttered as he realized that yes, Hades palace looked almost exactly like Zeus'.

(There, everything... white and silver.)

"They were definitely mirrors of each other." Percy shrugged while Hades grumbled before he kept reading.

For thousands of years, nobody noticed the similarity. Then this boy comes along... and all it takes is one glance at the two palaces, and he knew.

He didn't know whether to laugh or cry at what that said about his family.

(I realized Hades... for the guy.)

Hades sputtered a little after reading. "Excuse me? I am the Lord of the Underworld, boy! People fear me, they don't feel sorry for me!" He spat, the very idea of it raising every hackle he had.

Percy cleared his throat, uncomfortable. "Is anything I thought wrong, though?" He asked, gesturing towards the book in Hades' hands.

"No, but that is no reason to feel sorry." He sneered before going back to the book, not showing how uncomfortable the boys observations made him. He ignored the looks he was getting from his siblings, nieces, and nephews while Persephone sighed and shifted closer to him.

So what if it was true? So what if he built his palace to resemble the home he'd been banished from?

Of the council, only Athena looked like she really understood, having been banished from her own home. In the beginning, she'd done the same thing and modeled most of her architecture off of Atlantean designs. Her bitterness had long since stopped that, though.

(To be banished... anybody bitter.)

"Thank you." Hades interrupted himself to mutter, then kept going before anybody would comment.

Nico and Persephone shared a look, but didn't say anything. They'd listened to enough rants from Hades about his banishment from Olympus.

(Steps led up to... a broom closet.)

The demigods and mortals blinked and looked around at the Throne Room.

"You know, he has a point there..."

"I never really thought about it, but this place is huge." They muttered while Sally chuckled.

(Massive columns... moving constellations.)

"My design." Artemis said proudly. She'd fought Athena tooth and nail for it, too. The woman was determined to have just a plain, gold ceiling, but Artemis wanted what they currently had. Thankfully, the others stepped in and declared that Artemis' idea sounded better. Hestia, especially, liked it because it added a bit more personality to the Throne Room/council chamber.

(As if the thrones didn't add enough of that.)

Percy chuckled. "I should have guessed. It is amazing." He grinned at her, then went back to the new game of hangman he'd just started with Annabeth.

Artemis stared blankly at him for a moment before she blinked. After another moment, she realized that it was an honest compliment, and not some attempt from a male at something. So far, he was exceeding her expectations for men in general.

(Twelve thrones... Camp Half-Blood.)

"They're in the same order, too..." Annabeth muttered, glancing around at the thrones. She'd never noticed before.

(An enormous fire... my legs trembling.)

"It was just those two?" Chris asked, confused. Wouldn't the rest of the council have wanted to hear the results of such an important quest for themselves?

"Yeah... I don't think the rest of them stuck around after the meeting ended." Percy shrugged. He was glad they hadn't, it had been nerve-wracking enough to be alone with the King and his father. He frowned. That first meeting with his father could have gone better...

(The gods were... starting to burn.)

"Ah..." Apollo muttered, concerned. He eyed Percy for a moment before he realized that the Fates must have been protecting the mortals in the beginning of this reading, they had since grown used to it, either that or they were still being protected. "You aren't used to being around such power. Your body will have adjusted as you came more into your powers, though." He waved off, knowing it wasn't anything to be concerned about.

"He didn't feel that with Hades, though." Sally countered, concerned.

"Hades was the only one there." He pointed out. "This is the first time he's been in the presence of multiple gods at the same time."

"Zeus was probably focusing a great deal of his presence on the boy, as well." Hera spoke up with a delicate shrug.

(Zeus, the Lord... of solid platinum.)

Truthfully, Zeus' throne was the simplest in the room, despite him being the King. But then, platinum was... fairly rare and expensive.

(He had a well... eyes rainy gray.)

Zeus nodded at his description, pleased that the boy had enough sense not to describe him as he had Dionysus.

Thalia and Jason just rolled their eyes at their father's preening.

(As I got... smelled of ozone.)

"Brother." Poseidon warned immediately, reminding him to keep his temper when speaking with his son.

Zeus growled in aggravation, but Poseidon merely raised an eyebrow in contempt.

(The god sitting... all over it.)

Poseidon nodded in satisfaction. "That's my favorite shirt." He informed the room with a shrug, making most people roll their eyes. Aphrodite pursed her lips, thinking those shirts were hideous, but Poseidon actually pulled the look off quite well, so she didn't get on his case about his fashion choices.

(So far, his description was tame. With the way his sons mind worked, that was actually a legitimate concern.)

(His skin was... a lot, too.)

Poseidon was very pleased with his description, it was very tame compared to others book-Percy had given.

"Very observant." Amphitrite murmured. Not many people noticed the small things like that. Yes, most would see the sun-crinkles, but most would associate with old age, not with Poseidon's personality. They wouldn't have paid any attention to his hands, or connect the scars with something Poseidon enjoyed doing (even if few of his catches made it to the dinner table, only the small fish that were farmed for food, anyway, but those weren't any fun to fish for).

"Huh..." Poseidon shifted when all the demigods suddenly started studying him, obviously searching for the things Percy had noticed. "I never noticed." Annabeth muttered, blinking in shock at her own inattentiveness. Something like that could get her killed some day.

(His throne was... for a fishing pole.)

"It's very comfortable, too." Poseidon shrugged. So what if it wasn't a traditional-looking throne. It was certainly more comfortable than Zeus's throne could be. He didn't even have a cushion over the seat.

(Instead of a pole... finished an argument.)

"They probably did." Hestia murmured, annoyed.

Percy tensed and suddenly wouldn't look up. He'd never told anybody about this conversation... the first conversation he ever had with his father. While he had been able to push some of the comments his father made to the side, that didn't mean he didn't still think of them, or that they didn't hurt.

(I approached... feet. "Father.")

The council inhaled. They were split, though, on how to react to this. Half were shocked and horrified by the disrespect shown to Zeus at this moment, while the other half were amused with the boys audacity.

The Romans were just horrified that Percy could be so disrespectful, and awed that he was still alive.

Hestia frowned, though, as disturbed by that sight as she always was. 'A son should not be kneeling at his fathers feet.' She thought angrily.

(I dared not... me into dust.)

"Not going to happen." Poseidon immediately denied with a growl, and glared at his brother when he looked like he completely agreed with book-Percy's assessment. No son of his was going to be blasted!

Percy just grinned up at his dad, as pleased as he always was to hear that confirmed, especially with how often Zeus tried to vote for him to be killed.

(To my left... house first, boy?")

There were a few snorts and coughed 'yes's' from the council, but otherwise nobody interrupted, wanting to hear how this was taken, and how Percy got out of this one alive.

(I kept my head... on my forehead.)

Poseidon smiled softly again, pleased that his son at least remembered that much. Like he'd said earlier, the babysitter Sally had gotten wasn't paying any attention to Percy, so he stepped in where he could, when he could.

Zeus growled, anger igniting again over the fact Poseidon was visiting his son. (Again ignoring that he used to visit with Thalia all the time before Jason was born).

("The boy defers... our sacred oath?")

"Of course. Did you not claim your own daughter, who you also sired against the Oath that only you wanted to make?" Poseidon asked his brother with a raised, annoyed eyebrow. "Why should I not claim my own son, blasted Oath or not?" He demanded, glaring now.

His brother was such a hypocrite...

Zeus sputtered while Hera glared at the reminder that her husband had two demigod children in the room, with the same woman, no less!

("I have admitted... Poseidon said.)

As one, every single demigod flinched violently.

How many times had they themselves thought of their existence as being just that? How many times had their pleas for acknowledgement only to be met with silence, confirmed that same thing to their minds?

To hear Poseidon, who was one of the few to acknowledge his son, who actually had a relationship with his son, say something like that was a slap to the face. If Poseidon could consider his son to be a 'wrongdoing', then what did that mean for them?

Hestia growled and glared at Poseidon for that, while Sally looked at him in hurt and some betrayal. Poseidon's eyes widened and snapped to his son, who wouldn't look at him, who wasn't looking at anybody.

Hades kept reading before anybody could speak.

("Now I would... speak."

Wrongdoing.)

Sally winced, of course her son would focus on that one word.

(A lump welled... god's mistake?)

"No!" Poseidon burst out. "None of that is true." He gazed at his son, trying to will the boy to look at him, but Percy still wouldn't look at anybody.

"This is what happens, when children are ignored as if they don't exist." Hestia said quietly, listening to book-Percy's thoughts. How many times had she heard similar questions at Camp as children sat by her fire and cried?

("I have spared... domain... pah!)

Percy snorted suddenly. "Unless you wanted to wait for several days before getting your precious bolt back..." He shot at the King, who just sat back with a huff and a glare. "It's like I was any happier about flying, either." He muttered to Annabeth, who sighed and guessed a letter for their momentarily forgotten game.

(I should have... asked calmly.)

"Whoa... how on earth are you keeping your temper right then?" Apollo asked his uncle in shock. So far, the entire time they'd been here, he'd been going off on anybody who said anything remotely threatening to or about his son, and here he was just sitting there having a calm conversation after Zeus said he should have just blasted the boy?

Poseidon blinked at him. "Oh, I doubt that I'm actually as calm as I seem right then." He assured the room. Likely, they'd just finished an argument and he didn't want to start it again while his (still) untrained son was in the room, knowing that if he was in enough of a mood, Zeus might have just blasted the boy for the very 'offence' he just spoke of.

("Let us hear... from Olympus.")

"After everything he just went through because of you and your temper tantrums?" Hestia demanded, glaring at her youngest brother. "I think not, Zeus." She denied his intended actions.

"He is-" Zeus was cut off whatever he was about to say in his defense by an angry mother.

"He is a hero who just went to the Underworld, discovered a plot to overthrow you, saved your precious bolt from being flung into the Pit, and even risked your temper to fly to get it to you as quickly as possible, after your son tried to kill him in a fit of temper because his plans to start a three way war that would have destroyed the world failed." Sally said hotly. "A 'thank you' would be nice." She glared at the god who dared to threaten her son after everything Percy had just done for the world in general.

It was because of her son and his two friends that the world had survived past this coming summer solstice, after all.

Percy snorted, face red from his mothers defense of him. "He doesn't know how to say 'thank you'." He grumbled. Did he ever get thanked for anything he did for them? Oh, wait... he did once. He got a date in Paris with Annabeth as a thank you gift... and his only thanks the rest of the time was being allowed to continue living. He much preferred how Hermes thanked people.

("Perseus," Poseidon... of love or approval.)

Poseidon frowned, having a bad feeling that his first real conversation with his son was not going to end well. Amphitrite sighed. "This isn't going to go well, is it?" She asked. His first encounters with his children never went well.

"This is going to be the usual, I think." Triton snorted.

"What does that mean?" Sally asked, narrow eyed at Poseidon. She was not pleased with Poseidon's earlier comment towards her son.

"His first conversations with his demigod children never go well." Amphitrite informed her with an eyeroll while Poseidon pouted slightly. So what if he was a little awkward with them at first? They all got over it in time.

(Nothing to... unreadable, mysterious.)

"Well, he is the Lord of the Ocean." Annabeth muttered, making Percy shrug. "Besides, you can be like that sometimes, too." She informed her boyfriend.

Now Percy frowned. Was he? Everybody else who overheard them nodded in agreement.

(I got the feeling... a son or not.)

Amphitrite and Triton snorted. "Oh, he's thrilled to have you." Amphitrite grinned at him with a huff.

"He's just not good with first meetings with his kids, especially the younger they are." Triton rolled his eyes.

"There is going to be a lot more said, I think, that Poseidon is going to seriously regret once he gets back home and looks back on this conversation." Hestia murmured, thinking back to every first interaction she'd ever seen between Poseidon and his demigod children.

(In a strange... was so distant.)

"Why?" Most of the demigods asked. That wasn't usually the response they had the first time they met their parent.

Percy shrugged. "It'll probably explain." He muttered.

(If he'd tried... would've felt fake.)

Everybody understood now. Percy was just as unsure of his father as he thought his father was of him.

Poseidon sighed in disappointment, but knew it couldn't have been helped.

(Like a human... him yet, either.)

Poseidon sighed, but nodded in acceptance. It would take a bit to build a relationship after twelve years of silence from him.

"Understandable." Sally sighed, although she was glad that Percy did get to know his father eventually.

("Address Lord... as his feet.)

Zeus finally seemed to relax a bit at the thought that his Bolt was finally where it belonged. He hadn't even realized he was that tense with the thought of not having it where it belonged.

(There was a... my scalp rise.)

"Let me guess, it looked nothing like the depiction on the statue in the Augury." Hazel said blankly after a moment. That random comment made so much more sense now.

"Nope." Percy snorted.

Zeus summoned his Bolt to him and held it out for them to see, before just as quickly hiding it away again from the unworthy eyes.

("I sense the... most unlike him.")

Demeter snorted. "Is it?" She asked sarcastically. "Ares will jump at the chance to cause conflict or war, though normally he prefers there to be a cause, but when has he ever shied away from the chance to fight?" She rolled her eyes.

A three-way war between the Big 3 would be chaos and death as everyone fought for what they wanted, just like Ares liked it.

"Face it brother, your golden child isn't as golden as you like to think." Hades sneered. All the people in his Underworld that were there because of war? Ares filled his domain quicker than anything else.

("He is proud... in the family.")

All the goddesses snorted. "At least he admits it." Demeter muttered. None of them would admit that they were just as bad sometimes as the gods.

"You are just as proud and impulsive." Poseidon retorted with an eyeroll.

("Lord?" I asked... with the idea.")

"The thing in the Pit." Athena immediately said, her mind still racing through strategies for in case whoever it was escaped.

"Kronos." Percy muttered, and glanced at Luke.

Luke shifted in his seat, uncomfortable.

"He may not have come up with the idea, but he was certainly eager to go along with it." Hades said darkly, glaring at his nephew who dared to touch his Helm.

(I described my dreams,)

"You didn't tell him, though, that you compared him to a kindergartner, did you? Not to his face?" Katie asked, concerned by that. In the beginning, Percy wasn't as well known, or as important in camp as one of their leaders. Sure, Zeus wouldn't want to make Poseidon angry with him, but he could have still killed Percy in a fit of temper. Besides, that just wasn't a good idea for a first encounter.

"No... not to his face. I didn't dare insult him quite yet." Percy shrugged.

Somehow, his friends were not reassured, even though they knew it was typical Percy.

(and the feeling... to the Underworld.)

"Where the cursed shoes would make a break for the Pit as soon as we were nearby." Grover muttered, shuddering.

(Ares hinted that... Zeus asked.)

Hades paused and stared at that line for a moment while everyone around him stared at Zeus incredulously.

"Are you kidding me?" Persephone exploded, glaring at her father. "Where in the boys explanation of his dreams, or in the dreams themselves, did he mention anything about Hades?" She demanded. "In fact, I'm sure I remember him saying that it wasn't Hades after every dream! That it didn't feel right!"

"What else am I to think? He saw Hades throne, and the presence..."

"Was not mine!" Hades cut him off in a rage. How dare he?!

"Did you forget that the Bolt was almost flung into the Pit? Or did you not listen to that part of the boys tale? If it weren't for the wrong person wearing those shoes, it would have never come anywhere near the Palace." Persephone hissed, glaring harder.

"Zeus, you go too far." Hestia cut the argument off. She spoke softly, but everybody could hear the rage in her voice as it shook. "Hades, keep reading. We will cover this in more detail later, in private." She stressed, and glanced towards the demigods, knowing that this argument was likely to get ugly, and the children didn't need to see that.

He breathed deeply, trying to calm himself, but knew she was right. So he continued reading, voice shaking in rage.

("No," I said... of Hades.)

"And it was nothing like what I felt on the beach, or by the Pit." Percy muttered, rolling his eyes.

(This feeling on... than the gods.")

"Very perceptive." Hermes nodded, thoughts racing. How were they going to implement the children's plan to control when he rose again, and the entire war they could expect were Kronos to return. If they could control the war, at least as much as a war like that can be controlled...

"Most things are older then us." Apollo muttered with a shrug. Even Aphrodite was older then the rest of them.

(Poseidon and... one word. Father.)

"He's not going to listen." Aphrodite muttered, especially considering how he'd first reacted when it first came up that Kronos might be coming back. He reacted similarly every time Kronos stirred over the centuries, but his reaction the other day had been significantly worse.

"Of course not." Poseidon scoffed, but glared, silently reminding Zeus about his ultimatum earlier.

(Poseidon made... hand angrily.)

"Aw man, he cut Uncle P off before he could start..." Apollo groused. That was the only way to stop the argument.

Hermes snorted. "Don't worry, there'll be plenty of arguments in the future." He reassured his half-brother with a smirk. After all, they never stopped arguing over something, especially considering the blow-up they'd already had.

("We will speak... from its metal.")

"Hey!" The demigods all protested at the insult to their human heritage.

Sally, Paul, and Rachel looked equally annoyed.

(He rose and... as much.")

To say the future Greeks were shocked was an understatement. "Did Zeus... to Percy...? I mean..." Travis stammered.

Percy chuckled, coming out his funk again, seemingly for good this time. "Yeah... that didn't last long." He rolled his eyes. Annabeth just sighed and shook her head.

"Maybe if you didn't mouth off so much." She muttered in his ear. He chuckled again and pulled her closer.

"Maybe if he got his head out of his backside, I wouldn't have to." He countered, and ignored Zeus' glare.

("I had help, sir,"... Annabeth Chase-")

Artemis and Zoe looked at him sharply. That was not the reaction they would have expected with a boy. Most boys they knew, or had seen, would have just thanked him and said nothing. But this boy actually tried to share the credit where it belonged.

("To show you... spare your life.)

"Gee, what a 'thank you'." Jason muttered sarcastically, rolling his eyes underneath his hood.

"How often does that happen?" Sally asked, wondering just what her son didn't tell her.

"Almost every time I see Zeus." Percy shrugged with a sigh.

(I do not... Perseus Jackson.)

"Don't trust him? Or don't trust his power?" Hestia asked Zeus with a knowing eye.

"Or is it what he represents as the only known Child of the Big 3?" Demeter asked with a raised eyebrow.

(I do not like... of Olympus.)

"You cannot run from a prophecy. It will happen, one way or the other." Apollo intoned wisely, with Rachel nodding her agreement.

(But for the... let you live.")

Poseidon snorted. "More like he knows what I will do to him if he dares." He muttered with an eyeroll.

Zeus overheard and glared, but didn't deny it.

"Gee, what a way to say 'thank you'." Clarisse muttered in disbelief.

("Um... thank you, sir.")

"Did you just thank him for letting you live after everything you just did for him?" Chris asked, not sure how he felt about that.

"That's kind of disturbing." Chris muttered in agreement with his younger self. Percy shrugged.

("Do not presume to fly again.)

"No argument here." Percy called before going back to his hangman.

"Unless your on a Pegasus, of course." Annabeth muttered, rolling her eyes.

(Do not let... your last sensation.")

"That only sounds vaguely more threatening than being turned into a dolphin." Chris muttered sarcastically, referring to what Mr. D had told Percy before he visited the Oracle.

Percy shrugged. Like he'd said before, he was used to threats like that.

"At least his complimentary attitude didn't last too long." Annabeth shook her head. "That was strange." The others nodded in agreement.

(Thunder shook... Zeus was gone.)

"Drama queen." Nearly everybody on the council said at once, and even a few of the older Greeks.

Zeus glared half-heartedly, he'd heard it too often to really care.

(I was alone... my father.)

"For the first time in my life that I really remembered." Percy muttered. "And it didn't exactly go well." He barely remembered the few times that his father had come to visit him when he was a baby.

Poseidon grimaced, he could just imagine some of the stuff he'd said.

("Your uncle,"... god of theater.")

There were murmurs of agreement, while Zeus frowned.

"Just because I enjoy a good performance..." He started.

"Half the time, you're the one putting on the performance." Poseidon muttered with an eye-roll.

(An uncomfortable... in that pit?")

"There are a lot of things in that Pit." Percy said, and everybody was disturbed by how haunted his voice sounded. Giants, Arai, Titans, monsters that neither Percy, nor Annabeth had ever thought to see.

Annabeth swallowed back her own memories, and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, squeezing tight. The rest of their group rallied around them, and laid a hand on some part of their bodies.

It was at that point that everybody started to realize just what those two might have gone through.

(Poseidon regarded... not guessed?")

"I was trying not to think about it, why did you have to go and make me actually say it?" Percy mock-glared at his father, who smirked.

("Kronos," I said... on my back.)

"The power of names." Dionysus muttered, startling everybody who thought he was asleep in his magazine.

"You've been quiet." Hermes questioned him with a raised eyebrow.

He shrugged, and didn't look up from his magazine, taking a sip of his wine, still savoring it after so long of going without. He didn't have much to say, after all.

(Poseidon gripped... father, Ouranos.)

"Irony."

"At it's finest, right there." The Stoll brothers chimed in.

"What goes around, comes around." Luke muttered.

(Zeus cast Kronos's... for power.")

"And vengeance." Luke said. That was one of the main themes running through the Titan kings thoughts when he was in charge of Luke's body.

"He's had millennia to plot, and to let his rage and hatred fester." Hestia murmured.

"He's not coming back." Zeus snapped again. Everybody else ignored him completely, or rolled their eyes.

("He's healing."... "He's coming back.")

"Yes, he was." Luke muttered. Actually, he'd been ready to come back for a while before he started whispering to Luke, but he'd spent time making plans with the other Titans that were down in the Pit with him, and maneuvering monsters or other immortals into place before he really made his come-back.

"No he's not. I believe I already forbade discussion of this." He glared at Percy, who rolled his eyes and ignored him. The demigods closest to him, though, shivered at the sudden temperature drop that indicated Percy was barely keeping his temper in check at this moment.

"Denying something doesn't make it true." Annabeth muttered bitterly.

(Poseidon shook... another thing.")

"But over all the centuries, he's never gone so far as to try to get one of our more powerful weapons." Currently, the only weapon he had was his silver tongue. If he were to get hold of a weapon... especially one as important as the Olympian King's Symbol of Power...

("That's what... talk of Kronos.)

"But that doesn't mean we can't prepare." Amphitrite muttered.

"If anything, it might actually give us more time to prepare, because Kronos would think we aren't bothering, so wouldn't be watching us as closely." Poseidon agreed.

(You have completed... need to do.")

Poseidon pursed his lips in thought, angry that he was dismissing his sons concerns like this. "Just because discussion has been closed, does not mean we cannot step up patrols, and start to quietly prepare." Amphitrite murmured again, knowing that the idea of their father coming back scared him just as much as it did Zeus, but he was more willing to confront the problem.

He smiled gratefully.

("But-" I stopped myself.)

The older Greeks were stunned, while the other demigods were mildly shocked.

"Did you just... hold back from talking back?" Will asked, wondering if Percy might have been sick. It had been a long, difficult quest, after all.

"I do know when to shut up, you know." Percy said dryly.

"Yeah, but... you don't." Annabeth reminded her boyfriend, trying not to laugh at the indignant look on his face.

Poseidon laughed, knowing just how hard it must have been for Percy to bite his tongue in that moment.

(Arguing would... on my side.)

"That is a very good point." Somebody pointed out.

"Now why couldn't you have kept that attitude?" Annabeth wondered out loud, ignoring Percy indignant protests.

"It's like he got comfortable, and all common sense went out the window." Clarisse agreed.

"I doubt that you could ever anger him to that point, no matter what you do." Amphitrite muttered, thinking of everything his other children had ever done, and he never even thought to disown them or otherwise 'abandon' them. Well, except Orion, but his disownment was so absolute, that mention of him was forbidden.

("As... as you wish, Father.")

"He'll never say that again." Nearly everybody said at once. He was known for being disrespectful to anybody and everybody.

(A faint smile... you, does it?")

"Nope." Percy popped the 'p' and grinned.

"It runs in the family." Triton muttered with a grin of his own while his mother sighed and rolled her eyes.

("No... sir."... I suppose.)

"Some of the blame?" Amphitrite asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You have met Sally by now, right?" Poseidon pointed at Percy's mother with a raised eyebrow of his own. "She's not exactly innocent herself." Sally just grinned, eyes twinkling with mischief while Hermes huffed a laugh, just remembering the family tree he'd found.

(Although looking at her eyes now, he was wondering if he hadn't stopped looking too early, because the multi-colored eyes was usually a trait of Aphrodite's children or descendants.)

"With both of them, it's no surprise Percy turned out the way he did." Annabeth laughed, grinning fondly at Percy's kicked-baby seal look. She wiped it away with a quick kiss.

(The sea does... in front of me.)

"Much better talking to him like that." Percy muttered. It was disconcerting and intimidating to speak with his father when the god was full sized.

"I bet." Paul muttered. The gods had been full sized when they first arrived, but it hadn't taken long before Hestia forced everybody to shrink to make the demigods and three mortals more comfortable, especially since they were going to be here for a while.

("You must go... has returned.")

"That was fast." Gwen muttered with a raised eyebrow. For all that the Romans didn't like death and distrusted Pluto, they were seeing a new side to him here, that let them know that perhaps a lot of that distrust wasn't as well earned as they always thought.

"It probably happened the moment Alecto caught the Helm back on the beach." Dakota reasoned before taking a long drink of his Kool-Aid.

(I stared at... "My mother?")

"It hadn't even occurred to me that she might have been returned." Percy shook his head. "I mean... Hades said to return his Helm or her stay in the Underworld would be permanent, but..." He shrugged.

"You returned my Helm, so I returned her." Hades said with a shrug of his own.

("You will find... pays his debts.")

"Why do I feel like that was almost an insult?" Hades asked himself quietly, eyeing his brother suspiciously, Poseidon just grinned at him innocently.

(My heart was... that was ridiculous.)

"Not really." Sally gave a sad smile. It was natural for children to want their parents together and happy, but in this case it just wasn't possible. Poseidon had his duties and family, besides the Ancient Laws.

"I would go with you if I could." Poseidon muttered, ignoring the reproachful glare Amphitrite shot him. Just because she accepted Percy, and even liked Sally, did not mean she wanted to hear about him spending any more time with the woman than he already had, or would while they were here.

(I imagined loading... East Side.)

"Ok, that would actually be amusing." Connor grinned while his brother rolled his eyes.

"As long as its not the Grey Sisters." Poseidon muttered. He really did not like those three.

"Anything but that." Percy and Annabeth both exclaimed at the same time, eyes wide.

"Your kidding, why would you do that to yourselves?" Clarisse demanded, the other demigods looked equally horrified. They'd heard enough stories from other demigods who'd used their services.

"We were desperate, it was that summer the barrier was failing, we were in a hurry to get to Camp, after the dreams I'd had earlier that year..." Annabeth shrugged helplessly.

"My only dreams that summer were of Grover." Percy sent the Satyr a dry glare, which Grover only sent an impression of apology and 'I love you too' back through the link, which had been regaining its strength after being suppressed (and unused) for months on end. Percy just rolled his eyes.

"Oh?" Travis asked slyly, eyeing Percy gleefully.

"And it's a good thing I did, or we never would have found it." Percy deadpanned, and Travis' face fell, realizing that it wasn't going to be the kinds of dreams that Percy could be teased over.

"Found what?" Most of the council asked.

"It should be in the next book if these go in order of the big quests." Percy waved off, to everybody else's annoyance.

(If he'd wanted... to think about.)

"Oh, yeah, he is still there, isn't he?" Reyna muttered in distaste, glaring towards the corner where the mortal had been largely forgotten except for a few people vanishing with him once in a while when the pressure became too great.

"I hope he doesn't take Percy's stunt with the phone number out on her." Thalia muttered, concerned for her favorite Aunt.

"He didn't, he sent me straight back to work." Sally reassured again.

(Poseidon's eyes... an important choice.)

"A choice?" Now everybody was just confused. The only thing they could think of was whether or not to be a year-rounder at camp, but they all knew he'd gone home for school.

"Probably one of the most important ones of my life."

(You will find... you see it.)

"Can you be any more cryptic?" Hera asked wryly.

Poseidon shrugged, not having any idea what he was talking about, either.

"I liked that package." Sally murmured with a small grin. Percy grinned, too. He'd liked it, too.

(No one can... must decide.")

"I'm pretty sure the Fates have something to say about that." Percy muttered sourly. He wasn't exactly er... fond of the Fates.

They seemed to enjoy toying with the lives of everybody he loved, not to mention his own.

(I nodded, though... said wistfully.)

The demigods all cheered while Paul hugged her and whispered his agreement.

"Aunt Sally is the best!" The Stolls proclaimed while Sally turned red in embarrassment.

Those on the council with children (and those who actually cared) were glad that their children had somebody they could look up to outside of camp.

(Amphitrite slapped Poseidon's shoulder and gave him a warning look.)

("I had not... thousand years.)

At this point, even an idiot could have realized that Poseidon still loved Sally.

Hades sighed and resigned himself to having Poseidon bothering him about the woman getting Elysium when she eventually died. Hmm... maybe he could convince her to accept immortality when that day finally came... she seemed to have become a foster parent of sorts to the demigods, maybe that could be her domain?

(Still... I am sorry you were born, child.)

Everybody was shocked and confused. What was going on?

Where was the proud father who defended his son to the room at every available opportunity? Where was the close relationship that the older Greeks all knew Percy developed with his father? They all knew it wasn't going to be immediate, but...

"Excuse me?" Sally asked, voice low, all embarrassment and flattery she'd been feeling at the compliments he'd paid her gone.

("Should we try to step in on this one?" Hazel asked hesitantly. She'd never seen Sally like this before. If there was somebody she could compare to a mama bear protecting her cubs, Sally Blofis fit the description.

Besides, after comments like that, Poseidon deserved whatever Sally did to him.

Percy bit his lip and looked between his parents, just as uncertain. "I think... we should just see what happens." He said slowly. The others looked around for a moment, and then settled back to watch, but were ready to intervene if really needed.)

Poseidon flinched and sighed. "Sally... you know I'm not good with first encounters." He pleaded, hoping he wasn't about to die. "And you know how proud I am of our son, how much I love him. It- it's not that I regret having him, it's that I condemned him."

She didn't say anything else, only leaned back into her chair, giving him a hard, unflinching glare.

"Dad's in trouble." Percy muttered to Triton, who nodded in complete agreement. Truthfully, their father would be hearing from him about this later, too. He'd felt how Percy started shaking when book-Poseidon called him a wrongdoing, and then said he was sorry Percy had even been born... oh no. Poseidon didn't just have a protective mother after him, now he had a protective older-brother. He was pretty sure Annabeth might even have a few words with him.

(I have brought... but tragic.")

"Only if we let it be." Katie announced, determined. The other Greeks around her cheered in agreement.

It was like the Queens and Hestia had said earlier, they knew how to have fun because of their lives as demigods, they knew the value of being able to enjoy themselves.

"Does bad stuff happen to us? All the time. That's why we enjoy the small moments and treasure our people while we have them." Will said, solemn, to the others (more subdued) agreement. Apollo slumped in his throne.

Children shouldn't have that kind of mindset or worldly knowledge.

(I tried not... I'd been born.)

"That's not what I meant." Poseidon groaned, covering his face in horror. Percy was back to not looking at him, to his regret.

"I know that now, dad." Percy finally said. "It's just... back then..." He shrugged helplessly, but he still wouldn't look at him.

Poseidon looked unsure of what to do, but resolved to have another conversation with his son, later though. Maybe another family meeting...

("I don't mind, Father.")

"Not like you could do anything about it even if you did mind." Luke muttered, bitterly. Just because he realized he went about it the wrong way, didn't mean his feelings on the matter changed much.

(The gods were only mildly alarmed at the bitterness they could see on almost every single demigod's face.)

("Not yet, perhaps,"... on my part.")

"Ok, this is worse than usual." Amphitrite hid her face in her hands, mortified for her husband, who wasn't coming across how he wanted to, at all.

"You are not a mistake, you are not a shame to me... I am not sorry you were born, I am sorry for the curse I placed on you with your birth." Poseidon clarified what his book self had told his son, still red with mortification for how it came out, and how his son had taken it.

("I'll leave you... you again.")

"How do you have the most enviable relationship with your parent? This is..." Rachel asked, awed. She'd seen enough demigods curse their parents for ignoring them or refusing to acknowledge them, and then those same kids watch in jealousy as Percy talked about, or to, his dad.

"We managed." Percy smiled, and finally looked at Poseidon again, much to his relief.

(I was five steps... kind of pride.)

"Finally!" Triton collapsed theatrically. "This painful conversation is over with, hopefully you didn't leave too bad of an impression." He scowled at his father, who grimaced sheepishly back.

The demigods felt like they could breathe again, they were finally back on familiar ground at this moment.

("You did well... the Sea God.")

"Yes, you are." Poseidon agreed with his book-self quietly, pride layered in his voice. Amphitrite and Triton nodded their own agreement.

Perseus had proven himself during the quest, he'd proven himself many times over.

(As I walked... conversations stopped.)

"Word spread quickly." Apollo muttered. Which was actually rather impressive, even by Olympus' standards.

"How? The only people in the room were Poseidon, Zeus, and Hestia." Nico asked, confused about how they seemed to know what happened.

"Zeus probably announced that his Bolt had been returned, they put it together seeing Percy walk in and out of the palace." Hermes shrugged, not really caring. Word did seem to have spread quickly, though, like Apollo said.

(The muses paused... kind of hero.)

"You are a hero." Annabeth said quietly, voice filled with pride for her Percy.

There were mutters of agreement from all around the room, much to Percy's embarrassment.

Poseidon smiled in pride at hearing his son get the recognition he deserved.

(Fifteen minutes... of Manhattan.)

"How much of that was the elevator ride?" Reyna whispered to Thalia.

"About ten minutes." Thalia rolled her eyes.

"There really needs to be a faster method." Reyna muttered. That was very inconvenient in emergencies.

Thalia shrugged. "Percy mostly just flies Blackjack up there anymore, if he needs to go up for something, while Nico shadow-travels. I only go up with Milady, so she just brings me along, and the others don't really come up much." After the war, the Greeks had stopped caring about such things as coming in through the front door. Besides, they were the sole defenders of the place, they figured that not complaining about it was the least the gods could do.

Reyna just blinked. The fact these Greeks were still alive was truly a shock.

(I caught a... mom's apartment,)

"Who paid the rent, anyway?" Luke asked suddenly, realizing something. He only ever called it 'his moms' apartment. Not 'ours' or 'my', or even 'home'.

"Mom." Percy looked at him, confused. "Why?"

Luke shrugged. "You only refer to it as her apartment. You don't even call it home."

Percy shifted, uncomfortable, and ignored the horror on his mothers face. "Wasn't much of a home with Gabe there." He muttered. Especially after Lily disappeared. He hoped that the Fates let her come to this eventually.

(rang the doorbell... Oh, my baby.")

Any snickers were silenced by a glare from Percy, and a sheepishly embarrassed smile from Sally.

"Last I'd seen him was when we were being attacked by a Minotaur, and then I show up in my apartment, and I'm being told he's America's Most Wanted!" She defended herself for her reaction, not that she felt she had anything to defend. Hera was beaming at the mother and the relationship she had with her son.

"That's how a mother should be around her sons." Ares muttered to Hephaestus, who nodded in agreement. They both knew that their mother would never really understand what a true relationship between mother and child was, not when she couldn't even try to have one with her own sons.

(She crushed the... through my hair.)

"Mama's boy." Ares muttered again, but was visibly uncomfortable with the level of affection being read about between the two. Percy just raised an eyebrow at him, silently reminding him that he was proud of it.

(I'll admit it... out of his wits.)

"Good." Everybody muttered vindictively.

A few silently hoped that he hadn't gotten angry and hit her for scaring him, though.

Either way, being scared was the least he deserved.

(She didn't remember... national monuments.)

"Only one monument got blown up." Percy grumbled. Gabe made it sound like he was on a spree of some kind!

"It wasn't even your fault!" Grover defended his best friend with a huff.

(She'd been going... better get started.)

"You still had a job after a month's absence?" Hermes asked, shocked. Usually when an employee was gone for a period of time with no explanation, even if it was all over the news that they were considered missing, the employer usually got a new hire to fill the position.

"I was surprised, too." Sally grinned helplessly. She'd at least been able to call the store before being forced out the door and make sure she had something to come back to. "I think Lisa let me come back because she knew Gabe, she knew I had Percy to support, and she watched the news." She was well aware that any other manager would have told her 'tough'.

"That thing forced you to work instead of trying to find out where your son was?" Artemis growled, glaring at Gabe before vanishing with him in a cloud of silver sparks. Zoe winced, feeling the mental connection she had with her Lady flare with anger (perks of being at her side for so many centuries, she was sure that Thalia would develop the same thing over time).

"Oh, poor baby, he had to pay the rent himself instead of blowing it on poker and beer." Thalia sneered, wishing that her Lady had taken her along when she vanished with the Thing. Sally was the one that paid the rent, he should be grateful that she let him stay in her apartment.

(I swallowed... my own story.)

"Part of it, anyway." Sally sent her son a dry look, he just grinned sheepishly back.

So he tried to keep her from worrying too much, so what?

(I tried to make... that wasn't easy.)

She laughed. "You didn't succeed." She informed her son wryly. She knew he was holding something back, she'd just never imagined it to have been quite so... well, she was actually kind of glad, now, that he'd held back what he did." If she'd heard it back then, she might have packed him up and moved far, far away from the Greeks sphere of influence.

Still, what little he had told her had her terrified for him.

(I was just... yet or what?")

Grins, teasing looks, and the general light-hearted atmosphere of the room shattered the moment Gabe was mentioned, and glares were aimed at the corner Gabe used to occupy before Artemis took him.

Poseidon growled at the way he spoke to Sally, at the way he treated such a wonderful woman.

"Please tell me you dealt with him." Zoe growled, having had enough.

"He was dealt with, in fact, I'm sure it will be mentioned in this book, if not the next." Sally offered with a smile. Zoe grinned, shark-like.

(She closed her... you, Percy.)

"When was he ever happy to see me?" Percy asked rhetorically.

"When you were funding his poker games, probably." Annabeth grumbled.

(The store got... free appliances.")

"How did she know that was me? Er- him?" Percy asked, surprised.

"I'm your mother. I know you." Sally rolled her eyes at her youngest fondly. As soon as she heard about the phone calls, she knew it was Percy. She didn't know how, she didn't know when, but she'd known Percy had something to do with it.

"...Right." The boy muttered, and grinned back when she shook her head with a laugh.

("Oh, yeah. About that..."

She managed a weak smile.)

"You said he didn't lay a hand on you when you came back?" Poseidon tried to make sure.

"No. Just sent me off to work." Sally reassured with a smile.

("Just don't make... right? Come on.")

"In other words, keep your mouth shut." Annabeth deadpanned.

"Hey!" Percy protested.

Clarisse snorted. "Prissy, you make more enemies every time you open your mouth." She rolled her eyes.

"I do not!" Percy fidgeted under their disbelieving stares. "Not every time." He muttered. "I've made plenty of allies and friends, too." Annabeth just laughed and guessed the next letter in their game.

(In the month... the lampshades.)

"I think I'm going to be sick." Aphrodite muttered, turning green and swallowing heavily.

Ares looked alarmed, and awkwardly tried to rub her back, while Hephaestus got her water.

Sally snorted. "Try coming home to find that after a few hours of being gone." She muttered. At least, it only seemed like a few hours, not even a day, since she'd last been in her apartment. She'd had no sense of time or memory of being in the Underworld, she'd had no idea a month passed until Gabe told her.

She'd taken one look at the mess and almost passed out, because she knew she was the one that was going to have to clean it up. It was hard enough keeping her apartment clean with somebody like Gabe there, when she was actually there everyday!

(Gabe and three... at the table.)

"Do they know how to do anything else?" Rachel asked, disgusted.

"Nope." Both Percy's and Sally said at the same time, with the boys popping the 'p'.

"He gambled away our rent for the month more then once." Sally commented with a scowl. She'd had to take over-time at the store, plus any other odd jobs she could find. Luckily she'd been able to find plenty of work baby-sitting or dog-walking for people that just needed a few days or something while they went on a trip and didn't want to find a kennel.

(When Gabe saw... redder than lava.)

"Can that be considered as another reference related to his father? Because he is the Earthshaker, which usually results in eruptions..." Jason wondered quietly. Percy made so many water references, after all...

"Jason, you're going to drive yourself crazy if you keep focusing on it." Piper laid a hand on his shoulder and patted it. "Just accept that he references different aspects of his fathers domain a lot." He scowled, but nodded in agreement.

"I don't think that's healthy." Will muttered, with Apollo nodding in agreement. They didn't really care, either though, because it was Gabe.

("You got nerve... thought the police-")

"He clearly didn't watch the news, did he." Clarisse muttered.

"Probably not... too busy playing poker and watching sports. Probably a good thing, anyway, otherwise he would have known exactly who gave that number to L.A." Percy said after a moment. There was a strong chance that he might not have walked out of that apartment alive if Gabe had known.

It was at this moment that Artemis returned, looking very satisfied. Gabe showed up back in his corner, and just laid there, hoping that if he didn't move, they would forget all about him again. He'd had a hard time of it when that little punk gave out his store's number on television, but he'd managed.

("He's not a... wonderful, Gabe?")

"I feel like most of your time was spent mediating between the two of them." Paul informed his wife, who shrugged helplessly while Percy shifted and shot her a sheepish grin.

Percy had never been able to keep his temper around Gabe, never.

(Gabe looked back... call the cops.")

"Oh, no, your wife comes home safe and sound so you have to give money back." Annabeth muttered.

"Gods forbid he actually care about his wife." Hera muttered darkly, glaring at the mortal before she cursed him, just like her older self cursed Annabeth once.

("Gabe, no!"... my Camaro.")

"That's actually a good point... he could." Luke pointed out with a frown.

"Nah... don't you remember? Percy's a kidnapped victim, he could just say it was Ares that destroyed the car, and took him from the wreckage." Hermes reminded his son, who's frown only deepened. Hermes held back a sigh and wished things were better between the two of them, then maybe...

("But-"

He raised... realized something.)

"Percy's not the only one who can hide something if this is the first time Percy has seen evidence of her being hit." Annabeth muttered. Then again, she also knew that if Percy'd had any idea before this summer that anything was going on, he would have probably killed Gabe the moment he found out.

He was strange like that. He would gladly take any punishment for himself, but the moment somebody else he cared about became involved, all bets were off. He'd only kept silent growing up because he thought that it was just him, that his mother was safe.

(Gabe had hit... I wasn't around.)

Even years later, Percy was still angry with himself for not seeing what was going on.

This was his mother, he should have seen that something was going on.

(A balloon of... of my pocket.)

"As much as I would love it if you could, I am afraid he is human." Chiron commented, giving Percy a pointed look. "And I do hope that I taught you better than that, anyway." He tried to teach his students that not everything could be solved with swords, especially when mortal humans were involved.

He was only marginally successful sometimes, depending on who the child's parent was.

Percy shrugged. "He hit my mother." He said simply, as if that excused everything he might do to the mortal in question. (It did, by the way.)

(He just laughed... you understand?")

"Not if I have anything to say about it." Poseidon growled. The entire time Gabe had been talking, his knuckles were white from the grip he had on his Trident, and the grinding of his teeth could be heard throughout the throne room.

("Hey, Gabe,"... "He's just a kid.")

"Why does Eddie hang around guys like them? He actually seems like a somewhat decent guy. He's certainly the only one to make any attempt at standing up for Percy." Apollo cut in, disgusted.

"I never could figure out why he hung around Gabe." Sally sighed. Eddie was always nice to her, too. "Eddie and Gabe barely interacted, though, outside their poker games."

"Maybe Gabe had something on him." Percy shrugged. It was likely, knowing Gabe. He certainly wouldn't mind blackmailing somebody. He didn't really care, either, he hadn't seen Eddie in years, and had no wish to see Eddie or anybody from that building again.

(Gabe looked at... laughed like idiots.)

"They are idiots. A bunch of punk idiots." Clarisse started grumbling. Chris sighed and wrapped an arm around her, knowing that she would be in a mood for a while, at least until she could get some time in at the training arena.

("I'll be nice... stained teeth.)

Aphrodite whimpered a little bit, and Gabe was suddenly attacked with whitening strips and a bleach-soaked toothbrush courtesy of the goddess of Love.

He screamed in shock and fell over trying to get away from them, but he was sitting in a corner, so he didn't have anywhere to go, and he was still tied up.

Needless to say, everyone else found this to be hilarious.

("I'll give you... call the police.")

"There's nothing the police would be able to do, he was cleared of any charges against him, it was all over the news even. And Sally pays the rent, not him, so Percy can't get in trouble for trespassing, either, not to mention he's twelve, so they aren't going to kick him out or put a restraining order on him anything like that." Hermes was confused about what the police could do in this situation, except maybe arrest Gabe if he made enough of a nuisance of himself.

"Who said he was smart enough to realize any of that?" Apollo asked, to everybody else's agreement.

"He had friends in the police department, too. Not sure why they bothered with a guy like him, but..." Percy shrugged. They probably went to high school together or something, and that was why.

("Gabe!" my... him stay gone.")

"I didn't exactly run away..." Percy muttered, rolling his eyes.

"He needs to watch the news more often." Chris deadpanned. It had been all over the news, after all, that Percy had been 'kidnapped'.

(I was itching... hurt humans.)

"As it should be." Percy shot Luke a pointed look.

Luke just stared back before shrugging. It wasn't like he had the blade made like that, it was the Scythe, after all, as a sword. He'd just been given it. He had no say in what materials the Titan King's blade was made out of.

Those that caught the look were confused, while Hermes got a sinking feeling in his gut. He wasn't sure why, though, he already knew that Luke was in it as deep as it was possible to be.

(And Gabe, by... was human.)

"Unfortunately." Almost everybody muttered sourly. Why couldn't he have been a literal monster, instead of a figurative monster?

(My mother took... your room.")

The few that were looking in Gabe's direction exclaimed in surprise when he disappeared. "He's gone!" Will cried, staring at the spot. Looking around, everybody else was still there, so nobody had taken him to relieve frustrations.

"The Fates sent him back... they don't want to ruin the surprise of what is in store for him. Not like he's going to remember this anyway, but..." Annabeth said, reading the note that had appeared in front of her moments after he vanished.

"Aw man, I was hoping to play with him some more." Clarisse muttered, scowling. She'd spent every break teaching the foul mortal why one did not touch her brother.

"What did happen to him, anyway?" Annabeth asked, curious. She never had found out where the man went, all she knew was that a couple years later, Percy started talking about his moms new boyfriend, Paul. And then demigods that crashed at Sally's for a day or so came back with stories about Paul.

"I'm sure you will find out." Sally answered, a small smile playing around the corners of her mouth.

Ok, now everybody was really curious.

(I let her... with rage.)

Clarisse whistled. "If it were anybody else there..." She trailed off while the others nodded in agreement. Those who had witnessed Percy's temper (before he'd lost it on Zeus earlier in the book) had only ever seen Annabeth be able to safely calm him.

Anybody else would be lucky to escape with a short stay in the Infirmary tent.

Now they could add Sally to that list, it seemed. Percy never set out to hurt anybody, but nobody wanted to risk it, anyway.

(My room had been... Walters interview.)

"Ew, seriously?" Piper asked, disgusted.

"Where did the batteries even come from?" Leo asked. "And why?"

"It's Gabe, do you really want to know?" Percy asked dryly.

Leo blinked before he decided that no, he didn't really want to know.

("Gabe is just... work out.")

"A little optimistic, there, don't you think?" Paul asked her quietly.

"I knew how to talk to him, it was easiest when Percy was out of the house, though. He could be completely unreasonable when Percy was there." Sally sighed. She was glad that she'd finally stood up and stopped taking it.

("Mom, it'll... Gabe's here.")

"He would have just kept hitting us." Percy muttered. Of course, he would have killed Gabe before he could try it again, after the summer he'd had, he wasn't going to take it anymore.

Especially now that he knew his mother was being hit, too.

He had no regrets, though, about how he left things.

(She wrung her... boarding school-")

That was when Annabeth realized something. All the boarding schools, instead of the public school system where he would be closer to home instead of away for months on end, were to get Percy away from Gabe, not from the monsters.

During the break, just the short time Percy was home, was more than enough time for Gabe's foul odor to cover Percy's demigod scent, so he didn't have to stay there all the time in order to be protected. So, she sent him out of the house to get him away from the real monster, the one that was hurting her, and she was worried that would start hurting him.

She just didn't know that Gabe was already hurting him when she wasn't around, just like he hurt her when Percy wasn't around.

"She's scared." Apollo muttered. He knew everything there was to know about psychology, he had a pretty good idea of what had been going through Sally's mind during this conversation. She was scared of Gabe, scared of defying him or of trying to leave him. She probably convinced herself somehow that he loved her in his own way...

"She'll remember herself." Hermes muttered. She was strong. She wouldn't let this bring her down.

("Mom."

She lowered... some time.")

Now people were really wondering just how she finally got rid of Gabe, because she was clearly too terrified to even think of leaving him.

Had something else happened?

(A package appeared... moment before.)

"Is this what Poseidon told you about?" Reyna asked, curious about what that might be.

"Yup." Percy muttered. Vaguely he wondered what his mother had done with the head afterward. All she'd told him at the time was that her 'box of tools' had been gotten rid of, but she never told him how she got rid of it.

(It was a...

PERCY JACKSON)

"That's... isn't that...?" Clarisse asked, awed. Percy nodded with a grin while Sally had a small smile of her own on her face.

Everyone else was grinning ferally as they realized what must have happened to Gabe.

"Please tell me that it's actually in the book!" Travis begged, he just wanted to hear about the Thing getting what was coming to him.

Percy shook his head, sighing. "Sorry." Was all he said. His choice should be in the book, he didn't want to spoil it. There were a few groans of frustration and regret.

(Over the top... A decision.)

"Oh..." Suddenly Poseidon's cryptic comments made perfect sense.

Artemis and Zoe leaned forward, curious about what this male would do in a situation like this. What choice would he make?

"How is this even a choice? Take him out!" Clarisse said, loudly.

"It wasn't just me." Percy informed her, and refused to tell anybody just what it was he did. It would be in the book. Everyone glanced at Sally, but his comment only confused them more.

(Whatever else... the Sea God.)

"Without a doubt." Poseidon said quietly. He had a feeling he knew exactly what Percy had done, and he couldn't be more proud at this very moment.

His son truly was a hero, he was a kind of hero that hadn't been seen in centuries.

(I looked at... Gabe gone?")

"Who wouldn't?"

("Percy, it isn't that simple. I-")

"It can be." Annabeth breathed. She had the head of Medusa. As soon as Percy left that room, Gabe could be gone forever.

"No... she's right. It's not that simple." Annabeth denied. She knew Percy and Sally. She had a feeling she knew how this ended.

("Mom, just tell... gone or not?")

"Of course I did." Sally murmured. She'd wanted him gone for years, but his foul odor was keeping her son hidden from monsters, and she wasn't ashamed to admit she'd been scared of leaving him. She knew that he wouldn't just let her go.

(She hesitated... my problems.")

"It wouldn't mean the same thing if it was done for me, instead of me doing it myself." Sally agreed with her past self. She glanced at Poseidon when she said it, she'd said it to him, too, after all.

"The hardest part of protecting somebody, is in letting them protect themselves." Percy muttered. That was a hard lesson for him to learn, starting at this moment in the book.

Most of the demigods didn't understand. Why couldn't Percy handle this? The older ones thought they did, though.

(I looked at the... the living room.)

"So do it!" Most of the demigods yelled, not sure why he was hesitating. The future Greeks, though, were mostly quiet.

They were watching Percy and Sally.

"Shut up!" Clarisse finally snapped. "Let's keep reading." Her eyes never left Percy.

(That's what a... I thought.)

"Those stories always end in tragedy." Annabeth murmured, suddenly understanding something else Poseidon had said in their first conversation, and why he had brought it up even.

(That's what Gabe... told me that.)

"Are you sure that you don't have a gift of prophecy?" Apollo asked his uncle, joking. This wasn't the first time he'd wondered that, either.

Poseidon quirked a smile. "I'm sure." He said with a laugh. He just knew how to read a potential situation, and the people involved.

(I remembered... of Asphodel,)

"Oh, no." Hades purred. "Child and spouse abusers get punishment." His eyes were lit up at the thought of having this disgusting mortal at his mercy for the rest of time.

Everybody except his children and Persephone shifted away from him, looking wary at the tone of his voice, and the disturbing light in his eye. Persephone just rolled her eyes fondly, used to how he got sometimes when it came to giving attention to those that earned punishment in their lives.

(or condemned to... to opera music.)

"That is evil." Katie shuddered just hearing it.

Hades, however, lit up further at the idea. "That sounds perfect for somebody like him..." He mused, and dropped the book in Persephone's lap to write it down to use when Gabriel Ugliano showed up in his realm.

"I was mostly joking..." Percy looked at his uncle warily and wondered what he had just done.

(Did I have... Even Gabe?)

"You are turning down the role of judge, jury, and executioner?" Hades asked, eyeing the boy.

Percy was quiet for a moment. "I hate having to be put in that position. That is not a role I want." He finally said.

Hades leaned back in his seat, eyeing the boy in approval.

(A month ago... hesitated. Now...)

"Now I'd actually seen the Underworld. I'd actually seen more of the world than I'd ever thought existed." Percy shrugged. He wasn't as ignorant anymore.

"You're a good man, Percy Jackson." Annabeth murmured to him with a soft smile. He smiled back and pulled her back to his side.

("I can do it,"... understand immediately.)

"He'd told me he encountered Medusa, not the whole story of course." She glared lightly at her son, who grinned innocently back. "He'd also told me about what he did with the head. It wasn't hard to figure out what was in there."

"What did you do with it afterwards, anyway?" He asked, curious. She only grinned at him.

("No, Percy," she... "You can't.")

"Which part were you more hesitant about?" Rachel asked her.

Sally huffed a laugh. "My twelve year old had just offered to kill somebody for me, as calm as you please. What wasn't there for me to hesitate about?" She asked with a snort. "And, as I told Poseidon years ago. If I am to live my life, then I must be the one to live it."

"Sorry, mom." Percy muttered, feeling bad for scaring her like that.

("Poseidon called... thousand years.")

"Still haven't." Poseidon muttered. "Not that I've gone looking." He said quickly, eyeing Amphitrite and letting out a nervous chuckle.

Her narrow-eyed glare never left him.

(Her cheeks flushed... in a nice house.)

"Maybe Poseidon's not the only one with a bit of a prophetic gift." Paul muttered, amused. That was what happened, after all. She went to school, met him (he liked to think he was a nice guy... he tried to be, anyway), they lived in a nice apartment in a good neighborhood, and she was finally writing her novel. After years of planning it out, years of jotting down ideas and hiding the notes from Gabe, she was finally writing it.

She laughed softly. "Maybe." She grinned.

"The pleas of a son worried for his mother." Hestia muttered. It wasn't the job of the child to worry for their parents or try to keep their parents safe. But it happened, and parents often forgot that their children weren't stupid, that they often saw what was happening with clearer eyes then they did. And then the children worried, just as much as the parents worried.

(You don't need... father," she said.)

Poseidon grinned softly just remembering everything he'd once offered the amazing woman.

("He offered to... of his hand.")

Amphitrite blinked, jaw dropping slightly as she realized just how deeply Poseidon had felt for Sally. "I don't think you've ever offered any of that before." She murmured, shocked.

Sally was red while the promises Poseidon had showered her in were read out. "You deserve it all." Paul whispered to her, squeezing her shoulders lightly.

"Sometimes I wonder how different everything would have been if I accepted his offer, but... I don't think I would change anything I've done." She told him quietly. "Not even Gabe. I hate that he hurt my children, and I hate that I never knew. But... look at him." She said, and he turned to study his step-son. He was surrounded by his friends and fellow demigods. He was trading barbs with Clarisse while Annabeth studied the paper holding their latest round of hangman. Thalia was leaning over the side of the couch egging him and Clarisse on, while everyone else was talking and laughing quietly. After a moment of watching, Percy lit up by something Thalia said while Clarisse sputtered and reached for her spear.

"He's happy. He's strong, he's a natural leader... Everything that happened in his life before now got him here, I couldn't imagine it turning out differently." She murmured, and Paul smiled.

("What's wrong with... search inside me.)

Once again, Hermes wondered if he shouldn't have looked further then he had. He compared her eyes with Aphrodite and Piper, and they were scarily similar.

Percy shuddered. "I hate it when she does that." He muttered, while Sally chuckled.

None of the younger demigods understood why she would reject an offer like that. That sounded amazing. Chris noticed their looks and shook his head. Truthfully, he didn't really understand fully himself, but Percy had tried to explain it once, and he knew that they might figure it out someday.

("I think you... live it myself.)

"That's very true, and very wise, Mrs. Blofis." Hades said with a nod. Not many people realized that, they wanted to coast through life with everything being handed to them without making any effort to earn it for themselves.

(I can't let a... me of that.")

"I'd forgotten that in the years of trying to keep Gabe happy in an effort to stay unhurt." Sally sighed, slightly ashamed of herself for forgetting how to live.

Everyone was quiet as they thought about what Sally said in the book.

"That's what you meant." Annabeth muttered. Percy had said something similar when he was trying to tell her why he turned down immortality, aside from the fact it would basically mean leaving her and his mother behind, of course.

(We listened to... he threatens you...")

"If?" Almost everybody asked.

"There's no 'if' about it. He will threaten her again." Clarisse grunted, glaring at the wall and not pleased with the thought of Sally being left there with that Thing.

"I know... what else was I supposed to do? This was something she had to do herself." Percy growled, and then sat there to stew. Even though they were just reading about it right now, all those emotions were coming back to him, how helpless he felt leaving his mother there, and how every fiber in his being was screaming for him to turn around and take care of the threat to his mother. Like he said, though. This was something she'd had to do herself.

(She looked pale... summer... or forever?")

"Just for the summer." Percy sat back in satisfaction. Despite how the year at Meriwether had ended, and everything that happened at the orientation for Goode, he never regretted going home for the school year.

He had no intention of living at camp full-time. Although now that he knew about New Rome...

("I guess that depends.")

"On what?" Clarisse asked, confused. Why would Percy have wanted to stay at camp when he had Sally to go home to?"

"Gabe." Was all Percy said.

(We locked eyes... greatest of all.")

"I'm starting to think all three of them have a gift for prophecy." Will muttered, rolling his eyes. Maybe Percy had Apollo in his family line somewhere? His prophetic dreams were certainly more vivid than most demigods were.

"I'm really not-" Percy started to say, seeing the looks of agreement on the others' faces.

"Yes, you are." All the future Greeks said at the same time. "You are the best, and you are our leader."

"You really think we would follow somebody who wasn't great? I doubt we would ever follow somebody who was half the person you are." Clarisse added with an eyeroll.

(I took on last... see it again.)

"Yeah, because this isn't the apartment you guys have right now." Travis said.

"Nope." And Percy was happy with that one.

(Then I walked... "Good riddance.")

Everyone grumbled about the man already being gone, they would have liked to give him a going away 'present'.

(I had one last... saving my mother.)

"No, you're letting her save herself." Hera muttered, frowning.

"It is perhaps one of the most difficult choices to make, and an aspect of a true hero to be able to make that choice." Poseidon said, proud. Percy turned bright, bright red at the compliments, and muttered something about not being that great.

("Hey, Sally," he... meatloaf, huh?")

"Disgusting pig." Thalia muttered darkly. She longed to take a meatloaf and shove it up his-

"Now, Thalia. No need to insult pigs in such a manner." Artemis' amused voice cut off her thoughts, and she blinked up at her Lady.

"Ah, apologies, M'Lady." She said after a moment. Artemis inclined her head.

(A steely look... mother's eyes,)

"It takes a lot to get her angry." Paul huffed in amusement. She was similar to her son, in that case. Percy just had it worse, having a temper like Poseidon's and a temper like his mother's on both sides of his family.

"I think Gabe just pushed her to the limit, mixed with Percy reminding her who she really was." Aphrodite mused.

"He's not going to last the night, is he?" Clarisse asked, amused.

"Nope." Sally muttered. He'd 'disappeared' that night.

(and I thought... all. Her own.)

"Often, there are no better hands." Athena murmured. The quest may be over, but they had yet to learn who actually stole two Symbols of Power right from the Throne room of Mt. Olympus. She was getting impatient to figure out who the thief was so they could punish them accordingly and be done with this, already.

She seemed to have forgotten why the Fates actually brought them here, it wasn't to catch a thief.

("The meatloaf... "Meatloaf surprise.")

That got some laughs out of the demigods. "I think I like that kind of meat loaf." Clarisse muttered vindictively.

"Go Sally!" The Stolls cheered, while everyone else relaxed at finally hearing she was safe from Gabe.

(She looked at... as a garden statue.)

"He made for a very ugly one." Sally muttered.

"Glad I never actually got to see it." Percy grinned. He had no plans of ever visiting the art gallery they'd been sold to, either. He had enough of Gabe when he was alive, he didn't need to have anything more to do with him when he was dead.

"That is the last of this chapter." Hades announced. "The next one is also the last one of the book."

"Let's read this last one, then, and go to bed." Hestia reminded, and Looked at the children when they tried to protest going to bed. Sally laughed softly beside her when they all calmed down very quickly.

"I'll read it, then!" Apollo announced, and collected the book from his uncle.

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Prophecy Comes True