Author's Note: Wow! You guys just blew up my inbox. Keep it up, I love hearing your thoughts even if its just a few words! Glad everyone has such high hopes for this story and I will strive to achieve it.

BTW: To make sure it is clear, the story is AU so there might be some changed details about what happened in the two wars. I'll explain it through exposition if there was so no one gets confused. Just two details that are changed so far:

1) Tartarus didn't manifest and face Percy when he escaped. Percy did meet Danmeson (I can't remember how to spell his name, Ares' Bane) but he didn't come to Percy's rescue. Bob did come down but had to leave Percy and Annabeth alone before the House of Night.

2) Rather than a month or so, the time between the second Titan war and Percy's abduction was nearly 1 year so all characters are older (won't matter much since they'll get older with time skips anyways).

That's all I can think of that's relevant for now. Now, onward to the story!

Note: This is a slightly revised version. The events didn't change, I just made them flow a little better and tried to portray some character better.

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to uncle Rick.


They stood before the council, haggard and sore. The great seven looked on towards the gods surrounding them, each preening with pride and overflowing ego. Percy listened on as Zeus continued on his long speech about 'their' great victory in this war and how it would be remembered for ages. Percy wanted to scoff at his uncle and walk out of there but he kept a blank façade for now. Soon Zeus finally finished and got on to the big rewards.

"… and so, the council has decided to gift each of you with immortality and possibly … Godhood," Zeus said, the last words looking rather difficult for him since it meant more than just his son would get the honor. "… Do you accept?" he asked in a booming voice.

"Yes!" came one immediate reply, making several heads turn in surprise to look at the speaker.

Annabeth looked ready to pop with excitement, completely ignoring her battered leg as she grinned with her reply. The sight made what little affection remaining for her crumble, his eyes dulling as he mentally shook his head. 'It looks like even after everything I do … I still wasn't good enough,' he thought dejectedly as some of his friends gave him nervous glances. He returned a small smile to ease them on it but inside the world was going cold as one of his last reasons to fight for happiness left him without a second thought.

Strike One.

He even glanced around the throne room and noted that Athena looked pleased with her daughter's choice along with Apollo surprisingly. That made Percy frown as he wondered why was that but he tucked it away for now.

"Well?" Zeus questioned with his famous impatience, looking at the rest of the heroes. Jason cleared his throat in response before stepping forward, but not without taking Piper's hand in his own.

"Father … though I would be honored to accept godhood … I must decline in favor of a change to my reward," he said, earning shocked looks from most of the Olympians aside from Aphrodite as she looked on with approval.

"And what would that be, my son?" asked Zeus in a stern though not hostile tone.

"Well …" Jason started as he glanced at Piper who nodded back while giving his hand a squeeze. "… rather than full immortality, I wish for Piper and I to gain partial immortality and be placed as guardians of New Rome."

Zeus seemed to mull it over for a minute, occasionally glancing at other council members, before he nodded as swiped his hand at the pair of demigods. They both glowed their respective color matching their parents before it faded and the pair stepped back with a slight bow, warm smiles on their faces.

"And the rest?" Hera asked since Zeus seemed to be buried in his thoughts at the moment while eyeing his son.

Frank and Hazel followed suite, their requests being similar but with the addition of having their curses removed, allowing both to control their lives which would hopefully be happy from now on. Next came Leo and he accepted becoming a god to work with his father, though Percy felt there was another purpose to his decision but he could ask later. And lastly they all looked to Percy as he stepped forward, noting how his father looked at him with pride. It made him smile but he knew that smile wouldn't last once his request was finished.

"Perseus Jackson," Zeus boomed as thunder crackled above making every god roll their eyes. "The council has seen fit to not only offer you Godhood but to make you the 13th Olympian. Do you accept?"

The councilors leaned forward in anticipation, his friends looking on in awe and Percy even noted the calculating gleam in Annabeth's eyes but he sighed as he shook his head.

"With all due respect Lord Zeus … I must decline," he answered much to the gasps of those in attendance. "Instead I would rather exchange my gift for a few requests."

At his words he could see the anger flash in several sets of eyes, namely Zeus, Hera, Posiedon, and Athena which made him curious as to why? Shouldn't she be happy since it would mean it would be impossible for Percy and Annabeth to maintain their farce of a relationship?

"Are you saying that you refuse such a generous offer? That being an Olympian isn't good enough?" Athena practically hissed.

'Now I see why her flaw is pride,' he thought even as he didn't back down from any of the looks. Seeing as no one else was going to speak he continued on with his request.

"My requests are simple and well within your power," he said evenly as he looked straight at Zeus.

"And what would they be?" Zeus asked with barely restrained anger in his eyes.

"One is that Hestia and Hades are reinstated as Olympians. They are the two eldest and deserve to be on the council," he replied.

Zeus reddened a little before he nodded curtly and snapped his fingers. Two thrones immediately shot up out of the marble floors, one at each end of the male and female side. One seemed to be made of living flames with the design of a hearth at the back rest. The second was made of a dark obsidian with carved skulls and faint wails of agony drifting along the surface. Before Percy could continue on with his second request he was suddenly tackled into a hug by an eight year old goddess who was continually thanking him.

He chuckled as he returned a brief hug before they separated. Just seeing Hestia's glowing smile made him feel as if all was right with the world, her flaming eyes dancing with joy. She then walked to her new throne, ascending to full godly height before sitting comfortably. Percy glanced at Hades' throne to see him materialize in it out of shadows. He gave Percy one firm nod with a faint smile, a miracle in the case of Hades, before Percy turned to address Zeus again.

"For my second and final request, I ask that all peaceful Titans such as Leto and Calypso be set free," he asked.

Silence reigned for a time as some of the Olympians looked at each other before Zeus looked at him and nodded. With that, the meeting finished and the heroes were dismissed but informed of the party that would commence in a few short hours to celebrate them … but Percy didn't really feel like celebrating.


Percy walked along the roads of Olympus, not really heading anywhere in particular. It had been a week since the battle and strangely, his father had requested him to remain in the immortal city for the week to discuss some things with him. He wasn't sure what it was about but he couldn't shake a slowly growing feeling of dread building in his gut.

Throughout the week Hestia had kept him company, helping him finally deal with the emotions left after what Annabeth did and how he found out. He's walked in on a private conversation between Piper and Jason while they were waiting for Annabeth to find the Mark of Athena. He'd eavesdropped by accident and caught the fatal words.

'I saw her once coming from the woods with her clothes messed up and limping funny,' Piper said in a whisper.

'You don't think …?' Jason didn't finish the sentence.

'I don't think … I know,' she replied in a sad tone. 'And it was always when she'd get most stressed about wanting to find Percy.'

'Then we should tell him,' Jason said firmly.

'It's not our place Jason … Annabeth has to come clean about this,' she replied.

'But …'

Percy had left before they could continue, his heart slowly cracking as he made it to his room, crying himself to sleep while he could only ask one thing, why? Even after all had happened he kept the appearance of a happy and silly boyfriend for the trip and quest, knowing that he needed to focus for now or else the world would be doomed.

Luckily Hestia's kindness and warmth helped him and he regularly stayed at her palace rather than his father's. But, as the week went by, he noticed how whenever he happened by an Olympian, they would give him an odd glance before walking off and Hestia seemed nervous whenever around him. He even caught the traces of regret in her eyes but for what, he wasn't sure. He broke out of his thoughts as he noticed that he'd walked all the way to the throne room by accident but the doors were oddly closed, peaking his curiosity.

He glanced around to see if anyone was looking before he walked to the side of the building, out of any possibly prying eyes. Throughout the week he'd lightly tested some of his new abilities and learned some tricks. With his palm firmly pressed against the side of the building he could feel every inch of the marble and stone. He could place where exactly each thrown was and even how the occupants were sitting or fidgeting in them. He focused more with his mind until an image appeared and he suddenly found himself watching the throne room from above, every word and gesture not escaping his notice.

He noted that Artemis was oddly absent and Hestia was arguing with her brothers, save Hades who looked furious about something but remained silent. He listened in as his curiosity was peaked even more.

"… You can't seriously be considering this!?" Hestia shouted at Poseidon who only waved her off dismissively.

"That upstart has dared to reject our offer again and humiliated us, something must be done!" Zeus boomed as he glared at his older sister.

"But it was his choice," Hestia countered while glaring back with steam literally coming off her. "Why can't you accept that he wishes to live a mortal life?"

"Mortal," Athena spat with disgust, "and why would anyone wish to remain in such a state?"

"For his family!" Hestia shouted back. "He wishes to remain for Sally, Paul, and his baby sister. He wishes to remain because he can protect the demigods that fought beside him for years rather than become a god and be forced to watch them all die!"

Poseidon scoffed before fixing his sister with a glare, "That won't be an issue for long."

"What do you mean?" Hestia asked suspiciously before she suddenly went pale as she grabbed her arm rest.

At the same time Hades shot up, his own features turning to shock and then horror. He seemed to pale more if possible before looking at Poseidon and Zeus.

"W-what … have you done?" he asked in a whisper as the entire room seemed to grow colder.

"Removing a foolish reason for my son to remain mortal," Poseidon answered soberly.

"Y-you … killed them …" Hestia whispered as the hearth seemed to slowly shrink in on itself.

"Not me," Poseidon answered before a silver flash happened, then Artemis appeared with some mortal blood on her hands and a cruel glint in her eyes and a faint smile on her lips.

"It is done uncle," Artemis said just before Hades roared in rage.

"How dare you kill Sally and Paul Blofis!?"

His anger was palpable enough to make every Olympian, save Hestia, shiver but even that didn't compare to the rage Percy was feeling as he listened to this.

Strike Two.

The room started to shake making the Olympians look around in alarm. Percy was starting to see red, wanting nothing more than to gut Artemis and his father, but then a familiar presence appeared in his mind.

'Percy! Control your emotions, don't let yourself be enslaved to them! I know you're angry but you can't do anything now! Please control it! I know you can!' came Nyx's voice, cutting through the clutter of his murderous thoughts.

As he settled something snapped. His anger, once a tempest of burning rage cooled until all he felt was a numb cold in him. His anger turned into a frozen hatred. He would see these monsters beg like the animals they are. He would rip apart everything they hold dear and one day, when they were literally pleading to fade, only then would he kill them. So with that thought, he settled and continued to watch as the room stopped shaking. The Olympians remained weary but soon returned to their discussion, some glancing at Poseidon to see if he had anything to do with it but he looked just as confused.

Their attention returned to a seething Hades but the god of the underworld simply turned around before muttering, "I will not be part of this," and with that, left in a burst of shadow.

Hestia was silently sobbing, looking at her 'family' in disgust but Zeus ignored it as he looked at Artemis.

"So is it properly done?' he asked to which she nodded firmly with her smile growing for a moment.

"Yes," she answered, "I've almost forgotten what it felt like to properly castrate a boy though I do regret not turning him into a jackalope and feeding him to my wolves. Oh, and don't worry, Phoebe and I made sure it looked like a monster attack."

"B-But … what about Sally?" Hestia asked in a whisper.

Artemis shrugged dismissively though she did fail to meet Hestia's gaze. "Not a maiden, none of my concern. At least I got a new baby girl to train into a proper huntress in the future."

"But that's Percy's sister!" Hestia shouted as she found her strength. "How can you kill his family and then just take the last piece of it!?"

"He's a boy, why should I care?" Artemis asked while looking back at her aunt in anger. "Besides, it's not like he'll ever know."

"But he saved you! Twice! And this is how you repay him!?" Hestia screamed as the other Olympians remained silent while watching.

"I will never owe anything to a damned boy," Artemis growled as her frame glowed silver and her grip on her arm rest tightened to the point of making it crack.

"But this is wr—"

Smack!

Everyone stood still, in shock as they looked at the scene. Poseidon stood before Hestia, his hand still outstretched after having slapped Hestia. She looked at him with betrayal and pain in her eyes, a sizable mark already forming on her cheek.

"Why?" she asked in trembling whisper. "How could you let them kill Sally? To hurt your own son like this?"

"That mortal stopped being my concern the moment she spread her legs for another man," Poseidon growled as he looked at his silently crying sister. "And I will not have her be the reason I lose my favored son!" he shouted before he returned back to his throne before adding, "And honestly I would have preferred the child gone too but I can accept Artemis taking her as long as she makes sure he never finds out."

Strike Three!

Hestia looked around the council, looking for any support but she found none. Most agreed, their pride hurt after Percy's refusal, and the few who didn't agree remained silent such as Demeter and Aphrodite. With a final sob Hestia turned before disappearing in a burst of fire, the hearth in the throne room falling barely above the coals burning in it.

Percy watched this all unfold, his hatred for the Olympians growing with every second. He silently watched as Poseidon returned to his throne. Percy was about to leave but caught the last words before his connection to the throne room broke.

"… We'll inform him of his parent's demise tomorrow before offering immortality again … and if he doesn't accept … death will be the answer …"

Percy's eyes snapped open as he looked at the marble wall before him. He glanced down to see ice had formed along his feet and where his hand had touched the wall. His hatred loomed within him, his heart beating sadly as he stepped back from the wall. He needed to leave now. He knew it, otherwise he could snap and no one that gets in his way would be spared. So he turned around, not glancing back at the grand throne room as he walked towards the path leading to the elevator. He wasn't coming back any time soon … and once he did, this city would be ash …


Percy opened his eyes again only to meet a pair of pitch black swirls looking back at him. Nyx sat before him, watching him intently as he tried to focus on his internal powers … only to go down memory lane again.

"Percy," Nyx nearly whined as she huffed at him, "Focus. We've been at this for a year now."

"I know," Percy sighed as he straightened his back and focused on the space between his palms.

So far a year had passed since he'd jumped into Tartarus … or about two and a half months in the upper world since time passes five times faster down here. In that time Nyx had explained to him her goal and why she needed him to achieve the Law of Succession. As it turned out, the law had two ways to pan out. Either through a primordial willingly naming an heir or through conquest which allowed him to permanently defeat Gaea though she wasn't completely gone yet. For lack of better terms she is in a state of limbo and will only truly fade once her heir claims her domain but Percy had decided that he didn't want it.

With Nyx's help he'd removed the 'core' of Gaea's power from himself and now she stored it away, telling him that it was his right to choose who would inherit the power and domains. Once he'd disconnected from it Nyx dropped a bomb on him that he didn't expect … granted when she said 'our successor', he should have seen it coming.

Nyx wanted him to inherit her domains along with those of Erebus, her late husband. She had his 'core' and by channeling it, she'd given Percy the full blessing of Erebus along with her own. In response to the blessings, Percy's appearance had changed again to match the new power. His irises had become midnight black like Nyx but actually looked like a swirl of flaming darkness sucking in the light while his pupils glowed a beautiful, icy blue. With it his hair mirrored Nyx's and his tan became lighter though still noticeably darker than Nyx.

Aside from his changes he'd gained an incredible control of shadows and darkness itself that could attack and snuff out any source of light or heat. He noted that any shadows he controlled became significantly colder and when shadow traveling, he left a trail of frost on the entrance and exit. But now, Nyx wanted to see him mastering the darkness and to do that, he needed to generate pure darkness rather than control a shadow.

So, for the last three months, he'd been training. Every morning he would battle hordes of monsters with a variety of swords. Claymores, sabers, machetes, katana, and any other blade design he could think of, all for the goal of making him a master of swords. Then he would rest for a few hours only to fight monsters again but this time solely with his powers and fists … which lead to fascinating discoveries such as forming shadow claws capable of slicing through even some of the toughest monsters. He occasionally used Hestia's blessings as well, usually in the form of Greek fire to bombard particularly stubborn monsters. It got to the point monsters now had to be threatened to even dare face him.

Still, the last segment of his schedule, meditating while trying to form the pure essence of his powers, was showing little to no results. Sure, his control and stamina when using his powers was only getting better but he still couldn't generate darkness and it was frustrating him. His brow was already trickling with sweat as he glared at the empty space between his palms.

"Focus," Nyx said softly as she gazed at his palms as well.

"This … isn't … working," he ground out as his hands nearly trembled from strain.

He kept at it for several minutes before releasing a defeat sigh as he dropped his hands on his lap while Nyx frowned.

"This doesn't make sense," she muttered as she looked at him. "Your control is nothing short of making you a prodigy but you can't manifest your element."

"I don't know," he replied as he gazed at his hands, "It's like … my power is pulling in different directions and trying not to mix."

Nyx quirked an eyebrow at him while motioning with her hand for him to go on.

"Maybe … let me try something different," he said with narrowing eyes as he looked at his hands.

He then separated them, pointing both palms up as he focused on channeling his power. This time he simply called on it but didn't try to control it … simply letting it flow as it wished through him. He closed his eyes as he felt the atmosphere cool around him, the sound of frost forming below him. He remained like that for several minutes until he heard Nyx gasp making his eyes snap open to see his palms … and it left him dumbstruck.

In his right palm floated an orb of fire … a black fire with small streaks of icy blue that gave no heat. In fact, Percy was sure that the fire was burning at temperatures well below zero in either degree type. Then, in his left palm floated a crystal that seemed to be formed out of shadow with similar icy blue streaks in it. Both seemed to suck in light and warmth.

"Incredible," Nyx whispered as she gingerly reached for the fire and slowly poked a finger into it.

However, she frowned when her finger was in the flame but there was no reaction or anything happening to her. She then looked at him before saying, "Percy, try to hurt me."

"What?" he asked, taken aback by her sudden request.

"Think about hurting me," she said as she gestured to her finger still in the fire.

"But …"

"Just do it," she snapped.

He sighed as he nodded before thinking of the flames harming her. Barely a second later she gasped in pain as she pulled her finger back and looked at it. Her index finger looked like it had frostbite but in the pattern of a burn with her pale skin turning a sickly mix of icy blue and black. She brought her other hand up and tried to focus her godly energy into the finger to heal it … but nothing happened. She frowned as she focused more of her power to the point her entire frame radiated shadows. Slowly her skin regained its pale tone to the point it didn't look frostbitten but the scaring remained.

"I can't believe it," she sighed as she wiped off some sweat while looking at his confused expression. "You managed to create the polar opposite of Tartarus' most deadly invention."

"And that would be?" he asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"Hellfire," she answered gravely, making his eyes widen.

He'd never had the displeasure of experiencing it himself but he'd seen the results on some monsters. Anything burned by Hellfire permanently keeps the burn marks, even after reforming and feels the ghost pains for eternity unless healed by Tartarus himself. The burns are incredibly hard to heal to the point even the Phlegethon cannot fully heal its burns in one sitting. But now, he'd created the opposite. A fire that was so cold it burned and left the victim frostbitten. He even noticed that Nyx grimaced as she twitched the finger.

"But how did I make it?" he asked as he looked at the flames in his palm again … and wondering if these flames had a similar curse to them. He'd need to figure out how to remove the curse if it did.

"My guess," Nyx started as she studied his fire, "Is that the blessings and linages in you each left aspects to fuse with your new power."

Seeing his confused face she rolled her eyes before continuing. "It seems Hestia's fire and your rare trait of Ice control from Poseidon mixed with the darkness to form this … Voidfire. And, much like Hestia, your flames will not harm those you consider family or precious unless you willingly do it." She then pointed to the crystal in his other palm. "And that is what's left of Gaea's power in you. Not only did you become partially immortal the moment you defeated her but you also gained a rare trait from her, the control of natural crystals. I'm guessing that the crystal has a similar affect to the Voidfire of yours."

"Wow," he said in awe as he looked at the manifestations of his power making Nyx giggle.

"Well, this has been an eventful evening but your luck ran out," she said ominously.

He looked at her as a cold shiver ran down his spine … odd, he couldn't remember the last time the cold bothered him.

"Now we can train with this new power and by the looks of it … I might have to pull one of my favors with Tartarus," she finished as lightning cracked behind her making her eyes glow maliciously.

'Where the hell did the lightning come form!?' he thought as he did the only thing a true man could do in this dire situation … he whimpered for mercy.


Author's Rant: Bet no one saw that coming! Percy on his way ladies and gents. Trying to make him different and original from all the other stories that he's linked to Nyx, Tartarus, or any other primordial with their blessings. Let me hear your thoughts!

A pleasure, Jbubu