When he looked at the time on the clock. It was 7:00 A.M. They had to leave at 9:00 to catch the plane. Getting up he woke Annabeth from her slumber. She awoke in an instant, blinking her eyes to adjust to the low levels of light.
"We have to get up," said Percy. "Can you go and wake Danny and Katie?" Annabeth nodded and got out of bed.
"Wait, at least put a robe on," said Percy, pointing at her to show that she was completely nude. She blushed and took a robe off the rack. Putting it on she went into the other room. Danny and Katie were sleeping in the same bed, their clothes from yesterday still on. They were turned so that they were facing the same direction, but not looking at each other. Danny's arm was around her waist. They looked so cute it was hard for Annabeth to wake them. She quietly went over to their bed and shook them both lightly. Their eyes slowly opened as they stretched and yawned.
"Get up, we have to leave in less than twenty minutes," said Annabeth. She was smiling at them, seeing them in the position they were in. Danny scratched his head, blushing, while Katie was looking innocent and blushing too.
"It's okay you two. I'm glad you worked things out," said Annabeth. She went into the other room to wash up while Danny and Katie got off the bed to pack their things up, giving each other knowing glances, the lovey-dovey kind. One or two times Danny just wanted to pull her in and kiss her, but he had to fight the urge many times, knowing the appropriate times for it. Hard to believe that all that family hate would transform into this. Now he had her as his girlfriend. Life rules.
If he was in Katie's mind right now, he'd know she was thinking the same thing. She craved to have his lips touching hers, give her that spark that she craved like a drug. But she knew, they would always have plenty of time for that later. Right now they needed to pack. Once they had packed and brushed their teeth they waited for Percy and Annabeth to get done so they could leave. They sat on the bed, waiting for them.
"So, what do you want to do?" said Danny.
"I think you know," said Katie. She leaned over and kissed him, pushing him down to the bed and laying on top of him. He kissed her back with as much as passion as he had. Little did they know was that two people were looking at them from the door. Percy and Annabeth were just looking at their make out scene.
"They musy have really come to a good understanding," said Annabeth.
"Should we intrude?" said Percy.
"Nah, let's give them five more minutes," said Annabeth.
At the airport the group were waiting to board the plane. Danny and Katie sat next to each other talking about their life and etc. Percy and Annabeth were watching them with satisfied content.
"Ever since that talk we had with them they have warmed up to each other," she said.
"They look very happy now that they aren't fighting anymore," said Percy.
"Yeah, they remind me of two people I know," said Annabeth.
"Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie?" said Percy.
"No, Seaweed Brain, us. Besides, they divorced remember?" said Annabeth.
"Oh yeah," said Percy. The attendant called for all passengers on the plane to La Guardia to board now. All passengers got on the plane. In no surprise Danny sat with Katie and Percy sat with Annabeth. All the he and Danny were still a bit uncomfortable about flying, they knew Zeus wouldn't risk destroying the gem, which was still in Danny's pocket. When the plane took off and reached cruising altitude, everyone relaxed. Danny and Katie talked about things like movies, sports, friends, and other stuff people like to talk about. Percy and Annabeth were talking about things too that are so unneeded, I don't have to type it.
Three hours into the flight.
"Danny, do you remember your dad?" she asked. A sad look passed over Danny's face.
"Yes. He was really funny, never said a bad thing about anyone, and most of all the kind of father anyone would want," said Danny. "If you met him you'd love him."
"I'm really sorry what happened," she said.
"It's not your fault. We can't change the past," said Danny. "All we look for is a better future."
"What kind of future?" said Katie.
"One with a sexy ass female," said Danny, pulling her close to him. She giggled and planted a light kiss on him.
"What do you want to do when you get put of high school?" she asked.
"I was thinking I would do geology. I'm good at it, and I like it, and they pay well," said Danny. "What about you?"
"I was going to be a writer," she said.
"You look like the person who would do that," said Danny.
"Thanks. I like to be creative and write things down," she said.
"I'm a bit of a writer myself. I have an account on Fanfiction," said Danny.
"Really? I have one too. What's your pen name?" she asked.
"Rocky53," he said.
"You're Rocky?! I love your stories," she said.
"What's your pen name?" he asked.
"BirdyatNY," she said.
"Oh my Gods! I loved your story "Redemption." That's the best Harry X Ginny story from Harry Potter I've ever read," he said.
These names and books are not real. If they are I apologize for this.
"Thanks. So what are the others going to think?" said Katie.
"About what?" he asked.
"About me and you," she said.
"They'll either be 'Finally' or 'Wasn't expecting that?" said Danny.
"You know Zetes and Calais are going to be teasing us for awhile," she said.
"True, but they better not be on a different team in Capture the Flag," said Danny. She giggled again and she put her head on his shoulder.
"Do you think the other gods are okay with this?" she asked.
"We'll know in a few hours," he said. He and drifted into sleep, her shoulder still on his and his head on hers.
The plane landed at La Guardia at 2:00 Eastern time. The flight disembarked and the group headed to baggage claim. While there they talked about what they would do.
"Once we get at Olympus we can give them the gem and we go and safe and sound, like most of the time," said Percy. Danny seemed a little off edge, not knowing what was going to happen once the other gods knew about his new relationship. Of course Zeus would be pissed beyond knowledge, but he had faith that the other gods would be more understanding.
When they collected their bags they went to the passenger loading station. They saw Argus and Grover waiting for them to take them to Olympus.
"You guys did it. Where's the gem?" said Grover. Danny pointed to his pocket. They all got into the car and the van pulled away, Argus cutting past people to get to the Empire State Building, a lot of angry horns blaring.
"So, seeing as how Danny and Katie are still alive I guess they resolved their differences," said Grover from the passenger seat. He turned around and almost jumped out of his skin when he saw Danny planing a kiss on Katie's forehead.
"Blaa-ha-ha!What happened?" he yelled. Percy and Annabeth calmed Grover down enough to tell them the story. When he heard it he was relieved yet fearful at the same time.
"What did Zeus say?" said Grover.
"We don't know yet. We're going to Olympus now. My guess this he's not really happy about it," said Percy. The van pulled up to the empire State building. They all, except for Argus, climbed out and headed in. The bald security guard was there, reading a book. When he saw Percy he immediately said he can get on, remembering all the good times they had. The group got on the elevator and Annabeth pressed the 600th floor button. As the elevator climbed up the song "Through the Fire and Flames" played. What was Apollo doing now?
The elevator came to a halt and the doors opened. Olympus looked even better than ever, the marble stones gleaming brightly. Some minor gods were running around in a game of tag with some satyrs and a Cyclops. A vendor yelled for anyone wanting to buy a copy of "The Olympus Inquiror." It was the Summer Solstice so the gods were probably already there. They headed to the Palace where the meeting was taking place.
As expected all the gods were there. Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hephaestus, Ares, Dionysus, Apollo, Hermes, Athena, Demeter, Artemis, and Aphrodite, all in there huge forms. Even Hades was there, along with Hestia. Hades sat in a black throne on the side of Dionysus while Hestia's place was with the hearth. All the gods faces were calm and devoid of emotion, except for Zeus who was glaring in Danny's direction, his blue eyes swirling like a storm.
"Heroes, and newlyweds, you have brought back the Gem of Destiny, safe out of evil hands," said Athena. She got off her throne and shrank down to human size. First she gave her daughter and Percy a hug, then looked at Danny and Katie.
"Daniel Stone, do you have the gem?" she asked.
"Yes I do Lady Athena," said Danny, taking the gem out of his pocket. The gods leaned forward a little to see it.
"Oh, and sorry Lord Hades for breaking into your son's tomb. I sealed it back," said Danny. Hades nodded, though he didn't look like he was very pleased with the news. Taran stretched his hand over to Athena's hand when the room suddenly went dark, the flames of the hearth down to a little crackling flame. The gem glowed white with light and energy.
"Daniel Stone, I have seen your soul and I know what you desire," said an ancient voice coming from the gem.
"You, child of Gaia, haunted by the dreams of your dead loved one, always tormented by the curse all Gaia's children bear. You seek to make the one god who did injustice on you suffer. You wish to overthrow Olympus and imprison him in Tartarus forever and usurp the god's powers for you and your kin to rule. All of this you can have, if you can just say you will,"said the voice. All the gods tensed up. Danny was being offered the power to do what no child of Gaia ever had, to take over. Zeus went for his thunderbolt, holding it ready in his hands. Danny's eyes seemed to glow a little so that his eyes were fluorescent. Would he accept this new power and gain revenge. His face contorted until he looked like what a conqueror looked like: power hungry, lustful, and worse, evil. Percy, Grover and Annabeth looked towards him, pleading with their eyes for him to not accept this. Only one thing caught his attention.
"Danny," said Katie. Danny's face went back to normal. He turned his head to her, seeing her eyes pleading with him not to do this. He knew what he had to do. He turned towards the gem, defiance on his face, and tossed the gem over to Athena. She caught it. The room lit up again as the flames of the hearth went back to their original heights. All the gods calmed down.
"Daniel, you have taken a great test. Why did you choose to not take the offer despite your kin doing something similar?" said Athena.
"I'm not my brothers. Their choices cannot influence me anymore. I choose to defend Olympus, not raze it," said Danny. The other gods, except for Zeus, smiled, even Mr. D! Athena even half-smiled.
"If only your kin had done that. There's also something else we must discuss," said Athena.
"What would that be?" said Danny.
"I think we all know," said Aphrodite, motioning over to Katie. "This is my department."
"Mom, you don't have any problems with it?" said Annabeth.
"No I do not. I've seen him help her on many an occasion and although it's new and not seen before, I believe they're good together. Does anyone else approve?" she said. All the gods, except Zeus, raised their hands. Mr. D did so lazily like he didn't give a care in the world, which he didn't.
"I guess you're okay then," said Percy. After bowing to the gods and saying their goodbyes the group left to go back to the van.
"Wait, I need to talk to your dad for a minute Perce," said Danny.
He rushed back into the palace, where Poseidon was cleaning a part of his throne.
"Poseidon?" said Danny. The God of the Sea turned around and smiled at him.
"Danny, what you did took a lot of guts," he said.
"Thanks. I had to make sure everyone knew that I wasn't going to end up the way my siblings did," said Danny.
"It was worth it. I'm glad you and Katie have come like this. This could help seal the wound between our families," said Poseidon.
"Technically we're all in one," said Danny.
"True, true," said Poseidon. He shook Danny's hand and went back to cleaning his throne while Danny went back. As he rounded the corner a hand seized him by his neck and pressed him to the wall.
"I can see through your little ruse boy. It may have fooled the others, but it will not fool me. I don't what you and Gaia are up to, but I'm going to find out. If you harm my daughter in any way, you're death will not be swift," said Zeus. He let go of Danny roughly and walked down the hall. Danny rubbed his neck and continued back to the group. They were waiting at the elevator.
"You okay?" said Katie.
"Yeah I'm fine, just ran into something hard," said Danny. They went back in the elevator and took it down to the ground floor. The security guard didn't even bother to look up. When demigods came down in one piece, that was the end of the story. They went into the van, where Argus grunted for them get in and drove towards Long Island.
Back at camp Chiron was waiting for them at Half-Blood Hill.
"I take it you've successfully got the gem," he said.
"You had nothing to worry about Chiron," said Annabeth.
"I also see that you two have worked out your differences," said Chiron, looking towards Danny and Katie. The two were holding hands, which caught him completely by surprise. "How did the oracle go?"
Percy one part and the purpose.
"You will go to the city where love is bright, to find the lost artifact with all your might. In the company of three you'll travel abroad, the son of the sea, the daughter of the wise, and the son of the earth with who you trod. To open the tomb of the conqueror you must. That was the tomb of Napoleon and we did open it," said Percy.
"But destroy something beautiful along with your sire's trust.We accidentally destroyed a part of the Notre Dame, and I guess my Dad isn't very happy with me right now," said Katie.
"An old enemy lurks," said Percy, "who comes from above. That was Thorn and he did come from above, figure of speech wise."
"And you will fall with one who you see as an opposite in love," finished Katie, holding Danny's hand harder.
"So it must be destined that you belong together," said Chiron. "I have no problem with it." Danny and Katie relaxed a bit.
"I am happy you got here safe and sound. And I believe you are really hungry," he said. "It's lunch time right now." He trotted off to the dining pavilion where a conch horn sound meant for the campers to come and eat. Percy, Annabeth, Danny and Katie headed there. When they walked in all the campers eyes turned to them, and even more were wide-eyed in astonishment when they saw Danny and Katie holding hands. Immediately their friends came over to them, asking for some answers.
"What happened?"
"How did this happen?"
"Did you get hit in the head?"
Danny and Katie had to tell all their friends what happened on the trip, except for the part dealing with Zeus. Once everyone got settled down they resumed to eating their meals. Katie went and got her food, offered it to Zeus, and then sat next to her brothers.
"Zetes, you owe me some drachmas," said Calais. Zetes, grumbling, took out three drachmas and gave it to his brother.
"What did you guys bet on?" said Katie.
"We bet that you and Danny would kill each other, but by the way you two were looking I really doubt that," said Calais.
"You two bet on me?!" she said.
"Yep," said the twins. Katie was a split second away from throwing some lightning at them when Danny passed by and gave her a 'Please don't do it' look. Katie stopped her train of thought and smiled at him, him returning it. When he sat down she focused back on her brothers, staring at her with food still in their mouths and shocked expressions.
"What exactly happened on that quest?" said Zetes. Katie ignored them and continued eating her meal. When the meal was done everyone got the rest of the day off. Danny decided to just chill outside his cabin, catching some rays from the sun. Someone blocked the sun he was getting and he opened his eyes to a familiar face.
"You know Katie, there are other ways to get my attention," he said. She sat down on the porch next to him.
"So how did the twins take it?" he asked.
"They were startled at first, but then they got use to it a bit," she said. Danny got up and offered her to take his hand. She took it gladly and he led her to the back of his cabin, away from prowling eyes.
"Only been dating for one day and we're already doing this," she said, her arms snaking around his back and his doing the same.
"I think the arguing we did was just us expressing this," he said. He pulled her into a kiss that she gladly returned. And so they stood there, kissing each other like eternal lovers.
