Massive waves of power rolled throughout the room before they disappeared. Percy sighed, his sea-green eyes darkening an imperceptible hue. "Chains annoy me," he stated, popping his neck. Zeus' eyes widened in shock, but otherwise, nothing else happened.

"Another war is coming, this time with-"

"Tartarus, yeah, I know," Percy interrupted, fixing Zeus with a glare of annoyance. "I was there, remember? That place has been stirring for at least fifteen years, I'm surprised you only noticed now."

Zeus frowned at his nephew's insolence. "Will you fight for us?" Percy looked shocked that Zeus actually had the guts to ask that of him after sentencing him to the Pit, enchanted or not.

"I will fight for Olympus. But I'm not doing it just for you. Your children don't deserve to die just because of your mistakes." Ares' eyes narrowed as he realized the difference between the immortal before him and the demigod he had voted to be banished. The demigod they had banished had been a hero, but this... this new Perseus was a soldier. He could respect a soldier.

Zeus leaned forward in his seat. "Will you swear loyalty to Olympus?" Percy raised an eyebrow.

"What, you don't trust me? Wonder why..." Percy spoke the last part softly with heavy sarcasm.

Zeus smiled a half-smile. "A lesson that seems to come back to me is that you should always get a solemn oath." Percy nodded. 'Deja Vu, except the positions are swapped.'

"Alright, but only if you can prove to me that you have been doing the best that you possibly could for your children in your absence. Otherwise, I'll save them and let you all die off slowly." The threat caused a ripple throughout the gods, including Dionysus who finally started paying to the meeting, remembering his children, who Percy had helped when he was a demigod. Why had he voted against the boy, again?

"Alright. We have done our best to show them all the recognition they deserve, so you shall go-" Zeus was cut off again, but this time from a more unlikely goddess.

"With me. Perseus shall go with me, father," Artemis spoke up. Seeing most of the gods' and goddesses' expressions, she continued, "When I surrounded Perseus with my Hunters, he knocked out a great deal of my Hunt in only a few minutes. They are experienced with a bow, but not so much with melee weapons. If Perseus agrees, he will train them." Zeus mulled over it for a few seconds, thinking of the pros and cons.

Suddenly, Hades entered the conversation for the first time since they had talked about bringing Percy out of the Pit. "I think that is a good idea, but only if my nephew agrees. We have no right to force him to do anything." The gods and goddesses agreed on that. Hephaestus' beard even paused from its constant burning state for a moment as he nodded. The Lord of the Seas spoke up.

"We also need to do something to repay my son for the time he wrongly spent in the Pit." Zeus looked ready to argue for a moment, but then stopped and reconsidered. It wasn't worth fighting, most likely. He also knew what his brother wanted for the immortal, most likely. "I propose we make Percy into a god." Percy instantly got into the way of that idea.

"No. Immortality was more than I wanted already, thank you. If you really want to repay me, take it away after the war ends. I am fine with training Artemis' Hunters in melee combat, as long as they are aware that I am not evil. The last time I had to counter dozens of arrows, the sky was blotted out at Thermopylae." The words seemed humorous enough, but gave a brief insight into what Perseus' life for the past two decades had been like... Or they would've, if any of the gods had been thinking along those lines. As it was, it seemed more like sarcasm than anything else.

"The demigods weren't told of your banishment before Hecate's enchantment wore off, and by that time, we had already started trying to find you so we could bring you back out of Tartarus. Instead, they were told that you were sent on missions by us, the Gods, so you have been hailed as even greater of a hero than before." Suddenly, Percy was glad that Annabeth had moved on from him. He couldn't blame her for not wanting to wait two decades for someone who seemed to have just run off.

"I understand. The place I was in... was not easily accessible." He was referring to the recreated Colosseum that he had woken up in, as well as the rest of the complex it occupied. 'So that's why it took so long...' Perseus noted. "If that's all..." He trailed off, trying to incite more conversation. Suddenly, his patron, Hestia, stood up.

"All of this, and you have still tried to do nothing to truly repay him!" She shouted at the rest of the gods and goddesses. Offering him immortality meant nothing - he already had it, and didn't want it. Demeter looked at her sister.

"Repay him for what?" She questioned, making a few people to stare at her in annoyance and dismay.

"Oh, I don't know... maybe for sentencing him to Tartarus for twenty years, or for him saving your children for the past three months? He got out of Hell, and his first thought was to help the children you all were failing to save," The normally peaceful goddess of the hearth spat, anger filling her tone. While she tried her best to be diplomatic, their constant, outrageous abuse of Perseus Jackson tore at her very essence.

The gods and goddesses started muttering, saying names of their children who had shown up at camp in the past few months. A few gods had had no children saved, such as, of course, Artemis, Hestia, and Hera, but others, such as Hermes, had had multiple. Athena's eyes started to drip as she realized that Percy had still helped her children even after what she had done to him - and no doubt the negative connotations each one held to Annabeth.

Percy snorted. "I didn't do that for you guys, so you have nothing to repay me for. Unlike some people, I don't judge progeny by parent." The last sentence was a spear through Athena's heart, while Zeus & Hades also frowned, both knowing they were guilty of such as well.

"We will... discuss reparations at a later time," Zeus commanded. "As of now, this meeting is concluded." Some gods looked surprised at the abrupt end, but didn't worry enough to care. A select few stayed, though, those being Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, Hestia, Aphrodite, Artemis, and Athena. Artemis and Athena were by the entrance to the Great Hall, talking quietly, although the topic seemed to be anything but calm. Aphrodite was waiting outside.

Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon approached Percy, the god of the Sea quickly embracing his son, the air smelling strongly of saltwater. "Percy, my child... I'm so glad to have you back." Percy looked up at his father, a genuine smile appearing on his face for the first time during the meeting.

"Hey, dad." He relaxed into the hug slightly.

His father pulled away, and looked at him sadly. "We have to catch up, soon. But now is not the time." Hades took over, although Zeus seemed upset that he did not have the chance to speak.

"As you aware, Tartarus is rising. You are, without fail, the greatest hero of Greece, Perseus." Perseus raised an eyebrow at the comment, but accepted it nonetheless. "We have brought you back to help us win this war. We are aware that we don't exactly deserve it, but we have tried to do our best to change our ways."

Zeus now began to speak. "After your... imprisonment, we reevaluated our relationships with our children. You were..." He seemed to choke on the words. "Correct in what you said after the second Titanomachy. Our children were encouraged to turn against us not because they didn't know better, but because they knew worse. Worse being our treatment, of course." Perseus stared at the god. It had taken him this long to understand that? Zeus sighed. "Yes, I know it has taken far too long. Immortals... we resist change. We hadn't seen the true consequences of our actions until the actions that led to your banishment."

Poseidon commanded the attention back to himself. "So, my child... Will you help us?" Percy laughed to himself for a moment.

"I told you guys the truth earlier - I will fight against Tartarus no matter what. Whether that is on your side, or on your children's side depends on how much you have changed over the past two decades. I still hold some anger towards some of you. That includes you, Uncle-" He nodded towards the Lord of the Skies. "-because, even if you were spelled to banish me, you have acted terribly other times as well." Zeus raised an eyebrow.

"Such as?"

"Oh, let's see..." He held up a hand, and started ticking fingers off. "Accusing me of stealing your bolt when a simple swear on the River Styx would've proved my innocence, wanting to kill me just because I was strong, failing to keep your promise at the end of the war and release the peaceful titans and titanesses, a quarter of which you've had kids with, and another quarter of which are your children. Which, by the way, ruins the lives of your children unconditionally as it violates the oath you swore to Hera, letting us-" Zeus cut him off with an embarrassed cough.

"I think I understand what you're saying." Percy could see his eyebrow twitching, but was intensely surprised he hadn't had multiple Master Bolts thrown at him by now, which was a testament to how far the King of the Gods had come in the past twenty years. Perhaps he had truly improved, after all. Hades did his best not snicker, but Percy fixed him with a glare, too.

"You've had your fair share of mistakes as well, Uncle." Hades stopped snickering, and did his best to look abashed. The lesser immortal was not incorrect, after all. "And..." Percy turned around to face his father, staring at him with hints of sorrow and, surprisingly, anger in his eyes. "You've done some less than desirable things as well, father. I had to face some of them down there." Perseus turned on his heel to leave three of the most powerful beings in the world shocked into silence.

Percy faced off against the gargantuan cat. It seemed even more powerful and bigger than it had been in the Air and Space Museum four years ago. Maybe being in Tartarus made it stronger? While it had been the size of a pick-up truck previously, it was at least the size of a large SUV now. Like, those six door kinds where you get to kick your friends in the face while climbing to the back large.

He held Riptide out in front of him. The blade glinted in the dim light. The Lion made the first move, dashing at the newly-made immortal. Percy jumped to the side, but the monster was smarter than the Minotaur, and leapt at him again. Percy knew it was useless, but swung his sword at the cat. However, his sword came back with minuscule hints of blood.

Percy's eyes widened. His super strength! He was strong enough to piece the hide now! He unleashed a flurry of blows, confusing the crowd of monsters around him, who had been cheering up until now. His strength was... fear-inspiring, to say the least. His speed and determination were only compounded by the damage he was doing to the Nemean Lion.

What he was doing wasn't supposed to be hurting it. So why was the powerful monster yelping in pain whenever it was hit? The monsters with more powerful eyesight caught sight of the droplets of blood flying before anyone else. Whispering broke out among the crowd. How strong was the famed Perseus Jackson, the Bane of Monsters, that he could pierce the Nemean Lion's pelt?

Back in the arena, the son of Poseidon let loose a fearsome blow, stunning the Lion. He tried to remember how Hercules had originally killed it. Had he had help? Percy didn't have any back-up, that was for sure. While the beast was still stunned, Percy immobilized it with his hydrokinesis, then grabbed it in a headlock, closing off its throat. It's neck was wide, though, and Percy had to stretch out all the way to wrap around it. Then... he squeezed.

While the beast didn't need air to breathe, that wasn't what Percy was going for. No, he kept squeezing until he heard a crack. And then another one. After a few more, the beast instantly went limp, its neck crushed. Percy, now covered in black blood, panted as he looked up at the rest of the monsters gathered around them. He knew, with a sinking heart, that killing a kitty wasn't the worst thing he would have to do down here. He dared the Fates anyway. "Well... who's next?"