Well, well, well… so Percy got dumped. Guess we all saw that coming.

NOT!

But no, really? Percy was always oblivious to the minds of women and what went on inside them. In Annabeth's case, even more so. Tartarus really did damage them both and none of their 'rents, mortal or godly ever got them the kind of help that both of these two children really needed. And Dionysus was less than no help at all, predictably enough. Athena even less. She saw this coming and… did… NOTHING.

Welllll, not for Percy anyway. And Poseidon?

Let's look in on Percy's favorite fishing buddy and the rest of the big old happy go lucky family…

And by the way, I have no rights to PJO, PJHOO, Apollo's Oracles or anything else therein. That's just Uncle Rick Riordan at work for ya! But this plot is most definitely mine! By the by, no one faith is being shoved at anybody here. Insofar as this tale is concerned, it's two 'pantheons' and one man's choice… or choices?

Percy's New Path. Chapter 3

July 2012

Annabeth woke up into the fifth hour of her flight over the Atlantic Ocean. She was about to land at Orly airport in Paris, and was a little stiff from having slept in a sitting position for most of a very short night.

The beautiful blonde deliberately took the red-eye flight out of JFK airport in New York City and she had a connecting flight that would take her on to Athens in Greece. She planned things so that there would be at least a five-hour layover in Paris; she wanted to squeeze in a little shopping before continuing on.

Even though she'd dressed down for the flight in order to be comfortable, she had been pestered by a couple of European men who were absolutely determined to get a phone number or an address where she'd be staying. They had both insisted they could show her "a world she never knew existed" if she would only let them take her out, either one alone or both together.

Nope! (pop that "p")

The one fellow who had said that to her, an Austrian named Gunther almost drew semi-hysterical laughter from the already very upset young woman, and even his partner Alois chuckled at the so very obvious pickup line.

No, Annabth was still emotionally all over the place after leaving Percy the way that she did. And mentally she wasn't in a good place at all. Dating other people was a loooong way off.

Her mother tried to convince her that this leaving this way was the best way to go as "it would provide for the least amount of conflict between herself and the son of Poseidon". Athena had a plan to get on top of Percy before he could get destructive with his earthshaker powers and his water control powers.

When Percy got angry, his hydro-kinesis powers were positively deadly as were his Earthshaker powers. He'd used these powers in battle many times and it had caused the deaths of tens of thousands of monsters, and literally hundreds of demigods who had all dared to oppose Olympus openly in war. Not to mention blowing up Mt St Helens over some telekhines. Percy always regretted having to use them, but when the occasion arose he just went ahead and did it. He didn't even think about it.

That was the nature of War. And also of Percy.

Athena had assured Annabeth that she would take care of Percy along with Dionysus and help from Hestia as well, not to mention more help from Percy's father. This was the most powerful demigod in human history and there was no sense trying to say anything otherwise. It was going to take the four of them just to keep him somewhat calm. And also getting him to relax and become conscious of what he might wind up doing if he wasn't careful.

Annabeth didn't want to leave him this way, and the best part of her didn't want to leave at all.

But another part of her wanted to leave even more than that and she knew that if she didn't jump on this chance she might never get it again.

The bottom line was that between all the terrible memories she had to deal with every night, memories brought on just by Percy's presence not to mention memories brought on by the horrific fighting and the horrific environs alone of the Pit as well as having to deal with Percy's even worse memories, his feelings of responsibility for the death of every demigod killed in the Titan and Giant wars, as well as the conflicts between Romans and Greeks and how he felt he was responsible for not stopping it all, the young woman just could not cope anymore.

Her mother knew that if she didn't get her daughter out of there, Annabeth would break down completely and that beautiful mind of hers, that sharpened and wonderful tool that was a tribute to both Athena and Frederick Chase would be lost forever in the twilight of her own grief and anguish. Even Frederick agreed with this. He wrote Annabeth and offered her a place with her family for as long as she liked.

But Annabeth knew that Percy would go looking for her there before he went anywhere else. So no, not an option, unfortunately.

There was just no easy answer here, and that was the bottom line. And it didn't make things any easier for Annabeth that both Dionysus and Hestia agreed with Athena and her take on the whole matter.

But the one thing that tipped Annabeth into going ahead with it was the fact that even Sally Jackson agreed with the four gods as well. Sally knew how broken they both were and had seen them in their nightmares when they slept over, and she was truly frightened for them both. She'd called on Hestia and Poseidon to talk with her. Paul had sat in on that discussion and his opinion was the same as his wife's.

It was a warm May evening in 2012. You could smell the strawberries blossoming as well as the beautiful smell of roses, jasmine, and other assorted wonderful flowers and herbs coming from the Demeter cabin. The smell of lilac and lavender often served to calm Annabeth, and often enough it helped Percy to calm down sometimes as well.

Lately, Chiron had given permission on a standing basis for Percy and Annabeth to come out of their cabins at any time of the night that they wished, and the harpies had all been made aware of it. The two lovers would often just meet over by the fire pit at the dining pavilion and sit together, holding hands and not saying anything.

They each drew a lot of comfort that way from the other, and sometimes Hestia would sit with them and they would all talk.

Or not.

Sometimes the goddess would make hot chocolate for all of them and they would just sit comfortably together, feelings of home and warmth washing over them like waves. Percy and Annabeth both loved those nights.

On several occasions they found themselves in bed together the next morning, and not in their own cabins. They didn't have any memory of going back to Percy's cabin and falling asleep and it turned out that Hestia simply put them to bed after they fell asleep sitting up with her. After each of those instances they got the best sleep that they'd had in a very long time. It seemed as if Hestia was the only goddess trying to help them.

But something is better than nothing and Hestia at least was putting in the effort. Unfortunately, even with all the efforts that she was putting into this, she knew that she needed much more for the both of them. She was able to feel their emotions and their memories and they would both sink into these and would often describe them to her as they all sat there together; it was all still so raw and real.

Hestia determined that something had to be done and she decided to speak with her younger brother and thence with Annabeth's mother, her niece.

It was about two weeks after that night that Poseidon put in one of his 'obligatory fatherly' appearances at cabin three.

"Hello son. How are you feeling?"

"Dad! Hi! I didn't know that you were here! I just got out of the shower, so please pardon me for not being dressed! If you give me a minute I'll put on some shorts and a t-shirt and at least then I'll be decent".

Percy blushed a little bit, not being used to his father visiting when he was not dressed. He had never belonged to a YMCA or any other gymnasium, and never got undressed in front of anybody. Not even Annabeth. They hadn't "gotten there" yet. Percy sensed that she didn't want to "go there" so far, and he didn't want to push her at all. That wasn't how you treated a woman who you were supposed to love, or at least respected.

The truth was that while he absolutely respected Annabeth and they had been friends for years, their "little fling" wasn't really so much of a raging love affair as everybody thought it was. At least not for him. He did sense a little more coming from her than he thought he was putting in, but the truth was that at the point he was at emotionally he just didn't want to lose the one touchstone, the one anchor in life that he really had. He didn't know what he would do without her.

As things really stood, Grover was a really good friend and he loved the heck out of the guy, but he had more in common with Jason Grace than he did with Grover Underwood. And Percy had far more in common with Annabeth than he did with Jason or with Grover. He found Annabeth amazingly easy to talk to for the most part, but he felt that sometimes she wanted more from him than he was ready to give.

Tartarus had destroyed more than any one of them could even suspect.

Percy had lost the ability to truly love.

"So Percy, I understand that you've been having a hard time lately What with all the memories of that terrible place". Even his own father didn't want to call Tartarus by it's own name.

"Yeah, it's been rough lately dad, really really rough. Truth is, I've been having a lot of trouble sleeping. I wake up a lot in the middle of the night".

"Really? I had heard from my brother 'the king', that his daughter Thalia was here recently along with the rest of The Hunt. They were going out on night exercises when they heard screaming coming from here, this cabin. Thalia ran to check it out and when she opened the door, you were sitting up in your bed screaming and yelling at some goddess to "stop the poison". You would do anything she wanted "but don't hurt Annabeth". They could not wake you.

"My niece the goddess, looking on you soothed your dreams. She called on Morpheus to take you deeper into slumber and away from the realm of dreams. She shined her Moonlight upon you so that you would know peace in your rest that night. She told me that after that you did go back to sleep and turned over, but she never ever saw a nightmare like that in all her millennia of existence.

"She was truly shaken, son.

"Thalia was shaking terribly and did not want to leave your side. Artemis convinced her to leave you be and let you sleep, and explained what she did to help you. Truly, my niece was concerned that if Thalia stayed by your side that night she would get so involved in your life that she would find it impossible to continue on in The Hunt.

"My brother would not approve of that, as his daughter bears a tremendous responsibility for The Hunt and has done an excellent job, so far. She has led them in battle and has fought with you side by side and back to back on a number of occasions. She was injured at the Battle for the Throne Room and has acquitted herself with honor at all times.

"And although no one else has said anything to me so far about this I would know for myself if you have any feelings for Thalia of a romantic nature. Or perhaps she simply has feelings for you and it's all one-way?

"Please do tell me son, because you seem to be in pain from a great many different directions and it's finally reached the point where even the council is aware of it. I don't need to tell you how little they take notice of what's going on even under their own noses here at camp. If it weren't for the fact that my brother depends upon the demigods as an army, he wouldn't even think about you. That's just how he is. He does love his daughter however, and only wants what is best for her. Whatever that is."

Wow! Percy was just blown away by all this. This was just about the longest conversation that he'd ever had with his father and certainly the most in-depth. Poseidon was right in saying that Percy had a lot on his mind, and it did seem to be coming from all different directions at once.

But this sudden caring attitude by a father who had barely ever talked to him, a father who had barely ever seen him that he was aware of?.. Percy just couldn't figure out why what he was feeling mattered so much to this man, this god who had seven-tenths of the world to take care of in his domains. How did Percy fit into any of this? Had Poseidon spoken to his mother yet?

"Dad, have you spoken to Mom yet about me?"

"Well, a little. Both your mother and Paul seem to think that you and Annabeth were trying to handle whatever was happening between you by yourselves, and all was not well with you both. They told me that you had been by and stayed a few days and spoke to them. But I could see that something was wrong; it was in their eyes.

"And when I asked about it your mother told me how one night you had such a terrible nightmare that you woke up screaming at the top of your lungs. Your next door neighbor knocked on the door and asked if she should call the police. Annabeth took to your bed and calmed you down that night and your mother permitted this.

Your mother is very upset Percy. And although both she and Paul defended you completely, they are both very, very worried.

"And after an incident like that, can you blame them? I know that you've gone through hell and back quite literally and figuratively. But you need help son, and so does Annabeth. And very badly. I don't know who needs what, and I'm certainly not an expert on personal relationships, which we both know. But I do know it's time for you both to get outside help".

Percy laughed slightly at that "personal relationships" comment, and his father grinned at him. Just then the god of the Oceans did something that Percy never thought he would do; he put his arm around Percy's shoulder and pulled him into a very warm hug.

"I know that I haven't been a very attentive father for a long time Percy, but I did it in order to keep you safe. If I had continued to come around as much as I did when you were just a tot, my brother would have found out about you and he might have killed you. He tried to kill your cousins Nico and Bianca and did manage to kill their own mother. It almost led to open warfare between my older brother and the King. That one act DID trigger off what the mortals refer to as 'World War 2'".

"I didn't want that to happen over you and your mother. If that had happened it would have meant War to the death between he and I. And I never would have given up until I took his life. He knows that. And now you do too. Sometimes my son, you have to do things that you don't want to do in order to keep the peace in this world. And for a god that is our most important job. And for a father and the lover of a good woman, it's even more important than that. Are you beginning to see why I could not come around when you were much younger?"

Percy ran his hands through his hair and grabbed the back of his neck with his hand, massaging his neck. He was getting a headache from all this talk. He didn't want to hear a bunch of excuses for old history, because the bottom line was if he could not ensure that he was going to be there for any child of his, he'd much rather just not be a father.

He would rather not have a wife and child in his life just to condemn them to the kind of life that he had growing up. It wasn't the worst life he could have had, but it sure wasn't anything to write home about. That was the chief reason he'd turned down godhood at the end of the Second Titanomachy. But what could he say to his father? He resorted to platitudes.

"I do understand Dad, I really do. And I know that you did the best that you could with the tools that you had. It's just that the life that I had as a child was a lot less than the life that I really wanted. I wanted a dad who could come over and play catch with me or take me out for a slice of pizza. I wanted a Dad who I could talk to whenever I needed to, and I wanted mom to have someone there for her everyday too. Can you see my side of this? Because there's always two sides to every story you know".

Poseidon smiled softly and looked at his son and shook his head gently. "Where did you get all this wisdom from my son? You have said everything that was in my heart, and for every argument that I had in my own favor I know that I did not have an excuse for doing what I did. The worst thing about it was that I couldn't train you up when you were a child. And a good father would have done that.

"We Olympians are stuck with a lousy system and a lousy king. I love my younger brother, he took an enormous risk getting us out of our father's belly and he took even more risks leading us into combat. But he's stuck by what it was that he wanted, and any changes we then made for this this world were all for the better as a result… then.

"He may seem pompous and foolish at times and he may seem sometimes to be something of a horse's ass, but he's still my brother. And as much as we fight and argue, I still love him. We didn't treat our older brother Hades very well, but I love him too.

"I have an idea, if you're willing; why not come down to Atlantis and train with me for a while? You know the Atlanteans do want to get to know you better, and they all know of your exploits. There's even a statue of you outside my palace now, right in front of the public doors!

"I issued a proclamation a few months back stating that you were known on the surface as the Hero of Olympus and that you were truly worthy of any gifts that the gods wished to bestow, but you'd chosen less for yourself and more for others. How you'd unselfishly made things better for all demigods. This proclamation is inscribed on an Atlantean Silver plaque upon the plinth of your statue.

"I told them all about you and the general consensus is that you're very special. Everyone does want to get to know you, and even my wife and your older brother want to get to know you better. I think that if you treat them with respect they might just treat you with real respect".

Percy smiled at this as the idea really did appeal to him. He'd always wanted to spend time with his father in training himself up as well as getting help from his father and from his older brother in learning to use his powers better. This all did really appeal to him. But he didn't want to leave Annabeth by herself.

He worried for her and he worried about her nightmares, her dreams and the fact that if they were separated they might have no one to go to who could understand or help them, either of them. So he decided to talk to Annabeth about it and maybe get permission for her to come down to Atlantis with him. But this was not what Poseidon wanted. He felt that some time away from Annabeth might break the cycle of the bad dreams because if she wasn't there, he might not think about what happened quite so much. Or at least that was his theory. But he didn't want to scare Percy off by saying no right away so Poseidon thought about it for a moment, and then turned to his son

"I have no problem with Annabeth visiting for a while, but I do not know how her mother will feel, and Annabeth is within her mother's domain. You will have to get permission from Athena for Annabeth to visit with us and then only for the amount of time that Athena indicates is acceptable.

"What you have to remember Percy, is that Athena and I have a rivalry that goes back thousands of years and she may not want Annabeth below the surface of the oceans where she cannot see her or know what's happening with her. Mothers can be like that with their daughters you know. But I would say try".

So Percy took his father's advice and he tried. He made an appointment to go see Athena, and she listened quietly and looked at Percy very seriously the whole time, nodding her head and acting for all the world as if she thought that it was a good idea.

And then she said no

"Annabeth is to me what you are to your father. She is precious Perseus, and I will not risk her under 7 miles of ocean. A lot can happen to her down there and you will not be able to stop what you are doing as you will be training. Annabeth cannot breathe underwater, or have you forgotten that little fact? And insofar as you would not wish her ill, all the good wishes in the world will not help her if she is choking for air and the water pressure closes in on her and squashes her flat like a piece of paper".

Percy couldn't argue the point so after some few mildly argumentative remarks, he finally apologized "for wasting her time" and he got up and left. It never occurred to him to ask for his father's blessing for Annabeth so that she could exist below the waves. He resolved never to approach Athena again.

Ever.

Percy felt that his father would have offered to do it if it were at all possible anyway but since he did not, maybe it wasn't possible. Percy didn't think that Annabeth living in an air bubble would exactly appeal to her when they might be down there for several weeks. And she wouldn't have any freedom of movement anywhere in this city since the entire city was open to the oceans. All the Atlanteans breathed water.

That was one of the big differences between them and surface dwellers of course. And all the legends of them being able to breathe air and breathe water were so much garbage. They were water breathers and the surface people were air breathers and never the twain shall meet. At least not this time.

Percy started to head back for the elevator that would take him down to the street level when he got a sudden urge to visit the throne room. He wanted to visit the throne room more than anything and could not have told you why.

When he got there he saw then it was almost completely empty. Apollo and Hermes were sitting in their thrones, playing chess. Both gods heard him come in and looked up at the same time. Apollo called out first.

"Hey cuz, how you doing today? You have a meeting with somebody Perce? We can take this game elsewhere".

Hermes looked over at Percy and realized he was very bothered about something. Hermes had taken a real shine to Percy after Luke died, and they had grown closer than most, becoming truly friendly. He walked over to Percy and put his hand on Percy's shoulder.

Hermes was about 2 or 3 inches taller than Percy and could see that something was really wrong. He thought he knew what it was, it was that damned pit. But there was more to it than that. Hermes knew that whatever was bothering Percy had to be bothering Annabeth just as much.

Luke had always loved Annabeth like a younger sister, and Hermes was very well aware of his son's feelings for the younger woman. Hermes was very happy that Percy and Annabeth were together, because he was very protective of Annabeth and in his heart, Percy was the best man for her.

"Hey Big Man, what's shakin? Are you okay? Cuz you don't look it".

Percy looked back at Luke's dad and just smiled a sad smile.

"I was up to see Athena about something and then I got a sudden urge to come here but I don't know why I did".

The messenger god thought that he knew why. He could feel another presence in the room and he looked over at the hearth. Sitting there was his eldest sister, Hestia. She was in her adult form now, and was absolutely ravishingly beautiful. She was dressed very modestly and Hermes could swear that she looked a lot like Sally Jackson right then. Hermes was well acquainted with Sally, had brought many messages to her from Poseidon over the years as Percy grew up.

Percy's eyes followed his and Hermes registered the fact that Percy looked shocked. he thought that he was looking at his mother for a minute and then Hestia looked over at Percy.

"Come to the hearth Perseus, come and sit with me. Come home to me. I have hot chocolate for you and we can talk for a while or just sit together".

Percy just smiled and excused himself and walked on over. Both gods looked at each other and shimmered out of the throne room immediately. They realized that their sister had to talk to Percy and they both knew what was going on with the demigod.

This was private business between Percy and Hestia, and Athena and Poseidon. It wasn't up to them to get involved although both of them knew that they would like to help Percy. But neither of them knew how exactly to help.

They both felt a little bit lost in this, and Hermes reflected that as lost as he felt, Percy had to feel a lot more lost than that. And he was absolutely correct. Right then Percy felt absolutely lost beyond any level of reason.

And very soon, it would be worse. ''Way worse.