~•3rd POV•~
An hour after Percy got to Olympus the campers arrived. Everyone got seated and waited for Percy to come join them. He smiled at the now sleeping Hestia, and picked her up bridal style and made a couch out of ice, with snow cushions. He laid her down with her head on his lap and motioned them to begin the meeting.
Zeus cleared his through, "Well, is that Percy is... situated, let's begin the meeting." He said throwing a questioning glance at Percy, who just shrugged and went back to playing with Hestia's hair. Zeus shook his head at his nephew before turning back to the conversation.
"Let us begin discussing the attack at camp. I agree with Percy, when he said that the attack wasn't random. It was organized. They had ranks and a designated leader. If Percy had not shown up when he did, I don't think we would have made it out without heavy losses." Athena said, earning many nods in agreement.
Percy blushed at what she said. "It wasn't that bad was it, I mean I didn't even show my full power and it only took a few minutes." Percy asked. Everyone stared at Percy in shock at what he said. He killed a few thousand monsters in a few minutes, and he wasn't even using all of his power. Just how strong was he?
"Not your full power?! How strong are you!" Zeus exclaimed. "Umm, I'm not that strong..." Percy said shyly. Thalia scoffed, "Not that strong, you did something a minor god would have had trouble doing, when you weren't going fully at it. Not that strong my ass!" Percy's blush deepened. "Percy, if you were to have to put how much of your max power you used in the battle, what would you put it at?" Athena asked.
"Umm, I don't know. Maybe 25% give or take?" He half asked. Everyone stared in disbelief at Percy. He had grown more powerful than anyone could have imagined him becoming. He just looked at the floor in embarrassment.
Zeus was the first to break out of his shock and said, "Well, as Athena was saying, they were too organized to be a rogue group of monsters. There has to be someone behind the attack. Does anyone know who it might be?"
"Well, how about you tell me some information about recent monster activities, to help narrow down the suspects?" Percy asked.
"Good idea Percy. Well, monster attacks have increased recently, specifically at night. We have also been getting reports from Hades that something is traveling in and out of Tartarus. The days have been getting darker and shorter too. That's about it." Athena said
Percy thought about who it might be. He stimulated the part of his brain that affects his processing speed, to help him think faster. After a few minutes of thinking Percy narrowed it down to one main suspect. Percy paled when he came to his conclusion.
Poseidon noticing his son's sudden paleness worriedly asked, "Percy, what's wrong." This made everyone look at Percy curiously. Percy nervously said, "I narrowed the suspects, that I could think of, down to one main person." Athena frowned at how he was able to come to a conclusion faster than her and asked, "Well, who do you think it is?"
"I believe it is Nyx, Primordial goddess of Night." Percy said with a frightened tone. The room broke into chaos as everyone shouted and screamed at each other. Some were denying that is was her, some were trying to prove it was her, and some were just screaming in fear. Percy had to use some water to plug Hestia's ears, so that she wouldn't wake up.
After a few minutes Percy got tired of all of the shouting. He used his powers to make the couch he was on float a foot above the floor, then caused a small earthquake to form in the throne room. The earthquake wasn't big enough to cause damage, just enough to knock people off their feet.
When the earthquake stopped everyone got to their feet and looked accusingly at Poseidon. He just shook his head and pointed at the still levitating Percy. Percy slowly lowered the couch before checking if Hestia was still asleep. Thankfully she was still asleep, so began to play with her hair again.
"Now that you are done screaming like toddlers, we should discuss what has been said." Percy said looking pointedly at the now embarrassed crowd. "Right, thank you Percy. Now would you like to explain your claim?" Zeus asked.
"Sure. As you all know, Nyx is the primordial of Night. This would explain the darker and shorter days, also the attacks at night. Her Mansion is located in Tartarus, meaning she would have to go in and out of Tartarus to rally troops. She also has a small grudge against Olympus." Percy explained.
"What grudge does she have against us?" Athena asked. "Well we did just put her sister to sleep again, and Annabeth and I may, or may not have stumbled upon her Mansion in Tartarus, and tricked her, thus making her pissed at us?" Percy said while rubbing his neck in embarrassment.
Zeus looked at Percy with an eyebrow raised for a minute before sighing and saying, "Only you Percy, only you." Percy just smiled sheepishly before Athena spoke up. "Well it seems all evidence points towards Nyx, so we should prepare for the worst. We need to begin setting up defenses at camp and Olympus. We should increase the campers training."
Everyone agreed with her plan, as always. After a few minutes Chiron spoke up. "That is a great plan Lady Athena, but I am the only trainer at camp, and as it is my schedule is full of training. I won't be able to train the campers any faster than I already am, I'll need assistance to do that."
"Very well, we shall find someone to help you in training the campers. Any suggestions?" Athena stated. Everyone began to talk between themselves quietly, as to not cause Percy to silence them again.
While they were all talking a voice broke them out of their conversations. "I'll do it." The voice said. Everyone in the room looked over to Percy in confusion. "What makes you qualified to teach them?" Athena asked curiously.
"Well, I have mastered over a hundred different styles of combat, ranging from hand to hand combat, to sword to sword combat. If Chiron were to teach archery, I could teach everyone close combat skills." Percy explained.
Athena thought about it before saying, "While I do not doubt your combat skills, how will you teach three hundred campers at the same time?" Percy just smirked and created ten ice copies of himself before saying, "I can create copies of myself, then put the part of my mind that controls the copy into my subconscious, thus giving it a mind of its own, in a way." Each copy said a different part of the sentence.
Athena looked intrigued and asked, "How many can you make?" Percy chuckled, "A lot, I'll be able to make one for each camper, giving them 1 on 1 training, making the training even faster." Athena looked like she wanted to ask more questions, but Zeus cut her off. "All in favor of Percy helping train the campers?"
Everyone rose their hands. "Very well, you will start training tomorrow." Percy nodded to Zeus. "Now anything else for the war council?" Zeus asked. When no one spoke up Zeus began again, "Well then, I declare this war meeting over. Now, Percy, would you like to tell us about your last six years?"
Percy nodded and was about to begin when an anger voice spoke up from the doors of the throne room. "Perseus Jackson!" Everyone looked towards the voice, only to see a very angry Khione. Percy smiled and used some water to make a case around him, then teleported in front of the couch. The water held up the still sleeping Hestia when Percy left.
Percy started walking toward the fuming goddess. "Hey snow cone, how have you been?" Percy asked. She seemed to grow even more angry when he used the nickname. "You didn't contact me for five years! You said you would contact me when you could! I thought you got hurt, or worse!" She said almost in tears.
Percy felt really bad, he never meant to cause her harm. He walked over to her and surprised everyone by hugging her. She cried into his chest as he hugged her. He whispered into her ear about how he was ok, and that he would never leave her again.
After a while she pulled back from the hug before saying, "It's good to see you, I missed you a lot." Percy smiled and replied, "I missed you too sis." When everyone heard this they gasped. Everyone thought Khione couldn't stand people, little lone love them.
Percy extended the couch and led Khione over to it. He teleported back into the water casing and removed it. Hestia's head lowered onto his leg and Khione sat next to Percy and cuddled into his side. He put an arm over her shoulder and she rested her head on his arm.
After he got situated he began to tell everyone about his adventures. He told them about Canada, Italy, Japan, Austria, and finally the Mariana Trench. Everyone listened with interest while he told his story. No one dared interrupting him, in fear of him stopping telling the story.
Hestia slept through the entire story, but Percy wasn't worried about her not hearing his story. He told her everything before the meeting. Percy enjoyed her body heat on his leg, and playing with her hair. He was really beginning to enjoy her presence. He felt more complete with her near him.
When he finished his story it was getting dark. The gods decided it would be safest if they teleported the campers to camp, seeing as it was night. Percy requested Annabeth stayed behind for a little bit. When they all left Percy picked up Hestia and made a bed of water by the hearth. He heated the water to a comfortable heat before laying her down on it and turning to Annabeth. Khione had left saying her father requested her presence.
Percy made two chairs out of ice and motioned for Annabeth to sit. She sat down hesitantly, but relaxed when the ice wasn't cold to the touch. They sat in silence for a minute before Annabeth spoke up. "I'm sorry Percy, I hurt you by thinking only about myself." She said sadly. Percy smiled and said, "Its ok Annabeth. I forgave you years ago."
She seemed to brighten up as he said that. "Look Annabeth, I may have forgiven you, but I don't think we can go back to the way we were before." Percy said sadly. She nodded having accepted the fact they couldn't be together a long time ago. "While we can't be together like that anymore, I still want to be your best friend. We have known each other since we were twelve, and nothing can break the fact I care for you, as a friend, if not a sister." Percy said.
Annabeth looked up at that before jumping out of her chair and crashing into Percy, hugging him harshly. She repeated "thank you" over and over again till she let go. She smiled genuinely for the first time in years. She kissed Percy's cheek before leaving.
When she left Athena walked out of the shadows. Percy didn't look surprised and he greeted her. She smiled and sat in the chair Percy made for Annabeth. "I wanted to thank you. Annabeth hasn't been the same since you left. I know it wasn't your fault, and I want to thank you for what you just did." She said genuinely.
Percy smiled at her and said, "You don't need to thank me. I did what was right for both of us. What I said was true, I can't imagine a life without her, in one way or another." She smiled before saying thank you one last time and leaving.
Percy sighed and walked over to the hearth. He smiled at the sleeping figure before going up to her and kissing her forehead. She smiled at the contact and snuggled up to the snow blankets. Percy made the blankets out of snow, it wasn't cold because he didn't want it to be, so it was like a thin silk.
He created a small mat by the side of her bed and sat down meditation style. He smiled when he heard a cute snore come from Hestia. He straightened his back and began the process of starting a death trance. He fell into the trance thinking about how he would start training the campers in the morning.