Disclaimer- I don't own PJO or any of the characters.
Chapter 2: The Wedding
I woke up early one morning and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. Today was June 10th, wait June 10th? Today's my wedding day?! Don't get me wrong I didn't forget the date but it had come so fast. I'd keep telling myself I had more time, but now it was here. The worst part was I had completely wasted yesterday all together by sleeping. Why, you may ask. Well, the day before was my bachelor party and Grover decided to make it a blowout one. He invited practically every man we know. Well, we may have had too much to drink and towards the end Nico was making out with the waitress and Grover and Chris Rodriguez were singing "Sweet Caroline" on the top of their lungs into the microphone. And that is just what I remember. I have a feeling we had done worse things than that but I could worry about that later. Today was my wedding day. I hurried to get ready because Grover would pick me up soon. Our wedding was at noon; only five hours from now. I thought about the fact that tonight I would be a married man. It made me extremely happy but it was still kind of a scary thought. I sat on my couch and prayed to the gods that everything would be alright, I'm not sure if all of them heard me.
It was eleven-fifty-nine and I was standing nervously at the end of the isle. On one side of the church sat my mom, Paul Blofis , Annabeth's stepmom and mortal brothers, Chris Rodriguez, the Stoll brothers, all the other people that currently go to camp halfblood or had been going there when Annabeth and I had, the party ponies, Chiron, Mrs. O'Leary(I know she is a giant hellhound and all, but if all the gods/goddesses were coming so could she), a few dozen giant trees because Juniper and her friends wanted to come, all the satyrs and naiads from camp halfblood, and other miscellaneous people who we invited. On the other side of the church sitting in golden pews were the Olympians and the minor gods. Zeus sat in the front with Poseidon and Athena at his sides. Aphrodite, Apollo, Hestia, Dionysus, Hermes, Ares, Hades (what the *#%*# is he doing here, doesn't he stay in the Underworld at all times except for the winter solstice), Persephone, Demeter, Artemis, her hunters (all but Thalia), Hephaestus, Nemesis, and most of the other minor gods. All in all it was at least a couple thousand people/gods/centaurs/other were sitting in the pews. Yeah, this wasn't exactly a small wedding. Don't ask me how they all fit in just one temple; it must have been godly magic or something. Hera, goddess of marriage and Hymen, god of marriage stood behind me. They would be the ones to bless our marriage. Everyone and everything was ready to go, ready for the big event. The march started.
The first to come down the aisle were Tyson and Clarisse. Tyson had somehow shrunken to normal human size and wore a suit. Clarisse wore a long, light blue bride's maid dress that she normally wouldn't have been caught dead in. Her hair was tied back in a bun and she was even wearing makeup. Wow, she must really like Annabeth. The fact that it was a wedding procession didn't stop Clarisse from giving me one of her traditional I hate you looks, which I returned with a nod. Tyson was grinning from ear to ear and I thought he may explode from excitement. They both took their places on either side of me. Next down the aisle were Nico and Rachel. Nico wore a suit like Tyson and me. He had a strange unreadable expression on his face until he noticed his dad in the pews and then he stood up noticeably straighter. Rachel had her hair up in a bun like Clarisse and wore the perfect amount of makeup. The light blue bride's maid dress looked really nice on her. She smiled brightly at me and then she and Nico took their places beside Clarisse and Tyson. Last down the aisle came my best man and the maid of honor; Grover and Thalia. Grover wore a suit like all the men but he wouldn't break his oath not to wear fake feet or a hat to hide his horns. I'm not quite sure if the few mortals at our wedding noticed or not. They probably didn't, considering a satyr wasn't the weirdest thing at our wedding. Thalia normally looked like fifteen year old girl since she was an almost immortal huntress but she looked a lot older with all the makeup. Her hair, which she had grown much longer since she had become a huntress, was tied back in a bun like the other bride's maids. She wore the same light blue dress and I have to admit I'd never seen Thalia looking so nice. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw Apollo smile at her and wink. Artemis saw him too. She elbowed him in the gut. Thalia and Grover took their places next to the rest of the wedding party. Grover winked at me and Thalia smiled. The music stopped and then it changed. I began to shake even more uncontrollably. There was a loud chorus of gasps as Annabeth and Dr. Chase came out from behind the doors.
Annabeth looked beautiful, I mean she always looks beautiful but that day she was drop dead gorgeous. It was hard to stop myself from hyperventilating right then and there. She wore a strapless dress. The top part had beads on the edges. It had a bow on the back and embroidered roses on the skirt. The dress's long train had rows of beads on it. I won't ever be able to describe how beautiful she looked. Her hair was tied back perfectly in a bun with braids and curls. She had just the right amount of makeup. A veil hung half way down her back. She was smiling nervously at me and I smiled back. I heard my mom crying in the front row but I couldn't take my eyes off Annabeth nor did she take her eyes off me. When she and Dr. Chase reached the end of the aisle Annabeth awkwardly embraced her father. I could have sworn she was crying. When she took my hand all of my nerves left. I had never felt so happy. We walked over to Hera and Hymen. Hera smiled. I was very happy. Hymen and Hera said the greeting. Everything was going according to plan. But then Hymen said a few simple words that had the power to end my perfect day. "Is there anyone here who has any reasons these two should not be wed?"
Oh, gods, who added that line to the wedding? I looked around nervously and sure enough my dad, Athena, and Artemis were all standing up. They all shouted angrily towards Hymen. Hymen sighed, "Now, now folks one at a time." I looked towards Annabeth. She had a look of horror on her face.
Poseidon spoke first, "No offense but a daughter of Athena marrying my son, how embarrassing,"
"True, true," Hymen agreed.
Athena snarled, "You're embarrassed?" she asked. "My daughter could do so much better than that stupid scumbag you call a son," she growled. "In fact I….," but she was cut off by a loud growl from the row behind them. Athena and Poseidon sat down quickly, their expression angry but it was clear that they wouldn't stand up again because a furious and twelve foot tall Aphrodite stood behind them.
"Do you not realize how hard I worked on this romance for you to just break it up!" she said in an angry voice. "But neither of you care about my work, you decide to just ruin something I have worked years on. You've always done this. Ruined love I've put all my attention to without even caring or asking 'Hmm…, what will Aphrodite think? Not this time!" she said as she grew another ten feet. I was surprised she didn't break through the ceiling, but again godly magic. Aphrodite then turned to Artemis. "Why are you still standing up, little huntress?" Aphrodite mocked, growing yet another ten feet. As Aphrodite said this I saw Thalia
"She was a perfectly good maiden but now she's gone SHE'S GONE!!! I will never ever support this. I don't care how hard you worked on this. You ruin the minds of every maiden I try to recruit and then this happens!" Artemis said as she grew so that she stood, nose to nose, with Aphrodite.
"Ruin the minds? I save the poor girls you try to recruit for your little club. They waste their entire lives and miss out on so much. I mean seriously, Artemis, can't you see these two were meant for each other?" Aphrodite shot back.
"Bring it," Artemis said.
"Um, girls," Hera warned but it was too late.
"Look away!" someone shouted and we did just in time as the two goddesses burst into their eternal forms. I heard loud crashes and booms as the goddesses fought. "Girls, you are not to fight here, now STOP!!!" I heard Hera yell. There were a few more crashes and then silence. I looked back. Nothing seemed to have changed except for the fact that Aphrodite and Artemis were now in human size and seated on either side of the pews, both with irritated looks on their faces. Hera smiled at me. "Now, after that little interruption we can continue with the wedding," she said sweetly.
There were no more interruptions during the ceremony. It went by in a blur. Hera and Hymen read us the vows and we both answered 'I do.' We hadn't wrote our own vows because the Olympians had insisted on us using the traditional vow, and you can't argue with what the Olympians want, well this whole wedding defied what some of the Olympians wanted but we had Aphrodite on our side and the fact that the Olympians couldn't resist throwing a blowout party. We exchanged rings and I heard my mom crying even louder from the pews. All through the wedding I could feel myself getting more and more excited. Finally, Hymen and Hera said the closing words together, "We bless your marriage and pronounce you man and wife."
"You may kiss the bride," Hera said. I leaned in and kissed Annabeth. She was smiling with excitement and relief, I have to admit, I felt the same way. The crowd erupted with excited cheers as we kissed, well all except for the loud groan from Athena, the sad sigh from my father, and the irritated hiss of Artemis. When we pulled away the applause got even louder. I heard Aphrodite say something like Aw… true love while she pretended to tear up. My mom was still crying, a look of pure joy on her face.
"It is my pleasure to introduce to you Mr. and Mrs. Perseus Jackson," Hera said happily. I was laughing and so was Annabeth. With that I took her arm and we raced down the aisle. When we got outside we were immediately trampled by Grover and Thalia who pulled us into tight embraces.
"Congrats guys, I'm so happy for you!" Grover said as he switched from hugging me to Annabeth.
"Congratulations, Annabeth," Thalia said as she stopped embracing Annabeth so Grover could. Then she turned to me, "You too, Seaweed Brain," she said as she punched me, playfully on the shoulder. She was smiling but for one split second I could have sworn her expression switched to one that said, 'If you hurt her I'll kill you.'
Rachel hugged us both at once. "I'm so happy for you two!" she said. Her voice shook as if she was trying not to cry.
Nico smiled at us, hugged Annabeth, and gave me a high five. "Congrats guys!" he said. Then he said a little more quietly, "I might be a little late for the reception."
"Why?" we asked together.
"You'll see soon enough," Nico said as his eyes gleamed, mischievously.
I looked at Annabeth and she shrugged but seemed to forget about it when Clarisse embraced her. "Congratulations, Wise Girl," she said. She then punched me hard, although it didn't hurt of course. She walked away without a word and I smiled, knowing some things would never change.
Tyson picked Annabeth and me up in a huge embrace, I guess once he left the temple he was back to normal size. Annabeth laughed as Tyson rambled out something like this, "Percy, is married to Annabeth hahaha hehee!!"
I laughed, "Thanks big guy". We must have stood there for an hour as our family and friends congratulated us. Athena, Poseidon, and Artemis walked right by us as if we weren't there but everyone else embraced, shook our hands, gave me an evil glare, in Ares's case, or at least said, "Well, you could at least never come back to camp," in Dionysus's case. My mom hugged me and Annabeth tightly and even Dr. Chase awkwardly embraced us.
After that we still couldn't go to the reception yet because it was picture time. The gods had hired a magical photographer that they were in control of. We had to take about a million pictures; Annabeth and I, Us with her family, the Olympians, every god and goddess separately (even Artemis, Athena, and Dad even though they didn't look at us), my family, the wedding party and on it goes. By the time we were done we were done my cheek bones hurt from smiling, I was exhausted, and I was starving. "I never want to take another picture in my life," I told Annabeth.
She laughed, "I don't either, but just think, in an hour we'll be in camp halfblood at the reception." Annabeth was right. Almost everyone else was already there, setting up. Together with Clarisse, Tyson, Rachel, Thalia, and Grover (they'd been the last one to get their pictures taken with us and we would travel together to the reception, Nico had to go get the 'surprise') we walked toward a group of pegusai. Blackjack whinnied Hey, boss Congratulation! How was the wedding?
"Great Blackjack, take us to the reception,"
Okay, boss let's go!
As Annabeth and I got on Blackjack I noticed that Blackjack had a 'Just Married' sign tied to his tail. I laughed at that.
Everyone else got onto another pegasus. Thalia reluctantly got on hers and closed her eyes as we took off. As we begun to soar towards the reception I decided that this was the perfect time to regain my energy. I leaned down and closed my eyes. Annabeth laughed.
"Oh, Seaweed Brain," she said as she gently stroked my hair. With that I fell into a dreamless sleep as my wife, my friends, and I soared towards the reception.
I'm sorry if you hate this story because I know its not very good with numerous clichés, OOC's, and an overused plot but I seriously like it this way. I wouldn't change a single bit of it and I'm having a great time writing this. Send mean reviews if you like, I don't mind, but if you refrain from doing so I'll be happier- LOL If you do like this send suggestions, although I can't promise I'll use them. Thx