Chapter 3

A/N: Ok, first of all, thank you for your reviews on this story. I seem to be getting more than with Back in time, so I'm on the fence about my decision to really delete it or not. Until I figure that part out, I hope you like it.

Percy: I just got out of the shower, and the first thing I see is Zeus talking with Thalia and Nico. What just happened?

Me: Hades let slip their unofficial relationship

Thalia: My father is so embarrassing! He is planning to have 'The Talk' with me sometime this week

Nico: Now I wish I was still in the Underworld.

Annabeth: I lost track of the Stolls the minute they heard Zeus say 'The Talk'.

Me: Why do I have the feeling that they recorded your conversation?

Annabeth: I wondered why I was missing something.

Thalia and Nico: STOLLS!

Me: You may notice a few missing Stolls over the next few hours, so let's just get this started. I don't own PJO or HoO. By the way, when I watch Harry Potter, I immediately think about PJO. Think about it, Harry, Ron and Hermione are the PJO gang. Strange.

Percy: I knew I wasn't wrong!

Annabeth: No, you both are. It's obvious that we are nothing alike.

Me: Wanna bet?

ON WITH THE SHOW!

3rd POV:

Poseidon and Hephaestus were in the forges in Mount St. Helens. Ever since the Giant war ended, Hephaestus tried to improve his social skills, which included being a friend for Poseidon. The blacksmith was busy with a small invention while Poseidon looked around the workshop. Apparently, the new decade brought about new technology, so Hephaestus was enjoying his work more and more.

Poseidon looked around, and spotted an old CB radio. He picked up the transmitter, and clicked a few buttons. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," Hephaestus said.

Poseidon looked back at the blacksmith. He didn't take his eyes off of his latest invention, so he continued to click the buttons. "I said stop it."

The god of the seas chuckled. "What's going to happen?"

He clicked one more button, and the radio exploded in purple goo. The explosion scattered a few tools across the forge, but Hephaestus seemed unshaken. In fact, it looked like he completely ignored it. "At least I know it still works," he mumbled to himself.

Poseidon wiped away the goo from his face. "What the Hades was that?" he asked.

Hephaestus chuckled, and set his invention down. "That was one invention that Hermes begged me to make. He says that it's perfect for his sons when April Fool's day comes around," he said. "I was completely against it, but who could resist making an exploding radio?"

Poseidon chuckled, and set what was left of the transmitter down. "You need a little less BOOM! and more goo. It felt like there was a lot of gunpowder in that one," he said.

The blacksmith smiled, and returned to his work. "I believe my wife is at it again," he said.

"What do you mean?" Poseidon asked.

Hephaestus chuckled, and pointed at his head with a screwdriver. "Aphrodite got to you. She wants you to get with Lady Athena again," he said. "Can't you feel her power over you?"

He shook his head. "Anyway, can you tell your wife to stop bugging me? For the past 2,000 years, she's been trying to get us together for some strange reason. I'm getting sick of it," he grumbled.

Hephaestus chuckled. "When it comes to love, she won't stop. Eventually, someone will crack and her master plan will finally be successful," he said. "And besides, how come you both won't even think about it? You know that a part of you wants this to happen."

Poseidon crossed his arms. "I don't know. Besides, I hate Athena! I tried to make amends last year, but she doesn't accept it when my son proposes to her daughter. Even she must know that they love each other," he said.

Hephaestus groaned. "Don't get me started. When your son blew up my forge in Mount St. Helens, that Athena child kept babbling about how she wants to know if he's alive or not. How she's been having feelings for him and all that love talk. I can't stand all this love talk for so long, yet I still love my wife, even if she's going out with that blockhead," he said. "Anyway, why don't you get with Athena?"

"Because she's a know-it-all! She makes me feel stupid, especially when it comes to my son. Especially my son. She thinks that he was born with a premature brain or something, and how I was lucky to fall for an intelligent mortal woman," Poseidon said. "Besides, she wanted to give him a box with a brain in it, saying that she finally found it! Sometimes I want to pitch myself off of Olympus every time she makes that joke!"

The blacksmith shook his head, and screwed the final bolt in his project. He picked up the object, and walked over to the god of the seas. "Lose the arm for a minute," he said.

Poseidon raised an eyebrow, but willed his arm to disappear. Hephaestus grinned as he approached Poseidon's missing arm. In his hands was a metal forearm with sharpened fingers. The end had over a hundred nerve endings hanging off of it.

The nerve endings immediately locked on to Poseidon's stub, and sank into his skin. Droplets of Ichor oozed out, but Poseidon felt little to no pain. He pushed the arm further into the stub, and then twisted it. There was a loud click as the arm shifted into place. "Try to move your fingers a little bit," he said.

Poseidon looked confused, but he willed the fingers to move. Sure enough, the metallic fingers moved without a problem. He stared at the arm in shock, and looked up at Hephaestus. "Why did you build this?"

He shrugged. "Apollo and I were walking around in the mortal world, and he stumbled upon an amputee. He had hooks for hands, and he was having a little difficulty. So, Apollo and I teamed up and thought of a new way for the physically disabled mortals. He suggested making metallic nerve endings so it's easier for the wearer to move around," he said. "I actually had fun building this because of the leg."

Just to prove his point, Hephaestus swung his leg around. A few gears grinded against the surface, but Hephaestus ignored it. In fact, he grinned when they did that. Poseidon moved the hand around a little bit more, and was in awe at the arm. He moved the wrist around, and it seemed to move just fine. All of a sudden, the wrist locked up, and sparks flew everywhere. Hephaestus growled as the sparks landed on his beard.

Hephaestus grabbed the arm, and twisted it to unlock it. The arm came off with a hiss as the nerve endings fell. Ichor from Poseidon's stub of an arm quickly disappeared, and his real arm returned. "I have to re-oil the wrist and configure the hydraulics before I finish it," he mumbled. "Anyway, I think you should look past that."

"Like how you look past Hera throwing you off Olympus?" Poseidon asked.

Hephaestus gave him a death glare. "Yeah, like Hera throwing me off Olympus. Anyway, Athena won't be such a know-it-all if you actually try to keep up. You told me that the sea is untamed and answers to no one. It sounds like to me that the sea needs to show her that it means something. Not just a big bowl of water," he said. "Maybe crack open a few books. I'm sure that you can keep up with her if you actually do that."

Poseidon pondered this for a moment. Keeping up with the goddess of wisdom could benefit him, and maybe lessen the tension between them. "Sounds like a good idea, but the last time I did that, I was buried under Shakespeare for a while," he said.

Hephaestus chuckled. "Just give it another go. I'm sure you will—"

Before he could finish, Poseidon just dropped everything, and took off. He flew out of the forge in Olympus, and through the town. Hephaestus shook his head. "Seriously Aphrodite? I wasn't done giving him a pep talk," he said.

Suddenly, the misty image of the goddess of love appeared in the forges. "Oh, but you know that won't work. Besides, I already got Athena headed his way. Face it honey, you're not a people person, much," she said.

Hephaestus smirked at his wife. "Try to let them fall for each other naturally. You know Poseidon will not stop until he proves to Athena that he can be smart as well," he said.

"And Athena will finally learn to love. Not just by brain, but by heart. I will prove to you that I will bring those two together. My magic, my influence, my power," she said.

"But let them love naturally. If you force them, you will have to hold the spell for eternity, and I doubt you would want to focus all of your power on just them," he said.

Aphrodite just smiled. "We'll see how things will hold up. Ta ta," she said. Then she vanished.

Hephaestus sighed and shook his head. He continued to screw the bolts together in his metal arm. "May Tyche guide you, Poseidon," he mumbled to himself.

A few seconds later, there was a loud crash followed by a loud curse at the god of the sea.

A/N: I'll end it at there, and the next chapter will be Athena. It will lead up to their first run-in. By the way, I have thought up three new stories for the future, and I will share these ideas by the next chapter. I hope you guys enjoy them as much as I enjoyed thinking about them. Two of them won't have much of a plot, but the third one will. Let me say this about the third, some old faces will return and it will be a two-part story. Meaning that it will happen twice.

Percy: So old faces return? I wonder who it will be.

Annabeth: I have an idea. I hope I'm wrong.

Me: Well, don't blurt it out. I want my readers to figure it out with or without the awesome deduction powers of Athena. By the way, Sherlock Holmes is a child of Athena, right?

Annabeth: I think so. I don't keep track on all of her children.

Me: Ok, I thought you would know, but oh well. Anyway, please review, and submit your guesses to my inbox, or include them in your reviews.

-Unknown