A/N: Hey guys! Here's the next chapter. This is my longest chapter yet. I'm trying to increase the size of my chapters so the updates may take a bit longer but I will still try to update within the week. As for the pairing poll, since a few people voted in their reviews or PMed me, I'm gonna write the results here -
Artemis: 6
Thalia: 3
Hestia: 2
Athena: 1
Zoe: 1
Aphrodite: 0
Reyna: 0
Chaos: 0
Bianca: 0
Other: 0
OC: 0
Harem: 0
The poll will be open for just one more chapter. I will close it after I post the next chapter. If somebody votes for OC or Other, then PM me the details.
Now, on with the story...
PERCY
The last thing I saw before slipping into unconsciousness was the beautiful silver eyes of Artemis.
The next thing I knew, I was standing in the middle of the throne room at Olympus and all 12 Olympian Gods were present along with Hestia and Hades and all the minor Gods. All the campers were also present. They all looked fine, which was a relief. When no one looked towards me or even acknowledged me, I knew that I was dreaming.
Then I heard Zeus shout, "SILENCE". Everyone shut up. He then continued to give a long speech about how he had led them all to victory over the Giants and stuff. I didn't pay attention. I was trying to remember the war but it was fuzzy at best.
After the speech was over and everyone had clapped, Zeus said, "We are here to reward the demigods who fought in the war beside us and honor those that died fighting. I first call the demigods who were part of the Prophecy of the Seven along with Nico di Angelo, son of Hades, Reyna, daughter of Bellona and my own daughter, Thalia Grace, to come forward."
Eight demigods stepped forward. Besides me, someone else was missing. With a pang, I realized that Piper wasn't there. I looked around but she was nowhere to be seen. A feeling of dread filled me as I remembered Zeus saying that demigods had died in the war. I hoped that there was some other reason for her absence but I still had a bad feeling about it. I looked on with sadness.
The demigods bowed to their respective parents, except Thalia who first bowed to Artemis and then Zeus. Then all of them knelt in the center of the room, facing Zeus. Zeus didn't look happy about whatever he was about to say and was grumbling to himself when I saw that many of the Olympians were glaring at him. He cleared his throat and said, "We Gods have decided that in light of your services to Olympus, you all will be made full immortals."
All the demigods looked shocked. Zeus, however continued, "If you all agree to this, then you have the choice to either be the leaders of your respective camps and lead them to battle, whenever required, or become your respective godly parent's lieutenant and live with them on Olympus, except for Thalia who is already Artemis' lieutenant and will continue to be so and Nico, who will act as his father's lieutenant in the Underworld. The rest of you will be given a year to stay at camp and decide what you want to do."
Before he could say anymore, Nico and Thalia blurted out at the same time, "What about Percy?" They both looked at each other and then Thalia continued, "He deserves this as much as we do, probably more." Zeus looked irritated. "Yes, yes he will also be given the same offer when he wakes up." I was happy that Nico and Thalia had remembered me. I was also a little surprised that Annabeth hadn't said anything. But I shook it off, she probably would have said something after Zeus finished speaking rather than interrupting him.
"Well then, what is your decision?" Zeus demanded. His eyes were flashing, as if he would blast anyone who said no. I still remembered the look on his face when I had turned down godhood. It had been priceless. One by one all of them accepted and then all the Olympians stood up. I noticed that most of them were smiling at the prospect of making their children immortal and having them by their side for eternity. They all raised their hands with their palms facing the still kneeling demigods in the center of the room and started glowing. Athena told the rest of the campers to close their eyes. Then a blinding golden light shot out of all the Olympians towards the demigods.
The scene dissolved. I was again standing in the throne room with all the Olympians and Hestia and Hades present but this time they were both sitting on thrones beside the other Olympians. My father had a sad look in his eyes and was looking at Apollo, "Apollo how is my son? It has been 6 months since the war ended. Why isn't he awake yet?" Apollo looked nervous, "Uncle, I've done everything I could. Physically he is healed. I do not know why he is still not awake. His symptoms indicated that he used much more of his godly powers than he should have which caused him to black out but that usually only lasts for a few days. I don't have any idea why he's still not awake."
He looked like he was afraid my father was going to blast him for saying that. Father glared at him for a second and then his shoulders sagged and he put his face in his hands, "It's all my fault. I could have stopped this." Hestia looked at him sadly, "Brother, how many times have I told you that it was not your fault. You couldn't have done anything to prevent it. Stop blaming yourself for it." She then glared at Zeus. Zeus cleared his throat and said, "Umm…. yes brother, it wasn't your fault." Hermes spoke up, "Yeah uncle, Percy is strong. He will make it through."
My father calmed down a bit so Zeus continued, "Now, what news of Gaea? Have any of you found any trace of her?" He looked at Hades in particular. Hades shifted uncomfortably as everyone stared at him, "I have checked everywhere, even in Tartarus, and there is no sign of Gaea anywhere in the Underworld. Although, I can now confirm that Porphyrion is back in Tartarus. He seems to have had been severely crushed when I found him in an underground cave so I merely stabbed him and his essence was scattered. I don't think he is coming back any time soon, if ever."
Everyone looked a bit relieved with this news. Then Zeus looked towards Artemis, "Daughter, tell us once again what happened after …..Umm…you know…" "After we were knocked out" my dad interrupted impatiently. Zeus looked kind of embarrassed.
Artemis sighed, "I have already told you everything. After you all were unconscious, Gaea trapped me and was about to kill me when I saw her stumble and hesitate. Then she muttered, "Stop fighting me" and I knew that Perseus was still fighting her for control. When she was starting to cut me with the blade, her eyes widened and she dropped the sword. Then she screamed, but it was Perseus' voice and not Gaea's and the earthquake that followed was the largest I have ever seen. I doubt even Poseidon would have been able to conjure such a powerful earthquake. There was also a huge storm that was also probably the strongest I have seen. That's what the line from the prophecy probably meant - 'To storm or fire, the world must fall'. Perseus was glowing with an aura almost exactly like Poseidon's. The ground split open and Porphyrion fell into the ground. I also heard Gaea scream but it seemed to be coming from far away. Then it stopped suddenly and my constraints fell away. The aura around Perseus disappeared and the earthquake and storm stopped. I looked up and saw that his eyes had returned to their original color and then he collapsed. I revived Apollo and we then transported all of you along with Perseus to Apollo's temple so that you could heal. Apollo then took care of the demigods and my Hunters and also transported them back to Camp. We could not save the daughter of Aphrodite, Piper along with a few other campers and some of my Hunters. Some of the campers were seriously injured but they would make it. You know the rest." It looked like she had already told the same story many times before.
She looked really sad as she remembered her dead Hunters. I tried to understand what she had just said. Piper was dead! Poor Jason! No wonder Aphrodite looked so sad. She barely had any makeup on. I didn't remember anything at all about what Artemis had just said about Gaea and me. Then the scene shifted again.
I was standing in the amphitheater at Camp Half-Blood. All the campers along with Jason, Reyna, Frank, Hazel, Leo and Annabeth were present. I was relieved to see Annabeth. Chiron was on the stage. He stomped his hooves and everyone fell silent. "I have heard from the gods that Perseus Jackson is healed but still unconscious. They do not know the reason for this. We can only hope that he will wake up soon. He is still at Lord Apollo's temple on Olympus." Some of the younger campers, who were obviously new, seemed bored while the older campers looked sad.
Annabeth looked close to tears and ran out of the amphitheater. After glancing uncertainly at each other Hazel and surprisingly Jason followed her to try and comfort her.
The scene dissolved and I was in a hospital room. I saw my mom sitting up in a bed with a small bundle of blankets in her arms and Paul standing beside the bed. They were both smiling and looking down towards the bundle. I moved closer for a better look and saw a small head with my mom's black hair and Paul's light blue eyes. Whoa! When did that happen? Don't get me wrong, I was happy for my mom and Paul, I was just surprised. I now had a younger brother or sister. Whoa!
The scene started to shift again and now I was standing in a room that looked like a hospital room but a lot grander. The walls were golden. There were couches and chairs lining the walls and a huge bed in the middle of the room. There was a 50-inch plasma TV on the wall opposite the bed. I looked down on the bed and realized that I was looking at myself. I looked pale but I was breathing steadily.
Then someone cleared their throat and I, the dream-me, whirled around to find myself facing an impossibly beautiful woman who had an amused expression on her face. She had long black hair and she was wearing an expensive-looking business suit. I gaped at her. She was literally glowing and I could feel immense power radiating off her skin. Her power made even Erebus look like a small insignificant ant.
She looked at my face and laughed. Hearing her laugh was like getting injected with happiness. I closed my mouth which had been hanging open and asked the question foremost on my mind, "Who are you?" She stopped laughing and looked at me again. I looked at her eyes. Were those galaxies? "I think you know." Her voice was somewhat like the Oracle, but a thousand times more ancient and powerful.
I stared at her eyes. There were galaxies swirling around in them and it was mesmerizing. I stared at her blankly. She sighed, "You are a bit slow, aren't you? I'm Chaos, the First Being, the Creator of the Universe, etc. etc." I stared at her. My mind was reeling.
I remembered something Annabeth had told me about the being that had supposedly created everything-the galaxies, the stars, the planets, Earth. Everything. She'd called the being Chaos and said that nobody had ever seen Chaos and that she had probably faded. Yet here she was, in my dream, waiting patiently while I stared at her.
I finally found my tongue, "But, how can you be Chaos? Didn't you fade, like, a long time ago? I mean, no one's ever seen you or anything."
She shrugged like it was no big deal, "It's true I haven't been to Earth in a while but I never faded. I simply had other things to do. Besides, there was nothing even remotely interesting here for me. Your life is probably the most interesting thing that has happened on this planet in a long time, if not ever. The last one even remotely interesting was the one you call Hercules but he had an attitude problem and I didn't like him. Anyways there is another reason for why I am here now. I had been watching when my daughter tried to use you to take over the world. And then when she was about to kill that Goddess, you did something that I did not expect, which is rare. You overcame Gaea and crushed her essence. By doing this, you put Gaea into a deep sleep from which I don't think she will ever wake up. But, in the process of doing that, your own soul was damaged and you would have died if I hadn't saved you. I did that because when you overcame Gaea, I recognized something that I had failed to see before. You had released more power than you possibly could have had. This was when I realized that you were special and I could use someone like you. Then you fell into a state of unconsciousness because your soul needed time to heal. Now, in order for you to heal completely, I had to erase the memory of your struggle with Gaea. That's why you can't remember anything about it. Oh and also, when you crushed Gaea's essence, some of it was absorbed into your essence, much like what happened when you defeated Kronos.(A/N: I will explain in later chapters.) So now, you will have much more control over the Earth than before. It's been more than a year since that incident and you're completely healed. I am here now because I have an offer. I want you to come with me. I have a group of trained warriors who act on my behalf whenever I feel the need to interfere in the affairs of a planet. I want you to be part of that group. I only choose the best warriors from around the universe and you fit the bill perfectly."
After she said this, I tried to absorb all the information. I defeated Gaea! Chaos, the Creator of the freaking Universe, found me interesting and was offering me a chance to go with her and be a part of her own little strike force. But I thought about all my friends and my family. I thought about Annabeth. No, I couldn't leave them. I just couldn't.
I looked at Chaos and shook my head, "I'm sorry. I'm thankful to you for saving my life but I cannot just leave my friends and family." She just nodded. "I had a feeling you would say that but well, I had to try. Now, you're going to wake up very soon so one last thing. You have to promise me that you won't tell anyone about meeting me or anything about me. I would prefer it if nobody knew of my involvement. You will have to swear by my name. I do not trust the little oaths you make by the Styx and oaths made in my name are truly unbreakable."
I shrugged and said, "I swear by Chaos that I will not tell anyone about my meeting with you or anything about you." I glowed for a second and Chaos nodded. "I will be going then. Farewell, Perseus Jackson and I hope you have a good life." She said this as if she didn't believe it. Then she was gone and the scene was dissolving. There was a moment of darkness and then I opened my eyes.
Well then, how was it? This was basically a 1 year time skip. It explained what happened during the one year Percy was unconscious. Next chapter, Percy wakes up.
Oh and please review! I'm running out of ideas so if you guys have any suggestions then please let me know...:)