CHAPTER 11:
Percy POV
After Coach dismisses the class, I grip Annabeth's hand.
"You sure your okay, Wise Girl?" I ask her.
She rolled her beautiful gray eyes. "I'm positive, Seaweed Brain." She retorts.
I kiss her cheek gently, then pull her outside to the parking lot.
Everyone loads up into their cars, and we drive to Olympus.
Here we go.
No one POV
After all the demigods arrived at the Empire State building, the guard lets them in with no problem.
He's scared of them now, which Thalia and Nico take full advantage of by saying 'BOO' every time they see him.
They walk confidently towards the throne room, where the gods and goddesses of Olympus await them.
They all sit in chairs set out for them, and turn their attention to the deities.
Zeus begins to speak. "Demigods, and satyr. You have all done great things for Olympus, and for that, we grant you each a wish. Perseus and Annabeth, however, seeing as they have been through the most, will be granted two wishes." He thunders.
Percy and Annabeth blush, and duck their heads.
Hermes steps forward. "Chris Rodriguez, your wish?" He asks.
Chris holds his head up confidently. "I wish for all madness to be cured. I know how horrible it was to be mad, and I would hate to find out that someone else has to go through what I did." Hermes turned to Dionysus, who was flipping through a wine magazine.
"Yes, yes. Whatever." He waves his hand, and just like that, Chris's wish is fulfilled.
Ares steps forward now. "Clarisse la Rue, your wish?"
Clarisse turns to her father. "As a tribute to my late best friend Silena Beauregard, I want something for everyone to see and be able to remember her." She states, a single tear running down her cheek.
Artemis steps forward. "For a daughter of the love goddess, Silena would have made a great hunter. In remembrance for her, if you'd like, I can set a constellation in the sky in her honor." She said. Clarisse nodded mutely. "It can be a drakon with a spear through it, and a heart right near it, in honor of the daughter of Aphrodite."
She flicks her hand upwards, and everyone looks up. Even though it is not night yet, Olympus's broken ceiling still portrays all of the constellations, and a new one had just appeared.
Hermes steps up again. "Connor and Travis Stoll, your wishes?"
Connor answers first. "This may be sort of selfish, but I really like this girl, and I was wondering if I could know if she likes me back…?" He trails off while looking at the love goddess.
Aphrodite squealed. Then she stared at Connor for a moment. "The one who you love is going through the phases of a broken heart. She is starting over, and definitely is beginning to have feelings for you." Connor mentally fist pumped.
Travis then stepped up. "I would like my and my brother's, because I'm nice, criminal records completely cleaned, so that we are not considered jail worthy any longer." Hermes chuckled, and waved his hand, showing the deed was done.
"Katie Gardner, your wish?" Demeter asked her daughter.
Katie looked shyly towards the ground. "I would like to meet my half-sister Persephone…" She asked kindly. Demeter glared at Hades.
Hades nodded lazily. "Of course. I can have her come up for a few days to meet you and see her mother again." Demeter looked shocked. Hades never did that!
"Grover Underwood, your wish?" Dionysus asked, still flipping though his magazine.
Grover cleared his throat. "I would like the resources to travel the world, while promoting healthy habits, and renewing the wild." He stated.
Dionysus nodded. "Consider it done."
"Thalia Grace, your wish?" Zeus thundered.
Thalia didn't even look at her father. She walked straight up to Artemis and whispered something in her ear.
Artemis got a pained expression on her face, but then looked at Thalia's pleading puppy-dog eyes and sighed.
"Consider it done, my lieutenant." She said, waving her hand. Thalia seemed to grow a few inches taller. She squealed and hugged Lady Artemis.
"Thank you SO much, my Lady!" She said.
Artemis smiled. "As long as you remain under your oath, I have no problem with this." Thalia turned to her friends.
She hugged Annabeth tightly, then flung her arms around Nico. She turned to Percy and tackled him. Though surprised, he caught her and steadied her.
"Thals, what was your wish?" He whispered.
"I can grow older with you. At least until I am the physical age of 19. Right now, I am yours and Annabeth's physical age-17. In two years, I will stop aging again. But as of right now, I will continue aging with you. Lady Artemis said that as long as I don't break my hunter's vow, I can age." Annabeth squealed.
She threw her arms around Thalia again. They had a happy dance moment, then turned back to the deities of Olympus, who were watching them amusedly.
Then Hades turned to his son. "Nico di Angelo, your wish?"
Nico had this extremely vulnerable look on his face. "Can you bring Bianca back?" He whispered.
The throne room hushed. Percy and Thalia were both squeezing Nico's hands. Hades had frozen.
"Please?" Nico persisted.
Hades sighed heavily. "Of course. I'm breaking thousands of Ancient Laws by doing this, but it is your wish, so of course. She will be in your house tomorrow morning. She can choose if she wants to re-join the Hunters or not." Hades said.
Nico threw his arms around his Greek cousins, and tears fell out of all of their eyes.
Zeus cleared his throat.
"Jason Grace, your wish?" he asked his son.
Jason looked his father in the eye. "I would like some sort of portal or bridge to connect the two camps. They are both my homes now, and I love everyone inside both of them." Zeus sighed.
"Alright, son. I will have Hecate work on it tomorrow." Jason smiled widely.
Aphrodite cleared her throat, and smiled brightly at her daughter. "Piper McLean, your wish?" She asked her daughter sweetly.
Piper blushed at all the attention she was receiving. "May I have permission to tell my father about all of this? Please?" She asked. Aphrodite smiled.
"Of course, dear. That would be wonderful, I might even stop by to help explain everything."
Piper looked hugely relieved at that.
Ares stood up again. "Frank Zhang, your wish?" Frank looked his father in the eye.
"Can you make my stick a bit longer?" He asked bluntly.
Ares sighed, probably having hoped for some bloodthirsty wish. "Yeah, yeah. 3 inches longer, that's it." He sat back down, grumbling about how is children should be more belligerent and whatever nonsense he talks about.
"Hazel Levesque, your wish?" Hades asked his daughter.
"I would like you to continue turning a blind eye at my absence in the Underworld." Hazel asked her father shyly. Hades smiled at his daughter.
"Of course."
Hephaestus stood up. "Leo Valdez, your wish?" Leo didn't look at his father.
He looked at Percy.
Percy knew what he was going to do, and nodded encouragingly.
Leo took a deep breath. "I want to release Calypso from her island." He said.
Before Leo's father could answer, Zeus rose to his feet. "No! She is the daughter of a TITAN. Absolutely not!" He was interrupted by his own daughter.
Thalia was looking her Lady in the eye.
"So was Zoë." She whispered.
The room got quiet. Everyone remember how Zoë had given her life to save her Lady.
Artemis finally broke the silence. "Father. Let it be done. The poor girl has been trapped there for centuries." Aphrodite added something as well. "She had her heart broken thousands of times, and I can sense that this boy actually loved her. He didn't just fall in love with her, then leave and forget about her. He fell in love with her, promised her he would try to release her from her prison, and they stayed in love with her."
Zeus looked at everyone, then sighed heavily.
"Fine. So be it. She will be in your house tomorrow as well." Leo looked like he was having an internal PARTY.
Athena stood up. "Annabeth Chase, your wishes?" Annabeth squeezed Percy's hand lightly.
"Well, for my first wish, I would like to be reappointed Head Architect of Olympus, seeing as it got destroyed again after the Giant War." Athena nodded approvingly.
"It shall be done." Athena stated. "Your second wish?"
Annabeth sounded a little less sure of herself as she asked for her second wish. She was about to say something, then decided against it. She walked up to her mother's throne and whispered something in her ear.
Athena's eyes widened comically, but then she exhaled.
"You are correct my dear, my grudge isn't yours. Your wish is granted." Annabeth got this look of pure happiness on her face, and she didn't hesitate to run into Percy's open arms.
"Wise Girl, what did you wish for?" He asked her.
She took a deep breath. "For mother to finally approve of us. She agreed." Percy's jaw dropped.
"Fo-for real?" He stuttered, looking from Athena back to Annabeth.
Athena nodded. "You deserve her." Percy got this fierce look in her eyes.
"I'm sorry Lady Athena, but that is incorrect. I will never deserve Annabeth. She deserves someone better than me, but sticks with me nonetheless. I don't know why in Hades she loves me, but I know for certain that I don't deserve her." Everyone was shocked that Percy would straight out say that Athena was incorrect about something, but a smile played on Athena's lips.
"You are different." She stated. Artemis nodded in agreement. "The only male who treats women above himself. Athena is correct-you are different."
Meanwhile, Annabeth was glaring at Percy. "Perseus Jackson! Don't say that! After everything we've been through, I think it's safe to say that I'm the one who doesn't deserve you." Percy shook his head.
They would have argued about this for ages had Thalia not interrupted.
"Just agree to disagree." She said. The two smiled at each other and repeated Thalia's words in unison.
They hugged happily. And Aphrodite gasped.
Everyone turned to her, but the couple who were still staring at each other, completely and madly in love.
"What's wrong, Aphrodite?" Poseidon asked.
"I haven't ever felt this strong before. Their love is true and pure. They gave me more strength than I have ever had." She said, smiling at the couple, who was unaware that they were now the center of attention.
Poseidon smiled at his son. Then cleared his throat.
The two jumped apart, blushing.
"Perseus Jackson." Zeus looked very unhappy and angry about what he was about to say. "The council has decided to allow for you to become a god if you wish, and this time, take the place as King of the Gods."
The throne room had never been more silent.
Quiet tears ran down Annabeth's cheeks. Everyone was staring at Zeus in awe. Never in history had the King of the Gods position been offered. The only person who wasn't looking at Zeus was Lady Hestia.
She was sitting quietly at her hearth, humming slightly as she watched Percy. She knew what he was going to do.
He sighed. "When will you guys realize that I don't care about that power?" He asked, exasperated. Everyone turned to him, shocked. Was he turning down Zeus' offer?!
Poseidon turned to his son. "Son, are you turning down your uncle's offer?" He asked. Percy nodded.
Pandemonium erupted. The only quiet people were Percy and Annabeth, who were hugging the life out of each other while Annabeth cried softly into his shoulder, and Lady Hestia who watched everything disapprovingly.
Then, a quiet voice calmed everyone down. It was Hestia.
"Don't you see? It's obvious that my dear nephew doesn't want to leave his sweet Annabeth, and for good reason. After everything that they have been through together, separation isn't good for them. Also, it is clear that he had two wishes in mind already. And I bet that they were both for the greater good. He is the hero of heroes; he doesn't want the rewards. He wants everyone to be safe and happy. That is why he will forever be the most amazing hero in all history."
It was silent. Then, of all people, Thalia began clapping. The demigods clapped with her, and one by one, each deity joined in. Hestia and Annabeth, though, were clapping the loudest for Percy, who was blushing madly.
Zeus cleared his throat. "Nephew, what are your wishes then?" He asked.
"Well, for one, I wanted Lady Hestia and Lord Hades to get their rightful thrones on Olympus. I know that you don't think that Hades deserves one, Uncle Zeus, but, he isn't just 'Lord Hades, god of the Underworld.' He is your brother also. You should be able to have even better of a bond than Thalia, Nico, Jason, Hazel and I do. Technically, we aren't even biologically related, but if you look at it from a certain point of view, we are cousins. But they really are the sisters and brothers that I have always wanted. You have two brothers-and you need to honor them. Give Lady Hestia and Lord Hades the thrones that they deserve." Percy said. Hades was staring surprised at his nephew, while Hestia smiled proudly at him.
She knew he would be the best of all heroes.
Zeus grumbled something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like 'pesky no-good upstarting demigod nephew.'
"Fine! It shall be done! What else do you wish for, so powerful nephew of mine?" Zeus asked sarcastically.
Everyone was surprised that he would agree to the first wish. Percy was even more nervous though.
Annabeth knew that look on his face and immediately grew worried.
She gripped his hand tightly and whispered under her breath to him. "You're going to ask for something near impossible and that will make Lord Zeus want to kill you, am I correct?" She asked. He smiled goofily at her.
"You know me so well Wise Girl." He replied softly. Then he turned to his powerful uncle. "Uncle Zeus, for my last wish…" He paused to take a deep breath and Annabeth squeezed his hand reassuringly. "I would like the Ancient Laws be annulled." He said the last part softly, but everyone heard him. There was dead silence. Annabeth squeezed Percy's hand encouragingly again.
"What?" Hephaestus asked. "That's impossible, isn't it?"
Poseidon shifted uncomfortably. "Not necessarily. We didn't have enough power by just wanting to get rid of those laws, but considering the fact that Percy, according to even more Ancient Rules, MUST get his wishes granted, we technically can do it."
The silence was so uncomfortable that Percy's ADHD began acting up. He rubbed circles into the back of Annabeth's hand.
Then Athena stood up. "That's true. We can grant this wish. Though I must ask, what possessed you to ask for this specific wish?" She asked Percy incredulously.
"Well, I know how hard it was to live thinking that my dad was dead, and I don't want that to ever happen again. And I know that some older half-bloods still want their godly parent to once in awhile just be their parent. I mean, sometimes, when I'm doing something, I can't help but wonder what my dad would think, or what he would have done in my place. But I can never really ask him. And, Annabeth talks to me every once in a while about her architecture designs, asking me if I think that you will like them, Lady Athena. Of course, I am obviously not the correct person to ask about anything related to architecture at all, but still. I just feel like since you aren't just gods and goddesses, but our parents as well, you should try to manage both jobs better. Do you, sort of get what I'm saying?" Percy asked.
All the gods and goddesses were getting teary eyed, because they had no idea that their children thought this. Finally, Hermes spoke. "It seems like you were right, Percy. We can change our ways." He whispered. Everyone was confused, except for Percy. He smiled widely at his cousin.
The gods granted Percy's wishes. A soft looking armchair-like throne popped up near the hearth for Hestia, and an obsidian throne with all sorts of jewels decorating it popped up for Hades. Then, they annulled the Ancient Law of not being allowed to see their children.
After that, Athena called Annabeth and Percy to her throne. Percy gulped, but followed his girlfriend to her mother's throne.
"Yes, mother?" Annabeth asked, in a slightly sharp tone.
"I just wanted to tell Perseus something. Just know, that if you ever hurt my daughter in any way shape or form I will not hesitate to kill you." She says coolly.
Percy was extremely offended. "I would never do something like that. Annabeth means more to me than any one else in the entire world. She is the reason that I am alive and mostly sane." He said, looking Athena in the eyes.
A ghost of a smile crossed her face. "Alright then. Annabeth dear?" Annabeth looked to her mother, with tears in her eyes because of Percy's speech.
"Yes?" She asked.
"Seeing how in a few days it is your birthday, I have a surprise for you. I paid for 5 round trip tickets from California to New York and back again for your friends that are still in California to come visit you for a month. Their parents were okay with it, after a little convincing… And they will stay in your house with you all, alright? They will arrive the day before your birthday-the day after tomorrow." She said.
Annabeth's eyes lit up. "Really? I mean, my camp friends are much closer to me and all, but it'll be nice to see everyone from California again."
Athena smiled at her daughter's enthusiasm. "Yes, Annabeth dear."
Annabeth smiled widely at her mother.
Then she dragged Percy to the exit of Olympus. They were about to leave, when Poseidon stopped them.
"Percy, son, I just wanted to tell you that what you did was very honorable. I'm proud of you." He said.
Percy flushed a little at the praise, but smiled at his dad as well.
"Thanks, dad." He said, hugging his father.
Poseidon looked at Annabeth with amusement in his eyes.
"Oh, and bye the way, Apollo saw into the future to realize what you were going to do in a few days… And I wish you luck, Aphrodite and Hera both have faith in you, along with the rest of the council-Athena included." Percy turned extremely red.
Annabeth looked very annoyed. "Lord Poseidon, what are you talking about?" She asked.
He winked at her. "You'll see in a few days my dear." Annabeth was annoyed at not knowing what was going to happen, but let it go.
Percy was staring intently at his father. "Athena agreed, then?" He asked in a hushed tone.
Poseidon nodded. "As did the father." He said.
Percy froze. Then a huge smile broke out on his face. "Thanks so much dad!" He said, throwing his arms around his father, and then he led Annabeth out of Olympus.