Lives Collide
Disclaimer: I don't own any of this.
"I want the meeting pushed back to four; I don't have enough time to get there from my lunch across town."
Hera's kola lined eyes scanned the computer screen in front of her, her hand hovering over the mouse as she spoke to her secretary over speaker phone. Her office was filled with morning sun and she made a mental note to get better blinds in to shut it out. Her secretary was in the next room, at her own computer making changes to the calendar.
"Yes Madam, anything else?" she asked and Hera thought for a moment. "Yes; send flowers to that restaurant I went to the other night. Make the card out to the manager and make sure they are roses; she's an old friend and I want to thank her for her food."
There was a pause and then the voice came over the black phone. "Um, Madam...I know who you are talking about but don't you hate her? And isn't she allergic to roses?"
"Yes, send them," Hera finished, pressing a pointed finger down on the end call button. She sighed and began to type out the list of guest for her next matchmaking convention. She had only gotten halfway through when her secretary opened the door.
"What?" Hera snapped at her and the other woman started to shake as much as her voice.
"Um, I was ordering the flowers with your credit card but it says that it's decline because of lack of funds."
Hera narrowed her eyes and her mind scrambled to think of what she could possibly have spent it on. Finally she waved a hand and ordered, "Never mind, just use another card!"
"I did," the secretary rambled out, "I used all of them! And there's no money in any of them!"
Hera blinked at her, otherwise frozen in her seat. The secretary was starting to worry that she had gone into shock and she scrambled out the door to call Mr. Zeus.
Zeus, however, was having his own problems. "Explain it again but this time in words I will actually understand!" he bellowed at the two suit clad accountants in front of him.
They were standing in an aircraft hanger, the noise from the airplanes outside nearly drowning them out. One accountant looked at the other before speaking loudly over the planes, "We checked the accounts this morning! Some of them are normal but others are completely drained! We traced back the origins and the ones that are still there come from your business here but the ones that are gone are your families' money!"
Zeus stared at him before yelling out, "My families' money? The Olympian inheritance?"
The accountants looked at each other again before nodding. Zeus' eyes narrowed and he sped away from them, pulling his phone out of his suit pocket as he went.
The power couple soon found that they were not the only ones to receive such news that morning. For the first time, the members of the Olympian family actually called each other to discuss the fact that half their funds were missing. While the money they earned themselves was still there, any cash from the Olympia family had suddenly disappeared. As Poseidon was the only one not picking up, they all figured out who they should be looking for.
So, Zeus and Hera, Apollo and Artemis and Hades hurried to Poseidon's office while Persephone stayed at the house because she knew she couldn't keep a straight face around the others. The situation was just too hilarious for her and her mother. The group arrived at the offices and went up to the top floor. They barged past the workers and the new secretary before barrelling into the office. They left a crowd of confused employees behind them but no one dares to listen in.
On the other side of the door, Poseidon sat behind his desk, elbows on the arm of the chair and fingertips pressed together. Percy sat in the other chair, one foot propped up on the other knee. He smiled at them and waved slightly as Poseidon said, "Ah, you are all finally here! Please, take a seat."
He motioned towards the couch and armchairs surrounding a sleek coffee table at the other end of the room. They looked between themselves before Artemis rolled her eyes and sat down. Her brother followed her lead and soon they were all sat around the table.
Percy got up but stood near his father's desk while Poseidon walked around and placed himself near the others. He was met with glares and accusatory frowns from his family. "As you probably realised this morning, Olympia money has been withdrawn from your accounts," he started but Hera cut him off.
"I don't care for whatever speech you've cooked up. I just want to know why the heck you have done this and when you are giving it back!"
"Ah, yes; that was my idea."
Everyone turned to look at Percy who grinned. He walked forward slightly, one hand in his jean pocket. "You see, I figured that the only reason you want me gone is because you're afraid I'll take your money away. So I did just that and look-none of you have dropped past the million mark in your bank accounts!"
"So what was the point?" Apollo asked.
"Well, now the thing you were afraid of has turned out to be not a complete disaster! I will of course return the money in an hour. Which is just enough time for all of you to look over this contract that Dad's lawyers whipped up."
Poseidon took a stack of papers from his own desk and placed them down on the coffee table. They each took a copy and quickly ran their eyes over it. Poseidon glanced at Percy as he spoke.
"The contract says that the inheritance will stay with Percy but large sums of it will be put in your charge. Hera will have a piece as will Zeus and so on. Percy will not be able to access that money at all. You all, in turn, will have no access to Percy's piece either. If for any reason, he is unable to have his money then it will all go to charity, not to any of you. Also, by signing the contract you all will waive any claim to Percy's fortune."
"In other words, you can't send thugs after me or set fire to the diner."
Hera's hands tightened over the paper and Poseidon added, "In the event of your deaths the money will be put back into the Olympia family vault and from there will be shared out to the remaining members of the family. Clear?"
The group sitting around the coffee table glanced at each other, silent. Finally Artemis sighed and held out a hand. "Well, I couldn't care less what the guy does with his money as long as I have mine. Does anyone have a pen?"
Poseidon quickly handed her on and she signed the paper. She looked at Apollo, knowing that he felt the same way and he took the pen from her. The two of them stood up and took their contracts with them as they walked out, wanting their lawyers to take a look at it even if they had already signed them.
As Poseidon called them back to say that they would in fact, need copies of the papers, Percy looked at the others still sitting. Hades had read through the entire thing and was tapping his fingers off it in meditation. Finally he scooped the pen up from the leather couch and signed the contract. He placed it back down on the table and looked at his brother. "My lawyer is also going to look through this; I'm sure you understand."
Poseidon nodded and Hades walked passed him, putting his hands in his suit pockets. He was about to pass Percy but then he stopped for a moment. He gave his nephew a small grin and mumbled, "Nice job, kid," before strolling out the door.
Percy smiled after him before turning back to Hera and Zeus. They were furiously arguing with each other in hushed voices. Zeus was motioning the paper at his wife, grabbing the pen mid-whisper. Hera clenched her jaw and was nearly balling the paper in her hands. Percy stood beside his father and watched in silence. Finally Zeus signed the contract, and slapped it down on the table as if to prove a point to his wife.
Hera still seemed frozen so Percy said, "If you sign this, I can't touch your money. We don't have to be at war with each other anymore. We can all go back to ignoring each other."
Hera just glared at father and son until Poseidon added, "It's the best you are going to get."
A few tense moments passed, Hera clearly doing her "calm breathing" again. Reluctantly she took the pen and signed her name. She grabbed her handbag and stood up, tossing it over her right shoulder.
"You better be good to your word and sent the money back."
"I was going to return the money anyway," Percy said, "You just have to keep your distance and this will all be fine."
She stormed out of the office, leaving an exhausted Zeus in her wake. He simply, pinched the bridge of his nose before looking at his brother and nephew.
"Can this just be done with? Once the money is returned, can we all just go back to living out lives how we wish?"
"As long as Hera doesn't threaten my friends again," Percy said and his uncle could only nod once before exiting the room.
Father and son let out sighs in unison and Percy turned to the older man. "That went scarily well. Do you really think that's it?"
Poseidon gathered up the contracts from the table and nervously tidied them in his hands. "I think so; the contract is iron clad and they've all signed it. They can't touch your money and you can't go near theirs. There is no point in trying to get you to give up the money or hurting you because they money will stay in the vault and they'll never reach it."
Percy nodded, a slight frown still ghosting across his forehead. Poseidon clapped a hand on his shoulder and exclaimed, "Percy! We did it! There is no need to worry anymore."
Percy gave his father a small smile but replied, "I know; but I still have one more person to take care of."
Poseidon looked confused but then nodded understandably as he answered, "Do you want any help?"
"No, no...this one has to be done by just me."
Luke threw another shirt into his duffle bag, marching between where it sat on the bed and his drawers. A plane ticket and his passport sat piled up on the desk and he was checking the watch on his wrist constantly.
"Well, this isn't exactly what I expected to see."
Luke stilled and looked towards his open doorway, a jumper folded in his hands. He saw Percy standing there, strolling into his room with his hands in his jeans' pockets. They both felt the tension in the air; there was no way they couldn't. Luke wasn't sure if Percy would knock him out and Percy wasn't sure if Luke wasn't going to run for it.
"I know things are bad but I didn't think you were fleeing the country," Percy joked but his eyes were guarded and narrowed.
Luke threw the jumper in his bag before folding his arms and saying, "I'm not 'fleeing'. I got invited to a dinner on the coast on Saturday so I decided to take off just for the weekend."
Percy nodded once and walked over to the window, only to lean against to get any sort of normalcy. "I just came over to tell you: Hera is under a new contract. She waived any claim to my fortune this morning. I think you can understand that this means you have no claim on it either."
Luke licked his dry lips and reached over to his desk. Sitting on it was his laptop, which he flipped open and pressed a few keys. He handed the light machine to Percy who looked at the screen to see an email. "I sent that to Hera two days ago. As you can see, I stepped away from her and hers plans; I told her that I was done with trying to take your money."
Percy read through it, taking note of the date and time it was indeed sent to Hera. He looked at Luke who simply zipped up his bag and said, "I may like money but I'm not stupid. I know a crazy person when I see one."
Percy handed the laptop back to him, which Luke shut off and placed in another, smaller bag. The passport and plane ticket also went into the same bag, which was zipped up. The two boys stayed silent throughout this but finally Luke pilled his bags together and turned to Percy.
"I'm not going to apologise. I wanted something that I thought you would waste and I backed off when I realised that I wasn't going to get it."
Percy gave him a disbelieving look and replied, with dripping sarcasm, "Yes, which is so much more enriching that actually realising that it was a bad thing to do."
Luke just shrugged and Percy could only straighten up, standing away from the window. "Look, I just want you to stay away from me and my friends. You've only got a little while before graduation and I'm hoping we can live in the same city without causing trouble for each other."
Luke thought for a moment and then asked, "And if I don't?"
"Then I'll stop being so understanding and patient with you."
More silence fell between them but Luke grabbed his bags and started towards the door. "I'll behave myself if you do," he called, exiting the room before Percy decided to go back on his offer.
Percy himself sighed and gave Luke a few minutes to clear the building before he left. As he walked down the steps, he couldn't help but think how weird it was to deal with Luke. He didn't really hate him outright like with Hera but he didn't exactly want to ever see him again. Yes, he was angry that he had hurt Piper but she was alright and didn't expect an apology.
Mostly, he was tired; he was really tired of having to fight everyone in his old world. This was the best outcome he could have wished for and he certainly wasn't going to turn his nose up to it. When he got out of the Academy and onto the street, his phone rang. He answered it and the only thing he heard was "PERCYYYYYYY!"
He held the phone away from his ear for a moment before putting it back and asking, "Leo?! What are you doing?"
"Percy! Your dad called and told us about the contract so we planned a party at the diner! Get over here!"
Percy could only laugh and reply, "I'm on my way."
The Jupiter Diner was draped in streamers of all colours that looked like they had been thrown everywhere on a whim. Music was playing from the speakers on the counter and food and drink were flowing. All of Percy's friends were there, as well as a few others he knew from around the neighbourhood. Percy spotting Annabeth quickly and soon he was enjoying himself. It was only when everyone was interrupted by Travis banging on the new bell by the door with a spoon.
"Alright everyone, give me a minute! I just wanted to say that we are all here to celebrate not only our friend Percy but also the fact that the library is nearly finished!"
A cheer went up through the crowd and Travis waiting until it was quiet to say, "So here's to the library and here's to Percy: the only guy I know who is able to lose millions of dollars!"
Laugher rose with the glasses and Percy just shook his head and wrapped an arm around Annabeth's shoulders.
The Jason yelled out, "And don't forget that he got into one of the best colleges in San Francisco either!"
People cheered but the roar in Percy's ears drowned them out. He knew that Jason was just happy for him but that didn't stop him from looking at the younger boy with a twitching eye and an angry look. Jason caught his eye and quickly slid behind Piper in case Percy lunged.
Annabeth looked at him, his arm still around her shoulders. "You got into Dad's college?"
Percy took a breath but nodded, hoping she wouldn't storm off. Instead, she smiled and replied, "Me too, Seaweed Brain!"
A matching smile came over his face and he bent down to kiss her; all of which only caused another cheer to go around the full room.
Leo, meanwhile, was standing by the counter with a confused look on his face. Grover spotted him and walked over, saying, "Why do you look like you just got punched in the gut?"
Leo kept his eyes on Percy but asked, "Percy split his fortune between his family?"
"Yes..." Grover answered carefully.
"But eventually all the money will end up in the family vault and go to the last remaining member of the family?"
"Yes! So what's the problem?"
Leo turned to him, a small smile on his face. "Percy gave up a large amount of his fortune but logically..."
A grin slowly crept across Grover's face and he turned to his friend, who was still standing, laughing with Annabeth and Jason. "Logically, he'll end up with everything anyway."
Just the epilogue left!