A quick update. Trying to get my ducks in order to finish of this story arc. Editing begins tomorrow. Two more chapters I think.

Percy Jackson

One thing he would never grow tired of was waking up with a beautiful woman merrily snoring away in his bed. He would have been fully satisfied with spending the rest of his life with Annabeth, but clearly, the fates had different plans for him because when he sat up Silena snoring on the pillow next to him, the covers pulled up right under her nose.

On his other side, the one Annabeth usually occupied, Juniper had curled up in a blanket. When she had snuck in he did not know. Wy? Well judging by the fact she had her bare feet pressed against his thigh, he guessed she had simply been looking for a space heater after coming home late. At least she had been considerate enough to strip nude before she did. She might not have Silena's curves, but her dainty form was certainly decorative.

Considering though, he thought to himself as he looked back and forth between the two women and trying to find a way out of the bed without waking either of them up, that they had only slept together once, it was a surprisingly bold move. Then perhaps she was trying to send him a message. After spotting an easy escape, he slipped out from under the covers and tucked Silena in.

Once extracting himself downwards off the bed, he got dressed and left. As he soon found out, he wasn't the first one up for he was greeted with a view that should have never been possible.

Piper and Annabeth were sitting at the breakfast table, sipping hot chocolate. Piper looked especially tired but high-spirited, while Annabeth looked rather smug. He guessed she had sealed the deal with Piper. What surprised him though was that Khione too had joined them, and was drinking her own hot chocolaty beverage. The three women looked up when he entered. A grin spread across Annabeth's face, while Piper quickly avoided his gaze, her cheeks turning a darker shade of pink. He immediately guessed that Annabeth had successfully made her move. And Khione? Khione merrily acknowledged him with a nod, and absentmindedly scratching Mrs. O'Leary's head when the Hellhound came sneaking up from behind her, clearly trying to scrounge for food.

"Morning Seaweed Brain," Annabeth greeted him brightly.

"Morning Wise Girl," he replied. "Slept good?"

"Oh well enough," Annabeth replied, glancing over at Piper while giving a pointed look that unmistakably communicated that they would talk later.

"Understandable, I missed you too," Percy replied honestly enough, giving Annabeth a small grin, hoping to communicate that he was looking forward to it.

As it turned out, they had more to talk about than they originally had bargained for. As they walked together through the divine city's snowy streets Annabeth recalled her conquest. Truth be told he was rather proud of her. Annabeth was gorgeous, and Piper a real cutie, so following Annabeth's detailed, blow-by-blow, account was something he could live with.

For further girlfriend service, Percy asked about the progress in Annabeth's construction efforts. As expected her eyes lit up and she veered off into a long rant about delivery capacities by contractors and then centered on the true current subject of her contempt, unions. For a moment he considered suggesting Silena could start a union within his little family, but had the sense to not actually bring up the notion. In his nightmares, Annabeth would go on a union-busting rampage within his household. Just the old-fashioned kind.

"So, what are we going to do with Circe?" Annabeth finally asked seemingly from nowhere.

"Do with Circe?" Percy echoed questioningly.

"Not gonna lie," Annabeth said. "Trying to sleep with that psycho in the house is not always easy. Khione kind of grows on you, but Circe? Given the chance she'd cut our throats without hesitating."

Percy shrugged. "Really don't have many alternatives."

"Well," Annabeth pointed out. "Your father I recall has a place for you under the sea. We could stash her there..."

Percy pursed his lips. "I'd rather not put her in someone else's basket." For one, she was too valuable of a card to play to risk leaving her unsupervised under the sea where everyone down there would have easier access to her than he did. For another, he was certain Circe had mannaged to at least hack off someone somewhere under the ocean willing to get back at her, and if she got herself offed, attacked, or raped, it would be his responsibility.

"I see," she said. "Well, if you can pacify her, do it. If we are going to raise kids up here I want that woman kept in line."

"We are going to raise kids up here?" Percy asked innocently. The following look that Annabeth gave him clearly confirmed that yes, she had every intention to raise kids with him, presumably ones Percy had previously dumped inside her. Some might call him a bit longer on the uptake, but slowly Percy was getting the distinct suspicion that Annabeth wanted to start a family with him. As they grew up, Percy could not even have imagined Annabeth being eager to get married, but then perhaps he had only ever seen the daughter of a war goddess, not the woman behind the facade.

Deciding not to ponder any further on the matter he changed tact. "So you actually want to raise them up here?" he asked.

"Oppose to what, down there?" Annabeth asked. "Seaweed Brain, I hate to tell you but I think our projected family constellation would get the FBI really interested."

"Oh, yeah right,..." Percy said and glanced over at Annabeth who was determinatly staring ahead. Perhaps he would never quite get used to that this cute girl he had so admired for her courage and intellect as they grew up and that had conveyed affection via mature name calling, punches to the shoulder, and kicks to the chins, very much desired him and wanted to have children from him. If twelve-year-old him, with a secret picture of Annabeth stashed away in his lunch box, he would have declared them insane. Not only that, she was willing to roll with him having other women next to her, an entire harem in fact. It would seem that the fates had been solidly smashed when they had spun up his string.

"Becides,..."Annabeth trailed off. "At this point not having Silena around would just feel wrong."

"Plus you like the place," Percy added, not seeing how having Silena around would require them to be up on Olympus.

"Well, I did design it," Annabeth admitted smugly. "You only saved the world. I, on the other hand, built the place you stashed your women in."

"Annabeth," Percy said horsly.

"Speaking of stashing women," Annabeth began only to be oh so rudely interrupted by his most abrasive family.

"Hey, blondie! Kelp head!" That awfully familiar voice hailed them from behind and they turned around to find an out-of-breath Thalia trying to catch them.

Somewhat bemused, Annabeth crossed her arms. "What's up, Pinecone face?"

She came to a stop in front of them and took a few seconds to catch her breath. "I've been looking for you,... Silena said you were out on some romantic walk!"

"So why are you here then?" Percy asked, somewhat miffed. He preferred his semi-romantic walks with Annabeth to be Thalia-free. Yet regardless of this, here Thalia was.

"Artemis has been spending the past two days sending Hade's servants in the mortal world to Tartarus," Thalia announced breathlessly.

"Oh fuck," Annabeth muttered under her breath.

"Sucks for Ms Dodds then," Percy replied evenly.

"No, sucks for us. Hades isn't just going to take that lying down," Annabeth replied drily. "Chances are he's going to pull a Tit for Tat."

"Exactly," Thalia wheezed. "Guess who the Tat is. Us, the fucking Hunt!"

"Now, that is a bummer," Percy agreed. "Have you tried telling Artemis to you know,... not do that?"

"I have," Thalia replied in exasperation. "I quote, once you've got millennia under your belt, you will understand the value in carrying a feud to its conclusion."

"I can respect that," Annabeth muttered.

"No one is surprised you approve. Nico does too, he told me to get my goddess in line," Thalia complained.

"So, how can I help?" Percy asked, realizing Thalia would not come running for them at such short notice just to vent. "Because from what I can tell, your best option is to recall the Hunt to Olympus or camp and sit this one out. That is unless you want maidens to start dropping like flies."

"I know that," Thalia snapped. "Only problem is that we have Commitments that we can't just drop. Community outreach programs for at risk teens and stuff like that"

"Well, the Hunt is always welcome at my place. Beyond that, I don't think either Hades, nor Artemis for that matter put much weight in my opinion," Percy explained, trying his best to sound reasonable.

"To set the record straight, did the Hunt help in hunting down Lord Hades minions?" Annabeth asked conventionally.

"Obviously," Thalia hissed. "That's the problem. It isn't as if we could let the goddess get herself into this on her own."

"Stay at Camp, or on Olympus," Percy repeated the earlier council. "Wait for this to blow over, it eventually will."

"We can't," Thalia complained petulantly. "I told you, we have commitments."

"Not much that I can do, aside from what I have already done. Remember, I have folks to look after too, present company included," he said and glanced over at Annabeth. "If I rock my boat, chances are it won't be me who will take the plunge."

"Fair enough, most of your women need protecting. You seem to fine the ones who are on half of Olympus's shit list," Thalia agreed. "Present company of course excluded," Thalia hastily added after a glance in Annabeth's direction. While anyone messing with Annabeth had a nasty surprise coming for them if they made the mistake of getting into an arm's reach of her, he was no less concerned about her. Though he doubted Hades would stoop as low as targeting his lover over some simple quarrel he might have with Percy. Still, in a despute between gods, Collateral damage was unavoidable. It just sucked balls of those who found themselves playing the role of collateral.

After promising he'd try to figure something out they parted ways.

As promised, Percy tried to raise the topic with Artemis during her training sessions the following day, only to find himself being rejected in a surprisingly friendly and polite manner. It was fairly obvious that the goddess did not care for his opinion or counsel on the matter.

Silena's words from their trip had stayed with him, that while being adventurous with her was all good and fine, but that he should really be doing that kind of exploring with Annabeth. As tempted as he was to try things out with Silena or even Juniper, and once confident in what worked and didn't work offer Annabeth a custom made experience, he had to admit that she was right.

So after giving her a week or two to enjoy her little affair with Piper he raised the topic one evening. They were playing chess in the media room. Okay, perhaps playing was an overly generous description. He was trying to move around figures in a manner he hoped conformed with the rules, while Annabeth was systematically thrashing him.

"I've been thinking," he began.

"Huh," Annabeth said, her stern gray eyes staring through the board, probably calculating a gazillion moves ahead.

"You know that kind torture room thing you designed?" Percy asked.

Annabeth paused, and then glanced up at him, an eyebrow raised in a sceptical manner. "Yes, Seaweed Brain?" she asked, and looked around conspiratorially to make sure they were alone.

"Well," he began. "Would really like to try it out on you."

"Do you now?" Annabeth mused.

"Yes," he confirmed firmly. Then changing tactics he added, "You know, before I just took you down there anyway."

Annabeth laughed. "How very generous of you, Seaweed Brain. I am surprised you want to do that with me..."

Percy held her gaze. "Why would I not want to do that with you?" he challenged.

"I don't know Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said laughing.

Once her laughter fell silent she glanced back up at him, the hint of a smirk. "Fine, let's do it," she said. "But under two conditions."

"We are making conditions now, are we?" Percy demanded in mock outrange.

"Yes, we are," Annabeth replied. "First of all, I am not the only one being tied up. You do things to me, and I'll let you. But I get to do things to you," she warned. "That is not negotiable. This goes two ways...you've been getting very cocky recently."

"Fine," Percy said laughing. "And the second..."

Annabeth glared at him. "I want to fuck you...in front of Circe."

Percy almost coughed up the cherry hoke he had been drinking. "What?" he asked.

"You heard me. She's your slave, ours if we get married. I want to fuck you infront of her. Next best thing to actually getting proper payback, and you insist on being boring about that...that and I think it would be low key hot."

For a long moment Percy stared at her, but he quickly got the impression she wasn't joking after all. He wasn't too worried about it her wanting to do things to him. While he loved her, and cherished ever intimate moment he had ever had with her, Annabeth had never been overly imaginative in bed, a big reason why it usually ended with her on all fours. He was certain it would end with bondage the same way. The other part..."

"Not a threesome. Keep the bitch in her cage. I want you to go to town on me down there."

"Fine," Percy said, trying to get over how inappropriate this request felt. In front of Juniper or Silena,.. sure. But Circe... On the other hand it was a major power move, and he was quite sure that living out a power fantasy was a major part of this. He had seen enough female powertrips to know that they were tended a lot less straight forward and a lot more 3D chessy than the ones his own gender came up with. And though her hair was growing back at a speed that many other women might be envy, the personal slight clearly hadn't been forgotten. The more concenring part was, that knowing Annabeth to have a more ruthless streak in her, she'd probably do a lot worse.

"Tonight?" he asked.

"Oh no, got to call me dad tonight and having sex right before or after we hook up feels really weird," she explained. "Tomorrow maybe? But definitely before we enter that room."