Disclaimer: This is a fan-made work using characters and settings primarily from "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" by Rick Riordan. This work is not intended to infringe on the copyright of any existing work.

18: The Worst Dance Party Ever

The golden apples didn't seem so appealing to Percy this time. They looked just as delicious, but as he stared at Ladon, and then at Zoë's lion fur cloak, he was only filled with a sense of apprehension, not hunger. Eerie singing heralded the appearance of the four Hesperides, in their white chitons, their flawless skin seeming to somehow sparkle in the mist.

"Sisters," Zoë regarded coldly once the women had fully appeared.

The four beautiful women regarded her just as coldly. "We do not see any sister. We see a half-blood and a Huntress. Both of whom shall perish shortly."

"Mew!" Chloe meowed angrily, but she didn't show her face, so it sounded muffled.

Percy stepped forward and waggled a water finger. "You've got it wrong, ladies. There's also a kitten. And none of us shall be perishing today."

Unlike Zoë, who had deep brown eyes that mirrored volcanic rock, the four Hesperides had eyes that seemed to be made fully of obsidian—glassy, and completely black.

"Perseus Jackson," one of the Hesperides said. Percy shivered, and decided he liked it a lot better when Zoë called him that.

A second continued, "A most interesting man. Widely feared."

A third added, "But with his current injuries, we do not see him as a threat."

Zoë growled.

The final Hesperid finished, "Turn back, Perseus. It is your only chance at life. You cannot win. Go back."

Percy let out a humorless laugh. "Do you know how many times I've heard that? I'm starting to just ignore it—since it never seems to be true."

Zoë harshly mocked the Hesperides. "Do you know thy problem, Sisters? You have never had courage."

She turned to the super-dragon and shouted, "Ladon! Wake!"

Percy put on Annabeth's cap of invisibility, and he disappeared, water limbs and all.

He made his way to the edge of the garden as Zoë pacified Ladon in exactly the same way she had the first time, but just as before, it eventually attacked.

Just as before, it bit her side, but this time, the Nemean Lion's pelt protected her.

"Yes!" Percy couldn't help but shout triumphantly once Zoë was safely by his side, none the worse for wear.

Zoë even spared a small smile, before they went to meet their doom.

They scrambled up the mountain, and when they reached the top, the only one in sight was Artemis, chained to the rock, holding up the funnel of gray clouds that made up the sky.

"Run!" Artemis shouted, almost angry in her attempt to save her friend, her lieutenant. "This is a trap!"

Zoë wanted badly to run straight to her oldest friend, but knew her duty was not to hold the sky.

Percy grinned morbidly as he moved to the goddess. "Yeah, we know. Luckily, you could call tripping traps my specialty."

He sprinted towards Artemis, brought his sword out, and slashed away the chains binding the goddess. "Give me the sky, quickly!"

Artemis shook her head. "It will crush you! You do not know what you are asking!"

Percy sheathed his sword and tried to reach for the sky, but he couldn't get any purchase on it. "Just give it to me! Before Atlas arrives!"

Artemis kept shaking her head. "Not in that state! You would be killed."

Percy rolled his shoulders and stared at his hand made of seawater. He whispered solemnly, "So what?"

He thrust his arms into the air, forcibly taking the burden from the goddess, and indescribable pain soon filled him.

But strangely, he didn't think it was as heavy as when he'd first held it. His pain-addled mind figured that it might have been because he'd been carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders for a long time, now.

Even still, he felt like someone had poured lava down his gullet and shook him like a cocktail, mixing the excruciating feeling deep into his bones.

He focused on holding up the sky, and realized that along with his pain, there was another feeling. A feeling in his gut. Like a tug, a pull. The same feeling he got whenever he used his powers, he realized. Only now, it too was in unbelievable pain.

For the first time, Percy felt phantom pain. His right arm and his right leg had been removed, and he'd never had any feelings of itchiness that he couldn't scratch or any pain that wouldn't go away. But now, his phantom limbs were in just as much pain as the rest of him.

He felt his connection with the stone in his sword weaken and dissolve, and the pain in his water limbs got ten times worse. The shapes of them had deteriorated, and if he'd been able to look, he'd have seen nothing but misshapen blobs of water.

But he couldn't look. He was focusing on not dying, forcing his power over water to hold up the sky along with his body, but he didn't know how much longer he could stand.

He wrenched open his eyes to see what was going on.

Percy saw strange things happening.

Atlas had appeared at some point, along with Luke and a bound and gagged Bianca.

Luke was flanked by six dracaenae pallbearers, holding up Kronos's golden sarcophagus. Percy couldn't hear what they were saying, but there seemed to be quite a lot of sneering involved, on both sides.

Artemis suddenly attacked Atlas, and Zoë attacked Luke, firing arrows towards him as he advanced on her.

Luke eventually caught up to Zoë, and began attacking her with Backbiter. Zoë tried to parry with Anaklusmos, but whatever training she seemed to have had with a sword was not quite a match for Luke's natural talent. Luckily, the pelt protected her whenever Luke got past her defences.

Percy saw Luke getting frustrated, eventually kicking Zoë to the ground and disarming her.

Percy thought he would have to reset as Luke closed in on his love. He tried to shout, but he couldn't do anything.

Suddenly, there was a flash, and Luke was being pushed back. For a second, Percy thought Artemis had protected Zoë, but the goddess was still locked in combat with Atlas.

So, then, what on earth was a sabertooth-fucking-tiger doing protecting Zoë?! That couldn't be cute little baby Chloe, could it?!

Whoever it was, the tiger lunged at Luke ferociously, which seemed to have stunned the boy. The six inch long incisors flashed towards his throat, but Luke dodged. His strike towards the cat was blocked by Zoë, who had stood up and regained Anaklusmos.

Now it was two-on-one, as the dragon-women bodyguards Luke had around had fled some time ago, or maybe they'd been killed. Percy couldn't be sure.

He wasn't even sure what he was looking at was real. If that fully grown sabertooth was actually Chloe in her transformed state, the so-called training Zoë had given her pet kitten seemed to have payed off in a big way. Battle-maiden, indeed.

He watched as the Zoë-Chloe tag team forced Luke to the edge of the cliff, and Zoë returned the kick that had nearly killed her, sending Luke over the edge.

All the while, Bianca had been abandoned, and she was desperately trying to free herself of her bindings. Her gag had come undone, and she was yelling something, but Percy couldn't hear a thing over the pounding in his ears. Maybe it was encouragement.

Back with Artemis, the goddess was fighting a losing battle. Being trapped under the sky had not dulled Atlas's fighting chops, and Artemis was simply no match for him. She had fallen to the ground, where Atlas was about to kill her, but Zoë finally appeared to block that last attack, shooting an arrow straight into her father's forehead.

He probably howled in pain—not that Percy could hear anything beyond the blood rushing in his ears—as he smashed Zoë into the wall of the rapidly regrowing Mount Othrys. Percy felt his own heart break along with Zoë's form as she collapsed to the ground, unmoving. He didn't notice, but the sky moved an imperceptible amount upwards in his fury.

Then Atlas attacked Artemis again, but she was ready for him this time, and used his javelin as a lever as she kicked him into the air, just as she had originally. He flew towards Percy.

Percy let the Titan push him out from under the sky, and finally he could hear again.

"NOOOO!" Atlas bellowed, sending a vibration through the air so massive the mountain quaked. "NOT AGAIN!"

"Yes!" he heard Bianca's childish voice cry. "Take that, butt-head!"

Percy stumbled away as his water limbs finally fell apart, splashing to the ground and rendering him effectively crippled.

"Ohmygosh!" Bianca cried as she saw one of her saviors lose an arm and a leg in an instant, but Percy couldn't have possibly cared less at that moment.

"Zo… ë…" he gasped heavily, as he clawed his way toward her broken form with his single remaining arm. He vainly pushed at the ground with his single leg, looking much like a caterpillar as he crawled to the Lieutenant of the Hunt.

Blood dripped from every orifice in his head, something that had begun happening after he took the sky. Blood flowed out from his mouth, his nose, his ears, and even his eyes. It was strange. This had not happened before. But he didn't care. He didn't care one bit, because the image of Zoë slamming against the black brick of Mount Othrys kept replaying over and over in his mind, pushing out all other thoughts.

"She still lives, Percy," Artemis told the pitiful half-a-man, covered in blood. She gazed at the monstrous army below the cliff. They were astonished, watching the broken form of Luke.

Percy instantly dropped to the rocky floor when he heard the words of the goddess. Zoë was alive. She was alive. They won. He closed his eyes.

Percy heard the clear sound of Artemis's hunting horn before he was scooped up by the goddess and tossed into her chariot like a sack of potatoes.

He was too tired to care.

"Zoë…" he rasped when Artemis carefully placed her Lieutenant beside him.

He closed his eyes in relief.

He wanted to ask after Bianca, and Chloe, but he was already falling asleep.

— — — — — — —

Percy woke up some time after Artemis's chariot had landed in an abandoned airfield. He opened his eyes with some difficulty, crusted closed with dried blood as they had been. Bianca was asleep next to him, her black and grey hair splayed across the chariot. Where was Zoë?

"Have I… served thee well?" he heard Zoë whisper from beyond the chariot, and Percy's heart went cold.

He tried to activate his water sense to locate her, but an intense ache in his gut told him he wouldn't be using his powers any time soon.

"With great honor," Artemis agreed, her voice tender. "The finest of all my attendants."

"Oh, gods, no…" Percy choked softly from within the chariot. These were the words Zoë said before she died.

But Zoë's next words were not the ones he remembered. "Artemis… I am so sorry."

Zoë was crying. Percy could tell without even seeing her. He propped himself up in the back of the chariot, so he could see the two girls. Zoë was lying on the ground, as before, but she wasn't dying—she was sobbing.

Just what… was going on?

Artemis smiled sadly. "You need not be, Zoë."

Zoë sobbed, her face miserable. "But I have failed thee."

Artemis put her hand on Zoë's forehead and pushed the stray hairs out of her eyes lovingly. "Zoë, my faithful Lieutenant. You have long been my friend. I have always known…"

"Known what, my lady?" Zoë asked, but the tears didn't stop flowing from her eyes.

Artemis sighed softly. "I have always known that one day, you would leave my service."

Zoë choked up in confusion. "My lady? Artemis?"

Artemis smiled down at her friend. "Though I am sad, I am also grateful. I am so very thankful that the reason you are leaving is not because you fell in battle."

Percy didn't understand what he was hearing. He understood all their words individually, but strung together in that way, he lost the ability to comprehend what they meant.

He wanted to get their attention so he could figure out what was going on, but he felt this was a private moment, and it was imperative he not interrupt.

Artemis asked her former Lieutenant one word, "When?"

Zoë coughed. "Perhaps, you would be forgiven for thinking it was when he gave up his life for mine. He died, but I was able to revive him. However, he lost his limbs in exchange. One might think it was then, but..."

Artemis nodded. "But that is not the case?"

"No…" Zoë sniffled. "'Twas not long before then. I remember not the words he said. But I remember realizing… I enjoyed his company. I… desired to be in his presence. I… I resented the Hunt for keeping me from him... My lady! I am so sorry!"

Artemis nodded in understanding and held Zoë's hands as the vulnerable woman began to sob again. Zoë only spoke after several minutes.

"My lady! I…" she sniffed between wracking sobs. "I became foolish, preoccupied, insecure. I… forgot myself."

Percy collapsed into the chariot, his single leg giving out when he understood what Zoë was saying.

"It was foretold…" Zoë gasped. "The immortal pair shall share endless pain. I did not understand, my lady. But now I do. I am so sorry, Artemis! I have betrayed thee..."

"Enough, Zoë," Artemis calmed the woman down as she began to sob again. "Enough."

Tears began flowing freely from Percy's closed eyes as he began to understand the pain he had wrought. Endless pain. Zoë returned his feelings, but those feelings brought her immense pain, and so it brought that pain to him as well.

They shared endless pain.

"Uggh… where am I?" Bianca asked groggily as she roused. "What happened?"

She looked around, finding one of her saviors covered in blood by her side. "Aaaah!"

Artemis appeared by the girl's side. "Ah, Bianca di Angelo. You have awoken. I hate to leave an innocent maiden in such a vulnerable state, but I must go to Olympus, and I cannot take you with me."

"Oh, that's okay," Bianca said uncertainly, not quite sure what to make of the goddess.

Artemis smiled sadly. "I shall send help."

She seemed to notice the tears on Percy's face. She gazed at him seriously. This was the man her greatest friend was leaving her service because of. She looked at his missing limbs, and then at his bloodied face. She searched his hair for the evidence of his time holding the sky, but soon frowned.

"How strange," Artemis muttered. "Under his own power… I suppose it is not a wonder he overtaxed his divinity."

Bianca blinked curiously. "What did you say?"

Artemis shook her head gently. "It is not something with which you need concern yourself, Bianca."

The goddess gestured for Bianca to leave the silver chariot, and Bianca quickly hurried out. Artemis reached out to grab the remaining demigod, but he wrenched open his eyes.

"No need," he rasped.

Percy stood up on his only leg before unhooking his sword from his belt. He cut a bizarre figure as he leaned to the right while leaning on his sword sheath he had stuck out across his body with his left hand and hobbled out of the chariot, jumping along as he jabbed his sheath into the ground.

He didn't know what he was doing. He wasn't thinking. He just didn't want to let Artemis help him. He didn't know why he felt that way, and he regretted it right after. He saw Zoë look at him from the ground, her still-continuing sobs redoubling in volume when she saw him.

He couldn't handle his emotions. He felt so overjoyed that Zoë had lived, and Bianca had lived, and even that Zoë returned his affection, and yet so distraught over Zoë's pain, the suffering he had only begun to inflict on her, and his condition, his weakness. It was overwhelming.

He stood up straight on his leg, balancing. He didn't sob loudly, but he cried, and his face wrenched in pain. He closed his eyes as his breath hitched constantly. He didn't bother with how pathetic he looked. He just didn't care anymore.

He heard a loud sigh, and a swift clear click!

Artemis had snapped her fingers, producing a metal folding chair behind Percy.

Bianca made a surprised noise, and Percy opened his eyes, tears still flowing.

Artemis tiredly ordered, "Sit, Percy Jackson. You have done enough. Your presence will be needed on Olympus. Rest while you can."

— — — — — — —

Blackjack and Porkpie carried Percy and Zoë respectively to Olympus, while Guido carried Bianca to Camp Half-blood. Percy had been laid across Blackjack's back sideways, which was hardly comfortable, so he groaned when Zoë slung him across the Pegasus's back.

There weren't many words between the three, but there were some.

The first question Bianca had was of Nico's safety.

"Nico was safe, last I saw. He's only in danger of overworking himself. He feels responsible for your capture, so I imagine he's been training pretty hard at Camp. But as long as he's there, he'll be safe. Camp is the safest place on earth for a demigod, you know.

After that, it was mostly Bianca asking questions, and Percy refusing to answer them. She'd been told of her heritage and made to summon the ophiotaurus, but as Bessie had already been found by Percy, she was unable to do so, and was made to hold the sky. She'd been shown visions of Nico in danger, and told he would be killed if she didn't hold it. After Artemis was trapped in her place, the Titan army again tried to convert her to their cause.

They were constantly spouting bullcrap about how the gods didn't care for her, or anyone, and her father didn't care for her or her brother, but she basically didn't believe any of it. They'd threatened Nico, so they were the bad guys. Bianca had a surprisingly firm bottom line for a twelve year old.

Percy summed it up pretty well for her.

"I dunno what they told you about the gods, and Olympus, and the way things are. Maybe some of the things they said are true, maybe some are outright lies. We can sort it out later. For now, all you really need to know is that the gods are not perfect, and they don't do everything they can for their children, but the Titans would be a hundred times worse.

"No, flawed as they are, the gods are what we've got, and the time for revolution is not now. We'd be better off changing things from the inside, rather than trying to overthrow Zeus like Luke is trying to do."

Zoë smirked when he said that, even though she didn't say anything. She hadn't said much since her meltdown with Artemis. It wasn't time to talk about things yet.

"Now, I hate politics as much as the next guy, but that's the only way things are gonna change at this point. Anyone who thinks the Titans are gonna be a change for the better is out of their mind. So, changing the gods from the inside is our best bet for social reform. I mean, I'd be satisfied if the gods just had to claim all their children. We don't need a fully fledged solution to all our socio-economic problems at once."

Percy shook his head in a way that could only be described as 'loudly.' "Man, I never thought I'd be saying stuff like 'reform' and 'socio-economic.'"

After that intro, Bianca got more and more personal. Questions started at an innocent, "Thank you for saving me. How'd you know where I was?" and quickly shifted to things like, "How'd you hold up the sky with one arm and one leg?" before becoming much too personal, like, "Are you two boyfriend and girlfriend?" or "Why were you crying earlier? Is something wrong?"

Percy realized that asking insensitive questions wasn't so much a "Nico" thing as a "di Angelo" thing. He just hadn't known Bianca long enough to find out.

He wouldn't say it was a joyous moment when Guido broke away from Porkpie and Blackjack to head to camp, but it was definitely a relief.

He supposed Artemis had given them permission to fly straight into Olympus, and he was glad he didn't have to endure another 600 floor elevator ride so soon.

"You know, Bellerophon died doing what we just did," Percy spouted trivia as they flew over the city. "He tried to reach Olympus on the original Pegasus, but he was cast down for his arrogance. Lucky us, huh?"

"Yes, I am well aware, Perseus," Zoë said evenly. "I remember it happening."

Percy blinked. "Oh. That's right. You're really old."

Zoë didn't say anything.

Percy blanched and added, "No, I mean, you're really, um, experienced! And wise!"

Zoë said quietly, "I have been Lieutenant of the Hunt for thousands of years. You say I once told thee that. You also say I told thee I felt my wisdom has not improved in those many years."

Percy didn't say anything. This wasn't a joke about her age anymore.

"I agree with my previous assessment. I am truly foolish, Perseus. As foolish as thee, and maybe more so."

They didn't speak anymore until they eventually reached the throne room of the gods, at the very top of Olympus.

Zoë helped him down off Blackjack, and Percy didn't know how to feel when he saw a nondescript wheelchair sitting askew in front of the massive silver gates leading to the throne room, obviously waiting for him.

As Zoë helped him into the chair, she guessed his thoughts. "No amount of water shall replenish thy divine power, Perseus. Only with time shall it return."

Percy sighed. "I know, Zoë."

"Mew, mew," Chloe meowed worriedly from Zoë's hood, her front paws placed on Zoë's shoulder, her face peeking out next to Zoë's own..

"He shall be more than fine, Chloe," Zoë reassured her kitten, who looked no different after her brief stint as a fully grown sabertooth tiger, except for being extraordinarily sleepy. She was still an ordinary tabby. Tiny and cute and no different than an ordinary house cat.

The kitty scampered out of Zoë's cloak and down into Percy's lap—only remaining thigh, rather—where he stroked the adorable fuzzball with his only remaining hand. He muttered gently, "Yeah, I'll be fine, sweetie. 'Parently I used too much power, but it'll come back eventually. And when it does, it'll only be stronger. That's just the way these things always seem to go, I guess. Is it too good to be true? Or a gigantic pain in the ass? I'm still on the fence."

Zoë grabbed the handles of the wheelchair and steered him towards the gates. She softly asked, "Are you ready, Perseus?"

She could hear his smile in his answer. He lightly exhaled through his nose and said, "You know me:"

As the gates swung open, revealing the colossal room, he finished, "I was born ready."

Zoë pushed Percy and Chloe into the Throne Room, where the twenty foot tall forms of the gods sat in a half ring, mirroring the positions of their cabins at camp. Rather, the cabins mirrored the way the gods sat in this room.

Percy saw the sphere of water containing Bessie, who was still enjoying splashing around in the hovering thing. He didn't expect to see Thalia as well, but she knelt at the mouth of the U, on the left, in line with her father.

"Welcome, heroes," Artemis greeted.

Percy surveyed the gods. From left to right, he saw every seat filled. He expected to see them all staring at his missing right arm and leg, but to his surprise, their focus was elsewhere.

Only his father, Poseidon, had a concerned look when he saw his son's condition. Artemis had eyes only for her former Lieutenant.

Interestingly, the attention of the gods and goddesses were on him—just not his limbs. They seemed to be staring him in the eyes. No, no, that wasn't right. They were staring above his eyes. His hair.

No one spoke, though Thalia turned and saw the boy she had a crush on in a wheelchair, lacking two limbs, and her hands shot to her mouth, her eyes widening in shock.

The only sound was the slight but repetitive squeak of the wheelchair as Zoë pushed him forward, finally reaching the mouth of the U, where she stood behind Percy.

For what seemed like hours, there was no motion or noise. Though it was more like thirty seconds, Percy felt like it had been longer than he ever wished to experience a godly awkward silence.

Then, there was a cough from somewhere, and murmuring began rustling through the council.

Eventually, Zeus held up a hand and said solemnly, "Enough."

The murmuring stopped.

"It seems my daughter spoke the truth," Zeus mused, leaning back in his chair as his hand scratched at his chin.

Artemis rolled her eyes. "As if I would lie about this."

Athena answered her sister, both by blood and in maidenhood, "We did not believe you had malicious intentions, Artemis. We simply could not take any chances. Your words had too great an impact to accept on faith alone."

Percy looked around, and with his hand still on his kitten, asked casually, "Hey, like, no disrespect or nothing, but what are you guys talking about?"

Zeus's eyes flashed with barely contained anger, while Hermes let out a tiny chuckle. Apollo grinned like he'd been proven right, and Aphrodite pretended to swoon.

"Perseus," Artemis began. "Do you recall the appearance of Bianca di Angelo after she was saved? Of her hair?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess?" Percy answered. "Some of it was grey."

"She had been threatened into taking the sky from Atlas, so that I would be forced to take the sky from her. When a mortal takes the weight of the sky onto themselves, it should normally crush them. However, at the cost of their lifespan, they are able to hold the sky for some time before it does. This manifests itself as streaks of gray within their hair; the more streaks, the more lifespan was burned to provide fuel for their strength."

Percy nodded. "Okay."

Aphrodite summoned a large mirror and it floated over to him. "Notice anything different, darling?"

Percy stared at his head full of black hair. No gray. He blinked, trying to determine if his eyes were deceiving him.

The goddess of love and beauty finished, "Because we don't."

Percy blinked, and slowly frowned. He slowly wondered aloud, "How did this happen?"

Artemis filled him in. "You used your divinity to bear the burden of the sky, overtaxing it in the process. Your limbs formed of water by your power acted as a conduit, exerting your divine might upon the earth and the sky."

Percy shook his head in confusion. "I'm sorry, I know I'm an idiot, but can you explain what you mean by divinity, and divine might? You mean like how I can control water?"

Artemis sighed, and Athena, predictably, seized upon the chance to impart wisdom. "Yes and no, son of Poseidon. Hydrokinesis, your ability to control water, is only an expression of your divinity. Your divinity itself was imparted to you via your father upon your conception. His blood flows in your veins, and your divinity was inherited from him."

Percy was about to interrupt and ask specifically what divinity was, but Chiron's words from long, long ago echoed in his mind.

"...different matter altogether. We shan't deal with the metaphysical."

And so he decided not to interrupt.

Athena continued her lecture. "Expressions of divinity are the means by which one exerts their influence on the physical world. Your hydrokinesis, or a child of Demeter's effect on plant growth. They are, in essence, what you might refer to as your 'demigod abilities.' Different demigods express their divinity in different ways, even among children of the same god or goddess."

The other gods and goddesses seemed to be growing bored quickly, but Percy was fascinated with this new information.

"For example, the ability of Thalia to summon lightning is an expression of divinity that Herakles, another child of Zeus, could not perform. Likewise, young Thalia does not possess the immense strength of Herakles, as her divinity cannot be expressed in such a way. So we see that even those with similar divinities do not always express them similarly. This pertains to you, young man, as no mere expression of divinity is sufficient to bear the weight of the sky. In fact—"

"Enough," Zeus interrupted his daughter. "This council did not meet to educate."

"Indeed," Artemis agreed, ending Athena's lecture. "Perseus, you performed a feat that should have been impossible. You withstood the weight of the sky under your own power. However briefly you did so, however overtaxed your divinity was and is afterward, the fact remains: you are a mortal who performed a feat worthy of a god."

Percy glanced around the room. Ares looked vindicated, Hephaestus looked intrigued, Aphrodite looked thrilled, and Dionysus looked bored. Zeus was grim, Athena apprehensive, Hera calm, and Poseidon proud, yet worried.

Percy—Percy, one-armed, one-legged, Jackson—put on a sort of expression that shouted, 'So what?'

Athena informed him, "That makes you dangerous. A liability."

Zeus severely explained, "Now that my daughter has joined the Hunt, the fate of Olympus falls squarely on your shoulders. You are stronger than anyone expected."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Percy scoffed. "The stronger I am, the safer Olympus is, right?"

Athena shook her head. "The greater your strength, the greater your threat, should you turn on Olympus. You will always be a danger. Allowing you to grow further and fulfill the prophecy would be a terribly great gamble."

Artemis stared at her sister. "I, for one, oppose the idea we should destroy any who might become a threat. How would that make us different from the Titans?"

"I merely point out the risk," Athena explained. "I must also point out the reverse; this boy could be our greatest hope. He represents danger and opportunity in equal measure. I do not pass judgement—I only offer counsel. We must all agree on a course of action."

Apollo joined the conversation, remarking, "He did just save my baby sis. He's alright with me."

Artemis hissed, "Do not call me sis! Ahem. I believe he shall be the greatest defender of Olympus—we must not destroy him in a vain attempt to extend the peace. The Crooked One rises, whether this halfblood lives or not. We are already under siege, as I've already experienced. Should we kill this hero, the only thing we shall extend"—she paused dramatically—"is the end of the war."

Athena nodded thoughtfully.

"That is an excellent point," she said, just as Percy thought, "Perhaps Artemis really did inherit her father's flair for theatrics. Apollo certainly got it, after all."

"Very well. We shall vote, then," Zeus decreed. "All in favor of allowing this hero to live?"

This was the fateful moment. Percy hoped he wouldn't have to restart because of this, after keeping everyone alive. That would be truly pathetic. It shouldn't be too hard. He got something like a 9-3 ruling the first time.

He watched as every god and goddess slowly raised their hand. Dionysus looked as if he would not, but then he yawned, looked at his hand, shrugged, and raised it.

"It is a unanimous decision," Zeus announced the results. "So, since we have decided not to destroy him, I imagine he should be honored. If there are no other concerns…"

Zeus waited a few moments, and Percy was terrified someone would take offense to Zoë or something, but no one spoke. "Then, let the celebration begin!"

— — — — — — —

Percy was happy, but miserable. Gods kept coming to his wheelchair and congratulating him, but it all felt hollow somehow. Zoë stood behind him dutifully, but no one ever spoke to her. It kind pissed him off. It was like she was invisible. Not a word about her during the meeting, and not a word after. Like she didn't even exist.

He kind of understood why demigods defected. He'd saved their butts, Zoë gave it her all, he'd sacrificed an arm and a leg, and what did he get? A party. A fucking dance party. Like, hello, kind of an invalid over here? How is this a reward?

Mirroring his thoughts, the music shifted to a song by a sixties band called the Kinks. He'd heard it on an oldies station once. It made him depressed then, and now he was living it.

Here's your reward, for working so hard:

"Archery lessons any time, man. I'm serious!" Apollo cluelessly offered.

Gone are the lavatories, in the backyard,

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'm good, Lord Apollo."

Gone are the days when you dreamed of that car,

"Please, call me Cousin Apollo! You've earned it."

You just want to sit in your Shangri-la.

"Okay, then, Cousin Apollo."

The song suddenly shifted to a classical piece Percy didn't recognize.

"Sorry I can't do anything about your divinity problem. It's not really an injury, so it's out of my purview. It'll just have to replenish over time."

"It's fine."

Apollo wandered off after some more flowery words and a haiku or three, and Poseidon took his place.

"I'm so proud of you, Percy," the Lord of the Seas told his son. "You've done well."

Percy gave him a smile, and he tried his best to mean it. "Thanks, Dad."

"I mean it, Percy," Poseidon reiterated. "You sacrificed much, and I'm upset I can't reward you as directly as I would like. Still, know I am proud of you, not just for your strength in battle, but your strength of character, as well. Not just anyone would hold up the sky like you did."

Percy wasn't even really paying attention to what his dad said after that. It was all things he'd heard before. Even after all these years, it was still kind of crazy to him that his dad was Poseidon. He felt very strange about it all, even though he did feel warm, too.

Athena came by and told him he was dangerous, but didn't talk about Annabeth. What a joy that woman was.

And then Artemis came, and took away Zoë. Zoë squeezed his shoulder before she left, and he briefly grasped her hand with his own. But whatever it was was important, obviously, so he didn't make a fuss. Even Chloe left with her.

Which left Percy alone.

Alone, in a wheelchair that he couldn't actually operate, in the middle of a dance party that he couldn't possibly dance at.

Yeah. It really felt worth it.

He felt super honored.

He watched two minor godlings start to fight over a gorgeous nymph, only for her to walk off and start dancing with some guy who was on his own.

The godlings had just realized they were fighting over a woman who had already ditched them when Percy felt two impossibly soft hands cover his eyes.

"Guess who?" Aphrodite whispered sensually into his ear.

Percy felt her love aura start to wash over him and decided he didn't have nearly enough energy to deal with this. He grumbled, "Hello, Lady Aphrodite."

She continued whispering, "Oh! 'Lady Aphrodite.' How dignified. My little champion always knows just what to say, doesn't he?"

Percy swallowed roughly, her words reminding him what happened with Zoë, how he'd cursed her to eternal pain. At least eternal was only a couple more years in this case. Still, his tone was bitter as he practically spat, "I'm not your champion. I thought you said that wasn't a real thing, anyway."

Aphrodite refused to let up, whispering into his other ear just after she uncovered his eyes, "Oh, it isn't. But you did what I asked of you, and so deliciously painfully, as well. I'm so proud."

Percy growled at the woman behind him. "Please, don't be. I never wanted to do it. I never tried. It was never my intention to fulfill your request. I'm not your champion, or whatever."

He rolled the left wheel of his wheelchair a little bit, then the right. Left, then right. Left, right, left, right. He slowly inched away from the goddess, but a single step of hers undid a minute of his progress. He felt like an idiot.

"Whether or not you meant to, you did it. You did just as I asked, and so you shall receive your just reward," Aphrodite said flirtatiously.

"I don't want it. Give it to someone else. Please, just leave me alone."

Aphrodite gracefully spun into his field of vision, waggling her finger. "Uh-uh-uh! That's not how love works, my little champion. Soon you shall receive your gift—like it, or not."

"Not," Percy bit out. "Definitely 'not.'"

Aphrodite smiled happily. "Be that as it may, dear, one day, you'll thank me."

Percy wanted to say, "I doubt that," but he blinked and the goddess was suddenly gone.

And once again, Percy was alone. At least he didn't have to go to the bathroom or something. That wasn't a conversation he was looking forward to having with any of the nearby minor gods.

But once again, Percy wasn't alone for long, and his newest guest was again a god.

Hephaestus, in fact. A god that Percy had recently learned actually shared quite a good relationship with Aphrodite, who was currently on Percy's shit-list. But Hephaestus turned out to be exactly the kind of person Percy wanted to talk to at the moment.

"Sorry about the leg and the arm," Hephaestus said gruffly, but apologetically. "And sorry about my wife, as well. She can get a bit… overexcited."

Percy couldn't help cracking a wide smile. Finally, someone said it. He was two limbs down, sitting in a wheelchair, and no one had said a word about it. Like they didn't want to upset him by bringing it up. Please. As if he could somehow forget about it to begin with.

Percy nodded, the grin staying on his face for a moment. "Thank you, Lord Hephaestus. And thanks for voting not to kill me."

Hephaestus's beard caught fire again, and as he put it out, he said, "Bah! Pointless business, fretting over prophecies. No use worrying about what we can't change."

Percy wanted to say he agreed, but he couldn't find it in him to be quite that casual with a god. He felt like he could be as impertinent as he wanted during the meeting, because all the gods and goddesses were there to restrain each other. But in front of one single god? He simply gave another smile and nod.

Hephaestus nodded back, before stroking his beard. He gazed at Percy's missing limbs as he said, "Speaking of what we can change, I've been thinking about your injuries. I'll not say I feel responsible, but my defective product did cause them."

Percy slowly nodded as he began to understand why the god of the forge was here. He wanted to say something, but he didn't know what. So he kept his trap shut.

"The arm was from the Talos, but the leg, eh?" Hephaestus said knowingly, and Percy's face went white. "Rough stuff, magic is. I don't much care for it, myself. You can only really trust what you make with your own two hands. I'll take an automaton over a spell any day."

Percy looked at his missing limbs and nodded. "I, uh… I know what you mean."

"Aye." Hephaestus acknowledged his words with a small twist of the head combined with a short nod. He lowered his voice. "Maybe it was punishment for breaking the natural order o' things, a male mage and all that. I get enough punishments of the like to know they're not fun. Bah, trying to put a soul in an automaton is 'unnatural.' I oughta show them 'unnatural...'"

The god coughed once he realized he was getting sidetracked. He said loudly, "But enough of that. You performed a great service for Olympus, and all you're getting for it is a party you can't even dance at."

"And all the archery lessons I want from Lord Apollo," Percy joked.

The Lord of the Forge snorted. "Not much of a reward, is it? That's why I'm here."

Percy leaned his head back. "Really? Um, thanks a lot, I guess."

Hephaestus grunted. "As your divinity grows, the might of your 'water limbs' will increase. As fragile as humans clearly are, it turns out that their ability for self improvement is exceptional. It would be best to fight using your powers. It always is. However"—he gestured vaguely to Percy's body—"there will obviously be times using hydrokinesis to create limbs of water is either impractical, inefficient, or outright impossible."

Percy nodded, eyes darting to the empty spots where his right arm and right leg should be. "Yeah. That much is quite clear to me at the moment."

"That's where I come in," Hephaestus explained. "We haven't much use for prosthetics up here, but it wasn't too hard to, ah, alter some spare parts for you."

The god produced a large red suitcase from thin air and unzipped it. As Percy expected, there was a celestial bronze arm and leg inside.

Percy looked on for a second before realizing, "Oh! Oh, right here! Okay, uh, how do we do this?"

Hephaestus shook his head proudly. "Leave it to me."

He approached with the metal leg and shoved the hollow end against Percy's thigh, prompting a wordless cry of pain that Percy muffled by closing his mouth. "Aa-mmmmm!"

Hephaestus turned his head inquisitively before nodding in understanding. "Oh, that's right. This may hurt, quite a lot in fact."

"OH?" Percy asked quite loudly, with a similar magnitude of sarcasm. "Is that so?"

"The prosthetic had to connect to your brain somehow," Hephaestus explained unapologetic-ally. "I've heard anything to do with nerves either feels really good, or really bad. Had a hunch this wouldn't be feeling amazing. Forgot to tell you—machines don't feel pain, after all. It's such an unsophisticated method of fault detection."

Percy had just caught his breath when Hephaestus shoved the arm onto his shoulder stump without warning. Percy bit his tongue to keep from shouting.

"Oh—that's my bad," Hephaestus apologized again, and Percy didn't have enough of a head together to try to figure out if he'd really meant it. "Forgot again."

Percy closed his eyes and steadied his breathing, before Hephaestus impatiently urged, "Well? Let's get on with it. Try it out, see how it feels."

Percy took a deep breath and stood up. He half expected to go flying, or fall over right away. But he didn't. He stood up normally, and jumped a little, walked in a circle, and did some stretches. He pressed his hands together with all his strength, almost like he was aggressively praying. He determined the strength of the prosthetic limb and his real arm seemed to be more or less similar. He fidgeted a little, testing it out some more.

Hephaestus explained as Percy experimented. "Dad told me not to go overboard, so the features are pretty limited. The maximum velocity of either limb shouldn't exceed yours by much, if any, and the maximum force output is the same way. Dad made it very clear that I was not allowed to 'enhance you.'"

Percy's cheeks hurt from the massive smile on his face. "I do not mind at all, Lord Hephaestus. I'm so, so grateful. Thank you so much."

Hephaestus didn't seem to be used to praise. He coughed into his fist and continued explaining all about his creation. "I've put in quite a bit of extra metal, so the prosthetics should expand to match the opposing limbs as you continue to grow. The force and velocity limiters should let up in conjunction with your growth, as well, so you don't get lopsided. That's a quick way to ruin an automaton. I figure it's the same for humans."

Percy couldn't stop grinning. "Thank you so much. They're incredible."

Hephaestus stroked his beard as Percy gave him a metallic thumbs up. "Now, as I've mentioned, your 'water limbs' will likely grow in combat effectiveness more quickly than your actual limbs, and since these prosthetics are designed to match your actual limb strength, they're made to come on and off very rapidly."

Percy's face whitened even faster than when he found out Hephaestus knew he was a mage. "I… will it hurt like the first time?"

"No, no. Not unless you switch nervous systems somehow. It'll still hurt a little, but not more than a pinprick. It just needs to connect to your brain. It won't need to rummage around trying to find the pathways again."

Percy breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank the gods."

Hephaestus nodded like he didn't get the joke. "You're welcome. Now, to remove them, just think about wanting them to come off, and then pull."

Percy did as he was told, imagining himself pulling off his prosthetic arm before he grabbed the elbow of it and yanked it off with his left hand. He was a little surprised when the celestial bronze limb shimmered and melted into… a weird, long, thin, flat-ish celestial bronze thing about a foot and a half long and an inch wide.

He looked at it strangely. It was long and straight but bent down the middle, like a tape measure. The thing looked like someone had cut one into pieces and handed him the section from one foot to two feet six inches. Percy didn't know what to do with it. Did he just keep it in his pocket? No, it was too big for that. Stick it in his sock? Maybe, but that was just too weird. He looked back up at Hephaestus.

Hephaestus explained, "That's a, em, what are they called? Aphrodite just told me about them a couple months ago, said they were the newest fashion accessory among the mortals..."

Percy had no way of knowing, but that conversation Hephaestus had with Aphrodite had occurred in the late 80s, and not a couple months prior.

"What did she call them again? Oh, yes. That's a 'slap bracelet.' A type of bi-stable metal spring that stores mechanical energy in one state, the one it's in now, and releases that energy when shifting to its other stable form. Go ahead, hit it against your ankle."

Percy's eyes glazed over the instant he heard the word 'bi-stable,' but he understood 'hit it against your ankle' more than well enough.

He bent down and was about to do as he was asked, but Hephaestus stopped him.

"No, no, the convex side, not the concave side!"

Percy just looked at him.

"You're holding it upside down," Hephaestus simplified with a sigh.

Percy nodded, flipped it over in his hand, and whacked the bronze slap bracelet against his jean covered ankle. The seemingly solid piece of metal instantly wrapped itself around his leg, wrenching itself from his grasp in the process. It again reminded Percy of a tape measure, when you click the button and it gets sucked back in at high speed. Hours of amusement as an ADHD child. Maybe any child, actually, but Percy wouldn't know that.

"Wow," Percy stated in mild shock. "That seemed potentially dangerous. Awesome."

"Mm," Hephaestus agreed, before gesturing to Percy's ankle. "Now just pull it off your leg, and back it goes."

Percy did as the god asked, and once he pried the metal off his ankle, it shimmered and grew into the prosthetic arm it had been before. Percy pushed the arm onto his stump, and felt a small prick as it locked into place, rotating to the proper orientation. He flexed it to make sure it worked.

"I just can't thank you enough," Percy repeated to the god of the forge.

"Well, I'm flattered, but it's not a gift. It's a reward. You've earned it, young hero." Hephaestus gave him a strange smile. "Here's the datasheet. Take care, now. Fight well."

Hephaestus handed Percy a stack of papers stapled together and wandered off into the sea of dancing bodies.

Percy stared at the thick packet and hefted it, judging its weight.

"What do you mean, data 'sheet'? This is, like, a hundred pages…" Percy demanded, only trailing off once he realized Hephaestus was long gone.

After a few moments, he heard Thalia gasping from behind him. "Percy!"

Percy whipped around to see his cousin in full Huntress regalia panting. She was distressed, and Percy started moving before she even said anything.

"It's Zoë, she…" Thalia trailed off as Percy ran to her and stared frantically. She uttered lamely, "Courtyard."

Just like that, he was gone.

A/N: Eh, eh? I love those slap bracelets, and I couldn't think of any other jewelry you can put on with one hand.