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Hestia and her daughter soon returned after checking if the others needed anything. They took their places at the hearth of the throne room, looking at the eternal flames of Olympus. Both mother and daughter looked eerily similar to each other at this moment as they tended to the hearth.
Yet, Hestia could notice the similarities between herself and her daughter, she had seen that her daughter inherited her father's rage too. Unlike Hestia, her daughter didn't stay silent when she saw wrongdoings.
For peace, one must sometimes be violent too, Hestia realized with a smile.
She looked at her daughter carefully, despite being the goddess of family, the goddess of hearth had never imagined herself as a mother. Most of it was out of fear, her father's actions haunting her every day, paralyzing her with the thought of her husband turning out like Kronos. Now though, after meeting Perseus, her fears melted and she found herself the happiest she had been in a long time.
Danae watched her mother lost in her thoughts and offered a warming smile, "Mother?" Hestia blinked out of her thought and looked at her daughter to continue, "Ask whatever you want to, I know you want to."
Hestia returned her daughter's smile and voiced her question, "What is your father really like? I have seen him so far, but I don't know how he is personally."
Danae smiled and answered, "Father is kind. Humble and gentle would be the first words that would come to my mind. He cares about everything and everyone and goes out of his way to make sure that they are safe and looked after. Yet, at the same time, he could be the very essence of carnage and vengeance, when those he cares for are wronged or hurt."
"You will learn and see during these books that The Creator, Ananke, and the fates have all tested him time after time. Father doesn't talk about it, but I've heard snippets of what he went through from others. It was enough to make anyone rogue or insane. Even immortals would not be able to stay sane after the things he had done and had to endure. However, father stayed true to himself and never lost sight of himself."
"He is very loyal to his family, but not blindly. If he sees his children, his wives or his friends doing something he thinks is wrong, he will voice his opinions loudly. He loves all of my mothers with everything he has. He loves and dotes on me and my siblings more than necessary. Not that I am complaining," she finished chuckling.
Hestia smiled, even as tears spilled continuously from her eyes, a smile of contentment on her face. She leaned forward and kissed her daughter on cheek, "That's all I wanted to hear."
Athena hummed in excitement as she showed her daughter all around the city of gods, her daughter observing everything with great fascination, and telling her all the things that were different about Olympus in the future.
Sophia talked about how Annabeth had been given the task of recreating Olympus to her image in the future. How her father cared for her and her siblings, and what other inventions had the mortals done in the future. Both mother and daughter talked while walking until they reached the palace of Athena. Sophia smiled as her mother opened the doors for her and motioned for her to enter first.
Athena watched her daughter step inside her temple happily, she finally understood what Triton had told her earlier the day. That she would know a parent's love soon with Sophia, and it was true. She had never spent more than a few hours with her half-blood children before, so her motherly instincts had never truly awoken.
Here though, after spending time with her daughter, however short it was. It was enough to make Athena fiercely protective of her daughter, she would without a doubt fight the world for her daughter.
She watched as Sophia moved inside her palace like she had been here before, and knew that her palace might not have changed much in the future. Her daughter moved straight towards the direction of her library, and Athena couldn't hold back a chuckle. She was just like her, from her black hair to gray eyes. Her daughter could be her twin when she grows up.
Sophia looked around the library and frowned. It wasn't what she had expected, when her mother asked what was wrong, she turned to the wisdom goddess and spoke, "It's so small."
Athena's jaw dropped so far low; it might have been on the ground. Never in her immortal life would she have expected someone to react to her library like that. Every book that had been written was in here, no matter the language barrier or the significance. She was the goddess of wisdom and she had gained the knowledge of all the world and her daughter called it small?
"Wh…What?" She stammered out.
Sophia laughed at her mother's reaction and went forward to hug the wisdom goddess, her small figure only coming up to her mother's waist. "I am from the future mother; you had another two to three millennia to collect books and knowledge. Your library in the future is 10 times bigger than this one, and considering I grew up in that library, this one looks like a miniature version."
Oh! Athena realized with a small blush. Though she couldn't help but feel excited and looked forward to what kind of books there might be in the future.
Percy flashed his children and the twin archers to a nearby forest along with himself. For the mortals, the world had stopped but the wildlife continued as it was, as they were not much affected by the readings or anything. Unlike the mortals who would've started sacrificing offerings to the gods, every time Zeus lost his composure and made thunder cackle.
The hunting party of five all appeared together in the forest and looked around to get a feel of their surroundings.
The twins of Percy were visibly shaking from excitement, hunting was one of their favorite hobbies, it had become a tradition for them to go out to hunt with their parents almost once every month, and they looked forward to it with great enthusiasm.
Artemis almost seemed to glow silver with happiness at hearing her son call her 'mother,' for the first time. She had wanted to have a closer relationship ever since the first day her children had come from the future, and now she had the chance to do so. She looked at Apollo and could see one of the most genuine smiles he had ever sported on his face. She realized how happy he was to be included in the hunt with her and her children.
When her brother and she were in Delos, they always used to hunt together. It was a ritual to them, but over the time she had started to ignore her brother, and it was only becoming clear to her now how much Apollo missed it.
"What are we going to hunt father?" Daemon looked at his dad in question.
"Hunting is your mother's domain son, ask her." Percy replied smiling at his child, he had seen how much Artemis wanted to spend time with both her children, and now when he was thinking clearly, he would try to help her out.
Daemon repeated the same question to his mother who hummed in thought, then with a brilliant smile on her face she told him that there were some boars in this particular forest that might be good for a hunt. Soon, the hunting party went out looking for the boars.
It hadn't been long when they traversed deeper into the woods and the shuffling of branches could be heard. The hunting party all stilled so as to not scare away whatever it was, and not a few seconds after, Artemis and her children all spoke, "Don't shoot."
Out of the woods walked the Ceryneian hind, its horn pure golden and as big as those of stags. The animal emitted a silver aura, as it wasn't an ordinary beast but the sacred animal of Artemis. Artemis had once found a herd of five of these beautiful beasts playing on the base of Parrhasian hill and had been immediately enarmed with them. She had yoked four of them to her moon chariot and purposefully set one free to later become a labour for Heracles.
Unlike what the stories might say, Heracles hadn't hunted the doe with golden antlers, knowing the importance of Ceryneian hinds to Artemis. The son of Zeus had the sense to know that there would have been no mercy to him if he had slain the beast. So, he had instead captured it and presented it to the goddess.
Artemis saw the Ceryneian and smiled, it was her personal companion, the one she had set free centuries ago. The hind would always accompany her when she was in the mortal world hunting, or with her hunters. It seemed today wasn't any different. Before she could approach her sacred hind, two blurs of black hair had shot past her, and the next second she could see her children hugging the life out of the poor Ceryneian.
The poor Ceryneian looked confused out of her mind, she looked at Artemis puzzlingly, who are these little creatures milady? Why do they look and feel like you?
Artemis had to suppress a chuckle, her hinds didn't particularly like mortals and barely tolerated the hunters because they were dear to her. They are my children; she informed the golden horned hind.
She could feel the shock that her poor sacred hind went through at that moment, What?
Artemis sighed and replied, Don't ask, I will tell you later.
Daemon had been softly stroking the Ceryneian's head while Penelope constantly chatted to her. The hind started to enjoy the company of the two tiny godlings, having no problem with them after learning that they were her goddess' children.
Apollo smiled seeing the children with the hind, it had been a while since he had felt this refreshed. This was going to be a good hunt.
The throne room had started to fill up soon after lunch, everyone excited to hear what was going to happen at the story now. The gods and their children took their respective places and looked around the room to see who would read now. Kymopoleia who hadn't spoken much throughout the reading raised her hand and asked if she could read next. No one saw a problem with that, and the book was teleported into her hands.
Percy had sat himself in the middle of his wives and had like always pulled Thalia into his lap, who sighed and leaned against his chest to get comfortable. His children had once again joined Rhea on her couch, enjoying the warmth and doting of the Queen of Titans.
Kym opened the book to the next chapter and read, We visit the Garden Gnome Emporium
Annabeth sighed and nodded to a lot of raised eyebrows. This chapter would have Medusa making an appearance, another one of the monsters that Athena created, that would come back to bite her children in the ass. She could see the questioning looks of Thalia and Reyna while Percy rubbed her back.
"You'll see," was the only thing she said.
In a way, it's nice to know there are Greek gods out there,
The gods all sat back straighter with proud looks on their faces. While Kym snorted loudly at them, and continued, because you have somebody to blame when things go wrong.
The proud looks on their faces turned to ones of offense while the demigods and a lot of minor gods laughed loudly.
"Well, it's good when you have powerful friends in the council who can beat the other gods to stop," Travis spoke amusedly as the gods all turned to him.
"What do you mean?" Poseidon asked.
"Since, both the King and Queen of demigods are in the council, the problems we faced due to the interference of other gods have stopped completely. Percy has made it clear that the demigods aren't the gods' personal tools to do things that they don't want to do. He is the one who decides if an issue is worthy enough to declare a quest or not." Connor replied to the god of seas, in an almost strained tone.
He had been in camp for a long time, and even before that, he had heard demigods losing limbs or their lives, solely because the gods had sent them to unnecessary tasks that they could've done so themselves with very little effort. Instead, they had found it much better to use their children as servants to work for them.
Zeus looked like he wanted to speak up, but was beaten to it by Hera, "What is the purpose of demigods if you refuse them the honour of serving gods?" She hated demigods with every fiber of her being, they were the result of infidelity of her fellow gods. However, she had to admit, that they were very useful to handle their dirty tasks.
The throne room chilled as all life seemed to be sucked into an unknown void, surprisingly, it came from the Queen of Titans rather than Percy or his wives.
Rhea looked at her daughter coldly, disappointment shown clearly in her eyes, "Their purpose is to live and be happy, daughter. They are the children of gods, not slaves that you can order to complete your tasks. I did not survive through the hands of your father, to live to see my children turn into their father. Be better than him." She said to her second eldest child, and Hera visibly flinched like she had been slapped. She opened her mouth to speak in her defence, but Rhea just raised her hand, "We will speak of it after we are finished here today."
It was clear that the queen of the titans wasn't going to let this go and by the end of the day, both Zeus and Hera would have to face their mother's disappointment.
For instance, when you're walking away from a bus that's just been attacked by monster hags and blown up by lightning… when you're a half-blood, you understand that some divine force really is trying to mess up your day.
Thalia shook her head in disgust as she looked at the elder gods, "You were supposed to be better than the Titans, gods were supposed to be merciful and kind. So, far you have done nothing but shown that you are all the same as those that ruled before you, is this what you had fought a war for?"
The elder gods looked at each other, startled by the question. How could they answer that? They didn't know the answer to that question themselves, they had made promises to themselves when the Titans were defeated, that they would be better. Yet, so far, they had only seen that they were arrogant, prideful and merciless in the future.
No one spoke for a long time, until Percy started laughing, making Thalia shake on top of him. He looked around the room and everyone could see that he was anything but humoured at this moment, "The gods aren't much different from the Titans, they are just the better options. The gods are like parasites that latch onto those that they feel inferior to them. In our case, it was the demigods they had latched their stingers into to suck the joy and life out of them."
The room's temperature had dropped several degrees, as Percy was stared at by multiple cold and hateful gazes, yet he stared back defiantly. "Do not forget that you yourself are a god, Perseus." Zeus replied as the sky thundered and the scent of ozone filled the air.
Percy looked at Zeus like he was a petulant child unable to accept his own mistake, "Yes I am a god, but I am the cure to the infection you spread, King of Gods." He mocked nonchalantly, "I wasn't granted the godhood to go around and do as I please, I was made a god to fix the mistakes that you and the others have made. And do not mistake me, and do not think of my threats as idle chats, I will do whatever it takes to right the wrongs that had been done. If you show yourself capable of change, then you will be allowed the chance to. If not, I will tug out every single root of your existence from the world and rip you into so many shreds that even the creator herself would not be able to fix you back."
Percy's words were laced with power and the gods could see in the back of their minds the destruction he could cause. His words were enough to invoke fear the kind of which they hadn't felt before.
Kym saw that everyone had gone silent by the proclamation made by Percy and wasn't going to speak anything further, so she continued the reading to distract everyone from the threat.
So there we were, Annabeth and Grover and I, walking through the woods along the New Jersey Riverbank.. Grover was shivering and braying, his big goat eyes turned slit-pupiled and full of terror. "Three Kindly Ones. All three at once." "Well, maybe if you hadn't decided to jump into the fight — "
"What did you want me to do? Let you get killed?"
"You didn't need to protect me, Percy. I would 've been fine."
Thalia turned to stare at Annabeth incredulously, while the rest of the room looked at her like she was sprouting horns. "You're kidding right? What was he supposed to do? Let you get killed?" Thalia asked with narrowed eyes. Like she couldn't believe that the girl she had raised could be this naïve.
Annabeth looked down to avoid looking at the others, "I know better now, back then I hadn't known as much as I would've liked and I thought myself capable of anything. It was my pride," she spoke in a soft voice.
Thalia's eyes softened and she nodded while taking Annabeth in for a hug. Athena watched the scene as she finally understood how much her own nature affected her children; her hubris was passed down to her children too. Making them reckless, she just hoped that she hadn't passed it to Sophia.
Before the reading could be started again, Percy cast a look around the room and his eyes landed on Leo and Beckendorf, the former of which was suspiciously quiet and the latter was teaching him something regarding craft. Various scraps of metals and tools were thrown around them, while their father observed his sons curiously.
"Leo?" He called, gaining the attention of the said demigod, "What are you doing?" He asked with narrowed eyes.
Leo looked up from his creation and replied, "Making a machine that you would love."
His answer did nothing to calm Percy's suspicion as he looked at him seriously, "Is there a chance that your machine is going to explode?" Speaking from experience, Percy knew that Leo had a tendency to go overboard with his work, and most of the time it ended up with him having to evacuate Cabin 9 and ask Annabeth to fix the building.
Leo just shrugged and answered, "Probably."
Chuckles of nervousness went around the room as everyone seemed wary of the sons of Hephaestus, Percy made a move to speak further, but was stopped when the god of forges let out a booming laugh. Looking at his sons with pride and fondness, the god addressed Percy, "Don't worry, I will control if something happens."
It wasn't much, but it was something at least. Assured that they weren't going to be injured by an accidental explosion, everyone listened as the reading started again.
"Sliced like sandwich bread," Grover put in, "but fine." "Shut up, goat boy," said Annabeth.
Grover brayed mournfully. "Tin cans ... a perfectly good bag of tin cans."
"Glad to see that your priorities are in order, uncle Grover," Daemon chuckled, his amusement only increasing as Grover went beat red in embarrassment.
Grover could only stare at Percy's son with tired eyes, he should've known that like his father, Daemon too would grow up to be equally a smartass for his own good. Then, a wide smile spread through Grover's face as he looked between the father and son.
"You know since you like making fun of me so much. I should probably tell the others what happened that day when we met in the forest." He spoke with clear amusement.
The result was immediate and both the father and son paled instantly, ichor draining from their faces as a look of horror crossed their face. "You wouldn't," Percy spoke and at the same time, Daemon said, "Please no."
"Wait," Annabeth paused her husband and son from speaking further, "What are you talking about Grover." When the mentioned lord of the wild seemed hesitant to answer, Annabeth gave him her fiercest glare, making the Satyr gulp and sweat.
Grover cast an apologetic look towards Percy and spoke, "Well, you see Percy and Daemon were out with me to just hang out, you know? We were in the woods and Daemon was up on the trees, jumping from branch to branch. When it was time to return, your son enthusiastically asked his father to catch him as he jumped from the tree. Percy just as enthusiastically agreed, but at the last moment, Percy sneezed loudly and suddenly, missing his falling son. And the next moment, Daemon had a knot on his head the size of my fist."
Immediately Percy could feel all of the mothers, his wives, and the hunters turn to glare at him harshly, while Annabeth shouted, "WHAT?"
At the same time Daemon was cuffed behind his head, courtesy of his twin, while the rest of the room tried to not show their amusement, lest they felt the wrath of the mothers.
Percy looked at his sister and pleaded with her to continue reading. Thankfully, Kym took mercy on her little brother.
We sloshed across mushy ground, through nasty twisted trees that smelled like sour laundry… The thunderstorm had finally let up. The city glow faded behind us, leaving us in almost total darkness. I couldn't see anything of Annabeth except a glint of her blond hair.
"Prissy, why are you so fixated on her hair?" Clarisse teased with a wide grin on her face. This reading wasn't as interesting as she had thought it would be, there wasn't much action up until now aside from Percy's duel with Heracles. At least the gods will finally understand what their children feel and think about them. The chance to tease Percy was the second-best thing happening in the book right now.
Annabeth snorted, more to herself, and mused looking at Clarisse, "If you think he's fixated on my hair, you should see him with Thalia, he is almost obsessed with her hair."
True to her words, the rest of the room turned to look at Percy. Thalia was comfortably situated in his lap, leaning against him, while the son of Poseidon was absentmindedly twirling her hair with his fingers, both of them lost in their own world ignoring the room.
The sight made Clarisse gag so she turned and asked the goddess to continue.
"You haven't left Camp Half-Blood since you were seven?" I asked her. "No . . . only short field trips. My dad — " "The history professor."…"Anybody who can piggyback-ride a Fury is okay by me." I couldn't really see, but I thought she might've smiled.
Aphrodite and Silena both sighed in unison, their hearts melting at the scene. Knowing that these two belonged together and listening how their relationship started was too sweet for them.
Annabeth smiled to herself, Percy always had an innate ability to both annoy her and make her smile. Of all the people she had known in her life, he had been a constant ever since the day he had passed out, and she had thought he was the one. It might get annoying at times to read back to how they were in their childhood, but some memories would be worth it.
"You know," she said, "maybe I should tell you . . . Something funny back on the bus . . ." Whatever she wanted to say was interrupted by a shrill toot-toot-toot, like the sound of an owl being tortured.
An owl flew straight through the doors of the throne room and landed on Athena's shoulder. More like hid itself in the goddess' hair at what was read. Athena herself had sat up straight, grey eyes flashing in vengeance at hearing about her sacred animal being tortured. She lifted her hand to caress her poor Glaukopis, and asked the goddess of violent storms to read further through gritted teeth.
"Hey, my reed pipes still work!" Grover cried.
Athena visibly relaxed but still looked disturbed about the idea of an owl being tortured. The room around her had started to snicker at the blushing face of Grover who glared at Percy.
"If I could just remember a 'find path' song, we could get out of these woods!"
He puffed out a few notes, but the tune still sounded suspiciously like Hilary Duff. Instead of finding a path, I immediately slammed into a tree and got a nice-size knot on my head.
Poseidon grimaced and reached a hand up to touch his head, where a nice-size knot had formed, while the rest of his fellow council members and family laughed at him.
Add to the list of superpowers I did not have: infrared vision. After tripping and cursing and generally feeling miserable for another mile or so, I started to see light up ahead: the colors of a neon sign… This boy needed a double cheeseburger.
Percy nodded wholeheartedly with his past self, camp doesn't give out any unhealthy food, all of it was either fruits or some healthy combination of grains and vegetables that the Demeter cabin was always harping about. It was a good thing that he was a god now, he could get whatever he wanted whenever he wanted.
At that precise moment Daemon's hand rose up in the air, and before he could even speak anything, Annabeth was already talking him down, "No! You just ate, and you will have to wait for dinner where you will eat with your siblings."
The son of Artemis looked at his stepmother with a hurt expression and soon Annabeth found her resolve crumbling. She rolled her eyes and beckoned him to come towards her, where she sat him down on her lap and summoned a healthy burger for him, not the unhealthy greasy cheesed one that Percy always spoiled him with.
Daemon looked at the burger with narrowed eyes, not liking the fact that he didn't get the kind he wanted. But then he thought something was better than nothing, and leaned against Annabeth munching down on the burger happily.
"Perfect nutrition for growing demigods," Demeter nodded happily at what she heard, she then looked at Percy and asked, "Is there enough grains included in the meal plan? You know grains are very important for developing children."
Before she could continue to rant further, Nico spoke up, "Yes, there are plenty of grains included in the meals, your children keep crowing about them until it makes even us Gods' ears bleed. They are almost as annoying as you."
Demeter's jaw dropped open in indignation and Hades got a proud look in his eyes. Persephone and the rest of the room tried not to show their amusement and laugh outright at Demeter, and at the same time Katie turned to glare at Nico and screamed, "DIANGELO!"
Kym hurriedly started reading again, not wanting a war to break out in the throne room over the importance of grains.
We kept walking until I saw a deserted two-lane road through the trees. On the other side was a closed-down gas station,… To me, it looked like: ATNYU MES GDERAN GOMEN MEPROUIM.
"What?" Most of the room exclaimed at once.
Kym raised a finger up to silence any oncoming words and looked up from the book, "It's just what is written here." She then read ahead a little further and understood that it was what it looked like to the demigods like the children had all told earlier.
"What the heck does that say?" I asked. "I don't know," Annabeth said.
She loved reading so much, I'd forgotten she was dyslexic, too.
"Everyone does," Annabeth sighed, "It's even more frustrating because there are so many books in English that aren't available in Greek and you have to specifically request a translated version, and sometimes it takes months, if not straight up ignored."
Athena looked at Annabeth and all the demigods carefully. She had thought that it might have been just a little difficult for them to read the other languages, but if her own children weren't able to read, then their reading disorder was more severe than she had thought. She would have to think of a way to fix that in the future.
Grover translated: "Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium." Flanking the entrance, as advertised "The lights are on inside," Annabeth said. "Maybe it's open." … "Snack bar," I said wistfully. "Snack bar," she agreed.
"That doesn't sound good," Pan murmured, "Satyrs can sniff out problems before demigods, and it looks like the two of them are falling under a spell."
"It must be a trap," Apollo replied nervously, not wanting it to be true. The quest hadn't even started properly and the demigods were facing more problems than usual. Even Heracles, who was supposed to have the worst luck amongst the demigods could only hear with a surprised expression, not even few hours in the quest and they had already run into more trouble than necessary.
The room turned to look at Athena and Poseidon, wanting to see the two gods' reaction to their children being in danger yet again. Only to find the God of seas and the Goddess of wisdom blinking rapidly and trying to fight off their daze.
Kym looked at her father, obviously under a daze and hurried on with the reading.
"Are you two crazy?" Grover said. "This place is weird." We ignored him. The front lot was a forest of statues… "You eat cheese enchiladas and aluminum cans," I reminded him. "Those are vegetables. Come on. Let's leave. These statues are . . . looking at me."
"No!" Perseus, the son of Zeus breathed out in horror. He could perfectly remember looking at statues like that. Their eyes following him, noticing everything he did, their faces one of extreme horror and terror. This wasn't what he wanted to hear about, and the demigods to face again. "Get out of there, do not go further." He shouted towards the book, completely ignoring the fact that this had happened already and the trio were safe and sound in front of him.
The rest of the room turned to look at him weirdly, wondering what had gotten him in such a state. He looked panicked and agitated. They leaned forward in their seats to hear about what it was that had him so spooked.
Then the door creaked open, and standing in front of us was a tall Middle Eastern woman — at least, I assumed she was Middle Eastern, because she wore a long black gown that covered everything but her hands, and her head was completely veiled…
"They're . . . um . . ." Annabeth started to say. "We're orphans," I said.
"Good lie," Hermes appraised Percy, "Now follow up the lie with something believable and logical."
"Don't teach my son how to lie Hermes," The queen of the seas glared at the messenger god, who raised his hand up and offered an apology.
"Orphans?" the woman said. The word sounded alien in her mouth. "But, my dears! Surely not!"
"We got separated from our caravan," I said. "Our circus caravan. The ringmaster told us to meet him at the gas station if we got lost, but he may have forgotten, or maybe he meant a different gas station. Anyway, we're lost. Is that food I smell?"
Hermes and his children looked visibly pained at the lie, it was so obviously a lie that no one except a monster wanting to trap them would believe it. They wanted to pull Percy into a corner and go over the basics of how to lie properly and give him a thorough briefing over the subject later.
However, such ideas went out of their heads when they saw the queen of the seas glaring towards them with narrowed eyes.
"Oh, my dears," the woman said. "You must come in, poor children. I am Aunty Em. Go straight through to the back of the warehouse, please. There is a dining area."
We thanked her and went inside. Annabeth muttered to me, "Circus caravan?" "Always have a strategy, right?" "Your head is full of kelp."
"Hey!" Thalia turned to look at Annabeth with faux irritation, "That's my name for him, you have your own, use that."
Annabeth rolled her eyes at Thalia's expression. Both her and Percy could be pretty childish when they wanted to be. Nico was exactly the same at times too, to everyone else he would be moody and expressionless, but when the cousins all got together, it was like they were toddlers that always needed a chaperone.
It must be a big three thing, Annabeth mused.
The warehouse was filled with more statues — people in all different poses, wearing all different outfits and with different expressions on their faces…
Go ahead, call me an idiot
"Idiot!" Most of the room chorused at once, Clarisse being the loudest.
Percy did the mature thing and stuck his tongue out at his friends.
for walking into a strange lady's shop like that just because I was hungry, but I do impulsive stuff sometimes… "Thank you, ma'am," Annabeth said. Aunty Em stiffened, as if Annabeth had done something wrong,
Realization dawned on a lot of faces as they turned to stare at the trio in horror. All of them looked apprehensive about three kids facing a monster the caliber of Medusa. The only hero that had been able to slay the legendary monster was Perseus, and even he had encountered her when she was sleeping. How were the children going to get out of this? Was the question in a lot of gods' minds.
Even through the daze, both Poseidon and Athena deduced who the monster was, and in the back of their minds they wanted to shout at their children to run away.
Reyna, Piper, Rachel, and Thalia were looking at Annabeth and Percy in shock, they didn't know that they had faced Medusa. To be fair they didn't know a lot of what both Percy and Annabeth had done and faced, but you would think that mentioning that they encountered Medusa in their earlier days would be something they would share.
Kym herself had realized the monster that her brother and his companions were facing, and a different kind of protective storm raged inside her. Wanting to get this chapter over as soon as possible she hurried on.
but then the old woman relaxed just as quickly, so I figured it must've been my imagination.
"Quite all right, Annabeth," she said. "You have such beautiful gray eyes, child." Only later did I wonder how she knew Annabeth 's name, even though we had never introduced ourselves
Hecate regarded Percy with something akin to awe as she leaned forward in her seat, "Even under her spell you can still make sense of things, your instincts are fighting off her magic." She went back to staring at him intensely as if he was a puzzle she couldn't figure out.
Thalia heard her and muttered under her breath, "Of course his instincts are fighting against the spell, but as usual. He would ignore his instincts."
Offended, Percy pinched her waist, causing Thalia to jump a bit in his lap, "You don't know that."
Thalia scoffed as she adjusted herself to lean back into his chest, "don't I?" She asked rhetorically and Percy had nothing to argue against that.
Our hostess disappeared behind the snack counter and started cooking. Before we knew it, she'd brought us plastic trays heaped with double cheeseburgers, vanilla shakes, and XXL servings of French fries. I was halfway through my burger before I remembered to breathe.
The hunters all looked disgusted at hearing that, while Poseidon's eyes glazed as the spell got stronger. From between the group of the hunters, Phoebe spoke up, "Males, always so disgusting." Her comment was followed by a lot of girls humming in agreement.
Percy rolled his eyes good-naturedly as he looked over them, "Oh bite me, I have seen your mistress gulf venison like it was her last meal on earth. Don't condescend me and my burger."
The hunters all blinked at his answer in surprise, they hadn't expected anyone to know that, but yes, their mistress could attack a venison steak in a manner unlike herself usually. They all got silent after that, while the moon goddess blushed an unhealthy amount of gold from the root of her hair to her neck. She opened her mouth to retort but lost her composure as Apollo and Hermes were having a laughing fit.
Apollo was heaving as he tried to slow down his breathing, but soon had to double over in a second laughing fit as his nephew commented, "Mom does like her venison."
Artemis couldn't believe it, her own family was causing her to die of mortification. Even her son had joined in commenting. Though a part of her felt really happy, earlier today she had spent her time with her children and future husband, and now they seemed close enough to laugh and joke with each other.
She decided to not shoot her brothers this time and let them enjoy themselves.
Annabeth slurped her shake. Grover picked at the fries, and eyed the tray's waxed paper liner as if he might go for that, but he still looked too nervous to eat… …
"Not so much, no. Since the highway was built . . . most cars, they do not go this way now. I must cherish every customer I get."
"Yeah… I bet she really cherishes them." Artemis murmured, she wondered if it was just bad luck that Percy seemed to get the worst of their pantheon trying to kill him, when he hadn't even known about his godly side for more than a month. Or she wondered if it was the fates throwing every possible hurdle, they could at his fate wanting to test him.
Whatever the reason was, if he is the man everyone from the future says he is, she was glad that all those tests molded him into the person he was.
My neck tingled, as if somebody else was looking at me. I turned, but it was just a statue of a young girl holding an Easter basket… "It's a terrible story," Aunty Em said. "Not one for children, really. You see, Annabeth, a bad woman was jealous of me,
The crack in the spell started to appear on Athena as she looked around the room, feeling her head spin. She hated feeling helpless and the curse had started to make it clear on them that they would understand just what their children go through in their life.
As soon as the last line was read, she turned her furious eyes towards the book, as if the gorgon was sitting in front of them herself, and growled, "I was not jealous of her." Her furious eyes turned towards Poseidon to offer some words of wisdom that it was due to his stupidity and disrespect that she was angered, not because of jealousy. But the lord of the sea was still dazed, unlike herself.
If anything, Poseidon seemed to fall deeper into the spell. Amphitrite, Triton, Rhodes and Kym all looked at him worriedly.
long ago, when I was young. I had a ... a boyfriend, you know, and this bad woman was determined to break us apart. She caused a terrible accident. My sisters stayed by me… I wasn't sure what she meant, but I felt bad for her. My eyelids kept getting heavier, my full stomach making me sleepy. Poor old lady. Who would want to hurt somebody so nice?
"Dear us," Triton groaned to himself, the bitch was laying the magic extra heavy on his little brother. What was her intention, then a sick thought entered his mind. Percy looked just like his father, with some distinct differences, but still he could be passed as a younger Poseidon.
Was that the reason?
Shaking himself out of such creepy, soul shuddering thoughts. He asked his sister to read on ahead, the sooner this chapter was gone, the better.
Even Clarisse was looking worried, even though Percy was in front of her well, she was worried for the Percy in the book. She might not show it, but she actually liked and respected the punk. He may be annoying, but he was her king, a king that cared for the demigods when their own parents wouldn't.
"Percy?" Annabeth was shaking me to get my attention… "Such beautiful gray eyes," Aunty Em told Annabeth again. "My, yes, it has been a long time since I've seen gray eyes like those." She reached out as if to stroke Annabeth's cheek,
"Don't touch my daughter!" Athena snarled towards the book with such ferocity that multiple people jumped. Her grey eyes shone with vengeance and she looked one second away from summoning her spear and going out to hunt the gorgon herself.
but Annabeth stood up abruptly. "We really should go."… Annabeth shifted her weight from foot to foot. "I don't think we can, ma'am. Come on, Percy — "
"Sure we can," I said.
The room groaned in unison, even the more stoic gods looked annoyed and turned to stare at Percy in exasperation.
The god in question was mumbling out excuses to his wives and children who were all glaring at him. Thalia started muttering about stupid kelp heads and other things that basically showcased how nervous she was. She wasn't one to use honeyed words to show her feelings.
Percy wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to himself, feeling her finally relax against him. He looked at his wives to see that Rachel like usual was looking at him like he was an idiot, Reyna was glaring at him with fire behind her eyes. Piper was the calmest of all, but one could see the nervousness in her eyes.
Someone really needed to remind the room that he was alive and well.
I was irritated with Annabeth for being so bossy, so rude to an old lady who'd just fed us for free. "It's just a photo, Annabeth. What's the harm?"… Grover glanced at the cement satyr next to him, and mumbled, "That sure does look like Uncle Ferdinand."
Vines erupted around the couch Pan was sitting at, as the god of the wild glared at no one in particular, but still looked angry enough to choke an immortal monster to its death. "She hurt one of my satyrs?" He growled menacingly and the other gods remembered the terror Pan could bestow upon others.
He might look like a peaceful, nature loving god, but when those he loved and cared for were hurt, he could be pretty terrifying. The word 'panic' originated from his name, after he had sent the giants running during the first giant war against Gaea. He had let out a cry so horrible that even the giants had fled the scene.
Grover only answered with a nod and closed his eyes in mourning for Uncle Ferdinand. So many satyrs had been lost at the hands of monsters, it was disheartening. First Medusa then Polyphemus. It was just his luck to encounter them both.
"Grover," Aunty Em chastised, "look this way, dear." She still had no camera in her hands. "Percy — " Annabeth said…
"That is Uncle Ferdinand!" Grover gasped. "Look away from her!" Annabeth shouted.
"Yes, Look away!" Percy's friends and family all shouted at once.
Percy rolled his eyes at his friends, they were always so over dramatic. It must be the godly blood coursing in their veins, he had noticed that the gods had an unusual love for drama, and their leader of course the drama queen Zeus.
She whipped her Yankees cap onto her head and vanished. Her invisible hands pushed Grover and me both off the bench. I was on the ground, looking at Aunt Em's sandaled feet… I almost looked higher, but somewhere off to my left Annabeth screamed, "No! Don't!"
Thalia sighed and looked above at the ceiling, "Thank Chaos for Annabeth, if it wasn't for her, my kelp headed husband would've long ago booked a ticket to Elysium." Her comment was followed by a lot of vigorous nods of agreement by their friends.
Percy looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "You act as if I can't survive on my own."
Thalia looked at him deadpan, "I know how you and how your mind works kelp head. You would've realized the problem and your mind would've formalized the most reckless and dangerous plan it could, and without Annabeth's interruption, no one would be able to stop you from following your stupid plans. You would survive, but barely."
The gods watched concernedly towards Percy, wondering what was wrong with him. Poseidon even through his dazed eyes looked worried for his son, while Triton, Amphitrite, Rhodes and Kymopoleia were staring at Percy with exasperation, asking themselves if his arrival in the family was some twisted punishment by the fates to make them all grey in worry.
"HAH!" Percy laughed, "So you do admit that I can survive alone."
The room went back to groaning and Percy winced as he felt a terrible dose of Thalia's electric shock.
More rasping — the sound of tiny snakes, right above me, from . . . from about where Aunty Em's head would be… revealing her face as a shimmering pale circle. Her hair was moving, writhing like serpents. Aunty Em. Aunty "M."
Poseidon broke free from the spell and stood up abruptly. Clutching his trident in one hand and using it as a cane to support himself up. Taking a deep breath, he collected himself and turned to look at Percy and threw him an accusatory look, "Your adventures are going to be really bad for my health."
Triton and Percy snickered at their father's face and the latter mumbled, "Sorry father."
Amphitrite pulled back her husband to his seat and took his hand and patted it with her own in sympathy. She wasn't as bad as her husband but even her own breath was hitching every time her son was in danger. She shook her head; demigods were always wild. But it seems her son was going to be the wildest.
Ares broke into a toothy grin as he stared at the book with anticipation, "Finally, some action, read fast I want to see how the punk deals with the monster."
Clarisse rolled her eyes at her father, while Frank wondered how that guy was his father.
How could I have been so stupid? Think, I told myself. How did Medusa die in the myth?
"I killed her when she was asleep, beheaded her right there." Perseus told the room, then his eyes turned towards Percy, "Unfortunately for you she is wide awake right now." He looked around the room and noticed that Poseidon had paled even further than before and offered a small forced smile, "I did not mean to worry you lord Poseidon, I just meant that it would be a lot harder to defeat her now." His words did nothing to comfort the sea god.
"Gee thanks," Poseidon drawled out in a dry tone. His hands were turning white as he clutched his trident with every force he could muster. He looked towards Zeus and said, "Your son has inherited your ability to comfort others."
Hades, Demeter, Hestia and Hera all laughed as Zeus went red in embarrassment along with Perseus.
But I couldn't think. Something told me that in the myth Medusa had been asleep when she was attacked by my namesake, Perseus. She wasn't anywhere near asleep now. If she wanted, she could take those talons right now and rake open my face.
"Wonderful thoughts cousin," Nico laughed to himself as he looked around the room, watching the sea deities all pale in horror and everyone else holding their breath. "We might just witness the first godly heart attack in existence."
Percy turned towards his dad to see he looked a second away from turning into a puddle of water. He sighed inwardly, if his dad was this worried about hearing him going against Medusa, he didn't even want to think how he would react to see him challenge Ares.
"The Gray-Eyed One did this to me, Percy," Medusa said, and she didn't sound anything like a monster. Her voice invited me to look up, to sympathize with a poor old grandmother. "Annabeth's mother, the cursed Athena, turned me from a beautiful woman into this."
"Don't listen to her!" Annabeth's voice shouted, somewhere in the statuary. "Run, Percy!"
"Silence!" Medusa snarled. Then her voice modulated back to a comforting purr. "You see why I must destroy the girl, Percy. She is my enemy's daughter. I shall crush her statue to dust.
Athena flinched with every single word Medusa spoke, feeling guilt seep into her heart at seeing how her actions affected her children. This was only one incident where she was hearing about one of her children being in danger because of her own rash actions. How many more had suffered because of her pride and she hadn't even noticed?
She was supposed to be the wise one in the council, the one who always planned ahead for every possible scenario. Yet, in her pride she had forgotten to think about how her actions would affect her children. The monster wouldn't come after her, she was a goddess, but her children? They were mortal and fair game to the monsters. They needed to enact vengeance on the wisdom goddess and who better to take it out on other than her half-blood children?
With a halt she recalled the first private conversation she had with her future husband. Percy had told her that she was a changed goddess in the future, who understood the consequences of her action and pride. Was this what he meant? Had she seen more of her children suffer because of her actions?
Percy, you need not suffer." "No," I muttered. I tried to make my legs move. "Do you really want to help the gods?" Medusa asked.
"Yes and no," Percy answered the question asked in the book. "All the wars and battles I have been in and fought. I did it because the gods were the better option. Do not mistake me," he said turning to the council of gods that were scattered around on different couches. "I fought for the gods, not because they were good, but because they were slightly better than the Titans."
His statement made several gods recoil, is this what their children thought of them? Slightly better than the Titans? Not because they believed in their parents or anything, not because of love, but because they were the lesser of two evils?
Even Zeus seemed to be shaken by the revelation. Ever since the reading had started people kept comparing him to the Titan king, his father. Now, the future god, who once was a demigod admitted outright that he fought because they were the better choice between them and the Titans. Was it true? Was he like his father and had turned into a tyrant?
Shaking his head out of such foolish thoughts Zeus scowled. I am nothing like my father, he thought to himself.
Percy continued where he had left off, "I fought for my father, for my mother and for the demigods that would've been decimated had I not fought. I did it for the mortals that would've been caught up in the crossfire of the divine war."
Poseidon, the sea deities, demigods and a lot of nature spirits and minor gods smiled proudly at Percy. He was a true hero, not the likes they had ever seen before.
"Do you understand what awaits you on this foolish quest, Percy? What will happen if you reach the Underworld? Do not be a pawn of the Olympians, my dear. You would be better off as a statue. Less pain. Less pain." …
"Duck!" he yelled again. "I'll get her!" That finally jolted me into action. Knowing Grover, I was sure he'd miss Medusa and nail me.
Grover grumbled about something under his breath, that only Pan heard and laughed. Then he looked up and glared at Percy, raising his hand upwards and motioning to choke him with one hand, he spoke, "I find your lack of faith… Disturbing."
The boys from the future all laughed and appraised Grover for his timing, while the girls rolled their eyes at the boys. The past people all just looked confused out of their minds.
Daemon who was laughing in Annabeth's lap loudly breathed in and out, trying to control himself and looked at Grover with a proud look, "You might just be my favourite 'Uncle' after this."
"WHAT?" Both Apollo and Nico stood up in outrage. Their eyes looked at Dameon accusingly, like he better be lying or else. Then they turned their glares on Grover who was sitting smugly, but feeling the glares of the two gods shrunk back. Meanwhile, Percy and his wives were all either laughing or looking at the four people amusedly.
"I am your favourite uncle," Apollo demanded, he had spent very little time with his nephew and niece, but they had already become very dear to him.
Nico turned his fiery glare towards the sun god, "Pipe it down Golden boy. I am his favourite uncle."
Daemon looked at the two of the gods with a small amused smile. "I am sorry, but he quoted Vader, you have to understand."
Begrudgingly, Nico sat back down, still looking upset over the matter. "Fine, only for a while I'll allow it. I understand."
Apollo looked from Grover, to Nico and then to Daemon and shouted, "Well I don't! WHAT'S A VADER?" Everyone from the future erupted in laughter again while Apollo just looked confused about everything.
Don't worry you're my favourite, Penelope mind messaged both Apollo and Nico, making the gods sit back straight with a smile. Neither knowing that both of them had received the same message.
I dove to one side. Thwack! At first I figured it was the sound of Grover hitting a tree. Then Medusa roared with rage.
"You miserable satyr," she snarled. "I'll add you to my collection!" "That was for Uncle Ferdinand!" Grover yelled back. I scrambled away and hid in the statuary while Grover swooped down for another pass. Ker- whack!
"Arrgh!" Medusa yelled, her snake-hair hissing and spitting.
Everyone cheered and laughed, proud of Grover. His friends all started speaking about how he was the best, and even the past gods could only agree. That was one brave Satyr alright. Grover himself blushed brightly and looked down to avoid his embarrassment, he wasn't much used to praise.
Pan laughed loudly and clapped Grover in the back so fiercely, he almost fell to the floor. "I have said this again before, and I will say it again. You're the bravest satyr I have ever seen." He laughed some more, "Hitting Medusa not once but twice. That's going to remind her not to turn any satyrs into statues in the future."
Everyone nodded in agreement with the god of wild and cheered Grover once again.
Right next to me, Annabeth's voice said, "Percy!" I jumped so high my feet nearly cleared a garden gnome. "Jeez! Don't do that!" …
"But you've got the better weapon. Besides, I'd never get close to her. She'd slice me to bits because of my mother. You — you've got a chance."
The room looked at Annabeth in surprise, like they couldn't believe that one of Athena's swallowed their pride back and admitted that they couldn't do anything. Even Athena herself looked at her daughter with newfound respect, her children had inherited her stubborn pride along with her wisdom. She was sure that she would've rather died than admitted her shortcomings to someone else.
Annabeth was brave and strong willed to overcome her pride at this moment.
Poseidon looked like he had swallowed a lemon. Obviously not wanting his son to face his ex-one-time-lover. He understood though, Percy looked like an exact copy of himself, he would be able to get closer to her because of his familiar looks to her. That didn't mean he liked it.
"What? I can't—" "Look, do you want her turning more innocent people into statues?"
"Ouch," Poseidon winced, looking at Annabeth accusingly, "That is low. Appealing to his good nature to get him to slice off a monster. It is necessary I agree, but still it was a low blow."
Annabeth nodded and looked down. This was the first she had appealed Percy to take care of a monster for her. After this, she hadn't ever felt the need to ask. Involuntary her thoughts drifted to the time Percy had killed Arachne in the pit. The rage and bloodlust in his eyes, the feral look in his eyes wanting to punish Arachne for hurting her.
Then, the case with Akhlys. She hadn't asked, but she knew that the reason he had lost himself so badly was because the goddess tried to hurt her.
She could still recall the goddess of misery crying in misery herself. Percy did all that for her without her asking. That was the first time Annabeth had felt scared of what Percy was capable of, she was scared of herself a little too. Knowing that if she asked, Percy would slaughter whomever she asked without a question. That was a very dangerous power for someone with her hubris to have.
Shaking her thoughts, she focused on the book.
She pointed to a pair of statue lovers, a man and a woman with their arms around each other, turned to stone by the monster… "The convexity will cause some distortion. The reflection's size should be off by a factor of — "
"Speak English." Both the Stolls shouted at Annabeth. They were at the edge of their seats, wanting to hear about Percy slaying Medusa. This was not the moment for her to go into the gibberish language sometimes the Athena campers talked in.
"She is," Athena, Hephaestus, Leo and Beckendorf all shouted back at the two brothers.
"Would you speak English?"
Travis and Connor looked at the two demigods and two gods with expecting expression. As if saying, See?
"I ami" She tossed me the glass ball. "Just look at her in the glass. Never look at her directly."… … I advanced on her, which wasn't easy, holding a sword and a glass ball. If she charged, I'd have a hard time defending myself. But she let me approach — twenty feet, ten feet.
"Why isn't she attacking my dad?" Penelope asked to no one particular.
Amphitrite looked at her granddaughter and explained, "Your father looks like your grandfather. She obviously still had some feelings for your grandfather, so she might be hoping to keep your father. Because he reminds her of Poseidon and she would settle in for the son if not the father."
Poseidon blushed while the rest of the room turned to look at him. Meanwhile, his three granddaughters. Danae, Sophia and Penelope all looked disgusted and in unison gagged. "Eeewwww."
"Eww, is right my dears." Amphitrite nodded along with her granddaughters.
Even Aphrodite who would've commented about Medusa still having feelings about Poseidon looked like she wanted to throw up. Many other goddesses and females feeling the same as the goddess of love.
I could see the reflection of her face now. Surely it wasn't really that ugly. The green swirls of the gazing ball must be distorting it, making it look worse… I slashed up with my sword, heard a sickening shlock!, then a hiss like wind rushing out of a cavern — the sound of a monster disintegrating.
Everyone cheered and congratulated Percy on a slaying done well. While the sea deities all sighed in relief and allowed proud smiles to appear on their faces. A son of the sea had defeated the Medusa, the Minotaur and the furies. This would make the others realize that the sea is not something to trifle against. Plus, it would give them bragging rights for millennia.
Ares whistled appreciatively and looked at Percy in approval. "That was good punk, no training and you were still able to fight well in those circumstances. No direct looking means you had to rely on your instincts mostly, a good and trained warrior can do it with little difficulty. But for an amateur to be able to fight so well, your instincts must be really good. Never ignore your instincts."
Athena blinked at her brother and spoke, "That actually sounded smart."
Ares rolled his eyes while his children, godly and demigod scowled. "I am the god of war; I would know about fighting. I thought you were supposed to be the wisdom goddess, how that escaped your intelligent mind?"
Athena blushed a little and opened her mouth to retort. Thankfully Nico cut her off before the war gods could start a war of their own in the middle of the throne room. Those two were the opposite side of the same coin, hence they clashed so much.
"Saying Percy's instinct is good would be downplaying it by a mile. Once, I was waking him up while he was sleeping. In his sleep he had pinned me down and unsheathed his sword and pressed it against my throat within seconds. Even in his sleep, he has more than enough instinct to take someone down." Nico said shuddering, he remembered Percy opening his eyes and glaring down at him while his sword was cutting through his skin. It was terrifying.
Ares, Athena, Artemis and the gods more associated with fighting looked at Percy amazed.
Something fell to the ground next to my foot. It took all my willpower not to look. I could feel warm ooze soaking into my sock, little dying snake heads tugging at my shoelaces… … Very, very carefully, without looking down, she knelt and draped the monster's head in black cloth, then picked it up. It was still dripping green juice.
"Wonderful," Aphrodite, Silena and Piper commented dryly. Looking sick to their stomachs.
"Are you okay?" she asked me, her voice trembling. "Yeah," I decided, though I felt like throwing up my double cheeseburger… … "The Red Baron," I said. "Good job, man."
"Ahh!" A few people looked at Percy and Grover in understanding. So, this was where the nickname had come from?
He managed a bashful grin. "That really was not fun, though. Well, the hitting-her-with-a-stick part, that was fun. But crashing into a concrete bear? Not fun."… Finally I said, "So we have Athena to thank for this monster?"
Athena flinched as she felt guilty yet again for creating a monster that would haunt her children for years to come. However, her pride was legendary and wasn't going to vanish in a few days. She composed herself and looked at Percy coldly, "Your father was at fault here. He should not have taken her to my temple, he disrespected me. I did what I had to do." She defended herself.
Percy looked at her unamused and leaned forward, resting his chin on Thalia's shoulder as he stared back at the goddess with an expressionless face. "I never said that you were alone at fault here, I would not defend my father for his stupid and reckless tendencies." Poseidon looked down towards his foot here, "Yet, it doesn't erase the fact that you were the reason for that monster's creation. You were in your right to punish Medusa, but you should have done so in a matter that didn't come back to hurt your own children back."
He then looked around the room, sending a warning to everyone hearing. "Remember this and remember this well, I may be your friend and family. But first of all, I am the King of demigods, they are under my care and protection. If those said demigods are harmed, or anyone innocent is hurt because you couldn't keep your temper in check. I would hold you personally responsible. Doesn't matter if you're my father, my mother, my cousins, wives or anyone. I will deliver a reckoning that would be spoken of in legends."
Everyone shivered as they heard the lord of fate. He wasn't exaggerating they could tell. They didn't want to find out just what he would do to them personally if they crossed him or his demigods.
The demigods, both Roman and Greek sent him appreciative and respectful nods.
Annabeth flashed me an irritated look. "Your dad, actually. Don't you remember? Medusa was Poseidon's girlfriend… "Forget it," I said. "You're impossible."
"You're insufferable." "You're—"
The Greek demigods all groaned in unison. This was what they had to deal with for all those years that these two weren't together. Constantly fighting each other, insulting each other. Yet, gods forbid if someone else said something about either of them. They would get real defensive about each other.
"You punks were both insufferable," Clarisse said in a gruff tone, "Even Silena was getting frustrating over how you two danced around each other. Seriously, who flirts by insulting each other?"
Daemon snickered at his mom and dad, "They are still like that too. Almost every morning they argue during breakfast. It's their love language."
Annabeth blushed and clapped her son's mouth shut with her hand. It wasn't her or Percy's fault, they were both unable to fully comprehend their feelings towards each other during their earlier days. And by now, it had become a ritual for them to argue and insult each other every chance they could get, after all they were best friends first.
"Hey!" Grover interrupted. "You two are giving me a migraine, and satyrs don't even get migraines. What are we going to do with the head?"… What had Medusa said?
Do not be a pawn of the Olympians, my dear. You would be better off as a statue. I got up. "I'll be back."
Everyone from the future who knew about this story leaned forward in their seats. They had heard snippets about what Percy did from the nature spirits but never the full truth. They wanted to hear what he would do now.
Triton sucked in a sharp breath, "I have a bad feeling about this." He muttered to himself before turning to look at his brother pleadingly, "Brother, why do I have a bad feeling about this?" He looked desperate for Percy to tell him that he didn't do anything stupid. But much to his dismay, Percy laughed and said, "I see your instincts are as sharp as ever brother."
It was all the confirmation the heir to Atlantis needed.
Amphitrite leaned towards her husband and whispered in his ear, "Whatever happens now, it's your fault." Poseidon wholeheartedly nodded in despair, wondering what did he do for his son to inherit all his qualities.
"Percy," Annabeth called after me. "What are you — " … I searched the back of the warehouse until I found Medusa's office.
The Gods
Mount Olympus
600th Floor,
Empire State Building
New York, NY
With best wishes,
PERCY JACKSON
The throne room chilled as everyone inside and outside listening to the books stilled. No one said anything for a while as everyone sat back, looking at Percy in horror, their mouth gaping. All of them wondering if they heard it right or not. The gods could only look at the demigod in disbelief that he would have the guts to challenge them so boldly.
The demigods from the future were all looking at their king like he had grown two heads. Sure, they knew how disrespectful he was towards the other gods as a demigod, and how reckless he was with how he addressed the gods. But this? This was beyond that; this was suicidal for an untrained demigod that was already on the shit-list of the King of Gods.
The heroes of old all sat looking at Percy in horror. They couldn't believe that someone could so openly disrespect the gods, the whole Olympian council at once and still live to tell the tales. They had heard all stories about how the gods were wrathful to those who dared to speak against them. To have the courage to spit back the gods' mistake in their faces with such audacity was beyond their comprehension.
The master bolt in Zeus' hand crackled with electricity even as he tried to control his temper. It's not like he could do anything against Percy now, the fates would obliterate him from existence before, if not the god himself does it.
Poseidon, Amphitrite, Triton, Rhode and Kym were just looking at Percy in something close to fondness mixed with extreme anger. The boy was clearly his father's son, the blasted blood of his makes him a danger to himself. As if on cue, Poseidon's wife and children turned their furious glares at him. Blaming him for Percy's action, after all his son got his recklessness from him.
Reyna was looking at her husband in disbelief, "Do you even think?" She shouted at him, and at the same time, Thalia sent a bolt of electricity back at him for being so stupid. Rachel and Piper were just laughing loudly, finding it hilarious.
Before anyone could say anything more, Leo, the Stoll brothers stood up. In tandem the trio bowed deeply to Percy, "Praise the lord," Travis started, "For we are your humble servants," Connor continued, "You are our liege," Leo finished.
Their antics had the desired result as soon most of the room started laughing.
"They're not going to like that," Grover warned. "They'll think you're impertinent." … … She didn't. She seemed resigned to the fact that I had a major talent for ticking off the gods. "Come on," she muttered. "We need a new plan."
Ares laughed as the chapter was finished, "That was a good chapter. Is the next one going to have any action in it?" He asked Percy excitedly.
"I don't think so,"
Ares looked disappointed and went back to sharpening his knife without saying anything. Hera looked at her son scowling, hoping that he would act more dignified than a simple brute.
Hermes looked around the room and not seeing anyone moving to take the book, decided to do it himself. Teleporting the book to his hands he said, "I will read next."
