A/N. Reviews.

"Looks like a bit got cut off at the end there.

God damn, though. Artemis keeps getting blown off, that really fucking sucks. She probably feels like shit, and is also most likely extremely pissed." -bable631

Nothing of that chapter got cut off. That little bit at the end was from the chapter before. I fixed it as soon as I got your review, so thank you for letting me know! (It also gave me chance to add a sentence that I had come up with after I posted it.) As for Artemis, yeah, she's pissed.

"Damn Artemis keeps getting abandoned in the middle of their dates without explanation... kinda feel bad for her tho then plot iz thickening iz a matter of time ill she finds out and I cant wait for that to happen!" -Sankarea396

Yep, she's going to find out real soon…

"Hello. I just fell in love with this story. Please keep writing. It is very interesting what will happen next. I didn't dare to write for a long time, but I still plucked up the courage. And the stars have come together so much that I am a translator. I would like to ask your permission to translate this story." -SomethingWhatI

Yeah, sure, go ahead. You have my full support! (Just make sure to give credit, y'know, plagiarism is bad and all that)

"lots of words incoming…well the story is certainly interesting, i like the concept. although to parrot earlier reviews, the whole king of hell holding 0 weight kinda sucks ya know? anticlimactic to say the least. Also i would definitely echo the comment about underpowered percy. while not blowing canon achievements out of proportion they are huge scales of strength, and to another point zeus is neither the most powerful god or deity/immortal in the pjo verse, whether through explicit or implicit reasoning. the power he holds over the council varies between his children and siblings and is more tied to his title and domain than actual superiority.(this last part is 100% implicitly contrived)" -itszak

Well, I wouldn't say it has no weight. I think you mean the power? But it does come with a lot of weight, hell the whole story is about the weight this title carries. Percy's is literally in the middle of political turmoil lmao. Something I think a lot of people aren't really understanding is that, for the most part, this is a story about Percy navigating the political landscape of Heaven and Hell. While he will be getting power ups (One has already been hinted at and will be revealed next chapter). I don't think Percy is underpowered in this story. While yes, I am downplaying his achievements, I haven't depowered him at all. (I could see a case being made against that with how he's mainly in Hell, where there is very limited water, but I would argue that means I'm putting more emphasis on his swordplay, or knifeplay, which is another can of worms because I don't recall him being able to use a knife.) As for Zeus, yes, in PJO he isn't, however I'm drawing more inspiration from actual mythology. For example, in the Iliad when Hera beat Artemis's ass and she went crying to Zeus. In most greek myths, Zeus is one of the most powerful beings, only fearing Nyx herself. Anyways, I hope that giant block of text properly articulated my thoughts. Probably not, I'm really tired, I just got back from vacation.

Onto the chapter.

Chapter Seventeen

"I'm in the middle of something. You are welcome to wait until I am finished." Asmodeus said, pointing towards a chair in the corner. Percy nodded and sat down. His leg started bouncing rapidly as he leaned forward. He started to nervously rub his hands together.

He didn't pay attention to what the meeting was about, his mind racing with what he was about to suggest. It was crazy, and stupid, but he had to do something, and he didn't know what else he could do. Going through with it would probably just anger Azazel, but the Prince of Pride already didn't like him, so maybe nothing would change.

The demon bowed. "Thank you, Prince Asmodeus." He said as he stood up. He turned and before walking out of the door, the demon bowed before Percy. "Evening, Your Majesty."

Percy waved his hand, dismissing his subject.. As the demon left and closed the door behind him, Percy stood up and walked over to Asmodeus' desk, and dropped into the seat in front of it. He leaned back and let out a breath.

"You said, we need to talk?"

Percy nodded, before looking up at the ceiling. "I found Aeshma."

"I assume there are some strings attached, correct?"

Percy nodded once more. "I found her, tied up in Azazel's bed chamber. He was…" Percy bit his tongue. "Well, I found out what he used that roofie for."

Asmodeus frowned. "What is he doing to my citizen?"

"He had her tied up, and was using a knife on her. I remember her looking up at me, and I'm pretty sure she was trying to ask me for help. She didn't say anything, and she looked tired, but…" He sighed. "I can't shake those eyes from my mind. So… defeated."

Asmodeus leaned forward and folded his hands, placing them on the desk. "Interesting. And while I do intend to address this, I must ask, why? Why do you, of all beings care about her… condition? She is a succubus. She rapes men in their sleep. She would do the same to you, were you not her King."

Percy groaned. "I don't know. I've been thinking that myself. Usually, I wouldn't care! I…I would think it a fitting retribution, as bad as it sounds. But somewhere, somewhere deep inside me, I… I know it's wrong. Maybe it's a sense of duty to myself, maybe a sense of duty to Hell and my subjects here. Maybe this place is starting to endear itself to me, however crazy that sounds. By all accounts, you should be right. I shouldn't care. But… I do, and I don't know why."

Asmodeus chuckled. "So, what do you intend to do about this? If anything at all?"

"I want to help her, to free her, but I'm afraid. To free her would be to go against Azazel, and I don't want him as my enemy. I mean, I don't want him as my friend either, but I don't want him to be against me."

The Prince of Lust nodded. "He would be a powerful adversary, indeed. However, you did defeat Lucifer, no small feat."

Percy felt an inward pang of guilt. He had forgotten that Asmodeus had been there when he fought Lucifer, all the Princes had. All of Hell had watched as he fought their King, and they watched as he killed, who they thought, was the most powerful being in Hell. Their king, bested by a mortal. Many couldn't believe it, causing many demons to meet their end at the end of Percy's knife. And despite Mephistopheles knowing that Percy was in fact, a fraud, no one else did. Which included the Princes.

Percy bit his lip before making a decision. A potentially fatal decision. "I didn't defeat Lucifer. It was fake."

Asmodeus leaned back and frowned. "Elaborate."

Percy sighed. "I was sent here by Hades because Lucifer kept sending demons to Hades' realm, and he wanted me to meet with your King and try to get him to stop. However, when I met with Lucifer, he informed me that he wanted me to kill him to release him from his Father's plan. And so, he trained with me to defeat him. However, it still wasn't enough, so he just went easy on me, and I gave him what he wanted."

Asmodeus put a hand to his chin. "That is…disappointing. But, technically, you did defeat him."

"What?"

"You killed him, did you not? No matter the fight he put up, you did in fact kill him. While The Rule of Succession was indeed put into place to ensure the strongest of us ruled, there were no specifications that either party had to exactly try. The subtext was there, certainly, due to the dueling to the death, and all. But, again, nothing about the previous king commiting suicide through a duel. An oversight, sure, but one that works out in your favor."

"The Law was pretty simple."

"Mmmhmm. I doubt anyone expected Lucifer, of all beings, to crave death. Least of all him, when he created the Law."

"While this is all well and good, it doesn't exactly help with this problem. Azazel is powerful, and to have him against me would be a terrible worry. To move against him would certainly not cause any goodwill."

Asmodeus grinned. "And such is politics, my friend."

"So, how do we handle this? We can't just waltz in there and free her."

"No, we can't do that." Asmodeus scratched his human chin. "However, we could do that if Azazel wasn't in his home."

"So what, we wait until he leaves, then we go in free her, and hope we get done before he returns from whatever it is that he is doing?"

Asmodeus shook his heads. "No, you will wait until he leaves, then free Aeshma. I shall be the one to distract him. I will call him to a meeting, during which you will make your move." Asmodeus frowned. "From there, I believe it would be best if you take her to your castle. Once Azazel finds her missing, he will immediately suspect me, as she is from my Ring. He will search here for her, I'm sure. But he won't search your castle, he can't. Not without your permission. As long as you don't give it, you should be fine. Should he ignore this, you can try him for treason and have him executed on the steps of your castle, just as you had threatened my subject before."

Percy nodded. "What are you gonna call him in for?"

Asmodeus smiled. The flash of teeth wasn't friendly, but instead filled with malice, not towards Percy, but directed at Azazel. "To ask how that roofie served him?"

"And should this go wrong? Plans always go wrong. It's like a rule."

"This conversation never happened, and may Lucifer have mercy on your soul."

Percy nodded. "Great. So great." He muttered. "Lucifer is definitely the kind of person to have mercy."

Asmodeus laughed. "If the plan goes wrong, we are fucked, royally."

Percy leaned back. "I don't know. Even if this plan succeeds, I think we still might be fucked. Azazel is prideful, but I doubt he is an idiot. He'll probably know it's us behind it." Percy paused as a flaw presented itself. "The Man."

"Pardon?"

"Azazel has a butler, a servant. Pitch black, red eyes. He looks like the Hat Man, but he doesn't have a hat, so I call him 'The Man'."

"You think he looks like Bill?"

"Bill?"

Asmodeus stared at Percy, unblinking. "The Hat Man. His name is Bill."

Percy held his hands up. "I've never seen the guy personally, just heard about him. Never got the chance to ask for his name." Percy shook his head. "Look, we're getting off track. What are we going to do about The Man?"

Asmodeus leaned back in his chair and hummed, deep in thought. "You can try sneaking around him?"

Percy shook his head. "I'm not very sneaky. Art—" he cut himself off. "Nevermind."

"Then, I guess I'll have to meet with both of them."

"This plan is very risky." Percy said.

"Scared?"

"Yeah. I kinda am. But I'll go through with it."

Asmodeus nodded. "Go rest. I will send a messenger when I am ready. You'll wait outside his mansion, and then free Aeshma."

Percy stood up and held his hand out. "Best of luck."

Asmodeus shook it. "As to you."

LINE BREAK

Percy stood a couple hundred feet away from Azazel's mansion. He stood amongst a group of demons, who were all giving him weird looks. He watched as Asmodeus' messenger approached the mansion's door, using the knocker.

The door opened, The Man appearing in the doorway. Percy was too far away to hear the conversation, but when The Man stepped forward, closing the door behind him, and Asmodeus' messenger turned around with The Man following him, he assumed something had immediately gone wrong.

Percy shifted on his feet as he watched the messenger and The Man walk past him. He glanced at the mansion. Azazel was probably still in there. Unless… If The Man was going instead of Azazel, then maybe Azazel was gone. He glanced back at the backs of The Man and Asmodeus' messenger and bit his tongue. He turned back to the mansion. They really only had one shot at this.

Percy forged ahead and passed through the gate. He walked through the front yard, and up the stairs to the front door. He opened one and slipped inside. The throne hall was still just as tasteless as it had ever been, covered in gold.

He passed the throne and went down the left hallway, just as had the last time he had been here. As he crept along the hall, trying to keep quiet, he noticed a doorway to his left, about halfway down the hall. The door was cracked open, and through it, he could hear a voice. Wait, voices. Two of them. He crept closer to the door and listened in.

"—Needs to understand that I have tried. He has proven to be harder to remove than we anticipated." Azazel was saying. "Everyone I sent, he has killed. He is certainly skilled."

"Then why have you not done it thyself?" Came the other voice. Gabriel, Percy realized, his eyes widening. "The job was given to you. Do you not care that you are a mortal's underling? A human has you on a leash?"

Azazel growled. "Watch how you speak to me angel. I am a Prince of Hell, not a lowly demon."

Percy couldn't see, he didn't want to peer into the crack for fear of being seen, but he could feel Gabriel getting closer to Azazel, threatening him. "And I am The Lord's Messenger, Archangel of the Heavenly Host. To defy me is to defy my father, your maker, and should it come to it, your undoer." A beat passed as Gabriel let the threat linger. "My father wants Perseus dead. If you fail to deliver his head the next time I come down, then I shall bring back yours and put it on display for all of the Host to see." Gabriel's voice went lower, almost a whisper. "Do you understand me?"

Azazel didn't respond immediately. Only upon Gabriel repeating his last sentence did Azazel mutter, "Clearly."

The conversation ended with the flapping of wings, and right after, the sound of a fist meeting wall as Azazel yelled out in rage. Then the Prince of Pride started to make his way towards the door.

Percy, panicked, backed away and took off down the hall towards his goal, Azazel's bedchambers. He burst in, and closed the door behind him. His eyes darted around the room, looking for a place to hide. He dove to the floor, sliding under the bed.

It was Azazel. He had been the one to send the assassin's after him. At the orders of Gabriel, who was sending orders from his father, God himself. God, capital G God wanted him dead. Why, he didn't know. Had he offended the deity in some way? Was he truly as petty as the Grecian gods?

The door opened and Azazel walked in, interrupting Percy's thoughts. Percy sucked in a breath, trying to be as quiet as possible. He could hear the Prince grumbling, "Stupid angels, sticking their righteous noses in Hellish affairs." Percy watched as Azazel's feet crossed the room, back and forth, the Prince pacing. They stopped momentarily, facing the same direction as the succubus he had come to save.

Finally, after another grumble about Gabriel, Azazel left the room. Percy let out a breath and sighed. He climbed out from underneath the bed and drew his knife. He approached the tied up succubus. She glanced up at him, eyes glazed over, before her head dropped back down, hair hanging in front of her face.

He steeled his resolve and brought the knife up to the ropes tying her right hand to the wall. He sawed through the ropes as quickly as he could. Her arm dropped to her side as soon as it was free. He quickly moved down to her legs, deciding that if freed her other hand, she would probably fall forward and smash her face on the floor.

He made quick work of the other ropes, before moving to the last rope. He sawed through it, and the succubus fell forward. He quickly caught her, trying to angle the knife away from her as she fell into his arms. She was lighter than he had expected, causing him to assume that she hadn't eaten since finding herself in Azazel's hospitality.

He scooped her up, carrying her bridal style, and turned around. He hurried to the door and opened it. He peeked out into the hallway, making sure it was clear, before walking out and running, as fast as he could, which wasn't very fast considering he was carrying someone. He reached the end of the hallway, and quickly scanned the throne hall. Once satisfied, he ran through, reaching the doors, and bursting outside.

He ran to his castle, having to pause a couple of times to readjust his grip, making sure Aeshma wouldn't fall onto the ground. He sprinted into the throne hall, where Mephistopheles was standing by the throne. The Royal Advisor rushed forward. "Lord Perseus, what is going on?"

"Mephistopheles, where is Rastr?"

The demon butler blinked, before frowning. "In the tailoring room, as always. Why?"

"Get a room prepared. We have a guest staying with us. Have Rastr measure Aeshma for some clothes."

"Your will be done, my Lord. But once again, I ask, what is going on?"

Percy sighed. "Azazel was abusing a succubus. Asmodeus and I freed her. She's staying with us until Azazel calms down, if he ever does."

Mephistopheles held his hands out. "I will take her to Rastr."

Percy nodded and gently laid the succubus in Mephistopheles' arms. "Thank you. I will go more in depth on what happened later. There are some things we need to discuss, especially going forward."

Mephistopheles bowed as best he could while holding Aeshma. "I will be there when you need me."

Percy let out a breath as Mephistopheles turned around and carried Aeshma out of the room, disappearing into the dining room, and presumably, up the stairs to the room where Rastr worked.

Percy slumped down into his throne and rested his head back against the headrest. His mind was a whirlwind of thoughts as multiple emotions swirled within his gut. He felt good about helping Aeshma, but anxious about the future. Heaven wanted him dead, God wanted him dead. That was no small thing.

The assassins were sent by Azazel, who betrayed Percy, nae, his realm, the very people he governed, for Heaven. Azazel was, by all means, a traitor. And while Heaven was the one who wanted him dead, there was nothing he could do, but disarm them of their weapon. Azazel had to go.

Percy leaned forward, his head in his hands as he groaned. The politics were giving him a headache. And as he sat on his throne, grasping his head, a new thought came to mind. One irrelevant to the train of thought that had just been chugging along.

His throne was uncomfortable. He ought to buy some pillows, or cushions, or something, cause his ass was starting to hurt from sitting on the stone. He shook his head, he'll deal with that at a later date. His life was more important.

Azazel had to go. That much was certain. But what would happen, should he relieve the Prince from his position? The consequences to those actions were indeterminable to him. How would the demons of the Pride Ring react? Riots, perhaps? Or would they cheer in the streets?

But this was ignoring the most important question. The detail that the entire thing was hinged upon. How strong was Azazel, and could he beat him? He was certain Azazel wasn't just going to let himself be executed for treason, surely the Prideful Prince would not let himself meet such an end. No, he, and his pride, would fight tooth and nail to cling to the life they had.

Mephistopheles returned, empty handed. He approached the throne and kneeled before it, rising when Percy immediately waved his hand. "Aeshma has been placed into a room. Rastr is working on clothes for her as we speak."

Percy nodded. "Thank you."

"My pleasure, Your Majesty. You mentioned some matters that we need to discuss?"

Percy nodded. "I found who sent the assassins."

"Indeed? Who, pray tell?"

"Azazel."

Mephistopheles took a step back. "Azazel? Are you sure?"

The King of Hell nodded once more. "I heard him, while I was rescuing Aeshma. He was talking to Gabriel about it. Heaven ordered him to. God wants me dead."

"That is… very troubling."

Percy nodded solemnly. "I don't know what to do. Any advice, advisor? I've determined that Azazel must be removed, but I am hesitant to make a move against him."

Mephistopheles pursed his lips. "I agree. Azazel must be dealt with. Executed for treason against the throne. We will need a replacement for the Prince. I have one in mind."

"You do?"

"Moloch. He's a demon who resides in the Pride Ring. He deals in sacrifices. Thematic, if you consider that you would be sacrificing Azazel."

Percy sighed. "Okay. Give some time to think this over. I want to examine any other possibilities. Perhaps there is a better way to deal with this problem."

"Wise, Lord."

Percy rose from his throne and yawned. "I'm going to try to get some sleep. Let's hope Azazel doesn't send another assassin."

LINE BREAK

Azazel leaned against his throne. Nergal, who Percy had affectionately nicknamed 'The Man' approached and bowed before the throne. "My Lord. The whore in your room is gone."

Azazel smiled. "Indeed. Taken by Lord Perseus, at the request of Asmodeus, I am sure."

"Shall I retrieve her?" Nergal asked, still bowing.

"No. She has served her role, no more use I have for her." Azazel smiled and faced the doorway, planning how to carry out God's will.

A/N. There it is, the big reveal that I'm sure you all saw coming a mile away. It was Azazel! Working with Heaven!

Anyways, next chapter should be pretty exciting,family dinner with the Jacksons!

Thoughts?