As the light of dawn slid in through my window, the warm light hitting my skin brought me to a groggy consciousness. For the first time in what felt like months, but was in fact only a couple of days, my body didn't feel sore. It felt as though I had fully recuperated from my fight with the Primordials and battling Ares the day before had done nothing to slow down my healing.
Sighing as I stretched, I looked besides me on the bed to see Hazel and Hestia adorably wrapped around one another as they slept. They looked so peaceful that I didn't move any further out of fear of disturbing them, so I simply lay back and stared at the ceiling with as much of a smile as I could muster.
The last few days had been a lot, friends and enemies had died and been reborn and the world was now forever changed. Whilst last night with the goddesses besides me had been incredible and had reignited that vital spark of hope inside of me, I still could not deny the darkness that was settling across the world. And I was starting to feel homesick, I missed my other lovers and knew I had to get back to Camp Half-Blood as soon as possible.
A contented yawn pulled me away from my own thoughts, bringing me back to the here and now. Hazel and Hestia were both rubbing their eyes and sitting up, big smiles plastered across their pretty faces as they both said good morning. They soon pulled me in for a loving threeway kiss, which was gentle and tender, probably what they needed after all the fucking we'd got up to all evening.
I'll be completely honest here, I put them through the ringer. Over these many chapters I've displayed incredible stamina that has left Olympians catatonic in bed and has the Primordial of Night herself hungering for me, so believe me when I say the only reason why I'd slept at all and wasn't still fucking these two right now, was because they physically couldn't keep up anymore.
They went through the ringer last night, especially once they both tried out anal. Hestia liked it, but preferred regular sex since she loved creampies so much. Hazel on the other hand absolutely adored it, it was almost like her ass was made for anal. And while at first she blushed and said she was only doing it to avoid me getting her pregnant, soon she was begging me to fuck her up the ass so loud that I feared what the Hunters would hear in the other rooms.
We knew we couldn't go back to having sex though, even though we all wanted to. Work had to be done, so we all pulled apart from one another and were silently thankful that we didn't hear the Hunt up yet, so one by one we each snuck across the hall into the shower and then got clean and dressed. As that was happening we heard doors open and footsteps as the Hunt woke up.
Once each of us were ready, we went into the kitchen to have a nice breakfast, but as we walked past the Hunters sat around the living room and Artemis who stood by the stove, we realised that they were all either staring at us or - as was in Artemis's case - purposefully looking away from us. I didn't want to assume why they were doing that, even though deep down in my hear I knew precisely why, and my suspicions were confirmed by Kinzie, who as she saw me enter the kitchen went starry eyed and grinned.
"I take you all had fun last night then?" the former Amazon turned Huntress giggled as her sisters throughout the room all groaned awkwardly. Kinzie, from the moment I'd first met her, never hid her attraction for me, she had no shame since she put everything out there on the table. It was probably the thing I both loathed and admired the most about her, since while it made her a very likeable - if at times amorous person - she did tend to make conversations awkward, since she severely lacked a filter or any subtlety. As she saw everyone getting flustered her smile only grew, as she wiggled her eye brows teasingly and cooed, "I knew you were good based off of all the ladies you already have, but damn! You are a naughty boy, Percy. If I'd known you could make people scream like I heard when I first met you I would have collard you when I had the chance."
"A disgusting practice," Zoe grumbled from her seat sourly, a pout across her pretty face. Whilst I hadn't spoken much with Zoe since her resurrection, I knew why she and the rest of the Hunt had mixed feelings about some of the Amazon's more... questionable actions towards men. I also found it a bit peculiar too though. The Hunt as a whole had killed many men over the years, being quite sexist at times. I supposed that the issue lied with the slavery implications rather than the gender roles for most of the Hunt, but I knew many in their ranks weren't sexist anymore, like Zoe.
"You're right," Kinzie sighed, her nymph like features making her look even more devious as she giggled, "Sadly not even this hunk could pull off an orange jumpsuit."
"I feel so objectified at the moment," I tutted tiredly, hoping to ignore the conversation and the persisting stares as I guided Hazel and Hestia to sit at the kitchen table so I could grab some food for them.
In the background, I could hear a rather heated debate raging on between the Hunt and the Amazon's over their practices, the leading voices of both sides being Zoe, Bianca and Reyna against Hylla, Kinzie and Penthesilea. Tuning them out was easy at this point, but I could see that even though Artemis had her back to me as she finished cooking, she was tired, her back slumped in a way that was unbecoming of an archer of her caliber.
Stepping quietly besides her, not looking at her as I made to grab some bowls, I whispered the the Goddess of the Hunt, "Are you doing okay?"
Whipping her head around to look at me, I saw that Artemis's eyes were bloodshot and tired, and as her voice squeaked out a surprised, "What?" it was tired and hoarse. Shaking herself awake as she looked from me, to her followers and then finally over to Hazel and Hestia, she coughed out, "Oh, don't worry about the girls. I knew the Hunt and the Amazons would have issues from the moment I joined them, which is why most of the Amazons are still running their business from their headquarters until they can sort everything out. They all just need some time to bond and get along. Usually we'd be hunting to do that, but times have been strange as of late."
"That's not what I was talking about, Arty," I murmured, tentatively placing a hand on her shoulder, making her tense up as I continued, "Yesterday was rough. You lost friends... sisters. Young ones at that. Believe me when I say, I know how hard that is. And while I know we haven't talked since I... since the other night, I want you to know I'm here if you need to talk."
"Thank you, that's very kind, Perseus," Artemis stated far too formally for my liking, curtly nodding her head as she put her food on a plate and walked over to the Hunt to shut them up. Yeah... I definitely freaked her out the other night when I used the L-word, and I also probably didn't help myself by loudly fucking two other women across the hallway from her last night. Whilst Artemis was more than aware of the type of relationships I had with other women, she's never been so close and been able to listen to it.
Shit, the thought of Artemis trying to sleep but getting turned on by hearing me making Hazel and Hestia scream and moan started to get me really hard. I pushed that thought aside as we all got ready for our day.
Over the next couple of hours our group all checked how everyone was doing in New Rome and Camp Jupiter, made sure the fortifications and protections (now boosted by Ares's power) were in ship shape and bid our farewells to the people we knew. Saying goodbye to Frank had been difficult, he was one of my best friends, and he was being burdened with the weight of a city in a time of war the likes of which none of us had seen. He'd just lost good soldiers and friends, his father had just died by my hands, and looked exhausted from his own battle against the Drakon.
Hermes had already gone back to Camp Half-Blood the previous night, after the funeral's to inform them of what had happened. So, once we had finished off our business, we didn't need to linger a moment longer as we gathered together and flashed back to the top of Half-Blood Hill.
When we arrived the first thing we all noticed was the thick black clouds of smoke and ash that were billowing in the distance from Manhattan, which was almost blotting out the sky. It was a massive shift from the sunny skies of California that we'd taken for granted whilst away from camp.
What we saw when we looked down the hill at the Camp was truly surprising though. It was packed full of people - both demigods and mortals together since we were accepting refugees - and magical creatures, with many of them carrying banners signifying their fealty to Rhea, Metis, Leto and of course Chaos. The Titan's troops had arrived to aid us, and from the looks of things they were getting work done.
Away from the camp, a distant massive construction site stood, fuelled by divine power and a certain someone's architectural ingenuity. The foundations of a modern take of an Ancient Greek city were being laid before our eyes as Cyclops's and Campers and many more worked together to build a sustainable home for the masses of people now needing them.
Walking down the hill, I could see that sitting outside the Big House were Annabeth, Metis and Chiron. They were all standing around the Pinochle table as they stared down at the celestial bronze laptop that I'd seen the Titaness carrying the first night we met, but only just realised what it was. They were staring down at Daedalus' Laptop, which Annabeth had owned and studied for a couple of years before she lost it during our fall into Tartarus. Metis had found it and brought it back to her.
Reaching the Big House, my group and I all waved to our allies. Wearing as big a grin as I could muster, my smile grew genuine and bright as soon as Annabeth turned around and lit up like the sun upon seeing me. As my girlfriend sprinted towards me, I opened my arms wide and accepted her warmth as she wrapped her arms around me, her pregnant belly pressing against me making me breath out a sigh of contentment.
On either side of me Hestia and Hazel smiled fondly at us as we hugged, and Annabeth seemed to notice their closeness to me from the corner of her eye as she pulled her head away from my chest and cooed, "I hope he treated you two right."
"Oh he did," Hestia giggled, kissing my cheek fondly before leaning into Annabeth's ear to whisper, so that only I could hear, "numerous times in fact. I'm surprised I can walk."
"I could lie to you and tell you you'll get used to it, but even now I can't keep up with him. I'm convinced the Fates are keeping a few of his domains secret, and they're of a very naughty nature," my Wise Girl laughed along with Hestia as she said that, whilst Hazel looked over my shoulder in bewilderment. As I shrugged my shoulder, Annabeth looked back up at me to look me in the eye, before she stood on her toes and kissed me square on the lips, purring, "I've missed you so much, Seaweed Brain. We all have."
"Yeah, I'm much the same. How has everything been since we left?" I queried, this time involving Chiron and Metis in the question, who were welcoming back Artemis as the Hunt stood on the sidelines. Everyone's faces took on this deep exhausted expression as they all looked between one another. Annabeth forced a smile as she lead me by the hand onto the porch, so that everyone could take a seat.
The Hunt stayed in earshot, scanning the new arrivals wearily from their post. As everyone took seats, I noticed that we were a seat shy, so I offered up the last chair to Hazel and elected to stand, since I knew I was undoubtedly going to pace during the conversation to come. Based off of the look Chiron gave me, I was right.
"We have too many people here, Percy. Too many mortals seeking refuge, too many troops bustling about, and too many campers. Everyone's on edge. People are fighting over trivial matters because of it, so we had to come up with some ideas to solve it. Thankfully, Metis here recovered Daedalus' Laptop and we have started to work on a project to better house everyone, based off of Daedalus and Annabeth's work on something called, New Athens."
Once Chiron was done, Annabeth chimed in, "It's based off of some modern Ancient Greek inspired city designs Daedalus designed, as well as mechanisms to vastly expedite the construction process. After our brief stay at New Rome, I grew fond of the idea of a Camp Half-Blood variant of the city and started work on it. To be honest it's probably the thing I mourned the loss of most after the laptop fell into Tartarus."
"Your welcome for finding that again, it took a while," I heard Metis add, before she took over the conversation. "Our forces are just about ready, we're just going to wait until the city is done before we make a move, which should take a week. I hear Hermes is sending word to Poseidon about a dream of yours?"
Nodding mournfully, I sighed, "Night before our battle against Ares, I saw a vision of Zeus and all of the Primodials and how they were mounting up their forces. One of the visions I had was Pontus getting his monsters ready to battle my father. Another -" I cut myself short, looking first at Artemis, who was still unable to meet my eye, then over my shoulder at Zoe, who stood at the steps of the porch with Bianca and Reyna. "Another I had showed Ouranos, taking his place atop Mount Othrys. He was commanding Ares to attack Camp Jupiter and subjugate New Rome... and he'd freed Atlas of his burden."
Artemis immediately whipped her head around to look at me, her eyes immediately watering with fury and betrayal, as Zoe could be heard gasping and shaking behind me. "How dare you leave me uninformed of that swine's freedom, Perseus? I would be out there right now, hunting that beast down if I'd known he was loose!" the Goddess of the Hunt bellowed, her breath heavy as she glared at me.
"What? Tell you and let you run off to be killed?" I barked back, "I'm not just going to let you face Atlas, Ouranos and both of they're armies like that! That would be suicide!"
"He needs dealt with!" Artemis growled through bared teeth, stand up to face me, our faces inches apart as she glared daggers into my very soul.
"AT! THE! RIGHT! TIME!" I shouted. Once I said that Artemis and I were left panting with frustration, our hot breath hitting each other in the face as our eyes met and our noses almost brushed. I was sorely tempted to lean in and make out with her right there and then, with how hot she looked when angry, but knew better than to do that in the awkward state our relationship was in right now and with an audience.
Blinking first, the Goddess of the Hunt pulled away from me with a huff, storming off as she signalled at her Hunters to follow her, many of whom doing so, but Zoe and Penthesilea exchanged one glance and stayed put. Once Artemis was out of sight and I could no longer stare at her and her fantastic ass longingly, an impressed whistle came from the Pinochle table as Metis leaned back in her chair.
"Well that was charged! But we should really get down to business here," the Titaness asserted, gaining many nods as I took Artemis' abandoned chair and listened in, exchanging all the information I had when needed.
There had still been no progress on rescuing Persephone as of yet, which was a shame, even though I had been away for days I knew that Demeter's heart ached worse than ever to see her daughter again. By the time we were done talking, we were all tired out of our minds despite the early hour and everyone had work they had to get to. As Chiron ran off to deal with some campers and Metis went to the construction sight, leaving behind the laptop with Annabeth, a familiar fiery redhead walked up the steps of the porch, her paint spatted dungarees - and the voluptuous breasts hidden behind them - a welcome sight in these trying times.
Rachel had been a very casual fixture in my life as of late. She's given prophecies and been around, I'd talked to her a couple of times even, but with how busy I'd been with my family and the war, I really hadn't focused on her much. That is to ask, how much should you focus on the girl you almost didn't get with Annabeth Chase because of? If Calypso was to be believed - which often she was - then the answer was a lot, but to be fair, Calypso was the only one of my lovers I openly called my girlfriend other than the Goddess of Architecture who claimed my heart.
The daughter of wealthy property developer, now turned Oracle of Delphi, was as eye catching as ever. Rachel Elizabeth Dare hadn't been my first love, or even my first kiss, but she was undeniably important to me in so many ways, which still included the latent romantic interest I still had in her. And would anyone blame me? She was a hot, freckled redhead with a striking personality and an artistic eye which had dazzled me from day one.
Annabeth had mentioned her a few times in passing almost jokingly since my birthday, especially after Calypso officially became our girlfriend that one magical night. The blonde had used it as a chance to tease me and show how competitive she was by husking into my ear, "Imagine Rachel and eye both fighting over your cock together, blowing you as one. Imagine us both sucking on your balls, her staring up pleadingly at you with those big green eyes of her to just grab her by her red hair and fuck her throat. You'd like that, wouldn't you Seaweed Brain?"
Needless to say, whenever Annabeth had said anything like that, I made sure to fuck her so hard that she'd be left unresponsive.
Seeing Rachel now though, outside of some official capacity was bring all of those thoughts, and memories and feelings rushing into me like a tsunami. It was too much, so as the artist stood on the porch and waved friendly, I simply just sat gaping like a fish as I meekly waved back.
Grinning smugly as she witnessed me floundering, Rachel sauntered past Zoe and Penthesilea, nodded friendlily towards Hazel and Hestia, and sat between Annabeth and I as she cooed, "What's up, Percy?"
Due to being nudged in the arm by a giggling Annabeth, I coughed out, "Oh, nothing much. Just planning a war, no biggie."
"Do you need to talk to the Oracle?" she teased, wiggling her eyebrows and making me realise that she had a spot of blue paint on her forehead.
"I already have one annoying prophecy to deal with, I don't need another one," I groaned, before I realised I may have sounded rude and blushed, "No offence."
"None taken," Rachel chuckled, tilting her head to the side alluringly, her eyes unfocused as if she were staring off to something unseen, as she often did nowadays. "I'm not offering you a prophecy, just a talk, I feel you need one."
A pause settled in after that, because I began to realise that she was right. So much had happened in the last few days, and now the world felt as if it was being plunged into darkness that was consuming everything. Whilst I was fighting to stop that darkness and save the world, I couldn't help but still feel so overwhelmed.
The pause ended with a skid of chair legs running along wooden floor boards when Annabeth gave me a pat on the shoulder, followed by an affectionate parting kiss on the cheek as she silently corralled Hestia and Hazel to join her as she left to go to my cabin. As I stared quietly after them, I watched as Zoe and Penthesilea approached them just outside the door to my cabin and they had a brief exchange, before they seemed to be invited inside.
"What troubles you, Percy?" the soothing voice of Rachel called out to me, wisdom and promise seeping between every word.
"I fear for the future that my children will inherit and the world that comes with it," I admitted, resting my head in my hands as I spoke, "Last night I took Hestia's words to heart. I have hope. Hope for the world to be good. Hope for my children to live better lives than me. Hope for my family and all others to be happy once this is all done. But I have to be realistic. This war is already a grim affair and we're barely a week in. I just want to know that things will be better. Can you tell me that."
"Things will be better," Rachel breathed, her hand pulling mine from my face and resting it on the table as our fingers intertwined. "But you need to know those are the words of Rachel and not the Oracle. I see the future in a very strange way Percy, nothing is clear, nothing is certain. But I have hope in the future I want and will do what I can to make it come about."
"That's not as promising as you think it is," I chuckled, running my thumb along hers with quirked lips. "But it is sweet."
The rest of my day after that went by rather well, with some more meetings with gods, meeting the troops, checking on New Athens and just being helpful where I could be. I met back up with the rest of my lovers, asked what Zoe and Penthesilea were visiting for to very vague answers. I got to see Estelle, and looked after her for most of the day since I'd been gone so long. It seemed that all of my lovers breastfeeding her was doing the trick, as planned, as my sister was frighteningly strong for her size.
After dinner, as we all made our way back to the cabin for bed, Athena and I were hanging back as we walked together, my arm looped around her waist and my hand rested on her belly. With her head rested on my shoulder, she murmured, "Are you still worrying about what's to come, my love?"
"How did you know about that?" I queried, nuzzling my nose into the top of her head, sniffing her intoxicating aroma.
"I may not be my daughter, but I think by now I can read you pretty well," Athena explained with a smirk, turning her face up to kiss me briefly. "Now answer my question."
"Honestly. No, not after talking to Rachel," I affirmed with a smile, "That's not to say that this war doesn't still terrify me. I just mean I'm not living anxiously worrying about what might be. I'm just going to do all I can to the best of my ability and hope that that will bring what's best for our children."
"Good boy," the Goddess of Wisdom patted the side of my face and pulled me down for a brief yet intoxicating kiss, my hand still on her pregnant belly as we'd stopped walking. When she pulled away from me, Athena fluttered her long lashes over her beautiful grey eyes and sighed, "You sound so smart right now, it makes you seem really attractive."
"Oh really?" I chuckled fondly with the brunette in my arms, before we were both interrupted by a light thump from her belly. Eyes wide, and my hand pressed firmly against her as she rested her hand on mine with a massive smile, I choked out, "Was that...?"
For once speechless in her immortal life, tears prickled the Goddesses eyes as she grinned from ear to ear. Campers walked by, giving us side eye as we had our moment, but we didn't care one bit. Athena kissed me once more on the lips, showing me all the love she had for me and our family as she did, basking in the moment for what felt like a beautiful eternity until she whispered against my lips, "They just kicked."
Unable to talk, barely able to breath, I simple chuckled for joy as I rested my forehead against hers. This wasn't the first time that one of the babies had kicked, in fact all of my other lovers in the later days of their pregnancies have experienced it, but Athena had taken a while to have this moment, which was fine. But to have this beautiful moment together was special for me but I couldn't even fathom how important it was for her.
Athena had had many children over the last few millennia, but they'd all been born from a thought and plopped out of her head in an instant. There was no carrying to term, or feeling them grow inside of her. Compared to all of my other lovers Athena was in a rather odd spot of having had children before but never quite truly having them.
Our time holding each other, and feeling our child kick was cut short however, as I heard Rachel's voice from a few feet besides us murmur, "He shall be the great mind that brings a bright future for all. His guidance will bring joy and truth."
Looking over at the Oracle of Delphi I could tell that whilst she wasn't telling a prophecy she was being lead in some form by the spirt, as she looked at us with bright green glowing eyes that pierced my very soul. Behinds her, Apollo walked away from a group of his children to check up on her, as he nodded to Athena and I to silently wish us a good evening.
Letting Rachel's words sink in as I watched Apollo guide her up to her cave, I couldn't help be caught by one thing that brought a smile to my face. "We're having a boy."
"Is that seriously what you got from that?" Athena asked me, looking absolutely gobsmacked even as she held me close and rubbed her belly.
"Hey, I'm allowed to be excited," I chuckled, kissing her forehead as I guided her over to my cabin where everyone else was still waiting for us before going to bed.
Most days after that for the next six days were the same, because it seemed our enemies were using the time after their failed assaults on Camp Half-Blood and Jupiter to regroup and manage their current footholds. I'd lead war meetings with the Gods, camp higher-ups and our new Titaness allies, help look after and integrate mortal refugees and frequently appearing Half-Bloods to the camp, help train the campers and soldiers, admire the swift work being done on New Athens and IM Frank to make sure that everything at Camp Jupiter and New Rome was going alright too.
That was until the seventh day, when as I was training the campers in advanced sword techniques that would be useful against larger enemies (which most monsters are) I saw rather sweaty and tired centaur coming running into the arena. As Chiron entered, he panted for breathe, clutching at his chest coughing out, "Percy, come quick! Shel! Baby!"
I needed no other words, I didn't even say anything to my class, as I simply started sprinting across camp like a mad man. Chiron, who for years had been much faster than me thanks to his equine half, now lagged behind thanks to my godly speed and raw determination, especially since he was still panting for breath. I didn't care though, I was just running to see the birth of my first child as fast as I could.
In the back of my mind panic and excitement butted heads with one another, fighting for dominance over my subconscious. So many thoughts were rushing through my mind so fast it was hard to process. We'd known that Shel would likely give birth first for a while, but were we ready for this? Was Shel okay? Was anyone with her? Did I miss anything? Would my first child be a boy or a girl? Who's eyes and hair would they have? I hoped they would at least have Shel's cute nose, that was one of my favourite parts of her face to pinch and kiss because of how cute it was and how much it made her blush.
Those thoughts rushed so quickly through my mind and I made my way so quickly to the door of my cabin that I belatedly realised that I'd used time magic to hasten my journey. Before I'd even placed my hand on the door handle I could hear Shel's panting breath and cries of pain, and I had to shoo curious passers by away as I opened the door and smiled nervously as Chiron gave me a parting thumbs up as he sat on the front step.
Before I could enter, my mum squeezed past me in the door, holding Estelle close to her chest as she took her away, which based on the noise was probably the best bet. As she past me she gave me a reassuring smile and patted me on the back, pushing me inside. Now within the confines of my cabin, I could see what was going on. Most of my lovers sat on one side of the room, staring at a makeshift set of medical curtains that had been put up around Shel and Pipers usual bed. Both Shel and Piper were out of sight, obviously behind the curtains.
Across the room my lovers were all wearing different varieties of nervous expressions and were all having very different reactions to it. Calypso was saw on a bed and was trying to convince Annabeth to sit down, but the blonde wasn't having it, as she paced across the room anxiously. Thalia was sitting besides Hazel, who was rubbing her shoulders as she was bitting her nails to the quick like a cartoon beaver. Aphrodite was standing just by the curtain, seemingly having to physically restrain herself from barging in there to reassure Shel. One one bed, Athena, Demeter, Hestia and Hera all sat together, holding hands and trying to cuddle, as they winced each and every time Shel let out a pain filled cry.
Upon seeing me enter, Annabeth rushed over to hug me quickly as she explained to me, "Shel didn't realise her water broke this morning during her shower, so after lunch when the contractions started we had to get her over here as quickly as possible. We would have taken her to the infirmary, but its still filled to the brim with the injured. Artemis and Apollo are in there right now delivering the baby, and last I checked in five minutes ago Piper had to switch what hand she was letting her hold because she almost snapped her fingers off."
"This is actually happening," I gasped, now feeling weak in the knees as Annabeth guided me over to the curtain and pushed me in. The sight I stumbled into was truly one for the ages. I'd like to say the first thing I saw was Shel and Piper's worried but determined faces, as they both focused on their own different levels of pain during Shel's labour. I'd like to say that the first sound I heard was the sound of Shel trying to focus her breathing, or the reassuring words that Piper was lovingly purring to her as she stroked her hair.
That would be wrong though. The first thing I saw, were the twin archers, Artemis and Apollo, down between Shel's wide spread legs, godly ichor - her blood - dripping down the bed sheet as she let out an ear piercing wail of pain. None of them seemed to realise that I was here, a fact which both relieved and frightened me, and I was only caught out of my stupor when Shel screamed, "Where's Percy?!"
"I-I'm here!" I shook myself out of my daze and stumbled over to Shel's other side, trying to shoot Piper a smiled, as I looked down at Shel's beautiful, sweat covered face as she panted desperately. Giving her my hand, I was surprised by the strength of her grip already as I began to say, "I came as soon as I heard. Oh Shel, you're doing so well, baby."
"Shut up!" the woman uncharacteristically screamed at me, her eyes shooting daggers at me and her nails digging into my skin as she crushed my hand, her voice filled with strangled venom as she spat, "You did this to me, you BASTARD! You FUCKING CUNT!"
Taken aback by the extent of her language, I just nodded my agreement, whilst Piper cooed, "Shel, you're doing such a good job. Don't stop now! Focus on your breathing. Come on with me." Piper began to show her breathing exercise, which Shel begrudgingly indulged despite the massive amount of pain that was flooding her body at the moment. The longer she squeezed my hand, the more I joined in, which I'm sure would have made Piper laugh at least a little if she weren't so rightfully focused on Shel right now, as she encouraged, "Look at you go, baby! You're a star."
Shel, through tear stained cheek and ground teeth whimpered out, "I can't do it! It's too much! It hurts!"
"No, baby, don't say that, you can do this!" I smiled, running my hands through her hair like I'd seen Piper do as I hummed, "I'm here with you. We both are. We'll stay here with you and we're never going away. I'm sorry I made you feel this pain, so go ahead and squeeze my hand as tight as you like to vent it out on me. I'll take the broken bones if it eases your pain."
"Stay!" Shel cried, her eyes shut tight and her cute nose scrunched up as she sat up on the bed slightly. Piper and I kept her stable and seemingly taking my promise to heart Shel began to squeeze my hand so hard that I was probably going to need some ambrosia after this. That didn't matter though, what did was what she said next. "Never leave us, Percy! We - FUCK - need you to stay!"
I realised in that moment she wasn't just talking about now, in this room, or even just the confines of the war. Shel was also talking about after it. And she wasn't just talking her and the baby, she was talking about everyone on the other side of the curtain too. She was expressing a fear that I was sure they all shared since Piper finally met my eyes for the first time since I entered. They didn't want me to go, to die in the war or to someday leave them when we one day get out of this messy war. They knew I was loyal, I knew that, but they were allowed to worry.
Caressing the side of her face, fighting back the pain in my hand, I leaned down closer to Shel's face as I promised her, "Nothing could take me away from this. This is where I want to be and nothing will stop me from being here. I'm staying, no matter what!"
Labour wasn't really permitting Shel the chance to smile or say much else, but Piper did. She leaned in to Shel and whispered, "I'm not leaving either, baby." Shel seemed to appreciate that, if her grip getting tighter around both of our hands were to mean anything.
It was at that moment that for the first time since I entered, Artemis stood up and spoke, her eyes warm and kind yet focused, precisely what you'd want of the Goddess of Childbirth at a time like this. Her voice was gentle, yet authoritative, as she told Shel, "You've been doing so well so far, Shel. Babies almost ready to say hello. You just need to push a few times for me, alright?" When Shel nodded her head with her mouth tightly sealed, Artemis seemed to signal something to her brother who was still doing his work bellow before she called out, "Push!"
"Aaarrghh!" Shel cried, her chest heaving as she sat up and then flopped back down on the pillow.
"That was really good, Shel. Just a few more!" Apollo encouraged her, golden light emanating from him as he seemed to be using some magic on her. "Push!"
"Aaaaeeiiahh!"
"Good Shel! Well done," Artemis congratulated her, handing me a damp towel which I swiftly dabbed over Shel's forehead as she panted and cried. "You did such a good job there that we need just one more push. Okay? One more push and we're done and you get to meet your baby!"
"Uh huh," Shel whimpered, her head rested on the pillow as I soothed her with the towel, cooling her gorgeous flushed face.
"You've been spectacular, baby," Piper assured her, kissing her hand even as it crushed her own.
Artemis then called out, "We're ready. On three now. One. Two. Three... PUSH!"
I can not even put to letters the sound that erupted from Shel in that moment, as she pushed for the final time that afternoon. I would call it bestial, but it came out of gentle and lovely Shel's mouth, so that would never be an appropriate word to use. All I know is that it stung my ears and no doubt forced all of the air out of her lungs once she let it out and slumped limply to the bed.
We couldn't focus on that though, as a knew sound filled the room. The newborn cry of a baby. Our baby.
Whipping my head around, I watched as Artemis held the small crying infant in her arms, Apollo cutting the umbilical cord, before she used a towel to wipe the blood and afterbirth off of them. The baby almost seemed to glow with divine light once it was wiped down, and whilst clearly newborn and flailing, it was beautiful, and ours.
"You have yourselves a beautiful daughter," Artemis smiled, her eyes getting a bit watery as she looked at us, before handing my baby girl over to me. From that moment I didn't notice as Apollo began healing Shel with magic and cleaning up where he could, or Artemis' face that at any other time I would have stared at with love and yearning, that was distant and blurred out now. I was a father now.
For in that moment, I held my daughter in my arms, and she was so small and tiny and perfect, and in that moment I knew I had the most important thing in my now eternal life in my hands. Tears prickled the side of my eyes, but I didn't bother wiping them away, I cried freely as I smiled down at my perfect little girl, her eyes still closed, her fists balled up and tiny, and her cries still filling the air.
It broke my heart slightly, but I carefully handed her off to her mother. I watched as Shel with renewed vigour reached out for our daughter and pulled her into her arm, holding her flush against her chest, making her stop crying for a moment as she stared down at her with the same love and wonder that I felt in that very moment too. She couldn't talk for a moment, being too choked up on her own tears of joy, but she swallowed that down, as she cooed, "Hey... I'm your mommy."
"And I'm your daddy," I sighed leaning down to have a clear view of the gorgeous bundle in her arms. I was pulled away from looking at her as I felt Piper lean in across from me.
"I'm your other mommy, and don't worry, you'll the rest of your mommies in a bit," Piper chuckled happily, wiping her eyes with the back of her hands. Overcome with emotion, Piper and I seemed to have the same idea as we turned to Shel and both kissed her at once, before we all looked back down at our darling baby. After a short pause Piper scoffed and turned to her girlfriend, "She has your nose for sure, babe."
That she did and more. Now that the divine glow was starting to fade away from around her as she seemed to settle into her born power, I could make out her Cherokee decent, much like Shel and Piper, and her dark tufts of hair atop her small head looked like it would inherit my thickness once she grew up. She'd taken a lot from her mother, and I almost wondered if any of me had been able to sneak in there, until her eyes flutter open. Her big, bright, sea green eyes with a golden outer ring.
"Have you got a name in mind?" Apollo asked once he'd gathered up his things and Artemis had finished making sure everything was clean and our new born baby stuff was all set out.
Names had been a big subject in the family in recent weeks, as before the Primordials attack it was our big focus. A lot of the ladies knew exactly what they wanted to name our children no matter what gender they were, others weren't as prepared. Shel was one of them. She'd taken my suggestions and Piper's to heart, but her list was still fifty names long last I'd checked.
But in that moment, Shel had a moment of certainty as she looked between Artemis and Apollo, and then smiled down at our little one adoringly. "I think I have one. I struggled with picking one for a while, but now it seems clear. You two both helped deliver this little angel today, so I think I should honour that and thank you both," Shel smiled, looking up at the twin archers, the Sun and the Moon. "I quite like the name Phoebe."
Apollo looked touched and blushed, but Artemis gasped at the name, holding her hand over her heart as she stared at Shel, little Phoebe and I. I could guess why. It wasn't because it was her grandmothers name, it wasn't because it was inspired by her brothers other name Phoebus, or the name she was sometimes called because of it. She gasped because Shel had unwittingly named out daughter after one of Artemis' late-Hunters, her friend since the days of Greece who had died at the hands of Orion.
Nodding my head with tears still falling down my face, I smiled over to Artemis and said to the group, "Yeah, Phoebe's a lovely name."
"Phoebe," Artemis choked out through barely contained tears, meeting my eyes. "A strong name."
"Hi Phoebe," Piper cooed, gifting the infant her finger to hold in her tiny hands as she stared up at us perplexed as any newborn.
"What domains shall she claim," Apollo then asked, looking over to me, which made ancient words flood through my mind in a way I'd experienced once before with Sally.
"She shall be Phoebe, Goddess of Mortality and Respect," I declared, as I smiled down at my daughter.
A comfortable pause settled over us all as we basked in this moment, especially since Shel and Phoebe both looked so tired. Since they needed their rest, Piper sat by their side as I started to walk the twin archers out to the door, only to be intercepted by my family as they tried to peer past the curtain to check in. After spending a brief moment filling them in and letting them check in on Shel for a second before her and the baby fell asleep, they all went to their own beds with big grins, as I lead Apollo and Artemis to the door.
Once we stepped out, I gave Apollo a big hug and a massive thank you as he congratulated me, as well as told Chiron and my mum everything that had happened, letting her slip back in behind me as the Camp Director cantered off to deal with some business and spread the news. Leaving me on the front steps with Artemis, who seemed to remember that she was ignoring me as she couldn't meet my eyes again.
Shrugging, I sighed, "We don't have to get into all of this today if you don't want to. I don't want to push you." Artemis seemed to appreciate that, as she finally let her silver eyes meet mine. "But I do want to thank you, and tell you that I care so much about you. I am more indebted to you than you could ever know now."
"It's alright," Artemis grumbled, awkwardly punching my arm, "It's exhausting being upset with you, especially over a stupid argument. You were right, it would have been suicide to go after Atlas... And- and I should say..." She seemed to catch herself at that point, a blush filing her cheeks along with a daunted expression as she looked away from me once more. After a moment she bowed her head and sighed, "Congratulations, Percy."
She marched off to the woods after that, no doubt to hunt something big and deadly. In the back of my mind as I strode back into my cabin, I hoped I knew what she wanted to say, and I understood why she couldn't say it. After millennia of revoking love, a word I'd used so carelessly with her the other night, it would be hard for her.
Hours passed, and everything for the first time in a while was going swimmingly. I mean that as no joke. The entire family did their parts already with Estelle and were now balancing the load even better with Phoebe. Both were lovely and calm for the rest of the day, other than when they needed feeding, but they were able to lay down peacefully for the night once they were well fed.
I spent all day focusing on my family as I should have. The troops could go a day without my personal training, I promised them at dinner that I'd be back to helping out the next day. A dinner which most of my lovers didn't go to since they were so exhausted.
In fact, I was alone as I walked away from the Dining Pavilion until Rachel ran up to me with a wide grin and a skip to her step. She was wearing her far more traditional loose paint spattered t-shirt and purposefully ripped jeans, with no shoes, since I guess being the Oracle makes you less inclined to step on sharp objects or stub your toe.
"I'm proud of you, Percy, I always knew you'd someday make a good dad," the artist congratulated me once she caught up to me. I couldn't help but smile at her kind words, the confidence and certainty with which she spoke was reassuring. Grinning herself, looked back at me over her shoulder, making her red locks frame her face prettily as she suggested, "I promise not to keep you long, but do you mind coming with me to my cave? I have something to show you."
"As long as I get back home soon," I agreed, not wanting to be away from my family for too long. "In fact, I have an idea. Hold my hand."
"Well aren't you forward," Rachel cooed, fluttering her eyelashes flirtatiously to me as she nevertheless grabbed a firm hold of my hand. Once she did, I made sure no one was looking at us before flashing us away, temporarily revealing my divine form to suddenly have us appear before her cave. The moment we arrived the artist squeaked from shock as she jumped away from me, before laughing awkwardly as she realised what I'd done, "Wow, when you say soon you mean soon, huh?"
Ignoring her jibes, I looked at the mouth of her cave from the corner of my eye, the torches alight on their sconces with the purple velvet, snake embroidered curtain flowing in the breeze and asked, "What did you need to show me, Rachel?"
In response the Oracle of Delphi smiled fondly and pulled back the curtain, before gesturing for me to walk inside. Curious, I stepped forward, and was met with the usual sights, massive throw pillows and couches scatter the main chamber, a step ladder and an easel were perched in the corner with a blank canvas, and the walls were decorated with paintings inspired by Rachel's visions, as she longed to understand what each one meant. To one side, their was an alcove which lead to her bedroom, which was the only part of the cave I hadn't seen, for obvious reasons.
When I looked back at her questioningly, having seen nothing out of the ordinary, only for the redhead to smirk and point up, "I started painting this months ago, when you first became a god." The moment I set my eyes on the ceiling of the cave I was left in a moment of wonder and shock.
Rachel had painted something miraculous on the ceiling, a portrait of what was clearly Olympus, flying high above New York, but both cities looked different. Neither of them were how they had been weeks ago, and they weren't in the states of fire, ruin and disarray that they are now. The cities were bright, shining and new. Better designed and maintained and governed than they'd ever been in history. It was beautiful and made the flame of hope I'd been nurturing within myself for a while glow brighter, especially in the times we were in now.
I thought about how much I wanted to make this city a reality, so that the world could be safe for everyone again, especially for my family, for Estelle, for Phoebe, for the rest of my children. As I thought that I couldn't help but let a tear fall down my face, which Rachel must have noticed, as she strutted up to me to wipe the tear away with her thumb as she held my face in her hand gently.
"The future is uncertain at the moment, but the night after I first gave this prophecy, I saw this in my dreams. A world better and brighter than ever," the artist sighed, staring up at the wall with me for a moment before she tilted my head down so that I could look her in the eyes as she continued, her words so genuine that it almost broke me, "This world could be made possible with you leading the way forwards. You can make a future that your children can be proud of."
"Thank you so much for showing me this, Rachel. It's beautiful," I breathed, still staring at her pretty freckled face and her piercing green eyes. A thought suddenly came to mind, as I noticed her eyes were trained a little lower than my eyes, and I couldn't help but ask, "Why'd you feel the need to show me this tonight?"
Her face immediately flushed as read as a tomato as she used her free hand to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear, but her other hand stayed exactly where it was and her eyes remained focused, before she coughed, "Oh well, I thought this would be a good chance to do this."
Before I could ask any more questions a pair of lips I hadn't kissed in a long time met mine, forcing a moan from me as I felt the artist weave her fingers through my hair. Using the opportunity she had because of surprise and instinctual reciprocation, Rachel shoved her tongue inside my mouth as we began to battle for dominance of what was quickly becoming a full on make out session.
Despite what I would have assumed after a couple of years of being the Oracle, Rachel had not lost her touch when it came to kissing, but I suppose that she had to find some way to entertain herself at that all girls boarding school of hers. While I knew that she had to take a vow of maidenhood to be the Oracle of Delphi, I knew Apollo wasn't one to whine about a kiss, especially after the journey he'd gone on to reclaim his godhood.
Eventually Rachel had to pull away from the kiss to breath, and I immediately queried, "What about your oath?"
"I'll talk to Apollo about it, I'm sure I can be the Oracle and be with you like I've wanted for so long. Now that Annabeth's open to sharing you, I might even take a bite of her. Who know's I might even go for Calypso too, how would you like that?" the redhead whispered into my ear sexily, pressing her full tits against my chest as she began to kiss along my jaw, which combined with the images she'd put in my head made me groan. Smirking, Rachel kissed down my neck, running her hands along my t-shirt covered abs and pecs, purring, "I love you, Percy. I want to be with you and be a part of your family, to help guide you on your way to making a beautiful future. Will you let me?"
"I will," I murmured, shocking her as I dipped her down and held her by the waist, kissing her square on the lips with all the love and affection I held. When I pulled away, Rachel's eye's were glazed over and I husked, "And I love you too."
No more words were exchanged between us, we both knew what we wanted, we both knew what we were going to do about it. In a love drunken haze, I picked Rachel up as she wrapped her legs around my waist and trapped me in a ravishing kiss, whilst I stumped my way blindly over to her bed chambers. On the way, I occasionally bumped myself or my lovers back on the wall, but that only made us moan more and make out more passionately. We also began to pull one another's clothes off as we went, leaving behind a trail across the floor.
Soon I managed to actually get to her bed and fell back onto it as I held Rachel tightly in my arms, both of us bouncing on the perfect mattress until we finally settled. Having Rachel on top of me was a welcome sight, one I'd imagined a ton since our expedition through the Labyrinth together, and something I'd almost achieved before if not for certain interruptions. But now we were here, on her bed, and we were both stripped down to our underwear.
Rachel was wearing sexy green lingerie with frayed floral patterns which barely covered her nipples and pussy. She rested her covered crotch over my own massive covered penis, which she was currently staring at slack jawed, taking in the size of it. Tentatively reaching out a hand, she poked at my shaft, making it twitch with excitement. She giggled as she watched it, before she brought her hands behind her back and unhooked her bra.
For Rachel to have the have the size of tits she had whilst being so skinny and petite in other places was astounding, especially for a mortal. Her 36C's bounced out as soon as she tossed her sexy bra away, giving my eyes unrestricted access to perv on her, which she seemed to bask in as she cross her hands behind her back, puffed out her chest and swayed her chest side to side with a grin. I almost felt like I was being hypnotised as I watched her boobs sway.
"As much as I'd love to watch you gawk at my tits all night, you were right earlier saying we need to be quick," the artist sighed, bringing her hand down to her panties to pull it to the side and reveal her untouched and dripped wet folds, whilst the other squeezed her breast and played with the nipple. "You and I are going to fuck, right here, right now. Then, once we're done, we're going to go back to your cabin and go to bed. Something tells me you'll need a lot of energy for tomorrow."
"Are you sure you want to rush this? It's your first time," I choked out, using every fibre of my being not to trail my gaze along her body, instead focusing on her.
"I don't mind, I know that there will be a lot more time for this in the future. You've got a lady on bedrest and a newborn baby to get back to. I just want you to claim me, breed me and love me right now," Rachel explained as I begrudgingly removed my underwear. My dick now revealed, the redhead gasped elatedly and grasped it firmly in her dexterous fingers, pumping her fist along my shaft exploitatively, murmuring, "I know you'll more than please tonight, and ravish me all others."
"I'd still like to make your first time special," I sighed, resting on my elbow as I reached a hand out to hold Rachel by her hip, squeezing her tight rear.
Gazing up at her adoringly, I smirked as Rachel matched my expression when she purred, "It already is."
With that she placed the tip of my cock against her pussy, covering it in her juices as she rubbed it along her labia to ease it inside of her. She moaned as she began to sit on it, slowly allowing me to edge my way within her, as I held her firmly to make sure she didn't go to fast. Once I hit her barrier, her eyes grew teary, her moan grew louder and my lips met hers once more as I thrust my hips up to meet hers, sheathing myself inside of her and breaking through her barrier.
She screamed into the kiss, but the pain soon faded and she began to roll her hips against mine and she lovingly kissed me back as we made love. Her hands clawed at my back as I made her cum for the first time soon after, her long nails dragging marks across my back that I'd proudly show off to Annabeth and Calypso the next chance I had.
We fucked for an hour, in that one position, going that same speed. I knew that my family would still be awake in the cabin for a while yet, so felt no need to rush Rachel any further than she already rushed herself. Which was obviously the right call. Despite saying she was ready, she was taking her time with it, and she seemed to be really sensitive because she just kept cumming.
I did my fair share of work, massaging and sucking her breast, whispering dirty promises to her as she reached her peak and thrust my hips at a pace I knew she could handle. But as always, I felt that inevitable release fall over me. I gave her a warning, always making sure that she was okay with it, but she just wrapped her arms around me and pulled my face into her chest as her screams of bliss echoed through the walls of the cave.
When I was done cumming inside of her, she let out a shaky breath and kissed me firmly on the lips and thanked me. Then we kept to her words. We got dressed and I flashed us back to my cabin. When we entered everyone but the babies were still up, but they didn't say anything not wanting to disrupt the perfect silence of the cabin.
Each of my lovers did walk up to Rachel with a smile and give her big hugs and kisses, welcoming her to the family one by one, except for Shel, who Rachel and I both walked up to to say hi. Once the former mortal was able to reach a hand out to the redhead, she did pull her into a tighter embrace than anyone else, letting out a silent squeal of excitement for her.
As I showed off my perfect baby daughter to Rachel in her crib as she slept and Oracle fawned over her, Annabeth walked up to Rachel again and hugged her from behind, kissing her neck, making the artist sigh and tilt her head back. When she turned her head to look at my girlfriend, I noticed that Calypso was behind me, holding me close as she rested her head on my shoulder and smiled at Rachel, while Annabeth looked at her serenely and asked, "I'm guessing you want to be Percy's third girlfriend? If you do, you need to know that you'll also be mine and Calypso's too. Everyone in this room is family and important to each other, but we're together beyond that. Like Piper and Shel."
"Sounds fun," Rachel purred, kissing Annabeth gently on the lips much to the Goddess of Architecture's pleasure. When she pulled back, the redhead couldn't help but giggle, "I wished we'd have just done this in the Labyrinth. It would have made everything so much easier and more fun."
"We'll make up for lost time," Calypso countered, kissing Rachel herself, taking her and I by the hands and guiding us over to bed as Annabeth followed with a grin, everyone else in the room watching with a grin from their own beds. "But we sleep tonight."
"Yeah, today's been perfect," I sighed, going to sleep on my first truly great day in a while, looking forwards to what the future holds, no matter how daunting. The last thing I saw before sleep was Phoebe's crib besides Shel and Piper's bed over Rachel's shoulder. A pleasant sight. A perfect moment with Annabeth's arms wrapped around me and Calypso's gentle humming filling my ears, with the rest of my family all around me.
Authors Note: Soooo yeah... this chapter took far too long, I know that. I saw a lot of people begging for this to be updated. I just wanted to focus on my Spider-Man story for a while, since I was feeling a bit more passionate about that. I've also made an AO3 account with all my stories over there too in that time. But then I realised that I hadn't done anything for this story in just shy of a year and decided to start working on it again. I'll admit I had more fun writing this than I expected, I felt a bit grim last chapter all those months back.
This chapter obviously had the long awaited birth of one of Percy's first children. I probably won't go into as much detail about the deliveries as I did this chapter, I just wanted to make people feel the moment this time. No more babies will be born for a couple more chapters at the least.
Many of the aspects of this chapter, especially the Athena conversation were requested by Kagaho de Bennu.
And then obviously there's the main event of this chapter, Rachel finally getting some. There isn't nearly enough smut with Rachel in it with this fandom. Yes we all love Percabeth, but let the Oracle of Delphi have some fun every once in a while. Especially in a harem fic like this one.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and it makes up for the long wait you had to endure. If you liked it, have any writing tips, any requests for this story, or for any others, as always please comment, review or PM. I always appreciate it.
Have a great time reading everyone... also none of you will guess anything that happens next chapter, it'll come a bit out of left field.