Disclaimer: I only own the plot and my OCs. Anything you recognize as not mine belongs to Rick Riordan, Greco-Roman mythology, and/or their otherwise respective owners.

Author's Notes: Hi, everyone! So, a certain god appears in this chapter, and I just wanted to mention that he is not an OC. This god is 100% legit, although you probably haven't heard of him because he is Mycenaean/proto-Classical Greek. I took some liberties with his domains, since we don't know all that much about him (well, some have theorized he is a proto-Apollo, but I personally doubt this theory), but that's how it goes when you talk about gods that old lol.

Anyways, as always, I hope you enjoy. Until next chapter,

~TGWSI/Selene Borealis

~Say A Little Prayer~

~Chapter 6: We Get A Visitor~

Over the next few days, we didn't exactly do much. We had to get adjusted to our powers first, our new bodies.

Luke wanted to start training right away. He knew that even he, the greatest swordsman the camp had seen in three hundred years, was no match for a god who had trained for thousands of years, because why would he be? But he had experience, enough of it to teach me, Katie, and Silena, and he wanted to put us to task as he also began to better himself.

"Can I see your sword, Percy?" Luke asked me. The four of us were standing in this stretch of flat land, a clearing, about three or four miles away from the house. Things would probably eventually get ugly when we incorporated those pesky powers into our training, because we weren't for now. But once we did, we didn't want to destroy the place which we had temporarily made into our home.

It would be a nice vacation home one day, once everything was done and over with.

I smiled coyly. "Why, Luke, I thought you'd never ask."

As Katie and Silena snickered, I summoned Riptide. The labrys appeared in my hand. My friends' laughter died down as they took in the weapon. "How were you able to change it like that?" Katie questioned.

"It's my sacred weapon," I said.

My friends and boyfriend gaped at me.

"But it wasn't specifically made for you," Luke stated.

"Well, no, but that doesn't make it any less mine. Have you guys seen Harry Potter?"

"No," Luke and Katie said.

Silena's eyes lit up with recognition. "Yes."

"It's a book and movie series, about a boy who goes off to this school for wizards and witches," I explained to those of us who weren't in the know. "Anyways, when he goes to get his wand, he winds up going through all of these wands, because none of them are right for him. When he finally does find the wand that'll work for him, the wandmaker tells him, 'The wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Potter.' I think sacred weapons can, potentially, be like that. Anaklusma wasn't made for me; she wasn't originally made to be a weapon, period. But she's mine."

"'She?'" Silena quoted.

I shrugged. "The former goddess who made her is a she, and their essences are intertwined. But, don't worry about her," I spoke quickly, when I saw all of them tense, "she's not going to be a problem."

Luke still continued to look like he wanted to say something, but he dropped the subject. For now.

He wanted to spar with me first. I changed Riptide back into a sword, and we went at it.

It was exhilarating. If I'd thought that sparring between us during my first sword-training session at camp had been amazing, then I needed to eat my own words now. The two of us moved practically in tandem, like we were two gears in a machine, coming back and forth, back and forth. We were two sides of the same coin, two halves of the same soul, if we had existed before we'd been separated like in that one myth, when every human had actually been two modern humans in one. I'm pretty sure Aristophanes had just concocted that one up, though.

Neither of us were able to get in a good hit. There were a few, to be sure, but not great ones. And since we didn't tire out anywhere close to the rate of mortals, we could've theoretically gone on for however long we wanted to.

In fact, we didn't stop until Katie finally said, "Okay, guys, we get the point!"

Luke and I lowered our swords. We stood facing each other.

I could see the love, the adoration, the lust in his eyes.

It made me shiver, but with a grin.

Besides Riptide, which could only be comfortably used by me, since it was my sacred weapon, we only had Luke's sword. Silena still had her dagger, so she could train by fighting with that, but Katie didn't have any weapons. As a demigod, she'd used the vines which could grow out of her body, due to her being a daughter of Demeter, to fight. Although, I knew that she also probably had to have some prior experience with a dagger and maybe even a sword, because camp was big about being trained in at least one weapon.

At any rate, Katie had swiftly found out that her powers as a goddess didn't quite work as they had when she'd been a mortal. So when she trained, for the most part, she borrowed Luke's sword to fight either me or Silena. There were a few exceptions to the rule, like when Luke would show her how to do a move with a dummy he'd conjured, and then he would hand the sword to her so she could repeat it.

Once or twice, when she hadn't quite done the move correctly, he grabbed her arm gently so he could swing it for her, showing her how to pull it off.

This, too, made me grin.

But it was a grin that I kept to myself.

We were training in the clearing on the fourth day of us having been in Alaska when we heard it: a faint rustle in the trees, coming from a spot further down the mountain region.

It was a rustle that could not have been caused by mortal means, if the way that the ground was beginning to shake as the cause got closer and closer to us was any indicator.

Silena and I stopped fighting at once. Her eyes filled with worry. "What's that?"

None of us got the chance to answer her. The rustling got closer. I pushed Silena back towards Katie, and they both protested it, but there was no way that I was going to let them be directly in harm's way if things went south. I turned Riptide back into the labrys and stood side-by-side with Luke, getting into a fighting position.

From the trees, out came this wild boar about the size of a small house – literally, I'm not joking. It squealed as it came to a stop, its hooves digging into the mostly-frozen earth, leaving gruesome skid marks. On top of the wild boar was a man, albeit he didn't stay there for long.

With a shout, just as the boar stopped completely in its tracks, the man jumped down off its back. Once he'd straightened his posture, he looked up at us with a smirk. "Why, now," he said. "You wouldn't happen to be the new gods that have promised nothing but misery and woe to the Olympians, would you?"

The man – the god, I should correct myself, since that was what he was, was not like any other that I'd seen before. Either in the past month, or in my visions of the future.

He was a couple inches taller than Luke. His skin was olive. He had thick black hair, and a five o'clock shadow. His eyes were dark brown. He was dressed, I shit you not, like a stereotypical cowboy – complete with the hat, a long-sleeved plaid shirt, jeans, and boots.

He let out a whistle, and with an additional squeal, his wild boar turned around and ran back into the forest. I had a feeling, beyond just my clairvoyant capabilities, that the thing wasn't going terribly far. It would be able to come back in a heartbeat, if the god decided he needed it to.

"Who wants to know?" I asked him.

The god ignored my question for a moment, his attention honing in on Luke. Then, he redirected to me, Katie, and Silena. He whistled again. "Those are some mighty fine birds you got there, boy," he said.

Luke bristled. "Just who the hell are you?"

The god sniffed. "The name's Drimios, son. God of the Woodlands, Herds and Flocks, Shepherds, Hunting, and a bunch of other things that I won't bother gettin' into. Most important thing is that I'm a bona fide culture hero – or at least, I used to be."

"Then how come I've never heard of you before?"

"Again, I used to be. It was a long time ago," he said. His eyes flickered back to me. A grin spread across his face. "My, my. It's been a long time since I've seen one of those. Do you know what that is?"

"It's a labrys," I said. "And I can use it to cut your head off, if you want me to."

Drimios threw his head back and laughed. "Damn right, you could! You remind me of this goddess I used to know. She was pretty witchy, too."

"'Witchy?'" Silena piped up from behind me and Luke.

"She was a future-seer, too," Drimios responded. "A Goddess of Prophecy. Most of them ain't like Apollo, you see. He's let his Oracle hung out to dry, last I heard. Doesn't take care of her, even though he swore to protect her. Refuses to look into the future unless he absolutely has to."

I heard Katie cross her arms. "No offense, but why are you here? Are you going to try and convince us to go to Olympus and 'talk' with the Council?"

Drimios sneered. "Fuck, no! The Council might as well be dead to me!" He spat on the ground for emphasis. "The reason why you've never heard of me is because they let me be forgotten! I used to be the favored Son of Zeus, you see. Prometheus might have given mortals fire, but it was me who taught my fellow mortals what to do again, in the wake of my father's deluge. How to take care of the land, how to hunt. A variety of things. So Zeus granted me immortality, and even Hera warmed up to me, and I was worshipped for a long time alongside them.

"But then...well, I fell out of their favor. Zeus', Hera's, the mortals'. They stopped worshipping me as much, and Zeus let them. I told him that if he did, I was going to end up fadin'. He didn't even care. This was before what those fancy college mortals call the 'Bronze Age Collapse,' before the Olympians made the Mist so powerful that only their children and a few mortals, though they're often related to them somehow anyways, can see through it."

"Wait, then how are you still here?" Katie asked.

"I've had a few cults, through the millennia," he said. "I have one right now, in Oregon. There's enough of them there to sustain me, but also to make sure that no one else notices I'm still around. As for why I'm here – don't think I forgot about that question – I want to help you. It's been a long time since the Council has faced any real threat to their rule."

"You think we're a real threat?" Silena questioned.

"I think you could be, once we get ya trained."

"Why should we trust you?" Luke spoke stiffly.

Drimios nodded towards me. "Why don't you ask him?"

I appreciated that he got the pronouns right. I was really hoping it wouldn't be as much of an issue in the future as I was worried about it being.

"He could very easily leave us mangled and broken," I announced after a few beats of silence, Luke, Silena, and Katie looking at me for guidance. "He doesn't want to do that. We can trust him."

He smirked. "See?"

Luke remained skeptical. I didn't take it personally. "You really want to help us overthrow the Council?"

"As far as I can see it, the battle has already begun. I can feel your power, son. You're trying to hide it, but you feel like my father, with some extras attached. The witchy boy here feels like Poseidon, and Hestia and Hera. And those two – " he gestured to Silena and Katie " – feel like Aphrodite and Demeter. Their mothers, I'll bet. Ananke don't just give out domains like that unless she thinks you have a real chance at keeping them."

"She didn't really want us to do this in the first place," I pitched in. "But she's decided to allow it."

"Even better." He winked at me. "'Shows that even she knows you got the spirit to do what it takes. Now, are you going to let me help you or not?"

Luke, my friends, and I spared a look at each other.

We were in agreement.

"We'll accept your help," Luke said.

We allowed Drimios to come back with us to the house. He eyed it satisfactorily, a cigar hanging out of his mouth. He'd lit it up on our walk. I hadn't said anything about it, though my nose had wrinkled; the smell wasn't as bad as it was when I'd been mortal, always setting me on edge because of Gabe, but it still wasn't pleasant.

"You seem to have chosen well for yourselves."

"Percy was the one to pick it out," Katie said.

"Aye, I bet he was. Witchy powers and all. But a bit of advice, birdie?" At her uneasy nod, "Call him by his proper name around other gods. Ain't nobody going to begrudge you for calling each other your mortal names when that's how you met, but they ain't going to take you seriously if you do it in mixed company."

"Oh," she went. "Perseus, then."

He appraised me. "Did your mother give you that name?"

"Yeah," I answered. "She said he was one of the few heroes in the myth who got a happy ending."

"Yes, he did. But do you also know what the name means?"

"'The Destroyer.'"

Drimios chuckled. "That, it does. An apt choice, considering what you're doin'."

That night, I made dinner, as I'd made every meal during the time that we'd been here. Tonight's meal was burgers, with baked potatoes that had melted cheese and sour cream on top, a salad, and a homemade stone fruit lattice pie.

I heard Drimios' chuckle once again as I moved around the kitchen towards the beginning of my preparations, from where he was standing in the archway. I guess he must've gotten tired of talking with the others.

"Yes?"

"You know that you don't have to go through all this, don't you? Gods don't need food or drink in order to survive, not even ambrosia and nectar. It's all just for pleasure."

"It's comforting," I said. "We need some comfort in our existences, right now."

"Well, I suppose that's true."

His fingers twitched; I eyed him warily. I didn't care if he'd done it outside, but if he lit up another cigar in here, in my home, I was definitely going to have to say something about it.

Thankfully, he didn't.

We ate dinner outside – because of our powers, we didn't have to worry about the food or ourselves getting cold. Truthfully, the cold, Alaskan air felt good against my skin. I was beginning to wonder if being the God of the Hearth made me run hotter than what was typical for immortals. So, I wore a t-shirt in lieu of a jacket, not needing to worry about appearance's sake all the way out here, in the middle of nowhere, to soak up as much of the cold as I could.

Luke's training had been good. He was an experienced teacher for half-bloods, having spent so much of his time at camp teaching so many kids.

But the next day –

– That was when our real training kicked off.

"Perseus first," Drimios said, standing in the middle of the clearing. While I stepped forwards, holding Riptide, he lectured to Luke, Katie, and Silena, "The labrys is a deadly weapon. A sacred weapon, too – and I don't just mean as in his sacred weapon. It was an important symbol and shit back in the old days. Typically, only goddesses were ordained by the Ancient Laws to wield them, like Demeter and Rhea."

"But my mother's sacred weapon is a scythe," Katie interrupted.

"It is now, yes. It wasn't back then," Drimios returned calmly. "All the labryes were eventually smelted down, I'm not sure why. They were declared forbidden. When y'all go back, that'll make it a big ruckus that Perseus is wielding one, even before they hear that he's still being referred to in the masculine way. A God, not a Goddess."

"So, I'm breaking the rules," I said. "That's not new."

"'Course not. Now, watch and learn, Lucas, Katherine, Silena. Perseus!" he barked out my name. His own sacred weapon appeared in his hand, a celestial bronze club with garnets in its hilt. It looked even more lethal than the one Hercules was said to have used. "I want you to attack me. Don' hold back – either in your abilities, or your witchy powers."

"Fine by me," I spoke.

I went after him first, swinging Riptide through the air. The movement of the double-axe was far different than the sword. The dispersion of weight was heavier at the very end, where the blades were, as it had to be. Consequentially, as the air moved past the labrys, it made this whooshing sound, not the cleaner, crisper swishing noise I was used to.

Drimios dodged my attempt easily. He whirled around, waving his club. I stepped aside at just the right moment.

Possible futures were laid out before me. What was going to happen whether I liked it or not, because it was too swift for it to be changed by anybody except for a Deity of Time – which I wouldn't have allowed Luke to do, even if he'd known how to do it, because I did not need him to fight my battles for me.

What could happen, based off of an endless amount of potential decisions.

And what had to happen, if we were to remain on the Way to victory.

I reacted accordingly. Side-stepping another attack by Drimios, I gave one of my own. He parried it with his club, and the effect of the two metals as they clashed was devastating. Like my voice earlier, the reaction caused its own small explosion and sonic boom.

Drimios' tactic then changed. As if he was a tsunami, he began to try and place hit after hit, again and again. He came on so fast, my first instinct was to try and avoid them all, either by parrying or getting out of the way. I was getting backed up, closer and closer to the edge of the clearing.

He was cornering me.

What was worse, my concentration on my powers as the God of Prophecy was steadily slipping. The possible futures were still inside my head, they were always there. But their outcomes were losing their certainty, and their shapes were becoming murky and distorted. I was looking at them from above the water rather than through it, like my head had been metaphorically pulled out by somebody grabbing me by the back of my neck.

It made me sloppy.

My teeth gnashed together when Drimios' club hit my calf. The pain bloomed, and it was with a limp that I seized the opportunity to get out and away from him, back into the middle of the clearing.

"Come on, Perseus!" Silena shouted. "You can do it!"

Drimios charged at me with a mighty roar. I swung my labrys, and it embedded in his left hip, like what I had done with the Hesperid. This time, however, the blade almost swung through him – only his immortality saved him from being potentially severed in half. His bellow turned to pain.

Yet, it was my mistake.

Because it was only then that I realized his tactics for this fight had been similar to mine with the Hesperides, and I had just done a very similar thing as the one who had stabbed Silena with her knife.

Oh, sure, it was far easier for me than her to pull my double-axe out of him. But that costed time, and energy, and both in quantities that I did not have the room to make any longer. Drimios' eyes lightened with recognition, sparking fear in mine.

This was not exhilarating, or amazing.

It was completely and utterly terrifying.

Too late, I tried to get away again. I didn't even care that I was taking on the role of the Hesperides properly now.

SLAM!

CRACK!

The scream which came out of my mouth wasn't one I'd known I could make as I collapsed to the ground.

"Percy!"

Luke was next to me right away. He pushed Drimios back with a burst of air, courtesy of his powers. I felt him scoop me up into his arms – as best as I was able to, anyways.

The lower half of my body was almost wholly numb, while my back burned with pain. It was nothing short of agonizing, and I was pretty sure it was a miracle that I didn't pass out as black spots danced in my vision.

"Luke," I gasped shallowly. "Luke, it's alright. It's – "

"He'll heal in a couple of hours," Drimios said. "Be good as new."

Luke snarled. "You broke his spine!"

"It had to be done."

"Why?"

"Even with his witchy powers through his ability to see the future, I was still able to overwhelm him like you did the Hesperides," Drimios stated simply. "If I was able to do that, what do you think that says about how the rest of you will fare when you go up against the Council? 'Cause they won't fight fair. They are much more powerful than me, and they will give it their all."

Silence.

"Luke, it's – it's really okay," I sniffled. It was hard for me to think, much less speak, through the pain. But it had to be done. A preliminary glance into the possible futures told me that we could still be on the Way, provided that I was able to keep him settled. "He's right. I'll – I'll be fine."

My boyfriend stared down at me with tear- and pain-filled eyes. He looked like he'd just seen me die, regardless of it being impossible now. Permanently, anyways.

He'd lost both Thalia and Alan, his previous romantic interests, in a similar way to this. I knew he couldn't lose me, too.

He stood up with me in his arms, turning his back to Drimios. "We're done for the day," he told him coldly.

Drimios did not argue.

Katie and Silena walked back with us to the house, tears streaming down their faces. They tried to comfort me, but they didn't have much luck; I couldn't really pay much attention to them. It was everything that I could do to not let on how much I was actually suffering, knowing what would happen if I didn't.

Luke took me up to my bedroom when we got back, closing the door behind us. "What can I do?" he murmured.

"Just...lay me down on my bed." I'd take a saltwater bath later to help with the pain, once I was able to stand on my own two feet again. I gripped his arm tightly. "And don' go. Please."

He kissed my hair after he'd deposited me on my mattress, then climbed in next to me. "As you wish, Percy."

I choked out a laugh. "The – The Princess Bride, really?"

"Just get some sleep," Luke answered me, although his cheeks were tinged gold.

It didn't take me long to do as I was told.

Word Count: 3,933

Next Chapter Title: A Special Birthday Celebration