All rights belong to Rick Riordan

Chapter 103

Keeping Busy

(Thalia)

Ever since the debacle at the Senate yesterday I was being made to suffer. First off I had to deal with Artemis chewing me out for almost three hours straight with my only respite being when she turned her attention briefly on her own aspect to demand answers or clarification. Something the Roman goddess was all too seemingly happy to oblige if it got trouble off her own back.

I had been separated from my 'girlfriend' who had been temporarily at least been removed from the hunters completely and forbidden from contacting any of us.

My own father had sent my little brother to tell me I was unable to carry weapons at all anywhere in Roman territory, including for practises. Which had pretty much isolated me from the rest of the Hunters who were suddenly very busy trying to work out any advantage they could muster in the one sided 'fight' that was about to come.

As a result Artemis had decided she had something far more productive that I could be doing. As I tried to learn to be tactful and diplomatic as she put it. I called it cleaning her god's damned temple with a bucket of water and a mop.

Still it could have been worse; I could have been attacked by an angry mob instead. At least I had some company at least even if one couldn't talk and the other was sitting at a desk in the corner, busy reading books and jotting down notes on scraps of paper. Only really interacting with me when I needed more water or to point out I missed a spot.

It was almost surreal to see Seaweed Brain actually engrossed in something that was not either killing something or a silver eyed goddess. But ever since I had got back from the Senate he had been strangely silent fixated on whatever he was doing. With the goddess seriously focused on the rest of the Hunters I guess he needed to do something as well.

As for what he was reading I had no idea, as my dyslexia prevented me from reading the titles very well. The only things I could generally make out were the words 'politics' and 'governance' and even they had been a struggle. Quite what he was hoping to gain from them I had no idea but he was clearly interested as he flicked from one to the next and back again.

My other companion however was more problematic as it followed me around constantly.

I had long since lost count of the number of times I had jumped out of skin at finding a stone lion looking over my shoulder. The automaton statue seemed to be extremely curious about everything I was doing. Which whilst annoying was not too bad all things considered. The problem was it moved wherever it felt like and constantly walked from the clean part of the temple to the dusty and back again, causing me to redo those areas again. How a marble being managed to attract so much dirt I had no idea.

Percy for his part after making sure it was not going to go haywire had seemed content to let it do as it pleased. After all it lived here and kept the place free of pests, and he didn't want to tell Artemis he had broken part of her temple decoration.

Still after six months of putting up with Nemea I was quite accustomed to large felines being present, at least I did not have to worry about keeping this one fed.

"Thalia are you going to be fine if I disappear for an hour?" Percy said landing next to me a rolled up sheet of paper in his hand. Having silently flown across the room without me noticing. While I appreciated the thought of him not making a mess on the clean area I couldn't help but find it condescending.

"I don't need a babysitter Seaweed Brain, I am older than you remember!"

"That may be true, but the fact is you still can pick a fight in an empty room Pinecone Head. As the one who rebuilt this empty room I would rather you didn't."

"Exactly you could do this in a few minutes." I told him angrily throwing the mop in the bucket hard enough for it to tip over and spill.

"Seconds actually." He explained with a sigh walking over and tipping the bucket back up, the contents automatically refilling.

"Then why are you making me do it, just because Artemis said I have to is bullshit and you know it."

"Believe it or not Thalia the world is not your plaything where you are free to do as you like. It does not matter if you are a mortal, a demigod or an immortal. There has to be rules or things get out of hand. However you seem to forget that at present you are no different from the other hunters. You are no longer Lieutenant; you have no more right to command respect than say Marina."

"Says the guy who gets immortals to do as he pleases by having the biggest stick to threaten them with." I shot back scathingly and instantly regretted as he frowned and his eyes turned narrowed and turned golden.

"Believe it or not Thalia, I have accomplished far more without Maelstrom than I have with it. The biggest power I have is not Time or Light or any of those domains. It is the fact I actually want to change the system, break the deadlocks that have held everyone back for millennia. Little by little things have changed for the better but then there is always something or someone too stupid to realise they are messing everything up for everyone else. This world exists on a swords edge and one wrong move could prove fatal." He said harshly before stamping his foot on the floor, the marble shattering under the force. Before long cracks spread out from the area in all directions as the temple began to shake as little by little the entire complex crumpled around us. In the space of thirty seconds he had reduced the entire temple back to a ruin.

"You would do well to remember that fact for once." He spat out bitterly before disappearing in a flash of light as I glanced away.

As I stood there I realised that I had always taken Percy's kind hearted but goofy side for granted. And forgotten exactly what he was capable of when angered. I had not been present when Annabeth died but he was not exactly of stable mind when Octavian had murdered the hunters and even the stoic Reyna had said he was quietly terrifying.

The truth was Percy idiot hero that he had been, was arguably the most powerful person in two pantheons or even possibly existence. Something he had never asked or wished for, he had just wanted to be normal and happy. The first was long since denied to him but the second well that was a work in progress.

"I can be such a Seaweed Brain at times." I cursed out aloud as I felt something nudge my arm up from behind and I turned to look at the stone lion now missing an ear and its tail along with some other scratches on its body from falling debris.

"Looks like we have both seen better days. Look at the bright side it can only get better from here" I told it reassuringly scratching its remaining ear. Though the truth was I couldn't even convince myself of that fact.

After all he was right the world did not revolve around me, much as I liked to think it. I was at the whim of those infinitely more powerful. The difference was that the ones I spent it near were a lot more understanding and even friendly than others. Luke had originally at least wanted the whole world to acknowledge him and sort the power to do exactly that for all the wrong reasons. Anger, resentment and envy. Percy and Artemis had that power but wanted nothing more than a quiet existence of harmony and tranquility. Whilst I had originally agreed with Luke back when we were on the run as children with no support, now I too just wanted some level of stability.

Unbeknownst to me, perched high above on top of a sheared off column hidden in the dust. The Titan Lord sat nearby and smiled. Well he did until he realised how he was going to explain this mess to his fiancée.

(Pride)

"So what are you doing tomorrow?" Chrysaor asked curiously causing me to sit forward and face him.

"Nothing I guess, not a lot for me to do around here." I responded lying on my back with my eyes closed.

"You know for Percy's 'evil' side you are really boring. Haven't you got a separate Sloth aspect already, so what is your excuse for hiding all day and doing nothing. You could always come out and help with the sword practice, nice to have someone who can at least put up a fight. Besides it is not as if Chiron does not know you are here already. Dionysius told him as soon as you turned up."

"Wonderful. Where are you going with this?" I asked with a groan. Despite cooping myself up in here for two days, I still apparently could not hide that well.

"Well I overheard the drunk talking about how the Hunters are fighting the camps." He said simply shrugging.

"Camps as in plural? That is hardly fair is it, all the more reason to avoid Artemis if she is pissed off."

"So when you got fragmented, did Lust get your pair of balls as well?" He teased as I grit my teeth.

"Listen just because I avoid Artemis does not mean I am scared of her. The fact is I don't even know how to treat her. The Percy part of me loves her I guess, the fucked up part wants to tear her limb from limb. On top of that she sees me as an annoyance to her relationship. So yes I avoid her that way neither of us can hurt the other. Happy now." I snapped back slamming my head back against the pillow.

Whilst what I had said was true it was not the whole truth. The fact was without my attention being focused on myself thanks to Lust. It had given me time to put others into perspective more. Of course the problem I had was that my thoughts always ended up back at her much to my chagrin. There was just something about her that made me want to make her smile, rather than look at me with condescension. The fact that I or rather Wrath had tried to kill her was another sore point of course.

In the space of a little over a week I had almost managed to destroy their entire relationship. Dysfunctional as it was they were still happy, who was I to ruin that? Maybe at some point I would give it a shot but for the time being I was content to stay out of the goddess's way. Though admittedly what I was doing was beginning to bore me as well.

"So what did you want me to go watch this game or something? Or were you just trying to find an excuse to insult my masculinity. Because last I checked I actually attracted girls." I asked curiously not even bothering to open my eyes.

"You would be surprised brother. Even Naiads and Nereids need some love. Girls cannot resist a bad boy!" Chrysaor replied laughing.

"So what a paper bag, large quantities of alcohol and a dark alleyway. Jeez you must really plan ahead before going on a date."

"Has anyone told you that you can be an unbearable asshole?"

"Me personally, Perseus as a whole or the idiot in general… Then yes pretty much everyone."

"I thought so… Anyway get your ass out of bed, I want a rematch. Without the bullshit Infinity+1 sword this time." He said suddenly challenging me.

"And if I refuse?" I asked only getting silence as a reply, not realising that I had left myself open for what was to come.

Having my eyes closed I failed to notice that the demigod monster had moved alongside me until he began to tip the bed frame by which point it was far too late. Looking back I could have just summoned my wings and seen him struggle to lift almost half a ton of Titan but I didn't think it through that quickly unfortunately. Instead all I thought of was that floor looks really hard as it raced towards me.

"Bastard." I muttered to myself as I pulled myself up off the floor just to catch sight of the half gorgon running out of the door.

He was going to get his wish in regards to a rematch, However as I pulled the box cutter knife out of my pocket and grinned I couldn't help but think he should be careful what he wished for.

(Lust)

The fact was after forty-eight hours straight of babysitting this lazy bastard, I was still yet to get rid of him and I was now getting tired. The good news was however that I was getting really creative in keeping him awake.

Well that and the other two idiots were now collaborating with me, as a result of it was easier to join me than to be against me. Something that may have been encouraged when I went out for an hour and came back with a cattle prod and a can of enforcement grade pepper gas. Both of which had since been used liberally, unlike me the lazy one could not heal himself and so had to suffer the agony.

Even so this was taking longer than I would have liked. Energy drinks and zapping myself would only get me so far. Though that was one step too far as far as Envy was concerned. The first time had been an accident; I had not noticed I was touching him when I poked him with the prongs, after that well… it had been less of an accident. What can I say after having the whole threat off being zapped by Zeus over our heads for almost a decade; turns out I had gained what could almost be considered a fetish for it.

Still unlike me Sloth clearly did not enjoy it, any more than having pepper spray squirted up his nose. But the sobbing failure of existence refused to concede the point and just cease to exist.

However I was not willing to concede the point until I was certain that this was not going to work. I had been right so far with these idiots and I was not finished yet.

"You better still be awake." I asked quietly at first before repeating myself a bit louder.

"Leave me alone." He muttered back wearily in confirmation much to my chagrin as I put the prod back down beside me for the minute.

Looking around the room I spied Envy lying across the sofa soundly and more importantly silently asleep. Greed meanwhile was awake and looking awfully proud of himself as he sat in 'our' golden throne, stolen (borrowed as he put it) from the Council chamber when no one was looking.

Whilst I had shaken my head at his stupidity, I had to admire his dedication in getting it. After all he had actually physically dragged it all the way here by hand; fortunately he had been able to shrink it down to 'human' sized. As hilarious as it would have been to see him crushed under its weight with just his limbs sticking out from the back rest. Still it kept him happy and amused, which meant he was not bothering me.

Part of me wondered if Pride was having better luck out there. Despite the fact he was the closest to being 'Perseus' of us all. That also meant he was the one with the most flaws as much as he would refute the fact if anyone ever mentioned it. The truth was we as an aspect should not have existed, at least in the way we actually did.

Even when we were whole we were nothing but a bunch of character defects implanted onto the real 'Perseus's' psyche thanks to the Eidolon's. I was not sure about the all the others but Wrath and I remembered fragments of our original existence. I had not exactly been a saint; after all I was the head of a brothel. But hell none of us had, why else would Artemis have killed the entire town in the first place. We were a conglomeration of sin that needed to be cleansed, even in death our sin's permeated transforming us into avenging spirits rather than sending us to the underworld.

Unlike Wrath though I was not too keen on avenging myself on the goddess, after all here I was as an aspect of one of the most powerful beings in creation. I could realistically do whatever I pleased within reason. I had the body and beauty of a literal goddess except for a palate swap of colours in a few places.

A far cry from a former slave girl turned 'pimp', I had not even been that attractive in fairness. So what did I have to lose, if anything my current existence was the best my life had ever been? Sure at some point it would have to come to an end and I would lose individuality again. But for the time being I was content with the ways things were.

'Snnnnnnnnngh'

Ok maybe I was not totally content as I grabbed the prod and leapt on the offender. The sound of pained squealing mixed with my own girlish giggling.

(Pride)

What had started off as a petty challenge made on a whim as Chrysaor put it swiftly escalated into a full spectacle duel. Once the campers realised who he was fighting, apparently the demi-gorgon had gained quite a support group amongst the newer younger campers. Something he apparently relished as they shouted words of encouragement at him.

That was not to say no one cheered for me, however the number of campers that I recognised from my time here was sadly lacking. Between the Christmas break and the goings on at the other camp there was only two dozen campers in attendance.

Even Chiron had been planning on journeying to New Rome this evening to watch the game. Lupa had also apparently decided to go and he wanted to talk to her as well. If anything the old Centaur was almost enthusiastic about the War Game, I got the feeling he was hoping that together the camps could break the loss streak. Still he chose to delay it a bit to watch this.

Besides what had been a simple sword fight had also ended up with half the armoury spread out around the area on racks within easy reach. As if to reinforce this point Chrysaor was actually sporting a spear and shield rather than his signature sword which was instead at his hip.

I had opted to do the same wielding a slightly longer spear except minus the shield choosing to favour offense rather than defence. For that matter neither of us was wearing armour despite the fact these were real bladed weapons. Both of us trusting the other to pull back from lethal strikes.

"You know you can always apologise?" I offered looking at my opponent who grinned.

"Is the Titan Lord trying to chicken out?" Chrysaor teased back spinning the shaft of his spear between his fingers playfully completing a full revolution before grasping it tightly.

"What like your last crew?" I mocked back.

"I will actually give you that one, but for the record I kicked your ass then if I remember correctly. Tell you what if I win you have to get me a new ship." He propositioned with a grin.

"And what if I win?"

"You won't." He said narrowing his eyes.

"Fine I will give up on the piracy or stay here for longer or something like that." He said as an afterthought albeit half-assedly.

"Good enough. Now come at me bro." I challenged holding my left hand up and flicking my fingers towards myself.

Almost immediately my opponent launch forward spear outstretched in a thrust towards my gut which I simply stepped around narrowly avoiding the spear tip as he planted his right foot and transitioned the thrust into a diagonal slash as I began to back pedal around the ring narrowly avoiding being skewered or cut by this relentless assault. I had wanted to be the one on the offensive but currently all I could do was evade.

Shifting my hands position closer a foot closer to the tip and therefore reducing the overall effective length of the weapon I opted to do something risky and step into his next thrust before shifting at the last second. Catching his weapons shaft between my arm and torso, using the few split seconds of pause to thrust my own shortened spear towards him which he expectantly caught on shield.

The thing was I was significantly stronger than the average demigod or mortal. Therefore the tip of the spear rammed through the shield face grazing Chrysaor's shoulder. My satisfaction was short lived however as he dropped his own spear and slammed the palm of his hand against the shaft of my weapon rendering it in two pieces.

Both of us now unarmed but an impaled shield in his case and a three foot long stick in my case we both back pedalled from the other before we could make a move. I was more than cautious about the golden blade at his hip and I guessed he did not want to get whacked by my impromptu club.

Fortunately the presence of so many weapons spread around the arena meant re-arming was an easy feat of grabbing the nearest thing at hand. Which at first was going to be a short Greek Kopis lying on a table. However upon looking up at my now armed opponent I quickly changed tactics and grasped the whole table and stood it on end in front of me as the first arrow thudded into the planks.

"That is totally bullshit, how come you can shoot straight." I called out from behind my improvised shield as another arrow thudded against it.

"My mother taught me a few centuries ago, didn't I tell you?" He called back laughing as I spied him through a gap in the planks. Holding the table legs as support I ran towards the stationary target who shot two arrows simultaneously into it, one wedging itself in the crack I had been spying through momentarily disorientating me long enough for Chrysaor to launch a high kick at the top of my 'shield' toppling me backwards as I fell with it above me.

Before I could respond a golden sword blade punctured the planks of the table like butter only avoiding my face due to the length of the blade being insufficient to not get caught on its own cross guard.

Bracing my feet on the planks above I forcibly lifted it and the demi-gorgon on it up and kicked it away a few feet before rolling to my feet. Chrysaor likewise was picking himself up before going to retrieve his blade from where it was embedded in the now ruined table.

"Somehow I don't think Chiron taught you that one." Chysaor called across clearly chuckling as several of the campers joined in laughing.

"What can I say I use what is available. Besides finally taking this seriously are you?" I said pointing at the golden sword.

"Well it is always best to stick with what you know, now as you put it earlier. Come at me."

"Fine by me." I responded grinning leaping towards him as I pulled the weapon concealed in my pocket out as it transformed back into its original shape. I could only smile as his face suddenly shifted to one of concern as I slashed the scythe forward.

Unfortunately at that exact point in time I found myself suddenly exhausted causing me to let go of the weapon as I stumbled forward. The last thing I saw was the flat side of a golden sword approaching my face.

(Lust)

"At last, he is gone, no more noise. No more snoring." I muttered to myself half deliriously. Slowly rising to my feet from all fours where I had been straddling the now gone fellow aspect. The now chargeless cattle prod held tightly in my grasp. Not that it mattered as its job was done.

'snnnnnngh.'

I couldn't help but twitch as I slowly turned my head towards the sleeping figure of Envy who had uttered the noise.

However before I lost all sanity the other aspect merely shifted position and went back to sleep silently.

'Knock-knock.'

Whilst I wanted to scream in frustration at the constant chain of annoyances that seemed to plague me, I highly doubted Pride had half as much crap to go through as I did.

"Don't even look at me you are closer and standing up." Greed commented as I turned towards him with a scowl.

"Real gentlemanly."

"Oh please you are not even a real girl so that doesn't count."

"And you will never touch one in that form, then again you had to pay for it before if I remember correctly." I sneered as he recoiled back in shock. The truth was now I thought about it; I knew all of them in my mortal life. The town thug Wrath, the Loan Shark sitting on his throne, the snivelling suck up to the town lord asleep on the couch, the town-watchman who was always asleep on the job. The butcher who would allow the poor to starve, they had all been clientele the only one I did not recognise was Pride. None of us were good people, had we deserved to be killed by a wrathful goddess for our sins, was debatable but nevertheless here we were again.

Regardless now was not the time for considering the past as I made my way across the room, chucking the now useless cattle prod at Greed who instinctively recoiled away from the prongs before realising it was safe.

Without a seconds thought I threw the door open and looked at the two guests.

"Well you look different to last time." Lelantos said nervously as the Titan almost unconsciously gave me the look over only stopping when his older twin slapped him around the head. It was rather obvious considering he was two feet taller than me in the first place and so had to move his head to do so.

"Wow really what gave it away is it because I changed my hair style?" I replied mockingly clasping the side of my face.

"Lust isn't it dear, forgive my brothers- obliviousness." Leto said calmly and reassuringly. Unfortunately Lelantos was not really paying attention.

"By the way Lelantos this body is that of your niece's, consider that fact when you stop looking at my chest. The other is I can still pluck you like a chicken if you don't." I told him calmly, whilst I held nothing personal against the Titan if anything of course he was one of 'our' closest 'friends' here in much the same way as Atlas was. Funny how both had tried to previously kill me. As it was my threat seemed to carry across by the way he decided to look above my head.

"Sorry about that, unfortunately he is like my son around pretty girls-"

"She is not a real girl!" A voice called from behind me as I turned around in a fury.

"Say that again and I will make you eat your own dick, you useless impudent bastard. How about you sit there and shut the fuck up." I shouted back losing my calm completely. Sure enough he decided to make himself look really small in that throne.

"I think you got more than my daughter's looks dear, you can sound just like her too." Leto said laughing as Lelantos tried to half hide behind his twin.

"So what are you both here for, your daughter is off with lover boy I imagine if you are looking for them."

"Actually we were here to see if you were ok, your throne was missing from the council chamber and the fact we were aware of your… condition. We were worried about you."

"That's touching and all, but as you can see everything is A-OK." I said reaching for the door to shut it only for the larger Titaness to place her hand on my shoulder and stop me.

"Have you looked at yourself recently dear, you may have my daughter's body but you look like you were then dragged through the gutter and then the woods for about a week." She scolded sounding like my mother as I looked down at myself noticing she was right. My clothes in a normal situation were beyond future use. My top and skit were crooked and riddled with cuts and scrapes and there were large patches missing out of my stockings. As for my hair… well I could take a guess at how that looked considering I had been electrocuting myself half the morning.

"Lelantos stay here and keep an eye in there. We are going to take a break for a while before someone does end up getting maimed or worse." She said with such a tone of commanding that both of us realised we had no real choice. I was coming with her and he was staying here to babysit there was no other option available.

And with that I found myself being led away towards the wing of the palace where she lived, thankfully after a few steps she noticed me having to almost sprint to keep up and shrunk down to mortal size. The fact was though I could heal myself fine I was completely unable to change my form; I was stuck in this body at this size. As the only one of us without wings to boot I was simply a body copy of Artemis's current form.

"So dear what is your name? I doubt you respond to Perseus like your fellows." She asked curiously as I thought of my answer. I could have responded with Persee or Lust I guess but I chose to be truthful. Though the name had long since lost its original owner but it was a name I responded to nonetheless.

"Lilith, call me Lilith."

"Like the original wife of Adam in the old Testament of the Bible?"

"The one who was exiled and mothered demons. The very same, I am surprised you know of it." The truth was I was re-named after her by my former master for my ruthlessness. My birth name I had no idea, I had lost it upon becoming a slave, I do not even think I remembered it at the time of my death in the first place.

"Dear I have spent three millennia with limited access to the outside world and visitors. You read anything you can get hold of. I have also read the Torah and the Quran and many other religious texts over the years. You would be surprised what insight can be gained from studying the stories and myths of other cultures. Of course there are some bits where you doubt the processing capacity of the brains of the author as you wonder how they could think of bits of each of them. Of course as a Titan I am not one to comment, we were not exactly great at doing our jobs in the first place. Then again we sort of had the world dumped on our laps ten thousand years ago and were told to have fun pretty much."

"You know I never considered what was before the age of the Titans. What was it like?"

"My mother and father would be better to ask of course as they were the first. But in truth it was not much different to the modern world. The Primordial age pretty much ended instantly the moment the first of us came to be. What we know of before then was told to us by Gaia and Ouranos who were far from reliable narrators as I am sure you can imagine. We have never encountered most of the Protogenoi like the gods. We know of them like Olympus but even then they were not beings we could associate with. Apart from the two we never met any of them, though Oceanus may have encountered Pontus once. Kronos was not keen on getting involved with anyone potentially more powerful than himself."

"So Thalassa had probably faded before even you came about." I said more to myself as I considered the thought. The truth was something was not right with the history of the world. The history as considered by scientific mortals actually matched up in regard to the Primordial era from creation onwards. It was the arrival of the Titans and everyone afterwards that threw a spanner in the works there were too many contradictions in history. I knew the Egyptian Pantheon existed because I had met some a few years ago, so how was it those three major Pantheons at least could exist within a few hundred miles of one another?

Olympus and Orthrys was easy enough to explain, after all one lead to the other. But the Egyptian co-existed with both and yet without conflict and I am sure there were others who were to say the Norse or the Hindu gods did not also live at the same time. Something was very suspicious about it all.

Before I could finish mulling it over though I was being lead inside the Titaness's chambers.

"Now dear why don't you take a seat and we can discuss what has been going on with you." She said with a tone that reminded me of my mum. The one where I knew I was trouble otherwise. Then again she was the Titaness of Motherhood it was pretty much her schtick personified.

So I started talking.

(Percy)

"Jackson to be blunt are you insane? Sure I get that you are not exactly the brightest bulb but this is crazy even for you." Ares scoffed after listening to the proposal I had just given.

"You are not exactly one to talk Ares, the only head you think with is the one between your legs. However whilst what you are saying is interesting Percy the simple fact is this is pretty much impossible." Athena said reading the sheet I had given her again.

"Does my daughter even know you are doing this?" Jupiter asked curiously, the Roman King of the gods had been pretty much silent throughout the entire discussion. Unlike his Greek counterpart when I told him I was not interested in speaking to him. The simple fact was I trusted Jupiter to actually hear me out. I had expected him to consult with Athena/Minerva, Ares whilst annoying was to be expected considering his influence on the Romans.

"She knows I am looking into it but the finer points, no. You are the first." I conceded shrugging,

"Even Artemis would call you crazy you mean." Ares muttered.

"And what exactly have you attempted to do to resolve this. Last I checked you couldn't even start a war properly, let alone stop a potential conflict." I shot back at the War god fiercely as he bit his tongue. Even Athena smiled at the comment as she looked at her counterpart.

"Regardless Percy, The camps are allied this seems unnecessary. Even that in the past was impossible, why push it so far?" Jupiter asked.

"Are they really allied because have you checked in on New Rome recently. If anything the relationship is like that of the Original to the Greeks. One of a vassal state. Sure they are willing to put up with them but the fact is the Romans look down on everyone. They use what they can get but don't give much in return. It is part of their culture, they cannot help themselves. How many Greeks are officially part of the Legion?"

"Clarisse is-"

"Exactly the only one of any influence is there because you personally told them to accept her. The rest are in their own words auxilia which in the Legion pretty much meant border guards if they were lucky or cannon fodder if they weren't so much." I said sarcastically.

"Fair comment." Ares conceded eventually.

"Still be that as it may, the governance of the camps is not yours or even our direct responsibility. The Six-" Athena began only to be cut off by me chuckling.

"Perseus." Jupiter said using my full name for the first time.

"Sorry I just thought you were going to say it was the gods of Heroes job."

"Well duh Jackson that is-"

"Oh I am sure that is the point of their domain but in actuality do they actually do so. Because sure enough they are at the meetings but if they are paying attention is another matter entirely. Because maybe then they might have noticed the power grabbing of the previous Praetor. The fact that he managed to force the other Praetor into exile must have slipped under their noses. The camps exist as safe havens for demigods and their allies. There should never be a situation like that occurring in the first place. How many demigods from both camps joined the Titans or even Gaia because of it?"

"Perseus." Jupiter interjected before I lost my sense of civility.

"Apologies… The point is they should be acting as oversight and guiding the campers but they aren't are they? In the same period of time, I have managed to stabilise Orthrys and Olympus's diplomatic relations, become guardian of the Hunt, dealt with everyone else's issues and even squeezed in time for a relationship with a very demanding goddess… To cap it all off I have a pain in the ass asset that gets me kidnapped by Primordial crazies as the least of his problems. My point is if I can do all that whilst being in the opinion of everyone in this room an idiot, what excuse do the SIX of them all have?"

"Are you finished yet punk?"

"Lose the condescension Ares or I will add eviscerating sorry ass War gods to that list." I threatened, I did not care for the Greek god. He tried to get me killed after all. His Roman aspect like Jupiter I had more time for because he actually was willing to be reasonable.

"Ares fetch Jason, quickly. Preferably without Aphrodite's daughter." Jupiter said firmly, though to my surprise Ares merely frowned before disappearing in a burst of light.

"Oh thank the gods." Athena muttered uncharacteristically as both me and Jupiter looked at her in confusion.

"Am I missing something Athena?" Jupiter asked with almost a tone of concern.

"I cannot stand that girl. Since becoming an immortal she is becoming far to like her mother, she has to be centre of attention. If she does not get killed by Artemis in the near future I will be surprised. This issue between Thalia and Camps came about because she decided to start an argument for literally no reason with Diana and Reyna. While they were focusing on her, Thalia was off getting herself into trouble. It could have all been avoided." The goddess explained.

"Agreed. I am getting annoyed with receiving Iris messages saying Jason is busy today some other time. I made the boy my Lieutenant he should be at my side at all times." Jupiter complained loudly.

I decided to stay out of this, whilst I had nothing personal against Piper myself. I knew plenty of people that did and the top three spots were occupied by two Olympians and a Roman Praetor/Huntress. Artemis of course would love this bit of information, then again she now referred to her as 'slut junior' in private since discovering that she was sleeping with Jason.

Speaking of the minor god, it was not much longer before he arrived back with the War god who had thankfully changed aspect. Jason however was more focused on the War god holding him by the shoulder as if to stop him running away and failed to notice the three of us immediately.

"Jackson." He said almost respectfully. Of course this drew his attention to myself and Athena as well as Jupiter.

"Umm Father, I have to go and-"

"Two choices Jason. You can forget whatever you thought you were doing this afternoon and stay here, or I will send you and your girlfriend firs class to Quebec… Only I will take your immortality first, just ask Apollo how fun that is. By the way as a bonus I will tell Khione that you are coming first."

With that ultimatum Jason suddenly seemed very eager to be here as he took the sheet of paper from Athena, who was smiling at her father. Me and Mars didn't even try and hide our laughter. After a few minutes of reading he looked up with a face of concern.

"Who was crazy enough to think of this? The Senate will hate this-" Jason said in surprise before noticing me grinning.

"I do not care what the Senate thinks, I am the god of Justice not them. The fact is do you think the possibility could exist; this will involve you and the others. If you neglect your duties and this fails I will take your immortality back. Without the support of the heroes you would not make it past a century anyway." Jupiter told his son with a tone saying this was not a threat.

"But the ancient laws!"

"Jason those laws mean a lot less than they used to, Kronos was employing helicopter gunships with mortal crews for hades sake. We are not telling you go out and fight their battles for them. I can only get away with it against monsters due to my hunting domain. Some things they need to do for themselves we all understand that fact. Neither of us would be here if we were all safely cocooned up in the camps after all."

"The main purpose of this is co-operation; if I have to separate the camps again I will do so permanently. Likewise with the other potential groups. I want your answer and that of the others by the end of the war game tomorrow. You can go now." Jupiter ended abruptly as the minor god hurriedly bowed before disappearing like his ass was on fire.

"Shouldn't we have put that to the council first?" Athena asked curiously.

"Are you disagreeing with it? If not and it avoids a meeting that will end up being the same result who cares." Mars said sounding a lot more like Ares momentarily.

"Well no, it won't be easy but the framework is sound enough to be doable of course. This is only a rough draft of course. I need to look int-"

"Athena enough I have made my decision. Do that in your own time." Jupiter remarked pinching his temples.

"Yes father." She said demurely before flashing out of the room.

"Mars… Do whatever you do, in your free time." Jupiter said pausing obviously just trying to get rid of the god who took the hint and left leaving me and the king of the gods alone.

"It is such a shame you were not born a Roman." He said simply looking at me.

"With respect you would have never defeated Kronos; the Senate would have made me want to lose on purpose. It makes both the council's debates look petty by comparison." I responded laughing.

"I do not know what my daughter saw in you to begin with Percy Jackson. But I am glad she did." He said before turning and walking towards the golden doors leading out of the room.

"Can Zeus try saying that it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside."

"Perseus." He said simply turning his head to look at me.

"Fine I get it. See you tomorrow."

"Before you go there is one last group that qualifies for the game tomorrow, under these rules. Just a bit of information you might want to know." He said with a smile before walking out of the doors that opened automatically for him.

If he was alluding to what I thought he was then I did not have much time if I wanted to even out the odds for the hunters. I wasn't sure how Artemis was going to react to any of this but I was already in for a penny. No point in only potentially messing up a little after all when you can cause a war between five factions. Well four groups and a one person implant to another faction."

"So let me get this straight, you want me to gather my warriors. Rush to New Rome and fight both the Legion and the Greeks? What exactly am I getting out of this other than a chance to remind my little sister who is boss?"

"Show up and I will tell you your majesty. It will be worth it though." I said grinning as the Amazon queen leaned forward on her throne curiously.

"A shame you got rid of Reyna's Praetor problem already, I was looking forward to meeting him." Hylla said with a sinister smile before leaning back in her throne.

With that my audience was over as I walked out of her throne room, there was nothing else to discuss after all. Passing the automated doors back into the main amazon headquarters, I checked no one was around before returning to New Rome.

(Artemis)

A few years ago before the battle of New York I would have been confident in victory but two wars had taken their toll on my followers.

No matter which way we looked at it, there was simply no way for the Hunters to win. The strategic and numerical advantage lay with the campers. Individually the hunters were more dangerous than the vast majority of the campers. However half of them were still only fresh to the hunt, or even their powers in general.

Add to that fact our opposition had two decent field commanders, one of whom was a trained Huntress herself much to my continued chagrin whilst we only had two former Lieutenants. Something I planned on resolving after this situation was done with.

Speaking of whom, I had spotted the correspondingly armoured figures of Clarisse and Reyna several times surveying the temporary fort the Legion had been erecting and the surrounding area of the field of Mars. An area that in most normal cases would make an excellent kill zone for the Hunters with a little cover sheltering them.

Something Reyna was steadily getting removed piece by piece.

Whilst infuriating for increasing our problems I had to at least respect the fact she had clearly taken on information which she had learned and was now using it against us.

Not that it mattered, come morning the field would have undergone a drastic makeover.

As Diana so eloquently put it, the Field of Mars was getting the 'Vegas Special'. We were just waiting for the Legion to vacate it for the night; there was only an hour or so of Winter Sunlight left so it would not be long before they did so.

"There you are." Percy said with relief arriving on the rooftop behind me as I turned to look the Titan Lord who quickly closed the distance until there was a few inches between our faces.

"How did it go?" I asked curiously. The truth was even I did not know the full details on what he was trying to do. He had explained what he hoped to do last night in basic details but he had not decided on how he wanted to go about it. I had supported him to do what he believed in, the Hunters were the least affected group out of those affected by the proposition. They already fell under my responsibility after all.

"Jupiter, Mars and Athena agreed to it. Your father is not giving the Six much choice in the decision. He pretty much blackmailed Jason to go along with it."

"Without summoning the council?" I asked incredulously.

"Yeah surprised me too." He conceded with a shrug all the while grinning.

"By the way where is Thalia? Also I take it my temple fell apart on its own?" I said with a straight face as Percy began to pale. The Hunter had already Iris Messaged me after thinking she had been forgotten by the Seaweed Brain. The truth was the temple hardly bothered me; I was less bothered than the first time someone had done it, the fact was he could repair it in no time. The first time was difficult due to undoing two thousand years of neglect and erosion. This was all freshly done after all.

Thalia had even admitted to provoking him much to my surprise. Then again the reason she had called was because she was hungry.

"I… can… explain…" He stammered nervously until I gently kissed him.

"It's fine, as long as you fix it again. Though next time try and use something that is not mine as an example. Now come on I am hungry, wouldn't want to rearrange the local topography on an empty stomach." I told him grabbing him by the hand. Time to traumatise another local restaurant owner into having a heart attack.

(Pride)

"Urgh. What happened?" I asked groggily holding my head. Looking around the room I recognised it as being in the big house.

"In the polite words of your generation, You got knocked the fuck out." Chrysaor remarked laughing hysterically.

"And it has amused me no end." Mr D. added also laughing like Christmas had come early.

"You know Dionysius even in this condition I can kill you easily. How long was I out?"

"Two hours most of which was spent dragging your heavy ass here. None of us was planning on your wings actually being as heavy as gold. Someone could have helped and done it instantly of course." Chrysaor answered glaring at Dionysius having finally stopped laughing. Sitting up I noticed he was telling the truth as I looked to my left and noticed the shining appendages.

"You almost had me worried there. I expected Percy to have Kronos's scythe."

"He does. That's was Chronos's which does not leave this room. I am looking at you by the way, Dionysius."

"Do I even want to know?"

"I killed the Primordial the other day, that was a souvenir."

"And blew up half of Vegas." Mr. D said with annoyance.

"Technically that was Artemis." I pointed out.

"So why did you collapse?"

"Hell if I know, though I can take a guess and they all look like me." In fact I was fairly certain why I would be hit by a wave of fatigue. For the same reason I had thrown up the other day or my immediate rage at Lust when dealing with Wrath. When my idiot counterparts disappeared I got affected. Though I had to curse their terrible timing on this occasion.

"That's nice and all but now I unfortunately know you are not going to do die I can go." Dionysius said sarcastically.

"Showing concern were you?"

"Hardly Perry I just didn't want a pregnant goddess destroying my camp."

"My Camp? So you do care about this place."

"I really do not like you. Christine keep an eye on him." He said with a slight smile flashing out of the room before Chrysaor had time to respond.

"I kind of like this place and the old horse but I do not care for him at all." My half-brother sneered.

"I wish I could say he grows on you, but the truth is you just want to run him through with something long and pointy."

"By the way I have something for you." He said holding out his hand and depositing a familiar box cutter into my own as well as a slip of paper.

"What is this? Co-ordinates?" I asked opening it up and reading the numbers on it underneath was a name that I recognised after a few seconds.

"You lost the bet after all, you owe me a new ship, you really should have a cap on what I could ask for." He said proudly as I groaned and read the sheet again.

IJN YAMATO

I was going to re-arm a pirate with the largest most powerful battleship ever built. What could possibly go wrong?

"Don't tell Artemis"

AN. Alas another of the unplanned chapters, that grew far too large too quick to be a build up to the War Game. As much as she pained me to write originally Lust (Lilith) is growing on me. Compared to her mostly one dimensional counterparts she is actually willing to act despite her many quirks. She has the drive to do stuff that Percy has but Pride (Perseus) lacks commitment for.

He has to be goaded into doing something for gain otherwise he sulks for days.

As most of you have guessed it will be the two of them left in the end, which is going to dump a massive problem on Perseus lap.

You may have noticed that Percy acts a lot better with the Roman aspects than the Greeks and vice versa. As 'adopted' son of Neptune he is technically a Roman aspect now. Perseus being completely eccentric is a much better for a Greek by this point.

As for both Athena and even Jupiter being annoyed with the lack of progress the six are making. and Piper in particular beyond my own hatred of the Mary Sue, Athena has Annabeth as an aspect. A girl who died heroically despite her own dreams so that she (Piper) could neglect her duties.

As for next chapter, one of the minor hunters will get her chance to shine. For those of you who have read SHOI, big sis is going to show why she was such a pain for a blond 'king'.

Finally as of today 17/5/17 we have hit 3 million views. thank you for your continued support despite my long delays but i am getting quicker and more motivated.

Chapter 104

Daughter of the Dragon