Phoebe Enrolls Me in Wrestling Class

Let it be known that there are few comforts in life quite as rewarding as waking up in bed with a warm and tender body right next to you. If there happens to be more than one… well, that's just icing on the cake.

Okay, full disclosure, it wasn't all soft skin and comfortable hugs. With Thalia taking over my chest with her head while Reyna did the same to the crook of my neck, I was in no position to move. Even my arms were stuck, courtesy of Reyna's hands and Thalia's thighs. Delicious as they felt pressed up against me, the sweltering heat we put off together all but cooked me alive.

And that's coming from a guy who literally blew up a volcano while inside of it.

So, despite my better judgment, particularly after noting the unnatural cuteness of the two otherwise headstrong badasses curled into me, I pulled myself out of their embrace and tried to quietly put my clothes back on.

Only I couldn't even get halfway off of the bed before Reyna stirred and tried pulling me back in.

"Don't go."

I muscled my way out of her grip, and she was far too asleep still to try and chase after me.

"Sorry," I whispered. "It's too hot. And I've got stuff to take care of."

"You're damn right, it's hot," Thalia said with a yawn, reaching forward and pulling Reyna closer to her. "Especially with this smokeshow right next to you."

Reyna didn't put up an ounce of resistance. Instead, she took to using Thalia as a pillow just as easily as she did with me right before. Though unlike with me, she brought her hand up to fondle Thalia's breast without shame.

"So what's so important that it can't wait another hour or two?" Thalia asked, rubbing behind Reyna's ear. "It's only… Um…" She looked around for a clock of some sort, but her bracer didn't offer such luxuries.

Thankfully, mine did.

"Five forty-two in the morning," I said, reapplying my shield watch to my wrist.

"Di immortales! You seriously woke up before six?! Get your butt back in here!"

I shrugged. "What can I say; I'm feeling pretty good after last night."

"So am I," Reyna grumbled. "But my legs are still tired. And my neck hurts."

Thalia snorted. "I'll have the kinks worked out in no time. But you still didn't answer the question. What's so important? Most of the others won't even be awake for another hour or two."

"Annabeth will," I said. "And Hylla had a detail in her request that I want her to hear before everyone else."

"Oh, that?" Kinzie said, climbing down from her bunk, buck naked. "Yeah, kind of surprised you didn't tell her already."

"Damn, girl! Is there a day you don't hit the gym?"

She shrugged, an impish smile on her lips. "When I was dead. And at the camps, but I still have my own personal calisthenics regimen. Gotta stay in my prime."

I'll say. She didn't have Phoebe's imposing stature nor Zoë's soft lean physique. Rather, her wiry form could have fit somewhere between a Miss Olympia catwalk or a sports model runway. Though several of the girls sported at least somewhat visible abs, only a very select few actually managed to pull off having a full six pack on display. Not a super cut one, as if she hadn't eaten or drank anything in the past few days, but plenty for her to pull off a true lean cut figure, like a whip ready to crack at any time. The rest of her was just as impressive. At no point was there denying her feminine figure, but damn if she didn't make me want to see how she looks working out.

"To be fair, I'm starting a little early today," Kinzie said, making me realize I'd spaced out while she enjoyed me staring. "Normally, I wake up at six, but you guys just had to make me lose those precious last twenty minutes. Tsk, tsk."

As the two of us finished pulling on our clothes, she made a show of stuffing her panties into the waistband of my pants before making her way out.

"So what exactly do you need to tell Annabeth? You know she's going to come to me about it anyway."

"I'll tell you later."

It wasn't me who said it. Rather, it was Reyna, who just about nodded off, pulling the covers up to her chest.

Thalia deadpanned. "Does everyone know about this except me?!"

"Everyone who was at the meeting. Like you said, she'll probably bring it to you later anyways. So you'll hear about it soon enough."

I ducked under a small bolt of electricity as I rushed out the door.

"If I could feel my legs, I'd drag you back in here and make you tell me, Kelp Head!"

"I'm sure you would." I grinned, hoisting the door shut. "Sleep tight."

A guard marched past me on the catwalk, eyeing me with a bewildered expression.

"Watch the lightning. We don't need you frying everyone standing here."

I just snickered as I made my way to what should have been my room the night before. Only to find a sheet of paper taped to the door, a mess of rushed writing scribbled across it. For a moment, I actually tried to read it. Once I realized it was done up in cursive, my chances of doing so dropped to zero. All I could make out was what looked like my six year old attempts at drawing clouds.

"Um. Wait! What does this say?"

The guard froze in her spot, pivoted around on her heel, and marched back towards me with an unamused grimace.

"What does what… Oh. Seriously? You can't read?"

"If it was ancient Greek, sure. But English… not so much… Especially cursive."

She raised an eyebrow, but shook her head before turning right back around and marching away.

"It says 'Do not disturb!'" she called over her shoulder.

"Of course it does…" I turned back to the door. Though I was tempted to just barge in. After all, what's the worst that I could walk into? Piper and Annabeth scissoring? I doubt they'd have an issue with that. And Calypso would probably try to drag me in to join.

Still though…

I knocked at the door. "It's Percy. Can I come in?"

Despite the thick metal door, not to mention the cinderblock wall surrounding it, they heard me just fine.

"You're awake already?" Annabeth called out. "Uh, don't come in yet. Rachel's working on something in here, and we still need some time to finish it."

"Yeah," Rachel said. "Consider it my new masterpiece! Don't worry, you'll see it in a little bit. Just come back in about a half hour to an hour."

"Okay then…"

Crap…

With that plan put on hold, I turned around and looked down to the warehouse below. Despite the early day, the place still hustled and bustled around as if it never slept. Which it likely didn't.

I pondered over what to do next. Maybe getting in another hour of sleep wouldn't be too bad. Reyna and Thalia would probably both drag me back between them in a heartbeat. Still though…

After my earlier thoughts about seeing Kinzie work up a sweat, I couldn't help but realize that I also had been slacking pretty badly in my training. Sure, I wasn't a couch potato by any stretch of the imagination, and the girls had kept me plenty active, not to mention all of the fighting I'd done over the past couple months.

But if the other girls were getting their training back in order, it only seemed fair if I did the same. So despite not at all being dressed for the gym, and still smelling like Reyna and Thalia, I marched my way down to the training center.

Time to finally get a proper workout done.

In hindsight, marching around the Amazon headquarters with some panties dangling out of my waistband probably wasn't the best impression I could have made. At first, I thought the odd looks and snide remarks had to do with my awful bedhead or even the audacity of a man marching around the Amazons like he owned the place. It wasn't until I followed a pointed finger and some giggling that I realized what everyone was staring at.

Thank you, Kinzie. Thank you…

I wouldn't be able to tell her in person unfortunately. Despite showing up at the training center maybe minutes after she should have arrived, I couldn't spot her anywhere. She could've probably been in the pool in the back for all I knew.

But while I didn't have the luxury of finding her, another Amazon came up to me rather quickly to offer me directions.

"You're not seriously going to work out in that, are you?" she asked, staring down at my jeans and Reeboks.

"Maybe." I shrugged. "Most of my clothes went up in a house fire and my girlfriend locked me out of my room."

She smirked, no doubt wondering if she could get Annabeth a drink. "In that case, we'll get you something more suitable. Even in a place like this, we have a dress code. And those will just make your workout miserable."

"It's not going to involve a jumpsuit and collar, is it?"

Halfway through turning around, she cocked her head back and stared at me as if I started singing soprano.

"...No? You think the guys out there wear those when in here?" She scoffed. "Stick around. You've got plenty to learn."

She led me to what looked like a small store. Well… relatively small. Roughly the size of a gas station. But it had plenty on offer. Yoga mats, protein bars, and yes, even sports clothes.

Despite my initial reluctance to try them, I have to admit, they weren't as uncomfortable or humiliating as I thought. No massive logos. Nothing written across the backside of the pants reading "Property of the Amazons." Though the black tee shirt she gave me did offer its own line of wisdom written across the back.

'If you expect to win, expect to work.'

Yeah, that could have been worse. She even gave it to me all free of charge. Something about building her store credit. As if I'd ever understand what she was talking about.

Still, I managed to head out into the fitness center proper with a fair bit more confidence, and without sticking out like a sore thumb. Not to say there were a bunch of guys, because… well… there weren't. Less than a handful of other guys were scattered about, and all of them were built like brick walls. Gods help whatever overseer had to handle them.

Regardless, I still had to look around and figure out what exactly I should start off with. I generally wasn't one for weights. Cardio was basically a daily training regimen for me anyway. And while they did have some rooms set aside for sparring, I didn't quite trust that someone wouldn't try to take a cheap shot.

So where to train? Where to train…?

As my head wandered, my eyes did the same, scanning over the area until they landed in a far corner. At first, I thought it looked like a much larger carnival game. Only on my second look did I realize it was a shooting range.

And who else would be there besides Phoebe…

About a minute passed as I stared in that direction, looking like either an idiot or a creep in the middle of the training center. All the while, I built up my courage to speak to her. Once that minute was up, I squared my shoulders, took a deep breath, and made my way over to her.

What really made things difficult had almost nothing to do with my own nerves. Okay, not the whole truth. But Phoebe didn't make approaching her easy. Not that she gave me any dirty looks or anything. In fact, she ignored my approach. Instead, she spent her time drawing back her hefty bow, nocking her arrows with a grace and ease that made Frank look downright amateurish. And I don't say that lightly.

But with every drawn and loosed arrow, I couldn't help but flinch. She made her mark every time, drawing crosses out of her landed shots across multiple targets. Each one of them sank deeply into the target, despite their broadheads. I could only imagine what they would do to me if I said the wrong thing.

Right as I made it to her, she finished landing the center arrow of her fifth cross pattern among the targets. Up close didn't make her any less intimidating. She took to the training center far better than anywhere we'd been before, if her new choice of clothes were anything to go by.

Her powerful arms rippled with every nocked arrow, glistening freely courtesy of her hunter green tanktop. Unfortunately, I was given full access to check out her legs as well, much to my shame. Clad in a pair of camouflage athletic shorts, she managed to fill out her clothes almost too well, despite her efforts to hide it, as her black leggings would leave me to believe. Her steady stance managed to look both tightened and relaxed all at once, like a snake ready to strike at any moment.

Rather than continue checking out her physique, I decided to opt out of the creepy path and back onto the honest and direct one.

"Good morning."

THWIP!

She didn't even acknowledge me, her attention focused on a sixth target downrange.

"Right… Look, you don't have to say anything, but I just wanted to apologize."

THWIP!

"Not only is this already a messed up situation, but lately we just seem to have really bad luck. The timing couldn't be worse. I promise, I'm not trying to make a scene for you."

THWIP!

"And I didn't know that was your room last night! If I did, I wouldn't have—

THWIP!

"Alright, look. You don't have to say anything, but can you at least acknowledge what I'm saying? I'm trying to apologize here."

She didn't nock another arrow. Instead, she turned to face me with a cool expression. The masterful calmness and detached countenance of a hunter whom almost nothing could faze.

"What makes you think I want your apology?"

She let that question linger. Heavy fell the weight of her gaze on my shoulders as I mustered the strength to dig my heels in deeper, but she swept the rug out from under me before I could.

"So far as I am concerned, you have done nothing wrong," she said.

I hesitated.

"Wait, so… huh?"

Not my most eloquent moment.

She slung her bow over her shoulder and dipped her arrow back into a barrel at her side.

"Let me make it clear that you have made some foolish mistakes recently," she said. "But I'm not naive enough to think them intentional. I know an accident when I see one. Has the behavior from those I love shocked me? Of course, but…"

Her hands flexed into tight fists for a moment before she let them relax while she exhaled.

"Before this goes any further, I need you to answer one very simple question. Do you care about them?"

I tilted my head. "Of course I do."

"No," she said simply. "The question may be simple, but the answer so rarely is. Do you truly care for them?"

She didn't want some shotgunned, knee jerk answer. She wanted me to think on it, and though I didn't have to think long, I thought hard indeed.

"Zoë and I didn't start off on the right foot. In fact, she was less than happy when I took your place for that quest to rescue Artemis. But we respected each other. Not at the beginning, but we were definitely friends by the end. And…" I closed my eyes, turned my head, and drew a long breath.

"She was the first friend I ever had to watch die. That will always haunt me. Bianca went first, but we never found her body. But with Zoë, it was so much more… real. The day you were brought back, when we found our home burning, and Zoë by herself, laying in the sand… It was almost like reliving through that all over again. So if you want to know if I care about her, yes. We might not be the closest people here, but with an eternity ahead of us, I hope I can see at least that long with her still smiling."

"And Thalia… I watched her open her eyes for the first time since she came back from being a tree. We've saved the world together. We've quested together. Sure, we fight. We bicker. But when the going gets tough, she's one of the few people I'd trust to have my back. Just like she can trust me to have hers. So far as I'm concerned, before all of this harem crap started, she was my best female friend. She, Annabeth, Grover, and my mom are the people I loved most in this world."

I didn't realize it, but with every passing sentence, I was getting louder and louder.

What I did notice was how Phoebe's grimace softened into an almost reminiscent smirk. The fierce shine in her amber eyes eased into a warm glow.

"Good," she said. "There are nearly twenty you hold power over; that you are responsible for. Do you have what it takes to protect them?"

When my breathing settled and her near pensive tone soothed my ears, I relaxed my shoulders and chuffed.

"Not long after we found Zoë on the beach, we learned that my handmaidens were kidnapped and locked up in a slaver stronghold. With the help of some of the others, I killed a god and toppled an army to rescue them, free every other nymph there, and ensure the safety of my handmaidens. I would go just as far for each and every single one of them."

What little reaction she gave didn't amount to much. She'd known what I did, what went down. Someone told her already. I could figure out that much. She curled her lip and scoffed.

"Such endeavors would have been unnecessary if they were truly protected. There is still something to learn from that."

"Yeah. Make sure you live somewhere safe. We thought we were safe. We were wrong. Now we're making sure we don't make that same mistake again. Or did you not notice us bouncing around from place to place these past few days?"

"Easy, hero. If you haven't caught on, I notice quite a bit. Pointing out room to grow is not an insult."

Despite her calm tone, her grip tightened on her shouldered bow.

"You say you would go to great lengths to protect them. Good. But confidence without competence is delusion. What skills do you possess which allow you to defend such a claim?"

I crossed my arms. "Aside from possessing the raw power to cause volcanic eruptions, summon hurricanes, and even face down an avatar of Tartarus for a time? I'm not too bad with a sword. And my control over water gives me an edge over most people."

"What about when those options are not available to you? You can become disarmed. Your connection to the sea muffled by distance. If you possessed nothing but the clothes on your back and your bare hands to defend yourself and those you love, could you?"

"Of course I…"

My ego and indignation at such a claim nearly got the best of me. Sure, I'd done some pretty impressive things with my bare hands. Killed snakes as a toddler. Ripped off the minotaur's horn and sent him to the Underworld using it as a dagger. Even my constant fights with Medusa's sisters left my sword virtually useless, and I still found different ways to kill them… for a little while at least.

But at the same time, just these last weeks proved just how things could also go wrong. My… humiliating curb stomping at the hands of mortals. The Calydonian boar leaving me near dead despite me still being armed. But even before all of that, I've spent almost as much time running away and avoiding fights as I did actually fighting them.

"Yesterday," Phoebe said, taking my silence as a cue to continue, "you mentioned that you should learn some proper hand-to-hand combat training. Perhaps I could be the one to help you."

"Wait… what? Why would you help me?"

"Because, for as much as I loathe the circumstances we find ourselves in, I care far more about protecting those I love. A trait I'd imagine you understand quite well."

"Fair point. And that's pretty admirable, if I do say so myself."

My hesitation was well warranted so far as I was concerned. Last time I tried speaking to her, she seemed half prepared to rip my head off. But to be fair, the others had plenty of time since then to mollify her. And it's not as if her offer would hurt our chances of dealing with the curse laid upon her before it became an issue.

"Okay. Count me in. It's been too long since I've had some real training."

With a simple nod, she guided me towards the wrestling mats I watched get put to use the day before. She paid me little attention as she set herself up, laying her bow to the side and removing her boots. Even her hair, which I'd never seen in anything more than her undercut braid, was pulled loose so she could tie it into a tight bun.

"If you could remove your shoes, we can begin."

WHOOMF!

"Better. Keep your chin low. Otherwise, you expose your neck. If your opponent controls that, they control you."

Wheezing back-down on the mats while Phoebe towered over me isn't quite how I intended to spend my day. Nor even how I thought the training session would go. Sure, I knew she would be better than me at one on one combat. Thousands of years hunting, fighting, and surviving tend to make that clear. But I didn't lend any credit to just how much better she was.

Time after time, she slammed me onto the mat without mercy, locked me in a stranglehold, and once even forced me to tap by twisting back my pinky. Not that she carried much viciousness with her actions. She told me exactly what she was going to do before she did it, and told me to prepare accordingly. But I continued underestimating just how fast a woman of her size could move.

"This is not a confidence booster," I gasped out, taking her extended hand as she hauled me up.

"Nor is it meant to be. Your emotions are your own to handle. Your abilities are what I am concerned with. How is it that a man who felled god, Titan, and monster alike could be defeated by me?"

She may have had a point, but I knew a verbal feint when I saw it. I wouldn't let her get under my skin quite so easily.

"Maybe you're just that distracting." I smirked. "Thousands of years, and still a maiden. It's honestly impressive. That discipline. But it's a shame no one caught your attention. You would have made them one very happy person."

Her cheeks flared scarlet, and without giving any warning, she snatched my wrist and pivoted. Up and over her shoulder I went, relaxing my back until I fell back to the Earth with a SLAM!

"Yeah… I felt that one."

"Playing with your opponent's mind is unbecoming of you, hero. I heard you were an honorable fighter."

"Only to those who earn it. "

I peeled myself off the ground.

"Have I not?" She crossed her arms and glowered at me, a look that probably would have sent the denizens of Tartarus running in the opposite direction.

"Give it time. For what it's worth, I still barely know you. Hades, I don't even know your last name."

She readied her stance and lunged to grab me while I moved to do the same.

"Because I have none." She slipped under me and caught my arms in a bizarre leglock, shoving me down into the mat as if I were a wheelbarrow. "Surnames did not originate in Greece, but rather well past its initial decline."

"So what…?" I muffled out past the padding. "It wasn't until royal families started tracking things in England?"

She scoffed. "Not quite so far forward, but you aren't far off."

"Then how did you track your lineage? Last names are sort of important for that."

"Bold of you to assume we did. It was a different time. A very patriarchal time. We would introduce ourselves by stating who our father was. Or if the speaker happened to be a married woman, she would declare who she is the wife of. Not that such matters were relevant in the Hunt. Our lineage was abandoned. Our time as mortals near forgotten."

"Everything? Like, everything, everything?"

She rolled her eyes. "Not literally. But who we were before doesn't matter. Who we choose to be in our sisterhood, those are the bonds that last."

"Then… who were you before all of that? Your family. Because last I checked, Phoebe was a Titan. And I really doubt that you're the same one."

"Ha. Never heard that one before. If you must know, I may be old, but I'm not quite that old. Likewise, I was not a highly noteworthy individual. My father was a fisherman. We had a quiet life. A simple life. And it drove me insane."

She locked me in a chokehold, monologuing as if it were no effort at all.

"Even as a child, I loved exploring. Learning about the world around me. But my father was very protective. He risked his life enough with his own work, and he didn't need to add additional things to worry him. But I was young, rebellious, and desperately craving something new."

"Let me guess, you ran away." I put up my hands to block another grapple attempt.

She tried to get under my guard, but I managed to hold her off for a bit.

"Not quite. During one of our less fruitful seasons, our food supply ran low. I decided to do something about it. While my father slaved away scraping up what little fish and bread he could, I scoured the inland, searching for wild plants or game to take home. My small findings wouldn't have lasted us a week until I managed to find it. A great stag, one of the largest I'd ever seen."

"It wasn't the one sacred to Artemis, right?"

She went on the defensive, rolling with my grapple attempt and shrugging me off with her quick footwork.

"No. Not the Ceryneian hind. Though I did become very familiar with her later on. But the stag was mighty nonetheless. So much so that it had attracted Artemis' attention, little did I know."

I managed to snag her wrist, but she made quick work of pulling me in and throwing me to the ground again. By this point, I'd built up quite the sweat, though Phoebe didn't look too tired.

"When I loosed my arrow to fell it, a shimmer of silver light struck it at the exact same time."

She hesitated, recalling her memories with a solemn smile. But that hesitation cost her. I took the opening and managed to get her into an arm bar.

"Cheeky little…" She used her spare hand to grab and pull on my ear, which made that arm bar drop in an instant. "Artemis appeared before me, indignant, but impressed. Neither of us could say which of our arrows struck first. She praised my abilities and even helped me in bringing the beast back home."

She returned the earlier favor by locking me in an arm bar, but positioned it in such a way that I couldn't reach anything with my other hand.

"When she saw the state of my home, she offered me a chance to join her. It shouldn't have been a difficult choice for me, but I was afraid of leaving my father behind. He knew nothing of this, but I believe he suspected something. Only when she agreed to let me leave the occasional game for my father did I agree."

"So he never saw you again?"

She fumbled a backstep and tripped over herself. With an indignant glare, she huffed.

"I didn't run away. We parted the next morning, when I explained what little I could. I told him I was going away, but that I would make sure his needs were met. And at first, I kept to my word. Every two weeks, I returned to deliver some new exotic meat to him. But… as time went on, my visits grew less frequent. My time with my sisters became more valuable to me. He never had another child. Never married. In truth, I believe he was always waiting for the day I would come back to him and stay home."

"But you already found a new home."

She hesitated, but nodded, grief written on her face. "It wasn't until I spent two years away that I learned he died. A harsh winter had claimed him. While I and my sisters dashed through the snow without any care in the world beyond our adventure, he withered and froze in his home."

"Oh. Um… That's rough."

"Indeed." She squared her shoulders and popped her neck. "From then on, I dedicated myself fully to my sisters. I would not forget my father, and I grieved his death harder than any other hunter we'd lost up to that point. Though it was not long after that when we happened across the garden of the Hesperides, and I began to mentor a young woman whom you've become intimately familiar with."

I didn't need to add more to that comment. Not that I could with her keeping me in a triangle headlock. My efforts were focused on not getting a hard on, because, by the gods, that girl had some legs on her.

While her leonine strength didn't take me out, it did force us to slow down a bit. Though I did note she was beginning to sweat as well.

"So you trained Zoë. No wonder she's such a badass."

She snorted. "We had very different areas of expertise. But yes. I was the one responsible for her early on. It was I who vouched for her to begin with. Artemis was not very pleased by the idea of letting a heartbroken and emotional young maiden into our ranks. She wanted to be sure she had a clear head. I helped her get there."

"And she ended up becoming lieutenant. Looks like you outdid yourself. But… Okay, sort of changing the subject, but not really. You said you didn't use last names back then. What about Zoë?"

With a gentle closing of her eyes and a serene smile, she dipped her head low, as if recalling a much better time.

"That is not a surname. Rather, it was more of a title. An epithet, if you so please. Well beyond a millennia later, a newer recruit would always refer to her as Belladonna. She claimed it was because Zoë's eyes were always so dark, she appeared to have used the plant to make her irises look larger. A common practice for ladies of the court during her time. But moreso, she claimed Zoë was just like the plant itself. Just as beautiful as she was deadly. None of us could refute her claim, and so it stuck. Only about a century ago did she begin to go by Nightshade. An attempt to keep up with modern times. Something I'm sure you've noticed she struggles in."

This time, I let her complete what she was saying before going for a lunge. She took a fraction of a second too long to react and went down with her shoulders to the mat while I locked my legs around one of hers and pulled just enough to make a hypothetical intention clear.

"You're improving," she said. "But using Zoë as a distraction tactic was a cheap move."

"Who said anything about tactics? I just wanted to learn more about you." I let her back up. "Not my fault you didn't react fast enough."

WHIF!

I ducked under a thrown arm and back-stepped away from her outstretched leg. Her fist moved almost un-telegraphed toward me. As it did, my own hand reached out for hers and yanked her along with me, throwing her off balance… right on top of me.

"Oof!" I grunted. "Okay. Not my most well thought out plan."

She had her knee on my gut and her palms pressed to the mat on either side of my face while she lightly panted. For a moment, she simply stared down at me. But the moment passed, and with a flash of red, she pulled away.

"You're getting better," she said, quick with her words. "But you still need more training. Tomorrow. Same time. Same place."

Before I could do so much as say "okay," she made a beeline for the locker rooms, her cheeks near the color of her hair.

"Not the most socially adept individual I've seen. Coming from me, that's saying something."

I nearly fell on my face standing up. By the time I realized who was at my side, she'd already taken a solid moment to study me. At least, her analytical gaze gave off that impression.

"Spymaster! Um… Theora, right?"

She raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Aren't you just the quickest on the uptake? I'd prefer a less ostentatious declaration, thank you very much."

"Right. As if everyone here doesn't already know who you are."

"A popular spy is a failed spy. If everyone knew who I was, I'd be dead. Now, onto other matters. You've settled in at this point; spent your first night under the queen's hospitality. She'd like to know your answers, given you've had time to discuss matters with those they concern."

She kept her posture relaxed, but her baggy pants could have held anything, from listening devices to a whole sword if she wanted. And she wouldn't have reached her position if she wasn't skilled in using one.

"Most of them," I finally said, reaching for my pocket, mentally cursing myself for not having pockets.

"Take it easy," she said. "If I wanted to hurt you, you'd never know I was even in the same building as you. Besides, you're probably the most protected person on the planet right now. Only a fool would try to openly go after you."

"I've known my share."

"That makes two of us. But I wouldn't be in my position if I was a fool. So now that we've established that I'm not here to harm you, can you please stop stepping towards the locker rooms like you're rushing to grab your pen?"

I froze, looked down at my feet, and realized I had in fact been taking steps in that general direction, opposite of the side Phoebe went.

"You've done your homework."

"Pfft. Who do you think kept tabs on you during your last visit? Besides, my information network is very thorough. Only Aeolus has me beaten, and that one has had millennia to develop his network."

"Point taken. Look, from what I can tell, everyone is more or less on board with the idea of becoming trainers. The whole political publicity stunt thing is on me, so fine, I'll agree to those terms as well. But the other stuff…"

She leaned forward, relaxed, nodding her head for me to continue.

"I still need to talk to my… wife about that."

Having literally never said the word aloud, that felt weird on my tongue. Not bad. Gods knew it was only a matter of time before I could refer to Annabeth that way without their divine intervention. But I hoped my first time testing the word out for size would have been a bit more… impactful.

"Smart. Well, if you manage to figure it out, just let me know. She'd prefer an answer by the end of the day. As you can imagine, she's a busy woman." She turned to leave. "Speaking of, don't go to her with this. Just go through me, and I'll relay the news. Her time in New Rome has her swamped. Personal visits are on hold for the time being."

"Right. I'll just ask the guards where to find the woman who doesn't want to be found."

She scoffed. "I'll make it easy for you. Whistle three times, then snap. I'll find you."

"What if I already casually whistle?"

She waved me off while walking away. "It's a good thing that you don't."

Before I could follow her, my eyes caught a glimpse of a much friendlier face.

Next to the wrestling mats were a couple dueling circles. Right in the middle of one, her practice sword resting on the chest of her defeated opponent was none other than Hazel. For a moment, I hesitated about saying hi, but she and her partner both stepped out of the circle and two others took their place.

My hesitation died after that.

"You seem to be making friends."

She jumped and whirled around, smacking one of her fellow trainees in the back with her wooden blade.

"Oop! Uh, sorry! I didn't. Um. Hey, Percy. We should um… probably step away if we're going to talk."

Her trainer, a small woman with a waifish face, glowered at her before shooing her off.

"Okay. Maybe not the best of friends, but it's the trying that counts."

We made our way to the water fountains and both took a drink. Though I was coated in a nice sheen of sweat, Hazel was absolutely drenched.

"They must be putting you through the wringer."

"Not really." She leaned her sword against the wall and stretched her arms with a yawn. "It's not that much harder than the legion. Though to be fair, they just want to measure up my skills for the moment."

"Then why the sweat? Or did they just prank you and toss you into the pool?"

"Is it that obvious?" She held her arms to her side and glanced down at herself. "It's definitely been awkward. This was because of a couple guards who remembered me from before. They can't hurt me, but hazing seems to be normal here."

"Have you told anyone? The trainers? Kinzie?"

"Why do you think they only managed to get me in the pool? Half of them were on the ground by the time I managed to pull myself out of it. And it's not just that. Like with how a bunch of them started calling me—"

"Jailbreak! You can socialize later. You're up!"

Her shoulders sagged. "Well, I did say I didn't want special treatment. I'll talk to you later." We parted with a hug, and she dragged her training sword back into the circle, to wipe the floor with a different opponent.

I considered whether I should call it a day or if I should give the weights a go. But before I could, a very familiar pair appeared by the entrance of the training facility. Both of them rushed over to me.

"Master," Palírroia called. "There is urgent business which requires your attention."

"And before you ask, no, this can't wait," Ashe said.

Both grabbed my hands and pulled me out of the training center. After that, I didn't bother letting them drag me, but instead matched their pace.

"What's wrong? Did anyone get hurt? Is Sierra okay? Did Thŷella have a memory relapse?"

"No, Master. It is not about them." Palírroia tightened her grip on my hand and led the way up the stairs to the catwalks.

"If anything, nothing is really 'wrong.' There's just something you need to see."

"I swear, if you're telling me one of you is pregnant…"

"Oh!" Palírroia paused, cheeks flushed. "Um. Nothing quite so extreme. You will see."

We continued down the catwalk back to where our rooms were. They stopped me right in front of my room, the one Annabeth shooed me away from not too long before.

Ashe reached for the door and began to push it forward. Meanwhile, Palírroia did a quick twirl and bounced herself up into me, stealing a kiss that was as quick as it was passionate. When she pulled away, her eyes shimmered. Nibbling on her lip, she went in for a second, but Ashe cleared her throat, which resulted in her pulling away, with a bashful smile.

She reached for my hand and guided me into the room. All the while, Ashe snickered and whispered "Have fun." She closed the door behind me, cutting me off from both her and Palírroia before I could ask her what she was talking about.

For a moment, I couldn't see what the matter was. The room looked exactly like any other. But then my attention landed on the bunk bed, where both Calypso and Rachel laid, naked as the day they were born. Annabeth stood off to the side, a broad grin on her face, wearing nothing more than a light seafoam colored bikini.

"Happy birthday!"

A/N: Yeah. We all know what's about to happen. And while a part of me is dreading the monster this will turn into, I can't say I'm not excited to find out what I can make of it.

Phoebe has finally been given her due diligence. Despite her massive stature, she isn't quite the man-hating muscle mommy that she'd likely get stereotyped as. Her fury is still there. After all, she was basically ripped out of paradise just to become a slave. But unlike what Percy feared, she's not holding him solely responsible for it. Maybe, just maybe, there's a chance things will work out before the time limit for her curse starts up. On the flipside, Kinzie is throwing out hints about as subtle as a train crash. How long will she last before finally going for broke and jumping him at the dinner table? Only time will tell.

Alright. Let's address it. Under the original planning of the story, prior to all of the changes, including the addition of Artemis, Percy's birthday would have essentially been the end of the story, and would have happened about ten chapters ago. You can count the days yourself. It is officially August eighteenth in the story. That actually means that there was a time not too long ago where Percy and I were the exact same age. We are both officially twenty four, even if my birthday happened to fall a couple months ago. And as you can see, Annabeth and company have made sure to celebrate with a bang. It's certainly more eventful than my own birthday was.

This upcoming chapter is going to be a big one, and it should be pretty clear why. So with that in mind, I can't make any promises about when it will be out. The last round of group sex broke the record for longest chapter, and that was only with three people. Now we have four only two chapters later. This... is going to take some time, so I ask for your continued patience.

All of that aside, I eagerly await your thoughts. The reviews are always an option, the Discord server is forever open to new guests, and P atreon is still a route to take if you'd like to see things a bit before everyone else. Whatever choice you make, I certainly hope to hear from you soon. In the meantime, I'll be back in my little chair pounding out the next monster of the story. This is Ronin signing off.