Somewhere over New York

As Percy flew over his hometown he considered the multiple things he could have done to piss off the Queen of the gods but ultimately coming to a blank as he couldn't possibly think of anything he had done to piss her off enough to call a council meeting. It obviously wasn't urgent from the nature of the meeting and yet he had a feeling the next hour was going to be one of the most important ones in his career. Sighing in resignation he took a sip from his coffee as he approached the city of the gods unaware of what was to come yet. And yes he did stop off at a coffee shop to get a donut for blackjack on the way. The Olympians could wait.

The pair landed at the foot of the steps up to the Parthenon where the hero dismounted, waving his steed off before beginning his jog up the steps to the throne room. Again he could have just landed by the doors but as said before the Olympians could wait. Lost in the music of his AirPods Percy almost ran straight into the epic 100ft celestial bronze doors. Here he had a choice: do the sensible thing or the fun thing. Obviously the latter was chosen.
Raising his foot up Percy concentrated his powers before giving up and giving a rough estimate, a number 3 should do it. Extending his leg out in a sharp Spartan kick a miniature earthquake was sent through the doors causing them to fly round their hinges and crash into the marble behind leaving two massive door shaped dents.

The desired effect was achieved as the Olympian's attention was swiftly brought to him as he took another sip from his black coffee before strolling towards the centre of the room, nodding his head slightly in time to the music. Stopping in the centre of the room he took out his earphones, and greeted Hestia with a nod. Turning to his father he gave a brief bow before down the same to Artemis, nodding to the king he turned to the queen before addressing her in a tone that did not show a morsel of respect. "What did you want, your Maje-slurry?"

Growling slightly over the laughing council Zeus addressed the demigod. "Was that really necessary, boy?"

Turning to his uncle he stared the god straight in the eyes before answering seriously, "Not in the slightest, but it made me feel good." Sipping from his cup the son of the sea turned to the king's wife expectantly, ignoring the fuming god who was doing his best Yosemite Sam impression though was being ignored as all faces turned to the Queen.

"Now that we are all present I have an announcement to make," Hera began, sitting straight up in her seat as she addressed her family, "There has been an upset in my domains of- "she began only to be cut off by a fed up demigod.

"Oh get the point already would you. I've got better things to do with my life." Percy snapped impatiently tapping his foot and taking a sip from his drink. He really didn't want to deal with her bull shit at the moment, which was much appreciated amidst the council members, except Zeus who was thinking of all the different ways he could smite the brat.

"Fine, if that's how it's going to be then." the queen of the gods began before sitting up straight and clearing her throat while looking down at a particular document in her hand which would probably shack Olypmus to the core. "Due to unforeseen circumstances Lady Artemis Agrotera and Perseus Theseus Jackson are to join each other in holy matrimony, as decreed by the laws of the ancient ways." The Queen finished smuggly waiting for the chaos to ensue.

However there appeared to be a calm before this storm as the only two notable reactions came from those in question. The huntress suddenly choked on the apple she had almost finished and subsequently went into a coughing fit while the hero did a spit take spraying hot coffee all over the immaculate marble floor. The rest just stared blankly at the goddess of family questioning if they had heard her correctly.

"Come again?" The demigod finally managed to get out, after he finally comprehended what the psychotic queen had announced. These two words held quite some power as it seemed as if the others had realised what the queen had actually said causing multiple of them to draw weapons in preparation for what the answer would be. Both twin archers summoned their bows with an arrow on the string, resting them on their lapps pointing towards their step-mother in preparation. Beside the male archer, the boys father had summoned his trident twirling it threateningly at his sister and on the other side Ares wielded his broadsword looking forward to the upcoming brawl. At the head of the table Zeus raised his bolt read to finally smite his nephew. Percy just brought out his pen and pointed it threateningly at the queen of the heavens. Hermes noticed this and almost snickered at the sight but decided it would be best for his health if he didn't. The others just looked at her intrigued with this slightly more interesting meeting.

"You all heard me, Perseus and Artemis are to be married," Hera practically squealed out with glee. However, with those seven words the throne room descended into anarchy. First thing to happen was Zeus launched a bolt powerful enough to eradicate an army at Percy which was swiftly deflected by Poseidon's trident into the king of the gods bedroom across from the council chamber. Next, the two archers launched their devine arrows burying themselves into Hera's throne both having gone through her shoulders to reach their destination which caused a cry of pain from the Olympian. This was unfortunately muffled by Aphrodites high pitched squeal of excitement releasing a wedding was coming up, which was muffled by the blunt end of Athena's spear being shoved in the offending hole. Seeing this Ares began to charge only to be tripped by his uncle who looked passively at the scene before him interested in what his sister's explanation. This forced Dionysus to raise his legs as the god crashed into his throne. Of course in all of this Hestia sat passively in the fireplace chatting telepathically to Demeter, debating the cause of this, unable to speak over all the pandemonium going on around them. All this however was silenced when the council shook in their seats (floor in the war gods case) with the epicentre of this coming from the resident mortal in the room.

Now it took a lot to really enrage Percy. Sure, he got pissed at upstart demigods making unnecessary disorder. And yeah, he got annoyed when his psychotic relatives went round slaughtering his family. And of course got angry when he lost a bet to Clarrisse. But no one had ever quite managed to push him this far. Surrounding the demigod a very distinct navy blue bordering black aura, the colour of the bottomless ocean of a storm, making him appear far more than half god. In his right hand, riptide glowed angrily as if ready to lash out at any given moment. His entire demeanor screamed death: from the animalistic snarl on his lips to the empty hand twitching ready to strangle the Olympian at the hint of any possible deception in her words.The only calm part of the 19 year old were his eyes, being the literal eye of the storm currently battering the throne room blowing in through the open doors, cold and calm ready to kill without second thought.

"Now I think that needs a little explanation, don't you aunt?" The enraged boy spat out voice dripping with the loathing he felt for the manipulative toad he called aunt, "And it better be a good one as several painful years of regeneration will occur if it is not."

The action to reach and pull out one of the arrows from her shoulder was immediately halted by the growl emitted by multiple members of the room. Hera looked to her husband for aid but received only a glare in response causing the deity to gulp as she realised she was in the shit now. This sort of insult would usually lead to being smitten by Zeus, however he did agree with his nephew on this matter due to his little girls future being on the line. And the fact he really didn't want his balls chopped off today by his angry daughter. Knowing she was going to have to live with the two arrows going through her for the moment, Hera shuffled slightly to find a more comfortable position.

"Well, as I said before these are very unusual circumstances as it is not my actions, but the pair of you's." The goddess said evenly like it was the most obvious thing in the world. This however didn't seem to sit well with the two of them as shortly after there was a third arrow buried above her head as well as the cold biting edge of riptide digging into her neck after being launched by the demigod to pin the goddess to her seat. What terrified her the most was that no one tried to stop the action some even looking as if they wanted to add their weapons to the growing collection holding her in place.

"Explain." Was all her husband said as he stared at her angrily, arcs of electricity flowing over his entire body showing off his current fowl mood. Let it never be said that Zeus didn't care for his kids, sure he was sometimes slow or only showed tough love but when it came down to it he was always in their corner. This one word made Artemis exceptionally grateful to her father knowing he would try and stop this at all costs, especially since he had sworn to never force her into a marriage she didn't want even if that was thousands of years ago. "Now."

Gulping once again, Hera realised she was about to make a lot of people very mad at her but if she played this right she might just get her way. "Well you all remember how in ancient times it was considered a proposal for one to throw an apple to another and an acceptance if it was caught?" To this most of the gods nodded uncertainly, not knowing where this was going. All except Artemis who never paid attention to the changing culture of the ancient times, sticking to her antisocial ways with her hunters away from civilisation. Upon seeing the other gods nodd Artemis grew pale realising where this was going and begging to any higher deity listening she was wrong.

Unfortunately, however, the demigod did not and thus rolled his knives which he had drawn indicating for the goddess to continue, unaware of the meaning behind these words. Seeing as it was in her best survival interests to do so Hera continued, "Well, seeing as we are gods of those ancient practices they still hold weight and thus if conducted still count."
The goddess of marriage finished seeing the pale faces of the newly engaged couple.

Having also noticed his son's reaction Poseidon pressed on, "What does this mean son?"

The shock of being told that he had unwittingly been proposed to then later he himself having proposed to one of his close friends as well as the goddess he most respected left Percy slightly shell shocked, removing all trace of anger in his body and filling the space with dread. The same thing also happened to Artemis causing her to fall back into her seat, bow chattering to the ground as she did so. This drew all attention away from the pinned goddess, who watched smugly as she finally watched the defeated couple accept their fate. "Father, when myself and Lady Artemis had our spar earlier today she passed me an apple as a means of distraction in order to tackle me," Percy began as the dread slowly began to increase with every word he spoke, "Then after the fight I threw the apple back to her, as a joke. Both times we caught the apple." He finished as the dread finally became realisation.

"Daughter, is it true what he said, did you both catch the apples?" The king asked clearly desperate for the daughter to neglect the claims but to his despair the goddess slowly nodded her head, confirming the engagement. Now that it was official, rings suddenly flashed into existence on the couples respective figures. And try as they might they would not come off. The worst part was they were just two plain silver bands with absolutely nothing special about them.

Distraught by the idea of being married at twenty the demigod turned to the king of Olympus who was scowling knowing what was to come. Desperate Percy begged, "Please Lord Zeus, there must be something you can do?"

"Father please!" The usually prideful huntress begged with tear filled eyes, unable to comprehend the idea of being with a man. It was not that she didn't like the guy, no they had both already admitted they had a natural attraction to one another but had decided to ignore it. No, she had just seen too many of the disasters of men to ever be happy with one.

Ignoring the demigod, the king of Olympus turned to his favourite daughter, weeping as he did realising he would have to be the bearer of bad news. "I am so, sorry my little Argotera but there is nothing I can do." The god managed to get out clearly as defeated by the news as the boy was as the both slumped their shoulders. Poseidon glared venomously at Hera wishing he could wipe that smug look off her face. Artemis was the worst hit though as she stared stoically ahead with tiers streaming down her face not looking anyone in the eye. Ever other occupant sat silently knowing this was not for them to get involved with, though none of the Zeus's kids liked the amount of affection Artemis was receiving, bar Apollo and Hermes who were both reading through scrolls at a rapid pace trying to find an answer.

Just as Hera was about to speak again Apollo shot up holding a piece of paper over 4 thousand years of age in his grasp, "That may not necessarily be true Father," Apollo began catching the attention of everyone involved at the possibility that it might be a way to stop this. "According to the scroll, the king of Olympus has the power to veto any upcoming marriage with the majority of the council on his side."

With this news Artemis smiled a watery smile at her twin, grateful for the support and though speechless mouthed a silent 'Thank you' to him clearly overwhelmed by the thought she might be able to remain a virgin, as the marriage must be consummated if carried out. Both Percy and Poseidon nodded their heads in gratitude at the sun god who nodded back in respect. Zeus smiled at his sons, proud they had aided his daughter in her time of need.

"Well then, let's vote on it." Hera said gleefully despite being stuck to her throne, which unnerved the anti marriage group. Hera had a plan which was never good for anyone, Percy knew from experience. "All in favour of the marriage say aye and all in favour of the veto say nay."

As the council always did Dionysus started being the last on Hera's side. Clearly in a vengeful mood, the wine god called out "Aye". Which was to be expected in all honesty. 1-0

Next was Aphrodite, who appeared to be unusually deep in thought, clearly unsure how to go on this vote. "Can you give me a minute to think?" Which confused everyone as she was usually the rash one in the council making decisions on a whim. Nevertheless, they proceeded.

"Aye" called Athena, who was wearing a stone cold mask. Though it was clear to see the years of jealousy rolling off her and using this as a means of revenge as well as a chance to steal the title of the goddess of Virginity from her sister. Now most think the two would be close due to the shared title of virgin goddess, but it couldn't be further from the truth. They rarely spoke as Athena spent much of her time in cities talking to people while Artemis could count the number of times she went to a city or met people out of choice on one hand. She had her hunt and that was it. That was probably what led to the rift between the two, lack of communication and thus the vote, not that made it sting any less. 2-0

"Nay" Artemis defiantly called, for obvious reasons. 2-1

"Aye" called Demeter, she owed Hera a vote for helping her at the solstice last year, simple as that. Also spitting her two rapist brothers was no bad thing. 3-1

"Aye" Hera called smirking at the huntress evilly. She had hated the girl since she got to Olympus and things never got much better from then really, a constant reminder of her husband's treturey from their vows. Also hating the brat for all the insults it was like killing two birds with one stone. 4-1

"Nay," the King called, obviously pissed at the situation. Still he was loyal to his daughter so on such matters who go with her vote. Once again Artemis beamed proudly at her dad for sticking up for her. 4-2

"Nay," Poseidon called, same reason but for his son more than his niece even though he would have voted this way if it wasn't for Percy cause he was a nice guy, usually. Percy nodded in gratitude to his father who just smiled back happy to help his son in need. 4-3

"Nay," Apollo called. No one was allowed his sister. End of story. No ifs or buts. Artemis was off limits. 4-4

"Aye," Ares called, smirking at Percy. Yeah he was still a sore loser after 7 years. Also his mum voted for it so it must be worth it. 5-4

"Nay" Hephaestus called, he had nothing personal against either of the two and previous experience with bad marriages. Percy had been friends with both Beck and Leo as well as got him a forge back. Artemis had left his kids alone as long as they did the same. He just went with what they wanted which got him an appreciative nod from the pair as thanks. 5-5

"Nay" Hermes called, helping Apollo out. Sure sometimes Artemis got on his nerves but they are siblings and that's what happens, always arguing but here to help when needed. Also Percy had been nothing but kind to his kids at camp as well as cleared it of the unclaimed, not that he minded them but it gave his kids some room. 5-6

For a moment they were all hopeful even if Aphrodite voted the other way it wouldn't matter. In cases of a draw, the king's vote takes the majority which they had. Unfortunately, they also forgot about Hades. While not an Olympian as he didn't have a palace on Olympus he still was a council member and could vote in meetings. Which made them all jump when his voice cut through the tense silence.

"Aye," Hades called. Of course he would. Rules are rules, you make a deal you follow through and that was non negotiable. 6-6

That was obviously Hera's plan to call Hades to make sure it was an uneven number to negate the king's majority. Unfortunately it had worked as it all rested on the unpredictable nature of Aphrodite. Everyone leaned towards the goddess to hear the outcome of the council meeting of the millennia Artemis and Percy biting their nails in anticipation.

Aphrodite was a complex being not known for her selflessness. But here she had a real predicament, does she help or not. You see this vote was never purely about past history for her as she didn't care what Artemis thought of her or Percy for that matter, all she cared about was that everyone should feel love. The thing was she could see what needed to be done but doing it would make her a lot of enemies in bothe the long and short term. But doing the opposite would be equally as bad. Deciding she would help the couple even if they didn't know it yet she called out her answer. "Aye!"

And with that silence fell. They had lost. Percy and Artemis would be married and there was nothing they could do to stop it. Percy didn't even try to stop it knowing he would only make it worse in the long run. The same with Zeus, Apollo and Artemis, they could only sit and watch as Hera sang "Here comes the bride" with a smug smile plastered on her face despite being arrowed to a wall. Percy and Artemis were getting married.

And all due to an unusual proposal.

Damn that took way too long to write, you all better not ask for an update soon as the answer is no. Anyway tell me what you think cause I quite like the idea of them forcing themselves to marriage. As usually thanks to the muffin man for the help staying motivated for this 12k word one-shot. Respect to anyone who can do even half this regularly.

Anyway hope you enjoyed it.