"Very appropriate, didn't the Greeks invent democracy?" Magnus snorted. Annabeth was probably exempt from that, right?

"I hope they at least throw in some variety," Alex said. "Nobody ever talks about death by studying, death by puppy love, death by laughter, death by meteorite hurtling down and hitting just one person."

"Now I'm over here wondering which god should I want to be least creative in the killings," Percy muttered.

"They clearly vote about as well as they react to news," Jason said, the saltiness in his voice surprising them. As fidgety as he'd been about Zeus in particular, it seemed strange he seemed so harsh on apparently fixing to get a good glimpse into them doing, well, anything of potential value.

Not that Percy considered his coming death, again, a potential value, but it was a heck of a lot more than sitting on his throne like the last time he'd been in Zeus's chamber.

Unless it wasn't Zeus at all, but that seemed like a slim chance. Clearly they were off to this acclaimed Winter Solstice Artemis was going to be so vital for.

He hoped she didn't vote to kill them after he'd just saved her life, she'd never called him a brave man then!

Flying was bad enough, but flying straight up to Zeus's palace was even worse.

"It's like playing ding-dong-ditch and being surprised when he blasts you out of the sky," Alex agreed.

"Thankfully didn't happen," Percy said, looking a little pale as he closely inspected his arms to make sure of that one.

... last time by traveling up the elevator.

"I don't know why I thought you had to get in that way all the time," Magnus admitted. "I thought you three and those pegasi were going to squeeze into that tiny metal box and it was just going to magically expand for you."

"I imagine that guy in the lobby would throw his book at us if we tried," Percy shook his head. At least he got to skip the crappy elevator music and growing sense of inescapable dread. This did not feel any better though.

... Olympus amazed me even more.

"It had a pottery table this time?" Alex asked eagerly.

"I mean, I personally would have gone with world peace, but that sounds like a cool second," Thalia said with a twitching smile.

"Knowing Percy, it was flatscreen TVs and they installed a skate park," Will grinned.

"You say that like it wouldn't be amazing to have at camp," Percy shrugged.

... Before I could even think to knock, the gates opened by themselves.

Jokes aside, nobody looked particularly happy the home of the Gods seemed in full party mode. Zoe had just died on behalf of a war none of them even seemed concerned about.

Nico wondered if his dad had already overseen Bianca's passing through his place and moved on by that time to the same old bitter comments about how he wasn't allowed in on the cool god's stuff.

... I didn't know why, but I had a sense of doom. I'd never seen all the gods together.

"That seems like a pretty good reason to me," Jason shivered into his chair for a moment.

"Make sure you mark that one in your diary, finally admitting I had one of those," Percy grinned. Jason rolled his eyes but then theatrically clicked an imaginary pen and scribbled something down just to keep Will laughing an extra second before he continued.

... any one of them could blast me to dust, and a few of them would like to.

"Does that finally sound like a good reason why you shouldn't have been making enemies with them?" Thalia asked without any hope.

"I still don't hear how it would have helped me to fake it either," Percy frowned, not entirely convinced even his dad would step in to stop it from happening. Maybe it just would have caused a few extra rainy days and a hundred years or so of annoyance at whoever did it before he was forgotten.

... if ya don't come back, can I have your cabin for my stable?

"Percy, why aren't you sharing with him now?" Magnus chuckled at his very highly raised eyebrow. "I thought you'd be lonely in there without Tyson."

Percy mock considered for a moment before deciding, "he wouldn't hold up his end of the chores."

...leaving Thalia, Annabeth, and me alone...Westover Hall, what seemed like a lifetime ago.

Thalia made a soft hum of appreciation as she considered the things that changed and the things that would always be the same. She believed she and Percy would have always become friends, but that quest had solidified it.

If Annabeth had never gone missing though, maybe Percy wouldn't have foisted himself on this quest. Maybe a different Prophecy would have been spewed from the get go, and they never would have crossed the land without rain because Aphrodite hadn't dumped them in the middle of it.

There were to many factors, to many threads the Fates were always weaving about, but Thalia still vividly remembered standing on one side of Annabeth in that moment and feeling confident about the direction her life was going for the first time since she'd woken up.

... suddenly, facing monsters seemed like a picnic.

"Coming from a guy who's never been on a picnic, I don't know how to feel about that," Alex said without to much concern as she scratched at her nose.

Percy's mind immediately swiveled to wondering if he and Annabeth had ever been on one and he denied answering.

"Welcome, heroes," Artemis said. "Mooo!"

"Was that supposed to be Ceres?" Jason asked. He seemed to have developed a nervous tick all his own as he winced over every other word like he still expected to be eviscerated on the spot for hearing of all this. Sacred, not meant for the ears of followers... but he was also smiling like a maniac and drinking in every word like Percy was holding him in place against his will.

"I was personally thinking of Ares, but I don't think that matches either," Percy shrugged all the same, though his mind lingered on Hera for some reason. Hadn't Annabeth once mentioned she liked cows?

... I noticed Bessie and Grover.

The collective smile of relief around the room gave Will an extra loud pitch to his voice as he continued. He was actually shouting reading in happiness for a second when he'd known that the whole time, it was just his particular weird joy about everybody being happy of the same thing.

Nico smiled to himself as he watched, the loudness of it right next to his ear not bothering him in the slightest. He wondered if that was an Apollo thing, or a Will thing, before the smile slipped off his face it would never be a him thing. Even if he had somehow managed to make a friend, it already seemed doomed against lasting.

... enjoying the novelty of swimming in a magic bubble.

Alex chuckled with particular affection for that description and wondered if she could turn into Bessie, before the concerning reminder again flitted through she couldn't shape-shift in this place. She twitched unpleasantly and wanted to believe it was just a part of keeping the gods away, like the lack of dreams. It wasn't a payoff she'd ever ask for Loki never visiting her nightmares again, but so long as it wasn't permanent and Oceanus wasn't trying to take away her gender identity, she wasn't going to freak out about it.

He started to run toward me, then remembered he was turning his back on Zeus, and looked for permission.

Alex, Magnus, Percy, and Thalia all bristled at that, even if they knew they'd have done the exact same thing for fear of being blasted if they didn't. It was a principle of theirs, they didn't ask for permission to leave someone who they didn't respect.

...None of the gods spoke...The hearth fire crackled.

Magnus winced a little at his friend's name casually dropped in there and wondered yet again if he and Blitz were okay. He still felt like a jerk for not going back with him, and he hadn't even gotten to meet Annabeth for staying!

... last time I'd seen him: beach shorts, a Hawaiian shirt, and sandals.

Will grinned in surprise and shuffled his feet around in amusement, the fwip-thwap of his shoes making an obvious noise. The next time somebody told him Demigods should wear proper foot attire at all times, Chiron!, he'd just casually mention he was inspired by Percy's dad!

... you have to convince them! They can't do it!"

Percy didn't even get a second to be pleased Grover was deferring to him to fix this like Thalia wasn't there, this most certainly wasn't in his skill level!

He was plenty freaked out he was being asked to convince anyone of anything! The last time he'd been there he hadn't even convinced Zeus Kronos was on the rise. He hadn't convinced Zoe not to throw him under the bus as she drove off until he saved her life! He didn't even know how he'd convinced Mr. D not to throw him off a roof?!

Annabeth would be able to do it, he realized with a soothing sense of warmth passing through him.

... There was no emotion in her face. She seemed to walk in a column of moonlight.

There had been no hint of the tears on her face for her lost lieutenant. All traces of her recent imprisonment might as well have been a figment of their imagination, as cold and impartial as the Goddess Percy had first met.

She didn't have to shrink down to their level to talk to them though. She hadn't needed to leave her throne to address them, and Percy found himself smiling at her the same way he had his dad even if he didn't appreciate the business like manner of it.

... They know of Atlas's attempt for freedom. We have voted to act."

"Finally," Percy said none-to-bitterly. A sentiment shared by everyone else even as they winced and expected Percy to start melting before their eyes for his impertinent side against every immortal at once.

... as if they weren't all happy with this plan, but nobody protested.

"I would have sacrificed so many lion coats to have been there to see that," Percy said with a vindictive smile. He wanted to know which gods had eaten crow for not believing him in the first place, to watch Artemis tell them where they could shove it if anyone like Zeus himself had still tried to deny it.

... Poseidon has been given permission send it to the bottom of the sea.

There was still a current of unease drifting about the room at all of these declarations that should have had them celebrating. Annabeth's gruesome confidence Luke was still alive nagged in the back of Jason's mind. The full might of the Gods should have been the most powerful thing, but somehow it didn't feel very impressive coming from these gods.

He tried to shake off such thoughts, but there was something about getting an even stranger taste of California that left him more frazzled than ever having these guys constantly described like somebody was trying to build an essential puzzle from the inside out.

... meeting their faces individually. Zeus, the Lady Hera,

Jason looked very much like someone had taken his face off and put it on backwards. From the very beginning and now more defined than ever, there had been something so, off about these gods. He sympathized with Magnus a lot in this moment, he wanted to rant and scream at the world none of this made sense, even if none of it truly came as a shock to him.

... So much power in this room it was a miracle the whole palace didn't blow apart.

Magnus still felt a weird disconnect at moments like this. To know he was, however distantly, related to these primordial beings through his cousin. To wonder vaguely who his own dad was. How none of this should be possible, because if it was the world was an even more screwed up place than he'd originally, bitterly thought it was for his mom being dead. For the countless things he saw every day that literal gods just, didn't seem to care enough to fix.

Percy met his eyes, and a flash of understanding passed between them. The anger and bitterness would linger, but the only 'solution' in sight felt like Luke's way. Magnus made the sign for hope his elf best friend had taught him. He didn't even know what he was hoping for exactly.

... "Heroes win laurels—"  "first class," Hermes interrupted, anxious to avoid Apollo's poetry.

"I find myself not hating him for putting you on that Ship of Doom anymore," Alex expressed as if this would be a great letdown on Percy's part.

"I wasn't, really holding a grudge," Percy brushed at his hair in relief it had been any God to have derailed Apollo from that. He would have even said a silent thank you to Ares!

"All in favor of not disintegrating them?" Tentative hands went up—Demeter, Aphrodite.

"Disintegration? Really? That's the big vote?" Alex still looked deeply disappointed on their lack of creativity.

"He said not disintegrating them," Thalia cheerfully reminded, "so they're not even doing to good a job on kill votes anyways."

"One of these days I'm going to find a normal person who doesn't think these blasted chapter titles should be discussed every other paragraph," Percy huffed.

"Good luck with that," Will scoffed.

..."These two are dangerous. It'd be much safer—"

Percy was already reaching for his pen, his mouth opening in dire protest that would surely get him disintegrated on the spot, vote or no vote. It was his curse that had sealed Zoe's fate! If Ares wanted another go, Percy was all to happy to give it to him with a live audience!

...We will not blast my son to bits." "Nor my daughter. She has done well."

Thalia still felt a proud smile creep across her face and the smallest hint of a blush. This was one of the two times she'd ever met her father. Far be it from him condemning her to Ares or Athena's warning, he had praised her!

It still didn't entirely erase the unease she felt, now stronger than ever as she kept a constant glance on Jason lest he vanish again.

Zeus could just as easily have thrown that bolt on that mountainside and still done an about-face to praise her for not destroying the Gods. She feared what he'd let happen to his own son...but Jason wasn't Zeus's son.

She sighed and traced the links around her bracelet, cross-examining and probing everything she'd thought she'd ever known. How was replenishing Percy's past only dragging her own into question?

... I'd hardly ever talked to my father, much less gotten a compliment.

Percy gave her a rousing clap on the shoulder and grinned broadly around the room so that everyone could bask in his good mood for just a minute, and she smiled willingly along. Whatever answers she found, it could only help.

She snorted and shook her head as she looked wistfully beyond Percy to where Annabeth should be. Those two were a bad influence on her punk-rock motif.

... "I am proud of my daughter as well, but there is a security risk with the other two."

"Ouch!" Magnus yelped. "No help from where I thought you'd get." Annabeth had warned all the way back then though Athena and Poseidon didn't get along, her initial dislike of Percy. Guess they were about to get that in vivid display.

... "It is unfortunate that my father, and my uncle,

Percy still made a puckering face everybody kept reminding of how they were all related though. He'd be much happier forgetting titles like that.

broke their oath. Only Hades kept his word, a fact that I find ironic.

Percy winced so hard bubbles made a little exclamation mark of pain over his head and then shot straight into the ceiling, raining more dust and only one chunk of marble down that landed in the middle. Percy kept his eyes solely focused on that, terrified if he even flicked his eyes to the kid that could summon ghosts he'd lose it all over again!

Nico had winced exactly the same, but he went too still, frozen in place like he still expected someone to lunge at his throat.

Thalia laughed and said, "thanks Percy, I'll need that later when I want to break your face instead."

Will made a soft, humming noise in the back of his throat Nico found soothing, it chased the chill away and finally clicked somewhere in the back of his mind how Will kept doing that without healing him.

"Athena is seriously pushing everybody's buttons today," Jason murmured for himself, flipping his coin through his fingers in thought.

Athena, Greek goddess of Wisdom, didn't know. It was possible none of the gods even knew of who Nico and Bianca were.

It was a question that had been on his mind back during the first book, if Zeus had known of Percy's lineage before Poseidon had claimed him, and it seemed not. Half-bloods could apparently go throughout life without even an infallible God really guessing...but the idea left a bad taste in his mouth. Unlike the many feelings and vague notions he had about a handful of names and the state of California, this feeling left him sour and more confused than ever. He still didn't feel like he was getting anywhere close to figuring out what he was like before he lost his memories, and it was really starting to trouble him if he'd even be recognizable to a person he might have left behind when he finally figured out how to get back if he couldn't get a single solid scrap about himself down pat.

He felt defensive of Thalia. Percy, Annabeth, and Grover in particular all weirded him out if he thought about them to long. He loved to ask questions. These gods gave him a splitting headache.

That was it. The four defining things he could share with...he gave a dissatisfied sigh and shook out his head, concentrating on the book for now. It was pointless to keep pestering what he couldn't get an answer to for now.

He felt Thalia's troubled eyes on him though and spared her a brief smile and tried to relax back into his seat. The position felt unnatural, like his spine didn't know how to slouch, but she gave him a returning smile for the effort.

... As thickheaded as he is, Ares has a point."

"It scares me a little to hear them agreeing actually," Will shivered. Annabeth and Clarisse were lethal enough on the rare game they decided to team up and get along, their parents would be a frightening thing.

Jason had his face so scrunched up he looked like he was trying to swallow his tongue. Everything about this place always felt like a mirror. So similar, so fundamentally different...

... a grape vine grew around his waist like a seat belt and pulled him back down.

"Never would have pictured Mr. D for that whole safety first thing, but it feels right," Magnus snorted.

"Now if only he would strap in all the gods until they get the wine out of their ears and really listen," Alex nodded along.

... "You're one to talk, you old drunk. You seriously want to protect these brats?"

That was an awkward question that hung around every day at camp. Will fiddled with the page for a moment debating if he wanted to read the answer before he reminded himself it wasn't nice to Percy to skip regardless of his feelings.

... "I have no love for them. Athena, do you truly think it safest to destroy them?"

Percy and Thalia exchanged amused looks at that answer, however. Dionysius was an enigma wrapped in a bottle of vintage. For a god who had no love for them, he sure showed it in funny ways by distracting Ares and saving their life.

...then we are no better than the Titans. If this is Olympian justice, I will have none of it."

"Seriously, favorite goddess though," Alex said, but she seemed kind of annoyed about it still. The bar really wasn't that high in comparison of the others. Like she could trip over it.

"Calm down, sis. Jeez, you need to lighten up."

"She's lightened up plenty when she got those millions of extra pounds off her back," Percy grinned.

"I feel like Apollo always says that before he throws a beam of sunlight at you," Jason said uneasily.

"And you're lucky if he remembers whether your mortal or not when he does," Thalia agreed in exasperation.

"Don't call me sis! I will reward them."

"None of us are arguing the point," Percy promised, but he still had a fidgety unease about him. The fact that she kept having to insist this made him worried what else had been debated before they showed up.

... You want to destroy Bessie?"

"What did you think was going to happen when you sent the monster that could destroy them into their lair?" Jason tried really hard not to sound condescending.

"That they'd see the cute baby-cow serpent and give him some hay! Maybe a good speech about staying away from the Minotaur until this war is over!" Percy still felt plenty condescended as he mind blanked on anything else he could have done. The local aquarium would probably be a little confused if he dropped off Bessie in a basket.

Jason kept the thought to himself Percy was being rather naïve.

...My father frowned. "You have named the Ophiotaurus Bessie?"

"The highlight of my day," Alex still promised.

"Your dad's probably just jealous he didn't get to name him, I bet they're buddies and he builds Bessie an awesome barn," Will chuckled.

... I probably should have been afraid of Zeus, but I stared him right in the eye.

Nico's dreams had indulged many a fantasy his waking mind would never allow. A shiver passed through him as he heard the whispers of one of his most recent ones in that. Percy and him uniting with Hades to overthrow this guy once and for all. Percy cutting off Zeus's head as lightning crackled around with no effect and smiling only for him. Creating actual balance for all...

...  Kronos eating his children, just because of something they might do. It's wrong!"

"Chiron owes you an A+ just for the execution of that," Jason grinned.

"Only took me twelve years to get that on one test," Percy smiled.

...You, my daughter, will turn sixteen on the morrow, just as the prophecy says."

"Thank you for the exposition dump nobody needed," Thalia said with an uneasy scowl. He'd just complimented her for not taking that opportunity!

...Zeus scowled. "Trust a hero?"

The fact that this seemed like such a foreign idea to him grated on all of them badly. Were they nothing more than pawns and errand runners? This guy was supposed to be better than Kronos, right?

"Does he not trust his own daughter, the greatest hero in that room?" Percy demanded of the salt around them, fire in his eyes.

Thalia just shook her head in amusement and waved Will on, touched but also pleased he'd held that in back in the throne room. She was worried this room was giving him too loose a tongue, and by the time they got back he'd have some massive brawl with the first god he laid eyes on.

... I must have a new lieutenant. Zeus, I must speak to you privately."

"Did she need his permission before asking you officially?" Jason asked.

"It's polite, and we don't want to offend Zeus if we're sane," she said with a pointed look at Percy who had a shoe propped up on his knee and was fidgeting with his shoelaces in mild boredom.

...A feeling of panic seized me. "Annabeth," I said under my breath. "Don't."

Percy's jaw was locked tight enough to crack whale bones as he kept twisting the aglet as tight as it would go and then slowly letting it unwind in his hand, repeating the motion over and over and concentrating on just that. Gods he did not want her to go, but apparently, in her mind he was no better than Luke and he'd never given her a reason to stay...

She frowned at me. "What?"

"Honestly Percy, haven't you learned by now telling someone not to do something just makes them want to more," Thalia agreed in an obnoxiously cheerful tone to Percy's ears. Percy had somehow managed to tangle his laces together into a knot.

Nico bit his lip hard to stop himself laughing she was almost mocking the poor guy, because she knew how it worked out. He danced with the idea for just a split second if he'd ever have had a shot if Annabeth did join and leave Percy broken hearted, but then he remembered he was still down at Camp waiting like a dumbass, probably playing in the mud like a toddler for everyone to come back and tell him the coolest story ever. He didn't know how it would have gone worse than that day, but this turn of events couldn't have made any of it better.

 ..."I couldn't stand it if, I don't want you to—"

Every sappy love song his mother had ever sang to herself, every poem he'd heard snippets of in his life, every flash of seeing her from that first day to this moment raced through his mind in a dizzying, sickening swirl. He wondered if this is how getting punched by Cupid felt.

He loved her. That's what it all boiled down to. He didn't know how or when exactly it had happened, but she was about to run off and never come back again and this time he couldn't save her.

..."Thalia," Artemis said. "Daughter of Zeus. Will you join the Hunt?"

Thalia mock wiped a tear away as Percy jumped so bad he fell out of his seat. "Did you just forget I existed for a few moments there kelp head?"

Percy looked up at her sheepishly. Obviously, he hadn't, he'd just been convinced Annabeth had gone with her. Annabeth was the obvious first choice to him to any question. He still wasn't convinced that hadn't happened and swallowed his stomach full of nerves he was about to blurt all of that out to her any second and she'd laugh in his face.

...Annabeth squeezed her hand and let go, as if she'd been expecting this all along.

"We'd talked about it, before," Thalia admitted to them. "I asked her if the Hunt had ever bothered her in recent times and she admitted Zoe had been around, given her the pamphlet and the spiel just before school started. I wasn't happy and wanted to summon that pretentious princess and tell her where she could shove that pamphlet," the amount of affection she managed to say for Zoe couldn't be denied as she smiled, "but instead, Annabeth and I, talked." She finished with an exhausted sigh. Her little sister had been so terrified of losing her to the Prophecy she'd kept that flier in hopes Thalia would just consider it, and it had been in the back of her mind this whole quest. Losing Luke like that had just solidified everything for her in this moment Annabeth had been right about her all along and what she really needed, as usual.

...She knelt began the words from Bianca's oath, what seemed like so long ago.

Nico sniffed quietly beside Will and tried to tell himself one more time it was over. Bianca's life had come full circle and he had to stop dwelling on her doing the very same. Percy wasn't holding a grudge for Thalia abandoning him to the Prophecy.

...you're a hero. You will be the one of the prophecy."

"A few more hours," Percy still griped, just a bit. "Couldn't you have waited just a few more hours to go through with this? Maybe this was the decision that saved Olympus." He looked more resigned and exasperated than truly frustrated with her though.

Thalia gave him a sad, weak smile. Percy had just said it himself, trying to control the prophecy into the outcome she wanted would never have worked. There had been no world of endless sleep on the top of Mount Tam, but really, maybe that line could have applied to Zoe falling to an endless sleep at the feet of her father holding the world. Maybe if she'd hesitated a moment longer Luke would have made the same choice.

She just offered her hand to help Percy back into his seat and shrugged without answering. It was what it was, and they were here for Percy to remember that, not jump down every rabbit hole of what could have been.

... she even hugged Grover, who looked ready to pass out,

"A small reminder dreams come true," Alex raised an unimpressed brow but snorted in delight all the same that had probably been his reward.

...Then Thalia went to stand by Artemis's side.

Where she never thought she'd want to leave. Thalia still gave a forlorn sigh and shivered in her camo. Artemis would understand her desire to track down which god had done this to her brother, she was sure of it.

... Even if we spare the boy—" "No. Please. Keep the Ophiotaurus safe.

"Not, no, no if's or ands about killing me after I saved your thrones, again! It's, no, don't hurt the baby cow serpent," Magnus repeated just in case they'd missed that.

"Are you that used to hearing everything twice? You weren't even signing when you said that," Percy rolled his eyes, clearly still not getting why the guy seemed astonished over that.

..."And why should we trust you?" rumbled Hephaestus.

"Because he's asking you to protect him rather than using him to kill you all," Magnus said in a supremely, 'duh,' kind of voice.

"Because he named him Bessie!" Alex concluded as if this were the be all of points to make.

"Remind me to bring you two to the next meeting," Percy chuckled.

..."I'm only fourteen," I said. "If this prophecy is about me, that's two more years."

Jason, Alex, and Magnus all studied Nico curiously for a few moments. The answer had always felt obvious it would be Percy, and yet Thalia and Nico had been thrown into the mix back to back.

Now with Thalia at forever fifteen, it did make Percy the oldest by default again...but Nico's age wasn't particularly obvious to them. He looked small and skinny, especially always so tucked tight down in his seat most of the time.

Did being pulled out of time, already making him pass his sixteenth birthday long ago leave him disqualified? There still seemed plenty of mystery left what the heck happened up there, or if it had even come to fruition yet.

... "Much can change in two years, my young hero."

Percy's mind twinged painfully, scattered memories and feelings he yet had even the vaguest impression about. Rachel lingered oddly in his mind as he again looked to where she'd been sitting. He rubbed his temple and already knew Athena was annoyingly right about that.

..."It is only the truth, child. It is bad strategy to keep the animal alive. Or the boy."

"Wouldn't the best strategy be to have a counter in play," Magnus looked vaguely annoyed, and Percy didn't even have to pretend to not know why this time. "He's yet failed a quest, and they can't just keep pretending this prophecy won't happen forever. Wouldn't the strategic thing be to have a demigod on their side as badass as the one who's threatening Olympus?" Did they still not even consider Luke a real risk just because he wasn't a kid of three in particular?

Jason looked queasy. Arguing with a god, arguing with Minerva- Athena, ugh. He'd rather go back to laughing about Percy's hilariously inept ability to confess his undying love to Annabeth.

My father stood, his trident in hand. "I vouch for the boy and the Ophiotaurus."

"Ooh, now we mean business," Alex said with a wild grin.

"Please don't encourage them," Thalia groaned.

...Zeus's lightning bolt appeared in hand.

"No, no, now business will get done," Magnus chuckled, and Thalia sighed in defeat they were all doomed if Percy did try to smuggle them in.

... The creature will be safe. We shall protect it with all our powers.

"So now if Bessie gets hurt, the gods can all accuse each other and start another war, this doesn't sound like a better idea," Jason shook his head uneasily.

"I'll take the compromise of Bessie not being dead," Percy said with relief.

The boy will not betray us. I vouch for this on my honor."

A breath wooshed out of Percy like his dad had given him a bear hug. This was beyond just a compliment. This felt like something more. Trust.

... since we will not destroy the heroes, we shall honor them. Let the celebration begin!"

"Just like that hu?" Alex did not look impressed. Probably because nobody was maimed.

"I'll take the win," Percy promised.

"The only person who got a reward was Thalia though," Will frowned on Percy and Annabeth's behalf. "And Grover, if you count him getting a hug from a Huntress finally, but Thalia gave him that." It really was no wonder Percy so often looked troubled at just the thought of his dad. No matter what he did, he couldn't even get offered a cool new skateboard or something?

"Trust me Will, I am plenty happy with how the day turned out," Percy insisted. Annabeth was okay! They both needed a serious nap, but after surviving, it was all the reward he would have wanted from this anyways.

... then there are Olympian parties. If you ever get a choice, go for the Olympian.

"Are you saying the college frat parties with cheap beer don't compare?" Nico snorted. At least there if you accidentally stepped on somebody's toga you didn't risk being blasted to ash.

"I wouldn't know, I've never been to one," Percy chuckled, snapping his fingers to a tune only in his head and looking longingly towards the other rooms again for the fridge and a bed with good arch support. What he really wanted now was this book to be over before anything else bad happened...then he realized who had said that to him and did a double take at Nico and swallowed awkwardly.

He was up on Olympus milling through the crowd to find Annabeth while Nico was back at Camp still waiting. A ghostly wail still made goose bumps across the back of his neck when he looked to long at him and wondered how the hell he'd ever explained all this to the kid back then.

He was at least smiling lightly right now, whispering quietly to Will for just a moment what other cliches that were worth finding and avoiding at parties, so Percy managed to push it away for a little while longer and pretend everything turned out fine.

... Just requests to crank it up.

"Please tell me your dad can install that at camp," Percy asked of Will. For some reason he had a Jessie McCartney song in his head.

"He does owe us a good spoil," Will agreed distractedly, he still hadn't even gotten Nico to admit if he'd ever even been to a party.

...his wife, Ariadne. Dionysus looked happy for the first time.

"It's a good thing nobody tried to drag that council meeting out longer, he might have voted on that death by homework after all," Thalia chuckled. He'd still managed to look as miserable and bored in the throne room as ever. What he'd really wanted was this time right here, as much of it as he could get before his banishment resumed.

...his double-espresso latte he kept muttering over like an incantation: "Pan! Pan!"

"Good of him to keep his dreams alive," Jason said wearily.

"So long as he doesn't summon any more pigs," Percy agreed.

"I wonder what kind of creamer he thinks will help most with that," Alex chuckled.

... before I could get up the courage, Hermes got a call and walked away.

Percy was getting really good at pretending to himself that conversation about Luke was never going to happen either as he gave an uneasy smile and was glad that among the winces, nobody else wanted to linger on that either.

..."Target practice from the chariot as we fly over the U.S.? Best fun there is!"

A burning flare of jealousy lit Will at hearing that and Percy's nervous laugh as he looked wild-eyed at him to keep going. His dad had never offered him that, he hadn't offered it to any of his kids in years.

...I was looking for Annabeth. Last I saw her, she'd been dancing with some minor godling.

Magnus yelped in fear, "gods tell me it wasn't Hercules!"

"No," Percy said forcefully at once, then added a great sigh of relief, he obviously would have dulled him to the death on the spot. That might have made Zeus mad, again, and he wanted that dance with Annabeth first. "I'm not sure who, couldn't guess from the dress, but I think she had something to do with fire? Annabeth seemed to know her," Percy said from the brief glimpse he'd seen.

Thalia smiled, and rolled her eyes at the idiot. It had been Hestia, how had he never stopped to see her at the Camp's hearth?

... I had trouble reading gods' emotions, but I wondered if he had some doubts.

Percy was still shuffling around, though now there was no beat in his head to go along. It felt stilted, he'd swear an organ was playing some haunted house music. Maybe with a hint of a light at the end of the tunnel though? Hopefully it wasn't a train.

..."Your former friend Luke," Poseidon corrected.

"You really did luck out with the best dad," Thalia told him with an uneasy sigh. Her dad hadn't sought out her at this party in their honor. He sure wouldn't have corrected himself, let alone not turned her into a flamingo if she interrupted in the first place.

"Seems like it," Percy agreed as he looked around fondly at the ocean floor.

"He once promised things like that. He was Hermes's pride and joy.

Jason shifted around uncomfortably as he wondered what had changed about all that. Had Hermes ever said anything like that to him? Had it been because he failed one quest and Hermes had moved on to another of his many kids? He stared down at the tattoo on his arm and wondered if his parent even knew he was missing, let alone cared.

Just bear that in mind. Even the best can fall." "Luke fell pretty hard. He's dead."

"Percy, for the literal win," Magnus gave him an only half-sarcastic thumbs up while Percy mustered some kind of smile back. He'd said that explicitly so his dad would agree with him, maybe help Annabeth find some closure rather than her strange denial.

Poseidon shook his head. "No, Percy. He is not."

Percy seethed for several loud moments in his head about this. Looks like everybody got a reward tonight, whether they'd deserved it or not! He forced himself to keep paying attention though and didn't even consider taking back that thanks for his dad. Maybe Poseidon could finally answer why Luke seemed so unbeatable, practically an immortal himself!

..."I believe Annabeth told you this.

Was nothing sacred? There was an unhappy moment where they all exchanged uneasy looks for the God of the Ocean just, casually knowing that. Unless Blackjack had tattled on Percy, there seemed no good reason why he did.

... He will retreat and regroup before assaulting you again.

"I do love his use of the word assaulting," Percy sighed, giving an imaginary thanks to his dad again for correctly pinning that word to his entire life.

... joyously pushing it back and forth over the top of the crowd.

"The only way I can imagine a beach ball not being a fun and good distraction," Alex sighed.

"I'm just grateful for Poseidon's priorities," Will admitted, he'd want to go rescue the baby cow-serpent too.

Jason looked like he was slowly being crushed to death by the sky next at these inept versions of deities. Bessie had been in their care for mere hours and was already being mishandled like a toy!

... Be good, my son. We may not speak again for some time."

"Because once a year if you're lucky was already a luxury," Magnus muttered.

... Wise counsel is not always popular, but I spoke the truth. You are dangerous."

Percy didn't look very pleased with that assessment and fidgeted on the spot as he imagined his dad now telling Annabeth she should chill out more and maybe drink a pina colada.

"You never take risks?" She nodded. "I concede the point.

He looked just a bit proud of himself though he'd gotten the Goddess of wisdom to say that. Thalia sighed but let him have that win while he could.

Yet, your fatal flaw may destroy us as well as yourself."

Percy was aghast as he looked wildly around at Will now for him to scream 'gotcha!' He didn't even know what his fatal flaw was!

... Then your best friend, Grover. Now my daughter, Annabeth."

"Err," Magnus looked very concerned at that summary. "All of those were outside of Kronos's influence though...right?!" He remembered Hearth's guess about Luke somehow setting up Grover's initial escape from Polyphemus and felt miserable his friend wasn't around to be right, but that only made this feel all the more dangerous. If the Titan had really somehow set up, even in the smallest way possible, to influence Hades's taking Sally in that moment and Thorn dipping out with Annabeth meant they had vastly been underestimating just how much control the Crooked One had over every part of these stories.

Nobody answered him, not even Alex as she twisted her fingers into her hair and pulled uneasily, knowing all to well what kind of manipulation was being implied there.

..."In each case, your loved ones have been used to lure you into Kronos's traps.

"And the traps have failed every time," Jason reminded as he shifted around uneasily in his seat. That headache was back full force trying to imagine a conversation with Athena. Unlike with Ares, there wasn't a hint of confusion on his part how different she felt to her core, in every word she spoke.

... To save a friend, you would sacrifice the world. That is dangerous."

Will looked appalled those words had crossed his tongue, and he didn't need Percy shouting the book's next line to think it himself. The fine, slippery line of the butterfly effect of who was saved causing other events had nothing on the powers blessed by Apollo. The very defining trait of being a Hero was to stop and help without knowing the outcome. Sometimes that meant a god in disguise would give you immortality, and sometimes it meant you just assisted your worst enemy down the line.

..."The most dangerous flaws are those which are good in moderation." I wanted to argue, but I found I couldn't. Athena was pretty darn smart.

Alex was more than happy to though. "She helped you rescue Annabeth though. If she's so sure trying your hardest to rescue those you care about has no greater purpose, why show up at all?"

"Because she would have cut her losses if it hadn't worked I guess," Magnus said hoarsely, his hands shaking in disgust. These gods really got worse and worse the more he heard of them, he couldn't imagine a parent trying to paint this in a bad light. He wondered how Athena felt about Annabeth's 'fatal flaw.' Was she proud wisdom's daughter needed to occasionally be reminded she couldn't do everything better than everyone around her?

They were so, alien. He was still dumbfounded over Zeus being surprised that he should trust a hero. These gods were so disconnected from the world, how on earth did they function within it?

... if she made a plan to destroy you, it would not fail.

Percy's heart froze in his chest. The thrill of fear that lanced through him made any time before seem like a mild, silly fright.

Yet when he tentatively glanced over at Magnus, just daring himself to get it out of the way now so the color didn't shock him back to this feeling again later, he still saw the familiar grey color and smiled. Annabeth's cousin looked miffed at the threat and was signing something he couldn't hope to guess while Alex watched in avid detail and slowly mimicked him.

Annabeth was going to be so annoyed at him for being left out of every conversation that had gone on here, she loved to be involved and would have been happily leading each side's comment no matter how goofy to its best end. He couldn't wait to see her eyes spark on him again as she called him a seaweed brain for smiling like an idiot as Will uneasily cleared his throat and moved on.

... the crowds parted before her as if she were carrying Aegis.

"I'd flee at the sight of any Olympian at this point, no magic shield required," Magnus promised.

"And that's how you know it's been a good party," Will snickered.

"Oh, fine, I'll attend one if you promise me at least one blood-curdling scream," Nico finally relented with the silent addendum he wasn't the reason for that happening.

Will gave him a wink, a cheeky little one that Nico had no idea what to make of.

"Was she giving you a hard time?" Annabeth asked.

"I don't know how to answer that," Jason said as he rubbed at his forehead with so much vigor he seemed to be trying to slowly peel off the flesh.

"I do," Percy said confidently even as he rubbed his chest to make sure his heart really was still beating.

"No," I said. "It's, fine."

"The only answer I would expect from you Percy," Thalia sighed. He'd be bleeding to death someday and promise he was fine while they dumped a bucket of water on him.

...our painful souvenir from holding Atlas's burden.

His hand moved, to creep up and brush at it now. He'd always felt tied to her, assuming it was from their very first quest. He'd never wanted their shared suffering to highlight it.

... Athena had taken the confidence out of me. I felt like I'd been punched in the gut.

Percy was still rubbing his stomach and well remembered the sentiment. Maybe he should carry a glass of water around with him for an extra shot of courage next time? He was now half convinced Annabeth had laughed herself stupid when she'd kissed him.

... "What did you want to tell me earlier?"

"Please don't join the Hunters of Artemis because I'll somehow never be able to get through a quest without you," Alex chuckled.

"I missed you and dreamed about you so much I made a girl who loathes men befriend me," Magnus snorted.

"I love you," Jason said much more plainly with an exasperated look at the pair of them.

"Yeah, none of that, no," Percy was blushing a full neon red and stuttering even over that. He didn't think he'd be able to articulate her name if he even tried, and yet he didn't deny a word of any of that.

... to me it sounded like a slow dance: a little sad, but maybe a little hopeful, too.

"Awww!" Will cooed so much Percy felt the need to check if he was stuck like that. "I knew I should have bid on you two getting together by the end of that summer! I would have won so many years off chores!"

"There was a bet?" Percy demanded.

Will whistled innocently like he hadn't heard that as he got up to hand the book to Jason while Percy tracked him the whole time like a predator. When Will sat back down and still hadn't answered Percy sighed and let it go, still brushing at his hair and replaying that song over and over in his head until the lyrics got stuck for the rest of this. It helped to memorize the warmth of her body against him he'd been so missing the entire time here.