Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The Atlantean royals emerged from beneath the water's surface. Their tails smoothly changed to legs as they set foot on the shores of Olympus. The Crown Prince, Triton, stood between his parents; King Poseidon and Queen Amphitrite. The three princesses; Rhode, Benthesikyme, and Kymopoleia, chattered beside them. Prince Anteros slung his arm around the shoulders of his brother, Prince Perseus, and gazed up at the palace.

"Never gets any less glorious, does it, Perce?" he said.

"No," the younger prince replied, taking in the surrounding scenery of the beach.

"Let's get moving, everyone!" Poseidon announced. "It's a long walk to the palace."

"Nervous, little bro?"

"Hermes, I'm older than you," Apollo sighed as he touched up his eyeliner. "And yes, I'm terrified."

"I'm sure it will all be fine, brother," Artemis assured her twin.

"Father didn't tell me anything, Arty! He didn't tell me their name, or where they're from, or-" Apollo was cut off by a knock at the door.

"Is everyone decent?" a female voice asked.

"Yeah, come in Thals," Hermes answered.

The door swung open, and two people; Princess Thalia and Prince Jason, stepped inside. Hermes waved Jason over to him, and Artemis greeted her lieutenant warmly. The two may have been illegitimate children, but they were just as much a part of the family. It was partly because Zeus ruled it so and because his remaining three legitimate children had quickly grown attached to them.

"Her bovine majesty — I mean, Hera — was yelling at Father for some bullshit reason again, so we decided to come bother you guys," Thalia explained.

"Aren't we lucky," Apollo sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Yep," Jason smirked.

The next few minutes passed in silence as the royals finished getting ready and waited to be summoned to the ballroom. Just as Jason had finally helped Hermes settle on a tie, the door creaked open.

"You all may head down to the ballroom," said Chiron, their father's centaur advisor.

"Thank you, Chiron," Artemis nodded. She took her twin's hand and led the way to the ballroom.

Demos stepped into the guest house, where he and his family would stay until the wedding was over. Until his wedding was over.

His father, King Dionysus of Bacchia, hadn't told him anything about his betrothed, other than that they were one of King Zeus' children. Of all the options, it was most likely to be one of the three princes. Artemis and Thalia were both in Olympus' army, with Artemis leading it and Thalia being her right-hand woman. They had both sworn off romantic relationships to focus solely on their duty to protect the kingdom. However, Demos wouldn't have been surprised if Zeus had forced either of them to retract their oath.

Demos' mother, Queen Ariadne, came in a few minutes later, carrying two garment bags.

"Hurry and put these on, we leave for the palace in thirty minutes," she said, handing her son one of the bags before slipping off to change into her outfit.

After setting his makeup, Demos stepped out to meet his family at the carriage. His parents wore their usual coordinated royal purple attire, and his brothers; Dakota, Castor, and Pollux were sporting matching wine-red suits. Demos threw on his own wine-red cloak over his deep purple gown and followed his parents into the carriage.

The five royal children positioned themselves on either side of Zeus and Hera. Apollo was next to Zeus, with Hermes on his left and Jason on the end. Artemis and Thalia were on Hera's right.

Apollo and Hermes' various children came to join them a moment later. They were all illegitimate, having been born from affairs with various palace staff. However, they were allowed in the royal court, but as lords or ladies rather than princes or princesses. The two had three children each. Apollo had William, Kayla, and Austin, and Hermes had Travis, Connor, and Christopher.

Lady Hestia, Lady Demeter, and her children came along with them. Hestia and Demeter were Zeus and Hera's older sisters. They didn't wish to rule a kingdom, so they abdicated the throne. Hestia vowed to remain a virgin, but Demeter had three daughters; Ladies Katharine, Miranda, and Margaret.

Hestia and Demeter moved to stand with Artemis and Thalia, and Demeter's children stood in front of them. Apollo and Hermes' kids did the same with their respective fathers.

Soon enough, the palace doors opened and guests started pouring in; satyrs, nymphs, nature spirits, minor gods, and the like. They all settled around the edge of the room, leaving the middle empty.

The carriages containing the other royal families were just outside those doors, and Apollo's future partner was in one of those carriages. Apollo was bouncing on his feet in nervousness, and it took all three of his children to calm him. Once everyone was settled, the royal cupbearer Ganymede stood in the middle of the doors.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the court, I present to you the royal family of Bacchia!" he proclaimed. He moved to the side as they walked in, announcing their names as they came in. Prince Dakota came in first, then Prince Castor, then Prince Pollux. King Dionysus and Queen Ariadne came in last, and walking between them was the Crown Prince Demos. They all came forward and bowed to Zeus. He nodded his head in recognition before addressing the room at large.

"Everyone, I would like to formally introduce Crown Prince Demos of Bacchia as the husband-to-be of my son, Crown Prince Apollo."

Apollo. Demos was betrothed to Apollo.

He supposed there could've been worse options. Apollo was, conventionally, quite attractive, and he knew for a fact that many people would kill for a chance to be with him. However, he had a questionable track record with lovers. He could only hope that he didn't turn out like they did...

Demos snapped himself back to reality and took his future husband's hand. Apollo's children moved out of the way and Demos moved to stand between him and Zeus. They dropped their hands once Ganymede announced the arrival of the Athenian royal family. There were only three members of that family; Prince Malcolm, Crown Princess Annabeth, and Queen Athena herself, but they were incredibly revered and respected across all of the kingdoms.

The Vulcan royal family was next. It was a bit of a complicated family, seeing as there were three monarchs and six children between them. Queen Aphrodite had two kids with each of her partners; Crown Princess Gwendolyn and Prince Frank with King Ares, and Princesses Drew and Piper with King Hephaestus. Hephaestus and Ares also had two together; Princess Clarisse and Prince Leonidas.

After them was the royal family from the empire of Pluton. There were four kingdoms within the empire, and Emporer Hades and Empress Persephone had one child to rule each. There was Melinoe, Crown Princess of Pluton and Queen of Tartarus; Princess Bianca, future queen of Elysium; Prince Nico, future king of Purgatory; and Princess Hazel, future queen of Asphodel.

And finally, the Atlanteans showed up. Olympus and Atlantis had been at war for the past few decades, but they signed a peace treaty the previous year. King Poseidon and Queen Amphitrite led the way, followed by Crown Prince Triton, Princesses Rhode and Benthesikyme, Prince Anteros, Princess Kymopoleia, and finally their youngest…

Prince Perseus.

Apollo had heard his name before at banquets and balls, but he was only able to imagine what he looked like up until now. He felt himself drawn to the prince like bees to a freshly bloomed flower. He heard his father begin to address the room once more, but he was too transfixed on Perseus to care. A chuckle came from beside him, and a nudge soon followed.

"We're not getting married, are we?" Demos asked, following his gaze.

"No, we are not," the sun god whispered back.

Demos chuckled again. Zeus finished his address, followed by a round of applause, and everyone began to move to the dance floor.

"I am quite close with his brother, Prince Anteros. He's the god of reciprocated love and was one of Queen Aphrodite's helpers when I studied matchmaking under her. If you wish, we could help set you two up…"

"That won't be necessary at this time, Demos, but thank you for your offer."

"Very well," Demos sighed. "I'll be off to chat with Princess Piper, then. It's been ages since we've last talked."

And with that, Demos strode off, leaving Apollo alone with a battle in his mind.

Chapter Text

As Percy walked into the ballroom, he couldn't help but notice one of the Olympian princes staring at him… which one was it… Oh yes, Prince Apollo. His eyes hadn't left Percy for the whole time King Zeus addressed the court. At one point, he noticed the prince between Apollo and Zeus nudging the sun god and whispering something, while also staring in Percy's direction.

As soon as Zeus finished his address, Percy made a beeline for Princess Annabeth. They had been best friends for many years but hadn't been able to meet up for a long time because of the war. Annabeth had the same idea, and so they met in a hug in the middle of the floor.

"It's been too long, Percy," she whispered. "I missed you."

"Missed you too, wise girl," he replied. "Have you been able to keep in touch with Grover?"

Grover was one of the many satyr gardeners the Olympian royal family had. Before the war, Annabeth and Percy had been visiting Thalia for her birthday. They had been walking through the gardens when they — quite literally — stumbled across Grover. He had been planting some irises and Percy tripped over his bucket of gardening tools. After Annabeth had helped him up and Grover apologized profusely, they spent the rest of the night talking, and constantly exchanged letters once the royals had gone back home. At each ball, the trio's first move had always been to find each other. Thalia came along when she could but was often caught up in army duties.

"Not as much, what with the war and all," Annabeth sighed.

"Have you seen him yet?" Percy asked.

"No, I wasn't able to get a good look at the crowd… Tell you what. I search the gardens, you search in here, and we rendezvous at our spot in an hour?" the princess suggested. Percy agreed and she began making her way towards the exit. The prince turned to the food tables. Maybe his friend would be pigging out on enchiladas.

As Demos moved throughout the room, catching up with old friends and thanking various well-wishers, he kept an eye on Prince Perseus. Just because Apollo told him not to interfere didn't mean he couldn't watch them from afar.

The sea prince was embracing Athena's girl, Princess Annabeth. Apollo would not be happy if he saw that. After the pair chatted for a few moments, Annabeth turned away and began heading in Demos' direction. She nodded at him as she passed. Perseus, meanwhile, had headed to pick up a refreshment before making his way through the crowd. He appeared to be looking for someone.

You know what, Demos thought. Screw not interfering. Even though Apollo was likely not who Perseus was looking for, Demos was not about to pass up the opportunity to get them to meet. As the younger prince was passing by, he tapped him on the shoulder.

The prince startled. "Oh! Um, Prince Demos, right?"

"That's me," Demos chuckled. "Who are you looking for, Prince Perseus?"

"Grover, my satyr friend. He's one of the gardeners here."

Demos nodded slowly. "I think I met him at a past ball once. He's a very nice guy. I don't think I've seen him here, though."

"Oh, ok. Well, it was nice meeting you, but I'll be on my way…" Perseus began.

"Wait!" Demos exclaimed, catching the prince's arm. "I… I know he's not who you're looking for, but I have a friend who I think you'd get along with quite well."

"Okay…"

"You know what, stay right here. I'll go fetch him."

And before the son of Poseidon could even respond, Demos scurried away, desperately scanning his surroundings for Apollo.

Gods, Demos thought. I totally fucked that up.

Apollo was in the middle of a chat with Demeter's youngest daughter Margaret, or Meg as she liked to be called, when Demos came rushing over to him.

"Hey, can you come with me? It's urgent," he gasped out.

"Oh shit, yeah of course," Apollo replied, shooting an apologetic look at Meg. "Lead the way."

Demos grabbed Apollo's hand and tugged him away. As they were weaving through the crowd, Demos started talking.

"So, confession time. This is in no way an urgent situation," Demos began. "I just wanted you to meet someone."

"Who?" Apollo sighed.

"You'll see."

As the two princes approached their destination, Apollo realized who Demos might've been talking about.

Oh no. He could only pray it wasn't who he thought it was.

"Oh good, you didn't run away!" Demos exclaimed.

"Well now I feel as though I should've," a young man chuckled.

"Perseus, this is Prince Apollo," Demos gestured to the sun god.

"Pleasure to meet you. And I prefer Percy."

It was exactly who he thought it was.

"Same to you, Percy. How have you been enjoying the festivities?"

The trio spent the next few minutes engaging in small talk before a girl in a gray dress came dashing over.

"I found him," she announced. "He was making out with some dryad in the hyacinth garden— oh! Hello Prince Apollo… and Prince Demos! I apologize, I didn't see you two at first."

"No worries," Apollo laughed it off. "Your friend sounds like a lucky man."

"Satyr," Percy automatically corrected him. "And he does."

"May I ask what kind of dryad?" Demos asked.

"A juniper berry bush, I believe," the girl informed him. "My apologies, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Princess Annabeth."

"Oh, Athena's girl," Apollo realized. "I've heard your name, but I believe this is the first time I've seen you."

Privately, he couldn't help but wonder if Percy was courting, or intended to court, the princess. Demos, bless his soul, seemed to have read his mind and asked for him.

"So, are you courting this lovely lady here?"

Before Percy could respond, someone else did.

"Well last I checked, he was only into guys, so I believe that is off the table."

"'Teros!" Demos shrieked, tackling the new arrival into a hug.

"Hi Demos," he chuckled. "How's the engagement?"

"Horrible," said Demos.

"I want to throw myself into Chaos," added Apollo.

"Lovely. Demos, care for a dance? We have so much to catch up on," Anteros suggested.

"Of course."

The two strode to the dance floor, leaving Annabeth, Percy, and Apollo together. Annabeth, having figured out what the two other princes were doing, excused herself to chat with Lord Connor. After a moment of awkward silence, Apollo turned to Percy.

"Would you like to dance?"

"Um… sure," the Atlantean tentatively agreed. They joined hands and waltzed into the crowd. They moved back and forth, side to side, in time to the music. More than once, Apollo caught an all-too-familiar smirk from the corner of his eye.

"So we're getting them together right?"

"Oh, absolutely."

Chapter Text

"You invited him to do what?!" Apollo shouted.

"To meet your muses, yes," Demos sighed.

"I told you not to interfere!"

"Respectfully, 'Pollo, I agree with Demos on this one," Hermes said as he collapsed onto a couch. "You would never get anywhere if he stayed out of it."

"I'm not that bad," Apollo pouted.

"Mhm, I'm sure Hyacinthus, the one who approached you first, would agree with that," Thalia added.

"Woah woah woah," Jason exclaimed as he and Artemis entered the conversation. "What did we miss?"

Demos took great delight in filling them in on every single detail of the night, much to Apollo's embarrassment. After Percy and Apollo had danced, Apollo ran off to tell Hermes about it, and Anteros pulled Percy away for their own debrief session. All the while, Demos had flitted between both pairs, gathering all the information he could. He didn't mention all the other things he had seen, like Apollo's oldest son William running off with Prince Nico. That was to be kept between him and his gossip of a best friend. The invitation had been made as the ball ended and everyone dispersed. Demos had caught Percy just as his family's carriage was about to leave, and nearly had to jump into the car just to ask him.

"Holy shit," was all Artemis was able to say.

"So, are you going to follow through?" asked Jason.

"Well I suppose I have to…" said Apollo. "Although I'll have to cover it up as a "bonding activity" with Demos. However, Father will require us to have an escort from both families, so it might cause some issues."

"I can come along," Artemis volunteered.

"And I can get one of my brothers in on it," Demos said. "Anteros is waiting for me on the beach. I'll get him to pass along the details to Percy."

Demos sprinted down the hilly path to the beach, where the Atlantean royals were unwinding before heading back to their housing, repeating the information over and over in his head so he didn't forget. The Golden Gardens at noon. Artemis and Apollo would meet up with Demos and Castor, and Anteros would bring Percy to them.

When the prince arrived at the beach, Percy, Benthesikyme, and Kymopoleia were floating on the water, faces up to the night sky. Poseidon, Amphitrite, Triton, and Rhode were watching them, sitting on the sand holding drinks. Anteros was staring directly in Demos' direction, and he smiled widely at the sight of his best friend.

"Hey, songbird," he chuckled. "Desperate to see me, I see."

"Shut up," Demos wheezed, bent over trying to catch his breath. "I invited Percy to meet the Muses on Apollo's behalf, but we have to cover it up as a bonding activity for him and I. I need you to bring Percy to the Golden Gardens by noon. If you want to stay and watch the romance unfold, you can. Artemis and Castor will be there as well, since engaged royal couples apparently need escorts when together."

"Oh, I'll absolutely be staying. Never in my eternal life have I missed out on watching my siblings on dates," Anteros clapped his hands together in excitement, doing his adorable little happy bounces. "Now go get some sleep, it's late and we have much matchmaking to accomplish tomorrow."

"Demos Aristo, where have you been?" Ariadne exclaimed. "It's almost midnight!"

"Sorry, mom," Demos said sheepishly. "I was hanging out with Apollo and his siblings and lost track of time."

Castor and Pollux oohed, walking in to greet their brother. Demos gently slapped Pollux upside the head before turning to the other twin.

"Cas, before I forget, are you willing to go out with me tomorrow? Apollo wants to introduce me to the Muses, but King Zeus requires both of us to have an escort from our families."

"Why?" Pollux asked.

"I don't know, probably to make sure we wait until marriage or something? Anyways, will that be a yes or no, Castor?"

"Why not?" Castor agreed. "I'd love an excuse to explore some more of Olympus."

"Thanks Cas, love ya," Demos hugged his brother quickly before running off to bed.

Apollo and Hermes arrived at the Golden Garden at the same time as Demos and Castor. The Muses could be heard practicing scales in between the trees. Hermes waved at the other princes, who quickly trotted over.

"Hello you two," Demos greeted them. "What happened to Artemis?"

"Last minute army duties," Apollo explained.

"A likely story," someone laughed from behind the group. They all turned around to face Anteros, with Percy half a step behind. Demos crossed the space between them to hug his friend and shake Percy's hand. Castor greeted the two Atlanteans warmly before asking what they were doing there.

"We came to pitch a song idea to the lovely Muses," Anteros told him. "We didn't realize we would have an audience this early on."

They never had a song idea for the Muses. Anteros had told Percy that morning that he wanted to go sightseeing together, and had mentioned nothing about the Muses. Percy looked between his brother and Prince Demos, before his eyes landed on Apollo, who was standing with Prince Hermes behind the others.

Oh. So there was no sightseeing to be done, Anteros just wanted another excuse to shove him and Apollo together. Judging by the way he was interacting with Demos, Percy wouldn't be surprised if the two had planned this. It would explain why Percy had seen Demos dashing up the hill the previous night. But Demos and Apollo were to be married, and they seemed to be getting on very well at the ball, so there shouldn't be any reason for Demos to try setting up his fiance with someone else… right?

"Well, shall we join the ladies?" Hermes' voice snapped Percy back to reality.

"We shall," Demos smirked, offering his hand to Hermes. Anteros' smile turned very briefly to a scowl, but Percy pretended not to notice. Anteros strutted over to greet Apollo, so Percy began to make small talk with Prince Castor. They walked in those pairs all the way into the clearing among the golden trees, where the Muses were gathered.

Three of them were sitting on a rock, one playing the flute while two others sang. Another Muse danced in front of them, swaying to the flute's melody. Another trio was underneath a tree, carefully analyzing some scrolls. The last two sat in the branches above, one absentmindedly sketching as the other kept cracking jokes. They all looked up as they heard the group's footsteps, and grinned as they saw their leader. Apollo stepped forward and turned his back to the Muses.

"Everyone, these are my lovely Muses! The lovely ladies singing over there are Polyhymnia and Melpomene. The flute accompanist is Euterpe, and their dancer is Terpsichore."

The four Muses mentioned waved politely as Apollo began addressing the rest. "The ladies under the tree are Calliope, Erato, and Clio, and the branch-dwellers are Urania and Thalia — not to be confused with my sister."

"It's lovely to meet you, my ladies," Demos said, bowing his head. "I am Prince Demos of Bacchia, Prince Apollo's husband-to-be. The others with us are my brother, Prince Castor, and Princes Anteros and Perseus of Atlantis. And I'm sure you already know Prince Hermes."

"It is an honour to meet you all," Calliope said as she rose. "Come sit. Clio has prepared a picnic, as the mortals call it, for all of us."

Anteros gleefully rubbed his hands together, and Percy chuckled at his brother's antics. They took a seat on either side of Demos and Apollo, forming a circle with everyone else. As all the food disappeared and the conversation flowed, everyone slowly began to slip away. First it was Prince Castor, who wanted to explore the surrounding forest and trusted Demos to be without an escort for an hour. Demos was next, with the excuse of wanting to find some flowers for his mother. Anteros volunteered to help and ran after him. Hermes stalked off not long after, muttering something about a meeting with some traders. It was just Percy and Apollo, alone with the Muses. As Percy was about to look for his brother, Euterpe broke the silence.

"Tell me, Perseus, what is the music scene like in Atlantis? I'm running out of ideas for compositions and I would love some fresh material."

Percy cleared his throat. "Well, most of the music I've heard is traditional royal ball music, which isn't much too different from yours, but there was this one time Kym snuck all of us siblings out to a festival…"

A safe 50 yards away, Demos and Anteros were crouched in the golden bushes, holding binoculars to their faces and carefully watching the scene.

"Come on," Anteros muttered. "Just kiss already!"

"'Teros, it's a little early for that," Demos smiled. "They've known each other for not even twenty-four hours."

"I know," Anteros groaned. "But look how he's looking at Percy! I can tell he's already imagining three little black-haired, golden-eyed kids running around their own palace."

He wasn't wrong. Apollo was looking at him in a way that happily reminded both princes of their own parents, and painfully reminded them of how alone they were.

"I remember when Mother and Father were like that," Hermes lamented, startling the duo. He whipped out his own binoculars and settled himself next to Anteros. "Such simple times."

The next half an hour passed in complete silence, with everyone staring at Percy's animated conversations with the Muses and Apollo's longing gazes. Finally, as Percy turned to chat with Erato, Apollo leaned over to whisper something to Urania. She nodded, before standing and calling for the other's attention. They said their goodbyes and scurried off. Apollo helped Percy to his feet, grasping his hand a little too long. As the sea prince turned to leave, the other suddenly pulled him back. Demos gasped, and the other two muffled their giggles.

Apollo was biting his lip and scratching his neck as he talked, which didn't seem normal for him. But whatever he was saying, Percy agreed with, because they both broke out into awkward but genuinely happy smiles. The group allowed themselves to celebrate, high-fiving and hugging and cheering. They must have attracted some attention, because Castor came running up.

"Hey, is everything good over here…" his voice trailed off, first eyeing the princes in the bushes, then the binoculars, then the hopefully soon-to-be couple a little ways away.

"Oh gods…"

Chapter Text

That same night, all the royals were once again gathered together for a banquet. All the monarchs and crown heirs were seated together, while the rest were on the opposite end of the room. The palace workers were all milling around the room, making conversation with each other or fulfilling the needs of the royals.

Grover wasn't needed at all that night, so he pulled up a chair next to Percy, squeezing between him and Princess Rhode. As the satyr looked around, the first thing he thought was "Wow, these people need to stop having kids." There were at least two children per royal, minus Lady Hestia, and the staff had to put two banquet tables together so everyone had adequate space.

Everyone at their table had long since gone silent, trying to listen in on the others over the Muses' background music. Most of the conversation seemed to be about Prince Apollo and Prince Demos' wedding, which neither of them looked pleased about. Based on how both Prince Hermes and Prince Anteros were frowning at the other table, neither were they. Even Percy looked slightly put out, which made Grover curious, as his best friend had no connection to either half of the couple. He had just met both of them the previous night.

They all listened in a few minutes more, but once Lady Demeter began talking about floral arrangements, everyone groaned and the conversation picked up once more. She was famous for droning on about cornflowers and chrysanthemums for long periods of time with no way of stopping her. Even her daughters got bored of it at times, and they were all famously plant enthusiasts. The whole group knew very well that nothing interesting would happen after that, and they would likely be dismissed soon. Princess Artemis summoned some nymphs to clear their table, and Princess Drew cleared her throat.

"Has anyone got any interesting stories so far?" she asked the table at large. "All my sibling's stories were so dry."

The group remained silent for a minute, before Percy spoke up, his voice barely above a whisper.

"I… I got a date earlier today."

All the girls, minus Princess Artemis, erupted in squeals, and the guys all cheered and patted Percy on the back.

"Congrats, man!" exclaimed Prince Frank.

"Who's it with?" asked Lady Kayla. Everyone quieted down and turned to the prince, awaiting an answer.

"I… I don't want to say it right now," he stammered. "I don't want to… cause a scandal or anything."

"Well that just makes us want to know more!" Princess Bianca shouted. "Just a hint? Please?"

Percy gulped, and glanced over at the other table. Even if no one else noticed, Grover did, and he grabbed Percy's arm, pulling him up.

"If he doesn't want to say it in front of thirty people, then he won't," the satyr stated firmly. "Come on, let's take a walk."

As Grover was leading them towards a staff exit, he heard Prince Castor begin to ask, "Wait… does that mean…" only to be shushed by at least three other royals. The trio walked into the lamp-lit gardens, and steered down the path until they got to a log bench, surrounded by roses and hyacinths. Annabeth ran out a minute later, sat down with them, and stared at Percy, arms crossed like a disappointed mother.

"What happened?" was all she asked.

"What do you mean?" Percy asked, trying and failing to seem oblivious.

"When Princess Bianca asked about who your date was, you glanced at the other table, the one with all the monarchs and heirs," Grover said calmly, running his thumb over his best friend's hand. "That leaves very limited options, Perce."

"And I know damn well it's not me," Annabeth added. "So who?"

The sea prince sighed, "Apollo."

Annabeth blinked at him, eyes fully widened.

"So… you… and him?" she asked. "Percy, you know he… killed his last boyfriend, right?

"Also, he's engaged!" Grover reminded them.

"Well, neither he nor Demos seem to have an issue with that, as Demos was the one to set us up both last night and this afternoon," Percy defended himself. "Annabeth, you were there for that dance, weren't you?"

"I was, but I didn't think anything was going to actually happen!"

"And he didn't kill his boyfriend!" Percy continued. "Everyone agreed it was an accident!"

"Well, all that aside, how do you feel about all this, Percy?" Grover asked. "You accepted him for a reason."

"Well, he's really funny and pretty and I'm excited…" Percy admitted. "But then again, he is engaged to someone else, and I don't want to cause a scandal or another war…"

"And you don't want to end up like Hyacinthus?" Grover prompted him.

"…Yes."

"It'll turn out fine, I'm sure of it," Annabeth assured the prince, and pulled her friends in a group hug. "Now, Grover… how's your girlfriend?"

The monarchs were distracted with Lady Demeter's flower rant, so all the heirs got an eyeful of the commotion at the other table. Triton watched as his brother was dragged away by that satyr gardener, and watched Princess Annabeth sprint out after them. Every other royal at that table was up on their feet, some shouting and pointing fingers while others tried to restore order. Triton caught Princess Gwendolyn's eye, and nodded at her. They quietly removed themselves and strode towards the others.

"What is going on over here?!" Triton's voice boomed over the chaos, and everyone fell silent. They looked between him and Princess Gwendolyn. As they started to babble over each other, she held up one hand.

"One at a time please, everyone!" She pointed to Rhode. "Princess Rhode, it seems that your brother was the one to spark all this chaos, and you were right next to him. What happened?"

Rhode cleared her throat. "Well, your sister — Princess Drew — asked if anyone had any stories from last night's ball. My brother announced that he had gotten a date with someone earlier. I'm very happy for him of course, but when Lady Kayla asked about whom it was with, he said he didn't want to cause a scandal. That made everyone more curious of course, but when Princess Bianca asked for a hint, Percy froze up and didn't reply. That's when Grover, his satyr friend, pulled him outside."

His brother? A date? A scandal-causing date? Not only did that not sit well with Triton, it didn't seem like his brother at all.

"I do think Prince Castor knows," Prince Frank added. "As well as Princess Artemis, Prince Hermes, and Prince Anteros. Prince Castor seemed to have figured it out as the two were leaving, and the others quickly shushed him."

Triton pushed his curiosities and morbid thoughts aside, about to ask those four for additional information, when Lady Hestia came over. She announced that King Zeus had ended the banquet, if they wished to continue the conversation outside. Triton nodded, and sent Rhode to go fetch their brother. He beckoned his other siblings over, and met their parents at the doors. Rhode and Percy met them at the carriage, and the Atlanteans rode to their housing in near complete silence.

Amphitrite herded the others off to bed, but Triton stayed with Poseidon in the sitting area. The king sat on a sun-embroidered armchair and gestured for his son to sit in the one across from him.

"Something has clearly happened, son. Hardly one spoke for the entire carriage ride, and you kids are normally very talkative," said Poseidon. "I noticed you and Princess Gwendolyn were trying to mitigate a… situation at the other table earlier, is that what this is about?"

"Yes," Triton sighed. "And I… I really hope that Percy doesn't kill me for telling you this, but the situation was to do with him and I feel you ought to know."

"Whatever it is, you can tell me, son," Poseidon assured him. "This is Percy we're talking about, I doubt the situation is that bad."

"He… got a date with someone, earlier this afternoon," Triton admitted. "Normally, I'd be very happy for him, but he didn't tell anyone who and ran off with his satyr friend. Rhode recounted the details for me, and she said that he didn't tell because he didn't want to cause a scandal. This doesn't sound like Percy, father."

"Thank you for telling me, Triton." Poseidon rose. "I'm going to head to bed, and assess the situation in the morning." He turned to join Amphitrite in their bedroom, but Triton stopped him.

"Wait! One last thing. If you feel the need to investigate this situation deeper, I believe Anteros knows something."

Poseidon only nodded, before striding to his room and quietly shutting the door, leaving Triton to have a minor existential crisis in the dim light of the guest house's sitting room.

Hermes walked into Apollo's bedroom to find his brother lying face-down on his bed, surrounded by a wall of pillows and plush animals.

"Hey, 'Pollo…" Hermes tentatively began. "How's it going…?"

Apollo groaned in response, covering his head with one of the pillows.

"Wedding planning's going swimmingly then?"

Apollo flipped himself over and sat up, glaring directly at Hermes.

"Geez, sorry I asked…" Hermes trailed off as he saw tears falling down his older brother's face. "Oh… come here, sun ray, it's okay."

Hermes sat behind Apollo and pulled him onto his chest, running his fingers through never-ending locks of blonde hair. He sat in silence while waiting for his brother to calm down.

"Father…" Apollo began, sniffling. "Father pulled Demos and I aside, after the banquet, for a chat. He told us that he was moving the wedding to next week."

"What?!" Hermes exclaimed. "Why? Just this morning he was set on the date being at the end of the month!"

"Apparently, he neglected to realize that Theogamia fell on the date he had originally planned," the sun god explained. "Mother wasn't made aware of this until last night, and she demanded he change it.

"I asked him why not choose another date, but he said this is the third time he's forgotten about Theogamia in a row and wants to do something to make it up to her, which he apparently needs two weeks for. It's bullshit honestly, I've seen him pull something together in two hours and Mother has found it acceptable."

"You know, you'd think that asking the goddess of marriage for her approval on her own son's wedding date would be common sense, but nOoOo," Hermes rolled his eyes. "Now, perk up, and tell me what you have planned for your date with Percy!"

"I'm not telling you that, it's a secret," Apollo grinned. "But I can tell you that I'm very excited, and even if this wedding goes through…" he trailed off, and his eyes widened to the point where they were almost popping out of his skull, all while staring at the door. Hermes nervously turned around, hoping it wasn't who he thought it was.

Well…

"Hello, mother."