Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The land of Olympios had not always been a peaceful one. Years ago, the land had been plunged into a constant state of grief and fear by its ruler, the King of All, Kronos. He wielded his magic over time with such power, fury, and precision, that no normal being could hope to match him. And so he lorded his power over the earth itself uncontested for years, with the people he commanded left to hope that one day the evil tyrant would simply keel over and die. Their hopes and dreams were constantly ground to dust.

In the end, it was the Mad King’s own children who put an end to his insanity. His sons, the Princes Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus, all wielding their own powerful magics over the elements, led a war against their father and his most powerful men. Supporting them throughout it all was their sister, and the eldest of them all, Princess Hestia. It took a great many months of warfare, but through many struggles and hardships, the children finally prevailed.

Learning from their father’s rule, the brothers decided that no one man could rule all of the land. So it was decided that every prince would become king, and govern their own plots of land. Zeus took the largest section, and named his kingdom Olympios, after the landmass itself (and also his capitol). Poseidon got the more flourishing coast and land to the right, and named it Atlantis (he also named his capitol that. Brothers.). Hades couldn’t really come up with a name. Unfortunately, he wound up ruling the land most ravaged by Kronos rule, which the commoners soon started likening to the Underworld itself. Not at all concerned, their King just shrugged his shoulders and accepted it. Time moved forward once again, and soon enough, the kings found their queens. And under their ruling, Olympios began to flourish. The village folk and townspeople no longer needed to worry about crippling taxes, or destructive revelry that would be felt nationwide.

Of course, their new rulers couldn’t be called perfect. Zeus especially, had a few… problems, that being made king hadn’t quite ironed out. Perhaps the most concerning issue was his terrible paranoia, afraid of one day being struck down the same way his father had been. Thankfully, he managed to surround himself with a council that mostly kept him in check. The hierarchy of the land became such. The four children of Kronos, as well as their wives and children, were of course Royalty. Anyone who wasn’t a part of the original four descendants of Kronos, but used powerful magics that helped the brothers in their rule was labeled a Grand Noble. Together with the Royals, they made up the Council of Olympios. The ones who held dominion over towns and villages, and had a sufficient amount of magic were simply labeled Nobles.

In this new structure, the people found hope again, even though everything wasn’t completely fixed. Monsters still roamed the highways, forests, and stretches of unmarked land. The damage Kronos’ reign caused to the environment was still apparent in many areas, especially King Hades’ domain. But the people of Olympios were hopeful, no matter what problems they faced. Although, for two, the problem they faced was quite different from the average person. Which made sense, seeing how far they were from average people. Fortunately, the answer to what had plagued the two of them for years was fast approaching. Unfortunately, only one of them had realized that. Hopefully, they’ll make it through alright.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

All around the family, grand horns blasted to announce the approaching group’s arrival, and Percy barely resisted rolling his eyes. Every time. Still, he stood to attention as the caravan approached, carrying the castle’s guests for the next few days on it. Lady Athena, King Zeus’ trusted advisor, showed up every six months to review how well King Poseidon was ruling over his part of Olympios. To the people who really only knew the royals as their rulers, this was taken as a sign of goodwill, an offering to lend aid from one brother to another. But to anyone who even remotely understood how Zeus functioned, it was a very obvious attempt to have one of his people ensure his brother wasn’t planning to rise against him. To Percy, most of the event as was one big annoyance.

It’s not all bad though, he thought as he watched Her get off the vehicle. He only had a few moments to take in her appearance before resuming his blank look. Her hair was all curled up, which was a shame. She still looked beautiful, but he had always preferred how she looked with her hair free, or in a simple pony tail. And she was wearing a rather pretty gray dress. To go with her eyes, probably. He had to resist smiling as the girl and her mother, surrounded by Olympios guards, walked up to them.

Greeting the procession was three-fifths of the royal family. King Poseidon, of course, proud and strong, and with a crown studded with brilliant blue gems and trident in hand. His wife, Queen Amphitrite, whose own crown held shimmering pearls instead, and wore a long flowing dress, was by his side. Amongst the princes however, only Percy was present. Triton was busy figuring out how to run his new half of the kingdom. He’s probably doing fine. Maybe. And with Tyson, it was simply better he wasn’t around. Not because they were embarrassed of him or anything. Percy especially loved his kid brother. But Tyson didn’t possess any of the grace his older brothers held themselves with, and tended to be innocently insensitive. It was simply easier for everyone to let the boy stay in the Forges of Hephaestus, where he felt much more comfortable. Being his father’s favorite, Percy had basically become the face of the princes, so his presence alone was enough to represent all of them.

Percy kept his face and eyes facing forward as the group finally reached them. As master of the castle (and kingdom), his father spoke first. “Lady Athena. Here again, I see. You look… well.”

Athena also kept her face impassive as she responded with a curt nod and an unhesitant, “Barnacle Beard. I’m surprised I can’t find any grays in your hair just yet.”

Poseidon’s retaliation was just as swift. “Careful there, Athena. Squint any more looking for them and you'll permanently resemble those empty-headed birds you so adore.” As always, a huge amount of tension built up in any place where they met. Percy couldn’t stop himself from rolling his eyes this time. He was pretty sure his step-mother made a similar motion besides him. It never changes. The two were glaring with such force it was as if they were trying to set the other on fire with just their mind. Their hatred was so great, people said that if you witnessed one of their standoffs, and looked between them very closely, you could catch lightning sparking from their eyes.

This constant resentment stemmed from before even the early days of the kingdoms. In the war against their father, Poseidon had been the chief strategist, directing his brothers and their resources in the best way to combat their mutual enemy. While Hades didn’t really mind, Zeus disliked being ordered around by his brother, and found a replacement for him in Athena. She quickly proved her competence, and very easily took over Poseidon’s position.

Obviously not happy with the situation, Poseidon moved his own forces to focus on his father himself. While it took the effort of all three brothers to finally do Kronos in, it was only due to Poseidon and Athena’s strategic brilliance that took down the wretched king so quickly, minimizing the casualties. Of course, neither viewed it that way, instead believing the other stole the credit they deserved. Now here they are, years later, and absolutely unable to stand each other. So not a word was spoken as the collective group moved through the halls for food.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dinner was a more quiet affair than normal, as it tended to be every time Athena visited. Her and Poseidon were the only two that spoke the entire time. As the meal progressed, she continuously questioned him on the state of the kingdom, with some very poorly hidden jabs mixed within. Poseidon tended to answer in kind.

Percy couldn’t stand it. The quiet, careful way he had to hold himself as he ate. He enjoyed being able to talk freely and cheerfully. This dinner prevented him both. He was very careful to keep his eyes only on his plate, and occasionally Athena herself. No one else.

He had eaten much less than he normally would when he finally stood up to have himself excused. Normally his father would probably be worried at how little he was willing to eat, but he understood why Percy was so anxious to leave the room (at least partially). Athena carried a stuffy atmosphere wherever she went, and both him and his dad detested it. Poseidon had no choice but to sit and answer her questions, or else be accused of hiding information from his younger brother. But Percy had no such obligations, and his dad figured if he could escape her, he wouldn’t stop him.

So Percy confidently strode out the room, leaving behind the uncomfortable feast. He had a very specific destination in mind. Torch lights dimmed as he walked past, always suppressed just a bit by the aura of his magic. Nonetheless, his shadow danced across the ancient stone as he moved as quickly as possible to his destination. He swerved around corners, deftly avoiding where he knew that guards would show up. And only a few minutes later, he reached the ladder at the end of a hall. Climbing it, he quietly let himself into the tallest tower in his father’s castle. Closing the hatch behind him, he turned around to walk into the room. Despite the tower being the single most visible structure in King Poseidon’s castle, the room it contained wasn’t actually anything special. At most, it was a storage area for decorations and items that would likely not see use again. Still, Percy loved this room, because coming to it always meant one thing in particular.

Now, he sat to wait, and pictured the scene he already knew would be taking place back in the dining hall. She would take longer to finish up, of course. Always neater than me. But eventually, she would push her plate away, and stand up, preparing herself. She would say the trip had exhausted her, and ask to retire for the night. Her mother would agree, but would make one of the guards to escort her, even though she knew the castle like the back of her hand. Not that it mattered. The second the doors to the hall shut behind them, the guard would eventually lose sight of her. He only had to glance away once, and her straw hat would be slapped on, rendering her invisible to non-magical eyes. She just had to stay quiet, and she was free to roam around where she wished.

So Percy waited quietly at the furthest point from the entrance, rocking himself back and forth. A few minutes later, he heard the sound of the trapdoor creaking open and shut, and footsteps walking down the hall in his direction. Around the curve, a body appeared. All Percy had to see was a flash of blond before he sprung into action. He didn’t hesitate to pull her into him, burying his head in the crook of her neck. “Annabeth,” he breathed.

“Percy,” was her equally breathless answer. The two stood there for a moment, arms around the other, and slowly rocking, taking in each other’s presence. It would be an incredible and scandalous sight to any who managed to see it. Perhaps even a bit cute. From a young age, it had been very obvious how similar the two of them were to their more… significant parents. So, it had been well speculated that the intense rivalry and hatred between Poseidon and Athena would inevitably carry over. And at one point, that had seemed to be the truth.

During her first visit, it would have been very difficult to miss how much Athena’s daughter mistrusted Poseidon’s younger son, and vice-versa. Neither stopped shooting a glare at the other every time their eyes met. Many predicted that before long a fight would break out, resulting in Athena convincing Zeus that his brother was up to something through his child. But no such incident occurred. And before the end of the trip, something changed between the two. They no longer stared at each other with angered looks. They held blank expressions instead, barely acknowledging one another. Athena and Poseidon were both perplexed, but let it go, seeing that they weren’t causing trouble. Perhaps if either parent had taken the time to say something, the children would never have become what they were now.

The duo reveled in the peace of the moment, finally free to hold the other without a care. Finally, Annabeth sighed, and without moving her head from its place on his shoulder, asked, “How have you been, Seaweed Brain?” Percy could hear her smile.

Of course, he had to smile in response. Wise Girl. “Really good, honestly. The people are all doing well. Dad’s been able to reason it out with a couple of pirates who were causing trouble at the outskirts. Tyson’s actually started to make some pretty well-honed weaponry. Mom still makes the greatest cookies you’ve ever tasted. And Triton's been out of my hair since Dad gave him the more underwater half of the kingdom to rule, which, by the way, he named Atlantica. I haven’t stopped laughing at that.”

“That’s good, that’s good.” Annabeth murmured. Before Percy could ask about her own life though, she just sighed. “It’s been the same as ever for me.”

Percy grimaced in sympathy. “Your mom still won’t let you use any designs you’ve been working on for the castle?”

“Nope,” Annabeth shook her head slightly with a rueful grin. “Like I said, the same as ever. She’s still convinced I can, how’d she put it? ‘Do better.’”

Percy thought for a moment before speaking to reassure her. “I think she’s both right and wrong. No matter how much we try, we can always do things better. We’re human, after all. But the fact that she won’t accept work that’s not ‘unquestionably perfect’ is ridiculous.”

Annabeth gave a grunt of agreement, shifting her head slightly. She didn’t want to spend her oh-so-temporary time with Percy just talking about how not great her mother was. So, legitimately curious, she asked him, “Are you really that happy with Triton being gone? I know you two had some issues growing up, but you’d managed to work it out, right?”

Percy barely managed to hold in his sigh. Saw right through me, just like always. He had to consider before answering her. She wasn’t wrong. Him and Triton had had… problems, in the beginning. Percy hadn’t understood it at first. He just thought his elder brother genuinely didn’t like him, maybe because he was a bastard, and the son of a commoner. And that might have been part of it, but more than anything, it was Triton’s feelings of inferiority that created the rift between them.

It was no secret Percy was his father’s favored child. It also became obvious at an early age how much more adept Percy was at wielding the magic they both inherited from Poseidon. From the moment Percy was born, Triton had held himself to a standard he had thought fitting of an older brother. So to see his younger brother so easily outclass him in everything had felt like a sign he’d failed completely.

It all changed for them one day, out in the middle of the ocean. The family had gone out to sea in order to train the children’s abilities. The trip had been going well, until a storm emerged that nearly capsized their ship, because for the first time, an emotionally-unstable Percy had lost control of his powers. And it wasn’t his father who pulled him back to a stable mindset. It wasn’t his mother, or his step-mother. And it wasn’t Tyson. It was Triton. That moment changed the way Triton viewed him, although Percy had no idea why. Maybe he just finally realized his younger brother wasn’t as perfect as he always seemed. Whatever the case, it allowed the brothers the chance to open up to one another. While they still weren’t perfect, Percy was able to get along with the eldest of their trio much easier.

Shaking himself from his thoughts, Percy finally answered Annabeth, “Maybe a little, I guess. But it’s not like I can’t visit him. And besides that, more than anything… I’m happy for him. He’s finally found a place for himself, and one in which I couldn’t compare to him. I’m not suited for ruling the way he is. He’s even found a princess for himself.”

“Is that right?”

And when she felt Percy nod above her, Annabeth steeled herself to ask the question she was afraid would one day break her, no matter how often the answer didn’t change. “And what about you?”

“Hm?” Percy questioned as he looked down at the girl. Her eyes weren’t closed anymore, but she didn’t seem to be looking at anything.

Annabeth took a shaky breath, and asked, “Do you, uh… have any women in your life, now?”

Oh, this. Again. Percy steadily moved her chin so that she could face him, and looked into her wondrous gray eyes. “Annabeth. Why in the world would I ever need another woman, when you’re in my arms?”

“I can’t always be,” was her whispered response. And that was true. She wasn’t in his arms for nearly as long as he would like, even during the times of her visit.

But still… “You say that as if spending a long time with a random lady could ever compare to these short moments I get with you.” And as he finished his declaration, Percy slowly moved forward.

And so did Annabeth, although she still had her wits about her, enough to point out, just inches from his lips, “We shouldn’t.”

“We probably shouldn’t.” Percy agreed.

“We definitely shouldn’t.” Annabeth amended as she inched closer.

They shouldn’t. Their parents might have their heads for it. But they did anyway, since that’s what being in love meant for them.

When they were done, Percy found himself now leaning on the walls of the tower, and Annabeth had placed her face back on its spot on his shoulder. Both his very princely clothing (he thought they were lame, except the cape) and her dress were rather rumpled. Silence reigned as they both took in the moment again, of how amazing it was to be with each other, before Percy finally sighed, staring out the tower window. Annabeth looked at him quizzically as he stated, “It’s kind of funny, isn’t it? I’m the prince of an entire kingdom. Anything I could ask for, immediately delivered without question. And it’s not even just my position at my disposal. With my magic, I have enough power to split the seas themselves. All of that, and yet the one thing I want in this world, is the one thing I can’t truly have.”

Annabeth’s head shot up to look at him, and to let him know that, “You can’t split the seas.”

“I probably can, actually,” Percy muttered with a sigh. “Dad told me that if I just-”

“No, I mean you can’t,” Annabeth interrupted. She then clarified, “Because if you do, Zeus will hear about it. His paranoia will get the better of him. And somehow, someway, he’ll figure out a way to hide you in a far away corner of the region. How am I supposed to find you then?”

Percy stared at her for a few moments, mouth open, before cracking a smile. “Fair enough.” And Annabeth took back her place on his shoulder.

She was content to close her eyes, and spend the rest of their time in quiet solitude, before Percy’s words finally caught up with her. She felt her heart quicken in response. She was the one thing Percy really wanted. He had said it with such conviction, with the same tone he’d take whenever he’d let her know that ‘You’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met’. Her. The magic-less girl. The nerd. The one who’s mother would kill him if they were found out. If that was really the case, then…

“Percy?” She started, not at all confident. When he gave a hum to indicate he was listening, she took a breath, thinking quickly, before questioning carefully, “What if… what if I told you I had a plan? A plan that would guarantee us being able to really be together? That our parents wouldn’t be able to stop.”

Annabeth felt the boy’s eyes on her as he looked down at her, but didn’t dare to look up herself. A beat passed, and for a moment, Annabeth was scared he’d laugh her off. Instead, he slowly took her hands in his, and she made herself look at him. His eyebrows were scrunched together, meaning he was thinking. It was so cute, but also a little terrifying. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking, which was rather rare. Finally, he took in a breath, and responded, “I’d say, ‘Anything.’ And I’d mean it. But your tone makes me think I won’t like the idea.”

And Annabeth had to nod, because it was the truth. Percy wouldn’t like it, for several reasons. But if it meant they’d be free of their parents' grasp, it’d be so worth it. So with more confidence than she felt, she told him, “Zeus’ tournament is in two months. If you win that, our parents won't be able to stop us.”

Percy sucked in a breath as he considered her words. She had been right. He didn’t like the idea. King Zeus’ Tournament, of all things. It was an event held in Olympios, the Capital, every two years. People gathered from every kingdom to watch it. But it was something he had never allowed himself to participate in, for a couple of reasons. But for the chance of getting to marry Annabeth, without worrying about his dad, or Lady Athena… “What would I even do? Well, win, I guess. But what am I supposed to ask him for?”

“Just ask for my hand,” Annabeth shrugged, “And no one will be able to refuse.”

The way the tournament functioned was simple. Every two years, Zeus had every child of the Royals and Grand Nobles face off in a tournament. A series of one-on-one matches would ensue between participants. The winner would be granted one wish by King Zeus himself, no matter how outlandish or odd, as long as it was possible. The event as a whole was a genius move on Zeus’ part for two reasons. For one, the display of ability shown by the competitors would be able to alleviate the weaker folk’s worries, showing them how powerful those at the top were. And second, it provided a chance for Zeus to show off how much goodwill he possesses, granting a request to the victor no matter who they might be. It was so genius, in fact, that anyone who actually knew the king believed Athena must have suggested the idea to him. Zeus never gave a public response, which essentially confirmed the theory.

Percy himself had never participated in the tournament for a few reasons. The first was that he didn’t want to draw too much attention to himself. He got enough of that at home just by being the prince. He didn’t want his face plastered all over the kingdoms. The second, and more concerning to himself, was his abilities. He didn’t like how naturally powerful he was. How easily he could bend a person to his whims with a thought and a wave of his hand. That was something else he didn’t want broadcasted to the world. The final reason was that he just didn’t want anything Zeus could offer him. He had his family. He was happy enough with that. But if winning meant getting Annabeth’s hand…

“Would it even work?” Percy asked skeptically, “I mean, Zeus might not care for what Dad has to say, but it’s no secret he pretty heavily favors your mom. What if all it takes is a complaint from her to call it off?”

Annabeth only had to think about it for a moment before shaking her head. “No, if you make the request after winning the tournament, he has to grant it to you. If he doesn’t, the public will take it a number of ways. For one, it’s a sign that he’s untrustworthy, that he’s willing to go back on a promise. Another is that he doesn’t actually hold as much power as he claims, that he can’t grant whatever the victor may want. No matter what, it’ll give a negative impression he can’t afford. Mother will know that, so she won’t even waste time asking him to call it off. She’ll definitely try to convince me, but I won’t be listening.”

“Alright, alright,” Percy breathed, mind running a mile a minute now that he had been presented with an option he didn’t think he had. This could actually work… He’d never considered the tournament. He could tell Annabeth had, and likely several times at that. But it had seemed like such a drag to participate in, so he never really questioned what he could gain from doing so. He faced downwards to stare at his hands, still holding onto hers, and flexed them slightly. “And all I have to do, is beat every person I face in combat, all of whom will be children of members from the Council of Olympios. Right. I can do that.”

Annabeth lifted their hands between them as she looked him in the eyes and gave the most reassuring smile she could muster. “You can.” And she unquestionably believed he could. As a child who couldn’t use magic herself, she had spent much more time studying it than those who used it naturally. Her discovery of just how important one’s emotions and mental state was to their ability to use magic had allowed her to draw conclusions to a long standing mystery. She had no proof, of course. But she was confident that Percy’s powerful strength was a result of combining Poseidon’s magic and Sally’s heart with his own indomitable spirit. A boy designed by the magical laws of their world to never know defeat. “You’ll do just fine.”

Percy nodded, lost in her eyes, and still taking deep breaths. Suddenly, his biggest dream had the potential of no longer being just that. It required him to fight through the blasted tournament, but for Annabeth, it seemed like a small price to pay. Still though, he had to be sure. “Just to be clear. You’re okay with me declaring it out in the open? Asking for your hand for all the world to see?”

Annabeth raised her hand to his cheek. “Against a life reduced to aside glances, stolen kisses, and impossible dreams? A thousand times over, I’d prefer it.” Percy nodded, and they sealed their plan with one last kiss. Two months and a tournament later, and they’d be free. After that, no more words were spoken, and they passed the time in comfortable silence. After all, there was nothing more that needed to be said.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Thwack! Thwack! Shhhhuk! Percy huffed a little as he pulled his training blade out of the dummy he had set up. It was nothing more then chopped up leather with straw in it now. With a sigh, he went to go grab another from the side.

Percy was currently spending his fourth night at the training arena within his father’s castle since Annabeth had left. Fortunately, there was an enchantment set up that meant sound didn’t travel out of the area, so no one would know what he was up to. At least, that’s what he thought. As he was setting up the dummy, he heard the sound of the training doors opening up. Oh, great. He sprung up, ready to give an excuse to whatever member of his dad’s royal army walked in, before his mind was brought to a halt. Mom, and Grover? What are they doing here?

Sally walked confidently into a room she usually tended to avoid since she wasn’t the biggest fan of violence. Percy’s best friend was right on her heels. “He-Hey guys,” Percy stuttered, trying his best to appear casual. The torn up leather and straw weren’t doing him any favors. “What’s uh, what’s up?”

His mom just raised her eyebrow at him, which was the biggest sign that he couldn’t play dumb. It was Grover though, who took point. “What’s up? What’s up with you?? This is like, the fourth time you’ve done this in two weeks.”

Percy blinked, “You guys knew.”

Sally smiled as she sighed, “Percy, honey. Of course we knew. We were waiting to get an explanation, but since it didn’t seem to be coming, we’ve decided to take matters into our own hands. So, as you so eloquently put it… what’s up?”

Percy shifted his face to the side, his arm coming up to rub the back of his head. He suspected it wouldn't get him anywhere, but he had to try, at least. “You know, it’s just, it’s been awhile since I’ve let myself really get into sword play. Wanted to make sure I haven’t gotten rusty.” It was pretty obvious neither of them bought it, and Percy wanted to slap himself. He was normally a lot better at thinking on his feet, but that did not hold up against his mom. And even if it did, she’d probably see right through him anyways. She was cool like that.

Grover walked up to sling an arm around him. “Riiiight. This has everything to do with you getting rusty, and absolutely nothing to do with the castle’s most recent guests.” With a wave of his free arm to the empty room they were in, “Just look at all the people who definitely believe you.” Percy could feel his cheeks redden.

“Don’t tease the poor boy.” Sally laughed. Great. They both know something's up. “So…” Sally started, walking up to rub the top of her son’s head, “What did you and Annabeth talk about that was so important you’re suddenly interested in honing your sword skills again? Especially when you're already good enough to beat pretty much the entire royal army of Atlantis in duels.”

Percy sighed. He couldn’t hide it from them. So he lowered his head to stare at the floor as he got out, “I’m uh, I’m gonna compete in Zeus’ next tournament.”

Sally’s expression changed only slightly, her eyes widening quite a bit in surprise. Grover, on the other hand, might as well have had his mouth on the floor. “Are y-you se-serious?! King Poseidon was practically begging you to go last time. Perce, you’ve never cared about the tournament! Why would you now?”

“Yeah,” Percy huffed, “Two weeks ago I couldn’t have cared less. But… but I have a reason to go now.”

“And that is?” his mother questioned with a raised eyebrow and maybe a hint of knowing look.

“I’m gonna compete. I’m gonna win. And then,” Percy glanced off to the side, “I’m going to ask Zeus for Annabeth’s hand. And Dad or Athena won’t be able to stop me.”

Percy watched out of the corner of his eye as Grover’s expression somehow turned even more incredulous. Which he got. Grover knew how much they meant to one another. He had to, being the one who covered for them so often. But he had never thought they’d find a way to actually be together. Openly.

His mother, on the other hand, only brightened her smile as she stepped forward to pull her little boy (he was bigger than her now, but he was still her little boy) into a hug. And Percy had to raise his arms to do the same thing, because his mom’s hugs had always been one of the best things in his life. “I’m very proud of the two of you,” Sally whispered, “for not stopping trying to find a way to make the both of you happy. Just remember, like all big decisions, there will be consequences. Athena will not be happy. Poseidon likely won’t be very pleased either. And because of the stage you have to compete on, this gamble will be for all the world to see. But,” she finished as she looked in Percy’s eyes, “You’ve already considered all of that, haven’t you.”

“Yeah,” Percy nodded, “it’s been the only thing on my mind since Annabeth left. I’ve thought about it a lot. I know the problems that could come with the plan. But it all seems so worth it.”

Sally nodded, glad her son was thinking through what such a gamble could mean for him, and placed a kiss on his forehead. Then she turned to Grover. “Well, it’s gotten quite late. Come along now Grover. Let’s leave the prince to his training.” And with that, she started to make her way back outside.

Grover rushed forward to pat Percy on his back, leaned forward to give a hastily whispered, “Proud of you man,” and took off to catch up to her. Percy stared at the retreating figures for a few moments, trying to catch up with the conversation in his mind. Finally he shook his head and turned back around to finish setting up his next training dummy. He had some practice to get done.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The wheels rattling along the road were making an endless noise. Honestly, Percy could barely stand it. It had only been a few hours since they had left the Capital of Atlantis, and were now heading towards the location of Zues’ tournament, Olympios. Percy still didn’t get it. The entire land mass is Olympios, and Zeus decided to name his kingdom Olympios, and then decided also calling his capital Olympios was a good idea. Does he just really like the name? Normally, Percy couldn’t care less. But with no room to stand up, he was so bored right now.

He was also thinking about anything even remotely interesting to try and ignore the situation he was in. It wasn’t working very well. Unfortunately, Grover and his mother hadn't been able to join him on his trip to Olympios. They would be arriving a few days later, on the day it actually started. So the only other member on the cart he was currently occupying was his father, King Poseidon. The person I’m actively hiding my reason to join the tournament from. While on the way to said tournament. Joy.

Percy was normally very far from being on bad terms with his father. But he felt wary. As if Poseidon somehow knew that this endeavor was his son's attempt to marry perhaps the only girl he’d actually give an objection to. Even though there was no way he could possibly know. He’s definitely curious why I’d care about the event now. But he hasn’t asked about it yet. Maybe he just won’t.

Unfortunately, that’s when Poseidon cleared his throat a little to indicate he wanted to have a conversation. Dammit. His father started, “Well, Perseus. We’re on our way now. I’m glad to see you willing to take part in such a public event. I’m not opposed at all, of course. I get to watch my son in action, and I’ll get to rub it in Zeus’ face when you win. But… is there any… particular reason you want to participate this year?”

Percy looked up to Poseidon’s face, worried he was going to see a face similar to the one his mother had worn the night she confronted him. But what he found surprised him. The face his father wore wasn’t knowing, nor accusing. It was… maybe uncertain? It took a moment for it to click, and when it did, he felt both relief, and a shred of guilt. Dad thinks I’m unhappy with what he’s given me. That he messed up something, so now I’m going to his brother for it. Which isn’t… incorrect. But it’s less to do with me and him, and more to do with him and Athena. Percy shook his head with the best smile he could manage. “You haven’t done anything wrong, Dad. I just… it’s been a while since I’ve seen any of the others. The last council meeting we were invited to was like, a year ago. And I’ve been looking for a way to really test my skill lately. Most of the knights in Atlantis can’t really keep up. This’ll be a good opportunity for me.” It was a half-truth, as far as he was concerned. Everything he had said was the truth, but there was one specific reason that trumped both of them. And that was the one he had to hide.

Poseidon took in the statement with a nod of his head, and a smile that Percy could tell was the slightest bit relieved. That shred of guilt within him grew just a bit in response. He really didn’t enjoy hiding things from his dad. Still, he’d told Annabeth he’d give anything to marry her. And he’d meant it. So all he had to do now, was endure this one trip, compete in a tournament against other truly powerful warriors of Olympios thrown at him by the bracket, and hide his biggest desire from the world until he succeeded. Easy. He could handle this. I’m so dead.

Chapter Text

Olympios was honestly a pretty beautiful city. It lived up to the word grandiose in every sense of the word. Buildings stood, tall, proud, and unshakeable. People walked the streets with happy smiles and a buzz of excitement that constantly permeated the air. Vendors lined the roads and alleyways, all looking to sell something that couldn’t be found anywhere else. And, being so high up in the mountains, the city offered a view of the lands that simply couldn’t be matched by most of the kingdoms. It was a place that lived up to the hype and legend surrounding it.

Percy, however, hated the capital with pretty much every fiber of his being. Him and Poseidon had arrived the day before, which was enough time for him to see just how much he was being marketed as a participant all around town. Posters being hung up on walls, fences, and signposts to advertise the Tournament was nothing new. But they normally only read about the event itself, not the participants. That had changed this year though. Someone had seen fit to include a poster promoting the son of Poseidon and had them put up all around the city. And Percy hated it.

He couldn’t figure out why he in particular was being singled out, especially when something like this never happened before. It was only when he confronted his father about it, that he finally got a plausible explanation. “It’s certainly Zeus’ doing. He’s probably doing it to build up his own hype.”

Percy blinked, “How do you figure? The posters… they're talking about me. Wouldn’t that be promoting you more?”

Poseidon gave out a sigh. “You are correct. And I suspect Zeus also knows this. Consider, for a moment. For the first time since he started hosting these events, one of my children will be participating. If he can build up hype around you, and have his own child defeat you, it’ll be a sign of just how much he deserves his position. He’s probably spent the last few days stressing to young Jason how important it is that he beats you in particular.”

“Alright,” Percy rubbed the back of his neck, “so this whole thing is probably just a publicity stunt. Right. Makes sense. I’ll have to have a talk with Jason I guess. His dad set up this whole thing assuming I even get to fight him. How does he know I won’t just drop out of the first round?”

Poseidon shook his head with a chuckle, “You are perhaps the only one who would assume such a thing, my son. No matter how… questionable the choices my little brother makes are, he does put some thought into them. Mostly. You are the grandson of the one who once ruled over all land, as well as my child. Regardless of not seeing it for himself, he has every reason to believe in your ability. For better or worse.”

Definitely worse, considering he’s apparently terrified I’m somehow going to strike him down. I still don’t get that. Does he think I want to rule? I would have just taken Atlantica from Triton anyways. Despite the thoughts running through his head, Percy just shrugged in response as he turned his head to face the window of his father’s room. He had a lot to think about.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Percy hadn't left the colosseum he was staying in for the last 24-hours. He was too worried about encountering people who had fallen hook, line, and sinker for Zeus’ plan. And besides, most of the other contestants were coming in today to set up their rooms for the actual tournament. And maybe Annabeth. If I’m lucky. He suspected he might not be though. But it was something to do that wasn’t hiding his face from the masses, so he stepped out to go find some familiar faces.

He wasn’t very successful immediately. The area was definitely bustling. People all over the place, rushing around so that everything would meet Zeus’ expectations. He noticed that there were a lot of healers getting set up. Percy grimaced. We’ll need a lot of them. The way to win a match was simply to get the other opponent to concede. Killing your opponent, or inflicting a serious injury wasn’t allowed, but everything else was fair game. Luckily for the participants (and Zeus), Olympios was a gathering of some of the best healers in the country.

Percy waved to a couple members of the personnel who were hurrying past when the last voice he expected to hear popped up behind him. “Wow, you’re actually here. That’s a surprise.”

Percy spun around to give an enthusiastic, “Nico!” in response. The boy was right behind him, and as short as ever. His eyes were black like obsidian, but held no coldness within them. Percy slung his arm around the young boy’s shoulder and told him, “I should be saying the same thing about you! You’ve never been a fan of mass gatherings. It’s good to see you, but why’re you here?”

Nico gave a non committed shrug in response. “Because I can be, I guess. I dunno. Dad thought it would be a good idea.”

Uncle H, huh. Good on him. Percy had a few thoughts on Hades. He preferred the king over Zeus for sure. He wasn’t a perfect father, but the effort he put in for Nico was legitimate. He even forgave Percy for what happened to Bianca. Told him it wasn’t his fault. He believes that more than I do. To distract his thought from going down a path he wasn’t interested in exploring without Annabeth around, he jostled the boy in clutches a little. “So, how’s my favorite little cousin doing?”

Nico’s response was to shake himself out of Percy’s grip, and then give another non committed shrug. “Fine, I guess. Dad taught me some more magic. I can raise some basically impenetrable walls now. They ward off magic itself. It’s pretty cool.” And then he blinked. “Wait, you’re competing this year. I shouldn’t have told you that.”

“Yeah, you probably shouldn’t have.” Percy agreed, but he couldn’t help but smile. He saw Nico as a little brother. And he’s pretty sure Nico saw him as an older brother to impress, which always made him happy. He was still able to protect Bianca’s legacy by taking care of Nico. “Don’t worry, I’ll pretend I didn’t hear you.”

Nico gave him a small smile. “Right. Thanks.”

Percy looked at him as his comment from before registered in his head. “Wait a minute. You’re competing this year? You’re not just here to represent your dad?”

Nico bristled, “Why is that so unbelievable? Hazel’s doing it too!”

Hazel too? Percy tried to hold in both his surprise, and his worry. Nico didn’t like being treated like he was helpless, or a little kid. And Percy knew very well that he wasn’t either of those things. But he would always be worried about the boy getting himself into dangerous situations. So, he did his best to play it off as a joke. “I’m not demeaning you. But me, Thals, and Jason recently formed a ‘Protect the Hades Children’ club, and you guys participating means we’re failing.”

Nico scoffed, and muttered a small “Shut up.” as a blush formed on his face. Still, Percy could see a hint of a smile on the brooding boy’s face. The prince in front of him calmed down a bit, before his eyes suddenly lit up as if something just occurred to him. He looked around fervently before leaning in closer, “Hang on. You’re uh, you’re here for Annabeth, right?”

Percy blinked, startled. He knows? Goddammit. Nico looked up at him, clearly waiting for a response. Percy just kept staring, and Nico seemed to find himself. “Oh, wait. I’m not supposed to know that, am I?” The boy’s response to Percy’s inability to answer him was to grin viciously and let him know that, “Well… you didn’t hear from me, but some very insignificant, totally not important, absolutely not the love of your life girl happens to be staying on the other half of the colosseum on the second floor.”

He didn’t know if wanted to hug Nico or strangle him. Both sounded like pretty good ideas. Also, Of course she’s in the other half of the biggest colosseum in the land. Nico stretched out in front of him, “Well, this has been fun, but Persephone actually wanted to talk to me about something or the other. I’ll see you when the tournament starts, alright? See ya Percy.” And with that the boy rushed off.

“Right,” Percy sighed. Great. Now he was going to be worried about Nico and Hazel for the rest of the day. The boy could definitely handle himself, but the idea of him participating bothered him a little. He just couldn’t help himself. He didn’t want Nico getting hurt.

At least he had a destination in mind now. He still had a mind to look out for the familiar faces with whom he would have to compete against, although he couldn’t stop to talk to all of them. As he continued down his path, he saw Katie, Will (surprisingly not Lee, although he had to be around her somewhere), and Castor, which didn’t concern him too much. They had powerful magics, but none of them were traditional warriors. Still, going up against any one of them could be trouble. ‘Cept Will. I’m pretty sure he’s the single most non-combative person to have ever existed. Noticing a brawny body down the hall that could only belong to Clarrise definitely worried him though. Amongst the children of the Olympios Council, and outside the royal kids and one other person, Clarisse was well recognized as unquestionably the most powerful warrior. She would be trouble.

He was just starting to head up the stairs to the second floor when he saw two people walking through the hallway. One of them had just a small smile on his face, nodding along to the other boy’s recount of something that had him grinning like a madman. Percy stopped, and let out a greeting of “Jason! Leo! How have you two been!?”

The blond boy looked up from where he’d been studying the ground as walked and blinked, before his mouth grew to a grin, “Percy, hey!” The two boys rushed forward to shake each other’s hand. “How are you doing?” Jason questioned as Leo bounded up beside him. “It’s been way too long.”

“I know, right!” Leo cut in before Percy could respond, “I haven’t seen you in like a year.”

“I’ve been doing well.” Percy replied to the boy shaking his hand, before addressing Leo with a deadpan, “And I saw you ten days ago, at your dad’s forge.”

“Doesn’t count,” Leo pointed out, “you didn’t stop to say hello.”

“I was visiting Tyson! Besides, I waved at you. Don’t make a joke out of that!”

“Fiiiine,” Leo pouted. “But only because you asked nicely.”

Jason cut in then, clearing his throat. “Uh, Percy. I, uh, want to say sorry.”

Percy blinked, “What for, man?”

“My Dad,” Jason sighed. “He's the one who put up all those posters of you. I know you really aren’t the biggest fan of attention.”

“No, I’m definitely not.” Percy only needed a second to take in the info. “Dad was right, then. Has Zeus been spending his time letting you know you have to defeat me then?”

Jason nodded with a grimace. “Pretty much. It’s all he’s been concerned with.”

“Has he told Thalia too?” Percy asked, more out of curiosity than anything else.

He was surprised when Jason shook his head. “Nah, she’s not around right now. Too busy on a mission for Lady Artemis. The monsters have been showing some real weird patterns lately, so Thalia got sent to scout ‘em out. She’ll be back in time for the Tournament, but she won’t be participating.”

Percy responded to the info with a nod, trying not to let how relieved he was to get across. One less powerhouse I have to deal with. Then he turned to Leo to ask, “And how about Beckendorf? Is he gonna join this year?”

“Nope. He’s off on a trip with Silena, touring the lands, I think, so we won’t be saying them for a while.” He explained.

“Thank god.” Jason commented beside him with a sigh. “Fighting my girlfriend’s big sister sounds way scarier than actually fighting my girlfriend.”

And Percy had to knock him on the head for that one. “Great going genius. You jinxed it. You’ll definitely have to fight Piper now.”

“You think so?” Jason questioned, now looking very worried. “What should I do?”

“How are we supposed to know?” Leo laughed beside him. “You’re the only one who has that problem. I don’t have a girlfriend, and Percy’s isn’t competing.”

The other two boys stopped and stared at the cackling brunet. “Uhh… Leo,” Percy questioned, “Who, exactly, is my girlfriend?”

Leo shot him a look as he stated, “Annabeth. Duh.” Jason shot a surprised glance as Percy’s heart just about stopped. Leo knows too? Why? At least Jason seems surprised.

Despite how much it hurt him on the inside to say, Percy still pointed out, “Annabeth isn’t my girlfriend.” Which was technically true. They’d been so scared they wouldn’t be allowed to last that they’d never given their relationship a label.

Leo, however, only looked unimpressed. “Uhuh. Right. See, I’d definitely believe you, but here’s the thing. I have asked Annabeth out a grand total of once. Her response was to pull out her knife. Five seconds later you show up, telling her about this cool new fish you found by the river, and she looked like you handed her the sun and moon. And considering I saw her skipping up those steps, I don’t believe for a second that the reason that you’re here doesn’t entirely revolve around her.”

Percy stared at the boy, once again speechless. Finally realizing he had to respond, considering both Leo’s confident look and Jason’s curious one, but not sure what to say, he just crossed his arms, looked to the side and muttered, “Sure.”

Leo grinning again as he patted him on the head. “That’s what I thought.” And then he pranced off to go torment someone else, just stopping to call over his shoulder, “Good luck you two!”

Leo leaving meant he still had Jason to talk to though, and the two boys stared awkwardly at each other. Finally Jason cleared his throat. “Well, you’re probably in a hurry. I’ll see you in the arena, I suppose.” He stuck out his hand for one last shake. “Good luck.”

Percy returned it, grateful he hadn’t brought up anything about what Leo said, and they marched off in different directions. Percy headed up to the second floor as he reflected for a moment. I’ve met three people so far, and two of them already knew about us, and the other now definitely suspects it. Great job so far. A good sign of things to come.

On that happy note, he reached the second floor. He had just started to look at the doors lining the walls when an all-too-familiar voice that caused him to freeze up called out behind him. “Is the Prince Perseus I see? Look at you, all grown up!” Oh no.

That voice meant… Well, it didn’t mean bad things, necessarily. But it was cause for worry. Still, Percy couldn’t help the smile that grew on his face as he turned to face the man behind him, standing there in all of his basically-the-hero-of-Olympios glory.

Even though the voice really only meant trouble for him, Percy had to smile. After all, the man had basically been Percy’s big brother before Triton stepped up. He was the one who’d ruffle Percy and Annabeth’s hair when they’d whisk by. Who’d shown them the secret corridors of Zeus’ Grand Palace. Who’d sneak them food from the Royal Kitchen. Who’d told them all about the world out there, beyond palaces and cities and people, untamed and so incredibly dangerous, but free. He was the biggest reason Percy ever got serious about swordplay.

So even though his presence here, in the arena of Zeus’ tournament meant one thing, and made Percy’s own victory a lot more uncertain, a smile had to break through. Because that’s who Sir Luke was.

The man carried the same air of confidence, skill, and calmness that he always did. At his side was his trusted sword, securely within its scabbard. On his shoulder, a flowing cape of greens and blues, which easily signified his importance. Even amongst the children of the Grand Nobles, Luke alone was given the honor of cape, making him the closest in rank to the Royals. His blue eyes shone, and he had a large and genuine grin as he took in Percy’s appearance. Finally, he shook his head and said, “Man, it’s been so long, I can hardly believe my eyes. Just look at you! All confident, and walking with your head held high. You’re a man now. It’s good to see you!”

Percy's grin only grew. “I can’t say the same about you. You look the same as ever, even after all this time.”

Luke nodded sagely, stroking an invisible beard. “It’s been real hard work keeping it that way, let me tell you that. Monsters, y’know? They’re all I’ve been dealing with as of late.”

“By ‘as of late’ do you mean the last few years? Cause it’s been a while!” Percy pointed out with a semi-serious accusatory finger.

Luke had stopped regularly coming to any of the Council’s gatherings roughly three to four years ago. He didn’t attend the meetings, and the one tournament he missed was the only one that hadn’t ended in his victory. As happy as I am to see him, I was kind of hoping that streak would continue. It would be so much easier that way. But clearly, as with most things, I am not that lucky.

Luke lifted his hands in a mock surrender. “I don’t know what to tell you man. You guys are doing a good job with the bigger cities and villages. Really. But the outskirts are kind of a mess. Even now, I’d honestly rather be out there helping, but there’s something I need to get.” He paused to lean forward, looking into Percy’s eyes with a grin. “But enough about me. You’re here now, participating in the Tournament. And for the first time, if I recall correctly. Now, this might just be speculation. But out of pure curiosity, your appearance here doesn’t have anything to do,” and his smile grew as he finished, “with a certain blond, does it?”

Seriously?! Even him?! He hasn’t even seen us for like, four years!! Percy tried to play off his surprise. “Sorry Luke. It’s great to see you, but I would not have come all the way here just for you.” That was a lie, considering how much he missed the man, but he was hoping it would land anyway.

Luke’s response, unfortunately, was to waggle his finger. “Uh-uh-uh. Don’t even try it. I knew what was going to happen between you little scamps long before either of you did.”

“Uh-uh,” Percy muttered as he crossed his arms. He couldn’t help himself. “And what if I am here for something like that?”

Luke’s smile shrunk a bit, but somehow in a way that made him look more genuinely happy. And then he did something Percy didn’t expect. For the first time since he was a kid, the man reached forward, and ruffled his hair. And suddenly, Percy was twelve years old again, looking up at someone who was everything he wanted to be. Strong and confident and capable. Able to protect his friends, no matter what dangers came their way.

Luke’s voice took on a softer tone as he said, “I’m glad to hear it. Really. I always figured it was bound to cause some problems down the line, but it’s good seeing you kids grown up and making it work.” He finished messing up Percy’s already messed up hair, and took back his hand. The man didn’t let the moment sit though, and his voice got back its natural gravity. “Unfortunately, there’s something I really need. So I’m here to win. Next time, alright? Annabeth’s smart enough to make sure she doesn’t get married off to some loser in that time.”

I knew he had to be here to compete, but hearing that still sucks. Percy shook his head though, and said as confidently as he could, “Sorry Luke. We’ve waited long enough. I don’t plan on losing.”

“That’s the spirit!” Luke nodded with a grin. “I’m looking forward to seeing that confidence in action. But for now, I’ll let you go. And from one man to another, good luck.” And with one last clap on Percy’s shoulder as he passed by, Luke went on his way.

Percy just nodded as his mind reeled, having finally met Luke again after so long. He took in a deep breath. And then another. And another. And another. Something’s wrong, he realized. He froze, trying to comprehend. I’m… gasping. Why am I gasping? I felt completely fine two seconds ago. But the second Luke left, I felt like a huge burden that had been on top of me disappeared. Why didn’t I feel it before? He stood in the hallway, slowly contemplating as he got his breath back.

No… It’s not that something is wrong. It’s that something was wrong. That entire conversation with Luke, something was off. What was it? His eyes? His smile? Maybe his voice? I can’t figure it out. Everything seemed fine. He twisted behind him to stare at Luke, who was now pleasantly chatting with one of the helpers, gesturing wildly with a genuine smile. Did I imagine it? No, that feeling of a weight being lifted was definitely real. But I have no clue what the hell it was. He grimaced, coming to terms with it. I can’t do anything about it. Not right now. The best I can do is be wary. But of Luke, of all people?

Percy shook his head, and started walking forward, looking at the doors. Forget it, but just for now. It’s time I found Annabeth.

It took him another ten minutes to finally spot what had to be her door, wooden, and with an owl and a capital A engraved on it. He knocked on the door three times and gave a quiet, “It’s me.” Footsteps rushed around inside before the door was thrown open and he was pulled in without getting the chance to even take in her appearance. The door was then quickly thrown shut. Percy blinked, and said, “I missed-” and interrupted himself with a yelp as he was, for once, pulled into Annabeth.

Her arms steadily wrapped around him. The first thing she said though, wasn’t a greeting, or an affirmation of how much he missed him. It was, instead, a genuine and panicked, “I’m sorry!”

Percy was immediately tensed, worried. What happened? He pulled himself out of her embrace to put his hand on her cheek and ask, “What’s wrong? Did your mom find out? Are you hurt?”

Annabeth shook her head, “Nothing like that. But… I saw the posters. Of you. Outside. And I felt really bad. I know how much you hate being the absolute center of attention, and now it’s all on you because of my plan. And I feel really bad.”

Percy sighed. At least she’s alright. “I’ll admit I'm not happy about. But I already told you Annabeth. I meant it when I said anything.”

A small smile showed up on her face. “I know you did.” She started to walk around the room as she continued. “Still, I know how annoying all of this must be for you. And for the record… I would’ve done it for you if I could. I actually tried last time the event was happening, but…”

“Your mom?” Percy guessed.

“She was one of the reasons.” Annabeth admitted.

“Damn, I’ve got another thing to be mad at Athena for.” When Annabeth raised her eyebrow in question, Percy clarified, “I would have paid the entire Atlantean Treasury just to watch you stomp every other person competing. And now, because of her, I’ll never get to see it.”

Annabeth scoffed, but there was a little grin on her face as she pointed out, “I don’t have any magic, Seaweed Brain.”

“So you’d just look even more amazing as you stomped the competition!” He insisted.

Annabeth shook her head, but she was smiling. Percy was honestly pretty delighted seeing it. He was just about to comment on how beautiful she looked when a knock sounded on the door. The two of them looked at each other, alarmed. Percy was here, in her room with the door closed. This couldn’t end well.

Annabeth was just reaching across to hand him her invisibility hat when a voice called from outside, “Dears? Are you in there?” Hey, that's… And suddenly, there was no need to put the hat on. There was no need to hide. So he watched in excitement as Annabeth opened the door and greeted the person outside. She was pulled into a hug, and then a figure stepped in. Percy’s grin only grew as she looked around and, upon spotting him, lit up. “There you are, dear.”

Percy didn’t not hesitate to give in to her hug. “Hey there, Aunt Hestia.” He was so genuinely happy to see his aunt. She was, without question, the single most kind soul to have ever walked the earth. On Percy’s list of ‘Greatest Women to ever exist’ she placed very solidly in second place (technically third, but Annabeth and Sally shared the first spot). Besides his Mother and his Love, she was the only person he truly felt like he was home with when she was around. She’s always so warm. Like a bonfire on the coldest night.

Hestia pulled back to marvel at his face. “Just look at you! So much like your father. I could have sworn I’d gone back in time, looking at Poe in his younger days.” As Percy chuckled nervously, always unsure of how to feel when being compared to his father, she turned to face Annabeth. “And you as well, dear. It’s so wonderful to see you both all grown up.”

Annabeth shot the older woman a smile. “It’s great to see you too, Lady Hestia.”

Hestia nodded, and looked between the two of them. And then, oddly enough, she started chuckling to herself. Percy and Annabeth shared a glance of confusion before Percy asked, “Um, Aunt Hestia, what’s so funny?”

The woman gave him a mirthful grin, and told him, “Zeus is in quite a state you know. Ever since the idea was suggested to him, he’s been afraid that you came here just to claim his throne for yourself.”

Percy blinked. That wasn’t what he was expecting. “Ignoring the fact that I just really don’t want to rule over an entire kingdom, how does he think I’d even manage overthrowing him?”

Hestia shrugged, “Athena pointed out while they were brainstorming your reason for joining that if you were to win, and your wish was the Throne of Olympios, Zeus would have to give it up according to his own rules.”

“Is it really that simple?” Percy questioned, surprised.

Before Hestia could answer, Annabeth cut in, exasperated, “Does my mother really believe Percy is after the throne?”

Hestia shook her head, “It was fairly obvious it was more a suggestion on Athena’s part, rather than an actual theory. Zeus has taken it to heart though. All psyched up about a little upstart coming to take his place. And he’s planned accordingly. All the build up for you, Perseus, is so that when Jason defeats you, you’ll feel so crushed you’ll never make another attempt at the throne.”

Percy and Annabeth shared glances that were part exhaustion and part exasperation. Hestia continued, “Which is why it’s so funny that I come here, and what do I find? Not a boy diabolically scheming to bring about our end, but simply two people in love. What a simple thing to throw the king himself into a frenzy.” She continued to chuckle to herself as the two shared another glance, this time alarmed. Hestia didn’t continue though, but drew herself up. “Hmm. It’s getting quite late. I do believe it’s time for me to depart. Perseus, I wish you good luck during the Tournament. A great many people are supporting your endeavor.”

With that, she headed for the door. She opened it, and with one last wink over her shoulder, left. Percy and Annabeth stared after her, before both letting out a sigh of relief. Annabeth collapsed on her room’s couch. “Thank god. I thought we were done for.”

Percy grimaced as he recalled several past conversations. “Don’t be so sure we’re in the clear yet.”

Annabeth opened her eyes worriedly. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Percy took on the most soothing tone he could muster. “Don’t panic. It’s not too bad. But… some people definitely already know about us.”

“Who?” She asked immediately.

“Nico and Leo, of all people.” He let her know as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Also, Luke, who is, by the way, competing.” Percy could see the warring emotions on her face. Annoyance at how many people knew. Happiness at the chance to see Luke again. Worry about what him competing meant for Percy. Exasperation at him also knowing. He also wanted to talk to her about the weird feeling he’d gotten after talking to the man, but honestly? He was too unsure, or scared. He didn’t know what to say about it. He did have something else though. He had saved the best piece of news for last. “Also, while he definitely suspects now, Jason was apparently obtuse enough to never suspect something was happening between us. I’m never going to let him forget it.”

Annabeth shot him a challenging smirk. “‘Obtuse,’ huh. Sounds like someone else I know.”

Not this again. “Hey, come on.” Percy was smiling though.

Annabeth shook her head as she grinned. “Would you like me to paint you the picture, as a reminder?” She raised her arms to gesticulate and continued, “There we were, standing together. At the place it had all really started for us. I built up every ounce of courage I had, and started talking about the people important to us, and what they meant. What was your reaction?”

“I handled myself completely maturely as I respo-”

“You used your magic to pull us into the water!” She was laughing now. She’s so cute.

“I panicked!” Percy insisted. He pointed at her as he continued, “Besides, it was basically the best first kiss ever, right? You have to give me that.”

Annabeth tapped her finger to her chin as she pretended to consider. “I guess you can have that.” She conceded, not at all reluctantly. The two smiled at each other, just relieving the past for a moment.

Then Percy caught sight of the world outside of Annabeth’s window, and blinked. “Oh, wow. Aunt Hestia was not kidding. It’s getting pretty late.”

“Right,” Annabeth agreed, this time quite reluctantly. “As much as I’d love for you to never leave, staying here wouldn’t really help us in hiding from our parents.” Percy nodded and with a sigh, started making his way towards the door, but Annabeth caught his hand, and made him face her. “You sure you’ll be alright?” She asked, still worried.

Percy pulled her into him with a grin. “I mean, you’re in my arms, so I thi-” She shut him up with a kiss. It was pretty great.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It was, finally, the day of the Tournament. Percy was half convinced it was never actually going to come. Something would stop it at the last minute. Now, here I am. In the middle of the arena with the other champions, looking around at their surroundings.

The colosseum was packed. In every row, in every seat, there was a person watching, looking forward to one of the single biggest events of the year. There were even posters being held up and waved about, signaling who the favored were to win. Unsurprisingly, Luke had the most supporters, with many people looking forward to watching the champion's return.

But for once, there wasn’t a huge gap between him and all of the other combatants. This time, there was also a substantial following for Percy that was very visible in the stands. Most showed this off through posters that had been sold at the entrance. More of Zeus’ tricks. One side of the poster displayed Percy’s name in a bright blue. But on the flip side was a display laying out Jason’s name in a bright orange. So if Jason beats me, and the crowd flips their posters to show support for him instead, I’m supposed to be demoralized? Honestly, I’d rather they just didn’t have posters in the first place.

Above all of them, on the highest layer, sat the Council of Olympios most within their own secluded balcony. The Royals all sat together, with Poseidon and Amphitrite on the right, Hades and Persephone on the left, and Zeus and Hera in the middle. The only one who wasn’t within that balcony was Hestia, who was instead below them. This wasn’t done to indicate she was on a lower level though. More than anything, it was meant as proof she was the backbone of the entire organization. Without her, it all falls apart.

The balcony to the right of them held Demeter. She was brought on to the council for two reasons. For one, she was the only Hades’ kingdom ever to see natural greenery again. She also just wanted to be close to her elder daughter. She only had one child competing, Katie.

Next was the balcony where Athena sat, judging all of them with her cold gray eyes. Percy knew Annabeth would be sat right next to her mother, and looking much less annoyed than her. I wish I could look at her. I bet she’s looking really pretty today. They had agreed it would be best to avoid eye-contact as much as possible during the actual event.

After them was Apollo, who was not only good at healing, but also the most musically talented person to have ever been born. People whisper that he’s had to use his music to put Zeus to sleep at least twice, and was seen leaving the palace in a hurry after both occurrences. After those events, he became much more proud of his healing magic preferring to speak about those when asked about his abilities. He had two children in the event, Lee and Will.

Apollo’s twin sister, Artemis, came next. She was essentially the greatest hunter that has ever lived. While in the middle of a winter that was plaguing the kingdom, she strode out on a quest to bring in food, and returned with enough game to feed the entire capital. She had no children of her won due to taking vows of maidenhood long ago, but she had her lieutenant (Jason’s sister) sat next to her.

Ares was seated in the next balcony. He was, for all intents and purposes, Zeus’ nuke button. If the king was having a problem that just wasn’t sorting itself out, he presses the Ares button, and whatever the problem is (and the village said problem originated from) gets solved. Two of his kids were competing today Clarisse and Frank. Sorry Frank. You’re definitely skilled, but I am way more concerned about Clarisse.

The great blacksmith Hephaestus was next. He wasn’t the nicest person to look at, but his skills more than made up for it. During the war against Kronos, he teamed up with Poseidon to create the underwater forge and eventually created the three great weapons that would change the tide of battle. Everyone agreed that he had more than earned his place. Only his son Leo would be participating in the tournament today.

Next was Aphrodite. Zeus brought her onto the council… because she’s hot. That’s literally it. The woman was certainly much more than just a pretty face, but Zeus just brought her on because she was really pretty. She’s not bad. But definitely nowhere near Annabeth. She also only had one child in the event, that being Piper.

Second-to-last was Hermes, Zeus' personal messenger. He’s pretty much the only reason the three kingdoms ever managed to get together to have events as big as this one. Without him communication would very likely just cease. He had the most amount of kids in the Arena, being Luke and his younger brothers, Travis and Connor. The younger two are pranksters, more than anything. I don't need to be worried about them. Luke, on the other hand... Percy shivered remembering the feeling after his conversation with Luke. I have to be careful of whatever that was. Luke seems fine. The same as ever. But I can't be too sure.

Finally, the circle rounded off with Dionysus. He was just in the council because Zeus really liked the wine he made. That being said, Zeus himself isn’t actually allowed to have any of it anymore. The last two times had both been… problematic, not just for the council, but for the three kingdoms as a whole. His twin sons, Castor and Pollux, were the final participants.

As Zeus gave off a grand speech to welcome the spectators, Percy counted off all of the participants in his head. …And Dionysus’ kids make the total… sixteen. If sixteen of us are competing, and every person who loses is knocked out, we should have… four rounds total. Alright. Four rounds. Four fights. I can do that. Maybe. Hopefully.

“AND NOW!” Zeus’ voice boomed across the arena, and over the stands. “LET THE GRAND TOURNAMENT OF ZEUS, BEGIN!!!” And as a cheer rose from the crowd, Percy felt a drop of sweat roll down his face. Here we go.

Chapter Text

The Tournament’s been going on for five minutes, Percy thought as he watched the man drone on in front of him, And I’m already off to a bad start. It had been an accident caused by a lack of mindfulness. The boy had been too wrapped up in his mind as he walked towards his room, worried about how the tournament might proceed.

So he’d been caught completely unawares when, just a few doors down from his room, a random man he’d never seen before came up saying he just wanted to ask a few questions. Percy, not comprehending, had given a grunt, and the man had taken that as confirmation. Which is how Percy found himself blocked off from proceeding, and being interviewed at a time when he really didn’t want any distractions. Great.

The man was enthusiastically questioning ‘the first son of Poseidon I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting’ as he wrote down words on a notebook, and Percy was giving the bare minimum in answers, hoping that would speed the process up. “So, what kind of magic do you use?”

“Water.”

“Splendid! And what kind of weapon do you wield?”

“A sword.”

“Ah, a classic! Alright, and what do you think of the numerous opponents you’ll be facing today.”

“Worthy. They’ll be tough to beat.” I’ll also only be fighting four of them.

“Right. I don’t believe another son of Poseidon has ever participated in this event, but here you are now! Perhaps due to a clash with your siblings? Challenging each other for the right to join?” The man’s voice trailed off on a high note, as if trying to coax an exciting answer from Percy.

Seriously? It’s so obvious what he’s trying to do. Percy just rubbed the back of his neck, “Nah. Nothing like that. I just wanted to come this year, and they didn’t.”

“Right, right,” the man muttered as he scribbled down some notes. “So then you had reasons to join this year. Are there any in particular you’d be willing to share?”

Percy shrugged, “The normal reasons, I guess. It’s a chance to meet up with friends, test myself, and eventually win.”

“Understood. So, you plan to win. Alright. Then do you already know what you’re planning on asking our great King Zeus for?”

“Yep,” Percy nonchalantly replied. And then he blinked. Crap.

The man leaned forward in response, “You do? How wonderful! Would you be willing to let me know what that is? I’m just very curious, is all.”

Percy could immediately tell from the look in his eye that the man wasn’t going to take ‘no’ for an answer. Great. I definitely can’t tell the truth. That’s off the table. I have to lie, I guess. But what sounds plausible enough, considering I’ve never joined before? What makes sense?

Percy had just opened his mouth to spew some made-up, hastily formed reason when a voice called loudly down the corridor, “There you are!!!” He turned toward the voice with a grin. Ah, my knight in shining armor. But the grin disappeared when he got the chance to take in Annabeth’s appearance. She looked furious as she stomped up to them, curly blond hair bouncing in tandem with her steps. “I’ve been looking all over you. Don’t think I forgot what you said last time we visited your palace!” She said as she pointed at him. What’s going on?? Did I do something?

He only got a clue once he noticed a shift in Annabeth’s expression. Her mouth was trembling. Anyone who had only just met her would assume, due to her very convincing outraged expression, that it was simply out of sheer anger. But Percy knew her way more than enough to conclude, She’s trying not to laugh. She’s bailing me out.

Annabeth turned to the man with a much more polite expression, who in turn looked dumbfounded at what was occurring. “I’m terribly sorry. I’m sure what you’re doing is very important, but I simply have to have a few words with our prince here. Could I steal him away from you?”

“O-of course,” The man stuttered, more out of fear than anything. “Go-o right ahead.” Annabeth nodded politely before spinning around to clamp onto Percy’s arm with an iron grip. She started marching down the hall, making a few turns in the opposite direction of Percy’s room, but he didn’t mind. He’d follow her anywhere.

Finally, she opened up a random door, and once certain it was unoccupied, dragged them inside. She immediately locked the door behind them, before turning to face him. The two of them stared at each other for one second… two… three… before bursting out laughing. “Oooh, man!” Percy started. “Did you see his face? That was amazing!”

“Right!?” Annabeth laughed in response. “He might be the only person we’ve ever managed to convince we hate each other!”

Percy thought of something else and started laughing even harder. “Wait a minute. Can you imagine what his face would look like if I win? Zeus is gonna ask me what I want, and I’ll tell him, ‘Yes, I would like to marry the girl who looked at me like I was dirt on her shoe.’ He would be so confused!”

“You’re right!” Annabeth giggled. “Aw, I wish we would be able to see it.”

The two kept on laughing for a long while. Somewhere along the way, they ended up in a hug, clutching onto each other. Finally, once the hilarity died down, Percy wiped a tear from his eye and asked, “Not that it’s not great to see you, but what are you doing here? I’m super grateful you got me out of that, but the tournament’s already begun.”

Annabeth shrugged, “I know we agreed not to, but I wanted to see you one more time to wish you good luck. So I told my mother I had something I forgot and snuck off.”

Percy hugged her again, because he had to. “Thanks, Wise Girl. I appreciate it.” Annabeth nodded against him, and the two let the moment sit. It felt good not to think about anything else. Eventually though, they had to break away. Percy looked around the room they had found themselves in, and he locked onto his target. “Ah, there it is.”

In a corner of the room was a floating graph composed of light, displaying the tournament matches for the first round. Percy grimaced as he noticed the first one, the one that had to be already underway. Nico and Luke, huh? Good luck little cousin. You’ll need it.

Annabeth murmured next to him, “Well, that’s a surprise.”

“What’s up?” Percy asked. Annabeth pointed to the very last match of the round. And looking at it, Percy’s eyebrows did indeed raise in surprise. Me against Leo. The guy’s no slouch, but that seems… just a tad unfair.

He turned to face Annabeth, who was clearly considering what it meant. After a few minutes of silence, she gave her verdict. “It’s possible that it was just a random result. That is how the matches are supposed to be set up. But… there is a definite possibility that Zeus wanted to ensure you’d have an easy win. He wants you to fight Jason after all. All the better if it’s after the crowd watches you both take down several opponents as proof of your strength.”

Percy just let out a sigh and wrapped his arms back around Annabeth. The tournament had just begun and he was already tired. So he couldn’t help himself as he asked, “Stay a while?”

He could feel the sadness in her voice as she pointed out, “I can’t, Seaweed Brain. If I take too long Mother will definitely get suspicious.”

“Just for a couple of matches?” Percy asked. He knew he was begging, but he also wanted as much time with her as he could possibly get before his own match began.

Annabeth sighed as she melted into him. “Fine. But only for a couple.”

She stayed for three matches. Neither of them pointed it out.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Percy grunted as he bent down to get in one last stretch. I should be ready. Probably. Rising back up, he turned to face the gate that would lead to his fate. The light streaming in from beyond it was currently the only source of light he had as he waited. The arena was currently being cleaned from the last fight, but soon enough, he was going to be called in. Even from here, he could hear the unending chatter of the spectators, all of whom were looking forward to another exciting match.

After another few minutes, he heard the announcement. “People of Olympios! The time of waiting is over! The final participants of Round One will now walk into the Arena!”

The volume of the crowd soared in response. A guard who was standing by the exit back into the colosseum muttered, “That’s your cue” as if Percy needed it. He strode out into the light with a resigned, “Right.”

The arena itself was rather plain. It was just one large circle, with sand for flooring. The walls were a little bit nicer. They were made out of simple stone brick, but they had banners with the symbols of all three kingdoms on them. At the very least, those looked nice.

King Zeus was introducing both Percy and his opponent up above, but Percy focused on the person walking towards him instead. He felt less bothered by the crowd’s stares that way. Leo waved both of his arms as a greeting. “Hey there, Water Boy! Ready to get fried?”

“Leo, please. I have asked you not to call me that so many times.”

The boy just shrugged. “Alright, fine.” And then his eyes lit up. “Oooh, but if I win the match, I get to call you that for the next three months.”

Percy shook his head in amusement, and decided to humor the shorter boy. He couldn’t help himself. “Sure. And what about if I win?”

Leo tapped his finger against his chin in thought, seriously thinking about it. After a moment, he slammed his fist down on an open palm. “I got it! You can call me Flamebrain for three months!”

“I’m… not going to do that.”

“Your loss man.”

The boys heard the sound of a throat clearing above them, and both faced up. Zeus looked down on them as he asked, “Are you both ready?” When he received nods in response, Zeus clapped his hands, producing a boom that silenced the crowd. “Now, then. Our final competitors! Begin!”

Leo raised his arms, clearly about to cast his magic, before something surprised him into stopping. “Wait a second. Where’s your sword, Percy?”

Percy sighed, “Leo, I’m not about to bring out a blade on someone who doesn’t have weapon.”

Leo’s response was to shrug with a grin. “Fine by me. That just means I’ve got a better chance of winning.” And then the boy caught fire. Flames burst all across his body, licking up his arms and chest. “Now, it’s time for you to get grilled. Regulus… FLARE!!” With that final declaration, fire burst forth from his hands, shooting right towards Percy.

Percy dodged out of the way just in time. He could feel the heat from the fireball as it streaked past him. He couldn’t really focus on the attack though, because… “You named your attacks?!”

Leo laughed, “Of course I did! It’s so much more fun that way!” He threw another fireball with a gleeful smile. When Percy dodged that one too, the boy’s grin widened. He put his hands together as called out, “Dodge this! Regulus… Blast!”

What the hell? Percy watched as a beam shot out of Leo’s hands. I’ve gotta block it. He reached out with both of his hands, and brought together moisture in the air, forming a shield. Leo’s attack hit it and sizzled, unable to penetrate it. Just when Percy was starting to try to formulate a way to get past it, he heard Leo’s voice. “Don’t think it’ll be that easy!”

The heat he could feel on his back was the only indication of what was about to happen. Percy twisted, and threw up his left hand, forming another shield just in time to stop it from reaching him. So he can curve his flames now?! He called out to the living flamethrower he was currently fighting, “You’ve gotten stronger!”

Percy could hear Leo’s chuckle in response. “Oh yeah, just you wait! I’m just getting started!” With that, both beams fizzled out. Percy unsurely lowered his shields, before gaping at what Leo had up his sleeve next.

The flames surrounding the boy were all coming together above his head to form a single, massive fireball. It looked more like a miniature sun than a ball of flames. I definitely can’t dodge that. Leo’s grin stretched into gremlin territory as he shouted, “Regulus! Nova!”

A simple shield wasn’t going to hold this back. Instead, he brought all of the liquid together to form a protective dome around himself. The fireball crashed into it, and Percy used every ounce of concentration he could muster to stop his defense from evaporating.

As the two magics clashed, Percy considered how to proceed. All I’ve done is be on the defensive, blocking Leo’s attacks. His magic comes from within himself, while mine has to be drawn in from my surroundings. That means his attacks are always going to be faster. I can’t out-speed him. So I need to stop him from making attacks in the first place. His flames can’t pierce my water. That’s where I’ll start.

Now that he had a game plan, Percy waited for Leo’s last attack to sizzle out. It didn’t take too much longer. When he knew he wasn’t in danger of being scorched, Percy released the dome surrounding him. Steam permeated the arena, but he could see Leo on the other side. The boy was panting with his hands on his knees, but his smile was intact. “Man, I thought that was going to be it. I threw so much into that attack.”

“It was definitely close,” Percy let him know. “I had to put in a lot of effort just to stop all of my water from burning up.”

Leo’s grin grew at that, glad to hear his attack had been a substantial one. Then he raised himself up with a shout. “Don’t think I’m done yet!” Raising his arms, he blasted two more pillars of fire.

Percy was ready this time. With just one hand, he was able to form a shield large enough to defend him from both beams. Good. He’s used both of his hands. I don’t have to worry about any curving blasts. With his free hand, Percy started concentrating on bringing together water in a different area: right above Leo.

With his concentration split, it was slow work. He had to form a ball of water large enough to completely drench a boy who was on fire. Not the easiest of tasks, especially when he’s holding off two different attacks. His saving grace was the fact that Leo was also clearly struggling to hold together his attacks. While Leo’s abilities came from within, Percy’s abilities came from his surrounding, so he expended much less energy using them than Leo did.

Eventually, Leo tired out, unable to keep up his beams, and they fizzled out. “Man,” he huffed as he raised himself up, “you are tough!” While the boy was clearly drained, the flames on his body burned as bright as ever.

Percy smiled as he responded, “Why, thank you. You didn’t do too bad yourself.” And right before Leo could thank him for the praise, he brought down the ball of water he’d been able to sneakily form over the boy’s head. Leo let out a shout of surprise as he fell over, crushed by the water.

When he managed to pull himself back up, the flames had died down. Leo was drenched. He stared at Percy, before shaking his head. “How, did I not notice that?” He raised his hands to dry himself off, but no flames burst forth. It wasn’t for a lack of energy. With how wet he was, he just couldn’t produce any more flames. He turned an incredulous gaze towards Percy. “You… you waterlogged me! How the hell did you do that?!”

Percy just shrugged with a grin. “I concentrated. Anyways, you’ve lost your only means of offense Leo. Plus, you’re soaked with an element I am very capable of manipulating.” He pointed out with a raised arm. “So. How do we proceed?”

Leo got what he meant pretty quickly. He chuckled, still amazed he had been waterlogged, of all things, and turned to look at Zeus. “I can’t keep fighting, so I’m giving up!” A cheer rose across the crowd for the conclusion of the match, and Zeus accepted the surrender with a nod.

“The winner of the match is Prince Perseus, Son of Poseidon!” He turned back down to face the two tired boys. “Go to the room through the gate under the balcony of Apollo,” he instructed. “There, you will be taken care of by the healers.” With a nod, the two trudged off.

When they finally reached it, the duo found a room that was smaller than most of the guest rooms within the colosseum. It had two benches, a sink with a cabinet below and above, a fireplace, and a door leading back into the depths of the Colosseum. Right when the two sat down on benches, the door swung open, and two familiar people walked through. Percy blinked, feeling a very strong sense of Deja vu. “What are you guys doing here?”

His mother smiled at him from behind an armful of towels. "I had Poseidon pull a couple of strings for me. I will be healing you and whoever your opponent is whenever you have a match. And Grover will be helping me.” Grover nodded dutifully beside her as Percy absorbed the information. Not what I expected, but it’s nice to see them. Sally held her hand up, and a soft white glow began to emit from it. “I watched the match, so I believe I know the answer. But just in case, are either of you injured?” When both boys shook their heads, she nodded and lowered her arms. “Alright then. Leo, here are some towels.”

Leo gratefully took them, and started patting his head to basically no effect. There was just too much water. Percy suddenly remembered he was the cause of Leo current plight. “Oh, right. Here, let me.” With a simple raise of his arms, he was able to siphon off all of the water that clung to the drowned boy, and sent it into the sink with a flick of the wrist.

“Thanks, man.” Leo sighed. “I’ve never felt so heavy! And so tired too. That took a lot out of me.”

“I was watching the match the entire time. I was very impressed by both of you. It’s always nice to see the younger generation honing their talents.”

Leo chuckled a little bit with a large grin. “Thanks, Miss Sally.” Percy smiled at seeing just how much respect the other boy held for his mother. Amongst the children of the council, Sally was a little bit a of legend just because of how good of a parent and mother she was.

Grover studied them both a little before asking, “Just to be on the safe side. You’re both fine?” He got more nods in response. “Alright, then I guess you guys are cleared to leave. Leo, you have to go to the room where all of the defeated champions are staying. It’s on the second floor and to the right. Percy, you’ve got thirty minutes of freedom until the next round starts. Then it’ll just depend on when your next match takes place.”

Right as finished saying that, a noise passed through the entire colosseum, before Zeus’ voice followed. “Attention participants and attendees. The next matchups are currently being decided.” The four people currently occupying the medical room all turned to face the graph floating in a corner of the room. It depicted those who had fallen, and those who had won. And then, the names of the victors began being scrambled, indicating the selection taking place. After half a minute, they had all settled into place.

Percy started looking for his name and found it almost immediately. I’m fighting in the last match again. And my opponent is… Percy groaned when he saw who it was.

“What’s up?” Grover asked from beside him. When he saw what he was looking at, he winced. “Ooooooh.” The final match of the second round was between Prince Perseus, Son of Poseidon, and Lady Clarisse, Daughter of Ares.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Percy was stuck. He had no clue how he was going to beat Clarisse. The girl boasted both a fierce weapon and a powerful magic ability. While it had taken him just a few minutes to develop a strategy that would, theoretically, deal with the problem her weapon posed, he had no idea how he was supposed to get past her magic. It was specifically designed to be an impassible ability. No matter how much he ransacked his brain for an answer, he couldn’t figure out the solution. I need a distraction, he decided.

Lo and behold, a distraction presented itself to him in the form of a short boy with black hair who was clearly wandering around aimlessly. Percy hurried forward to catch up. “Hey! Nico!” he called out with a grin.

The boy in question turned around, and when his eyes settled on Percy, a small smile made its way onto his face. “Percy, hey. I heard you won your fight. Congrats.”

“Thanks, man.” Percy then grimaced, remembering what he’d seen on the board depicting the matches. “I saw the result of your match with Luke. It didn’t go well?”

Nico shook his head. “Nope. I couldn’t touch him. Or stop him, for that matter.”

Percy blinked, confused. “What about those barriers you were talking about? You said they reflected magic, so I doubt a sword would be able to cut through it.”

“No, see, his sword wasn’t the problem,” Nico explained. After considering for a moment, he continued, “Actually, that’s not true. His swordsmanship was just as scary as ever. But it wasn’t the biggest problem. The issue lies with his damn shoes.”

Percy tilted his head back, trying to figure out what Nico meant. After a moment, he vaguely remembered something from the last conversation he’d had with Luke years ago. “You mean, the winged ones he got from his dad?”

“Yeah, those,” Nico huffed, “He too good at using them. When he does, he’s so fast it’s pretty much impossible to tell where he is. Barriers don’t really do much good when he can just fly over them and get to me before they’re even fully raised. His biggest strength is easily his speed, and how hard he is to track down when he uses it.”

Percy nodded, considering. If I have to fight him, how am I supposed to beat that? Fortunately, an idea came to him rather quickly. Unfortunately, it was one he only let himself consider for a few seconds before dismissing it. Yeah, no. I shouldn’t use that. I can’t. A silence took over for a minute before Nico asked, “So. You’re fighting against Clarisse next round.”

And suddenly, Percy was pulled from one problem to solve straight into the other. He rubbed the back of his neck with a sigh. “Yep, although I have no idea how I’m going to pull it off.”

“I’m sure you’ll think of something,” Nico reassured him, which made Percy smile. It was always nice seeing Nico show that he cared. The boy continued on as he looked up at the ceiling in thought, “I know you, Luke, and Clarisse. Who are the other people who made it to the next round?”

Percy raised his fingers to count as he tried to remember the names he’d seen on the graph. “There were sixteen of us in the beginning, right? So that means eight people moved on.” He started counting on his fingers, “Me, Clarisse, Luke, Hazel, Jason, Frank, Piper, and Lee. That sounds right.”

“Alright,” Nico nodded as he absorbed the info. “So that means…” He trailed off, muttering to himself, before blinking. “Oh.”

“What’s up? Something wrong?”

“Not really.” Nico told him. “I just remembered something.” He stretched out just a little bit before saying, “I think I’m gonna go, see where everyone is.”

Percy remembered what Grover had told Leo before. “Oh, right. There’s a room where the people who lost are supposed to stay.” Turning to look at Nico, and doing his best to not take on a condescending tone, he asked, “Your match was first right? How come you aren’t there?”

Nico shrugged. “It was boring. I left after the third person came in. Connor, I think. But since there’s really nothing to do out here, I might as well go back.”

“Try talking to people,” Percy told him with a teasing smile. “Trust me, holding an actual conversation can be pretty stimulating.”

“I’ll… think about it.” Nico huffed as he turned around to leave. As he walked down a different path, he called over his shoulder, “Good luck with Clarisse! You’ll figure something out!” Percy sighed as he started walking towards his room, wanting time to rest before his next fight. I appreciate the faith, Nico. Especially since I don’t have too much of it myself.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Percy sighed as he walked back into the arena. Here we go again. Everything looked pretty similar to the last time he’d been here, roughly forty-five minutes ago. The cheering crowd, the judging council. He was sure he could feel Annabeth’s eyes on him though, which was the single most encouraging feeling. The biggest difference between his two matches was, obviously, the person he was facing.

Clarisse stood already ready in the middle of the arena. Clearly, she’d been waiting. “There you are, punk. Ready to get pounded into the sand?” She growled as she slammed the butt of her spear into the sand. “I’ve always wanted the chance to fight you. Now that I’ve got it, I don’t plan on losing.”

Percy smirked. “Feeling’s mutual Clarisse. I’m afraid I’m going to be walking away with the win today.” Clarisse grinned, clearly looking forward to the challenge Percy was giving. Her grip tightened around her spear, and Percy watched as a burst of red electricity ran up and down the pole.

Right. That’s something I’m going to have to deal with. Clarisse’s spear was something she’d won in the last tournament Zeus hosted two years ago. It was quite obvious with just how confidently she held it that she had completely mastered the weapon. Anything that touched it that wasn’t her would suffer a shock that could potentially numb an entire limb. Which meant Percy was going to need both a weapon of his own and a way to deal with the electricity.

Reaching inside of his pocket, Percy pulled out a gift he’d gotten from his father on his twelfth birthday. It was a quill, strangely colored green-blue. Holding it firmly within his hand, he whispered his treasured weapon’s name, “Anaklusmos.” And suddenly, he held one of the mightiest blades that had ever been crafted. Forged with celestial bronze, the most precious material found in Olympios, the sword still shined as brilliantly as it did the day he received it.

He could hear a rise in the level of noise emanating from the crowd in reaction to the sudden appearance of his favored weapon, but he ignored it in favor of holding his sword up horizontally. Time to see if this works. He ran his free hand along the flat side of the blade lengthwise, concentrating. Slowly, a film of water formed around the blade, completely encasing it from the hilt up. Experimentally, he waved the sword, and the water followed along, keeping the blade submerged the entire time. He smirked. Good.

Clarisse, blinked, staring at what Percy had done. She was trying to figure out his plan. After moments, she nodded and whistled appreciatively. “Well, would you look at that? You really aren’t as dumb as you look. That won’t be enough to win, but I suppose it’s a start.”

Percy cursed within his mind. She already figured it out. That’s not really a problem, but I would’ve liked the chance to surprise her. The truth was, Percy wrapping up his sword in water wasn’t meant to be an offensive technique, but a defensive countermeasure. I just hope it works.

“Fighters!” Zeus’ voice called down from above. “Are you ready?”

“Of course!” Clarisse said as she again smashed her weapon into the sand. Percy just nodded, mentally preparing himself.

Zeus took in both affirmations, and raised his hands, “Then let the final match of the second round, begin!”

Percy made the first move. He couldn’t afford immediately being on the defensive. So he swung his blade to the left, and Clarisse raised her spear to block it. When the two weapons met, Percy focused. Now. It has to work. He watched as small bolts of electricity made their way onto his sword. When they connected with the water, Percy jumped back, disconnecting the weapons, and concentrated.

The electricity was still thrumming through the water surrounding the blade. It was a simple matter of focusing it all in one spot, and then letting a single drop of water fall into the sand, carrying the red bolts with it. The electricity was safely discharged into the ground without ever touching Percy. Good. As long as I can keep my focus, I’ve effectively neutralized her weapon’s worst aspect. Well, it can still injure me if it hits my skin. I guess I’ll just have to make sure I don’t get hit. He and Clarisse watched each other as they circled around, waiting for the other’s next move. Now, how the hell do I take care of her magic? He raised his sword. I don’t know, but I won’t figure it out just waiting around! He charged forward again.

Clarisse was ready for him, of course. His weapon now swung in from the left, which she effortlessly blocked again. So he brought down his blade from above. This too, her own weapon caught. Both times his attack was blocked, Percy safely got rid of the electricity. Unfortunately, he wasn’t making any progress on the beating-Clarisse-department. “Come on Prissy!” She smirked, “If that’s all you got, this won't even be a warmup!” As she finished her taunt, Clarisse pushed back, and Percy lost his balance. He fell to the ground, looking back up to see Clarisse with her spear raised over her head. With a roll, he managed to barely avoid being skewered as the warrior thrust her spear into the sand.

As he came back up, Percy took the opening to slash at her arm. But while his blade definitely made contact with her arm, no visible injury appeared on Clarisse. And there it is. Percy jumped back again, mind running a mile a minute. He had to come up with a way to beat her ability. Clarisse’s magic was, in the simplest terms, Damage Absorption. Anytime she took a hit that would injure her, she could carry on without being physically affected. With her weapon and that form of magic, she was essentially designed to be the ultimate warrior in long, grueling combat with several enemies. There were of course limits to this. A major enough attack, such as loping off her arm, could not be prevented. But in a duel like this, that was obviously off the table.

I know if she takes enough minor damage in a short period of time, eventually, it will start affecting her again. Percy ducked as Clarisse swung her spear towards his head. The problem is, I have no idea how much more it’ll take to get her there. And in the meantime, any damage I take will be far more-. His train of thought cut off as he realized Clarisse was going on the offensive.

“Gah!” He exclaimed as he jerked his head to the side. He could feel Clarisse's spear just barely graze the side of his cheek, and he had to hold back a wince as he felt the shock flow through him. Focus! He backed up quickly, dodging and batting away the myriad of stabs Clarisse sent his way. It was hard to come up with a plan to beat her when every block he made required using some of his concentration to safely siphon away the electricity.

Hopping to the side of one attack, Percy slashed at her left shoulder. Nothing. Which Clarisse pointed out as she gleefully roared, “That won’t work on me!” She charged forth, aiming a jab right at Percy's stomach. He grabbed the top of his own blade to raise the sword horizontally in a two-handed block, stopping the spear in it’s tracks. “What’s wrong, your Highness?!” Clarisse questioned with a manic grin. “Is this too much trouble for you!?”

Percy grit his teeth. “As a matter of fact…” Rather than continue talking, he let his actions speak instead. Twisting his hands so the flat side of the blade faced upwards, he pushed with all he had, temporarily startling Clarisse. He took advantage of it and brought his sword down across her body. Still, nothing! What’s it going to take?!

He jumped back again to put some distance between him and the warrior girl. So, is it just impossible? I just can’t damage her. How can I beat her?? Think. What do I have right now? My weapon, and the air around me. With this open area, that’s pretty much it. Percy grit his teeth, before an idea occurred to him. But the same applies to her… All she has is her own weapon. How can I use that?

The answer to that question quite literally almost skewered him. Clarisse jabbed her spear right at his face, and Percy barely managed to move his head back in time. But as he did, he noticed something about the point right in front of him that made his eyes widen. The point of her spear… It’s nicked. It’s been damaged.

Percy continued to back up, defending himself from Clarisse’s attacks as much as possible. As he did, his mind was sent into overdrive, trying to comprehend what he just saw. Her weapon, created with Celestial Bronze, was damaged? Now that he was looking more carefully, he noticed that that wasn’t all. There were several dents and nicks along the shaft of the spear, likely from using it to block incoming attacks. I might’ve made a couple of those myself. But I don’t understand. I’ve had my sword for seven years now, and it’s in perfect condition. How is her weapon, which she’s only had for two years, more damaged than my own?

As he leapt over a swing meant to knock him over, it all finally clicked in Percy’s mind. Is it because the metal used to forge it wasn’t completely pure? That’d make sense. After all, she got the weapon by asking for it from Zeus. He’d never want to use the highest quality metal for someone who isn’t a royal. He must’ve had Hephaestus cut corners making it! Which means… Percy grinned. Which means I have a chance!

He needed to switch their positions in the battle first. He’d been on the defensive for too long. So the second a lull in their battle took place, Percy used. Charging forth, he began swinging his sword as hard as he can. Clarisse, surprised by the sudden shift, started repeatedly using her spear to block his swings.

This is it! Be careful! Swing at Clarisse, but hit her spear! Percy kept up the pressure. He could see it taking a toll on Clarisse, who was obviously getting very annoyed at being the one on the ropes. But the target wasn’t her anymore.

When Percy figured he’d done enough damage hammering away at the spear, he pulled back just a little. Now, bait the attack. He moved forward again, but swung with an arc that went just a bit too wide. If Clarisse had had her wits about her, she might have seen the trap for what it was. Unfortunately for her, all she saw was an opening. “I’ve got you!” She shouted as she jabbed the spear at Percy’s side.

Percy just barely dodged, but the spear still sliced into his side. The boy grimaced, as he could feel his side being numbed by the shock. Endure it. This is the moment! Percy reached out, and with his left hand, grabbed the electric spear. Now! Before you lose all feeling, it has to be now! Percy swung down with his right arm, putting all the power he had into breaking the spear. Clarisse watched, dumbfounded, as the boy took a swing not towards her, but towards her weapon. “What are y-?!”

SNAP.

Right along where Percy hit it, the spear shattered. Clarisse stared, openmouthed, at what had been done to her weapon. Percy held the end with the point, while she held what was essentially a slightly pointy stick. Percy didn’t stop there though. He twisted his body as hard as he could, and his end of the spear, which had been stuck in his completely numb hand, went flying all the way towards the edge of the area. That was when Clarisse got her wits back. “You damn idiot! What the hell do you-?!”

She was cut off for the second time when Percy held up his blade, no longer covered in water, up to her neck. “I win Clarisse. Your weapon’s been destroyed, and without the electricity, that broken end won’t do you much good. I’m not gonna let you get to the other half. So, admit defeat.”

Unsurprisingly, the girl glared at him for several long seconds. She was clearly considering her options. Finally, she huffed, and turned up to face the balcony to announce, “I submit.” A cheer rose up amongst the crowd, but Percy wasn’t paying attention to any of them. The second his body realized the fight was over, it started feeling like he’d been trampled. He didn’t even stick around to hear Zeus announce the end of the second round, or Percy’s victory. He just started limping towards the healer’s room, with Clarisse right behind him.

The sight that actually convinced him he was really going to get to rest for a minute was his mother’s smiling face. “There you are, dears. Well done. That was quite a thrilling match!”

“Thanks, mom.” Percy almost laughed when he heard Clarisse also mutter a thank you for the praise. The wildest amongst them, and even she respected Sally. He slowly trudged up to one of the benches, and laid down across it. “Hey, mom? Could you do the healing thing?”

His mother gave him a smile as she said, “Of course, Percy.” Her hand started glowing with a white light, and she held it right above Percy’s body and began to run it up and down. Percy sighed as he felt feeling return to wherever he’d been shocked, and as the cuts across his body began to close up.

“That feel’s good.” he said with a sigh, letting his eyes close.

Sally rubbed his forehead before turning to Clarisse. “And what about you? Any injuries I need to take care of?”

The girl shook her head. “Nah, my magic took care of those. The real damage was to my spear,” she then shot an angry glare at Percy, “Which by the way, I have not forgiven you for.” When Percy sat up to look at her, she huffed before continuing, “And I will only forgive you on two conditions.”

I can deal with that. “And those are?”

“Number one, you better win this thing. I’m not going to tolerate losing to someone who wasn’t declared the champion.”

Percy nodded. “I was already planning on doing that. Sure. What about the other one?”

Clarisse sent him a look he couldn’t decipher. After a few moments of silence, she got off her bench and said, “You better take care of Princess. As annoying as she is, if I hear you hurt her, I will hunt you down.”

Percy stared at her, floored. Even Clarisse knows!? WHYYYY?! The silence as he tried to collect himself was only interrupted by his mother’s snickering, which was not helping. Finally, he settled for crossing his arms and looking away. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Clarisse snorted. “Please. Every single time there’s a meet-up for the council, all you to ever do is make doe eyes at each other. It’s disgusting. And it’s happened every. Single. Time.” And with that declaration, she walked out of the room.

Percy stared after her for a moment, before turning to face his mother, who was still snickering. “What?!” He demanded, wishing she’d say something.

Before Sally could reply, the door burst open, and Grover walked in with a drink in hand. “Hey, Perce! I’ve got refreshments!”

Percy sighed as he took the glass from him, only now realizing how parched his throat felt. “Thanks, man. You’re a real lifesaver.”

Grover shot him a thumbs up, and everything was quiet as Percy took in the peace of the moment. Once he handed back the drink, Grover gave a proud smile. “Congrats, by the way. You’ve officially made it into the semi-finals!”

Percy blinked. “Oh, that’s right. Only four of us would be moving on.” He turned to face his mother and ask, “Who else made it?”

“The victors were Jason, Hazel, Luke, and you.”

Percy considered in his head. I’m still gonna have to fight two of them, right? Before he could continue thinking about it, Zeus’ voice interrupted him. “Attention participants and attendees. The matchups for the semi-final round are currently being decided.” Everyone turned to look, once again, at the graph floating in a corner of the room.

As he watched the names be scrambled he continued his line of thought. Honestly… as much as I genuinely adore Hazel, I hope she’s my opponent next. I don’t think I can take that many more stressful fights. Right as he finished thinking that, the names settled. Percy found his name… and dropped his head into his hands. God. Dammit.

Chapter Text

Striding into the arena and feeling the gazes of a very watchful audience was no more fun the third time. But Percy held in his annoyance. It wouldn’t do to have the Prince of Atlantis shout at the King of Olympios how much of a pain he was being. Although, and despite his best efforts, he couldn’t hold in an eye-roll as he heard Zeus dramatically introduce both him and Jason to the crowd as if they were both appearing for the first time that day. I wish. He also announced it was the second-to-last match of the entire tournament. Thank god. I don’t know how much more of this I can handle.

Jason was in front of him, walking towards him from the gate with a grimace already on his face and his sword in hand. That’ll be a nice break from all the jabs from the last fight. The two stopped ten feet away from each other, and Percy took notice of the other boy’s expression. He laughed just a little bit to himself as he asked, “You had to fight Piper, right? I assume it didn’t go well?”

Jason gave a sigh. “Yep. It sucked. Thanks for reminding me.” Percy was about to let him know that it was ‘No problem,’ but Jason kept speaking before he could. “Also, I’m sorry about what my dad’s about to pull.” Percy blinked. Oh great. More of Zeus’ BS.

Percy turned upwards just in time to watch the man himself stand up and clear his throat. He then proclaimed in a confident tone, “As a reminder to the citizens of Olympios! All participants are allowed to use whatever tools are at their disposal to full advantage in order to secure a win.” The king then sat back down, offering no more of an explanation. And as the spectators burst into whimpers, Percy turned to Jason with a raised eyebrow.

Jason’s response was to slap his forehead and slowly drag his hand down his face. But as he did that, he raised his free hand and snapped. Percy was instantly on guard, but what happened next surprised him. All of a sudden, he grew cold. And he clearly wasn’t the only one. Many people within the crowd were shivering. Jason didn’t react, however. Curiously, he looked as though he had expected it.

The air temperature dropping wasn’t the only change. Besides the blond boy, something else was taking place. Are the winds… converging? All around, the winds were spinning into the spot beside Jason. Slowly at first, but quickly gaining speed. Then, with a flash, all that power was expelled outwards. And the two princes were no longer the only beings occupying the arena floor.

Murmurs resounded around the arena as they took in the sight before them. Floating next to Jason was an entity most of them had never seen before. It took quite a curious appearance. The beast seemingly had no corporeal form. Instead, it was a being made up of storm clouds, which raged quite fiercely within it if the lightning that flashed was any indication. It wasn’t entirely without shape though. While the back of it was mere wisps, the front had both the legs and head of a horse.

Percy stared at the storm spirit, trying to comprehend what he was seeing. And then he remembered Zeus’ words, spoken not thirty seconds ago. All participants are allowed to use whatever tools are at their disposal to full advantage in order to secure a win. The answer came to him in a flash. He wants Jason to fight me on horseback, huh? Percy faced up towards the king, who was looking very pleased with the turn of events. Funnily enough, the seat next to him was a somewhat similar story. While Zeus was looking openly proud of the twist he had pulled, Poseidon was hiding his mouth behind his hand. It was the small jerking motions he was making that gave him away. Dad’s chuckling. He knows exactly what’s about to happen.

Percy smirked as he turned back down to look at Jason, who already had a tired expression on. “So, your dad wants you to duel me on a mount, while I have to run around on my lonesome. Guess we’ll just have to give him what he-”

“Nope.” Jason interrupted, looking very much done with the whole charade. “I tried to tell him it wouldn’t matter, but he didn’t listen. Hurry it up, bring him in already.”

Percy just shrugged. “If you say so.” He raised his head towards the sky, lifted his fingers to his mouth, and blew. The whistle he produced echoed around the arena and far beyond it, silencing both the whispers of the audience and Zeus himself, who had been about to declare the beginning of the match. The monarch opened his mouth in question, but Percy interrupted him. “Give it a minute,” he requested.

The crowd watched in anticipation. For a few moments, nothing changed. No spectacular display of their world’s magic happened. People gazed around, wondering if the whistle was a dud. But without warning, a new sound suddenly filled in the quiet. Wingbeats. People gasped, both in awe and surprise as a new creature slowly made its way down into the Colosseum.

When it reached the bottom, the pitch-black pegasus landed very softly before trotting up to the prince who’d summoned it. It was truly a thing of beauty. A mighty stallion with wings the size of a man, and in a color that made it stand out from every other creature that the kingdom its home. It looked wild and untamed, prancing about without even any reins attached. The only sign that it wasn’t truly free was the saddle on its back.

Percy raised his hand to rest it on his horse’s head as it reached him. “Hey there Blackjack. Would you mind lending me a helping hoof? I’ve got a big juicy apple that has your name on it if you do.” Blackjack answered with a proud neigh, and Percy grinned.

Up on his balcony, Zeus was spluttering, “N-now, hang on just a moment there!”

His brother stopped him before he could go on. “Now now, dear brother. What was it you said not a moment ago?” Poseidon had a twinkle in his eye as he continued, “Ah, yes. ‘All participants are allowed to use whatever tools are at their disposal to full advantage in order to secure a win.’ I see no problem with this turn of events. Do you?”

Zeus stared at his brother incredulously. Finally, he slunk back into his throne with crossed arms. “No, I suppose I don’t.” Having fully given up on the dramatics, the grumpy king simply announced, “Begin!”

Percy and Jason gave each one last nod before turning to get up on their respective mount. Once he was secured onto Blackjack’s back, Percy pulled out Anaklusmos. In front of him, Jason similarly shifted himself to feel comfortable on top of the storm spirit. Interestingly, the two steeds eyed each other and started… communicating. Neighs and snorts filled the air. Eventually, Jason's mount reared up, and let out an angry whine. Blackjack pawed at the ground in response and gave a decisive snort.

The princes stared at each other for a moment, before both producing slightly feral grins. Suddenly, there was no longer a cheering audience, a watchful council, or an enticing prize in either of the boys’ minds. There was just the two of them, and the beasts they had tamed. “Well, it seems they're ready to roll.” Percy pointed out. And as Blackjack’s wings furled out, he shouted, “So let’s go!” The two creatures lifted off the ground, and charged.

They met right in the middle of the arena, with Percy and Jason’s swords coming together in a furious clash. Both princes grit their teeth, pushing as hard as they could, before rushing past one another. They swerved back around to face each other, narrowly avoiding the walls surrounding them. “Again!” Percy commanded, and the pegasus dashed forward. But the end result wasn’t going to be the same. As they approached their opponents, Percy used the arm he had gripped onto Blackjack’s neck to signal what he wanted. And the pegasus unhesitatingly responded.

Right before they reached each other, Blackjack gave another beat of his wings, lifting the duo above Jason. And as they passed above, Percy swung his sword down towards him, but the other boy raised his sword to catch the blow. “Damn,” Percy muttered before Blackjack swung around. But he stopped before having his pegasus charge again. Something was happening.

Before Percy’s eyes, the front of Jason’s steed stretched. Its body elongated and turned into wisps, losing the more solid half. It then proceeded to curve up, and around itself, connecting with the back half. As it started spinning, Percy blinked. What the hell? Jason’s storming horse had turned into a… a storming wheel. Jason himself was unfazed by the change. He was within the spinning wheel, but unaffected by the constant turning. He pointed his sword directly at Percy. “Charge, Tempest!”

The lightning duo took off, suddenly much faster, and began to give chase. Percy worriedly rubbed Blackjack’s neck. “Don’t let him catch up to us!” The pegasus gave a confident whine, but Percy wasn’t sure how long they could keep it up. He turned around to find Jason right on their tail. Blackjack’s tail was just barely avoiding being caught in the destructive spinning.

“You can’t run forever!” Jason called.

“Just watch me!” Percy shouted back. He was just about to call back a taunt of his own when an alarmed whine from Blackjack alerted him to pay attention. He twisted his head back around just in time to see the obstacle in front of them. “Woah! Left, Blackjack, left!” The pegasus veered to the left, but still ended up scrapping it’s right wing along the walls of the arena. They didn’t get damaged, which is nice. But that was way too close.

Percy twisted to watch Jason and his mount, who had been accelerating rather quickly. As they approached the wall, Jason grit his teeth, and right before colliding, forced the wheel to go up at a steep angle, floating directly upwards. The wheel then took a much more graceful curve back into the arena’s center.

Jason’s mount slowly unfurled, taking back it’s original form as a horse, at least at the front. Encouragingly, the storm within it was no longer as strong as it once was. So that ability drains it. Good to know. The two boys kept their eyes on each other as they slowly circled around. Finally, Percy pointed out. “You know, I’m getting the strangest feeling that this place isn’t big enough for the two of us.”

“I feel the same.” Jason grinned. “What do you say we fix that?” he asked while knowing exactly what Percy would say.

Here we go. Percy dug his hand in Blackjack’s mane and whispered, “Up. As high as we can safely go.” The pegasus gave a confident snort and started beating it’s wings harder, faster, and together they climbed up into the sky. Percy looked back down to find Jason not far behind.

They eventually leveled out, at the highest point they could risk going. While there was more space above them, Percy would very quickly start suffering from a lack of air if they tried moving around up there. The boys went back to circling each other, before Jason decided to look down. “Man, we are high up.”

Percy also took a look. From their current height, the colosseum, one of the biggest buildings to exist in Olympios, was currently a fraction of it’s normal size. Percy faced back up to look at Jason and taunt him. “What’s wrong? Are you scared, Prince of the Sky?”

Jason laughed as he swung out his blade. “In your dreams, Son of the Sea!” And then they both zoomed forward, clashing within the heavens themselves. When their weapons met this time, it was like a shockwave burst forth from force alone. Sparks erupted in between them. “Give up, Percy.” Jason breathed. “We’re in my domain now.”

To demonstrate, when the two pushed past each other, Jason raised his unoccupied arm to send forth bursts of wind to knock Percy off of his ride. Percy just grinned and made a similar motion with his hand. “Don’t think that means I’m out of options!” Clouds surrounded them, after all. It was a simple task to take the moisture within all of them and consolidate it, forming shields even sturdier than the ones he brought out against Leo. Jason’s winds battered against them with enough force to blow them away, sending scattered droplets raining down. But Percy himself was fine.

The boys grinned at each other. Fun.

The dance continued. For how long, neither of them knew. When one of them attacked with an element, the other called up their own to block it. When one of them swung their weapon to strike down their opponent, the other raised their blade to halt the attack. Both the rider and their mounts could not find an opening, an advantage to seize. But the cycle couldn’t last forever.

Eventually, Blackjack gave a tired huff. Percy rubbed his neck reassuringly. “Don’t worry, I know.” This is going on for too long. Neither of us has made progress against the other. Worse, I’m running out of clouds, but Jason’s got all the wind he could want. He watched as the other boy circled. He was also reassuring his own mount. Wait, that’s it! We’ve been targeting Jason himself, but what allows him to stay up here effortlessly is his mount. What did he call it? Tempest. Alright, so first Tempest, and then Jason.

It only took half a minute more to come up with a plan. To start, he brought together all the water he could from the rest of the clouds, just in case. Then he whispered to his pegasus, “Blackjack, we need to go up higher. We’ll divebomb them.” His steed gave a confused snort in response. “Yeah, it’s dangerous,” Percy admitted. “I won’t be able to breathe well. But it’s our best chance.” While the pegasus was clearly unsure, it trusted its rider.

They took off, aiming for even greater heights than what they’d already achieved. Jason called from beneath them, “Are you running?!”

It was already getting hard to breathe, so it would definitely be a mistake to respond. But Percy couldn’t help himself as he called back down, “You’re about to wish we did!” And with a pat on Blackjack’s neck to signal they were ready, the pegasus furled his wings, and the duo dived.

Hold on. Hold on. Percy could see tiny black dots, appearing within his vision due to both a lack of air and an overabundance of speed. Just hold on. Below them, Jason watched them uncertainly, trying to figure out what their plan was. He raised Tempest up to face the incoming projectile. Eventually, he raised his sword to block the blow he was certain would come. But right before they reached their opponents, Percy shouted “Now!” And Blackjack ducked, moving low enough that Jason was no longer in range, but Tempest was. Percy swung out Anaklusmos.

Now, usually, a normal sword would have no effect on a storm spirit. After all, they were mostly incorporeal. But Percy’s blade was anything but ordinary. When it connected to Tempest, Anaklusmos tore through the spirit’s invulnerability. The horse let out a pained whine, and Jason gave out a cry of “No!”

At the same time, Blackjack stretched out its wings to catch their fall, and Percy raised his hands and let out a cheer of “Yes!” Unfortunately, he very quickly had to stop celebrating the plan’s success when Blackjack let out a pained whine of its own. “What’s wrong?” Percy asked, panicked. He had to twist around before he saw the problem. The Pegasus’ right wing was singed. There was only one thing that could have caused that. Blackjack must have unfurled his wings too quickly, and it passed through Tempest’s body. That must have injured it.

Worse still, the injury was clearly irritable, and was getting worse the more Blackjack beat his wings to stay aloft. Pretty quickly, they were going to end up lopsided and no longer able to stay up in the air safely. Percy glanced up to watch what Jason’s next move was going to be. The boy was also inspecting his horse’s condition. After assessing how much damage had been done, he turned to look down at Percy. “As fun as this has been, I don’t want to continue with our mounts hurt like this.”

Percy nodded, “I agree. Truce until we touch back down?” When Jason nodded, Percy went back to rubbing his Pegasus’ neck. “You did well, Blackjack. Let’s head back to the ground now, and we’ll patch you back up once the match is over.” He got a soft snort in response.

The descent was much more smooth than the ascent had been, as neither boy wanted to risk injuring their steed further. The colosseum, and the people occupying it, slowly came back into view. I have not missed you guys. ‘Cept you Annabeth. He could see her besides Athena looking up at them with wide eyes and took advantage of the fact no one could clearly see his face to look at her for as long as possible. The spectators were whispering amongst themselves as the princes landed back on the ground. From up of his throne, Zeus called out, “Is the match over?”

“Not quite yet!” Jason shouted in response. And then he turned to face his opponent. “Sorry Percy, but it’s time I ended this.” While Percy had to take a few moments to get off of Blackjack, Jason simply slipped through Tempest’s less-than-solid form, landing on his feet no worse for wear. And in that time, he tossed his sword into the air. Percy saw it and immediately knew what was coming. I can’t dodge the strike, he thought as he hopped down. Blackjack’s right behind me. Which means I’ll just have to block it.

The weapon landed back in Jason’s hand having taken the shape of a spear instead. Jason raised the tip towards the sky, and suddenly the smell of ozone filled the area. Percy’s magic during their battle in the heavens had ensured no more clouds were above the arena, but it didn’t matter. Lightning was about to strike.

Luckily, Percy had kept hold of the water he had pulled together at the end of the airborne fight. While they had been formed into multiple shields to protect him from a blow each, just one of them would not be enough for the strike. Instead, he combined all of them together to make one large cube in front of him right as lightning glanced off of the point of Jason’s spear and directly towards him.

The ensuing blast from the two elements colliding was enough to kick up the sand and send dust flying, obscuring the two from each other. Percy started thinking as quickly as possible. Alright, alright. I’ve stopped the first bolt. I can’t let there be a second. How do I stop him? I’ve got an injured pegasus, my sword, and a giant electrocuted cube of water. He blinked. Got it! He held out his hand to manipulate the cube, and sent it forward. Percy couldn’t see what Jason was doing, but that held true for the other boy as well. As long as he doesn’t notice…

A sound of surprise let Percy know his plan was successful. He dashed through the dust cloud, and as he did, heard the sound of Jason getting shocked. Not injured. Of course his own lightning wouldn’t hurt him. But it took him by surprise. Percy made it out the other side to see exactly what he wanted. Jason had been submerged within the sparking cube almost entirely. Only his head and his right arm, flimsily holding onto his spear, were free. Jason looked at him incredulously. “Did you shock me with my own attack?”

Percy said nothing as he rushed ahead to knock the spear out of Jason’s hand. Huffing, he raised his sword to point it at Jason’s bobbing head. “Your weapon is gone and you’ve been immobilized. Submit.”

The crowd had grown quiet as Jason stared at him. Finally, he shook his head with a grin. “Darn, I thought I had that in the bag.” He raised his head to face his Zeus, who looked like he had swallowed a very sour lemon. “The match is over! I submit!”

The crowd burst into cheers, but Percy was already ignoring them as he manipulated the water to hold Jason in place. Slowly, it seeped back into the sand, carrying away the dangerous discharge. As soon as it was free, Percy slung the blond boy’s arm around his shoulder and started walking towards the healer’s room, where his mom was definitely waiting. Jason chuckled beside him. “Hell of a fight.”

“Right?” Percy agreed. “Easily the most insane duel I’ve ever had.” He twisted back briefly to look at the beings who had made their battle possible. Both of them were being led away by some of the tournament helpers, hopefully, to get rest and recover.

Jason gave him a glance from the side. “Y’know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so focused on something. You’re really trying to win, huh?”

Percy sighed. He knew what Jason was getting at. He also knew he could trust the other boy. “Yeah. I have something to fight for, after all.”

Jason nodded, before asking under his breath, “Is it actually Annabeth’s hand? Or was Leo just talking crazy again?”

Percy only gave it a moment before letting the boy know, “Leo might talk crazy a lot, but this isn’t one of those times.”

He could feel the other boy staring at him. Finally, Jason chuckled as he shook his head. “I can’t believe you two. You know, Athena is one of two people in the royal palace who freely rants about Poseidon. And you, his son, are actually trying to marry her daughter. At the very least, you’ve both got guts. It’s pretty impressive.”

“Thanks, man. I know it sounds ridiculous but… it’s what we want. We have for a while. And it’s so close now. Just one more battle, and I’m done.” Percy grinned as he said that.

Jason raised an eyebrow inquisitively. “I’m surprised you can talk about it so optimistically considering your next battle.” Percy shot the blond boy a confused look in response. Jason gave him an exasperated sigh. “You do know who you’re fighting next, right?”

Percy blinked. “Oh, right. I don’t, actually. I decided not to look at the results for the other semi-final match. I didn’t want to make myself too anxious.” Jason sent him a pitying look at that information, and Percy very easily interpreted it. He swore. Loudly.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Percy strode through the hallways, once again searching for a way to defeat his next opponent. I figured out Clarisse, he thought. So I can figure out Luke. Easier said than done though. Nico already let me know that the biggest obstacle will be Luke’s speed. The other issue is his skill with his blade. Can I match that? As he pondered, a plan was forming within Percy’s mind… which was promptly banished from his thoughts. No, dammit! I’m not doing that! But before vetoing the idea completely, he took a minute to consider it. Although, there might not be another way. Not if Luke even remotely lives up to what Nico said. With a reluctant sigh, the boy made up his mind. I’ll do it if I have to. But only if nothing else works.

Now a little more confident, Percy walked up to his room, ready to take a rest, before stopping in complete surprise. The last person he ever expected to see was currently standing in front of his door, tapping her arm in… annoyance? Impatience? Something was clearly bothering her. And as her eyes narrowed in on the boy walking up to her, Percy held in a gulp, hoping it wasn’t him. How do I approach this? A greeting first, I suppose.

Percy took in a breath, trying to calm down, before panic quickly set back in. How the hell am I supposed to greet her?? Should I bow? She is a member of the council, but I’m a member of the Royal family. Technically, I outrank her. But she’s also Annabeth’s mom so… Percy settled for giving a slight inclination of his head, “My Lady Athena. To what do I, um, owe the… surprising visit?”

The woman huffed as she studied him. After a moment of silence, Athena tilted her head and said, “I am curious.”

Percy waited for her to continue, but she didn’t elaborate, simply holding his gaze instead. Percy finally built up the courage to ask, “Curious about what?”

The woman stared. “You, obviously. I don’t understand you.”

“Oh,” Percy stared back, before questioning, “Is there… anything in particular that doesn’t make sense to you?”

Athena responded immediately, “Your motivation, of course.”

“Ah.” Percy could feel his throat drying up. “And, um, what’s so confusing about it?”

“The simple fact that you are here is a contradiction to your entire life.” Athena stated bluntly.

Percy felt himself bristle just a bit. “And what do you know about my life?”

Athena raised an eyebrow. “Plenty. You sons of Poseidon have never been particularly concerned about your image.” Before Percy could even try to counter that, the woman plowed on. “Wealth. Fame. Power. You’ve made it very clear none of these things have a hold over you. You have never displayed a desire for increasing the value of your family’s treasury. At every opportunity possible, you’ve ensured your name does not get attached to the great successes of Atlantis. And despite how easy it would have been, you did not once overshadow your elder brother and take everything he had for yourself.”

Athena’s tirade paused for a minute as she stared at him, now with an obviously uncertain look on her face. Percy, for his part, had no idea how to respond to any of that. Eventually, she continued. “All of that. Principles that you have held for your entire life, and yet I find you here. At the single greatest event to consolidate all three of those things. Taking the event by storm, even. With every victory, you prove to both your peers and the kingdoms alike that the only ones who may rival you are those who stand at the very top. Your presence and actions are in defiance of every moment I have known of you.” Athena took in a breath, before finishing, “So I ask you now, Prince Perseus of Atlantis. What motivates you? What could possibly be so important that you have turned your back on everything you’ve once held true?”

Percy stared at her, trying to come up with a response. Even if I could tell you the truth, you’d never believe me. He settled for giving a little sigh, and pointed out, “I don’t think I’m really 'acting against my values'. I simply… do whatever I want to. Whatever, in the moment, feels right to me. That’s what I’ve always done. And in this moment, it feels right to go through the tournament, no matter how annoying it may be, and win it so that I can get what I want.”

“And that is?” Athena questioned.

Percy tilted his head, thinking. “Something life-changing.”

The woman’s eyebrows shot up. “You are a prince. And as previously stated, one who does not submit to the greed of man. You seek something that can change your life further than any of those?” Percy gave a nod, and Athena’s eyebrows furrowed, clearly stumped. “I see.” With a sigh, she drew herself up. “I suppose that’s all I will be getting from you. Very well. I look forward to seeing what that is. Your next battle is the last, after all.” She strode past him. “Good luck, Prince Perseus.”

And despite how tense and worried he had felt during the entire conversation, Percy barely managed to hold in a chuckle. You wouldn’t be saying that if you had any idea as to what I wanted. Once he felt her presence truly gone, the boy let himself relax. That was terrifying. Thank god she showed up at the beginning of my break. It would suck fighting Luke right after that. He opened the door to his room and stepped inside. Percy immediately threw himself onto his bed. I’m gonna need every second of rest I can get. And then, I’m going to finally win this thing.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Aaah!” A twelve-year-old Percy shouted as he swung his practice sword towards his target. Luke simply chuckled in response as he raised his sword to block the oncoming blow. Percy didn’t let up his assault. He couldn’t. He wouldn’t. He was going to win.

The two of them were currently within Zeus’ Grand Palace, on the grounds of one of the numerous courtyards. The only other person occupying the grounds was Annabeth. She was off to the side as their sole spectator, sitting on a low wall with her head in her hands and swinging her legs as she watched the two of them go at it.

It had been Luke who suggested he teach Percy how to really sword fight when he caught the boy waving around a simple stick. Percy, in awe of the idea of getting to move so fluidly, the same way Luke did effortlessly, had instantly agreed. Which was how he found himself on the other end of Luke’s practice sword, just barely able to stop himself from going entirely on the defensive.

They hadn’t started off that way, of course. Luke had been content enough showing Percy simple forms and drills to practice. And the young boy had taken to those well enough. But after two hours of swinging at nothing but air, he got tired of it. So, his ideal solution was to challenge his mentor. “Really,” Luke asked with a raised eyebrow. “You think you can keep up?”

“Yup.” Percy declared fearlessly, “Besides, it sounds waaay more interesting than swinging at a target that’s not really there.” His other motivation was to impress Annabeth, who’d found them halfway through the session, but he wasn’t about to admit that. Luke eventually gave in, and Percy found himself very quickly regretting the bravado.

The teenager was fast. Very fast. Still, Percy was keeping up just enough that he didn’t lose in the first thirty seconds. He swung his sword, he dodged, he jabbed. But he was getting tired. He didn’t have nearly enough stamina, and yet Luke didn’t look like he had broken a sweat. Percy was grunting with every swing he made, unable to hide how much the match was taking out of him.

But right when Percy was getting ready to admit defeat, something happened. Luke’s swing went just a bit too wide. Percy’s eyes narrowed. He didn’t hesitate to take the opportunity. He jabbed his wooden sword forward so the hilts connected. And with a single twist, Luke’s hand was forced to let go of the sword, and it clattered to the ground.

Luke blinked, before raising his hands to slowly clap. “Well done,” he said with a grin.

Annabeth’s arms were raised in surprise as she exclaimed, “Woah! You actually won! That was amazing Percy!”

At any other time, the praise would’ve had him blushing, feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. But he was too busy staring at the fallen sword. Finally, he raised his gaze up to Luke and pointed an accusatory finger. “You let me win.”

To the side, he heard Annabeth let out a gasp in shock, “What, really?! But you did so well!”

“Mhm,” Percy grumbled as he crossed his arms, glaring at the blond in front of him.

To his confusion, Luke’s response was to widen his grin. “You noticed, hm?” And then he stepped forward to ruffle Percy’s hair. “That’s a good sign. It proves you have the eyes of a warrior. You’ll make a fine swordsman one day.” And Percy found all of his annoyance at being handed the win disappearing, because Luke really believed in him. In him, of all people.

Luke was about to say something else when a voice called out from the hallway leading out of the courtyard. “Ah, there you are, my boy.” It was Hermes, his father. “Zeus has summoned us. It seems he has a rather large job he needs to be done. Come along now.”

Luke sighed, before turning to Percy with an apologetic expression. “Sorry, little man. Seems I’ve gotta get going. But don’t give up training. You’ve got tons of potential. You just have to learn to harness it.”

He stepped back then, and turned to head out. He was halfway to the exit when Percy gathered enough courage to call out, “We’re going to fight again! And I’ll win next time too! All by myself! You’ll see!” The boy’s response was to lift an arm in acknowledgment. And with that, Luke was gone.

Percy huffed as he reached down to pick up Luke’s practice sword, which was a fair bit heavier than his own. As he did, Annabeth walked up and asked, “Do you think you can? Luke’s pretty strong, right?”

“He thinks I can. So I will.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Percy never got to have that rematch with Luke. By the time the boy was remotely confident enough in his abilities, the man was simply too busy with all the work keeping the kingdoms safe required. And now, the time had finally arrived. Time to put my money where my mouth is, Percy thought as he walked into the arena one final time, Anaklusmos already in hand.

The crowd’s volume had somehow reached an even higher level than before. Percy really wanted to clamp his hands over his ears, but he marched on, eyes focused on the man who was approaching him. While his own face held a focused grimace, Luke held a small, confident grin. The two met in the middle of the arena. “Well, well, well.” Luke shook his head disbelievingly as he looked at Percy. “You’ve made it, all on your own. I’m really impressed.”

“Thanks.” Percy said as he gripped his blade all the tighter. “Just to be clear, I don’t intend for my streak to end here.”

“No, I suppose you wouldn’t.” Luke nodded in acknowledgment. Percy shivered, staring up at the man. Already, he could feel whatever had plagued him the last time he had talked to Luke returning. It was as if a weight was setting itself upon his heart. I can’t let this fight drag out. I need to end it as soon as possible.

Before his thoughts could continue, a loud boom echoed out from the royal balcony. Conversations ceased as everyone turned to face Zeus, who had his hands clapped together. “And now, faithful subjects! It is time for the finale of the Grand Tournament!” A cheer went up. “Our final fighters! Prince Perseus of Atlantis, son of Poseidon! And Sir Luke, son of Hermes! Hero of Olympios!” It was very easy to tell who he wanted to win based on the emphasis he placed. “Competitors! Are you ready?” Receiving two nods, Zeus spread out his hands with a flourish, “Let the match, Begin!”

Instantly, Luke whispered a word under his breath. As Percy watched, massive wings sprung out from the man’s shoes. They slowly started beating, lifting Luke up into the air. When he was hovering two feet off the ground, he pulled out his sword. Luke looked at Percy and asked, “No hard feelings, right?” And then he disappeared.

Percy blinked. He held up his sword, getting into a defensive stance immediately. Where is he?! Percy was darting his head around, but couldn’t catch sight of the flying man. I can see glimpses, but by the time I focus on them, he’s already gone. They’re like afterimages! He raised his sword up higher. Concentrate! An attack has to be coming! Don’t let it surprise you!

Everything was silent as Percy did his best to read the attack coming. The air shifted. Now! Percy swung out his blade, and just barely deflected Luke’s attack as he zipped by. Percy could feel the man’s chuckling in response to the defense.

I deflected it! Percy huffed as his gaze started to swing around again. I deflected it, but I couldn’t stop him. He really is too fast. He was on high alert, trying to see if he could once again feel the attack before it came. He managed to stop two more blows from taking him out, but just barely. Dammit! This isn’t working! Reacting with just my instincts isn’t enough. Percy grit his teeth. I’ll have to use it, huh? Fine! But I can’t let myself get carried away.

It would be a risky move if Percy took too long, but he couldn’t afford to hesitate. Closing his eyes, he focused his mind on the world around him. He could feel the moisture in the air, always moving, ready to come together at his summon. I don’t need that. Not right now. He searched harder. He could also feel where the moisture in the air had been disturbed, mapping out the path Luke was taking. Not good enough. I need to know where he is, not where he’s been. He focused even more. There. I’ve got you.

The ability Percy was currently using, was unlike any of the ones he had used previously. It was one he hated. One he’d never shown to anyone. The only part of himself he’d hidden from Annabeth. Because Percy could control the very blood that flowed through one’s body.

The second Percy felt himself zero in on Luke’s blood, he began chanting in his head. I will not control it. I will not control it. I will not. I will not. I will not. Percy wouldn’t use his magic to control Luke’s body. He’d never forgive himself if he won that way. Instead, he would use it to sense Luke’s body. As long as Percy could keep track of him within his mind, Luke’s speed meant nothing.

Again, he focused, but this time, certain of Luke’s position. He’s gearing up for an attack… Percy’s eyes shot open. From the right! When Percy raised Anaklusmos, he didn’t simply deflect the incoming attack. He blocked it. With a clang, the blades met, and Percy’s steady eyes met Luke’s confused ones. “What?” he breathed.

“Sorry, Luke,” Percy huffed out “That won’t work on me anymore.” The man stared at him, confused, before the winged shoes sprung him backward. Too late. Now that Percy had latched on with his mind, Luke wouldn’t be able to shake him. He’s circling me. He’s looking for an opening. Fine. Let’s give him one. Percy lowered his sword and took on an unassuming stance. He could feel Luke’s momentum pause for just a moment, trying to understand Percy’s game plan. Take the bait.

It worked. Luke only went for half a circle more before thrusting forward. Here it comes! And again, Percy’s blade lifted to meet it, blocking the man’s slash. Luke’s eyes again widened in surprise, but Percy didn’t waste the opportunity. Press him! He lunged forward and swung his blade, forcing Luke on the defensive. His eyes narrowed as he recognized sneak attacks wouldn’t work.

As Percy continued onwards, the shoes his opponent wore slowly fluttered down, until they were once again on an equal level. I beat his speed, Percy thought as he swung his sword. His swordsmanship's next. The two weapons flashed as they met, an unending string of clangs sounding out through the arena.

Percy was concentrating with everything he had. His mind went right along with his blade. Jab. Slash. Slash. Block. Block. Jump. Slash. Jab. Jab. Jab. Block. Duck. Block. Don’t hesitate, Percy thought while jumping over another sweep. Not for a second. He swung his blade down, and the fight continued. Several times, he was put on the defensive, but he knew much more about swordplay now than when he was twelve. It was much easier to start pressing Luke himself.

Percy grit his teeth. He could feel his arms tiring the longer their duel went on. He could feel several cuts layering his arms, his cheeks, and his side. I can’t keep this up forever. But neither, he noted, can Luke. The man was also in a rather tired state. Clearly, it had been a long time since anyone had pushed him this far, and he was feeling the effects of that. Just one mistake. Percy could feel the weight upon his heart increasing. Make just one, and I win.

He didn’t know how long it took. Maybe it happened in the next five minutes, or maybe just the next five seconds. But Percy’s eyes caught onto Luke’s sword as the blade swung down, going just a bit too wide. He was catapulted back to his first and only duel with the man, but the difference was plain as day. Back then, Luke had done it as a sort of test. He hadn’t felt pushed at all. But the Luke in front of him held the face of a man who was exerting himself beyond what he was expecting. It was a mistake. And Percy used it.

Anaklusmos flashed forward, connecting the blades at the hilt, and with a twist of the wrist, Luke’s grip on the sword was lost. That’s not enough! Percy swung out his arm as hard as he could, sending the blade flying several feet away. Don’t stop! He could pick that up in a second! Percy kept moving, charging forward to bash into Luke, and the man went down.

Luke crashed onto the sand, on top of his back, hard. Both competitors gasped, out of breath, but Percy managed to hold his sword up, pointing it directly at Luke’s heart. The two stared at each other, not saying a word. They were too winded. Percy was staring at his opponent as he huffed, waiting. Something’s going to happen. I’ve had this terrible feeling in my gut ever since I met him again. Something is going to happen, and I don’t know how to stop it. He was certain of it. Something had to happen. The feeling had to mean something.

But nothing did. Instead, Luke, who got his breath back first, chuckled as he lay his head against the sand. “Well, I’ll be damned. You did it. All by yourself, too.” Percy stared as he lifted his head up to shout, “I give up! The match goes to Perseus!” The crowd started roaring around him, but he heard none of it. The tournament was over. And Percy was the last man standing.

Chapter Text

The crowd was in an uproar. Endless cheering poured down for the victor of the tournament, for the man that was able to bring down the undefeated champion. A constant, energizing buzz permeated the air. The people couldn’t believe it. While quite a few had wanted to see the Son of Poseidon win since this was his debut event, none of them expected him to have the ability to surpass Sir Luke. But the results spoke for themselves, and no one could quite contain their excitement.

Of course, the feelings of the crowd as a whole couldn’t compare to the happiness being experienced by one spectator in particular. Lady Annabeth, the daughter of Athena, a hopeful architect, and the technical girlfriend of Prince Perseus, was having a good day. That was a bit of an understatement, honestly. She was having a very good day. She had spent the last few hours watching the love of her life battle it out, proving his strength for all the world to see, and all the while secretly working towards winning her hand. And now, with her mother none the wiser, the time had finally come.

She watched as first the boy pulled up his final adversary, shook hands, and dusted himself off. She so badly wanted to congratulate him, to pull him into a hug and never let go, but that would have to come later. For now, she was stuck up on her balcony as Percy walked towards the edge of the arena, looking up at his uncle with weary, but rather pleased eyes.

Zeus had a very different look on. At best, the man had an expression of uncertainty, but it was obviously a struggle to hold up. Annabeth wanted to slap her forehead. Really?? Does he still think Percy’s after the throne? No one wants it, least of all him! For all the fear and paranoia the king was feeling, he still had a job to do. So he bottled up his emotions to say, “Well… This is a bit of a surprise. You’ve, um, done it, lad. You, er, the tourna- you beat, it. The tournament. Good job.” She rolled her eyes. Of course. No grand announcement declaring Percy the winner and champion, the way he did every tournament past. Their ruler was just stuttering, trying to find words to postpone Percy’s wish. Now Annabeth just wanted to slap him.

Evidently, Poseidon was feeling similarly as he jostled the shoulder of Zeus, a wordless Get on with it!. The king sighed. “Right. Yes, well. Lad. As I’m sure you know. The winner gets one wish granted to them, as long as it is within my power. And I absolutely swear to grant your wish… whatever it may be.” All around, the crowd quieted down, eagerly listening in.

In the silence of the moment, Annabeth could hear her mother beside her pondering on what was about to happen. “I just don’t understand. What could he want when so much else has no sway over him? What could only Zeus provide that fits?” She decided it best to leave Athena to her verbal musing. She was about to get her answer anyways.

Percy, before saying anything, bowed even though he really didn’t need to, and Annabeth felt a rush of affection for him. He’s a dork. My dork, specifically. The boy raised himself up to look at Zeus head-on. “My king. I thank you for this opportunity. I have but one wish.”

“One, eh.” Zeus muttered with a raised eyebrow. He sighed again, before commanding, “Well? Speak!”

Annabeth looked down, barely containing her glee as the champion took in a deep breath, preparing himself. It’s finally time. Amongst the group of spectators, only one person was not surprised by what came out of his mouth. “My Lord, I ask of you this. If she accepts, I request the hand in marriage of Lady Annabeth, daughter of Council-member Athena.”

Almost instantly, gasps and exclamations resounded about. Thousands of whispers and mutters erupted from within the crowd at the declaration, at the bit of gossip that immediately outshined every other story. The prince had finally come to Olympios to participate for this? Marriage with the daughter of his own father’s very famous detractor? Most of the council exchanged confused glances, trying to make heads or tails out of it. Of course, Poseidon in particular was rather dumbfounded.

The only one who could possibly match him in bafflement was Athena herself, who was once again muttering in confusion. “But-why? That- it doesn’t, does he want this? Is it… is it meant to be a ploy of some kind? Like a hostage type of situation. Take my child away from me so I’m subject to his whims. Did his father put him up to this?” Perhaps if she had taken a moment to observe, Athena would have seen just how blindsided Poseidon also was by his son’s request. Still, she did conclude, “No, that’s simply not his style. What could it be then? Why my daughter??” Oh, Mother, Annabeth thought. She didn’t know if she wanted to laugh, or just give a sad sigh. For all your intellect, you could spend a week thinking it over and never figure it out.

Annabeth herself was feeling a mix of giddiness, love, and a tinge of annoyance. He specified ‘If I accept’. He’s giving me one last chance to back out at the potential cost of his own image and pride. Seaweed Brain. As if I’d ever say No.

Eventually, Zeus decided to move on with the show. “Well, then. That’s… a good wish.” It was incredibly obvious how relieved the monarch was that Percy didn’t demand he up and vacate his throne. “But you did say she had to agree,” the man pointed out. He turned to face the balcony Annabeth and her mother were sitting within as the crowd was once again silenced itself, held captive by the sudden drama before them. “So then. Lady Annabeth. Do you accept Prince Perseus’ proposal?”

She felt Athena lay a gentle hand on her shoulder, “I don’t know what he’s planning, but we’ll find out. Obviously, you should deny him, and then we will-.”

Annabeth stood up, and declared without hesitation, “I accept!”

Several more gasps followed her proclamation, the loudest of which was her own mother. “Annabeth?! Wh-what…” She couldn’t even finish her sentence, the woman was so confused. And she wasn’t the only one. Poseidon's face had frozen stiff, as if his brain had short-circuited. Almost every other member of the council was once again shooting each other surprised and confused looks. The only ones who weren’t were Aphrodite and Hestia, who both wore soft smiles, and Jason’s sister Thalia, who grinned as she raised her hands above her head to clap.

Finally, Zeus cleared his throat. “Well then. Hm. I suppose that’s it then. The tournament is over! And Prince Perseus and Lady Annabeth are now engaged.” One final time, the crowd erupted as people traded theories with each other, trying to comprehend what madness had just unfolded before them. This is all they’re going to be talking about for months. Maybe even years. Annabeth couldn’t bring herself to care. Not while she was grinning down at Percy, who sent her a wave back. After so long, it’s finally our time.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Percy let out a small sigh as he lay his head against the pillow. Finally, rest. He hadn’t gotten much of it lately. And he still wasn’t getting any, if his heart pounding in his ears was any indication. He still couldn’t believe what had happened. It’s… done. The tournament is over. And I’m marrying Annabeth. Zeus said yes. She said yes. There’s nothing left. After he had been granted his wish, Percy was ushered into the healing room, where his mother fixed up all of the injuries he had sustained fighting Luke before pulling him into a hug. And then she’d planted a kiss on his forehead and sent him to go lie down for a bit, which was honestly such a good plan. His mom was a genius.

Unfortunately, Percy didn’t get to spend nearly as much time as he would have liked resting before he heard a knock on the door. His eyes shot open. Oh, great. Who is it now? I hope it’s Annabeth. With a huff, he pushed himself up and stalked towards the door. He was not ready for the sight that greeted him, although he definitely should have expected it. King Poseidon, just staring at him. Not moving, or anything. Just staring. Percy jolted. “Oh! Hey, Dad. Do you… um. Do you wanna come inside?” Poseidon nodded, and Percy stepped aside as the man walked into his room, pausing to look around for a moment before taking a seat on the edge of his bed. Percy remained standing.

Poseidon said nothing he rested his elbows on his legs, staring forward. No changes to his face, nor his posture. For all Percy could tell, his father might very well have turned into a statue. Still, he waited for his father to say something, anything. But nothing came. And eventually, Percy couldn’t take it anymore. Time to face the music. So he started with pointing out, “You’re mad.”

That got a reaction. His father sighed, rubbing his forehead with a frown. The man finally spoke. “I’m not… mad. I am… decidedly confused. Unsure. Perhaps slightly annoyed… But not mad. I… I just,” he turned to look at his son with beseeching eyes, “I would like to understand. What is happening? What happened?”

Percy leaned on the wall opposite to his father and rubbed the back of his neck. “I won the tournament. So, I got to have one wish. And now… me and Annabeth are getting married.”

Poseidon stared at him. Clearly, the explanation of what had occurred did him no favors. His father now said, “This was planned. Your goal was this the entirety of the tournament.” It was a statement, rather than a question. Evidently, he was starting to catch on. The man looked up at the ceiling, bewildered, “I just, it doesn’t- When did this start?”

Percy grimaced. “When did what, specifically start? That’s kind of important.”

His father shot him a look. “How?”

“Are you talking about when the plan to get married started? Or are talking about when me and Annabeth, in general, started?”

The confused king was once again rubbing a hand down his face. “So you, and Lady Annabeth… you have been… ‘a thing’? For a while now, clearly. Yes. When did that start?”

Percy stared up, unwilling to look in his father’s eye as he admitted, “Since the night we first met.” A choked sound came out in front of him. That’s fair.

The king was staring at the ground now, mouthing words. After a few minutes of painfully awkward silence, he lifted his head to again look at his son, “I remember that party. Triton’s birthday, and the same day Athena first brought her child along on one of her investigations. But you two didn’t stop glaring at each other the entire time! How did that, lead to this?!”

Percy remembered it rather clearly as well. “It was after the party. I caught Annabeth sneaking out of her room. She wanted the go see our Grand Falls, since Zeus and Athena had both hyped them up to her. She was trying to sneak out and get back before anyone noticed she was gone, but I knew there was no way she’d make it in time. So, mostly on a whim, I decided to take her using the shortcut in the Palace’s lake. And then I learned she actually wasn’t super stuffy and impossible to talk to. She must have seen something in me too, I guess, but I’ve got no clue what that was. But, one thing led to another, and now… here we are.”

“Right,” his father snorted, “And where exactly is here?”

“Lovers, I suppose,” Percy shrugged. “Well, fiancées now.”

Poseidon stared, understandably incredulous. “Lovers. Every time you looked at each other, your gazes would slide over as if the other wasn’t there. And you would describe yourselves as lovers.”

“Yep,” Percy confirmed. “That started at the Falls too. Looking back on it, Annabeth was definitely pushing me to take her back there. She had the whole thing planned out. It was… maybe three years ago now. I dunno, maybe four.”

It was as if Poseidon’s jaw would unlatch from his mouth and clatter to the floor, it was so stretched. “If it’s been that long, how has no found out?! You mainly saw each other at our palace!”

Percy shrugged. “We were careful. Also, Mom and Grover covered for us.”

“Sally knew?!” Poseidon spluttered, “And Mr. Underwood as well??”

“Of course Mom knows.” Percy chuckled a little as he pointed out, “I’m pretty she knew before we did. And Grover… found out.”

“Was Amphitrite aware of this? Or Triton and Tyson?”

“I’m honestly not sure.” Percy admitted. “But it’s pretty likely they at least suspected.”

Poseidon shook his head. “So then, I was the only one not at all aware of this? That my son had found someone to hold in his heart? So many times, I’ve asked you about considering marriage, and every time, you’ve refused. Why didn’t you just tell me?”

It was Percy’s turn to shoot his father a look. “Dad, think for a minute. I’m getting married to Annabeth, who, in case you somehow forgot, is Athena’s daughter. We figured letting either of you guys know would be the equivalent of signing a contract to never see each other again.”

Poseidon paused at the point, considering. He rubbed the back of his neck as he did so, a mirror to his son. “I suppose… it was rather likely I wouldn’t have reacted, well, favorably. Neither would Athena. That’s why you went through with the tournament, then? Specifically to circumvent us?” When Percy gave a nod, the king huffed. “Fair enough. You’ve… succeeded. Neither me nor Athena would be able to stop this now.”

Percy looked at his father, considering asking him what was bouncing around in his mind. Well, I’ve already come this far. Might as well ask. “Do you want to?”

“Hm?”

“Stop us. Do you want to stop us?”

Poseidon was staring at the ground now. Percy could see the uncertainty on his father's face, carefully thinking over how he wanted to proceed. Eventually, he shook his head. And when he spoke, his words came slowly, and thoughtful. “No… I don’t believe I do. I will not lie and say that I am ecstatic, or even particularly pleased. I feel far too conflicted. But… you were acting in a matter you thought right. As a way to secure happiness for both yourself and your love. I could not begrudge you for that. Nor do I intend to cause problems now that you’ve gotten it.”

He felt his shoulders slump in relief. “Thanks, Dad,” Percy said gratefully. “I know this whole thing getting dumped on you isn’t fun, so I appreciate it.”

Poseidon gave a short nod, and carefully stood up. “Well then. I still have some questions, but they can be left for another time. I have to get to Zeus’ palace soon. The celebrations for your win are underway. I just wanted to check in with you before I went.”

“Good luck.” Percy told him as he opened the door. “There’s no way Zeus doesn’t give you the lamest job since I won.”

Poseidon sighed. “I suspect you’re right.” He walked passed Percy, but stopped right beneath the doorway.

“Dad?”

King Poseidon turned one last time to face his son with a much more certain expression. “Percy. Do not mistake my feelings. Yes, I am… unsure about the results of this tournament. But regardless. Watching you, confident and strong as you faced down you’re every challenge, was one of the greatest experiences you have allowed me to participate in. Right up there with watching you grow into the man you are today. So, whatever changes this event will bring upon us, I will remain proud of you. Do not doubt that.”

Dammit, Dad. I really didn’t need to be told something like that right now. Percy glanced down at the floor as he smiled, trying to blink away tears. “I won’t Dad. Promise.”

His father nodded, and decided to leave him with one last bit of info. “By the way. The rest of your peers have gathered on a floor here. When you are feeling up to it, you should go find them.” And away Poseidon walked, towards the single greatest structure built by humans, and also likely a lot of sweeping.

Percy closed his door, and fell more than sat down on his bed. Alright, so Dad decided not to throw me out of the house for marrying his arch-enemy’s daughter. That was nice of him. So… Now what? I feel way too awake from that whole conversation. I can go find Annabeth, I suppose. I haven’t talked to her since the tournament’s first round. Although, she’s probably dealing with Athena. If I walked in, I would definitely lose my head. Percy only thought for a few more moments before making up his mind. “I guess I’ll go find the others. He said they’re on the first floor, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find them.”

And it really wasn’t. Percy was only walking a few minutes through the deserted halls before hearing a clamor stemming from the room with its door ajar up ahead. He knocked on the door before striding in. “Hey guys, how are you all doing?”

No one seemed to notice him, except one girl in particular. While the rest of them were all concentrated on their little groups, Thalia walked up to him with a grin. “Well, well, well. Look who finally decided to show up. Too busy hyping yourself up to hang out with us now that you managed to snag your girl?”

Percy shot her a deadpan look. “I was actually doing this thing called being tired. Something I’m pretty sure you’ve never experienced.” As Thalia laughed in response and shrugged a little, Percy turned to look at the several groups that were in the room. “So, what’s up with them?”

Thalia shrugged again. “We’re all bored. Dad’s having us wait here while gets the servants and council members to set up the party, which is both really thoughtful for him, and also super annoying. I’m so sick of just sitting around.”

“Riiight.” Percy’s voice trailed off as he looked around at the various scenes before him. Piper had a slight frown on his face as she turned slightly away from Jason, who was frantically waving his hands in the air. She’s probably annoyed at Jason for beating her. Although, judging by the wink she sent Percy, she was likely just messing with her uptight boyfriend.

In the corner of the room, Frank had both of the Stoll brothers confronting him about something. The height difference between them made the scene a bit more comical than any of them likely intended. “Seriously!” Travis shouted as he lifted his arms. “An elephant! A bear! An eagle! Any of those would have worked! Why would you forfeit to her?!” He gestured towards the group on the other end of the room, where Hazel was with her brother and Will Solace, seemingly unaware or the discussion concerning her. Connor nodded beside his brother with what was likely the most menacing face he could manage. Frank, for his part, just looked away with crossed arms, although Percy could definitely see his cheeks were dusted with red.

Thalia laughed beside him. “They’ve been at that for a while. Travis is pissed the guy who beat him, with easily one of the most amazing magics in the room, forfeited his next match to the sweetest girl in existence.” She nodded her head at a brunette girl who was sat down with her head in her hands. “As you can see, even Katie’s given up on calming them down.”

Percy shook his head with a grin. “Poor guy. He’s trying his best.” And then he nodded his head at the last big group. “And what about them?” Nico and Hazel had their eyes closed and hands together, concentrating. At both of their feet were an assortment of stones. Hazel’s were much prettier than Nico’s, but his were several times larger. Will was watching both of them with rapt attention

Thalia nodded as she let Percy know, “They’re showing Will the different kinds of stones they can summon.” And then she leaned closer to whisper, “Also, I am ninety percent sure this is Hazel’s way of getting Nico to show off in front of Will.” Huh. Good job Hazel.

He was just about to go up and give her a congratulatory pat on the head when the door behind them suddenly burst open. Every head in the room turned to face the entrance, to where a woman now stood. Percy couldn’t help the grin that appeared on his face as he laid eyes on her. Annabeth. He was looking at both his love, and finally, finally, his fiancée. He was just about to pull her into a hug, when he noticed the state she was in. She was panting, with her hands on shaky knees. Clearly, she’d been in a hurry. “Annabeth?” he asked uncertainly.

When she lifted her face to look right at him, there was fear in her eyes. “Something happened to Luke. He’s going to destroy the city.”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Earlier…
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Annabeth sighed as she watched her mother pace back and forth, back and forth. It didn’t stop. She had been at this for too long. But Athena did not waver as she strode across Annabeth’s room and back. She had been at it for the better part of twenty minutes, and showed no signs of slowing down. Eventually unable to take it, Annabeth decided to bite the bullet. She rolled her eyes and finally asked, “Well?”

Athena stopped to glare at her. “‘Well?’ Is that really all you have to say for yourself?”

Annabeth shrugged. “I’m pretty comfortable with my situation. So, yes, it is.”

Athena huffed as she finally paused her walk cycle to cross her arms. Evidently she couldn’t completely control herself, as very quickly her foot started tapping on the floor. And I’m supposed to be the hyperactive one. Her mother looked incredulous. “Content?! You are marrying the son of Poseidon! Of all people, him!!”

“I was there, remember.” Annabeth pointed out. “I know exactly who I agreed to marry.”

Athena sighed as she rubbed her forehead. “Where did this all go wrong?”

“At King Poseidon’s castle,” Annabeth very unhelpfully let her mother know, “Although, personally, I really wouldn’t call this ‘wrong’.”

Her mother was glaring again. “No? I suppose this must have been your plan the entire time. To get married to him. Was this meant to be some kind of act of defiance? Do you hate me as your mother that much that you chose the last person I would approve of as your escape plan?”

“Mom,” Annabeth sighed, “I’ll admit you aren’t the best mother. But this had nothing to do with you. Is it really that hard to believe that I’m in love with him?” Athena chose to glare at the wall, rather than respond. “Can you really not really a flicker of happiness? I’m getting married! And to someone I actually love, at that!”

Athena resumed walking. “You’ve been hiding your relationship to Prince Perseus. Likely for years. All the while, putting on a face of blank agreement whenever we discuss the problems with the family. It’s so obvious now, what you were hiding. What you’ve been hiding. I’m supposed to be happy about that?”

“Because of this very reaction!” Annabeth pointed out. “You’re my mother. I knew exactly how telling you would end from the very beginning. So of course I never let you know!”

“Hm. And now,” Athena questioned, “What do you intend to do? I presume you will not take back your acceptance. Now what?”

Annabeth looked up at the ceiling. “We suffer through Zeus’ party. And then… I suppose I’ll leave with Percy’s family. Go to Atlantis. We already know where we want the wedding to be held. All that’s left is to go there and set it all up.” Athena said nothing, staring at Annabeth instead. She could read the expression on her mother’s face. After a few more minutes of unbearable silence, Annabeth stood up. “It’s rather obvious you won’t be satisfied by anything I have to say, so I’ll take my leave now.”

She had just gotten her hand on the door knob when Athena whispered behind her. “That’s it, then? You intend to leave me behind.”

Annabeth gave one last sigh, and addressed Athena without facing her. “ You know, it would be a bit of a stretch, calling you a good mother. Or even just a decent one.” Athena said nothing in response. “But… you are my mother. That hasn’t changed in nineteen years. I don’t intend on causing a shift now. So… you are invited to the wedding. I discussed it with Percy a while ago. We’ll probably end up holding it in Atlantis since neither of us want to make to big of a deal out of it. So it’s up to you on showing up. But regardless of if you come or not, I’m choosing to live how I want to now. No one else is stopping me.” And she walked out the room, closing the door behind her. The ball was in he mother’s court now.

She only took a few steps before pausing to consider what she’d just done. I told her. I did it. No matter what happens now, she won’t get in our way. Annabeth could help herself as she skipped down the hallway towards to stairs. She was content. They had gotten past their last few obstacles. And she knew for a fact Percy would never allow her dreams to be held back. She was free to pursue her desires. Annabeth… was happy.

It’s a shame that happiness was destroyed so easily.

She was passing by a hallway leading down a different corridor when she felt it. Instantly, her body froze, as what felt like several tons of pressure was placed upon her. Annabeth gasped. What’s happening? What can’t I move? Why can’t I breathe? Forcing every inch of her body, She turned to face down the other corridor. It’s quiet, but… I hear voices. Is that, what’s doing this to me? Should… should I investigate? But this feeling, it… It was easy to recognize. All of a sudden, Annabeth was feeling scared. To be more accurate, she was terrified.

Of what, she had no idea. But it had to be coming from down that hall. She only allowed herself to deliberate on the matter for a few more moments before making up her mind. No! Whatever the thing that's causing this feeling is, it’s dangerous. It could be a threat to everyone here. I am NOT running away. Now certain about her course of action, she dug her straw hat out of her pouch and slapped it on, before drawing her knife. I’m invisible. I'm armed. I’ll be fine. Now, MOVE, dammit!

Gritting her teeth, Annabeth very slowly started inching her way forward. It was tough work, especially when it took all of her concentration just to keep her body in motion. Keep going! I have to find out what it is! The voices she had heard previously were starting to get louder. One very obviously belonged to a man in excruciating pain. That was already bad enough. But it was the second voice that gave her pause. The voice… was unlike anything she’d ever heard before. It’s as if the voice is a knife, cutting into my soul. Annabeth steeled herself to face what the cause was as she slowly reached the end of the hall. One last turn… and it took everything she had to keep from gasping from the sight before her.

On the floor, writhing in agony as he gripped his skull, was Luke. Sweat poured from the man’s forehead as he jerked his head this way and that. Gasps came, labored and short. He was suffering, and hard. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the worst of it. As much as Annabeth wanted to whip off her cap, help him up, ask him what was wrong, she couldn't hope to even move. Because swirling around Luke was what seemed to be… smoke? Purple smoke, that seemed to originate from the handle of the blade in Luke’s sheath. It’s smoke. It shouldn’t be that dangerous. But every bone in my body is telling me that that… thing is the owner of the other voice.

Her theory was confirmed seconds later, after Luke’s head bashed onto the stone floor with a resounding crack, and he shouted in pain. The voice emerged. “oH, QuiT yOur whINnig. SuCH a simPle jOb. aLL you HaD to Do wAS beSt posEidON’s wheLP. And yeT yOu FaiLEd. tHIs iS WhAt yOU dEseRVe!”

Luke let out another strangled gasp. “H-he was too str-rong! I-I didn-t exp-!”

“SiLenCE!!” The voice roared. Annabeth gulped as silently as she could manage. What is this thing? “iN tHe EnD, iT MaTterS Not. i Will siMPLY do WHat I shOUld hAve FroM thE StaRT!” And then, to the girl’s supreme horror, the smoke started to move in.

Luke started thrashing about even harder. “No-o,” He cried, “Ple-ease!” The plea fell on deaf ears as his body raised itself up as the smoke continued to pour within him. Before Annabeth, something was happening, something incomprehensible. Something she was certain spelt the ruin of everything she held dear. Luke’s eyes closed, and the jerking motions of his body slowly calmed down. After just a few moments, Luke’s body was stood up, peaceful and motionless, as if the last minute had been nothing but a false reality. And yet, Annabeth didn’t dare to move as she continued to observe his body.

A choice that proved wise when Luke’s eyes snapped open. But she was no longer looking at eyes with Luke’s familiar bright blue hue, but instead a deep, deep, golden. She had no clue what was happening, but she was frightened beyond belief. And then, the body started moving.

“Ahhhhh,” a sigh was let out as arms stretched up and out. “That feels much better.” Annabeth could barely hold in a shiver. The voice that now came out of the body was an unsettling mix of Luke’s kind voice, and the other being’s frightening one. The Thing stretched out his hands. “A body, once more. Perfect. I truly shouldn’t have bothered with this tournament from the beginning. As nice as it would have been to see that wretched upstart lose his throne right before his eyes, because of his very own rules, nothing quite compares to the mere idea of sinking my blade into his throat. Speaking of which.”

The Thing drew his sword out his scabbard, and Annabeth was sure he was about to cut her down. Instead, with a nasty grin, the man held out his sword and squeezed it’s hilt rather hard. The sword started shaking, and slowly metal along the blade started falling away, revealing a weapon she had never seen before. Wha-at? Is that steel, alongside Celestial Bronze? What kind of sword is that? How did he make that from Luke’s blade? Was it… always that kind of blade? What is going on!? What is this thing?!

The sight of the sword filled her with fear. Unfortunately, it had a different effect on it’s wielder. His reaction to it was to increase the size of his grin. “Excellent. It’s all falling back into place.” He turned now, and closed his eyes. “They should be out there…” When a few moments passed, his eyes opened again, still that chilling gold. “Good, the monsters are all ready. Very soon, I will take back what is right mine.” And then, the single most terrifying thing happened.

He turned back around to directly face Annabeth.

She gasped. The Thing looked her right in the eyes as he let her know, “And there isn’t a damn thing your council can do about it. Good luck, my dear.” And as he walked away from her still invisible body he started to laugh a maddening cackle. “AHAHAAHaHahaaaaa…”

Annabeth was breathing in deeply. No, worse. She was hyperventilating. What, no, wha-what happened? What’s go-oing on? How did…? She didn’t know how long it was taking her to calm down. She was trying to do it as quickly as possible, but it just wasn’t working. Everything, including her reactions and emotions, just felt so… slow. Very quickly, only one train of thought was left pounding in her head. I need to find Percy. Or we all die.

Chapter Text

Percy moved first. What Annabeth had just told them was incredibly disturbing, but he was more concerned with her. She was shivering, so he stepped forward to pull him into her. The worst part was feeling her shaky breath against him. So he said nothing as the others slowly took in what she had said.

Unsurprisingly, the first reactions were from two of the boys in the corner. Travis lifted his arm to point at Annabeth. “What are you talking about? Luke would never do such a thing.” Connor nodded beside him with a frown.

Annabeth pushed away from Percy slightly and huffed, “I know Luke wouldn’t, but something happened. There was smoke swirling around him, speaking with this awful voice, and it, sort of… went into him? I’m not sure by what, but he got possessed by something.” The group shared uncertain, wary glances in response.

Clarisse spoke up. “Is something like that even possible? I’m not doubting your eyes, but for someone to get their body hijacked… I dunno what to think.”

Annabeth shook her head. “I know it sounds insane, but Luke was definitely not in control when he announced he’d kill Zeus and take back what was his. It had to be someone else. Someone with a grudge. Someone with a large amount of magic ability. Someone like… like…” Percy could see the horror sink into her eyes as something new dawned upon her.

Thalia could clearly see it too as she stepped forward to put her hand on Annabeth’s shoulder. “What is it, Annie?”

Annabeth clenched onto him harder as she slowly spoke. “This being, that took over Luke. He said… he said he was going to kill Zeus… and take back what was ‘rightfully his’. He specifically referred to the king as a ‘wretched upstart’. That… alongside the huge amount of power he held. He could’ve… he might be…” Annabeth was so scared of speaking such a terrible thing into reality that she couldn’t finish her sentence. But Percy got it. And judging by their faces, my dear cousins get it too.

Jason spoke up now. “Hold on for a moment. This guy could just be mad about Father taking, like, a plot of his land or something. Just because he wants something from the king, and thinks less of him, doesn’t necessarily mean he’s…” He also trailed off, unable to continue.

It was Nico who finally managed it. Looking directly at Annabeth, and with a protective arm around shivering Hazel’s shoulder, he asked, “Kronos. You think our grandfather’s back from the dead? From being slain by the three kings?”

Gasps rang out from the people who hadn’t pieced together what Annabeth was implying. She only grimaced, before taking a steady breath. “Yeah… I think it’s a possibility. It should be impossible, but at the same time it feels scarily likely considering how strong he felt.” Nico stared at her, trying to determine how much she truly believed her theory, before nodding and turning his gaze to look at the ceiling.

Percy was doing his best not to shudder as he recalled all the horror stories that surrounded the start of his family’s legacy. It only took a moment to realize something. “Wait a second.” All eyes turned to him, but he focused on Annabeth. “Last time the kings fought against their father, it was a full-blown war. Kronos had his advisors with him, along with whatever sadistic fighters he could pick up, and he still lost in the end. If he’s actually back, he can’t seriously be planning to try and take down the capital all by himself. He has to know that’s basically suicide.”

Annabeth nodded, considering. It was easy to tell she was running through her encounter with the potential mad king in her head. “You’re right. I don’t think he plans on leading a single-man assault. After taking over Luke, he said something about monsters being ready. Maybe… maybe he’s got an army.”

Lee’s eyebrows shot up. “That’s concerning. We’re currently residing in a city built upon the highest peak in the lands. If Kronos is approaching us with an army, the citizens have nowhere to run.”

Thalia, who had been silent for a while, suddenly cursed. “Wait just a moment.” Instead of sharing her thoughts, she instead charged toward the back of the room. Alarmed cries filled the air as everyone in front of her dove out of the way. When she reached the window, she grabbed the top edge from outside, hoisted herself up, and swung out.

Thalia disappeared, making her way upwards. Frank stuck his head out the window to see what she was doing. “She’s, uh, climbing. Up the outer wall of the Colosseum. What is she trying to do?”

“I’m not sure,” Jason admitted, “But don’t disturb her. Whatever she’s doing, it’s important enough that she’s not freaking out over how high up she is. If we call attention to her, she'll notice.” Frank nodded and pulled his head back in. Everyone was now looking at each other, uncertainty and fear filling their eyes. How do we deal with this?

Leo’s head was on fire as he asked, “Can’t we just tell the council that Kronos might be back? The kings beat him once, right? They can do it again.”

Connor spoke next, “That’s not the biggest issue!” Everyone turned incredulous looks towards him, and he blinked before amending, “Alright, yeah, it’s a pretty big one. But Luke! Our brother might have had his body stolen by him. How are we supposed to free him?”

Annabeth tilted her head, eyes far away. “As far as I know, something like this has never happened before. But if I had to take a guess, first we need to know why Kronos is attached to him in the first place. I mean, everyone here can agree Kronos only got a hold on Luke recently, yes?” When the occupants of the room all nodded, she continued, “It’s likely the key to freeing him lies in whatever bound them in the first place. The problem is, I’m not sure what that could be.”

“Are they even bound?” Piper asked, thoughtful. “He seemed fine when we met. There was nothing that indicated he was connected to the most malevolent man in history.”

“That’s the thing,” Percy pointed out. “You met him. We all did, here, at the Colosseum. After so long of consistently staying away, he randomly showed up again for some mystery desire. Maybe that was Kronos’ doing.” Although, that’s also pretty much what I did. There were nods around the room as they all tried to piece together what was going on.

It was at that moment Thalia chose to swing back in. “I was right. This must be why the patterns of the monsters have been off lately. He’s been working on this for a while, gathering them together. Me and Lady Artemis told Dad something was up, but he wouldn’t listen. And now, there’s an army of them marching towards the city.”

Jason stood up instantly. “How many?”

Thalia grimaced, “I couldn’t sharpen my senses well enough to get an exact count. But there were at least several hundred.”

Jason let out a breath. “Less than I was expecting. That’s both a relief and a worry. It’s not a completely insurmountable number, but at the same time…”

Annabeth finished for him, “He could definitely have more by his side. It was a choice to have fewer numbers. And considering his goal, the only reason he wouldn’t choose to have the largest possible force by his side would be to have the other monsters focusing on other parts of the world.”

Everyone started speaking up, worried about the different areas that were potentially being attacked as they spoke. We’re losing focus here. Percy raised himself up and shouted, “Guys!” Immediately, everyone calmed down a bit. “We’ll need to think about other places soon enough, but right now, let’s focus on the problem currently marching towards us.” He turned to face Thalia. “How long do we have?”

Thalia crossed her arm as she considered. “20 to 25 minutes. At most.”

Percy nodded. We have enough time to assemble our force. We can not let them breach the city wall! “Let’s alert the council. They’ll-”

“That won’t work.” Everyone turned once again to look at Thalia, who was glaring at the ground. “The council won’t be able to assemble.”

“Why not?” Katie asked, confusion lacing her features.

“Because…” Thalia spoke with genuine annoyance, “Their leader is my idiot dad.” She turned now to look at Jason. “You know how he is. ‘If I pretend the problem isn’t there, it’ll go away.’ That’s how he addresses everything. And I can guarantee he was already in a bad mood from Percy’s victory. He’s probably already drunk, meaning he’ll be even less reliable than usual. Nothing will get through to him. If the rest of them try to leave and go fight this threat, he'll stop them, even while monsters tear his empire apart. Especially if that monster is his father. Kronos still scares him.”

Jason was going to say something in response, but Percy stepped in first, “Yeah, Zeus is unreasonable on the best of days. It’s definitely a struggle to get anything through his hard head. But there’s someone who could do it.” He kept his eyes on Thalia’s.

She let a beat pass through the room for a moment, before asking in an exasperated voice, “You can’t be serious. You want me to try to convince him?!”

“It’ll work!”

“No, it definitely won’t!”

“He listens to you Thalia, I’ve seen it! Not all the time, yeah, but you’ve got the best chance!”

“He didn’t last time, why would he this time?!”

“Because if he doesn’t this time, he loses everything!”

Thalia huffed as she stared at him, “I cannot believe you are betting all of our lives on me being able to get through to my meatheaded father!”

Percy raised his hands, “Hey, it’s not like I plan on doing nothing but waiting.”

“Oh yeah?” She asked with a raised eyebrow.

Percy chose to give his answer to the entire room, “We’re going out there to meet the army.” He did his best to make his voice firm and inarguable.

Clarisse was the first to respond as she stood up and pounded her (not electric) spear on the ground. “Obviously.” Slowly, every other member gave affirmations, except for Annabeth. She just squeezed his hand, and that was enough.

Percy nodded, and looked at Thalia, “We’ll stall him. For however long it takes, we’ll keep Kronos’ army from the city. In the meanwhile, do whatever you can to get Zeus to wake the hell up to what’s happening. Shout at him, summon lightning, point your bow at his face. Whatever you have to do, do it.”

Thalia glared at him for a long moment before making up her mind. “On one condition.”

“Name it.”

“If this doesn’t work, and we all die, I get to be the first one to kick his teeth in in the afterlife.”

Percy blinked, before turning to Jason, “I think this more between you two.”

Jason shrugged, “She can have him.”

I don’t understand them. Whatever. Percy chose to just nod. “That’s settled then. While Thalia deals with Zeus, the rest of us will hold off the army for as long as possible. Anyone have any objections?”

Silence for just a moment. And then a voice piped up. “Will should stay here.” Lee said as he leaned against a wall.

Will spun to face him. “Lee!” he cried, “You need me there! I’m the only healer we’ve got!”

Lee shook his head. “No. You’re our only healer, yes, but also one who can’t defend himself. How do you plan to stay safe in the middle of a horde of monsters? The rest of us have our weapons and abilities. But you don’t have anything that could defend you from an ordinary thug, let alone monsters.”

“I can stay next to you, can’t I?”

Lee shook his head at that too. “I’m an archer, Will. I need to be in the back, and higher up than everyone else in order to be effective. We’ll be too far away from the rest, and you’ll be kicking yourself for not being close enough to actually help. I think… I think the best thing would be for you to prepare to start evacuating citizens, just in case we fail.”

Will hung his head, and Percy grimaced in sympathy. It’s harsh, but the logic’s sound. Will’s of no use to anybody if he gets attacked, especially since he doesn’t have a combative bone in his body. Plus, Lee probably just wants him to be safe. I can sympathize with that.

Percy was just about to declare the discussion over, and the group to move out, when a new voice spoke out. “I can defend him.” Eyes swiveled to the corner of the room that Nico was sitting in, who met their gazes unwaveringly. When Lee responded with a raised eyebrow, the boy continued. “My most recent breakthrough with my magic is forming impenetrable walls. Doesn’t matter how strong the monsters are, they can’t break through. So, I’ll keep him next to me throughout, with the walls up at all times. Anytime I spot someone particularly injured, I can move the walls, and Will along with it.” He turned now to face Percy. “We don’t know how long this battle will last. Will’s healing can ensure we go on for as long as possible. We need him.”

Percy sighed. “You’re not wrong, Nico. But it’s not my call to make.” He addressed his next question to Lee. “What do you think? I vouch for Nico’s ability, but I know that doesn’t make a huge difference when it’s your brother’s life on the line.”

Lee was studying the two, head tilted thoughtfully. Will had an obviously hopeful look on his face. Nico, however, met his gaze without flinching. After a few beats, Lee sighed and dropped his head. “God dammit, fine.” Will’s face brightened up, but Lee didn’t spare him a look as he focused back on Nico, “You understand what you’re asking for, right? You just had me put my brother’s life in your hands. Anything and everything that happens to him, falls under you.”

Nico just gave him a nod in response before taking his sword out of its sheath to clean it. When he was done, he looked up to address the room. “Well, what are we waiting for? We’ve got an insane king to stall.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Annabeth’s hand in his was really the only thing that made Percy feel fine as their group walked towards potentially certain doom. It’s something I suppose. He looked around at the group behind him. With only seventeen members, they didn’t really look all that grand as they stoically marched out of the city. Still, it would be enough. It has to be.

When they reached a large open clearing, they made a group decision to pause and wait for the approaching army. Annabeth said it best. “Fighting within either the trees or the narrow passageways would give some of us advantages, but also hinder others. An open area is the best we’ve got for a level playing field.”

Already, the group could hear the many disturbing sounds that could only stem from a large, large, group of monsters. They slowly got into formation, with the three Princes taking up point. The melee fighters formed the outside, the closer ranged/magic fighters within, and Lee behind all of them. Annabeth still remained next to Percy, and he knew exactly what she wanted him to hear. Our parents couldn’t separate us. Neither will this. Slowly, the enemy came into view, and weapons were brought forth in response.

The monster’s vanguard were hellhounds. Slobbering beasts the size of a person in both appearance and appetite. Behind them was a vast assortment of creepy critters. Harpies, Griffons, Dracaenae, Giants, and Cyclopes. There are definitely more, but I can’t see past the first few lines. We’ve got our work cut out for us, huh? The worst part was the creatures bringing up the rear. A giant, glittering Lion, a giant, not-glittering Crab, and… God dammit. He stared with a mix of horror and disbelief. And a Drakon. Wonderful.

The monsters kept moving forward, making inhuman, fear-inducing noises all the way, until they reached their own edge of the clearing. Then they all, without a noise of instruction, paused. They’ve stopped. I know this is wishful thinking, but could we get them to turn around? That line of thinking was quickly shut down as the monsters once again began to move, but this time sideways, forming a straight path down the middle. And walking through that path, was a familiar individual.

Percy grit his teeth as he stared, unable to comprehend. I believed Annabeth when she told us. Didn’t for a second doubt the fear in her eyes. Yet I still can’t understand what I’m seeing. Several gasps came from behind him, most audibly from Travis and Connor. Luke was casually strolling toward them from the depths of the monstrous crowd as if he was in another world entirely. And, if what they suspected was true, he might very well have been.

Percy glanced at Jason and Nico, and with a nod, the three walked forward to greet their enemy. Annabeth stayed by his side. As he got closer, he noticed more and more oddities with Luke. The man’s face was twisted into an uncharacteristic sneer. The sword he gripped was no longer made of traditional celestial bronze, but steel as well. And his eyes were an alarming gold. All very, very, VERY concerning signs. They stopped several feet away from one another, and their respective groups slowly inched forward.

It was the unsettling man who spoke first. “Well, well, well.” He muttered, and Percy held in a shiver. It was Luke’s voice, but not. Distorted. Merged. Wrong. The man continued. “The Princes. My three dear grandsons. Have you come to pledge allegiance to your rightful king?” They immediately shared alarmed looks. That confirms it. Dearly departed Grandad, departed no more. And now he wants back what he lost. When they said nothing Kronos chuckled, “No? I could give you anything, you know. All your heart’s desires, laid right at your feet. And all you have to do is swear your loyalty to me.”

His eyes traveled between them as he audibly mused. “Jason… Perseus… and Young Nico.” And then he raised his head to stare behind them, looking for something. “And where oh where, could those weakling sons of mine be? Are they perhaps hiding away in their castle, sending their children to face me instead? Cowards, all of them.”

To Percy’s right, Jason grit his teeth and raised his spear. “Be assured, Grandfather. We will be all that is needed to deal with you.”

Kronos raised an eyebrow in response, before sighing. “How disappointing.” His eyes then turned to lock onto Annabeth, and Percy was suddenly, desperately wishing her invisibility didn’t require a hat. “I let you walk free for a reason, child. I had hoped that I might find the Council of Fools before me on this road, and having slaughtered them, enter the city with their corpses for all to see as I march towards my palace. Instead, I find children as my adversaries.” The man tapped his chin, as if considering. “Although, it has certain potential, I suppose. Seeing the bright new generation in pieces would send a different, yet just as effective message.”

“You will not be reaching the city gates,” Annabeth scowled, “Let alone the Palace. By the end of this, you will be nothing more than a specter once more!”

Kronos laughed at this, and Percy hated it, because it was Luke’s laugh, but not. The twisted grin remained on his face, as he spoke, “I appreciate the enthusiasm, but I’m afraid you are sorely mistaken if you believe this could end in any other way than my victory.” He continued to study the group in front of him, and his eyes eventually zeroed in on Percy and Annabeth’s interlocked hands. “Ah yes…” he sighed as he looked back up. “Prince Perseus. Our valiant new champion. You’ve secured a bride for yourself. Would you like a ‘Congratulations’ for your never-to-be wedding? I recommend you accept it, seeing as it will be the last you ever receive.”

Percy glared at the monster wearing a man’s skin. “The only thing I want from you, is to call off your monsters, release Luke’s body, and never appear before us again!”

“I decline.” Kronos stated with the smugness of someone who held all the power in the world. And then, unexpectedly, something shifted. His face became a touch softer, and Percy was instantly on guard. “Speaking of Luke…” he trailed off.

“What about him?!” Percy snapped.

Kronos tilted his head. “He was pleased, you know.”

“About what?” Percy asked, unsure of where this was going but not liking it in the least.

“Why, you and your little princess, of course.” Kronos’ eyes closed as he continued, but Percy wasn’t fooled for a second. The man was just as dangerous now as he was with his eyes open and alert. “Amongst the few free thoughts he was granted, one of the more common ones Luke had was that he was glad to see that you two were finally getting on with it. Of course, he knew it would never actually come to pass, what with my revival. So, as a favor to the one I owe oh so much to, I’ve decided to grant him his desire of keeping you two together.” The Mad King’s eyes flew open as a maniac grin stretched upon his face, disfiguring Luke’s features. “Rest assured Prince Perseus, if you continue to oppose me, you two will find death nowhere else than in each other’s arms. Fitting, no?”

He’s a monster. Percy thought as he squeezed Annabeth’s hand and they pulled themselves into each other. But very quickly, he amended himself. No, he’s worse than one. He had to hold in a nerve-wracking shiver as he began to see the depth of his grandfather’s insanity. He’s surrounded himself with beasts of every kind, yet he outclasses all of them through sheer malice alone. Percy wanted to kill him. Wanted to chop off his head, cut up his body, stab him in the heart, but he couldn’t. Because doing that to Kronos meant doing that to Luke. He chose to focus on his twisted grandfather’s words instead, just to suppress his rage. “You said you owe much to Luke. I find that hard to believe, considering he would never tolerate a creature like you.”

Kronos chuckled, “You should believe it. After all, it was his actions, all those months ago, that allows me to stand before you today.”

Percy and Annabeth shared a confused look. She was the one who asked, “If you’ve been poisoning Luke’s mind for months, why have you brought your army now, and not sooner?”

Kronos sighed, “It’s due to a dedication to treachery, I suppose. I had so hoped that when Zeus threw his miserable little tournament, Luke would win and demand the throne for his victory. The idea of stealing it right in front of that ingrate filled me with simply too much joy. Alas, I clearly put too much faith in the boy, since he lost to you.” He sneered at Percy. “But I am nothing if not meticulous, and thus, had an army ready to lay siege upon the city on the off chance things did not go as planned. A choice that has proven wise.”

Kronos' eyes suddenly shifted, more alert, and everyone on the front lines immediately tensed. Percy noticed that both armies had reached their respective sides, and were now directly behind them. In front of him, Kronos raised both his arms to the side as well as his voice. “But now, I grow weary of waiting! Children of the Council of Fools! I shall ask this of you one more time! Pledge your allegiance to me, or suffer the consequences!” His voice echoed, bouncing around the arena they’d picked as the final stand. However, while the monster’s voices all raised, not a single human could be heard amongst the cacophony. “Hmf.” He sniffed, obviously annoyed at the lack of support. Kronos kept his eyes on them as he backed up into his army of monsters, giving one last command. “Fine then. Kill them.” And the beasts dashed forward.

Instantly, the Princes responded. To his right, Jason began to hover, rising into the air. To his left, Nico backed up, likely to connect with Will. As for Percy and Annabeth, they stayed right in the middle. “We need to stop them.” Annabeth hissed. “With their numbers, we’ll be overwhelmed in seconds if they reach us first. It needs to be the other way around if we want a chance at surviving.”

Percy nodded. “On it.” Stepping forward, he raised his hands above his head, and concentrated. Quickly now. He brought the water in the air together not as a ball like with Leo, but as a wave the length of the approaching army. With a heave, he threw it. The resulting wave immediately washed away the hellhounds, as well as a couple of the front rows, and the monster had to pause to avoid both the water and their swept-away comrades. Now, while they’re disoriented! Percy raised his sword and shouted, “Charge!!!” Their own small group did just that, crashing into the monsters.

It was immediate pandemonium.

Left and right, Percy swung his sword, taking down two monsters with every slash. At his back, Annabeth accomplished much the same. Together, the group was able to cut right into the heart of the army, where they began really dealing damage. Instantly, several groups were formed.

Vines sprouted out of the ground at Katie’s beck and call, curling around the monsters. At her back, of course, were Connor and Travis, keeping away any rampant attackers. Leo and Piper were taking turns inflicting ailments on their never-ending rows of enemies. Piper would politely ask them to question their purpose of fighting, after which Leo would take the opportunity to torch them. Hazel, short in stature, was backed up by the biggest ally she could possibly have. Frank was taking full advantage of his ridiculous magic as he fought alongside her, constantly changing shape. During the few glimpses he caught of the warrior, Percy was pretty sure he saw an elephant, a hippo, and a polar bear. Dionysus’ twins were back-to-back, striking any opening the other missed. And Nico was keeping his promise. He appeared to be fighting alone, but at all times a set of walls formed a cube behind him, undoubtedly housing a ready-to-assist Will.

Of course, not everyone fell into groups. Clarisse was doing what she did best all by herself: crowd control. A horde of monsters had her constantly surrounded, but even without her electric spear, she was expertly weaving between them, keeping them at a distance as they were picked off one by one. Additionally, and seemingly randomly, many monsters would be struck down at once, something only Lee could be responsible for. And then, there was Jason.

He had gone right for the biggest threat beyond Kronos. The Drakon, having been given the command to attack, had charged forth with a roar, trampling on several monsters as it went. Right before it reached the demigods, several bolts of lightning blasted down from the heavens, pounding the creature and knocking it flat. It slowly looked up, to find Jason hovering far above it, spear outstretched and confident grin in place. “Hey, snake-dragon thing!” He called up from above. “You seem so high and mighty, but to me, you’re just a little worm!” The Drakon growled, and maybe it understood the mocking tone, because it chose its target. With a mighty push off the ground, it began to hover, chasing after the blond boy in the air. Jason just spun his spear around. “Perfect.”

Percy let himself have a little grin as an Empousa fell to his blade. They weren’t quite winning, but that was never the plan in the first plan. We’re surviving. And we’re going to keep surviving. No matter how long it takes, we’ll make sure you never reach the city. He wasn’t exactly in ideal condition. There were several bruises and scrapes lining his limbs, but that wasn’t even close to being enough to stop him.

While things were mostly going well for them, of course, not all good things could last. Off to the side, Percy heard a shout of pain and jerked his head in its direction. It was Dionysus’ sons. One of them was clutching an empty-handed and bloody arm, wincing in pain. His brother had put himself between him and the monster who had taken his blade, a hellhound with the sword still in its mouth. Percy knocked his shoulder softly against Annabeth’s. She didn’t even hesitate. “Go.”

With a nod, he was off, charging forth. On the way, Percy took down whatever chances he could get to cut down the swarming fiends around them. When he reached them, a well-practiced downward cleave was all he needed to send the dog’s head flying. The still-armed twin heaved a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Percy. I couldn’t reach it with the sword in the way.”

Percy waved a hand as he picked up the fallen blade. “No problem.” Then, he turned to the injured brother. “Can you still fight?”

The boy looked down at the bleeding arm, considering, before saying, “I could use my left hand, but it wouldn’t be as effective.”

Percy nodded, before handing him the blade. “Hold this.” And then he turned, eyes scouring the chaotic battlefield for one person in particular while he fought off a monster with six arms. Finally, he found who he was looking for. “Nico!” The boy in question turned around frantically, obviously unsure whether or not he actually heard his name being called, before locking his eyes onto Percy. He raised his hands above him, “We need Will!” Nico must have gotten the message, because he nodded before turning to the walls of pure magic beside him and laying a hand on it. As it began to grow a dark purple, Percy faced the twins. “Nico’s on his way with Will, can you two hold out?” When he got two confident nods, Percy let himself grin. “Good luck!” And then he spun around, running back into the fray.

It only took moments of scanning the area to make an assessment. Things weren’t going well, but they weren’t exactly going badly either. They were holding their own against the smaller, more simple enemies. Percy ducked under a falling harpy before finding himself behind Leo, who was now fighting off the giant Crab. The boy had an audacious grin on as he lobbed fireball after fireball at the giant beast. “What’s wrong you oversized crustacean?!” he shouted. “You’re looking a little dehydrated!” But while his voice was full of confidence, when he glanced wildly around, Percy saw the uneasiness in Leo’s eyes.

He bounded forward and tapped the boy’s shoulder. “Yo.”

Leo turned to him with a relieved expression. “Hey Perce. Yeah, this thing ain't budging. I’ve thrown my strongest attacks at it and gotten nothing.”

Percy studied the being carefully, trying to find weaknesses. He came up empty. “Nothing, as in, no reaction at all.”

“Pretty much.” Leo muttered as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Its shell is way too hard to even burn.”

Percy nodded, wondering what they could use. Jason’s lightning might have had an effect, but he was rather heavily occupied if the thunderclaps overhead meant anything. Percy himself couldn’t use most of his water abilities on it, either because it was too big or because the attacks could lead to the fighters getting swept up as well. He only had a couple more seconds to think before a massive pincer came swinging in from the left. “Damn,” he muttered as the attack barely missed.

Leo reacted with a shout of “Hey!” and lobbed another fireball. That was when Percy noticed something. The crab was gearing up to attack Leo. But the moment the fireball made contact, it stopped. Maybe that’s just luck, but in this battle, that’s all we really have to bet on. He was still unsure of himself, but he decided to voice his thoughts. “Leo.”

The curly-haired boy looked inquisitive as he turned. “Yeah? You got an idea?” He must have thought Percy had figured out a way to beat it. Which, he kind of did.

Percy shook his head. “Not to beat it. Well, not permanently beat it. But it seems to lose steam for its attacks the moment yours connect. I think… I think it’s not as invulnerable as it seems. Maybe it needs to concentrate to keep itself from being affected by the heat you produce. Whatever the case, right now, you seem to be the only one that can stall it.”

“So I stay where I am?” Leo questioned as he conjured up another fireball and threw it.

Percy gave him a nod and a pat on the back. “For as long as possible.”

“It won’t be forever.” Leo warned. “My magic’ll only last so long before I need to rest.”

Percy grimaced at the reminder. It was a problem that all of them were facing. “I know, but we have to try.”

Leo gave a tired nod before turning back around. Two more burning flames popped up. “I’ll manage. You go take care of something else. And don’t you dare get killed. I’ll never get to make fun of Annabeth wearing a wedding dress if you die.”

Percy could help giving a small chuckle. “You want to turn our wedding into a funeral? That’s your call, Flamebrain. Don’t worry though. I don’t plan on going to my grave anytime soon.” He dashed off then, searching for the next place he would be needed. The number of monsters has definitely decreased by a large margin. Kronos must not have expected this much resistance. But we’re also tiring out. Even now, he could feel his legs slightly weakening from the constant strain. Can we last until they're all gone? Will Thalia show up before th- Whoa! His train of thought was quickly cut off as he rolled to avoid a Cyclop’s hammer. He shook his head before springing up to stab the beast. Don’t worry about stuff you can’t afford to! As long as we do everything we can, it’ll turn out alright. It has to.

Percy started running around again, trying to see where he could provide assistance as well as spot Annabeth. He was just about to call her name when a roar followed by several cries alerted him to look behind him. He twisted his head enough to watch as… Oh no. The giant Lion had broken past the edge of the battle, and was headed straight for a grimacing Lee. The archer, to his credit, didn’t even hesitate to calmly nock an arrow and take aim. Percy was going to turn around to aid him before it was too late, when a very familiar voice shouted, “Eyes forward Seaweed Brain!”

That was all the warning he got before he felt the malevolent presence that appeared in front of him. His body was moving more on instinct than training when his sword managed to block the incoming strike. Damn it. Kronos, for his part, just chuckled Luke’s laugh as he applied more force onto Anaklusmos. I got taken by surprise, and now I’m at a bad angle. I can’t generate enough force to push him back by myself. But, I heard her voice… And just like that, Annabeth appeared from behind Percy to take the opportunity to stab her knife into the man’s side. “Ghhk..!” he wheezed. Percy took the moment of weakness as his chance to push back the blade back before they both raised their legs to kick the mad king away. He stumbled backward several steps, clutching his wounded side, glare locked onto them. An eyebrow was raised as he mused, “So then, not only are you engaged, but a battle couple as well…? How nauseatingly sweet.” he sneered.

Percy ignored him, and instead turned to Annabeth, who muttered, “Shoot. I was hoping some damage would have been enough to dislodge his soul.”

“Put your hat on,” he hissed at her.

Annabeth shook her head. “He can see me even when I’m wearing it. We’ll work together better if you can as well.”

Percy sighed as he looked back at the unfathomable challenge before them. “Fine. You ready?”

She lifted her knife up higher. “Always.” They charged.

Kronos spread out his arms with a grin as they approached. “Come. It is time you meet your fate.” With as much force as they could, they swung, but Kronos was able to block both attacks with his blade. The sneer remained as he swung outward, pushing them back an inch. “Is that it?”

Percy charged forward this time, rapidly exchanging blows with the man before ducking back to swap in with Annabeth. Kronos was given no time to react, as he became forced to constantly switch his defense between two different fighting styles. It was a bit of dance, one where the two of them would never let him get a moment's rest as they swapped places. They had managed to find a rhythm that maximized both of their stamina while limiting his own. But, of course, it couldn’t last. The next time Annabeth moved back to let Percy tag in, the man grit his teeth before slamming his hand on the floor. “Enough!” he roared.

The resulting shockwave from the display of magic had them both stumbling back several feet, barely avoiding falling over. Many of the monsters in their vicinity weren’t so lucky. Percy glared as he found his balance. “Great. We’ve got no way to counter whatever that was. This is hopeless.”

Annabeth must’ve thought differently though, because she shook her head. “No, we’ve definitely got hope. That attack he used… It was powerful, sure, but it wasn’t what he’s known for.”

Percy got it pretty quickly. “Right… He clearly has some ability, but he hasn’t used the magic over time. Do you think he can’t?”

Annabeth studied the king carefully. Kronos was taking their pause to discuss as an opportunity to assess how injured he was. Right away, it was obvious the worst wound was the one Annabeth had scored by surprising him. Considering how that barely affected him, it probably didn’t mean much. Percy glanced between the two, able to physically see his dear love pour over her many months of research into magic in a few seconds. She raised her dagger, having come to a conclusion. “If anything would be stopping him from using his time magic, it would be the incompatibility between his soul and Luke’s body. But we can’t count on that lasting forever. Sooner or later, the body will acclimate, and we’ll have no chance. And considering how long he’s had control over Luke, it’s probably going to be sooner.”

Kronos grinned at the deduction. “Well done, daughter of Athena. Your intelligence does you credit. Yes, Luke’s body may, at all times, be rejecting me. But with every moment that passes, my claws sink into him a little deeper. Now that his body is becoming a compatible conduit for my magic, your rebellion will fall very soon.”

Percy stepped up and snarled, “Like hell. You’ll die first.”

The man laughed, “Really now? And how do you intend to go about that? You must be aware that, regardless of what you try, Luke will share my fate.”

Percy grit his teeth. “Enough.” He charged, and Annabeth fell into step right behind him.

Concerningly, Kronos looked unimpressed. “This again?” Percy ignored the mocking tone and swung his sword, wild, yet concentrated. Every strike aimed to somehow, someway, beat the parasite that had infected his hero.

He and Annabeth resumed their strategy, tagging in and out, hoping to tire out their relentless opponent. But on the switch between Annabeth into him, things went terribly wrong. Kronos smirked and let them know, “Your tactics have a rather glaring flaw.” And then he reached forward to place a hand on Percy’s chest. Uh oh. The ensuing blast sent him flying. He picked himself up as quickly as he could, just in time to watch Annabeth back up a few steps before slamming into the dirt, clutching her shoulder. “The second one of you is taken out, the other crumbles. Now then…” He stalked towards her, and Percy started desperately running.

Kronos raised his cursed blade. “I believe our time together has come to an end. Don’t worry though. You’ll join her soon enough, Perseus.” Annabeth glared at the man, unflinching. Percy’s face was pure panic. “But, for just these few moments… Despair.” He swung down.

And, acting completely on autopilot, Percy did the one thing he could. He threw out an arm. He reached out with his senses. He connected with the liquid still flowing within Luke’s possessed body. And with a desperate cry of “MISS!”, Kronos’s sword came down… digging into the dirt beside Annabeth.

Kronos stared, uncomprehending, at his weapon being buried into the ground. And that was all the time Percy needed to reach them again. Right when the weapon was pulled out, he was there, pushing back at Kronos with all his might. The tyrant must have figured it out, because his eyes narrowed. “Interesting. So you can even control the flow of blood within a person…? No wonder Luke lost to you. You have potential that surpasses even your father. Alas, it will never be realized.” He pointed the strange sword right at Percy’s heart. “Your end has arrived.” Percy raised Anaklusmos, ready for whatever Kronos was going to throw at him. But then, the man instead raised his left hand, palm facing towards the ground. The frown on his face stretched out into a grin. “Victory is mine.” And everything stopped.

Well, stopped was a bit excessive. They could move. But very, very, slowly. Except for one person. Kronos stretched out with a pleased groan. “Ahh… there it is.” As Percy tried to understand what was happening, he noticed something odd. Not all of the people around them had slowed. Those on the outskirts of the battle were just fine, warily taking in the phenomena that had nearly eclipsed the battlefield. Even Kronos seemed to notice this, and looked around, frowning. “Hmm… smaller than what I was once capable of. This worthless body still can’t handle my full might.” he muttered, before turning back around to face them. “Still, it will be enough.” He steadily approached them, and Percy was hurriedly trying to grab Annabeth and run, but his body just wouldn’t respond. “It’ll be simple to keep my promise to Luke like this.” The man mused. “One strike,” he promised. “Just one strike to bring the both of you down.” They watched him walk towards them, frantically trying to turn their bodies. It wasn’t fast enough.

Kronos was just a few steps away, grinning maniacally, sword raised, when it happened. Even within the area of slowed down time, some… thing streaked downwards, crashing into the ground beneath them, causing an explosion. Dust flew up all around them, and Percy started to cough, trying to see what was happening, before recognizing something. The spell’s broken. Hurriedly, he crouched down to slip an arm under Annabeth’s armpit, and together they stood up. They glanced around frantically, trying to see what was going on. When the dust cloud cleared away, they once again caught sight of Kronos. But he was no longer focused on them. Instead, the man was glaring upward with all the hate in the world. And when Percy saw what the entire battle had paused to look at, his heart leaped.

The council had arrived.

Zeus, of course, was in front, matching his father’s every ounce of furiousness. At his sides were his brothers, and at theirs were the rest of the members. All of them were staying in the air by standing on top of hovering discs that must have been created by Zeus. He was the first to speak. “Father. Causing problems for my subjects again?”

Kronos sneered, “You foolish little boy. I am simply taking back what I am deserving of.” He raised his hand again, taking the stance to once again stop time.

Before he could though, Hermes spoke up. The rage upon his face was perhaps the only one that could match Zeus’. “Release my son from your wicked grasp, now, or you will suffer. This, I promise with my every being.”

Kronos gave one final laugh. “I think not!” And with that time stopped once more, and Kronos’ victory seemed assured. Except… the council was completely out of range.

As his father glared up at them, Zeus raised an eyebrow and mused, “That small, hm? Once upon a time, your magic could have affected the entirety of this mountain. But now this is all you can manage.” Zeus began to raise his fist, which was very heavily sparking. “It is a sign,” he declared. “A sign that you are far, far past your prime. It is time for you to return, Father. To Nothing.” He hurled the bolt.

Kronos, raised his sword up to block the lightning strike shooting towards him and barely managed. But it very quickly became obvious that while he had managed to block it, he could not stop it. The blade was starting to break. Cracks formed, running up and down the length of his evil weapon. In his last moments, it was all Kronos could do to raise his head to look up at his treacherous son, and give one more hate-filled, “ZEUUUUUUUS!!!”

The sword shattered. And if anyone had been close enough, they would have witnessed the eyes of Luke flickering between colors like a light switch, before turning back permanently to an icy blue. Unfortunately, Luke's return to consciousness had no impact on the lightning bolt, which continued forward with such force it sheared through him. With a hole in his torso and an understanding of everything that just occurred, Luke collapsed.

Several people witness to this let out cries of “No!” Amongst them, the loudest was Hermes. Zeus, for his part, merely observed the fallen body with a calculating coldness, before facing upward to witness his son’s continued duel with the Drakon. He gave his command. “Before anything else, eradicate the monsters.” With that, he shot upwards to aid his child.

Hermes had similarly tried to go to his fallen son, but was held back by Apollo and Athena. “Let me go!” he cried.

It was Apollo who responded with pure sympathy in his voice. “I know, Hermes, but we can’t! We need to wipe out the monsters, or we risk more dying! We can’t let there be another!” Hermes grit his teeth, before shaking his head and shooting off, Caduceus in hand.

On the ground, two people had reached Luke as the extermination began in earnest around them. Together, they worked to help Luke sit up, if only slightly. Immediately, the man broke out into a coughing fit. It was only when he was done that Percy finally asked, “What… What happened? Why, did all this, happen?”

The man grimaced, before wheezing out his answer. “Kronos… sealed part of his soul… into a cursed blade. It was meant to be… a last-ditch effort. He had it taken to… to the outskirts.” He coughed up some blood. Annabeth reached forward to wipe it, but he weakly batted her hand away. After a few moments, he continued. “I found it… a few months ago. His spirit was tormenting a village that had been built there. Like a curse, cast over the land. When I pulled it out… the sword, it took over my mind. I wasn’t myself. For so… long.”

He started coughing again, and Annabeth started looking around, frantically looking for will. Once again, Luke stopped her, before turning to Percy. “Did… did anyone else, get killed?”

Percy turned to survey the remains of their battle, and took note of everyone’s condition. They were all exhausted. Some in particular weren’t doing well. Clarisse had a mountain of arrows sticking out of her back. Travis was carrying an unconscious Connor on his back. Lee was missing an arm. They weren’t alright, but… he turned back to Luke. “Everyone’s alive.”

Luke nodded gratefully. “That’s… good. I don’t mind dying for my mistake. But it’s good I’m not taking anyone else with me.”

“Are you sure?” Annabeth asked, a tad bit desperately. “Will could-.”

Luke shook his head. “Even if I survived this… I would be in no condition to truly live. This… this is fine. I’m alright with this.” A bit more blood got coughed up, before Luke started relaxing in their hands. Tears were falling down both of their faces. “I think… I think I’m going… to go to sleep now, alright? You.. scamps… be good… alright?” Very slowly, his eyes started to close. And then, before their eyes, Sir Luke, the hero of Olympios, died.

Carefully, they laid him back down on the ground, before slowly standing up. They back away, immediately pulling themselves into each other. Annabeth began to cry into his chest, and there was nothing Percy could do for her. They were alive. They had beaten the tyrant who had sought to once again drench the kingdom in pain. And yet, he felt empty. A feeling that multiplied itself several hundred times when Hermes came stumbling up them, before falling to the ground to clutch his fallen son’s body. Even looking around at the monster-free clearing wasn’t enough, since he was only reminded of the many other hundreds that Kronos must have brought under his heel. Tonight, there would be no stopping them. We’ve won. But how much did we lose in the process?

Chapter Text

The group huddled together over the remains of the battle, and the children watched as a fast-paced, but hushed, discussion erupted between the Council. Very quickly, a decision was reached. With a huff, Zeus ordered, “Ares, Artemis, and Apollo. Go survey the condition of the rest of the kingdom. That includes my brother’s domains. Any and all monsters you encounter are to be annihilated.” Apollo lifted Lee’s good arm to set it around Will’s, and together the three appointed members nodded before dashing off in different directions. Then Zeus turned, with just a hint of hesitancy, towards his messenger. “Hermes… would you like to join them?”

The man in question stared down wordlessly at his eldest son’s body, face twitching. When he didn’t move, Connor and Travis walked up to their father to give him words of encouragement while trying to hide how broken they felt. Eventually, the man gave a slow nod, before turning slightly to hand over Luke’s body to Hephaestus. Wordlessly, wings sprouted from his shoes, and with just a blink, he was gone. Zeus gave a hollow sigh.

Athena spoke next. “The city will be put on lockdown. We cannot afford to let the people wander back towards their homes in potentially dire states. We will use the information gathered by Artemis, Apollo, Hermes, and Ares to determine our next move. Now, let us return. The wounded must be tended to. And the boy’s body must be buried. We can decide where exactly on the way.” With that, the council turned to march back towards the castle, with their children scrambling to keep up.

Most of them joined their parents. The exceptions to that were those whose parents had left to survey the land, and Annabeth, who walked alongside Percy behind Poseidon. They walked in silence for a good few minutes before Percy found the courage to speak. “Um… dad? Is there… is there anything I could do. You know, to help?”

Poseidon stopped abruptly, and Percy and Annabeth followed suit. After a few moments of silence, during which the group as a whole moved on, he let out a heavy sigh. Slowly he pivoted himself to face his child, and walked forward to place his hands and Percy’s shoulders. “Percy. There is nothing more we need from you. Not because you cannot provide it. Far from it. But because you, and your companions, have done far more than what was asked of you. Than what you should have had to do. You’ve done so incredibly well. You can rest now.”

Percy debated for a few moments whether or not he should just accept the answer. He slowly squeezed Annabeth’s hand, and she squeezed right back. “I don’t think I can rest. Not tonight, not right now. I’d rather… I’d rather do something. Are you sure there isn’t something I can do?”

Poseidon nodded. “I understand your feelings. Believe me, I do. In fact, I suspect there are several others who are feeling similarly. Among them… is likely Hermes. The need to do something is keeping him together in the face of his despair. But Percy… it will also prevent him from healing for quite some time. It will allow him to pour every ounce of his energy into whatever his tasks are without questioning why. And it will be a similar experience for you. If you allow yourself to only focus on what you can do, and not what happened, you will inevitably run yourself into the ground. So try to get some rest, alright? I understand it may be difficult, but right now, that is the best thing you can do for yourself.” When Percy gave a disappointed sigh, Poseidon turned to the girl next to him. “Lady Annabeth. Can I count on you to watch over him while I can’t?”

Annabeth stared at the king before her with wide eyes before giving a firm nod. “O-of course, sir. Whenever possible.” Poseidon gave a nod of his own before turning around, and together the trio walked back towards the capitol.

When they reached the gates Poseidon turned back around. “You two… you should stay in your rooms in the Colosseum, tonight.”

They shot confused looks at each other before Annabeth asked, “Why not the palace? It should have plenty of room.”

Poseidon grimaced, “Yes, well, that would normally be the case. Unfortunately, young Thalia decided to sacrifice much of it in her attempt to, ah, persuade her father to get moving. Even the throne room and the council room have been damaged. Tomorrow we will likely convene in one of the undisturbed halls, but it was agreed that it would best for you all to rest undisturbed in the colosseum.”

Annabeth and Percy shared another look, and a touch of humor managed to sink into their eyes. “Well,” Percy muttered, “She got the job done. I have no complaints.” Annabeth nodded with a similar amount of satisfaction, and they marched onward toward their waiting beds.

Well, more like a bed. That night, neither wanted to be separated from the other, so they simply stayed cuddled up in each other’s embrace within Percy’s room. It took a while for either to fall asleep, but eventually, the reassurance of having their loved one so close at hand managed to stave off the empty restlessness.

The couple awoke to the sight of Sally staring down at them with a concerned gaze. But when they scrambled up, she reached forward to pull them both into her. After a moment of silence, she asked, “Are you two alright?”

They both considered the question, but it was Percy who answered, “About as much as we can be, I guess.”

Sally sighed as she nodded, and kept holding onto them until she herself felt a bit more steady. She knew something that Percy was sure to want to know, but tried to talk herself out of it. The members Zeus sent out returned a few hours ago with information on the state of the kingdoms. They’ll be holding a meeting in one of the Palace courtyards. If you two want… you can attend. Poseidon gave the okay.”

They gave each other a glance silently asking if the other would be okay with it. They remembered what Poseidon said, after all. But at the same time… I can’t just do nothing. With a nod, it was decided. “Yeah, we’ll go. When is it?”

Sally gave a sigh, clearly expecting the answer. “In an hour.”

Annabeth moved to stand up and stretch. “Then we’d better get ready.” They prepared themselves for the coming discussions in silence. Neither knew quite what to say. All they could really hope for was getting the chance to help fix things.

Along the way, they ran into Jason, Leo, and Piper. “You guys had the same idea?” Annabeth muttered.

“Yep, although not just us.” He nodded up ahead, where Clarisse was walking in the same direction. “Everyone who can move wants to know what’s been happening.”

“Makes sense.” Percy declared. “We all want to know what’s been going on.” They set off again, eventually reaching the palace. The courtyard chosen was in the very back, so they ended up passing both the throne and council room. Percy’s jaw dropped. I can’t believe it. He thought as he marveled at the destruction before him. Both areas were in shambles; columns fallen, stones shattered, and several black spots that proved lighting had rained down. “Your sister’s insane. I also have a feeling she wouldn’t regret this even if she wasn’t trying to get Zeus the hell up.” Jason just nodded in tired acknowledgment.

Finally, they reached the meeting place. The council had already gathered, along with the rest of the kids (except for Lee, who was being treated, and Will, who was doing the treating). Zeus looked upon them with an uncertain gaze. “More of you children?”

Hades spoke up next to him. “Leave them be, brother. For matters concerning our father and his schemes, they’ve more than earned the right to sit with us.” The rest of the council gave nods, and Zeus rubbed his forehead.

“Very well. As long as they don’t cause any trouble. Now then,” he turned to the group he had sent away last night. “What have you four learned?”

Areas stepped up, “It was as you feared. Monsters had taken the opportunity to attack both the more prominent cities as well as the numerous villages alike. From what I’ve gathered, according to the village folk, the monsters all began to disappear just a little before we showed up. Any we killed were only the stragglers.”

Zeus nodded, before asking, “And the damages?”

Apollo spoke next, “The cities and towns got away mostly fine. The Nobles were there to defend their areas, and the walls deterred many of the weaker attackers. The villages though… each one I found had suffered significantly.”

Zeus took this in, considering, and was about to speak when Artemis interrupted him, “While it is important, rebuilding should not be our only concern. The monsters have left, yes. But I do not doubt for a moment that it will be temporary. They were unified as a single force, a threat unprecedented in our history. Without Kronos to guide them, it may take time, but eventually, this threat will form again. We cannot allow them to roam unchecked the way we have before.”

“What do you propose?” Athena asked as she leaned in.

Artemis gazed up as she thought about it, before answering, “We will need a force dedicated to eradicating them. Me and Thalia are hunters, but we are also only two people. To travel the world simply to check its state is one thing. To scour it for the many beasts that hide in the shadows is quite another.”

“We cannot all be a part of this,” Hephaestus rumbled. “Not all of our skills are geared toward hunting. We also have our posts. They cannot afford to be abandoned.”

“No, they cannot.” Zeus agreed. “We are the most prestigious group in the land.” Percy rolled his eyes. That doesn’t mean you can’t help. “Our responsibilities are far too great.” I guess that’s a little better. “Leaving our positions to run around in the underbrush would be quite unsightly.” And he ruined it. “But let us leave that for now. Eventually, the threat of the monsters may return, but that is not the most pressing issue. The people. What do we do about their homes?”

Aphrodite tapped her chin. “The people’s lives were damaged due to insufficient preparation for such an event. To prevent this again, their homes cannot simply be built up as they once were. We must make changes.”

“How do you plan to do that?” Demeter questioned. “My own magic would allow the citizen’s crop to be restored. But it cannot build for them. The same applies to the rest of you. How do we go about creating more structurally defensive towns.” As the Council members all sat back with a frown to consider their options, Percy realized something. This is my chance!

Without hesitation, he stood up. The others shot him confused looks, but he ignored all of them as he declared, “I have a solution to your problem. Both of them, actually.”

Amongst the raised eyebrows and curious gazes, Poseidon and Zeus held a silent conversation using just their eyes. What do you want to do? His father asked. Zeus glared back an irritated He’s your son! Poseidon gave in with a weary nod, before turning to look at him. “Well, Percy? Speak.”

Before he continued, Percy looked at Annabeth silently. Evidently, if her gaze meant anything, she had caught on (to at least one of the ideas), and he need to know if she was alright with the plan. When she gave him a slow, confident nod, he looked back at the waiting council and decided, “We’ll be your force for dealing with the monsters.” Murmurs broke out as everyone else in the room tried to vocalize what they thought about the idea, but Percy continued, “Or, at the very least, me and Annabeth will. After you guys, we’re the most powerful group, and we’ve got no responsibilities.” He addressed the other kids next. “I don’t know about any of you, but I can’t just wait around. I say we go take care of the problem before it ever becomes one.”

Of course, Clarisse was again the first one to agree. “I like the sound of this plan. The idea of hunting down the monsters for a change is an exciting one.” The rest gave their support, but before he could thank them, Zeus interrupted him.

“Your idea is not a bad one. But it is one that will require many months of your time. Additionally, you said you had a solution to the fixing of the people's abodes. What is your idea?”

Percy just shrugged and said in the most obvious tone possible, “Annabeth can do it.”

Several people were taken aback, including Annabeth herself, who let out a gasp. Athena had a look of surprise on her face. Zeus just raised an eyebrow as he considered for a moment, before deciding to address the girl herself. “Can you do this? Ensure that the homes are rebuilt in a more secure fashion?”

Annabeth stared, a little stunned, before carefully smoothing out her features. With as little shakiness in her voice as she could manage, she said, “I could. It would take time, of course. Depending on the level of damage, I may need to stay in each village for at least a whole month. But I could do it.”

Zeus nodded thoughtfully. “Very well then. The job of both the eradication of monsters and the reconstruction of the people’s homes will be left to all of you. Any objections?”

No one spoke against the plan. Percy was about to sit down, satisfied, when a voice broke through. “I have a question.” Everyone’s heads shot up to look at Athena. She wasn’t addressing Zeus though. She was looking at Percy. “You are aware,” she asked, “That this plan of yours will put your wedding on hold? It would take several months to even be planned out, and we need these problems to be solved as soon as possible.”

Percy and Annabeth shared another gaze. They knew what this would cost. He looked back at Athena unflinchingly. “I know that. But, that’s just what we have to do. And besides, we’ve waited so long already. We can hold it off a bit longer.” Athena stared at him for a few moments, before glancing at her daughter. And then, she nodded and sat back.

Zeus took note of this and asked once again, “Alright. Any objections?” No one spoke up, and the king gave a nod. “Very well. Meeting adjourned.”

People immediately began either filing outside the courtyard or grouping up. A small group had already surrounded Thalia, asking her about the state of the palace. Her only response was a small, self-satisfied grin.

Annabeth and Percy, however, retreated into an unoccupied hallway. When they were sure no one had followed them, she grabbed his hands and looked up at him. “You’re sure you're okay with this?”

Percy sighed. “I think so. It’s a way to help out, at the very least. I don’t want to miss the opportunity.”

“Of course not,” Annabeth muttered with adoration laced in her voice. She raised her hands to place them on his cheeks. “By the way…” she trailed off, before leaning up to kiss him harder than she ever had before.

A noise of surprise escaped Percy’s sealed mouth before he leaned in. And when she pulled back, he was pretty sure he couldn’t breathe. “I’m definitely not complaining,” he gasped, “but… what was that for?”

Annabeth shrugged, “Thanks, I suppose. For being you.” With that, she twirled around to walk down the hallway. “C’mon!” She called back. “We need to get packed up and prepare to leave quickly.”

Percy watched her for a few moments before chuckling to himself and following after her. “Right.” He could still feel the warmth of her palm in his hand, against his cheek. He recalled what his father had talked to him about last night, how people when get lost in the need to do something, they lose what the actions they take mean. Annabeth and I have got each other. He thought determinedly. We can keep the other from sinking too far. Yeah… We’ll be just fine.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As their cart rolled out of the fourth village they had visited, Percy had come to a conclusion. I am decidedly not fine. He held in his thoughts though, and tried to expel his annoyance through small grumbles. Unfortunately, Annabeth, who he had thought asleep, lifted her head from his shoulder to poke his cheek. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he muttered.

“Uh huh.”

“Really, I’m fine.” He tried looking away.

“Percy…” his voice trailed off, and he sighed.

“Fine. Nothing’s really wrong, it’s just… I feel like I’m going to explode if one more person gives me a ‘congratulations on the engagement.’”

Annabeth stared at him for a few seconds before bursting into laughter and slapping his shoulder. “Percy! They’re being nice!”

“I know,” he grumbled. “But every time I talk to someone, they end the conversation with, ‘Oh, yes! Congratulations on your engagement to Lady Annabeth! What a wonderful occasion!’ And all that does is remind me that we still. Aren’t. Married.”

She sighed, “I get how you feel. But we chose this path, remember? It’s too late to complain about it now.”

“I know…” he muttered. “And I don’t regret our decision. Really. But at the same time, it’s so annoying.” He felt Annabeth nod against his shoulder. “I mean, I’m having some fun too. It’s great watching all your planning and studying come to fruition, and it’s nice to have genuine chats with the people we’re helping. But it’s been soooo long. I’m tired.”

Annabeth hummed in agreement, and he thought that would be the end of it, until she asked a question he didn’t expect. “What about killing monsters?”

“Huh?”

She raised her head. “The monsters you’ve been hunting. Do you have fun doing that?”

“I mean… I guess?” They had set up a consistent routine for every time they approached a new village. After getting settled in whatever undisturbed inn they could find, they split up for the day. Percy dealt with the critters in the woods hiding about, and Annabeth helped get the place back into tip-top shape. Over a span of roughly a month, they slowly got the village back to a functional hub of people. Only once Percy could no longer sense monsters hiding about, and Annabeth was sure her instructions were realistic, concise, and had enough manpower, did they deem the village acceptable to leave.

She didn’t look satisfied with his response, but she didn't push the issue. Annabeth just gave a non-committed “hmm” before leaning her head back on his shoulder. Guess that’s that.

The next village only took three days to reach, and things proceeded as they had the last four times they had done this. Annabeth went out to go speak with the village leader, and Percy stalked the surrounding area in search of his prey. It was only once the fifth day began that things took a different turn.

Percy was currently laying down on a field of grass with his hands behind his head, waiting. This was around the time that the monsters started to wisen up to his presence, and there was more downtime in between his hunting. He was humming a tune to himself, content to simply rest, before he heard the sound of footsteps crushing the grass, approaching him. He blinked one eye open to see who it was, before sitting up in surprise. Annabeth was approaching him with a soft smile. He rubbed his eyes a bit before addressing her. “I thought you would be with your builder people. Is something wrong?”

Thankfully, she shook her head. “Nah, everything’s alright. But right now they’re busy taking stock of the materials that are either available or ready to harvest. Since I’ve already taken a look at all the buildings they want me to help fix, there’s not much to do other than just wait. So, I came to see you. And what about you? I expected to find you slashing apart monsters, but you seem very comfortable on the ground. Sleeping on the job?”

He shook his head, “No, there just isn’t anything to fight around here right now. The creatures are wary of me, and won’t approach.”

Annabeth gave an understanding hum, before the last thing Percy expected her to say fell out of her mouth. “In that case, how about passing the time with sparring.” He looked up at her, trying to understand what had gotten into her. She returned his gaze with serene confidence.

“You’re sure?” He asked. We’ve done it a couple of times, but it feels weird to swing my blade at her. She nodded, so Percy drew himself up, confused. “Do we have to? We could just, I don’t know, have a stroll around.”

Annabeth shook her head. “It’ll be fine, Percy. You won’t hurt me.”

“Alright…” Percy trailed off, still confused. “With our real weapons?” he questioned as he pulled the quill out of his pocket. Annabeth gave an affirming nod before pulling out her knife and backing up several steps. They stared at each other across the gap in between them. Percy took up a slightly defensive stance, and after a few moments passed, uncertainly asked, “Go?”

“Go.” Annabeth repeated. And she dashed forward. Instantly Percy brought up Anaklusmos to block her swings. They had fairly obvious arcs, so stopping her attacks in their tracks was easy. Block, block, block. He took his own swing a bit higher up, but she ducked under it. Still low, she spun around before swinging towards his stomach, and Percy backed up just to block it.

What’s going on? He questioned as he backed up. His weapon was easily longer than hers, so it was a simple matter to keep her within his range while staying out of her own. She isn’t using her invisibility hat either. What’s she trying to accomplish? When Annabeth moved in again, it was fairly easy to catch her swing with his own, apply pressure to push her arm upwards, and twist, knocking the weapon out of her grip. Percy raised his sword. “I win.”

Annabeth nodded, “Yep, you do. But…” she reached down to pick up her knife, before raising it again. “I want to go again.”

Percy blinked. “Are… Are you sure? We can lie down on the grass instead, and look up at the sky.” She shook her head though, and rather unfortunately for him, he was incapable of really saying no to her. Three more times they dueled, and they all ended the same way. When her dagger was knocked away for the fourth time, Percy put his foot down. Before she could request another match, he laid himself back down on the grass. “That was nice, but I’m feeling tired. If you want you can join me,” He offered.

He felt Annabeth walk up to where his head was. “Percy.” He didn’t respond. “Percy… Peeeeercy.” Still, he gave nothing. And then he heard her give an adorable little huff, and he just barely managed to stop himself from cracking an eye open. After a few moments of silence. “If you want, keep your eyes closed, but can you at least sit up?”

He gave a dramatic groan, but acquiesced, keeping his eyes closed as he got up. He stayed in that position as she moved, taking a seat behind him. He felt her arms encircle him, and her head came to rest on his shoulder. Slowly, carefully, she started to rock them back and forth. He said nothing, just enjoying how great it felt to be near her, when she spoke again. “Percy?” Annabeth started.

“Yeah.”

“...You know you’re allowed to enjoy things you’re good at, right? Or at the very least, take pride in them?”

Huh? “What are you talking about Annabeth?”

She let out a breath. “You're the best fighter I’ve ever met. You’re amazing at it. Always so confident in what action to take, what you can do. But… you seem to rarely enjoy it anymore.” Oh.

He was silent for a moment, before questioning, “I mean, what really is there to enjoy?”

She shook her head on his shoulder. “You should be asking yourself that. I remember how excited you used to be about pulling out your blade, and testing your skills. Then, it all just stopped. I get that after a while it just became too easy. None of the people back home could really compare to you. And I know why you couldn’t enjoy fighting in the battle against Kronos. But even during the Colosseum fights, against people you knew could match you, you only really had fun when fighting Jason. Again, Percy. It’s alright to enjoy something you’re good at. To take pride in your capabilities. All of them.”

Percy stayed silent for a moment as she kept rocking them. Then he asked, “What I’m good at is violence. What’s so great about that? What does that say about me?”

Annabeth squeezed him harder. “Nothing but the best of things. Because I’ve known you for a very long time, Percy, and you’ve never once pointed your blade at someone who didn’t deserve it.”

“Hmm,” he mused. “And what about my capabilities, that aren’t… so heroic.” He didn’t say it, but she had to know. She has to. She was right there when Kronos was musing about my… less obvious abilities. She hadn’t said anything about it the entire time they were traveling. Maybe she caught onto just how much he didn’t want to hear mention of it. But Annabeth had to know.

The girl pondered for a moment, before declaring, “They’re just as great, because they’re a part of you, and you are the most amazing person I’ve ever met.”

Percy let out a sigh, before reaching up to hold her arm. “Thanks, Wise Girl.”

“Anytime, Seaweed Brain.” They stayed that way for a long, long time. And maybe for once, her words had actually gotten through to him. Their efficiency began to pick up speed, eventually resulting in villages getting fixed in half the time they could manage in the beginning. And just several months later, they received a message.

The villages had been well fortified. Monster-sightings were at an all-time low. They could go home.

The two celebrated by throwing their arms around each other and spinning around, laughing until they were breathless and collapsed on the floor of the inn. Annabeth lifted her head. “We're going home.”

“Yep.” Percy said happily. He couldn't keep the grin off his face now that he knew it was all almost over.

“Just one more stop.” She mentioned, and he nodded. Luke’s body had been buried in front of the Colosseum, and they had agreed to visit him at least once before going back. “One more,” Annabeth repeated, “And it’s all over.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the end, they opted for a smaller-scaled wedding. Poseidon had wanted to throw a grand celebration for his son and daughter, but they both agreed it just wasn’t their style. Especially since it would be held at the more private area that was Atlantis’ Grand Falls, because of course it was. The place was too significant to them.

That’s not to say no one attended. As Percy’s eyes swept across the area, everyone looking back at him was a familiar face. His dad, of course. Tyson, Amphitrite, and even Triton. His friends were there as well. Not all of them could make it, but Jason, Piper, and Leo had insisted on coming along. The only reason Thalia wasn’t attending was because she got taken on a hunt by Artemis. Nico was busy getting lectured by Hades on how to be a king, but Hazel and Frank both made it. Lee had even insisted on coming, and waved at him with the mechanical hand Hephaestus and Leo had constructed. Grover was right beside him, shedding tears. He’d always been too emotional for his own good.

The odd one out was Athena, who sat in the very back with the most neutral expression she could manage. Percy sighed within his mind. It’s a step, I suppose. Good for her.

And then, there was Annabeth, who was somehow, impossibly, even more beautiful than normal. As he watched his mom confidently stride alongside her down the aisle, and very carefully took the sight of his love in a wedding dress, his last two functioning brain cells put together it had to be Piper's fault. I can’t tell if I want to punch her or hug her.

Thankfully for his very quickly diminishing cognitive functions, the entire ceremony went off perfectly, as far as he was concerned. They made their vows as if they hadn’t been bound the very night they met. Percy got to put the ring on her finger. And the very second their lips touched, he pulled them both into the water with a grin, uncaring of the audience’s lack of context and shocked reactions. Because Annabeth was shaking with laughter against him as they clutched each other, and everything in life could not be better.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Many Years Later…
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In a well-guarded room within Castle Atlantis’ walls, two figures leaned side-by-side over a magical map that showcased the current forces of enemies and allies alike within the entire land of Olympios, carefully studying it. To their side, the current king of the country Olympios also peered down at the display through use of a magic developed by the former noble Iris. After a few moments of silence as they all took it in, the blond man spoke, “They’ve certainly sent quite a few our way.”

It was the regal woman who responded with a nod. “An understatement, to say the least. It’s concerning… and also rather strange. The Giants haven’t shown an attack force as unified as this one since the invasion they tried last year. Two separate armies going after one target? This must be a gamble on their part. That should Olympios fall, the other kingdoms will soon follow.”

The brunette man stroked his beard, trying to memorize every detail, before turning to address her. “Do you have an idea on how to hold them off?”

Slowly, as theories and simulations played out in her mind, she made her decision. “Yes, it should be possible.” Reaching forward, the woman whispered words under her breath to manipulate the magic in front of her. The table zoomed in on the mountain that held the capital of Olympios. She pointed at several different areas. “Here, here, and here. All of these are areas where the path gets narrow, where the stones close in around whoever walks through. The invaders will be too restricted. As long as it’s timed well, making use of these will allow your armies to defend the city with ease.”

The other king nodded. “We can manage that. But it will likely take up all of our forces, leaving us completely open to an attack by the army approaching us from the other side.”

“Right,” the woman nodded, “Which means-.” She was cut off by the sound of a fist rather meekly knocking against the door. The two people actually present in the room shared a look before she called, “Enter!”

In came one of the servants with a rather sheepish look on his face. “Um, I do so apologize, my Lord and Lady. I know you’re very busy right now. It’s just… well, you see… It would appear that Prince Alexander has decided to once again challenge the entire Royal Guard to a duel.”

At his words, the woman promptly dropped her face onto the table with a groan. “Every week with him…”

Her husband, the infuriating man that he was, simply laughed. And when she shot an accusing look, he still had the audacity to give little chortles. “It’ll be fiiiine. He’s a smart boy. He knows how far he can take it before causing actual trouble.”

“That’s not the issue!” She protested. “They’re the Royal Guard! They have positions to fill, people to keep safe! They can’t keep letting a hyper sixteen-year-old provoke the entire company whenever he gets bored!”

He waved a hand, “We’ve got the map in front of us. Any hostiles in range would have been immediately identified. We’re safe, dear. Let the boy have his fun.” The Queen closed her eyes as she rubbed her forehead with a groan, muttering softly. The man faced back towards the intruding servant. “Let them carry on. Oh, one thing though! Tell Alex to actually remember to hold back this time. It’d be a bad look if the pride of our highest ranking force was repeatedly crushed by a kid.” The servant gave a hasty bow, before quickly scurrying out the room.

The two monarchs now looked at each other with silent gazes, daring the other to break. All was silent… until the sound of snickers pierced the air. The two whipped their heads around to glare at the king who had been witness to the entire scene. Once their gazes were locked onto him, the man could only contain himself for a few more moments before bursting into full-blown laughter. “Every time you guys leave I miss the chaos you cause just a little bit more. That was wonderful to see! I’m glad to know you’re not just putting on a show, but that you really just can’t help yourselves.”

The king of Atlantis rolled his eyes with a grin, “Yeah, yeah, whatever Jason. Just wait till Thalia hears you admitted you miss us. She’ll never let you hear the end of it!” The blond man blanched, and he let himself have a few laughs at the reaction before leaving his final message. “Don’t worry about the other army. It’ll be taken care of.” And then, with a swipe of his hand, the connection dissolved. Satisfied with the way the meeting had ended, he lifted himself with a groan. “I suppose we better head out then.”

As her husband walked towards the door, the Strategist Queen asked a question she knew the answer to, “And where do you think you’re going?”

The man stopped to tilt his head, and the Warrior King gazed back at her with a determined grin decorating his features. “To ride out and meet them, of course.” She gave an unsurprised sigh before turning to dispel the magic upon the table and pack her bag.

To battle, then.